The Hole in Our Hearts

“I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you” (Acts 17:22-23).
My dear friend, Barbara, is living in Thailand for the next several weeks. She is a keen observer and descriptive writer, and I love the images she is sharing as her adventure unfolds. Reading her emails, I’m captivated, as if absorbed in one of those wonderful travel shows on PBS. Some of the most intriguing sights she describes are the temples, which must be everywhere you turn in Bangkok! She writes about “intricate artwork, vivid colors, more buddhas than I could count…” She describes the standing buddha (105 feet tall), the reclining buddha, (150 feet long and covered in gold….this buddha depicts Nirvana, the aim of buddhism), the lucky buddha, and the emerald buddha on the palace grounds, to name a few. Barbara describes shrines that are “everywhere…in the courtyard of the apartment, in Starbucks, on the street corner, in the mall, in the yards of homes, in the park, in the market…” And she notes that the monks are treated with great respect, and given an elevated position in society. She is struck by the contrast of the devout faith that permeates that culture and the casual worship that is characteristic of our society. Barbara wrote “so maybe a difference is the people here are worshipping idols because they are trying to fill the “God hole” in their hearts with a god (imitation, but they don’t know) and people in America are filling their God hole with themselves…” Obviously, all of us have a God hole in our hearts. Paul mentions this God hole in Ephesians 3:19, and expresses his desire that we come to “know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” We all have an empty place that desperately needs to be filled. A study of world religions is a study of cultures trying to fill that hole. I began to wonder what Buddhism was all about, and became intrigued as I studied the topic.
In all that I have read, I know I have just begun to scratch the surface. Buddhism takes many different forms throughout India, China and Southeast Asia. The religion itself is described as “a continuous analytical process of life, not a mere set of ethics and rituals” (Wikipedia encyclopedia, article on Buddhism). Although Buddha is revered as a single supremely gifted person, worshippers recognize the existence of other Buddhas in the distant past and yet to come in the future. The form of Buddhism practiced in Thailand is known as “Theravada.” It’s ultimate theory can be summarized in “four noble truths.” And these can be simply stated as “the problem,” “the cause,” “the solution,” and the “pathway.” The goal of following the tenents of Buddhism is to achieve “nirvana.” Followers may have to be continually reborn until they achieve this goal. Nirvana can be described as “perfect peace of mind that is free from craving, anger, and other afflictive states.” Or, “the state of being free from the state of suffering and the cycle of rebirth” (Wikipedia, Nirvana in Buddhism).
You might say there are four noble truths in Christianity as well: 1)the problem (separation from God because of sin), 2)the cause (lack of belief, leading to rebellion), 3)the solution (the blood of Christ), 4)the pathway (the living Christ). I appreciate the simplicity of Christianity. As I studied Buddhism, my head began to spin. It is a very complex system of beliefs, that varies widely from culture to culture. Paul warns “I fear, lest by any means….your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (KJV, II. Cor. 11:3). He continues his discourse to the Athenians by saying, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else……God did this so that all men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:24-28). We could never impress God with ornate temples and countless shrines. Faithfully observing endless rituals cannot win His favor (Gal. 2:15-16). Nothing we can do will ever fill our God hole. God purposefully made us incomplete, and He is the only One who can make us whole…”For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ…” (Col. 2:9)
I know that worship is never a casual thing for my friend in Thailand. And I cannot help but reflect that amongst all the artistry, gold, precious gems and devout rituals surrounding her in that land, her heart of worship is what God finds beautiful…swadikah
my friend….keep sharing!