On page 539 of my mission copy of Jesus the Christ, written in a tiny pencil scribble along the crease of a mangled dog ear, are the words "promise and do."
On page 358, next to the title As A Little Child, is written "believe believe believe."
On page 612, below "Behold thy mother!" --"promise and love."
On page 443: "my treasure = God. Wife. Children."
Ten years ago, sitting at a makeshift desk balancing precariously on the edge of the equator, a boy wrote secret messages to a stranger who he thought he knew. A boy who wasn't afraid to promise, or do, or believe, or love, or treasure his treasure. A boy who had no idea that his greatest enemy would be his future self. A boy, as I recall, brave enough to face me now with all of my experience and learning and say simply "You don't know. I do."
Shhhh. Listen to the boy who was, but is not, yourself.
