Whoa...

Straight White Eric is a fan of Robert W. Service, and after the poem he posted (a while ago, but with a new link to it) so am I.

Go read The Law of the Yukon. My favourite lines follow:

Wild and wide are my borders, stern as death is my sway,
And I wait for the men who will win me -- and I will not be won in a day;
And I will not be won by weaklings, subtle, suave and mild,
But by men with the hearts of Vikings, and the simple faith of a child;
Desperate, strong and resistless, unthrottled by fear or defeat,
Them will I gild with my treasure, them will I glut with my meat.

It makes me think of the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge and how he talks of every man needing 3 things in life - a battle to fight, an adventure to live and a beauty to rescue. Men, especially Christian men, have been trained to be "nice guys" and have lost sight of what life is meant to be. Men should be dangerous. That's the way they were created. Society, and far too often the church, are doing their best to tell men and boys to be nice, don't be bold & daring. Sit quietly, don't play with guns, don't even point a stick and say "bang!" Fighting is bad.

Well, sometimes a fight is what is needed. A fight for life, for love, for a marriage, for what is right. A woman's heart thrills when a man is able and willing to stand and fight for her. (Speaking of women, John & his wife Staci wrote a similar book for women called Captivating. It is honestly one of the best and most life-changing books I have ever read. I believe both men & women should read both books to get a better handle on what the other sex thinks & needs.) I don't pray for my future husband (if God has one out there for me) near as often as I should, but I do pray that I will be a Godly woman worthy of a Godly and yet dangerous man. God & I are working on it...

The poem also reminded me of standing on a rock at the top of Pike's Peak, above a steep drop-off (not smart for someone with vertigo issues, but oh well - what's life without a little risk, right?) and just drinking in the sheer awesomeness of the view. Getting a glimpse of how small I am in relation to the rest of the world and yet knowing that I belong to the Great God who made those mountains & lakes.

One quick quote from Wild at Heart - The only way to live in this adventure ... with all its danger and unpredictability and immensely high stakes ... is in an ongoing, intimate relationship with God.

Seriously, even if you're not a Christian and don't believe in God, these books are still great for digging into your heart and soul and giving you the freedom to live as we were created to.

(And once again, I've gone off on a bunny trail. I'd meant this to be some quick linky-love & the poem snippet, but ah, well...)