Passion

Color of passion—red                        

Symbol of passion—fire

Erasmus—passion is the intelligent balance between reason and emotion.

Passion (from the Ancient Greek verb πάσχω (paskho) meaning to suffer) is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something.

The term is also often applied to a lively or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, or activity or love - to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject, idea, person, or object.--Wikipedia

Chase down your passion like it's the last bus of the night.  ~Terri Guillemets

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that.  Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.  ~Attributed to Howard Thurman

You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough.  You must want it with an exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world.  ~Sheila Graham

The opposite of passion—boredom.

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.—Oprah Winfrey

If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you. ~  T. Alan Armstrong

Passion requires focused direction, and that direction must come from three other areas: your purpose, your talents, and your needs. ~  Steve Pavlina

A musician can play perfect technically, but without passion the music is mere noise. It has no feeling. The passion of the piece is expressed through the passion of the one who performs it. Passion can be seen as well as heard.

Passion is what keeps our lives from boredom. The amount of passion in a person’s life is relative to the amount of boredom. A person with a great amount of passion is so focused on the thing they are passionate about it almost consumes them. You can see it in their eyes, their actions, and hear it in their words. What do they seem to talk about most? Their passion makes them animated when they are talking about it. This feeling of excitement draws others to them, almost as if they too want to share the fire from the torch of passion. It can be like the Olympic torch carried around the world.

The Bible has a verse that says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” I say, where there is no passion, the people perish. They have no goal in life, and in fact, some see no reason for living. Granted, passion requires a lot from a person. It requires commitment, work, and sometimes self-sacrifice. What kind of a musician would Mozart have been, or what would the world have been like if Marie Curie had not followed her passion? We complain about being just another cog in the wheel of life, but we don’t have to be “just another cog”. Think. What is it that you love? Is it something that you could be passionate about? Look for your passion. Light your torch. Lead the way. Make a difference. Most likely you will need to start small, but hold onto that torch, even if it is raining. Thomas Edison learned from all the failures he had trying to invent the light bulb, but we now have incandescent light because he kept going. It will not always be smooth sailing. An Olympic athlete trains for years to just get a chance to compete.

Perhaps you can find another person that shares your passion and you can make the journey together. What is important is to make that journey. Boredom saps your energy and makes it difficult to get up in the morning. Not so when you have a passion to follow. So, find your passion and get going.

Water Walking

Matthew 14:22-33  

1.       Immediately after the 5,000 ate Jesus made the disciples leave. Why?

a.       (Jn) The people wanted to make Jesus king by force

2.       Jesus wanted some time alone to pray. He prayed after ministering.

3.       There were two evenings in a day 3:00pm and sundown. The people were fed at about 3:00pm (v. 15) Verse 23 was sundown—the 4^th watch was between 3:00-6:00pm.

4.       Jesus must have been exhausted after ministering all day. Perhaps the reason Jesus withdrew to this solitary place (v.13) was to pray but the crowds prevented it, therefore rather than telling the crowds to leave he ministered THEN prayed.

5.       Jesus sent the disciples into the boat (knowing there would be a storm)

6.       Perhaps Jesus told the people a storm was coming and they should head home, of course, the disciples would not have heard this since they had already left in the boat.

7.       Sometimes God send us knowingly into a storm and had we known the storm was coming, would we be willing to go into it?

8.       The disciples had left before sundown and were still on the lake at 3:00-6:00am. What should have been a couple hours of rowing turned into an all night affair?

9.       The boat was 3-3.5 miles from land.

10.   The disciples in the boat were probably those closest to Jesus and would have been fishermen; therefore, they were not unfamiliar with the quick way storms came up on Galilee. It does not mention that the disciples were afraid of the storm but only of ghosts. (Things they did not recognize).

11.   What were the disciples thinking?

a.       Where is Jesus?

b.      Why did He send us out here?

c.       We are never going to see land again?

d.      When is the storm going to stop?

12.   They had been fighting the storm for hours and when they saw Jesus walking on the water they may have4 figured that because of their fatigue they were beginning to hallucinate and that at that point they were doomed for sure.

13.   Jesus went to them at the 4^th watch (3:00-6:00am.)

14.   Jesus IMEDIATELY told them not to fear.

15.   Peter wanted to be sure it really was Jesus.

16.   How many people do you know walk on water?

17.   Mark 6:48 Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars even before He went to pray, but He did nothing about it.

18.   Why didn’t the disciples turn around and head back if the storm was coming up while they could still see land?

19.   All that time they had rowed only 3-3.5 miles (Jn6:19)

20.   Peter many times spoke impulsively and this is no exception. Peter asked, “If it’s you prove it”. Do we ask, “How do I know it’s you, prove it, Lord”?

21.   Peter could have said (after Jesus said come) that’s okay now I know it’s really you and not walked on the water.

22.   The disciples had three choices (just like we do).

a.       They could have turned around.

b.      They could have given up fighting the storm and let it win.

c.       They could keep on rowing into the storm hoping to reach the other shore, hoping the storm would stop, hoping for a miracle.

23.   This is the second time the disciples were caught in a storm (Mt 8:23-27) the first time Jesus was in the boat with them.

24.   Even though they were doing Christ’s will they still meet with a storm.

25.   Jesus manifested himself to them in a great way IN the storm.

26.   Demonstration of Jesus’ power over nature—the storm did not cause Jesus to hesitate, He walked into it on the water.

27.   We cannot “walk on water” under our own power.

28.   The effect of sear—sinking.

29.   The effect of faith—walking on water—doing the humanly impossible.

30.   The solution to sinking (fear) Prayer.

31.   Peter saw the wind and had fear—the next time he experienced the wind 3000 were saved.

32.   The wind was as strong in the boat as it was outside/

33.   Peter was the only one that wanted out of the boat and the only one that got out.

34.   Mark and John do not mention Peter walking on the water.

35.   If God says, “Come”, He will provide the means. He will also be right there if you have problems however, there was no reason why Peter should have had a problem unless he started thinking about what he was doing, resulting in him focusing on self instead of Christ.

36.   Why is it that Peter had faith enough to get out of the boat but not to walk on the water? The first step is always the hardest. Is it like us many times when we agree to do something, take the first step and suddenly realize what all is involved, then want to back out? Where is our commitment? The same place Peter’s was—sinking! We, like Peter are yelling to be saved from the situation.

37.   In order to get closer to Jesus we need to commit ourselves to walking on the water and to following His commands.

38.   Sometimes we are not absolutely sure that it is God speaking to us, if we are fairly certain we should be willing to step out on faith.

39.   Christ promises peace when He saves us (the wind died down).

40.   Even if everyone else stays in the boat—you follow Christ.

41.   When Jesus got in the boat they were at their destination.

42.   By saying, “Truly you are the Son of God”, the disciples were more likely meaning to say—only God could have done that!

43.   The crowd was out to get what they could from Jesus—most had no long range plan to follow Him. Do you ever remember reading where Jesus complained to His disciples that He wished the people would go away if all they wanted was to take advantage of Him? I don’t, I know that if it were me in Jesus’ place I probably would have said that.

Small Town America





            Garrison Keillor’s tales of Lake Woebegone have struck a chord in the hearts of many Americans. Even though we are ferociously proud of our individual independent spirits there is something about small town America that warms us heart and soul. Perhaps we recognize that within our individualism is a small spot that cries for the fellowship of community. It is in time of pain or hardship that the veneer of individualism cracks, exposing our need for the touch of a caring spirit. The community in which I have lived has more than once reached out with its small town heart and embraced the hurting of the community. Raising funds for the expenses of a mom suffering with cancer, pulling together to make a home possible for a woman who was defrauded by a contractor and ministering to the families of two high school boys killed in a car accident. The pain of those hurting became the shared pain of the community.

            Beyond concern for its citizens, the small town exhibits community pride and camaraderie. Take for example, the hundreds of people lining the streets for the Christmas parade. The parade portrayed little more than local kids, tractors and local organizations, yet the frigid weather keeps few away. It is a time to see friends and neighbors and to swell with pride when a child or friend passes in the parade. I firmly believe that the types of things happening in my small town are mirrored across America. Still, America has lost a lot of the small town caring and in this time of terrorism, wars and uncertainty we need to cultivate what we have lost and to nurture that part we so tenuously still maintain.

            I’m sure that those who lost so much in the recent tornadoes are thankful for the help coming to them from the small towns across America. Their family and neighbors are just a little more precious to them and I bet that even though they lost everything, you will find them helping where they can.

            John Mellencamp captured the uniqueness of the small town in his song lyrics:

No I cannot forget where it is that I come from

I cannot forget the people who love me

Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town

And people let me be just what I want to be.

Yes, the big city holds an important place in America too, and we need both big city and small town in order to embrace the world with the heart of American caring, but for those who have lived there, there is nothing quite like the small town.

An Entry in John's Diary

Photo: Nuttakit

            Thursday was a long day, Peter and I didn’t intend to fall asleep in the garden, but we had been sent early to prepare for the Passover feast that evening. Finally, when everyone arrived, we began to eat. Jesus appeared stressed. The Jewish leaders had been particularly hard on Him lately. My first indication of His stress came when He took bread and wine, and called it his body and blood. He was difficult person to understand at times. One of us would betray Him He said. Why? We loved Him. Naturally, we wanted to know who the traitor was, but when Judas asked who it was, the rest of us were arguing over who was greatest and we didn’t catch Jesus’ reply. Peter motioned me to ask Jesus. When I did, Jesus dipped a piece of bread in wine and handed it to Judas. That didn’t seem like an answer to us. Strangely, Jesus told Judas to leave; we figured Judas was on a special errand.

            Jesus said some strange things that night—what did it mean that Satan wanted to sift us like wheat? Peter was offended when Jesus announced that he, Peter, would deny Him. We went to the Mt. of Olives after supper. Jesus wanted us to wait and pray with Him. We, being tired from the long day, fell asleep. A short time later, Judas appeared with a crowd of armed people who took Jesus to the house of the High Priest. Because of family connections, I was able to enter the High Priest’s home. It was a cold night and Peter was outside, so I asked a servant girl to let him into the courtyard. Meanwhile, in the house, Jesus was being questioned. Since He admitted being the Son of God, Jewish Law said He must die. The Jewish leaders were powerless to sentence anyone to death. In order to carry out the death sentence, they needed to convince the Roman authorities that Jesus should die. Pilate did not want to kill Jesus, but it would have been political suicide to do otherwise. The true issue had been unveiled. Jesus was a threat to the power base which the Jewish religious leaders had carefully nourished. They played their cards carefully, taking Jesus to Pilate knowing that Pilate would not risk an unfavorable report to Caesar.

            The sign over Jesus’ head was in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. These were the languages of the common people, the aristocracy, and the religious. Interesting. It was difficult to watch Jesus on the cross, yet I felt I had to be there. Even in death he was more concerned about others than He was about Himself. Just before His last breath, he committed His mother’s care to me. The next day was a High Sabbath so He was taken down from the cross. It was late in the day, and we had to hurry with the burial. We did only the absolutely necessary. The women would finish the burial requirements after the Sabbath.

            I remember passing people coming from the Temple as I made my way home that evening. Word on the street said that about the time of the afternoon earthquake, the veil of the Temple was torn completely in two—from top to bottom.

            That Sabbath was a long one for those of us in grief. What would happen to us? Our whole lives had been devoted to a man who did not meet our Messianic expectations.

            At sunrise, the women went to the tomb with spices. How my heart leapt when they came running to Peter and I crying, “He’s Alive!” We found it difficult to believe. Even entering the empty tomb left questions in our minds. Reality did not set in until Jesus came to the room where we were staying. He was the same, yet different. He had tried to tell us what was going to happen, but until we saw with our own eyes that He had risen from the dead, we did not realize that the teacher from Nazareth was our Savior and God.

All That Jazz

                                                               

            
All That Jazz    

             Jazz is such awesome background music.

 Can’t you just imagine, as I did, listening to jazz at The Kennedy Center, being in a dark, smoke-filled bar, jazz pianist playing softly in the background? A stranger enters the bar dressed in the quintessential gangster suit complete with fedora. He plucks the cigarette from his lips and taps the ashes to the floor. “Whiskey”, he tells the bartender, and taking his drink, finds a table close to the piano. Why do you think he is here? Maybe he is meeting someone, maybe he just came to listen to the music. Where is he, Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, Casablanca? He lights another cigarette and orders a refill, all the while watching the door and listening. The other bar patrons go about their business, not even acknowledging his presence.  His fedora sits next to him on the table, as he leans back in his chair, one hand on his drink, the other combing through his hair. The music plays on and our stranger recalls someone saying, “Music is what feelings sound like”. "A Jazz man should be saying what he feels: humor, sadness, joy... all the things that humans have."(Bob Brookmeyer) 

Looking into his glass, and seeing it empty, the stranger pushes it to the center of the table and slowly gets up. He places his fedora on his head, nods to the pianist, and heads out. Who is he? Where is he going?

                                The night is dark, and rainy, headlights reflect off the puddles in the street. The year  is 1941, FDR and Churchill are contemplating what to do about Hitler and all you hear on the radio these days is doom and gloom. Perhaps our stranger merely wishes to purge his soul. Jazz does that.                                  

"I undertook great projects. . . "

 

      

      “I undertook great projects. . . “(Ecc. 2:4) Do we break our lives up into a series of projects designed to bring meaning to our existence? The writer of Ecclesiastes goes on to say that even though he put his hand to several projects there still remained a lack of meaning in his life. The word “project” has negative overtones. When one begins, the “project” seems to take on a personality of its own. It looms over you waiting to be acted upon. The mere word, “project” connotes work, stress, impersonal involvement, time factors, and material acquisition.  These negative aspects should help us to recognize that “projects” should be confined merely to non-personal encounters. At no time should personal contacts be relegated to any form of person-to-person project status. No person should have to suffer the denigration of being perceived as a project. To do so devalues the person so as to negate his worth. We, who detest being treated as worthless oftentimes, inflict others with that very thing. It makes us feel comfortable and secure when people and things are confined to equally shaped boxes. Things may belong in boxes. People do not! The churches’ job is to teach us how to see people as Christ sees them and things for what they are—things. Looking at the Gospels, we see Jesus in His personal encounters. Notice He did not build hospitals to contain the sick. He personally took time with them—even with those who were considered beyond hope. Jesus spent a lot of time with those thought of as hopeless. Chances are, Jewish society had had a series of “projects” designed to “help” some of these less fortunate, but because Jesus treated them as people instead of projects, He could actually have an impact. Jesus never asked people to be someone other than who they were, yet the impact of Jesus’ life on His followers served to rub off the rough places in the individual’s personality. Peter was still Peter at Pentecost, but his impetuousness had been refined into boldness, Paul’s earnestness for Judaism was turned into a driving force for Christ and the Christian Church. John’s vindictiveness was so transformed that he is now considered the apostle of love. By refining the negative qualities out of a personality the positive qualities are purified just as the value of a precious metal is increased as the degree of impurity is decreased.

            How many times have I viewed my Christian life as a series of projects to complete? Do I “work” on someone to get them to come to church, to do what I perceive as right, or even to accept salvation only to go on to my next “project” when the goal has been met? Why can’t we merely accept and love people without expecting them to perform for us? Perhaps Jesus’ success with the downtrodden was greatly influenced by the fact His love was given without enslavement. Jesus is not interested in creating clones on the outside and a rebel on the inside, what He wants to create is an inner transformation whose light would be expressed outwardly. We as people need to keep foremost the Biblical admonition to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  If you don’t want to be treated like someone’s project, don’t treat others that way.