Edwin Derricutt is pretty smart.

Bit of a shout out to Kiwi music there. Love it.

So, I go to the movies a lot. Usually on my own (which I’m told is kinda lame but meh, I don’t care) during the day which means I get to spend the whole day thinking about the film and then I can blog about it. So introducing a new series on the S.S.T. blog:

This morning I saw The Expendables. Sylvestter Stallone’s brought together all his fellow “we-do-our-own-stunts” tough guy actors to form a bunch of dudes who like to shoot guns, kick people, and blow antique-filled buildings up at night. Very violent film, some dodgy language (Jason Statham on true form here) and you won’t want to eat sausage meat for a while. Think a more commercial/Hollywood version of Inglorious Basterds from last year.

Anyways, there’s a bit in the movie where Jet Li’s character is chatting to Stallone about life as a short guy. Saying things like “I have to run faster, do more, jump higher, and put in extra effort because I’m smaller than the rest of you. Everything you do at 100%, takes me 130% because I’m disadvantaged with my size.” In this team of massive, muscly, ‘my-arms-are-as-thick-as-you’re-neck-and-I-eat-small-dogs-for-snacks’ guys, this weedy, short, nerdy-looking feels like he is always needing to give it MORE to make up for his lack of physical ‘dog-eating-ness’.

Man I can relate to that.

I’ve been the short guy my whole life. If you look at all my school class photos, I’m in the top row, left corner in all of them.

Cos that’s where the shortest boy always stands.

So yea, there was this mindset in school that I had to “make up” for my lack of physical stature and ability by really giving more than my best in my studies. It totally paid off, too. I’m pretty bright and became known as “a smart guy” rather than “a short guy”. But that’s not the point.

A long time ago, there was this guy named John. He was a baptiser, so people called him John the Baptist (real imaginative names back then huh). He was baptizing (since that was what he did) and on the other side of the river, Jesus was baptizing people as well. John’s mates said to John, “Aren’t you a bit gutted that more people are going over to get baptized by Jesus than by you?” To which John replies:

No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’  It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

It’s like John knows and is totally sweet with the fact that he’s small, and Jesus is the big deal.

Man, how much energy do we waste trying to do more, faster, better, bigger when really we can just be fine knowing that we’re meant to be small

and Jesus is meant to be big.

If you haven’t heard Edwin Derricutt’s song “Being Small” yet, head to his myspace and check out his album Three Hours South.

So that’s what I learnt from The Expendables. Let me know what you think by commenting or email me

dg

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