Catholic Kermit

I saw “Spiderman 3“ today, all 2.5 hours of light-speed CGI fight scenes separated by long relationship breaks and some cheesy musical dance numbers by Tobey Maguire.  Not being a really big Spiderman fan, I found Venom to be an very interesting character that I knew little about.  As an alien symbiote organism that needs to bond and feed off a living host, it gives the host enhanced physical abilities, at the cost of fatally draining them of adrenaline, eventually killing the host.  This particular parasite (attached to Spiderman), however, wants to bond with its host instead. It seems to feed off Spiderman’s weaknesses, anger and revenge, and multiplies its devastating, yet tempting (at times) effects.  The rejection of the symbiote leave it extremely bitter toward Spiderman, a trait it shares with its future hosts.  The movie’s byline reads “the greatest battle lies within.”

What I saw was an extreme visual for our own “dark-sides,” manifested in Venom, who exploits our weaknesses because we’ve fed and allowed it to grow for so long.  I don’t know if that’s the intention of the character, but I couldn’t help but connect Venom with deep-rooted sin that’s ignored and allowed to grow.  If we could only “see” what our sins do to others, ourselves and, above all, our Savior, we would run to cross in humble submission to His grace & mercy.  In ministry, demonstrating that in love & mercy is not done through our own ability, but through our own submission to the “Anti-Venom” that we invite everyday (not just one conversion experience) as a light to our darkness.