The Son of God once said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. This bespeaks spiritual hunger. It refers to those who realise the poverty of their spirits and the starvation of their souls, and who actively acknowledge it and ardently seek to be made full. The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Spiritual hunger does not seem to be very common these days. Our lives are too cluttered; we do not give ourselves the space to be spiritually hungry. We quickly fill the nothingness of our lives with internet chats and forums, movies, music, sports, and frantic socialisation.

The more religiously inclined ones seek spiritual entertainment by fraternising with the pop-Jesus. They look for churches that provide them with this particular “effect” they seek in their very seemingly Christian but very unspiritual journey.

These things do not satisfy spiritual hunger; they prevent one from experiencing real spiritual hunger. They acutely dull the human senses towards the longing, the searching, and the reaching out for the divine.

Those who are truly spiritually hungry often find themselves lonely in a world that has forgotten the virtue of spiritual hunger. Most others are just really quite okay with the way things are, and this often (but not always) includes religious leaders. So the ones who are truly spiritually hungry and who pursue truth find themselves outcasted even from religious communities.

How can spiritual hunger be cultivated in a world that promises so much gratification to the desires of the restless soul, and ironically, perpetuates that state of restlessness? Religion, we can find - just walk into any church. But what about true spirituality that really feeds the poor in spirit, brings the Kingdom of God to them and then draws them into it?