Active or Passive

laid-back
What kind of a person are you? Are you “active”, the kind of person who is always busy, organising the world around you and looking for creative solutions to life’s challenges? Or are you the more “passive” type, a bit laid-back maybe, happy to let life just happen?

You might not be comfortable being asked this question. We tend to think of passive people in a rather negative way, often unfairly, I think.
Next week is Holy Week for Christians. We focus on Christ’s Passion – not burning desire, but passive submission and suffering. We begin on Sunday, remembering Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey and being greeted by palm branches and crowds crying “Hosanna!”

Very quickly, though, we move from celebration to despair.

On Good Friday, we stand at the foot of the cross and witness the crucifixion of Jesus. Stripped naked, beaten and nailed to a cross, he is absolutely passive – powerless, he can only submit to his fate.

But he, the Son of God, is at the same time supremely active. Through his death and resurrection, he offers all of humanity new hope, new life. Active life to be lived to the full.

Sally Kimmis
Curate, King’s Lynn Minster

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