Psa 139:14 I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are marvelous and my soul knows it very well.

In the last few weeks I have been preparing to teach a class at church on Word-Will-Way. As I prepared God has been stirring up in me an understanding of why I do the things I do, and it has been wonderful! You know it's God when you see all these threads come together to form a tapestry that is well beyond your own understanding. In my case I am coming to understand a bit more about passion. I started off with the verse I did because I believe it shows both God's passion in creating us, and then our passion for Him. "My soul knows it very well". You all know what a passion I have for my family, and in the last two weeks I have been overwhelmed by "August Rush" and the passion for music. I am in the middle of "No Reservations" and the passion for food, and recently saw (again) an amazing video called "The Art of Possibility" by Ben Zander and the passion for people. In each one there is an impartation of passion ! Yet, in all of those, there is only a reflection of God's passion! He created, with diversity, with majesty, and with honor. We are in His image, is it a surprise that we can be captured by passion! Passion takes us into an abyss of intimacy and vulnerability, we give ourselves over to something bigger than ourselves, yet we become radically and intimately involved. I will tell you that I come to a place of no words when I describe this thought. Yet God is there; in mystery, in quiet, in the crashing of the surf and the stillness of the night! God is present in His sanctuary. In the end I am led from passion into worship, into awe. In the end the passion becomes silence, then tears of joy. His presence, overwhelming me, and yet moving and empowering me. God is present, God...is present!