Praying, Fasting, & Giving Alms in Hiddenness – WWSS?

What would Superman say about going into hiddenness, secrecy, into the secret inner place to pray, fast, & give alms?

NNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Superman was one of my heroes as a kid. I would spend hours at my buddy’s house reading his comics. Superman never failed to be heroic. I was a big fan of George Reeves, the actor who played Superman back in the day. He always won against the enemies of “the American way.” He could stop a bullet, a speeding train. He was invincible and invulnerable.

No wonder he was allergic to Kryptonite. Someone early on had studied Greek in high school. Krypton is the Greek noun for “hiddenness, secrecy, the inner life.”

Dang, Superman was allergic to his inner life. It would kill him to even get near it!

Seems to me that many of us who need to be heroic consider how we’re like Superman – always on the side of good and always helping others and winning against evil and getting applause from others. We put ourselves into such a category to prop up our esteem. I do, anyway.

But, back in the day, Superman had no inner life. He was terrified of kryptonite, his hiddenness where he could have met God. What might it be like to notice whether or not we’re allergic to our inner life? Do we live mainly on the outside?

Perhaps simply noticing how this plays out could invigorate your Lent. It’s challenging mine.

By the way, did Superman ever go to church? Did he ever receive ashes?

Anyway, happy Lent.