The Lionheart

In a time of universal deceit -- telling the truth is a revolutionary act. 

-George Orwell

Recently, while wasting my precious time browsing through a clothing store catering to those who wish to hide their clavicles under bed sheet sized ponchos with tags reading XXXS; (you pay a lot for that sizing schematic) I saw a shapeless t-shirt which proclaimed,

"Good things come to those who hustle."

I wanted to buy it because, man, I have hustled.  And gee, I want good things to come to me.  It sounds good on the surface; it sounds right.  If you want something you've got to work for it and all that.  You can't sit around waiting for life to happen to you; you gotta go grab it by the horns and wrestle it to the ground…   This is the wisdom of the day, and I can't even tell you how many times I have encountered it on blogs and in books about creativity and selling your art.  If you want to get anywhere, you have to hustle. If you want to be a success, you better get out there and sell your stuff.  You have to hustle for the world's respect and approbation.   You have to strive. You have to prove yourself.

Lately, though, has become abundantly evident to me just how often what is proclaimed is the exact opposite of the truth.  The definition of 'hustle' is wholly negative whether it is used as a noun or a verb.

Hustle: Force (someone) to move hurriedly or unceremoniously in a specified direction; push roughly; jostle; hurry; obtain by forceful action or persuasion; coerce or pressure someone into doing something or choosing something; sell aggressively; obtain by illicit action; swindle; cheat; engage in prostitution; busy movement.

-- So -- basically, good things come to big jerks, high pressure salesmen, con men and prostitutes.  … At the risk of dragging Hitler into the conversation too early on, one could argue that he was an artist who hustled.

Ironically, hypocritically, impossibly--then--, we're advised to strive and hustle and then told that the path to peace and well-being is to achieve balance.  Promised that you can have it all, do it all, be it all, tolerate all--if you just balance precariously enough--as though every choice isn't made to the exclusion of others.  Stack the teacups ever higher, and then cut yourself with the shattered shards of the mess you made when it all comes crashing down.  Balance, for the sake of balance is just a yoga move.  Sure, you can manage it for a little while if you are devoting all your thought and energy to maintaining that position.  But people like to practice yoga on the beach or a mountain top, not in the middle of a hurricane.  And some seasons are plagued with hurricanes.

The world strives for balance because it has no ballast.

A ballast, according to the dictionary, is: a heavy substance placed in such a way as to improve stability or control such as in the draft of a ship; to give steadiness, to keep steady. 

Actual balance in a seaworthy ship is created by having something heavy--a ballast--deep within, below the waterline.  A ship is balanced or isn't depending on what has been placed inside it.  Interestingly, a ballast is often a tank of water that can be filled or emptied depending on the size of the cargo load. So, balance is bestowed by what you carry within you--what you are filled with--not by the careful stacking of burdens so that your life resembles an inukshuk that isn't meant to go anywhere or do anything.

The question begs to be asked: What are you filled with?  What keeps you upright when the waves would capsize you?  A quick google image search of "capsized ships" presents a eerie array of true stories.  All manner of vessels from cruise ships to cargo haulers to sailboats to ferries are subject to the danger. Every intention of a ship's designer founders when the ballast tank isn't filled sufficiently for the circumstances and the load that the ship will carry.

"If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." (Proverbs 24:10)  

This verse isn't meant as a condemnation for our lack of strength, but rather a reminder that if you are feeling faint, you need to grow stronger.  We need the continual filling of the Holy Spirt and the Word to be able to withstand what comes at us.  The very next verse gives an idea of just the kind of loads we are meant to carry in the storms of adversity.

"Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter."  (Proverbs 24:11)    

A half filled ballast tank might have been sufficient when you bore less weight, but it simply won't cut it now.  A half filled tank won't be able to withstand the adversity of rescuing those taken away to death, or to shore up the weak knees of those who are stumbling to their slaughter.

I see the family members of those Christians murdered within their church in Charleston extending forgiveness to one who only showed hatred and violence, and tremble at the transformation that God brings when His people seek to see the fulfillment of the promise that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him.  What is impossible for man is possible with God.

We were made for so much more than to hustle for temporal success in a ridiculous and meaningless balancing act.  We were made to run the race set before us with endurance.  We were made to bring light into the darkness. We were designed for nothing less than the heroic rescue of those being led away to death; to hold back those stumbling toward their destruction. Our purpose is valiant and great. Our design magnificent.  We are the Church and we have the heart of the Lion of Judah.

I see the pictures of those 21 martyrs on the beach whose faces weren't hidden like those who wielded the knife, but who, like the first martyr looked to heaven to see the face of the One who conquered death, and know truly who fears whom.

"The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." (Proverbs 28:1)

 We are the Church.  I know of no greater courage.