They are found.
Sleeping around a fire in the mountains... seeing our Father smiling down on his boys...
Side by side in a raging stream... rejoicing in the skill of the union of fish and fly...
Around a wooden table in a cabin... sharing the deep places...
...Back to back in a foxhole... ready for the next moment to fight for each other against the Enemy...
They are found.
I came to think of this recently...the deepest of thoughts came in the image of the foxhole, seeing Daniel in the field today at work. Our Father has chosen a most interesting path for our time in the world of men, in the fields of various places. Some would call it humble work. Others, something else. My heart...calls it "shepherd work." I'll go deeper into that when the time is right.
I saw Daniel in the field, surrounded by tall grass and tall, thick bushes. And then, suddenly, another image took its place. Dan, surrounded by...figures. Fighting for his life... There is a scene in every war movie, to some given extent, where a man in the middle of a great battle looks over, and sees his brother fighting not far away, with the same purpose...the same desire...the same heart. Whether back to back, or simply in sight of each other, it is there. Brothers, who fight for each other. Who watch each other's back, and fight to protect it.
King Arthur...
Lord of the Rings...
Robin Hood...
300...
Watch them. You will see it...
One thing I've never seen is a bond of brotherhood forged deeper than in the fires of combat. In a foxhole, in a cabin, around a fire...brothers who fight together become brothers beyond what most people can understand. Fighting for Dan... Fighting for Campbell... Fighting for Adam... Against an Enemy who looks to steal the life from, kill the desire of, and destroy the essence of their hearts.
Today, listening to a teaching that John Eldredge gave, and seeing Dan, I'm beginning to realize that we are truly born into a world at war, that we have a place in that battle, that we are meant to fight, and that we have an Enemy who is bent on destroying us and everything...everyone, we care about... I love my brothers here. The time we've had here...I'd trust any one of them at my back in that battle, protecting me. Watching over me as I watch over them. The thought of that fills me with a combination of excitement, over the thought of this journey of meaning...and fear, over the fact that this journey has an incredible share of danger, and the risk is great.
The truth is, I wouldn't have it any other way...
Because there are those who I know are right next to me...back to back, or just in sight...fighting with the same heart...
I call them brothers...
I love my journey...
Friday, July 27, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Sages
One of the most characterizing attributes of my soul...would be that I love stories. Beginnings... progressions... endings... Movies', books', and especially people's. There were certain games that I played as a kid solely because of the stories they brought. Knowing that, it has been an interesting realization for me to discover that, even though I have this passion for stories, of my brothers, I've shared the least of my own...of my time here...
There is a reason for that...one that I have worked through, hopefully. One that I am choosing not to share in this way. One thing I wish for you to know, though, is the deep sacredness that my journey here, holds in my heart. It is something that has been more significant than anything else in my life, throughout my 24 years. In comparison to the sentiment that I hold for it, the word 'cherish' feels like a word used to describe one's emotional attachment to a bowl of tofu. Its measure is nowhere close. I want those who are curious about the nature of this program...mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends...and most especially the young men who search with their heart....to know that it is the deepest experience that I have ever had. The greatest journey of my soul. And it is the most envigorating, awakening, and life-giving pursuit that your heart will ever take. It comes with trial, sweat, tears, hard work, ruggedness, engaged vulnerability, and is continually deeper than you will continually think it to be. Men...real men...are forged here. Young men, do it.
If you've read the hearts of my brothers, and fathers, you've received a pretty good summation of our path here so far. We've hiked mountains where air and water are of the highest value due to their elusiveness, we've entered into the world of men in our work, we've mountain biked paths that have made my mind abandon reason (usually when I'm midair after having hit something hard, fast...), we've spent days out on the beautiful trout-filled rivers of the Big Thompson, the South Platte, as well as Dream Lake, which is surrounded by mountains at 10,000 feet, while sleeping in a fisherman's cabin during that trip. And we know that there is still a great deal more to come.
The truth of the matter, though, is that the most significant piece is missed when only those things are thought to be the essence of the program. There is something much deeper happening. Something not recognized enough in the eyes of people who see what we are doing here. It is what made my soul almost come apart at the seams with excitement.
It is the fathering, brought by these men, whom I refer to as, sages.
These men...these tough, weathered, experienced men...
Meeting them over time, they are indeed quite different from each other...in personality, profession, interaction... But there is something that has been overwhelmingly present in all of them. They have the spirit of men. Men of courage... Men of strength... Men of passion... You can see it in their eyes, their stories, and their lives. And they are passing that spirit on to us in the way it was meant to be. John (Eldredge) has said that masculinity is bestowed. It is truth, in the deepest way. Men bringing younger men into the deep places of their worlds, giving them what their hearts, and their souls, truly need. And helping them to see...that it is indeed the Father who is initiating all of it, and is actively our true Father in all of it. This...is the essence of the program.
Mothers...
When your son enters here, into this world, do not grieve the loss of your boy as he was, for when he returns, you will find that before you stands something even better than the boy you knew. He will be in every way your son, but no longer your boy. He is indeed...a man. And everyone around him...including you as one of the greatest degree...will find greater life in his presence. This path, is something of strength, honor, and beauty. It was the path meant to be taken for the heart of a boy, to become the heart of a man. Let him take it. And embrace exhilaratingly joyful tears at what you will find standing before you. Trust that our Father knows what He's doing.
I hope that the weight I have given my words to bear here will leave an impression upon you as to the sacredness, and the rugged holiness, that this journey here has held for me.
There is a reason for that...one that I have worked through, hopefully. One that I am choosing not to share in this way. One thing I wish for you to know, though, is the deep sacredness that my journey here, holds in my heart. It is something that has been more significant than anything else in my life, throughout my 24 years. In comparison to the sentiment that I hold for it, the word 'cherish' feels like a word used to describe one's emotional attachment to a bowl of tofu. Its measure is nowhere close. I want those who are curious about the nature of this program...mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends...and most especially the young men who search with their heart....to know that it is the deepest experience that I have ever had. The greatest journey of my soul. And it is the most envigorating, awakening, and life-giving pursuit that your heart will ever take. It comes with trial, sweat, tears, hard work, ruggedness, engaged vulnerability, and is continually deeper than you will continually think it to be. Men...real men...are forged here. Young men, do it.
If you've read the hearts of my brothers, and fathers, you've received a pretty good summation of our path here so far. We've hiked mountains where air and water are of the highest value due to their elusiveness, we've entered into the world of men in our work, we've mountain biked paths that have made my mind abandon reason (usually when I'm midair after having hit something hard, fast...), we've spent days out on the beautiful trout-filled rivers of the Big Thompson, the South Platte, as well as Dream Lake, which is surrounded by mountains at 10,000 feet, while sleeping in a fisherman's cabin during that trip. And we know that there is still a great deal more to come.
The truth of the matter, though, is that the most significant piece is missed when only those things are thought to be the essence of the program. There is something much deeper happening. Something not recognized enough in the eyes of people who see what we are doing here. It is what made my soul almost come apart at the seams with excitement.
It is the fathering, brought by these men, whom I refer to as, sages.
These men...these tough, weathered, experienced men...
Meeting them over time, they are indeed quite different from each other...in personality, profession, interaction... But there is something that has been overwhelmingly present in all of them. They have the spirit of men. Men of courage... Men of strength... Men of passion... You can see it in their eyes, their stories, and their lives. And they are passing that spirit on to us in the way it was meant to be. John (Eldredge) has said that masculinity is bestowed. It is truth, in the deepest way. Men bringing younger men into the deep places of their worlds, giving them what their hearts, and their souls, truly need. And helping them to see...that it is indeed the Father who is initiating all of it, and is actively our true Father in all of it. This...is the essence of the program.
Mothers...
When your son enters here, into this world, do not grieve the loss of your boy as he was, for when he returns, you will find that before you stands something even better than the boy you knew. He will be in every way your son, but no longer your boy. He is indeed...a man. And everyone around him...including you as one of the greatest degree...will find greater life in his presence. This path, is something of strength, honor, and beauty. It was the path meant to be taken for the heart of a boy, to become the heart of a man. Let him take it. And embrace exhilaratingly joyful tears at what you will find standing before you. Trust that our Father knows what He's doing.
I hope that the weight I have given my words to bear here will leave an impression upon you as to the sacredness, and the rugged holiness, that this journey here has held for me.
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