Modern Day Hero

Subway Hero

2009-02-10T09:28:00.001-08:00

"Subway hero" Wesley Autrey, above, jumped onto the tracks to save a fellow passenger from an oncoming train at a New York City subway station in January 2007. Cameron Hollopeter had fallen between the tracks after suffering a seizure. Autrey rolled Hollopeter into a gap between the rails and covered him with his own body just as the train entered the station.

The Boxing Hero

2009-02-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17, 1942) is a retired American boxer. In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated. He won the World Heavyweight Boxing championship three times, and won the North American Boxing Federation championship as well as an Olympic gold medal. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Cassius later changed his to Muhammad Ali after converting to Sunni Islam in 1975.
Ali had a highly unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer. Rather than the normal boxing style of carrying the hands high to defend the face, he instead relied on his ability to avoid a punch. In Louisville, October 29, 1960, Cassius Clay won his first professional fight. He won a six-round decision over Tunney Hunsaker, who was the police chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia. From 1960 to 1963, the young fighter amassed a record of 19-0, with 15 knockouts. He defeated such boxers as Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, George Chuvalo, Lamar Clark, Doug Jones, Henry Cooper, Brian London, Karl Mildenberger, Sonny Banks, Alejandro Lavorante, and the aged Archie Moore (who had been Clay's trainer prior to Angelo Dundee).
In early 1966, Ali was called to serve the Armed Forces, but refused to do so during the Vietnam War. For him, war is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. His famous line, "I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong" and "no Vietcong ever called me nigger." Ali's personal life was filled with controversy. He was essentially banned from fighting in the United States and forced to accept bouts abroad for most of 1966.
Ali returned to the United States in November 1966 to fight Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams in the Houston Astrodome. Ali beat Williams in three rounds. On February 6, 1967, Ali returned to a Houston boxing ring to fight Terrell in what became one of the uglier fights in boxing. Terrell had angered Ali by calling him Clay, and the champion vowed to punish him for this insult. During the fight, Ali kept shouting at his opponent, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... What's my name." Terrell suffered 15 rounds of brutal punishment, losing 13 of 15 rounds on two judges' scorecards, but Ali did not knock him out. Analysts, including several who spoke to ESPN on the sports channel's "Ali Rap" special, speculated that the fight only continued because Ali chose not to end it, choosing instead to further punish Terrell.
Near the end of 1967, Ali was stripped of his title by the professional boxing commission and would not be allowed to fight professionally for more than three years. He was also convicted for refusing induction into the army and sentenced to five years in prison. Over the course of those years in exile, Ali fought to appeal his conviction. He stayed in the public spotlight and supported himself by giving speeches primarily at rallies on college campuses that opposed the Vietnam War.
In 1970, Ali was able to get a boxing license and allowed to fight again, and in late 1971 the Supreme Court reversed his conviction. With the help of a State Senator, he was granted a license to box in Georgia because it was the only state in America without a boxing commission. In October 1970, he returned to stop Jerry Quarry on a cut after three rounds. Shortly after the Quarry fight, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that Ali was unjustly denied a boxing license. Once again able to fight in New York, he fought Oscar Bonavena at Madison Square Garden in December 1970. After a tough 14 rounds, Ali stopped Bonavena in the 15th, paving the way for a title fight against Joe Frazier.
Ali and Frazier fought each other on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. The fight, known as '"The Fight of the Century", was one of the most eagerly anticipated bouts of all time and remains one of the most famous. It featured two skilled, undefeated fighters, both of whom had reasonable claims to the heavyweight crown. The fight lived up to the hype, and Frazier punctuated his victory by flooring Ali with a hard left hook in the 15th and final round and won on points. Frazier eventually won the fight and retained the title with a unanimous decision, dealing Ali his first professional loss. Despite an impressive performance, Ali may have still been suffering from the effects of "ring rust" due to his long layoff.
In the early 1980s, Ali was diagnosed with Pugilistic Parkinson's syndrome. By late 2005 it was reported that Ali's condition was notably worsening. Despite the disability, he remains a beloved and active public figure. In 1985, he served as a guest referee at the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 1987 he was selected by the California Bicentennial Foundation for the U.S. Constitution to personify the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights in various high profile activities. Ali rode on a float at the 1988 Tournament of Roses Parade, launching the U.S. Constitution's 200th birthday commemoration. He also published an oral history, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times with Thomas Hauser, in 1991. Ali received a Spirit of America Award calling him the most recognized American in the world. In 1996, he had the honor of lighting the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
He has appeared at the 1998 AFL Grand Final, where Anthony Pratt recruited him to watch the game. He also greets runners at the start line of the Los Angeles Marathon every year.
In 1999, Ali received a special one-off award from the BBC at its annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award ceremony, which was the BBC Sports Personality of the Century Award. On September 13, 1999, Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the Century" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East.
In 2001, a biographical film, entitled Ali, was made, with Will Smith starring as Ali. The film received mixed reviews, with the positives generally attributed to the acting, as Smith and supporting actor Jon Voight earned Academy Award nominations. Prior to making the Ali movie, Will Smith had continually rejected the role of Ali until Muhammad Ali personally requested that he accept the role. According to Smith, the first thing Ali said about the subject to Smith was: "You ain't pretty enough to play me".
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on November 9, 2005, and the prestigious "Otto Hahn peace medal in Gold" of the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the US civil rights movement and the United Nations (December 17 2005).
At the FedEx Orange Bowl on January 2, 2007, Ali was an honorary captain for the Louisville Cardinals wearing their white jersey, number 19. Ali was accompanied by golf legend Arnold Palmer, who was the honorary captain for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade.
Muhammad Ali currently lives on a small farm near Berrien Springs, Michigan with his fourth wife, Yolanda 'Lonnie' Ali. He still kicking today.

Animal Heroes

2009-01-27T06:25:00.000-08:00

Lou the mule is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of his owner in McMinnville, Tenn. Jolene Solomon, 63, says she stepped outside her home on New Year's Day to see why Lou was braying and saw that her house was in flames. It burned to the ground, but she and Lou are safe.

Buddy the German shepherd proved Sept. 10 that he truly was "man's best friend." The pooch called 911 in order to help owner Joe Stalnaker, an Arizona man who was having a seizure. Police arrived at Stalnaker's home and he was taken to the hospital.

Bandit the dog is considered hero for saving the life of his owner -- Courtney. One summer day when she was out in the garden looking for frogs, she bent down to look at what looked like a frog, but it was a curled up SNAKE! Instantly, she ran to the house. Bandit was whining. Once she reached the porch, Bandit had jumped and took the snakebite. Actually, Bandit has done this twice to her grandma. For Courtney, that’s a true act of heroism.

If you have a lived experience of being saved by an animal, do share it in this blog. Let us start counting these animals hailed as Heroes.

World's Oldest Superhero, the Phantom

2009-01-20T20:49:00.001-08:00

MOST historians consider The Phantom as the first masked hero to appear in a comic strip. The Phantom was created by comic creator Lee Falk (April 28,1911 - March 13, 1999) and first debuted in a newspaper strip in 1936. Lee literally wrote his comic strips from 1934 to the last days of his life, when in hospital he tore off his oxygen mask to dictate his stories. Falk's original stories were set in the dark African Congo of the 1930's, fighting headhunters, pirates and other villains of the time. Falk's character, like his bat-winged counterpart, used superstition against his enemies. Villains believed him to be a ghost thanks to a costume inspired by a mythical African spirit.

The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip that began with a daily newspaper strip on February 17, 1936, followed by a color Sunday strip on May 28, 1939; both are still running as of 2009.

While the Phantom is not the first fictional costumed crimefighter, he is the first to wear the skintight costume that has become a hallmark of comic book superheroes, and the first to wear a mask with no visible pupils, another superhero standard
The publisher Moonstone is bringing the character up-to-date and targeting a more mature audience than previous decades will breathe new life into a character that although often overlooked, influenced much of the comic industry we know today.

In the beginning The Phantom had been a half-drowned sailor, flung ashore on the terrible, blood-drenched Bengalla coast after pirates burned his ship and slaughtered his mates. The gentle Bandar pygmies, taking him to be a sea god of ancient prophecy, nursed him back to fitness and became his everlasting friends -- as the castaway faced his destiny, donned costume and mask and was reborn as the first of the Phantoms, scourge of predators everywhere.
"I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice!" he cried as he formally took "The Oath of the Skull" by firelight. "And my sons and their sons shall follow me!"
And in time there was a son. In time that son begat another, and thereafter that son begat again. After a while, there arose a dynasty of Phantoms, one after another, born into the legend then reared and rigorously drilled in the disciplines and the duties.
Through the generations these eerily identical jungle lords have prowled an evil world in the cloaks of many identities, and none today but the Bandar and a handful of other secret souls know that all are not one and the same.
The modern Phantom is the 21st of the line. Since Feb. 17, 1936, he has been the law in his dangerous part of the world, a one-man police force, a silent avenger who appears and vanishes like lightning. His home is the fearsome "Skull Cave," deep in the heart of his jungle. His only intimates have been the faithful Bandar, his great white horse Hero, his savage gray wolf Devil, and his lovely American sweetheart Diana Palmer. Even the men of the Jungle Patrol, the paramilitary peacekeeping squad an ancestor had organized some years ago, have never seen the face of their mysterious commander in chief.
From thieves and smugglers to cut-throat harbor rats to crazed dictators seeking to enslave free men, all have met the Phantom over 60 thrilling years, and all have tasted his wrath. Always changing with the whirlwind times around him, he has increasingly come to function as something of a United Nations troubleshooter-at-large, a shadowy trench-coated figure slipping in and out of modern Third World political intrigue.
But never far from the Phantom's stage are the great emperors and brigands of yore, in the shining tales of his 20 heroic forebears, recounted in the epic Phantom Chronicles. In more than 60 years of daily newspaper stories and 58 years of Sunday-only yarns, "Phantom" creator Lee Falk has meticulously fleshed out the most minute details of a fabulous dynastic pageant, illuminating the lives of the Phantoms of old whose blood courses through the veins of the modern Ghost Who Walks. Many of them have swashbuckled their way through the famous newspaper comic strip in grand flashback sequences -- one early Phantom is known to have married Christopher Columbus' granddaughter; another is known to have married Shakespeare's niece; still another took a Mongol princess as his bride.
The fifth Phantom crossed swords with the pirate Blackbeard in the early 1600s. The 13th Phantom traveled to the young United States and fought alongside Jean Lafitte in the War of 1812. The 16th appears to have put in some time as a Wild West cowboy.
And succession is assured.
The current Phantom and Diana Palmer were wed in 1977, and today their scrappy young son, Kit, is in training to someday take the sacred "Oath of the Skull" and become the 22nd Phantom.

World's Youngest Superhero

2009-01-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Meet the World's Youngest Superhero -- Pajama Sam. The youngest caped crusader who embarks on four different adventures. The first one, "Pajama Sam In: No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside." Young as he was, Sam was afraid of the dark. To conquer his fear of darkness, he enters the "Land of Darkness" through his closet hoping to capture Darkness and find his lost possessions (his "Pajama Sam mask", his lunch-box, and his flashlight) which have been confiscated during a Customs inspection at the beginning of the adventure. The entire adventure creeps in the night and at the end of the his journey, Sam is no longer afraid of the dark.

Sam's second adventure is "Pajama Sam: Thunder and Lightning Aren't so Frightening." In this episode, Sam takes on a mission to help Thunder and Lightning fix the foul weather machines and confront his fear of lightning bolts and loud kabooms! To rise above his fear, Sam sets his foot into his attic to confront his fears. At the doorstep, Sam meets the World Wide Weather (WWW) that is in amok. He must bring stability back to weather everywhere. To help Sam in this journey, he will meet collection of comical friends, including a snowman, a forklift, talking office supplies, a velocimometer and some familiar faces from the past. The one-of-a-kind wind bottling plant, snowflake factory, WWW luncheonette, Chairman of the Board's Board Room and many more fantastic places fill the story with breathtaking adventures.

His third adventure, Pajama Sam: You Are What You Eat
From Your Head to Your Feet. The story introduces kids to the concept of general nutrition and food groups in a fun, engaging way by interacting with various talking fruits, vegetables and sweets. Designed to help kids ages 3 to 8 problem solve, think strategically and make decisions. The setting is at MopTop Island where the sweets and fats are dramatically increasing their numbers and threatening to take control. A Peace Conference has been called to work out a compromise between all the food groups, but four of the six Delegates have not arrived at the Food Pyramid. In this adventure, kids help Pajama Sam find the missing delegates, put a stop to the sticky quarrels, fix a few problems, bring peace to MopTop Island and still make it home in time for dinner

His last adventure sets off in search of his lost comic book. He searches for lost socks in Agitator Lake, rounds up dust bunnies at the Dust Bunny Corral, explores the Spilled Soda Swamp and much more. In the end, Sam finds his comic book and realizes that life would not be so rough if he put away his stuff!

All adventures encourage learning, discovery and interactive fun. Throughout the story, kids meet lots of interesting new friends and tackle fun challenges that will inspire them to solve problems in creative and flexible ways. They can play again and again because new puzzles and new locations await each time kids play.
Kids, join Pajama Sam on his serial adventures and explore an interactive environment full of quirky animated characters, including boats, bridges, pianos and a wishing well. Use your logic and memory to solve problems, and play in a game show that asks geography and science questions. Have fun!

The Hero in the Mob Wars Insider

2009-01-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

The "Insider" in Mob Wars is an enticing character in the game. The Mob Wars Insider gets a 10% faster regeneration speeds for income, health, energy, and stamina and two favor points per level-up instead of one. Likewise, it removes the ad at the top of the screen and all the benefits last for 31 days from the time of activation. There is even a promise that any new benefit in the future will be automatically take effect in the game.

There are other regular players who have tried this benefit and were getting four attribute points upon leveling up instead of three. I guessed there were different phases in the game when these claims were taking place. I got the opportunity to try the "insider" at level 80. Half of the 100 favors I used was coming from the Christmas bonus in the game. Thank you to whoever thought of that seasoned reward. If not for that bonus, I would have waited to reach level 100 to get 100 equivalent favor points unless one buys favor points through Spare Change, Social Gold, Mobill cash pay now, Zong and Paybycash.com. Is buying favor points a wise move to do? In a classic game of power and dominance, any means to advance or take the lead makes it a necessary plan to win the game.

The game explains that when you reach a certain level, The Godfather may offer to promote you to insider man. This is designed to give higher level players a chance to both support Mob Wars and speed up gameplay a bit. The 10% increased in the gameplay is dependent on which character -- Insomiac, Tycoon and Bulletproof -- you choose at the start of the game. At level 80, I was surprised to see the new job that required "acquire illegal weapons" and 10 tactical shotgun which a player can get by doing "Drug Smuggling by Sea". I was not paying attention to this because I was so allured to doing the "Great Train Robbery" where you can make as much as two to four thousand million cash. To make the scenario even more challenging, I could not even purchase the tactical shotgun using the favor points because at this level the available special weapon is now AK-47 Grenade Launcher. To move forward in the game, I chose the "Insider" path which gives a 10% regenerating speed for income, health, energy, and stamina. With this minimal speed, I engaged in buying more properties to support my upkeep and more fight to level up and gain more favor points so that when I complete the needed points, I exchanged the same for full energy which, in turn, I use to do "Drug Smuggling by Sea". At level 94, I now have seven tactical shotguns. By the time I reach level 105, I should be able to complete the required special weapons to do "Illegal Weapons Smuggling".

It make take an interval of five to receive the tactical shotgun when you do the "Drug Smuggling by Sea". I explore other possibilities of expediting the process of getting the special weapon. Like buying one per old weapons like Crowbar, Baseball bat, Colt 1911, 44 Magnum, Pump-Action Shotgun, Tommy Gun and Assault Rifle. I guess it is working because the interval went down to three jobs.

The Hero in the Mob Wars Insider is not someone who emerges as an all-knowing mob agent but simply a 10% stronger in generating income, health, energy, and stamina and one favor point higher when leveling-up. Having this advantage helps a mob to do more jobs that can deliver remarkable results and defies comparison. The mob becomes an Insider Hero if he accomplishes the very purpose of entering the "insider" path which is to recover the 10 tactical shotguns. The challenge is on . . . wait till I get to level 105.

"What kind of Superhero are you?"

2009-01-01T23:16:00.001-08:00

Nowadays, there are a lot of quizzes plying round the express lane of the web, telling you, "Do you want to know what kind of superhero are you?" The questions revolve around the scenes of engaging in a ultimate quest, traveling with chosen friends, carrying a magical weapon, fighting a gargantuan beast, protecting people, meeting a princess, possessing healing powers and endowed with super human strength and abilities. Another interesting question you may encounter is, "what kind of powers would you have?" To name a few coveted powers and abilities: Clairvoyance, Cryokinesis, Dream Manipulation, Empathic Mimicry, Enhanced Hearing, Enhanced Strength, Eidetic memory, X-ray Vision, Flight, Healing, Heat vision, Induced Radioactivity, Intuitive Aptitude, Invisibility, Mental Manipulation, Persuasion, Phasing, Pyrokinesis, Rapid Cell Regeneration, Space-Time Manipulation, Technopathy, Telekinesis, Telepathy, telescopic vision (seeing great, even interstellar distances), microscopic vision (seeing small things, even subatomic particles).

The question presupposed an individual as a superhero. Making everyone a superhero. Once in our wildest imagination, we thought of ourselves as a superhero. An experience that would likely to take place when were still kids. The most celebrated superhero back then was Superman the Man of Steel. I remembered wearing a shirt with Superman Logo three to four times a week. (I got a couple of them). Recently, I was tempted to buy a blue shirt with Superman logo, but I changed my mind and opted to get a dozen of baby bottle cleaner soap with one extra for free. I felt like more a superhero for choosing to buy things for my son than satisfying my caprice. I guess, we do not need to do superhuman feat nor put once like in danger to become superhero. We can be superhero by doing the small acts of goodness, kindness, generosity and service. So the next time you go to a supermarket and see those small tin cans that says "Help ... ", "Support ...", drop some loose coins or better some small bills that way you can help support a cause. When you get home, give some sweet hugs, kisses and pats on the back to your love ones. Share a moment of laughter with your friends especially those who have not drawn a smile at the start of this year. Write thank you note or send a letter to an old friend whom you have not heard for quite sometime. Say some compliments like "you look great today", a sincere "thank you for a wonderful meal". Spend time to listen to stories of your friends. We can have a long list of doing simple things in life that can make us a "superhero." Start now and infect others to become One of Us.

Heroes of Mob Wars

2008-12-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

Have you ever played the game of Mob Wars in Facebook? Are there Heroes in Mob Wars or ALL are villains? A hero by definition is someone who is rightful, safeguard moral values and does good to others. It is a perfect picture of someone who promotes justice, fights against any form of abuse and advances the protection of women and children. Are these present in the game of Mob Wars? If not, how can there heroes in Mob Wars. Before we can answer this fairly, let us explore the game. This game in Facebook is believed to be one of the most lucrative apps and most played online game. There are about 500,000 players a day. The number is huge because the game is relatively easy to play with simple mechanics and graphics. There was even a belief that it increases educational performance as the game trains you to learn to compute, strategize your moves to win the game and budget your resources like doing wise spending. It also helps one to build online friends around the world. Just like today, I got birthday greetings to people half away the globe and personally do not know but made friends through the game.

Going back to the game, a player starts off as a petty thief and must work his way to the top of the crime chain, earning points by fighting opposing gangsters, doing jobs, robbing stores, banks and casinos, exploiting underlings and doing all forms of smuggling. The player can improve his character by spending these points on better guns, real estate, loyalty and more, and while he could spend an eternity building up enough points to become a serious baller, he can also spend real cash to jumpstart the process. If this is the game all about,then there are no heroes in the game. But the game is not just about attacking and punching other gangsters nor robbing stores and bank. It is also building online friends, breaking international boundaries and bringing nations into one virtual community. It is through this premise that heroes are born in this game. A player becomes a hero when he opens the door to online friendship by creating communication lines like sharing of cultural experiences, welcoming a losing gangster into an alliance, building allies, sharing gaming techniques like doing more missions than fighting and above all for saying sorry for delivering provocative attacks and unreasonable punches after series of attacks to the same player. I remember a player wrote, "Hi, I'm sorry, but I just killed you on Mob Wars. You were on a hit list so if I hadn't done it, someone else would have. I just thought I'd message you to see if you wanted to join my Mob " Instead of feeling upset, I laughed and immediately shoot an email and joined her mob. Funny that a virtual killing can bring forth a flag of truce and make gaming more fun.

Heroes of Mob Wars then are those who go beyond the mere rules and mechanics of the game. They are those who make friends instead of reaping enemies. These heroes are those who purchase more properties, do more jobs than promote fighting. They level up by doing more missions. You can accomplish this by adding more to your energy than putting all your points in either attack, defense or health. Make the game your gateway to gaining and winning Friends and become heroes of MOB WARS.

Remembering my Everyday Heroes

2008-12-26T03:28:00.000-08:00

"My mother", "my father", "my pastor", "my friend", "my wife", "my husband", the Street sweeper are proudly identified as everyday heroes of those who are close to theirs hearts or those who have been touched by their very act of kindness and generosity. Many of those I have asked point to their mother as "Everyday Hero". I guessed this does not come as a surprise to you for every mother of the house in every part of the world -- the mother, plays a significantly special role in the family. She is the "Light of the house," that gives direction to her children. Making sure that her children would grow healthy in body and soul. For many, the mother provides a household support by preparing the best food that anyone can eat. I remember my office mate humbly telling me that his mother does boil water for him to use when taking a bath so that he does not get cough or colds. That she is always asking him if he has done taking dinner after the day's work. More so, she keeps a viand for him to eat whenever my office mate comes home late at night. I remember my late Ima ("mother" for a local dialect), who was doing exactly the same thing for me and my sibling. Not only was my mother good in preparing food, she was keen in instilling moral values. She thought us to always do right and avoid doing wrong to others. Most of all, she was my confidant in terms of matter of the heart. She was there to give me a push when I was losing courage to say my heart's intent to the person I was feeling in-loved with. She would even prepare some food which I was bringing along with me to give to the girl. There is nothing my mother would not do nor fail to do to help me in any way possible to win the love of my life then. She was always there ready at all times and never grew tired of doing the same thing everyday. Not a word of complain ever whispered nor spoken in the four corners of our home. She was on call 24 hours a day and seven days a week. I am very proud and blest to have my mother. I actually missed her so much. Deep in my heart, she will always be one of my "Everyday Heroes".

The other everyday hero of my life is my Tatang ("father" for a local dialect), who was very gentle and loving. Whenever I asked him of any food either in the refrigerator or on the table, he would always say, "it is yours to eat". There was nothing that was not mine, whenever I asked him. He does the same thing with my siblings. That is why whoever asked him first gets the prize. Not only was my father a good provider. He was also our first teacher in religion. He thought everyone of us to pray and the one who inspired me to enter the religious life after college. He led me have a devotion to "Apung Mamacalulu" at
Apu Chapel where the shrine of the Our Lord of the Holy Sepulcher (Apung Mamacalulu) is housed. My father and I, together with my older brother, paid our homage to the shrine every Friday. This experience opened me to a life of prayer that guided me to live a religious life. Though I did not become a religious priest, I am still very grateful to my late father who was always available then to listen to my challenges until I finished my Theological studies in one of the schools in Quezon City. He was the father to me to the end and to keep his name, I have named my son after him.

Up to this date, my late parents are my everyday heroes for they continue to inspire me of the experiences they have both shared and lived with us. I missed them both. If both were still alive, I would tell them, "Ima, Tatang, you are my Everyday Heroes. For you, whose parents are still with you, I invite you tell them, "Ima, Tatang, you are my Everyday Heroes."

The Birth of a HERO

2008-12-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

The Birth of a HERO.

The Hero is defined by Merriam-Webster as a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a person admired for his/er achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage. In my opinion, these definitions do not completely capture the very soul a hero. You may ask why is that. To prove my point, I asked some of my good friends' definition of a hero. It is interesting to note that other defines a hero as "a person who is willing to sacrifice his/er life for the other, significant or otherwise." I believed there is truth in this statement for I have encountered people who are willing to give up their own successful careers in life and choose another path, not commonly trekked by many, so that they become servant of many. I am referring to some classmates of mine back in the seminary. There was a surgeon, a dentist, a civil engineer, a lawyer and a teacher whom I had the opportunity to study Theology with them. These people were not born heroes but became heroes of their peers, parents and friends. They were leaving a promising profession but chose to live a life of a servant. They are called to be servant of many. Are they modern day heroes? Many would agree with me that they are heroes here and now. The fact that they let go of their careers for a noble cause -- servant of many -- is already a first step to heroism.

A second friend defines a hero as "a person willing to face challenges regardless of the consequence and for a good cause and greater good of others. The hero "stands up for the truth and right," she added. They do not seek for any recognition, rewards and/or fame. Are these real people? Flesh and blood, person just like you and me. I was doing my apostolate in one of the hospitals in Manila and met this guy named Rafael. He was donating half of his kidney to his uncle who was dying of kidney failure. His uncle's kidneys, which normally clear the blood of toxic wastes produced by day-to-day living, had almost completely stopped doing their job. Fearing that one day his uncle would leave the family that Rafael loves so much. So one day after celebrating the Holy Eucharist, Rafael told his parents that he is willing to share his kidney to his uncle. At first his parents were reluctant to accept Rafael's idea. But in the end, after thorough discussion with the surgeon, his parents gave in to the idea of sharing his life to his uncle. Rafael never had a second thought of possible effect to his health. All he knows is, he is responding to the inner voice whispering during his prayer time. Hero indeed and surprising enough that the name -- Rafael -- means "God has healed". His uncle lives up to this day.

Wanting to know more about what makes a person a hero so I asked another friend whom I normally go out with during lunch break. For her a hero is "usually an ordinary person that does extraordinary things. S/he may have shown a very special character or an attitude that one can look up to." What makes these ordinary persons extraordinary is their sincere and selfless willingness to give up everything and follow the path of social service, or fulfil the calling that God gave them. Not so many of us are willing to take big responsibility in life. Not wanting to become an instant hero lest you may face death or insurmountable challenges. Fear not, we do not need to take big responsibility to become hero. We can be hero in our own small and special way. Start by sharing the blessings we are receiving everyday. Share a meal with someone who is hungry; someone who is less fortunate in life. Share a home with a street children who long for an elderly attention and care. Join the apostolate that visits the prisoners specially those who are abandoned by their loved ones. I am sure you can bring smile to their drooping spirits and lonely hearts. These are few that we can do for there are many ways to becoming a hero and it is up to us on how we can make it happen and wake the hero inside us.