The Longing

A Step Beyond…

Many of us live our lives believing, without any doubt, that God loves us. We can warmly recite “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. Yet for some for us, the degree to which we truly experience being God’s beloved — chosen, accepted and fully loved — doesn't go much deeper than this familiar childhood rhyme.

In The Longing, O’Conner invites us not just to believe God loves us, but to truly experience it - daily, personally, and deeply.
O’Conner writes with honesty and compassion, illuminating our deep human longing to be chosen, loved, valued, and accepted for who we are as unique individuals. He invites us to spend some time reflecting on our lived experience of being eternally loved by God.
To guide this reflection, he offers a variety of thoughtful prompts. These help us explore how - and possibly why - our experience of God’s love can feel distant or diminished at times.
He challenges us to consider what might be standing in the way of moving beyond mere belief. What voices/messages from the past distort our view of ourselves? What if we stepped into full acceptance — that we are created, chosen, and deeply loved?
O’Conner invites us to imagine: What might our lives look like if we truly saw ourselves as God sees us?
I know for myself that when I am in those moments of allowing Gods love into my heart, I ‘become’ more the person God made me to be: more loving, more giving, more productive, more peaceful. Yet remaining in those moments can be elusive.

Here is where The Longing differentiates itself from other inspirational books. In the final chapter, O’Conner offers a list of questions, based on each of the previous chapters, which encourage the reader to pause, reflect, and listen — not just with the ears, but with the heart. He provides actionable steps to help us choose a more fruitful, joyful path in our walk with God.