Brotherhood

When I feel something, I write it. Those are the the rules around here. I am a naturally rebellious, hard headed, "I am going to do shit my way" man. My favorite poem is "Invictus" (I can't think of a second because I am not a poetry guy) In an earlier piece I stated that I am going to do my best to be obedient, and that I would also respect muse. So here we are.

Who is my brother?

Let me first give you a glimpse into my head. What I am about to say is not all Biblical, just my own thoughts. I believe that God is a spirit. I also believe that we are made in God's image, which is spirit. I think that man is an individual expression of that spirit while belonging to the collective human consciousness. This isn't a metaphysical piece, so I am going to leave it at that.

My brother can be any man. Let me explain

A lesson from 2nd mom

I was fortunate enough to basically have a second family. My best friend's mom essentially acted as my second mother. What an amazingly beautiful woman she is, inside and out. Once when we were all young, we had one of those long running teenage angsty fights within the second family. 2nd mom had finally had enough and in a rare moment of frustration she said " You are lucky enough to have family, there is a whole world out there that doesn't care about you one bit and will hurt you any chance it gets. Your family are the people who will look out for you". Well clearly I wasn't biologically related, so it became perfectly clear that family is a bond that can surpass blood. That clicked.

A brother looks out for you

I admire Sylvester Stallone. Not only did I spend my childhood watching movies like Rocky and Rambo (Cobra too, that is 80's gold), but as an adult I learned to respect Sylvester Stallone on a whole different level. Have you ever heard the story about how he was able to play "Rocky"? I won't get into it here, you can hear it from the man himself on Youtube. Point is, in one of the latter Rocky movies he is having a discussion about life with his son. You probably know the scene. That shit resonates with me anon. Life will destroy you if you let it. I know this all too well.

A brother is there for you when this happens. A brother will have your back no matter the circumstances, and sometimes that means telling you some stuff you don't want to hear. A brother will throw himself into harms way to bail you out of a tight spot.

I have brothers who can call me at any time, and if they need me. I am there. This is what brotherhood means to me. It is us against a world that hates us, a brotherhood based on love and respect is sometimes our biggest natural bullwark.

In case you haven't noticed

The world is a hard place for everyone right now. Hate and division are the orders of the day. It's all lies. As much as I would like for everyone to act right, that is not something that I have any control over. What I do have control over is my response to the world around me. So I am telling you now, if you are in a tight spot and you need a brother. I am here. We will build a community of brothers, and we will have each others backs in these trying times. That is all I have to say for now. Until next time, Jack.