Men of Fuel,
When I was in the fifth grade, my father was the Captain of the USS Blue Ridge, which was flag ship of the seventh fleet. We were stationed in Japan, so a few weeks after the release of movies in the US, the Navy base on which we lived would start showing the newly released films. For some reason the movie theatre on base had given my father one of the new movies, and this giant movie projector that he set up in the Captain quarters of the ship and invited a friend of mine and his family over to watch this movie. The movie was Rocky.
I remember watching that movie like it was yesterday. The feeling of being completely captivated by a story is something that I will always relate to watching that movie. Think about it, that movie had it all. A guy that no one believed in, a guy that didn’t believe in himself, was given a chance to fight the heavyweight champion of the world. Not only did he make it through all 15 rounds he took the fight to a split decision. Perhaps he didn’t win the fight but he was victorious as no one even gave the guy a chance of making it through round 1. What I find so hard to believe is that they decided to end the story like that. You would think with all the momentum and all of the characters that the story could have continued.
Oh wait……it did
Rocky II was the rematch between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. While only ten months has passed since there last fight, there has been some changes in Rocky’s life. He has married Adrian, and they are expecting a child. Rocky begins training for the fight, but Adrian faints during an argument with her brother Paulie, and Rocky stops training and refuses to leave her bedside until she recovers. She is completely unconscious but scene after scene shows Rocky sitting by her bed reading to her, until the day she wakes up says “There’s just one thing I want you to do for me Rockyâ€, to which he replies “What’s that?â€, and she says WIN. At that moment you realize that it didn’t matter if he was fighting Godzilla, you knew he was going to win…..and he does. But even after that there is still so much that hasn’t been explored yet, that I can’t believe they didn’t make another…….
Oh wait……they did.
Rocky III shows Rocky as the heavyweight champion who seems to be spending more time in the bright lights of fame instead of training for his next fight. However that doesn’t seem to matter much as Rocky never seems to face anyone that challenges him.  At the exact same time they show the rise of Clubber Lang, and hardcore boxer played by Mr. T, who during a confrontation before their first fight, pushes Rocky’s longtime trainer Mickey to the ground causing Mickey to suffer a heart attack. Rocky gets beat by Clubber Lang and Mickey dies. All seems lost until Rocky runs into Apollo Creed who agrees to train Rocky for a rematch with Clubber Lang. Rocky wins and we all left the theater singing “Eye of the Tigerâ€. Too bad the story ended there. After all, if Rocky could beat Clubber Lang, who else could he beat. I guess we will never know, since they never made another.
Oh wait…..they did
Rocky IV begins with Apollo Creed getting back into the ring to fight Russian giant Ivan Drago. Ivan Drago beats Apollo Creed so badly that he dies from the injuries sustained in the fight. Rocky decides to avenge his death and in the end ushers in the beginning of world peace by defeating a Russian Boxer in Russia. Perhaps that wasn’t the part of the story I was looking for, which is a shame, because that is how they decided to end this story.
Oh wait…..no it wasn’t
Rocky V. Seriously? All that time, all that money and this is how you decide to end this story. I felt cheated. Thinking back to sitting in my father’s ship completely lost in the story of the original Rocky was so amazing that Rocky V didn’t even feel like it deserved to be part of this story. After all these years of fighting all the victories, all the loss that Rocky has gone through, maybe I am getting older, but I wanted to see more of the fight in the man instead of the man in the fight. Too bad they never made another….
Oh wait….they did.
Rocky Balboa. This is how you go out. 30 years after the first movie Rocky Balboa gets one more shot. Not at a title belt, but a promotional fight with the new champ. What makes this story so great is that the fight in this movie is a backdrop for everything going on outside of the ring. If you haven’t seen this installment, do yourself a favor and check it out.
I mention the above because sometimes I think I live my life, the same way I watch movies. I divide segments of time and judge them as good or bad based on my previously desired outcome. Unfortunately that’s not how life plays out. Life may have many sub stories but it truly is one ongoing story. Me losing my job, or me winning the big deal isn’t the end of the story. It’s part of the story. Winning the game, or losing the girl, isn’t the end of the story, it’s part of the story. I think that’s one of the reasons that Jesus’ disciples had such a hard time understanding what he was saying. I think it’s the same reason we have such a hard time as well. We are always trying to view eternity through the lens of our current situation or circumstance, instead of the other way around.
Set your alarms and come on out tomorrow morning as we begin our two week prep for Easter with: The Never Ending Story.
Invest and Invite
D.R. Carlson