Raising the Army of Heleman is meant to inspire myself, and others, while we raise the next generation. A few years back I wrote a weekly column for NewsCornerUSA--an online newspaper. NewsCornerUSA was short lived so I've decided to re-post them here.
Enjoy!
After Lance Armstrongs recent fall from grace, and
all the gossip about Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend in the news, where have all
the heroes gone?
On Thursday, Manti did his first on-air interview
with Katie Couric. Millions tuned in to hear
his side of the story and pass judgment. I won’t lie; I too recorded and
watched the interview. When all was said and done I was more than satisfied
with the explanation he gave. In fact, I was more than impressed by the spirit
that radiated from this wonderful young man.
There is no doubt that Manti was personally hurt by
the lies concocted by someone with obvious emotional distress, but that wasn’t
what troubled him the most. He explained to Katie, and the world, the most
regrettable event had been lying to his parents. Later in the interview his mother and father
joined him on stage and answered questions and shared their feelings—even
telling how they prayed for, and extended their love to the family of the
perpetrator. One thing was clear; they loved
their son and stood firmly by his side.
Katie obviously questioned Manti’s character. Trying
to be somewhat facetious, she wondered if he was really that naïve. Whether or not she believed him, I was
convinced that he really was innocent. Knowing the small town of Laie where he
grew up—with Samoan parents—I’m not the least bit surprised that the somewhat
shy football player was so easily fooled. He wasn’t brought up around people
who were so deceitful and easily amused by others downfalls. Family, the Lord,
service, giving others the benefit-of –the doubt, respect, and honor were
engrained in Manti from birth. There was
absolutely no reason for him to question Lennay’s integrity and identity—after
all, others had confirmed her existence.
As the interview wrapped up, Manti described how
through August to November of 2012 he had many friends cheering him on.
Ironically, when the so-called scandal broke, those numbers significantly
dwindled and the people still surrounding him were his true friends and
family. He very profoundly explained as
great as it would be to still be high on the NFL Draft, nothing was as
important as family, friends, and faith. He took a minute to remind those kids
watching to ‘listen to your parents’.
When the interview was done, it got me
thinking—thinking of heroes from history. Where are the heroes of today? Open the Book of Mormon and Bible and you
easily have your pick at many brave young men and women who stood for good and
fought for the righteousness. Even in our own wonderful country we have our
choice of many brave souls from the past two-hundred-fifty years that have done
the same.
But what does a hero look like? And what characters
are necessary for him/her to possess? Must they be big and strong, or schooled
in weaponry and athletic?
The answer if overwhelmingly NO!!
A hero of mine is Thomas S Monson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints. He is strong and dedicated in his testimony of GOD, lovingly
serving without complaint—and probably not able to lift a sword to fight at
this point in his life!!
My twelve-year-old daughter’s hero is her eighteen-year-old
cousin, Kim. She is not only smart, beautiful, and athletic, but genuinely kind
to everyone. Kim is exactly the kind of
person I want my impressionable daughter to look up to.
But what about Manti, is he a hero? At least through
part of this year many people called him their hero. He certainly has the build
and strength of a typical hero from the scriptures. However, that’s not what
I’m talking about.
The characteristics that matter the most in this
important description are:
Faith—check
Love—check
Kindness—check
Malice towards none—check
Sympathy/Empathy—check
Honor and Respect—check
Yes, I’m quite convinced that Manti Te’o is a modern
day hero. Not for his outstanding football skills—they will eventually fade
with age. No, Manti is a hero and example to all because of his
characteristics—and that will follow him into eternity.
I’m sure that somewhere inside Manti wishes this
whole scheme with Lennay would have never happened, but I for one think it was
a blessing. When do our heroes ever get away unscathed in the story? If they
didn’t go through the battle, fighting with all their might, they would never
become the ‘hero’ in the end. This is exactly what I think of Manti. The lesson
learned through his ‘naïve’ experience is one for all of us.
I for one know that I and my family (teenage boys
included) look up to him, with his courage and strength, more than ever before.
Manti Te’o—we need more heroes like you!
God Bless The USA Erin M Apelu
