In the “Legion” episode of Smallville (which follows the life of a young Clark Kent who is yet to be Superman), Clark and Lana’s friend Chloe has been taken over by the villain Brainiac—who is bent on destroying the planet Earth—and they’ve been informed that the only way left to stop him is to kill his host. In other words, they must kill Chloe. Lana, whose been gone from Smallville and Metropolis for about seven months, can’t believe Clark is even considering it.When things are dark and we feel like we have little option or recourse left, we all need people to remind us who we are and what we’re here for. And I loved Lana’s conviction. She knows who Clark is and who he can be, and her words are a turning point for him.
Clark: Lana, I have always put my loved ones before everything. But this time I’m putting Chloe’s well being before the lives of billions of people.
Lana looks at him, insistent and with conviction—
Lana: I may have been gone awhile, but the Clark I knew would never doubt himself.
Clark is uneasy.
Clark: Lana—
Lana: He would never waver. He would insist that he could save Chloe’s life and the rest of the world.
Clark is quiet, and then he smiles.
Her words remind me of Paul’s, who writes to Timothy during a dark time for them all. It is Paul’s last letter; he will be executed some time after it is sent. He acknowledges the times are dark: “Don’t be naïve,” he tells Timothy, whom he loves as a son and knows well. “There are difficult times ahead” (3:1). But he also reminds Timothy who he is: “I remember your genuine faith. . . . And I know that same faith continues strong in you” (1:5). So, says Paul. “Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus” (13). And “remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you” (3:14).
I know who you are, Paul is telling him. I know who lives in you and what you are here for—now you remember, too.
I find it one of the wonders of the Kingdom, the power that words like this carry and the difference they make when we hear them—and the difference they make in our own hearts when we utter them.
(Image: From trailer on youtube) smallvillectgy