Divinization and the Evolution of Desire

 

November 14, 2023


The Priest: Purgation, Illumination, Union

 Hi!  How is each and every one? I am totally flabbergasted although I should not be because indeed God is the God of surprises!  If we just let Him He will surprise us every moment of the day.  But in order to appreciate His surprises you and I need to be aware of His presence beside us and around us every moment of every single day. Last Saturday was the definitive day of a series of three days of planning and communicating. With six persons communicating and coordinating the plans and with the good Lord witnessing everything, things just fell into place in such a way that left each and every one open-mouthed.  Only He can work out the things the way it turned out last Saturday.

I am pretty sure many specific things also happen to you at the end of which you are left open mouthed. The only thing I could say after all my curious wonderings is God is so good and truly provides, choosing and working on his instruments. I simply talk to Him every step of the way instead of talking to myself. At the back of my mind rings the words “Pray as though everything depended on God and do as though everything depended on you.”

 



Let’s get back to business and continue from where we left off regarding our attitudes toward desires and how best to guide ourselves ((From Broken Gods, Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart, Gregory K. Popcak, Ph. D. Ch 2).

Divinization and the Evolution of Desire


SlideShare

Christian mystics over the centuries have discovered that divinization refines our desires through three distinct stages or “ways.”  First, in the purgative way we experience a rehabilitation of desire as God shows us how to satisfy our earthly desires in healthy ways.  Next, in the illuminative way we experience the enlightenment of desire as we discover that God has been reaching out to us through our longings and (He) wants to reveal himself to us through them.  Finally, in the unitive way we experience the unification of our desires with the very heart of God.  In each stage, both our flawed desires and the misguided ways we try to satisfy them undergo a transformation as we prepare to achieve the ultimate fulfillment of our divine destiny.  Through this process, we learn that God is not the enemy of our desires; rather he seeks to satisfy our desires to a degree that we didn’t know was possible.  He longs to meet the deepest needs of our heart—even needs beyond our awareness.

 


Spiritually Grounded

 But where do we start?  Having accepted the invitation to theosis that God extends to us, how do we begin to walk this incredible path toward becoming the gods we were meant to be?

Seven Deadly Sins

We make a ladder for ourselves of our vices, if we trample those same vices underfoot.—St. Augustine (Sermon III. De Ascensione)



Remarkably, our journey toward deification takes wing when we allow God’s perfect love to cast out the fear we experience in the face of our darkest desires, the seven deadly sins:  pride, lust, envy, greed, gluttony, wrath and sloth.  That (is the) rogues’ gallery of imperfections.  The seven deadly sins represent the longings we all hate to love and love to hate, longings that consume all too much of our time, effort, and energy.

Why don’t you and I decide now and always to be wise and smart.  Let us put our time, effort and energy into asking God to help us convert the deadly sins in us into the virtues that would make you and me the gods He intended us to be.  Let us outgrow the idea that usually come to mind, “that is how I am, what can I do.”  You and I know that is not true.  Instead let us keep in mind the idea, “that is the way I have made myself.” With St. Paul say, I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith that I can become the god I was meant to be.


Blissful Self

Let us pray for one another.  See you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us together again.”

Affectionately,                    

Guadalupinky        

 

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