Lewis...

I'm kind of a softie! Yeah, I'm a guy, but I failed the "guy" test a long time ago. What test is that, you ask? What my Dad told me over and over again growing up..."men don't cry, so stop it!" Mind you, I don't go around sobbing, in public, but there are certain events, people, places, images, ideas, music, that, well, choke me up. Movies, especially those with romantic, patriotic, or heroic material (worse yet, all), almost always bring a tear, or a thousand to my eyes.

Of course, being as close to a "real man" as possible, I usually try to hide it, especially from my kids, but they're on to me. "Were you crying at the end of the movie, Daddy?" was the question my daughter asked years ago, about the end of the ANIMATED film, Tarzan! Brother, even cartoons make me cry. Jane's about to go back to England without Tarzan and, needless to say, I can HARDLY stand it! Squirming in my seat, tears running down my cheeks, and my then 8 year old TOTALLY on to me. Ha, ha, what a guy! And yet....

The beauty of love, unselfish, uncompromising, even in a cartoon ought to make everyone a little teary-eyed. Isn't that what we all long for? Jane pushes away from shore in a row boat bound for a tall-ship, leaving Tarzan behind. Oh, what pain! Halfway to the ship she reconsiders, her father, recognizing her heart, tells her to follow it. She DIVES into the surf in reckless abandonment, all for love of the big ape! (Smile). And cry we should. If we don't cry for that in our own lives we surely have lost hope.

And maybe that's exactly why, when I see a movie like Prince Caspian, I am on the verge any number of times throughout the movie. There is hope. Hope that Aslan will return, routing the enemies of Narnia, hope that Caspian is truly a good king, hope that...well, I won't give away any more, but I will say that the message of hope, of true, deep love, love that is not natural, but supernatural, exists HERE and NOW, not just in some movie. I long for that. Don't you?

That love can be seen in so many ways, but remains hidden unless we are looking for it. I hear it in soaring melodies, see it in a waving American flag on Independence Day, recognize it in any selfless act, long to see it in my own life toward another. Hmmmm, maybe, just maybe, the tears come as I struggle to want to be my best, plunging into the depths for love, both natural and supernatural. Yes, that's it, we all want to be (name your cartoon hero here), forsaking all to help another...selflessly, humbly, fully. Let the tears flow...

Surf's up! Enjoy!