Our Human Desires

In every human desire, in every human appetite, there is a great deal of energy, passion, and fire. And this energy and this fire reach their greatest intensity when the soul totally abandons itself to desire only one thing, and one love!… Passions, appetites, affections, instincts and all the many anxieties of the human heart are the fuel of the love of God. Actually, the entire human being is this kind of fuel. And the love with which God responds to our souls may be compared to the pouring of oil on fire.

Ernesto Cardinal

Cited in Christian Mystics

Matthew Fox gives us a further understanding of these words when he speaks more about the inherent nature of these desires; how these feelings are a part of our human nature, that is to be more fully understood, rather than trying to be controlled or feared. Fox teaches:

“Human desire and human appetites are not an obstacle to spirituality. Rather, the energy, passion, and fire they carry come to a special intensity when the soul lets go of the little object and seeks“ only one thing and one love”. Our passions are our “fuel” and indeed,“ the entire human being is this kind of fuel” God’s response is still more fuel, still more fire, still more love… That is how energy is recycled… The burning deepens and goes on and on…”

The Western Church, as a whole, has been overly suspicious of desire. From Augustine to the pious and still patriarchal voices of today, the passions of the heart are treated as being more suspect, more dangerous, and harder to control than what I would call the “passions of the gut” namely violence, aggression, and the longing for power…

As I would declare it, the human body is a marvelously sensual and holy creation! There is nothing objectionable or profane about a responsible, ethical, and mature expression of all of its passions! The problems being that our culture does not teach valuable tools such as sex education, the value of making and keeping commitments and how to honor relationships,

or how best to unloose our creative desires and point them Spiritward: To engage our whole lives and our whole selves in the mysteries and marvels of life in God.

God’s love is a constant grace and the most trustworthy quality of the divine. Our most essential human task, as I see it, is to acknowledge that love and share it, to channel our desires and passions in ways they are reciprocal and ongoing-towards whatever is Holy, and towards whatever is truly human, truly humane.