Thinking about Desire

It is fascinating to see how Jesus taps into the heart of human desire. It seems that desire is an essential part of our human make-up and like all things human it functions on two different levels; the subconscious and the conscious. Subconscious desires may or may not be the motivation and influence that drive our conscious ones, I suppose you need to be a psychologist to get to the bottom of that, but Jesus is exploring the psyche of the human mind when he compares the kingdom to sought-after hidden treasure or pearls of great value.

Each of us has, in our minds, desired something that at the time, seemed beyond our wildest dreams. We may have dismissed such thoughts as irrational and impossible, but the fact that such thoughts come into our minds signal to us an elemental character of our nature. We look at ourselves and at our condition, and we wonder: what if? Clearly our desires change as we grow, the desires we have as young children being so different from those we have as adults, which in their turn evolve as we mature. Where though is Jesus guiding us in making these statements about desire?

We often believe that there is an insurmountable difference between what we can realistically desire and how we can achieve our desire. We may desire “world peace” but what is the point of such a desire, when my ability to make any impact on such a desire is you may think impossible. But look at the parables and see what is being said. The goal or the desire which is the subject of the parables, has been found, but the parables don’t end with any idle speculation. On the contrary, both the discoverer of the treasure, and the merchant, go off and make every effort to ensure that they are going to possess what they’ve found. “Now wait a minute” I hear you say. “It’s one thing to speak about matching and achieving desire in a parable, but quite another to do the same thing in reality.” Well, granted yes, but the point being made relates the one with the other, and consequently with our response. The gift on offer, the object of our desire, is the immeasurable treasure of God’s love, and our response has to be a wholehearted one, in which we recognise the obligation that we have as disciples. Desire doesn’t end with possession but as Jesus says with things new and old. Acquiring the treasure should change us, bringing a new dimension into our discipleship. Driving us to see our lives as conduits of God’s love, through which is channelled the Spirit’s gifts to the world, gifts of consolation, mercy, compassion and yes, even world peace, all we have to do is desire it and be the disciples we are called to be.