Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

With Great Power Column for the week of May 12-18, 2002

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Sometimes the most extraordinary things have the most ordinary beginnings for example: Peter Parker was a normal high school student, loved dearly by the uncle and aunt who raised him. But while he excelled in SCIENCE, those accomplishments were often overshadowed by his innate shyness. It was, however, that same devotion to science that was to bring about a monumental change in the boy's life! For one day, at an atomic energy demonstration, a tiny spider absorbed a fantastic amount of radiation and in sudden shock, bit the nearest living thing!

Peter thought, "What's happening? I feel strange! Oh, my gosh! I-I leaped halfway up this building! A-And I'm actually clinging to the wall just by touching it! Incredible! I wall-crawled to the roof in seconds! A-And I 'm crushing steel pipe like it was paper! It's as if I've suddenly gained the abilities and proportional strength of...of a SPIDER!"

Using his technical ingenuity, young Parker developed devices to "spin" his own sticky webbing! And then, after designing a suitably theatrical costume... he set out to take show business by storm -- as the SPIDER-MAN! But his ego swelled with his first taste of fame and success. He allowed a thief to escape, when it would have been so EASY to stop him, figuring it wasn't HIS problem! He discovered how wrong he was days later, when he returned home to find police there. The house had been burglarized and his beloved Uncle Ben had been shot DEAD! With tears of rage and loss stinging his eyes, he swore he'd bring the murderer to justice!

But when he caught the culprit, he was stunned to find it was the same thief he had let escape before! It was a bitter lesson, one that changed him even more deeply than the bite of a radioactive spider! For at last he grasped the basic truth that has shaped his life ever since: With great power, there must also come great responsibility! And it is this, above all else, that has given the world the one, the only ... the Amazing… SPIDER-MAN !!*

And that is just what makes Spider-Man, or "Spidey" as fans like to call him, so doggone special. Because he knows that with great power comes great responsibility. It's a Biblical principle found in 1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23. Sometimes it may permissible to do something but that doesn't mean it is beneficial. People in power are faced with these kinds of decisions everyday. That is why expressions like "heavy is the head that wears the crown" become popular. Just because someone has the right to do something, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

Part of my Mother's Day package was being treated to the movie Spider-Man. My kids know I love this stuff. It was superbly cast, had great special effects, and a terrific message. We die-hard fans watched all the credits at the end just so we could hear them play the original Spiderman theme. We were all singing, "Spider-Man, Spider-Man! Yadayadayadayadaya Spider-Man!" No one else could remember the words either.

Most of us aren't rulers and don't have superhuman strength but many of us are in responsible positions where we could easily take advantage of others. Do we have the right to do it? Probably, because others could lose their jobs if they don't do what we say. Is it always the right thing to do? If you asked Spidey he would say, "With great power, there must also come great responsibility." You know what, the Bible says the same thing.

* From Eric's Amazing Spider-Man Unofficial Fan site!

©May 2002

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bydahlgren@aol.com.