Soul Cravings

I have mentioned in my first post of the year that I had attended a Drime workshop during winter conference. At this workshop, I also received a book, well a prequel of a book titled Soul Cravings by Erwin Raphael McManus (2009). So last Wednesday I had the opportunity to open up this book and finish it within a matter of hours. Its a mini fifty-nine page book and the message is really simple and straight forward. What's noteworthy, is that not only is it an easy and good read, it digs deep within and makes you reflect on some deep DEEP questions the author poses and reflect on some good pointers.

Below are some key items that touched my heart, (bolds/italics are my own)

p.15
"As children we assume that greatness is within our grasp. Whatever inspires us, we begin to dream that one day we will be the best. It is only as we lose our childlike innocence that we begin to settle for far less. A part of growing up seems to be acquiescing to mediocrity. It's easy to say that we're just becoming realistic, that it's a part of growing up. but, in fact, it's just the slow death of our souls. When we stop dreaming, we start dying."

p.26
"...we can't earn love, we can't buy love, and we can't live without it. We know in the pit of our stomachs that if love is conditional, it can't really be love at all. We also know that if love is unconditional, we are neither the sources nor the instigators of such love, which again is a part of our conflict. We want what we do not give. We long for what we seem incapable of producing."

p.30
"When it comes to love, it has to be face-to-face. There has to be contact. Love cannot exist where there is only distance. Love can survive distance, but only by the strength of what comes through intimacy."

p.33
"Love Is Not a Four-Letter Word
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.
GOD is Love."

p.40
"Truth does not exist in a vacuum. Truth exists because God can be trusted. When our souls drive us to search for truth, we are actually longing for God. It's easier just to trust in myself. If you think it's easy to believe in God, you can't even begin to imagine how hard it is to put your trust in him."

p.42
"You can't let the name on the label fool you. You're not getting what you think you're getting.Just because Jesus and his logo are imprinted on the outside of the container doesn't mean that what you're drinking is the real thing. If you find yourself keeled over in agonizing pain, wondering why you're sick to the stomach, it may be that what you got was a counterfeit version of the Christian faith." (in regards to those who step away from Christianity because of an negative/false experience)

p.45
"Sometimes I feel like my soul is nothing more than a leaky facet. You know, the kind that drips all night long. It's not really a loud sound, but after hours and hours of drip, drip, drip, the sound not only echoes, it begins to intensify. ...After a while, it the water keeps dripping long enough, it moves from deafening to silence. It becomes white noise, backdrop. It's still making noise; it's still calling out, but you can't hear it anymore.
Soul Cravings are like that. They scream in your head until your ears hurt. But after a while, it's a silent scream. You can't hear it anymore, and you could almost deny it completely except for the echo deep within the hollowness of your soul."

Is God calling for your attention?

p.49
"From your first breath you have been on a journey. There are things your soul longs for, and whether you have yet recognized it or not, your life is shaped by your search for them."

p.53
"Maybe that's what Jesus meant when he said, " What is it worth to gain the whole world, but to lose your soul?" Was he describing someone like you or me? We spend our whole lives as slaves to our desires, determined to somehow satisfy the deepest longings of our souls. We take everything we can get; we keep everything we can grab; we become human versions of a black hole."

p.57
"My soul doesn't crave something from God; my soul craves God. And by the way, so does yours."

I think if I could, I would've quoted the whole book, its just that interesting! I'm so going to buy the full version. If you want to read this book, let me know, I'll let you borrow it =)


Food for Thought