Real-Life Heroes

I gasp when I see the time lapses between my posts.  This blog used to be a daily ritual!  It's not that I have nothing about which to write.  I often lay awake at night, thinking of a myriad of topics I could address.  But alas, life and it's busyness take over my time.  Writing is a luxury, not a priority.

And now, on with the post!

This evening, I was viewing a one (of the thousands) of videos that pop up in my Facebook news feed.  It caught my attention, as I have been intrigued (and sickened) by the Holocaust since my childhood.  It is a level of inhumanity I cannot comprehend.  

The subject of this particular video was Eva Mozes Kor, one of the "Mengele twins".  If you're not familiar with this term, these twins were the human guinea pigs of Dr. Josef Mengele ("Angel of Death").  Dr. Mengele conducted experiments on these children, with seemingly no care for their health.  His goal was to find new ways to expand the Aryan race.

Eva arrived at Auschwitz with her family:  father, mother, and siblings.  A short time after disembarking the train, she and her sister were separated from their parents and older sisters.  They never saw those family members again.  Eva and Miriam were taken to a barracks building, where they joined many other children.  Until the day of their liberation, they suffered indescribable atrocities at the hands of men whose only interest in them was as "lab rats" for their horrific genetic research.

But that was not the end of her story.  If you take the time to watch the video, you will probably shed a tear or two.  There was more grief, but there was also victory.

Eva was a real-life hero.  She didn't score a touchdown with 5 seconds left in the 4th quarter.  She never won an Oscar.  She wasn't born into a wealthy family, with TV cameras following her every move.  She didn't star in "The Avengers".  She never put in the 3-point, last-second shot.  She didn't even host a talk show for debating the perceived ills of the world, revealing how to solve them through her gift of repartee.  

No, Eva did none of those things.  

What Eva did was beyond the scope of what our society deems as worthy of hero worship.  First, she survived.  She made it through the unspeakable months of torture which was masqueraded as "medical investigation".  She outlasted the barbarity, and came out on the other side.  Wounded both inside and out, yes.  

Second--and I believe more noteworthy--was a decision she made fifty years later.  She chose to let go of her woundedness.  She took the road less traveled.  She determined to be a world changer.

She chose to forgive.

Now, if you're a Christian reader, you might be thinking, "Okay, but we all know Jesus did that first.  He said, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'  He was the example."  Of course, you are absolutely correct.  But isn't it kind of an "easy out" to say this?  I mean, after all, He was God-in-the-flesh.  He was perfect.  He suffered, yes, but He knew He would rise from the dead, and all would be well.  Again, though, you are absolutely correct.  It's just that sometimes it is too easy to overlook the heroes all around us in our modern world.

True heroism is seen in every person who reflects that aspect of our Lord.  Anyone who suffers in ways beyond our imagination, and still chooses to forgive?  A hero.

And now I look into the mirror and ask, "Am I a heroine?  Do I forgive every wrong, whether real or perceived?"

I invite you to look into your mirror, too.

Let's be real-life heroes.