Where have all the Heroes gone?

Posted August 29, 2009

According to Wikipedia a Hero in Greek mythology and folklore was originally a demigod. Later, a hero came to refer to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displayed courage and the will for self sacrifice for some greater good. Conversely Wikipedia, according to John A. Coleman S.J., associate professor of religion and sociology at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, wrote that Saints across various cultures and religions have the following family resemblances. They are 1. exemplary role models 2. extraordinary teachers 3. wonder workers or a source of benevolent power 4. intercessors and  5. possessors of a special and revelatory relation to the holy.

In today’s society one might be challenged in identifying with or even recognizing a hero. My presumption is that most people today would be drawn to sports, musical or theatrical (actors) individuals when identifying with heroes. Heaven knows even some politicians may make the cut. The simple reality is that we have lost our ability to identify with individuals who could make a difference in our lives and humanity as a whole. Today’s heroes could in fact be viewed as irrational, radical or even mentally detached. Perhaps we have started confusing passion and purpose with insanity.

Why does history have so many pronounced heroes? What singular motivation did these individuals have to have had such a dramatic impact on their own times and the future of mankind? Could it be love, fanaticism, egoism, divine intervention, curiosity, guilt, fear or just some innate gift placed within that individual by the Creator at his/her time of birth?

What drove individuals like Moses, Joan of Arc, St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln and so many others to give up personal wealth, power, safety and security for some unknown or overwhelming cause?

Let’s examine the state of the world today and identify with some of humanity’s shortcomings:

1.     Global warming and environmental pollution,

2.     Growing famine and hunger,

3.     Corporate greed,

4.     Government corruption,

5.     War, genocide and hate,

6.     Immorality, greed and prejudice,

7.     Destruction of the family unit,

8.     Man versus God – genetics, cloning, abortion,

9.     Secularism and the death of spirituality,

10.                       Drugs, disease and violence.

The top ten certainly do not look appealing but how did it come to pass? I will offer up a few suggestions but don’t get angry.

1.     Government and Business have lost sight of their “Social Responsibility”. Corporate Boards no longer make decisions to better the social whole but rather to enrich Fund Managers and Wall Street. We have lost sight of the greater good.

2.     The Women’s movement and feminism have failed to understand their crucial role within the family unit. Men cannot be women, nor can children be without either of them. Children who are detached from parental bonds will become indifferent to ethical and moral standards. They will be drawn to modernism and consumerism and not esoteric knowledge.

3.     Humanity has become dispensable because a gutless and faceless few have managed to create fear, war, poverty and disease for the purpose of personal enrichment and a misguided purpose. Global organizations and governments have become infested with organized groups such as Freemasonry whose survivorship is guarded by nepotism and pre-selection.

Who will step up to the plate and tell an Arab to hug a Jew, who would give up their level of comfort to feed a starving African, who will take Wall Street and white-collar crime to task and put these individuals behind bars for a long, long time, who will hold government officials accountable, who will stop purchasing gasoline and prescription drugs, who will house the slum-dweller – who will be the hero? Someone might identify Oprah Winfrey as a hero but don’t confuse celebrity with self-sacrifice. A hero asks for nothing in return and sacrifices all to achieve a higher purpose. Bill Gates may be a great philanthropist but has his charity been born out of excess, tax planning initiatives or as a reaction to undo the certain harm global computerization has had on society. We must identify the charity with the extent that it has provided humanity an opportunity to pass along that benevolence to others. In other words a hero must live on, not only in the lives of those he/she has touched, but in the lives he/she will never touch, but impact.

The real message is that we all heroes and we are all capable of making a difference. The Saint is the one who listens to the stirs and prayers of the individual heroes and creates a moment of wonder. Could it be that we lack heroes because we do not pray? Wikipedia makes reference to the following characteristics of prayer, in that;

• the finite can actually communicate with the infinite
• the infinite is interested in communicating with the finite
• prayer is intended to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, rather than to influence the recipient
• prayer is intended to train a person to focus on the recipient through philosophy and intellectual contemplation
• prayer is intended to enable a person to gain a direct experience of the recipient
• prayer is intended to affect the very fabric of reality as we perceive it
• prayer is a catalyst for change in one's self and/or one's circumstances, or likewise those of third party beneficiaries
• the recipient desires and appreciates prayer

Now here is the quiz. Do we pray for the Wall Street Banker who has

screwed millions out of billions, or for the prostitute who has screwed for dollars to continue to survive among the billions? Perhaps we should pray for both but pray harder that the prostitute becomes the saint - I simply could not trust the banker with sainthood.

Thank you,
Joseph Pede