The Way

I first expected The Way to be a boring movie about a man walking a religious path, almost like a documentary. What I learned instead from Tom and his companions is that everyone has a story. Each of the people he walked with seemed annoying or rude before he really got to know them and learned the reason that they were walking on the Camino. Tom's self discovery along the way taught a lesson to me as I watched the movie that everyone can have a second chance to write wrongs no matter what age he or she might be. Tom honored his son and finally understood the reasons he had for choosing to drop out of school, travel, and walk the way. The pilgrimage itself was inspiring because each of the characters had time to change and think as they walked the long journey. Another purpose of the camino was to solve a problem or reach a goal. Each of the characters set out to achieve one thing, but realized the true reason for walking the camino only when they reached the end. Sarah first started the walk in order to quit smoking, but once she reached the end she realized that it was about regaining respect and love for herself and learning to be brave after getting out of a relationship with an abusive husband. She was an introvert and standoffish at the beginning, but by the end learned to open up to her companions. The Way taught an important lesson of self discovery, and the camino was an extremely successful way of doing it.

IVF

After viewing the dateline special and reading the article on IVF, I have begun to be able to construct an informed opinion. The Church believes that every embryo is a person from the moment of conception. Therefore, the creating of embryos and freezing them is immoral because not all of the embryos will survive, result in successful pregnancies, or be used. After watching and hearing the stories of these people who were unable to create life, I began to realize some of the pros that this procedure may have on families. Not everyone is able to successfully fertilize but want to be able to have children. My opinion is formed based off the morality of the Church's teachings but also my personal beliefs. It is wrong to kill off the innocent embryos but IVF can also provide a family with a miracle. The financial cost of the procedure makes me question if it is fair. Poorer families do not have the option for IVF because of the extensive costs. The procedure is only available to the rich which makes it less moral than it would be if it was more affordable and available. The process of IVF can be seen as a miracle for families in need but also a process that destroys thousands of embryos that will never get the chance at life. The Church might need to adopt a more modern view on the procedure but also keep in mind the protection needed for the embryos that will not be as fortunate as those that are successfully fertilized.

The word of the year is...

The author of the article "The Word is Love" gave a deeper meaning to such a common word. She described it as a love from God that is more powerful than any romantic or friendly love. This kind of love is both sacrifice and happiness at the same time. She found strength within God during her illness and found the power to overcome her pain and suffering. God and the people that surrounded her during her time of need showered her with immense love to remind her that she was cared for. Her reasoning for making love the word of the year give such a common and overused term a deeper meaning while giving it power and purpose.

In my opinion, my word of the year is "change." As the new year school year started, I was faced with immense change. I felt older and began to make decisions for myself. Starting the school year as a senior faced me with the reality of the college process. I filled out applications upon applications and still find myself racing to meet final college deadlines before the month is over. I know that next year my life will be completely different and I can already feel the change in my life start to occur. As I grow older and start to mature, change is the primary word in my vocabulary.

Zen Pencils

This J.K. Rowling quote about the benefits of failure really spoke to me when I read it, especially after all of the recent stress about college decisions has begun to be the complete focus of everyone. Rowling said "it is impossible to live without failing at something."I believe this is true. I might not get into my top college or even my second choice, but that does not mean that I will not eventually succeed. I know that whatever path God chooses for me, it will be the one that I was meant to take. Instead of being stressed and letting college take over my entire life while I am still supposed to be enjoying my senior year of high school, I will let whatever happens happen, and be grateful for it.

He's Just Not That Into You...

Anna and Ben

Anna and Ben have a relationship that is completely against the teachings of the Catholic Church. Ben is a married man and is cheating on his wife with Anna. Anna is not in a committed relationship, but is participating in premarital sex. Although she loves Ben and believes that he is prepared to leave his wife for her, she is still not making a good decision. The relationship between the two is a prime example of what not to do. It is the complete opposite of the anything our textbook claims is good. People make mistakes, and both Anna and Ben learn from them in the end. Ben realizes that he is a terrible person after his wife kicks him out of the house and he is forced to live on his own. He did not realize how good his life was and how much he took it for granted until it was too late. Anna realized what she was doing was wrong on her own. After witnessing an interaction between Ben and his wife, she realized that the relationship she had with Ben was wrong and a huge mistake. She ended it with him and instead began to focus on her singing career. She realized that her life should not be dependent on men.

Gigi

Gigi is a character that is relatable to when we learned about soulmates and the so-called "perfect match" in our textbook. Gigi is a die hard romantic and is obsessed with finding someone that is right for her. She often throws herself at men she likes or completely ruins her chances with them by doing something embarrassing. Although Gigi tries hard to find her perfect match, she finds him in the most unexpected way. She has many rules about dating and claims to see signs. She ends up being in love with a man, Alex, who was originally her friend. She did not see the relationship coming at first and when she fell for him she ruined her chances. Alex fell in love with Gigi for the crazy person that she was, proving that sometimes people truly can have a perfect match, even if they find them in the most unexpected places.


Beth and Neil

Beth and Neil are in love and have been living together but are not married. According to the Catholic Church and its' teachings, in order to live together and be involved in a sexual relationship, the couple should be married. Neil is afraid to commit to marriage and goes against the proper teachings. In the end, they decide to get married. It takes Neil a while to realize that he should marry Beth because he did not realize that he had the perfect relationship. It took Beth breaking up with him to realize that he should take the chance to marry her because true love like that does not come around often.

Snow Day!

From the beginning of the TED talk, I was reminded of the beauty of nature in all aspects of my life. The close up slo-motion images of plants growing and blowing in the wind made me remember what a phenomenon the gift of life is. What really stuck with me was when Louie talked about how people usually respond "Oh My God" to his pieces. The way he split up the phrase and gave each word an individual meaning really spoke to me. He said that "Oh" means that it caught the viewer's attention and made them mindful. The "My" connects with something deep inside the soul and inner voice, and the "God" is about the personal journey to be inspired and feel connected we all go on. He really put his wonder about time to work to make something beautiful. The three meanings inside this one phrase really summed up the beauty of nature and the places it can take us. 

When the little blonde girl in the second clip of the talk said that we can develop more imagination by exploring. Sometimes in the hectic days we face, we are caught up in the hustle and bustle and never take the time to explore. Nature is all around us no matter what season, and a different type of beauty can always be found when we take the time to find it. Each day is an opportunity that we can either seize as a gift or ignore. I am going to begin to be grateful for each day in order to appreciate the beauty of nature and the awesomeness of everything around me. I need to treat each day as my last appreciating what I have, because I never know when it could all be taken away from me. 

A New Vision for the Church

There are many mixed reviews in response to the Pope's "Evangelii Gaudium" or "The Joy of the Gospel". Many, including myself, agree that this new change is necessary in the Church with the standards of our society rapidly changing every day. A lot of the Church's teachings are outdated and often do not apply to the society in which we live. In this document, the Pope explored many new ideas such as including women more in the Church so that they can become more involved even though they may not become priests. The change that the Pope is offering is expected to be received as joyful and expects everyone to be open to it, as it is clear that this is what the Church needs. These new teachings are hope-filled and should be embraced.

A main point in the document is the discussion of the option for the poor and vulnerable. He states that the poor must not be forgotten, and that everyone deserves a chance. God has a special place for the poor in his heart, so we must also have a place for them. In "Evangelii Gaudium", the Pope does not expect everyone to immediately be open to all of its ideas, but to be willing to try to accept them. The Pope also encourages everyone to be ethical with their spending. In regards to the chaos of Black Friday and our extensive money spending during the holiday season, the Pope calls upon us to remember the poor and give back to them during the holidays. God loved the poor and we must also. Forgetting about them is not what our beliefs are about. We must practice solidarity and give back to them in order to enact these new teachings. We must not only enact these new teachings, but work to end the overall cycle of poverty. By doing this, we will have a deeper relationship with God that is strengthened by our personal experience.