Monk Gyatso: The first lesson in this chapter is that we should not hide
our talents. Katara is correct in her
view that bending is a special talent and should not be hidden. The boy does the right thing in using his
bending to help another: we should be willing to use our talents to bless
others, even when we are afraid of what it might bring. We must be brave in helping others and
choosing the right.
The second and most powerful lesson here is concerning the
power of hope. Katara realizes that the
prisoners are captives of their own lack of hope as much as of the fire nation. They have lost hope, and so they refuse to
take action and even try to escape. It
takes her standing up, and showing her faith and hope, which even puts herself
in danger to get them to start acting.
That is the great victory here: restoring to these people their hope in
their struggles. The three things
mentioned in the scriptures that are absolutely necessary are faith, hope, and
charity. We see here how powerless a
person becomes without hope, and how it can change everything in a situation.
One goal of the adversary is to make us lose hope: he tells
us that we cannot resist temptation, that we are not worth God’s love, and he
seeks to discourage us from trying with all our might to keep the commandments
(by removing our courage, hope and bravery).
We need to NOT listen to these voices, and find things in our lives that
help us to be hopeful and brave in continuing to do our best even when we make
mistakes or face difficult obstacles.
And we need to be good friends in encouraging others, strengthening
their faith and courage, and building them up.
If you are ever feeling already defeated, watch this chapter
and take courage!
Pirate Capn (boy 8): We should never ever give up!
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