The Things They Carried Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Things They Carried - Article Example In the rest of the story these items are used as a way of emphasizing the different kinds of emotional baggage that each man carries with him. Jimmy’s photographs signify his innocence and inexperience, while other photographs are used to remember partners and children. Some items denote rank, others denote role in the army, and still others provide much needed reminders of life at home, far from the war. One question which the book explores is how far the men live out their predestined fates – some returning from the war unharmed, while others are killed, and still others are damaged by physical or mental injury. By basing the story around these tiny objects, the author seems to be saying that people’s lives can be mapped out just from looking at what they have on their person. In some ways the book confirms this initial impression that everyone just follows a set plan, as if the objects are a map to the path that the person is fated to follow, but in other ways there is a deeper questioning of the whole meaning of war. It seems to me that the book is showing the reader that human life is not negotiable, and it is predestined to go a certain way, which in turn is decoded through everyday objects. It is true that people are largely controlled by a larger fate, but at the same time acts of heroism and love single out moments when people make moral choices, and this is not due to fate. The point is that acting out of free will is an exceptional thing, while following along a predetermined path is what most people find themselves

Kingdom Business Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Kingdom Business - Personal Statement Example However, the pressure to make profits and to prosper makes it challenging to keep from losing faith and one can only pray for courage and strength to stay true to one's beliefs (Eldred, 2005). However, this ability has far reaching effects. According to Baitu (2006), the challenge of today's landscape should not just focus on the bottom line. Business also have a social responsibility to help alleviate the ills of society and to create opportunities. And this is not just because of altruism. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2005) says for example that companies should be part of development so that their potentials too can be nourished. Otherwise, markets will not develop and expand leaving companies themselves without a future to look forward to. According to Heinz Suter, building Kingdom Companies does not only require spiritual commitment but also a realization of the social and moral challenges in the context on one's society (Chan et al, 2003, p. 181-194). Ben Cohen who is the cofounder and former CEO of Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream knows that people will easily doubt their statement of commitment regarding the company's commitment to spirituality. He says that these doubts don't matter as much as that the company continues to show that "there's a spiritual life to businesses as there is in the lives of individuals" (as cited in Saylor, 2005). Hick (2005) says that this is in part because of the continuing religious conflicts world wide that is being echoed by each society. There has been great effort to be able to relieve these situations but Rick Marshall (2005) believes that these efforts can only be truly successful if society itself makes an effort to change. It is daily struggle to remind not ourselves by all things we do and say that it is possible to live religiously and allow other the same opportunity but it is one of the most urgent ac critical challenges we have to accomplish (Eldred, 2005). Building a Kingdom Business Richard Goosen, a professor of finance and entrepreneurship at Trinity Western University says that "money is the oxygen of a business, it's not the purpose" (Saylor, 2005). This implies that no matter how healthy the bottom line is, that is not a indication that owners or employees feel fulfilled or enriched by their work. Often we think disdainfully when we here of industry and business leaders suddenly establishing charities or even giving up their business to pursue enlighten. We feel that that it is a clich' among those experiencing midlife crises. However Eldred (2005) encourages to think about it in another way: these individuals, the brightest and greatest minds of our times just may have realized something at the point in their lives when they could already say that they have everything. They may have realized that there should be more than what they had, that the pursuit of success goes beyond the boardroom and the bottom line. The marketplace seems like such a hostile pla ce to espouse religion. Yet, if one reflects on the history on faith, it is when ministries forge in these environments are the greatest testament of missions. The third chapter of the Eldred's book God is at Work tells us that businesses must be an extension of our church life. One should in a way consider it