Fear, Courage, and Jack Bauer.

There are many things that I’m afraid of. Things that I don’t even like to think about because it makes me get that weird feeling in my stomach. I’ve never been known to have a lot of courage. Or bravery. Which I think is why I have the largest man crush on the face of the earth for the one and only Jack Bauer. He’s everything that I’m not.

If you take everything that is Jack Bauer in his human body and take that away, that’s me.

I’m like the absence of Jack Bauer.

The point is, that in general, i’m a wuss. Scared. For example, a couple of weeks ago Anna and I went camping in the middle of the woods down by a stream. I was so freaked out that a wild animal was going to come and attack us in the middle of the night that I slept with my 1 inch pocket knife blade in my right hand. I couldn’t even go to sleep because I would look outside the tent every 2 minutes. Anna kept asking what was wrong. I kept telling her my allergies were keeping me up because I couldn’t breathe. This is my confession to the truth.

In high school. In freaking high school! I was scared to take the trash out behind our house because I saw an episode of Unsolved Mysteries as a kid that featured bigfoot . . . also known as a sasquatch or yeti (I’ve done some research).I mean a 15 year old kid who ran to the garbage can and back so as not to get snatched by an 10 foot man-monkey.

So you get the picture.

But as scared as I get, there’s something inside me that gets dangerously close to confidence at times. Maybe it’s me asking myself (WWJBD) “what would Jack Bauer do” out loud as I approach my mission. But something within me calms me. Assures me. Gives me courage.

I don’t want to get to mystical or anything, but I believe this swell of confidence to be from God.

But I digress. What I admire about Jack Bauer is that he “tries” to do the right thing everytime. Regardless of the rules. Regardless of what is best for the individual. Regardless of what is safe. Regardless of his own interests. Regardless of what makes sense to everybody else. The dude marches to the beat of another drum than everybody else.

And what happens in his purely fictional world, is that he usually gets into temporary trouble (and he’s willing to deal with the consequences). Where everybody is mad at him, or suspicious of him, or doubts him. And then like clockwork, he comes through.

What he said would work . . . works. What he said he would do . . . he does. What he promises on . . . he delivers. What he fights for . . . wins.

In a weird way, I do feel like Jack Bauer sometimes. Or if the fictional world is bothering you, strip away Jack Bauer. Sometimes I feel like everybody is suspicious of me. Like everybody is doubting me or us. I feel like people think we’re nuts. Or heretics. Or loose canons. Or that we don’t have all of our screws tightened down.

Just like Jack Bauer.

But we do what we do anyway . . . despite this . . . because we have a vision of hope. Because we believe in something. Deep down in our guts. Not superficially. Not because it’s what we’re supposed to do. But because we feel it in our bones. Even when it goes against everything that is “conventional”.

There are consequences. Trust me I know. And sometimes things get really crazy in the temporary present. And I know that Jack Bauer is make believe and not real.

But some of the most beautiful pictures of truth are found in our fictional stories and heros.

(roll in sappy instrumental music)
And so I look to Jack Bauer for truth. And you may not agree with me now. You may think I’m a pain. You may think I’m annoying. You may think I have an agenda. You may think I’m screwing everything up.

And you may think I’m wrong. But I hope 5 years from now, 10 years from now, 25 years from now, you’ll see a small glimpse of where we’re coming from. It may take that long. And you may be right in the end.

But at least keep open the possibility that somebody besides you may have some validity.