Recently I saw a painting of an eagle. He was launching himself from his perch, his eyes intently focused on something I could not see. Every thing about him was fierce. I thought of how rare that kind of intensity is in our culture today.
Read these definitions of Fierce:
Having or displaying an intense aggressiveness;
Showing a heartfelt and powerful intensity;
Powerful, intense and destructive in extent or intensity;
To show emotion to a great and almost overwhelming extent;
I was mesmerized by the picture of this eagle and purchased it for my friends Dan and Joanne Miller with “48days.” It reminded me of the intense and focused desire they have to enrich the lives of people. They have symbolic images of eagles all over their property.
We need to be fierce people. Fierce is about being… powerful, intense, focused, and yes, even destructive in terms of destroying the barriers that keep us from being everything we were created to be.
The word “Fierce” has a bad rap. We apply it only to negative actions and events like a vicious attack or a destructive storm. It is the how our fierce nature is directed that makes the difference.
I have decided I want to live a fierce life.
Mother Theresa lived a fierce life.
Abraham Lincoln lived a fierce life.
Jesus lived a fierce life.
I want to live with a fierce love of my God and my family.
I want my work to be fiercely focused on making a difference in peoples lives.
I want to be fierce in my efforts to help destroy the power of poverty, evil and injustice.
The thought occurred to me that the enemies of living a fierce life are…
Recliner rot – eagles don’t own them!
Unfocused living – eagles are fiercely intent and intense!
Selfish living – show me a picture of an eagle looking at himself!
Hours of inane television – eagles never watch!
Are you fierce?
What’s keeping you from being fierce?
Let’s encourage each other to live fiercely!
OR maybe we can just be…. mild!
Comments
Love the rich meaning of the word “fierce,” Ken. I think I’ll join you in living fiercely.
Come on in. There’s room.
Great post Ken, so often we let the stuff of live walk all over us. I want to live a fierce life in all I do.
Is it OK for me to just be fiercely mild?
Yep! If you are fierce you have the choice. See my reply to Randy
Is it OK for me to be fiercely mild, maybe just for today?
Randy, your comment is more profound than you know! Only the fierce have the power to be mild. Thanks for contributing to the conversation. Yes. You can be mild today…. but tomorrow….
Thanks Ken.
Tomorrow I shall launch myself from my perch and I will soar with the steely eyed fierceness of a true predator……
Oh who I am kidding, I’ll “roll” out of bed tomorrow morning with every old bone in my body aching and creaking and I will stumble into the kitchen for my morning “prey”, but I will have true fierceness in my mind and in my heart Ken….yes I will !
I’ll join the fierce eagle team, as long as we don’t have to eat road kill 🙂
You summed that up wonderfully, Ken.
Thanks Meg.
I went from mild to fierce–then to lukewarm. It’s time to get fierce again! Thank you for this perfectly-timed post.
You are so welcome.
Ken – hey that beautiful eagle painting is now gracing our Sanctuary as a constant reminder to remain fierce in the fulfillment of my calling. Thanks again for that thoughtful gift!
Can’t wait to see the painting and you and Joanne again.