DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
SPIDER-MAN’S SECRET
© NaimaLett.com/blog
© Marvel, Sony Pictures, official site
“Secrets have a cost…”
That’s what Aunt May (portrayed masterfully by 2-time Academy Award winner Sally Field) shares with Peter Parker/Spider-man (reinterpreted by Golden Globe nominee Andrew Garfield.)
I won’t get into all the details of the film, just in case you weren’t one of the moviegoers that pushed this blockbuster to its $140 million US box office victory within the first 6 days of release.
But I will say that a major theme of this Spider-man reboot directed by 37-year old Marc Webb (as reiterated in the video trailer above) is secrets.
Spider-man’s biggest secret is his true identity as Peter Parker, high school geek.
In this new series, Peter designs his Spider-Man mask when he narrowly escapes an opponent who taunts, “I know who you are. I’ve seen your face.”
But this film also deals with all the secrets that have been kept from Spider-Man as well.
Hint: Stay through the end credits.
Secrets shape his life, and as Aunt May says, those secrets have a cost.
Isn’t that the same in our own lives?
SECRETS COST.
Double identities.
Affairs. Cheating. Adultery.
Undisclosed “love children”.
Molestation. Abuse. Incest.
Leaked photos and sex tapes.
Embezzlement. Bribes. Tax evasion.
Misuse of campaign funds.
Hidden addictions: drugs, alcohol, porn.
Jealousy. Envy. Coveting & wanting everybody else’s stuff.
Backstabbing. Lying. Conniving to get ahead in the industry.
The list goes on and on.
The longer the secret is kept, the longer it eats away at our souls.
I have spent the majority of my adult life inviting folks to ditch their harmful secrets and live in the light. As a minister, I have been entrusted to guard people’s confidences while guiding them to truth. I do not take this responsibility and calling lightly. It’s what I do. I lead people to Truth.
My one-woman plays (Shattered Silhouettes, The King’s Family, 3 Marys) all encourage people to live in truth, especially Shattered. My soon-to-be-released book and series, Confessions of a Hollywood Christian, are about guess what? The freedom of living in truth.
You’d think I was pretty passionate about this.
TRUE IDENTITY
The truth about who we really are is paramount.
In Spider-Man/Peter Parker’s case, he is tormented because he cannot reveal who he really is. When he does, people who are close to him can be hurt. And he can be killed.
Thank God we’re not in his predicament.
The very best life we can live is in transparency and fully embracing who we truly are.
When confronted about His true identity in JOHN 8:21-59, Jesus reveals that God is His Father, and He tells those who believe in Him that if they hold to His teaching, they will know the truth which sets them free.
JOHN 8:31-59
Excerpt
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”… 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father (the devil).
If you get a chance, read the rest of that conversation. It brought the house down. By the end, Jesus was headed towards a severe stoning. Good thing it wasn’t His time to go yet.
Jesus says that His followers who stay in His word discover who they really are as His disciples and they know truth that sets free.
Who doesn’t want that freedom?
Take a load off, Fam.
Do you have any secrets you need freedom from today?
Find someone you trust and let go.
There’s no need in donning a mask, especially if its latex. I don’t know how Spidey does it!
Let’s take the masks off and relax.
© Marvel, Sony, The Amazing Spider-Man
Secrets cost.
Let’s stop paying.
We are not Spider-Man.
We don’t have to try to save the world.
We know a Savior who’s doing a slam up job of that already.
Besides, it’s so much easier to live in the light.
I promise,
Naima
Can you let go today?
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Someone once said “We are as sick as our secrets”
Very true.
Nice blog
Mike
So true, Mike. So true.
I wonder, “Does it go the other way around?”
Are we as healthy as our transparency?
Are we as healed as we are free?
Sounds about right, right?
Great to hear from you all! Thanks for sharing.
Identity is something that I feel that everyone struggles with or at least has struggled with at some point, myself included. Once I realized that my identity can only be found in Christ, so much of the struggle of hiding myself was removed. I realized that I can be who I am and be open about what my struggles are and help people through that transparency. Chances are, people are struggling with the same things we are so let’s chose to be vulnerable and encourage each other through our weaknesses.
Great way to look at things, Hannah, seeing as we’re all in this together. :=)