Our boys are certified, card-carrying Bear Grylls fans.
Our youngest, Scott, kinda-sorta wants to be Bear Grylls. Scott’s second name is Gideon, because, Mighty Hero, and he’s draping that thing all over himself like so many blanket forts. There’s a letter on its way to Bear (via glacial mail) from this nine-year-old full of admiration and questions and please-write-back because he wants to change the world and he’s starting by digging holes, making enormous fires, sleeping in the garden, and reading Bear’s book.
Some of Bear’s special skills – like eating maggots – don’t necessarily inspire, during a global pandemic. But some of his other marks of intrepid valour really do.
Like cheering for charities and underdogs and unsung heroes.
Like making a plan, when he doesn’t have a lot to go on.
I’ve been thinking about that one, because when resources are limited and access is denied, that’s when heroes come into their own. Creativity thrives under constraints.
And constrained is exactly what most of us feel right now. The lockdown has shrunk our circle of influence and expanded our circle of concern. There’s much more to worry about. Much less to control. We’ve been disconnected from the spacious contexts of what constituted our BC (Before Corona) lives. When things are out of context, they don’t make sense. And that’s left us feeling anxious and limbo-ish.
(Anyone? Or just me?)
But maybe, during this unprecedented slice of history we were born to inhabit, meaning and purpose can emerge – good can trump evil – if we remember some things about heroes, and then choose to behave like them:
#1
Heroes ask the Creator – who created, well, creativity – for courage and clever solutions. They’re happy to bring their loaves and fish because seismic miracles start small.
#2
Heroes decide to be as kind as possible to every human they meet, on a screen or through a face mask.
#3
Heroes keep things in perspective. (Most of us probably aren’t yet at the point of having to forage for maggots. But if it comes to that? Bear survived.) Heroes read the present through the lens of eternity, remembering how the story ends. Eventually, everything’s going to be ok.
I’m praying for you, hero. Keep on keeping on.
. . .
Have an amazing weekend!
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Dalene Reyburn 