Advent 09- Passion

I have several friends who are very passionate about things- climate change, children's work, music, political campaigning. There are some things I'm passionate about too, but my passion doesn't seem to achieve much so I won't bring that into it.

Their passion, even anger sometimes, can lead them into insensitivity for the points of view of those they perceive to be wrong, can cause hurt and damage.  Perhaps they don't even realise that while being annoyed with people who can't understand them, they can themselves fall into the same fault.

But without passion, how would things change?  Perhaps we picture a group of (probably) grey haired (probably) men sitting round a polished table in a smart office in Whitehall, calmly discussing how to make the world a better place.  But so often it takes people with real passion and, yes, anger to make injustice visible, to make people take notice instead of avoiding it.    

Without the passion of campaigners like William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson slavery wouldn't have been abolished when it was.  Without the passion of Martin Luther King the civil rights movement in America would have been so much the poorer.  Without the passion of people prepared to be martyrs if they had to from the time of the Romans to the present day the Christian Church would not have spread across the world.

Passion can lead us into insensitivity and despair, but it can also inspire us and make us persevere.  It can drive us to action or to prayer.  It can change the world, or a town, or a family.  It is certainly, when used right, a Good Thing.