Passion

Two Kinds

[Originally published the day before Easter, 2023]

It’s that time of year when the word “passion” is heard more often than usual. The kind of passion that inspired this post is the kind that I see here on Substack among those that see the truth of our times, and want to share that truth with others, not that that feeling is somehow confined to Substack. The little dictionary I have on my PC defines it as a noun for “a strong feeling or emotion”. Also “something that is desired intensely”. But then there is “an irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action”. That isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it is interesting to consider.

The etymology given in this dictionary is interesting too.

Via French, from Latin passio (“suffering”), noun of action from perfect passive participle passus (“suffered”), from deponent verb pati (“suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *pe(i)- (“to hurt”), see also Old English feond (“devil, enemy”), Gothic faian (“to blame”)

Wow. That sounds a little like one of my Greek word studies, except it’s not Greek. Being forthright with the truth in a time when truth is so heavily suppressed has its dangers, however, and some do suffer for speaking out. I see a lot of pseudonyms here in Substack, my own “handle” included (which is wordplay on my actual name, among other things). I formerly had a strict policy of writing only in my legal name, but no longer.¹

Where is this going? Who will win? I would be thrilled if truth won. But how much of that do we have? Looking strictly at what can be seen and heard with the senses, we don’t really know how much we have or who will win. There appears to be something else in the mix that the senses can’t detect, but that others parts of us can. The senses can’t but we can sense it anyway.

Another definition from my dictionary, as a verb, is “(obsolete) To suffer pain or sorrow; to experience a passion; to be extremely agitated.” I’m not so sure that that usage is obsolete. I have heard it used a lot the past few weeks. That is the other kind of passion to which the subtitle of this post refers. Suffering.

It also applies to those that are paying a price for speaking out, or for refusing to comply with illicit “authorities”. How many others complied recently to keep their jobs, or under pressure from family members? How many of the latter will end up suffering anyway? It’s like we are in a time of testing.

Somewhere there must be a bridge from the first kind of passion to the second, and specifically to this season and Passion Week in the liturgical calendars. I am not a big fan of these calendars, but I do recognize that they have significance.

Many today would presume that the story of Jesus’ life, suffering, and death is mythological. I am not among them now — I was in the past — but I can see the point. Bombarded as I am with the story in this season, it sometimes seems to take on the character of a myth.

That seems unfortunate, but my suspicion is that “the church” has more to do with creating and maintaining the world of unbelievers than anybody else. It certainly did so for me, although I also contributed heavily to the process as well. That is, until I was finally able to see beyond the church, without dismissing it altogether. My feelings still are mixed, but I do discover allies within the church, people dedicated to the cause of others.

The turning-away effect seems very unfortunate to me. So many people earnestly seeking the truth of our time, and justice for the oppressed, fail to consider the ancient wisdom that is at their disposal. This happens in part because it has been repackaged by some in unpalatable or even blatantly false forms. Sometimes through insistence upon using archaic language, sometimes actually presenting it as mythology, or as a scheme for accumulating wealth, and sometimes bundling it with threats of eternal torment if you don’t believe the way they do — scare tactics reminiscent of certain recent moves by other “authorities”. Although I understand that with regard to those presenting this soteriological view, generally they really do believe what they are saying, the tradition, and are are not intending to deceive. Scare, yes; deceive, no. I remain undecided on the issue, uncertain of the origin and reason for the tradition. Far be it from me to try to change it.

I sometimes close my eyes and ask God what is going on. The reply, “wait and see”. And no, not in a voice from heaven. But it is evident that there is some kind of process involving us that is not yet complete. It is important to notice that there is light shining in the darkness. Church history can be quite dark, if you dig into it, but the light shines through and the darkness cannot overcome the light². If you focus upon the light instead of the darkness, you begin to see differently.

This process is about the maturing and perfecting of humanity. Spiritually, we are children, still developing, still immature. As children in this sense, we are in need of parental guidance. We cannot give ourselves what we do not yet have to give. We are in need of a different kind of Parent. We also need a lot of help.

Oddly, this is where passion — the second kind — comes in. Pain and suffering can be maturing in their effect. In the right form, they prepare us in more ways than we can know. Not that we should seek out more and more pain. There is more than enough going around already. It is the stuff of life in this world. We can unsuccessfully seek to avoid it, or we can grow from it.

However you may understand the book, suffering is a theme throughout the Bible, beginning with Genesis 3, “the fall of man”. The story of how we choose the pursuit of knowledge (“science”), rather than of life, continues to play out today. Have you noticed? And the story of Genesis goes rapidly downhill from there through chapter 7, not entirely unlike what has developed over the past centuries and continues to unfold today, and culminating in the flood, of which there are also accounts outside the Bible. (A different kind of “flood” is prophesied for this age. More about that later.)

The flood account is widely regarded as a myth today, and if that’s the way you view it that is OK with me. But if you understand “following the science” the way I do, you might have noticed the possibility that science is not the Fountain of Truth that it purports to be. With that in view, some of the scientific arguments against the veracity of the flood account might not stand up to close examination any more than much of the rest of the scientific literature does. Just a thought.

Continuing in Genesis, the story turns in chapter 8 and a new segment begins, a long one that culminates in Jesus’ Passion. You can regard it as true, false, or anything in between. The point here is to see what it might have to say about life today. The theme of suffering continues, and a purpose for suffering is revealed, in his and in ours, that we may be made complete and not die, even when we do pass away physically.

This is a carefully designed and executed plan in which we and our problems figure centrally. It does not depend upon us solving our own problems, which is a good thing since we have only been making things worse for ourselves for thousands of years, despite our best efforts. We need a plan that provides what it is that we are missing and that we need before we can succeed.

The help we need is available today, as a gift³, and it is free in the sense that there is nothing we can do to earn or buy it. It is costly in that it can involve admitting things we don’t want to admit about ourselves⁴ and giving up a good many things of transient importance that we may value, surrendering to a higher (parental) authority, and it can bring more suffering into our lives. But then many of those seeking truth in this day are already paying that price. Passion is passion. This really is worth looking into, but with the awareness that the deception of this age offers its own similar but false offers that go nowhere.

The biblical narrative continues on after Jesus’ ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension — elements that enable the gift — into an era called “the end times” or “the church age”. While some will argue against this interpretation, many of us say that we have been in this period for nearly 2000 years. During this time there have been many who accepted the gift, forsook their own aspirations, and followed in the Way of Jesus in the ways that they were able. There has also been the expansion of science and technology, slowly at first and then faster and faster in more recent centuries. It has taken 2000 years for it to reach the stage we see today, that against which a good many courageous people are battling now in one way or another.

I am all for the battle. I would just like as many as possible to understand the peculiar nature of the battle, which is not only against lying psychopaths but against other unseen powers not of the material world⁵. Without that insight, and the means to deal with the situation — the offered gift, and the “armor of God⁶" that comes with it, neither of with which we can equip ourselves — we are going to lose.

The “end times” culminate in the “end of the age”, of which we are getting but a taste at present. As I mentioned, Jesus prophesied another “flood” at this time, not of water, but where people would be going about their affairs — we now call it “getting back to normal” until this “flood” would come and sweep them away, "as in the days of Noah’s flood⁷. Whatever you believe, I think many of you see something like this coming.

I am not trying to make a full presentation of this material — and I stopped short of the end — or to convince anybody that it is true. I am pointing out parallels, and pointing to certain aspects of contemporary thinking that tend to stand in the way of understanding where the problem really is. It is with us, not with “them”, the rulers/authorities. The rulers are a reflection of us. We have so many problems, and we do not ourselves possess their solutions.

You may already be in accord with at least some of what I am saying. You may have a differing version — fine. But if not, if anything I am saying sticks in your memory so that you might recall it at a future time when the future is more clear, that is enough for now. If you are seeing now what I am saying but haven’t acted upon it, act!

Now it might be that the warriors will win this battle, seemingly on their own. That would make me and others with this message look foolish, and I would be relieved, and glad. But ask yourself, are we on the verge of victory or are we on the verge of utter disaster? Perhaps it would be better, rather than clinging to a particular position, to allow for both.

1. Since I wrote that I have added my first name to my bio. One step at a time.

2. John 1:5

3. Romans 6:23

4. Romans 3:23-25

5. Ephesians 6:12

6. Ephesians 6:13-17

7. Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 21:34-35