Saturday, November 9, 2013

119 & 120: The Siege of the North

Monk Gyatso:  A lot happens in these chapters that builds upon continuing themes of courage, hope, sacrifice and friendship; try and keep these in mind.

The lesson we learn from Princess Yue is about sacrificing yourself for your tribe and people.  She recognizes that in her position in the tribe, it is more important for her to uphold the traditions of the arranged marriage than only think of her self, in terms of liking Sokka.  Later she performs an even greater heroic sacrifice for her people, by sacrificing her life.   
We need to have willing hearts that can see past just what we want in the moment, for the greater good.

A lesson we learn from Aang is about facing your fears.  As a true hero, he deals with the frightening spirit Koh.  Determined to do what he can, he is full of courage.   
He also teaches us compassion and mercy as he stops to save Zuko.

General Zhao becomes so focused on victory at any cost, that he loses all reasonable thinking and respect for life and its balance.  He is willing to destroy anyone, or anything to win battles, having lost all perspective of what is important.  We have seen this in other stories, how too much focus in one area makes us imbalanced, and we can end up doing things we know we never should deep down.  

Living by laws, principles, values and commandments helps us to keep things in perspective.

No comments:

Post a Comment