left, right, and all the grays inbetween

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.

be angry

One of the virtues I admire most about children is that one can be so angry at the other, to the point where one wants to kill the other - but 10 minutes later, they've both forgotten the whole matter, laughing and playing as if it never happened. For whatever reason, though, we lose this as adults. People grow up to hold grudges. Pride paralyzes us. Our memories become our enemies.

"'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil."
--Paul the Apostle, quoting King David. Eph 4:26.

It's quite possibly one of the oddest commandments I've ever read - but I've realized recently why it's so crucial to be angry. My best work is often performed during periods of anger and passion. This is not uncommon. In advising new comedians on how they should perform their act, experienced ones will often advise them not to think of what makes them laugh, but rather what makes them angry; those tend to be the best acts.

When one is angry, one is necessarily sincere; few people can successfully fake anger. Anger is irrational - it comes from the heart. It is therefore crucial to examine what the heart holds; what makes it angry, and what doesn't, and adjust accordingly. We are permitted - and indeed commanded - to become angry with evil. One who isn't angry when their beliefs are under fire holds a degree of apathy. One who is angry all the time is likely self-centered. Somewhere between those two extremes lies the proper dosage of anger.

Once we've figured out the dosage, we need to figure out how to apply it. We are not to use it to protect our own pride. It's often said that "X will get you in a mess, pride will keep you there." It's refusing to turn around when the signs unequivocally say "you're going the wrong way, idiot." Thus, the second part of the verse is just as crucial as the first. Like children, we should get angry, but once we cool down, we must rid ourselves of it entirely.