The season of Advent is that time in the church’s calendar when longing is the central emotion. A longing is a strong desire for something not yet received; not yet consummated. The longing of Advent is a longing for the coming of God. Things are not as they should be. All will be made well in the coming of God.
This week I have been reflecting on the sentiment of desire and I have expressed my thoughts in the form of a sonnet. Before I share the sonnet, a few musings on desire.
Emotion has generally a checkered history in Christian thought. Desire has received the roughest ride. Under the influence of Greek thought, particularly elements of Platonism, desires have been considered unruly. Desire, a wild horse, needs the sense of reason as a master charioteer to keep it in check. Ultimately desire will be left behind as childish as the mature soul contemplates the beauties of perfection. Further, desire is the root of the deadliest of all sins, lust, and most effort has been expended in trying to control its powerful contamination. Lust, we know, is most closely associated with sexuality and so the church has been constantly troubled with how to deal with this truly human complex of emotion and behavior.
Yet, as Augustine knew well, desire is at the heart of love. And God is love. And we are to love. Remove desire and love becomes mere form, mere shell with no content. The mystics knew it too and express their mystical ecstasies in the language of love’s strong desires. In the Enlightenment, David Hume, British philosopher who was no friend to religion, rooted the whole of morality in the passions. Desire is the wellspring of all moral sentiment. He went so far as to say that reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions.
There is truth in both traditions. Desire corrupted becomes lust. Desires misdirected can cause great suffering. Yet, human life in the world as we know it has at its heart a longing for God; a longing for goodness. It is a longing because never fully satisfied; never truly fulfilled. The emotion of longing is also the motivation for a better life. It is deep desire to see the poor helped, the sick healed, the oppressed freed that leads to ethical action. It is longing for connection that leads to deep friendship. It is the deepest desire for the well being of the loved one that produces all the care in the world.
And so a sonnet:
A Sonnet
There is in human hearts a desire so
Profound, yet goes by but one name. A sage
Long gone said, “Our hearts are restless,” (we know)
“Until they find their rest in you.” Old age
May tell its truth; yet, with no words to form
A meaningful account. A gaping hole
Too vast to fill. Religion, to perform
A function necessary, a good role,
Tries its best. It fails; the labor too great.
A chasm filled with child’s bucket and spade!
No wonder, tender souls soon learn to hate
Its pretences. A game so badly played
Is abandoned as futile. The end of
Longing is still to long in hope for love.
December 3 2008.
+Ab. Andy
This week I have been reflecting on the sentiment of desire and I have expressed my thoughts in the form of a sonnet. Before I share the sonnet, a few musings on desire.
Emotion has generally a checkered history in Christian thought. Desire has received the roughest ride. Under the influence of Greek thought, particularly elements of Platonism, desires have been considered unruly. Desire, a wild horse, needs the sense of reason as a master charioteer to keep it in check. Ultimately desire will be left behind as childish as the mature soul contemplates the beauties of perfection. Further, desire is the root of the deadliest of all sins, lust, and most effort has been expended in trying to control its powerful contamination. Lust, we know, is most closely associated with sexuality and so the church has been constantly troubled with how to deal with this truly human complex of emotion and behavior.
Yet, as Augustine knew well, desire is at the heart of love. And God is love. And we are to love. Remove desire and love becomes mere form, mere shell with no content. The mystics knew it too and express their mystical ecstasies in the language of love’s strong desires. In the Enlightenment, David Hume, British philosopher who was no friend to religion, rooted the whole of morality in the passions. Desire is the wellspring of all moral sentiment. He went so far as to say that reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions.
There is truth in both traditions. Desire corrupted becomes lust. Desires misdirected can cause great suffering. Yet, human life in the world as we know it has at its heart a longing for God; a longing for goodness. It is a longing because never fully satisfied; never truly fulfilled. The emotion of longing is also the motivation for a better life. It is deep desire to see the poor helped, the sick healed, the oppressed freed that leads to ethical action. It is longing for connection that leads to deep friendship. It is the deepest desire for the well being of the loved one that produces all the care in the world.
And so a sonnet:
A Sonnet
There is in human hearts a desire so
Profound, yet goes by but one name. A sage
Long gone said, “Our hearts are restless,” (we know)
“Until they find their rest in you.” Old age
May tell its truth; yet, with no words to form
A meaningful account. A gaping hole
Too vast to fill. Religion, to perform
A function necessary, a good role,
Tries its best. It fails; the labor too great.
A chasm filled with child’s bucket and spade!
No wonder, tender souls soon learn to hate
Its pretences. A game so badly played
Is abandoned as futile. The end of
Longing is still to long in hope for love.
December 3 2008.
+Ab. Andy