Jessica
KENNEDY .
Heaven-sent
TV’s Touched by an Angel’reaffirms faith
People need faith.
Think about the world, even the
country, around us. It isn’t a pretty
place. Children are killing children,
there’s an increase in violence and
drug use, and it’s
getting harder to
make ends meet
at the end of the
month.
Being
surrounded by
such depression
and human
degradation can
- bring the spirit
down. It’s difficult to carry on or be
uplifted without appealing to a higher
source to make things better.
Faith brings th&ftope that better
times will come. Faith also provides
the moral paradigms of right and
wrong, which can help us make
choices that will deliver us to those
brighter days.
Life can be downright depressing
—but only if we let it. So we must
use little things to lift our spirits,
little things like watching the
television show “Touched by an
Angel,” which airs Sunday nights on
CBS.
It’s a wonderful, life-affirming
ft
I truly believe that people are inherently
good — naive as that may sound — and
this show serves as a pleasant
confirmation of that belief.” ■
and warm show. Without fail, some
aspect of the story line speaks of the
triumph of good over evil and the
ever-present, never-wavering love
from God.
You don’t have to be Christian to
be touched by “Touched by an
Angel.” Each week, the show takes a
close look at both the dark and bright
sides of human nature.
Guardian angels Monica and Tess,
with support from the angel of death,
Andrew, intervene in the lives of
mortals, bringing them from the
shadows in the light of God’s love.
Mortals, like you and me, who may
be overwhelmed by the task of day-to
day living. Mortals tempted by the
devil — yes, there is a devil, but it’s
more like an evil presence than a fiery,
homed male. Mortals who have strayed
from the flock.
“Touched by an Angel” takes on .
the ugly, unpleasant sides of society
—drug use, prostitution, racism—
and turns their victims’ tales of
despair into stories of triumph.
Most importantly, “Touched by an
Angel” is about faith—faith in God,
faith in ourselves and faith in human
ity.
These lessons of faith are obvi- ;
ously speaking to someone. In the
last year, “Touched by an Angel” has
jumped from one of the lower rated
shows to consistently placing in the
top 20, if not higher.
Watching the show has become a
family affair for me—much as in
the old days when families gathered
around the radio to listen to “Amos
and Andy,” or watch “Howdy *
Doody” on the black-and-white TV.
For me, “Touched by an Angel” is
an investment, an investment in my
peace of mind. For one hour of my
time, I can have days of warm
feelings and hope for mankind’s
future.
Those who deal in more pessimis
tic natures may boo-hoo that notion,
but it works for me.
I truly believe that people are
inherently good—naive as that may
„ sound—and this show serves as a
pleasant confirmation of that belief.
Wanting to know there’s someone
watching over me, there’s someone
who loves me unconditionally and
that humanity isn’t cold and unfeel
ing is a wonderfully positive way to
get through the rough times.
This Sunday night, take an hour
for your soul and watch “Touched by
an Angel.” It’s the best thing you
could do for yourself this holiday
season.
Not to mention a little faith is
helpful during finals.
Kennedy is a senior advertising
and broadcasting major and a
Daily Nebraskan columnist.
Kasey . i
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Heroic verses
Look up to those who look out for others
It’s funny what the word “hero”
has become today.
Stop to think about it: Actors in
multimillion-dollar flicks have
become more likely heroes than
people actually
living in the real
world.
It’s a sad
day when people
like Arnold
Schwarzenegger
and Tom Cruise
become big
enough “heroes”
-. . tt; ... . .1 to have then
own action figures.
And don’t forget “Sly” Stallone,
who recently got his own postage
stamp for his role in “Rocky.” It
marked the first time a prominent
figure ever got his or her own
postage stamp in a foreign country
without having to die first.
Sad.
It brings back memories of an old
Tina Turner song from the movie
“Mad Max: Beyond the
Thunderdome” (in which, ironically
enough, Tina and Mel Gibson were
competing to be heroes).
liie song’s main verse was also its
. title: “We don’t need another hero.”
Thie, the song was just written for
a soundtrack of a movie that prob
ably brought in most of its profits in
popcorn sales.
Yet it somehow manages to sum
up how society perceives or fails to
perceive heroes today.
Therefore, I’ll use my infinite
knowledge of ’80s music to pull
¥-■ some lyrics out of the song, and you
can see if they fit society’s views.
—
It seems we’ve all become so independent
that we don’t need a savior, a role model
or even a leader.”
“We don’t need another hero...”
It seems we’ve all become so
independent that we don’t need a
savior, a role model or even a leader.
I’m going to go ahead and bring
in Bill Clinton. Now I don’t want you
to conjure up an image of Bill in a
tattered leather trench coat, lugging
around two semi-automatic weapons
that strangely never seem to run out
ofbullets.
Yet Bill Clinton is, as president,
what we perceive to be a leader.
But a hero? Not likely. Yet
imagine yourself fighting off wave
after wave of attacks against your
character, marriage, children and
even your cat. No offense, but if
Arnold Schwarzenegger came under
the same barrage, he’d kill half a
press conference using only the
podium.
“Cai’t make the same mistake
this time...”
Often we build our trust in make
believe heroes, only to discover a
decade later that they ’re nothing
more than highly paid actors with
personal trainers said even lower paid
stuntpeople.
But do we ever stop believing?
Not likely. Mayb^ it’s because we’re
caught up with the fantasy of the idea
—living ou( a larger-than-life *
r'.i- t ,, „ -
adventure where the good guys
always win and the bad guys end up
falling into a giant ceiling fan.
“All else are castles built In the
air...”
But let’s be honest—in the real
world the good guys don't always
win. They lose and lose often. Yet
even when they do win, we give them
as much attention as coleslaw kept at
room temperature.
“We are the ones they left
behind...”
There are true-life heroes out
there who should not be foigotten.
Remember when everyone gave
George Bums a world of attention
when he was about to turn 100?
Well, there’s someone out there
who’s not a century old, but has done
quite a bit more for the world than
prove that one can survive smoking a
. big fat cigar everyday.
Her name is Mother Teresa.
She just got out of the hospital for
the fourth time this year and stilt
. refuses to listen to the doctors who
tell her to rest. Instead, she goes on
with the same quest that she has for '
the past 45 years—helping the poor
and sic k. -
Sure, you’ve heard her name, but
do you truly know, the pain she
endures? More than any Rambo with
a few slugs in his shoulder and what
appears to be a bowie knife in his leg
—Mother Teresa has had four heart
attacks and had a pacemaker im
planted within her after the second
heart failure.
s : “Love and compassion...”
Keshia Thomas.
She’s an 18-year-old African
American student who did something
unexpected early one afternoon on
the University of Michigan campus.
It was on that afternoon that 17
Knights-of the KKK held a rally on
the second floor of the city hall. They
were surrounded by a group of 300
protestors an the ground below.
Suddenly (me of the protestors
spotted a man wearing Confederate
flags on his vest and T-shirt. What
happened next was a swarming of
300 angry protestors on the man,
knocking him to the ground and
beating him.
But Keshia Thomas threw herself
over the man and fended off the
punches and kicks.
She protected the man not because
he was wearing a Confederate flag,
but because he was a human being.
Yet Thomas takes an attitude that
you’re unlikely to find from any
adrenaline-pumping Hollywood star.
She said: “People don’t have to
remember my name. I just want them
to remember that 1 did the right
thing.”
“We don't need another hero—”
That’s right. We need a lot of
them...
^K^aa^hoiimnem- Ur
Nebraskan columnist
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