Passion and Compassion

I've been pondering passion and compassion lately. It dawned on me that many people have passion or passions that bring out the strongest of emotions and sometimes actions. Maybe all of us have passions that we pursue through study or recreation or hobbies or volunteerism. I have mine, too many for sure and they are ever changing. My thought on this was that passion without compassion can be quite dangerous.

Why would I say that? If we look globally we could say that many of the fanatical, militant religious groups have passion. I don't think there is any denying that the degree of their passion is deep, to the point of giving their lives for their cause. Al Qaeda is a group of people who have passion but not compassion. I think there are many groups of people or individuals we can think of who have passion but not compassion. I would argue that they are maybe our most dangerous entities in our society.

What about people that have both? Martin Luther King, Jr. was the first person who came to mind. His passion for civil rights and the beauty of all peoples was evident in all he said and did. Imagine if his passion for these rights came without compassion. Instead of the power and beauty of non-violent protest it would have undoubtedly been replaced with a hatred and violence we maybe have never experienced. In fact, within that same era could we not say that the KKK operated with the passion but not the compassion and yet King's vision and compassionate approach to protest was far more powerful, meaningful and history changing. When I think about the people who have truly impacted our world in powerful, long-lasting ways in my lifetime, they are models of people with passion and compassion. Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and MLK were people with a passion but a heart of compassion to go along with that passion.

Even when we look at issues that become passionate in their polarization of peoples we can see the impact of people who are passionate with and without compassion. Abortion is an issue that becomes quite emotional but regardless of which side you are on it seems that those who share their passion on the issue but do it with compassion for all involved in those decisions have the greatest impact. Those who deal with it without the compassion end up doing more damage literally and figuratively for their cause or passion.

So I'm sure you get the point now but how does this impact us personally. I think we can bring it down to how we treat others and how we react to our passions. When I reflect on those times when I have struggled the most or not handled situations well, it can usually be traced back to the times that I handled my passion in a selfish way, without compassion for others involved. The times when I have felt most impactful and I guess closest to what I believe God called me to be were when I looked through the lens of the others involved and compassionately put myself in their shoes. Wisdom and understanding guided my actions and words then.

I'm going to try and be more intentionally compassionate within my passion areas. (Not sure how you do that with BBQ but I'll figure something out!) I have had many opportunities in the past few weeks to do this and I'm afraid I've failed miserably on too many occasions. What if we all moved to a compassionate mindset? Imagine the impact we would have on those around us. Now I don't want you to think I am against passion, far from it, my passions guide me and bring me to new journeys and adventures that provide me opportunities to grow and positively impact those around me. However, if I do not pursue those passions with compassion then that passion becomes a liability.