“Heroes in Our Midst”©

The Rev. Tracy Sprowls Jenks

April 29, 2007

I have a vague awareness about superheroes. I have seen the Spiderman movies and I know a bit about Superman. Batman has always intrigued me, especially when played by George Clooney. And, of course, I loved Wonder Woman when I was a little girl. I wanted to grow up and be just like her! I even sewed Wonder Woman outfits for my dolls.

I recall my brother running around with a long flowing cape pretending to fly and there I was as Wonder Woman. She did not have a cape but she did have some really great boots. I walked around in my boots, pretending to be Wonder Woman but somehow merging Nancy Sinatra in there. “These boots were made for walkin’ and that’s just what I’ll do.” My sister and I took turns being Wonder Woman. We all took turns playing the evil villain. I am glad to know this 60 year old superhero has not lost any of her allure. A colleague’s granddaughter adores Wonder Woman. Recently, this 2 year-old came out of her room dressed as Wonder Woman and paraded around in front of grandpa. She said, “I have my boots, I have my bracelets, all I need is my num-nums (or pacifier) and I will be all set!”

But still, even with all of this cultural exposure and the memories, I did not feel I had enough information to write a whole sermon on superheroes let alone the heroes in our midst. So I went to the resource at my fingertips, the internet. In my surfing, I came across a book called, How to be a Superhero: Your Complete Guide to Finding a Secret Headquarters, Hiring a Sidekick, Thwarting the Forces of Evil and Much More! by Barry Neville. At last, I thought! The book I have been looking for!

The book answers the questions that every aspiring superhero might ask, such as should I buy a secret headquarters or rent? What can I do if my archenemy seems distant and uncommunicative? The book promises to help the reader identify and hone their superpowers as well as design a costume that says “no” to evil and “yes” to fashion. In the first few pages of the book, the author, also known as Dr. Metropolis, advises that the reader take the SAT or Superhero Aptitude Test. Why read the book if you are not superhero material, right? So, the reader is to take the test, and is encouraged to do his or her own work. Neville says if you are even thinking about cheating on his test, “you are most likely a supervillain and should turn immediately to the special bonus chapter [called], “On the Other Hand, Maybe You’re Evil.”

I realized, after glancing through this book, that I know more about superheroes than I thought I did. In one way or the other, superheroes have incredible powers that they then use to fight crime, thwart evil and otherwise keep humanity safe from harm. These powers can be such things as flying faster than a speeding bullet or super strength. Did you know that Spiderman can lift 10 tons or more!? Wonder Woman not only has incredible speed and strength but she can fly as well. She also is gifted with a pair of fantastic boots which I have already mentioned, bracelets that repel bullets and a golden lasso that when tied around some villain, it makes them tell the truth.

The superpowers of these heroes are certainly appealing. A game I have played with children is to ask them to name the superpower they would want to have if by some quirk of nature they could have it. We then run around pretending to have these great powers. The children choose being invisible, flying or super strength abilities as the powers they would want. These are not unlike the answers I hear from adults, by the way, although adults sometimes choose such powers as x-ray vision or mind-reading as well. Often, someone will mention the power to manipulate time, something like what Superman does when he flies around the world against its rotation so fast that it begins to spin the opposite way, thus going back in time to save his love, Lois Lane.

I think that the thing about superheroes that allows many of us to be attracted to them is not necessarily their superpowers. It could be their vulnerability and humanity. If you think about it, every superhero has something that connects them to the ordinary people of the world. Superman loses his incredible strength near kryptonite. Spiderman is susceptible to the hormones and emotions of youth. And where would Batman be without his sidekick, Robin?

It is the humanity of superheroes that intrigues. Perhaps that is why the television show, “Heroes,” has some wide appeal. I admit I have not seen this show but I understand that the heroes are regular people who wake up one day with a super ability or power. They must learn to cope with their new power and, oh yeah, save the world. How would you cope with the ability to see the future or to fly?

The heroes we hear about in the real world are not superheroes. No one in the real world, as far as I have heard, can leap a building in a single bound or fall off of a building and walk away unscathed. The heroes of our world have more ordinary abilities. I highly doubt that the heroes we might know or hear about woke up one morning with an awareness of a new super human ability. Even more doubtful is that they woke up with a notion that they might or could save the world. The people we might think about as heroes do, however, do something extraordinary and as a result the world is a different place.

I am thinking about Oscar Schindler who, at risk to his own life, saved hundreds of Jews from certain death during World War II. I am thinking about Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat and thus ushered in a new era of human rights. I am thinking about Nelsen Mandela who sat in prison for over two decades and yet still walked out of that cell with hope and vision for a new South Africa. I am thinking about Shirin Ebadi who has consistently spoken up in her native Iran for democracy and for the rights of women and children. I am thinking about Wangari Muta Maathi who has worked with poor women in Africa to plant some 30 million trees to “strengthen the living environment of our common Earth.”

I could go on and on and I know you could add many to this list of people who changed the world not because of any super human feat, but because their humanity moved them to compassion and to stand up for justice.

But heroes need not have changed the world in such dramatic and far-reaching ways. There are much less global acts of compassion or justice that may qualify a person as a hero. Liviu Librescu is a hero in my book. He is the professor at Virginia Tech who blocked the door to give time for his students to escape. He was shot and killed by Seung-Hui Cho. The firefighters and police officers who ran into the World Trade Center buildings to rescue people are heroes, too. The guardsmen of the Coast Guard who rescued thousands of people in New Orleans are heroes. Our lives are full of stories where someone has donated a kidney or pulled someone out of the path of a bus or fed someone in need or tutored a child so that he or she could pass a class. All of these people are heroes too.

I consider my friend Janie a hero. Fifteen years ago she went into labor early and delivered her son at 28 weeks instead of the full 40 weeks. Jack was born with Cerebral Palsy. Fifteen years ago she would not listen to the doctors who told her it was unlikely her baby would survive. She would not listen to those doctors who said her son would never walk. She asked for a transfer with her company and moved to Budapest, Hungary where she lived for seven years with her son while he worked with doctors and therapists at the Peto Institute. Today, Jack walks with a walker. He goes to school and likes to travel. He is fifteen and loves video games. Janie never gave up on her son. To me she is a hero.

Some might say she is not a hero. What choice did she have as a mother with a child who has special needs? Jack was her child. I don’t know any parent who would not fight to give their children the absolute best that they could give them. Is choice a factor in determining what makes a hero? Did Janie have a choice? Did Rosa Parks? Did Liviu Librescu? Maybe choice is a factor, I don’t know.

Janie didn’t pull a drowning child out of the water or plant even one single tree. Yet, she dedicated her life so that another would have a life. I see her as a hero.

What is it about the people I have mentioned this morning that makes them heroes? What are the defining qualities, like running fast or reading minds for superheroes, that defines a hero? I know it is not the costume! Heroes do not get a cape or cool boots. The dictionary describes a hero as a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities. I want to add to that definition a bit. I think of a hero as someone who thinks of others. A hero acts from a place of compassion on behalf of others. A hero does not think what do I get out of this but how can I be of service? A hero is moved to speak up or to act out of a desire to make things better.

Perhaps these qualities are noble. Perhaps it does take incredible courage. But consider that these are qualities we all have or can have. We all can be heroes. We all are hero material.

I have often been accused of being an idealist. Some have even said I am naïve. A professor of mine once put in a reference letter for me that yes, indeed, I was an idealist but with the passion and commitment to turn my lofty vision into reality.

I do have a vision. I have a vision of the world I want to live in. I have a vision of the world that I want my child, and yours, to live in and their children, and their children. And that world can be shaped by our efforts in our Religious Education program.

(This section refers back to this morning’s reading by Victoria Safford). Because, here is where we give our children a voice and the courage to use it. It is here where we give them the power to say “no” I will not accept this. No to war. No to poverty. No to neglect and abuse. Here is where we teach them about forgiveness, to forgive others, to forgive themselves. Here is where compassion and courage grow. Here is where lives are transformed and transforming. Here is where blessings are given and, if we are willing to accept, received. Here is where wonder and awe are nurtured and carried into the world. Here is where love is sustained. Here is where seeing the world in a different way is okay. Here is where we can see with our own eyes and listen with our own ears and sing our own song. We can walk in beauty here.

This is my vision for our Religious Education program. We begin to create the world we want in this place, here and now. We create a world where each person matters and where we care for each other, first, above all else. We become heroes, training our young heroes, to live as love and compassion and as peace and justice in the world.

You are a part of this vision. I cannot do it alone. I cannot do it with the wonderful volunteers and teachers that already volunteer in our RE program. You need to be heroes too. People willing to give of themselves, in each moment. We need each other. We all need to be heroes in the midst of the turmoil and pain of the world.

I am a religious education minister and, at heart, a social justice minister, too, because I believe in this vision. And I believe what Adrienne Rich says in a reading in the back of our hymnal. She writes, “I have to cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.”

Superheroes do not exist. There isn’t a Superman who can spin back time by flying around the earth at great speed. There isn’t a Wonder Woman who can repel bullets or force the truth out of someone. Neither Spiderman nor Batman can bring peace and freedom into our world. We need to create the world we want for ourselves. Each of us has the capacity to be a hero. In fact, we already are. If you think about it, you know in some way you have touched the life of another. You have given yourself on behalf of another. We can reconstitute this world. It does not take extraordinary power. It takes vision and passion and commitment. It takes patience and perseverance.

We can create a world of peace and love. I believe it with my whole being. I would not do this work if I did not have this conviction. I ask, even if your conviction is not like mine, to consider the vision and to take the smallest step towards it. Be a hero to a child by spending time as a teacher or as a volunteer. There are so many ways to be a part of our program. Each of these have various time commitments from once a month to once a year. I invite you to share in the vision. I invite you to be a hero. So may it be. Amen.