{"id":958,"date":"2013-02-21T19:45:22","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T19:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/desiring-to-desire\/"},"modified":"2013-02-21T19:45:22","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T19:45:22","slug":"desiring-to-desire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/desiring-to-desire\/","title":{"rendered":"“Desiring to Desire”"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/p>\n

(Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)<\/span><\/p>\n

In this writing I have decided to choose and explore a few concepts discussed by Vincent Jude Miller in his book Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture;<\/em> those of need, desire, scarcity, and lack; and analyze how these might interact and manifest.\u00a0 I will also briefly discuss the \u201cneeds\u201d concepts of Maslow and Miller.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Miller discusses the idea that we have come to the place where we don\u2019t know the difference between \u201ccomplex culturally constructed desires\u201d and \u201cbasic human needs\u201d (108)\u00a0 And since we have a myriad of choices, the joyful choice then becomes \u201cto desire.\u201d \u201cDesiring\u201d and \u201clonging\u201d bleeds into every area of our lives, including relationships and spirituality.\u00a0 It is not so much the person or object that brings us satisfaction, but the \u201cseeking\u201d and \u201cchasing\u201d that brings the joy.\u00a0 Perhaps this human instinct of \u201cdesire\u201d comes from the concept of \u201cscarcity;\u201d human competition for limited resources.\u00a0 One might argue that most battles and wars have been fought over the fear of \u201cscarcity\u201d and the desire for the resources of others.\u00a0 There is no question that in many parts of the world food and other basic needs are scarce.\u00a0 Why is there scarcity?\u00a0 Is it real or artificially created?\u00a0 There are a variety of theories surrounding this, from overpopulation to the effects of imperialism.\u00a0 So what are basic human needs?\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Abraham Maslow designed a pyramid of human needs found within his writing, \u201cA Theory of Human Motivation.\u201d\u00a0 According to Maslow, for physiological survival, we don\u2019t need property, symbols, or morality.\u00a0 At our base level of existence it seems we choose the finite over the infinite.\u00a0 From an anthropological perspective we know that if a society is living above survival they typically create some form of meaningful art.\u00a0 This shows that the group is not just hunting and gathering but also has time to weave, paint and sculpt. Once a human feels safe he\/she can begin the natural processes of curiosity, exploration and abstract problem solving.\u00a0 With these processes come creation stories, artifacts and theologies.\u00a0 So how does scarcity and meaning come together within the human?\u00a0 The concept and fear of scarcity (due to limited resources) stimulates the desire for unessential things; things that are not necessary for survival.\u00a0 And as mentioned earlier, for Miller there is a joy in reaching out for the desired.\u00a0 He explains, \u201cDesire and its pleasures are constituted in lack. …The bitterness of disappointment and frustration with particular objects of desire is endlessly glazed over by the sweetness of desire for new ones.\u201d (119)\u00a0 This desire and lack concept has bled into Christianity, according to Miller.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

He discusses the concept of scarcity and Christian theology when analyzing the writing Divine Economy<\/em> by D. Stephen Long.\u00a0 He states, \u201cLong applies the critique of modernity\u2019s ontology of lack to the axiomatic status of \u2018scarcity\u2019 in contemporary economics.\u00a0 (Economics is commonly defined as the study of the allocation of scarce resources to competing needs.)\u00a0 He argues that this disciplinary assumption can only be viewed as heretical by Christian theology.\u201d (112)\u00a0 I wonder how the concepts of scarcity and lack play into concepts of God, especially in the constant need to reaffirm the \u201cdebt\u201d humans owe to God alongside of the salvific \u201cpaying of debt\u201d though Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In other words, within Christianity is the concept of \u201coriginal sin\u201d and the idea that humans were born with a debt they owe to God.\u00a0 Then, Jesus Christ came and paid the debt.\u00a0 However, there is still the idea that even with redemption, humans must pay a sacrificial price in order to \u201crelate\u201d with Christ and his suffering.\u00a0 And therefore, an exchange of sorts continues to take place during a Christian humans\u2019 lifetime, an exchange which sometimes includes finance, works, practices, forgiveness, guilt, grace, etc.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

There are Christian scriptures that speak of material economics, one of which being Matthew 6:19-21 which states, \u201c\u201cDo not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>consume and where thieves break in and steal;\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.\u201d (NSV)\u00a0 This scripture seems to be a commentary on releasing the desire for non-essential material things.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>I couldn\u2019t help but also think of the four Noble Truths of Buddhism, and especially the second and third: \u201cSuffering Comes from Desire,\u201d \u201cTo End Suffering End Desire.\u201d\u00a0 Desire for the non-essentials, according to Buddhism and Christianity, causes suffering individually and on a global scale with its ripple effects.\u00a0 Faced with a myriad of possible non-essential choices, by choosing one and forgoing all others presents the immediate idea of \u201clack.\u201d\u00a0 This idea, according to Miller, has seeped into religious thought by equating the finite with the infinite.\u00a0 And with this comes the result of choosing the finite over a relationship with God.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, we have come to the place where we have a hard time distinguishing between \u201cdesires\u201d and \u201cneeds.\u201d\u00a0 Unlike animals, who tend to hunt for food for survival and are then satisfied, humans seem to have insatiable desires.\u00a0 And in some way desire, in and of itself, brings us joy; not necessarily the object of desire but the \u201creaching out\u201d or craving gives satisfaction, until of course, the object is obtained.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Why do you think it has become difficult for humans to distinguish between desires and needs?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What is the purpose, if there is one, to the insatiable human desire to desire?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How do the concepts of \u201cdesire\u201d and \u201cscarcity\u201d manifest in Christian theology?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) In this writing I have decided to choose and explore a few concepts discussed by Vincent Jude Miller in his book Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture; those of need, desire, scarcity, and lack; and analyze how these might interact and manifest.\u00a0 I will also briefly discuss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[375,2,255],"class_list":["post-958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-desires","tag-dminlgp","tag-miller","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}