Spiderman 2

I was at my friend Leif's house this evening, and we watched Spiderman 2 together. I'd never seen it before. In one part, Peter decides to give up on being Spiderman, because it is making his life very difficult. In the following scenes, we see him in his new role. In the most memorable of these, he walks by an alley and hears a man calling for help. Two men are beating him, asking him to hand over money. Peter knows that he could save the man, and to his credit he does hesitate, but in the end he just walks away.

All of this made me think of a few things. As a Christian, God has called me to do certain things, to help people in a variety of ways. I am often lazy about this, or do not pay enough attention to see what I'm supposed to do. It reminds me of a song by According to John which includes this: "people are dying and it doesn't bother me... Oh it really bothers me that it doesn't bother me anymore." The song has a more international focus; it is about seeing news reports of horrors in other parts of the world. I think it applies here, too, though. I see people who are having trouble making their lives work. I see people who are doomed to Hell. And I go on hunting up fun projects, working on my schoolwork with dedication, and occasionally trying to help people.

One of the lessons in the film, (though not the only one), is that with great power comes great responsibility. Some might think it rather unlikely that I have any great power, but it really doesn't matter how special or amazing my abilities are. God has enabled me to help people in some ways, and I have a mission to help the people He wants me to help using the gifts he has given me.