Plantinga Chapter 1: Longing and Hope

As the chapter begins, Plantinga writes about a character's feelings in John Knowles' A Separate Peace.

the feeling of yearning and longing and compares it to missing family, or the feeling on the last day of summer. While I am not familiar with the feeling described by the character in A Separate Peace, I am fully conscious of what missing a family is like. Being on the other side of the world from my family exposes me to a lot of freedom and forces me to be independent, but I count the days to each holiday break so I can go home.

Further into the reading, Plantinga quotes CS Lewis:

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambitions when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pie in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Lewis' point is very clear. God is there to provide for us with "infinite joy." While we have a longing for Him, we are to often distracted by "drink and sex and ambitions." I find this to be very true. In my own life, I am distracted by many things: studies, video games, music, sleep. However, I am certain that God is tugging at my heart.

Plantinga also makes his point clear: "The truth is that nothing in this earth can finally satisfy us." This longing for satisfaction leads into the second part of the chapter, Longing as an Ingredient of Hope. Plantinga points out that all this talk can sound too romantic and fantastic, depending on how much a person hopes. He continues to note that hope is made of imagination, faith and desire. 

This is because longing is an ingredient of hope. You can hope only for something you want, and if you really want it, you will long for it. 

On the topic of hope, I'm reminded of a quote from my favorite television medical drama House, MD. In the episode, the patient is not content with his life as a soap star and wants more. Dr. House, in all his cynicism, says:

You’d rather imagine that you can escape instead of actually try cause if you fail, you’ve got nothing. So you give up the chance at something, so that you can hold on to hope. The thing is, hope is for sissies.

While I don't agree with House entirely (and it may not be completely relevant to the reading), the quote means that instead of just holding onto hope alone, one must act as well. Instead of wishing that you had better grades, you must actually go and study to get them. Instead of hoping you'd land a dream job, you must work hard and take chances. Instead of hoping for a better relationship with God, you must reach out to Him.