"Heroes" is one of the few TV programs I follow regularly. But that's not what this post is about.
As I was changing channels recently, I came across one of those celebrity gossip programs, such as "Entertainment Tonight" or "Extra." I watched it only long enough to see a news tidbit about a well-known celebrity couple, who are currently producing children like rabbits and are saving the world, one humanitarian project at a time, but have forgotten the small, important task of actually getting married. (My readers, assuming I still have any, are smart people. You know who this couple is. I don't need to mention them by name.) After this story concluded, the anchor referred to them as "role models."
"Yeah, right," I remember saying, out loud, even though there was no one else in the room to hear me. (Not even the chair!)
The charity work is commendable, I guess. And I suppose that these are both talented actors, though I have yet to see any demonstrable, physical proof of that from the female half of the duo. But it wouldn't matter to me if they were to solve global warming and our nation's dependence on foreign oil in the next week; because of the (lack of) marriage issue, I can't consider these people to be "role models" of mine, much less heroes.
Sadly, we live in a world that largely thinks that the need to get married is now a thing of the past. That's just one of many "values," if you can call them that, that the stars of these celebrity-worshipping programs are teaching us these days, both in their films and in their personal lives. (Then, they tell us how we should vote, too.) That's why I try to avoid these shows like the plague. As my dad might say, I wish I could buy a lot of these people for what they're worth and sell them for what they think they're worth. I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads: "Hollywood - Washington for the simple minded."
This leads to the question: Where are the role models or heroes? They most definitely exist. But they most likely won't be found in Hollywood.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about about my current work project. Since then, I have moved on from "Fact or Fiction" to my new subject, "Famous Dyslexics." Dyslexia is an issue with which we are very concerned at my workplace. We cater to a lot of clients who have to live with it. I can only imagine what kind of a challenge this must be to have to overcome. To all of them, our message is that not only
can you live with it, but you can have great success in life, too.
So many people from the "Famous Dyslexics" topic have become heroes of mine. Consider the following names, all of who have/had dyslexia, and what they have accomplished: Ansel Adams, Scott Adams (creator of
Dilbert), Hans Christian Andersen, Alexander Graham Bell, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Nolan Ryan, and George Washington.
One "Famous Dyslexic" was Thomas Edison, probably the greatest inventor who ever lived. In addition to being dyslexic, he lost all of the hearing in his left ear and 80 percent of the hearing in his right ear. Yet look at what the man did.
Thomas Jefferson - the same person who said "I cannot live without books" - had to beat dyslexia to read every book he ever picked up. He also would often stutter when he spoke. As he was not a great speaker, he became a great writer. Among other things, he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
There are a lot of guys named "Thomas" on this list, but I must also mention Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. I learned about this man only a few years ago when I first saw the film
Gods and Generals (the prequel to
Gettysburg), which focuses on Gen. Jackson. Though he was a Confederate general, I have the utmost respect for the man. He did not fight in the Civil War to preserve slavery but rather because he loved his home state and would give his life to defend it (which he ultimately did). He had an unshakable faith in God and prayed frequently that his cause would triumph. His troops loved him.
Certainly, a person does not have to have had a disability or to have had a physical challenge to be a hero. Many heroes are just normal people who have made a habit out of always showing up at the right places and being counted on to do the right things.
The men and women who speak at the Church's general conference each April and October (and at other events in between) largely fit this description, as far as I'm concerned.
A few years ago, I was a recently returned missionary who had just started a job at the Church Office Building. One day, outside of my cubicle, I ran into one of the members of the Seventy. I recognized him from his picture on the General Authorities' chart but also knew that he was currently serving in the Europe area presidency, where my younger brother Dave was serving his mission at the time. I asked him if he had been to Spain lately and if he knew how the Bilbao mission was doing.
Very politely and cordially, this good man took five or 10 minutes out of what I'm sure was a very busy schedule to chat with me. He not only had been to Spain recently but knew all of the comings and goings of the Bilbao mission in specific details, telling me about the chapel - the first owned solely by the Church - that had recently been dedicated in the mission boundaries. He also asked about the mission I had recently returned from and wished me well in my new job before our conversation concluded.
My encounter with then-Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf has always stayed with me. I was gladdened to see him sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles just a few years ago and then, earlier this year, called to the First Presidency of the Church. He is one of many heroes of mine among the brethren, because, when I hear him speak, I know that his counsel comes from the Lord and that he practices what he preaches.
