Desire, prayer, promise
A Christian Science perspective. True desires point us in the right direction.
Fresh starts; inner yearnings; deep desires; coming home; the emergence of great and simple things – to feel a basic, unmistakable clarity, shining out a path in the midst of us; even when the noise of the world tries to splinter our gaze.
I remember the first time I read Mary Baker Eddy’s words about desire: “Desire is prayer....” It felt like both a revelation and redemption – that somehow the things that I longed for so earnestly were deemed worthy; and not just worthy, but meant to be honored, understood, listened to. They were an offering of the heart in an instinctual impulse to see more, be more, to waken truly to ourselves as the Psalmist says, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalms 17:15).
From that moment on I began to pay more attention to those desires, to listen for what was behind them, and ultimately to listen for what was answering them.
Mrs. Eddy continues: “[N]o loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be moulded and exalted before they take form in words and in deeds” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 1).
That which lies at the core, deep within us, is the very foundation and stuff of who we are. It’s the desires, the yearnings so linked with hope, that help waken us to the more of life: the greater purpose, the meaning, the goodness, the expanse of possibility, the uniqueness of our own place and path. True desires point us in the right direction; they prompt us to trust that inner voice; they help keep us honest; they nudge us ever closer to the arms of divine Love; they open our eyes to the boundless certainties of the joy of Life.
So here’s to fresh moments, worthy journeys, hearts awakened, and lives seen pure through the eyes of infinite Love.