Woo hoo!
I'm not past this last hurdle yet, though. It is Monday. I figured that for a lot of us, Monday is the first day back to work after a weekend. This, generally, can be a pretty rough day. What we need is a little uplifting for the day, say a little motivation? Hmm?
It is Motivational Monday, in which I will talk about things that will help get us through the day and pumped for a good week.
I particularly thrilled to blog today, because I get to talk about comics again. It doesn't take much to amuse me! Anyway, I want to talk about fairly recent changes that have occurred in the world of the Green Lanterns.
As most of you know, be it from reading comics or just watching cartoons, the Green Lantern is a guy that got a power ring and can create things with it (such as, traditionally, giant green boxing gloves) using his imagination, to fight against evil. You might also remember that the ring is powerless against the color yellow.
That's right - if you have a couple of bunches of bananas, you can continuously pelt the Green Lantern, and he's powerless to stop it.
Or that's the way it used to be, anyway.
Time marches on, and things change.
Without getting into the minutiae of the whole thing, Green Lanterns (because there are many - they are like intergalactic cops) can get past the limits of the ring against the color yellow. The idea is that the weakness against yellow has to do with an impurity within the rings. The yellow impurity is due to fear - as, the color yellow represents fear in the world of the Green Lantern. Green Lanterns can overcome this impurity through willpower (which, coincidently, is represented by the color green).
Previously, Green Lanterns were chosen because they had no fear. Now, the candidates are chosen for their ability to overcome great fear.
This makes the characters much more relatable, in my opinion. Born fearless? Not me. Able to overcome fear? I've done that.
But, there is more to this. I find the whole thing very deep. I mean, here are these heroes with, arguably, the most powerful weapon in the universe at their disposal, and yet their own fears hinder it, making it powerless.
I can't help but make the jump to how this correlates to us, and how very often, in pursuit of our own goals and dreams, we are left paralyzed by our own fears, making us powerless in the pursuit.
We face a daunting task when pursuing our dreams. Often, there is a lack of support. Sometimes, there are those around us that are downright detrimental to our task. And, of course, there are the doubts about the future, wondering if we are doing the right thing, wondering if we are doing it the right way, wondering if we are truly capable of doing what is needed to be done. Slowly, the whole thing seems huge and difficult and like something we are going to fail at. As that creeps into us, grips our heart, we are immobilized. Fear has us. It torments us. We are powerless.
And, thus ends Motivational Monday. Good luck!
Just kidding.
No, that's not the end of the story. See, the Green Lanterns must overcome the fear, and so do we. Here is where we have the advantage, though.
While the Green Lanterns must depend on their own inner strength to overcome this fear, we can lean on the very source of strength to help us - God.
2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Fear can make us powerless, fill us with doubt, and trouble our minds. God, though, gives the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. If we are scared, God is there for us.
Moreover, 1 John 4:18 reminds us that there is no fear in love, and that perfect love drives out fear. I only know one who is perfect, and He demonstrated to us His perfect love when He sent His Son to die for our sins... just so that we could be with Him.
God doesn't want us to live in fear. He wants us to lean on Him, to seek Him for the strength to get past our fears and to move forward in His will.
And when it comes to power, a fancy ring has nothing on the Creator of the Universe.
So, next time you start thinking that the task ahead is too big, or that you aren't good enough or strong enough or smart enough to manage it, and fear starts to grip your heart, remember - you aren't in it alone. Believe this - God really, really wants to be a part of your life, and He wants to help you. All you have to do is ask.
I'll type at you later.
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