Dancing in the Fire

I have always admired people who stand up for what they believe.  Early on, those heroes were comic book characters, most of which were purely fictitious.  Some, however, were real people, legends of the past, immortalized in Classic Comics, along side literary characters.

We learned about a different type of hero in our religious education classes.  There, heroes didn't survive the battle with evil.  They were Saints who were killed.

When we had to pick a Saint's name for Confirmation, I struggled to find a saint that I could relate to, someone more like me, someone who didn't jump at the chance to be a martyr.

I had a hard time.

Perhaps if I had known about the three who disobeyed King Nebuchadnezzar, I would have had a better opinion of radical believers.

Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king's command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.  - Daniel 3:28

These are the kind of heroes I was used to, but there was something different here.  They disobeyed the king and survived.  They defied authority and won.  In other words, these were the "bad" guys?

I had trouble with the idea of defying authority when I was a young, and I guess I still do.  I believe in justice for all, and treating people with respect, but I also believe in rules.  In modern terms, that may make me old fashioned, and some might say out-of-touch, but I can't help it.  I may not agree with all the rules, but I understand why we need them, and I try hard to follow them.

I obey traffic signs, stay in my lane, come to a full stop before making a right turn, and I try to keep to the speed limit, though I could do better there.  I am not perfect.  I try to be consistent, and for me that means being consistently good.

There.  I said it.

I grew up believing those who followed the rules were good, and those who didn't were bad.

It's a tough thing to shake, and when I encounter stories that flip the roles around, I have to stop, look both ways, and think before proceeding.

Some people brake the rules, and they are heroes.  Others break rules and they are villains.

I know.  You could say there are good rules and bad rules.

Who gets to decide?

The jury may be out on that one.  In the mean time, I will continue to do my best to follow the rules that are in place, and if it turns out that I truly believe they are so unbearable, I will have to consider my course of action.  You may, then, find me dancing in the fire with you.