Friday, August 2, 2013

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!


4 comments:

  1. LC ~
    I am really sorry to hear that about your Mom. I know she had not been in good health for some time, so she may have wanted the rest. But it's so hard for those loved ones that get left behind to carry on without them.

    I hope you're doing OK, Brother.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  2. Thanks Bro-

    Weird that she died nine months to the day after my Dad.

    As you know, I expected this call since she went into the nursing home back in 2007, and figured after my father passed it would not be long.

    It sounds like it was very peaceful-she was talking to another resident, then seemed to go to sleep.

    I wish I could have visited once more, but I guess you wish that no matter what.

    LC

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  3. Yeah, you know, even if you were living in the same city, you'd still be saying, "I wish I had gone to visit her yesterday", even if you'd gone to see her the previous ten days in a row.

    We will all leave eventually, but it sounds like your Mom left the way EVERYONE would like to go, if given the choice.

    I remember hearing that my paternal Grandfather was found slumped at the kitchen table, his cup of coffee in front of him. Another one who got to go in an easy manner. (And I guess his cup of coffee just wasn't strong enough to keep him awake any longer.)

    I liked your Sports Blog bit. There's never any way to leave a comment there, but I enjoyed the following sentence:

    "Grow your sorry-liberal-politically-correct-go-along-with-the-crowd-ignorant-sheep-asses up!"

    Ha!-Ha! If only you could find the courage to really express your deeper feelings.

    I can definitely relate to your frustration and disgust with our hyper-politically correct environment.

    If I were that Philadelphia Eagles football dude, I would have responded: "If the word Cracker isn't a racial slur - and Trayvon Martin's illiterate former gal-pal assures us it isn't - then my use of the word Nigger wasn't a racial slur either."

    What a twisted world we're living in, eh, Brother?

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  4. I still can't figure out that comment setting!

    I got back in tonight, but my brothers (in PA/NJ) were saying the same thing (wished they'd visited more).

    She never really got over losing my sister, and losing my father left her pretty lonely. Now she's with both of them.

    I feel really weird...although I knew they'd both be gone one day, I kind of thought they'd always be around.

    Back to the routine tomorrow...

    LC

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HOBBY OR ADDICTION?

HOBBY OR ADDICTION?