The Desire for God

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CCC 27 The Desire for God

We need specific things to be fulfilled and happy

·       Each need has a corresponding desire

·       I desire water because I need water to live

·       I desire friendships because I need these to be happy

Just as we have a desire for

·       food, drink, safety, security, achievement, knowledge, friendship, and beauty

·       Everyone has a desire for More, Infinitely More. Every person has a built in desire for God because we were made for union with him.

From the time he was a little boy, the greatest desire of an old friend of mine, Mike Panasuk was to play professional football. In 1993 he made the training camp for the KC Chiefs as a kicker. Arrowhead field is always full, even for the pre-season. Mike lined up for the opening kick-off, the stadium full, the crowd going crazy. The ref blew the whistle to signal the start and Mike just stood there, right in the middle of the field. The ref signaled again and again Mike just stood there. He finally shook himself and kicked the ball. Afterward everyone wanted to know if he was so in awe that he was paralyzed. It was just the opposite. He looked at the crowd, realized he had achieved his ultimate desire and was totally let down. He said to himself in disbelief “Is this it?” There must be more to life than this. And at that moment his desire for God was uncovered.

CCC 27   The desire for God is written in the human heart…Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.

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CCC 29 If all people have a built in desire for God, then why do so few pursue an intimate friendship with Him?

Many things cause us to forget, overlook, or even reject a relationship with God:

·       The busyness of life

·       The temptation to think we have everything we need so why do we need God

·       We take him for granted

·       The pleasures and comforts of the world and the flesh 

·       The apparent injustice of evil and the suffering of the innocent

·       Religious ignorance or indifference

·       The scandal of bad example on the part of religious leaders and bad Christians

·       The shame of sin that makes us hide from God out of fear and flee his call

Our desire for God can be buried beneath a host of disordered desires. What is important is to identify what prevents me from desiring God more and making the effort to deepen my friendship with Him.

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CCC 30 Although man can forget God or reject God, God never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. But this search for God demands of man every effort of intellect, a sound will, "an upright heart", as well as the witness of others who teach him to seek God.

St. Augustine in his Confessions writes: You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is without measure. And man, so small a part of your creation, wants to praise you: this man, though clothed with mortality and bearing the evidence of sin and the proof that you withstand the proud. Despite everything, man, though but a small a part of your creation, wants to praise you. You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

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We know intellectually that God alone can satisfy the deep yearnings of our heart. But we are enslaved to our misplaced desires and our habits of sin that keep us from God and true happiness.

We are addicted to our sin and we cannot overcome addiction by sheer force of will. Will power alone will not save us. Repressing addictive behaviors will not get rid of them. In fact, it will only make them worse. That’s like looking at the Tates Chocolate Chip Cookies and refusing them. Won’t work for long.

There are two key steps to overcoming the addictive behaviors of sin:

A.  Remove the source of temptation by constructing an environment in which the temptation is far away.

B.  Then replace the addictive behavior with something else. We need a replacement behavior.

Jesus said, “If your eye or hand cause you to sin, pluck it out or cut it off.”

The first step then is to identify your dominant vices, and then remove the source of the temptation the best that you can.

What are your sources of temptation? Social media, screens, alcohol…

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To overcome the addictive behaviors of vice we need a replacement behavior.

Behavioral addiction, for that is what sin is, is in part a structural problem. Fix the structure of your life and you will do a lot to fix the problem. So, alter the structure of how we live and create a new system of living. St. Benedict was a genius when he suggested that his followers live by a Rule of Life, a system for living well. That is what we are trying to do – to live well. A system is something you do on a regular basis that increases your odds of intimacy with God in the long run.

A Rule of Life is just such a system 

1.  Physical Needs

a.  Sleep 6-8 hrs/day

b.  Personal hygiene 30 min/day

c.   Eat 2 hrs/day

d.  Exercise 30 min 3-5 days/week plus the commute to gym if necessary = 1hr

2.  Friendship with Christ

a.  30 min/day in Meditation/Rosary

b.  Frequent the Eucharist and Reconciliation

3.  Human Relationships/Friendship

a.  30 minutes of quality time with spouse/day

b.  30 minutes of quality time with kids/friends

4.  Meaningful Work 8-10 hrs/day

a.  In the home or out

b.  1 hour for your commute

5.  Knowledge -  Learn about what interests you

6.  Experience beauty in its many forms

Be creative in combining two or more of these at one time (walking and talking with a spouse or friend at sunset gets your friendship, exercise and beauty).