Evan Murray Buckley

Evan Murray Buckley changed my life. He features a lot in my life story from the age of 16 onwards. I had the privilege of sharing stages and houses and ministries and just recently had the honour of being his best man at his marriage to the beautiful Zoe. I post on here with the photos the transcript from the speech at the wedding, which explains a little of our relationship and a lot of my love of him. #legend. (follow him on twitter – @theburleyG – or check his website at theburleygriffin.com)

Here is also a video of our road trip that ended in getting our tatts, waxing body parts and ultimately getting me into YWAM. footage is bad because its footage taken from footage taken from footage. it originally was an hour long…..

“I’m going to read a lot of this because its important to me and my divergent brain is almost always ridiculous.

When I first heard of this marriage I was sitting in the dodgiest net café in Uganda and spent the rest of the day on cloud 9 already writing the speech in my head as I walked home.

I was thinking about it then that I’m strangely connected to this wedding because I stand at a unique crossroads between them.

I’ve known Evan since we were both 16. We met in year 11 and have since played in two gigging bands, shared church spaces and tents, communities and adventures and lived in the same room for 6 months even after I swore that I would never live with him because of how he puts toilet paper on the paper dispenser.

I’ve known Zoe since April 2009, most probably the same day that Evan met her, and spent 6 months in a tight knit school that ended in spending a month in Thailand and a month in Ukraine together.

I love them both immensely.

Evan for his ability to challenge you to be better at life, whilst laughing and making you feel like a million dollars.

Zoe for her skills of being tiny but still enveloping you in her arms and love, in the midst of anything she can make everything better. She brings light to the darkest places

and together they are one of the greatest beacons of hope not only in my life but the lives of literally hundreds around Australia and the world.

I wanted to tell a few stories to bring everyone maybe further into their world but also to reminisce with those who were there at the time.

Evan has this romance with intimacy. He is very quick to be vulnerable with you, hes very quick to be real and go to deep places that you never knew existed. But this also means that when his trust or his heart or a relationship he values is broken it destroys him. I remember the first time I saw this happen, I don’t remember the context but he was sitting in a church car park on the curb uncontrollably shaking in tears, probably with spikes in his hair. He had so intensely thrown himself into loving and relationship that it physically hurt when it disappeared. This was also seen every time an outreach team left our house in Newcastle he would have invested so much into relationship with these teams he would go into mourning for weeks. Evan chases relationship from 2am in the morning to having the ability to not cheapen a moment by making crappy jokes. He reaches into your soul, gives it a friendly squeeze and butt pat and sends you back into life refreshed. He knows how to give people space.

Evan also has a fearlessness that pushes him to do incredible things as well as some things that only in hindsight are cool – like peeing off the comans balcony whilst we stood nearby clueless, like white whaling on public beaches, like jumping off stage in the midst of a show in new Zealand and “playing guitar” but more, so that he could dance with the crowd and touch them. This courage also allows him to dance like no body is watching, except that everyone is. He once told me a story of walking into a crowd of young people with a large cd player, turning it on and just dancing – he got their attention so deeply that soon when he turned the music off and offered his hand of introduction they were completely shocked at first and then excited to meet such a legend.

Whilst sharing a room with evan I saw more of his anatomy then most have in this room. I would accidentally leave the door open meaning he would have to flash dance it to the door naked to close it. We worked together quite well, I would fall asleep at 10 he would get home at 1 or 2am walk around the room to debrief his day, I would then wake up at 6am accidentally kick everything over including my alarm clock. Rock the bed to get down. Turn the light on his face and then leave the door open. I then regularly would return to the room around lunchtime to debrief my day including the time I nearly cut off my rats tail and rip my horse the band tshirt up.
Evan is not into reading thick books, or writing essays on why a technocratic society doesn’t work. But when it comes to people, he is one of the most intelligent men ive ever met. If he can touch it and fondle it he will learn quickly and deeply how to love it and inspire it to bigger and better things.

We share a tattoo that many even in this room don’t understand and we use it to illustrate more then either of us will ever remember. But I like how that sort of mystery surrounds even Evan himself. Hes unpredictable and impulsive in all good ways. His passionate love is fueled by his ability to creatively drop bomb shell after bombshell, which makes people sit up and take notice of what he is offering.

Zoe is similarly unpredictable. But in a more quiet and cute way. Like a praying mantis who out of nowhere jumps on your back giggling. I remember at the crescendo of a big group fall out whilst in Ukraine we were all sharing our views on the situation and we were all getting defensive and angry and it got to zoe’s turn to speak and she bluntly but kindly and lovingly shut us all up. There was no question after that, we were being stupid and we should really just hug. She creates like a maniac. In any shape and situation. But never in an elitist way. She creates for people and with people and because of people.

I Love you both individually. But as one, as a united force I’m excited for what you will do in this world.

Zoe you make me feel like I can do anything. You don’t put any limits on your dreams for people and situations, please never stop. Never stop dreaming.

Evan you changed my life. At 16 you showed me that I was who I had always imagined being. At 17 you taught me how to write songs with shape and clarity. At 18 you allowed me to take photos of your band and be the strangely always there unsexy groupie. At 19-20 you were the cheer squad for all my musical projects even when they sucked, you allowed me to drive your band, you were the dampener for my bitter hatred and you were first to be completely honest with me about what emotional manliness could look like. 21 you watched me begin to destroy myself and at 22 we toured New Zealand. You then left on what I have come to believe was a God ordained trip to change not only your life but to further push and pull me kicking and screaming into what I am supposed to be. You were the only person on the planet that could have got me not only to Newcastle but beyond.

I hate that we live apart, and although I told you I would never miss you – that’s a lie. I miss you incredibly. But you picked a good one pal. And that said I want to tell you things you already know, but on behalf of this community I want to speak them out loud. Take care of her. In this crappy douche bag of a world that celebrates porn and impulse as a way of life over committed parenting and marriage if you ever have even an inkling of mistreating her, or leaving her, ring me up because I will gladly come and kick you in the balls. Like our tattoo, this is forever. Until one of us cuts the others tattoo off and sews it to the other calf. Even when people punch you for it, even when you wish you were wearing pants because telling a fake story is even less interesting to tell – you will be blessed and strengthened because now you have a zoe. You have a Zoe when your happy, when your sad and even when shes sad. You have a zoe to laugh with and create with and invite people into your home with.

Like the trinity, wake up with servant heartedness on your lips. Figure out how to honour the crap out of each other. And trust like retards.

The chariots josh scogin once finished a song like this.

May the history book read of all of our names
Be it blood, be it ink, but at least we were free
This is only but a fraction of what I’ve got to say
Oh we stand hand in hand and we walk without fear
This is a revolution

You guys have changed the lives of every single person in this room – can I get an amen? Please continue to doing so in our lives, but also the rest of the world. Walk hand in hand without fear.

Bless you guys for blessing us, and I pray that you continue being blessed by blessing each other.

I want to not toast them because I don’t understand toasts, but instead want to pray and at the end if you agreed I would like you to yell as loudly as you can “I agree” or a derivative of it – I will accept sheet yeh if your feeling cheeky.

pray