Wanna be a Hero?
The 9 o’clock news loves to report on the people who perform extraordinary acts in the service of mankind. But there are also countless unsung heroes who don’t get the chance to jump into burning buildings to save babies, yet are no less important.
Not least of these are the people who take the time to make their marriages the best they can be.
Let me explain.
I never met a child of divorced parents who thought the experience did anything to improve their character. In fact, the statistics show that children of such experiences are at an amazing disadvantage – the only redeeming value of divorce is the dubious notion that the children would do worse if the parents didn’t get one.
Be that as it may, and be that these statistics are so well known, and be that we have a 50% divorce rate, wouldn’t it seem obvious that marriage classes are a must?
As much as I hate to say it, the NYT is right. The choices of life are invariably simple, but what that venerable news source fails to impart is, when we don’t want to make them we become incredibly creative in finding a myriad of alternatives.
Most choices in life are really binary. Or put another way, that’s how a hero sees it. You either stand up to evil or you become a villain. You either do the right thing, or you don’t. You either give your children the best you can, or you don’t.
As such, if we aren’t going to be a hero with the challenges we have now, we won’t do any better with more profound headline making ones. This explains why people who make bad choices when they are not in power, make equally bad ones when in.
It’s funny, but I can just hear what you are saying right now: “Rabbi, I wish it were that simple.”
And I would respond, but I have to get back to my computer game and save the world….