FATHER DAMIEN's STEADFASTNESS

STEADFASTNESS IN FRIENDSHIP

Steadfastness is an important aspect in friendship. Good relationship in friendship is the priority. Two persons, who build up a friendship, have more attention their good relation. They can do everything to care their relationship, such as: give attention to each other, sympathy, empathy, etc. According to those statements, we infer that people have no reason to deny a relationship. In fact, people need somebody else to share his life experiences, and human can’t live alone (homo socius). Sometimes, friendship, in other way, has some problems. If people find a problem in their relationship, there is a gap between them. They need more chance t introspect their selves and reconcile it again. From the experience, an ideal friendship can be better if they have a steadfast unsure in their self. It means every person who wants to be friends has an open-minded and confesses all the positives or negative traits his/her friends. Steadfastness is a basic unsure in building up the friendship. So, be loyalty to your friends, because loyalty can pick you up to steadfastness.

BEST CHOICE OF FATHER DAMIEN

Strong commitment of Father Damien motivates him in serving lepers. In Damien’s life context, leprosy is a danger disease. Leprosy is a danger disease because there isn’t an enough medicine to heal this disease. I can say that leprosy bring you to die. Nevertheless, people afraid to contact with the lepers. If people were infected by leprosy you will be isolated by the society in your community, hometown, etc. at the opposite, lepers feel alone if societies isolate them to foreign place. Damien, without specialization in leprosy, goes to Hawaii for helping leprosy patients. His General leader wants him to make no physic contact with lepers. God does something else in him and Holy Spirit make him stronger. In fact, he does the opposites. He touched every leper; eat together them, work altogether, etc. The reality changes his paradigm of thinking.  Lepers situation motivate him to feel what are they feel. He convince that by living together and serve them with all his soul, they have a hope for eternal life. Hope is the basic aspect in Christian faith. Finally, he infects by leprosy and die because of it. The shepherd dies for his sheep. He does what was Jesus did.