The Long Halloween

The Long Halloween

As many people know, I love Batman. The character isn't just dark and brooding. I mean, he does it a lot, but I wouldn't say that defines him completely (sorry Zach Synder). Batman has had many story's told of him over the years, one in particular came to mind recently.

"The Long Halloween" was written by Jeph Loeb and was a story consisting of Batman's relationships with Gordon and Harvey Dent. The reason this story was so compelling because it's the first time we see Batman trust others. He doesn't reveal his identity but allows himself to work with others.

Throughout the story, they are looking for the killer involved in gruesome murders, known as Holiday. He only kills on  Holidays. During this journey, Batman softens to the men he is working with and you can see the turmoil inside. As the story progresses, you see Batman kind of accept the partnership and even believe in the men he's working with to catch the killer.

Now to those who have seen the movie "The Dark Knight", this will be familiar. Harvey Dent, who throughout the whole story and shown as a good man, falls from grace. Some would say this story could be called, The Rise and Fall of Harvey Dent. Harvey Dent, during there investigation of the Holiday Killer, begins to psychologically break down. Not to ruin the story, but he becomes Two-Face, and has been a part of the killings of the Holiday Killer. There is much more to the story but I won't spoil anything more.

Betrayal 

Although the "Long Halloween seems quite depressing, it's a story of human nature. It's a story that actually reveals truth about mankind. Batman who believed in Dent, finds himself again, watching another person fall off the road to righteousness. Once again, Batman has a moment of disappointment.

We experience this in a lot of our relationships. How often do we find others who we believe in, and find ourselves scratching our heads at the betrayal? It happened to me, it even happened to Jesus. We believe and trust others with what we believe is sacred and sometimes we get let down.

That's the thing though isn't it. We put so much weight in our relationships. How often do we hear about couples falling out of love. I mean even something as simple as musicians breaking bands up due to differences. There is a core issue that seems show its ugly head to us.

Putting too much stock in...

I listen to a lot of people speak about the feelings of being disrespected or hurt. The common thing that interlocks there stories: people letting them down. I met this man who came in to my office so angry at the world. This man was young and afraid of allowing himself to get close to anyone. I remember so often being annoyed with him. I felt like I could give him ideas, but he'd just shoot it down. 

It's funny how God works. This man would day by day wear me down by just complaining and complaining. I eventually would just stop trying so hard. Then one day these words came out of his mouth: "you know Sean, you've let me down". In that moment, I understood something that I remained blind to in all our conversations. This man had been let down. Not once, not twice, but so many times. He had expectations on me, that truthfully were unfair. Due to this, he felt like I let him down.

His issue was simple. He had too high of expectations in people. In some way or another, people relationships were his idol or God. As we spoke, I learned more about how he searched for relationships because he didn't want to be alone, but all of them ended in similar ways. Either he was disappointed in them, or they felt he was too clingy. It was hard but he was able to see, that he couldn't keep following that pattern.

Grace make your way

How often do I find myself having these unreal expectations on my wife and I'm sure my son. The reality is, they are sinners. They will let me down. They will not fulfill my every need. They will not take crime off the streets of Gotham (because I'm Batman). Since the garden, we have this desire to put people in high reverence rather than God. Israel felt they needed a king rather than God. Sure God gave it to them, but it came with a lot of strife.

It's very cliched but it does mean something. We need to fix our eyes on the cross of grace. Jesus life, sacrifice, and resurrection. We need to live in the truth that Christ gives us grace in relationships. People will let us down. They some will on purpose, while others don't mean to. Regardless, we must realize that all we need comes from Christ. Christ, if our understanding that God is good (this is another discussion),  will not let us down. He walks through all things with us. He never forsakes us.

Ultimately relationships with others are important. I love my friends. Yet I know, in some way or another, they will not meet my expectations. They will let me down. The same will be for me as them. When Christ is my focus, those hurts don't make me give up on people, but understand that we need Christ to understand that our needs are met.