There is a truth we often resist: that life, as we know it here, is laced with suffering. No matter how carefully we build it, how earnestly we seek pleasure, security, or ease—something always escapes us. Rest is fleeting. Joy, though real, is often tempered. The ache of the world is not an anomaly. It is part of our condition.
And yet, to contemplate this misery is not an act of despair. It is an invitation to turn, not to the world for relief, but to God for meaning.
The Universal Ache
Why are we so often disquieted when life doesn’t unfold according to our desires?
Who among us has not asked this in some form? We strive for happiness, but it slips through our fingers. We watch others and imagine they have it easier, more sorted, more fulfilled. Yet all of us—rich and poor, spiritual or worldly—carry the weight of life.
The one who is strongest is not the one who avoids suffering but the one who is strong enough to suffer something for love’s sake, for meaning, for God.
That shift—from resistance to purpose—is the beginning of inner strength.
The Great Illusion
There is a kind of madness in how we chase after temporal things, as if they might finally make us whole. “See how prosperous he is,” we say. “See how much she has.” But everything that glitters fades. Everything visible is temporary.
Those who walk the ancient paths knew this well. The Celtic saints were no strangers to hardship. They lived in windswept cells, walked barefoot across rocky terrain, and let go of comfort for the sake of clarity.
Not because they were stoics. But because they had seen the deeper beauty.
Saint Cuthbert lived among the sea birds and seals. Saint Ita taught children to love holiness over praise. They longed not for wealth or ease, but for hearts unburdened by the weight of illusion.
To long for God is to grow disenchanted with the world’s false promises.
A Bittersweet Life
The more spiritually awake we become, the more we feel the ache of life. The body’s needs, the pull of temptation, the fragmentation of our attention—all feel like burdens once we’ve tasted something more.
Even eating, sleeping, and working can feel heavy to the devout soul who longs for purity and union. This is not to hate the world, but to recognise its limits. The spiritual person doesn’t disdain life; they simply don’t idolise it.
The ache becomes a compass.
The Blindness of Contentment
There are those who live chained to the fleeting. Even when it offers no peace, they cling to it—choosing distraction over depth. They would rather live in noise than face the silence. Rather labour endlessly than ask what it’s for.
The saints, on the other hand, let go. They did not despise the earth, but they held it lightly. Their hearts leaned upward.
They lived with an awareness that we often try to drown out: that this life is not home.
The Invitation to Begin Again
If you feel weighed down, uncertain, or dull in spirit, hear this: there is still time. The path has not closed. The hour has not passed.
Now is the time to act. Now is the moment to begin.
True growth rarely comes when we are comfortable. It comes when we are agitated. When we are frustrated. When we are weary enough to seek a deeper rest.
It is through fire and water, says the psalm, that God brings us into a spacious place. We do not reach freedom by coasting, but by pressing forward—even through discomfort.
The Struggle Within
It is humbling how quickly we fall. How easily we forget our resolutions. How often we promise to change, only to find ourselves back where we began.
This, too, is part of the path.
We are frail. We are forgetful. We are unstable. But we are not without hope. The call is not to perfection, but to perseverance.
The more we see our weakness, the more we are invited into grace. Not as a concept, but as a lifeline.
A New Beginning
It is not too late to grow. Even if we feel like novices. Even if we have wandered far. Even if our fire has burned low.
Begin again.
Not tomorrow. Now.
Say yes to the next right thing
Feeling lost, stuck or disillusioned on your path?
Take a look at
Walking Together
Ancient Whispers 
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