The Restless Heart by Ronald Rolheiser

The Restless Heart: Finding Our Spiritual Home in Times of Loneliness by Ronald Rolheiser


My rating: 3 of 5 stars




First time I read this book I couldn't get into it. This time I was able to finish it. The writing is very philosophical and is a good summary of the different types of loneliness, the causes and the cures. Ultimately, the author concludes, that we will always struggle a bit with loneliness in this life as we are made for another world and a relationship with God for eternity.

Quotes:
"...why we work and love badly; our restless hearts push us in so many directions that often we end up going nowhere."

from Gregory of Nyssa - "If [the human mind:] spreads itself out in all directions, constantly flowing out and dispersing to whatever pleases the senses, it will never have any notable force in its progress towards the true Good."

"We bounce from one thing to the next as we try to quench our thirsty unrest." - this statement really rang true for me!

"Mostly, though, the pain is tolerable, but nagging; a dissatisfaction with the quality of our life an dour relationships to people, a frustration without an object, a yearning without a particular reference, a nostalgia for past moments and friends, a restlessness that prevents us from relaxing and from being present to the moment, a feeling of alienation, a paranoia, a sense of missing out on something, an inexplicable emptiness."

"...whenever we enter relationships expecting not a friend or a marriage partner but a messiah, we do violence to the other and to the quality of the friendship and love that is there because we are constantly measuring what we have against an ideal that is not fully realistic in our present human condition."

"...whenever we choose 1 thing, we necessarily exclude certain other things."