An Oath Carved Into His Bones

Sweat and blood dropped down his face, hitting the mat underneath his feet. 

But he was still smiling. 

How was he still smiling?

Surely he's in agony. He had to have been exhausted beyond belief. 

The. Man. Just. Kept. Coming. Forward. 

I reckon he is possessed. 

Broken bones. A broken nose. A broken home. All alone. He kept smiling. He kept pushing forward. 

His eyes were alive. I swear he slowed down time. This dude, he has to be out of his damn mind. 

He was kind before. Not anymore. Not anymore . . .

He was fire. He was stone. He was gold. In the scorching heat, his story was being told. Through the passion inside of his soul, he became so much more.

He had grown old. I know he feels fear, yet, still, he’s bold. 

He feels so much fear, yet he still chooses to be brave . . . This is not how a sane man behaves . . . 

An oath was made a long, long time ago. A promise to himself. He carved it onto his bones. No matter what happened, he would be free to pursue his dreams. No matter what happened to him, his spirit would be free. 

Baptized in a pool of blood and sweat, he was reborn. He kept his head down, and walked through the storm. No. No. He became the storm. 

But looking at him now, he makes my insides feel strangely . . . warm. He’s a storm. So why does he smile? Why does he stir something inside of me? 

If he can do this, then what could I do? He’s just a man making his last stand. Blood ran through his veins. He became more than a name.  

If he could do this, then . . . WHAT THE HELL CAN I DO??

He can’t keep this up. He can’t. There’s no freakin way. He’s just a man . . . 

Perseverance. That’s what it is. He perseveres when others would quit. How does he do it?? It’s so easy to quit . . . Death is as light as a cloud; duty as heavy as the cosmos. What a burden to bear . . . What a glorious purpose!  

If he can take a stand like this, if he can show me what the indomitable spirit is capable of, if he can feel overwhelmed by fear, and still stand here, with blood and sweat dripping down off of his face . . . I wonder . . . I wonder . . . I wonder if the same power lies hidden inside of me? . . .

CH 11/27/25