No Brother Left Behind

​I have this series of pictures that captures one short event in the boys' lives. It was ten years ago, I guess.

Elliott took off across a field at a local park.

Elliott looks back and sees his little brother wasn't keeping up.

Elliott turns around and goes back to get his brother.

They are walking hand in hand, together, across that field.

Yesterday, I watched a similar scene unfold. Standing there watching it, I remembered that scene at the park. I wondered if the heart of that little boy was still in the heart of this teen. It was. Maybe bigger than ever.

Elliott had just crossed a cold stream on our hike yesterday. It was a tricky crossing if you had in mind at all staying dry - which in yesterday's chilly air, that was a good thing to have in mind.

Ian was doing his best to follow the path Elliott had blazed. Or waded. And Elliott was happily shouting back some "pro" tips as Ian tried to navigate each next rock or log.

And then it happened.
The next picture.
Elliott started making his way back to his brother.

"Hand me your stick," he said.

In that moment, I was back in that field with a couple of pre-schoolers. And in that moment, I was taken on a ride of gratitude from a moment of loving the hearts of innocent children playing in a field to truly appreciating the hearts of a couple of young men maturing in life.

In that moment, I got to feel like there's a lot going right in their lives. That they've seen a lot of the right stuff from their parents - and from their family and coaches and teachers and friends and friends' parents. Refusing to leave your brother behind isn't a mantra you adopt without first seeing someone else - or a lot of someone elses - live it out first.

And in that moment, I looked to the future - with hope. That both of my boys will one day be able to translate this idea of not leaving their brother behind in a field or a stream, to a dedication to not leaving their Brother behind in this world.

Because God doesn't see small "b" brothers. In his eyes, we are all big "B" brothers. We are all each other's - not separated by names in a phone book - but joined together by one giant word: Humanity.

And there's a lot of humanity being left behind. So many of us have reached the other side of the field - or the stream - and for whatever reason, we aren't stopping often enough to look back. To see hands and sticks reaching out.

One day I dream of seeing my boys as men, reaching for the hands and sticks of the most vulnerable. And if they do, I'll remember back to that series of pictures in the field. I'll remember back to this picture and that stream and this dream.

Maybe I'll be sitting on the front porch of a one room cabin in Montana when I get to see it - living out my dream.

But even if I'm not - no matter where I am or what I am doing - if somewhere in the world I get to see that I've helped raise brothers to help Brothers - my biggest dream in life will have come true.