In 1984 the singer Bonnie Tyler recorded the song Holding Out for a Hero. It never made it high in the charts but the song became incredibly popular in a number of films during the 1980s including most famously Footloose, Short Circuit 2, and Who’s Harry Crumb? before being used again in 2004 in the film Shrek 2. It seems that all through the ages we are all holding out for a hero; it all suggests too that we are not finding many around us.
In 2010, a song by French electronica artist College in collaboration with Electric Youth, entitled A Real Hero was released, being inspired by a quote from the lyricist’s grandfather describing the airline captain Chesley Sullenberger as “a real human being and a real hero”, after he had managed to land the US Airways Flight 1549 plane on the Hudson River in January 2009 after both engines were disabled by a bird strike, with all 155 people aboard surviving. The song had the line “People who make their own choice and try to save lives. I want to give an homage”.
In contrast perhaps, yet in the same vein, another film describing an air crash, Flight, has Denzel Washington starring (as Wikipedia tells us) “as William ‘Whip’ Whitaker Sr, an alcoholic airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mechanical failure, saving nearly everyone on board. While hailed as a hero by his actions, he was found to be drunk and under the influence of drugs while flying the plane (and indeed during the subsequent trial) — a fallen hero, no less.
The song Holding Out for a Hero begins by asking the question “Where have all the good men gone?” The singer cries out “Late at night, I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need… I need a hero; I’m holding out for a hero ‘til 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… And he’s gotta be larger than life”.
So, where indeed are all the heroes today? And do we not need them? Are we holding out helplessly for them or have we hope? Are we producing them in our schools?
Heroes really are those to whom we look up, those who set a positive, consistent, inspiring example. Paul told Timothy in his letter in the Bible “do not let people look down on you because you are young but set an example…” We could equally add that people must not look up to people just because they are old. Young and old people must set an example if they are to be a true hero.
People will save lives by setting an example and we are crying out for such examples. In short, the way to be such a hero is to use the acronym HERO for an explanation. A hero will be seen, firstly and above all, in setting an example of Humility. They will consider others before themselves and they will consider others better than themselves; they will not perform or work for their glory but for the good of others. Secondly, the hero will set an example in Empathy, caring deeply for those he or she leads, knowing and understanding their needs. Thirdly, the hero will set an example in Righteousness, in doing the right thing the right way at the right time for the right reason, even when no-one is watching. Lastly, the hero will set an example in Obedience, in setting the standard and following the laws.
Heroes save lives – is that not it? If that is the case, then clearly teachers and parents may be seen as heroes by setting children on the right path and not on the road to destruction. They may not save them from swollen rivers, burning buildings or savage animals but they will save them from wasting their lives by not only doing certain actions but by setting an example in all areas. Parents should automatically be heroes to their children; teachers should necessarily be heroes to their pupils.
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Our National Anthem has the powerful line “May leaders be exemplary” as a prayer, perhaps. It is not a request or a possibility; it must be a requirement, an absolute necessity. Indeed, it is stating that leaders must be exemplary, setting the highest example in “speech, conduct, love, faith and purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Example is quite simply the X factor. Only such leaders will be heroes. Our real hero does not need simply to be strong, fast and fresh from the fight; he or she must be humble, empathetic, righteous and obedient. Have we found our heroes? Or is it a flight of our imagination?
