Day 5
Wake up to Truth
The Princess of Air is a bright and curious researcher. She wants to cut the bull and get to the heart of the matter, to have all the answers to all of her questions.
Though she travels through the world in her body, her quest for truth only uses the tools of her mind. She is trying to think her way into the secrets of the universe, and she's willing to fight to find them.
Interpersonal relationships just get in her way, taking up time and energy that could better be used making a plan or thinking through the evidence.
One thing I desired from God; that one thing will I seek:
Psalm 27:4
my dwelling in the house of God all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of God, and to meditate in God’s temple.
Wake Up to Desire
The Psalmist, in order to keep his heart calm and fearless in the face of war, seeks after his desire.
The thing the Psalmist seeks is the thing he desires. Not what his mother desires. Not what his King desires. Not what his children desire, or even what social norms dictate he ought to desire.
He seeks after his desire not only with his intellect, but also with his body’s dwelling, with his heart’s experience of beauty, with his soul’s quiet meditation.
He seeks with his entire self.
In our society, we are so often taught that desire is bad, selfish, worthless. We are taught to repress our desires, to acquire “discipline” and do what we must, what is right and proper, instead of what we desire.
But according to verse 3, it is this desire that the psalmist trusts, this seeking with his whole self. He needn’t fear his failings or the internal warring that comes from revealed shortcomings, because he knows how to turn and seek beauty and wholeness.
He knows how to seek the truth of himself with all that he is. He knows that desire is key to that truth.
What do you desire?
What if it were not only OK, but Holy to seek after that desire?
What truths are you questing after?
How do you usually search for truth?
Do you use your rational mind, your body, your intuition, or some combination of these?
How might you expand your capacity to search with your whole self?
What truths lie inside of your desires?