snowboy’s

What makes you change? How much are you willing to change? Is popularity one of influential for you to change yourself, in terms of clothing, behavior, words, etc? For Hancock, popularity is one of the reasons he decided to change his behavior.

From an ignorant superhero with a bottle of alcohol in his hand each time he is in action to a typical American superhero with tight suits, John Hancock has surely changed. Realizing his ‘angel’ wife is as vulnerable (read: immortal) as he is when they are close to one another, he decided to act unselfishly, leaving her and her ‘human’ husband happy with their children. His landing act does not destroy the land where he lands anymore, and he pays more respect to the police officers, though he said “Good job!” to often. I am not discussing the movie; my friend has written a review on Hancock.

Let us see the reason why he changed. It was first triggered by the society’s insult when he saved Ray Embrey (is it Embrey?) from car accident. Story goes on, the two decided to work together, changing Hancock’s image in the society. They started by letting Hancock in the jail. During the whole process, Hancock learned things. When the time comes, he was summoned again by the police chief, and did his first post-jail heroic scene in a ‘good’ manner. He changed into a superhero loved by the people of Los Angeles.

If Hancock is willing to change for that reason, what about us? Should we take a turn in our lives, what would the reason be? If we take a look at the Gospel, we might find a quite-different character from Hancock, named Jesus. He was born to a carpenter family in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth. As He goes around spreading the words of God, people got to know Him better. His miracles, deeds, and words made the people adored, loved, and followed Him. The peak was when he got his ‘welcome party’ at Jerusalem, riding on a donkey’s back. But that was it… He was later sentenced to dead (on a cross), tortured, and insulted. That was a turn, from hero to villain. This is, however, the meaning of being a Christian.

It means standing in the truth; saying ‘yes’ to the truth and ‘no’ to the wrong. It means doing Jesus’ teaching in the middle of the world, no matter what the world says. It means being unpopular for doing the right thing. Sometimes, it is easier said than done.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola is one of the examples. During his thirtieth year of his life, he was one of the best officers in Spain. He had joined many wars without any injury, being hero for his nation, Spain. The only injury he got was during the war with the French, where he inspired his leader to strike in spite of the certain loss probability. He was shot in the leg and later hospitalized.

During his recovery, he was thinking to read books, as he loved to do so. At that time, there were only books about Christ and saints. So, he was forced to read those books. This is where he took a u-turn in his life. He chose to leave his dream of wealth, glory, and love of a princess, going to Jerusalem. His spiritual journey started, and he became a saint, started the Jesuit congregation, and wrote several spiritual books.

Ignatius’ change is totally different from Hancock’s. This is what I meant by being unpopular for doing Christ’s words.

Not all Godly change in one’s life resulted in unpopularity. However, we must be ready should it leads us there. So, start checking your life, whether or not you have lived in His words. If you find out that you have not lived that way, make a turn quickly for that is what He wants. Saints are all human; they are the same with us. If they can be saints, why can we not?

As for me, I am trying to get my discipline back on praying and reading Bible. Please pray for me too.