Matsu the Samurai Essay Example

Matsu the Samurai Essay Example Matsu the Samurai Essay Matsu the Samurai Essay The Samurai’s Garden Stephen was sent from China to Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He goes and stays in the small town of Tarumi with his family’s servant Matsu. During his stay with Matsu, Stephen discovers that there is more to Matsu than meets the eyes. Throughout the story, Stephen begins to see Matsu showing characteristics of a Samurai. One of the first characteristics we see in Matsu is his loyalty to Stephen’s family. Matsu’s parents had served Stephen’s grandfather in that house before him, and even after his parents had passed away, instead of moving away like his sister Fumiko did, he stayed and took care of the house and Stephen’s grandfather. In a sense, Matsu is the bodyguard and watcher of the house and family, just like how a samurai is to his lord. Throughout the story Matsu seems to be a much respected man to everyone in Tarumi. Stephen even told Matsu that â€Å"You have a strong face. A face someone doesn’t forget. Like a samurai† (30). Matsu and Stephen are perfect examples, in it that Matsu is the samurai who must watch over his wealthier master which happens to be Stephen, who indeed is wealthy. Although Matsu is only a servant, Stephen shows great respect for him. Matsu’s silence also brings out the samurai in him. His silence occurs in many parts of the book. At first, Stephen assumed that Matsu just didn’t like to engage in conversations, but Sachi explains how his silence is powerful when she told Stephen that â€Å"with Matsu, everything is in what he does not say† (59). His strength in silence guided him through his childhood to the present day. Because Matsu wasn’t the best looking guy when he was younger, he kept to himself and always stayed back at the house to help out his parents. I guess you can say he was born to become and samurai, unlike his sisters. Even when his younger sister Tomoko took her life, Matsu showed no emotions. He knew what she planned on doing the night that she did it, and he kept quiet. Another event that shows how his actions speak louder than words is during Kenzo’s burial. At the Kenzo’s burial, â€Å"Matsu was silent throughout the entire procession, simply bowing his head to those who showed their sympathy at the loss of his good friend† (109). His silence showed how strong he was holding up. Furthermore, other than his messages through silence, Matsu also shows great inner strength within these two events. Much like how a samurai who never grieves over a comrade’s death, Matsu’s inner strength allowed him to remain calm and prevent an emotional breakdown first after seeing the suicide of his sister, and seeing the death of his best friend Kenzo. When Sachi came down to visit after the storm, she told Stephen that â€Å"Matsu once told me the bridge represented a samurai’s difficult path from this world to the afterlife. When you reach the top of the bridge, you can see your way to paradise† (58). I believe that Matsu has reached the top of this bridge already and saw his way to paradise. While this bridge represents a link between this world and the afterlife, Matsu acted similarly. The people of Yamaguchi are considered dead to those in the city. Matsu acts as the link between the two, delivering to the people of Yamaguchi. On a side note, a person who acts as a link between this world and the next is called a shaman. Matsu once said that the people of Yamaguchi are basically dead to their family, and the only one who knew of their existence until Stephen was introduced to them was Matsu. In their early stages of development, Matsu served as a shaman who helped out the â€Å"dead† people of Yamaguchi. He brought building equipment from the city up to Yamaguchi, and helped them build houses. Furthermore, Matsu has shown great bravery throughout the novel. One specific example of his bravery was shown when they were on their way to visit Sachi in Yamaguchi and they saw that one of the villagers house was on fire. Like a true samurai, Matsu ran to help put out the fire without even considering his own safety first. Like Sachi said, â€Å"bravery is when you step in to help when you have nothing to lose. Matsu-san and you, Stephen san are the brave ones† (123). In addition, Matsu is very a nonjudgmental guy. He never jumps to conclusion about a person and never judge a person by the way they look, or what has happened in their past. Instead he acts as a samurai does what he believes is right and sticks to it. For example, Matsu never judged any of the lepers in Yamaguchi for how they looked, and got to know all of them very well. The way Matsu is portrayed in the novel, sometimes he almost seems like a middle aged man instead of a man in his seventies. But because he is at such an age, we can say that he is a man with much wisdom and experience. Samurai’s grow through each battle and with each battle, win or lose, come strength and wisdom. Every day is a battle for Matsu, and with it he has gained from it. With his wisdom he always knows what to say or do when there is a situation in front of him. For example, after Keiko had told Stephen that they can no longer see each other, Matsu passes down his wisdom to Stephen when he told Stephen â€Å" get quote from book† (). Matsu, the man with undying bravery and wisdom, gentle and loving is the samurai in The Samurai’s Garden. But his garden didn’t stop in just his backyard, no; his garden was also all of Yamaguchi. And as most great samurais, the last thing Matsu does is leaves behind his legacy within Stephen.

Bishops in the Medieval Christian Church

Bishops in the Medieval Christian Church In the Christian  Church of the Middle Ages, a bishop was the chief pastor of a diocese; that is, an area containing more than one congregation. The bishop was an ordained priest who served as pastor of one congregation and oversaw the administration of any others in his district.   Any church that served as the primary office of a bishop was considered his seat, or cathedra, and was therefore known as a cathedral. The office or rank of a bishop is known as a bishopric. Origins of the term Bishop The word Bishop derives from the Greek epà ­skopos (á ¼ Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ ¯ÃÆ'ÃŽ ºÃŽ ¿Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š), which meant an overseer, curator or guardian.   The Duties Like any priest, a bishop baptized, performed weddings, gave last rites, settled disputes, and heard confession and absolved. In addition, bishops controlled church finances, ordained priests, assigned clergy to their posts, and dealt with any number of matters pertaining to Church business.   Types of Bishops in Medieval Times An archbishop was a bishop who oversaw several dioceses besides his own. The term metropolitan has sometimes been used for the archbishop of a city.The Pope is the bishop of Rome. The holder of this see was considered the successor to St. Peter, and the office grew in prestige and influence over the first few centuries of the Middle Ages. Before the end of the fifth century, the office was established as the foremost authority in the western Christian Church, and the  bishop of Rome  became known as the father, or papa, or pope.Patriarchs were bishops of particularly important sees in the eastern churches (which, after the Great Schism of 1054, would eventually become known as the Eastern Orthodox Church). This included the apostolic sees those believed to have been founded by Apostles: Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and JerusalemCardinal-bishops (now known simply as cardinals) were a privileged class as far back as the 8th century, and only those bishops who had received the red hat (a mark of a cardinal) could elect the pope or become pope. Secular Influence as Well as Spiritual Power Some Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, maintain that bishops are the successors of the Apostles; this is known as apostolic succession. As the Middle Ages unfolded, bishops often held secular influence as well as spiritual power thanks in part to this perception of inherited authority.   A Three-Fold Ministry by the Second Century Just exactly when bishops attained a separate identity from presbyters (elders) is unclear, but by the second century C.E, the early Christian Church had evidently established a three-fold ministry of deacons, priests, and bishops. Once the emperor Constantine professed Christianity and began to help followers of the religion, bishops grew in prestige, particularly if the city that constituted their diocese was populous and had a notable number of Christians.   Filling the Void After Collapse of the Roman Empire In the years following the collapse of the western Roman Empire (officially, in 476 C.E.), bishops often stepped in to fill the void secular leaders left behind in unstable areas and depleted cities. While theoretically church officials were supposed to limit their influence to spiritual matters, by answering the needs of society these fifth-century bishops set a precedent, and the lines between church and state would be fairly blurry throughout the rest of the medieval era. The Investiture Controversy Another development that arose out of the uncertainties of early medieval society was the proper selection and investment of clerics, especially bishops and archbishops. Because various dioceses were flung far across Christendom, and the pope was not always easily accessible, it became a fairly common practice for local secular leaders to appoint clerics to replace those who had died (or, rarely, left their offices). But by the late 11th century, the papacy found the influence this gave secular leaders in church matters opprobrious and attempted to ban it. Thus began the Investiture Controversy, a struggle lasting 45 years that, when resolved in favor of the Church, strengthened the papacy at the expense of local monarchies and gave bishops freedom from secular political authorities. The Protestant Reformation When the Protestant churches split from Rome in the Reformation  of the 16th century,  the office of the bishop was rejected by some reformers. This was due in part to the lack of any basis for the office in the New Testament, and in part to the corruption that high clerical offices had been associated with over the preceding few hundred years. Most Protestant churches today have no bishops, although some Lutheran churches in Germany, Scandinavia and the U.S. do, and the Anglican church (which after the break initiated by Henry VIII retained many aspects of Catholicism) also has bishops. Sources and Suggested Reading Eusebius. The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine. Edited and with an introduction by Andrew Louth; translated by G. A. Williamson, Penguin Classics. John D. Zizioulas. Eucharist, Bishop, Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries.