Written by Michael Worrall

Why do we listen, read and watch?

We’ve talked about being choosy eaters but we haven’t talked about the appetite that brings us to the table. What hunger leads us to stories of brokenness and redemption? What craving draws us to music that moves us? Why do we find our souls stirred by works of art?

Maybe it is because we are meaning-makers and our appetite is for significance.
Maybe it is because we are creatures and our appetite is for our Creator.
Maybe it is both.

In The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis calls the appetite “longing.” He says,

“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty (or meaning, or Creator) was located will betray us if we trust them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

What if the stories and songs we love awaken in us a longing for meaning and home?
What if they awaken our heart’s hunger for shalom - the flourishing, abundant life for which we were created?

Listen: (I am) Origami, Pt. 2 - Every Power Wide Awake by John Van Deusen
(Available on bandcamp or Spotify)

John Van Deusen calls Every Power Wide Awake “a record of prayers” and that is a fitting description. The album starts with “All Shall Be Well” and finishes with “I Will Praise Your Name, Yahweh” and in between explores the hills and valleys of the life of faith. I’d recommend you listen to the whole record straight through, but if you want to dip your toes first listen to: “None Other” and “No Limit to Your Love”

Read: ‘Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis

There aren’t many stories that leave lasting images in your mind and heart, but ‘Til We Have Faces is one of them. Lewis retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche and explores the nature of love, faith, pride, longing, and more. You will get to the end and feel some combination of wonder and gut-punch - as if the wind has been knocked out of you. You will be tempted to retrace the story to try to make sense of it, but let me encourage you to sit and wonder and then reread it in a year or two.

Watch: Lion (for rent on Amazon)

I can barely write about this movie without *tearing up. Lion is about longing for home. It tells the story of an Indian boy, Saroo Brierly, who gets lost as a young child, placed in an orphanage, and eventually adopted by an Australian family. As he grows so does his memory of and longing for his mother and brother in India. The movie follows Saroo as he tries to find his family and find home. *Seriously, keep tissues handy, my wife and I wept for 10 minutes straight after it ended.

If you want to read more about the idea in the introduction here is a great interview with Mike Cosper about why we love stories.