Calling All Heroes *Spoiler Warning*

(btw, the spoilers are for the movie Hancock)

I just watched a movie tonight, and it really made me think. One of the over arching themes was the idea that if we don’t ‘fess us and do what we are made to do, we will be miserable. Failure is not an option, and incompetence in no excuse. If we are called to change the world for the better, it doesn’t matter if we are a superhero, or a business person, or a failing PR person. In this movie, one character is a PR guy who is trying desperately to change the world. He is failing miserably, but in general, he has a happy life. And then there is the superhero with all the power he could want, but he spends his life drunk, and instead of being adored by the city he (sorta) protects, he is hated and rejected by them. When these two very different lives collide, one of the things that the PR guy says to the superhero is that he will never be happy unless he does what he was made to do, save people. Slowly, with the help and encouragement of the PR guy and the adoration of the PR guy’s son, the superhero learns what it means to be a human being, to value others and show them respect, how to be valued and respected in return. Because of their compassion and care for him, he learns how to respect himself, to stop hating himself. Later in the film, he is mortally wounded and both he and the woman that he was made to protect and love are dying. If they move further apart, their powers will return, and they will recover. But he is wounded, damaged almost beyond recognition. Somehow, he finds the strength to do what he was made to do, and he drags himself to his feet and slowly totters to the window and jumps out, knowing that that distance just might saver her. He discovers as he is falling through the air that he still doesn’t have the power to fly and plummets to the ground. With great effort, he picks himself up and launches himself through the air, only to plummet to the ground yet again. Yet despite this repeated failure, he doesn’t give up, he doesn’t just stay there, he keeps going, and eventually saves both her and himself. The movie ends with both men changing the world, and both living happy and contented (although not easy) lives.

We live in a culture that tells men to be predators, tells them that is all that they are, that that is what they were made to be. “Men are pigs,” I hear it all the time. IT’S A LIE. Yeah, it isn’t easy to get out there and be what you were made to be, but it is a whole lot more satisfying than living the easy life of the exact opposite. Men are not pigs. They were made to be protectors, kings, heroes. True, when they are not what they are made to be they become predators, despotic dictators and brigands, but that is not what they are made to be. Please, stop believing the lie that all you are is a monster, that all you are is good for nothing, that all you are is worthless. It’s not true. You are the precious creation of God Almighty, who formed you for a purpose, who equipped you to fulfill your purpose. The world needs you to step up and be who you were made to be. We need men to lead our country, to fight for our country, to fight for our dignity, to fight for our very souls. We need boys to grow up, to chose to mature, to step out of the realm of videogames and into the real world, to start building their own character instead of their virtual characters. We need you.

And this goes for women too. Step up and be women, not whiny little girls and wannabe guys. We need to encourage the guys around us to be men of honor, courage and character. We need to give them something worth fighting for. We need to protect their backs instead of shooting them down, appreciate the effort it takes for them to be gentlemen instead of asserting our equality by not allowing them to be gentlemen. We need to respect them, and demonstrate our respect for them. We need to be women of character, courage, and honor. We need to be willing to do our part in changing the world.

In the end, what is comes down to is this: we were each made for a purpose. We desperately need to figure out what that is, and to do it. Otherwise, it will destroy our very souls.