Last Sunday, James opened our series Heroes by talking about how we can become a hero. We all grew up wanting to save the world. As kids, most of us thought that being a hero meant jumping tall buildings, lifting buses, or having the agility of a rabid mongoose (see Mongoose Man). As we get older, our dreams change and we want to be like our favourite baseball player. Somewhere along the way we become cynical and feel like heroes don’t exist at all. Worse still, we think that we don’t have what it takes to really become a hero. Despite our cynicism, somewhere deep inside, we all want to make a difference. To know that our life has truly had meaning.

So, if we want to become heroes, what do we need? A Mongoose Cave? A web of radioactive spiders? Perhaps a badge? The fact of the matter is, all we need to be a hero is a burden. If you’re at all familiar with Spiderman, perhaps you’ve heard the phrase with great power comes great responsibility? Helping others is Spiderman’s burden. A burden that only he can carry out. While we haven’t been given the proportionate speed, agility, and strength of a spider, we do have one thing in common with Spidey; we all have burdens. What has God burdened you with? Do you care for the poor? Does social injustice make you “hulk out“? Sorry, couldn’t help another comic reference. The first step in becoming a hero is figuring out what your burden is.

Stay tuned as we continue to discuss how we can all become heroes. Same Verge time, same Verge url. Sorry, I’ll try to stop now.