Thor Ragnarok reminds me that no one has an easy path in life. What is one men’s strength is another man’s struggle. These last days of Asgard puts a strain upon a society that once ruled the nine realms. However, what comes from these desperate times changes the people who live though them.

 

When we think of Thor we see no weakness or imperfection. He is confident in his calling and purpose as guardian of Asgard. What happened along his journey strips him of his title as an unstoppable force. Oden dies, his evil sister Hella rises to destroy him, his hammer is destroyed, and he is jettisoned through the Devil’s anus as a fighting slave on the junk works of Sychar.

He has a bright moment is seeing the Hulk in the ring of combat. They both attempt to forge an uneasy union with other cast away people. We all know the trustworthiness of Loki. He has the brains and the conniving skills, but battles with his own vanity.

Throw in drunk fallen Asgardian female in the wild card as Valkyrie and you have yourself a nice volatile team. These four are now the only thin sliver of hope Asgard has left. They are outnumbered, out matched, and unprepared for the level of evil that is destined to end the world. On multiple occasions Thor comes face-to-face with his weaknesses.

Fighting his own family in Hella, he lost a eye and fought at one point single-handedly for the fate of his home world. He and his motley crew had to soberly understand that this was a fight they were ill-equipped to fight. Their fight was to fight evil in one hand and keeping their own personal demons at bay with the other.

Thor, Loki, Hulk/Banner, and Valerie  failed in their attempt to save their homeworld. In fact, they became the very ones who caused Ragnarok to happen and Asgard to be destroyed by Surter’s fiery sword. From the outside it might look like they compromised or even surrendered to the desires of evil. They watched Asgard fall and barely escaped with a remanent of it’s people.

We want peace and safety with everyone getting along. In regard to depending on ourselves, it can be easy to tell God we have this and keep going. Yet, the wise man knows he does not know the whole story. When you give all you have and you still fall short, does that make you a failure?

Failure is part of life. Yet, it is truly part of every person’s journey.  If heroes don’t fail, they don’t learn the realities that define a person’s character. Sometimes, what hinders our victories or success is placing too much confidence in ourselves. Weakness is a door to everyone’s heart that only opens to the Lords’s touch. Each seemingly crippling defeat doesn’t have to destroy us, but show we are able to do anything with Divine intervention. Of course we are always free to tackle it all on our own and live with our choices.

How have you faced  failure in your life?