Josiah Road

A Hero is Born

I love superheroes. Last Halloween I dressed up as Batman (unfortunately they never make superhero costumes in adult sizes, so my friends encouraged me never to don my juvenile caped crusader outfit again!). I grew up watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and they even appeared as the theme of my birthday party once or twice. I have often wished I had powers like the X-men or a secret identity like Superman (people still seem to recognize me with my glasses on!). The thought of fighting the forces of evil makes my heart race with excitement, and a couple of years ago, I had a chance to live my dream…

It was a dark night, and a thick fog had settled upon my quiet neighborhood. Some friends had decided to spend the night after playing video games with my brother and me, and we all retired to our beds. However, at 2:00 in the morning the ring of our doorbell awakened us. When I arrived at the door, my brother and friends were already there, but the culprit could not be found. We returned to our beds, only to be disturbed a few minutes later by yet another ring at our door. This time, I was determined to catch the mystery visitor. My friends and brother were already outside, and as they turned back towards the house, they saw a hero emerge—wearing nothing but boxing shorts and slippers and carrying a deadly hockey stick; I was the face of justice. With the burden of the greater good driving me, I walked into the mist in search of my adversary. It wasn’t long before he emerged out of the fog, walking down the path behind our house. I don’t know if it was my menacing silhouette, the fear of my piercing gaze, or the threats my friends began to shout at him, but the figure on the path hastened away, and that was the last we heard of him.

Superheroes are driven by a need to rise above the average. They know the cost of their complacency. In the recent movie “Iron Man,” the main character is compelled to do his part in making the world a better place. He believes that this is the reason for his existence. When he arrives at this conclusion he stops living his life for himself and he begins to serve others by protecting them. In Matthew 20:26, Jesus tells us the way to be great is to be a servant. A characteristic found in most of our favorite superheroes is selflessness. Superheroes put themselves on the line for others. God wants us all to be superheroes in this way, but often we care more about ourselves than those around us We have a “me first” attitude, but this does not constitute true greatness. We all have the potential to be great. But are we ignoring the problems of others because we are so focused on our own issues?