Heroes

These are the days of acknowledged heroes. In all fields of life the media is pointing them out. In sports, business, military and science-to name a few.

What men and women have said or done captures our imagination. As a historian I am particularly interested in the heroes of the past. Men like Patrick Henry who said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Or Nathan Hale who said as he was being executed as a spy by the British, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”

Unknown perhaps, but they stand equal with Washington and Jefferson as heroes of the Revolutionary War.

In the tragic aftermath of Pearl Harbor, whoever lived then, can’t forget the immortal words of President F. D. Roosevelt. “This day will live in infamy. . . But we have only one thing to fear, and that is fear itself.” A genuine hero.

One of my all time heroes is President Jack Kennedy. He borrowed a statement from a teacher, but it  is reflected in his own passion. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country.” A genuine hero.

For me, I have no dirth of heroes. They inspire me constantly. However, I have purposely eliminated Biblical characters, ministers and psychologists, except one, William James.

In my opinion, he is the greatest of all. I’m particularly fond of his statement, “Act the way you want to feel and pretty soon you will be feeling the way you are acting.” A real hero.

Two men of the same genre, same time, neighbors and friends were Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. I quote them both often. Thoreau said, “I went to the woods that I might live deliberately; and not come to the end of life and find that I had not lived at all.”

Emerson wrote too many things to remember. But one phrase constantly piques my mind; “God enters every life through a private door.” Both heroes, to be sure.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning is my favorite heroine of verse. I remember studying her work in college, sixty-four years ago. A sample. “Earth’s crammed with heaven and every common bush aflame with God. But only those who see, take off their shoes.”  Shades of Moses.

An above and beyond hero is Nelson Mandela. Somewhat of a contemporary, he stands head and shoulders above us. He’s on a par with Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi.

He was born on July 18, 1918. Attending two colleges he qualified in law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was later tried for treason against the ruling party’s apartheid laws.

On June 12, 1964 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964-1982 he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison and released from Pollsmoor Prison on February 11, 1990-27 years.

Even though in prison he spoke out against apartheid. In 1991 he was elected President of South Africa. Because of his diligence, apartheid was rejected. He is considered the Abraham Lincoln of South Africa.

The probing question is, “how did he survive in prison for 27 years?” Without reservation he gives credit to a poem written by William Ernest Henley-English poet. It is called “Invictus,” and means “unconquered.”  Mandela says he read it constantly.

            INVICTUS

            Out of the night that covers me,

            Black as the pit from pole to pole,

            I thank whatever gods may be

            For my unconquerable soul.

 

            In the fell clutch of circumstance

            I have not winced nor cried aloud.

            Under the bludgeonings of chance

            My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 

            Beyond this place of wrath and tears

            Looms but the Horror of the shade,

            And yet the menace of the years

            Finds and shall find me unafraid.

 

            It matters not how strait the gate,

            How charged with punishments the scroll,

            I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE:

            I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL.

Amen. Selah. So be it.

WORDS TO THINK ABOUT
G. W. Abersold Ph.D