In that moment ...

Tonight my family went to eat at a steakhouse in Gadsden, AL. We were split up between three cars, so I was riding with my brother, his son, and my dad. After leaving the steakhouse, we pulled into the neighboring gas station because Lance wanted to get a drink.

He was in there a little longer than it should've taken, I thought. When he came out he told how a girl who had been pumping gas came running in as he walked in. She was hysterical and blathering about watching a teen girl jump out of an SUV with her hands bound and start running toward the road. The people in the SUV then drove up to where she was, jumped out, and dragged her back into the truck before tearing off down the highway.

My first response was for us to go after them, because it had happened only about five minutes earlier. However, a speeding truck can go a long way in that amount of time. Also, the police had been called and we realized there really wasn't much we could do other than pray.

It stayed on my mind the whole drive home. A lot of it didn't make sense, such as why the girl ran toward the highway instead of the store where there were people. After getting to the house I called the local sheriff's department. I was then informed that the whole thing was a prank by some idiots. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was a group I saw leave the restaurant just before us.

The whole thing got me wondering about what makes up a hero. I think everyone would like that title to be on them. At some point everyone's tied a beach towel around their neck and pretended to fly. It's in us to be something bigger. Something that rescues. Something that inspires others to be better in return.

Heroes are made in the moment. That instant in time where our decision to benefit ourselves or others comes so quickly it reveals our character rather than our skill in thinking things through. It's an army medic who runs through bullets to help her fellow soldiers. It's a teacher who couldn't read in the third grade, dropping out of school but getting his GED, and then coming back as a teacher to help kids like himself. It's saving a 1,000 people when the possible punishment is getting hacked to death along with your family.

I imagine it's also more common than we think. One factoid about life I'm convinced of is that, in general, we never hear about the true heroes. People who do good things but make sure others know about it don't impress me. Those who are the real deal are hard to find. They simply don't care about the publicity. Their goal is to save this person from their addiction or provide that person with a place to sleep for the night or convince this kid he or she is capable of so much more than the world has told them.

And that leads me to believe being a hero is not as unattainable as we might think. I'm the father of two little ones. In addition to really limiting how much sleep you get, your life changes in so many ways with these little additions. I wish I could take credit for this thought, but a podcast I listen to regularly is The Village Church near Dallas, Texas. Pastor Matt Chandler, a guy close to my age, was talking about how in the eyes of my kids, I'm a superhero. How? Little things. I toss my boy in the air, he thinks regular people can't do that. I have tea time with my daughter, she knows no other man will take that time. Wrestling in the floor or helping learn to ride a bike makes me a superhero to them.

To others, it can be just as simple. If I sacrifice something of myself to help another, I become something bigger than I was before. Risk is involved, because I may invest myself and not see a return as soon as I'd like, but that's how it goes. I'm not in it for the return. I'm in it to give.

Being a hero requires us giving more than we think we're capable. Two thousand years ago a man stressed so much over what was coming his way he sweat drops of blood in a lonely garden. He took it, though. He became even more of a hero than his followers thought possible when he allowed himself to be their sacrifice, despite the risk that most would reject him anyway.

We honor that man, Jesus, by being more than we think we're capable of in our own power and will. We embrace the risk of it all. We give more than we think prudent. We look for those who need rescuing. We find those who need inspiration. In that moment we become more ... because we allowed ourselves to become less.

At the house by myself

I woke up this morning when my wife's alarm went off at 5:30. My first thought was "I overslept."

5:30.

"Overslept."

That should tell you a little bit about my daily schedule. Newspaper delivery people and morning news anchors are the only ones who wake up earlier. Sick of trying to work in some exercise time throughout the day. I got up at 4 a.m. Tuesday and ran five miles around the neighborhood.

Crazy, yeah. I got through it mentally by pretending I was preparing to fight the indestructible Drago (who cheats by 'roiding up). Lifting rocks and chopping wood came later in the workout.

Anyway, it's Good Friday and everyone else is off at school or work except me. A perk of working at a Baptist organization is that Good Friday is considered important enough to take a day, so I'm appreciative of that.

Right now I'm in that there's-a-bunch-of-stuff-I-can-be-doing-but-do-I-feel-like-it part of the day. I'll straighten the house and maybe go run at the park. It's actually gotten warm enough that I can't ignore the fact my grass needs to be cut. The drought last summer had me accustomed to a monthly mowing schedule.

Praise Gospel and Soul 016

Praise Gospel and Soul 016
Originally uploaded by sbarkley.

Choirs from M. Zion Baptist, Thankful Baptist, and Cartersville Baptist churches have what's become an annual concert. This one held was March 3.