My Brother; My Captain; My King

"I would have followed you to the end. My brother; my captain; my king."

Where is that kind of loyalty and devotion today? Where is the passion that inspires a man to proclaim eternal sacrifice of his own hopes and wishes to another man? Whatever happened to "Give me liberty or give me death" and doing all for God and country?

I look around at today's culture and I wish that it was more like Lord of the Rings (which I shamefully stole that quote from). Boromir was a great man in his own right. He was a mighty warrior, strong and capable of holding more than his own; just think of the time it took him to die! Was such a fate given to him, he would have ruled Gondor well, strong and sure. He would have followed well the example of his fathers, keeping the forces of Mordor at bay (at least as long as Sauron wasn't regaining power). The people would have followed him as a king, though such a title was never to be his.

But fate didn't give him that chance. The kingdom of Gondor was bound to follow another. Though they knew him not, they would not despise him but embrace him.

Boromir knew this. And he knew that by rights was the throne of Gondor destined for another. He tried to deny it at first, for "Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king." But as time passed a change happened in Boromir. Despite his failings where the one ring was concerned, when it came to the future of his country his heart was in the right place.

That place lied with his king. And though it meant far less glory for himself, he was willing to follow that king to whatever end. Even to the end. Even to his death, though surely in the face of the impending doom on mankind that death would not be a kind one.

So I ask again: Where is that kind of loyalty and devotion today? Why are we so complacent and so content with so little? Why don't we strive after the kind of epic life that comes when you devote your life to something greater than yourself, when you devote your life to a king?

I understand that America has no king. But for decades we have been letting those stewards of power slowly and surely take it away from us and hoard it to themselves. That's the reason that our country has sunk into the depths that allow millions of unborn children to die; the same depths that are on the brink of allowing the detestable (and disgusting) practice of same-sex marriage to become legal, even accepted.
What can we do practically about this, on the national scale? I sure don't know.

But what can we do in our own lives to make sure that we don't sink into those depths, or even the shallows that lead to those depths?

We can devote ourselves to someone greater than ourselves. To a king. We can run after the heart of God and never stop running. It's when we stop running and look around us at what's out there that we stumble and fall, and where are we then? We have become the world around us, not the salt and light of the earth. That's no way for a person to live. Why do we accept that mediocrity? There is so much in store for us - both on this earth and after we leave it - that we can only gain by rejecting that complacency and chasing after God's plan for our lives.

For my part, I don't ever want to stop running. I want to see the plan God has for my life. I want the fulfillment of all my desires to be found in Him and in His ways. I want the God-shaped hole in me to be filled. I want the difficult life that is so often left untried.

"Have we believed the fiction
Authored by the world's depiction?
Let's not forget the story,
We're living for His glory now."

~Foolish Things