Comment on Fred Gilham

There are billions of different people in this world, and no one is ever the same throughout human history. Considering this situation, it is reasonable to believe that everyone has a unique background. In the article titled “Pulled to Reality by the Grace of God: Fred Gilham’s Journey as a Christian,” written by Eason, Fred Gilham is a perfect example of how everyone is unique. You do not need to become a celebrity, such as an Oscar winner, to have a unique story. 

As mentioned in the article, Gilham frequently moved due to his father’s

jobs in the Navy. This has given him the environment of growing up in government housing. Including me, it is hard for people who live in a place constantly to imagine what it is like to move so often. Despite that, Gilham also had family struggles, like divorcing. However, when facing such a harsh environment, Gilham still did not give up, which surprised me. In my opinion, one thing that affects a person the most is their childhood. Several studies suggest that childhood experience will affect both mental and physical well-being in lifelong lifetime. For example, if a child got bitten by a dog, it could lead to a dislike of dogs in adulthood. Considering Gilham’s background, it is unexpected for me to see Gilham’s positive attitude and mind later in his life, and I am glad to see a man with such exhausting experience to have find their way to live happily. 

During Gilham’s school time, he was not that focused on academics but on fiction, according to himself. Along with that, he also mentioned that he felt lonely and lacked support. I believe the cause of this has a lot to do with his childhood as well. In my point of view, the constant change of environment and family struggle does not give the ability, motivation, or time to create deeper relationships, which have caused loneliness in this stage of life. At the same time, Gilham decided to go into science fiction and daydream, according to himself. I wouldn’t necessarily say this is a bad thing. After all, all knowledge came from daydreaming. It is the core origin of all our ideas, and science fiction is a branch of that. I wouldn’t say Gilham does not have the motivation to learn, but the school system just simply designed to fit Gilham. If he is lazy, then he wouldn’t have gone into science fiction in the first place. I consider the school system to be a system that measures the abilities and results regarding the learning method that matches most people. From what I know, Gilham does not fit in that system, and it is not necessarily a bad thing. Just because a fish can swim faster than a horse, it does not mean that horses are weaker than goldfish.

The turning point that Gilham considers for himself is the Junior year of high school. It is when we struggle out of drawing from the ocean of dissatisfaction and emotional pain. During that time, his sorrow dragged half of his body into the abyss, but then he met Christianity. It was very appealing to him as it gave him a new way that he had never imagined before. He started to participate in the Church and religious events. According to him, he began to reconnect with reality through the connection of the community. He acknowledged that the journey of his faith would not be easy, but he still decided to carry the cross and walk up this route firmly. Through his journey of faith, Gilham recognized his sinfulness, and his past no longer determined his future with Christ’s power.

I must say that Christianity is very appealing. Unlike other religions where humanity brings itself to holiness, Christianity does the opposite: holiness comes upon you. Instead of encouraging other people to chase fame and honor, Christianity encouraged humanity to stay humble and treat each other with love. Instead of showing the benefits, Jesus himself acknowledged the hardship of following him in the gospel. Knowing this, Gilham still decided to take the leap of faith, following Jesus’ way. In my opinion, as a consequentialist regardless of the reliability of Christianity, it is a good source or motivation for humans to do good things. Some argue that we shouldn’t believe it due to the lack of certainty, while some like Soren Kierkeegard encouraged people to take a leap of faith into the false shadow abyss based on the reasonable evidence–Jesus. However, no matter which path you choose to follow, there are still millions of Christians who make up a lot of the world’s population, and these people are driven to do good based on their moral code. Therefore, I believe the importance of variability of Christianity is not that important in this situation. In the end, Gilham did find his way out of emotional and mental hardship.