What is your number one need in life? Of course your physical body has needs that must be met if you are to survive. And you need social interaction and human warmth.

But sacred texts from across the ages speak of another need — a need to forge a connection to a higher energy, a higher intelligence, the creative force in the universe. Ultimately, this is the deepest, most important need of all.

All the actions we take in life to seek wealth, possessions, relationships, fame, authority, are all done to fill an emptiness we feel in ourselves. But that emptiness can never be filled by the things we seek outside of ourselves. Our ultimate fulfillment can only come when we experience oneness with the Higher — which is the only way our deepest need is satisfied.

Here is a sampling of quotes from across time and cultures that express this understanding…

Give ear to my cry, Eternal Word,
and answer me
for I am in need of You.
Awaken new life in me,
as I yearn to do Your will;
dispel the ignorance of my ways;
as I put my trust in You.
You are the Beloved, be gracious to me,
Heart of my heart,
for with You I would walk all day.
My soul is uplifted as I abandon
myself into Your hands.
— Old Testament

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
— New Testament

Don’t surrender your loneliness
So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.
— Hafez (1315)

Man has inner necessities. His emotional life is not satisfied by outer things. His organization is not only to be explained in terms of adaptation to outer life. He needs ideas to give meaning to his existence. There is that in him that can grow and develop — some further state of himself — not lying in “tomorrow,” but above him.
— Dr. Maurice Nicoll (1884)

He who created us yearns for our love. He wants us to give it spontaneously, without His asking. Our love is the one thing God does not possess, unless we choose to bestow it. So, you see, even the Lord has something to attain: our love. And we shall never be happy until we give it.
— Paramhansa Yogananda (1893)

My friends, how desperately do we need to be loved and to love. Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world. We turn inward and begin to feed upon our own personalities, and little by little we destroy ourselves. With it we are creating. With it we march tirelessly. With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others.
— Chief Dan George, Coast Salish (1899)

Simple Steps You Can Take to Make the Higher Connection

We are not alone in our search for Love, for Eternal Wisdom, for God. The Higher reaches out to us, as we reach out to It.

OneJourney founder Guy Finley has some practical wisdom to help you find what your heart truly wants…

Recognizing the need for God in your life is the beginning of His entrance into it. And, as His is always the initiating action, what may feel like your need is really His secret invitation — announcing itself as a hunger in the heart which nothing in the world can sate.
— Guy Finley (1949)

Do you have an inspiring quote from your own tradition that speaks of our need for Higher connection? Please submit it to the OneJourney Living Book to help all of us remember what our lives are really all about.

Best wishes,

Dr. Ellen Dickstein
The OneJourney Project