A Good Man

Superman recently requested via family prayer that he be offered more opportunities to provide financially for the things that are up and coming in our family. Some of the things we have are car repairs, washer/dryer payments (a blessing arrived but we still need to pay--just not as much as buying new, or even repairing the,old!), new driver costs & possible weddings or missions in the near(ish) future. I realized when he said that, that he believes it is solely his responsibility to do this. Wow. What a burden! No wonder his back hurts!

It's not so much that I agree or disagree with this theory but that he feels it so strongly because of his character; it's who he is! One of the reasons I love and admire my husband so much is because of this trait but I did not realize how important this concept was to him, or how very deeply he feels the obligation. I don't know why I did not realize this, maybe because I have always felt my own responsibility to help provide but he has never required that of me, it was entirely my thinking.

My husband is a good man. He reminds me very much of Captain Moroni in the Book of Mormon! Of him it is said, "if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." Yep. To me, he is Superman, strong spiritually as well as physically!

This idea made me think of Flannery O'Connor's short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find. While that story is very much not about responsibility, it is about character. It is also about Grace and the ability to change, be forgiven and move forward. 

There are two characters seemingly at odds with one another but during the course of the story they both see value in the other. The grandmother is a babbling, judgemental woman; the Misfit as a cold-hearted killer but they both suddenly see the value in each other and exhibit an ability to change. This is the miracle of Grace. O'Connor just likes to tell it in way that shocks us.

When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock — to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the blind you draw large and startling figures.— Flannery O'Connor

If you are not familiar with the story I recommend it.