Superman

Untitled from Jason on Vimeo.

Unbelievable.

I could write an entire entry on that dunk alone, but I'll restrain myself from doing so.  Seriously, the thinnest shred of decency and sanity is all that is separating me from bursting with absolute man-love for Dwight Howard right here and now.  Yes, I said it, because it's true.  The dude is a stud...a straight up hoss.

Whew...

But I'll get straight to my point.

What was the best part of that incredibly entertaining display of ridiculous physical prowess (by a mere 22 year-old, mind you)?  I guess the easy and obvious answer is the actual dunk itself, but I'd like to contend that the best part of Mr. Howard's dunk was what he did beforehand...namely, the removal of his jersey as he revealed the awesomeness underneath, and the donning of the cape.

The reaction from the crowd, the giddy anticipation of what was to come, the set up of something unique and special...it was all in the steps leading up the the dunk.  The dunk was just the fulfillment of all that preceded it.

Now, I'm probably straining the logic here in order to make my point, which is this:  If a crowd can get so amped up just to watch some insanely gifted freak of nature put a ball through a hoop, no matter how creatively he does it...how much more must God and all his angels be ablaze with impatient, feverish, drooling anticipation for his saints to finally be revealed?  Not only them, but all of creation as well?

There will come a day when our external shells will finally fall off, and when all of our naked beauty or ugliness, our true likenesses will be revealed.  For Christians, that day will be the elated fulfillment of what has been anticipated since the beginning, when God had already foreseen it all.  We'll get our capes then, and the rest is gravy.

The wonderful thing about this is that God allows us to taste this even now.  We are always riding carousels that take us to moments where we "have taken off" our "old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" (Colossians 3:9-10).  Christians must always be in the business of taking off their jerseys, revealing their Superman outfits, and donning their capes.  They must always be unveiling their true identities, acting like who they really are, and doing things that make this dunk look like child's play.  The actual dunk, the imminent consummation and ultimate reveal may still be far off, but that shouldn't matter.  What precedes it is where we are right now, the best time and place until then, and there is much to be done still...with big smiles on our faces because we know...



"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." - Romans 8:18-19 (emphasis added)