New Year Hero Musings

Ah, another year is upon us. And since this is supposed to be a blog about heroes and sidekicks, I had better do more of that and less speechmaking about waffle shortages and Christmas trees.

It isn't easy to be a hero, no matter what kind of hero you are and to whom. Not only do you have to deal with the problems of a name, a costume, a secret identity, a secret lair, and a day job, you also have to deal with the fact that some people will not understand you, some people will hate you, and some people will demean you. But that isn't why you do it, is it? "One did not do the correct thing for recognition or praise. Even at a cost, the correct thing was done because it was correct. That was duty. She would not betray it."

You see, for a hero, truth and justice and righteous living mean something. And they'll both live and die for it. They won't be perfect at it, but they will keep trying. "Those who hold to the Light must be prepared to defend it with their lives." Each and every day, in little ways, you see people try to do that. I know we all know that people have hidden monsters inside them. We learned that from Nazi Germany and the SS soldiers, the 1960s electric shock and prison guard experiments, and 4 years in public high school. But what we do not know, what we most often ignore even within ourselves, is the hidden hero. You know what I mean. The moment someone does something kind and it surprises even them. The thousands who hid Jews in their homes, those who risked their lives to create the United States of America, the Underground Railroad, the person who refuses to help their friend commit a crime or immoral act, someone who speaks the truth boldly fully aware of the cost. Although there are millions of examples of people doing these things every single day, my favorite example from the movies has to be Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings trilogy (as written by Tolkien and directed by Peter Jackson).

Sam is not the one you think of as a hero at the beginning. He's sweet and kind and his life involves a small town and working up the gumption to ask Rose to dance. He is a good man but not a brave or heroic one. And yet he possesses honesty, a hopeful heart, and loyalty. He makes a promise and he keeps it despite the cost. And by the end, of all the characters we come across, he is one of the most heroic, perhaps because it was so unexpected (most especially to him). We all knew Aragorn was and would be a hero, just like Legolas, Gimlee, and Gandalf. They were born to it and trained for it. We suspected Frodo would do important things; he had the ring. You could even suspect Merry and Pip because they showed initiative (albeit to get into trouble) and iniative is an essential quality for heroes. But Sam doesn't have those things. And it doesn't matter. Heroes are not made so by education or training, but by character. And character exists within the poor, huddled masses yearning to be free just as much as it can exist within the educated officiates.

The one thing about heroes though, is that they are never truly comfortable afterwards. They are forever apart from the rest. "To sheltered and peaceful people who live in warm homes and sit in comfortable chairs and sleep safely at night, there can be no realization of the desperation of men running and fighting for their lives against enormous odds." And so the hobbits sit apart, looking at all the others, knowing this is and is not their home because they are and are not the same. Life is different because they are different. But they continue to live and that is key. Heroes don't stop just because evil is vanquished for a day, a decade, or a lifetime.

So to all the heroes out there, and especially those that fight daily to protect and defend, God bless. May your new year be filled with light.