We Need a Hero

It is no secret that the residents of Northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana are suffering after the recent storms drenched the area. In fact, the rain has prompted Cook County Board President Todd Stroger to declare that our county is in a state of emergency. Families living near rivers have lost their homes and communities have come together to alleviate the pressure on those most greatly affected by the raising waters. But when Times of Peril normally spur citizens to look for strength in the numbers, there are those who go above what is expected of them to show how powerful the individual can be. 

When John and Mark Thanos (father and son respectively) heard the perilous cries of two children, they rushed to the scene to find the two kids struggling to stay afloat in the               Pope-O'Conor ditch in Chesterton, Indiana. One of the boys managed to pull himself out, but the other was being sucked into a 36'' drain. John Thanos, age 74, jumped in first trying to save the boy. When he began to struggle, son Mark did his part to try and save both of them. But fate being cruel, took both John and Mark. The boy made it out safely. 

These two men have broken the mold and showed how we do not always need to look to a council or congregation to get things done in frightful times. It is men like these and also men like Preacher Hooper who spur us to question their motive. Would the Puritans look at men like Hooper or the Thanos'  as heroes? Or would they try to poke a hole in their confidence as people to purge out the sin that they are compensating for? The two minute news report did not give John and Mark Thanos the credit they deserve. The story did teach us all one thing; we shouldn't bury ourselves in the layers of fear and suspicion and panic that often coincide with Peril.