EVERSE

Do the things we desire and seek after control us?  Are our passions the gateway to slavery leading us into an endless seeking after what can never satisfy?  How do we live a life filled with a love that isn’t distorted by our desires to possess and control?

There was once a monk who prayed very hard and practiced many spiritual disciplines with a very devout piety.  His heart desired more than anything to see Jesus and so he prayed fervently day and night that Jesus would bless him with a vision of his presence.  The monk fasted, meditated, and read the Bible to be considered worthy for a visitation from Jesus.  One day a demon clothed in the light of an angel appeared to him and said that tomorrow evening he must climb Mount Athos and when he gets to the top his desire will be granted in having a visit from Jesus.  The monk was ecstatic and spent the whole night and next day in prayer and fasting till it was time for him to climb the mountain.

It was a strenuous climb as he slowly ascended the peak taking in the spectacular views of the peninsula and the rich nature that surrounded him.  His heart was delighted and became more and more eager the closer he got to the top as to what awaited him.  It was evening and getting dark upon the monk’s reaching the summit.  Once there he gazed upon Jesus Christ sitting upon his heavenly throne surrounded by angels and the saints; some of whom he recognized.  Then Jesus told one of the saints to go and fetch the monk and bring him to the throne because he wants to bless him.  At this point the sun was nearly set as the saint approached the monk but as the saint was within arm’s reach the monk saw with horror the horns protruding from his head.  He cried out to the Lord ‘have mercy on me” and instantly everything was gone and the monk was alone in the snow and ice on top of Mount Athos dangerously near the edge of a steep drop to the deadly rocks that lay below. 

Desire seeks only to please the self through possession, control, dominating the other in order to have what does not belong to us.  Desire is not love because love relates without condition while desire seeks to take for personal gain. 

The monk who desired to see Jesus did not do so out of love but personal gain.  If he saw Jesus then he would count for something, have an experience that would make him something, he would be someone because of this vision.  But, all of these things are selfish in that he desired to see Jesus not because of a love that was free to relate to Jesus as another, as God, as a human as someone who loved without personal gain.   

How do we overcome our desire?  How are we freed from the horrid monsters that we become through our selfish exploitation of one another, nature and the world around us?  How do we transform our constant desire to possess the other and take from the other for our own selfish gain?