Rocky is my hero. I find myself day dreaming about boxing and Philly accents. But really, what is it that makes Rocky so different than the other boxers he stands beside or stands against. He has heart. In facing the machine Ivan Drago the Russian champion amateur boxer in Rocky IV, Adrienne, who never steps away from Rocky's side insists "You can't win!" Drago is the Michael Phelps of boxing, his genetic perfection and inhuman strength makes him essentially impossible to beat. And initially, Rocky has no interest in fighting Drago. But, the death of his friend, the boxer who led him to a huge victory is killed by the enemy in the ring. And what other choice is there? His heart is what makes him better, what gives him the edge. Rocky's no wimp, are you kidding me?! That man is a MAN. But he loves. The way he treasures Adrienne and fathers his son are the passions behind his fighting.
And, that's what I'm always missing. I want to be a hero, I want to fight the people and circumstances that hurt the people around me. I want to stand between ideas that have no consideration for the conditions of humankind. I want to go with courage and to finish the task that has been left for me. I want to do, and I want to fight. Yet, I am no better than Drago if I have no heart. What is the purpose in me fighting? Glory fades so quickly, human accomplishments can always be outdone by the next ambitious activist. And so what is it if I fight for my sake? It isn't about fighting so that I can fulfill my own individual purpose, so that my life is satisfied by my skills. Even if I can be victorious over the force which attacks everything I stand for, it means nothing if I turn and become just another heartless force.
I want to be active in stopping pain, I want to stand in the gap of injustice, I want to interfere on behalf of the weak and helpless. Without a heart purpose that expresses a living connection to a God who envisions the world how He designed it to be, any results I achieve are only finite and temporary. How does it matter if I relieve pain only in the here and now in a dying world, and yet abandon humankind to suffer unimaginable pain for eternity. I must not forget the heart, the why, the reason why I intercede. My God, who is the ultimate necessary being, and who is the living, active, highest form of Love, expresses this love in many ways, one being JUSTICE. This matters to me. May I learn to fight and to bleed, to sweat, to fall, to lose, to surround myself with people who love me, and to let my Heart be my passion. May I be like Rocky.
