THE SADDEST THING IN LIFE PART NINE

All you need to learn in life you can learn from watching "A Bronx Tale."

Okay, maybe that is a bit of a stretch.

I know this is a music blog, but on a couple of occasions (HERE and HERE), I have participated in blogfests listing my favorite movies.

One movie that always makes the cut is 1993’s A Bronx Tale, starring Robert DeNiro in his directorial debut and featuring/written by Chazz Palminteri.

This excellent film opens with the sounds of romance in the Bronx (“Marie! Get in the f*&king car!”). There are a few violent scenes, but mostly the story is about a boy who is drawn to the local gangster against the wishes of his bus-driver father.

I also love the film because of all the important life lessons contained within. You may think I say this in jest, but all you need to know in life, you can learn from watching this film.

And I am going to prove it.

Today continues my series of posts describing the valuable  lessons contained in the film.

“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that you make will shape your life forever.”


Lesson 9: Forgiveness


After witnessing Sonny killing a man, young Colagero goes to church to confess his sins.

"It was great to be Catholic and go to confession. You could start over every week."

Christians will tell you Jesus died for our sins. I've never fully gotten that concept. But I do believe that  He forgives us our sins.

Christians who are not Catholic have often pointed out to me that there is no requirement in the Bible to go to a priest and have him absolve you of your sins. I won't argue that point.

Many people have a hard time getting past things, and the Catholic church recognized that early on. Hence the sacrament of penance. Much cheaper than going to a therapist, as long as your knees can stand it.

People often have a hard time forgiving others, and both are important.

You cannot change what you have done. You cannot change what others have done.

All you can do is move on and try to learn from your mistakes.

People do not usually change, either. All you can do is accept them for what they are and if you need to move on from there, do so.

Forgiveness of self and others is a powerful thing.

God forgives you.

Take a page from His Book and forgive yourself and others.

I apologize for the appearance of the text. I have tried starting this post from scratch five times with the same result (white text highlight appears without me selecting it).

Only one more post in this series and I get to lay off blogging for a bit-this formatting crap frustrates the you-know-what out of me.

And speaking of truly sad things in life, my mother passed away last evening. We're going to miss you, Mom!