Why We Like Cars
When you think about your dream car – you know, every few seconds of every day – do you ever think about why you like it? As you gaze at its picture in your locker, your wall, or your phone’s lockscreen, or read consumer reviews over and over again, or scroll through videos marked by its hashtag, do you pause and ponder why your desire has landed on that particular car among everything else out there? If you’re one of the fortunate few whose dream car is in your garage (or, perhaps, if you have trained your heart to desire the car that you already possess), do you contemplate the complexity of human desire?
Try writing it down. Go ahead, this will be fun. Write down the name of your car (or truck) and make a bullet-point list of why you like it. It should look something like this:
1949 Dodge ½-Ton Truck Restomod
Because it reminds me of my father/grandmother/high school shop class teacher
Because I’m a Dodge person
Because my daughter picked it out and we restored it together
Because having tactility and simplicity are important when I drive
Good start. Now take each point and spend a few minutes analyzing it. For example, if your dream car reminds you of a bygone era or a loved one you miss and whose memories you cherish, perhaps a deeper desire is actually “Because family is important. Connection to people I’ve lost is important. Passing on a tradition is important. Nostalgia and remembrance of past times is important.” Or, especially in the case of restomod projects, “Nostalgic sensibilities are important but modern amenities help me access them more easily.”
Many times, the object of your desires is a mere stand-in for some higher value, priority, or achievement you hold in your heart. From these, you may draw a certain emotion, and that emotion elicits feelings of desire. To put it in the technical terms used by some psychoanalysts, “The thing is not the thing.”
One of the wisest human minds, the one belonging to Solomon, arrived at such a conclusion when he contemplated human desire within the narrow span of a human life. He decided that some desires – namely, strength and ability – are nearly universal and perhaps even noble, but nevertheless fleeting and not worth devoting one’s life to:
“Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them.’” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1)
Solomon later describes the physical deterioration that comes with aging, and ultimately concludes in death: when “desire no longer is stirred” (v. 5).
So, during the short time of your life, while blood runs warm in your veins and desire pulses from your heart, where should you direct your desire? What does desire tell you about God’s desires? Kathleen Fischer, author, theologian, and ecophilosopher, describes training and redirecting your desires to serve God (Ecclesiastes 12:13), apply your God-given abilities toward causes that benefit as many members of God’s creation as possible (1 Corinthians 12:7), and definitely, above all else, reevaluate your personal, individual, private, beloved desires through the Biblical virtues of gratitude, humility, and contentment. If you find that your desires haven’t reflected Biblical virtues at all, you may see (as Fischer notes) how misapplied desire has caused so many problems throughout history:
“In spite of the gospel summons to limit our material possessions and set our hearts on treasures that last, we have grown more, not less, attached to things, especially in the wealthier countries of the world.”
If “things” are indeed mere symbols or tokens of higher causes, and can best be understood through the lens of Biblical virtue and wisdom, perhaps it’s time for an honest look at them. Your dream car, or the thing you place the most value in, is a great place to start.
In 1940, Dodge offered a two-tone paint option on its full lineup of cars. During a time when Dodge was really pushing its low prices, the two-tone look was supposed to satisfy consumer desires for glitzy two-tone cars like Cadillacs, Deusenbergs, and Bugattis. But Dodge made the complementary color on the fenders, hood, and rear deck, which made the cars look like taxicabs. Which represented cheapness. See, 1940s consumers desired low cost, not the appearance of low cost. It’s a bit confusing, but such is the nature of unexamined desire.
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