Final Draft - Living Prophet

A Living Prophet
By Melanie Dionisio
Due June 2nd, 2008

“Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do”; “Accept the past as past, without denying it or discarding it”; “Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others”; “Don’t assume that it’s too late to get involved.” (Tuesdays with Morrie - Albom 18). Unfortunately, not everyone can follow the concept of ‘living with death’s shadow’. The quote was written by Morris Schwartz, who taught life’s greatest lesson to a young man named Mitch Albom. Morris, known as Morrie, was a Professor of sociology at Brandeis University. He retired after He died in 1995 at age seventy-eight, after teaching several lessons to Mitch Albom, every Tuesday. After his death, Mitch Albom decided to publish Morrie’s lessons into a book called “Tuesdays with Morrie”. Today, more than twelve million copies are sold world wide. I believe Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie, is a living prophet because through his memoir of Morrie Schwartz and his life lessons, Mitch Albom teaches readers the valuable lesson of life the same way Morrie Schwartz had taught him.

It began after Morrie retired being Professor. He found out that he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which shortened his days of living. In preparation of his death, Morrie first learned how to accept the fact that he was going to die. He was soon featured on Dateline NBC where Mitch Albom had seen while flipping through the channels of his television. Because of seeing Morrie on T.V., Mitch decided to meet him which soon became a regular routine on every Tuesday. Morrie taught Mitch the subject ‘The Meaning of Life’ which includes different life lessons about the world, sympathy, regrets, death, family, emotions, fear of aging, money, love, marriage, culture, forgiveness, a perfect day and good-byes. Morrie explained to Mitch how each topic is different situations; however all of the situations share one big message of understanding one’s emotion, love one another, accept others, accept yourself, be responsible and reasonable, do not take anything for granted, etc. It is quite overwhelming to read different kinds of messages put together in one small book, though, one can agree that all Morrie wanted was others to live a happy life and so, Mitch had decided in 1997, when the book was released, to let the world know what he had learned from his mentor and friend.

The death of Morrie Schwartz made Mitch realize what Morrie had been teaching him for the past weeks of every Tuesday. In Tuesdays with Morrie,Mitch explains in his own words:
“I look back sometimes at the person I was before I rediscovered my old professor. I want to talk to that person. I want to tell him what to look out for, what mistakes to avoid. I want to tell him to be more open, to ignore the lure of advertised values, to pay attention when your loved ones are speaking, as if it were the last time you might her them.
(Tuesdays with Morrie - Albom 190).
As Mitch was taught, one can agree that he was a developing prophet who was in the process of telling the world about what he had discovered when taught by Morrie, his Mentor-Prophet. Mitch had the option whether or not to publish the recordings of his lesson. Eventually he did decide to publish the book, but that does not make Mitch a prophet, not just yet. Because Mitch learned from Morrie the meaning of life by changing his values and his perceptions of how he and wanted to teach the world through his perspective of how he was taught. In connection to the movie Pay It Forward, a young boy repays good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds. Similar to Tuesdays with Morrie, besides paying back with good deeds, Mitch is paying back the world by giving an inspiring lesson to readers about the meaning of life. His purpose was to
“return to the world of stories, to delve deeper into life and death and the connections between the two” (BookBrowse.com) through Tuesdays with Morrie.

In an interview with CNN in 2001, Mitch Albom answers the question “Why do you think the book has such broad appeal?” He responds by saying
“One, everyone has had some teacher like Morrie, and I think the book reminds people of how precious a teacher or mentor can be. Number two, I think a lot of Americans are working way too many hours-as I was doing-and feeling very dissatisfied, wondering if this is really the path to a happy life. For them, I think the book is an inspiration to allow themselves to step back and appreciate the love and laughter of life without feeling guilty about it. And three, I believe that everyone has either lost someone they love or is going to. Morrie's lessons about how "Death ends a life, but not a relationship" are comforting to people seeking to make peace with saying goodbye to loved ones.” (CNN.com).
Mitch admits that his book has such an impact on people that it inspires others to realize a new meaning of their life, to enjoy one’s life and to live with love and laughter. His purpose was to influence others the same way Morrie had influenced himself to have a deeper understanding of the way he lives. Mitch had such a strong bond with Morrie that till this day, Morrie’s lessons and messages live through him, his book, his texts such like The Five People You Meet in Heaven which inspired Mitch to “think about what happens next, when a person dies.” (Beliefnet.com).

Because of Tuesdays with Morrie, [Mitch] wrote this little book, and that touched somebody else, who touched somebody else. […] everybody is interconnected.” (Beliefnet.com). Mitch created an inspiring change in peoples lives by revealing the message about the truth of life and love that Morrie had taught him. I believe that Mitch is some kind of a living prophet for the different directions he took after publishing the book. Mitch Albom has four different charities that were inspired by Morrie Schwartz to “give to your community.” He also written two other books that are similar to Tuesdays with Morrie called For One More Day and The Five People You Meet in Heaven Conclusively, Mitch Albom is known to be a living prophet for his inspiring memoir Tuesdays with Morrie, and because of that, “The teaching goes on.” (Tuesdays with Morrie - Albom 192).






Bibliography

Albom, Mitch - Tuesdays with Morrie

Book Browse
http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=64

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/chat/transcripts/mitch_albom_chat.html

Beliefnet
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/133/story_13330_1.html