Where have all the Heroes gone?
It’s the 30th of august. I’m en route to New York, headed to the US Open. Thanks to my recently acquired airline status, I’m sitting in First Class sipping orange juice and watching the stunning morning landscape from my window seat.
And I’m heartbroken.
Literally (failing to) fight back tears, because shortly before takeoff I saw a photo of Meghan McCain weeping at her father’s casket.
I know that pain. That immeasurable sense of loss when you have to say goodbye to someone for whom you deeply care. And it never truly subsides. You mask it, you learn to live with it — but it’s always there. Sometimes it sneaks up on you in the middle of the day, sometimes it shakes you when you witness it in someone else, sometimes it keeps you up at night, and sometimes it causes you to reflect. Like today, as I look around at state of things and can’t help but wonder -
Where have all the Heroes gone?
These are far from the darkest days our country has faced, but we’re pretty far from the light. It’s as if we the people, born in a nation forged by bravery and defended by honor and integrity, are suffering from lack of courage. We’ve become castrated by the 24-hour news cycle and fear of backlash on social media. Willing to spout our views and options for sure, but unwilling to having meaningful discourse and work together on solutions.
I look to the right, and I see a party that once stood for conservative values with a deep respect for the power and limit of government. This was the party I grew up in, awed by luminaries such as Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan. Men who, despite my own evolving political perspective, I still deeply admire. Where are they now? Where are the ones willing to take on a fight because it’s the right thing to do, not the popular thing to do? All I see are a group of tired (mostly) men, unwilling to challenge their President and abandoning their principles.
Where is the Christian community I grew up in? The people who instilled in me the passion for holding to your virtues, the desire to fight to enact change, and to collectively work to improve the lives of those around you. All I see are a group of self-serving elitists who have lost themselves in Trumpian rhetoric. They see every social and activist group as a threat to the themselves, whether environmental, social justice, humanitarian or otherwise, and ignore the truths they represent. They put legislating their morality above the teachings of their own faith. Outraged (rightfully) when an immigrant murders a farmer’s daughter, but quiet (wrongfully) when there is “just another shooting” in Florida. And when Children are dying cages — nary a word is spoken.
I look to the left, and I see the same extremism taking hold. People so disillusioned by the disappearing middle-class and wealth-protection of the right, that they are flocking to socialist ideologies that could dissolve — not aide — opportunity for all.
It is times like these that people look for a leader to rally behind. A leader to cut through the confusion, hardship, and division. A leader who will put personal interests and political parties aside, and focus us all on what is best for our country. A leader who will inspire, not just a new generations of Americans — but all who stand ready to ask, “not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country.” A selfless voice that represents the best in us, providing clarity, hope, and unity.
But there is a reality we must all face… no one is coming.
There isn’t a individual leader who is going to swoop in and fix what plagues our country. This isn’t about one person for us to rally behind come election season. This requires something else.
All of us.
If we’re going to fight extremism, and become a nation that can once again work together for the common good. If we’re going to refuse to accept corruption, act when we see abuse, accept those with differing beliefs, and challenge each to see past our own narrow views — then we must all engage in the fight for our future. In our homes, in our communities, in our churches, in advocacy groups and in government — from school board to city counsels, state legislators to the White House.
We have always had the ability to control our own destiny. What is required now is the fortitude to what is right. We have the ability to rise up and say “no more.” We simply need to look inward, not outward, for the leaders we need.
