The Pursuit of Eden PT 1
THE GOD OF THE BIBLE has placed desires in our heart—very specific desires. Each person in the eyes of God, is as unique as each individual snowflake to the ecologist. Despite the vastness of humanity YHWH watches us all with fastidious care, which we comprehend in the fact that He is aware of the number of hairs on our head. In God’s eyes, I believe, we are all inimitable islands. As we love others as if we were others and Him with an undying and disinterested love we morph into other islands and become states, countries, and continents for His glory. Is not the glory of Africa insurmountable to the eloquence of Hawaii?
Therefore, when I speak of desire I am speaking of a yearning within our heart for our Creator. This yearning enchants the heart of our soul and we zealously pursue the great Mystery; or, if we suppress this desire life can become chaotic and dysfunctional. Allow me to clarify, the desire I speak of is not the same as the unique desires within our hearts. If we are all islands, then the main desire is to morph with the surrounding land as quickly as we can— we understand this as self-preservation or going unto all the Nations— but this does not abate the individual desire to engage in husbandry, study philosophy, or master an instrument. The latter desires are permissible and encouraged for our Creator made life for our enjoyment, however, the former desire is that which our being, essence, and purpose is rooted in. This desire is so specific, when reflected upon you will find that it is singular— it is our zenith.
Our desires dictate our philosophy of life. Every man molds his life around his desires. It is said that “if you want to know a man, ask him what he desires.” Ralph Ellison agrees when he says, “Without the possibility of action, all knowledge comes to one labeled “file and forget,” and I can neither file nor forget.” Desire without action is merely thought. When our desires and our actions move within us as lights and shadows, life becomes a conglomerate of steps that lead to a destination in rhythm with myriad circumstances which is dependent solely upon what pleases our Father (Prov. 20:24).
If you want to know a man, ask him what he desires!
To avoid confusion, I understand desire from a Christian perspective. Therefore, I find my lesser desires in and from my desire for God. My hunger and thirst for God, encircles all other desires within me. My lesser desires are rungs of a ladder, which usher me to the ultimate desire. They can either be helpful like a Vibranium rung or stagnant me like a rusty rung—in other words, the desires of the flesh or of the Spirit. What does God desire? An eternal, thriving relationship— Eden. He has planted eternity in the human heart (Ecc 3:11). We are in His heart, and He has placed Himself in us, but our pursuit is conditional upon our willingness to pursue.
We are in His heart, and He has placed Himself in us, but our pursuit is conditional upon our willingness to pursue.
Where does this leave the reader and the writer? I must point out that desire is a phantasmagoria contrived by the people that it controls. For some, the controlling factor can sometimes be the God of the Bible or Buddha or astrology. (Even though we know that El Shaddai is the true God—Ps 19.) It is a fact of life that our path, journey, or pilgrimage which our desires lead us down is unique. Isn’t it breathtaking that God can bring us all to Himself, in a new way with a boundless and an immeasurable creativity?
Isn’t it breathtaking that God can bring us all to Himself, in a new way with a boundless and an immeasurable creativity?
In order to ensure durability, tranquility, joy, and the increase of virtues on the Narrow road there must be a gage we use to discern if we are in pursuit of what He wills or what our flesh wills. That gage is introspection. The great Shepard herds us all in one direction. How does one gage if they are enclosed in the Shepard’s pasture? Simply, by our choices. Introspection is a consideration of yesterday’s memories. Examine your ways. What did you spend your priceless time on? Were your choices productive or did they stagnant you? Did you do that thing you were meaning to do or have you pushed it off to tomorrow, again? There are three questions you must ask yourself, and in the answers the clay of your desires will start to take form: Who am I? What do I want? How do I propose to get it?
Introspection is the wind to our sail, yes, the rudder of our movement. Unless we reflect and consider our lives we will never live with intention and our desires will carry us along the ocean’s current like a ship without a rudder. Without intentional living, there will be no sense of order to our life. Our death shall be slow and agonizing like an inmate in solitary confinement. Khalil Gibran highlights the need for introspection when he says, “All things move within your being in a constant half embrace, the desired and the dread, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.” To make sense of our arduous journey, we must reflect quietly and deeply on the questions asked above. If not, we will become men and women with no raison d'être and when a person falls victim to this unthinking lifestyle they must be pitied above all men. For in the future we will reflect and find that we were busier than the bee, outworked the ant, and migrated farther than the whale, yet our lives were burdens we carried like the beast. Paradoxically, our introspection will cause us to concur with the wisest man on Earth that “God has laid a burden upon us all” (Ecc 3:10). But, it is this thought which liberates us and allows enjoyment to fill our heart. Then we can sing like the African slaves who, amid a nefarious system, sang an emancipating, joyous tune. We must live life with intention or the regret which awaits us won’t even be able to be washed away by the flood waters of Noah’s day. This can be avoided, if we remember our Creator in the days of our youth.
Read Part 2 here.
“Blessed are those whose strength is in YHWH, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”
