Heroes

One of my favorite new shows on television is Heroes. I appreciate the unique concept of the show. There are few shows that I will tape while I’m away from home, Lost, ER and Gilmore Girls. Okay I’ll admit it, I also love Dancing with the Stars, now is the moment you take a break, laugh and mock me before continuing to read the rest of this article.

Heroes is about individuals who suddenly start to realize they have unique abilities (superpowers for lack of a better term). A nuclear explosion is coming that will end the world (or least New York). One person has the ability to fly but he doesn’t want to recognize that ability because he’s running for office so he ignores the fact that he has this gifting. Then one day he’s captured by some bad guys and to get away he shoots up in the air and creates a sonic boom before he flies off to safety. His brother dreams he can fly but he can only fly in reality when his brother is around. As the time progresses, he realizes he can pick up other people’s abilities by being around them (now that is really a cool gifting because he has the benefit of being able to do multiple things, but only by being with someone else).

Another person can stop time and transport between time and space. He’s very excited about his ability and is a big comic book fan and embraces the fact that he called to save the world. He seeks out another person he realizes has an amazing gift when he comes across a comic book about featuring his ability to travel between time and space. The guy who wrote the comic is a drug addict whose ability to paint the future happens when he’s high. He paints about these other heroes and situations they find themselves in. One of the paintings is done on the floor about a nuclear explosion that happens in New York.

There is a cheerleader who is invincible. She can’t seem to die because her body rejuvenates itself instantly when she gets seriously hurt. There was some really cool situations with her almost dying. She’s also reluctant to embrace her abilities and wants to keep it a secret from everyone.

There’s a cop who suddenly finds himself with the ability to read people’s mind. Imagine how handy that can be in some situations. He’s not quite sure what to do with his ability and his struggle to find the right balance and control of his ability.

So this show started to speak to me today. I find it interesting that these different types of people are being used to come together and help save the world. They each have unique and special gifts that when they come together will help stop a tragedy from happening. Some embrace their gifts and others resist because they don’t want to face the fact that there is something special inside of them that sets them apart from others.

Gifts are given by the Lord. He gives them to whomever He chooses and it’s our responsibility to use the gifts He’s blessed us with. We can choose to ignore it, like the politician. We can choose to continue to seek out why we have this ability and what does it all mean, like the politician’s brother. We can choose to continue to struggle with our gifting or seek out how to use it better. We can choose to try to keep it a secret that we have our ability and try to get through life. Or we can choose to embrace it with all that’s within us and with our whole heart seek to do the thing that we were meant to do. What's the thing God created us to do without abandonment? I choose to embrace whatever gifts and talents that God has trusted me with and I choose to use it with my whole heart. The thing that has become apparent to me is that it takes cooperation from everyone's special ability to save the world. Not one individual gift can accomplish such a task alone. That's what we call church.

© Nadine Z. 2006