Guys: Be Superheroes
Mon Jun 04, 12 6:49 pm
A chain of thoughts that lead to a blog idea. It happened in the flash of about 5 seconds. I was in the car, driving along a long stretch of road, my iPod on shuffle. Because that’s so fun sometimes, to not know what’s coming up. Sometimes, I’ll admit, I chuckle at myself when a random song pops up, and I think ‘Allison, why on earth do you have THIS in your song library?’, which provides me with some entertainment. This time a song, The Last Stand by Two Steps From Hell, came on unexpectedly. All joking about the name of the band aside, I really love all the soundtrack and instrumental music that these guys come up with. They’re so inspiring, adventuresome, epic and best played quite loud. Of course. Seeing that I like these types of movies anyway, it’s actually no wonder that my mind popped to where it did: Guys and superheroes.
I could suddenly just picture guys driving around in their cars, just like I was doing, listening to this type of music, cranked up really loudly, and I wondered what it must mean to them. It has no words. It’s not a ‘girly song’ by any stretch of the imagination. When I hear it, I usually want to jump out of my car immediately and go climb a mountain, fight off an entire army single handedly, and rescue a bunch of people from certain doom. It’s a good thing I drive with a steady mind, and not my imagination controlling me. So all this to say, I wondered if guys thought along these lines too. Day in, day out, listening to this, it’s got to become more than just mere enjoyment music to them. I’m not a guy, so I can’t say with absolute certainty, but as a girl, I want to at least address one aspect of this type of music. Acts of heroism. Can the music guys listen to have an influence over the way they think? The way they perceive the world? Are they inspired to be a superhero in the life of a woman they know, their family or friends?
Climbing Mountains
Oh, the impossible. Or, is it impossible? Guys, I know a lot of tasks can be put upon your shoulders. Be the man of the house. Be the older brother. Take responsibility. All with a smile. This must feel like walking through mud with chained ankles, sometimes, I bet. It’s great to watch movies like Return of the King, and see Sam’s courage, willpower, and determination as he bravely slings Frodo over his shoulder when he can no longer continue. And Sam climbs that mountain. How? It’s so far, and he’s so small. And he’s carrying the weight of two people. The mountain isn’t even steady underneath them. How accurate is that to your life sometimes? It seems like an impossible task. And yet, somehow Sam makes it to the top. Sam is a total superhero, and he doesn’t even have any super powers. My favorite line is when Sam says to Frodo: “I can’t carry the ring for you Mr. Frodo, but I CAN CARRY YOU!” Guys, I want to encourage you to be compassionate like this to others. Sensitive is a girly word, so I’ll refrain from using it, but I believe Sam saw the burden Frodo had willingly placed upon himself, and Sam knew he couldn’t take that burden from Frodo, but he could carry him when his physical and mental strength gave out. You can do this too. Maybe you notice your father’s increasing burden of doing certain tasks as he gets older or busier, and you know you can help. This is not placing the entire task on yourself as a burden, but taking the initiative to compassionately help where needed. You can be that. Maybe your friend has taken on an impossible task, and you see an area that you could help him with, decreasing the size of the task for him. What about a girl who needs the oil changed in her car, and doesn’t know the difference between transmission fluid and windshield washer fluid? (Haha... can’t you just see THAT working out!). Who cares if you’ve barely said twenty words to her? Being the superhero means piping up when you hear her speaking about it needing to be done, and saying “I can do that! What day this week would be ok for me to come do that for you?” Her reaction will be complete shock. To the rescue!
Fighting A War
Morals. Standards. Saying no when everyone says yes. Upholding the law. Ah, all the great caped crusaders do it. They fight for what is right, when the world says there is no absolute truth, and whatever feels right is fine. It’s like an evil mastermind villain has invaded all their minds and turned them to mindless drones. Gasp! And it’s true. This villain is called Satan, and he’s infiltrated the minds of every human being on the planet. He’s turned them against the good that was initially instilled in all of us. Some choose to just act on it more than others and ignore The Truth, even though we are all sinners. Don’t you love it when all your guy friends are going to see Immortals, with all of its gore and nudity content, and you feel deep inside you that it just wouldn’t be something you should intentionally put into your mind and life? Agh. Saying no is hard. You’re a man, after all! You can do what you want! Right? Well, there are times when you can’t do what you want. Bruce Wayne, for instance. In Batman Begins, Bruce could have remained a rich playboy, closing his eyes to all the corruption going on right under his very own city. He could have walked away when he saw the drug trade, crime and violence erupting into his society. But his father worked so hard to build all that up, for the good of the people. And now they were stupidly tearing it down from around them, not caring or remembering what was right and good anymore. How easy would it have been for Bruce to join them and live it up. It would have been so simple. So much simpler than what he chose to do; which was fight. Fight for what he knew was right. For what was good. For something that people would probably laugh at these days, because that kind of a world seems like a silly ideal to most people. My favorite line that Bruce says to Roz Al Goul, and one that sporadically pops into my mind for who knows what reason, is: “I’ll be standing right where I’m supposed to be. Between you and the people of Gotham City.” He stood in that gap, when Roz wanted to watch them all destroy each other so he could start a new utopian city, killing thousands of innocent people in the process. Roz didn’t care about morals, standards, or what was right. Bruce did. And Batman has no super powers either. You can do this in your own life as well and become a superhero, rising above the crime and corruption of the world. Saying no to something, sure, but what about fighting with your right to vote? What will your voice cry out in the battle for unborn children? Who will you maybe have to physically fight back to protect someone you love, or someone you barely know? Take that stand. Hold to what you believe to be true, right, and worthy of fighting for. I guarantee those around you will begin to take notice, and curiosity will get the best of them. A man who stands for what is right is someone I look up to, as does everyone else. So fight back those hordes! To the rescue!
Saving The Helpless
Ok guys, admit it: Who among you hasn’t dreamed of rushing in and saving a woman from something awful? Attackers, kidnappers, dragons, wild beasts, your arch enemy. I can imagine what a rush that must be. The thrill and realization that you have literally just saved someone from death. Ok, let’s step it up a notch, what if it were an entire village you had to rescue? A little trickier, but as noted above, not impossible! Sure, maybe you get thanked, but more often than not, the reality is that you probably won’t. Every guy wants to be acknowledged for his bravery, risking life and limb. But that’s not why you should do it. Part of being a superhero is that you do these things because you know you won’t be thanked, but that you know it needs to be done. And knowing that internally is some of the most rewarding feelings one can have. How are you going to step up and rescue someone less fortunate than you? The helpless, fatherless and needy? This can be a lot of pressure in and of itself. Just how far should your compassion and moral guiding extend? Should you give $5 to every homeless or seemingly homeless person on the side of the road with a sign? Should you sponsor ten kids in different countries and live on Ramen noddle soup for the rest of your life as a result? Should you go to that church event and help clean up a poor neighborhood or help replace a dishwasher in a widow or single mom’s house? I don’t know. I do know there are limits when you begin neglecting yourself and those around you. Each person has different gifts, too, or strengths, in what they feel they can and should do-- time, finance, and manual labor wise. So there’s no one uniform answer for everyone, like a blanket for all the problems in the world. Guys, I don’t know about you, but that inability to not do everything breaks my heart. It’s almost like you’re done before you even try. Let’s talk Captain America. Some might argue that he doesn’t have any powers, just a lot of added strength. Every guy has this power inside of him. Captain America wanted to help his fellow human beings. They were in desperate need, and he stepped up, took the initiative, and didn’t give up when they told him no. He got something he wasn’t expecting at all, and maybe wasn’t his ideal in the first place when he thought of enlisting. He helped and rescued thousands by his actions. Before he became Captain America, he asked his recruiters, “Why me?”, and they replied, “Because a weak man knows the value of strength.” Wise words. So you can swoop in and rescue those less fortunate than you. Those that are hurting. Maybe this means sitting down and just asking your mom or dad how they’re doing, and listening to them. Hero. Maybe it means going out of your way to travel farther than normal to pick up your friend whose car broke down again for the thirteenth time (and you’ve told him to do something about it again, and again, but he never seems to listen to your advice). Hero. Maybe this means opening a simple door for a girl, even though she has nothing in her arms. No, they’re not broken. Yes, she has her own hands. Why, then? Chivalry. Honor. Showing you care in the little things. This, and other acts of chivalry, show girls all these things. Hero. To the rescue!
You can be that. Just like you’re imagining. It may look different in real life, but there may come a day in the future when you really WILL be called upon to do something hard, death-defying, or sacrificial. When that day comes, you’ll be ready. Because you have the hope of Jesus Christ inside you, and you’ll already be what you’ve been practicing. Guys: Be superheroes in your every day lives.
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So I know what you're talking about. And really, music like that does have an impact. It's hard to get around the intensity of it.
