Passion and Practicality

I haven’t blogged in awhile. I know, I’ve been horribly absent and I know you’ve all missed my postings. The truth is that I’ve actually started quite a few different topics, but can never manage to find enough time to finish my thought and complete anything more than a few sentences. Well, the internet is down at work which means that I can’t check e-mail, work in the scheduler, or in our software - basically now I just sit and wait for the phone to ring and then tell people I can’t help them until everything comes back up – so that means I have time to write (and of course post it later once the internet is back up)!

On Sunday night I was catching up on the latest sermon series at my church. The series has been entitled “Letters to the City of Seattle” and we’ve been going through the letters in the early chapters of Revelation that are written to different cities of the time. In the letter to the church of Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22) Jesus tells them that he wants them to be hot or cold and not lukewarm. The sermon picks up on this point and talks about the people of God being Passionate versus Practical people. The pastor quoted someone who gave a commencement lecture who encouraged the graduates to pursue careers that they love and to do something that they’re passionate about instead of basing their lives on something they should do to make sure they are taken care of down the road.

I really appreciated this message because I am a practical person AND I am a dreamer. I have plans and desires and things that I want to do but more often than not, I talk myself out of doing it because it’s not realistic or practical. I so often sit in the in-between of practical and passionate that I don’t go anywhere and I get stuck. I love that someone (and someone of authority none the less) has encouraged me to pick a side – and has pushed the passionate over the practical.

I know it’s not practical for me to spend a long period of time traveling – but I am passionate about seeing the world. It’s a HUGE desire of mine. I know it’s not practical for me to dream about someday having a career in the film industry, but it’s something that I care about and am truly interested in. If anyone has ever heard me talk about my desire to travel or review and discussing films they can sense and know my passion. I can talk endlessly with them about my thoughts on a specific film or a whole genre and I can rattle off various cities and countries and landmarks that I want to see before I die.

Yes, I want security. It’d be ideal to have security and be able to do everything that I could ever dream of, but that’s not practical either. I don’t know if I completely ascribe to the idea that practicality and passion are 100% mutually exclusive – as in you always have to be practical or always have to be passionate. I do however, think that in whatever moment you are in your decision falls into one of those categories, but in the next moment you may swing the other way. I think that I am practical by nature but I desire to be passionate.

When I was younger, it seemed like being practical was the mature, responsible way to live. I always made decisions with that in mind and didn’t ever stray far from what was expected of me. Now that I am older, although admittedly I still have a lot of life yet to learn, I am beginning to realize that I need more risks in my life. I need to do more that feeds my soul and makes me excited about being in the world that I live in. Sometimes I feel like the passion that seemed to always bubble beneath the surface has been beaten back for so long that it’s afraid to come out and shine.

So here’s to life. Here’s to me being passionate about the things that I love, embracing opportunities, taking advantage of life, and pursuing my dreams. This is what God gave us life for isn’t it?