“Poi si tornò all’eterna fontana.”

 

Or, as CS Lewis quotes from Dante at the end of A Grief Observed... "poi si torno all'eterna fontana."

(That is perhaps a better reply to the original prompt.)

That roughly translates to "Then unto the eternal fountain she turned". By this he meant that his late wife turns unto God, the eternal fountain of life and grace.

Ed Glosser, Trivial Psychic: Limited Usefulness - SNL

Who remembers Christopher Walken's "Trivial Psychic" SNL skits from the early 90's? I thought of them today as I was driving home from evening mass and how my random little gifts of somewhat accurate prophecy seem to have pretty limited usefulness... especially among those in my little community.

Dis is me... 😂

What is Holy Desire?

O mystery, O source
O center of my heart
You are my breath

that fills me

a Love greater than any earthly desire...

So,

What IS holy desire?

This came to me last night in prayer, and I think God wants me to focus on what good, ordered desire feels like. To understand the difference between that and the disordered desire (or the inordinate desire OF desire). I intellectually grasp the distinction. But do I feel it?

Have I felt holy, beautiful, Godly desire?

Perhaps I do know. Perhaps my heart can tell the difference in shifting from one to the other. But it's worth looking deeply into... just to make sure. ;-)

Desire from unmet needs is not bad, because even in its disordered form, it’s pointing to our deeper need. Our longing for God.

In order to know what Holy Desire is, I can say what it is not. It is not lust, it is not use, it is not imposing limitations by creating an idol. 

So Holy Desire must result in the opposite of limitation. Giving freedom and limitlessness... not using but setting free. Just as Christ poured himself out on the cross for us... He thirsted for us. He has holy desire for us. A holy desire to sacrifice, to give. This kind of desire does not possess or keep another bound, but allows the other to open fully. It unlocks them, unbinds them. 

Holy desire is a longing to pour yourself out completely dry for another.

What does this kind of desire feel like?

It hurts. It aches and bleeds. But whereas disordered desire comes from a place of lack and is a hunger seeking to fill a hole (which never can be filled by the thing that is sought after), this is a divine hunger coming from a place of completion and fulfillment (God), wishing to share (itself) with others. To give it all away. It doesn't need. It doesn't lack. It doesn't take. Holy desire draws the other UP to God. In full bliss. God longs to draw us all up to His bliss. 

Holy Desire is the All coming together with the All and realizing it is itself. 

❤️

Desiderio (a poem)