"Spider-Man: No Way Home" thoughts - Part 2

Last time, I began submitting my thoughts on the film “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.  While I didn’t know that it was going to be a month later, today I want to pick up where we left off.  After I presented my first takeaway of the movie last time, here is my second takeaway. 

Takeaway #2: A powerful ending

On two different occasions in “No Way Home”, Peter Parker/Spider-Man stated, “It’s not about me.”  That sentiment sounds good and right (because, without question, it is), but actions speak louder than words.  What Peter chose to do at the climax of the movie showed that he wasn't just mincing words.  If you still haven’t seen the movie, I’m not going to spoil anything here.  But it’s sufficient to say that Peter’s actions were not only that of a true hero, but they inspired me to follow his selfless example.

Somebody wants to venture a guess here.  You’re thinking, “He died in the end, didn’t he?”  That would be a clear and resounding no.  He chose a different kind of sacrifice.  While Peter made the right call, he still made a difficult choice that he will have to live with. 

Donald Miller is apt in his work “Blue Like Jazz” (this quote was cited in chapter 9 of Paul Asay’s excellent book “God on the Streets of Gotham”); Miller writes: “Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory.  Living for something…is the hard thing.  Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition.  We live for what we believe.”  Peter Parker alias Spider-Man believed what he said in the film “Spider-Man: No Way Home”; he believed “It’s not about me” because his actions proved it. 

Back in 2002, I had my first experience with losing someone.  Pastor Rick Ferguson passed away at the age of 46 in an automobile accident.  Here it is, 20 years later, and his influence and example remains with me.  I bring him up now because Pastor Rick would repeatedly declare from the pulpit: “It’s not about us; it’s all about Him.”  So I’m inclined to think that he would appreciate the heroic act Peter made in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.  I sure do.  

In conclusion, Pastor Rick, in his excellent work, “The Servant Principle” wrote these relevant words: “You get to choose two ways of living your life each day.  The choice is, Am I going to serve myself or am I going to serve others?  The two options are considered a million times in a million different ways.  When Christ saved us, He called us to a life of self-abandonment.”  Sounds a little like Peter Parker in “No Way Home” to me. 

Kevin