Comments on: Sunday https://www.thduggie.com/thduggies_blog/2007/sunday thoughts and family activities in an industrial suburb Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:13:41 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.7 By: Brenda https://www.thduggie.com/thduggies_blog/2007/sunday#comment-922 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:13:41 +0000 http://www.morbidcornflakes.ch/thduggies_blog/?p=95#comment-922 The thing is, the Scriptures don’t say “The dispassionate prayers of a righteous man avail much.” The word used there is “fervent.” Not because God calls us to act out of character, but because He recognizes that sincerity without shame can, in fact, be passionate. It is so rare for us humans to operate without concern for others’ opinion, and this often prevents people from entering into prayer or worship wholeheartedly by way of excising excess emotion. By which I certainly don’t mean that pride or false humility keep everyone from being passionate. Some people prefer not to express every emotion for everyone to see. But He made us to have minds, hearts, wills, and souls, and if we say to the Lord “I bring you all of my mind, all of my soul, and all of my will, but I will throw away my heart because it’s not always orderly,” we lessen the value of His gift of emotion to us. And if, in so doing, we assume that God can’t have any better use for our emotions than we can imagine, then logically we’ve made no place for passion in our lives.

Your photographic skills continue to amaze and inspire. And no, you didn’t go overboard. 🙂

]]> By: thduggie https://www.thduggie.com/thduggies_blog/2007/sunday#comment-914 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:27:26 +0000 http://www.morbidcornflakes.ch/thduggies_blog/?p=95#comment-914 I do believe you, IrishOboe. The crux is that I can’t shake the feeling that whenever there is talk about passion, people may pay lip-service to what you say, but in reality regard mine as a second-class passion. What I suppose they don’t get is that I prefer quiet, blissful contentment over the hullaballoo of a-dancing feet. Excitement is something I get swept up in rather than decide on having, which makes me suspicious of it – perhaps wrongly so.

Thanks for the photo kudos. I have more, but I already thought I went a bit overboard by posting as many as I did. (And yes, I left out the close-ups of me on the mountain because I looked even pinker in the face in those. I remember it being exhausting, but I look worse than I remember it being!)

]]> By: IrishOboe https://www.thduggie.com/thduggies_blog/2007/sunday#comment-913 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:15:51 +0000 http://www.morbidcornflakes.ch/thduggies_blog/?p=95#comment-913 I’m glad you were encouraged, kuroodo-san. Stephan has heard me say it before and I think he still doesn’t believe me. 😉 He takes nice photos, though. 🙂

]]> By: kuroodo-san https://www.thduggie.com/thduggies_blog/2007/sunday#comment-912 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:24:58 +0000 http://www.morbidcornflakes.ch/thduggies_blog/?p=95#comment-912 Thanks for the mini-exposition, IrishOboe. It was a good reminder for me.

You were colour coordinated with Hello Kitty – got it right this time – in that photo on the mountain!

]]> By: SursumCorda https://www.thduggie.com/thduggies_blog/2007/sunday#comment-911 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:57:30 +0000 http://www.morbidcornflakes.ch/thduggies_blog/?p=95#comment-911 I LOVE “Mother and Child on the Lake.” Actually, I could name many of the pictures that I really like, but the list got too long.

]]> By: IrishOboe https://www.thduggie.com/thduggies_blog/2007/sunday#comment-910 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 01:23:38 +0000 http://www.morbidcornflakes.ch/thduggies_blog/?p=95#comment-910 displays of devotion. It is the son who says “no” but then repents and obeys who does his father’s will, and it is he who “does the will of my Father who is in heaven” who enters the kingdom of God. If your silent suffering leads you to obedience then yes it counts, and it is all that counts. I only feel a little sorry for you in that you don’t often get to be so overwhelmed with God’s joy that it sets your feet a-dancing, but who am I to claim to know the best way to experience God’s joy?]]> Sex is not love; a grimace is not pain; a smile is not happiness. These are outward signs, but the signs are not a necessary or sufficient condition to evidence the presence of what they represent. In the same way, the outward display of emotion is not passion. Most people smile when they are happy, but I know those that smile seldom and are quite content and happy on the inside. One of the definitions in the link you have equates passion to emotion and many people use the word in this way, but I see the Bible warning against this kind of passion. More applicable and admirable would be “intense, driving, or overmastering conviction” and “a strong desire for or devotion to some object or concept” and “an object of desire or deep interest.” A golfer is quite still, but very intense. A driven person sets his eyes on the goal, and with complete focus seeks to obtain it. One can have “quiet conviction” that is powerful and immovable. When it comes to loving and following God, our loud voices and outward displays can amount to no more than a ringing gong or a clashing cymbal. God is more interested in our obedience than our ‘passionate’ displays of devotion. It is the son who says “no” but then repents and obeys who does his father’s will, and it is he who “does the will of my Father who is in heaven” who enters the kingdom of God. If your silent suffering leads you to obedience then yes it counts, and it is all that counts. I only feel a little sorry for you in that you don’t often get to be so overwhelmed with God’s joy that it sets your feet a-dancing, but who am I to claim to know the best way to experience God’s joy?

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