Do You Want It? Then You Need It !
What do you hear when you hear the words 'want' and 'need'? Do you think there's a vast world between the two? Do you consider that they have the same meaning? I believe they're at least fraternal twins. I also believe they can cause a lot of confusion.
In his blog, CREEations, Chris Cree wrote a great post on Prosperity Preachers. This confusion between our wants and our needs struck me during a comment discussion. Talk turned to Jesus' question to John and Andrew: "What do you want?” Tying this into the original thread, Chris said, "I found it interesting that Jesus did not ask them first what they needed, but wanted them to tell him instead what they desired. Not sure how that that plays into the prosperity question, but I did find it to be an interesting distinction."
My reaction was to pick up the dictionary, check both 'want' and 'need' and question when the translation “what do you want?” was made. Most of the rest of my comment: "My guess is it was sometime way this side of the 12th century, at which time the word meant to lack or to need. Actually, in today’s usage, the 3rd or 4th definition in the dictionary still carries the 12th century meaning. The distinction is often made between a want and a need, when they are, in fact, the same, particularly in a spiritual context. Either word describes something lacking. Somewhere along the line, society made a distinction that a want is necessarily frivilous and a need is something to be reckoned with . . . "
My point? God, Universe, Spirit, Allah is thrilled when we turn ourselves away from ourselves and ask for the help that's always available to us. The Spirit who rules relishes that a request has been made, regardless of the frivolity of that request.
In his blog, CREEations, Chris Cree wrote a great post on Prosperity Preachers. This confusion between our wants and our needs struck me during a comment discussion. Talk turned to Jesus' question to John and Andrew: "What do you want?” Tying this into the original thread, Chris said, "I found it interesting that Jesus did not ask them first what they needed, but wanted them to tell him instead what they desired. Not sure how that that plays into the prosperity question, but I did find it to be an interesting distinction."
My reaction was to pick up the dictionary, check both 'want' and 'need' and question when the translation “what do you want?” was made. Most of the rest of my comment: "My guess is it was sometime way this side of the 12th century, at which time the word meant to lack or to need. Actually, in today’s usage, the 3rd or 4th definition in the dictionary still carries the 12th century meaning. The distinction is often made between a want and a need, when they are, in fact, the same, particularly in a spiritual context. Either word describes something lacking. Somewhere along the line, society made a distinction that a want is necessarily frivilous and a need is something to be reckoned with . . . "
My point? God, Universe, Spirit, Allah is thrilled when we turn ourselves away from ourselves and ask for the help that's always available to us. The Spirit who rules relishes that a request has been made, regardless of the frivolity of that request.
upma
Philosophy Blog
Exactly. No, I mean really!