Mon, Sept. 13
... Why does distance make us wise
Blair and I had an interesting conversation today. Finding passion. Discovering that one thing that you need to do with your life; that thing that you can't live without doing. I guess I've found mine--at least, for right now. It's theatre. That's the thing that drives me, makes me tick, the place I've chosen to live out my passion. Some people aren't there yet--it's not a bad thing, but some people just don't know.
The thing is--the discussion we had today--is that as Christians, our passion is one: to change the world. Our methods may change, but we all have (or should have) the same passion in life. Some do it through music, some through theatre, some through writing, some through business, some through sports, but we all want to change the world. Or, more accurately, we all want to be the channel through which God is able to change our world.
The beauty of it is that if that's the focus--if that's the underlying passion--it doesn't matter when or if you find the external manifestation. Yes, knowing the passion makes it that much more enjoyable, but it's not the most important thing. It's the little piece of the puzzle that makes you that much more passionate about changing the world, but if it's the only thing that drives you, you're in trouble.
I'm not making sense. The thing that just clicked for me today was actually something about Blair. He doesn't know yet where he wants the rest of his life to go. He's not sure what all the pieces are going to look like. He's assistant manager at Quiznos, but that's not his lifelong career dream.
The thing is, though, he has a heart that beats more passionately for God than most other people I know. He's not letting the fact that he's working at Quiznos while he tries to sort out the rest of his life stop him from making a difference. He pours himself into the people he's surrounded by, and you can see the difference in him. I can see the difference he's made in both Ismarys and Craig's lives, just by being passionate about letting God change the world through him. By passionately loving God, and letting that love overflow to them.
I have so much respect for that man. You have no idea. Maybe he doesn't have the formal education, but he lives out his faith better than half of the Bible college students I've known. It really is the driving force in his life.
And, you know, a thought just occurred to me. Maybe... just maybe... it's not a bad thing that for right now, he doesn't know. Sometimes, it's easy to let the passion be for the wrong thing. It's easy to get passionate about theatre just for the sake of theatre, and not because it can be the medium through which God uses me to change lives. It can be so easy to get passionate about my company because I can't wait for it to start--not that that's a bad thing, but the passion should stem from the fact that there's so much potential there to touch so many people, and for God to use it in so many ways.
Sometimes, I envy the fact that Blair works hard at his job, but it's not his passion. That leaves the focus of his life to be a little purer and a little more unadulterated.
But then again, it's easy to lose sight of it, no matter what it looks like. Maybe it doesn't have as much to do with the state of his job as the state of his heart.
infinite || abyss
posted at 9:36 p.m.
