Birds of Prey – Get Back Up

Ever been beat up?
Badly?

Maybe not
physically. I’ve actually never been beat up that way.

But have you ever
been beat up by life? By the day-to-day disappointments and trials and
struggles you never seem to win?

Maybe other people
don’t see it. Maybe you put on a brave face and a smile so nobody knows how bad
you’re hurting. How weak and helpless you feel when nothing seems to work out
for you.

Maybe you’re just
tired of trying.

I recently started
reading the original Birds of Prey comic, which started as a one-shot story in
which superheroine Black Canary has distanced herself from her long-time
boyfriend, Green Arrow, and struck out on her own in Seattle. Unfortunately, tough as she is, she
can’t seem to find a way to deal with mounting bills and a decreasing sense of
purpose.

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Until she gets a mysterious phone call from someone called Oracle, who offers her a job fighting international criminals, promising to provide her with tactical support via communication through a two-way earpiece, along with funded travel and equipment for each mission. She jumps at the chance to do something worthwhile, using her crimefighting skills and getting fully funded for it! together, Black Canary and Oracle make quick progress investigating their target, until a martial arts enemy named Lynx beats Black Canary to the ground, all the while berating her for her limited skill and understanding of who or what she’s even fighting. At this point, Black Canary finally gives in to the pressures of life and decides it’s better to stay down. She’s endured too much, faced too many disappointments. Failed too many times.

Oracle won’t have
it. She orders Black Canary to get back up and fight. To convince her, Oracle
reveals her personal secret: she is Batgirl.

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Or she was, until
the Joker shot her and left her wheelchair-bound. Now all she can do is gather
intel and issue instructions to Black Canary, to do the things she can no
longer do herself. Like fighting the baddie who’s knocked Black Canary down for
the count.

Black Canary
listens, recognizing she’s not the only one hurting badly. Realizing she can
still fight.

She doesn’t defeat
Lynx this time, or stop her enemy from destroying an entire village for
personal profit. But she and Oracle quickly track the villains down and turn
them over to the authorities before they can harm anyone else. Seeing there are
bigger causes to fight for, and that she can be a part of it, Black Canary
continues her partnership with Oracle, ready to be her arms and legs in the
fight for justice.

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We all get knocked
down by life and our own limitations. But it doesn’t mean we can’t succeed or
try again.

You’re not done
yet. And whether you see them or not, people are counting on you.

Get back up.