What do you hunger for? What makes your heart sing? When do you feel most alive? What are you doing then and who are you with? Desires take many shapes and forms and not all of them are of Love. It is important for us to look at the specifics of our own lives and our own desires. It is not easy. It takes time to properly develop this desire muscle.  We must start where we are, whatever our particular desires, and probe them. A desire may appear superficial, but what’s underneath it? A desire may appear virtuous and underneath be self-serving. Sometimes all we desire is to actually feel some kind of desire and longing! Margaret Silf, in her book Inner Compass, talks about the importance of all of our desires, such as those for safety, comfort, a peaceful world, physical and spiritual food, depth, and to be who we are.

We also have longings for creative work that expresses our authenticity, compassion, freedom, and friendships in which we can express our hopes and dreams. Yet the fundamental source of our desires is not usually clear to us right away.

We are desiring people, desiring always at our core, Spirit and to become who God wants us to be. The journey IS the desiring; the way is through our desires. We find ourselves in our desires, not in their fulfillment. Not that it’s not important to fulfill our desires, but that our deepest desires cannot be completely fulfilled and are not intended to be. Silf says, we may get what we think we want, and there is always more. Even if we consciously desire God and to become ourselves, we can never possess these desires. So our job is to live our desires, to seek our desires.

Unfortunately, fear goes hand in hand with desires. As we do the significant work of creating room in our lives and hearts for our deepest desires and discerning what desires flow from love and toward love, we stir up the status quo and our fears. We know, for example, that our desires bring us nearer to who we uniquely are, which is both a wonderful and scary prospect. If I follow my longing to move out of the city into nature, what will happen to my current relationships? Will I become so different by becoming fully me and pursuing my passions that I end up alone? Where will my loves take me?

Desires require us to push past our comfort zones and trust that Spirit will take care of us, even if it doesn’t appear so. Seeking our desires brings us face to face with the underbelly, the old pains and hurts, as well as our flaws. It isn’t pretty. Desires are risky and can cause pain. We know this, and it prevents us from seeking.

However, by acknowledging fears, we can work with them and with grace move beyond them. Do not be afraid. We hear this mantra throughout the Bible. Do not be afraid. While fear is a complex subject unto itself, discernment asks that we choose to anchor ourselves in love and desire rather than fear.

In our thinking, for instance, we can choose to go down the fear road and obsess about whether or not we’re doing a good job, if we’re safe, or if we’re going to be rejected by our loved ones, brooding away our days. Or we can choose to put our hearts, minds, and actions toward healing, love, and trust in God and life.

We can choose to pay attention to our fears and choose actions that will strengthen them and suck the life out of us. Or we can choose to pay attention to our desires and choose actions that will bolster them.

In the end it is up to us how we respond to our desires and fears. Here are some ideas to help all of us discover and live out of our loves:

1) Create time everyday, even just for 5 minutes, for silence, solitude, and listening to your
deeper self.

2) Take one small action everyday to do and relish something you love.

3) Notice what kind of choices you make moment to moment. Become aware of which choices feed
your soul and which ones shrink your spirit.

4) Be honest and take the next step toward the desire that is that is nagging at you deep down.

Have Fun!