SALUTE TO THE HEROES

Only a hermit could not know that there was a bombing at the Marathon in Boston this month so I’m not going to say anything about the details of what happened. However, I obviously have something to say or there would not be this blog.

As I’m drinking my tea and eating my chocolate chip cookie this morning, I was thinking about what happened in Massachusetts and about what some people have already said regarding the amazing number of heroes that jumped in to help.

I became curious about what defines a hero.

Right around the time of the bombing, there was the Masters Golf Tournament. The announcers said at one point, “There will be many heroes at the event”–meaning, of course, the pro golfers who would successfully hit out of the rough, for example. At the time, I thought, isn’t that a bit over the top? I mean, really, how can you call those men heroes?

I immediately thought not of Greek heroes of legends, but rather of the many people we called heroes after the Twin Towers in New York City were bombed. There were police and firemen but also just civilians who rescued people from the building. For the professionals, it was their assigned job. Does that mean that we still use the name “heroes”? Well, of course we do as they are heroes to just take on those hazardous jobs.

But the more I thought about all of this, the more I wondered about what the “experts” had to say on the subject of heroes. I found a lot of sites on the internet, naturally, and many different things were written. However, one word kept recurring–“Selflessness.” That pretty well sums it up for me, too.

I thought about what it takes to be a hero. Many of those at the Boston Marathon were not people who do dare devil things like jumping out of an airplane and opening the chute at the last minute. Many of them also had no family or friends nearby who required immediate help. They were just spectators who went to view a world famous marathon and have fun.

While we mourn the tragedy that so many are still experiencing and will have memorials next year to remember the victims, I hope that we will not forget the many selfless people who ran towards the injured, helping and consoling them.

In the midst of all this unhappiness, we should be filled with joy that the perpetrators are
punished, and even more that there are so many wonderful people in this country. The true heroes. I salute them all.

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