The Lone Ranger Gets Shot, In The Head, With A Silver Bullet

"The laaaaaaaand of the freeeeeeeee....and the hoooooome of the braaaaaave."
And, now that I think about it, the lone ranger philosophy.

What is this philosophy? Basically, it's individualism. A friend of mine wrote about this earlier - and if you happened to read that post, you might assume I'm talking about the same thing. Well...not really.

Over the years, America has cultivated an immensely saturated picture of men who lead by their strength, who overcome the odds by their own will and perseverance; heroes. This is nowhere more apparent than the superhero comics, where 'one man against a million' is actually feasible. Let me name a few examples.
-Batman (regular god)
-Superman (god.)
-Iron man (comedy god)
-Spiderman (haha)
-Thor (actual god)
-Captain America ('Murica)
And let's not forget the Lone Ranger, who has the honor of being murdered horribly in this post's title. You get the idea.

We have been so immersed in the idea of one man taking on the odds and winning that we've incorporated it into our very society and lives. It manifests in how we deal with challenges, trials, obstacles. It shows in how we attempt to lead other people. It is apparent in part of our definition of 'manliness' - "the ability to muscle your way through any difficulty without nobody's help".

This act can't last forever. The lone wolf cannot stand against the pack and hope to survive. One man cannot move a mountain. That's common sense.
But what about a host of wolves? What about millions of people instead of just one? Multiply the strength of one man by a nation...all of a sudden, that mountain's toast.

The truth is, individualism is rather arrogant. God created us to be social beings, to help and rely on each other (this is especially obvious in marriage). When we reject the necessity of that, when we say "No, I can shift this mountain myself," we sound as stupid as our president does when he says he's increasing budget cuts.
When you are falling on hard times and it seems you can't hold on, God has provided the best help you could possibly have...Himself. How big does that mountain look compared to the God who spoke the universe into existence?

Not that big, I'll wager.