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| A True Hero and a Cartoon Hero |
OK, so the quote wasn’t exactly the same. President Smith talked about a gift, Spiderman was talking about power, but then referred to it as a gift – or a curse. So my search quickly begins to enter choppy waters.
But wait! Peter Parker didn’t say it first – he was quoting someone else – his Uncle Ben. How did Uncle Ben say it?
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
The idea has been around for some time within the faith. The Lord taught Joseph Smith in 1832 “Where much is given, much is required.”(D&C 82:3) Thousands of years earlier, in HIs beautiful consistency, Christ taught “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required…” (Luke 12:48)
The idea of increased responsibility coinciding with increased gifts is obviously a Godly teaching. Simple, strong, true.
So where did the Spiderman version of the quote come from? Spiderman came out in 1962 – which is a year later than I came out. (Ba-da-boom!) It figured that Uncle Ben wasn’t the first to say it. After spending and exhausting ten minutes researching the origin of the phrase, I discovered that it has been around for a long time.
Back in 1732 there was a French writer named Voltaire. He was a historian/writer/philosopher during the “Enlightenment” era that had a great influence on the thinking leading up to the American and French Revolutions. (We saw his tomb in the Panthéon in Paris. Cool place.) Voltaire said:
“Un gran pouvoir impose un lorde responsibilité.” So, there’s your answer. What? You don’t speak French? Translated it means: “A great power imposes great responsibility.” Close enough for me.
No matter who said it first, or what version was said, it could not have been Spiderman, or even Uncle Ben. I’m going to give this one to Voltaire, with a conceptual credit to God.
But, I am going to study more about both President George Albert Smith and Voltaire, because it’s good for my soul, and I know far too little about them.
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Here is the video I mentioned, in case you were wondering what President Smith was like. (The answer is Awesome.)
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This is actually one of my very favorite principals of the gospel…where much is given much is required. My favorite thing is that the opposite is true to…where much is required much is given. I learned this principal while attending therapy for some serious abuse that I was unfortunate enough to suffer through. I learned that sometimes we are required to face very difficult things but the blessings that the Lord gives us far outweigh the suffering. I was ‘required’ to suffer deeply but much was given to me because of it. It would be impossible to list here everything that I have learned but I am grateful for the opportunity to have much required of me so that I could receive so much more.
Aaah, the good ol’ days of bearded prophets.
Yeah…that day is gone now
Whenever I think of this phrase, I’m reminded as to why going to the temple to make covenants is a very serious step in one’s spiritual journey, and how in doing so, steps are taken to ensure the person making such covenants is prepared and understands the seriousness of it all. But it can be applied to almost anything: Want to be blessed with grades? Study. Blessed to go to the best university in the world (ahem, BYU)? Be prepared to sign an honor code. Blessed to be married, have kids? Learn to sacrifice time and pride and selfishness. It’s like what I’ve always said (“anything worth having in this life takes hard work”), but takes it to a better level. Not that I’m equating what I say with Voltaire or Jesus! Well, maybe. But not quite.
That’s funny. We covered that lesson last Sunday, and I connected that phrase to Spiderman immediately. The priesthood is a gift, privilege, and, with personal worthiness, it becomes a power. Therefore, Priesthood Power = Responsibility. Ultimately, we can’t use it to bless ourselves directly. It is there to serve others. Good topic.
Awesome, indeed.
I’m like you – the more I read of and learn about him, the more impressed I am. Such clarity in his teachings, so passionate about the gospel and he was incredibly kind and conscientious to boot. A very good man!
Thank you for sharing the video!
Cool. Just very, very cool. Thank you!
Thank you for posting the video of George Albert Smith. I would have loved to be able to see him in person! What an animated testimony of the Savior! I love it!