Heros

You know, I was having a really interesting conversation with Emilie the other day about Superheros. We were discussing who our favorites were and then we started to talk about the main character in one of my favorite books, A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers. Emilie started reading the series and we were discussing how this poor, frightened, Jewish slave girl was more of a hero than Spiderman, Superman, and Batman etc. She stood up for her faith even though it scared her to death. She rejected a marriage proposal from a man she loved who could have elevated her status, all because he didn't share her faith. Then she was sent to her death for her faith not long after. Throughout the book you realize just how scared and alone she feels. She thinks she has the weakest faith, but her faith allows her to be one of the strongest people ever. You really should read the book. Everyone should read the book and it's sequel. Whenever I start to doubt my faith, I read them and it just rejuvenates me. 

Anyway, I have always found it hard to think of traditional "superheros" as heros. A hero is someone who does something above what is expected of them based on their abilities or mortality. If I was super strong, had all these fantastic abilities, or couldn't be injured, saving someone doesn't make me a hero, but not saving them makes me not human. In the second Spiderman film, when he decides he isn't Spiderman anymore, Peter Parker sees a man getting beat up and just walks away. That just made me mad. You don't have to be Spiderman to help someone who needs help. That would have made him a hero. In order to have courage, you need to be afraid. In order to be a hero, you need to go beyond what is expected of you to be human. Too often we praise people for doing what should be normal. 

Just some more random thoughts.