We Are The Champions

“I've paid my dues

Time after time

I've done my sentence

But committed no crime

And bad mistakes

I've made a few

I've had my share of sand

Kicked in my face

But I've come through”

~ We are the Champions, Queen

I’m sitting here watching Army of the Dead, another zombie apocalypse movie that may seem rather far-fetched, but still attracts my attention when I have down moments at home.  Without getting into the premise too much, zombies happen, a group of non-zombies goes on a mission, most of them die. The end.

What strikes me as I watch the final scene is how fucking stubborn we are.  We as humans are so frail, so gingerly built, so weak when it comes to many of the other animals in the world, yet we have two things going for us:

We think.  Yet, this one can get us in as much trouble as it gets us out of.

And we don’t give up.

I don’t need a fiction movie to tell me the triumphs of the human spirit.

Gandhi.

Henry Ford. 

Freddie Mercury.

John Wesley.

Steve Jobs.

Stan Lee.

Jason Chatham.

Amanda Lewis.

Some very public, others know to only a few.  But you have them in your life as well.  Those people who stand regardless.  Sometimes they piss you off, sometimes they make you scratch your head, but yet they keep standing.  And they come back.  Failure, disheartened-ness (is that even a word), grief, loss; all the ‘stuff’ just moves them one step further.  After they take the time to regroup, that is.

They are the champions.  Not to the world mostly, unless you’re an iPhone user or enjoy the Marvel movies.  They show us just how strong we all can be.  They are the Titans that help move us forward.  Even if they are sometimes incredible introverts like me.

These real heroes aren’t very heroic at times.  It’s ugly to stand.  Movies don’t get made about the battles that are fought inside the mind, the press and stress of dealing through life one day at a time.  But every once in a while we get to see a glimpse.

I’ve witnessed several in my life.  And I’ve also seen the Hero fall and fail, unable to return.  But today, I think about all the mighty voices present and past that I’ve experienced just in my lifetime.

And I call myself one of them. Not because of any deeds that put me above anyone else.  But because I am here.  I am still standing.  Sometimes kneeling, yet striving to move forward - though some days it’s just in doing laundry and being real with those around me.

Who are your champions?  I’d like to know…

~ Peace

 

The Burtle

the sandpaper analogy

In my tool belt I carry the array of tools that I use most often throughout the work day.  I’m a carpenter now - each day cutting, bending, fastening and yes, sanding to get each project one step closer to completion.

When I look down, there is always at least one piece of sandpaper in the side pocket of that belt.  One of the most underrated and useful tools I wield.  And I’ve reflected on the significance of sandpaper in relationships a lot recently.  Here’s part of a text I sent about a year ago to a friend…

“We don’t change the core of who we are. When someone comes along that we decide to spend time with, we should be like sandpaper. They meet us where we are; they help to smooth out certain parts and we help smooth out parts of them as well. Not changing totally, but refining each other.

It’s taking the ‘iron sharpens iron’ verse* from the Bible and putting it in an example that most people can understand. I didn’t make it up, but I have been refining it for a while now.

The end result is two people who know how to hit the rough areas, work on refining, growing, and smoothing out each other to be vessels of use in the relationship and for God.”

I feel that this is what is missing in many relationships - friendships, family dynamics, work relationships.  When we’re truly working with someone in relation, we come beside them, striving to make each other better.  Some days we help guide them, others they lead us and help shape us, but we do this together.  Each day I go to work with one young man who does that better than just about anyone I’ve ever witnessed it in.  He pushes me and helps me grow each and every day.

I know I haven’t always been that.  Especially in love-centered relationships, I’ve gone in gung-ho and tried to save, shed my skin and attempted to be someone I wasn’t. I’ve coerced with my strong opinions and personality and I’ve shriveled when wounded by aggression from a partner.

Tonight I’m sitting here just before midnight alone.  I spend a lot of time like this, and it’s actually not bad.  God is always here.  I have people I can reach out to and surround myself with when it’s the right time.  But I’ve been praying.  Like deep, guttural, ugly prayers to God.  For him to place a person in my life to commune with.  After over a year of just getting healthy, I’ve asked him to open that door.  To let someone who wants to do this life together come in.

I trust God.  And he’s talked about how we were meant to be in relation with him and also in relation to one other.  There is a significance in the person who is willing to pray with, hold your hand, share the strengths and the sadness that life presents.  I do not take those verses lightly.  Nor the heroic stories of Ruth, Abigail, Mary - strong women who served God and also had a commitment to a man of God.

So there.  It’s live, on this blog.  That’s what I’m asking for.  And I will wait on him.  The best this impatient, selfish-at-times man can.

~ Peace

The Burtle

* Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens irons, so one person sharpens another"

The Greatest Gift

“Time keeps on slipping, slipping… into the future” 

~ Fly Like an Eagle, Steve Miller Band

The one thing that we can give but never get back in return, unless it’s shared, is time.

Time is infinite, yet we are only gifted one second at a time.  I personally believe that life goes on long after we’re done walking this planet, but here on earth we are given just a small portion.  We can’t make it up, we can’t re-create it, we can only move through it… one moment at a time.

So our treasures are not found just in riches or in family; in relationships or in material possessions. We show what we value in where we place our time.  Because let’s face it, that hour that we spend in a deep conversation, hours spent on a project not just to make something better, but also to do something for someone or with someone; those moments show what matter to us.

Time.  

And time again proves where our hearts reside.

Because you can’t say you value something if you never have time for it.  I know I have told many peeps that I care about them, but then fail to reach out and even say hello on a semi-consistent basis.

What time is it? 

Time to show what really matters.

~ Peace

The Burtle