Reflections

I must want to be a superhero

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I must want to be a superhero.

 

This morning,

I realized I must want to be a superhero.

I fear being unprepared to serve others if called to do so.

I’m alert, I’m aware, I’m educated. Shouldn’t I be able to help, to facilitate, and to lead?

 

I want to heal others.

 

I wonder if that is why I’ve been driven to study medicine, to try to equip myself with skills and knowledge in the hopes that I could one day help explain some of the immense mysteries that govern the way things work, that way people are, the way we live and change. But, if I was on a plane and someone was having a heart attack, what could I offer out of my knowledge?

 

I want to understand.

 

I wonder if that is why I cracked open dictionaries in German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Italian, and Japanese. I traveled eagerly, sought out people different from me to converse with. I listened in to conversations in Italian and Portuguese around me, hoping to catch a few words I could understand. I sang along in Spanish to get the rhythm of words. I practiced what I could, but could only do so much on my own.

 

I want to be the eyes and ears for those who need help but don’t know how to ask for it.

This morning,

I heard a mother down the street raise her voice at her child. My head snapped around, anxious to see if there was any danger. They spoke a different tongue and I knew instantly that I was limited – I would not be able to understand. Would I have the intuition to detect and prevent danger and abuse? Would I have the courage to speak up? Could I rescue, if needed? Would I have the wisdom to protect another being in a time of need? I don’t know.

 

But I wanted to be there for whomever I knew of who could need me.

 

I want to know if that is enough.

How can we prepare to be superheroes at the ready? What is a superhero? Today, he or she may not wear a cape, or have a special suit of armor, but rather has a mysterious identification with the common good and a desire to protect fundamental rights of others. A superhero also knows when and who to ask for help, from other superheroes that understand. A superhero is also never done with his or her training. He or she has faith that inward capacity grows, although perhaps at a different pace than expected. So I’m going to keep training, and know that I’m not alone.

Will you?

Reflection 1.31.17

Do you have any responses to this reflection? I would really like to hear in the comments.

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2 thoughts on “I must want to be a superhero

  1. Interesting and I think it’s a desire in everyone to rely on a “superhero” or be a “superhero”. The only superhero is our overcoming Christ who is overcoming in us. Through His daily dispensing of Himself in us through our calling on His name and enjoying Him, He is making us the same as He is in life, in his heart toward others and ourselves and the divine capacity to make it real in our everyday human lives. This is the real superhero in us and whom we can aim to become.

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