Lent day 35: The nature of dragons

The boys love a book series called Wings of Fire that explores good vs evil in a complex web of relationships.  An interesting twist is that each book is written from the perspective of a different dragon so you can hear the thoughts and motivations behind different characters.  Sometimes re-covering parts of the plot as seen through different eyes. 

There is a dragon called Dark Stalker who has special powers of reading minds,  seeing the future and magic that basically gives him god-like powers. There is a warning that using powers like that can ruin your soul and turn you evil.  And,  of course,  Dark Stalker, becomes the super villan. But in the book, written from his perspective,  dark stalker is relatable, likeable and his decisions seem understandable. 

There is a unspoken question that the books raise.... is it possible to have infinite power and not be corrupted by it? It's the little everyday selfish nature in ourselves that tells us how we would handle power. How do we handle the power we already have - our intelligence,  our money, our influence? Do we use it for ourselves or do we give it away freely to help humanity? 

I don't think there are super villans lurking inside most of us.  But I think we are predisposed to put ourselves first and that with money and power we are tempted to benefit ourselves at the expense of others,  especially if the expense of others is conveniently hidden. How much do we destroy the earth or exploit the poor in our daily lives? Of course,  we don't overly do it,  we don't even see it. Some invisible evil corporations do it. Surely if we examine our decisions and actions where we know the outcome. Do we tell harmless lies? Do we compromise our ethics to make people like us or to make life more convenient? Not to hurt anyone of course,  just out off convenience. Is that where corruption begins? Does that nature inside us grow as power, influence and wealth increases?