Seeking Wisdom

I just saw Spiderman: Far from Home and it was pretty entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed it except for some instances of terrible cliché ridden writing. But it got tugging at my heart. This desire for greatness. These delusions of grandeur. I recently wrote in my prayer journal about coming to terms with their fizzling away as I mature. But the movie got me wondering, how can I be a superhero? Why does this appeal so strongly to us? Why does it appeal so strongly to me? Is it a mere egotistic desire to rise above? To be different, especially if that different is better? To be one of Nietzche’s gods? To have people know my name whose name I don’t know. To have power, glory, and honor. There’s a scene where Peter Parker wants a different suit so people don’t know Spiderman is in Europe. But that’s ridiculous. People don’t know Spiderman is Spiderman because he’s wearing a red suit. They know it’s him because of what he does, his abilities. The man’s talents and strengths defin...

I turned 21 yesterday and it got me to thinking, as birthdays will do. That thinking was spurred by my new favorite laptop sticker which I got from SEEK conference. There’s a line sketch of St. Maximilian Kolbe ( who volunteered to die in another man’s place at Auschwitz ) circled by the words “Your life is not about you.” I appreciate the reminder every day, and I’m trying to live it. But that also reminded me of the various things I’ve realized life wasn’t about in the past four or five years. I think I’m still pretty far from understanding what life is about (I just turned 21 yesterday) but here’s a non-exhaustive list: Your life is not about fun. Your life is not about what you want. Your life is not about you. And that’s the order I, and I think most people, will experience them in. Given that these negations require an assertion this naturally creates four periods I can see in my life. My life is about fun. My life is about what I want. My life is about what’s...