Skip to main content

Precision Over Passion


A TV commercial recently caught my attention.  The CEO of the company was the spokesman and he was quite proud of the product that his company makes.  As he described a bit of the manufacturing process, he claimed that the product was made with passion. 

I recently read some Old Testament passages that made reference to craftsmen who used their skills to build the tabernacle.  For example:

“And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains.  They were made of fine twined lined and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked”.  (Ex. 36:8)

These craftsmen were entrusted with making items for the tabernacle that had very precise specifications.  While they may have made the items with passion, that was not the defining quality that set apart these workmen and their work.  It was their skill and craftsmanship.

While passion is great, when it is expressed according to some of its dictionary meanings, that of “an outbreak of anger” or “a strong and barely controllable emotion”, I’m not sure its always a good quality to have in the manufacturing process.  With too much passion or when passion is expressed at the wrong time, it seems there is great potential for the product to be made in ways that might not meet quality standards, especially for precision products. 

Precision products probably should be made with diligence and skill.  But if the work can be done with those first and foremost, then there probably is room for passion to be involved in the process.

So while it can be good to have passion, in certain areas I think I would prefer precision over passion!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New Year Trash or Treasure?

You probably know the old saying:  “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.  I am not going to try to prove or disprove it, just look at it from a different angle. Cheryl and I were recently walking on a beach in Florida .  A man was walking along with a bag and was picking up trash and putting it in the bag.  Was he picking up things of value? We also saw a different man walking along the same beach with a metal detector.  He would swing it back and forth and would occasionally stop and dig in the sand.  Was he looking for things of value? Both were intent.  Both were focused.  Both were diligent. I’m guessing that the one picking up trash was not looking for things of value.  I’m also guessing that, by picking up trash, he was valuing the beauty of the beach and didn’t want the trash to mar it.  The one with the metal detector, I’m guessing that he was not looking for metallic items of trash but was looking for...

Don't Get Tripped Up

I do enjoy traveling and I keep an eye out for good prices. I also enjoy looking at trends in travel. For a while, the travel industry focused their advertising on taking those trips that might be on your bucket list.   That faded a bit and I started seeing ads about taking the trip of a lifetime. I guess both those campaigns have been waning since I’ve been seeing information about taking an “epic” trip.   Recently I noticed the phrase “unforgettable trip” in advertising.   More recently, I’ve been seeing promotions about taking “sustainable” trips and even “reconnecting to our roots” trips. As I’ve been pondering these advertising campaigns, I thought I’d consider what their ideas encompass and then look at them from a spiritual perspective: 1.   “ Bucket list trips ” are based on a list of the experiences a person might hope to have before they “kick the bucket” (i.e. die).   While I can certainly come up with a bucket list of trips, I’m thinking a bu...

Above My Pay Grade!

We like things that we can study, know and understand.  Sometimes we find it difficult to accept that there are things that might be hidden from our knowledge and understanding. The Scriptures indicate that there are some things hidden by design:  “The Lord our God keeps certain things hidden. But he makes other things known to us and to our children forever. He does it so we can obey all the words of this law.”  (Deut 29:29) Some versions of the Bible translate the hidden things as “secret things”.  Regardless, there are things which have been revealed and things which are kept hidden from us and remain secret. We may chafe at having to deal with the fact that some things remain hidden, but that’s often when faith and trust come in.  The Psalmist wrote:   “O Lord , my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.”  (Ps 131:1) The Psalmist seem to realize that th...