Surrender

Surrender

Imagine: a masterpiece, a captivating work of art encased in a solid gold frame for the world to depict. It contains a scene that portrays triumph and defeat. Imagine the hauntingly vivid scene. Close your eyes and submerge yourself into the art.

Imagine a field a meadow perhaps. It was once a landmark of nature’s beauty but now saturated with the disease of the human condition. Fluffy clouds blustered out by a brutal and heinous battle of a long and tremendous war. This endeavor is the last battle. This last fight is a battle to death. The meadow is plagued with exhausted men in uniforms of dividing loyal colors. They defend their loyalty and hold their ground. They sacrifice their lives for a cause. They give their lives for a solution.

Their faces are distorted in agony and pain. Their faces and bodies are covered in bloody mud and soot from the explosions of gun powder and lead. Their noble uniforms are torn and tattered. Anguish, desperation, fear and insanity consume their souls to fight harder. Their minds scream “Onward to glory” but their hearts long for peace.

Smoke billows, dirt and rocks soar thru the air and bodies drop like flies. Enormous cannonballs of faith and righteousness swarm thru the clustered groups of men left fighting. Souls lingering on to fight for an imaginary and invisible concept. The sound can haunt a bystander’s mind. Yells for relief, cries of despair and screams of fear pierce eardrums. Bodies drop like the tears these men weep. Memories of their loved ones in a saner and safer place allow only moments of comfort. This battle appears to never end. It feels like it could last forever. Hope diminishes and hatred bubbles. Chaos and death have reaped thru this once beautiful meadow.

Imagine in the distance a galloping refuge. It takes the form of a horse and rider. As it draws near the men begin to take notice. The sight is alluring. A blinding white horse that is magnificent and strong. With flesh that illuminates in the light providing mesmerizing glows. Upon the horse’s back is a rider. He wears no colors that match with either side of the war. His attire clean and crisp and his skin free of blood and soot. He sits proud and broad and his posture is one of a king. His appearance generates a calming aroma as it approaches. This mesmerizing couple drifts thru the vicious sea of men and turmoil with ease.

The most amazing part of this galloping duo is the flag the rider carries. He proudly waves this symbol thru the air. It flows among the blood and the tears that stain the meadow and the men. The sight stops the battle in its tracks. All that is moving is the flag waving its solution. It offers so much with ripple. Offering an alternative, a change and signaling defeat. More so a relief for defeat. The world stops. Actions frozen like a profound portrait encased in an embellished frame. The only movement is the white flag of surrender. With each ripple signaling an ends. An un-biased surrender.

Life is game on the human condition. No matter what life throws at you, you find the strength the carry on. Thinking of surrendering as weakened state only makes you weak. Surrendering is not a defect of character. It’s strength to acknowledge that you can’t do something. It doesn’t make you weak and it doesn’t mean you didn’t try. It means that you can stop and realize that whatever it is that you are fighting, you just can’t beat. It’s ok because you don’t have to conquer everything in life. Life beats us all up but the key is to know when you need to surrender.

Each time I heard surrender, the scene I laid before you pauses my thoughts and that monumental scene is all I can see. A battle among many battles I have fought in my life. I have had many opponents and various enemies to wage war with. This biggest enemy is life. Life can be brutal and will take stabs at the soul. The flag at first signaled the sense of negativity of losing. It signaled in my mind that I was weak or a sucker or a loser. Now, I view it as a chance of hope and strength. It’s a relief from the soul shattering demise that life hands us. An offer to humbly clean up the bloody, teary and muddy mess left behind from the battles fought in life. The victor in future battles is the one who can be strong enough to wave that white flag.