You don't ask for it.
In fact the day that it first happens you are almost always the last to know.
You don't get to plan it.
The reason why you don't plan it is because if you did it would automatically take you out of the running.
You just show up and you be yourself, because at the moment of truth you either are or you are not the right material.
It starts with having the ears to hear what is going on right in front of you in spite of everything going on around you, and the ability to look past the demands of a great metropolitan newspaper column deadline to notice the seemingly insignificant needs of an individual that has reached the end of their rope.
You do not need to be from a faraway planet that exploded in a disaster to see through the defences and actions of the people right here on this earth. You just have to be down to earth you know?
X-ray vision was limited by lead, but once you learn to hear what is truly going on within the people around you, you also discover the ability to see through the harshness and angry words of those that you walk among.
The ability to leap a tall building with a single bound is pale in comparison to the ability to bound a heartache within the chest of a child or to step in front of a person who is not old enough or strong enough to dodge a bullet that had their name on it.
Outrunning a speeding train?
Try racing after someone who is bound and determined to make wrong decisions in life. They barrel down the tracks at a breakneck speed and no, you can't always stop them from making the choice but you can outrun them to that place where they arrive broken and bleeding. You can be waiting for them with arms open and a chest to hold them too.
The "S" on the chest will not matter nearly as much on that day as the hot and wet tears that they will leave in it's place as you embrace them and help them find reconciliation.
Being a Superman or a Wonder Woman is something that each of us has the potential to be, and in most cases we would be shocked to discover that to someone we already are.
More than likely you wash their clothes every day, and stress yourself out over a dinner plan that will both meet the nutritional needs that their bodies require while at the same time be fun enough not to have a nose turned up at it.
You have to balance out the need to feel like you are not a slob by frantically picking up after them with the desire to create the atmosphere that you home is not museum.
You navigate them to soccer, gymnastics, dance, baseball and amid every demand that pulls at your attention you still find the request to listen to him exclaim about a new level he beat on a Mario Bros. video game while zipping up the back of a princess dress.
Sleep? Ha!
When did you ever see Superman sleep?
The only time that comes to my mind was a scene in Superman two where Christopher Reeve gave up his powers to be with Lois Lane and even then my parents fast forwarded it so my mind would not be corrupted. In a way i am glad that they did that because I seem to be in the stage of life as a parent where sleep is evasive to the cries of a bathroom run, or a bad dream that needs to be explained away.
Maybe you kissed them goodbye at the door on the way out to work?
Maybe you are counting the minutes until you are able to come home to them today?
Being a hero to another person is really not difficult to achieve and you don't need the physique of a Greek god or goddess to achieve it either.
It is simply taking the time to realize that you are different. If you are one of His then you have a new citizenship. You bring to this world a power that is from another world. It is through that power and that power alone that you live, move, and have your very being.
"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy," ~Jude 1:20-24
We tend to over complicate it don't we? I mean we set so many stipulations and preconceived pictures in our mind of what it takes to make a difference do we not? We think it is an amount saved up in a bank, finding the perfect gift , achieving a level of success in our field of occupation, or solving a complex problem in minutes in a relationship that has taken years to be created. When in all actuality being someones hero and making a difference in lives of others is found in doing for them what the normal citizens of their Metropolis do not seem to be doing for them.
Stopping the flight patterns of life to just take the time to notice them. It is taking the time to really listen to them in spite of the sounds that are trying to drown them out.
Understanding that you do not have the answers for their problems every single time nor do you have to have all of the answers, but you can connect them with the one who does.
Putting yourself in front of them when the proverbial bullets are flying because you know that even though the bullet was not intended for you that you are strong enough to deflect it. Not every problem that they face should be one that they face alone, nor are they capable of facing that problem or circumstance alone. Why do you think you were in earshot of their cry for help?
Enjoy to the fullest every moment those that Father has placed in your life right now. The future may have other things in store, but you cannot live in the future no more than you can live in the past. You have what you have right now.
Realize that life is not guaranteed and the things that seem to be big right now will not matter 5 years down the road. Mistakes happen, kids don't always listen, cars break down, people who love each other do disagree and life is flying by faster than a speeding bullet.
Realize that life is not guaranteed and the things that seem to be big right now will not matter 5 years down the road. Mistakes happen, kids don't always listen, cars break down, people who love each other do disagree and life is flying by faster than a speeding bullet.
Make yourself available. Most people do not feel as though they have someone in their corner even though they are surrounded by people that they know love them. Make them aware that you are in their corner even if you feel they stepped into the ring with an opponent twice their size that they never should not have messed with.
Ask what you can do to make their life better. It's OK to do that? Yep! It sure is.
Never forget that you only get one chance to do this thing. What makes Hell so terrible is not just what people will find there, it is also in what they will not find there.
In Hell there will be no trace of any kind of God because He is not there. God is love. In Hell there will be no love of any kind.
Think back about the rich man who went to Hell. Do you remember what he asked for? He asked for a dip of water for his tongue because he was tormented in the flames.
Please recall that he was not tormented BY the flame but rather IN the flame. What was IN the flames of Hell?
Every evil action, perverted thought, and wicked molestation. It is all there. He was being tormented IN the flame by what was also IN the flame with him. He saw the only face he knew in life afar off in paradise and he asked for a dip of water. Water would have evaporated in the heat so why ask for water?
I believe he was asking for water not because he was thirsty but because he wanted to experience one last act of compassion.
Just one more act of love and that will tide me over in all of this Hell that i am in.
Imagine you are with your family and you are walking in a mall and you reach a courtyard and you are surrounded by a mob of 30 tough men. They surround your family and suddenly lash out against them with every form of pain that they can physically inflict. You try to fight them off but they are also assaulting you and you are screaming with all of your might as you hear the screams of your family members being brutally attacked, molested, and disfigured. You scream for help to all of those who are walking right bu you and NO ONE notices or if they do, they stop and drink their coffee as they watch you. This is a taste of what Hell will be like. No love and NO compassion.
You may very well be the one to display into the life of another today the very last act of compassion that they will ever know. Who can't you show Christ to? Who cannot you forgive today?
In fact the day that it first happens you are almost always the last to know.
You don't get to plan it.
The reason why you don't plan it is because if you did it would automatically take you out of the running.
You just show up and you be yourself, because at the moment of truth you either are or you are not the right material.
My job had a costume dress up day this past October 31st. I decided to dress as Superman, and unfortunately I was sick the day before and while I was out it was decided by my department that they were not going to participate. Yep, no one clued me in so I walked into the office that day and worked all day dressed as Clark Kent. This was not the most enjoyable day for me. When I got home my little girl came out to the truck to meet me dressed up as a princess. As I put her to bed that night I said, "Good night my beautiful little princess!" She looked up and responded, "Good night my big handsome Superman. Daddy, you are my hero." I am not the best dad in the world and I make more mistakes at it than I care to blog about, but I do want to make a difference in the lives of my children.
Whose hero are you?
Do you want to make a difference? It is really not as complicated as we tend to make it.
Climbing with you,
~Dan
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