First, let’s talk about what kinds of desires there are. When I walked up to the church where I was asked to give this sermon, the church bulletin outside for all to see said “Desire.” I said a silent “oh, oh” to myself, because the word by itself can mean a lot of things. My instructions, however, were to come up with a sermon on how to RESURRECT desire (implying that it must be dead or healf-dead first).

The congregation was pleased when I summed up the desires, because in essence the little flame of desire, no matter what desire we are talking about, burns in everyone.

Here is just a partial list of desires that we can experience in our life time.

- Desire to be healthy
- Desire to get married or find the love of your life
- Desire to have children
- Desire to get rich
- Desire to have true friends
- Desire to pray
- Desire to achieve something
- Desire to have sex or share oneself with our partner
- Desire to leave a legacy behind
- Desire to live
- Desire to love God, Life, the Universe, whatever you call it

Often we lose the desires for these experiences, due to other experiences that threaten to snuff out our light. I had to go inward myself and remember the first time I had a burning desire and remember the intricate details of what caused this desire to burn until the fire had to be quenched by its exact replica on the outside world. It was when I was 4 years old. I never forget the moment when my parents took my sister and I on a Sunday stroll in Switzerland, along a gravel country path heading towards the farm next to us. There it was – the most beautiful, powerful, magnificent, majestic, elegant, 4-legged thing I had ever seen! I remember thinking to myself: “This must be God in the flesh.”

They were two horses coming towards us. I had never seen such an animal and yet one desire immediately flared up within me: the desire to sit on one of these animals. I was too young and the riders of course wouldn’t allow me to sit on one of their beautiful horses. My mother told me that when I was old enough to make my own phone call to a horse back riding stable and find out how much lessons cost, she would pay for a horseback riding lesson. I didn’t read yet but I was determined. The passion and desire within me was burning stronger and stronger. I got my hands on horse books and drew horses all day long. We had binoculars and from our place I could see the horse back riders along the edge of the forest along the horizon. I just had to ride one of these majestic animals soon.

I was 5 years old when I was able to make the entire call by myself. The lesson cost about five US dollars per hour back then. I don’t remember sleeping the night before my first lesson.

Once I was sitting on this amazing animal, a new desire was born within me, the desire to one day own my own horse. I started to work at the horseback riding stable for free, cleaning horses, picking up horse poop, sweeping the floors, cleaning the saddles, anything just to be around the horses.

Ten years later my mother bought me a 1-year old horse that I couldn’t even ride yet, but I was the happiest girl in the world.

We have been taught that the kingdom of God is within and that the it belongs to little children and that unless we become like little children we can not enter the kingdom of God. At first blush this seems like a contradiction. If the kingdom is already within me, then why do I need to enter it in the first place? And why is it not all children but only LITTLE children?

Anyone who has children knows that there is a huge difference between a 3-4 year old and a 8-9 year old! We are told to become like little children. From my own memories of childhood I know that I forgave easily when I was that little. I remember going into what my mother called room arrest for seemingly hours. Yet the moment she closed that door I was in my own “kingdom” and was happy as a clam not even remembering why I was there in the first place. Today when we get in trouble, mostly because of our own doing, we mope around a sad face for days, weeks, months, even years; and it shows in every face on our elderly generation.

A Proverb says that “a happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.” (15:13)

Yet how many of us, including myself, let heartache crush our spirit more than once, and worse, we hold on to the pain for dear life. Why? For what?

So a journey began for me a couple of weeks ago, one to remember my happiest moments in life as a child, going back and studying the moments that robbed my desire to live, even as a child. And remembering the happy times when I was blissfully joyful and nothing could pull me from the kingdom within.

And I have learned that there are 3 key things that steal our desires:

1. Holding a record of wrong and harboring unkindness towards others

2. Stopping the growth process, stop living, mediocrity

3. Stop believing that we are indeed here for a greater purpose

The question is, once this desire for life and love seems to have disappeared or been robbed from us, how do we resurrect our desires?

1. Bless and love our enemies and let go of the record of wrongs

2. Realizing that little children change faster than a lightening bolt, they constantly grow, they literally live in the moment as if tomorrow didn’t exist. They forget sorrow quickly and they never hold a record of wrong, they forgive in a flash without reasoning through the “ifs, whats, and buts.” If we can become like a little child and grow and change frequently, never staying stagnant, then we will hear the desires burning within us once again.

3. Find the one thing that you would do for free, when you do it you are lost in time; your are guided by spirit

Out of these 3 the first one is probably the most difficult one to achieve. It’s not an achievement, it’s a journey, it never ends. Just when you think you have forgiven all the people that have hurt you in the past, there will be another person to put on that list so you can pray for them, bless them and love them.

I am currently working on a prayer that I am writing for myself that I intend on reading over and over again several times throughout the day, with the focus to bless my enemies and wish them only the best of the best. When I have it, I will share it with everyone so you too can move on in loving rays of sunlight with only the best wishes for others in your heart.

Much love to everyone today and in this very moment…