Ignatian Spirituality: A Spirituality of Desire
After a break and at the beginning of a New Year, we are perhaps more inclined than usual to ask ourselves the question, what do I really want or what do I desire? It is a far more important question than we might realise. It is fundamental to our spiritual life. While we may have got the impression that desires are somehow bad or at least not very spiritual, in fact, discovering our deepest desires is the key to uncovering what it is that God desires for us.
Ignatian spirituality is very strongly a spirituality of desire. God inspires each of us with particular desires and those desires which are deepest in us are therefore the same desires that God has for us. At the beginning of every time of prayer Ignatius asks us to articulate our desire by asking very specifically for the grace that we seek in that time of prayer.
In his book “Befriending our desires”, Philip Sheldrake writes that “to attend to desires and to discern among them are part of the process of becoming more passionately focused on what is life giving.” Notice those two parts; the first is to become aware of our desires. This means taking the time each day to notice what it is that I am longing for. The second step is to be able to notice which of our desires resonate with us at the core of our being and allow those to shape our lives more and more. To allow the desires which are most creative, life-giving and loving, to be fed and to starve any which are destructive or which diminish our sense of faith, hope and love.
Desires energise us and drive our behavior whether we are aware of it or not. The theologian and philosopher Bernard Lonergan, talks about desire as the dynamism or driving force within the human being. Our deep desires are God-given and point us in the direction of our deepest identity. Being connected with our deepest desires is important because they tell us something of who we are and what is most important to us about life. What we most deeply desire is integrally connected with who we are. There is an intimate connection between desires and personal identity because to be authentic is to be acting out of one’s deepest desires.
At any one time we may be experiencing a whole range of different desires, some of which may be in conflict with each other; and some which will be more or less significant. Often our deep desires are hidden below a confusing mass of less important but more clamorous insistent wants, needs and longings. Our environment is one in which advertising is constantly trying to create new desires in us for things which we may or may not need. Very often we discover though that getting what it was that I thought I desired did not in fact bring a lasting sense of peace and fulfillment.
The fulfillment of desires which are either merely superficial or not authentic for us, may satisfy momentarily, but will leave us with a sense of feeling empty or unsatisfied. On the other hand when we make decisions and act on the desires which are deepest for us there is a lasting sense of peace and wholeness. Becoming aware of and reflecting on our own desires is key. We need to sift through the confusing mass of desires in order that we may choose to act out of those which are deepest and which reflect our authentic selves; and which therefore will bring us closer to God.
Allow yourself this month as we begin the year to make a list of your desires and to spend time in prayer with each one. Taking time to talk with God about the things which we long for will reveal very quickly which desires are deepest and most authentic; which desires are closest to God’s longings and desires for me. Where I discover and give space to those deep desires I will be enflamed with love for God and energised to act with courage and integrity.
