DESIRE

DESIRE. I don’t know about you, but for me this word usually has a bad connotation. It seems to be usually related to greed or lust. I recently helped lead a retreat called the Fresh Look Retreat (shout-out to Campus Ministry and all who went! If you’re a first-year and didn’t get a chance to go, you should sign up for the February retreat!). The retreat asks you to reflect on three underused and very important questions: Who have I been? Who am I now? And who do I desire to be? They’re all good questions, but the last one captivates me the most.  As college students we often get asked what do we want to do in the future, but how often do you get asked who you want to be. Now THAT is a difficult question. Who do you want to be?

In reading The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything by Fr. James Martin, I discovered the true meaning of DESIRE. Desire can be so important for finding out your vocation, not in an only religious sense, but in a ‘life purpose’ sort of way. If you haven’t before, (and I hadn’t, so don’t feel bad) take the time to sit quietly and reflect on what you want…what you really want. I’m a list person, so I actually listed out the 4-5 deepest desires that I have, underneath all the fluff and nonsense that the world tries to convince me that I want. If you do this, you can find out what God wants for you too. Because God places desires in your heart for a reason. It is so you can find the path that will most fulfill your heart, the path that will bring you closest to Jesus, the path that will culminate in eternal unity with God. Fr. James Martin writes, “Expressing these desires brings us into a closer relationship with God. Otherwise, it would be like never telling a friend your innermost thoughts. Your friend would remain distant. When we tell God our desires, our relationship to God deepens.” So, instead of suppressing desires and thinking that they’re evil, take the time to listen to your desires, your DEEPEST desires, and consider what God is trying to tell you!

Allison Walter is the Campus Ministry REST Intern.