The Hero Within
I was out walking Bailey, our dog, this evening and noticed a little girl getting out of the car with her mother. She was wearing what appeared to be a Halloween costume cape. I watched as she ran to the apartment building with her arms stretched before her and shouted, “I’m here to save the world!â€?ÂÂ
I smiled, because this really took me back, except my heroics usually occurred on a playground with one of my mom’s good bath towels pinned around my neck. I recall climbing to the top of the monkey bars and taking leap after leap of faith, hoping to one day perfect the art of flying. I remember trying to save whoever was playing on the playground that particular day, whether they wanted to be saved or not.ÂÂ
Why is it that children, who haven’t any concept of real darkness and evil, recognize a need for a savior? And isn’t it sad that as we grow older we fail to recognize that need in the world around us.ÂÂ
Perhaps the yearning is tucked away deep inside, fed by our obsession with cinematic superheroes. Or, perhaps we think that the darkness is too great. Whatever it is, I believe the desire for salvation stirs within each of us, longing to be awakened.  We feel it most when we watch the news, or see one of those ‘feed the children’ commercials and we are compelled to act. Our hearts break and we long so desperately to make a difference. Sadly, we no longer aspire to saving the world and are not quite sure that anyone can. Enter Jesus, who according to scriptures came to “save the worldâ€? (John 3:17). You see, that desire in our hearts is a divine imprint. When the world is not right and we are surrounded by darkness, the divine in us cries out for Him to save us. And if we, from the depths of our need, cry out for Him, we “will be savedâ€? (Romans 10:9). Not only that, but he also calls us to join with Him, and stand in the midst of His purpose to bring light to this dark world.ÂÂ
So, I challenge you to pick up that old towel, pin it around your neck once more, and discover what your heart already knows to be true. That the hero you dream to be lives inside of you, ready to be awakened.ÂÂ
 
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December 13th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
There should be an official super-hero day…where we are allowed to wear our towels and sheets as capes and find that child inside who used to think that they coul change the world…just because they wanted to…because the world depended on them to.
Great post…thanks!
December 13th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Thanks for stopping by Deana! I still dream of helping to save the world.
“These days
I wanna be six again.
So, make me a red cape
I wanna be Superman!”
- John Mayer
December 13th, 2006 at 9:13 pm
Great thoughts, and isn’t it amazing how wrapped up we are in the great stories. Be they movies, books, or songs, that scream out from within us that we “wanna be so damn much more” (Mayer). The rise of shows, even like NBC’s “Heroes”, filled with lines of “I knew I was made for something different.
If only we can figure out what it means to really be a hero to this mad world we live in…
Z
December 13th, 2006 at 10:47 pm
Thanks Zach! I love the show ‘Heroes’ btw.
December 14th, 2006 at 9:45 am
I just started watching Heroes yesterday.
I think heroism is awakened by discovering, acknowedging, and embracing the gifts, talents, passions, will, skills, capacities that are embedded within each one of us.
It’s coming to terms with these abilities that demand for us to take responsibility… being a hero’s just the natural result of it all.
December 14th, 2006 at 10:28 am
Lon:
I loved that you used words like “awakened”, “embracing” and “embedded”. We all have the capacity for greatness within us and sadly there are some who will never reach their divine potential.
By your comment, I can tell you are going to love watching Heroes. The narration alone has some great nuggets of truth.
Thanks for your thoughts!
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