FB has been rife with definitions of heroes lately. Some see Bruce Jenner as a hero, others do not. I guess it depends, as do most things, on one's own life experiences. I assume those who have struggled with gender confusion are grateful for what they see as his courage. Those who have not faced that particular challenge possibly find him a freak. Life's struggles seem to color how we view most every action of others.
Many arguments have been made by those who claim Christ. Again, personal filters determine if these people indeed should be called followers of Christ; if any of us should Just the mere mention that someone claims to be a believer causes others to immediately discount what is being said. They find belief in a higher being to be superstition and the folly of an ignorant mind. Often those who believe find non-believers evil and people to be avoided. I wonder what would happen if we all just loved.
The most frustrating argument I have seen for why Bruce Jenner is not a hero and is someone who should be shunned, is the comment "God doesn't make mistakes." I believe the comment, but as an argument for why Bruce Jenner was born a man and that is that, it is ludicrous, in my opinion. As always, my opinion is all I have here. My daughter is a PCICU nurse. If you do not know what that means, it is a Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit; children with heart problems not caused by choices they have made. The mere fact that we need PCICUs is evidence enough for me that people are not born as they should be; that God does not orchestrate those events. Stuff happens. Babies being born with half a heart, suffering untold pain and multiple surgeries to only die before their first birthdays, is not of God. It is not. If you think it is, you and I believe in very different Gods.
Pictures have been posted on FB of wounded soldiers with artificial limbs, or carrying a fellow soldier off the battlefield as the example of true heroes. I agree. These are heroes. I cannot imagine the courage of marching into the hell of war. Yes, they are heroes. I long for the day when those kinds of heroes are not necessary. Will there be a day when world leaders heroically find the courage of another way; a way other than young people witnessing and doing what no human should have to witness or do? That would be a hero.
I was gratified to see pictures posted of Mother Teresa as a hero. Truly, she had a heroic spirit. I saw another picture of a fireman carrying a baby from a burning building. Again, this is courage that I cannot fathom.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. They accomplish many things. People who work to care for their families, who put their own needs aside to care for those around them, who get up every morning in pain from disease or injury and serve someone else, who do their jobs to the best of their abilities and give a day's work for a day's pay, who sit up nights rocking sick babies, who arrive where they say they will when they say they will, who stand up for the kid being bullied at school, who shut their mouths; heroes all. My friend, Darrel, whose memorial service we attended yesterday, often said to his family, "real men show up."
Heroes show up, in countless ways. There is not one way to be a hero. Others do not define who my heroes are. I just want to try to be a hero to those in my little corner of the world, so that when I leave, it will be a little bit better than when I arrived.
So, today I wish you to be heroic in whatever arena you find yourself, I wish you heroes in your life, and I wish you
blessings
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