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Two Marvellous Questions

In the past few months, Marvel has released two movies. On the surface they seem to be simple and shallow entertainment, but both ask profound and key questions about life. Here are a few thoughts about these two key questions, shared in a spoiler free way.

Are you happy?

In ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, Doctor Strange travels through the multiverse. He visits different versions of reality, encountering versions of the world where he made different choices, witnessing for himself the results of those decisions.

At several points in the film, he is asked ‘are you happy Stephen?’

Many of us are living with regrets. The opportunity that we wish we had grasped. That things that we wish we hadn’t done or said. That person who we regret not being there for.

In the movie, Doctor Strange gets to reflect on his life choices. Was helping save the world worth the things he gave up? When it comes down to defeating evil, does it matter how moral our choices are if we win?

In the marvel Universe, Doctor Strange is the one character who always appears to be certain of what the right course of action is. Against this backdrop, seeing him explore his feelings reflecting on his decision making is a thought provoking journey.

Are you happy?: As we reflect on life choices and where we have ended up, what does it mean that we are following the one who promises fullness of life? Our ultimate happiness and fulfilment can only be found in Jesus. How will that affect our life choices?

Who am I? What am I here for?

in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, Thor is having an identity crisis. The past few years have been traumatic for the god of thunder and he is searching for peace and purpose having tried to find fulfilment in various other things in life.

Thor’s ex girlfriend Jane is a key character in the film and the story of their relationship is told as a cautionary tale. They are two people who loved each other and who should have spent their lives together but who ended up drifting apart. It’s evident in the film that Thor is lonely, he presents as someone who has everything, but all the bravado can’t cover up the emptiness he is feeling.

As Thor wrestles with the question of who he is and what he is here for, the film ends in an unexpected place. The final reveal of what the film’s title ‘Love and Thunder’ means is genius and Thor’s life will never be the same again as he embraces what he discovers is the most important in life.

Watching the movie, led to me taking time to considering afresh who I am and what I am here for. As I reflected on my values and priorities, I then considered how much of my time is spent living as the person who god made me to be and how much of my time is spent on other things.

These two Marvellous questions reminded me of the way that God is at work, speaking to us in the most unexpected ways. My prayer is that each of us would become more attentive to what he is saying as we live our lives each day

This ‘Thought for the Week’ has been written by Graeme Ross who is a member of the Regional Team