Divine Discontent and Longing

Available for 21 days

Good morning. The daffodils are out in force here, in the meadow overlooking St Davids Cathedral. We had a wonderful show for St David’s Day yesterday – it’s one of the best seasons we’ve had in recent years. Spring is definitely springing. For many of us, this coincides with the church’s season of Lent. The two themes are beautifully woven together in the opening passage of The Wind in the Willows, where Mole is whitewashing his home. Kenneth Graham writes: ‘Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing …’ ‘The spirit of divine discontent and longing’ is a marvellous encapsulation of Lenten themes. Being attentive to the divine discontent within in us resonates with Ash Wednesday’s call to ‘turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ’. Hard though it can be to admit it, acknowledging the nagging feeling that we are not as Christlike as we ought to be, can provide impetus to reorient ourselves in humility and dependence towards him. Surely too we can tap into the motivation and momentum that come from embracing the divine longing, the deep yearning that God plants within us, to grow into holiness, to grow into the abundance life that he desires for us. Holy God, this spring, this Lent, as spring emerges, stir up in us afresh your divine discontent and longing for the gift of your newness of life. Amen