Heroes?

WHO in the world, living or deceased, would YOU most like to BE?  Does your taste go directly to the rich and famous?  To the politically important?  To one of the great religious figures?  Or would you prefer a talented sportsman or sportswoman?  Maybe you would most like to BE one of your parents or other relatives, or there might be an important friend who is your hero?  Would it be the late Lady Diana?  Micky Mantle?  Mother Teresa?  J.F.K.?  Who??

What about our young people?  Who do they want to be?  Judging by the amount of money that goes to rock music stars, sports heroes, and movie stars, probably most young people would choose them as their personal heroes, someone they most want to emulate.  What is it about them?  It is beauty?  Power?  Wealth?  Fame?

Yet we adults know how very, very quickly beauty, power, wealth, and fame can be lost: in an instant. Who is there that would be worthy of our admiration?  Probably no one in the list above except Mother Teresa, a genuine saint.

Today on the news was Diana Nyad, the 60+ year-old swimmer who swum from Cuba to Florida by herself.  She explained what was her inspiration: those in supporting boats who kept her going by saying, "Find a way."  While her achievement is certainly unequaled, a tremendous achievement, I find her current project of encouraging others to achieve more important that her big swim.

Then there is "Brangelina, Brad and Angelina, the super-movie stars who got married two days ago, after nine years and six children together.  Is this a wholesome example for our young people?  I wish them well and wonder: what took them so long to make a commitment?  They do, however, give a good example of public service in their various endeavors.

Personally, I think it is the ordinary people, those who work quietly at their jobs, doing the best that they can, staying with their families, that are the real heroes.  I bet we all know some of them.

Dear God, help us point the way for our young people, and for each other, to be the quiet, unnoticed, unawarded heroes, living a good, moral life, the way we know to do.