All I Ever Really Needed To Know About Life Purpose I Learned In Spider-Man 2

We had dinner this evening with the extended Chai family, a nice time. Anyway, the subject of Spider-Man 2 came up, and I mentioned how I cried watching it (we watched it again a couple months ago and I cried again). My first cousin once removed immediately asked if it was the part on the train where they carry him above their heads, because he consistently cries at that scene. And it was. Something about that was extremely gratifying. Every time I have told people I cried at the movie, they #1 couldn’t believe I did and #2, didn’t have a clue what scene it could be. That he knew right away and empathized made me feel less a weirdo. Maybe it’s a male Chai thing.

Incidentally, re-watching that movie helped focus my life purpose. Dr. Octavius says something really interesting to Peter Parker when he’s visiting the lab (SN. Daniel Dae Kim appears as a lab tech; disorienting on re-watch). He comments that Dr. Connors mentioned that Parker was brilliant… but lazy. Then he says to Peter something on the order of “intelligence isn’t a privilege; it’s a gift. That we use to help people.”

Something about his delivery and my state of mind made that brief comment seep in to my soul. I think there’s a lot of insight, and, dare I say it, spiritual truth to it. The first part perfectly characterizes Silicon Valley. There are a lot of smart people here, and by and large, they view their intelligence as a privilege to make a lot of money. The smarter they are, the more money they deserve. Gifts are equated with privilege.

Dr. Octavius’ alternative view kind of sums up the Christian view of gifts, doesn’t it? That our gifts are not primarily for our own enjoyment or entitlement, but are intended to be used to help other people. His challenge to Peter should really challenge all of us. It certainly challenged me in the midst of the poisonous Silicon Valley corporate culture. Truth is, I hate the SV business world, which seems especially greedy and self-centered. Sometimes I don’t know how we can survive the SV corporate world with our souls intact. It’s soul poison, pure and simple. So yeah, that line just stuck out.

And it helped crystallize some things in my mind. Primarily, that I will not feel satisfied with my vocation unless it involves two things: using my intellect, and helping people. Like Dr. Octavius intended. And I think both aspects have to be there. If I’m only using my intellect, I think I’ll end up feeling empty. If I’m only helping people, I’ll feel like I’m not utilizing my primary gift. I need my vocation to involve both. And that’s what I need to do with my life.

What am I doing about it? Nothing. Yet. But at least I know. Because before, I didn’t.