Understanding the Hero Within

“All the world’s a stage, and the men and women merely players.”

William Shakespeare

Hi there, friends!

So, I’m officially certain that this was the looooongest time I’ve been away from my blog, but now summer is here, and I sort of have more time (still some classes going on). I feel like I’ve been away too long, and I’ve missed coming onto this totally awesome WordPress platform and sharing some heart stuff.

So much has happened since I posted last! I played Arwen’s Vigil with a cellist, finished thirty college units, finished Jane Eyre, fell in love with Shakespeare, saw Infinity War (which was amazing, and more on that later), and I got my driver’s license. But, something monumental happened this week, and I would make you all guess, but we do not have time for that, so I will tell you.

I graduated.

Yes, high school is over, and college has begun. I feel like someone has just stripped off a layer of old skin and wrapped me up in a new, official sort of robe. I suppose that would be Christ coming to show me who I was and who I am now meant to be. My heart looks to the future eagerly, and I feel like there is so much ahead. Today my mom told me my little bloom is starting to open. I feel different, even though I told my friends I did not. The day after graduation it really sunk in.

It was all over. It is all over. I don’t understand sometimes how it can be. I’ve lived this way for sixteen spanking years, but now it’s gone. College is here, and independence is knocking on the door.

I don’t want to spend this post boring you with “what lies ahead for me,” because that would probably be selfish and boring. I just have this realization that the adventure is never over. Even though it feels like new adventure just started, this is just a new chapter in the grand adventure of life. I feel now as though I’m charging into battle and preparing for war. My heart feels challenge ahead, but it was always there. It will never be a completed quest until I hear the Words “well done, thy good and faithful servant.”

When I took my first breath sixteen years ago, my adventure began, and it still goes on.

I suppose that’s why I love stories so much.

I remember a time when I wanted to discuss my enthusiasm for books with a few acquaintances of mine, and how they scoffed and said they needed to “tune me out” because they “just did not read.” Luckily, I had my good friend there to back me up, and we ended up having a great conversation about Dickens.

When learning the structure of a good story, I understood, from a lecture, that the most important facets are characterization and plot. A story without strong, plausible characters and a solid, foolproof plot is a winner.

Lately, I’ve heard a number of good stories: Othello, Harry Potter, Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, King Henry IV, Les Miserables, The Robe, and A Tale of Two Cities. In all of those stories, there were real, genuine characters who were instantly beside me helping me turn the page. To add to this, the plots were authentic, rich with irony and symbolism. I felt the fear gripping the my sides as well as the hero’s.

When I stopped to think about how real the heroes and their plights become to me, it made me realize that I can feel it, because I too am like them in a hero’s sense. My story has been written with characters and plot by the author and finisher of my life’s story and my faith. He has signed his name on my heart, and because of that, my story will be one with the happy ending. The one where the hero is reunited with the mentor and where the mentor tells the student of her success in heeding the instruction and defeating the antagonist.

I know that even though the high school adventure has been completed, it is only the end of the early battle. The antagonist is wounded, but not defeated. He will strike again soon, but now the hero is preparing and the mentor is nurturing and instructing. War will come again, but the mighty hero will be prepared and will overcome whatever skirmish the evil one throws that way.

In short, our lives are the lives of heroes. We love heroes and stories because we are heroes in stories. All of our lives are different, but everyone has a story to be written. It has already been written. As Shakespeare said, all of the world is a stage, and we are just the people part of each other’s grand stories. The stories that God is writing.

Some of my favorite characters in books are those one characters that sometimes get on people’s nerves…you know, the chosen one. The one who holds the key to the xyz problem? They are my favorite characters. Why, you may ask? Simple. We are all chosen. We have all been chosen. The question is not whether we’ve been chosen; it’s whether we’ll get out there and do what we were chosen to do.

I love the tragic hero and the comedic hero alike, because it does not matter whether or not we feel chosen or if we don’t think we are chosen. We are chosen, and we are called by our Maker to journey out into the world and fulfill the calling that we were chosen for.

 The Lord has chosen Zion;

He has desired it for His dwelling place:

‘This is my resting place forever;

Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

I will abundantly bless her provision;'”

Psalm 132:13-15a

In short, we haven’t just been chosen by our parents or our boss, but we’ve been chosen by God to fulfill a mission that only we can with the talents and abilities He has given to us. That said, be a hero. Don’t hesitate. In the words of my favorite brothers-from-another-mother Joel and Luke Smallbone, “Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong.” That song is da bomb. Forget the last adventure. Look to the future. And above all, understand the hero that Christ has put within us.

Auf Wiedersehen (still wrestling with Deutschen)!

Emily 🙂

P.S. Ok, so, time for a little discussion on Avengers Infinity War! Oh my gosh, this has been the best (and most sad/heart-felt) Marvel film since The Winter Soldier.

First of all, if you haven’t seen the movie, I would highly recommend not reading the below comments or completing the poll, because I reveal MAJOR spoilers.

DON’T!

DO NOT! *USES BEST SCARY VOICE*

TURN AROUND RIGHT NOW, AND STOP READING!

 

 

Okay, if you keep reading and haven’t seen the movie, it is officially your fault.

Here goes.

First off, I know there was a lot of hate going around, but I really LOVED Cap’s beard. I thought it was great, even though a lot of people hated it. Just wanted to get that off my chest before we got started (lolz).

I would like to say that Thanos’s snap was totally similar to the rapture, and even though the Russos are atheists, I think they’re on to something. Also, did anyone else notice how all of the heroes EXCEPT the original avengers died in the snap? That was interesting, as well. Unless Hawkeye is dead, too, but he wasn’t even in the movie (which was so wrong), so we can’t tell. I honestly don’t think that they died, but that they just went to another dimension. In my opinion, the saddest deaths were Spider-man’s, Bucky’s, and Wanda’s. Loki was up there, too *chestbump.*

Something better happen with Loki in the next film or I. Will. Lose. It. My friend Katie pointed out the obvious solution: Heimdall should have teleported Loki, Thor, Banner, AND the tesseract to earth. In her own words, “he coulda had two in one” referencing the fact that Loki was holding the tesseract at the time. Not just Banner. Guardians of the Galaxy was the weirdest edition to the movie with the exception of Gamora, who was extremely necessary.

It was literally the most sad, heart-wrenching, and AWESOME Marvel film ever that I left the movies trying not to scream, trying not to cry, and just putting on a smile for all of my friends. It was all pretty internal, so I tried to just be cool about it.

Yeah, that was me in a nutshell.

Anywayyyy,

I happened to read a couple great fan theories and already have high hopes for the next film. Thank Jesus for epic Marvel stuff. And the best part of it is, we can be heroes, too.

Love you, guys!

Oh, and here’s a quick poll:

Until next time! *tips hat*