“Burn the Ships,” a new song by for KING & COUNTRY, has been getting a lot of play time in my life lately.
The song is inspired by a captain in the 1500s by the name of Hernán Cortés. Before entering into the greatest battle of his life, he instructed his men to burn all of the ships they’d sailed on to arrive. This left them no choice but to stay and fight. They embraced the future with necessary courage.
This story (and this song!) is such an incredible metaphor for our call to move forward. Maybe you’re moving on from a breakup, or from a mindset.
But moving on isn’t quite that simple. In most cases, moving on means embracing something new and getting rid of something old.
It’s not unnatural to hate or fear the end of things. Cortés knew that, or else he would not have had to give the command to burn the escape route in the first place! There is something about an ending that evokes a sense of sadness and loss. Whether it’s the mild disappointment at the end of a beloved book or movie, or a profound sense of sadness and finality at the end of someone’s life.
Consider, though, the infinitely important role of an ending to all of time and existence. That’s right. Endings are so impactful we can measure their effect on a scale that enormous.
From the very beginning, endings open pathways to bigger, better things.
For a baby to begin walking, he or she has to stop crawling first.
In order to become a working adult, we have to graduate from a childhood education.
To commit to one person forever, it’s vital that all the other romantic relationships end!
Praise God we are believers, because even in the “end” that is death, it’s not truly an end for us. There is no such thing as an end for us in any circumstance. If death doesn’t exist for us, then nothing on this earth should invoke such fear.
The only thing we need are matches to burn the ships and head on to the next thing.
Knowing when to burn
If you’re breaking something off, you’ll probably be cautioned to not burn any bridges.
I disagree.
When a door is closed, it needs to be closed all the way. There’s nothing for us in the in-between. Doors that are cracked let in cold air. Boxes that aren’t closed risk losing whatever’s inside.
Bridges that aren’t burned give us a pathway to a life we have chosen to leave behind.
I’m certainly not advocating that the next time you quit your job, you shout profanities or knock over tables. I’m not saying that you should unleash a list of everything you hate about a person when you break up. That’s what people imagine when they say “don’t burn any bridges.”
You can’t open your hands to receive new blessings when your hands are still closed tightly around something else. If you’ve been asked by the Lord to let something go, to leave it behind, to burn the ships—then do it.
And go all in.
Here are a few heartstrings that you may feel tugging if it’s becoming time for you to move forward:
- Your job doesn’t bring you joy
- Your relationship makes you feel worse about yourself
- Your friends are more judgmental than they are supportive
- You feel alone where you’re living
- You have a sense that there must be more out there
Be brave
I can’t advocate for you setting your life ablaze without knowing your story.
However, what I can tell you is that what’s waiting for you on the shore is certainly greater than whatever you’re leaving behind. I can say this with confidence because we serve a God who loves us.
As we begin our new year as Catholics (and head into a new calendar year as well!), ask the Lord if there’s a big move that he’s asking you to make this year. What is he inviting you to end?
When you’re ready to light the match, be brave.
