Desire
What compels a man to drive away all the things he once held dear, or better yet, draws a man away from his dearest loved ones? What is the thing that dulls a mans senses and drowns him in a sea of consequence? The answer is desire.
Desire is a tricky thing. Miriam Webster defines desire as; (noun) a conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment. According to that definition desire is something that is conscious, therefore it is something that we acknowledge and affirm, however it is also described as an impulse which is defined by Webster as; a sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usually unpremeditated action.
Desire then, by definition, is a sort of paradox. Spontaneous; despite the conscious acknowledgment of the thing to be had by the desirer. To put it plainly, desire is a yearning we ought to be able to control but cannot.
As a result of the spontaneity of desire, one will chase the impulse wherever it may lead. The individual expressing his or her desire is aware of the consequences at hand, but seemingly cannot avert the path of destruction. For this, a pregnant mother continues to pour herself a glass of wine despite the health risks to her unborn child, and the weary traveler refuses to pull into a rest stop although he has been driving through the night. Whether the consequences be minimal or grave, desire seems to impair and often delegate our judgment to suit our desires.
Which poses an interesting inquiry, is desire a bad thing? Surely, the logical answer is that it is not desire itself that dooms a man, but the thing for which he is desiring. For instance, it is not wrong for a newlywed husband to desire his wife. However, it is wrong that a newlywed husband desire the intimacy of another on his wedding bed. *And just in case you believe right and wrong to be relative to the individual, than I ask you to put yourself in the position of the spouse who is cheated on, then decide on whether or not you have been wronged.
If desire is not inherently wrong, than why is it we desire things that will lead to destruction? Again, by definition desire is; a conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment. The alcoholic desires one drink after the last, because in his mind the next promises to be better than the former. The codependent woman desires a relationship directly after the one that has just failed her because it seems to promise her comfort, solace, and acceptance. These desires are not natural, they are manipulated and broken. I need not go into graphic detail of the perverted desires that, after not much thought, you will be able to conjure in your mind. As a result, desire appears to be a bit more than merely an impulse, it is an deep yearning for something misplaced.
Desire is a sense that comprises the essence of our humanity, but it has been distorted. Each and every human being desires something. In many cases our desires are innocent. One must simply recall his or her childhood to reminisce in carefree desires. However, while looking back, most of us can also remember the day our childish desires began to look a bit more sinister.
Is it just to say that the day our desires darkened was the day our innocence died? Perhaps you are still rationalizing your darkened desires by that which is "natural", however I entreat you to call into question the perverse desires that take place all around you. To justify a man's lust for children is again not relative to his preference, but is a desire distorted and broken. You may not be that man, but you do possess the very sense that is prone to being twisted into whatever evil your heart desires.
Recognizing the brokenness of our sense of desire, we must also realize desire in it's purest form. As stated above, desire is a sense that comprises the essence of our humanity. As humans, we have a special sense of desire. I am aware that my dog has a desire to be fed, and that he also has a desire to reproduce, but he does not have the desire to seek out his origin, his meaning, or his destiny. My dog operates by his desires for the things that sustain his life, but the human has an extra sense of desire that prompts him to reflect upon himself. I desire to see a homeless man wrapped up in a shelter on a cold night rather than shivering in the streets. I also desire to do what is right rather than suit my own selfishness at the expense of others. But overall, we as humans have a strong desire to know. The desire to know is the sense in its purest form. It is the desire to know that drives a man to question meaning and to seek out who he really is. No other animal questions who he is, instead the animal rests in who he is and appears rather comfortable with what it is.
Desire than is the elusive yearning of our humanity. It is the pursuit of meaning, the pursuit of eternity, and the pursuit of fulfilling the many desires of our broken hearts. I say broken, because contrary to the animal who is comfortable with who he is, humans exert most of their living energy in finding ways to be comfortable in who they are (usually to no avail). If we have not all experienced this sense of brokenness and disdain, it does not take long to find an example in the limelight of the media. Jack Higgens, a highly successful author, was asked in an interview what he wished he had known as a boy. He answered: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.” It would seem as though having succeeded in his ambitions, having no material necessity, and living out his dreams, Higgens would have fulfilled his desires. Instead it was his desires that left him empty. Was he wrong to desire these things? Absolutely not, but it is clear that by quenching temporarily a desire the desire in itself goes yet unfulfilled.
It is certain then that desire is not merely an impulse. Desire is part of our humanness. Just as our conscious is hardwired into our being, so is our desire. Yet our desire is broken. We all too often mistake our "desire to" for "desires of", or "desires for". Could it be that we all simply desire more than what we can provide for ourselves? Even the man who lived a life of happy marriage, merely quenched his desires of companionship, thus leaving still the many unquenched desires of his humanity. What then have we other to say of desire than that it is a sense gone wrong. A longing we presume to understand, but do not. Something we feel we can control, yet cannot. Desire is something to be grasped, lain hold of, and made sense of. When we realize why we desire, than desire is no longer a mystery. To fulfill desire, one must simply answer it by concluding the source of desire itself. Desire longs for a transcendent relationship with the one who placed it there to begin with. Just as a child longs for nothing more than the affection of his father or mother, so we too desire to know the One who created us. It is unjust to say that desire is merely an instinct or an impulse, when clearly it is so much more. So take this for what it is, chew on it, for if you do, you are desiring to know, and by doing so you exemplify the desire that transcends even yourself.
Desire is a tricky thing. Miriam Webster defines desire as; (noun) a conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment. According to that definition desire is something that is conscious, therefore it is something that we acknowledge and affirm, however it is also described as an impulse which is defined by Webster as; a sudden spontaneous inclination or incitement to some usually unpremeditated action.
Desire then, by definition, is a sort of paradox. Spontaneous; despite the conscious acknowledgment of the thing to be had by the desirer. To put it plainly, desire is a yearning we ought to be able to control but cannot.
As a result of the spontaneity of desire, one will chase the impulse wherever it may lead. The individual expressing his or her desire is aware of the consequences at hand, but seemingly cannot avert the path of destruction. For this, a pregnant mother continues to pour herself a glass of wine despite the health risks to her unborn child, and the weary traveler refuses to pull into a rest stop although he has been driving through the night. Whether the consequences be minimal or grave, desire seems to impair and often delegate our judgment to suit our desires.
Which poses an interesting inquiry, is desire a bad thing? Surely, the logical answer is that it is not desire itself that dooms a man, but the thing for which he is desiring. For instance, it is not wrong for a newlywed husband to desire his wife. However, it is wrong that a newlywed husband desire the intimacy of another on his wedding bed. *And just in case you believe right and wrong to be relative to the individual, than I ask you to put yourself in the position of the spouse who is cheated on, then decide on whether or not you have been wronged.
If desire is not inherently wrong, than why is it we desire things that will lead to destruction? Again, by definition desire is; a conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment. The alcoholic desires one drink after the last, because in his mind the next promises to be better than the former. The codependent woman desires a relationship directly after the one that has just failed her because it seems to promise her comfort, solace, and acceptance. These desires are not natural, they are manipulated and broken. I need not go into graphic detail of the perverted desires that, after not much thought, you will be able to conjure in your mind. As a result, desire appears to be a bit more than merely an impulse, it is an deep yearning for something misplaced.
Desire is a sense that comprises the essence of our humanity, but it has been distorted. Each and every human being desires something. In many cases our desires are innocent. One must simply recall his or her childhood to reminisce in carefree desires. However, while looking back, most of us can also remember the day our childish desires began to look a bit more sinister.
Is it just to say that the day our desires darkened was the day our innocence died? Perhaps you are still rationalizing your darkened desires by that which is "natural", however I entreat you to call into question the perverse desires that take place all around you. To justify a man's lust for children is again not relative to his preference, but is a desire distorted and broken. You may not be that man, but you do possess the very sense that is prone to being twisted into whatever evil your heart desires.
Recognizing the brokenness of our sense of desire, we must also realize desire in it's purest form. As stated above, desire is a sense that comprises the essence of our humanity. As humans, we have a special sense of desire. I am aware that my dog has a desire to be fed, and that he also has a desire to reproduce, but he does not have the desire to seek out his origin, his meaning, or his destiny. My dog operates by his desires for the things that sustain his life, but the human has an extra sense of desire that prompts him to reflect upon himself. I desire to see a homeless man wrapped up in a shelter on a cold night rather than shivering in the streets. I also desire to do what is right rather than suit my own selfishness at the expense of others. But overall, we as humans have a strong desire to know. The desire to know is the sense in its purest form. It is the desire to know that drives a man to question meaning and to seek out who he really is. No other animal questions who he is, instead the animal rests in who he is and appears rather comfortable with what it is.
Desire than is the elusive yearning of our humanity. It is the pursuit of meaning, the pursuit of eternity, and the pursuit of fulfilling the many desires of our broken hearts. I say broken, because contrary to the animal who is comfortable with who he is, humans exert most of their living energy in finding ways to be comfortable in who they are (usually to no avail). If we have not all experienced this sense of brokenness and disdain, it does not take long to find an example in the limelight of the media. Jack Higgens, a highly successful author, was asked in an interview what he wished he had known as a boy. He answered: “That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.” It would seem as though having succeeded in his ambitions, having no material necessity, and living out his dreams, Higgens would have fulfilled his desires. Instead it was his desires that left him empty. Was he wrong to desire these things? Absolutely not, but it is clear that by quenching temporarily a desire the desire in itself goes yet unfulfilled.
It is certain then that desire is not merely an impulse. Desire is part of our humanness. Just as our conscious is hardwired into our being, so is our desire. Yet our desire is broken. We all too often mistake our "desire to" for "desires of", or "desires for". Could it be that we all simply desire more than what we can provide for ourselves? Even the man who lived a life of happy marriage, merely quenched his desires of companionship, thus leaving still the many unquenched desires of his humanity. What then have we other to say of desire than that it is a sense gone wrong. A longing we presume to understand, but do not. Something we feel we can control, yet cannot. Desire is something to be grasped, lain hold of, and made sense of. When we realize why we desire, than desire is no longer a mystery. To fulfill desire, one must simply answer it by concluding the source of desire itself. Desire longs for a transcendent relationship with the one who placed it there to begin with. Just as a child longs for nothing more than the affection of his father or mother, so we too desire to know the One who created us. It is unjust to say that desire is merely an instinct or an impulse, when clearly it is so much more. So take this for what it is, chew on it, for if you do, you are desiring to know, and by doing so you exemplify the desire that transcends even yourself.
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