“A true gentleman knows that a women should smell like butterflies and soft taffy and a man should smell like jet fighters and punching—so use this to smell like a man, man.”
Old Spice Guy

I love the new old spice commercials. A few feature a black man riding on a horse (sometimes backwards), declaring, “be a man, man”! And there is something liberating in that idea—to be a man. Not smelling sweet, but smelling like a PUNCH… this appeals to those of us who have not punched anyone since elementary school (and honestly then I hit like a girl…).

Inside all of us burns a desire for greatness. To do something that rocks the foundation of the world. This is why epic tales hold so much appeal. Take the Percy Jackson series. They are not beautifully written. They will not go down in history. Yet, Meg and I loved reading them.We loved jumping into the adventure.

[Of course part of it is that the books are just fun—a trait which is underrated by the literary world, for that matter, it is missed by all of the world. At lunch I helped Ivy build a paper kite and then we watched it blow in the wind—really it was more of flap. But in that moment, with her laughing and calling “look at my kite”… for a moment, with a simple joy, all was right with the world.]

As we rode home from the Ash Wednesday service Ivy and I were listening to Air One (89.5). A song came on and the guy from Third Day, Mac Powell, was singing, “you are beautiful my sweet, sweet song…” I was not paying attention, until Ivy shouted, “THAT’s MR JAY!” At first I did not understand, until she explained that Mr. Jay was singing in our car. I laughed and called Mr. Jay, but I love how excited Ivy got. Not because of someone famous, but over Mr. Jay.

We often pursue the epic. We want to be the man (or woman) and yet our lives are so plain. Nothing like Percy, or even Mac Powell (much less the Old Spice man). But here we miss the point of this world. In reality, we are not impacted by far off people. While a famous person may influence us, only slightly. Radical change comes from those around us. From our parents, from our friends, from our teachers… the heroes of life are not riding on horses—we have it backwards! To be the man (or woman) is to live this moment to the fullest. Which can only happen when we live this moment for Christ. Then ripples of our life will collide with those around us, rocking the foundation of the world. This is the world’s epic take—salvation has come through God in us!

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