What are heroes made of?

Recently, I decided that I really needed a good "brain candy" book to read. [Brain candy = easy, quick read with just enough substance to keep you interested but not enough to make your brain tired by following intriguing pathways of thought for hours afterward.] I choose to re-read Ender's Game, a story about a downtrodden young boy of extraordinary intelligence who goes to space-battle school and saves the world [like Harry Potter minus the hokus-pokus and mythological cliches]. Ender's teachers must accomplish an usual task--train a hero. Training a future hero and training a commander are two distinct tasks. The former is a matter of character and virtue; the later a combination of technical and leadership skills. So what makes a hero?

A hero is a servant leader who believes that personal sacrifice, independent thought, and consistent dedication to a cause are necessary elements of life.

First, he (or she) leads through service. Gratification of the ego is neither the goal nor the springboard for social networking and personal action. It is only by reaching outside of himself that he affirms and encourages others to achieve personal excellence. He knows his own abilities and his own weaknesses (the proper definition of humility according to C.S. Lewis in his The Four Loves); this honest self-knowledge helps him to know others.

Following upon that relationship with those whom he serves (and leads), a hero's life is never comfortable. You don't see Mother Teresa sipping martinis in a posh armchair as she regales others with tales of the squalor of the Indian ghettos. The best leaders, like David's general Uriah, refuse special treatment. Uriah, in 2 Sam 11:11 declares, "The servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing." A hero sleeps less, eats less, dresses less richly, and sacrifices other comforts for the sake of others. Like Shakespeare's Henry V, the good leader goes over and beyond what is required to care for others, to grant them "a touch of Harry in the night."

A leader must also be an independent and innovative thinker. Thinking with the crowd has never enabled someone to rise above the common man and become a hero. Solving disputes with justice rather than emotion, planning for success when failure looms at the door, creatively using resources to make the best of a bad situation, committing to a course of action or ideal when others want to temporize . . . these are the mental qualities of a leader. I've heard of notable cynics, but never a famous, lukewarm relativist. (Even the well-known cynics committed to an ideal and thought uniquely; it was just through a negation rather than an affirmation of a world view.) Heroes are the lights in dark times who inspire men to think and act beyond the limited sphere of their daily lives.

Finally, an unflagging dedication to a worthy cause marks a man with heroism. So many people in our world limit their fidelity to a cause to a few bucks in the missionary's offering basket, to a "fan" page link on Facebook, or to a membership to a "members only" coupon list. I can only be so harsh, because too often I find myself falling into that trap of surface support. If one is truly dedicated to a truth, a way of life, a culture, a religion, an avocation or a vocation, then one should pursue it ardently and perseveringly. Half-hearted attempts are rarely the "stuff" of epics, or heroes. Odysseus doesn't just "kinda try" to get home [though my students may argue this point], and Saint George doesn't just put the dragon in time out. A hero completes his quest and defeats all that oppose and harm the good.

True heroism is rare. Ender was isolated from true bonds of friendship in order to keep him independent from their negative influence and from the lazy habits of non-innovative group think. He was systematically deprived of sleep and a regular routine to strengthen his resilience to comfort. Ender also was psychologically manipulated into defending a cause (a world, really), while he often was more concerned with his personal thoughts, goals, and survival. He was generally good, but I'm not sure he was a true hero. However, I think that each of us can choose to pursue heroism, and I think we have a trainer that is far superior to Ender's.

[See next post, since this one has already advanced you toward heroism just by reading it . . . way too long. Sorry.]