It's 9AM

But first of all, be this...

It gets me every time.

School is out for the summer here, though the weather is refusing to cooperate.

In my memory at least, June in Arkansas was hot.

The humidity starts to thicken up and the thermometer drizzles up toward 90.

It’s hot. It’s damp. And it’s tradition.

Until this year.

Highs in the 80’s, nights in the sixties.

It’s spring weather, which is perfect for baseball.

Perfect for running or just sitting around with friends and having a little drink.

Not so great for swimming or the lake, but with baseball tournaments over the next seven weekends, there is little enough time for that.

People like to remind me that the heat is coming.

They think because I lived in Florida for a decade that I wasn’t raised in Arkansas.

That I am unfamiliar with the seasons.

They say things like, “Wait til August.”

Which can be miserable. 100% humidity, 95 degree temperature and nothing close to an ocean breeze to cool it down.

A perfect time to run in the mornings, have baseball practice in the afternoons and watch movies during the heat of the day.

We didn’t wait until August to start our movie trend though.

This week has been playing outside in the morning, and a movie after lunch.

The movies were the Avengers from Marvel.

And yesterday was ENDGAME.

There is a scene where the heroes are fighting the bad guy, Thanos, and he is winning.

He breaks Iron Man, batters Thor into a bloody mess and tears up Captain America.

Kicks him across the battlefield to lay in the dirt, bleeding, injured, shield broken.

And grits his teeth. He’s hurt.

But he struggles to stand, sways on his feet and tightens the shield straps across his mangled arm, and takes a deep breath, ready to keep fighting.

My breath hitches every time I see it.

One soldier standing up against evil. He knows he can’t win. Not alone. He knows it’s hopeless to fight. The enemy is too strong, too powerful.

Yet he stands.

He girds himself for the fight again and settles on fate. He’s going to lose, but he won’t stop fighting.

To me, that’s America.

I know, I know, I’m romanticizing our ideals. And God knows how much trouble I think we’re in, the criminal politicians, the divisive media, all of the outside elements trying to rip our country apart.

Our history is so… messed up. We’ve been the bad guy, we’ve done bad things, and all in the name of profit and progress.

But…

I’ve been around this world, and seen what else there is. I’ve been in palaces in Europe where monarchs ate like, well, like kings while people starved.

I’ve been in shitholes in Africa where people slept on dirt floors.

And I am well read, which gives me a curse.

The curse of knowledge.

As Tyrrion Lanister said in Game of Thrones, “I drink and I know things.”

I know the USA isn’t always great. Isn’t always the best.

That rich men control our country with their own self interest at heart.

But when Captain America stands up in a CGI movie, and gets ready to die, I get overwhelmed with emotion.

To me, and maybe it’s just me, it’s hope.

We fight to make each day better because there is hope.

Hope for a better tomorrow, and only our actions today can make that happen.

Sometimes being better hurts.

It takes grit and determination and blood and pain to make it happen sometimes.

Sometimes, it just means standing up, ready to fight the good fight again.

It is a never ending battle to make magic happen, and it’s going to take magic to remind everyone that we have to work out it.

Liberty. Justice. For all.

Stand up to bullies. Point out corruption. Demand change.

All of it.

And as Cap takes a breath to throw himself into the fray once more, to die fighting evil, the radio in his ear crackles.

“Cap, on your left.”

The rest of the superheroes show up to help him. Portals open up and they pour out and stand ready beside him.

He’s not fighting alone.

That’s what I want to remember, what I want to be reminded of.

What I want you to know.

We are not standing alone against evil.

It feels like it, sometimes. It feels hopeless and wasted.

But there are those who will stand with us. Those who are coming, and those who feel as adrift as we do sometimes.

They need to know we don’t give up.

That we stand shoulder to shoulder, fight for the men and women to our left and right.

We stand up for the weak, the poor huddled masses, and we will not give up.

I apply it to the ideals mentioned above. Truth. Freedom. Liberty for all.

Ideals that sound great in a song, but are hard in the day to day.

Sometimes, it’s easier to watch a movie.

Or go play baseball with the kid.

Except you know I think those small acts add up to a big wave of action.

Teaching moments so the next generation is ready to take up the mantle.

Maybe I’m reading too much into make believe.

But I’ve read a lot of history, and most of that is fiction too.

I don’t want to rewrite history though.

I just want us to strive to create a better today they can read about tomorrow.

You aren’t alone. You have my thoughts, my prayers, my strength and if I’m quoting movies, “my sword, my bow and my axe.”

Remember that changing the world against evil can start with one act of kindness. Be kind today and expect kindness from others.

Kindness gets me every time.

Be kind and go hit LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE to help OUR CHANNEL GROW.

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