I want to suggest today that we are called to be stewards of our failures and mistakes, more than being consumed with the fact that we made them in the first place.

   The issue is not our innocence, it’s not even our guilt. The issue with which we must deal, indeed, with which we do deal, is not innocence or guilt…but rather:  What we do with our mistakes and how we manage our failures. What do we make of our failures?

   It’s pretty hard to hear the word “steward” and not immediately associate it with the church stewardship campaign. We “rightly” remind ourselves that the way we manage our money in God’s eyes is critical to our growth in faith, and we are to be stewards of what we have been given. Likewise, we are also reminded about being stewards of our gifts and stewards of our time.  All true!

   But I think the Bible insists on a much broader usage…I think the Bible insists that we are stewards of all of life itself, every part of life, every experience of life, every dimension of life. That life is “on loan” and we are appointed to be “caretakers” of this life that we have been given…even more…I think scripture suggests that HOW we manage this gift of life is the very critical basis on the issue of how we will be judged or how we are being judged.

   So, did you get a little “chill” when I used the word “judged”? It’s not one we use around here very often! Maybe that’s too bad because it’s a word that is filled with all kinds of negative images of course. We think of that Final Day when we are called to stand before the High Court of the Almighty to answer for all of our sins of every day.

   But I think Judgment Day is a bit of a “caricature”…I think, instead, that judgment IS an important concept, but I think it is used more in scripture as a word that means “discernment.”

   The judgment of God is more like a series of quizzes or a “course in wisdom” than it is a “one-shot”, “make it or break it” exam, in which you either get into graduate school or you don’t. As John Claypool once wrote, it’s more like the judging that’s done at a flower show than a “penalty” image that is rendered in a court room. Judgment in scripture happens consequentially, sequentially, and not so much finally.

   I repeat:  we are called to be stewards of our failures and mistakes, more than being consumed with the fact that we made them in the first place.

   The judgment is, “What do we do with what has happened to us?” That’s the process of discernment for growth. If the Bible understands stewardship as involving all of life, then surely we are to be stewards of our mistakes and failures as well.

   Even more, I want to suggest that those mistakes and failures can be sacramental for us. That is, rather than something to be hidden or denied or repressed or “covered up” or lied about…they can become instead “vehicles of grace”, which is what a sacrament is…a means by which we encounter the graciousness of God.

   Carlyle Marney is a former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Austin, Texas. Look at what he had to say on “innocence.” “It’s too late to worry about innocence. We can’t pretend to innocence. None of us is innocent. That’s never been the true issue, though we certainly have sought to hide behind a kind of trumped-up, religiously sticky aire of innocence that never existed anyway.”

   The issue is not our innocence, it’s not even our guilt, the issue with which we must deal, indeed, with which we do deal, is not innocence or guilt…but rather…what we do with our mistakes and how we manage our failures. What do we make of our failures?

   That, I would suggest, is why repentance is such a persistent and recurring theme in scripture. After all, what IS repentance if it is not a reappraisal of our mistakes, in order to therefore go forward? The very word, “repent” simply means “to turn” and that implies what? A new direction!!! And that means that we have to move on from where we have been, rather than to remain stuck in one place, which is what we so often do.

   In the Inferno, Dante says that “Hell is the place where we are stuck…hell is being stuck.” Do you know that feeling of being stuck? We know that feeling! But here is what Dante also says, “The minute we recognize that we are stuck, we are not.” The minute we recognize that we are no longer stuck, we begin to make the tiniest movement in our soul which is what repentance is all about.

   So here’s a good definition of repentance: repentance is beginning to make movement out of our own personal hell. Thus, if we get absorbed in a misdirection, or a mistake or a very grievous sin…if we hang on to it with all the strength that guilt will most certainly give us, then we are neither repenting nor living…we are stuck. We are instead, dying…drowning in our own failures…doomed, probably, to repeat them over and over and over again as we continually beat ourselves up for having made them in the first place. I see this time and again in people I talk with…it’s as if people need to continue destructive patterns of living in order to confirm to themselves that they are, indeed, as lousy as they truly think they are. “SEE. See this is who I am. I’m the kind of person who does this kind of stupid thing!”

   I am not saying that repentance isn’t being sorry for what we’ve done…it does mean that…it’s just that it is so much more than that. Genuine repentance is an energizing force…it frees us to move on, no matter how much others want to continue to punish us…it allows us to start fresh. It is about “feeling sorry”…about being genuinely remorseful. I think our culture has a very difficult time being remorseful.

   It is about absorbing the depths of your failure, of your action, of your sin, but it is far, far more than just remorse…or feeling sorry. It is about owning the failure, the sin, the mistake in a way that it becomes a great teacher to us.  For, if we are willing to look at it honestly in the eye…if we are willing to truly embrace the fact that we EACH have a shadow side…if we own that this shadow truly belongs to each of us (which means, to acknowledge what Marney is saying, “None of us is innocent”)…if we see this as one piece, but ONLY one piece of news about who we are…then we will make this amazing discovery.

   Here’s the discovery: that each failure, each mistake, each sin contains within it, the very real possibility of becoming a vehicle of grace to our lives…of leading us into the empowering presence of God who re-creates everyday.

   This is still the Epiphany season and the text is always the story of the Wise Men and I think that story ends with one of the most hopeful lines in all of scripture… “Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they returned home by another way.”

   Indeed, this is what true repentance promises…that, having encountered Christ, we go home by another way. We no longer take the same old road…the one that we have traveled on for so very, very long…we no longer travel the one that has grown so monotonous to us that we no longer truly “see” what is around us, but we just pass the miles and pass the days and pass the hours.

   Repentance is about an energizing experience of the Spirit that takes us on a different road. It’s about allowing that attitude or that event that demanded repentance, to become now a great guide. Repentance is about allowing room enough, space enough, time enough that we have the opportunity to become a steward of our failure. That is, one who begins to manage it differently.

   The three passages that we read today are all about Call…but more than that, they are all about people who were failures. Peter, Petros, the Rock, who blusters and pontificates and becomes a coward and betrayer. Paul, who writes so beautifully at times and with such confidence, also writes, “Oh, those things I know not to do, I do…and those things I know to do, I do not do…oh, wretched man that I am.” I read that text every January 1^st! And the main one, from Isaiah contains that poignant line for this day… “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.” I wonder, was he young when he wrote that? Was he just experiencing the first harsh realities of life? Or, more likely, was he older, looking back now on a lifetime of work and wondering aloud, “What good did I do with my life? What difference did my life make? Has my life really counted?”

   The words that come up in my mind are despair…or vanity…or frustration…or failure…what teacher hasn’t felt that? What disciple of Jesus hasn’t said, “I can’t see that this discipleship thing really makes any difference…I can’t see that the church makes any difference…I try to be ethical in my business dealings and I get stabbed in the back.” I have labored in vain…I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. What parent doesn’t ache when a child goes far astray from our values? I have labored in vain…I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. What person, downsized by a corporation, or cut out by a hostile takeover…or eliminated by the greed of the owners, doesn’t know the emotional content of Isaiah’s words when he writes, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.”

   Failure, frustration, the temptation to despair, our own mistakes, what life throws at us…these are all harsh realities of living and they tempt us to cynicism or detachment or perpetual anger. Somehow, we think those are the responses that will keep us from being hurt in the future…which is exactly opposite of what is true. Those are the responses that harden our soul and keep us always hurting. Yet, I hope you heard what else I read; the prophet does not leave it there. He begins with the Lament, but he pushes on to a great affirmation. I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. Yet, yet, surely my cause is with the Lord who remains with me. And the Lord says to him, from that perspective you will shine.

   Doesn’t it amaze you that all the writers of the New Testament retain all the stories of failure when they put together the New Testament and the story of Jesus and the story of the church? Especially about Peter and Paul, the main two guys outside of Jesus? Here they are in all their raw humanity…they could have edited all this out…but everything is in there…it’s just there! It’s like they were watching TMZ television…there it is!! Peter, having publicly denied Jesus…how did that get in the story, and in several different places? Yet, Jesus saying to him, “Take care of  my sheep.” And  Paul, 

struggling and struggling and struggling and finally says, “What I’ve learned is, it’s only when I’m weak that I discover the strength of God.”

   Out of frustration for Isaiah comes trust. Out of weakness for Paul, comes strength. Out of failure for Peter, comes mercy. They are all stewards of what they inflicted upon themselves and what life inflicted upon them. They allowed their darkest experiences to become a “Means to mercy”, to become a sacramental gift…offering all of it, ALL of it, to the very One who creates mercy and new life…even Jesus Christ.

   Carl Jung, the great Swiss psychiatrist tells the story of an Egyptian tomb that was opened and inside was found a portion of a tree. Imbedded in the wood of that tree was a tiny seed. Out of curiosity, the scientist took the seed and planted it and after 3000 years of being in that tomb, embedded in that wood, the seed grew and became a substantial tree. It had missed its chance to grow in Ancient Egypt …but given another chance, the strength of life buried within it, with the help of someone else, caused it to blossom.

   In every sin…in every loss…in every grief…in every disappointment…in every failure…in every mistake…in every difficult moment of life, there lies deeply embedded in that event the seed of hope…and it waits to be planted, watered by the mercy of Christ, leading to the graciousness of new life.

Thanks be to God for the gift of repentance.

Thanks be to God for the sacrament of failure.

Thanks be to God for the nurturing power of mercy.

Thanks be to God.

Control Myth

God is in control, but God is not controlling.

by Peter James

We like to be in control. We want to be masters of our fate and captains of our destiny. Go ahead–just try to pry the remote control from our hands.

We like to control our environment. Our language gives us away. We talk about mind control, birth control, pest control, gun control. If we can control our environment and the people in that environment, nothing can happen unless we want it to happen.

The aftermath of hurricane Isabel clogged the gutters of my house, which resulted in water in the basement. I determined to take matters into my own hands, so I borrowed my neighbor’s extension ladder to unclog the gutters. As I was about to climb the ladder to the second floor gutters, Chris and I engaged in a spirited discussion. She wanted to hire someone to unclog the gutters, while I insisted on doing it myself. Could it have been a control issue?

Our family cat is named Eve, which is most appropriate, given that today’s lesson is from Genesis. Eve is an affectionate cat, on her terms, of course. She enjoyed having the family around for the summer months. Now that our kids are away at school, Eve is annoyed there is no one at home during the day to give her the attention she has come to expect. So Eve has decided to express her displeasure. When she sees Chris and me preparing for work in the morning, she foregoes her litter box and leaves deposits, shall we say, on the living room floor, in the most conspicuous area of the room. My veterinarian tells me this is normal cat behavior. Intuition tells me Eve wants total control of our household.

Do you ever battle over the thermostat in your home? Perhaps it’s not merely about room temperature, perhaps it’s also a control issue.

You decide to dine out one evening. Some people not only want to dictate the choice of restaurant, but also which table you will occupy, not to mention your choice of appetizer.

One dictionary definition of control is a person who exerts an excessive or dominating influence over someone else. Using contemporary jargon, we would say some people are control freaks. Some people have an incessant need to be in charge. They cannot let go.

There is a hair product on the market called "Control Freak Shampoo." Bed Head Products advertises its shampoo with the line, "Forget the frizz, stomp the curl, control your freakin’ hair."

I suspect dictators, cult leaders and mob bosses are not the only ones who qualify as control freaks. Many of us are obsessive about our need for control.

Dr. Les Parrot is professor of Clinical Psychology at Seattle Pacific University, and a self- confessed control freak. In his book Control Freak, Parrott speaks about anxiety as the fuel that powers the engine of control. Our fear of failure in raising well-adjusted children leads to excessive control. Our fear of failure in the workplace can generate a dominating personality with coworkers.

Perhaps I am making too much of people who are control freaks. Some of us, given our temperaments, are far more susceptible to being controlled. We let other people control us. You may decide it’s easier in the short run to allow people to control us than it is to challenge their authority.

Let me insert an important qualifier here. Some measure of control is desirable in our lives. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the New Testament is the virtue of self-control (Galatians 5:23). There is no inherent virtue in being out of control. We need some measure of self-control over our emotions, finances and use of time. Problems surface when we become obsessive and compulsive about our need for control.

The book of Genesis is one of the most misunderstood books in antiquity. It is much maligned these days from radical feminists who take issue with the assertion that Eve is fashioned from Adam’s rib, which to them implies subordination. We don’t have time to explore this issue thoroughly, but I commend what a 12th century priest, Peter Lombard, said on this subject. "Eve is taken, not from Adam’s feet, to be his slave, nor from his head to be his Lord, but from his side, to be his partner." Man and woman are created side-by-side, as partners in community and family.

Another group of people who dismiss Genesis are strict evolutionists who scoff at the seven-day or seven-epic timetable of creation. In the debate over creation-evolution, we are missing the point entirely. The focus of Genesis is not how God made the world. If the point was to show how God made the world, Genesis would have been written in a far different manner. How God made the world is not Genesis’ central concern. The primary interest of Genesis is why God made the world. We are created to reflect God’s image and likeness. We are made to live in intimate relationship with God our Creator.

Two Sundays ago, I preached from this creation story. Our focus in Genesis 2 was two representative trees God planted in the Garden of Eden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I asked the question, "Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden if He didn’t want us to eat from it?"

As I said that Sunday, God established one tree off limits to remind us that we are creatures. God drew a line in the sand, telling us that we can be a lot of things in this world, but being the Creator is not one of them.

God placed two trees in the garden to demonstrate that Adam, Eve and their progeny are free persons. We can choose to eat from the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One gives life, while the other brings death, which in the Bible is separation from God.

In Genesis 3, the serpent suggests to Eve, "You will not die [when you eat this forbidden fruit], you will become like God." It’s a tempting thought to be like God. So Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit and discover, to their everlasting horror, that they do not become Godlike. They become painfully aware of their own humanity. For the first time, they become ashamed of their nakedness and attempt to hide from each other and God.

Genesis affirms God’s sovereignty. We are not in control. If last weekend taught us anything, it’s the vivid reminder that we are not in control of our environment. Despite all our sophisticated technology, we were rather small and puny in the face of hurricane Isabel. I don’t believe for a moment God sent this hurricane to show us who’s boss, but let nature be our teacher here. We are not really in control. We just think we’re in control.

God is in control. Now, let’s be perfectly clear, God is not controlling. God does not control our every move. God doesn’t have control issues. God’s control produces guidance and direction for our lives.

Why do we resist obeying God, if obedience produces abundant living? Perhaps we don’t like being told what to do. We prize our autonomy.

In truth, we don’t control much of anything. There is only the illusion of control. There was a time in my life when I thought I controlled my health. I exercised regularly, ate the right foods and got enough sleep. I felt in control. Then, earlier this year, as I shared with you, I had a bout with skin cancer. I learned real fast I am not in control of my life.

There was a time in my life when I thought I controlled my children. I determined what time they awoke for school and when they would go to bed. As their father, my job was to help guide them to make appropriate choices. Now that one is in college in Pennsylvania and the other is in campus ministry in Italy, I know that I don’t really control my kids. There is only the illusion of control.

"I’m in control" is one of the most arrogant myths of a secular culture. There is no control, only the illusion of control.

Faith is letting go of this need to control other people and situations. Faith is entrusting our lives to God to guide and direct us in ways that are best for us. God does not control every little facet of our lives. In reality, God gives our lives back to us, guiding and directing us in choices we make with our lives.

A man was hiking up a mountain. After a long climb, he was almost to the top, when he came to a ridge that stood in the way of reaching the summit. As he attempted to navigate this ridge, his foot gave way and he began to fall. He reached out to grab hold of a branch that was growing out of the side of the mountain, which broke his fall. There he was, hands gripped around this flimsy branch, holding on for dear life. What a horrifying predicament, his body dangling in space, several hundred feet above the ground, trying to keep himself from falling. He could not bear to look down, it was just too frightening. When he looked up, he couldn’t see over the ridge, yet he knew he must be close enough to the top of the mountain for anyone who might be there to hear him. So he yelled out, "Anyone up there? Help! Help! Please, help me. Please, anyone… help me! Is there anyone up there?!"

Then he heard a voice, "I am here!" Desperate, the man answered, "Who are you…can you help me?" The voice came back, "I am God. Let go of the branch so I can help you." There was a moment of silence, then the man cried out, "Is there anyone else up there?"

It’s not easy to let go of control. There is something in us that fiercely desires to maintain control over our lives.

We’ve got to let go and loosen our grip. What happens when you grip a baseball bat or golf club too tightly? Instead of gaining control, you actually lose control. The proper technique is to exert some control, but not too much control. We hold a club or racket, not with a clenched fist, but with a relaxed grip. It’s possible to hold onto something so tight that we squeeze the very life out of it.

Our youth choir is coming forward to sing the song, "God is working. God is working even now. Though we often don’t know just how, God is working. Though you cannot see and you can’t quite understand, remember God is still in control. God is working even now."

Where do you need to relinquish control? Is it your obsessive need to control other people or the circumstances in your life? We’re not really in control, there is only the illusion of control. Stop trying to control everything. Loosen your grip. Let go and let God.

by Dean K. Thompson

In Mark’s gospel we find the story of the four friends letting down their paralyzed friend in front of Jesus. We hear Jesus tell the paralytic "your sins are forgiven." Then, he heals the immobilized man. And what amazes the crowd is the healing. "We have never seen anything like this," they gush.

But what amazes the ultra-legalistic religious observers is the alleged blasphemy. I mean, there are lots of healers canvassing the region, but only God has the power and authority to forgive sins. We’re talking blasphemy!

Moreover, in this one dynamic encounter with the nameless paralytic who gets by with a little help from his friends, Jesus is sensitively, even miraculously, putting two aspects of life back together, two aspects of life that have been tragically and foolishly separated: the spiritual condition of the person and the physical condition of the person.

This is totally unexpected by all who observe Jesus' encounter with the paralytic. That is, folks are quite unready for Jesus' revolutionary theology ¾ for Jesus' revolutionary manner of forgiving and healing with, yes, Godlike authority. To be sure, Mark's theology in this passage breaks up all predictable theology. Thus, Mark wants to help us to break up the soil of our own predictable theology.

Then, amazingly, Mark records these words about the incident: "When Jesus saw their faith," he forgave the paralytic and healed him. Their faith, not necessarily the paralyzed man's own faith; their faith prompted the forgiveness and the miracle of new life and new health.

Why? Because we who follow Jesus are supposed to carry other people who can't follow on their own. Indeed, we who follow Jesus are meant even to believe for other people who can't believe or won't believe or are too broken down to believe. I mean, carrying others and even believing for others is a curious part of what it means to follow Jesus as disciples.

So, after the Sunday service, the man mumbled these words to me at the door. "Pastor, I’ve lost my faith. I can’t say the creed anymore." "Don’t quit showing up," I said. "We’ll say it for you." "All right," he said. "All right, then."

I once had a parishioner back in Pasadena, California. He was a beloved Caltech professor, a world-class astronomer who lay dying of AIDS. His wonderful family had included several Presbyterian missionaries to China. Until the sad time came when he could no longer be moved from the house, he would sit in his car, there in the Hollywood Hills with his parents, and listen to our Sunday morning worship service on the radio. He couldn't pick it up inside the house.

When they learned of his illness, his 88-year-old mother and 92-year-old father came out to Pasadena from Rochester, Minnesota, and nursed him heroically until he died. And, before he died, he gave me permission to share his story.

"What do you believe?" he asked me. "Tell me what you believe," he urged me, as he lay dying.

Among other things, I shared this confession. "I believe in the resurrection of the person to everlasting life with Christ and God's people beyond death. I believe that death and evil do not have the last say. I believe that life and love have the last say. I believe in the great company of heaven. I believe that to know God now is to know God forever. I believe that we come from God. I believe that we are with God in this life. And I believe that we go to God when we die; and all is well. I believe that ‘underneath are the everlasting arms,’" I confessed to Alan.

"Good God, I wish I could believe that," he said. "But I am so weak. I am just too weak to believe," he told me.

"I'll tell you what," I said. "I'm strong right now. I'm real strong right now. Lean on my belief. Let my belief carry you. I'll believe for you."

"Yes," he said. "Yes."

A couple of years later, a friend of mine went through the horror of seeing her own small child hit and killed by an automobile. I baptized that precious little boy before the family moved to New Hampshire. Well, the grieving mother telephoned me, and she told me that she had lost her faith and she didn’t know what to do about it. She had lost her faith, maybe forever.

And, suddenly, I found myself telling her the story of my friend, Alan the astronomer, the dying AIDS patient. And when I got to the place where I responded to his doubt and unbelief by saying, "I’m strong right now. . . Lean on my belief. . . I’ll believe for you," she said: "Yes. Believe for me too. Please believe for me."

"I will," I said. "I will, until you get your strength back. I will until you develop scar tissue on the gaping wound in your heart."

Yes, "when Jesus saw their faith," he forgave the paralytic and healed him. Yes, sometimes the only way we can possibly make it is through the love, care and support of others who carry us, touch us, even catch us, and lift us to Christ in prayer and in actions.

Yes one day, two centuries ago, four strong believers carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus. And yes, as I look around myself, I see folks who are paralyzed in so many ways. Sooner or later, we, all of us, qualify as the living wounded. We all have wounds in our hearts.

And "when Jesus saw their faith," he forgave and healed the paralyzed one who had been carried to him by friends. Yes, today, with Mark of old, we praise God for faithful, caring friends and loved ones who have the strength and the good will to put their arms around us and to transport us into the presence and power of Jesus.

And yes, please look around you today, and in the coming days, weeks and years of your own life journey. Where do you fit in? And please, I beg you, never, never forget this miraculous message. Every single time you pass the communion elements to the person next to you, you are serving as a priest (a potential healer) to your neighbor.

Where do you fit into Mark 2:1-12? Well, I’ll tell you this. None of you in this seminary chapel, or reading this message, got here all on your own. Somebody paid for you to get where you are today. Somebody prayed for you to get here. You got here on somebody’s else’s back, on somebody else’s shoulders. You got here today because somebody once carried you to church. You got here today because somebody once prayed you to church. You got here today because somebody once told you about Jesus and carried you to Jesus. I tell you, no one comes to Christ without a witness!

Question. Who are those precious ones whose faith once lifted you up, and carried you to Jesus, and delivered you to this Seminary? Shut your eyes, and lift them up to the Lord in prayer, right now.

Question. By God’s grace, who are those precious ones you have carried and brought to Christ on the wings and prayers of your own strong faith? Lift them up to the Lord in prayer, right now.

Question. Who are those precious ones for whom your heart presently worries – those you would love to let lean on your own faith? Lift them up to Christ, right now.

And when Jesus sees your faith, he will heal, he will forgive, he will work miracles, he will perform the unimaginable – and he will stand with you, come hell or high water.

Yes, look around today and all the days of your pilgrimage. Where do you fit into this parable? Where do you fit in?

Are you carrying somebody? Are you being carried?

Prayer

Lord, we believe. Please help our unbelief. Amen.

2) See Douglas R. Loving, "Twice healed," Christian Century, February 2-9, 2000, 117.

3) Robert Dunham, in a paper at The Moveable Feast, Stony Point, New York, January 2000.

by Lucy Marsden Hottle

Are you curious about the title "What is Your Passion? Those of you who have attended the sexuality discussion at the Messiah Divorce Recovery Workshop might think I will be expanding on what can happen after a couple spends 300 hours together. Those people will be disappointed!

When I ask "What is Your Passion?" I am asking you to look within yourself and discover the driving force in your life-being. Everyone has this "passion" within: this motivating force, this idea which draws one’s attention and focuses the mind.

In my years of ministry I have seen this "passion" take as many shapes as the variety of people possessing them. There is a man in Chicago who felt the need of the scores of people who were forced to drive damaged and unreliable cars because they couldn’t afford to repair them. He had a gift for automotives, so he, with the help of his church, formed a Car Repair Ministry. It is active today.

There was a man in Messiah Methodist who did nothing for 12 years but come to church every Sunday and sit in the pew. He refused to participate or lead any other activity in the church -- though he was often asked. We ministers call such people "Pew Potatoes" If he were simply watching television he would be a "Couch Potato," but since he attended church regularly, he was a "Pew Potato." After the service one day I approached him to try to discover his passion. I asked him this: "If you could do anything you liked for this congregation, what would you do?" "I would provide them with a Bookstore right here in the church," he replied immediately. And with help from the church, he did!

This Passion completes something within each person, and it provides the world with a gift which is not available any other way. This passion is the idea and activity which absorbs a person’s thoughts and motivates their behavior -- if it is acknowledged and allowed to express itself through this individual. Each of us must discover and activate the passion within us or we will not be complete and others in the world will never experience the value and joy our passion would bring to them. Each of us is unique. Each of us has a unique vision. Each of our gifts is unique. Our Passion is like no other!

God places this treasure in each of us. The prophet Jeremiah tells us that God says, "I know the plans I have for you: to prosper you and give you a future." I believe that the passion that drives the life force is the Holy Spirit entering our lives.

I heard a minister once say that he had found in his years of ministry that it was not important to continually remind people of their failures and sins. But he found that people cannot be reminded often enough that their GOD LOVES THEM WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE. God loves each of us just as we are. He put this "crazy notion" we call our passion into our hearts and minds for us to develop in our own unique way. It is His plan for us to discover and act on this driving force.

How do we discover that special plan that God has for us? We can ask Him. We can search ourselves -- our gifts, our interests, our dreams. We can ask our friends. Patronage is one of the most valuable benefits of working with others of like mind. If we associate with someone who is "following their passion," especially if it is similar to our own, they can help us discover, develop and use our gifts. They will encourage us to realize our vision.

We must know that we are loved before we can understand how much we have to give others -- and how special our gifts are. Faith introduces us to the idea that we are loved: "Belovedness" is God’s Passionate Gift to us.