Who Is On Your Pedestal?

Today I watched as Tiger Woods did his formal apology to all those people he has hurt with his actions. I sure don't approve of what Tiger did, but he is a human being after all. And like the rest of us, he suffers the same temptations, challenges and problems. Just because a person has a bazillion dollars doesn't immunize them from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
All in all, I'm pretty tired of Tiger and all "famous" people whose problems get played out in front of the world for all to see. Aren't we lucky that WE are invisible humans and get to "hide" our stuff in our own lives where few see and even fewer know. Somehow that makes us feel better about ourselves.
However, as I was watching and listening to Tiger talk, I started thinking about his position. We hold celebrities up to the light of scrutiny after we have placed them on a teetering pedestal of human frailty. I too, thought the Woodster was a "do-right" kind of guy. I've even said "Wow, what must it be like to be him?" Well, I dare say no one is terribly envious of him now.
As a kid, I looked up to my teachers. Some like Rita Chisum, George Snider, Mary Dalton, Elaine Elliott, & Louise Pierce taught me so much about the kind of person I wanted to be. Some simply were genuinely good people, some taught me about honesty and fair play, others brought the love of literature, theater and music into my life.
I looked up to people in authority. People like H. Wilbanks who tried with everything in him to have a good and decent place for us to grow up and yet he was able to keep that connection with the kids that made us try not to disappoint and feel crappy when we did.
I confess to admiring people who have found the one person in life that fits the bill and has had the intelligence and talent to stay with them.
I look up to my little bitty daughter who is a human dynamo. Her ability to multi-task and make good decisions is astounding. She also has the strength to let you lean on her less than 100 pound body when you are too tired to stand on your own. Her skill as a wife and a mother are amazing and I am in awe.
I admire my husband for his honesty, humility, tolerance, kindness, wittiness and intelligence and long suffering endurance (he is married to me after all.)
Many many people in my life have touched me and given me those awestruck moments of hero worship. But, I would be wrong to put any of them on a pedestal. They are all human and therefore prone to fall. Hopefully, I would be around to throw myself under them when they fell, wrap my arms around them and tell them it was okay. Hopefully, I wouldn't ask any of them to strip themselves bare emotionally for falling.
In my opinion, there was only One Who could stand on a pedestal and be worthy of such a position. How interesting that He didn't want to be on the pedestal, what he chose was a lowly cross with a couple of flawed humans.
Be careful who you place on your pedestal because while you are looking up at them you might miss the quiet voice whispering in your ear. He will not stand above you but He will walk beside you, comfort and sustain you and give you immeasurable peace.
So, today, I would like for us all to think about Who is on our pedestal. Who do we hold up as our example of how to live, how to treat others, how to forgive and most of all, how to endure?