This I Believe… 8-28-09
Many of the Essays were based on these common traits:
Faith in People, Faith in God, the Meaning of Life, Personal Experience, etc.
The Faith in People dealt with several of the essays such as In Giving I Connect With Others with the death of the author’s daughter, Isabel Allende learned that she needed to stop closing out the world and start to have Faith in People because in reality closing out people hurts you the most when you are hurting. Another essay that demonstrated Faith in People was in The Art of Being a Neighbor in which author Eve Birch, became homeless and started living in a shack, being out of her realm she was surprised when her neighbors started to come around and give her supplies and advice, because of this personal experience she learned to have Faith in People.
The Faith in God dealt with the essays such as Free Minds and Hearts at Work. Jackie Robinson’s struggle with being accepted in the sport of baseball as a colored man dealt with not only the Faith in People, but also the Faith in God. Robinson fought the fight of getting acceptance because he knew that it wasn’t a losing battle, therefore he trusted in God to “[sustain him] in the fight.” Also in the essay This I Believe, by Stanley Allyn, he discovered that faith asks for no proof and that there must be a supreme being.
Several of the essays also dealt with finding The Meaning of Life. In the essay Science Nourishes the Mind and the Soul Brian Greene illustrates his struggle finding his place in the science world. His view however changed significantly after he reached an epiphany that science doesn’t really address the meaning of life and that he should appreciate life for what it is. Also in the essay The Light of a Brighter Day, Hellen Keller depicts that life is basically what you make of it and the with faith there is no fear, so her basic mantra was to live life to the fullest.
In the realm of Personal Experiences, all of the essays were written based on this. From In Giving I Connect With Others a personal story of the loss of a child to The Art of Being a Neighbor a story of homelessness and then banding together with others in an attempt to become rich in other forms than in money. These essays were all based on personal experiences and personal struggles.
I believe that a This I Believe essay is created to form beliefs and to elaborate on beliefs. Many concepts from faith in God to personal struggles, permeate through these essays. These essays aren’t written to force a person to believe differently, but to perhaps think differently and to see the possibilites that are all around them. This I Believe is very interesting because it gives us insight on others and forces us to open our minds and see from a different perspective, while forming our own beliefs. In the formation of our own beliefs we continue to grow as a person so these essays are beneficial to our own personal growth. From Personal Experiences to having Faith, This I Believe covers many realms, but it reaches one goal in the end: finding yourself.