By now there is a pretty good chance that you have seen Jamie Moore’s wonderful photos of his daughter as female heroes worthy of emulation. They are really awesome. I didn’t get into photography until late 2004ish. Thankfully at that point the boys were still interested in me taking photos. I wish I had seen or had this idea then. Yes it is important for little girls to have good roles models, that aren’t just helpless Disney princes, but it is also important for little boys to have heroes worth following that aren’t just stupid stereotypes. Really when you think about it the male Disney heroes aren’t that great either.
So if I could still take photos of Adam and Noah as role models that I hope they would learn from, who would I choose? Here are a few that I would consider.
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So cool they are often referred to as the Immortal Chaplains. The Four Chaplains – Unless you are or were in the military or you’ve been a chaplain then you probably haven’t heard of the Four Chaplains. You should go read about them. Why would I want my kids to learn from them? Because they took what they knew and used it in a sacrificial manner in a time of need. Let’s face it, when your ship is hit by a torpedo no one is shouting “quick, somebody get the chaplain.” I imagine that these chaplains knew very little about welding or patching the ship. They did, however, know how to bring peace into chaotic situations and they used that skill to save lives. That’s why they are remembered. Whatever my boys end up specializing in, I hope they use it in sacrificial manners.
- C.S. Lewis – Why? He was brilliant and not real concerned with fitting into someone’s political agenda or stereotype of what a Christian intellectual should act like. He was a medieval literary critic who didn’t like children very much but was able to write children’s literature that really connected with kids and adults and responded personally to tons of kids’ letters to him. He was a single man who enjoyed his single life until he realized that he loved Joy Davidman and then wouldn’t let a little thing like the fact that she was in the hospital dying keep him from marrying her (again).
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You must be doing something right if people want to hang you in the nude. Dietrich Bonhoeffer – An amazing example of living out your faith no matter what. Bonhoeffer’s faith was so true that the Nazi’s finally thought he was such a threat that they needed to imprison him and then kill him in what they thought was a humiliating manner. I believe that the examples found in the Bible tend to show that when your faith ticks off people in power that is usually a good thing. Bonhpeffer lived out such a faith.
- Mark Twain – Why? Well because it would be a cool picture 😉 Actually Twain used his art to critique the society in which he lived. Yes Twain is hilarious but his humor is biting humor that pointed (and still does) to things in society that we needed to (and still do) reconsider. You can critique society and still succeed. Good art usually does.
- Terrey Fox – Only have one leg? That’s no reason not to try running across Canada. What an amazing example of perseverance and grit.
They are others but these are the ones that came to mind as I was wasting time waiting to go to the hospital and do my rounds as a chaplain. I’ll have to see if the boys are up for a few photos.