Lately, I tear with little warning. I’m touched by our humanness, the little things that bond us, the seemingly universal emotions we share. I love to know I’m not alone in what I deem the most important aspects of being alive. While watching the docuseries, Cheer, I was overcome on multiple occasions with a feeling of love for these devoted strangers. I’m in complete awe of their commitment; to give of your body, mind and spirit to something you love so much seems a gift and a curse. I can see how they can’t not be in such devotion to cheerleading, and I wonder if actually what they are truly devoted to, is a rather direct shot at god. I speak of god here not as a person, or as a diety, or any other concrete notion we think we have, but more so of the energy of what I imagine is almighty. When I watch these incredible athletes practice and perform, what oozes out of them is a greatness that isn’t just physics; it is spirit in action. As someone who is mostly rather stationary in my life, I can’t help but wonder how it feels to be in the embodiment of such life force. To me, it seems a communion with god that is deeply intimate, as if they are both in possession of god and an expression of it. To love something so much is to meet yourself in god, over and over again. I know that from my relationship with Mike, how I’ve opened my heart to new layers of love and commitment that bring me closer to Mike, and myself, and to this other thing I only know to call god. Maybe this is the point of making commitments, not just because they build integrity in a way that other life experiences can’t, but because they are one of the most direct doorways to a power that is beyond any of us alone. It is found within the adrenaline of winning, within the heartbreak of losing, within the resonance of each human heart who tries, and within our drive to keep striving for more universal love, even when we have no idea that being with god is the only thing we’re ever really striving for.