#tucsonati

All lives have value. This is not a statement meant to excuse the vile people who purposefully thrust pain onto the innocent, but rather to prevent anyone from eradicating others with the argument that there was no harm in removing one insignificant person. However, despite the fact we all have value, this has never become more evident than when we are needed. When there are people who are suffering, who are lost, who are trying their best to keep their head up and feet steady, your value seems all of a sudden irreplaceable. That may seem like an exaggeration; how is there any one problem so unique that only one person on the planet could solve it? The answer is simple: there isn’t. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, from different homes, and different families, with unique talents and a collection of skills, but it is impossible to accept that only one person could save the day, that only one vigilante could lift us up, and that without them, we would fall. There is more than one way to skin a cat, more than one way to defeat evil, and to claim that only one person could succeed is both foolish and insulting. Foolish, because you are putting all your eggs in one basket, insulting because you believe that all other baskets do not compare to the one you have chosen. You may believe that the basket you have is the greatest, the best choice- the only choice- but you are wrong. If that basket should fail, there are more, whether they are appreciated or not. But the issue remains, evil persists, and a hero is needed. There is not one man or woman that must be relied on, but someone must rise up, must fight for good. A hero may not be a chosen one, but any one may be chosen. Any one could stand and fight if they have the courage. We all have value. To cash out with it is up to us. Do we hoard it for ourselves, or use it to help others? When you are needed, the question becomes pertinent. When you stand between incoming peril and expectant victims, you decide whether or not you value the lives of the hopeless as much as you do your own, and you fight or are swept into the enemy you once feared. Any one can be a hero. If you fail to be one, we pray one will reveal itself before all is lost. And as you read this, wondering if good will prevail, ask yourself: could I stand before great evil and fight everything that keeps me up at night, or will I remain a bystander, perhaps become a casualty? There is no way of knowing until darkness is at your doorstep, caressing the doorknob like the hand of a lost love. All lives have value, anyone can be a hero, and yet when darkness knocks, we pretend we do not hear, and pray they kill the neighbors instead.

Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. Their silence is their answer.