Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Health, Fitness and Religion
Iron Heart: The Bushido Spirit Exemplified

Iron Heart: The Bushido Spirit Exemplified

Last updated on: February 13, 2025 at 7:16 pm by Andrew

0 Comments

Iron Heart: The Bushido Spirit Exemplified 2025-02-13T19:16:22-05:00 Andrew

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Perspective. The world looks so different now in ways that I could never have imagined. As a husband, father, athlete, coach, medical device professional, and writer, I thought I had leaned into incredible feats of adversity philosophically and in my own life. I now have to laugh at how little I thought I knew – and how real, personal, and harrowing this journey has been (and will be). At the same time, I’ve seen a faith and strength modeled by my seven-year-old son that has amazed, inspired, and changed me.

To that end, an update. William did amazing with his surgery. The large tumor at the back of his brain was removed. A biopsy will determine what’s next with the other small tumors, but we remain hopeful of the prognosis. Either way, this is just the start of a long journey ahead, but we seem to be over the first huge mountain.

I write on martial arts and philosophy, and I’ve always admired the Bushido spirit of the Samurai and virtues that include justice, courage, compassion, respect, integrity, honor, and loyalty. I’ve never seen such a Bushido spirit exemplified – and by a seven-year-old boy. He has a faith, hope, and love that can move mountains – and has.

Before surgery, his Mom and I prayed with him. I also let him know there was an army of people praying for him and played him the song “Voices that Care” which is a song that I dedicated to my cousin Nicky years ago (another incredible cancer survivor). Though this is not Desert Storm (to the soldiers that this song was originally addressed), William is a warrior fighting for his life inspiring us all back home. Some lyrics that spoke to me:

“Just can’t let you feel alone, when there’s so much love at home. We’re sending out to you… The courage that you’ve known, the bravery you’ve shown, clearly lights the way… We’re all praying you remain strong” … You are the light… Stand tall, stand proud, voices that care are crying out loud… When you close your eyes tonight, feel in your heart how our love burns bright”.

I sang these words as best I could (amongst tears and getting choke up) and assured him there are so many voices that care that are thinking and praying for him. He sat there taking all this in coloring a heart (which he later split into 6 pieces for each member of our family).

I told him when gets scared for the battle ahead to think about “just another hockey game on Saturday with Dad” (I have the privilege of coaching this brave warrior) – and after this battle “we’ll get our Starbucks refresher as always” (hockey players are very superstitious).

As we made the walk down to the OR, he held his Iron Heart. I told him that if he gets scared or nervous, just squeeze and know that God, his family, and thousands of people around the world are with him. In surgery holding, I played one of our “pre-game” songs “The Boss” by James Brown. He smiled, laughed and held on to his Iron Heart. “You got this buddy”, his Mom and I said, and he was wheeled off.

No alternative text description for this image After the surgery, he was still asleep and one of the OR nurses mentioned that William was adamant that two items do not get lost – his “battle mask” and his Iron Heart.

I am forever changed by this young man.

William. My son. My hero. My Iron Heart

Next: Iron Heart: First Period Intermission

General Christian

Health, Fitness and Religion

Family, Parenting and Religion

Iron Heart

Previous Post

February 9, 2025

Iron Heart: Warrior William's Pre-Surgery Protocol

Next Post

February 13, 2025 Iron Heart: First Period Intermission

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"While all attempts at comprehending the purpose of God's intervention into the natural world, what ..."

klatu

Einstein on a Holy Curiosity

""Holy curiosity" is not an idea but rather a practice as well as an attitude. ..."

SolrWind

Einstein on a Holy Curiosity

"Herm,I'm not sure what's going on but I'm not showing anything on my end for ..."

Andrew Murtagh

Vance Morgan on Freelance Christianity and ..."

"Andrew, I and God are being misrepresented by a fraud. Compare the number of comments ..."

Herm

Vance Morgan on Freelance Christianity and ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Deep Scene Breakdown Deep Song Breakdown Events with Adam Lee Iron Heart Musings Podcast Quote Bank

Select a Month January 2026 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 March 2025 February 2025 November 2024 August 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 September 2023 August 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 August 2020 June 2020 March 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2016 April 2016 November 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Whose bones were to be carried from Egypt back to Canaan?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Levi Joseph Jacob Benjamin