ONE OF THE most vivid memories I have of being in primary school, at about the age of seven, is one particular occasion in the playground with my friends, when something caught, not just my attention, but my friends too. We can all admit that those times in the playground (that big concrete yard outside the school building) were opportunities to escape the real boring world and enter the dream kind, the one where we all pretend to be someone (particularly with superpowers) we’re really not. We all had so much pent up energy from sitting down (what seemed like forever) in those classrooms and felt we could take on any Marvel or DC comic hero and still be ready for more.

What caught our attention in that playground just blew our minds. We saw one of our friends fly, yes, literally f-l-y! We couldn’t believe our eyes. We were mesmerised. How did this chum of ours manage to manoeuvre in midair unaided?! What amazed us was the fact that flying just like superman could actually be done and we wanted to know how. I mean, this guy had both his arms, fists clenched, out in front of him, flying at a very fast rate and for quite a fair distance too. I clearly remember our ‘superhero’ having an intensely mixed facial expression: one of excitement (for actually having achieved what all of us could only dream of doing) and one of being afraid (where he was going to touch ground and what he was going to hit on impact).

What had actually occurred at this ‘supernatural’ event was that while he was running, his foot caught on a curb which enabled him to…fly. The fact that he was ‘flying’ must have opened up a world of wonder to him. He gained a cut on his forehead (with just a little trickle of blood), which we all wanted one of those too! He was fine, no tears (superman doesn’t cry) and then it was all back to normal, still having all of us transfixed that flying was no longer make-believe. From thereon, our play times were revolutionised; we tried ever so hard to break the law of gravity, but sadly to no avail.

Don’t we sometimes wish we had that kind of power where we can break through boundaries, especially when something needs to be fixed or someone is in dire need of help? Of course, that would be detrimental in our kind of world, a world where people are power-hungry for self gain.

The simplicity of believing as a child has been lost while growing into adults. We grow up alright, but miss the vital elements of wonder as ‘sophisticated’ adults. We are ‘very’ sensible now and we don’t believe in fairy tales, comic heroes and all that kind of stuff anymore. However, I believe, deep down, in all of us, there is still that spark of hope: ‘what if there is such thing as power?’ and have you noticed that a lot of grown men (not to exclude women) love to watch comic hero films, especially Christopher Nolan’s Batman? There is something humanly relatable in those films (which are great films by the way) that somehow gives a faint ray of hope that they too ‘could’ be a hero amidst the real world in which they live.

If, despite our ‘sophistication’ and self-independence, we exclude God from our lives, we have not really matured; we are far behind (or have not even begun the journey) when it comes to spiritual maturity. Christ said, unless we become like children (God-reliant with all humility) we shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. That is not to insinuate that we live irresponsibly; it is more on the line of our responses to the realities of God’s kingdom. Do we perceive Him or does unbelief veil our eyes? In all of our ‘realism’, is there still the room for a sense of wonder and the extraordinary? Do we look beyond any human ability and achievement to another Existence that sustains our world?

We are not super hero’s and neither is God; God transcends our finite imagination; He is unperceivably all-powerful. We were not made to be super heroes; we were created to know the greatest Being and revel in His glory.

We have a God that supersedes our greatest hopes and dreams. All those stories we heard as a child; those super heroes we wished were real and even longed to be ourselves – we have Someone Who is infinitely greater; the God Who immeasurably goes beyond what we can ever imagine and ask for; the God Who is limitless, unstoppable, Who has no beginning or end; the God Who lives in and outside of time (for He created it), above all realms and dimensions. Our yearnings for something greater than ourselves are but the faint echoes of humanity’s original estate and glory, where no flaws existed and where man and woman habitually lived in the awesome presence of God. Since we fell from that state, the simplicity of trust in the God Who made us has been lost, but the greatest news anyone will ever hear is that Christ has bridged that gap, through Whom we have been reconciled to God if our trust is solely in Him. “For while we were still weak [not enough power to make ourselves right with God], at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Through Christ, we are not only restored but elevated to a greater glory than Adam enjoyed.

Some years back, I remember walking through a very busy mall and noticing from among the rushing crowds a young girl with her eyes closed, smiling, confidently holding her father’s hand as he steadily waded through the noise and bustle. That spoke to me of a pure implicit trust that I endeavour to paint some day; the impression remains strong on my mind. Sometimes that depicts our journey as Christians as we face complications of all kinds. We have a choice either to worry and be weighed down with unnecessary burdens, or rather to know God in those times and trust Him for the caring, loving and unfailing Heavenly Father that He is. God wants us to trust Him just like that little girl. Such trust pleases the heart of God. It is acknowledging Him in all of our ways; it is to express that we know God is leading the way for us and not just any way, but His way that is perfect and the ultimate best for us. This is GOD (not a superhero unfit for comparison) with us; it is GOD walking with us and leading us. This is greater than any fiction or the highest expectations we could ever wish for; this God is real and how He longs for us to know that in every detail of our lives – every detail.