(Spoiler Alert! I'm about to reveal some of the storyline here!)
In this rendition of the Superman story, Kal-El (Clark Kent's Kryptonian name) was the first person born naturally on Krypton in many generations. Everyone else was born artificially and was pre-designed to fulfill a specific role within society. Because of this, everyone else was hard-wired to fulfill their pre-ordained purpose and was essentially created without the opportunity to choose his/her own path in life. Kryptonians (minus Kal-El) fulfill their role in life whether they are on Krypton or anywhere else in the universe (as is seen when a handful of them come to Earth). But again, Kal-El, a.k.a Clark Kent, a.k.a Superman, is different.
Clark Kent spends his life making choices about his role in society. Flashback scenes show him as a child, choosing whether to keep his superhuman powers hidden or to use them out of moral obligation to help someone. He struggles with the choice, not understanding himself completely but knowing he is unique and faces choices that no one else does, either in this world or his own. Ultimately, he has to make the choice of whether to reveal himself to the world and become the superhero he could be, and if so, when it's the right time to do such a thing.
There are some great scenes with father-son dialogue about this very issue: When is the right time? When will the people of the world be ready to discover such a superhero among them?
We loved this movie because of the reminder that there is a season for everything, and the Lord will reveal when it is the right time to do this or that, and we must have the patience and obedience and faith to choose to wait until the timing is right. Jesus did this when He knew it wasn't time to reveal Himself yet. He waited 30 years to begin ministry; only then was it the right time. Then, even as Jesus began teaching and healing, He didn't reveal Himself as the Messiah until it was the right time and even warned His disciples not to tell people either (Matthew 16:20, Matthew 17:9). It wasn't time yet. Jesus made the choice to wait until the right time.
We were encouraged by this reminder throughout the movie as we are also waiting for the right time (although we must confess that we don't have any hidden superpowers just waiting to be revealed...we don't mean to disappoint you....). In our case, we are waiting to move to Africa to live as medical missionaries. We've been waiting a long time, but it's still not time yet. It's been difficult as we are watching friends go ahead of us because it is their time already. Most of my classmates from Wheaton (where I received my Masters in Intercultural Studies) are already on the mission field, and some of Eli's cousins are well on their way to moving to Africa soon to do long-term mission work. And here we are, plodding away in America's medical education system, just waiting until it's our turn to go. We've been waiting seven years already and have a couple more years of waiting ahead of us. But now is not the time to go. We are preparing, training, waiting, praying, listening, growing. And the Lord will let us know when it's the right time for us, and then we will have the choice to obey. We've obeyed thus far by waiting and we are eager and excited to obey by going when that sweet day comes. Like Jesus, and like Superman in this movie, we are learning when the time is right for us and we are obeying by making the choice to stay now and go when He tells us to.
In the meantime, we'll enjoy our own little Superman, whose current superpower is incredibly infectious joy :)
