Desire is not an option. christianity is not a moral program or sin management 101. it is about desires. experiencing desires. Jesus is the Living Waters. Go to Him if you are thirsty. He is the Joy of our Desire. It is not about duty. The pharisees knew all about duties and knowledge but it killed their desires. God is all-consuming fire. I was watching X-Men. The last scene moved me. Wolverine was willing to die for Jean. Did you see the passion in His eyes. That passion moved me. Jesus died for you. Jesus died for me. 

Jesus did not lecture Samaritan woman who came to draw water at the well about her sexual lifestyle. Instead he said to her, "The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." (John 4:14). The goal of morality is not morality, Eldredge said, it is estacy. We are made for bliss and that’s the life we search for. God knows happiness is fragile, and it must rest upon something greater than itself. Him, alone. 

God is a deeply profound passionate person. Look at his love. Rather, look at the expression of His love. We’ve looked up on Jesus’ death so lightly. Taking for granted even. Desires drive us all over the place looking for avenues to satisfy it. This continuous search only points to its not being fulfilled. Then our hearts grow cold. We can’t give someone anything when they don’t want anything. We can’t hope for what we don’t desire. God waits to be wanted, said Tozer. We are afraid to desire. We fear our desires will undo us if we should let it rise to its fullness. And so we disown it or call it a sanctified emotion or hide it under the term "maturity". The danger of disowning it, Eldredge continued, is that it sets us up for a fall. As a result we can’t differentiate between real life from a tempting situation. We worship money, fashion, sports, work, in the attempt to numb and disown our desires. 

May (The Awakened Heart) said, "Choosing love will open spaces of immense beauty and joy for you, but you will be hurt. You already know this." Eldredge said that if you make someone your life, your life will seem to end when the relationship ends. But do we not form relationships because our friends will hurt us? Do we not love because we may be hurt? Do we give up our dreams because our hopes have been deferred? "…pleasure and pain go together; indeed, they emanate from the same place…"

Eventually something or someone will come and touch those places in us, offering us a taste of intimacy and adventure. 

I end my review of the book with Eldredge’s own quote,

To live with desire is to choose vulnerability over self-protection; to admit our desire and seek help beyond ourselves is even more vulnerable. It is an act of trust. In other words, those who know their desire and refuse to kill it, or refuse to act as though they don’t need help, they are the ones who live by faith. Those who do not ask do not trust God enough to desire… They deepest moral issue is always what we, in the heart of hearts, believe about God. And nothing reveals this belief as clearly as what we do with our desire…

…we must not make a fatal error and try one more time to get rid of it. We cannot revert to killing our hearts… estacy is not an option. We must have life. The only problem is in our refusal to wait. That is why God must rescue us from the very things we thought would save us." 

My reflection:

Our desires are materials for faith.