I have few real heroes in my life.
I define a hero as someone whose "communicated
life" has a profound effect on my own life and caused me to emulate
behaviors or actions or thought patterns.
My dad and mom are my heroes. My wife, my son, my daughter
are my heroes. My brothers and sisters; my brothers and sisters-in-law are as
well. But outside of those I know well, the number of people I hold to be my
heroes plummets.
To four.
C.S. Lewis is one, not just because he wrote THE CHRONICLES
OF NARNIA (which served as my initial introduction to his work) but because he
wrote passionately and reached across the years to touch my life with his. He
used science fiction, fantasy, myth, poetry, allegory, essays and speeches.
Madeleine L'Engle is another. Her writing echoes her life
and struggles in the form of fiction, essays, novels, science fiction, fantasy
and poetry. I am deeply moved by her observations on the significance of the
ordinary.
David Brin is my third hero. His science fiction explores
fascinating ideas in entertaining ways. Since the day I read SUNDIVER in 1985,
the idea of environmental responsibility and our responsibility to the other
living things on Earth took on new meaning for me. As we move forward in
technological expertise, we lift up all other life around us, both respecting
and optimizing its potential.
My last -- or first -- hero is an actual martyr. Today I
remember that seventy years ago Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed at
the hands of the Nazis in the Flossenburg concentration camp three weeks before
the capture of Berlin by the Soviets; four weeks before the Third Reich
surrendered. Bonhoeffer was not Jewish, homosexual or a member of any other
group Hitler and his monster squad typically targeted. He was a middle-aged
Lutheran pastor who wrote weighty theological tomes that were both profound and
dense -- but NEVER political. His politics he ACTED on. His writing emphasized
that the cost a Christian who chose to follow Jesus Christ might pay might well
be his or her life.
For Bonhoeffer, THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP under the Lordship
of Jesus Christ could range from giving up one or two of the pleasures of this
earthly life to dying on the path that Jesus called you to follow.
Today, I remember that he counted the cost and paid the
price of being a disciple of Jesus Christ and he had the strength to share his
thoughts with the world. Below you'll find the link to the WIKIPEDIA site that
has not only a short biography, but also a bibliography. The COST OF
DISCIPLESHIP is my favorite work, but long and very, very challenging to read!
1 comment:
A fine choice. The Metaxas biography of Bonhoeffer is excellent.
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