LETTERS: WHAT WEE NEED IS A PASSION FOR BALANCE

To the editor:

Often a word or term makes its appearance so frequently in the media and in our daily activities that one must wonder if there is a message being delivered which we should give heed to. The word that seems to keep coming into focus most recently is "passion." Statements such as a crime of passion, sins of passion and things birthed out of passion have become common in describing a person's actions.

I recently attended a meeting where the speaker gave a talk on passion with so much passion that I became passionate about passion. This led me to one of my favorite places of research: the dictionary.

Passion is defined as "any intense, extreme or overpowering emotion or feeling." If one would try to define the atmosphere and mood of the times we are living in, the words intense, extreme and overpowering would fit in nicely.

Emotions and feelings are running high -- so high they are out of balance. Have you asked yourself or someone else recently what is happening to this world we are living in? How could something like this happen? Chances are you have asked this questions within the past few days.

I would suggest the problem is we are living in a world which has lost the scale by which deeds and principles are weighed and destinies are determined. We have surrendered the power and authority to decide and determine. What we need is what we have lost: A passion for balance.

RON FARROW

Cape Girardeau