But I can't do it myself. I need a hero. Sometimes I have pretty shoddy ones, as I have chosen faulty mirrors in which to see myself. But a hero I must have. A hero shows me what fallible man, despite and even with his faults, can do: I can do anything: not as much of a paradox as it might seem.
In looking towards a hero, we are less restricted and curtailed in our own lives. A hero provides us with a point of reference." -Madeleine L'Engle. A Circle of Quiet, p. 180
In light of the Olympics going on at the moment, this quote stuck out to me. I sat in Prince Street Cafe, my littlest sister sitting across from me reading The Hard Winter, pondering the idea of having a hero and trying to figure out who mine was. Sure, Team USA is inspiring but are they my heroes?
I don't think so.
There are many people I admire and look up to, but I don't know if, according to L'Engle's definition, they qualifies as my "hero".
I agree with L'Engle in all of these. I'm not a do it yourselfer. I do need others to do things that I cannot do. I like the idea of a hero being a "fallible man doing, despite his faults, things I cannot". However, I don't think I have that "one person" that I look up to, that I strive to be like, that I idolize.
There it is. I think in my head, I view having a hero the same as an idol. There are many people in my life that can do things that I cannot; That are fallible, and yet I see the Grace of God in their life and the things they can do as a blessing in this way. I feel this paradox and it's shaping me into the person that I'm becoming. So Yes, I don't have one "hero", I have many people in my life that I admire, thus shaping me into...me. So thank you Dad, Mom, Mrs. Jones, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Madeleine L'Engle, C.S.Lewis, Audrey Hepburn, Joy, Danika, Susannah, Kinfolk, My FamilyFriendsForever(you know who you are), Billy Collins, Burberry, New York, Wheatland.. for shaping me into the person that I am becoming and for being my point of reference.
