Friday, January 3, 2014

Groomsmen Part 6: CRH III

Charlie Ringo Heinzmann. The Third. The man, the myth, the legend. He was by far my closest friend in my time at Truman and is splitting best man duties with Jack Klein in just 8 short days. 

I mean, you know when a guys middle name is Ringo, you got yourself a gem. In all honesty, this has been one of my hardest posts to write. For the simple fact that I know words can do no justice to the value of my friendship with him. So, instead of beatin around the bush I'll just get right into why I love old Chuck Ringo. 

Charlies from the picturesque town of Metamora located in the beautiful state of Illinois. It is a mirror image to my hometown of Kearney, just slightly smaller in size. The town revolves around the high school and its athletics teams much like Kearney. And they love their football in Metamora, having a storied winning tradition much like Kearney. We are from the same type of town, and we are the same type of guys. 

Charlie and I both enjoyed some success in our high school football careers, and brought with us a common attitude to Truman State Football that went something like this: "I'm gonna start for 3+ years and show these dudes what it takes to win. I'm gonna be a reason Truman Football turns things around.

And though Truman had their first winning season in a while this past year, it didn't exactly happen how Chuck or I thought it would. Neither of us started as quickly as we desperately wanted to. We didn't enjoy team success or the turnaround we wanted. And Charlie tore his ACL. Twice. 

Even though I was fortunate to not have any serious injuries in my career, It's safe to say Charlie and I shared very similar frustrations and setbacks regarding football. We came in with the same mindset and attitude, and were disappointed by the same things. I won't go into any details, because quite frankly the details do not really matter. What matters is this: Charlie understood exactly how I felt. He understood with perfection my every longing, desire, dream, and let down because he had the same ones. This is, in my opinion, one of the most tremendous qualities of Jesus' personality. I'll let Eldredge take it from here:

"A notion has crept into our perceptions of Jesus. And this notion has done great damage to our experience of him. Its the notion that Jesus was really ''pretending'' when he presented himself as a man. We hold fast to the belief that Jesus was God. The heroic actions and miracles of his life attest to it. So, when we read the more human moments of Jesus' life, we feel that Jesus was sort of.....cheating. With a nod and a wink, we know whats really going on...Einstein just dropped in to take the first grade math quiz. Mozart is playing the flute for the kindergarten choir. After all, we're talking about Jesus here. The guy walked on water, raised Lazarus from the dead. He never broke a sweat right? But what about that terrible sweat in Gethsemane? 
Then he went to Gethsemane. He took Peter, James, and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here with me." Jesus said to them. And then he fell down and prayed, "Abba Father, if its possible, take this suffering from me." And being in anguish he prayed more fiercely, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Mark 14:22, Luke 22:44) 
Deeply distressed. Overwhelmed with sorrow. Anguished. This doesn't sound like someone cheating to me.He begs his Father, with tears, that this cup might pass from him. he doesn't want to do it. Sweat like blood puring from his tormented brow. Does this sound like Einstein adding two and two? 
Jesus was human. Really. When Jesus gets word his cousin and dear friend John has been beheaded what does he do? He takes a boat, leaves the crowds behind, and sails some place he can be alone. The man needed to get away, needed to grieve, just as you would. I cannot say this more emphatically--life affected Jesus. He never did anything halfheartedly. When he embraced our humanity, he didn't pull a fast one by making a show of it. He embraced our humanity so fully and totally he was able to die. God can't die. But Jesus did. 
It will do your heart good to discover Jesus shares in your humanity....The more we can grasp his humanity, the more we will find someone we can approach, know, love, trust, and adore."  (Beautiful Outlaw)

Now all of the 3 amigos (Pooch, Dusty and Chuck) had this characteristic as well. But Charlie embodied this piece of Jesus to a deeper personal level for me. Like Jesus, he didn't just take on my struggle, he knew my struggle. Knew what I was feeling, what I was going through, what I was fighting against. To have such a friend that knows exactly how you feel is unspeakably valuable to the human heart. 

You don't have to be misunderstood. Ever. Jesus got pissed. Jesus laughed. Jesus farted. Jesus got hungry and thirsty. He needed to sleep. Jesus cried. He felt loneliness, rejection, longing. He felt the whole range of human emotion and feeling. Joy, weakness, sorrow. 

Chuck was a daily reminder of my Jesus friend who understands me exactly and perfectly. And that's why I love Charlie Heinzmann. 

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity....Jesus took on flesh, and made his dwelling among us. (Hebrews 2:14, John 1:14)

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