Cruel and Likely
“Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.” -C.S. Lewis.
I am becoming more comfortable with the truth that no one can maintain a legacy that’s remembered in lived memory for longer than a generation or two. I keep trying my best to hold this perspective to ground my outlook on my own influence. But I do have hopes for the ones that I tuck into bed at night and read them stories of heroes doing great things. I hope they see me trying my best. Because forces in the world are also doing their best to steal their hope.
Like most parents, I want my children to live their own story, but I hope they choose a good one.
What does good look like?
Oftentimes, we don’t get to pick our circumstances, but we can choose what kind of character to play in a difficult chapter. The hero of a good story gives their best, even if that effort isn’t enough. They live in the tension between what is and what could be. They give life their best shot. No one is inspired by stories of good people only doing the right thing when it’s easy.
Our favourite characters in the stories we love reach for the best. Even though the sky is impossibly high and untouchable, they still reach for it. They push forward believing that better is always possible, even if it’s out of reach.
The person we should want to become cherishes the earth under their toes. Reality is where we need to live day to day. Home doesn’t need to be big; it just needs to be a place where it’s safe to sleep. Heroes don’t lose sight of where they came from.
The stories we want to live won’t happen unless we take action. We shouldn’t wait for the world to hand us a blank cheque to explore our own creative ideas. This blog is an example of this; I hope people read it, but it’s just as important that I write even if only one other pair of eyes picks up these words. Be creative, dream, and build even if the world won’t pay for it. You can’t do it all, but dare to do as much as you can.
These hopes ask a lot of all of us, but the forces that demand the opposite, which is despair, are all around us and don’t require as much cheering as hope. Sometimes the hopeful are the minority. I was thinking about this recently and decided I’d write an encouraging email to an elected official to let him know that he is someone I pray for. I wonder, is that rare?
Despair has a well-marketed and fast-traveling message, and I know my kids won’t have to travel far to find it. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies…” Despair can be cruel, but it’s certainly not unusual. It grows insidiously like mold throughout our lives. Kids need to see the best of us adults, and if they can’t, they should at least see us trying.
So as a parent who tries, fails, and gets up again, let me encourage you: be the hero you’d like others to read about. Remember, the kids are watching.