Need is real; all other desires are created

WITH All Saints’ Day (November 1) and Remembrance Sunday (November 8) gone for another year, mammon’s ‘Christmas’ has started.

Officially, ‘Black Friday’ is November 27. But with that annual spending orgy - imported from America (where else?) - now lasting several weeks rather than one day, already it’s up and sprinting rather than just running.

In stark contrast, Advent’s first Sunday - November 29 this year – marks the start of the contemplative liturgical season which precedes Christmas-proper.

So, in which of these two camps are our figurative tents pitched?

Regular readers of this column will know John Mark Comer is one of my favourite authors. And his book, ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World,’ gives genuine value for money by including quotes by like-minded writers.

He lauds Dallas Willard for having stated: ‘Desire is infinite partly because we were made by God, made for God, made to need God and made to run on God. We can be satisfied only by the One who is infinite, eternal and able to supply all our needs. We are only at home in God.’

That, of course, is an update of Augustine who, more than 1,500 years earlier, had written: “You move us to delight in praising You; for You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.”

Comer himself added this enlargement: “Ultimately, nothing in this life - apart from God - can satisfy our desires. Tragically, we continue to chase after those desires ad infinitum.

“The result? A chronic state of restlessness or - worse - angst, anger, anxiety, disillusionment and depression, all of which lead to a life of hurry, busyness, overload, shopping, materialism and careerism - a life of ‘more’ which, ironically, makes us even more restless, meaning the cycle spirals out of control.”

Then spotlighting the role of advertising, Comer continues: “This is exacerbated by our cultural moment of digital marketing from a society built around the twin gods of accumulation and accomplishment, with advertising being a literal attempt to monetise our restlessness.”

With Americans reckoned to see – sometimes subliminally - upwards of 4,000 adverts every day, Comer warns these are “all designed to stoke the fire of desire.”

Thus he applauds Wayne Muller who, in ‘Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in Our Busy Lives’ wrote: “It’s as if we’ve inadvertently stumbled into some horrific wonderland.”

And here Comer adds: “Social media takes this problem to a whole new level as we live under the barrage of images - not just from marketing departments but from the rich and famous as well as our friends and family, all of whom curate ‘the best moments of their lives.’

And a la Comer: “This ends up unintentionally playing to a core sin of the human condition…envy; the greed for another person’s life and the loss of gratitude, joy, and contentment in our own.”

Over two millennia ago the Ancient Greek philosopher, Democritus, had worked out: “Happiness resides not in possessions or in gold, but in the soul.”

Somewhat more recently, an unnamed modern-day sage stressed: “Advertising creates a sense of need where none exists.” In other words, when we have genuine ‘needs’ rather than mere desires, we don’t need to be informed of them…

In the coming weeks expect to be pounded with disinformation about fictitious ‘needs’ designed to con us into trying to buy contentment. That’s a myth; you can’t.

Sacrates (469–399 BC} also was way ahead of his time in warning: “He who is not content with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have.”

Unlike the advertising world’s exaggerations which weigh us down, the promise of the One who personifies truth and whose birth Christmas celebrates was/is: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30).

So if our yoke and burdens are heavy, might we be accepting the wrong message?

Just a thought…