Positive Psychology - Judaism -Mitch Albom
In the novel, "Have a Little Faith," Mitch Albom presents a true story about someone who had the fear for his Rabbi in his childhood, and began to fear faith itself into his adulthood. When he left his hometown, his childhood Rabbi asked him (Albom) to deliver his eulogy when he dies. The book talks on the meeting between Albom and Rabbi, and the interaction between Albom and Covington Henry, who abandoned his old life of drug dealing and became a priest.
The author portrays three different characters, which throughout the chapter layouts, the characters are seemingly proven similar, giving the theme of the story that everybody has a purpose and in that purpose, people are all connected. For instance, Rabbi talks about the importance of faith when he said that, faith is so powerful. He may not be remembered for years, but his belief and teachings will go on (Albom, p129). He said, the teachings came from his parents, and if stretched to his grandchildren, that is when we know that we are all connected (Albom, p129). For Rabbi, his faith kept him connected to God and people, both his ancestors and descendants (Albom, 2009).
[...] He describes the joy as allowing questions and doubts to open up faith in people. Having faith in the possibilities that life offers are in itself happiness, rather than hiding in isolation.People suffer from the challenges of life, and they hope to experience the happiness life has in store. Everybody too desires to have the assurance that they will have company in their struggles for happiness and that their lives have meaning. People wish for their place in the world to be significant, and their lives bring those rewards. [...]
[...] Alan Morris said in his book that a faith that is fully resolved is more like a dead faith since faith is constantly tested by the facts of life (Morinis, 2007). It is so to say that, human faith is constantly tested in the face of their suffering and weaver and questioning more becomes part and parcel for the spiritual journey.Mitch thought himself a non-believer, yet he was struggling with issues of faith. He considered sacred as an important dimension of human life. [...]
[...] Definition of Happiness in reading Faith brings joy in peoples' lives when they change their life for the better. For instance, Covington's life was dominated by addiction but through faith, he turns and now takes care of people who are in a similar condition he was at. He takes care of his shelter, works hard for his church and lives in a scanty existence of himself. Covington possesses the faith even when he says that he cannot work his way into heaven. [...]
[...] He recognizes the fact that his power of Jewish living will one- day light up someone's spirit to join him in the sacred journey of happiness. Conclusion The book clearly portrays a similar idea to the analyzed. For instance, the subject of positive psychology course is to pursue the history of humanity for well-being, happiness and real life. In the book, Albom tries to show how people try to seek towards actualization of their potentials to live happy lives. However, the book does not offer the puzzle of defining and actualizing the goals of happiness. The sole question that remains is what is happiness? [...]
[...] Rabbi on the other hand, in his entire life follows Jewish laws. He always wanted to be a Rabbi. These were opposite characters that initially appear to have a common ground with no similarity. Albom could not help but compare the two. Albom shows in his book that Judaism does not demand that people believe in God without doubt, but preaches the importance of doing admirable things. It also shows doing right alone does not mean we will get to heaven, but we should do so with a hope for reward. [...]
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