Thoughts on Passion
In the spirit of my post from earlier this morning (below), here are some thoughts on passion that I found while working on a devo for Sunday a.m. a few months ago...

No matter what your calling might be, part of the trick of staying passionate is to remember what it was like at the beginning,when something inside you said, “This is it.” ~Kevin Spacey  

Passion:  intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction 

“Seize the day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Why does the writer use these lines?   Because we are food for worms lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die…Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, Make your lives extraordinary.” Dead Poets Society
 
 “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are all noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman: "O me, o life of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish. What good amid these, o me, o life? Answer: that you are here. That life exists, and identity.  That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” Dead Poets Society
 
"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested."
—   E. M. Forster

Excerpts from “Dreaming in Motivation”

"But back in your mind and deep in your heart, a dream still lies unfulfilled.  A dream to start your own business, to be a missionary, to design a clothing line or be an engineer for NASA.  These desires define you; you’re consumed with thoughts of them night and day.  Coincidence? Annoying obsession? Hardly. Most people figure this out sooner or later, that God has given us each an innate purpose, complemented by our talents, skills, and desires.  Some misuse their gifts (or lack thereof), some bury them away, some dabble, and others tap them for everything they’re worth.  My guess would be that the average human being uses his gifts enough just to get by, if at all.  All of us have dreams, but most of the time we settle for what is more “attainable” or “realistic…”

Who are you?  What is it that you consistently love, dream of, and perhaps even pursue on some level or another without even maybe realizing that it might be a fundamental part of the definitive calling on your life?

Life is too short, so do what you love, and more importantly, do it for God, who you should love even more.  Begin right where you are.  Don’t wait for things to get better, more convenient, ideal, or anything else of the sort.  That wouldn’t require faith.  That would require change, and change won’t come without even the most basic of faith being put into action. 

God didn’t design you to fail.  He didn’t mess up.  It is no mistake, the person that you are.  The passions of your heart, the visions of your mind, the skills of your hands were all uniquely assigned to you as His child. 

God has no insignificant plans for you, whether rich or poor, black or white, atheist or Christian.  He knew you before you were even formed in your mother’s womb.  That’s pretty intimate.  Somehow I doubt that your dreams are all that foreign to Him either.  In fact, I would bet that He personally authored them, and is only waiting for you to believe plainly enough in that higher reality to live it out."