On the day of our king the officials became sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with mockers. For they are kindled like an oven, their heart burns within them; all night their anger smoulders; in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings have fallen; none of them calls upon me. (Hosea 7: 5-7)

My own regrets are more the result of restraint than passion. A cool heart rather than a burning heart is my challenge.

But the sin is largely the same. Burning ardor claims another or many others as possession. Cool correctness seeks to claim the self. Each are equally effective at excluding God.

Many a burning heart mistakes the object of desire. My cool heart mistrusts the source of desire. Both can cause a smoky, smelly smouldering.

We are to call upon God. Our ultimate object is to lose ourselves - and claim ourselves - in the passionate embrace of God.

I desire to accept my origins and fully live my life as a child of God.