The Face of Hope and Courage - Essay Example

Full On Friendships The Chosen is a story of friendship that grew from enmity to a seemingly unshakeable relationship that was to be tested in the midst of religious conflicts. Danny Saunders is a Rabbi’s son who is being trained and educated to take his father’s place. Reuven Malter is a professor’s son whose opinions are completely contradictory to the ideas of the older Saunders. As two young kids living around the same neighborhood, Danny and Reuven form a friendship from a most unlikely manner. Reuven is hospitalized because Danny hit him with a ball while they were playing baseball. The latter visits him. Although initially, the two boys disliked each other, Danny was determined to be forgiven of his deliberate mistake. He offers to help Reuven with his studies and the two start a friendship like no other. Reuven was accepted into the Jewish family as if he was their own. However, with Reuven’s father’s fight for the Jewish state, their friendship was marred. Danny’s father demanded him to stop speaking with his friend which he did for more than a year. Confused and hurt, Reuven also stands by his father to fight for the Jewish state. After the proclamation of Israel as an independent state, Danny again approaches Reuven and the latter accepts him back. Knowing that there is no stopping Danny from pursuing his studies, his father calls the two young men and explains why he raised Danny the way he did. Their relationship changes and they become more open to each other. The strong bond that was formed between Danny and Reuven is quite moving. Seldom in times of trial do we find relationships that have such strong foundations, not to mention the start of their relationships. They connected with each other as they found they are not so different after all despite their religious inclinations and beliefs. However, they have hurt each other as well especially at a time when they most needed each other. Their families contributed to such separation. Danny, because he is the son of a Rabbi, had to obey his father’s wishes whose word was powerful in the eyes of his followers. He was not going to be the first insubordinate follower in his father’s house. He chose to support his father despite his personal beliefs, abandoning his best friend. Reuven on the other hand suffered loneliness. He was an only child and his father was always busy with his work. He tried to support him by doing what he thought would help his father’s dreams come true. He stood alone, taking care of his father when he suffered a stroke. When Danny went back to his friend, he still accepted him despite the hurt he felt. Reuven’s story is an account of forgiveness and understanding. It is perhaps enormously injurious for someone to abandon a friendship only because of religious beliefs. Between Reuven and Danny, the former showed more pain in their separation. Reuven wept bitterly for their broken relationship, sending unspoken messages to his friend by passing by the same route they have taken before and standing by to see Danny pass. Reuven is a sensible, good and faithful friend, a gem that is rare. His friendship with Danny is also rare and such is a gem that should be most desired in this time and age. The Face of Hope and Courage Dorothy Day is called the America’s Mother Theresa because of her efforts to help the less fortunate. In the movie entitled Entertaining Angels, the protagonist starts as an activist and journalist. The woman is strong-willed and independent minded. As a journalist, she has witnessed a lot of struggles among the poor while politicians seem not to care about the very people who placed them in their pedestals. Burdened by her personal struggles after an abortion and giving birth out of wedlock, Day finds her way back to the faith that was instilled in her childhood. Eventually, she dedicates her life to Roman Catholicism and its doctrines, becoming an agent of charitable works. Trying to make amends for the mistakes she committed in her life, Day uses her position, abilities and capabilities to fight for the hopeless and helpless until her death. It is said that experience is the best teacher. For Dorothy Day, her earlier experience as a journalist who witnessed the several injustices made her doubt the faith she was raised in. However, when she personally experienced such injustices, she had a change of perception and attitude which finally changed her whole life. First, Day had an abortion. That made her feel really bad she perhaps never felt the impact of her actions until she finally felt lost and alone. After her abortion, she was still open for yet another relationship which gave her a child out of wedlock. Her boyfriend left Day and her child even though she pleaded with her him for some commitment. Loaded with her own cares, Day seeks God and His purpose for her. She converts to Roman Catholicism and becomes dedicated to her religion. As a woman who aborted her first baby, Dorothy comes to a point in her life where she feels she owes the world something. She committed a great sin and discovers that helping the poor actually makes her feel good about herself. She continues to fight for the rights of the poor as an activist but more importantly, Day volunteers herself to serving the people in the lowest rung of society. Her decision became her self-imposed penitence for the sins she committed. She even rid herself of the vanities of life. She practically lived like the poor people she was helping similar to how mother Theresa got rid of the comforts of life. Day experienced the difficulties of the poor and she knows just what poverty means. She did not simply talk about it but she helped alleviate the difficulties. One particular influence in Day’s life is Peter Maurin, a revolutionary Christian who tutored the woman. Maurin encourages Day to her plans into action. She shows her how she is supposed to bring to completion what a real Christian should do. Consequently, Day starts literally feeding the hungry and giving clothing to the naked. She continues her active participation both in her religion and community. She stood up for the weak and spoke for the voiceless even if it meant that her life was at stake. Her actions completed her and she finally came to terms with herself, knowing that it was her God-given task to do all such difficult work she has committed herself into. Consequently, she changed the lives of other people and her community. She became a symbol of courage and the face of hope during extreme social and political struggles. The Making of a Better Man Le Grande Voyage is a film that narrates the trip of a father and son from France to Mecca. Due to the father’s religious beliefs, they had to travel by car as it seemed to him the most appropriate and sensible mode of transportation considering the distance. Unwillingly, the young man, Reda, accompanies his father during the long drive. Unknowingly, the two travel together to the journey of their life. They eventually learn from each other the values of life, family and religion. The father dies while performing his religious obligations and Reda learns to respect and love his father. He leaves Saudi alone but as a changed man who has now seen a life beyond the comforts of his home in France. Reda strongly opposed the idea of driving his father to Mecca. However, as Muslims, he was taught to obey his father. Along the way, Reda asks his father why he did not take the plane which was more practical in many aspects. The father then shares his religious beliefs and the two men start understanding each other. As any traveller would experience though, Reda and his father met so many problems. First, they got lost along the way and they fought about the single-mindedness of the old man who demanded his son’s obedience. Unable to speak English, his father was not able to communicate with the people they met. Reda on the other hand did not understand the Arabic language and this made their dilemma even worse. Somehow, Reda managed to submit to his father’s wishes. His father in turn learned to trust and understand his son. When they were entering Turkey, the guards claimed there was a problem with their passports. A man helped them and they were able to enter the country with the stranger. Eventually, he joins the two travellers in their journey but separates with them when the older man misplaces his money and accuses the stranger of stealing it. This became an issue between the father and son once again with the old man being angry at his son for being so trusting. With their money gone, food has become a problem. When the father gives alms to a widow, Reda gets angry and they fight again. In rebellion, Reda leaves his father in the car and climbs the hill with his pack. The father finally says he will release his son of his duties once they reach Damascus and sell the car and Reda softens toward his father. There have been so many things the young man did not understand about his father but in the end, he learns to value his father’s good deeds as they somehow are helped by strangers. As they were nearing Mecca, fellow pilgrims helped them and welcomed them like long-time acquaintances. Reda witnesses the respect his father gets from his long and courageous travel. He observes how devoted his father is to the religion he professes. This makes him honor his father’s unwavering faith. As he leaves his father to perform his pilgrimage, Reda eventually loses him in the crowd. People find him and bring him to his father’s cadaver. He deeply grieved for his father whom he finally learned to love. Reda paid his last respect to his father before selling his car and headed home. As he leaves, Reda shows the legacy his father left him, giving alms to a beggar. He goes back to France as a changed man. Read More