The Real Heroes

Sometimes, an inspiring message comes from where you'd least expect it. I was recently listening to a video game podcast (not a podcast about video games, but a podcast from a video game) partly just to have something interesting to listen to while I was doing something else. This podcast comes from the newest Spider-Man game, the one for the Playstation4, and it stars J. Jonah Jameson, who, thanks mostly to this podcast, has become one of my favorite characters in the Spider-Man canon. Normally, Jameson is plays a slightly adversarial role. He dislikes Spider-Man, and he uses his newspaper (or, in this game, his podcast) to try to convince others to dislike him as well, but in this game, he also uses his podcast for good. I won't spoil too much of the game, but let it suffice to say that, at a certain point, bad things happen. And when they do, J. Jonah Jameson helps the  people of New York, where Spider-Man's stories take place, keep things together with encouraging messages like this:

Folks, I know you're scared. But when I hear reports of looting, of fights over food or medicine, I say to myself: We are better than this. You are better than this. I've known you my whole life. I am proud to be a member of this community. Don't give in to fear. Help each other. Stand up for those who need it. I've always hated hearing Spider-Man called a hero, because the real heroes are the people who get up every day, with no special powers, and do the right thing simply because it is the right thing. So I'm asking you now...be the heroes I know you all are. J. Jonah Jameson believes in you.

When I heard that podcast, it resonated with me. Sure, I'm not in quite the same situation Jameson describes, but with a few substitutions, this message could be applied to all of us. We are all better than some of the things we do. God has known us our whole lives, and, both because and in spite of everything we've ever done, He is proud of us. The next few lines easily apply to everyone: "Don't give in to fear [or temptation]. Help each other. Stand up for those who need it." That's just good, solid, moral advice.

And that part about real heroes really got me: "I've always hated hearing Spider-Man called a hero, because the real heroes are the people who get up every day, with no special powers, and do the right thing simply because it is the right thing." I don't do that often enough, but I do it often enough to think that J. Jonah Jameson, a fictional character from a fictional version of a city on the opposite side of the continent from me, might consider me a "real hero." And if he thinks that highly of me, what must my mother thing of me? What must God think of me? I normally feel ashamed when I consider that question, but right now, I think He's proud, and that makes me feel, ironically, both humbled and proud. Humbled, because I know I don't deserve His approval, and proud because I think I just might.

I am thankful for this reminder to be the hero God knows I am or can be, and I'm thankful for the reminder that, even if I don't always believe in myself, God believes in me. It may seem strange, but this audio clip from this video game made me believe that I am a good person, and it made me want to live up to that belief. I know that J. Jonah Jameson isn't a real person and that his podcast isn't real either, but this message is, as is the effect it had on me. It made me want to be a better person, a hero. Spider-Man may not be a real hero, but, if we try to do good, we can be.