YOU CAN SAVE THE WORLD:

WONDER WOMAN AND HEATHER HEYER

 This June, I went and watched the Wonder Woman movie while it was playing in our town. Like most boys, I was a big fan of Marvel comic books when I was a young lad. I liked the movie so much this year that I went back and watched it again, something I rarely do.

This time I took some notes about the literary movement in the Wonder Woman story plot. The power in any fiction story lies in the change of mind or heart in the main characters.  In the case of Wonder Woman, it is a classic tale of movement from innocence lost to consciousness gained.  

The movie begins with Diana Prince slowly discovering her origins and her destiny to save her people and, beyond that, to “save the world.” In her youthful innocence, she believes that she must defeat the source of evil in the world, which in this case is personified as Aries, the Greek god of war (he might as well have been personified as Satan). She expresses her personal mission statement in one great, brief soliloquy: “Zeus created men [sic] to be strong and wise, just and compassionate. Once I destroy Aries, there will be good men again and the world will be better.”

Her journeys take her from battle to battle to battle, pointless war to pointless war, until she finally confronts Aries himself, and with great difficulty and violence, defeats him. To her shock, grief and dismay, the treachery and fighting and hate among humans continues unabated. 

Diana staggers and reels in grief over the dashing of her innocent belief about the defeat of evil. Her companion enlightens her: “Aries or no Aries, it’s not just one bad guy to blame, it’s us.”

Eventually she wins the day’s battle, but she has learned there are no permanent victories over evil. Her lost innocence gives way to consciousness, and consciousness always comes at a price.

In the end, she understands her true mission and the reality that defines it:

“I used to want to save the world, to end war and bring peace to mankind. But then I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. I learnt that inside every one of them there will always be both. The choice each must make for themselves – something no hero will ever defeat. And now I know…that only love can save the world. So now I stay, I fight, and I give – for the world I know can be. This is my mission now, forever” (Diana Prince, “Wonder Woman”).

On Saturday, August 12, 2017, an American woman was killed fighting Nazis, on American soil.

NAZIS. On American soil. Let that sink in for a moment.

Heather Heyer was thirty-two years old. She was killed by a speeding automobile that was deliberately driven into a crowd of men and women seeking peace and resisting racist hate. Friends said she dedicated her life to standing up for those who had not been heard or respected. She died standing up for what she believed in, and what she believed in was love.

Diana Prince (“Wonder Woman”): “I used to want to save the world, this beautiful place. But the closer you get, the more you see the great darkness simmering within. I learnt this the hard way, a long, long time ago.”

“It’s about what you believe. And I believe in love. Only love will truly save the world.”

Our bishop sent out a letter in response to the hate attacks in Charlottesville last week. In that letter, he reminded us that we, as United Methodists, have made these promises to God and each other in our baptismal/membership vows:

“On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you:

Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?

Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?

According to the grace given to you, will you remain faithful members of Christ's holy Church and serve as Christ's representatives in the world?”

As hate has reared its ugly head once again and seems to be more and more enabled, emboldened and energized, some of those on the front lines at Charlottesville last week were CLERGY, from various races and denominations, praying and ministering as Jesus himself would do. 

Two scriptures have come to mind in the aftermath of these events and have stayed there:

"Anyone who says 'I love God' and hates their brothers or sisters are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also" (I John 20-21).

"The only thing that matters is faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6).

“So now I stay, I fight, and I give – for the world I know can be. This is my mission now, forever.” “Only love can truly change the world.”

                                                           Yours in Christ,
                                                            Dr. Bill >)));>