Friendship, Boyhood, and Courage

 As Christine, my sister, and I were beginning a new babysitting adventure we sat down to play some Wii with two young boys. Although they were not allowed to play much they enjoyed the game heavily and it was quite enjoyable, though at times intense, to watch them. As they slung the controllers onto their wrists it seemed as if they where strapping on guns, preparing to battle mushrooms, attacking turtles and poisonous flowers in Mario Brothers. The game especially became intense as they came to a particularly difficult section of the game. They had to defeat a creepy castle in which there was lava instead of water, black turtles and turning knobs similar to those in a clock. The boys had to make sure that they both didn't die at the same time or the game would soon be over. During a particularly intense moment the below was said:

Brother A said to his brother: "You have to wait for me!!"

Brother B: "Of course I'll wait for you, even if I have to die I'll wait for you because you’re my brother. We are going to make it through this together."

And as lava was boiling about him he did wait for his brother and although they didn't beat the level it seemed as if they bonded. Brother B said his sentences with such passion that it struck me. At that moment I could picture them on a field of battle apart from the game due to the passion of the boy’s statements. I suppose it shouldn't have struck me so much, men wanting to wait for each other and fight a battle to the end, but in this world, in which men are so feminized and brothers are not often taught to stick up for each other, it is amazing to see any two boys have such passion over something so minimal as a game. It seems in the world of the men and boys such a game isn't minimal, though, because to those boys that castle was the same as any battlefield and they were just showing their true allegiance to each other. Boy B could have been selfish and try to finish the game by himself but their father, it seems, had taught them that they needed to stick by each other no matter the consequences.

It sort of reminded me of Psalm 133, especially verse 1 (I included verse 2 for context):

Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
 

And in a very small way it also seemed to be a picture of John 15:3-

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
  

I just thought the above was a wonderful picture of friendship, boyhood, and ultimately manliness in a generation that doesn't always think about or cultivate such qualities.