All this craving I do...I've realized that it has its root in attachment. What I was discussing in my last blog entry. Enjoyment, pure and physical enjoyment, is a great thing. But it attaches you to things that ultimately are not lasting. "Physical" is a synonym for "transient."

So, maybe what all these Catholic theologians of the past were getting at is that attachment to these physical things--this craving for food, for affection, for sex, for people--all of it is ultimately of a lesser order than spiritual things, of an order that does not withstand time. The spiritual is what remains. Which is something I just can't seem to pin down anywhere.

Is there a way to enjoy these things, but not crave them when they leave? Life would be a lot less colorful without physical things. But in the end, you're left with a gap and craving and need. Is this my lesson?