A Tale That Would Never Fail

   Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most celebrated authors of all. During his time, in the Middle Ages, people were classified according to their places on the social scales. These depend on factors such as family background, profession or position in the church. His masterpiece, the Canterbury Tales depicts the stories of pilgrims who each have a different role in the society.

    One of his tales is the Pardoner's tale. This tale may be a simple story for some, but for me, it has a deeper meaning. It shows different points in life. It made me realized these things:

• First, LOVE FOR FRIENDS. As seen in the first act, they want revenge for their friend who was murdered by Death. Love conquers all. Though they know that Death kills everyone, they are still determined to look for him for vengeance. I believed that they not only did that because they are drunk, but because they really want justice for their friend.

• Second, GREED EATS US INSIDE. In the story, the three men let themselves to be eaten by their greed. They chose wealth over relationship after seeing the bags of gold. They already had arrived at the point where they would kill a person for fortune. Don't let negative thoughts; desires or feelings clutter our minds. We should stop living in the "Me, myself and I" world. It is not helpful to ourselves and to the people around us.

• Third, THE BEST FOR US IS REALLY THE BEST FOR US. The three men died due to their desires. As a result, they were not able to get anything. As we pushed the best for us, we sometimes get the worst or sometimes, nothing. This may be God's way of showing that that certain thing is not for us. We just have to wait for what's really the best for us, ALL IN GOD'S TIME; and lastly,

• GOD'S APPROVAL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT. When the Pardoner offered pardons for redemption after the death of the three men, he said that CHRIST'S PARDON IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIS. God forgives us right away every time we say sorry to Him; no conditions, no exceptions, no explanations needed. It is only up to us if we will follow Him and make things right just as after His words.

    Entering the world of reality, we are all greedy, sinful people. Selfishness destroys oneself; but unlike in the tale, we do not need such things bought from pardoners or churches for God to forgive us. In our own little ways of following Christ, showing love, forgiving and praying for others, He can remove all the sins and negative thoughts that we have with just a blink of an eye. God can do more in a second than what we can do for ourselves and others in a lifetime.

God's Priceless Gift

     Spiderman, Superman, Batman, and Wonderwoman are just some of the most popular heroes of all time. Their super powers and great strength have made them so mighty in the eyes of many people. But, regardless of powers and strength, what is a true hero? Well for me, it's not about the competence in fighting against miscreants. It's not a popularity contest. More than just the physical attributes, a true hero should have the values of a great person. A hero is defined as someone who is of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
     There is no doubt that our national heroes possess these characteristics. But it doesn’t mean that they are the only ones we consider a hero in real life. Every person has someone whom he or she looks up to. That someone can either be living or not. In my case, I consider my parents to be my hero. Being far from his loved ones isn't easy; but for our sake, my father chose to be. Physically far, but emotionally abreast. My mom is my Wonderwoman. Having a mother-father role is sometimes a burden. Life is not that easy to give it all for. But for our parents, exhaustion is nothing. Emotionally and physically, they are always there to support us and to provide us everything we want and we need. To take care of us and to always check us every minute of every day seems to be their addiction. Helping us with our assignments and projects like it's their requirements. Solving our problems appears to be their load. Yes, indeed, being a parent is the hardest job. It requires everything. It requires their whole life.
     But being a hero doesn't mean a person should lay his life for the country or certain cause. We have lots of modern-day heroes that dwell among us. They can be our parents, loved ones, neighbors, social workers, soldiers, policemen, and OFW’s. In fact, we can also be heroes ourselves. As long as we fight for what is right and what we believe in. And more importantly, besides having courage, we should be selfless and willing to sacrifice for the good of mankind.