Love not Passion

Last updated on: November 13, 2016 at 11:15 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Love not Passion 2016-11-13T23:15:17-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There is so much I want that I cannot have. What is to be done?

We often confuse who we are with our desires. Desire is very powerful, but philosophers from Plato to CS Lewis have understood that reason must govern desire. What I want is not necessarily what I should want.

This is obvious in my own life. For whatever reason, I want to eat more than I need to eat. This is not good for my physical health, but it is also not good for my spiritual health. It is not a matter of vanity, but of moderation.

I cannot preach about being temperate and have all the comfort food my body craves. Once poverty protected people such as I am from over indulgence, but now I must learn virtue. God forbid that I become proud of my lack of control . . . as if “who I am” is good merely because it is “who I am.”

Food is not bad. Enjoying a feast is fabulous, but a passion for food is horrid. Passion is a drive that overcomes morals, reason, and other desires. Passion claims priority even when other actions would be better.

There are wise words in the Fathers:

He whose God is his belly and who prides himself on his ignominy as if it were something splendid (cf. Philippians 3:19) is merely cleaving to the shameful passions as if they were divine. Because of this he pursues only what is temporal, that is to say, matter and form and the perverted impulses of the five senses. When the senses combine with matter and form they produce passion, killing and effacing natural principles. For, in accordance with the principles of being, passion and nature in no way co-exist with each other: the principle of nature is never naturally conjoined with passion, and passion is never coengendered with nature.

Dieting can make me spend more time thinking about temporal things than eating! I become vain about losing weight and spend large amounts of time looking at the scale and my step count on Fitbit. Meanwhile, spiritual things are ignored.

Passion is not mere emotion, but a desire so deep we confuse it with what we are. How do we know it is not what we are? Because I can not do what passion demands and still exist and with practice can be happy without submitting . . .

My passions, either directed toward dieting or directing toward eating, destroy my best self if not restrained. We are spiritual beings and not merely physical. I must learn to acknowledge desire, repress and hide nothing, and then move past desire.

My passions must die so my nature can live. This is not a call to be emotionless, but to be driven by reason, love, and nature. Passion does not care what should be, what is loving, or natural. Passion wants what it wants. My emotions, true feelings, are hidden under a drive for something. Only when I have mastered passion can I have feelings.

Plato describes the passions as a great monster within us. Paul associates our passions with the “old man” that is death to the immortal soul.

The good news is that passion can be mastered, though it is very hard. I have made some progress in saying “no” to urges and “yes” to what best reason, revelation, and experience demands. I can live as a spiritual man in a body . . .and so know joy.

—————————————

Philokalia, Volume 2, page 266

Κεφάλαια διάφορα Θεολογικά τε και Οικονομικά και περί Αρετής και Κακίας, ΕΚΑΤΟΝΤΑΣ ΠΕΜΠΤΗ

κη΄. Ὁ Θεόν τήν κοιλίαν ἡγούμενος, καί ὡς ἐπί δόξῃ τῇ αἰσχύνῃ καλλωπιζόμενος, μόνων οἶδεν ὡς θείων ἀντέχεσθαι διά σπουδῆς τῶν παθῶν τῆς ἀτιμίας· καί διά τοῦτο μόνα περιέπει τά χρονικά, τουτέστι τήν ὕλην καί τό εἶδος, καί τήν κατά παράχρησιν πενταπλῆν ἐνέργειαν τῶν αἰσθήσεων. Τῇ γάρ ὕλῃ καί τῷ εἴδει συμπλακεῖσα κατά μίξιν ἡ αἴσθησις, ἀποτελεῖν μέν πάθος, ἀπεκτείνειν δέ καί ἀναιρεῖν τούς κατά φύσιν πέφυκε λόγους. Πάθος γάρ καί φύσις κατά τόν τοῦ εἶναι λόγον, οὐδαμῶς ἀλλήλοις συνυπάρχουσιν. Οὐ γάρ πέφυκε πάθει ἐμφαίνεσθαι τοπαράπαν φύσεως λόγος, ὥσπερ οὔτε φύσει συναποτίκτεσθαι κατά γένεσιν πάθος.

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

November 12, 2016

Become Fully Human: A Film on the "Nones" and Christianity

Next Post

November 14, 2016 Says the student: "I am Charlemagne."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was Moses' father's name?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Amram Apollos Arron Abiathar

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »