There are two obvious extremes when it comes to passion. There is the overly "rational" and passionless human being, and the irrationally passionate human being. Somewhere inbetween, there is a balance that I will eternally strive to find.
The overly rational will tend to see things very objectively. He realizes that the minority of issues in life are black/white. But the obvious danger is that, for this individual, things become less clearly "right" or "wrong." Over-rationalizing a situation makes it exceedingly difficult to find which side is right. An overly rational man will see two similar houses and realize that there are pros and cons to each, and will want to determine each's square footage, yardage, metrics, acreage, tonnage. Without consulting one's "gut" (heart), such a decision can be achingly painful.
Passion, on the other hand, can be an extremely powerful thing. Indeed, crimes of passion are often mitigated because it is understood that, for a moment in time, rationality was entirely ignored. I admire such passionate people, because it reflects something I often find missing in myself. But passion without reason is fatal. One who is going to be so passionate must be absolutely certain (probably by asking other less-biased people) that he is right. St. Paul was passionate about God. Before his transformation, he was passionately killing Christians, knowing for a fact that he was doing God's will. Nothing short of divine revelation would have convinced him otherwise.
When different personalities clash, it is often because each accentuates the other's flaws. Yet when we put our flaws aside, and accentuate instead the other's strengths, it becomes possible to change the world in an incredibly positive manner. A group of twelve men, each different from the one next to him, was able to turn the world upside-down despite - or perhaps only due to - their differing views and personalities.
The power of a group of individuals who are willing to put aside their pride can lift each other up in a way that can hardly be overstated.
The overly rational will tend to see things very objectively. He realizes that the minority of issues in life are black/white. But the obvious danger is that, for this individual, things become less clearly "right" or "wrong." Over-rationalizing a situation makes it exceedingly difficult to find which side is right. An overly rational man will see two similar houses and realize that there are pros and cons to each, and will want to determine each's square footage, yardage, metrics, acreage, tonnage. Without consulting one's "gut" (heart), such a decision can be achingly painful.
Passion, on the other hand, can be an extremely powerful thing. Indeed, crimes of passion are often mitigated because it is understood that, for a moment in time, rationality was entirely ignored. I admire such passionate people, because it reflects something I often find missing in myself. But passion without reason is fatal. One who is going to be so passionate must be absolutely certain (probably by asking other less-biased people) that he is right. St. Paul was passionate about God. Before his transformation, he was passionately killing Christians, knowing for a fact that he was doing God's will. Nothing short of divine revelation would have convinced him otherwise.
When different personalities clash, it is often because each accentuates the other's flaws. Yet when we put our flaws aside, and accentuate instead the other's strengths, it becomes possible to change the world in an incredibly positive manner. A group of twelve men, each different from the one next to him, was able to turn the world upside-down despite - or perhaps only due to - their differing views and personalities.
The power of a group of individuals who are willing to put aside their pride can lift each other up in a way that can hardly be overstated.
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