Jesus’ words may cause us to wonder what the sound of God’s knocking actually sounds like. Believe it or not, the answer is discontentment! In this context, discontentment is not a psychological disorder, but our frustration and despair at life’s vicissitudes and our irrepressible longing for ultimate happiness, bliss, and love. Creation is good and can bring us moments of joy, but those moments always pass. Our discontentment is actually God saying to us, “I am here! I am ever-deepening bliss, and I am all the love, security, and consolation you have been seeking.” Without the experience of discontentment, it is unlikely that we will ever consent to God’s presence with any depth, sincerity, or ardor. The word “consent” literally means “with feeling or passion.” Our discontent is the necessary precondition for our warm-blooded, full-bodied consent to God’s love. Yogananda tells us, “Mankind is engaged in an eternal quest for that “something else” he hopes will bring him happiness, complete and unending. For those individual souls who have sought and found God, the search is over: He is that Something Else.”
How could I have known
That my nagging discontent
Is both a gift and an invitation!
