My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart. – Job 17:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 28, 2012): Job 17

In the movie “Spiderman II” there is this poignant moment where Peter Parker turns his back on his Spiderman persona. He decides that his life is more important, things have been slipping, and because of his absence, Mary Jane, the only girl that Peter ever loved is getting married. And it is all too much for Peter. His life is more important, and he believes that he deserves to have a life, and for that to happen, Spiderman must die.

Of course, it was the same decision that Peter Parker had made at the beginning of the saga. Peter thought that what he wanted was more important than striving for right and against wrong. And because of that decision, his Uncle Ben would die – and Spiderman would be born. The struggle between what it is that we want to do and the hard things that simply need to be done because they are right are a big part of the Spiderman ethos. It is the battle that Parker fights from the opening moment until the closing credits.

The myths and comic book stories of my generation are important because they really do tell our story. They show our struggle. And part of the reason why the Spiderman saga is important is because it is about the universal struggle that we all face between doing what we want and doing the right thing. And that question haunts us every day of our lives.

And it was the question that Job seemed to have a handle on for most of his life. It was what God saw in him in the very first chapter of the story. He was a man that just wanted to do what was right. But then he fell into the trap to which we are all susceptible. Doing what was right just wasn’t enough anymore. And so he mourned the days that had passed, the plans that were shattered, and the dreams that had faded into the darkness. And as weird as it might be, centuries later a comic book character in a movie would ask his question, one that he had asked millennia earlier  - “Am I not supposed to have what I want – what I need? What am I supposed to do?”

So, maybe the answer to Job’s dilemma is the same one spidey needed to hear, in this case spoken by Peter’s Aunt May.  “We need a hero, courageous sacrificing people, setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero, people line up for 'em, cheer for them, scream their names, and years later tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who told them to hold on a second longer. I believe there’s a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble. And finally gets us to die with pride. Even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want most, even our dreams.” Job’s dreams weren’t done yet – but he did need a hero to tell him to hang on just a little longer.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 18