I remember years ago, going to the baseball movie, The Rookie, with a rough and tumble 8 year old. The boy loved baseball.
Late in the movie, we watched the underdog-struggling-pitcher finally making it to the big leagues. The pitcher goes down the long hallway from the dugout after the game towards the showers. He looks up and sees his father. The father has been distant and unsupportive throughout the movie…but has shown up when it matters–he extends a warm embrace to his son, who has been waiting for years for affirmation and validation from his father. It was beautiful to see the love of a father for his son, and the understated delight of a son who, at last, feel profoundly loved by his father.
I remember this rough and tumble 8 year old being moved by this scene…so much that he was quietly weeping. And I remember him looking quizzically at me, with his hands on his damp cheeks, completely flummoxed as to why his eyes were leaking. He knew he wasn’t hurting, he wasn’t in trouble and there wasn’t even anything sad happening. He was weeping at the poignant beauty of a father and son lovingly reunited at last.
It was his first experience at being moved to tears by something exquisitely lovely. He didn’t understand it, but he could tell that something deep inside was stirred.
This video…well, it gave me those kind of tears. The love of friends for one who is struggling…the humour, the sacrifice, the love combine to remind me that we are created for connection.
We belong to each other, don’t we?
Yes, we surely do belong to each other. And it hurts when we realize that which used to stir up joy and beauty in our souls doesn’t stir like it used to. Feeling numb and stiff and unaffected by the tender moments of life can be a sign to explore the armour that has developed around your soul. Consider taking action to come fully alive to yourself and to the world again by exploring what has steeled you against the beauty.
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