My Brother's Deeper

Brothers

We finally arrive at ourselves. After talking about our parents, we thought it only fair to turn the lens (or microphone) on one another, to see just how we got here.

It proves harder than you would imagine to go inward into one's self. To really scratch the walls the ego builds for coping with the world. 

To get a view of one's self as other's do can be a jarring thing. But that's what we're here as brothers to do. Peel back the layers. 

Cain and Abel

We talk about the most infamous of brothers, Cain and Abel. Most of us know the the story in which murder is introduced into the world. That one brother slew the other. 

But what do we really know about these brothers and what led to this dark and fateful outcome? Why did God favor one more than the other? And why was killing your own brother the answer?

Of course, we may never know all the answers; but we try. Because that's what we do. Try to understand the world around us. 

What Have We Learned?

Of course, we learn things from our parents. But what are those things besides walking and talking and feeding ourselves? 

The broad personality traits, yes, we know those well. You got your Dad's sense of humor and your Mom's humility. Sure. 

Have you ever gone deeper with a fine-tooth comb? What have you really learned from those that brought you into this world? There's always something you take for granted. 

Father Part 2

What is it to be a man? We find that our father more than likely struggled with this conundrum just as much as we do. And how do we define him as a man and a father?

More importantly, how did he define himself in a life cut-off too soon by sickness and death.

Answers to these questions may never come to light. But we do find a little clarity and ease in knowing that the man we knew as father did his best and that's all he ever owed us. 

 

Father Part 1

It's been over twenty years since our father passed away. And we can feel time's puzzling elasticity. To put a finger on a man's short life comes none too easy. 

 

We start at the beginning, as we always do. Back to Bastrop and it's pulpy monotony. But back maybe even further to mysterious leavings in Mississippi. 

 

To a man that grew up only wanting to tell jokes and draw. A life-long passion that slipped sometimes into volatile ways and addictions. This is the man we knew as our father. 

Abraham

Abraham is the father of three of the most well known religions in the world. Yet, it's hard to reconcile the lengths he had to go to get where God needed him. 

 

We use Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling to dissect Abraham's inner life and better understand the man's place in the cosmic scheme of things. 

 

Along the way we take tangential walks among our own equally prophetic and mundane dreams and ponder their meanings and come to a place of contentment with Abraham's decision. 

Addendums and Travels

Having put the subject of our Mom to rest in the last episode, there were still a few things nagging at us. Well, one of us happened to be on the road to ease the lingering uneasiness. 

And there were some tough things learned and some even more enigmatic feelings that followed. 

We think we can look back from where we are in the world and see the string that goes all the way back to the beginning and find our way home. But sometimes it knots and frays and the past is unclear.

Such is life in the present. Unraveling strings to better see ourselves and the ties that bind. 

 

 

Mother Part 2

We conclude our journey along the meandering path we've taken with our mother over the years.

Often times it was exactly what one would think. And often times it wasn't. It was unique to say the least. For us, anyway. For two boys who grew up in small-town Louisiana. 

So, at the end of this excavation, we come to a realization that our mother is a person with wrongs and rights in her, just trying to get by. Like all of us. 

 

https://youtu.be/ZY6HgFyoupw

https://youtu.be/LhH3d37OYyk

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B008EGV4BQ&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_-u6-EbX00A7B6

 

Mother Pt 1

Finally. We talk about our Mother. 

We recount her early upbringing in Peru and her coming of age in New Jersey. 

We talk about how she met our father in the Army and what Bastrop, LA was like for her as a Yankee in Confederate land. 

We talk about her second marriage and how much happiness that brought our family before the uprooting begins. 

 

https://youtu.be/1_I4WgBfETc

https://youtu.be/x4lXnLJ_gZg 

https://youtu.be/lHdXQAQHjd8 

 

 

Separation Part 2

We conclude our ruminations on being separated in so many forms and instances. 

We talk about coming back to Louisiana in our late teens and what it was like to cut the strings of parental control, as we entered two different rites of passages. 

And we come full circle in our own relationship as brothers. 

 

Below are some links to a few things we mentioned in the pod.

 

https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/17809/west_coast_avengers_1985_67

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrb4MsD0zdw