On Desire

Bonfires by the lake from 2021

Last month, a book arrived at my home from an unknown sender. Wrapped in a blush colored jacket, the volume in question was

A.J. Swoboda

’s The Gift of Thorns. After completing a read through, I knew there was something I needed to write about this thorn we call desire.

Our word desire comes from the Latin desiderare, literally meaning: of a longing looking at the stars. This definition at first seemed like an idiom of a time gone by when humanity once reclined on the earth at night, gazing at moonless skies. Then I began see how we carry around slabs of earth in our hands while arranging constellations on demand. How much of our dreaming now is longingly looking not up at the heavens but down into distorted space?

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak... We are far too easily pleased.

-C.S. Lewis from the Weight of Glory

If our desires are too weak, then what can be done to strengthen our desiring?

I believe God looks at the same stars you and I can see. But his desire is perfect perspective and precision perfected. He not only sees the splendors suspended in space like dancing flames but he can see how all their gravity aligns as they speak throughout time. He takes in the entire scene while simultaneously performing surgery on every soul that has even been. He stitches together strangers as lovers when they pass on the street while forming infants in their mothers as though it was destiny.

He can perceive us as celestial speckles and yet come alongside us as a child and a son. 

We may strengthen our desires by peering through the deep of every living thing. Upon looking at the surface of every person we should be gobsmacked as though before galaxies. We should not stop looking until we see what keeps one’s heart beating. And then, when we reach the center of another, we must gaze back at the constellations in their sky remembering they will always look different from another person’s eyes. The practice of perspective and precision were made to be a part of our desiring disciplines. 

There is still nothing new under the sun. All of humanity still gazes by light but if our astronomy no longer shares the references set in the sky, then we are weak at the knees for realities disconnected from truly living. 

Until next week,

-Steven

PS. While writing this piece, I was recalling this essay by one of our generations most gifted Finnish Mystics. Thank you Elena for faithfully continuing to share what our God generously has given you.

If you are new around here, read a bit of my practical journey into the mysteries in The Mark of a Mystic. Then don’t forget, The Creation Story is a Love Story. To all my subscribers, my gratitude for each of you continues to grow. If you have yet to subscribe, use the link below.

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