Heroes!

On rare occasion, there is something on television that not only entertains, but peaks my interest and makes me think. Recently I began watching the 3^rd season of “The Crown” on Netflix. It fictionalizes the life of the current English monarchy beginning with Queen Elizabeth’s father. I guess you would call it fact based fiction.

The most recent episode that I watched concerned the overwhelming interest that Prince Philip had in the astronauts and the moon landing in 1969. He was fascinated with every aspect of the space program. He hero worshiped the astronauts. And when they made their world tour following their return to earth, he was beside himself to meet them. So when they visited the queen, he requested a private audience. The meeting was stilted and awkward. Prince Phillip was looking for deep, spiritual answers and was ultimately disappointed to find that they were only simple men. Their tale concerned the business of the mission and they had no deep insight that they could share with him. Interestingly enough, the astronauts thought royal life was much more fascinating than flying to the moon.

All of this lead me to contemplate how often we do this very thing in our own lives. We see movie stars, sports figures, the ultra rich and think they have everything. But do they? Actors act. We may be more enamored of the character they create than the person they are. Or athletes. They do one thing very well, and because of that we honor them with wisdom and insight they don’t possess. We make them heroes in our minds. But what if we really knew them? Would they be what we expect, or would we, like Prince Phillip, be disappointed that they are just ordinary people.

I remember Christopher Reeve playing Superman. He was the ultimate super hero back in the day. The man of steel with x-ray vision and incredible speed. He could save everyone, stop catastrophes, fly into outer space and still be charming and not bad to look at. When I heard he had fallen from a horse and was a quadriplegic, initially it didn’t register. He was Superman. What the heck?? As it turns out, because of his accident, he became a super man of sorts, just not with a blue suit and alien powers. He became the role model for so many people that found themselves in his situation. He faced his infirmity with courage and grace. And in that, he became a real hero.

Why do we have this need to put people on a pedestal? We do it with the military, politicians, Nobel Prize winners, scientists, medical specialists, or leaders of nations. We expect them to have the answers to all of our problems. And when they don’t, we cut them off at the base. They are just people, just like you and me. They have gifts for certain things, they have individual abilities, they are given knowledge to make decisions, but when it is all said and done, they are just people. Why are we so disappointed? What is it that we are seeking? We seem to have a built in need to worship. But to put our faith in mankind will most likely end badly. No person will ever live up to “God” status.

Those who become true “heroes” are generally those who sacrifice for the betterment of others. They never plan to enter a burning building, or rescue someone from danger, or even make their neighborhood better. It is who they are, real people who care. It is those quiet heroes that deserve our gratitude, honor and appreciation.

So before you become disappointed, or even angry, when people don’t live up to your expectations, remember that every single person on the face of the earth does the same basic things that we do; eat sleep, work, play, dream, live, die. Hopefully we can esteem their abilities such as athletics, sciences or ideas, objectively. You can chose who you admire, but be careful who you worship.

Just Writin’ on the River Road