If everyone you knew began sharing the condition of their kidneys, the thought that everything is functioning well would not cross your mind.  When the kidneys are in good operating order, little attention is given to them.  Rather, you would begin to wonder what it is in your circle of relationships that is happening to suddenly bring so much attention to this hidden body part.  You’d begin to question whether or not the dietary needs of these people are healthy enough to keep things moving along smoothly.

It is the same in matters of the soul when it comes to the complications that cause people to be overwhelmed to the point where so much attention is given to the condition of simply being happy… or at rest… or at peace.

You wouldn’t think that it would be that way in the day and age that we live in.  We are able to do and know so much.  So much is at our disposal, that you would think that there would be no reason to fret so much about exhaustion… or lack of relationship… or lack of contentment.

We are able to shop from home.

We are able to search the internet for tidbits of information on how to treat the common cold or when to begin planting our garden.

We are able share memories with distant friends and relatives on various social networking sites.

Yet, our lives are more complicated than ever before.  It begs us to ask the question, ‘With so much at our fingertips, are we happier?  Are our lives more fulfilled?’

There is a cancer of the soul that has reached pandemic proportions, and we aren’t able to shake it.  We’ve lost our way, and in an age of plenty, we are finding that the more we take in, the further we are from where we truly long to be.

I have had the opportunity to spend many long hours with people across a vast range of socio-economic backgrounds who are at the end of their ropes when it comes to believing that their lives and the life of their relationships are going nowhere, but downhill.  So many of them will tell you in so many words that they have forgotten what it feels like to be human… they are forgetting the innocence of youth, and fear that their children are losing sight of it at an earlier age than they anticipated.

The vision of what it looks like to frolic carefree, hand in hand with someone that you love has given way to the all too familiar reality of separation.  That sense that while you are in the midst of so much that should bring you happiness… at a material or relational level… there is a distance, a chasm that cannot be bridged.  Lonely amidst much… poverty amidst plenty… is the harsh day-to-day existence of so many of us.  And we are desperate for ‘something’ to fill that void.

How is this possible?  Where did it all go wrong?