sate [sāt]

VERB

Do you know this word: sate?

It’s not a regular part of my vocabulary. But, I found it in some old writing of my mom’s. It caught my attention. I liked the sound of it and wanted to dig in.

Sate: to satisfy (a desire or an appetite) to the full.

Synonyms of sate include: satiate, fully satisfy, slake, quench, take the edge off. These words feel good to me. I feel at ease when I read them.

But then the synonyms take a hard turn: stuff, fill, overfill, overfeed, surfeit, glut, cloy. It’s interesting how different “fully satisfied” feels from “glut.”

And “cloy”?! That’s a word I’d like to add to my vocabulary! It means to disgust or sicken (someone) with an excess of sweetness, richness, or sentiment.

I recently had a conversation with my sister, Karen, about being satisfied. She was wresting with how to be content with the wonderful, privileged life she enjoys, while also choosing to grow and be more in her business.

Do you wrestle with this? I do.

We want both, right? To be satisfied and to be more.

I wonder if this word, sate, can help?

Can I notice when I go from being fully satisfied to overstuffed? Maybe this can be the signal that it’s time to try something new.

Jesus calls us to both: satisfaction in our peace with God and continual growth into love.

I don’t think I’ll ever be fully satisfied, because I will always need to grow in love. But, I lack nothing. I am sated spiritually. And, this actually inspires me to want to grow.

Do you relate to this at all?