The New American Hero

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I have long been arguing that we need a return to the Biblical Hero, the man or woman who does not need to lead great armies across foreign countries, or sell 40 million albums, because he or she operates out of greatness, rather than insecurity. The Biblical hero, like Abraham, is famous for arguing with G-d to spare the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Biblical hero, like Moses, is celebrated for being ‘the most humble man who walked the earth.’ In short, the Biblical hero is the unsung hero, the everyday man or woman who quietly goes about life conferring dignity on all they encounter, and giving hope to all who seem forlorn. The Biblical hero is the fireman who lives in blue-collar neighborhoods in Long Island, and risks his life to save the investment banker who makes more in a year than he will make in a decade. The Biblical hero is the ambulance worker who rushed into the smoldering inferno of the World Trade Center when there was no television camera to capture the images for the evening news. The Biblical hero knows that there is a spark of the divine in him or her and in every human being, and acts to honor that spark.

In the past week, our children were finally given real heroes to emulate. We must hope that one of the lasting effects of this week’s events will be for our kids to take down the posters of Curt Cobain and replace them with Dan Walsh from Long Island, Fire Company 5, Ladder 4. And then, maybe, with our children having an image of greatness before them, will they stand a fighting chance of becoming achieving feats of real heroism as great men and women.