Passions and spirituality

The word 'passion' is often seen suspiciously in ecclesial circles.  The only time it is looked up with some respect - in fact, with utmost reverence - is when it is spoken in the context of the last moments of Jesus: the passion of Christ. 

The Russian author Merezhkovsky writes,

It is very strange that the Church, considers the 'passions' as something bad and their absence as a sign of holiness, has had the courage to call her greatest mystery a 'passion'.

But honestly speaking, without our passions, we are not really human.  Our emotions and feelings are very much part of our being human.  Not just emotions but even anything mundane cannot be excluded from our spirituality.

Soren Kierkegaard has a very significant point when he states 

It is a greater loss for one to lose his passion than to lose himself in his passion.