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Tuesday, November 29, 2011 13:13

A revolution in the world of desires Featured

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by Ottavio De Bertolis

We have reached the end of the Decalogue, and we combine the last two commandments, or words, those that traditionally go under a sort of duplication: "do not desire another's wife", and "do not desire other people's things". We unify them into a single “do not desire”, which is a sort of lowest common denominator.
To begin to clarify the meaning of this Word, we must first of all distinguish between "desires" and "cravings", or whims. Desire is something profound, which sculpts our identity and which constitutes what God created us for: so one can desire to study physics, or be an astronaut, or become a father, or consecrate oneself to God. These types of desires say our vocation itself: any other type of experience will be less significant and important for those who live them, and these desires will likely remain deeply rooted in us, overcoming any contrary or adverse evidence. It may be difficult to remain faithful to it, but it is not impossible, and the effort made in this sense will contribute to making us feel like ourselves, authors and protagonists of our choices. True desire is indelible, precisely because, ultimately, it comes from God.

Cravings, or whims, are by nature more superficial, and touch our emotions: in this sense, they can be more violent than desires, deeper and therefore calmer, and sometimes even put us to the test. The classic example is of someone who wants to consecrate himself to God, but feels the sexual instinct very strongly; or, more simply, of someone who would like to study literature, but is driven by the desire for money or a career to study something more "useful" in this sense, such as law or economics. This is why cravings or whims can shake our desires: after all, they serve to truly realize whether and to what extent we desire something, whether or not we are truly willing to desire with all our heart, and not just in part, that that we feel "ours".
The commandment is therefore not aimed at distracting us from our desires, but from our desires, or whims, which moreover are almost always illusions or deceptions. Ultimately, the Psalm that says: "seek joy in the Lord, he will grant the desires of your heart", could be the best way of commenting on this commandment, as if God wanted to tell us: "do not be disoriented by the desires that are part of lower part of yourself, but pursue what you know and feel to be true and deep within you”, or “do what you really want”, and not what the mentality of the world or others would like you to want.
And for a believer there is no better way to fulfill one's desires than to love God with all one's heart, with all one's soul and with all one's strength, knowing that our every desire comes from Him, and therefore only from Him will it be fulfilled and satisfied. Therefore, the last commandment refers us to the first, as you will remember, and so the circle closes: loving God by recognizing his benefits means remaining in Him, without letting ourselves be distracted by the illusions of life, the created goods, of whatever kind they may be. Ultimately, loving God means truly being yourself, because from Him we are what we are.
We can therefore remain at peace, even if we do not have the goods that our whims, or the lowest part of us, desires: we will still have, to paraphrase the Gospel, "the best part", which no one can take away from us "To those who possess God nothing is needed – says Saint Teresa of Jesus – because God alone is enough”. Of course, learning to make God alone is not easy, because sometimes our superficiality can cause us to be enchanted by many sirens.
But Scripture still comes to our aid, and in particular Psalm 37, which I invite you to read, at least in the first twelve verses, which I report here only at the beginning: “Do not be angry with the wicked, do not envy evildoers; like hay they will soon wither, they will fall like grass in the meadow. Trust in the Lord and do good, inhabit the earth and live with faith; he seeks joy in the Lord, he will grant the desires of your heart”.
In the end, we can say that the Ten Commandments outline a very specific man: Jesus Christ. it is He who is outlined in the Old Testament, and it is in Him that these words are fulfilled. And so our observance of these does not take place under the sign of the law - the Commandments, as we have seen, are not a law - but of grace. it is the Holy Spirit who forms in us the same feelings that are in Christ, which makes us similar to Him. And we ask the Spirit to live according to the Spirit, desiring for us what Jesus chose and desired for himself.

 

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