What does it mean to be a hero?

The dictionary defines a hero in terms of courage, achievement and morality. In practice, our culture’s heroes have commonly been sports figures, such as Olympians or military figures.

But heroism is really about doing the right thing and standing for the right virtues even when the world isn’t watching. Many of the most heroic acts undertaken in human history are unknown to me or to you or to history—but they are not unknown to God.

In this crucial moment, we need a new category of heroes. Today, our heroes include doctors, nurses, and medical staff on the frontlines of the global pandemic. They are putting their lives at risk in order to protect and extend the lives of others.

But the notion of a hero has expanded to those who are stocking the grocery store shelves and delivering our packages—people who are making the world work and trying to keep all the pieces of society together.

We’re seeing heroism where we never knew to find it before.

As a society, we don’t pass out gold medals to grocery store stockers or to X-ray technicians. But when you think about it, we probably should.

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