Devotional Spirituality

BogartRobinsonKeyLargoWhat do we want? Our consciousness is saturated with the sounds, sights, and smells of things that we associate with satisfaction, even if it is satisfaction that lasts only a few seconds.

We convince ourselves that if we can accumulate enough of these things, in as wide a variety as possible, we will remain satiated for the foreseeable future. Yet our heart, our mind, knows better, even if we keep those thoughts buried deep below, so we won't experience the crashing, humbling cognitive dissonance of reality. That place inside us that we don't let out, because it is so at odds with the way we've structured our lives, that place longs for the more that only Christ can satisfy. And He satisfies for eternity. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

The scriptures below capture the perils of ignoring that place deep inside our minds, as does the film clip from a 1948 movie.

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Ecclesiastes 1.

Hell and destruction are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.Proverbs 27

In the clip below from Key Largo, the quintessence of this unquenchable desire is presented in stark relief, in a confrontation between a fugitive gangster, Johnny Rocco (played by Edward G. Robinson),  and a World War II hero, Frank McCloud (played by Humphrey Bogart). While outside their Florida Keys hotel a hurricane roars, downing telephone lines and trapping the gangster and his troops, McCloud spars with Rocco over what he is really after.

Devotional Audio & Video

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Reflections to Consider

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Devotional Publications

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Publications

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Devotional Music

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Music

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Devotional Reflection

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Audio & Video

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Favorites

  • Prayer - Does it Make Any Difference, Philip Yancey +

    Contemporary classic that probes the meaning of prayer for 21st century believers, and provides extended, personal anecdotes from a wide… Read More
  • Blog of the Week: Mister Noah's Neighborhood: Philip Yancey blog +

    Below is a wonderful blog by Philip Yancey--see the link at the end of the posting. Mister Noah's Neighborhood Posted… Read More
  • Why Not Give the Christians a Chance: Philip Yancey on prison ministries +

    Below is an excerpt from a recent blog post by Philip Yancey--a thoughtful examination of prison ministries.The link to the… Read More
  • The Winter Season of Faith: Philip Yancey's blog +

    The following is taken from Philip Yancey's blog. A link to his website is at the end of this excerpt.… Read More
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Hidden Blessings

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows… Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic… Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the… Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St… Read More
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