Editorial June 19, 1976 Issue

To Satisfy the Heart

Naomi Price

We're inclined to think of hunger as being mainly connected with bread or rice—or rather the lack of it. But there is another kind of hunger that affects even more people than financial poverty or failure of crops. It is not satisfied by food packages, and it is no respecter of national, educational, or social status. It gnaws at rich and poor alike. We might call it "hunger of the soul," and because it is a wholly spiritual need, it can only be satisfied spiritually.

It seems there are people everywhere who have a feeling of emptiness inside them. This spiritual hunger is expressed in many ways —in a demand for freedom, for opportunities to express hidden talents, to be acknowledged worthy of responsibility, to be accepted and loved by others, to have a feeling of close involvement and intimacy with family and friends. People often yearn, too, to be able to display self-confidence and dominion, and to show they have the power and strength to be independent and the capability to do well.

It is often as uncomfortable and de-energizing to be hungry for these spiritual qualities as to be hungry for material food. But nobody should suffer or feel in any way deprived. The Bible tells us: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness."^{ Ps. 107:8, 9;} And certainly we are well fed when we look to God, Spirit, rather than to human beings and material objects for the satisfaction of our heart's hunger.