“Simon, yours is the drill that will pierce the heavens,” Kamina stated over and over again. This stuck with Simon, even after Kamina was killed in battle. He would later fulfill this destiny that was handed to him.
Now, Simon was a digger by trade in a subterranean village. He was known as the best digger, but he was lonely and somewhat depressed after his parents had been killed in a cave in caused by an earthquake. He worked hard without any real purpose. However he had one friend named Kamina, who was a total radical and always caused trouble with his pursuit of a mysterious place called the surface. Kamina gave Simon courage and Kamina trusted Simon with his life. Kamina spent most of his time locked up and Simon spent most of his time digging, but together they formed a team known as Team Gurren.
One day everything changed when their village had a mech, called a Gunman, fall through their ceiling (spoilers ahead). This forced Kamina and Simon to fight along side a mysterious girl named Yoko to defeat this Gunman. They eventually defeat it by drilling toward the surface. They land and begin a battle to reclaim the world from the Spiral King and his army of Beastmen. Simon eventually becomes the leader of Team Dai-Gurren after Kamina’s death. He learns to fight on because Kamina believed in him and he said this before he died, “Believe in the you who believes in yourself.” Simon battles with himself after Kamina’s death, but he inherits Kamina’s vision. A vision of living on the surface and of piercing the heavens.
Without vision, we can’t move forward. Vision is driven by passion and discipline. Without passion we have nothing to pursue. Without discipline, we can’t reach our vision. With the right amount of passion and the right amount of discipline, we can move forward. Passion pushes us ahead and discipline lifts us up when we fall, but vision is received or inherited. Children often state their dreams, but those dreams are things that come from a positive explanation from those they love. Their talents may line up, but they won’t pursue it unless they receive vision from someone. They must be coached and discipled in order to learn the discipline needed to keep their passion alive. Kamina not only poured passion and vision into Simon, he discipled him in becoming who he was meant to be. Simon stumbles after Kamina’s death, but the foundation is already established so that when Simon hits rock bottom, everything Kamina taught him comes rushing back and it catapults him forward. Simon begins to become the person he was meant to be.
One of my favorite things about the YWAM base in Tokyo, is an incredibly strong value for a culture of honor. This means speaking life, love, and truth over each other. We speak out who each person is called to be, we constantly tell one another what we love about them, and we speak against the lies they believe about themselves. One top of this, we would spend time getting to know each person, so we can disciple each other in love and be discipled by them. Before I went to Japan, I had never heard of this concept. In fact, growing up I only heard about when I did things wrong or screwed things up. After being in Japan, I inherited this vision for a culture of honor and have been trying to share it with my family. It has been amazing to watch. God has been using it to bring my family closer together. This would never have been possible if I had not received this vision and been trained in how to walk in it, just as Simon could never have taken the earth back for mankind without the vision placed in him by Kamina. Then Simon saves all of humanity, because he has learned to be the person he is meant to be. He learns to believe in the him who believes in himself and he really truly pierces the heavens with his drill.
- Throwback Thursday: 三月のライオン (Sangetsu no Lion) - 12.10.2020
- Farewell, Zeroe4 - 03.19.2016
- 12 Days of Christmas Anime, Day 11: Sword Art Online - 12.24.2015