Bonnie Tyler sang these words nearly 30 years ago in a song that every generation since then probably knows. The song was given new life in the Shrek 2 movie.
I need a hero
I’m holding on for a hero ‘til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life
Who is your hero? As we begin a new year, it can be a time of reflecting on our lives and what we want in the coming year. Who we hold as heros can have an influence on the shape our lives will take. The people that we look up to, who we want to be like, who inspire us tell us a lot about who we are and want to be. Is your hero a John Wayne cowboy type? Or a gang leader type? Or a tough-guy, shoot ‘em up vigilante type? Or an athlete who just won’t quit type? Or a gorgeous, sexy rock star type? What is it that makes that person or type of person your hero? What do they have that you don’t?
One of my heros just died this past month. Nelson Mandela was a unique man. In his younger years he was angry at injustice and rose to leadership to challenge the apartheid system which oppressed his people. For his involvement he was sent to prison. What makes him a hero to me is that after 27 years of harsh conditions in prison, you would think that he would emerge as an angry old man intent on revenge. Instead, he returned from that hell with the same fire for justice tempered by a deep love of people and desire for reconciliation between the powers and races in South Africa. He sought to fight for justice, but justice with forgiveness, peace and relationship. That’s the attitude that I want to emulate. It is the attitude I see in Jesus who uttered forgiveness to his executors even as he hung on the cross.
As I approach a new year, and consider who I want to become in the coming months through whatever life throws my way, I will look to my heros for inspiration to be the kind of person that Nelson Mandela was, who Martin Luther King Jr was, who Ghandi was, who Jesus is. My hero, like Bonnie Tyler’s has gotta be larger than life, in fact is the Creator of life.
Who is your hero?
