You Are a Hero

Let’s get something straight from the start: you are a hero, and the world needs more heroes today. A hero is someone who is exceptional, and yes, yes, YOU are exceptional.

Now this isn’t such a startling statement; you know it’s true. Beyond the fact that you look like no one else in the world, you also have different experiences, gained from your schooling and learning from the unique events of your life. The result is an individual like no one else – you truly are exceptional. But, you say, that just makes me different, not a hero. Here I – and I’m sure, God – disagree with you. You underestimate your importance to Him and to His Divine Plan.

If Superman, who was very smart, sat at home reading the books he liked, would we consider him a hero? If Mother Teresa lived a cloistered life, praying quietly with the God she so loved, would we consider her a hero? If George Washington sat comfortably on his plantation and paid England its taxes – which he could afford, would we consider him a hero?

I think you see the point. Someone can really BE a hero, and have all the potential to do great heroic things, but unless he does those things, WE won’t consider him a hero. We’ll never see the great, unique gifts he has been given, and even he himself will never see and live all that he could be. If a hero does not ACT as a hero; everyone loses, even him. Perhaps most tragically and sadly, even God.

So how did Superman go off and leap from tall buildings and stop speeding bullets? (I don’t recommend you try this.) How did Mother Teresa go off to another country and start picking up dying beggars from the street? How did Washington lead an army, and eventually a nation? What plan did they follow?

I honestly don’t know the answer if the question were put to them: “Why did you do that?” I suspect it was a very personal and difficult decision to make. One thing I am confident of, however, is that they did not reason their way to being a hero. Superman did not say: “Well, I’m pretty strong, let’s see if I can stop a bullet.” Mother Teresa did not say: “Having poor people is a bad thing, I think I’ll go save them all.” Washington did not say : “Well, my slaves listen to me, I must be a pretty good leader. I think I’ll go out and form an army.” That’s not the way things happened. It didn’t happen that way because logically and reasonably they wouldn’t have done that. They didn’t think their way into being heroes. And you, exceptional as you are, won’t figure out on your won how to be the hero you can be, either.

The way for you to stand up and be the hero you can be, is first to get down on your knees. Acknowledge the Creator and ask what He created you for, and you’ll be well on your way to showing the world the exceptional person you are. A true hero starts in humility, not pride. He starts by acknowledging there is someone stronger, not by exercising his strength. A truly wise man knows there is much he does not know.

A hero is recognized for making moral, Godly choices, in an exceptional way. Many women could be a Mother Teresa; many men could be a George Washington. I think what made them heroes was not that they chose to be different, but they accepted the fact that they were different. They may have gone to the same schools as thousands of other children. They could have followed the same careers as their teachers recommended, as their parents wished, and as their peers did. They could have followed what was easy, and pleasing to others. And they would have led good, – and in the eyes of most – very fulfilled lives. But there was one who made them different, MADE THEM different. If they did not lead lives according to His plans, surely He would have considered them unfulfilled. They would have been created unique, but they would have acted common. They would not have been heroes in His eyes. And that’s all that really matters: are we being who He created us to be.

How are you trying to live your life? Who are you seeking to follow? Is there something unique in you that cries out for you to act, to not follow the crowd, to be a hero? Who are you asking about it? Who’s advice are you listening for? The Holy Spirit DOES abide in you.

You can be a hero to your spouse, your kids, your company, and your God. All you have to do is act like the one you were made to be. And how’s that? Well, duh! If there aren’t any directions on how to use a thing on the box (you did come in a box, didn’t you?), then you call the manufacturer and ask him for the directions. Duh!!

Come on, Superman, you can do it. I’m waitin’ to cheer. : - )

You, O Lord, know my path. (Ps 142)
Speak Lord, I’m listening.