Hero. We hear this word tossed around frequently. We may even use it ourselves. Of course, to wear this label is an honor; is's always better to wear a label to live "up to" than to wear labels to "live down" and which stigmatizes and denigrates us. But have we seriously wondered what a hero is? The US government has their own ideas whose heroism merits the Congressional Medal of Honor, which is usually awarded to veterans. As I understand it, the Congressional Medal of Honor is awarded to someone whose act(s) of heroism 1) extends far beyond the call of duty, 2) entails tremendous personal risk/and or sacrifice on the part of the heroic person, for others, and 3) is an act(s) for which the person would not be criticized if not performed; as by defintion the act is not an obligation but freely chosen without heed of repercussions to one's self.
Today, our military troops and veterans are usually recognized as heroes, often being called "war heroes." Also hailed as heroes are law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians or paramedics. And deservedly so. All these people perform acts that place their lives on the line and benefit society by securing our freedom and safety. They usually freely choose these walks of life; no one is telling them what to do. And many even donate their time to do these things, as in the case of volunteer firefighters and military troops. Would any of them be criticized for leaving their chosen walks of life? Hardly.
I'm sure most of us TV viewers are aware of the annual "CNN Heroes" program, and there are many other media venues which bestow honors, often cash, on those whom they recognize as heroes. For example, kidnap survivor Elizabeth Smart has been honored formally, at least twice, as a hero. Once, PEOPLE magazine bestowed the honor on her by featuring her as one of the "heroes of the year" and last year, another venue recognized her as a hero, awarding Elizabeth $50,000 to fund her activist work. And many informally call her a hero. True, this young woman has survived horrific circumstances during her nine-month ordeal and has no doubt struggled much in her transition from victim to survivor. She is using her past traumas to benefit others; thus she wears the hero label. Temple Grandin, who has an IQ in the gifted range, has become hugely famous and successful and no doubt is the best-known highest-functioning autistic person who is living today and has risen above low expectations and her own personal challenges and differences. She is considered by many, in and out of the autism community, to be a hero who shows us all the odds that one can overcome to be all one can be. She has received many well-deserved honors and awards; she is using her challenges and her past in advocacy for the equal rights not only of autistic people but also of animals. Janice Smolinski, mother of missing Billy Smolinski, has, for the last seven years of her son's disappearance, been a tireless advocate for missing people and their families. She is frequently called a hero and deservedly so. Amidst her own nightmare, she has used social networking and other means to reach out to and show support to other families of missing people. She has worked endless hours to craft the proposed "Billy's Law" which is designed to put in place laws that would more effectively and efficiently find missing people and match many of them with unidentified people. There are many other high-profile examples of those who have transcended their own adversity for the help of others. But for every high-profile hero, there are many obscure, unsung heroes who are also transcending their adversity and personal odds and challenges or tragedies to help, bless, and advocate for others.
The term "my hero" is often tossed around to refer to anyone a person admires or even likes. Today, it seems that many well-known people, including celebrities, are considered heroes or role models, as athletes and indeed anyone who appears on TV may. That is, unless a famous or successful person who performed acts considered wrong or criminal, they are often up for the hero label because they are "out there" and possess influence that others look up to. And people coming from backgounds of poverty, disability or abuse often are considered heroes and role models, and deservedly so, when they are able to become wealthy, famous and rise to positions of respect and prestige. I don't begrudge anyone who is able to "go from rages to riches" and "turn the scars into stars." This is what makes free countries like the US so unique, that anyone can come to the US and, if possessing dogged drive and determination and given the right set of opportunities and support, can transcend failure into overwhelming success by the world's definition. This is what our current President, Barak Obama, points out in a TV commercial when he was responding to accusations about his "lack of patriotism." For indeed, this is his story.
But how accessible is heroism to the rest of us who may never be in the position to save a life by getting into a dramatic, dangerous situation, may lack the ambition, opportunities or support to achieve the worldly sucess that could inspire others or may not be qualified or be good fits for the positions considered as heroic by definition? If we want a society of courageous people, do we need to rely on people who have lived unually horrific lives, like a Jaycee Dugard or a war hero amputee, like Sen. Max Cleland? Need we rely on those whose walks of life call for dangerous feats to save lives or ensure our freedoms, for our need for a society of courageous people? Is drama required for heroism to come into play? No, I think not, and I don't think a just, fair God will judge us by the lack of opportunities to be heroes, to care enough about people to make great sacrifices for them and to transcend personal adversity through worldly success. In my Bible, I read about people whom Jesus honored but whom I doubt would ever have been considered heroes in their day--a foreign-born, "heathen" woman who prevailed with Him and whom Jesus commended for her faith, a woman who was healed of contant bleeding and whom Jesus also commended for her faith, and a blind man who wanted to see and whom Jesus praised for his faith. Jesus lavished praise on a prostitute who anointed Him with perfume and washed His feet with her tears. He praised her for her faith and love. Rahab, "the harlot" was one of those praised in the Book of Hebrews for her faith in hiding Israelite spies. I can cite many more examples of people praised in Scripture whom God honored but whose courage and faith would not have been noticed by our free culture.
What does this mean for us? It means that, whatever choices are presented to us, we can all make choices, small and insignificant as these may seem to be in the scheme of things, where we transcend personal odds, tragedy or adversity to bless, help, advocate for and/or to inspire or encourage others. We can be involved in the saving of lives, as we seek to do our part in preventing/ending crime, abuse, suicide, bullying, poverty and other social ills. We can do many things beyond the call of duty just because we want to give back, to "pay it forward" and not because anyone is telling us to or expecting us to do these things.
Above all, we can all trust ourselves to the greatest Hero of them all, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who did the most heroic thing ever performed in human history when He gave His life on a wooden cross for our sins and was raised for this being being raised to life again.
http://worldvision.org/. You can be a hero to a needy child; check this website out.
http://peace4missing.ning.com/. You can be a hero to families of missing people; join this social networking site.
http://talkaboutit.org.ning.com and https://www.facebook.com/#!/talkaboutitfoundation You can be a hero by educating yourself about the stigmatizing medical condition of epilepsy and helping to end the stigma by speaking out about it.
http://www.persecution.com/ You can be a hero to people of faith worldwide, who often suffer severe persecution for their faith; check out this website.
http://avoiceforneli.com/ You can be a hero to one wrongfully convicted, imprisoned young man with autism by checking out this website, educating yourself about him and seeing how you can help.
http://www.missingkids.com/ and http://www.lostnmissing.com/ You can be a hero to missing children and/or adults and their families; check out these websites.
http://www.stopbullying.gov/ You can be a hero to victims of bullying and even help save lives; check out this website.
http://www.childhelp.com/ You can be a hero to helpless children and help to prevent and end child abuse; check out this website.
https://www.facebook.com/800273TALK and http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/. You can be a hero to those who are in emotional distress and want to end their lives by educating yourself about suicide and through awareness and advocacy.
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