The Hint of Desire

What do our deepest desires tell us about ourselves and God?

Describe the image.

“Isness” is the state of things as they are. “Oughtness” is the state where things should be.

How do you see both “Isness” and “Oughtness” in this photograph by Dorothea Lang?

Why Things Ought to be Different

Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) stated, “I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him” (www.goodreads.com/quotes/6070160-i-accept-this-award-today-with-an-abiding-faith-in).

What do you think MLK meant by this quote?

Have you ever experienced the sense of oughtness—a wistfulness for a world filled with justice and mercy? Why should we expect the world to be any different than it is?

Speaking of oughtness, Nelson Mandela said, “My dream would be a multicultural society, one that is diverse and where every man, woman, and child are treated equally. I dream of a world where all people of all races work together in harmony” (www.azquotes.com/quote/1228657).

When you look at the world, in your opinion, what ought to be different?

Suffering and Evil

Taking our sense of “oughtness” one step further, horrors like rape, war, child abuse, slavery, torture, and human trafficking seem to go beyond a world that “ought” to be better to a world that is fundamentally broken, and to actions that are essentially evil.

How would you describe the difference between evil and things that ought to be better?

Our Desires

Though we desire to fulfill our needs, such as hunger, thirst, shelter, and security, we also desire things not as easily attainable, things like joy, peace, harmony, meaning in life, and eternal existence. Some suggest that these higher desires reflect what God intended for us. C.S. Lewis wrote: “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world” (www.goodreads.com/quotes/505370-creatures-are-not-born-with-desires-unless-satisfaction-for-those).

Do you agree with this thought?

What do you think your desires tell you about yourself or God?