One Wish

In fiction a wish is a supernatural demand placed on the recipient’s unlimited request. When it is the center of a tale, the wish is usually a template for a morality tale, "be careful what you wish for" writ large; it can also be a small part of a tale, in which case it is often used as a plot device.

The template for most fictional wishes is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, specifically the tale of Aladdin. Although in the tale of Aladdin the actual wishes were only part of the tale and his demands, while outrageous per se, were mainly variations on wealth (which is still often taken as the most ’common’ request).

Magical possibilities aside, the act of formulating a wish can be beneficial. The wisher has an opportunity to identify what they most desire ("I can have anything at all in the world--what do I want?"). Often, wishing is a time for first becoming aware of a previously-unarticulated hope. Once identified, these hopes can become personal goals.

Typically, opportunities for wishes come in threes. And this is significant because mankind has three basic wishes. In fact they are actually rights which have been so eloquently enumerated in the American Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, piggy backing off of sagacious political philosopher John Locke, asserts “we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” There’s not a single human being alive who doesn’t want life, liberty, and property (as John Locke puts it) or the pursuit of happiness. These three wishes are the foundation of the American dream. In the book Of Mice and Men, George and Lenny imagine a day when they are no longer farmhands but they own their own land, make their own rules, and live their own lives. But yet and still we ask for more wishes. Because its not enough that I’ve got life, I want health. Its not enough that I’ve got property, I want wealth. Its not enough that I’ve got liberty, I want control.

If you had a wish that you knew would come true, what would you wish for? If you were to ask a child this same question, unable to wait a moment longer—all smiles—bouncing from one foot to the other—he/she then reports what children have been saying down through the years, each one sure nobody ever thought of such a clever answer before, “I’d ask for more wishes!

I was listening to a song the other day by Ray J, Brandy’s brother. In it he’s talking to his ex-girlfriend about how things used to be or at least how he perceived them to have been. He says I’ve messed up, I was a fool and now I’m sorry. He says I think I need a bottle with a genie in it. Here’s my wishlist: First one, I would create a heart changing love. Second one, I’ll take yours and fill it all the way up. Third one, but I don’t need a lot of wishes cause I’d be okay if I get one. If I had one wish…

I wonder how many of us can share in brother Ray J’s sentiments that if I only get one wish, I’d be okay. Because more and more I’m coming to realize that I actually only need one wish to cover the entire gamut of my desires. And apart from the fact that my request might sound a little sanctimonious, I’m open to sharing it with you. In fact, what great ambition could any created being have, than to experience (like Abraham) an intimate, sustained friendship with one’s creator?

The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. This is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart’s happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead. This is where we begin but where we stop no man has yet discovered. In the awful and mysterious depths of the triune God there is neither limit nor end.

Shoreless ocean, who can sound thee? Thine own eternity is round thee! Majesty divine! We taste thee, o thou living bread, and long to feast upon the still. We drink of thee, the fountain head, and thirst our souls from thee to fill. My single wish then is to know the Lord ever more intimately, to sense his presence in my life in ways even beyond the beauty of what has been experienced to date. I want to trust him more. I want to enjoy growing closer with God. I’ve come far enough in this relationship to have discovered an important truth. The better acquainted I am with God, the more I’m aware of his insistence on holiness.