The Power and the Glory

6/2/2011:

Authors note: Our group came up with a scenario with the help of Mr. Johnson which is pasted below. All we had to do was answer it.  It was meant to show how our convictions show in our choices just as the whiskey priest's choices are made through his convictions.  Though it is not always easy to choose the path that follows our beliefs, the strength in the choice comes through the strength in the belief of the choice.

You are sitting in Language Arts class, and the lock down drill goes off. You know this is not a practice. Before anyone could close the door, a creep comes in your classroom. He walks up to you, and holds you at gunpoint. He tells you that if you choose one classmate in the room to be shot and killed, he will spare you and the rest. If you don't tell him to kill anyone, he will kill you and the rest.  


I am sitting quietly in a room -- it's so quiet and calm. A few other students smile and laugh and they don't see the door sneak open. They can't see a man creep inside with his hand hidden in his jacket. Ignorant and joyful, they turn back towards their laptops when he catches their eye. I've been watching him this entire time as he looks around the room and slowly takes his hand from his jacket. What I thought may have been a book or package ends up being a deadly weapon on destruction. Turning towards me or puts the gun right against my head.

"Choose one student to die right now or I will shoot you and everybody in the room," his menacing voice echoes in the silent room.

What should I do? Do I condemn one of my fellow classmates to a horrendous death or do I condemn our class to a death by a serial killer? Looking around the room nobody dares make eye contact with me in case I were to take it the wrong way. I can see pain in those who finally dare to look at me and fear that I may remember any wrong they did to me. I have complete control over who in this room can die; I have power.

Finally, I cannot bring myself to look at my classmates whom I've shared many years of my life with. Even if I didn’t know one person as well, would my life be different without their presence there? I don't think I could live with the guilt that I was the deciding factor to end someone's life. There is no way of knowing if they would bring world peace or end the war in Iraq.

Slowly I turn to face the serial killer who gave me this power. I know now that I can't kill somebody. It's wrong to me to take somebody's life when they couldn't have such potential in life.

"No," I mutter shaking my head. "I will not condemn any one person in this room to death."

The killer's face turns grim and then nothing.




5/21/2011:
Authors note:  In life everybody has a role they play just as William Shakespeare said that "The whole world is a stage.".  When somebody dies, there is a role that if left open and this is where an understudy comes in.  When the whiskey priest is killed, his role is taken up by another priest in order to keep life moving forward.

Gray and wrinkled with age
yet knowledge radiates forth
of pain of love
and a life where what was right
was not easy.

He speaks not a word
yet smiles yellow teeth
a long bony hand beckons
and looking around
I see that it is me he wants.

He still is quite silent
and his eyes seem to fade
his shoes worn and old
as if torn from his past
and all of life

As I sit there I hear a whisper
of a life with such pain
and a time when joy was rare
for delicacy was a game
played by rich and power

This old man here beside me
whose eyes seem to fade
and shoes are worn out
with teeth old and yellow
and skin wrinkled gray

As he sinks into silence
and I watch while I cry
a role not useless or small
was lost on this day
with myself as a witness

I slip on his shoes
his jacket and hat
and I walk down the street
as a new role
in this play called life




















5/15/2011:
Authors note:  This is a response to the how the priest in the Power and the Glory often says that he is a bad priest compared to all others but yet he still takes his responsibilities as a priest very seriously.  The priest went to help a sinful, dying man even though he knew it was a trap that would most likely get him killed.

Now my souls is deeply troubled.  Should I pray, "Father save me from this hour"?
But this is the very reason I came!  Father, bring glory to your name. ~ John 12:27-28

The whiskey priest often states how horrible of a priest he is.  It is repeated that he is not worthy of the forgiveness of God and is not worthy of being a servant of God.  Yet when called upon, this priest chooses the path of God no matter the struggles that will follow.  The verse above is from when Jesus is speaking to the Greeks on Palm Sunday.  Though Jesus was the son of God, he was also a human.  When he predicts his death, the feeling that is there is one only humans face.  Fear.

The event in which the priest is asked to go save a life by his betrayer is similar to the event in which Judas betrayed Jesus for wealth.  Though he knows of the events that are to occur because of his actions, the priest goes to help a sinner on his deathbed by the will of God knowing he could die.  Representing Judas, the mestizo made an mistake that may cost the priest his life.

It is natural for humans to make mistakes.  Whether as strong and loving as Jesus or as common as everyone else, we make some mistakes that have consequences larger than we would expect.  Though we may try to repent our sin just as Judas attempted to give the money he got from betraying Jesus to the church, all that is possible for repenting this sin is forgiveness.  And to those who have had these mistakes done unto them, all that is left is to be strong.










5/10/2011:
Authors note:  This post is about how we need forgiveness as humans and how we should forgive Osama Bin Laden for what he did to our country.  I know that people may disagree with this at first, but after reading this I hope they at least understand my point.

Ten years ago a horrible tragedy struck our nation; Osama Bin Laden's well though out plan destroyed the Twin Towers killing thousands.  It was war.  Since then America has been fighting a gruesome war with the Al Qaeda terrorist group for revenge.  Whoever first started this tension before the 9/11 attack is not important.  The fact is that the Bible often points out one thing; forgiveness is essential if we are to live together.  If the world fought like this for every international incidence, would we even be able to survive?  Everybody may live in different countries with different cultures and beliefs, but if you really look at who we are as humans, there is no difference.  The reason our folk tales from years before communication around the world are similar is because we are all human.  Just as the novel The Power and the Glory's main character needs to know that because he is human and makes mistakes he is forgiven, we all need to know that we are going to be forgiven for all wrong we do. So as these humans who pride themselves in their forgiving hearts celebrate the death of a fellow human, we must ask where is the forgiveness?  Love conquers all, so why shouldn't forgiveness be just as strong?   As American's who lived through 9/11, we may not like Osama Bin Laden, but the least we can do if forgive him for all he has done wrong to our country and others.

 




 5/5/2011:
Authors note:  This poem represents that with each mistake we make or pain we cause another, there is a chance of forgiveness and renewal with them for any other mistakes we have made. 

It was a spring of beauty and glory

Blooms beginning on various trees

The world was in peace with all for now

Our hate, our pain would forever cease

Those blue cloudless skies of hope and joy

Would soon fade into another

Of dark clouds covering the sun

No hate, no pain would ever cease

My heart, my love, was broken then

All trust seemed out of reach

With a look in the eyes of another

My pain, my hate would never cease

Yet with all the rain and sadness brought

A rainbow is destined to finally come

It's colors of hope and cheer for all

But pain and hate will come again

And when it does finally come

I promise forgiveness

Renewal

And hope

Will prevail in the end

5/3/2011:
Authors note:  This response was written to the fact of how our choices affect our later life.

 

In life everybody has a choice; a choice to do what is right or to do what is wrong.  Whether the laws or a country are strict or whether they allow the citizens a loose chain of freedom, we are responsible to choose.  For those who choose the easy path of life and want to follow that which is simple, that is how life remains.  For the ambitious others who goal in life is to do the right thing, there is difficulty ahead.  Though we choose the right path we are not rewarded with relaxation but we are challenged with another choice.  This could be compared to the MAPS testing we take in school.  If one question is answered correctly the next question gets harder and as the more questions are answered correctly the harder it gets. This is life.  In the novel The Power and the Glory the whiskey priest chooses to stay true to his faith and God by not marrying.  As he continues to hide from those who seek his death, the harder he tries to do what is right the harder his life gets.  Life may get harder and harder not because of our wrong choices but maybe it gets harder because of those choices we choose correctly.

4/28/2011:
Authors note:  This post is about how mistakes are a chance for us to be forgiven and are a test for us to take responsibility for our actions.

As children grow up and become adults there is a common word said that is meant to prepare them for life -- responsibility.  Being an adult, it is expected that they handle life with responsibility. They are supposed to take responsibility for their mistakes but realize that life goes on.  In the novel, The Power and the Glory the main character is known for often for his mistakes.  He once baptized a boy Briggita instead of Pedro.  Another priest marries a woman against a vow he made to save his life.  Both priests made mistakes that can be forgiven by God, yet only the drunk priest is wise enough to realize that he made a mistake.  These mistakes are chances for forgiveness and realization.  They are a chance to be forgiven by the one who was wronged or hurt.  It is a chance for realization of what can be improved and also how responsibility of the actions are handled.  Without mistakes forgiveness would not be necessary and responsibility would be rare.

 


4/27/2011:
Authors note: This poem is based on the fact that the main character in the novel The Power and the Glory has no name. I wrote the poem in french to symbolize that losing a familiar language is like losing part of who we are -- just like losing our name is like losing ourselves.

Link to voicethread

Je n'ai pa une nom
Je ne suis pas
Je a perdu moi-meme
Quand Communisme veni

Je ne suis pas qui je suis
Mon nom est a été
Mon ame avec mon nom
Je suis le Inconnu

Deces ne suis pas mon peur
Pour mon amor avec Dieu
Une singular en une mille
Je suis le Inconnu

Le dernier ils parlent
Le singular sacr'e on
Mourirais avec n'espére pas
N'espére pas ou amor



Translation:


I do not have a name
I am not
I lost myself
When Communism came

I am not who I am
My name is gone
My soul with my name
I am the stranger

Death is not my fear
For my love with God
A single in a thousand
I am the stranger

The last they say
The single sacred one
Will die with no hope
No hope or love