By G. P. Avants
There is the debate whether there is such a thing as human goodness. The longer you live the more you see the depravity and weaknesses of people. It can be from the exhausted-looking stranger who hobbles by you on the street, to the stressed out spouse who stares awake at the ceiling at 2AM. Heroes and mentors who trudge the same path as the average joe, are not immune to the ravages of time.
Dr. Charles Xavier has fought for the rights of mutants and how they can live peaceable with their human counterparts. It has often cost him dear friendships and actually turned some of them into mortal enemies. When we are finally meeting a 90 something year old Charles, the voices on both sides of his struggle have all become hauntingly silent. Though we are not told directly how I happened, Dr. Xavier as is somehow responsible for the almost total extinction of all mutantkind. His magnificent mind once connected all mutants together. Now his incredible powers are unstable and cause uncontrollable mental seizures, that often become an epicenter of agony for anyone in range.
In a moment of clarity, Dr. Xavier finally understands what he did wrong and lives with his decision. He has time to think about his life and struggles with his choices. Even though he knows he doesn’t deserve forgiveness and redemption from the worst sin, it is offered to him. The key is that Charles is willing to accept it, by letting his past mistakes die. (Patrick Steward’s role should be up for an academy award for we are drawn into this aging man’s struggle of flesh, mind, and spirit)
I think as we age, the choices of the past replay as worn films in the theatre of our mind. Those accusing voices echo of the walls in our head and tell us we don’t deserve the grace and life God has offered. The fact is that is true. We all have those ratting skeletons in the closet that we shoved in there. However, maybe it keeps us appreciative of how powerful the little word grace is and the ever-expanding range that forgiveness can reach.
