Book Club Writing Assignment 2

“We can start working with time if you wish,” Chiang said, “till you can fly the past and the future. And then you will be ready to begin the most difficult, the most powerful, the most fun of all. You will be ready to begin to fly up and know the meaning of kindness and of love.” - Jonathan Livingston Seagull


In the new world that Jonathan found himself in, he learned and mastered flying at top speed and teleportation. Among all these amazing skills, it is surprising that the Elder Chiang deems kindness and love the "most difficult, the most powerful, the most fun of all". At first, I thought this book would be about striving for perfection in our passion, and personally, I don't know if there's anything I would be as obsessed about perfecting as much as Jonathan wanted to perfect his flying skills. This surprising turn of events reminds me of a Bible verse that goes: If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [1 Corinthians 13:2] Another quote that I was reminded of was "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care".

I have to say I agree. In today's world, materialism and ambition make us prize individual achievements more than we should, sometimes at the expense of relationships. People who are kind and loving are are often considered naive, gullible, weak or even doormats. Maybe it's because being loving and kind is always sacrificial, but modern society is all about individual rights and self-fulfillment. For example, Jonathan gave up his right to crow over the rest of the seagulls who had ostracized him. I felt touched that he told Fletcher to forgive the rest of the flock, and someday even teach them what he would learn. Instead of hating the flock for their cruel treatment, Jonathan saw that they did it out of ignorance. Perhaps if we all saw the world the way Jonathan does, there would be less hate, fewer killings and more forgiveness. Being kind to others and loving them certainly comes at a price, but anything of worth usually does anyway.

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