This struck me today. That we dare not become a brilliant machine.
What do I mean by that?
Well, my heart started this journey almost a month ago now. And as I sit here in a sleepy pueblo in Spain, my heart is reminded of those words that I wrote a month back.
For a man who has spent most of his life bouncing back and forth between my head and my heart, these words are profound. I’ve been machine like, so locked away and so secure in my routine that I didn’t allow myself to feel. Because after all, when we lock ourselves behind processes and signals and things that make cognitive sense…we allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep by a false sense of security. When we abdicate our responsibility to the letter of the law, it allows us the freedom to deny what is good; and by consequence, hard. And I’m not saying routine and determination and repetition are by any means a negative notion. I’m just suggesting that there has to be more than a robotic like existence. To minions and machines belong the tedious and purposeless rat race. The idea that we were born to be loved doesn’t exactly line up with that.
And on the other side, I’ve lived so wildly out of my emotions that common sense was left by the roadside. I keep asking myself how this happens or why this happens. I am convinced now that it belongs. All of our lives, “belong”.
I digress
I’ve lived so wildly out of raw and unchecked emotion that I’ve thrown myself against the hot coals and thorns of consequence. And I don’t mean to be pretentious with my words. I’m not apologizing, but if you’re reading this, I want you to know my heart. The head and the heart have to come into alignment for balance and identity to find harmony with the challenges of life.
So this is my encouragement to you today. We get to choose responsibility, determination, grit, joy, love, pain, and peace. We get to bring our heads and our hearts into alignment. Without the head, we are nothing more than a volatile chemical composition. We are at the mercy of whatever is mixed into or poured onto us, or thrown into our makeup. We are at the mercy of being reactive to a hurting world. Without the heart, we are nothing more than a brilliant and dull machine, locked away behind self made barriers and walls to keep us safe. Life isn’t meant to be safe. It’s meant to be good. We dare not become so afraid to feel that we turn ourselves from the hurting world. This life isn’t about what is in the world for us; rather, what is in us for the world?
I hope and I pray that the Answer is Love. Sacrificial, Passionate, Unselfish, Hard Love.
Dare to be brilliant. Dare to live above the clouds. Dare to care.
We dare not become a brilliant machine.
