If you are among the many, many people who I have been privileged enough to meet and now call friend in the years since, chances are you have no idea what that journey even was, or is, but essentially, "The Exoskeleton" was a semi regular blog post type thing telling the story of a young man who became so afraid of the world that he built up impenetrable barriers (The Exoskeleton) to hide and protect himself; barriers which would eventually go on to become his prison. It is also the story of how that same young man came to faith, and by God's grace was able to break down every single one of those barriers by the power of the Holy Spirit and eventually make a commitment to get baptised and declare that faith to the world in ways "so big and obvious that he couldn't hide it even if he tried."
That young man was me, and that commitment is one I have been living by ever since. It seems kinda crazy to me to think that I began on this journey so long ago, and that life has changed so much in that time, but this one thing has been a constant throughout, a light in the darkness and a hope in the struggle (and there has been much of both).
All this brings me onto the thing I actually wanted to talk about today: Why "The Entity"?
The answer here is actually fairly simple, "The Entity" is the being inside the suit, the truest version of myself. To quote the dictionary definition: "a thing with a distinct and independent existence". Something that would not have been possible without the freedom won for us on the cross, two thousand years ago, by the one who gave everything he had to win it.
As we enter into Holy week this week I am once again struck by just how significant that sacrifice - and the freedom that comes with it - truly is. This isn't just some small scale thing that can easily be brushed aside. It's seismic. It's world shaking, and it changes everything.
That's who I worship.
That's who I praise.
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Anyone who has been around for a while will know that I usually end these posts with a link to a song, and this is no exception. I'm not going to share the entire exoskeleton story again here, but I will instead share with you some of the music that inspired me to write it at the time in the hope it might inspire some of you as well:
1. Till it's over - Tristam - Strength in the face of adversity
2. Growing up - Mr FijiWiji - Feeling lost/desire for something more
3. Beyond The Veil - Lindsey Stirling - Self discovery/going deeper/light in the darkness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg7L0OQiN78
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg7L0OQiN78
4. Shatter Me - Lindsey Stirling - Breaking free
5. Nothing Stopping Me - Vicetone - Living free
6. Once Again - Tristam - Rebuilding what was lost
