Harry Osborne, the Second Goblin
Spiderman 3 (Tobey Maguire)
The third episode in the Spiderman saga had our hero, Peter Parker, pitted against three villains. The second of these opponents represented a very sad story. Peter’s best friend was Harry Osborne and this friendship thrived, even though their backgrounds were very different. While Peter was an orphan from a poor family, Harry was the son of Norman Osborne, a wealthy CEO. We may remember that Harry’s father became the Green Goblin. In a final showdown with Spiderman, Harry’s father accidently killed himself with his own flying machine. As a final request, Norman asked Peter not to tell Harry that he was the evil Green Goblin. As Peter, in his Spiderman suit, returned the body of Norman to his bedroom, Harry walked in and saw Spiderman next to his dead father. Harry assumed that Spiderman killed his father. Peter did not divulge his secret which would affect Harry’s memory of his father.
Harry carried this grudge against Spiderman and his anger led him to become the second Green Goblin. He even learned to operate the flying machine that his father had used. His anger increased when he found out that his arch-enemy Spiderman was actually his best friend Peter Parker. The entire situation was based on a misunderstanding. Harry did not have all the information.
Sometimes we get mad at other people, or even at God without knowing all the information. We make an assumption from our limited perspective and end up carrying grudges and damaging relationships. When we do not understand a problem or when we cannot explain the suffering we experience, we must trust in the things we do know. We know that God totally loves us and we know that God knows everything, including the future.
Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
The Bible offers us a great example in the life of Joseph. He experienced years of suffering at the hands of his brothers, who sold him into slavery, and his masters in Egypt, who had him thrown into prison. He could have carried a grudge and retaliated when he later had the opportunity to have his brothers killed. Instead, he recognized that the entire situation had been engineered by God as a means for God to save the whole country. He told his brothers, “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result – the survival of many people.” (Genesis 50:20).
Let us not make bad assumptions let our anger control us. Instead, let us remember that God knows everything there is to know, and He loves us too much to hurt us.
Chapel of the North Hills 