What Superheroes Cannot Do (III of III)

So to follow up on the last blog post and finish this set of reflections on superheroes, a final thought on Kryptonite.

As Koodaigirl noted, Kryptonite is great stuff insofar as it forces us to rely on God, instead of ourselves. Add to that one more thing: it also creates space for us to enter into community with others stricken by their own versions of Kryptonite.

Examples are too numerous for me to fully recount. Here are a few.

Sunday Soccer. Ruined. I am not permitted to play for a few more weeks. So I sit under the tree and watch others play. Two little girls wander over regularly to join our local game in the park. I meet their dad, who comes to watch. First week I learn of several bad finger injuries from rock-climbing accidents. A bum wrist. And too much back pain to play. Second week he shares the story that led him to where he is now: a single father raising two girls, only one of which is his own. I never would have gotten to know him so quickly if I had not been thrown into his orbit. The orbit that involves sitting under a tree, not hot-dogging on the field. We talk injuries. We talk life.

My next-door neighbor. Stricken by some MS-ish disease a few years ago. Never had a heart-to-heart with her on it. Never felt welcome to pursue such matters. Hung out with a few neighbors a week ago on their back patio. Got into a quiet conversation with her. "Do you sleep well?" I asked. She doesn't. But our eyes and hearts connected. We both have pains that interrupt our fitful slumbers. She gave me a phrase for our state of affairs: "The new normal". I've been using it a lot, lately.

Now is a good time to mention that when sleep went downhill... when typing began to hurt... when things don't get better... I thought of Koodaigirl. And understood better what she's known for decades. I had heard the words before. Knew she faced challenges. But now am facing similar ones with her. A deeper connection, even thousands of miles apart.

Daughter's soccer game. Watching with other parents on the sidelines. Questions about my cast. Another parent joins the conversation. He's struggling, too. Rotator cuff surgery. Not healing well. Vertigo after the nerve block wore off, on top of all that. He's a truck driver. Vertigo and driving probably don't mix well. But he and I shared a common bond before parting. Shared suffering. Heartfelt words of encouragement shared before we part ways.

At work. A co-worker asks how the hand is doing. Well... not so great. I describe the numb fingers. The ones that don't bend. Then he shows me his war wounds. A finger once cut off and re-attached. "Even touching a piece of paper is like a lightning strike," he says. Another bent up -- basketball injury. The man has tattoos all over his body and hair below his shoulders, but many tattoos are Bible verses, and his wife is at home awaiting death from cancer. I whisper to him as we pass in the hall, "But the good thing is, one day we're going to get new bodies!" To which he replies, "You got that right!"

On and on they come. Mostly the past few months have served not merely to make me jealous of those still blessed with perfect health (a regular occurrence, I confess!) but also to make me aware of the tide of fellow souls around me who are suffering with even greater burdens. I now enter into their stories with greater interest and compassion.

Kryptonite makes us mortals. And that's very useful if the goal is to love and share life with other mortals. To draw a rather crude parallel, God the Son had to down a bit of Kryptonite in order to be born as Jesus. Will we not share his cup?

Returning to the title of this reflection, here's one thing superheroes don't do well: Whisper. Kryptonite reduces us to gasping whispers, and it is at that level of quiet that we begin to hear the gasping whispers of others around us. They were whispering all along, but strong ears don't hear quiet whispers. Weak ears are better suited to that task.

God gives us Kryptonite so that we can hear other people's whispers. Hear, Yes. But also to whisper back. By God's grace, to whisper back words of that same Grace. And Love. Hope. Hope that does not require all things to be made well now. Or soon. No. Hope in a kingdom yet to come.

Revelation 21:5
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”