The Incredible Hulk tells the incredible story of Dr. Bruce Banner. After having taken part in an experiment with gamma rays, he begins to have episodes where he is- shall we say- a little different? To be more precise, he turns into a huge, angry, 1400lb Green Monster. Not exactly an easy problem to fix.
Dr. Banner, being the scientist that he is, tries different remedies, meditation exercises, and such to try to gain control of this phenomenon. It has destroyed his job, his career, his regular habits and life. He has lost control of his life- where he can go, how much excitement and frustration he can handle. He is literally limited in every way.
He is determined to get rid of the “other guy”. Honestly, I probably would have done the same. This is usually our response to difficulty that comes up in our lives- MAKE IT GO AWAY!! We want life back to normal and sometimes go to extreme lengths to make that happen.
Thankfully, none of his experiments and remedies save him from what is not a completely curse, but is an opportunity. As he reconnects with an old friend, she is able to help him see that embracing the Hulk actually gives him more ability to control it.
She points out that the Hulk recognizes and protects her even when he is the Hulk- he is not a completely out of control, angry monster. More than that, Banner is given extraordinary abilities to save people because of the Hulk. His entire story in MCU is about him trying to decide if he will treat it as a curse or a possibility. You can even see him still working it out later in the Avengers movie as he and Iron Man talk.
“But you can control it (your abilities).” Banner.
“Because I learned how…. I’ve read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you.” Iron Man.
“So you’re saying that the Hulk- the other guy- saved my life?… Saved it for what?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
It’s easy to look at our lives and see our unique qualities and our differences as our weaknesses. To want to get rid of or run away from the things that make us unique or different or a little bit crazy. To be fair, we are not free to run around doing anything- he cannot be the Hulk and kill whoever he wants and call it “being unique.” But far too often we run away from the tragedies, and hurdles, and struggles that make us who we are. They make us think harder, dig deeper, work longer, reach farther, and refuse to stand for that which isn’t us at our best. But as Hulk’s story shows us- sometimes there’s a beauty and strength in that pain, in that problem, in that curse that only we could live through and come out better.
But first we have to stop looking at it as our curse. We have to stop looking at our family history, our lack of control, our big injustice, or our flipped experience as a tragedy. We have to stop complaining and find the possibility in the pain. It’s only when we stop running away from our past that we’re actually able to find sure footing and move through it.
Dr. Bruce Banner worked through his problem, how about you?
“So I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations… At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough, it’s all you need. My strength comes into it’s own in your weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10