Where There Be Heroes?

Everyone seems to think of heroes as big super guys in some kind of spandex and capes. Uh, if you see someone like that, they’re probably not heroes. Just so you know.

The real heroes of our lives are often the ones we take for granted and run by giving quick pats and quick words on our way to someone else. Perhaps more flashy and spandex-y like.

And perhaps with no more thought than that.

As those that read my blog the other day, I’ve been grabbing all the time I can reading Jim Butcher’s book “Changes” - a Dresden File mystery.

A fascinating mix of mystery and fantasy, and a lot of things thrown in. So many different things I often find myself pausing to wonder ‘what if’ .... and, well, a lot of things that I’m not going to mention right now. For a few reasons, one being I might want, okay, need, to use for some more blog posts.

Whether it is Butcher’s take or view on heroes or just that of one of his character’s, it was another instance of making me stop and think.

Harry and his friends are getting ready to go off on a quest. Sort of. Butcher does a great job of using ‘pop-culture’ references to add humor and lighten up scenes that would be dark and horrific otherwise.

In this particular one, Harry is occupied with something and the others getting ready to go on the journey with him start likening themselves to the characters in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Harry was not part of the discussion so he is rather put out by his character designation -

“Changes” - page 335 -

Harry asks who he got cast as.... “Sam,” Sanya said.” Harry blinks and declares “Oh, for crying out loud, it was perfectly obvious who I should have been.”

Sanya just shrugs and tells Harry that Harry’s godmother [referred to later as “Spooky death Sidhe lady,” Molly said. “Now upgraded to spooky, crazy death Sidhe lady.” ----- okay so maybe you need to trust me on this one and just read it.]

Anyway, so Sanya tells Harry that Harry’s godmother got Gandalf so Harry got Sam.

“He started to leave and then paused. ‘Harry, you have read the books as well, yes?’

‘Sure,’ I said.

‘Then you know that Sam was the true hero of the tale,’ Sayna said. ‘That he faced far greater and more terrible foes than he ever should have had to face, and did so with courage. That he went alone into a black and terrible land, stormed a dark fortress, and resisted the most terrible temptation of his world for the sake of the friend he loved. That in the end, it was his actions and his actions alone that made it possible for light to overcome darkness.’’

We might not all have a Sam in our lives, or think we don’t. But how many unnoticed heroes do we have in our lives?

Like the Sandra Bullock character in the movie “While You Were Sleeping” tells another, when he says he’s no hero, she says ‘you always give up your seat on the train.’ ‘that’s nothing’ he says, to which she replies, ‘not to the one that sits in the seat.’

So whatever kind of hero you have in your life, reach out and recognize them in some way.

If you had one like Emyl Jenkins, then go over to the JRW site and see about nominating them for the Emyl Jenkins award.

http://jamesriverwriters.org/jrw_programs/emyl-jenkins-award/

Don’t let your heroes go unnoticed.