I’m going to share with you my Good Friday playlist, but first I want to set the table for Good Friday.
It’s often puzzled me why anyone would described the day that God died as “good”. Ok, maybe, for my theological purists in the room, let’s say God didn’t exactly die, just his perfect innocent beautiful lamb of a human self expression on earth. Splitting hairs if you ask me, but thanks for keeping us in line. Also, thanks for making it seem even less “good”.
I digress. But even applying the most transactional interpretations of scripture “the day the rent comes due” has never felt like a good one, even if you live on 60 acres by the sea.
So . . . “Good”? I’d like to make an observation.
I’m an avid fan of all types of fiction. And over the years I’ve noticed that its never the strength of a character that endears me to my favorites. Laser eyes, X-ray vision, and flight make Superman exciting, but not interesting. The real reason popular culture has obsessed over him since 1938 isn’t because he’s strong. Nope, it’s because of his one great weakness; Lois Lane.
See, his powers perpetually place the person he loves in jeopardy, and that makes him weak. It also makes him believable, accessible, and even lovable.
Maybe it’s our yellow sun that gives Kal-El his abilities, but Lois is the only reason any of us give a darn about him almost a century after his introduction. She’s his Kryptonite (see what I did there) and she’s always been his only real super power. Because it’s his weakness that gives us access to him. His weakness is the door into his story. Otherwise he’s just a program running in the background as inhuman as the elements themselves and we’re but ants in his arboretum.
Without Lois, Superman is dead on the page. Do you see where I’m going with this?
