Who is your favourite Superhero? When I think about my favourite superheroes, I often think of the flawed heroes: the ones who are not perfect, the ones who make mistakes, who let themselves down, but who then find a way back to what is good and true and right. For those of you brought up on the Marvel films, I often think of the character Thor, played by the Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.
Thor is a flawed hero. There are moments when he lets himself and others down.
In the Marvel version of the story, Thor stuffs up big-time and is exiled to Earth. His father, Odin, puts a spell on his hammer. “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” However, in his state of selfishness and anger, Thor is unable to lift the hammer. He is not worthy or, as I like to put it, he is not being true to himself, to everything within him that is good and pure and right. He has forgotten to be lovely, as well as strong.
Shakespeare put it this way in his play Hamlet, “To thine own self be true.”
I know when I have stuffed up and hurt other people, that I was not being true to myself. I’m not talking about simple mistakes, like the third time I ran out of petrol on a remote road in country Western Australia and Mrs McCall had to pack the kids in the car, get a Jerry-can, buy some petrol and drive 30km to rescue me. I mean, obviously that was not great! But, no, I’m not talking about mistakes like that – I’m talking about the times you have not been true to yourself and as a result have hurt others.
Interestingly, some good questions to ask yourself in the moment are, “Am I being selfish in this moment?” “Am I being greedy?” “Am I reacting out of fear or anger?” In other words, “Am I being true to my best self?” It is about being the person God has made you to be, who you really are.
In the tradition, this notion of your true self is sometimes referred to as the presence of God within you. I quite like using another word from the tradition: the word “soul”. Soul is an old-fashioned word these days, but I like it as a way of understanding our best self or our true self, that part of ourselves which is the presence of God within us. So, perhaps a good question to ask yourself in the heat of the moment is, particularly when you’re about to do something really dumb, “Is this good for my soul?”
Ash Wednesday is a time to recommit to this question, “Is this good for my soul?” The Ashes remind us that we are not here forever. We are here for a short time in the scheme of things, but what a time it is!! It can be a beautiful time.
In the end, Thor rediscovers his true self. He rediscovers the best of himself. He remembers what it means to be lovely and so his strength is returned. “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”
The Reverend Dr Theo McCall
School Chaplain
