September 11 ~ Hero

On this eleventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks, it's appropriate that today's Photo A Day challenge is "Hero."  The first heroes who come to mind are the NYC Firefighters.  They kept going up the stairs, while others were escaping down.  True heroes.  Our military men and women who have been fighting since.  True heroes.

I didn't personally know any of those men and women.  But I've had plenty of heroes in my life.  I wrote about a conversation with Rod regarding heroes (you can read it here.)  Such wisdom he had when he told me:

Kathy, that's why you have to be careful who you make your heroes. You can't choose athletes as heroes. They might do great things on the field, but that doesn't make them great people. True heroes are people of God.

Webster defines hero as:

1)  a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability

b : an illustrious warrior

c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities

d : one who shows great courage

2) a : the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work

b : the central figure in an event, period, or movement

 
I've been thinking about heroes all day.  I think a lot of times we get hung up on that first definition.  Larger than life, endowed with great strength.  Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap buildings in a single bound.  Those kind of heroes only exist in novels or movies or our imaginations.

There are many unsung heroes that go through life showing great courage.  Not the dragon slaying kind of courage, but courage to continue on while facing losses, illness, rejection, sorrow, and fear.  People who put on a cap that says, "Another Bad Hair Day" with fake hair, when all theirs has fallen out.

Heroes.  Sometimes you have to search for them because they're busy going forward in life.  But there are plenty of them if you know where to look.