Enthusiasm

It started with a student on an average, ho-hum day at the office. The energy that breezed in was phenomenal. The door opened and like a backdraft from an edifice ablaze, the force of his enthusiasm almost knocked me off my feet. Like the movie “Awakenings,” I was asleep, or comatose, or maybe dazed from the mundaneness of life, when all of a sudden, there was an awakening. It was powerful, euphoric. What is it about enthusiasm that breathes new life into a dead soul? The answer to that questions lies in the very origin of the word. Imagine my surprise when I investigated the root. It comes from two Greek words: en [within] and theos [God]. When the infinite and spirtual "God-likeness" in us connects with the merciful "man-likeness" in God, the phenomenon called en-theos [enthusiasm] takes place. Have we gotten so far away from a God who loves us unconditionally that we cease to be enthusiastic? The doldrums of life are a sign that we have neglected to have the pleasure of God's company on a regular basis. My mom used to always say, "You will become like the people you hang around." The truth of that statement was never more true than in this scenario. For if you hang around the God of the universe, getting to know Him, listening to His words, quoting Him, singing of Him and speaking of Him as a very best friend, the by-product becomes ENTHUSIASM. You cannot walk and talk with the Alpha and Omega, and come away empty. To know and understand that nothing you can do can make God love you any more, and nothing you can do can make God love you any less, should be sufficient to start you on the road to en-theos. Unconditional acceptance is the fertile soil within which enthusiasm grows, and the root from which grows the fruit of the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace...
(jgr)

When God is near, with light my path is glowing
My cup of life with gladness overflows
And in the garden of my heart is growing
The flower of love more fragrant than the sweetest rose

When God is near , so near I hear Him speak to me
My every need His boundless grace supplies
When God is near, my heart is filled with ecstasy
And all the world's a paradise when God is near
And all the world's a paradise when God is near
[taken from the Singperation song series]