Desire and longing

Meaning

The 1661 responses distinguish desire by its object and orientation, not by treating all longing as a fault. The First Response begins with people's natural wish for riches and worldly standing, while explaining that created goods should lead to recognition and thanks to God. It later condemns appetite for treasure to fund pride and other sins, but tells its recipients that their ardent longing toward God has been heard. The Second Response ends by promising fulfillment of the addressees' desire through its few enigmatic words. That final promise belongs to a separate response; it should not be turned into an explanation of every condemned desire in the first.