Modern Koans – When Our Heroes Fail

Modern Koans is an ongoing series that recognizes that good questions are often more important then their answers.

The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man. ― G.K. Chesterton

 

When  Our Heroes Fail

It’s human nature to create and revere heroes. Our brains are wired for it. So what happen’s when our heroes fail?  It happens everyday.  Lance Armstrong, Bill Cosby, Brian Williams, and so on.

First thing is that hero’s are made in our heads. Any betrayal that we suffer because the person behind our hero image doesn’t live up to our expectations is something we bring upon ourselves . Any trust we put in these people is ours to give or take away. We can be in control of what happens when our heroes stumble. When we give up that control, we are giving up our responsibilities and we deserve the suffering that comes with it.

But when our heroes fail, we do feel betrayed. We look for answers, solutions, and prescriptions for how we can change the world. Better education, more stringent laws, and tougher enforcement are options that come up after celebrity disgrace happens.  But we already have methods to deal with these failings.  Lance Armstrong was eventually stripped of his titles. Bill Cosby is suffering in the court of public opinion. These cries for change are prayers to sooth our own hearts.  The moral outrage is born out of the personal suffering that comes when our idols don’t live up to our expectations.

The facts are that we have the potential to be greedy, small, self interested people.  Everyday we can either resist or succumb to the temptation.  Most days we succumb.  So do our heroes. Every day we plant the seeds for our future freedom or suffering.  Moving beyond this basal state of being is something that comes out of deep self reflection. We grow by discovering, through repeated hard knocks, that if we continue to behave this way, we’re going to continue to suffer.

So the questions:

Are celebrities responsible to us for the betrayal of our trust?

Can we and should we change the culture to idolize nobler behavior?

What power do we have to change anything? 

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