jasonhackwith

[jasonhackwith]

Really proud of this design.

[jasonhackwith]

April showers bring more than flowers

“When the storm is over, the new growth, tiny and light, timid-green, starts edging our on the buses and three limbs. Then Nature brings April rain. It whispers down soft and lonesome, making mists in the hollows and on the trails where you walk under the drippings from hanging branches of trees. It's a good feeling, exciting—but sad too—in April rain. Granpa said he always got that kind of mixed-up feeling. He said it was exciting because something new was being born and it was sad, because you knowed you can't hold onto it. It will pass too quick. April wind is soft and warm as a baby's crib. It breathes on the crab apple tree until white blossoms open out, smeared with pink. The smell is sweeter than honeysuckle and brings bees swarming over the blossoms. Mountain laurel with pink-white blooms and purple centers grow everywhere, from the hollows to the top of the mountain, alongside of the dogtooth violet... Then, when April gets its warmest, all of a sudden the cold hits you. It stays cold for four or five days. This is to make the blackberries bloom and is called "blackberry winter." The blackberries will not bloom without it. That's why some years there are no blackberries. When it ends, that's when the dogwoods bloom out like snowballs over the mountainside in places you never suspicioned they grew: in a pine grove or stand of oak of a sudden there's a big burst of white.” —Forrest Carter

[jasonhackwith]

I think there are a lot of well-meaning people who still don't understand the damage that has been done, and continues to be done, to the Church. We will answer for every soul that is lost because of our failure to see.

[jasonhackwith]

Have we lost the plot? Do you really know Jesus at all?

Jeremiah 22:16 says that judging righteously the cause of the poor and needy is HOW WE KNOW HIM.

Wow.

Do you really know Jesus at all, or have you lost the plot? This is incredibly convicting for me this morning.

How we treat the poor matters to Jesus, and it should matter to us. It’s not a little thing, the cruelty currently being directed at the poor in the United States. It’s a matter of life and death.

Think I’m being harsh? Don't take my word for it. Here's what the Word says. These are just a few of the 2000+ verses in the Bible unveiling God's heart for the poor, the sojourner, the stranger, the widow and orphan:

"When you come back again / Can you bring me something from the fridge / Heard a rumor that the end is near / But I just got comfortable here..."  -- Newsboys, from "Lost the Plot"

"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, who says, ‘I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,’ who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion. Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord. But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.” —Jeremiah 22:13-17

"They have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy." Jeremiah 5:28

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49

"‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’" Deuteronomy 27:19

"Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place." Jeremiah 22:3

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8-9

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." Isaiah 1:17

"For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall" Isaiah 25:4

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalms 46:1b

"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." Psalm 82:3

"I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy." Psalm 140:12

"Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him." Psalms 41:1

“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” Psalms 12:5

"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Psalm 82:3-4

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 18:10

"He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord." Jeremiah 22:16

"Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation." Psalm 68:5

"He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18

"Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel." Proverbs 12:10

"To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more." Psalm 10:18

"Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them." Isaiah 1:23

"Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him." Job 29:12

"When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it approved, because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. I broke tthe fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth." Job 29:11-17

"Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?" Proverbs 24:11-12

"Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him." Proverbs 14:31

"Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor." Proverbs 14:21

"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’" Acts 20:35

"But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless." Psalm 10:14

"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." Proverbs 19:17

"Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished." Proverbs 17:5

"The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin." Psalm 146:9

"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" Isaiah 58:6-7

"Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor." Proverbs 22:9

"Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:9

"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

"My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’" Jeremiah 50:6-7

"If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your teye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’" Deuteronomy 15:7-11

…and of course:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit sthe kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these dmy brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46

Have we forgotten our first Love by failing to love the poor and needy, sojourner and refugee, widow and orphan—not just with words but with deeds? Do we really know Him at all, or have we lost the plot?

from the river Beautiful, Chapter 2: the last dove's flight. Want to come along? Follow the River at theriverBeautiful.com

I want to hear from you. Post a comment below!

[jasonhackwith]

Nikita Gill, from Your Heart is the Sea: Poems; "Your Heart is the Sea," originally published in 2018

[jasonhackwith]

"If someone does something kind for me, I assume they're not a Christian."

Utterly broken by that. Let it sink in.

Who are you following? The Jesus who ate with tax collectors and sinners? Do you even know where He is? Let me give you a few hints.

He's not in your cold, sterile faith that advocates for unjust laws that crucify the poor, tears families apart and keeps marginalized communities marginalized.

He's not with a faith that abuses the local waitress after you get done singing for an hour about how kind He's been to you.

He's not with you when you bow down at the feet of Mammon and worship the golden calf.

He's definitely not with you when you wallow in abject fear of anyone who doesn't look like you, think like you, or worship like you.

Where is Jesus? He's hanging out in the gay bars, gently causing quiet revolutions of the heart. He's comforting a sobbing trans kid who can't figure out who they are, giving them the strength to live another day. He's giving a battered woman the last ounce of desperate strength to escape her abuser.

He's with the poor. He's with the migrant workers who are good enough to pick your apples and pay your taxes but aren't good enough to live without fear.

He's with the very people you hate the most: loving them perfectly, without any of the conditions you place upon your own love.

Are you going to follow Him? Choose this day whom you will serve.

Matthew 25:31-46

Hi, neighbor. Thanks for reading. If this touched you, do you mind sharing it? And follow the River at theriverBeautiful.com for more.

Love you. Be blessed.

J

[jasonhackwith]

that's it. the whole reason I wrote theriverBeautiful.com

[jasonhackwith]

Yes.

When it feels like I can’t, I know that You can.

Yes, You Can. Etiam Potes. Так, ви можете. Sí, Puedes. 네, 가능합니다. Ndiyo, Unaweza. Да, можеш. Sì, Puoi. ʻAe, hiki iā ʻoe. ใช่ คุณสามารถทำได้. Oui, Tu Peux. Kyllä, voit. Sea, Is Féidir Leat. はい、できます. Ja, das können Sie. རེད། ཁྱོད་ཀྱིས་ཆོག. Sim, Você Pode. כן, אתה יכול Já, þú getur. Jaaj, je'el u páajtal a beetik. Ioe, e te mafaia. Ja, det kan du. হ্যাঁ, তুমি পারো।. Tak, możesz. დიახ, შეგიძლიათ.

[jasonhackwith]

It is because I have known Light and Joy that I understand Darkness and Despair. It is because I have known Darkness and Despair that I understand Light and Joy.

I have learned to remember in the Darkness what I've learned in the Light. I have learned to remember in the Light what I learned in the Darkness.

I SEE YOU. More at firewindproductions.com/prisons

Follow me on this road I'm on to the river Beautiful. Created, I create as I walk along the road.

[jasonhackwith]

from the PREFACE to the river Beautiful

Poetry is a bright light, illuminating the farthest, most desolate reaches of the soul. Poetry is darker than midnight; a useful mask, opaque and forbidding. I love the dichotomy of poetry, the paradox of it: day and night and shades of twilight rolled up into one. It’s easy to hide the heart behind colorful metaphors and well-turned phrases—even as you disclose the deepest depths of your heart to the world.

Poetry has been such a hiding place for me in the darkest times of my life, and the brightest. The strange pulling of a blank page yearning to be filled, the catharsis of the release of emotions; the indescribable feeling when you read and reread the finished poem and feel the truth captured there, fluttering like a caged bird. It always seems to me as if I am a minor part of the process. I’m just moving the pen. CONTINUE READING →

[jasonhackwith]

The River road is dangerous to my pride. Do I dare to walk on?

Zach Meerkreebs opens up about the differences between humiliation and humility.

“[Humiliation is] actually a humbling moment,” Zach says, “narrated by the wrong person. Narrated by the world, or narrated by Satan. But when you allow… maybe even, invite: ‘Jesus, how would you narrate this specific moment?’ And how can I look a little more like you by the time this is all done? This humiliating moment could actually become a very real humbling moment. And I believe humility is the greatest virtue of a Christ-follower. I think what makes Jesus stick out in the world is humility.

“In this moment of not getting a job, or going through a divorce, or not being accepted for that program, or being fired— whatever it is, how mighty you ask the question, ‘Jesus, this feels like, so humiliating… could you help narrate it that I might look a little more like you in humility, and not find myself in a pit of humiliation?’”

Zack Meerkreebs has an amazing book called “Lower: Igniting Spiritual Awakening Through Radical Humility,” and we can’t recommend it enough. Here’s the audiobook, read by the smooth baritone tones of Charles Constant and published by Faith Words.

In a world where empathy is actually being described as a ‘sin’ by some deceived folks with seared or wicked consciences, humility must be complete anethema. But it is key to following Christ.

Video courtesy of Streams.Studio.

[jasonhackwith]

X is now EXED

In light of recent events and a long history of grotesque pandering to racism and extremists on the part of Elon Musk, we will no longer be providing social media services on X to any of our clients. We no longer consider X a viable source for news or a responsible vector for social media or worth our clients’ time. We recommend that all of our clients focus their attention on other social media platforms. We will continue posting automated content on Twitter/X in order to minister to the audience there but will be stepping down the vast bulk of our engagement via the platform.

You can find us on BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

[jasonhackwith]

I WALK THE RIVER ROAD UPON A PATH PAVED WITH RAZORS

Follow me on this journey I'm on to the river Beautiful. Created, I create as I walk along the road. #riverbeautiful

the RIVER road 💧

i. shadows and silences

ii. the last dove's flight

iii. the brightest of rivers

iv. ruthless trust, reckless heart

v. two strong hands

vi. these dear wounds

vii. the breath of night

}i{

Would you consider coming along with me?

Hop on the mailing list for exclusive content as it comes out, 100% FREE FOREVER. Goes out about a few times a month, or more often if really exciting stuff is going down. Unsubscribe anytime.

The entire first chapter will be published for FREE forever as a dynamic multimedia experience.

Chapters two through seven of the multimedia edition will be available by subscription. Dive as deep as you want with multiple reward tiers available for monthly or weekly subscribers.

When we're all done releasing the entire multimedia edition, the book will also be available in a premium hardcover or a value paperback.

I hope you'll come along for the entire journey, but feel free to stay as long as you wish and leave whenever you want.

COME ON IN, THE WATER'S FINE!

}pay no attention to that shadow passing underneath{ 🌑

theriverBEAUTIFUL.com

HOW THIS PARTICULAR EXTRA CRUNCHY SAUSAGE WAS MADE: This image was carefully crafted using Adobe Firefly built upon a line from my poetry, prose, or lyrics and my own original illustration. Firefly only uses public domain and stock imagery sources.

#FIREstarter 🔥

[jasonhackwith]

Announcing the river Beautiful FIREstarter!

the river Beautiful: caught up in the reckless, raging love will be released soon in a premium hardcover, value paperback, and a groundbreaking multimedia experience only available right here on FirewindProductions.com. This collection of new and selected works of poetry, prose, lyrics, illustrations, and typography has been 30 years in the making.

Would you consider partnering with me to help with the publication and production costs? We have created a FIREstarter (our version of a Kickstarter) where you can make a one-time donation or choose to donate at a level that works with your budget on a monthly or weekly basis.

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Firewind Holiday Closures

Firewind will be closed in observance of the holidays from December 24th thru January 1st. On behalf of us and ours, we wish you blessings this year and in the years to come.

[jasonhackwith]

This is so damn good.

#if you ask I will write a whole goddamn essay on Boromir #and why his death means more to us as we get older *whispers* babe I want the essay

Why must you always enable me I love it never stop. So. Wow. Where to even start. I rant through my tears about how much I love Boromir every time I watch Lord of the Rings, which I do about once a year with @captainofthefallen. Every time I watch it, his death means more to me, hits me harder, and I think that’s because the older we get, the more we identify with Boromir.

Here’s the thing. In all honesty, as a kid (I first read LotR when I was eleven, first watched the films at that age as well), I wasn’t too fond of Boromir. Oh I liked him all right, he was fine I suppose, but I didn’t connect with him. I was angry when he tried to take the One Ring from Frodo, and I cried a little at his death because death is sad and I was a kid, but it didn’t devastate me.

Because as a kid? I wanted to be Aragorn. The reluctant king who rises up and does the right thing, always. The guy who gets the amazing (be still my bi heart) Arwen, the Evenstar, fairest of the elves. The guy who literally kicks ass. The man who is noble, honorable, thoughtful, good with his words, humble, knows the burdens of leadership, who stands up and says there will be a day when the courage of men fails, but this is not that day.

I wanted to be the hero.

I noticed this trend among my peers growing up. We all loved Aragorn and wanted to be him. Boromir was sort of dismissed.

But then a funny thing happened, called getting older.

I got older, and I fucked up.

I got older, and depression hit.

I got older, and the weight of societal expectations, of being an older sibling, of adult responsibilities, of legacy, of family secrets, of family history, all settled on my shoulders.

I got older, and I learned that men are not always honorable, or kind, or humble, or the leaders they should be. And I learned how hard and desperate it is to continue to believe in the strength of men.

I got older, and I learned how temptation comes for us all, in different forms, and how we hurt people without meaning to, and how sometimes for all our regret and tears and apologies, we cannot mend what we broke.

I got older, and I leaned what it is to be forced into a role I didn’t want, to feel I’d hit a dead end, to struggle against those who had different views, to feel like people could look into my heart and see the anger and fear that I tried so hard to hide.

I got older, and I realized: I’m Boromir.

We’re all Boromir.

Tolkien was very deliberate with his characters. They aren’t just characters, flawed and wonderful though they might be. They also each represent something very specific. Aragorn represents the Ideal. The hero that we all can be, the hero that we should strive to be, the vision of mankind as we are supposed to be, if only we can let ourselves shed our hubris and our doubts. Aragorn represents who we should be.

Boromir represents who we are.

Flawed, frustrated, burdened, tempted, struggling, setback, good intentioned, afraid, angry, kindhearted, noble, loyal, and painfully, beautifully human.

Boromir went to the Council of Elrond reluctantly. He shouldn’t have gone. Boromir is a war leader, as we learn after his death. He successfully fought for and defended Gondor from Mordor for years. That’s where he belongs. Faramir is the quiet one, the diplomat, the “wizard’s pupil,” the soft-spoken and patient one. Note that even in the film version, which shows a differently characterized Faramir than in the books (Tolkien heavily based Faramir on himself), Faramir only wants the One Ring in order to give it to his father and win his father’s pride and affection–he doesn’t want it for himself.

If Faramir had been at the Council and Boromir had stayed in Gondor, everything would have gone differently, and possibly for the better.

But the Steward of Fuckwits aka Boromir and Faramir’s father decides he wants Boromir to go, to represent their family, because Boromir is the son he values and is the “face” of Gondor. So Boromir sets aside what he wants, and he goes. And the whole time he feels out of place, feels like a fish out of water, feels second to Aragorn, feels lost, feels terrified his city will fall while he is gone, feels like the race of Men is being mocked and looked down on as weak.

How many of us as we grow up are stuck like that? We can’t fix our family (although we try), we can’t fix our broken country (although we try), we can’t get rid of the doubts and fears that whisper to us (although we try), and we can’t stop feeling like we’re constantly second best, constantly failing, looked down on, especially the millennial generation.

(Given what’s happening in the world right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tolkien found himself surprisingly similar in outlook and feeling to our generation. But that’s another topic.)

And of course that’s the key. Boromir–darling, frustrated, stuck, fatally flawed Boromir–is so very relatable because he tries. He tries to teach Merry and Pippin to protect themselves and then tries to save them and dies for it. He tries to convince Aragorn (who at that point is more elf than man in his outlook) that there is no reason to give up on his people, their people–and he succeeds in that, although he dies before he gets to see it. He tries to make his father proud. He tries to apologize when he fucks up. He tries and he fails, and he tries and he succeeds. And the most important things he does, the biggest seeds he plants, he never sees them flower.

Like my God, the man’s last words are I failed. I failed you, I failed Frodo, I tried to take the Ring. I’m sorry, I failed. That hits me so goddamn hard in my mid20s and it’ll hit me even harder when I’m older, I’m sure. How many times have we said that to people? “I tried to help him.” “I tried to reach out.” “I tried to apologize.” “I tried to stop them.” “I tried so hard.” I tried, I tried, I tried. For the job, for the friend, for everything, I tried.

And I failed.

I have a laundry list of things I tried and failed at, and God, do they hurt. Sometimes it was something out of my control, sometimes it was my own behavior. And that scene with Boromir, the flawed man, staring up at Aragorn, the ideal hero, and begging him, begging him, “save them, they took the little ones, find Frodo,” begging him for forgiveness, apologizing for his failures?

Talk about a fucking metaphor.

We make our ideals in literature so that we have something to look up to and strive for, for others to strive for. Boromir falls prey to the ring, but Aragorn does not. You did what I could not. Of course Aragorn did. He’s the ideal. And we beg our ideals to be better so they can show us the way and hopefully, maybe, someday, we can be like them.

I had so many heroes growing up, real and literary. Sara from A Little Princess. Aragorn. Lucy from Narnia. Nancy Drew. Harry Potter. And so many times I would look at myself in the mirror and cry because I knew, I knew if I stood in front of them they would be disappointed in me. I knew I wasn’t being the person I could be. I tried, I failed, I tried, I failed, but my God I swear, I tried.

As a kid or even a teenager, we still see mainly who we want to be. Our ideal. And I hope that we never lose sight of that. I love Aragorn and my God am I going to keep trying to be like him, and like all of my other literary heroes. We need those heroes, we need them so badly, and the darker the world gets the brighter we have to make them shine.

As an adult, though–as an adult, we start to see not only who we want to be, but who we are, and who we could’ve been, and how we failed to be, and the paths not taken and the paths that were lost. And that’s important too. Because Boromir died convinced he was a failure. Convinced he was, truly, the weakness we find in men.

And he was… but he wasn’t.

Without Boromir, Aragorn wouldn’t know what happened to Merry and Pippin or where they went. Without Boromir, Aragorn would’ve had no hope in the race of men. Without Boromir, who would have carried the hobbits up the cold mountain, or taught them how to fight, or said give them a moment, for pity’s sake! Who would have defended Gondor for so long, or loved his brother with a ferocity that Denethor’s abuse couldn’t knock loose, and inspired that brother to keep fighting even as the light faded and the night grew cold and long?

Aragorn carries Boromir’s bracers throughout the rest of the trilogy, right up to his coronation, where he is still wearing them as he is made King. Because Boromir might not have seen it–we might not see it–but we tried and we failed but we didn’t fail at everything. Lives are made brighter for our presence. The world is better for our gifts and our convictions. And no fight, even a fight lost, is done in vain.

The remains of the Fellowship ride to Gondor not just because it’s the Right Thing to Do, but because it is the city of their fallen brother, it’s Boromir’s home, the home that above all he gave everything to defend. Boromir doesn’t want the Ring for power, he wants it so his home will be safe, his family will be safe, and God who can’t relate to that, as we grow older and we see our families and friends attacked and scarred, as we have children and want them out of harm’s way. Who wouldn’t be tempted to seize the chance to keep them safe?

I see so much of myself in Boromir. And I take hope. I take inspiration. I cheer through my tears as he is hit again and again with arrows and each time he gets back up on his feet and grits his teeth and you can see him thinking not today. As a child I thought Boromir was selfish but as an adult I hear him use his last breath to apologize to Aragorn and call him his brother and his king and I see he’s more selfless than he ever gave himself credit for being. Boromir sees only his faults, but we can see what he doesn’t, we see his positive impact and we see his virtues, too.

Because as an adult I’ve failed, and I want to believe that like Boromir, I’ve also succeeded, I’ve also been more than just my faults–even if I can’t see that yet.

Aragorn is who we should be. But Boromir is who we are.

And my God, we should be proud of that. Because Boromir is a damn good person to be.

[jasonhackwith]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart

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