ACADEMY OF ROMANIAN SCIENTISTS

Annals of the Academy of Romanian Scientists

Series on Philosophy, Psychology and Theology

ISSN 2067 – 5690

Volume

, Number

1–2

2025

THE LONGING FOR GOD – THE HIDDEN CALL

OF THE HUMAN HEART

Elena ARMENESCU



Summary.

After a brief explanation of religious feeling in the modern period, from several

perspectives:

psychological,

sociological,

Phenomenological

Theological

and

neurobiological, a subject studied by illustrious researchers in the respective fields, follows

an essay entitled:

The Longing for God

. If the human heart seems designed and equipped

for something greater than any passing experience, through the experience of emotions, it is

the human mind that refuses to accept that life could be a purposeless event. Psychologists

state that this desire can be viewed as a need for total meaning. In each of us there is a deep

need to believe that our existence has value, that suffering has a purpose, that love is not in

vain. Fundamental questions such as: “Who am I? Why do I exist?” refer to a relationship

once had, now lost but not forgotten, which orients us towards God.

Keywords

: longing, God heart calling, psychological perspective, neuroscience.

DOI

10.56082/annalsarsciphil.2025.1.5

In the modern period, religious feeling is a complex phenomenon that can

be explained through several complementary perspectives, from inner experience

to social function:

Psychological

Perspective.

From

psychological

point

view,

religious feeling is often linked to the need for security and meaning in the face of

the

unknown

and

death.

William

James

described

state

individual

consciousness, a direct and subjective experience of the sacred. Sigmund Freud

saw

form

projection

the

father

figure,

offering

protection

against

existential anxieties. Carl Jung believed that religiosity stems from the archetypes

of the collective unconscious, being a natural component of the human psyche.

Sociological

Perspective

Sociology

analyzes

how

this

feeling

contributes to group cohesion. Émile Durkheim defined religious feeling as being,

essence,

transfigured

social

feeling;

worshipping

the

divinity,

the

community worships its own values and unity. Max Weber focused on how these

beliefs provide an ethical and rational framework for organizing life and society.

Phenomenological

and

Theological

Perspective

This

approach

argues

that religious feeling cannot be reduced to social or biological causes alone. It is

seen

genuine

experience

love

for

"Fundamental

Consciousness"



Member of the Romanian Writers' Union, honorary member of Academy of Romanian Scientists,

and the Romanian Association of Pediatricians, pediatric specialist.

Elena

Armenescu

transcendent

force.

involves

"I-Thou"

relationship

(according

Martin

Buber), where the individual relates to a personal divine presence.

Neurobiological

Perspective

Modern

research

suggests

that

there

are

biological bases for spiritual experiences. Certain areas of the brain are activated

during prayer or meditation, influencing well-being and physical health.

Neuroscience explores how the nervous system processes experiences of

transcendence and connection. Essentially, religious feeling can be understood as

intersection

between

human

biology

(the

need

for

meaning),

individual

psychology (subjective experience) and social structure (the need for belonging).

The longing for God

There is a nostalgia in the human being without a visible object, a thirst

that cannot be quenched by success, love, knowledge or the beauties of the world.

It is the longing for God – a mysterious calling, present even when man does not

recognize it. It is not just a religious emotion, but a deep structure of the soul, a

memory

lost

belonging.

There

silent,

constant,

almost

imperceptible

movement in man that pushes him to seek beyond what he sees. It is not hunger, it

is not thirst, it is not the desire for comfort or success. It is a deeper restlessness

than

all

these

–

wordless

calling,

emptiness

that

does

not

resemble

any

material

lack.

This

inner

movement

has

been

called

throughout

history

“the

longing for God.” Man lives in a world full of finite things. Joys come and go,

relationships change, the body ages, and time flows without stopping. And yet, in

the midst of these limits, the human being dreams of infinity. This contradiction is

one of the most mysterious characteristics of the human condition: we are limited,

but we think unlimitedly; we are mortal, but we aspire to eternity; we live in time,

but we feel the nostalgia for eternity.

The longing for God arises precisely in this tension between the finite and

the infinite. Man is never fully satisfied with what he has. After every fulfillment,

a new desire arises, after every success, a new question. Not because the world is

devoid of beauty, but because the human heart seems built for something greater

than any fleeting experience.

Deep down, man

seeks not

only

happiness,

but

happiness that will never end. Psychologically, this desire can be seen as a need

for

total

meaning.

The

human

mind

refuses

that

life

could

purposeless

accident.

each

there

deep

need

believe

that

our

existence has value, that suffering has a purpose, that love is not in vain. The idea

of God thus becomes the ultimate horizon of meaning - the place where questions

cease to multiply. Psychologically, man seeks not only meaning, but also stability

and

unconditional

love.

But

worldly

experience

can

provide

these

things

absolutely. That is why every earthly fulfillment is followed by a new desire. After

every peak, a void appears. After every joy, the question reappears: "And further?"

This

void

not

deficiency,

but

indicator.

shows

that

man

oriented

The Longing for God – the hidden call of the human heart

towards

infinity.

were

created

only

for

the

material

world,

would

satisfied with finite things. The fact that he is never fully satisfied shows that his

soul

seeks

something

unlimited. The

longing

for

God

thus

the

memory

transcendent

origin.

the

echo

lost

but

not

forgotten

relationship.

But

beyond psychological and philosophical explanations remains the deeply personal

dimension of this longing. It does not appear only in thoughts, but in experiences:

in moments of absolute silence, in the beauty of a sunset, in the encounter with

love,

tears

for

apparent

reason. There

are

moments

when

man

feels

that

reality has a depth that cannot be expressed in words. Then the feeling appears

that the world is more than its matter, that existence hides an invisible presence.

Man does not yearn for God because he has been taught to do so, but because he

bears

within

himself

original

imprint.

This

longing

sometimes

appears

restlessness,

sometimes

melancholy,

sometimes

tireless

for

meaning. It is the longing for “home”, even if we do not know where that home is.

Existentially, the longing for God is linked to the awareness of death. Man is the

only being who knows that he will die. This knowledge creates a fissure within

existence: if everything ends, what is the point of the beginning? Faced with this

question, the soul seeks a guarantee of permanence. The longing for God becomes

the longing to know that life is not just a parenthesis between two silences. Many

people try to reduce this restlessness through continuous activity: excessive work,

entertainment, consumption, travel

or material

accumulation. Not because these

are bad in themselves, but because they sometimes become avoidance strategies.

Man

fears

silence,

because

silence

longing

heard

most

clearly.

When

the

noise disappears, the fundamental question remains: "Who am I? Why do I exist?"

This question is the beginning of the spiritual search. Longing becomes conscious.

Paradoxically, restlessness is not man's enemy, but his secret friend. It pushes him

to overcome the limits of the material and seek the ultimate meaning. The longing

for God does not appear only in religious moments. It hides in the most human

experiences:

- in deep love, when we feel that it should last forever;

- in the beauty of nature, when we feel that the world says more than the

mind can explain;

- in the desire for truth, when we are not satisfied with superficial answers.

In all these experiences the same impulse appears: the desire for infinity.

Man

does

not

the

limits

time

and

death;

instinctively

aspires

eternity. This aspiration is a form of unspoken prayer. Often, the longing for God

becomes conscious

suffering. When certainties collapse and external support

disappears, man discovers how fragile everything he thought was stable is. Pain

opens

the

space

for

the

ultimate

question.

suffering,

man

longer

seeks

sophisticated

explanations,

but

meaning.

longer

seeks

pleasure,

but

presence.

longer

seeks

success,

but

hope.

Thus,

suffering

sometimes

Elena

Armenescu

becomes the gate through which the longing for God enters consciousness. Man

can ignore it, postpone it, or transform it into other pursuits. Freedom is essential

in the relationship with the divine. Longing is a gentle call, not a constraint. Some

follow it through faith, others through philosophy, art, or love, but deep down, all

these pursuits converge on the same question: “What is the ultimate meaning of

existence?” The longing for God is the promise of an encounter, and this changes

the perspective: longing is no longer a pain, a “wound” but a direction. He shows

the way to the interior of being, where man discovers that he is not alone.

Conclusion

The longing for God is one of the deepest realities of the human soul. It

manifests itself as restlessness, as a thirst for meaning, as a love of infinity and as

rejection

limits.

the

invisible

thread

that

connects

man

the

transcendent. In the silence of the heart, longing never ceases to whisper: “

You are

more than this world. There is a Home for you.

”

This idea inspired my poem:

Until we reach that Home God!

Because in the language of men

no matter how many words,

I could fit encoded in subtle metaphors,

I could not reproduce,

I cannot find the way to make heard,

Spread, the good news

That I hear you,

I feel you touching me,

I see you,

In all the beauty around me

Knowing that

I am connected to You,

With miraculous, amazing, unbreakable threads …

I am a unique, divine fabric,

Of Your tireless corpuscles - waves,

Body and garment of light…

When the mysterious, unseen fluid carries me.

To the lap of Your mantle of stars,

With amazement on my shoulders,

on my eyelashes,

Blown by ecstasy,

In the midst of so many lit candles

In front of the miracle of discovering You

Beyond my dreams

An ancient breeze carries me to my heart