We all enjoy watching a super hero save the day, No? Wonder Woman, Spider-man, Superman, Aqua man, the Hulk, Thor, Iron man, the list is endless. Let’s take a quick look at two of the most popular super-heros, Spiderman and Superman.
Superman was a small child from the planet krypton which allowed him on heart to thave super-human powers. He was a “mild-mannered” newspaper reporter who worked at the Daily….whatever. Spiderman was a young 15 year old when he decided he wanted to save the world. He figured out how to throw his webs across roofs and “fly” through the air hold onto these strong ropes. What is the difference and similarities. Both underneath took human roles and were a part of society, while outside their otherwise “saving the world” roles were seemingly super-human. We identify with these characters maybe because they took roles that were so akin to our daily life, yet had a secret they hid behind with a determined destiny to do good to those that were less fortunate or bullied by these evil characters. Unfortunately, these “caricatures” are more real than imaginable. These characters work with us, ride the school bus with us, sit next to us at school, live across the street and may be in our own homes. These characters are people that are wounded, bruised, battered, hated and abused by family, extended family, sexually abused by uncles or a friend of the family. These people need assistance and living among us are hurting deep within. We are called to extend a loving helping hand.
Why are we captivated by something we know as phoney as all these characters? We could even consider, The “Knight in Shining Armor,” The Soul Mate, you have been searching for in endless disappointment, the idea of “falling in love” to find shortly thereafter, you “fell out of love.” How did that happen. It’s the euphoria of the moment the idea that we don’t have to be the real me. The idea that there is something beyond me that is greater and more “super Human” than I ever imagined takes me out of myself and reaches for another who can cause me to enter heights of ecstasy. How does that happen? You stop analyzing your life, your personality, others, your defunct finances, and nothing matters anymore. How does this happen. You leave the self life and become and extension of another. This is not real love, only a erotica form of expected or a feeling of acceptance without having to do anything to get it. Then when the new wears off, we find a separation of personalities and ideas again and reality sets in.
Hero stories heal psychic wounds, inspire us to action, and promote personal growth.
Actually, there is a super hero. He was born as a baby boy and grew up much like you and I did. He watched the people and learned that life wasn’t a bowl full of cherries and found his moment in one act of love after the other ……of giving Himself and kindness away. He walked the earth as a man but in reality he is a superhero. His one purpose was to reveal truth and the way to find that truth. His name is Christ the Messiah! How is this person a SUPERHERO?
Sometimes we wait to go to God because we think he is a mean God, an exacting God or as Oprah explained a jealous God. Jealous for our love and life is only for our good when you consider that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. Repentance is simply “turning” or a letting go of our ugly past, guilt, condemnation, fears, failures….and yes, even successes. He wants you to just be that little child and let him take full charge of your life. How does he do that? With your surrender to Him. Most of us live our whole lives not understanding the grace of God came ….did all the work for us,…..so we would not have to work so hard.
He said I am your provider, I am your healer, I am your friend, I am your comforter, I am your exceeding great reward, I am your wisdom, I am truth, I am life and I am THE WAY! WOW! What an amazing Hero! All our superheros rolled into one. Except this one chose to give up his ways and his life so that the Holy Spirit could come and live inside of us and make us the “super hero.'” He actually quoted the scriptures while on earth, speaking to the Pharisees who were ready to stone him because he came to show us the WAY to Life and Freedom….sin or “missing the mark.” He said, “Is it not said in the scriptures, “Ye are Gods?” Now that is crazy, Right?
Not really, Jesus said, “I go to the Father for if I do not go the comforter cannot come, and then greater works shall you do because I go to the Father.” The Body of Christ is suppose to be able to “run through a troop and leap over walls” That’s what David sang. This was BEFORE Christ gave up his life to bring us the Comforter. So how did David know this amazing Holy Spirit, who caused him to bea ble to slay a giant, kill a lion and a bear….out in the wild protecting the sheep, (by the way a picture of a true shepherd, as we know the one who is not a true shepherd when trouble comes because he flees when troubles come. ) Why did he sing this? Because he knew the power he had through the Holy spirit.
In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit moved on individual prophets and people intermittently, however now since Christ came and ascended upon high, the Holy Spirit was sent to bring many sons to glory that He might live through us and have His name glorified. Sounds a bit selfish, maybe. Not reallly. The amazing loving Creator is not selfish, but only is jealous for your soul so that you may “prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers.” as James puts it. However, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit for that to be a reality. HOW? Buy letting go.
Define Surrender: to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another. : to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner. : to give (oneself) over to something (such as an influence) intransitive verb. : to give oneself up into the power of another : yield.
Some common synonyms of surrender are abandon, relinquish, resign, waive, and yield. While all these words mean “to give up completely,” surrender implies a giving up after a struggle to retain or resist. Without surrender Holy Spirit cannot lead us into all truth. Christ came to show us truth, as he said “I am the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE. No man comes unto me unless the Father draws him. Are you being drawn? Can you feel or sense his sweetness and His love for you? Resistance is just mostly fear of the unknown….surrender is difficult as the very nature of our humanity wants control.
His love, his abiding presence, now in our midst through the Holy Spirit leads us to follow in His very footsteps…….letting go of the things that have happened in our past and the things that have hindered us from loving ourselves and others. How in this life can that be done? By something Paul called “death to the “self” life. Love, real love is an evolutionary process. When one has successfully extended his limitations, the person has grown into a larger state of being, a greater extension of oneself. So the act of love is an act of self evolution, even when the purpose of the act is for the benefit of another’s growth. So the act of love requires effort. There is nothing passive when we are loving. We must continually be present to love someone else. So in essence, the cross is a symbol of “letting go” of the self life.” Loving one another….in the process. When we choose to let go of our own desires and put another first, we evolve into another creature…..we find we become a deeper and more compassionate person without trying much, except to let go. It is an amazing transfiguration of the human soul and we find our spirit takes over and our soul takes a back seat. Now “death” sounds really gory right? When we think of death we think of the breath leaving someone and life leaving them and the body becoming lifeless. That is not the death that is spoken of in the scriptures. It might sound like that, but in reality, it only brings life. Paul actually said, “death works in me but life in you?” HUH?
Yes, it is like the death of a plant that dies, but leaves its seed in the ground. A tall oak tree dropping its acorns in the earth that waits for the rains and cold and wind and snow to burrow that acorn deep in the ground. It goes through such a harsh experience. However, what do we find emerging in the spring? A green shoot will begin to break through rocks, hard ground and anything else that gets in its way to find a way to the top to get to that warmth and the “SON shine it is waiting for that it knows will cause it to grow into a strong oak tree. How does it know that? It is just being itself. The way God made it to be. Growth is why we exist. Every living thing in creation speaks of growth, death and new life. Every experience is a reality of that type of transfiguration.
It has been likened unto a peeling of an onion, each layer of the self life is peeled off in essence to reveal the part of the plant that will produce more life…..the original shoot. We too must understand that we cannot love another unless we love ourselves, otherwise our “love” will not be love, but selfishness. To love another human means to love myself, as well as you. So to reach out to help others grow, is also to be dedicated to our own growth. So both parties flourish and prosper with true love and dedication to expansion of the human spirit, soul and body. So on the other hand, if we do not nurture our own strength, we cannot be a source of strength to someone else. So the love of the self and the love of others is the same. We can then embrace our humanity while at the same time embrace their humanity……with all our flaws and shortcomings. It is the growth that we are hoping to discover within ourselves and in the life of the one we are reaching out to love.
There is a story about a man who planted many trees on his property and he would not give them abundant water but just enough to keep them going, at first,. Then, he would take a newspaper out and beat them with it so they would loose their leaves and have a hard time staying alive. All this time, though he knew he had fertilized the earth with manure and clippings, leaves from all the other plants. He had taken time to turn over the soil and mix the nutrients together so that he roots could grab hold of this nutrition. ,,,,,searching deep into the ground for what was needed to survive. It was in this way the plant survived. Why? Because its roots went down deep into the earth drinking up the moisture the minerals needed to sustain life.
There is another story about a sower. The sower went out to sow, some seed fell on different kinds of ground. Some ground was rocky, some thorny, some ground was good ground, soft and had been broken up. The other seed fell on the wayside…..beside the good ground. Most of this seed had no growth. But the broken ground was what caused the seed to grow. This story was one of the parables in the bible if you might be interested in reading.
Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:1-15)
“A sower went out to sow, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some va hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”