Please note, Black Panther (vol. 6) is rated T. During Shuri's journey through the Memory Plane, she learns from the Mother about the story of Ifé. She was an ancient woman taken as a slave out of Wakanda. There she was bound and kept underground so that she could not access her power and become free. She was sold to an Old Man who took her as his wife, hoping she would be happy with him. Yet one day, whether intentionally or accidentally, he takes her out into the sun where her powers allow her, once again, to be free.
This story reminds me of the story of Joseph, who was also sold into slavery, by his own brothers no less. He too was taken to a foreign land, in his case Egypt. Jospeh, though a slave, still had the power of God with him. This power allowed him to interpret the dreams of the Pharaoh himself. Not only was he given great power in Egypt, his gift from God allowed him to save his own family from famine. Both stories speak of power from beyond providing freedom after times of enslavement. The same is true for us from our own slavery to Sin. The power we receive comes from the same source as Joseph's. It comes from the Lord. All we have to do is turn to and rely on God to receive this freedom.
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Please note, Black Panther (vol. 6) is rated T. Still being in a between state of life and death, Shuri finds herself in the realm of memory, a spiritual place beyond our life. We can think of this as similar to the Ancestral Plane in Black Panther, or like the Heavenly Realm in the life beyond this one. There Shuri meets a spiritual being known as the Mother, who even appears to Shuri in the form of her mother. The Mother tells Shuri there is a way beyond the technological advancements of Wakanda. These are the Old Ways, and, as the Mother tells Shuri: You have forgotten the Old Ways, my Queen. You have lost your soul. For us, the Old Ways are what we find in our Faith. They are the ways that are traced back to God first tell God's People how to live in this world. They continue as God renews the efforts to teach us how to live in a way that loves God and our neighbor. It goes further into God's offer of salvation from God's Only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. These Old Ways are different from what the world taught back then. They are different from what the world teaches now even. Yet finding these ways leads us back to our Creator, the Creator of all that is. These ways lead back to life and wholeness. As the Mother also tells Shuri of her time against Thanos' Black Order: Once, the Black Order sought to forever banish you. But they knew not your destination. The same is true for us. Thanks to Christ Jesus and the Resurrection of the Dead, we do not have to fear where we are going, for we are returning back to our loving Creator's arms. Shuri is on a journey to learn the truth beyond this life, and so are we. We too seek the Old Ways, though ours are found with God and with Jesus. Please note, Black Panther (vol. 6) is rated T. After the events of New Avengers (vol. 3) as well as Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars, T'Challa finds himself, at the start of Ta-Nehisi Coates' run, back in the prime leading position as King of Wakanda. Yet he struggles being back in this role. What he struggles with most is the loss of his sister Shuri in the battle against Thanos' forces and in her sacrifice to save him.
Now in the comics, unlike the films, T'Challa is one of the chief scientific minds of Wakanda. He uses that prowess to try and resuscitate, resurrect really, his sister from her current state as being between life and death. Every effort he makes fails. This is a sign to us that we cannot resurrect ourselves on our own. We need help. We need Jesus. We need Jesus because without Him, we cannot reach new life. We need God's work in Jesus. We need the gift of Grace. Salvation is not something we can obtain without God's help. Thanks to God's help, the end of this life doesn't mark the end for us. Fortunately for Shuri, her current state is not the end of her either. She will be going on a spiritual journey in a world beyond this life, as we have hope in life after death. While this journey is different from the one her film counterpart goes through, it will hopefully still give us a roadmap to follow in our own spiritual journey, even in this life. Please note, Avengers: Time Runs Out (Vol.1) is rated T. In Jonathan Hickman's run on New Avengers (vol. 3), T'Challa finds himself in an impossible position. He discovers, along with the Illuminati of Earth's heroes, that Incursions of other realities are occurring with the main Marvel Comics universe of 616. What that means is that other universes are colliding with theirs, and when such an Incursion occurs only one reality can be left standing. As discussed before, T'Challa is a good man, so the decision to choose one world over another is an extremely difficult one to make. The same is true for the rest of the Illuminati except, of course, Namor. Nevertheless, T'Challa and the others make decisions to safeguard the 616 Universe. Not all these choices are good ones, and they all certainly have consequences. Shuri, who at this point is Black Panther along with her brother and Queen of Wakanda, ends up forced to banish T'Challa for some of his actions related to the Illuminati. Namor, of course, betrays the Illuminati and forms another group, the Cabal, to deal with the Incursions. This group is made up primarily of Thanos and his Black Order, the worst of the worst. The Cabal also gets a hold of world-ending weapons the Illuminati created to help with the Incursions. Wakanda, in the meantime, has been taken by the Cabal. With things at their worst, T'Challa and Shuri team-up. Using an Incursion event as cover, they sneak into Wakanda to take back the world-ending weapons. Unfortunately, they find they have been betrayed and are forced to make a quick escape. The only way this is possible is for one of them to stay behind to cover for the other. Shuri decides to stay and fight Thanos' minion Proxima Midnight in order to give T'Challa a chance to escape, even though he asks her not to. Shuri's stays behind thanks to T'Challa's previous actions, which have been less than stellar. Shuri is the one in the right and T'Challa the one in the wrong. Yet Shuri is willing to sacrifice herself to save her brother, in hopes that it will save their land, the world, and the universe. This is not unlike what Jesus does for us. The problem we, as humanity, find ourselves in is due to our own actions, our own sin. We are the ones to blame; Jesus is not. Yet Jesus chose to die in our place so that we might live. In doing so, Jesus was trying to save the whole world. Jesus thankfully rose again to the new life He now offers us. We will see Shuri make her own return with Ta-Nehisi Coates' run of Black Panther (vol. 6), which we will look at next time! |
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The Rev. Trey KennedyHere is my take on how Superheroes and other characters can help us know God better. Categories
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