July 2, 2006

      If anyone has ever taken a piano lesson they know the difference between being completely enthralled with the experience and being absolutely indifferent.  If you love the instrument, or any other instrument, you will make it a point to practice every minute that is
available in any given day.  Nothing, not even your friends, will keep you away from your love. 

    This, of course, is true of any love.  Whether it be art, dancing,  reading, horseback riding, sports, crafts etc. Whatever our love, we are willing to make any sacrifice in order to be one with the experience.  Nothing, we soon find out, is as easy as it appears.  Horse back riding, e.g., is not as easy as simply getting oneself atop the back of the poor horse.  There is much more to it as one soon finds out.  However, if the passion for the experience is there, the time and energy follow.  Passion for an art or a sport engulfs our time, our energy, and sometimes, our financial resources.  But it doesn’t seem to bother us.  We are completely given to our love.

    There are, it seems, three different groups of people in this world.  There are those who are passionate about life and are willing to live as we mentioned above.  The second group of people are those who love the art or the sport but are not able to bring themselves around to the level of those mentioned above.  However, they do love the experience even if they are not able to enter fully in the action.  Rather, these people experience the joy of music or art or sports through observation.  This does not mean that they are simply bumps on the log. It means that they love what they see or hear and enter the experience with their heart as well as a full range of
emotion.  They can fully enjoy even if is momentary, whatever it is they choose.  This love is what fills art studios, concert halls, libraries, sports auditoriums, race tracks, etc. 

    The third group of people are those who find no joy in life.  I am not referring to people who are suffering from depression.  Rather there are many people who do not see the good or the beauty of life and creation.  They are not able to appreciate all that is within their grasp.  Life for this third group of people is just a boring, difficult, and miserable experience with not hope or love.

    As human beings, we are what we are.  We cannot separate ourselves into categories, although we often attempt to.  If we are passionate we are passionate in all we do.  This means that we have the potential to be passionate about our Faith as well as piano playing or horseback riding.  If we are more comfortable with entering the experience simply with our heart, then we will also be that kind of person in relation to our Faith.  If we are joyless and unappreciative, our experience in Faith will follow this same road.

    If we want to be happy in life we need to belong to the first or second group of people.  There is no excuse for belonging to the third group.  If we find ourselves sitting in this nose bleed section, we need to ask ourselves what we are doing in life?  What has led us to this point?  Why have we made the decision to be so indifferent about life in general?  Have we followed the crowd too far and too long and now find ourselves at the point of no return?  The good news is that it is never too late to turn ourselves around.  Take a leap and join the joy-filled people!