Passion vs. Action...gets me to thinking... about "stuff"

I have very passionate friends (no surprise there, I'm a pretty passionate person myself!), some of whom I agree with, and some with whom I "agree to disagree". Right now there seems to be A LOT of passion about A LOT of things. You name it...and someone, somewhere, is "up in arms" about it.

It's been a good thing for me to watch and to be part of. It makes me more mindful of my own passion and the way I communicate and act around things/issues/people I strongly believe in. In other words, it's making me really consider what I say vs. what I do. Here's an overt example:

I have a friend who is passionate about "life issues", especially "right to life" and all things "anti-abortion". It colors her day, every day, and in all aspects of her day. She writes letters, marches, holds signs up at events, etc. She makes it a consideration for every thing shes does: charitable donations, voting, relationships, etc., etc. She is passionate.

Don't get me wrong, I respect a lot about that ( and by the way, I'm definitely not pro-abortion)... However, I'm also not sure of all the things that "pro life" seems to entail/stand for based on the passion and rhetoric around the issue. It's hard to hear the real issues amongst all the noise. I also don't think it's a simple issue either.

Here's what I do know though: it's easy (really easy!) to write a letter to the editor, sign a petition and go to the voting booth. All these things are effective and right, but can easily be "checked of the list" and one can feel pretty good about it. However, where are the passionate advocates in the "mundane, not-so-exciting, very "daily" endeavors that would support the very people for which they are showing such passion? What about taking in and letting a young unwed mother live with you? What about mentoring a new mother? What about financially supporting agencies or people who do exactly that? What about the real "boots to the ground" work? The show and not just the talk?

Today a baby was found in a dumpster in Indianapolis. While signs were being held up downtown to protect our unborn children yesterday, a barely new born child would be abandoned to the trash heap in a very close time period. How desperate someone must have felt to do that. I don't condone it, not one bit, but I wonder if anyone offered this mother a place to stay or any help at all...we may never know...but I wonder just the same.

Reacting to, "railing against", being indignant about...(whatever), is easy, feels good, and doesn't really demand much except showing a lot of emotion. Serving, spending one's self on behalf of another, sacrificing...now that's the hard stuff, the real stuff...that's the stuff we should all be made of, because I believe it's the stuff we were born for, and the stuff that will make a lasting difference!