The “God-shaped” Hole in Our Hearts

It's ironic that when we engage in activities that bring us immediate gratification, they often leave us feeling uncomfortable, guilty, and irritated. The hyper-palatable foods we indulge in, for instance, make us feel physically unwell; and they damage us emotionally by eroding our self-perception. We feel ashamed, weak in willpower, and without self-control. We’re left with a diminished sense of self because once again we gave into a fleeting desire and once again we chose to satisfy a base desire over a deep need. That feeds a negative narrative about ourselves which grows more malicious with each indulgence. We chase it to feel good, to gain the satisfaction of a good flavor, the dopamine rush. It’s as if we think we will live forever in that feeling, as if we could cling to it eternally. It presents itself as an effortless and quick path to happiness. We confuse being good with feeling good- and those two are not the same. But that payoff is over almost as swiftly as it began. Those pleasures are of the world, which means that they diminish. That would be okay if we kept things in perspective. But the folly of human beings is that we fail to put things in their proper place. We attach promise to things that ultimately undeliver. They could satisfy us if our expectations were commensurate with their capacity. The irony is that we’d enjoy our indulgences more if we did not expect them to satisfy our deep desires for happiness, contentment with ourselves, and contentment with our position in relation to Allah.

On the other hand, those activities which fit with our deep desires to be a certain kind of person with ideals and values, often appear unattractive, demanding, distant. Just bringing them to mind sparks resistance almost immediately. And we may or may not feel good when we do them, but we always feel ‘right.’ Even our desires for the less worthy things of life are awkward and frustrated attempts to satisfy our desire for what some call ‘the God-shaped hole in our hearts.’ When Prophet Ibrahim, may Allah grant him peace, tried to guide his people to Allah, he pointed to a star first, then the moon, then the sun– each celestial body more dazzling and worthy than the last. Our desires are similarly tiered: some surface, some deep, and some profound. Each an attempt to fulfill our purpose. The superficial desires will never get us there; they are too meandering and distracting. Our deep desires are meaningful and emanate from something true–when we focus on those, we are more fulfilled. Our profound desires, like the sun, reveal what the dimness of the world has occluded. Allah is the true intended desire.