The Mistake We Make When Looking for Our Next Hero/Prophet
We must ditch the common stereotype as we search for today’s hero.
The movie Footloose came out in 1984 (sorry, I really am that old). Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler recorded the song “Holding Out for Hero.” The following is the first verse and Chorus if you are not old enough or have never heard the song.
[Verse 1]
have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods?
Where’s the streetwise Hercules to fight the risin’ odds?
Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night, I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need[Chorus]
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero till the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong, and he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero (Hero)
I’m holding out for a hero till the morning light (Hero till the morning light)
He’s gotta be sure, and it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life, larger than life.
This picture of a hero is the norm for anyone wishing to be rescued. Strong, fast, fresh, sure, and larger than life. Bonnie Tyler appears to lament that such people have gone away. No streetwise Hercules or heroes are fighting against the odds to help us navigate all our problems.
Suspending the fact that the song seems to indicate that a hero is male, is this the best image of a hero for humanity today? The image of “the strong man,” that might makes right, perpetuates the idea that strength, physical intimidation, and the ability to use force will rescue us.
I am a man, not a woman. I might even venture as far as to say I am a good man. Nevertheless, with all the world’s problems, I too long for a hero. Most of us do. Our problems appear insurmountable, and even though we are experiencing them, we feel helpless to do anything about them.
Is our image of a hero correct? The song gives us a vision that is misleading, especially for the story of “Footloose. “ The protagonist in “Footloose” is Ren, a teenage boy from a broken home with teenage angst and youthful missteps. He is not a white knight on a fiery steed. In fact, he acknowledges his presence is part of the problem, and he knows it.
Yet, in the end, it is Ren, the teenage outsider, who turns the tide, wins the day, and transforms the antagonist and the whole town. He may be fresh, but he isn’t fast. He isn’t strong or sure, though; he perseveres. He is male, but it is the females in his life who instruct him best on how to use scripture, psychology, and a less forceful approach to gain the advantage.
Are we waiting for the wrong hero? Are we looking in the wrong direction? Are we continually being deceived? How can we save ourselves or get behind a savior when we have the wrong understanding of what a hero actually is?
Our hero for today must be a prophet or a mystic with strength that is not so much physical as strength in mind and spirit. Most real heroes are reluctant, humble, unassuming individuals who have seen or experienced a vision of the future that is far better than the rest of us can imagine.
That vision incorporates the old with what is emerging. The true hero connects the best of what was with the newest, more inclusive expression of what will be. In prophet mode, our hero laments how far we have fallen short while introducing and inspiring us to new heights.
There are many examples of prophets in the Old Testament. When we think of those prophets, the image that comes to mind is of angry, unkept, ranting, and raving people predicting future doom. To be honest, some of the prophets did just that. A prophet, a hero, often has to get our attention before they can do their work. However, the image of a raving, angry lunatic is not the truest or most important reality of the kind of hero we need today.
We must ditch the common stereotype as we search for today’s hero. Instead, we need to seek the truth speakers who have walked a journey to where truth has led them. Their journey will have led them to immense sadness. It is sadness over unrealized potential, the difference between God’s vision and ours. It is a sadness about the human situation and how we continue to turn away the spiritual, intellectual, and, yes, even the physical help we are being offered.
A true hero/prophet understands and joins in repentance because the hero is as culpable as everyone and everything else. Anger turns into repentance, compassion, and metamorphosis when the hero realizes how incapable we are of love, mercy, and forgiveness. Our love is not infinite like God’s love. It’s measured, conditional, usually self-centered, self-preserving.
All of humanity, all spirituality, all connection to what is better, emerging, and promises rescue must connect us to that which is more faithful than ourselves. We poor humans have always been unfaithful, while God is forever faithful. That’s the only consistent pattern.
The hero/prophet stops him or herself and eventually all of us from standing above, apart, or separate from reality. We all have the capacity to be heroes/prophets. But we don’t know how to do that as long as we place ourselves higher than another, believing we’re not sinners or fellow sufferers.
Separation is the mistake of the powerful. It is also the mistake we make when looking for our next hero/prophet. Our understanding of God, who we are, how we all are connected, and the vital role we play in rescuing ourselves must evolve.
No matter whether we feel we are leading, following, or being left behind, we must drop our judgmentalism, superiority complex, and anger.
Dropping anger and judgmentalism is the move we all must make in order to become our own heroes. As writes, “[To] a reordered awareness in which [we] become more like God: more patient like God, more forgiving like God, more loving like God. [1]
References:
[1] Rohr, Tears of Things, xviii.
