Longing as an Ingredient of Hope

It seems that as humans we are always longing. We might be longing for the good times of days gone by, for release from our present circumstances, or for a future hope yet unfulfilled.
The problem with these longings is that we often believe that the fulfillment of them will make us happy. But memories are usually better than the actual events we remember; circumstances are just a framework for our view of the world, and simply changing circumstances won't change our view; and our hopes for the future are always limited by our current knowledge of people and the world we live in, which both change.
Author C.S. Lewis notes that this longing of ours is our seeking for union with something from which we are separated. We often think that if only we could have this union it would resolve our longing. 
And so we pursue fulfillment of our longings in things and people that never quite resolve the anxiety our longing brings. 
Saint Augustine, who for years sought fulfillment of his longings in human love and pleasure, finally identified our ultimate longing as that for the supreme good. His well-known prayer from his "Confessions" addresses this ultimate longing:
"O Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."
As Augustine discovered, God has put this longing in us so that we would find solace in Him. Yet, as J.R.R. Tolkien noted, we too often look for solace IN God's blessings, not in God as found THROUGH his blessings as He intended. 
Though Christmas has now past us, let's remember that the giving and receiving of gifts, the memories found through joyful times with family and friends, and the love and comfort we experience are simply vehicles through which we experience the character of God in whom we find our true solace and fulfillment of our greatest longings. 

(This concept was adapted and paraphrased from Cornelius Plantina Jr.'s "Engaging God's World." The post title is a subheading in Plantinga's first chapter.)