I was never really into comics growing up.
As a result, I come to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and all of its many characters (Iron Man, Scarlett Witch, Black Panther, Moon Knight, Spiderman, Ms. Marvel, and everyone else) without a deep understanding of lore, backstory, possible twists and turns.
To compensate, I read a lot of blogs and listen to a lot of podcasts.
In one of those podcasts, in preparation for the recently released “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the hosts discussed how surgeon-turned-sorcerer Dr. Stephen Strange is really also powerful. It’s not fair when he shows up in a fight, so strong are his powers. And if said fight is fought in the company of other heroes, the Avengers, say, Dr. Strange is necessarily sidelined early on, simply so the fight can continue. happen without winning too quickly.
If you saw “Spiderman: No Way Home,” the most recent installment, featuring Tom Holland’s Spiderman, you know what I mean. They literally need to put Dr. Strange in a different dimension so that Spiderman can be the lead of his own self movie. so that the film can happen.
Dr. Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, is a great character: powerful but flawed; compassionate but proud. When he appears in a movie named after him, you can be sure that it’s not just his magical powers that will be put to the test. The good doctor will also be forced to do a little soul-searching.
It won’t spoil anything about the new film to say that early on, Dr. Strange confronts an old friend with a poignant question: “Are you happy, Stephen?”
Strange, of course, quickly answers in the affirmative. He has these fantastic powers; he doesn’t want anything! He has saved the world, the universe, actually, on more than one occasion. He is a hero in the eyes of many. And yet…
Once again, it won’t spoil anything to reveal that, despite all these amazing things (the power, the honor, the resources), Dr. Strange is actually No how happy. And in this unhappiness he seeks new and increasingly dangerous ways to satiate his fragile ego.
This is nothing new. How many clichés point to this truth? Money can not buy happiness. He is lonely at the top. Happiness comes from within.
Still, I wonder how many of us think, “Man, if me He had those kinds of powers. grade I would be happy! I wish…” But we’ll never be superheroes of the magical variety. Speculative fiction is a wonderful tool for stretching and challenging the imagination, but it’s not true, it’s just fun.
However, that is not entirely correct. Why we do you feel like something, right? Despite all those hackneyed adages, we still look for happiness in all the wrong places. Perhaps they are not magical powers but honors or riches. A bigger house, a better contract, more recognition for a good idea, a more attractive vacation spot, a more comfortable office.
These things set us up, set us up besidesand demand that others watch our greatness. Too much power or honor or wealth forces us, like Dr. Strange, to distance ourselves from others, from those who would help and support and accompany us. The desire for status quickly turns into a desire for separation: see what makes me different, better What others.
And in the end, we fell short. We too are faced with the question: Are you happy? – and wrestle with the answer.
Saint Paul writes these words to the Romans: “What I do, I do not understand. Because I do not do what I want, but what I hate. … Because I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I do not want. Now, if I do what I don’t want, it’s no longer me who does it, but the sin that dwells in me. So, I discover the principle that when I want to do good, evil is at hand.” (Romans 7: 15, 19-21)
Us to know money cannot buy happiness, that happiness comes from within, that it is in giving that we receive and everything else. And yet, we can’t help but wander down this path, even with the best of intentions.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, in the Spiritual Exercises, gives us two guidelines with which to interrogate our impulses. Are we seeking only riches, honors and pride, and in doing so demand that the world look U.Slook at me? Or are we cultivating a healthy indifference to worldly demands: comfortable with the possibility of losing all that riches, of being shunned by those with supposed influence and humble enough to put others first?
We all struggle to find happiness, to live lives of joy and authenticity. We see it on the big screen in fictional sorcerers; we see it in our daily lives in neighbors and colleagues. We see it also in ourselves, in the mirror, in our own prayer and discernment.
This week, as you pray with this question: I’m happy? – I invite you to consider which path you have traced for yourself: that of pride, or that of humility. Which do you think could bring more lasting happiness?
And which one do you think forces you to go it alone, to be thrown into another hypothetical world just so the movie can happen without you?
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Eric Clayton is the author of Cannonball Moments: Telling Your Story, Deepening Your Faith and the deputy director of communications for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. He lives in Baltimore, MD with his wife, two young daughters, and his cat, Sebastian. Follow Eric’s writing on ericlaytonwrites.com.
Reference-www.jesuits.org