What's your 'useless' superpower?

Many people like superhero movies and cartoons, especially kids, though most of us don’t outgrow them. My twins like superheroes right now. They especially like Iron Man, probably because we have a toy mask of him. Spiderman is another favorite around my house. A few other superheroes that have been popular include Batman, Superman and Captain America.
Sometimes people will think about what superpower they would like to have if it was a possibility – the ability to fly, super speed, super strength, invisibility, mind-reading.
However, I recently came across an article that asked the question, “If you could have a USELESS superpower, what would it be?” One response was, “The ability to win Rock-Paper-Scissors every single time.” That does sound useless. Another was, “Whenever I pick up a sock, the one next to it would instantly become the matching sock.” (I can tell you this one would actually be very USEFUL to me!). Yet another response was, “Always knowing when to use a semicolon.” And people’s imaginations went on with imagined useless superpowers.
Christian author Corrie Ten Boom once told a story about a woodpecker who tapped against the trunk of a tree just as lightning struck the tree and destroyed it. The woodpecker flew away thinking, “I didn’t know there was so much power in my beak!”
Ten Boom goes on to say, “When we bring the Gospel to people, there is a tendency to think to ourselves, “I’VE done this good job.” Or when we are living out the life of faith and things are going well, we can easily think that we are running on our own steam and give ourselves the credit.
However, we are always to remember that our strength comes from the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word.
This is a great reminder at this time of year. We have recently celebrated Pentecost and the fulfilment of Christ’s promise that we would receive the Holy Spirit.
My most recent Confirmation class just made their public profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. One project I always have them do is select Bible verses for life and write about them. This year, almost all of the chosen verses were about trusting in God rather than humans and putting our faith in Jesus Christ.
We may not have the powers of a superhero (either useful or useless!) but we are filled with a different kind of power – the power of the Holy Spirit. We also have the gift of God’s Word and the ongoing promise of God’s presence. And Jesus’ closing words at the end of Matthew’s Gospel are: “Remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” That’s powerful stuff!