by Matthew Moberg

Created on: November 10, 2009   Last Updated: November 13, 2009

Our perception of what a hero looks like seems to evolve and expand the older that we become. Back when I donned diapers and flower-covered bibs, the friendly love-addict Barney was my mentor and most faithful life guide. And then as I matured over my progression through time, Indiana Jones replaced the dinosaur and eventually Kirby Puckett replaced Harrison Ford. This is why I believe that our heroes reflect the emotional seasons of life that we're maturing in. They are who we need them to be when we need them most. Say that five times fast.

Right now, I'm sitting in a season of perseverance. In these times of anguish and frustration, I'm trying to press on against the chaos and challenges that have littered the road before me. I find fueling forms of inspiration and encouragement when I read the stories that made up the life of Mother Theresa. I know that she may fall under the category of cliche or perhaps unoriginal heroes, but that's ok. She is my hero.

Mother Theresa broke her back daily for the very least of these that lied in the streets across the gutters of our world. She not only changed the landscape of Calcutta, India, but she also inspired a revolution of social justice that has spread like wildfire inside both the church and in the secular realms that social circles congregate around. Even after her death, her written words of struggle, faith, and love inside an upside down world, still change the hearts and minds of many today. She lived a life that leaves a wake with ripples that will perhaps never stand still.

There is one Mother Theresa story that stands out as my favorite.

In Calcutta, India, where money is few and far between, Mother Theresa arranged it so that charitable organizations across the globe would donate shoes so that the people's feet would have proper protection covering them. Shipments would come with shoes about once every three or four months, and every time the community would turn into a complete jubilee when they arrived.

The story goes that there was a visitor who came to the city to spend time with Mother Theresa and watch her work in the name of Love that she did. He went everywhere with her, and was always amazed at her persistent ability to never grow tired and weary with the people that she gave her life for.

One night, when he was alone with the sisters, he noticed that Mother Theresa's feet were severely deformed and bruised. One of the other sisters there saw his face of shock and walked over to him to let him know why this was so. She said that when the new shoes come to town and they're piled like gifts for all to come take part of, Mother Theresa is always the first one to arrive on the scene. She comes to the shoes before the crowd so that she can find the most worn down and broken pair to make sure that no one had a worse pair of shoes than her.

Even in this moment now as I write to you about my hero, I can feel the calling of her life in my soul, beckoning me to give away my desires so that I too may live an abundant life. She believed in Love and because of her, many others do too. That is why she's my hero.

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