In John Milton’s Paradise Lost
there is a point where Satan, thinking through how he is going to tempt Adam and Eve to fall, comes up with this plan, “I will excite their minds with vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires…”. For Satan, this plan is hatched from his own recollection of the fact that, “lifted up so high I thought one step higher would set me highest.” What Milton gives us through his depiction of the fall of both Satan and man is this picture of the inflamed desire for more. What seems to be at the heart of both “falls” is this illusory hunger for more.
In another text, Death of a Salesman, the lead character, Willy Loman, unravels to the point of madness, despair and suicide because he is always chasing “the wrong dreams.” He dreams of respect, identity, and acceptance even though he has everything he needs right around him in the form of a loving wife and two doting children. His inflamed desire for the illusion of happiness beyond what he has already sends him on a downward spiral that ends in him taking his own life.
There seems to be a great danger inherent in these “vain aims” and “inordinate desires” that is very costly to the human condition. To hunger for more seems paradoxical, given that we don’t usually find stuffing ourselves to be a very pleasant experience once we’ve done it. And yet, over and over we desire this illusion of “more” at the great expense of our relationships, marriages, careers, livelihoods, sanity and health.
What concerns me is that our very culture is built upon this hunger for more. I can imagine, without too much difficulty, a team of advertising folk sitting around a table, using much of the same verbiage Satan uses in Paradise Lost for whatever product they are trying to pitch: “What can we do to excite their minds with vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires in order to get them to feel incomplete until they buy X?” (Check out this familiar Best Buy commercial that seems to play upon this very idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufw2D8oMJ64). In fact, this seems to be the very thing that greases the engine of consumption we call business (it might not be coincidental that the product I am using to create this blog post has as its symbol an apple with a bite out of it).
This Thanksgiving, not long after the turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie have worn off, the sacred ritual we call Black Friday will commence whereby normal, rational, sane individuals will be transformed in the wee hours of the morning into hungry, insatiable consumers, willing to obtain a deal at any cost (see this heartbreaking story of a man trampled to death by his fellow shoppers on Black Friday last year http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2008448574_shop290.html).
If this cult of desire seems to have its roots in very “demonic” aims and means, why is it that we venerate it throughout our culture? What are the consequences of a society whose very ethos is built upon that which causes the fall of so many? And what, if anything, can be done about it?
I think what we must do is address this very dangerous trap that we have fallen into whereby our basest desires are glorified at the expense of our humanity, decency, and virtue. That we have vain aims and desires is part and parcel of the human condition; that we glorify and center our culture around them with such “hellish” consequences is scary. As Aristotle taught centuries ago, it is not easy to do the difficult work of being virtuous, but it begins in refusing to listen to the seductive voices calling us to worship desire at the expense of being whole. Though we may have traded Eden for Sodom, we don’t have to stay there. The counter, I believe, is anchored in the Hebraic idea of shalom: a life wealthy in wholeness, a being complete, a mind at rest. The life rooted in shalom sees through the clutter and the noise, is able to resist the temptation to “step one step higher,” and refuses to worship at the altar of Mammon, that god of gluttony, consumption, and avarice. Jesus was right; it is impossible to serve both the God of shalom and the god of Mammon.
May we be wise enough to choose correctly.
bibletrutheducation said:
What you’ve spoken about is the Image of the Beast found in the bible.I wrote a post explaining it http://bibletrutheducation.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/the-american-dream-could-you-be-worshiping-the-image-of-the-beast/
jimceastman said:
Nice post. It’s very informative and awakening. New things excite us but still we can never seek happiness after all. What can make us happy after all is when we give and be kind. We are more blessed when we give.
In Acts 20:35 “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Scott A Martin said:
Good comments! You might be interested in another post I wrote titled, “Redefining Wealth,” that you might enjoy along these lines. Thanks for adding to the conversation
jimceastman said:
Thanks. I’ll be following your posts more often.
jimceastman said:
I will be following your posts more often.
jimceastman said:
I will be following your posts more often.
luaydpk said:
good post! satan is enemies for all…
jamieahughes said:
Some very interesting and insightful thoughts here, sir. Like you, I am a lover of literature and critical thought. I’m also a Christian who lives to serve God rather than mammon. I’d be curious to see some of your theological posts. Any suggestions of where I should start?
Scott A Martin said:
Yes. In fact, most of my posts are rooted in theology. You might be interested in the following posts:
Thoughts on the Common Good
A Story Worth Telling
Prophetic Imagination
What I Believe
Winds of Heaven, Things if Earth
That should get you started! I look forward to your thoughts!
jamieahughes said:
Excellent. Thanks! And congrats on the FP nod. 🙂 Always fun to know someone’s reading, right?
BitterSweetLife said:
So love this blog! It is relative in many ways and to many people. Especially in today’s youth from the advertisements on tv, youtube, radio, etc. Thanks for this 🙂
Scott A Martin said:
Thanks for joining the conversation!
melanietoye said:
Interesting post, my first reaction as I began to read, was ‘no don’t say this desire for me is a killer to everyone of us’ as I explored more of the piece I realised not just how well-thought out and written this article was but it provide a good eye-opener into the culture today. I guess with most things in life, moderation and balance is key. A small piece of chocolate once a week, won’t give hurt your body too badly but a binge eating of chocolate daily can cause a host of problems. That is just one example. The other thought would be, well how does ‘The Secret’ evolve around this? It is based that what you think about, what desires and goals you want from life, if you continually think about it, feel it and want it, one day you will get it. Personally, I have used the secret’s actions over the years and have found them to work. But your article has left me wondering, is a desire for all things in life really God-like?
Scott A Martin said:
I think there is a difference between desire and longing. You might find the post I wrote yesterday titled? “Desire vs Longing” to be of interest
dzisperado said:
You are absolutely correct. C.S. Lewis had a lot of good stuff on it as well, or, as they say, hell is full of people to whom God said “let there be thy will”.
Scott A Martin said:
Yes, I love that line by Lewis! Thank you!
SimplySage said:
This is most excellent. Never noticed the Apple logo but it resonates such truth. Steve Jobs even said he created things we wanted but were unaware of til we had them. Incredible observations here.
Scott A Martin said:
Thank you!
dionysius said:
Reblogged this on dennis' notes.
inlifeihaveto said:
A-just imagine what would happen if everyone could change his souls to the liking…
B-maybe evryone would be happier..
A-yes and that’s exactly the point, do you understand? It wouldn’t suit to anyone if we were all happy.. Happy people don’t buy probucts, do you follow me? they don’t buy “the house of their dreams” or “the holiday of their dreams “, because they don’t dream anymore, they don’t watch talk-show, they don’t go to the cinema and certanly they don’t wake up soon in the morning to go to work, they don’t do nothing to make their life happier, because it is already.. can you imagie what a disaster that would be??
Scott A Martin said:
Interesting! Thanks for adding to the conversation! Perhaps what is needed is a strong, healthy, virtuous definition of “happy”.
davemanic said:
Our desire seems to center more over hunger than being full. It has been said that by being hungry we can get so much more done. Keep your stomach with 1/3 food 1/3 water and 1/3 air. Great post, thanks!
Scott A Martin said:
Good thoughts, thanks!
maximalspace said:
Very thought provoking post. Adam Curtis analyses similar themes in his documentary ‘Century of Self’. You can watch it online here: http://centuryself.blogspot.co.uk/ His blog is well worth following as well – if you haven’t already heard of him!
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Hazer said:
Nice title and message!
Scott A Martin said:
Thank you! Glad to have you join the conversation!
Hazer said:
When I had read your “cult of Desire” ( fond of the tile) I knew what my cult of desire was and I have prayed to become a better person.
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Alison said:
SimplySage reposted you on readers choice – that’s how I found you. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
A few years ago, tired of the mind’s discontent, I spontaneously found myself asking the question, over and over, “What if this is enough?”, this being whatever – ranging from that specific moment to my whole life in general. “What if this is enough?” It was a rhetorical question. It was not about seeking an answer, it was about challenging the mind’s apparently endless desire for something other than what is. I believe the question, and the prompting to repeat it over and over, came by grace.
The one very obvious result was that about 3 months later I spontaneously quit smoking without any thought about it, or withdrawal symptoms. The subtler, and more powerful and far reaching result has been that I’ve become very conscious of desire, of the mind trying to get, or be, or have something other than what is. With consciousness there’s a letting go, and a relaxing into presence, and a celebration of what is, rather than a discontent arising from unmet desire. The desire can be as simple as “I wish I didn’t have to be here washing dishes, I want to watch TV”. It’s not finished, or finite. It’s an ongoing life choice. We’re so conditioned to want stuff, to dream big dreams, to be better than, to desire, that we miss the celebration of, and gratitude for what is, for what we have.
Scott A Martin said:
I am glad to have you! I think you are spot on in your analysis of the paradox of “what is enough”? As I said in my post, the “cult of desire” makes us believe that we will not be content unless we have more. The irony here is that this push for more is what robs us of our contentedness. Like most, I have had to learn this lesson the hard way. I am glad to hear that you are winning this battle! Keep up the good fight!
Alison said:
Thanks. And I do feel as if I’m “winning”. Desire is such an insidious thing. Becoming conscious of it is itself a kind of liberation.
Irony yes. It’s about “I’ll be happy when . . . . .” leaving no room for being happy now.