麻豆约拍

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Richard Reddie from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland

Good morning!

Today is National Superman Day. I鈥檓 sure that many listeners would agree with the great Sir Michael Caine that 鈥榥ot many people know that!鈥�

I鈥檓 an avid comic or graphic novel fan, especially of the superhero genre, and my favourite character has always been Superman. I still like the idea of being 鈥榝aster than a speeding bullet鈥�, even if this phrase is tautological in nature!

I鈥檝e been fasincated by the religious symbolism linked to Superman. His Jewish American creators, the writer Jerry Siegel, and artist, Joe Shuster, based him on biblical figures from the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. Superman crash lands on this planet in a space vessel as a toddler and is adopted by Martha and Jonathan Kent which is reminiscent of a Baby Moses. Equally, Superman鈥檚 strength is similar to to that of Samson鈥檚. Interestingly, in his earliest incarnation Superman did not hve the ability to fly. Similarly, Superman鈥檚 s Kryptonian name, Kal-El, plays heavily on the divine as the word 鈥楨l鈥� in the Hebrew language denotes God, and Superman鈥檚 messianic credentials can be seen in his earthly mission to 鈥榝ight for truth and justice鈥�.

Although Superman appears invincible, he is vulnerable to a greenish rock from his home planet called Kryptonite; which is now a that term has become a metaphor for a person鈥檚 weakness. As we all know, weakness is what makes us human, and separates us from the divine. And since time immemorial we have grappled with ways to turn our weaknesses into strengths.

In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul, when discussing the 鈥楾horn in his flesh鈥�, suggested that Jesus Christ鈥檚 power is made perfect in weakness, and he ended his famous treatise on weakness by proposing that 鈥榳henever I am weak, then I am strong鈥�.

Today I pray that I can help some people find strength when they experience weakness.

Amen

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