Epic

I hear this word in relation to everything lately. It will be an epic day. That was epic. This is epic.

As an avid reader and former English teacher epic has a very specific connotation to me. Epic is Homer. It isn't a song, a youtube video, or a party. Epic is heroic and poetic and majestic. It has great lines, story lines. Epic is history changing, adventure bringing, life giving, blood pumping drama. There are good and evil, dark and light, hero and villain...when it is epic, good triumphs and evil is banished.

I hate when we dilute great words. It means little to say I want to live an epic life when even a meal can be called that.  We have done it with other words as well. We have destroyed words like righteous and awesome; making them trivial. We have removed importance of these words just like we have words like sacrifice. We sacrifice a diet coke every day to feed a third world child. Or sacrifice our seat on the subway for the women in her eighties. We sacrifice an hour on Sundays (except when the Texans play) to visit the Lord's house. But sacrifice and epic are bigger than we can comprehend.
Epic is the battle raging daily between Heaven and Hell for the souls of those who have not yet meet God. Sacrifice is giving your last breath to speak the truth written in your heart so others can find the way. Epic and sacrificial lives are rare. They take everything you have and they are priceless. An epic life is lived when you have a cause and you're willing to lay it all down to advance that cause. Neither are done for glory or fame. Nor are they done without deliberation and intention. Epic takes planning and precision and discipline. Every battle worth fighting costs you something. And so we better count the cost. Sacrifice will leave you with nothing and in the end an epic soul will bare the battle scars.
Do you have the conviction to live life epicly whatever the cost? Do you believe in anything enough to truly sacrifice? I hope I do! And then when my life is complete I hope our Father greets me by saying "Now that was an epic ride, Angela!"