"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 is people
who have come alive." ~Attributed to Howard Thurman
Passion, this two syllabic word packs a powerful punch to the stagnate. Every day we interact with thousands of people and do you wonder if they are passionate about what they do in life? I'm sure when you are stuck in traffic you can tell who has passion. The actions that people convey can tell you a lot. Whether it's the guy cursing and gesturing his anger towards people or the other guy using the same bodily actions to sing and air guitar or drum to pass the time. How do we productively use our passions to allow us to positively come alive in this stuck-in-a-rut world.
I know that during the time of the Olympics we see tons of people from various countries gather together to show the world how passionate and dedicated they are to a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and the spirit of competition. The passion of these athletes is eaten up by the general populace. How many of you started working out, or have more energy to do something active? Through the athletic passion of these Olympians, we have come alive and want to do the same.
I've seen passion awaken complacent people in various ways. Whether the passion resulted from a crush that turned into a boyfriend/girlfriend, or seeing a colleague perform well that spurred you to perform better at your job. We thrive off of individual achievements because it sets a new standard for us to live up to and, in doing so, we rise to meet the challenge.
If you know me, I try to live a life full of passion. Music, art, sports, teaching, and relationships are all important things in my life. Without living passionately through them, I would not have succeeded as much as I have and continue to do. Did I realize those passions all by myself? No. Every single category I listed became a passion of mine because I saw someone else use their passion to help define their self in a positive way. I, eventually, became alive in those areas because of those people.
In this life, it is easy to become "stuck" in a dead end situation. Most of the time, this complaint is heard in the workplace. People go to the same boring job because it pays the bills. They have allowed themselves to think that this is it. They are too old to start something new or they can't afford to do so. How are you sucking the marrow out of life by allowing yourself to drown in the trammels of life? A boring job, leads to a boring outlook on life. There is no positive way you can get out unless something changes.
When I live my life I ask my self, "How do I live my life inspiring others to do the same?" Obviously, the Bible helps me out with this by giving me guidelines for living a Christian life. The reason I do this: Jesus' life is where all passion comes from. We want to be like him because we love him like he loved us. We praise him by carrying out that same passion he had for everyone on earth. Another way I try to inspire others is through my teaching. The main reason I became a teacher is that students would be forced to be in the same room as me and they were looking to me to learn something. It's a win-win situation. When teaching someone, you look for what they are most interested in, you become passionate about it and teach them using their interests in mind. Through this method, you ignite a fire inside of them that gives them the motivation to passionately learn. It's a beautiful thing when it happens, let me tell you.
When I think of pursuing passions and being a guiding light for those looking for passion, I think of the song, "Art in Me" by Jars of Clay. I've been listening to this song since I was kid (mostly because I loved drawing). There is a line in the song that goes, "Sculpting every move, you compose a symphony and you plead to everyone see the art in me." Having the desire to go out and show people what hard work, faith in God and the abilities he's given you, and the passion that comes with it gives you an opportunity to set an example for others. Being able to show them the beauty of what true passion can do and how it moves those around you is truly an experience worth all the long hours and the dedication that it takes.
There are too many broken people out there looking for someone to help them pick up the pieces. Help them by showing them love and kindness. Be there when they need you and don't let them go until you know they can handle it. Point them in the direction of passion and when they find it, they can pay it forward to those who also need guidance. Be the change you want to see in the world, using Christ as a reference guide. Remember: "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 is people who have come alive."
"Art In Me"
Images on the sidewalk speak of dream's decent
Washed away by storms to graves of cynical lament
Dirty canvases to call my own
Protest limericks carved by the old pay phone
In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"
Broken stained-glass windows, the fragments ramble on
Tales of broken souls, an eternity's been won
As critics scorn the thoughts and works of mortal man
My eyes are drawn to you in awe once again
In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"
Passion, this two syllabic word packs a powerful punch to the stagnate. Every day we interact with thousands of people and do you wonder if they are passionate about what they do in life? I'm sure when you are stuck in traffic you can tell who has passion. The actions that people convey can tell you a lot. Whether it's the guy cursing and gesturing his anger towards people or the other guy using the same bodily actions to sing and air guitar or drum to pass the time. How do we productively use our passions to allow us to positively come alive in this stuck-in-a-rut world.
I know that during the time of the Olympics we see tons of people from various countries gather together to show the world how passionate and dedicated they are to a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and the spirit of competition. The passion of these athletes is eaten up by the general populace. How many of you started working out, or have more energy to do something active? Through the athletic passion of these Olympians, we have come alive and want to do the same.
I've seen passion awaken complacent people in various ways. Whether the passion resulted from a crush that turned into a boyfriend/girlfriend, or seeing a colleague perform well that spurred you to perform better at your job. We thrive off of individual achievements because it sets a new standard for us to live up to and, in doing so, we rise to meet the challenge.
If you know me, I try to live a life full of passion. Music, art, sports, teaching, and relationships are all important things in my life. Without living passionately through them, I would not have succeeded as much as I have and continue to do. Did I realize those passions all by myself? No. Every single category I listed became a passion of mine because I saw someone else use their passion to help define their self in a positive way. I, eventually, became alive in those areas because of those people.
In this life, it is easy to become "stuck" in a dead end situation. Most of the time, this complaint is heard in the workplace. People go to the same boring job because it pays the bills. They have allowed themselves to think that this is it. They are too old to start something new or they can't afford to do so. How are you sucking the marrow out of life by allowing yourself to drown in the trammels of life? A boring job, leads to a boring outlook on life. There is no positive way you can get out unless something changes.
When I live my life I ask my self, "How do I live my life inspiring others to do the same?" Obviously, the Bible helps me out with this by giving me guidelines for living a Christian life. The reason I do this: Jesus' life is where all passion comes from. We want to be like him because we love him like he loved us. We praise him by carrying out that same passion he had for everyone on earth. Another way I try to inspire others is through my teaching. The main reason I became a teacher is that students would be forced to be in the same room as me and they were looking to me to learn something. It's a win-win situation. When teaching someone, you look for what they are most interested in, you become passionate about it and teach them using their interests in mind. Through this method, you ignite a fire inside of them that gives them the motivation to passionately learn. It's a beautiful thing when it happens, let me tell you.
When I think of pursuing passions and being a guiding light for those looking for passion, I think of the song, "Art in Me" by Jars of Clay. I've been listening to this song since I was kid (mostly because I loved drawing). There is a line in the song that goes, "Sculpting every move, you compose a symphony and you plead to everyone see the art in me." Having the desire to go out and show people what hard work, faith in God and the abilities he's given you, and the passion that comes with it gives you an opportunity to set an example for others. Being able to show them the beauty of what true passion can do and how it moves those around you is truly an experience worth all the long hours and the dedication that it takes.
There are too many broken people out there looking for someone to help them pick up the pieces. Help them by showing them love and kindness. Be there when they need you and don't let them go until you know they can handle it. Point them in the direction of passion and when they find it, they can pay it forward to those who also need guidance. Be the change you want to see in the world, using Christ as a reference guide. Remember: "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 is people who have come alive."
"Art In Me"
Images on the sidewalk speak of dream's decent
Washed away by storms to graves of cynical lament
Dirty canvases to call my own
Protest limericks carved by the old pay phone
In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"
Broken stained-glass windows, the fragments ramble on
Tales of broken souls, an eternity's been won
As critics scorn the thoughts and works of mortal man
My eyes are drawn to you in awe once again
In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"
"Be the change you want to see in the world." Meant as a compliment to Ian's writing, I want to expand on this idea of "seeing" in the context of passion upon the foundation of Christ. This "seeing," we know, is not the 'fact' of seeing what stands before us empirically; the shiny object that may fascinate for a moment or two. Rather, it is to understand how or why interest is sustained, getting to the Truth of the matter.
ReplyDeleteAnecdotally, one may, for instance, do well in mathematics at school. Mathematics may not interest him but the praise for having a 'reasonable' and 'logical' mind does; and so he continues. Sooner or later, the praise no longer helps. He "sees" something else. For him, mathematics is an operation, a hypothesis waiting for a solution: 2=a+b. But a solution is different than The Answer. Put another way, we are not trying to solve life--settle it as if all there is to do is plug in the variables that fit the "given" in the hypothesis or theorem.
No. The Answer, "love as I have Loved you," is meant to be responded to (small answer, human to Big Answer, God). The question? "How will we live?" "I will give you words and wisdom" (Luke) to see beyond mere knowledge to the Truth which is always Love. We will need some faith. Sustained interest, then, is a response to the Love that is not only given but the only variable, the Absolute Value: love for Love; grace for Grace; mercy for Mercy; faith for Faith. "The most important of these is love." It extends, finally, to the truth of our aspiration to once again be joined to God.
The life of man is important to God. We, perhaps, ought to consider that when it seems to become meaningless to man: when we seem to get "'stuck' in dead ends" as Ian says. God did not come and sweep us away. Rather, He came as the "Logos" "the Word made Flesh," as All things combined so that we might "see" what humility is; that Being in and for Love life "is Accomplished."
At the end of Dostoevsky's **Crime and Punishment** the main character (Raskolnikov) does not think; "he could only feel. Instead of dialectics [various solutions to given hypotheses], there was life, and something completely different had to be worked out in his consciousness" (p.550). He is in prison for a double-murder (in the story, the solution to a hypothesis), but is convicted by his love for Sonya (not part of his solution, but a young woman forced into prostitution by her family to feed her family). Her aspiration is to love, and through love be with, God. From "feeling" to thinking, Raskolnikov recognizes what is meant by a "completely different ... consciousness." He thinks: "Can her convictions not be my convictions now? Her feelings, her aspirations at least ..." He has seen the change he wants to see in himself in another; and will have "begin ... his gradual renewal" (551) to "be the change he wants to see in the world."
Well done Ian!