I've been thinking about what a hero is lately.
On TV and movies, heroes are portrayed as sometimes superhuman, bigger than life, with special powers, wisdom, and abilities.
Sometimes they are portrayed as rich, handsome or beautiful, and always highly intelligent.
True, these kind of heroes inspire us for a few fleeting moments but then we realize that the majority of us aren't these kind of heroes.
We're just everyday people.
What can we do? There has been many times in my life that a hero has touched me.
No it wasn't Superman, Batman or someone out of a current graphic novel.
It wasn't even a corporate leader or a politician.
My heroes weren't dressed in a fancy outfit, nor did they fly into my life on a silver surfboard.
These heroes were dressed just like you and I.
They didn't jump buildings in a single bound or release me from the clutches of my arch-nemesis.
The heroes I'm talking about were just ordinary people often times doing ordinary things just when I needed them during an extraordinary circumstance.
Let me sight an example.
Back in 1987 my family and I were on our way home to Kansas City from San Antonio, Texas.
In Waco my oil light came on and I pulled over.
Like most people returning home from a vacation we didn't have much money and at the time I didn't have a credit card.
So a series of heroes entered my life just when I needed them most.
The first one was a tow truck driver.
With three kids and a wife beside Interstate 35, I keep wondering while waiting on him how we were going to all fit into the cab for the trip to the dealership.
Well, up pulls the nicest fellow in a tow truck with a back seat.
At that moment he was my biggest hero.
Hero number two was the dealership in Waco.
They bent over backwards to get us on the road again.
They chased all over town to get the right part.
They took my wife to a bank to get money wired from her Mother.
They made my family comfortable while we waited for hours while the repairs were made.
They became my hero.
Hero number three that day was my Mother-in-law who not only lent us money for the repairs but also rushed around and wired it to us from Missouri.
I'll never forget her heroism that day.
By 5:00 pm we were on our way.
Once I saw the lights of Wichita on the horizon I knew we would make it.
I didn't stop driving until we reached home early the next morning.
My challenge to both you and myself is this: be a hero today to someone.
It can be as small as buying a cup of coffee for someone and just listening to him or her.
It can be as large as volunteering your time to a charity.
The important part is that you keep your eyes open for the opportunity to be a hero.
America needs more heroes today.
Not just fighting our wars but also in our day-to-day lives.
We need heroes who will encourage others to do well, who will see to it that an elderly neighbor has heat and enough to eat, someone who will take it upon themselves to do the unexpected for someone needing a miracle.
Are you that person?
On TV and movies, heroes are portrayed as sometimes superhuman, bigger than life, with special powers, wisdom, and abilities.
Sometimes they are portrayed as rich, handsome or beautiful, and always highly intelligent.
True, these kind of heroes inspire us for a few fleeting moments but then we realize that the majority of us aren't these kind of heroes.
We're just everyday people.
What can we do? There has been many times in my life that a hero has touched me.
No it wasn't Superman, Batman or someone out of a current graphic novel.
It wasn't even a corporate leader or a politician.
My heroes weren't dressed in a fancy outfit, nor did they fly into my life on a silver surfboard.
These heroes were dressed just like you and I.
They didn't jump buildings in a single bound or release me from the clutches of my arch-nemesis.
The heroes I'm talking about were just ordinary people often times doing ordinary things just when I needed them during an extraordinary circumstance.
Let me sight an example.
Back in 1987 my family and I were on our way home to Kansas City from San Antonio, Texas.
In Waco my oil light came on and I pulled over.
Like most people returning home from a vacation we didn't have much money and at the time I didn't have a credit card.
So a series of heroes entered my life just when I needed them most.
The first one was a tow truck driver.
With three kids and a wife beside Interstate 35, I keep wondering while waiting on him how we were going to all fit into the cab for the trip to the dealership.
Well, up pulls the nicest fellow in a tow truck with a back seat.
At that moment he was my biggest hero.
Hero number two was the dealership in Waco.
They bent over backwards to get us on the road again.
They chased all over town to get the right part.
They took my wife to a bank to get money wired from her Mother.
They made my family comfortable while we waited for hours while the repairs were made.
They became my hero.
Hero number three that day was my Mother-in-law who not only lent us money for the repairs but also rushed around and wired it to us from Missouri.
I'll never forget her heroism that day.
By 5:00 pm we were on our way.
Once I saw the lights of Wichita on the horizon I knew we would make it.
I didn't stop driving until we reached home early the next morning.
My challenge to both you and myself is this: be a hero today to someone.
It can be as small as buying a cup of coffee for someone and just listening to him or her.
It can be as large as volunteering your time to a charity.
The important part is that you keep your eyes open for the opportunity to be a hero.
America needs more heroes today.
Not just fighting our wars but also in our day-to-day lives.
We need heroes who will encourage others to do well, who will see to it that an elderly neighbor has heat and enough to eat, someone who will take it upon themselves to do the unexpected for someone needing a miracle.
Are you that person?
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