Can insignificant, ordinary people really be heroes?
Most of us lead exceedingly busy lives. Just trying to keep up with family and close friends seems at times like an overwhelming task - especially for people like me who are not attracted to social media.
If I could, I would really like to be the unique person who leads a quiet life and does not have to deal with so many people. Ultimately, however, that sort of isolation puts one in the middle of so many relational conflicts. I realize that is not realistic. Life consists of relational turmoil because we are all imperfect human beings prone toward our own selfishness and self-centeredness.
One of the casualties of so much social activity and relational preoccupation is the neglect of those who are considered as socially inept, outcast, or those physically, emotionally, or psychologically disabled or wounded. These represent the demographics we see as on the fringes of society – in other words, the insignificant, who are often considered not worthy of our attention. We simply don’t have any time left to invest in them, and so they suffer more than most of us. They are inconvenient.
In my novel, Significant, I subtly challenge us to think differently about the insignificant people in our lives. The challenge is not direct, but subtly embedded throughout the story. In many ways, the main character is considered “different” – a socially awkward child prodigy who keeps falling in love with young adult women just out of reach while he is still a teenager. Perhaps you know some brilliant but awkward teens (or should we say, Gen Z or Zoomers). Significant shows us they can all be unexpected heroes, some personal heroes that no one else will know and some national heroes that many people will come to know.
If you conduct an online search with the term “ordinary heroes,” you will find many interesting and amazing stories. There is much material in both book form and visual media. Examples include Scott Turow’s classic best-selling WWII novel, Ordinary Heroes, and director Mirko Pincello’s 2013 four-part documentary television series on the Bosnian War. You will also see many inspiring stories of the top ordinary heroes that are publicized each year by news organizations.
When you read through these stories, you often discover that no one would have predicted that such people would perform extraordinary feats of heroism. We so often miss the most important things about people because we are too focused on their outward appearance.
There is a classic historical story of the Israelite prophet Samuel looking to anoint a new king in Israel sometime after 1000 BCE. Rather than one of the big brawny sons of Jesse, Samuel chooses an insignificant teenager whose father does not even bring out for consideration. Jesse thought there was no way that his least significant son, whom scholars speculate was illegitimate, could possibly be chosen as the future leader of the nation. David was not looked on as kingly material, but he had the heart of a great leader that no one could see except God alone.
Obviously, none of us have the talent to see what courage is hidden in the human heart. What we do know is that courage has nothing to do with a person’s outward appearance, family background, social status, or inept and awkward mannerisms or idiosyncrasies.
Recently I watched the film Richard Jewell, which is about the July 27, 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing and is directed by one of my favorite directors, Clint Eastwood. Jewell was the outcast, the awkward one, the overweight simpleton who lived with his mother as an adult. He was the perfect target to pin the bombing on, when he was actually the hero who saved lives. The film causes you to wonder which character you would be more like – the journalist or FBI agents who framed Jewell to advance their own careers, or Jewell’s attorney who actually believed him and stood by him despite his many eccentricities. The film reminds us that sometimes the most significant people in our lives are the ones we most easily overlook, and sometimes they even save our lives. Look for that truth just below the surface of the story when you read Significant.
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