#1155 They Called Me A HERO
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I received my blood donor card and on it was written the word
"HERO."
I thought all blood donors were called heroes; in reality,
anyone that took time to give so freely was a hero in my book.
The Red Cross called my house to ask when would I give blood
again. I also figured they did that with all blood donors.
I went to the donation center to donate again and I asked the
nurse, "Do you put "HERO" on all of the donor cards?"
"No," she replied, "let me see your card."
I pulled the now crumpled card from my wallet and showed it to
her. "You have special blood," she commented, "that's why you
are called a "HERO".
"Special blood?"
Being a scientist and also being ignorant of the issue, I asked
her exactly what did she mean.
She began to explain in detail what I shall greatly condense.
There are two major blood factors, A and B plus the RH factor.
If you want to know what a factor and RH is look it up, it will
take too much time to explain properly here.
If you have the A factor you are type A, the B factor type B and
if you have both factors you are type AB. If you have the RH
factor then you are RH positive.
If you have neither the A nor B factor then you are type O.
That's the letter 0, not a zero (although it means zero).
About 1/3 of Americans are type O positive. They have neither
the A nor B factor but have the RH factor. Type 0 positives can
give blood to a type A positive, type B positive, or type AB
positive.
If a person receives blood with a factor that they don't have,
the results are usually disastrous, it usually kills them.
The nurse then looked at me and said,
"You are type O negative. About 6% of Americans are
type O negatives. You don't have any factors at all in your
blood.
You can give blood to anybody and in many cases, only type O
negative blood can be used. Preemie babies can only get type O
negative blood. Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy can
only get type O negative blood. Patients with compromised
immune systems can only receive type O negative blood. Victims
in accidents or other emergency situations can only receive type
O negative blood because there is usually no time to do a blood
typing test.
Your blood is the hardest of all of the types to keep in stock
because so many people need it. That's why you are labeled a
Hero. Your blood is the universal blood type."
The nurse finished her explanation of why I was called a hero.
That's the short blood type course, now on with the story.
The funny thing is, an O negative can only receive O negative
blood. I can only accept blood without factors.
If I ever need blood and receive any blood with factors,
it will most likely kill me.
I can give to all, but can only receive from a very select few.
An interesting but appropriate paradox.
I thought about MountainWings as I drove home.
I am a Christian.
I am a Pastor of a Christian church.
I am a heterosexual male.
I am married.
There are other things about me that relate to social, economic,
racial, national, educational, and other things that constitute
"factors" in life.
I began MountainWings with a dream to be able to lift all.
I knew it would reach across a broad spectrum of people.
There are subscribers to MountainWings in over 40 countries so:
It spans nationalities.
It spans race.
It spans economic status.
It spans educational achievements.
It spans religious beliefs.
It spans many other factors.
The only factor that it cannot span, is a decision not to be
lifted. You cannot lift those that don't want to be lifted.
I realized the full extent of this from a comment from a reader
today and that comment prompted me to write this issue.
I publish the comment here minus identifying information.
"I just recently became a subscriber to MOUNTAIN WINGS.
At first I was going to by-pass it, but I am glad I decided to
subscribe.
I am a 64 yr old gay man and must admit, not very religious as I
consider myself as an Agnostic. However, so many of the MTN
WINGS issues have been so interesting, very moving and yes they
do tend to make each day so much more enjoyable. I eagerly look
forward to each new message.
Today's topic, took me back to a very fond memory
and also gave me much to think about.
Thank You so much for helping to make my life happier."
That was the comment that prompted today's issue.
Whether people realize it or not, Jesus had factor-less blood.
He associated with those whom society said that he shouldn't.
They had factors that weren't acceptable by society and in
particular the religious community.
You too can be a hero but it takes something special to reach
out to someone that may have different factors than yourself.
All of us are born with factors of one type or another.
If you are born the child of happy multimillionaire parents
you have a different set of factors than if you are born the
child of drug addicts. Those factors will affect you.
When you have many resources you have the ability to help many.
When you have few resources and a lot of factors you can only
help a few. The real hero is not based on the resources.
It's not based on the blood.
It's based on the willingness to give of whatever you have.
Most with O negative don't give of what they have.
They are those with a great ability to help a lot of people.
Most don't.
The thing is, neither do most with AB positive.
AB positives can only help a select few.
Most struggle themselves and the last thing on their minds is
helping others.
Take this bit of advice.
When you help another, it lifts the burden from you.
I can't psychologically explain it but I know it happens.
In helping others you forget about your own situation and you
realize that you are not in such bad shape after all.
It's really not so much a matter of what flows in you, it's only
what flows out that will make a difference in the world.
You are a hero just waiting to come forth, there is no better
time to begin than now.
Feel it pulsing within your veins now with the thump-thump of
each heartbeat
He-ro, He-ro, He-ro
When you realize what you really are and the potential within
you won't be able to resist being a Hero.
It's in your blood.
A MountainWings Original
You can read about my initial donor experience in the
MountainWings issue called "Blood" simply click here:
http://www.mountainwings.com/past1/1013.htm
Thank you for inviting MountainWings in your mailbox.
See you tomorrow.
