Wrap Your Head Around This.

Something rather profound occurred to me today and it has to do with Spiderman...Sort of.

As I drive by the little church on Sierra Madre Blvd. And Michillinda, I always like to check out the title of the next Sunday's sermon. The Pastor or whatever always tries to make it something clever. I can't even remember what it was today but I remember it got me thinking about what a cool job being a pastor is if you think about it. For one hour every week you get to tell people how to live their lives and that's your job. I thought what a tremendous amount of responsibility the Pastor has not to abuse that power. Its like Stan Lee said in the first issues of Spiderman comics "With great power comes great responsibility. But then it occurred to me. The Pastor can say whatever he wants for that hour but the second you step out of that Church, your actions are in your hands and the responsibility for your actions lies solely with you. Then I began to think how much power we wield in our daily lives; so much so that the Pastors powers seem extremely weak by comparison. Think about it. Every time you get behind the wheel of a car you have the power to take someone's life. And its not even the big things like that. You have the power to determine whether the people who work and live around you will have a good or bad day, sometimes solely by your actions. If you were so inclines you have the power to start a forest fire and probably never get caught. So many things we have the power to do but never even consider doing.
We think of responsibility as something to do with ourselves in the sense that we are responsible for getting ourselves to work on time, or turning in an assignment on time. But really responsibility has to do with our actions towards others. I have the power to insure that the person in the cubicle next to me has a rotten day at work, but I'm responsible enough with that power that I don't use it. I have the power to cut in line in front of weaker people at the supermarket or Gas station. But I'm responsible enough not to use that power.
I was suddenly fascinated by how much power the average person has and how much responsibility the average person exercises not the use that power to make others unhappy.
I'm not really sure how to put it in to words but I just had never thought before how much responsibility has to do with morality.