We are always looking for one
March 31, 2008 (Monday)
(Can you believe this is the last day of March?)
Ever hear of Fran Striker?
He was born in 1903 and died in 1962 in an automobile accident.
He was working at a radio station in Buffalo, New York when he created the Lone Ranger.
I can hear it now. I’m six years old, sitting in front of our big old radio in the living room. Something to eat in my lap, a pencil and pad to write down the special offers, usually something secret just between me and the announcer, and my ear tuned to listen carefully when I hear the familiar sound of the William Tell Overture, and the words:
“A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo, Silver! The Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order, in the early western United States. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!”
Out of Striker’s mind came novels, pulp fiction books, radio programs which later became T.V. programs, movie scripts, and more – all about the Lone Ranger. He also came up with the Green Hornet and other fictitious characters that thrilled the kids, and charmed the adults.
We’ve always looked to the horizon for someone to come and solve all our problems, like the Lone Ranger. Our heroes came to us one after the other during those dark, dismal days when the Great Depression darkened the world, and we could hear the drum beats of war, all the way from Europe, that grew louder each day. The time was right for a hero to appear. Presto! Problems solved.
So, in light of the parade of heroes that solved all our problems, came the Wizard of Oz, who turned out to be only a guy who showed people how to tap into the resources that already existed and learn that they themselves could solve their problems, that courage, intellect and heart were the real heroes, already here, within us.
A good idea. But we still need the Lord. After the Great Depression and the devastating Second World War, the G.I.’s returned home and started going to church with their families. The churches boomed in the forties and fifties as people sought real help in a real God.
As always happened, a new generation came and things changed. Today, there are many hopeful signs as another generation, weary of false hopes, turns to the Lord. So, here’s the deal: the answer for us is not in our created heroes or in our own potentialities – it’s in the Lord.
(Photo of Charles)