In the recent Catholic Kyeongyang Magazine, a professor in the Spirituality
Department of the Incheon Seminary wants the readers to reflect on the invitation to desire.
Our invitation to Desire—
Most of humanity interiorly, and concretely, lives with unfulfilled desires. Our time is spent in their search and realization. Desire gives direction to our lives, and whether they are well-selected or rashly acquired it gives us the energy to face the future.
Many persons without desires live without vitality and the number is not small.
The professor at a counseling center of a university has met students who face an uncertain future without strength with a feeling of helplessness and complain about the emptiness of their lives. They have no idea how to fit into the society in which they exist. They have been pushed aside in competition. They have worked hard to achieve what others have presented to them and paid no attention to their own desires. The vision that was given to them of wealth, and success, is no longer a possibility and the reason for the emptiness.
The world tells young people what they need to desire before they even become familiar with their own deepest desires. A situation that is forced on them.
The young people are given an external standard to follow and with which they are to compare and be judged which alienates them from themselves. The biggest cause of anxiety is the fear of being rejected or abandoned by others and being left alone when the desires of others are not followed.
Relationship of Desire—
The temporary satisfaction of pleasure only causes more thirst and creates a feeling of emptiness. By longing for and obsessing over certain actions, objects, or people, we are changed from a loving person to slaves of the object we long for. Paradoxically this state of obsession begins with a self-centered desire to own the object.
The reward given to those who seek temporary and immediate pleasure is a confused and scattered sense of self in a state of slavery.
Our human longing is for the whole person: the body, the mental, and the spiritual. It is experienced on all levels.
The longing is experienced by the body in its sexual dimension, and with psychological and spiritual attractions. No desire is divided between the head and the heart, it is experienced by the whole person. Clearly, human longing has a relational aspect towards an object. It may be an attraction or aversion. The human desire is a human process that enables a capacity to begin a relationship.
From birth, we are surrounded by all kinds of desires, longings, and cravings. They give us life energy.
The instinctive attitude of wanting to satisfy a deficiency is a part of our makeup. The sexual desire to love someone, the longing that we experience as energy is a powerful force that guides our lives. This is experienced in all our desires and is the motive power of much of life. So taking a look at our desires gives us a chance to see what makes us tick.
Desire goes in two directions. One is to a deeper level to be more complete, and the other is to find instant gratification for the moment. Our choice will be for our harmonious growth in our relationship with self and with others or despondency and chaos.
St. Ignatius of Loyola has explained that when this attachment is to disorder and chaos, hope is lost. What we see in present society: scorn, sarcasm, lethargy, loss of meaning, anger, and hopelessness is the opposite of what comes from spiritual consolation.
Spiritual consolation from desire is an internal joy that one experiences. From a superficial way of living to a deep appreciation of the way God is leading us.
Towards Transcendence—
Our desire is God. Because human longing is limitless, no object can satisfy us other than a relationship with an infinite being.
The creation of humans was God's act of love who is infinite love, longing for greater love. In the love he showed in creation and the love between the Father and the Son is an invitation to more love. In and thru Christ we share love with God. We have a longing to share this love with God and others. It is a longing for an intimacy with God. We see our life's journey as one of getting to know ourselves and accepting all, be it with difficulty.
When we are grasped with a longing for God then all the temporary and indiscreet desires are forgotten. These are the little deaths that we experience in life.
When the longings that we have become clear in our minds, the anxiety and fear that can't endure uncertainty will gradually fade.
When we fall in love we give up everything for the one we love. We become completely open and transcend ourselves. We experience anxiety due to failure, weakness, poverty, illness, etc. We need to see what is causing the feeling, deep within ourselves. When God's love grasps us then we experience a change and we begin living the resurrected life a new life right here and now.
