Superpowers

Choose a good reputation over great riches;
being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. — Proverbs 22:1

Spider-Man, a red Ninja, the Black Panther and other caped crusaders keep their crime fighting clothes in a dresser drawer here. When in these costumes, my kids can easily tell you all the special powers each superhero has.

I could tell you the Man of Steel’s superpowers because I wanted those powers myself as a boy.

As an adult, I wish for a different superpower. I want to be able to control time. Specifically, I want to be able to move time backwards.

Okay, sure, I’m not leaping a tall building or running faster than a speeding train with this power, but I could stop accidents. Criminals would never have a chance. If a disaster struck, I could rewind the timeline and shut down the dangerous scene before it happened.

I am showing wisdom. This is exactly what the Book of Proverbs is. Found in both the Torah and the Bible, Proverbs is the Hebrew word for khokhmah. When translated, khokhmah means applied knowledge.

In this age when knowledge is so readily accessible and wisdom may seem to be lacking, people of faith need to apply the knowledge of our sacred texts. When we do so, we are tapping into the superpower, God.

Here in Proverbs 22:1, we are called to apply knowledge and choose a good reputation. I don’t think we need to concern ourselves with what our neighbor thinks of us. Rather, we need to live into the reputation God has created for us.

How? A good start is to continue reading Proverbs 22. In verse 9, we hear, “Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.”

PRAYER: Lord, help us stop disasters before they strike. Enable this to happen not by our power but Yours. Enable us to apply the knowledge of scripture in our daily lives so that others see not our reputation as much as Your good works through us. We may likely do not have superhero capes and we cannot control time, but we can feed the poor through You, our superpower. Amen.