Felix Adler said, "The hero is one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets for men to see by."
Edward Kennedy, though born a prince of wealth and power, had lived in those dark streets, teaching us that the real hero is not only humane but also human and steeped in the duel nature we all possess. He had suffered, bled, trembled, fled, and reached into his own disquietude to find a way through the dark streets. Adversity pins us all to the wall of action or inaction. We can flee, or we can focus our lives and use the knowledge gained as a torch, for ourselves and others. "Yes" says the hero. "I have been there and there is a way."
Kennedy was not a man to set himself up as an icon of idealism. He never professed to be pure, he was just there. There when his brothers' children needed him. There when his own children were in trouble and there when the downtrodden of our world looked up into those hallowed chambers for someone who understood how to alleviate their pain. There when someone was needed; someone who had polished his vision in the war for his own soul: a dream, a hope, a vision of a better world, not for the few but for the many.
"Goodnight sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
