Gifted Hands

You can do anything you want to do, just believe in yourself and the power of prayer. That is one of the lesson that I learned from on of my favorite of all time "The Gifted Hands by Ben Carlson". This is an inspiring movie about a Neurosurgeon who was a dumb student when he was young and taught by her mother to believe in himself that he can be smart by reading and studying very well. I don't want to write about the plot but instead, I would just enumerate some of the lessons I've learned from watching this movie.

The first lesson is the respect he had to his mother as well as the unconditional love of his mother to Ben and his brother. They were only 3 in the family because their father left them for another woman and so the mother raised her children alone. She secretly worked as a cleaner to provide for her family and her dreams for them is so powerful that she did everything to send them to a very good school just like my mom. When we transferred here in Manila, her dream was to send us in Private catholic school though it is really costly but my parents worked hand in hand for us three children. My siblings and I graduated from a well known Universities and I could not ask for because they really worked so hard for our family. The scene when the Mrs. Carlson gave money to Ben to buy a new pants but instead he bought a knife from a gang group as his defense possession maybe, she got mad and told him that she worked hard to buy him a pants and should accept that he cannot buy all the things he wants because they are not rich anyway. Last month, my mom gave me money to buy two pants and shirt for my school. Instead, I only bought 1 pants and a shirt because I watched a movie and eat with a friend. My mother got frustrated about it, but behind my mind I am thinking that It was alright because I enjoyed the movie and the dinner and I am the one who will wear the pants anyway. But that's beyond the point. When our parents entrusted the money to us to buy for our needs, It must be imperative for us to respect them because they are working so hard to provide all our needs and not merely what we just want for ourselves. The only time we can buy for what we want is when the time we're making our own money.

Another thing is my admiration on Mrs Carlson. Most of us really have a dark side inside on us. It does not talk about sin inside us but her weakness which she hide for many years to her sons. She did not knew how to read and write but after she consulted the psychiatrist, she still believed that it was never too late for her to read. She persevered and taught me the value of education. I am an average student and never experienced to be on top in class maybe because I did not value education that much. When I was a young boy, television and playground were my favorite hobbies. Now, I realized that reading and studying well will give you much edge in this world. Not only for us to get the best job but we can have a self-fulfillment and able to give back to our parents who worked so hard for our education. I am so grateful that my parents know the value of education by sending us to good schools because they themselves are both professionals.

One of my frustration after I worked for 3 years in operating room is to be a surgeon. I really admire surgeons who are efficient, intelligent and have a good heart to their patients. This is probably one of the reason why I love this movie. Dr. Carlson is really an inspiration for him taking the risk when all of his superiors were not around and he had to operate a dying person immediately and he believed the power of miracle in all the patients he handled. Miracle because no other surgeons perform such operations before in extreme cases like those who are conjoined twins and seizures. Believing in the power of prayer is really an important thing. Certainly, everything we can do through Christ who will give us strength. He did not boast his power to his interviews, he did not got mad to Jesus when she lost his own twins but faith still have in him which is really matters. Dr. Carlson succeeded for he is a risk taker and a believer of Jesus.