MOVIE CLIP: MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS – PLAY WITH PASSION Storyline - When we’re
young our dreams lie out in front of us, there for the taking, and our plans seem so clear. But like
many of us, Glenn Holland never could have predicted the course his own life would take, when
he reluctantly accepts a job as a teacher. A musician and composer consumed with a love for
music, Holland’s true goal is to write one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the
world. But instead, he finds his calling in the most unlikely place, sharing his love of music with
his students--to let it fill their lives, the way it fills his. His students respond to his contagious
passion, and as the years unfold, Holland finds himself on an unplanned path. Redefining success
and his own dreams, Holland realizes that his legacy will be greater than he ever dreamed. And
with the help of his students and his family, Glenn Holland learns that though our lives don’t
always turn out the way we plan them, life is what happens when you embrace the unexpected.
(Buena Vista Pictures, 1996, Rated PG)
In this scene a student tells Mr. Holland that she is quitting. He challenges her by having her
hear the joy of some pop music… then sit down and play by feeling the music rather than
reading it.
> Some of us try to be Christians in the same way as this young women tried to play music…. We
try to play the notes without hearing the melody.
That’s why when a man who said he wanted to know which was the most important
commandment… to see if he could fulfill the rules … Jesus said… it was to love God with all
our heart… and love our neighbor. > That’s the melody that Jesus came to impart within us.
The challenge many of us find in maintaining passion in life… is that living by duty apart
from desire… notes without melody.
Let me describe the type of passion that I think Christ has come to reclaim in our lives…
Passion is the energizing flow that comes from connection to a desire that
transcends duty.
Passion is energizing. Everything in life takes a certain amount of energy… but what you do that
you find passion in… gives you back energy.
It’s a determination … and drive… that runs beneath the surface of our activity.
In this sense it may be quite different from what many of us think of when we initially think of
passion. We tend to think of wildness… and when we relate this to our relationship with God…
and particularly our worship… we tend to think of how free we are in our expression. Some
aren’t sure they want to be passionate… if simply means they need to outwardly try to
express themselves a certain way.
> But passion is more fundamental that merely the expression it leads to.
> At it’s core, passion is the deeper determination that is at work within you.
This helps explain the very root meaning of the word.
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The literal meaning of the word is originally suffering… referring specifically to the suffering
of Christ… and more specifically to the deep determination that was at work throughout that
final week which led to his sacrificial death.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin passi, passin-, sufferings of Jesus or a
martyr, from Late Latin, physical suffering, martyrdom, sinful desire, from Latin, an undergoing, from
passus, past participle of pat, to suffer; see p(i)- in Indo-European roots.]
That’s why we commonly speak of the Passion of Christ… or the week before Easter is referred to as the
Passion Week. Passion doesn’t refer to the suffering itself… beating and piercing…. but to the deep
determination that was at work… the power that drove him.
The fundamental nature of passion… as understood in the life of Christ… and
the apostle Paul… was that of sharing life with God and His cause.
This is what was caught by the disciples. They were ordinary people... not religiously zealous
types… and we see each of heir lives transformed from despondency to determination…
ultimately giving their lives as Christ had.
We see this same passion… underlying determination at work in the apostle Paul.
Philip. 3:10-14 (CEV)
All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and
die as he did, 11so that somehow I also may be raised to life.
12I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me.
So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. 13My friends, I don’t feel that
I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. 14I
run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize
that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.
This is a statement about an underlying drive… energizing determination. It’s not about what
passion looks like outwardly… but rather it’s about the underlying / deeper / energy that comes
from a defining purpose… to know Christ… his power… and suffering. When he refers to sharing
in his sufferings… he’s not referring to the pain… but the purpose… the underlying
determination at work in Christ.
It’s important to recognize that we’re not talking about “a” passion… but “the” passion…
not just any passion… but the passion that transcends all passions… the original passion of
Christ.
Today we use the word passion to describe anything that excites us… even just for a moment.
(Some of us might sense a passion for a particular sport… or creative expression. I’m passionate
for ice cream.) Such passions are real… but at their best… whether in the arts or recreational
areas of life… they are only reflections of the greater God given purpose within us. They point
to the transcendent… but can’t fully satisfy. On a practical level, they can’t really span the
whole of life experience and length. (If my primary source of passion is rock climbing… it can’t
energize my daily working life… nor my later years when I may be less physically able.)
In his autobiography, author John Stuart Mill says that his father recognized he was a very
gifted child and proceeded to cram his head with all sorts of knowledge. However, since he had no
religious faith of his own, the father would not allow anything religious to become part of his son’s
education. Years later, after he had achieved fame and fortune, John Stuart Mill looked back on
his education with a deep sense of loss. His mind was crammed with information, but his soul was
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starved. He said in his autobiography, "I was left at the commencement of my voyage with a
well-equipped ship ... but no sail."
-Preacher’s Illustration Service, Vol 8, Sept/Oct 1995+
> It doesn’t matter how well equipped you are… if there isn’t an underlying force… if you
can’t hear the melody.
> What Paul describes is the passion that can run through the whole of life. It’s because of
this that he can call all who know Christ saying “In whatever you do… do for the Lord….”
> We can be ‘whatever and whenever people’…. because in all things we can be connected to a
desire to share life with God and His cause.
Paul says he wants to know Christ… and His sufferings = the deep determination that empowered
him.
> It was fulfilling his part in the redemption of the world. He wants what God has… the
passion… the enduring determination of God’s love…. A love that would suffer for the sake of
redeeming others.
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance.
God is longsuffering…. Power of sacrificial love.
That is the passion Paul wants… that the love that he has come to realize exists
in God towards him… is the thing that he wants to be the defining
determination of his life.
1 John 4:18-19 (NLT)
“….perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this
shows that his love has not been perfected in us. 19We love … as a result of his loving
us first.
The passion that is meant to flow through our lives… LOVE.
Discovering and developing passion will involve facing one or more of the
following:
1. Fear Orientation: I must let love rather than fear become the compelling
force out of which I live.
Fear is defensive by nature… withdraws rather than expands.
I heard of one man who was struggling with the pressures of life and who accurately
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expresses the fatigue that many men feel: "I feel a weakening of the need to be a great man and
increasing feeling of ’let’s just get through this the best way we can’. Never mind hitting home
runs. Let’s just get through the ball game without getting beaned."
(From Men in Mid-Life Crisis, by Jim Conway, pg. 58, noting this came from Scarf)
2. Control: I must abandon an unhealthy desire for control… and truly give
myself to God’s control and cause.
We all have various fears of commitment… that most often comes from fears of what we
might have to give up.
Dating can often come to a crossroads… fine to keep up a relationship as long as the fun times
keep flowing… but always contingent… so there’s ultimately no sense of being fully given to the
other… and it begins to take it’s toll.
> Many times we may be relating to God in the same way… we’re trying to date
God…. and like in a dating relationship… it leaves an unspoken funk… because it gets stuck in
the underlying analysis… wondering and questioning.
The very nature of passion… is freedom… abandon.
Calculated and controlled passion is an oxymoron… whether we’re talking about sex or spiritual
life. The issue isn’t simply intensity… but a letting go… and giving oneself.
This is what Jesus sought to confront and call out… with religious leaders who tithed on their
spices… but ignored true justice… with a rich young ruler who struggled to give up his fortunes…
When he said follow… there were those who are noted to had left everything … and those who
said… let me first take care of a few things…
• Jesus described entering the kingdom as a very different process… like a poor man working
a field… discovers a treasure… and in joy goes and sells all he has to buy that field… because
it holds more than anything he could ever have owned. If we see the full picture… can really
compare the value… it’s the only clear and certain offer life will bring.
• In a similar way…Paul had made the comparison… settled his choice. (Describes all the
prestige of his former life… and says it’s rubbish in comparison to what he now has.)
It’s when we throw our hat in the ring… put your money on the table… that the excitement
starts… because we’re really in.
Some of us need to really ask ourselves… are we dating?... in the doorway rather than entering?
3. Disappointment & Disorientation: I must allow my understanding of God to
evolve… to allow experiences that I don’t understand, and are potentially
disorienting, to naturally lead to a reorienting.
One of the natural dynamics in life… is that we need some understanding of the world that we’re
suppose to rise up and engage each day. That understanding in shaped both unconsciously and
consciously… and hopefully involves our understanding of what we know about God. I have
found that there are times when life unfolds in ways that just doesn’t fit… sometimes we are
devastated by finding ourselves facing circumstances that just don’t fit our expectations. (We
aren’t married… or the marriage has become destructive… we don’t have children… or we do and
they are not what we imagined.)
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> Life… and GOD isn’t fitting into the box we had imagined. That sense of disorientation…
means we have to rise up to engage a world we don’t understand.
Paul had faced this…passionate for … knocked down and blinded… later in jail… thorn in the
flesh… . How?
> Because he understood through Christ… we don’t know everything… we see through a
glass dimly… but we know what really matters. We can live with what we don’t yet fully
understand… by what we do understand. And we let our understanding evolve.
4. Insulation & Isolation: I must allow the compelling force of love to liberate
me from the “death of self absorption”… and to lead me in serving the greater
cause in others.
One of the greatest challenges to maintaining passion is a deceptive one… because when we feel
flat towards life…we can naturally want to retreat and try to find more life within ourselves. When
we lack passion… we may find ourselves with less drive and more tired… less energy and
inclination to engage others. Often what we need may be time alone to connect with our own
hearts… but it is easy to just stay in the ease and apparent comfort of that place.
> But it’s a deceptive comfort… that can actually allow a slow death to the real life that caring
for others brings. If we become isolated or at least emotionally insulated… we are shutting off a
vital part of what we really need.
We become like rivers… that get dammed up… and become lakes… and forget the flow that
really defines who we are… and soon we stagnate… and cease to support real life within us.
Jesus knew how to withdraw… seemed to do it regularly… ctitical to the life of passion he
had… but he always re-engaged… saw people with compassion… like sheep without a
shepherd. (compassion = passion with, i.e.Def. a deep awareness of and sympathy for another’s
suffering)
Closing: As we prepare to receive communion today… let us receive Christ’s passion. Take time
to reflect on challenges that you may realize have been at work within you.
Communion
Potential Ideas and Illus not used:
EXAMPLE OF MAN DESCRIBING GIVING UP ON HITTING HOME RUNS...
LET’S JUST GET THROUGH GAME WITHOUT GETTING BEANED
Scarf quotes a man who is struggling with the pressures of life and who accurately
expresses the fatigue that many men feel: "I feel a weakening of the need to be a great man and
increasing feeling of ’let’s just get through this the best way we can’. Never mind hitting home
runs. Let’s just get through the ball game without getting beaned."
-From Men in Mid-Life Crisis, by Jim Conway, pg. 58+
A young man once asked an older Christian, "What does it mean to be crucified with Christ?" The
older man thought for a moment and then replied, "To be crucified with Christ means three things.
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First, the man who is crucified is facing only one direction, he is not looking back. Second, the
man who is crucified has said good-bye to the world; he is not going back. Third, the man who is
crucified has no further plans of his own. He is totally in God’s hands. Whatever the situation, he
says, ’Yes, Lord!’ "
-David Watson, Called & Committed, p.181+
(May or may not make reference to following quote)
COMMITMENT MAKES EVERYTHING HAPPEN
Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise would have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner
of unforseen incidents and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt would come his way.
- Goethe (1749-1832), German poet and dramatist
GEORGE MacDONALD ON APPROPRIATENESS OF FEARING GOD AS FIRST BOND
UNTIL BOND OF LOVE.
"Naturally the first emotion of man toward the being he calls God, but of whom he knows so little,
is fear. Where it is possible that fear should exist, it is well that it should exist, cause continual
uneasiness, and be cast out by nothing less than love...Until love, which is the truth toward God, is
able to cast out fear, it is well that fear should hold; it is a bond, however poor, between that which
is and That which creates—a bond that must be broken, but a bond that can be broken only by the
tightening of an infinitely closer bond. Verily God must be terrible to those that are far from Him:
for they fear He will do, yea, He is doing with them what they do not, cannot desire, and can ill
endure."
-George MacDonald from "George MacDonald, An Anthology", edited by C.S. Lewis
A young man walked into a jewelry store and bought an expensive locket as a present for his
fiancee. Shall I engrave her name on the locket? the jeweler asked.
The young man thought for a moment, and then said, No, inscribe it TO MY ONE AND ONLY
LOVE so if we ever split up I’ll be able to use it again.
Dent, J. D. West Virginia Gazette (adapted)
-Preachers Illustration Service, Vol 7, Mar/Apr 1994+
DEMANDS GIVE MEANING TO LIFE
Rabbi Loy’s life work was the study of the demand for obedience given by God to his people. In
explaining the above to Dave, Dave’s every gesture and movement bespoke unwillingness.
"In a life in which there is no demand," he had told Dave, "there is no meaning." "That’s
nuts," Dave snarled rudely. "Demands are the whole trouble."
Rabbi said, "If no demand is put on you, then you are in a sense excluded.
"From what?"
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"Life itself. To be demanded of gives us dignity." Rabbi continued, "If someone expects,
demands something of you, it means he takes you seriously."
Dave non-verbally communicated he couldn’t care less. Rabbi: "Don’t you see that the demand is
that you take part in the huge cosmic struggle that is going on? Apathy is the gravest of sins.
Even the tiniest creature can shake the universe . . . Only obedience is perfect freedom."
-The Young Unicorns, by Madeleine L’Engle, p. 155+
SCULPTOR HENRY MOORE ON THE SECRET OF LIFE
The famous English sculptor Henry Moore was asked a fascinating question by literary critic
Donald Hall.
"Now that you are 80, you must know the secret of life. What is it?"
Moore paused ever so slightly, with just enough time to smile before answering. "The secret of
life," he mused, "is to have a task, something you do your entire life, something you bring
everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the most important thing is:
It must be something you cannot possibly do."
- Citation: John Byrne, Fastcompany (January 2005), p.14+
DOLPHINS HELD IN TANK LOST USE OF SONAR AND ABILITY TO EAT LIVE FISH.
Illustration of Dolphin rehabilitation team. Dolphins use sonar to catch fish is lost because its
painful within concrete walls; also were used to "feedings" of dead fish, and hard to relearn both
of these. It took a long time at first not using sonar (spirit) and challenged by live fish (real food
for soul vs. prepackaged).
-on Discovery Showcase (Discovery channel)
They noted problem of health/survival in real world/natural habitat, similar to our lost need to
develop Spirit within us (prayer) and to be nourished by unprepackaged food (Scripture).+
DEAD BUT PRESERVED BOARD MEMBER IS "PRESENT BUT NOT VOTING"
Dear Friend,
With urgency we present this document for consideration to Christian leaders throughout America.
And, urgency is not too strong a word.
Surely no one looking at the New Testament in contrast with much of the American Church can be
fully pleased with what we observe. Dr. Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. provides the following
illustration of contemporary American Christianity:
Jeremy Bentham, the champion of Utilitarianism, died in 1832. He willed his estate to the
University College Hospital in London, on one bizarre condition. He required that his dead body
be dissected and then his skeleton reassembled, preserved, and clothed so that he could "attend" all
subsequent board meetings of the hospital. To this day, dressed in his nineteenth-century attire,
Jeremy Bentham is wheeled into the hospital’s board meetings and the chairman pronounces,
"Jeremy Bentham, present hut not
voting." (When God Comes to Church, pg. 101)
Unfortunately, this is a picture of too many in churches today. Our people are "present but
not voting." We attend church. But we don’t "vote." By the way we live in the world, no one
would know that Jesus Christ is our supreme Lord. We may worship hard. But then we leave, to
love the world, isolating ourselves from the pain of those around us. "Present but not voting! "
As members of the drafting committee for Mission America’s National Revival Network,
we believe it is time for Christian leaders to come together in consensus and collaboration on the
biblical nature and hope of corporate revival. This conviction weaves together An Urgent Appeal.
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Our prayer is that hundreds of Christian leaders will explore and then embrace the message
of this Appeal. In fact, already nearly one hundred national leaders have given direct input into the
drafting of the Appeal.
But there’s more. In 2002 a multitude of Christian leaders will gather in Washington, D.C.,
for a special signing ceremony on the National Day of Prayer, May 2, 2002. It will be a moment
for all of us to "officially" issue this Appeal to the Body of Christ with one voice. If you are a
leader of a denomination or Christian ministry, or the pastor of a local church, we want to invite
you to be a part. Prayerfully consider attending this historic event on May 2, 2002.
We encourage you right now to go to the website for the National Day of Prayer
Committee (www.nationalprayer.org). There you will find the complete text of this document in a
form you can download and distribute to others. Also, at this site, you will find regular updates on
developments toward the ceremony in Washington, D.C.
An Urgent Appeal moves us beyond the empty rhetoric about revival. It takes us to a new
level of consensus and collaboration around revival. There is no other document like it at the
moment. Our prayer is, through the ongoing conversations it stirs up among leaders, that all of us,
and the people we lead, may become more fully engaged with Jesus Christ and with the
magnificent implications of His supremacy over all things.
May the Holy Spirit so awaken our churches to Him that we will become both "present and
voting!"
The Drafting Committee
National Revival Network
Mission America
For more information regarding the National Revival Network, email: Irevtogo@aol com
- America’s National Prayer Committee, Sept. 11, 2001+
ELIE WIESEL DEFINES INDIFFERENCE
On April 12, 1999, Elie Wiesel delivered a speech to President Clinton, his wife, and members of
Congress in Washington, D.C. The world-renowned humanitarian and author spoke about "The
Perils of Indifference":
What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange and
unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and
punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil. What are its courses and inescapable
consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one
possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one’s
sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences
harrowing upheavals?
Of course, indifference can be tempting-more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to
look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our
dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person’s pain
and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence.
And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest.
Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction.
Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be
creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony. One does something special for the sake of
humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never
creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it.
Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is
an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor-
never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in
his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees-not to respond to their plight, not to relieve
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their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in
denying their humanity, we betray our own.
- Citation: Elie Wiesel, "The Perils of Indifference," www.americanrhetoric.com+
We need to recapture the true nature of passion from some of the common
ways it considered today.
If we think of passion only in terms of a more wild expression …. We may do well to remember
that along David… the example of a king so freely living life out towards God that he danced
publicly in his underwear… elsewhere it is noted that when God came to engage the people… he
didn’t come in the fire or thunder… but in a whisper.
A Sermon for the West
By Oriana Fallaci
The American Enterprise Online | January 10, 2003
On October 22, 2002, Oriana Fallaci addressed an audience at the American Enterprise Institute.
Following are short excerpts from her talk. Ms. Fallaci, a native of Florence, Italy and a life-long
journalist, caused turmoil across Europe with the publication of her book The Rage and the Pride,
calling the West to stand up to the Islamic world.
I don’t hide. I never have. I stay at home because I like to stay at home, and at home I work. I have
not appeared in public for at least ten years. No interviews, no TV.
Why am I here, then? Because, since September 11, we are at war. Because the front line of that
war is here, in America. Because when I was a war correspondent, I liked to be on the front line.
And this time, in this war, I do not feel as a war correspondent. I feel as a soldier. The duty of a
soldier is to fight. And to fight this war, I deploy a personal weapon. It is not a gun. It’s a small
book, The Rage and The Pride.
My soldier weapon is the weapon of truth. The truth that begins with the truth I maintain in these
pages:
From Afghanistan to Sudan, from Palestine to Pakistan, from Malaysia to Iran, from Egypt to Iraq,
from Algeria to Senegal, from Syria to Kenya, from Libya to Chad, from Lebanon to Morocco,
from Indonesia to Yemen, from Saudi Arabia to Somalia, the hate for the West swells like a fire
fed by the wind. And the followers of Islamic fundamentalism multiply like a protozoa of a cell
which splits to become two cells then four then eight then sixteen then thirty-two to infinity. Those
who are not aware of it only have to look at the images that the TV brings us every day. The
multitudes that impregnate the streets of Islamabad, the squares of Nairobi, the mosques of
Tehran. The ferocious faces, the threatening fists. The fires that burn the American flag and the
photos of Bush.
“The clash between us and them is not a military clash. Oh, no. It is a cultural one, a religious one.
And our military victories do not solve the offensive of Islamic terrorism. On the contrary, they
encourage it. They exacerbate it, they multiply it. The worst is still to come.”
President Bush has said, “We refuse to live in fear.”
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Beautiful sentence, very beautiful. I loved it! But inexact, Mr. President, because the West does
live in fear. People are afraid to speak against the Islamic world. Afraid to offend, and to be
punished for offending, the sons of Allah. You can insult the Christians, the Buddhists, the
Hindus, the Jews. You can slander the Catholics, you can spit on the Madonna and Jesus Christ.
But, woe betide the citizen who pronounces a word against the Islamic religion.
My small book is not tender with Islam. In certain passages, it is even ferocious. But it is much
more ferocious with us: with us Italians, us Europeans, us Americans.
I call my book a sermon—addressed to the Italians, to the Europeans, the Westerners. And along
with the rage, this sermon unchains the pride for their culture, my culture. That culture that in
spite of its mistakes, its faults, even monstrosities, has given so much to the world. It has moved
us from the tents of the deserts and the huts of the woods to the dignity of civilization. It has given
us the concept of beauty, of morals, of freedom, of equality. It has made the unique conquest in the
social field, in the realm of science. It has wiped out diseases. It has invented all the tools that
make life easier and more intelligent, those tools that our enemy can also use, for instance, to kill
us. It has brought us to the moon and to Mars, and this cannot be said of the other culture. A
culture, which has produced and produces only religion, which in every sense imprisons women
inside the burkah or the chador, which is never accompanied by a drop of freedom, a drop of
democracy, which subjugates its people under theocratical, oppressive regimes.
Socrates and Aristotle and Heraclitus were not mullahs. Jesus Christ, neither. Leonardo da Vinci
and Michaelangelo, and Galileo, and Copernicus, and Newton and Pasteur and Einstein, the same.
My book is also a j’accuse. To accuse us of cowardice, hypocrisy, demagogy, laziness, moral
misery, and of all that comes with that. The stupidity of the unbearable fad of political correctness,
for instance. The paucity of our schools, our universities, our young people, people who often
don’t even know the story of their country, the names Jefferson, Franklin, Robespierre, Napoleon,
Garibaldi. And no understanding that freedom cannot exist without discipline, self-discipline.
I accuse ourselves also of another crime: the loss of passion. Haven’t you understood what drives
our enemies? What permits them to fight this war against us? The passion! They have passion!
They have so much passion that they can die for it!
Their leaders, too, of course. I met Khomeini. I discussed with him for more than six hours in
calm, and I tell you that that man was a man of passion. I never met bin Laden. But I have well
observed his eyes. I have well listened to his voice. And I tell you that that man is a man of
passion. We have lost passion.
Well, I have not. I boil with passion. I, too, am ready to die for passion. But around me, I see no
passion. Even those who hate me and attack me and insult me do this without passion. They are
mollusks, not men and women. And a civilization, a culture, cannot survive without passion,
cannot be saved without passion. If the West does not wake up, if we do not refind passion, we are
lost.
To quote from my book:
“The problem is that the solution does not depend upon the death of Osama bin Laden. Because
the Osama bin Ladens are too many, by now: as cloned as the sheep of our research
laboratories…. In fact, the best trained and the more intelligent do not stay in the Muslim
countries... They stay in our own countries, in our cities, our universities, our business companies.
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They have excellent bonds with our churches, our banks, our televisions, our radios, our
newspapers, our publishers, our academic organizations, our unions, our political parties….
Worse, they live in the heart of a society that hosts them without questioning their differences,
with- out checking their bad intentions, without penalizing their sullen fanaticism.
[“I]f we continue to stay inert, they will become always more and more. They will demand always
more and more, they will vex and boss us always more and more. ’Til the point of subduing us.
Therefore, dealing with them is impossible. Attempting a dialogue, unthinkable. Showing
indulgence, suicidal. And he or she who believes the contrary is a fool.”
Zeal apart from knowledge can be damning. “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God,
but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” (Romans 10:2) Zeal without wisdom is dangerous. Zeal
mixed with insensitivity is often cruel. Whenever zeal disintegrates into uncontrolled passion, it can be
deadly.
When someone equates spirituality with emotion, excitement, and noise, I’m reminded that God often
speaks through a still small whisper. When God spoke to Elijah, God was not in the mighty wind, or
earth quake, but in a still small whisper.
There’s nothing wrong with excitement and enthusiasm. Enthusiasm means “God is in.” The joy of the
Lord should bring excitement. But most important is that we walk the talk and life a life of holiness that
back up our shouts of joy.
enthusiasm
SYLLABICATION: en·thu·si·asm
PRONUNCIATION:
n-th z- z m
NOUN: 1. Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause. 2. A source or
cause of great excitement or interest. 3. Archaic a. Ecstasy arising from
supposed possession by a god. b. Religious fanaticism.
ETYMOLOGY: Late Latin enth siasmus, from Greek enthousiasmos, from
enthousiazein, to be inspired by a god, from entheos, possessed : en-, in;
see en–2 + theos, god; see dhs- in Appendix I.
WORD HISTORY: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” said the very
quotable Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also said, “Everywhere the history
of religion betrays a tendency to enthusiasm.” These two uses of the
word enthusiasm—one positive and one negative—both derive from its
source in Greek. Enthusiasm first appeared in English in 1603 with the
meaning “possession by a god.” The source of the word is the Greek
enthousiasmos, which ultimately comes from the adjective entheos,
“having the god within,” formed from en, “in, within,” and theos, “god.”
Over time the meaning of enthusiasm became extended to “rapturous
inspiration like that caused by a god” to “an overly confident or delusory
belief that one is inspired by God,” to “ill-regulated religious fervor,
religious extremism,” and eventually to the familiar sense “craze,
excitement, strong liking for something.” Now one can have an
enthusiasm for almost anything, from water skiing to fast food, without
12
religion entering into it at all
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the
Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Enthusiasm
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Enthusiasm (Greek: enthousiasmos) originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine
afflatus or by the presence of a God. Today it simply means intense enjoyment, interest or
approval.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Historical usage
• 2 Modern Usage
• 3 See also
• 4 External links
[edit]
Historical usage
Originally an enthusiast is a person possessed by a God. Applied by the Greeks to manifestations
of divine possession, by Apollo, as in the case of the Pythia, or by Dionysus, as in the case of the
Bacchantes and Maenads, the term enthusiasm was also used in a transferred or figurative sense.
Thus Socrates speaks of the inspiration of poets as a form of enthusiasm.
Its uses, in a religious sense, are confined to an exaggerated or wrongful belief in religious
inspiration, or to intense religious fervour or emotion. Thus a Syrian sect of the 4th century was
known as the Enthusiasts. They believed that by perpetual prayer, ascetic practices and
contemplation, man could become inspired by the Holy Spirit, in spite of the ruling evil spirit,
which the fall had given to him. From their belief in the efficacy of prayer, they were also known
as Euchites. Several protestant sects of the 16th and 17th centuries were called enthusiastic.
During the 18th century, popular Methodists such as John Wesley or George Whitefield were
accused of blind enthusiasm (i.e. fanaticism).
[edit]
Modern Usage
13
In modern ordinary usage, enthusiasm has lost its peculiar religious significance, and means a
whole-hearted devotion to an ideal, cause, study or pursuit. Sometimes, in a depreciatory sense, it
implies a devotion which is partisan and is blind to difficulties and objections.
Science-fiction writer Thomas M. Disch once suggested that the mystical experiences of writer
Philip K. Dick might be described as a form of enthousiasmos.
One might be said in modern terms to be enthusiastic if they are excited about what they might be
engaged in.
Enthusiasm Quote
A Select Collection of Enthusiasm Quote
Norman Vincent Peale: Enthusiasm Quote
If you have zest and enthusiasm you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give back in kind.
Henry Ward Beecher: Enthusiasm Quote
In things pertaining to enthusiasm, no man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper
occasions.
Yoshihisa Tabuchi: Enthusiasm Quote
It’s always the challenge of the future, this feeling of excitement, that drives me.
Mark Twain: Enthusiasm Quote
Let us endeavor to live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
Katharine Hepburn: Enthusiasm Quote
Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that
is going to be interesting.
Norman Vincent Peale: Enthusiasm Quote
Life’s blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm.
Paul Harvey: Enthusiasm Quote
Like what you do. If you don’t like it, do something else.
Wayne Dyer: Enthusiasm Quote
Love what you do. Do what you love.
Mary Kay Ash: Enthusiasm Quote
Mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.
Edwin H. Stuart: Enthusiasm Quote
Men who do things without being told draw the most wages.
The above list of quotations is page 1 of a collection of motivational and inspirational quotes
on Enthusiasm.
14
Charles Schwab: Enthusiasm Quotes
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
Unknown Author: Enthusiasm Quotes
A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.
Harry F. Banks: Enthusiasm Quotes
A salesman minus enthusiasm is just a clerk.
Emily Dickinson: Enthusiasm Quotes
A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day.
Dale Carnegie: Enthusiasm Quotes
Act enthusiastic and you become enthusiastic.
Unknown Author: Enthusiasm Quotes
Be enthusiastic as a leader. You can’t light a fire with a wet match!
John Wesley: Enthusiasm Quotes
Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch your burn.
Thomas J. Peters: Enthusiasm Quotes
Celebrate what you want to see more of.
Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot: Enthusiasm Quotes
Do not be afraid of enthusiasm. You need it. You can do nothing effectively without it.
Vincent Van Gogh: Enthusiasm Quotes
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model.
Donald Trump: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is
playing the game.
William Blake: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
Samuel Goldwyn: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
No man who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life.
Helen Keller: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a
new doorway for the human spirit.
Sire Edmund Hillary: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the
expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.
15
William Inge: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful, or to discover something
that is true.
Herman Cain: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
Nobody motivates today’s workers. If it doesn’t come from within, it doesn’t come. Fun helps
remove the barriers that allow people to motivate themselves.
Henry David Thoreau: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Thomas Carlyle: Inspirational Enthusiasm Quotes
Oh, give us the man who sings at his work.
The above list of quotations is page 3 of a collection of motivational and inspirational quotes
on Enthusiasm.
Edward B. Butler: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30
years who makes a success of his life.
Dale Carnegie: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.
Ken Blanchard: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
People who produce good results feel good about themselves.
Christian Larson: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
Promise yourself to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
Unknown Author: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
Some of the worlds greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they
were impossible.
Abraham Lincoln: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.
Albert Schweitzer: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are
doing, you will be successful.
Thomas J. Watson: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas of enthusiasm.
Earl Nightingale: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
The key that unlocks energy is desire. It’s also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to
create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited.
16
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Inspirational Quotes on Enthusiasm
The little that is completed, vanishes from the sight of one who looks forward to what is still to do.
Dwight D. Eisenhower: Motivational Quote: Enthusiasm Quote
What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
Bill Gates: Motivational Quote: Enthusiasm Quote
What I do best is share my enthusiasm.
Alexander Graham Bell: Motivational Quote: Enthusiasm Quote
What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists...and it becomes available only when
you are in that state of mind in which you know exactly what you want...and are fully determined
not to quit until you get it.
Norman Vincent Peale: Motivational Quote: Enthusiasm Quote
When a person applies enthusiasm to his job, the job will itself become alive with exciting new
possibilities.
Confucius: Motivational Quote: Enthusiasm Quote
Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
Joseph Addison: Motivational Quote: Enthusiasm Quote
Whether zeal or moderation be the point we aim at, let us keep the fire out of the one, and the frost
out of the other.
Douglas MacArthur: Motivational Quote: Enthusiasm Quote
Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
passion
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pas·sion (psh n)
n.
1. A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.
2.
a. Ardent love.
17
b. Strong sexual desire; lust.
c. The object of such love or desire.
3.
a. Boundless enthusiasm: His skills as a player don’t quite match his passion for the game.
b. The object of such enthusiasm: Soccer is her passion.
4. An abandoned display of emotion, especially of anger: He’s been known to fly into a passion without
warning.
5. Passion
a. The sufferings of Jesus in the period following the Last Supper and including the Crucifixion, as related
in the New Testament.
b. A narrative, musical setting, or pictorial representation of Jesus’s sufferings.
6. Archaic Martyrdom.
7. Archaic Passivity.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin passi, passin-, sufferings of Jesus or a
martyr, from Late Latin, physical suffering, martyrdom, sinful desire, from Latin, an undergoing, from
passus, past participle of pat, to suffer; see p(i)- in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: passion, fervor, fire, zeal, ardor
These nouns denote powerful, intense emotion. Passion is a deep, overwhelming emotion: "There is not a
passion so strongly rooted in the human heart as envy" Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
The term may signify sexual desire or anger: "He flew into a violent passion and abused me mercilessly"
H.G. Wells.
Fervor is great warmth and intensity of feeling: "The union of the mathematician with the poet, fervor with
measure, passion with correctness, this surely is the ideal" William James.
Fire is burning passion: "In our youth our hearts were touched with fire" Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Zeal is strong, enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance:
"Laurie [resolved], with a glow of philanthropic zeal, to found and endow an institution for ... women with
artistic tendencies" Louisa May Alcott.
Ardor is fiery intensity of feeling: "the furious ardor of my zeal repressed" Charles Churchill. See Also
Synonyms at feeling.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in
2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. passion - strong feeling or emotion
passionateness
feeling - the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he
had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual"
infatuation - foolish and usually extravagant passion or love or admiration
wildness, abandon - a feeling of extreme emotional intensity; "the wildness of his anger"
fervency, fervidness, fervor, fervour, ardor, ardour, fire - feelings of great warmth and intensity;
"he spoke with great ardor"
2. passion - intense passion or emotion
heat, warmth
emotionalism, emotionality - emotional nature or quality
3. passion - something that is desired intensely; "his rage for fame destroyed him"
18
rage
desire - something that is desired
4. passion - an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action
cacoethes, mania
irrational motive - a motivation that is inconsistent with reason or logic
agromania - an intense desire to be alone or out in the open
dipsomania, potomania, alcoholism - an intense persistent desire to drink alcoholic beverages
to excess
egomania - an intense and irresistible love for yourself and concern for your own needs
kleptomania - an irresistible impulse to steal in the absence of any economic motive
logomania, logorrhea - pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking
monomania, possession - a mania restricted to one thing or idea
necromania, necrophilia, necrophilism - an irresistible sexual attraction to dead bodies
phaneromania - an irresistible desire to pick a superficial body parts (as in obsessive nail-biting)
pyromania - an uncontrollable desire to set fire to things
trichotillomania - an irresistible urge to pull out your own hair
5. passion - a feeling of strong sexual desire
concupiscence, physical attraction, sexual desire - a desire for sexual intimacy
6. passion - any object of warm affection or devotion; "the theater was her first love" or "he has a
passion for cock fighting";
love
object - the focus of cognitions or feelings; "objects of thought"; "the object of my affection"
7. Passion - the suffering of Jesus at the crucifixion
Passion of Christ
excruciation, suffering, agony - a state of acute pain
For it is to be considered that this passion of which we speak, though it begin with the young, yet forsakes
not the old, or rather suffers no one who is truly its servant to grow old, but makes the aged participators of
it not less than the tender maiden, though in a different and nobler sort.
Essays, First Series by Emerson, Ralph Waldo
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a
quotation.”
19
Oscar Wilde quotes (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a
mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
Oscar Wilde quotes (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)
“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”
n21paul
John Maxwell quotes (American Author and motivational speaker )
“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It
speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our
finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear.
If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered
and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.”
Joss Whedon quotes (American Screenwriter, Producer and Creator of the show Buffy the
Vampire Slayer. Also known for Toy Story, Alien Resurrection, and Angel, b.1964)
“Rest in reason; move in passion”
Khalil Gibran quotes
“Our passions are the winds that propel our vessel. Our reason is the pilot that steers her. Without
winds the vessel would not move and without a pilot she would be lost.”
Proverb quotes
JESUS IS LIKE THE TIGER ROARING AT EDGE OF FOREST IN WHICH WE ARE
LIKE A TIGER RAISED WITH GOATS
LUCADO DESCRIBES "SACRED DELIGHT;" DIVINE JOY WHICH TRANSCENDS
CIRCUMSTANCES ALA BEATITUDES
Jesus embodied a stubborn joy. A joy that refused to bend in the wind of hard times.
A joy that held its ground against pain. A joy whose roots extended deep into the bedrock of
eternity.
What type of joy is this? What is this cheerfulness that dares to wink at adversity?
What is this bird that sings while it is still dark? What is the source of this peace that defies
pain?
I call it sacred delight.
It is sacred because it is not of the earth. What is sacred is God’s. And this joy is
God’s.
It is delight because delight can both satisfy and surprise.
Delight is the Bethlehem shepherds dancing a jig outside a cave. Delight is Mary
watching God sleep in a feed trough. Delight is white-haired Simeon praising God, who is
about to be circumcised. Delight is Joseph teaching the Creator of the world how to hold a
hammer.
What is sacred delight? It is God doing what gods would be doing only in your
wildest dreams-wearing diapers, riding donkeys, washing feet, dozing in storms. Delight is
the day they accused God of having too much fun, attending too many parties, and spending
too much time with the Happy Hour crowd.
20
Sacred delight is good news coming through the back door of your heart. It’s what
you’d always dreamed but never expected. It’s the too-good-to-be-true coming true. It’s
having God as your pinch-hitter, your lawyer, your dad, your biggest fan, and your best
friend. God on your side, in your heart, out in front, and protecting your back. It’s hope
where you least expected it: a flower in life’s sidewalk.
It is sacred because only God can grant it. It is a delight because it thrills. Since it is
sacred, it can’t be stolen. And since it is delightful, it can’t be predicted.
It was this gladness that danced through the Red Sea. It was this joy that blew the
trumpet at Jerico. It was this secret that made Mary sing. It was this surprise that put the
springtime into Easter morning.
It is God’s gladness. It’s sacred delight.
But this joy is not cheap. What Jesus promises is not a gimmick to give you goose
bumps nor a mental attitude that has to be pumped up at pep rallies. No, Matthew 5
describes God’s radical reconstruction of the heart.
Think about God’s joy. What can cloud it? What can quench it? What can kill it? Is
God ever in a bad mood because of bad weather? Does God get ruffled over long lines or
traffic jams? Does God ever refuse to rotate the earth because his feelings are hurt?
No. His is a joy which consequences cannot quench. His is a peace which
circumstances cannot steal.
There is a delicious gladness that comes from God. A holy joy. A sacred delight.
And it is within your reach, You are one decision away from joy.
Lucado, "The Applause of Heaven," p.9-13+
"It is all to bind you together in love and to stir your minds, so that your understanding may
come to full development, until you really know God’s secret in which all the jewels of
wisdom and knowledge are hidden" (Colossians 2:2-3).
In his autobiography, author John Stuart Mill says that his father recognized he was
a very gifted child and proceeded to cram his head with all sorts of knowledge. However,
since he had no religious faith of his own, the father would not allow anything religious to
become part of his son’s education. Years later, after he had achieved fame and fortune,
John Stuart Mill looked back on his education with a deep sense of loss. His mind was
crammed with information, but his soul was starved. He said in his autobiography, "I was
left at the commencement of my voyage with a well-equipped ship ... but no sail."
There is little doubt that many can identify with John Stuart Mill’s complaint: "a
well-equipped ship...but no sail." We need something to push up the value of our hopes and
dreams. We need something to push us up and over the waves of emptiness that keep
pounding our bored and dreary souls. We need something to give us new life. We need
something to get us sailing again toward genuine Christian life-goals. In the poetic words of
Louise Fletcher:
I wish that there were some wonderful place called The "Land of Beginning Again,"
where all our mistakes and all our heartaches and all of our poor selfish grief could be
dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, and never be put on again.
-Preacher’s Illustration Service, Vol 8, Sept/Oct 1995+
