Journal#2:Religion15Name:HeidiNwosu

Date:September,29th2015

1.Whatdoesitmeantotreateachpersonwithdignity?Explainwhy,fromaChristianperspective,whythis
isimportanttodo.

Dignity is a hard word to describe, it is word used in many different contexts and
situations. In myopinion dignitymeansthequalityorstateofbeingworthyofesteemor
respect. Dignity is our inherent value and worth as a human being. Everyone is born
with dignityand selfworth.Whereasdignitymightbehardtodefine,whatisclearisthat
people know whentheyhavenotbetreatedwithdignityand/or respect.Whenyoutreat
apersonwithdignityyoutreatthemwithrespectandselfworthaspreviouslymentioned
above, you realize the situation at hand and treat them accordingly. From a christian
perspective treating a person with dignity is very important because itshows thatyou
have respect for that certain person. While Christwas walking thestreetsof the earth
he treated each and every person with dignitynomatterthe situation, the time, or the
place he was at. If we treat people with dignity we are demonstrating Christ like
behaviour in our lives. For example, in the short film The Butterfly Circus , Will the
maincharacter wasbornwithoutanylimbsduetothefactthathismothertookthedrug,
Thalidomide, to cure her morning sickness. Throughout the film people treated him
badly and without respect. This treatment caused himself to think that he was worth
nothing.Itshowedthroughhisactionsandbehaviourthroughoutthefilm.Theringleader
of the Butterfly circus met him and immediately saw potential within him thathedidn't
seewithinhimself.Eventually, Willstartedto spendtimewiththepeopleatthebutterfly
circus and saw how happy they were with their lives, and felt pity for himself. The
ringleader came told him the background stories of eachof the people atthe butterfly
circusand explained to him thatthey all came broken andstartedto rebuild their lives.
He showed the potential in each of them and they believed him, and began to feel
happyand whole onceagain. Willrealizedthepotentialwithinhimself after hefellintoa
river andwas able tosavehimselfwithoutanyhelpfromhisfellowperformers.Hiseyes
opened up andherealizedthathecoulddoanythingwewantstodowithdetermination
and he performed atthe butterflycircusthe very next day.Treating people withdignity
helps them to feel whole and wanted and I think that as christians we should treat
peopleinthatexactway.

2.Whatdeterminesoraffectsourselfworth?

The dictionary defines selfworth as

the sense of ones value or worth as a person.
The way we perceive ourselves depends widely on our surroundings and current
influences.
Todays culturesends a lot ofmixedsignalsthatcaneasilydistortourviews
about whatmakes usaworthwhile person.Confidencein our ownabilities ultimatelyis
the deciding factor when it comes to perceiving our self worth. Influences around us
affects our selfworth greatly. We worry about what other people think about us and
tend to feel that their right.Weallappreciate whenourpeersapproveofus,evenifwe
haveastrong senseofselfworth.Itishumannaturetowanttheapprovalofothers,but
it should not be the standard bywhich we gauge ourownselfworth.The basisof our
selfworth should be from our own personal validation. Whatalsodetermines or affect
our self worth isbytheamountofmaterialthingsthatweownorpossess.Wethinkthat
we areworthmore becausewehaveexpensivepossessions,butthatisnotthecaseat
all. Making personal judgements basedon theamountofmaterialassetsyouownisfor
shallow thinkers.Anotherthingthataffectsordeterminesourselfworthistheamountof
accomplishments we might have achieved. We believe that we should be the best at
everything, the reality is that life is about learning what works and what doesn't.
Throughoutthe process oflearning,successandfailureareatofequalvalueaslongas
we learn from them. In conclusion, weshould onlyworry aboutwhatwethinkandmore
importantly what God thinks of us. God made us, and he doesn't not make any
mistakes. If God says that you are perfect, then you are perfect in his eyes. We are
individualpeopleandweshouldbeproudofthat.

3.Reflectonthisquote,"Thegreaterthestruggle,themoregloriousthe triumph".(Doyouagree? Whatdoes

thismean?Canpeoplewithoutstrugglestillachievegreattriumph?Giveexamplesofeither)

This quote wassaidbyNick

Vujicic,amanwhowasbornwithoutanylimbs.Hewasthe
man who played,Will,inTheButterflyCircusfilm.HesaidThegreaterthestruggle,the
more glorious the triumph. I greatly agree with this quote because in order for us to
appreciate our successwe mustgothroughsome struggleto come outon top.
James
1:25,teaches usto lookatthe positive sideof trials, tosee themasawaytoteachus
lessons about life. Trails makes us stronger,anditbuildsourcharacter.Sometimesour
faith istested throughourtrialsand struggles andwe are forcedtoquestionourselves.
James 1:4 says, Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything. It means that we should persevere through our
struggles and allow it to work through us a person.Itshouldmakeusabetter person.
James 1:12 says, love him
Blessed istheone whoperseveres underthe trail, having
stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the lord has promised to

those who lovehim

. ,God will blessthosewho preserve throughtheirtrailand reward
them for not giving up, going through trials in life will always come up, but the key is
knowinghowtodealwiththem.

To avoid trails is to avoid living the more you go through the more you learn.
MatshonaDhliwayo

4.What doyou think God/Elimeanswhenhe says, You arespecialbecauseImade you andIdontmake

mistakes.?Howdoesthisstatementringtrueinyourlife?

What God/Eli means when he says that we are special, means that hesculpted us in
his ownimage,hemadeusknowingthekindoflifethatwewouldbeliving.Goddoesn't
make mistakes he is the almighty father, the beginning and the end, the alpha and
omegaof our faith. Heunderstandseverything that wearegoingthroughandhewants
us to know that he isalwaysthere forus. This statement rings truein mylife because
there are times when I don't feel special due to the lack of my abilities, I feel that I
should accommodateeveryone's opinionsaboutmyselfandtrytoformmyselfbasedon
what everybody is saying about me. I realized that the only opinion that matters is
Gods. That's what Punchinellorealizedwhen Elitoldhim that the dotsand stars don't
define who you are as a person and an individual. Eli told him that what the other
Wemmicks think don't matter, hetoldhim that the Wemmicks arejustlikehim.Elithen
went ahead and explained that you don't needto havefancy talents just to be special,
he said you are special because you're mine, that's why you matter to me. Eli
representsGodin thestory,whenheisspeakingtoPunchinello,heisspeakingtoallof
usin generalandgivingisavaluablemessage,thatIthinkweshouldallfollow.Another
story where this is an example isin the storyTheButterfly Circus ,Will believed that
he wasn't special because he didn't look like others, but I think that God showed him
that the fact he looks different can allow himto show thespecial talentsthat Godhas
blessed him with.He couldswim andwalkon hisowninthefilm,withoutanyarmsand
legs and I think that is amazing. The final conclusion to his question is that we are
individually
A rarespecies,notastereotypeIvanE.Coyote
,andthatGodloveseach
ofusthewayweare.

Each of us is a unique strand in the intricate web of life, and are here to make a
contributionDeepakChopra

GreatworkHeidi!!10/10