As I sat entranced by the screen and enveloped by the embrace of a red bean bag, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes and reminded again why it was so prolific. Many of you know this quote, and almost as many can instantly tell me the movie that it was in, the actor that spoke it, and the exact time in the 155 minutes in which the scene took place. I myself have heard this quote a thousand times, and have loved it even more.
I do not wish to spend hours painting you a canvas of colors, setting the stage for why this quote was given. I do not desire to even attempt to, for I know that mere words cannot capture the essence of the scene. But I do long to help you experience the same fluttering of heart, the same swelling of pride, and the same overwhelming joy that I sensed as the thousands of pixels swirled and blended together revealing the image of Russell Crowe standing triumphantly inside the Coliseum.
“My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”
Upon hearing these sentences fall defiantly off Russell Crowe’s lips my mind instantly went silent (and for anyone who knows me this is a task that even Hercules couldn’t conquer). What was so powerful about this quote? What elements in it caused it to reverberate off the tongues of boys everywhere? What caused my mind to come crashing into a halt?
The answer is simple: this quote from the movie The Gladiator struck the very chord of human nature: Everybody is fighting for something.
You see the Gladiator is far more than fancy cinematography and action shots; far more than a series of battles and blood baths; and far more than the classic “hero saves the day” movie. No. In the midst of the battles lies the heart of the movie that no man could ever stop: reasons to fight. Inside the scenes of life and death beats the very heart that embodies the very quintessence of our being. Russell Crowe’s character is in a perpetual state of combat. Fighting for vengeance against the murderer of his beloved wife and son, and for this we love him; for we too find ourselves strapped into the same, worn out sandals as Maximus Meridius.
Sure, we may not find ourselves face to face outnumbered by Roman soldiers, but we do find ourselves fighting against an array of things ranging from declaring war on make-believe enemies to spearheading our first love. Truth is that even though we often don’t win, we love to fight. Our hearts crave combat. If you don’t believe me, or disagree, I challenge you to look into the last year of your life and name the most significant thing that occurred. Could it be the promotion you valiantly strived so hard to win? Is it the victory of a long, fought battle for your significant other’s heart manifested through your wedding vows? Or on a dreary note, was it the death of a lifelong friend who lost their fight against cancer? If you still don’t believe me, then look into the eyes of the untainted little boy, and watch as they speak volumes. Growing up my favorite past time was always discovering new adventures with my friends. Nothing could beat the thrill of diving headfirst into a land of imagination, and emerging at the end of the day as victoriously as men coming home from war. In a land devoid of adult constraints, our imaginations and our human nature can be unveiled, unfettered, and above all else understood. And in these lands of simple adolescence, we find our longing desires to fight. From our fist fights as children, to our wounds occurred through love as teenagers, to our struggle to keep our heads above the economic plight of 2010 as adults, we find ourselves eating, breathing, and sleeping combat.
However, the discovery that we all are in a constant state of battle was not as revealing to me as to why we love the thrill of warfare, and why we find ourselves so entranced by movies that portray this sense of conflict.
Simply put it’s what we are made for.
Whether you believe in the existence of a God (as I do), or you chose to believe in the science ordained way of Macroevolution and descent via modification, we were made to fight; we were made to be in the trenches as opposed to the folds of our couches.
As theist, particularly Christians, we believe that when we’re born we are thrust into a spiritual battlefield where “the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion” waiting for the chance to devour us. Furthermore, we are called to arms to fight for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, and thus conquer our fears, failures, and closet skeletons that attempt to impede our freedom.
As proponents of macroevolutions you believe that the only reason we are here is because we have successfully out matched, out maneuvered, and out survived all other organisms, and now rule as kings of the urban jungles.
Whichever path you claim to follow, you cannot deny that there is something inherently alluring about the prospect of battle. That’s why our stories are fueled by conflicts and resolutions and our movies by heroic acts of defeating all odds. There is something intriguing about the way that the sun glints off swords and shields, something that sets our eyes ablaze. There is something grained deep inside of us that calls us, that demands us, to fight.
Which brings me to my last question: are you going to sit on the sidelines in the safety of your couch and only watch fictional displays of heroism, or will you gather your courage, discover your heart, and answer the call to join the front lines?
After all “what we do in this life echoes in all of eternity.”
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