Don't Bury the Passion

During my senior year at Sapulpa High School, my favorite class was honors English. Interestingly enough, it was also the toughest class I had that year!

Before this, English was not my favorite subject.  In fact, it would have been somewhere toward the bottom of the list.  

What made this particular class stand out?  

It was the teacher.  

Dotty Merchant taught our class, giving me an education on how to write about literature.  I won’t say that every book we read was great.  I certainly didn't enjoy the weekly papers analyzing these books.

So why was it such a great class?  It was a great class because Mrs. Merchant taught with passion!  She truly loved her subject and it showed up in her teaching.  She believed in what she taught and it helped me develop an interest in literature.

One of the many books we read.  I discovered a lot of the
nuances of psychology in literature as well as in the human
venture from this book.

I still use some of the analysis that I learned in that class.  All the paper writing served me well in college and especially seminary.  Maybe it was getting me ready to write sermons and blog articles on a weekly basis.  I am thankful for this teacher that helped me learn.  I am grateful for her passion.

You can always tell when someone is passionate about something.  They talk about the subject with an energy that they may not have for anything else.  Their eyes light up.  You can see that life has more meaning when they are thinking and speaking about their passion.

Sometimes you may encounter a passionate Christian that is new to the faith.  They want you to have the same relationship with Christ that they have discovered.  You may tell them, “It’s different for me.  I was raised in the church.”  Maybe it’s like the difference between a newlywed and someone celebrating their 45^th wedding anniversary.  Some of the initial excitement may be gone but the relationship is hopefully much deeper than it was 45 years ago.

As Christians, we will be more effective in our walk of faith if we can find our passion in the faith - that area or place where Christ touches you in a profound way.  Not only is this vital for us to find, it is vital for us to share.  The thing about faith that excites you to share it with someone else might cause them to look at their own faith again.

This Sunday, we will continue to examine the parables of Matthew 25, looking this week at the parable of the talents.  If you are in the Edmond area and don't regularly attend worship in a church, I would invite you to worship with us at First United Methodist Church.  We meet at 8:30, 9:45 and 11:00 am.

In Christ,

Sam