CLEARRLY Recovering - Blog #8
I always wanted to be a superhero. I think, on some level, we all do. We all want the cool origin story: a dim, brooding catalyst for an altruistic alter ego. A reason to be a moody, complex creature of someone else’s rescue and redemption. Mostly, we want complete permission to wear full-body spandex in public.
I have thought a lot about what superpowers I would want to wield. I’m not asking for anything unreasonable. In fact, I wouldn’t even be averse to some pragmatic powers.
Supernatural ability to pick out appropriate cutlery.
Superhuman tolerance to tepid shellfish.
Super telekinetic connection with slugs and mollusks.
Mutant-like ability to find comfortable slacks.
The awe-inspiring ability to change my shape into a 32-inch waist.
Fantastical knowledge of where I parked after a sporting event.
And other-worldly command over unwanted emails, texts, and political ads!
Magical power to give a single restaurant suggestion to my wife without sounding like a chapter from Zagat’s before we ultimately end up at Taco Bell.
And finally, the ability to be everywhere all at once while still watching Seinfeld reruns in my underwear.
We all want to be the hero of our own story; we want to know that we were the good guy in the white hat, not the guy tying the damsel to the train tracks.
The reality is that I was not the hero. At best, I was the villain, but mostly, I was a bit player in other people’s stories. Addiction made me the opposite of heroic…it made me irrelevant.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, irrelevant is:
adjective
not connected with or relevant to something.
That pretty well sums it up.
When I began recovery, I came to realize that in the real world, heroes tend to come in groups.
“If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor.”
1 Corinthians 12:26 NCV
The only true superhuman power I have is surrender. It is the power that takes the free will given to us and supernaturally turns it over to the care of a loving God. When that surrender is done in a group, real change can happen, and real heroic things can occur. Surrender is so much easier with accountability.
I still have dreams of being bitten by a radioactive spider, putting on jewelry from another planet, or just wearing spandex in public. The reality is that I really do belong to a superhuman power—the power of a loving Jesus. That is a power worth surrendering to!
And remember, I can affect my today, I can allow God to mold my tomorrow, but even Jesus doesn’t change the past.