Invictus

Last night I watched The Blind Side. I found the film to a nice contrast to many movies out there today. Incredibly hopeful, and still somewhat unexpected. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend watching it.

But you can see from the title of this blog entry, it isn’t about The Blind Side. It’s about one of the trailers I saw before the feature. In nine days, Invictus will hit the theatres. Based on the true story of newly elected President Nelson Mandela and his challenge to unite his country torn apart by years of apartheid, the already appears to be one of the best films coming out this holiday season. The film focuses primarily on the Mandela’s seemingly strange idea to inspire and unite the country by winning the Rugby World Cup.

I watched the trailer and a phrase kept popping out as did the strange title. It took me only a matter of seconds of searching to learn that the phrases come from William Ernest Henley’s poem, Invictus. The words resonate even more when you realize that Henley wrote them from a hospital bed, on one of his frequent visits (he had one foot amputated, and was likely fighting the amputation of his second foot when the poem was written). Still, Henley writes:

OUT of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

The last two lines jumped out of me during the trailer. Those last two lines jump out at me when I think about what Henley endured.

I think for many, 2009 was still a very rough year. The economy isn’t full recovered and a lot of us simply feel a certain burden. News reports about the holidays seem to always transition to pocketbooks. People are in jobs they don’t necessarily like because they are afraid they can’t get new ones. People want to be charitable, but they aren’t sure if they will be the one needing charity soon. And that’s just the economy… that doesn’t even consider war, the healthcare debate, our divided country, etc. It’s a stress. It’s a burden. It’s preventing us from fully living.

I don’t want to gloss over and say that life is easy or that life is perfect. I’ve had several close friends negatively impacted by the economy. Others are currently serving overseas. When I watch the news, I can link the news story to a close friend or relative and it adds.

But then there is Mandela, there is Henley, and a poem called Invictus. The title is latin for “unconquered.” There are many burdens that we will bear. Life will be tough at times, and in those times, we must ask ourselves if we will be conquered or if we can be “masters of our fate.”