Pursue ALL your passions!
Monday, December 7th 2009 @ 12:23 PM (not yet rated)
One of my friends, a woman with an amazing voice, noted on facebook this morning that her daddy was celebrating his 25th birthday (at lunch after church) when the news came over the radio of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Reminiscing about her daddy, she noted her last conversation with him came in the week before he died back in October of 1982. He'd called to talk with her about one of her passions.
He'd bought and been reading the book by opera singer Jerome Hines, "Great Singers on Great Singing", a book of interviews with technically-skilled opera singers on HOW they do what they do. He'd acquired the book simply because his daughter (my friend Debby) was in midst of trying to pursue an operatic career, and it was important to him to learn about the things she was interested in. He read to her from the book some of the parts he found interesting, in a conversation that went an hour or so.
Later that week, while raking leaves, he had his first and only heart attack.
My ... what a reminder that we should take interest in the interests of those around us. It's so easy to get caught up in our own life and passions, such as running around with our cameras or even writing about photography for others. How appropriate a reminder this is, coming during the Advent season, a time for reflection and repentance, a time of turning to things more important.
Pursue your passions, yet never forget the people around you are also your passions!
