and

   

Superman is scheduled to make a comeback in 2006.  In the wake of the recent “back-story” Spiderman and Batman movies some critics are asking if there is room for an Übermensch “overman” (Superman).  It certainly will be interesting to see how the character of the Man of Steel will be developed.  In the last few years Superman’s cultural currency has been in recession.  He’s too perfect.  Too strong.  Sometimes we even get the sense that he is acting when he is Clark
Kent. 

While Superman was in recession, Batman and Spiderman have held greater cultural currency.  The most recent Batman and Spiderman films both offered glimpses into what and who shaped them; the struggles of their lives, etc.  In a class I was teaching recently we spent a few minutes contrasting Batman with Spiderman.

Emerging culture seems to be exploring the tension between these two cultural icons.

 

Batman is self-made.  And his power comes from acquiring tools and mastering skills.  His bat-belt is loaded, the bat-mobile is unrivaled on the road.  He is a glorious example of the integration of the human being with technology, making him virtually indestructible. He may be the ultimate “modern man.”

 

Spiderman is an accident.  He didn’t seek out his role it just happened.  And the question before him is what does it mean for me to live fully into who I am.  What is this Spider-sense, can I learn to trust myself in community. 

 

One of the great questions of postmodern culture revolves around our understanding of  the “self”.  Who am I?  Where does my identity come from?  Does identity come from the belt about my waste, does it come from living into my spider sense, is it socially constructed?  How does God revealed in Jesus Christ and in the power of the holy Spirit participate in the co-creation of human identity?  Can Batman and Spiderman learn to dance together and take off their masks?  How and where does Superman fit in? 

 

Peace, dwight

 

BTW - it was Si Johnston who got me thinking about Spidy and Batman.

Together with Lynette and Pascal we took a few days over the last week to go camping and to visit my parents in Victoria. I was reflecting on my last ten years of “ministry”. I began by asking myself whether I would be content to spend the next ten years doing the same things I’d done in the first 10. NO.

Then I reflected on who I was ten years ago. My values, art, goals, hopes, etc and was blown away to see some of the ways God has been changing me.

I would be delighted if over the next 10 years God would continue to transform me, to the same degree he changed me in the first 10. As best as I am able I’m trying not look where I’m not, but to where I’ve come from and who has guided me there.

Peace, dwight

Ok, I have to admit, I’m new to blogging and I find myself wrestling with the desire to sound smart and cool.

I know… I know… Very mature, very “real.”

In fact as glanced over the few entries I’ve posted and i am struck with how so much of my life and energy is spent thinking theologically and philosophically. I know we all have to live our lives doing something but come on. I don’t even know what I’m talking about half the time.

Maybe someday, I’ll be content enough with my sense of who I am, and where I am and where I’m going to genuinely not care how I sound, look, etc. But until then…

Peace, dwight