One of my teenage patients once uttered these precious words to me at the conclusion of her medical visit. ” Thank you so much. You’re my hero.” She shared her appreciation of me for listening and encouraging her. She felt appreciated. The big smile that adorned her face at the end of the visit was like a window to her heart. I could see in her eyes the deep sense of value and beauty she felt because someone stopped everything and listened.
In our rushed, business -driven medical health system, doctors and other providers can’t afford to stop and listen. With eyes fixed on fading keyboards and computer screens, and fingers pressing their thousands of clicks who is really listening.?
How many can afford to stop clicking, and begin listening? In our fast-paced medical care who has the time to fix his/her eyes, and be all ears ? Doctors or not, are we all taking time to listen, affirm, and encourage others especially those who look up to us?
My North Star
According to Earthsky.org “The North Star or Pole Star – aka Polaris – is famous for holding nearly still in our sky while the entire northern sky moves around it…Polaris marks the way due north.”
During the Underground Railroad movement, many slaves in the 1800s escaping slavery in the South relied on the North Star. The North Star also known as Polaris was their only guide into freedom in the North. As long as they looked up to Polaris and followed it, they were destined to be free.
Hence, they ran from their plantations at pitch-dark nights never losing sight of their North Star that guided them to liberty. Their escape North to freedom guided by the dependable bright star, remind me of mom’s own story.
Mom’s North Star
As a child, mom discreetly with others crossed the borders between Eritrea and Sudan during the British colonization of Sudan in the 1940s. In the darkness of the night, she followed her human North Star , a guide from a Sudanese tribe in the region. To her and to the others, he was like Polaris who guided them to escape poverty and war in Eritrea and Ethiopia. He guided them into Khartoum, Sudan, my mom’s ultimate destination, where jobs with British families were plentiful.
She walked in darkness in the African Savanna where hyenas and wild life abound. To her, that caring Sudanese guide was her hero. He was like her North Star to follow and to never lose sight of .
Following My North Star
We live in a world where our supposed heroes, our North Star, can turn out to be Zeroes who lead us astray. The pursuit of beauty, pleasures, wealth, power, position, and possessions is what many of us have made into the Polaris to follow.
I’m now more aware than ever of the heavy responsibility of being viewed as a hero. To be viewed by someone, your children, family members or others, as her/his hero is akin to being trusted as a North Star to be followed. That is, someone trusted as good guide, a role model, and as a cheer leader who cares, affirms, and encourages.
But, who can be that ultimate hero and the true North Star, but God. My Christian faith teaches me that Jesus Christ is like the fixed and unchanging truth, i.e. the true North Star, that I can safely follow to where my heart, soul and spirit can find freedom.
So, how can I ever measure up to such an unattainable and divine goal of being someone’s hero and North Star? And the answer is, I can’t and won’t be able to be a true hero and a Polaris to be followed. That is, until I begin to see God as my hero, and Jesus Christ as the “Pole” star that I look up to and follow.
Views expressed here are only of the author, and do not represent the views of any other organization or entity. Information in this blog are not meant to be medical advice. Please see your medical provider or psychologist for any of your medical or psychological concerns.