The beauty of praiseworthy

By Jaron Brandt

I don’t cry often. In fact, I usually can’t even remember the last time water came out my eyes due to something other than allergies or spicy food. Some might say I’m just not in tune with my emotions, but I think it’s more than that. Growing up in a family dominated by Y-chromosomes, I was kind of subliminally taught that crying just wasn’t manly.

Actually, now that I think about it, the Brandt Men were almost always anti-emotion. To this day, I have never seen my dad tear up even a little bit. On the other end of the spectrum, my brother still makes fun of me for being the only guy smiling in our family pictures.

So while I may have been conditioned to remain a brick wall in the face of both tragedy and a camera lens, there is one thing that has always, and probably will always hit me in the feels. I can vividly remember the moment I realized that I had a weakness.

Every Monday for the last two years, I go to Chick-fil-A for lunch with the staff of the church where I work. Sometimes however, if it is a special occasion, we will shake things up and go someplace a bit nicer.

This particular Monday, we chose to eat at Alfredo’s. I don’t remember much about that meeting, but I do remember what was on the television. Sports Center was reviewing the highlights of that last week in the NFL. It was the week when Peyton Manning, after signing with the Denver Broncos, returned to the stadium of his former team — the Indianapolis Colts.

They showed a clip of Peyton walking out of the tunnel of Lucas Oil Stadium, something he had done hundreds of times, but this time, he was wearing the other team’s uniform. I’ve seen this scenario play out before, but never like this. When he walked onto that field, the stadium came to life. Former Colt Peyton Manning got a standing ovation from the city that loved him. Manning gave to that city for 14 years, and in that moment, regardless of the jersey he had on, Peyton got the praise he deserved.

I lost it. I’m not even that big of a football fan, but sitting there watching this happen on the TV screen, I couldn’t stop my eyes from watering. It was then that I realized that I have always found beauty in the praiseworthy.

The final episode of the Colbert Report, a piano recital put on by one of our Bible professors, the compliments given to N.T. Wright by one of the men critiquing his new book, the compliments given by a Communications professor concerning a student’s sermon — these are things I will never forget crying about. Do yourselves and all those around you a favor — make the world a more beautiful place by giving praise to those who deserve it.

Jaron Brandt is a junior at Oklahoma Christian University.

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