“Please pass me another piece of the dark chocolate candy,” a sister pleaded to her brother as she requisitioned her 3rd piece of candy. The more candy she consumed, the more she craved. “Oh, it is so good and delicious,” she enthused. As much candy as she ate, she never seemed to be fully satisfied, always requesting another piece, then another, until she could not eat any more. Yet she never felt fully satisfied. Her craving, her ache, for candy continued. One began to wonder if there existed a point at which she would feel completely fulfilled.
A similar ache for fulfillment exists in all of us, whether the craving is for food, water, sex, or accomplishment. The businessman who closes a major business deal is exhilarated and celebrates achieving his goal; similarly the athlete is wildly ecstatic when he and his team win a championship. The student who is acknowledged for his academic achievement with a high grades demonstrates his joy with a proud, enthusiastic display of his record to his parents and friends. Yet the satisfaction of achievement for each person diminishes quite rapidly. One begins to be aware that the satisfaction, though exciting and frequently electrifying, is indeed temporary and that true fulfillment has not been experienced. There is an ache for something that will be lasting and truly fulfilling; the ache always seems to return…nothing seems to completely satisfy.
Men and women who participate in frequent sexual encounters with numerous partners lament the lack of any long lasting satisfaction…and often proceed to the next encounter, hoping furtively for something more; only to be disappointed, even when there is temporary romanticism. Even in a committed relationship where a congenial family environment exists and there is a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, there still is the nagging ache for something more. As fulfilling as one’s marriage might be, there penetrates into the person the thought that there still must be something else that lies ahead that is indeed completely fulfilling.
In every endeavor when “success’ or achievement is attained, one is faced with the nagging question, “Is this all there is”? Why do we humans strive for satisfaction and fulfillment, yet never attain complete fulfillment? Why does the ache for something more constantly haunt us? Is it because we can never expect to reach a completeness and total fulfillment? Such a thought is hideous and cruel in the extreme. What then will satisfy man’s desire for fulfillment? Will there never be fulfillment for man? Is man doomed to suffer permanent dissatisfaction and frustration? What will relieve the ache that man endures?
God!!