The French philosopher Rene Descartes famously said "Cogito ergo sum," more well known in English as "I think, therefore I am."
Descartes had wondered about his own existence. What am I?
The simple summary of his line of thought is that he figured if he had these doubts about his own existence then clearly he was thinking, and if he was thinking then he was alive. I think, there for I am. At the core of what it means to be human is that we are thinking beings.
Hundreds of years later Descartes' motto is still very alive. A major part of education, public health and public policy is about getting the right information out there. Even newspapers like this one share this line of thought: if we can get all the right information out there then people should be able to make up a good opinion for themselves.
But lately philosophers and theologians have come around to a different type of motto that gets at the core of our being. It is not so much that we are thinking beings, but that we are loving beings. Our desires are at the core of who we are. To be human is to be a lover. I love, there I am.
You can put it to test in your own life.
Think about the bad habits you have and the things that you think that you should do. What keeps you from doing them? We know we should eat healthier. We know we should exercise more. We know we should live more simply. I know I should floss daily. But I don't. I think about it. We all think about these things. We have the information.
I am convinced. But the desire is not there.
So why does this matter for the Clergy Comment column?
There are a couple reasons. First, if it is true that "I love, there I am," then it should at least open us up to the possibility that the source of our life comes from the source of love.
The Apostle John in the Bible had much to say about love in his first letter to the church, namely: "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (1 John 4:7-8). At the core of how Christians understand what it means to be human is that we are made in the image of God. God is love, and we are lovers.
A second reason why it matters that we are primarily lovers than thinkers is that it should open us up to new ways of change and transformation. As it turns out, a change in behaviour stems not so much from a change of mind but a change of desire.
If we can change our behaviours and actions through the correct information then we can just look for the right educational resources. But if our transformations come through a change of heart then we need to be open to repentance, admitting that we have had the wrong desires and lesser loves. It is not because our desires are too strong that we get pulled into greed, gluttony and lust, but it is because they are too weak.
The Good News for all who repent in the name of Jesus is that "for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17).
