I bring all of this up, because, even to this day I still like to pick up a magical weapon or super powered laser rifle or other weapon in a video game and go forth and defeat the evil horrors that prowl the lands or threaten life, family, children and people as we know it in this galaxy. I love to sit down with a book, comic or movie like Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Spiderman, Superman, Eragon and inspire the hero inside me that wants to come out and save the day, coming back from impossible odds.
It seems that there is a call to honor, deeds and glory that every man's heart wants to reach for, to change the world (or even his small corner of it) somehow. As my children grow older, I want them to reach for that. I want their imaginations to grow with the fun and possibilities of the world around them. However, I also strive to teach them that heroism is not just found in a video game or a movie. While those things, like a book, can be a teacher of those things, actions win the day.
I emphasize and want them to see the everyday heroism of people around them, our firemen, our policemen our volunteer military. People who work with the homeless or fight disease and illness while still trying to live a productive life. I have a brother-in-law like that, family members like that. We encourage our kids to watch TV shows like Extreme Makeover to learn about giving back to the community.
We also encourage their participation, in making self sacrifice to help at Christmas and other times of the year with families or people in need. Just helping out with people who are in trouble by doing something as simple as delivering a meal. That money and things are a tool, yes to make life better, but not just for yourself, for others too.
The real point is, there are real heroes among us, every day heroes that we need to recognize and appreciate and teach our children to recognize and appreciate. And it doesn't hurt to start small, the big will come one day, by having a child help a younger brother or sister find a toy or with a chore. Then, defeat a cog in Toontown or as they get older help a group or fellowship take down a dragon or get a ring to the fires of Mt Doom. Then helping pack food baskets for church or outreach and then one day helping in a soup kitchen or charity organization.
The important part is by mixing their fiction heroes with real life heroes and events, from our children we can build men and women of courage and hope, starting with giving them challenges and successes for their age and building on that. By doing these things, we teach them character. Not just character in the pursuit of the next fancy, whizbang thing, but character that whatever career they decide to follow or toy they decide to purchase, they will also know how to reach out in their communities in little ways, that build up and ripple around them. That they will know how to start helping, changing and making a difference in their world.
We can teach them (and maybe ourselves at the same time) to be heroes in the real world as well as the imaginary one. So, take your child and go slay a dragon today!
(Click the picture for a nicer view of the dragon! Oh and it took lots of people working together to take this big guy down.)
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