Sticks and Stones

 

If you could have any one superpower what would it be?  That was the question that I put to my Rising Bloggers group for the link up that I’m hosting this week (click on the link at the end of this post to read more from my fellow bloggers).  At the time that this came to me, I was in the middle of laundry, cooking, cleaning, counting box tops, etc.  I would have given anything to be able to do it all with the wave of a hand like Samantha on Bewitched.  However, it was not to be and the laundry is still not completed; there are still box tops left to be counted; and dinner was less than Pinterest worthy.

As the week went on, my desired superpower changed several times depending on the circumstances.  At one point I wanted to be Wonder Woman with that cool, invisible jet because I do nothing besides cart my kids around after school from one activity to another.  I figured the jet would be more fun and much cuter.  Then there was the moment that I wanted to be Dr. Bruce Banner.  Not because I wanted to be some super smart physicist, but because I seriously wanted to bust out some Hulk moves (minus the turning green part, of course) on the woman in the grocery store who was holding up the line arguing about the validity of her expired coupon.   Then for a while I wanted to be Jean Grey.  You know, Phoenix…X-Men…Cyclops’ wife and Wolverine’s obsession?  She is a level five mutant with the powers of telepathy and the ability to not only know the thoughts of others, but also to impose her thoughts upon others. She can initiate astral travel (out-of-body experiences), and can mentally stun her opponents with psionic force.  Additionally she possesses telekinesis, allowing her to levitate; manipulate objects and other people, generate force fields, fly…and some other stuff.  In a word, she is BAD!  I’m aware that she can’t control her powers and eventually loses her mind, but I’m not really focusing on that part.  Just the total control part.    By the way, the only reason that I know absolutely anything about Jean Grey, or any mutant, or any superhero is thanks to my son and my husband – the lovable nerds that they are.  I know that you’re relieved now.

However, during a conversation with my youngest daughter, I started to think about things a bit differently.  She was relaying to me an exchange that she had with a certain friend of hers when she said “You know what Tracy says when someone says something mean to her?”

“What does she say?”  I asked.

“She says: Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard that before. What do you think about that?”

She thought for a minute then said “Momma, that’s not true because when people say mean things it does hurt.  Sometimes it hurts really, really bad and for a long time.”

“Yes, I agree with you,” I told her. “That’s why I want you to think about the words that come out of your mouth toward others.  You don’t want to cause hurt feelings or be unkind.”

I have often thought that there are too many people walking around who are hurting.  Their pain goes deep and for the most part, no one pays any attention to them until something drastic happens.  Those people need a hero.  The superpower that I really want is the power to heal, but not in the way that you might think.  I don’t necessarily mean to heal the physical body, although that would be great, but the power to heal the heart and soul.  All of us are the walking wounded and the world is a big, loud, noisy place with a lot of hateful words being shouted at us.   We all carry scars – some brought on by well intending, but misguided parents.  Some injured by abusive relationships and others carrying the weight of depression brought on by guilt and shame.  Those are the people that I wish that I could touch in some way and remove their pain.  Somehow let them know that we are all one in our imperfections.

What started out as a light-hearted topic for a fun writing exercise has evolved in a real search to find how I can touch someone’s life in a meaningful and intentional way.  It’s no longer about figuring out which superpower I’d like to posses, but more about helping someone else find their inner super hero.