-----------
A woman stands on a small, grassy hill, warmly lit by evening light. She's looking off into the distance, at the unseen setting of the sun, with a small town visible in the background. Despite the heroic pose, she seems, at first, quite ordinary. She's an unremarkable figure dressed in unremarkable clothes: faded shirt, sagging jeans, scuffed sneakers. As we draw closer, though, a slight stirring in the shadows behind her draws the eye and we see ...... The Cape.
It's green, a deep, emerald hue, and made of a fabric that is lighter than a breath. It moves gently with even the tiniest of movements. The slight hitch of the shoulders produced by a small sigh is enough to set it moving as though it were, somehow, alive. The folds of the long, full cape create dark shadows reminiscent of the depths of a summer wood, deep and mysterious. But in the sun, the color will be bright and translucent, watery in its clarity, like a crystal clear mountain lake, reflecting the green of the surrounding vegetation. It is a remarkable garment that speaks competence and strength along with softness and tranquility. It is a superhero's cape...and it is mine!...That was my fanciful imagining earlier, after I was able to help a friend solve a little computer problem. She gushed in her joy at finally finding the root of her problem, and called me her hero - inspiring me to dream up my perfect superhero cape. But the help I had given was unwitting and almost ungiven - the question I asked so basic (to me) that I almost didn't ask it for fear of appearing either inept or condescending. But the tiny, stale crumb of help that I thought I was offering, turned out to be a whole loaf of goodness to her.
When we take the time and effort to share even the tiniest of our gifts with others (things we may not even recognize as gifts!), we can at any time find them multiplied and returned to us. I shared a simple question that came to mind, and got back the joy and pleasure of being able to help another. And I got my beautifully imagined cape!
By helping one another, we can all be heroes - the smallest service, the simplest comment or suggestion can transform you into someone's hero. Smile at a stranger on the street; hold a door for a mother struggling to herd her small children into a store; let someone merge in front of you in traffic - and suddenly you, too, may feel an imaginary cape hanging from your shoulders and swirling around your legs.
By helping one another, we can all be heroes - the smallest service, the simplest comment or suggestion can transform you into someone's hero. Smile at a stranger on the street; hold a door for a mother struggling to herd her small children into a store; let someone merge in front of you in traffic - and suddenly you, too, may feel an imaginary cape hanging from your shoulders and swirling around your legs.
"Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too." (Phil 2:3-4, emphasis added)
The words above are from the Apostle Paul, but Jesus himself taught that whoever wanted to be "great" must be the servant of all. You see, serving one another lies at the heart of the Christian life. And we can start with our "widow's mite" of service, offering even the tiniest of helps to those around us. That which may seem embarrassingly inadequate in our own eyes might be more than someone else could have hoped for.
Messiah Jesus performed the ultimate service for us all when he bore our sins and died on a cross that we might have life everlasting in him. His superhero cape started out as darkness and blood, funeral wrappings to cocoon sweet spices around his decaying corpse. On the third day, he left it behind and donned his true superhero cape - a garment of light that fills the world with His glory!
"[The Lord] was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.... The whole earth is filled with his glory!" (Isaiah 6:1b, 3b)What can you do today so you might be someone's superhero?
And what does your cape look like?
---------------------
(Really! Let's have some fun - tell us what it looks like. Post a comment and share with us what kind of superhero cape you imagine for yourself.)
2 comments:
My Cape is Black. My Entire Super Heroine outfit is black. Black is my signature color. It signifies stealth and moving "In secret" in the shadows, like super-heroes do---no one knowing "who" they are... they just come and do good and disappear... I connect it with the whole idea of leading a Secret Life with the Lord... "Give in Secret, Pray in Secret, Fast in Secret" and in this way store up treasure in heaven.... And of course... Black is VERY Slimming. :)
Monica
LOL! Thanks for sharing, Monica!
-Linda
Post a Comment