Passions Regained

I recently went camping at Joshua Tree National Park. I grew up in the sagebrush strewn desert of Northern Nevada and often visited the picturesque desert of Arizona where my grandparents lived; the desert remains very much a part of me and holds to be something deep and inexplicable within.

As my wife and I started nearing the park and I began seeing the beautiful desert landscape around me, something awoke inside. I felt memories of childhood flood into my mind. A sense of adventure arose within me. I felt a desire to explore and run and climb. I felt a peace like returning to the home you grew up in. I felt a joy that made me want to burst in deep felt laughter. I felt both like a playful child and a mature, solemn adult reflecting on life all the same time.

I was a little surprised to be feeling this sudden surge of passion and desire. It causes me to ask some questions. Where was that passion hiding before I drove out the desert? Exactly why did the desert serve as a trigger to bring it up? Could something have served to awaken these hidden passions?

I wonder if passions in the rest of my life work in a similar way. I so often walk around going through the day to day of life with little or no passion. Perhaps there are some hidden within me just waiting for some a gateway through which they can be released. If so, what are those gateways and how can I tap into them? Will it always take another trip to the desert for me to feel alive?

Now please don’t hear me wrong. Each day is filled with its own adventures and passions, but it’s also easy to lose those things in the mundane and stressful journey of just making it through life. If I lived my life through the passions I felt arise while visiting the desert I’m convinced my life would look much different.

I intend to be intentional about seeking God in opening me to the passions He has created within me. I want to live life to the fullest and in such a way that I feel fully alive each day, not just partly. I want to reflect God’s glory in such a way that the only explanation is His touching my life.

What about you? Where are your passions? Have they dissipated into the air of life? If so, what are you going to do to regain those passionate gifts God has bestowed upon you? Run to your desert, wherever it may be; with God's grace your passions will be found.