The Real Heroes

"I want a hero: an uncommon want,

When every year and month sends forth a new one"

-Lord Byron

What is a hero and where do they come from? All around us in society we are subjected to king makers who try to dictate to us who our heroes should be. The media has become adept at this. There is a TV show (American Idol) that is devoted to making a hero for the role model starved masses. A presidential election was recently won based on the idea that you can make someone a hero, before they do anything real to deserve it, and vault them to the highest office in the land. These media created heroes are not real or deserving of the adulation they receive. Where do you get a real one?

The real heroes are ones that are not looking for it. They are doing what they think is right, but those actions are heroic because they are a dramatic break from the norm. They are an example of people thinking of others and working in the interest of those less able to do so. It is counter to the focus on "me" and instead focuses on "you" in true Christlike fashion.

Our older children, Alexander, Zachary and Nikita are heroes in this very real sense. They would never look at it that way, but they are heroes to their three younger, adopted siblings. Amelia, Micah and Dante, all look up to them in this way, because the older ones are always acting on their behalf. They are close friends, all six of them, and the younger ones appreciate the older ones as role models and just cool people that they want to be like.

What the younger ones want is someone to be with them, to play with them, to meet their needs, to put up with their nonsense and to unconditionally love them. Alexander, Zachary and Nikita all do those things and in the process demonstrate what a true hero should be. Take a look at these pictures and you'll see what I mean.

James