When I was growing up our heroes were found in comic books and the movies. We had Superman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman (my personal favorite) in comics and then we had cowboy heroes, such as The Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, among others. At no time did we transfer this hero worship to our real lives. We knew they were fantasy. Since I grew up without TV, there were really no super sports heroes, unlike today.
Today, young people are inundated with visual images of rock stars, sports figures and movie icons, all of whom are real people but not what I would describe as ‘True Heroes.’
Today there is a blurring of the line between the fictional and superficial (with ‘feet of clay’) and the real hero – firefighters, police, even an occasional mail carrier.
A recent story tells of a child’s dog dying and her writing to God to look for the dog in heaven and play with the dog. She included a picture of her with the dog, stamped the envelope (with a lot of stamps, since “Heaven is a long way away.”) and mailed it. Some time passed and then one day, on her front porch, was a package containing Mr. Roger’s book for children entitled, “When a Pet Dies.” ‘God’ said that he had received the picture and was taking care of her dog but that, since he did not have any pockets, he was sending the picture back to her. ‘God’ thanked her mother for helping her write the letter and said that he had sent her especially for the girl to be her mother.
Now THIS person is a REAL hero, but we have ‘muddied’ the use of the term until there is really no special word to describe the every day heroes who live among us. It is no wonder that young people do not know who to believe in, who to emulate, who to admire and wish to pattern their lives after.
The first heroes in our lives are our parents. They are the ones who teach us values, who protect us, who love and care for us. They are the ones we turn to for advice, counsel and support.
This also seemed to change as our families began to move far away from the parents and set up their ‘nuclear family’ making us – the parents of the adult children – extended family. The first time my son called me his extended family, I just about fell over. Where was the ‘Honor your father and mother’, that the Bible teaches. It is no wonder we do not have a close relationship with our son. He has forgotten what ‘Honor’ really means.
The real heroes in our lives can be found as close as a neighbor, who does an unexpected kindness; a person in society who sees a need and starts a charity; a soldier who puts his/her life on the line so that we may live in peace and joy and safety. These are the human Heroes of our lives.
But the real Hero of life is none other than Jesus Christ, the Savior. He is the one to admire, copy, strive to be like. His life – and death on the cross for our sins – is the only one to truly follow. Our salvation is a gift from God, through his son, Jesus. Only by our asking forgiveness of our sins and accepting the gift of Jesus as our Savior, can we be saved and expect a seat in heaven with our Lord.
All the rest of it is just ‘stuff’ – false beliefs, poor choices, selfish indulgences, shallow values, and the old Dr.Spock ‘Me First’ philosophy.
I would like to see us return to the REAL HEROES. Let’s call them ‘CHAMPIONS.’ Who is your Champion? I know who mine is…