An Undisguised Hero

What makes people great? Is it their strength, their brains, their courage, their wealth, their beauty, their fame? It seems these days that those are what make people great. In today's world it seems only those with super powers can be super heroes. These days we have those everyday type of heroes, that save people lives, that everyday are all about doing their job and helping to save lives. Now, I am not condemning our faithful firefighters, cops, doctors, soldiers, or any other life saving profession. But, what about those people who do not have a job entitled to save lives? What about the woman who helped an elder take her bags from her car to her house? What about the guy in the car who let another person pull into the traffic line in front of him? Aren't they heroes too? Or are they not because they did no life saving? To be a hero do you have to save a life in a dangerous or risky situation? To be a hero is not to save a life, but to change a life. To be someone great is not to have the greatest amount of something. To be someone great, is to have a big heart for others, to have love. Celebrities who have all this money donate it to different charities, just a small portion of their wealth, and suddenly they are a hero. What about those working in soup kitchens donating their time or better yet those moms who donate their lives to serving their families? Are they not a great person only because they did not donate thousands of dollars on a single charity? Our world has come to a very strange place where we only count the ones with the most to be the biggest givers, influencers, and heroes. What about those teachers who teach students the very essence of life and knowledge? What about parents who spend their lives raising and loving their children even when the children may yell and hate them back? Why is it that those who live normal lives are the ones that are the greatest people, but yet are not recognized for it? Honestly, this world is out of control. I has everything mixed up and backwards. For "whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven". (Matthew 18:4)

Those who are greatest are not the ones giving away the most, but those giving their love and heart to others. The greatest man is the humble man. So tell me, is the celebrity who is flaunting their action of donating the most the humble man in the world? For whoever is humble like this child is the greatest man in the kingdom of heaven. To be great is to be humble. To be great is to think of others before yourself. To be great is to help others. To be great is to love like Christ loved. To be great is to be humble.

Simon Says, Say I Love You

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." What really is love? Is it simply a phrase we use when departing from someone that is close to us? It shouldn't be. But it seems that is the only time we really let people know we love them. Ever hear someone say the inspirational line, "maybe your looking but not really seeing" or "maybe you're not really seeing what you're looking at"? This can be applied to love in a way. Love is about really seeing what you are looking at, not just looking and moving on. For example, anyone could memorize all your favorites and know all these little facts about you...or just be looking. But if someone were to really see, they would know when you are sad without even asking or know what cheers you up. Love is taking the time to slow down and know or find out the different ways people work and think. Everyone has a few people that are really close to them. Those people who are close to you become close to you because they took the time to slow down and say, "hey, you know what I love being with you. I want to see what else I love about you."

When I was in tenth grade, I was apart of a theatrical production called "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. It is simply about life in three acts. The first act is about daily life, the second about love and marriage and the third about death. This play uses no props and only some essential set pieces such as tables and chairs. Wilder did this so the audience would not be distracted by anything flashy or showy but would solely focus on the actors. In the third act, the lead female of the play, that had gone through high school and had gone on to marry the lead male, died while giving birth. In this act she is allowed to go back to the living and relive one day. She decides to relive her twelfth birthday. However she is able to observe the happenings of that day while knowing what has happened to her in her life. Instead of being happy to see her mother and father again, she ends in a despair filled monologue. In this she speaks of how it is sad that no one slows down to see what we have in life. This female, Emily, makes inspirational statements once she realizes her mother really does not show love the Emily wanted her to. "Oh Mama, just look at me for one second as though you really saw me. Mama! Fourteen years have gone by - I married George Gibbs - Wally's dead too! But just for a moment now we're all together - Mama just for a moment let's be happy." Of course her mother cannot hear her say this for Emily is dead and only reliving this day over. Emily goes on to say, "It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another." She then asks this deep question, "Do any humans ever realize life while they live it - every, every minute?" The truth is that no, we do not.

While "Our Town" is a very inspirational play, I cannot help but apply that to my life. Or any human beings life for that matter. We do not slow down in life. It's all about really telling people how we feel, not waiting and maybe letting people pick up on how we feel. Because we never really know if we will ever have the chance to tell them. To me, it's like if someone asked me why I loved them and I just said, "Oh just because I do." What kind of answer is that!? It is like telling them, "Well, really, I wasn't planning on loving you, it was kind of an accident." But when you can answer them by saying something like, "I love how every time we see each other your face just lights up and a huge smile shows up on your face. And that makes me smile and feel loved. That's one of many reasons why I love you" that's a real answer. When you can really tell someone why you love them, that is a friendship or a relationship. It is not always about loving someone because they are funny, smart, nice, and make you laugh. Some times it is about the moments that make you say to yourself "wow I love him/her". Or about what they do to show their personality and make you say, "do that again!" because it makes you laugh so much. When you can slow down and say "it makes me smile every time I think about the way you smack yourself on the forehead and groan every time I make you feel like a good" that is really loving someone.

Really, do not just expect people to know you love them, actually tell them, let them know. It is far more then just I love being with you. It is about saying you love being with them and then saying now I want to know what makes you tick. Take the time to slow down. Take the time to really see what you are looking at. Do not pass up opportunities to love. Go ahead, tell them you love them and tell them why. Because the greatest thing in the entire world is love.

"...the greatest of these is love..."

We're Following the...Who?

Have you ever wondered why you have been set as a leader for others? Well I have. A lot. Sometimes I wonder if I can really be strong enough to lead people. What if someone comes to you for something but yet you are struggling the same way, can you really help them without being a hypocrite? Or what if you are not as grounded in the truth as you thought and you are really leading people the wrong way and yet you think you are telling them the right thing? Some days you think you need to be perfect in order to be a leader. Some days you do not feel like you are strong enough to even lead people. I know I want to be the leader I was called to be. Some days I feel like I cannot even do that. I have recently come up with an analogy that displays the "job" or the responsibilities of a leader.

When you go to a historical site or a tour of any kind you will always have a tour guide. Without a guide you would have no idea where to go. You would have no real idea as to what you were looking at nor the significance of what you are looking at. You may not even know where the start is and where the end is. It is just a whole lot easier with a tour guide, isn't it? A leader can do what a tour guide does. They can lead others to the next place, the next step in life. They can have the responsibilities to help people slow down and help them understand what they are looking at in life. They can help people learn the information, or rather help them become rooted in the truth.

However, there's a catch. Tour guides need to learn the information, they need to memorize it and know it by heart. They need to go through the tour themselves, and they need to apply the information to the correct place. Then and only then, when the guide has gone through it all and memorized all the information, can they lead others on the tour. A leader has to be rooted in the truth or God's word and has to go through their own struggles and challenges to be able to come out strong and able to lead the way God wants them to. A leader needs to be able to apply wisdom in the correct circumstances. Just like a guide needs to learn the information from the historians, a leader has to learn the information from the history-maker.