We want them to be invincible

I was watching an episode of The Ranch, (it’s hilarious and on Netflix if you want to watch it) and there is a scene where the dad is talking to one of his sons while they are outside, and he’s been splitting wood. They are talking and suddenly the dad just falls out. BAM, hits the ground.

Later, when he’s in the hospital, the son says, “I’ve always thought of dad as invincible.” And it brought back this feeling that I have and had of my loved ones as being invincible. Is there or has there been someone in your life that you believed or wanted them to be invincible?

For me

First and foremost was my grandfather, Truman Wigington. I just knew he’d beat the odds.

We read about invincible people in comics and books, see them in movies, and one of those that readily comes to mind is Superman. I mean, he can leap buildings in a single bound, he can stop bullets, and he can turn back time. I’ve not read many Superman comics but when I heard that they had released the comic, The Death of Superman, admittedly, this strange feeling of loss came over me. He’s just a comic book person, right? But he’s also iconic to Americana, not to mention he’s supposed to be…yes, invincible!

When reading Lord of the Rings (yes I know, I mention it every post) we are led to believe that Gandalf is dead, but it appears that he is invincible. He defeats a balrog and comes back just in time.

Why are we so fascinated with immortality and invincibility? I believe it’s because we want to cheat death. We want to prove that we can overcome the greatest fate of all.

It’s also because…

We don’t want to lose our loved ones, it makes us sad. We mourn their loss and some of that mourning, I believe is for us is it not? When our “immortals” fall, we see our own mortality for what it is. We aren’t going to beat those odds. We aren’t invincible, either.

I don’t know about you

But I don’t like that much. Of course not much you can do about it right? Life is an adventure, it is what we make of it. I think that if we were invincible that would take most of the meaning out of living. You’d have no risk, and so the gain would be hollow. Time would mean nothing but as it is, we value it more so than gold. Who among us would roll back time if we could? To add just one extra minute to our lives? One more “I love you” said to someone, one more “forgive me” before we go? If we were invincible we’d live but we wouldn’t be gaining more life, if you take my meaning.

I wrote a poem about Time, that sort of deals with this same subject. You can read it here: Chronos the Unseen

These are my thoughts, what are yous?

Until next time!

Cheers!

Michael S. Wigington

The daughter of a miller, seeking clues from her dead mother’s past, discovers her unknown magic abilities and uncovers the plans of a warlock bent on immortality, now she must find an ancient artifact of terrible power to keep him from loosing a demon upon the earth.

The lone survivor of a mysterious attack on a group investigating why people are missing in Wychering Wood, a budding mage must find her courage and brave the dark forest alone in hopes that she can save the man she loves.