Perfection Not Destructive of Desire
James i. 4 v. “Perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
Is that desirable — to lose all sense of desire? Is not the cure worse than the disease? How can it be a joy to me to have nothing left to wish for? Nay, but there is no such fear. Perfection is not an absence of desire; it is an absence of want. The satisfaction of a desire is not its death, but its unimpededness. To fill any craving of my heart is not to remove the craving; it is to remove that which hinders it. Think you that the longing of love is less warm when it has found its object? Not so. The wish of my heart is not killed in being gratified; it lives on in its joy. It is far more apt to be killed by starvation than by fulness. If I want for a long time, the appetite goes; it cannot exist without exercise. Neither can my heart’s love; it will die by long denial. To be overflowing, it must be satisfied. Its longing will never be so great as in the moment of realisation. Its hunger will never be so deep as in the hour of repletion. Its craving will never be so strong as in the day of fruition. I shall not cease to desire when I have ceased to be in want. My heart shall rest from its flight; but it shall rest upon its wing.
Son of Man, I do not fear to be made perfect in Thee; I do not fear that when I have gained my promised land I shall weep for my lost wants. The more I possess Thee, the more I must desire Thee. It is the possession of Thee that makes me hungry; it is the sight of Thee that makes me athirst. I cry for
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earthly food before I have tasted it; but I must taste before I can cry for Thee. Nothing but the vision of beauty can create my thirst for beauty-. It is from the supply of my want that my desire comes. My prayer begins, not where Thou art missing, but where Thou art present; it comes from the fulness, and not from the emptiness, of my soul. It is my want that dims my power of wishing, which is my power of prayer. My hope is impeded by fear. My faith is clogged by doubt. My love is blunted by uncertainty. Take away my wants, and Thou shalt perfect my wishes. My hope shall become boundless. My faith shall become cloudless. My love shall become flawless. There shall be no restraint upon the longings of my heart — nothing to say to my wish, “beware what you ask.” My desires shall no longer soar in the nighty but in the day; theyr shall see where they go, and, therefore, they shall go more buoyantly. I shall seek Thee with a perfect will when I shall want no more.