I need a Hero.

reply to post by beezzer


And there lies a fundamental problem. They're not real people. They are fictional characters, or actors who play heroical parts. And though, if you are blessed with a vivid imagination, and a good sense of humour, such people can still inspire, they are hardly tangible proof of true heroism. John Wayne could only save you if it was in his script and it didn't actually involve any risk to his very valuable body. I'm not knocking your heros. I love The Duke, and Mr Connery as much as the next man, but, they're not really going to get you out of a fix, and the case of Mr Bond there, not going to even teach you many useful life lessons...I won't go into Mr Snipes etc...as I'm really not sure what's going on with you there...but hey ho, each to there own...

A hero of mine...

en.wikipedia.org...

Also, to the OP...Achilles was scared of being forgotten, not of dying. He feared age and obscurity, so sought death all his life but only when the moment was most opportune. And not a hero in the modern sense, only the classical, Achilles served, and saved only those he was paid to save.

reply to post by Biliverdin
It's not who they are, but who they represent.

They epitomise the concept of individuality. Going against the grain. Doing what is right instead of doing what is appropriate or expected.

The concept of a hero should always challenge us to be better than we are.

To strive for more than we would normally achieve.

we are all heroes at some point and we are all villains at some point

I am my sons' hero.

A tough job, but it keeps me on my toes and will hold onto it for as long as I can.
(he's 8)

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Biliverdin

 

It's not who they are, but who they represent.

They epitomise the concept of individuality. Going against the grain. Doing what is right instead of doing what is appropriate or expected.

The concept of a hero should always challenge us to be better than we are.

To strive for more than we would normally achieve.

I agree. Wholeheartedly. But, I have found my heros in real life, and as you say, sometimes, I found them through film portrayals...but it is the real people, the stories behind the airbrushed glitter, that teaches you the truth of what it is to be a 'hero'. The sacrifices that is takes to be an individual. To understand where they found that strength...

Violette Szabo

Noor-Un-Nisa Inyat-Khan

Real heros.

John Waynes was an actor who was told what to say and how to say it. So is Sean Connery etc. The lives and events that they depict on film, while entertaining, are not, in any way, 'individual'. Those who go against the grain are seldom so smooth, and very rarely have the right quip ready just when they need it. Such glossing over of reality only serves to further diminish the realisation that the person looking back at us in the mirror is the only hero that we will ever really need.

reply to post by Biliverdin

Real life heroes of mine would be upset if I posted their names.

They are friends, who sacraficed for me and many others so we could be safe in times and areas where we weren't.

The heroes I posted represent those ideals that propel real-life folks.

The popular concept of a hero is a masculine fantasy stoked by insecurity and Hollywood.
How many people join the military to be a "hero", but yet need the security of a group and the blessing of a nation?
Do you have to have a gun or sword to be a hero? More than likely, most popular heroes do, and they miraculously dodge an enormous number of bullets while effortlessly killing muscle bound men in full body armor....with their bare hands.
HELL YEAH MAN...
Lost in the mix, are people quietly working to make the world a better place, risking their lives or reputation for a just cause, while the vast majority would shrivel back into the darkness of anonymity with their visions of warriors that they fantasize THEY are.

Originally posted by SurrealisticPillow
The popular concept of a hero is a masculine fantasy stoked by insecurity and Hollywood.
How many people join the military to be a "hero", but yet need the security of a group and the blessing of a nation?
Do you have to have a gun or sword to be a hero? More than likely, most popular heroes do, and they miraculously dodge an enormous number of bullets while effortlessly killing muscle bound men in full body armor....with their bare hands.
HELL YEAH MAN...
Lost in the mix, are people quietly working to make the world a better place, risking their lives or reputation for a just cause, while the vast majority would shrivel back into the darkness of anonymity with their visions of warriors that they fantasize THEY are.

The servicemen I know that are heroes are the ones who walk in harms way for their teamates. The ones that don't ask, don't get ribbons or medals.

They do it not for glory, not for applause.

They do it because it NEEDS to be done.

reply to post by beezzer

Well, MY hero would be anyone that could successfully prosecute any/all of the last four or so presidents and their cohorts for war crimes.
And, anyone else that participates.

Originally posted by SurrealisticPillow
reply to post by beezzer

 

Well, MY hero would be anyone that could successfully prosecute any/all of the last four or so presidents and their cohorts for war crimes.
And, anyone else that participates.

We all need our heroes!

Originally posted by beezzer
The heroes I posted represent those ideals that propel real-life folks.

And again, I reiterate, there lies the problem. Though it is all very nice that you have friends and comrades that will lay their lives down for you, and there is after all no greater sacrifice than to lay your life down for your friends (or so the programming goes), for the rest of the time, those friends of yours are quite happy the blow the faces off of complete strangers for a pay check, so not really heroes in the bigger scheme of things.

The true hero, imho, isn't "just" a person who fights against and triumphs over the evils of the world, but someone who is able, by whatever means and resources that are available to him (her), to HELP, in whatever way, however great or small, create or generate a new domain of possibility ie: a new world, that is more enjoyable, and worthwhile for everyone (himself included) to live into.

Of course, any such domain, to be and become increasingly worthwhile and ever more enjoyable for one and all, must LIBERATE and EMPOWER others where the true nature of authentic power, is the power of FREEDOM, to freely chose and freely love, and to be freely and authentically self-expressed, without any constraint or hindrance.

Thus, the true hero isn't and cannot be a despot in the making, since the very premise of his rationale and the entire modus operandi of his "Magnum Opus" or Great Work involves, at the deepest level, his great faith, not only in the fundamental goodness of God and the Creation, but also in his fellow man's inherent or potential goodness, who's innermost heart's desire is also (just like the hero's own) to love and be loved, and to be helpful, not hurtful.

And so, once his job or his work has been completed, and he has followed without wavering, his path through the calling or chosen nature of his unique "fated wedge" (goaded by a moral imperative), he too achieves release and liberation, not just for his fellow man, but also for himself, the final phase of his journey thereafter being, not to rule over anything, but simply to enjoy, as a normal human being, a normal human life, which of course isn't really "normal" per se, but extraordinary in its ordinariness.

To then live out this new life in the new world he's helped to generate, and to enjoy, both for himself, and, in relation to his fellow man (and woman) one and all, the blessed fruits of all his labor, and even to appear in the eyes of others to "walk away" may in fact require the greatest courage of all, because, no longer goaded in any particular direction, such a being is entirely free in an absolute sense, and so the question then arises - by what or who's rules shall he play?

Would such a one then, having realized the domain of absolute freedom and liberation, then engage in a "sinful" lifestyle of "depravity"? Not if he's true to himself he won't, and neither will he do so if he's absolutely committed to his own and his fellow man's eternal happiness and joy (to overflowing). But is he constrained in any way by any "should" or "shouldn't"?

And that's the absolute beauty of it all, you see, because he is NOT constrained.

Such a one keeps the law but is not under it. He has transcended the law and the terrible authoritarian religious "rule" of the "morality" of "should and shouldn't" without having any need, or interest, in being "bad". Such a one has slayed both for himself and by extention, on behalf of his fellow man, the dragon of authoritarian rule. He has bound the "strong man" and pilfered all his treasure (power), leaving absolutely nothing behind of any value whatsoever, and then made it available to one and all who would seek to follow and understand him and his unique genius.

Therefore the best hero, while willing to die for the sake of what's right, just and true, need not neccessarily die, vanish, nor in the final analysis rule over any earthly kingdom as an "authority".

No, he spends the rest of his natural life as a "normal" person and a "regular guy" while laughing endlessly at the ignorance and the folly of the world while inviting us to laugh right along with him, at OURSELVES!

"It's absurd!" he (or we) might exclaim...

You see, the hero, he is the guy who always gets the last laugh at the "devil's" expense.

That's who my hero is anyway, and what's really neat is that the more I get to know him and his unique character and unparalled genius, the more I start to become just like him, and man oh man does he ever possess a truly awesome sense of humor! You have no idea, at present, but, if you pick up your cross (and we all have or have had a cross to bear) and follow me following him, you soon will when it dissolves on your very back into a series of childlike giggles and laughter at the utter absurdity of your own folly and prior ignorance, so much so that he is capable of wiping the very tears from our eyes, until we weep again in tears of laughter and joy!

I Have Overcome The World!

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquored it for you.]
~ John 16:33

Originally posted by NewAgeMan

Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
~ John 13:36, KJV

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
~ John, 14:3

reply to post by NewAgeMan


Being a hero, in reality, is getting the # end of the stick and not only holding it with dignity, but still giving it the best that you can possibly give it.

reply to post by Biliverdin

You missed the point I just made, that the true hero is much smarter than that! The # end holders will be left holding the # end of the stick don't you see?!

The hero reverses it all and then hands you to glorious end, while asking you to be merciful with the # end holders!

reply to post by NewAgeMan


No. You missed mine.

reply to post by Biliverdin

All I meant was why settle for less than best? You, (we ALL) deserve so much more, by many many orders of magnitude, regardless of mere external circumstance.

Originally posted by casenately
What is your Hero?

My hero is a 'who'. She's Mary, the mother of Jesus. She lived in hard times and survived. The daily grind back then .. the sickness ... the hunger ... From all accounts she was a good person even in the face of ultimate evil. She was a very young wife. She was a young widow. She raised a child in difficult times. She saw her child murdered in the most cruel manner and yet she didn't lose her mind but continued on.

Not the kind of answer you are looking for I'm sure. But it IS my answer.

reply to post by NewAgeMan


No, you see, what most fail to realise is that there is always # that has to be cleared up, whether things are going well or bad, there is always #, and someone has to clear it up. And they do. Either because they get paid handsomely to do so, or because they are forced to, or because with great stoicism they realise that if they dont nobody else will. We don't ever see these people, but they are there. The latter people, they are the ones worthy of our admiration, they are the ones left holding things together when everyone else goes off to celebrate and pat themselves on the back.

I read a book called the Infiltrators, it is about the special branch of Scotland Yard, the writer, explaining how he got into undercover police work, describes how, when working as a 'ambulance' driver for the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) found himself one christmas with a bucket, a syringe and a basketful of kittens that couldn't be fed. None of the other staff could do it, not without crying and thereby inflicting more suffering on the kittens, he could. These people, though we don't like to acknowledge that they exist, are heroes. They make up for in backbone what the rest of us lack.

reply to post by Biliverdin

Fair enough, I understand. I guess what I was driving at was that it's not an issue of economics, but of psychological and spiritual growth and well being, yes, even in the face of adversity or difficult and challenging circumstances. The hero is the one who overcomes and triumphs, so that we might have a better world to live into.

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
reply to post by Biliverdin

 

Fair enough, I understand. I guess what I was driving at was that it's not an issue of economics, but of psychological and spiritual growth and well being, yes, even in the face of adversity or difficult and challenging circumstances. The hero is the one who overcomes and triumphs, so that we might have a better world to live into.

I use this analogy only because it is nearing the 27th and the Holocaust is therefore at the forefront of my mind, but Hitler was an idealist. And Heydrich and Himmler were the ones forced to clear up after that idealism. Worth bearing that in mind. At all times. Ideas people rarely think of the logistics, they expect others to do that for them. Ideas people should never be given power to decide anything. Though contributions should always be encouraged