Byron's Endless Blog Early Morning May 22nd

Are there really things we can count on besides the trusty time proven abacus? I cannot speak for anyone else, but I believe there are things I can count on.
There are the little things;
I will pick up a casserole dish straight out of the oven with my bare hands..try to is more accurate.
Twice a month I will light the filter end of a cigarette.
I will be down to less than $5.00 in disposable income by each months' end.
My beloved Leafs will not win the Stanley Cup again in my lifetime.
Elizabeth Taylor will remarry in heaven.

There are the big things;
My Lord will provide.(What I need, not necessarily what I want.)
I will always be in love.(See: My Lord will provide.)
The sun will come up tomorrow. (See: My Lord will provide)
I will live forever. (See: My Lord will provide)

Of these things I am sure. All the rest is uncertainty.

I had a note from someone via email that my blog is not living up its billing on Facebook. Not a whole lot of excitement they pointed out. Sheesh! Excitement is where it finds you I say! I haven't fallen out of my bed for two straight nights and I find that pretty exciting. And to dismiss the Senior Citizen's Plant and Bake sale as lacking any excitement would be totally inaccurate. The level of energy in that common room full of greenery and rabid plant buyers was incredible. Gardening fever was the order of the hour, complete with pushing and shoving and glaring and grabbing and even a near fistfight over the last of the Day Lilies. Nothing beats the ferocity of a plant sale or brings out more of the worst in mankind. It is a lethal mix of gardening and shopping fevers, volatile and frightening.
I may have downplayed the seamier side of the event too much because I do not wish to be seen as promoting violence. The fact is I am just rambling here...I do not present myself as a journalist.

Today I present this question.
"Is passionate love nothing more than out of control emotionalism?"

There is a fairly acceptable mindset that sees passion as a temporary feeling designed to ignite love between two people. It's purpose is to draw them together by convincing each one that the other is critically important and must be their partner.
The word infatuation is often substituted for passion...definitely a word that has a connotation of being temporary. We have all heard the phrase "puppy love" used as well. Very apt since once that cute little puppy matures into a full grown Rottweiler that assumes control of ones life, it's cuteness diminishes considerably. Although many power mongrels can fit into a purse, and their cute quotient has a longer shelf life, the end effect is the same...a canine coup d'etat.
But don't get me going on dogs...
A second element of this mindset states that passion slips out the door while an ever expanding respectful familiarity and a mutually shared comfort mentality takes over, guiding a couple through the pitfalls of partnership in a "matching recliners with individual reading lamps" kind of way. Sounds good doesn't it? A cloak of domestic serenity is draped over both, and all is right with the world. This is a Christian ideal, and despite the fact that in many denominations the small print of this agreement states that the man is in charge, it is a very popular model. But that is an issue of what I would characterize as sexual equality with reservations, a work in progress in many faiths, a work in regression in others, and a complete non issue in others despite much smacking lip service to the contrary.
Man, I am having trouble staying on topic this morning...
I will try again. I have listened to pulpiteers subtly denounce passion or infatuation as almost a bad thing, a kind of necessary evil to initially plant and fertilize the greater seed of committment. I have wondered why this is, and boldly conclude that part of the reasoning is this...should it rear it's ugle dizzying head down the road and manifest as attraction to a third party, it can be immediately identifiable as evil. In other words, it is acceptable once, but only once. Heaven forbids a second infatuation, that is clear. Fight the feeling states the good book, you are a sinner for feeling this again, you are guilty. So we are instructed to go with it initially, discard it as quickly as we can, and then disregard any future encounters with infatuation or as I call it...passion, for that path is ruinous. On one level it makes perfect sense, on another it is absurd. Now here is the crux of all this. If we are instructed to fight this feeling, resist it's power and repress it, how on earth can one seperate the passion for one's partner from this philosophy and keep that one passion alive? We are called to stomp a vat of grapes with all our strength yet somehow leave ourselves one each.
Sigh. This will have to be continued...

Hello! This would be the continuation. I am somewhat sleepless...so much so I think I am in Seattle and in a way I wish I was. I fell asleep twice during this morning's sermon...which seemed very short, but maybe it was just me? I hate it when I do that.
If any of this blog makes sense, I would be a little surprised...my mind is a long way away as they say. I'm looking forward to its return, always nice to have company.

Ah yes...Passion. Threat or Menace?
One thing is certain to me. Within its waxing and waning you can find a condensed history of many a relationship. Out of control it becomes anger...totally controlled it becomes just another word. I lean towards a heavy dose of it daily, tempered by reason, which should in turn be tempered by passion. Somewhere in all this tempering is a balance, and like a teeter totter it can bite you in the butt if it gets too out of hand, but you can hover in the air when you get it right.