We are all addicted to something at some time or another. Some are addicted to self-image. Others are addicted to other people’s opinions of them. Still others are sucked in by the tornado of self-pity which can be an addiction itself. We succumb to certain addictions because we become attached to things that do not give us life, though they function as if they do.
Gerald May’s marvelous definition is apropos: “Addiction exists wherever persons are internally compelled to give energy to things that are not their true desires.” As image-bearers our desires are heaven-shaped, but addictions “sidetracks and eclipses the energy of our deepest, truest desire for love and goodness.”
Advent reshapes our desires. It calls us to draw near to the desire of nations, Jesus Christ. It compels us to expect our desires to be met in him and to be renewed by his coming. Addictions exist when our expectations are for false messiahs. Augustine said it best: “Our hearts are restless until they can find rest in you.”
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