Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm - from Greek enthousiasmos "divine inspiration," from enthousiazein "be inspired or possessed by a god, be rapt, be in ecstasy."

This is pretty much what I feel like when I really get into something. When I dedicate myself enough to doing something, when I start to lose myself and completely sink into what I'm doing at the time - when I'm truly enthusiastic: To be inspired or possessed by a god. In fact, this is probably how I would define divinity. Enthusiasm is to be in touch with God. Enthusiasm, to me, is to submit to Allah, to become the hand of God, to move with the Tao, to have Buddha-nature, to be one with the Universe. Geeking out, and I mean this absolutely seriously - geeking out is, to me, the most profound religious experience possible.

Perhaps it's different for different people. Perhaps some people find rapture in the stillness of meditation, or the rush of adrenaline through their blood as they run, or the embrace of a lover. There are a multitude of ways to God. A little while ago, me and Drake and Luke had a discussion about religions - about whether it really makes any difference whether or not you slavishly follow the teachings of Jesus or slavishly follow the teachings of Donald Duck; both seem pretty stupid when you get down to it. Well, perhaps the argument can be turned around - it may be stupid to slavishly follow any text, but really: If someone has a profound religious experience from reading Donald Duck, is that not a wonderful thing?

It sounds silly, but really - why should the Divine be constrained or limited? If one can see the World in a grain of sand, and Heaven in a wild flower, surely one can see the World in a workout pass, and Heaven in a comic strip?