Lessons from Super Why

Super Why (my son) and I were out of town for a week. Here's the photographic evidence of the costume I sewed. When I finished sewing, glueing, appliqué-ing, and cleaning up, I tried it on my little guy and he didn't want to take it off! That's an enormous compliment from a 3 year old.

When my son donned his costume, he became Super Why; he even refers to himself as Super Why when he sees pictures from Halloween. It got me thinking, would the world be a better place if Christians (Catholic or Protestant) could channel an alter-ego when they needed to be Christians? It might make things better for everyone since sometimes Christians aren't so Christian, myself included. "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." This quote from Brennan Manning opens DC Talk's What if I Stumble. The quote hurts because it's true.

The lesson from Super Why is that I already have an alter ego. As St. Paul explains, "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me..." (Gal 2:19b-20a). If I call Christ my Lord and Savior, then my old self is (supposed to be) dead and I'm a superhero. Yet, like all superheroes, I have my weaknesses and it's those weaknesses that can set a bad example or cast a bad light on all Christians.

Life is not a Hollywood superhero movie. There are no retakes in life. There is no need for a cape or disguise when Jesus Christ is my backup, all I need is a prayer to help me be more like Him.

Oh my Divine Savior, transform me into yourself.
May my hands be your hands.
May my tongue by your tongue.
Grant that every faculty of my body may serve only to glorify you.
Above all, transform my soul and all its powers
that my memory, my will, and my affections
may be the memory, the will, and the affections of you.
I pray you to destroy in me all that is not of you.
Grant that I may live but in you and by you and for you
that I may truly say with St. Paul, “I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.”
    Vincentian Missioner Prayer - St. John Gabriel Perboyre, C.M.

Being a Princess

I'm up to my elbows in making Halloween costumes.  

When I asked my son a few months ago what he wanted to be for Halloween he immediately said, "Super Why!"  He's a PBS superhero who teaches kids to read and find answers to problems in books.  I was expecting something like a dinosaur, dragon, SpiderMan, or any of the other typical answers from a little boy.  I continued to ask him over several weeks who he wanted to be and every time it was Super Why.  

"Sweet!" I thought.  It's a very easy costume to make (cape, mask, green t-shirt).  

Then he started asking who I would be for Halloween.  "Uhhhh...I...uh...well."  Since I hesitated my son decided for me.  "You're Princess Pea!"  (See upper right corner of picture)

This morning we ran to the store to pick up a few things for his costume and I parked the cart next to the remnant bin while I looked over a few items.  He reached in the bin and pulled out pink toile with rhinestones.  "Here Mommy, you're a princess."  

I realize that it's very sweet for my son to think I'm a princess, but I'm hardly the princess type.  I didn't even like princess stuff when I was little.  However, I ran into a friend who works at the craft store and I mentioned, "I'm going to be a princess for Halloween."

"That's perfect!" she replied. "You're a daughter of the King!"

Huh!  And so I am.  

God, who "dwells in unapproachable light", wants to communicate his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons (and daughters) in his only-begotten Son.  Catechism of the Catholic Church, 52.  

I guess I better get over my problems with being a princess.  

Who knew making Halloween costumes would lead to such an interesting theological point to ponder? Or that I would be able to link costumes to the Catechism?