A Person of Passion
You could miss it by just looking, but I am a passionate person.
You might miss lots of people's passion by just looking.
Passion is part of being human, I think. When I think of a passionless person, certain people come first to mind. And guess what? They have passion.
Perhaps I should define my terms. When I say passion, I mean simply a strong feeling. This generally means excitement, but you can also be passionate about negative things.
There's a certain type of person who doesn't seem passionate. They don't seem to care about much; they dislike school; they seem pretty low-key and go-with-the-flow. But ask them about cars--and then watch their eyes light up and their volume rise and a little smile turn their lips up.
Everyone is passionate about something. I challenge you to find someone without passion. If you do, try to force them to do something, and I bet you'll find them passionately seeking rest or solitude!
Someone told me a while ago that I seemed really excited about a movie I was telling him about. "I like hearing you talk about things you're excited about," he said.
It made me wonder - what am I excited about? And why don't I always show my excitement?
There is something difficult about showing passion. It makes you vulnerable.
A wise man I know told me about a trip he had taken with his wife. He showed her a spot that was special to him, and as they came to it, the beautiful sunset struck it. As she saw the glistening light, his wife stepped back in awe. She told him she understood why he loved the place.
He asked me if I knew that feeling when you tell someone something that means a lot to you and they don't understand, when they don't care about it or get why you do. Then something in you feels like it dies and you wish you hadn't shared it. On the other hand, when you share something with someone that you love and they get it too--then you have this connection and joy, your relationship is strengthened, and you feel closer.
And that is why it is hard to show passion -- because when you show passion, you are taking a risk. A risk that others will think you are foolish for delighting in that thing, or that they simply won't care or understand.
That rejection, that sense of solitude, is hard to bear.
When I shared this with a friend, I said something inside you dies a little when your joy in something is not shared. She looked at me and exclaimed, "But that is so wrong!"
It's natural. When that part of you has died before, you don't want to risk it happening again. But she is right. If we realize that all good gifts come from God, no matter how small, and that we are to give thanks in everything, our passion should be no less because others do not understand. If something gives us joy, we should not be ashamed to admit it.
Think of something that you were exceedingly joyful about, that others did not understand. I think of Ryan and Grace's engagement.
Surely, that was not the weird thing. The weird thing is that we do not have that joy and passion about everything!
We deserve death. Yet all around us is life and joy and blessing. We need correction and discipline. Yet continually God uses joy and beauty and love to draw us to obedience.
God gives all things meaning. Why aren't we more passionate? Why do we look on people who are as if they are the strange ones?
Concealing that we care about something is really selfish. As in my example earlier, we enjoy seeing people who are passionate about things. Think of the secret smiles between adults at a child's unashamed, innocent excitement about something that is really insignificant. We love it. And we are called to become like little children.
Little children don't mind showing that they are people with passion. And neither should we.