Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Friday, January 07, 2011
Blooming vs. Fading
What a surprise! For the first time, I got an email from my first niece, Hyewon. It was good news from her. Before Christmas, I visited her family in Jupiter, Florida in the States. We had some nice times (mostly chatting) usually on her bed but we also did her social project, which was about introducing Pennsylvania State to her classmates next year. Of course, I gave her some insights. Her message was to let me know how the presentation, which was our collaboration, went well in her class. This week she got a mysterious score on it. 104/100! Additional 4 point is a bonus, she said. She wanted to boast of her good performance, so emailed me. The simple message made me so happy. Maybe it is because I don't have my children yet? My niece, Hyewon is blooming although I am going in the opposite direction, fading, that is aging. Well, looking forward to building a nice friendship with the smart lady and having my children some days. Wish her and me good luck!
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Teaching of Rev. R.A.Torrey III at Jesus Abbey
“모든 성도와 함께 여러분이 그리스도의 사랑이 너비와 길이와 높이와 깊이가 어떠한지를 깨달을 수 있게 되기를 원한다”(에베소서 3:18).
대천덕 신부는 바울이 에베소 성도들을 위하여 기도했던 그리스도의 사랑에 대한 4차원의 사랑을 깊게 추구하였다. 즉 더 넓고 깊게 사람들을 사랑하기 위하여 예수님을 더 높고 깊게 사랑하길 소원하며 기도와 사랑의 코이노니아 실험실인 예수원을 세워 실천적인 영성의 삶을 살면서 가르쳤다.
가문의 전통과 재정 문제에서 배우는 영성 대천덕 신부(Reuben Archer Torrey III)의 가족이 엄격하게 지키는 전통 중의 하나는 각 사람은 개인적으로 하나님의 자녀로 거듭나야 하며, 하나님의 가족이 되는 것과 개개인의 가족 내력은 별개라는 것이다. 또한 모든 자녀들이 고등학교를 졸업하면 1년 동안 대학을 진학하지 않고 삶의 현장 속에서 살도록 한다는 것이다. 고등학교를 졸업하여 이제 성인이 되었으니 각자 자신의 관심과 전공과 연결되는 삶의 자리에서 ‘사람들의 소리’를 직접 듣기 위하여 음식점, 농장, 어장, 사무실, 공장 등에서 일한 후에 대학에 진학한다는 것이다. 우리는 어떤가? 명문 대학에 자녀들을 입학시키려고 얼마나 힘쓰는가. 좋은 대학은 누구를 위하여 또한 무엇을 위해 필요한 것인가?
대천덕 신부는 “믿음의 주요 도 온전케 하시는 이(the pioneer and perfecter of our faith)인 예수를 바라보자“(히 12:2)는 구절과 “그뿐 아니라 하나님을 대적하여 말하기를 하나님이 광야에서 능히 식탁을 준비하시랴”(시편 78:19)는 말씀을 붙잡고 “책만 가지고 신학을 가르치지 않고” 더 나은 방법을 찾아, ‘그리스도인의 삶에 있는 세 가지 실험실’(The Three Laboratories of the Christian Life)을 세우기 위해 예수원을 세워 개척자의 길을 갔다. 그는 교회가 한 번도 개척되지 않은 시골 마을에 들어가 바닥부터 시작하였다. 그는 필요한 사람들과 자신이 도울 수 있는 사람들을 하나님께서 보내실 것을 믿고 출발하였다. 그는 같은 생각을 가진 사람들과 함께 살면서 노동과 물질과 기도를 나누면서 하나님을 위해 불을 일으켰다. 그러나 우리는 선교와 사역 속에서 안정과 기득권을 유지하려는 노력은 하지만 “배에서 나오라”(마 14:29)는 예수님의 명령에 순종하여 개척과 과감한 실험을 못하고 방황하는 형편은 아닌가?'
R. A. Torrey 선조들은 유럽을 떠나 미국으로 건너와 한 곳에 정착하지 않고 여러 곳에 살면서 수중에 돈이 떨어질 때가 많았다. 그때마다 빚을 얻거나 하나님이 허락하지 않은 일을 하거나 후원금을 요청할 수 있었지만 항상 하나님이 일용할 양식을 주시도록 맡기며 살았다. 4대에 걸친 R. A. Torrey의 간증은 “의인이 버림을 당하거나 그 자손이 걸식함을 보지 못하였다”(시편 37:25)는 것이었다. 사회적인 안정과 지위를 얻기보다 가정을 통하여 하나님의 뜻이 이루어지길 원하며 ‘가난의 서약’을 하고 살았다. 언젠가 예수원의 운영자금이 바닥났을 때에 대천덕 신부는 서울의 미 8군 휴양소에 열리는 컨퍼런스에 참석한 적이 있었다. 그러나 대천덕 신부는 컨퍼런스 중에 사람들에게 예수원의 필요에 대해 한마디도 하지 않았다. 그러나 얼마 후에 한 미군이 대천덕 신부에게 한국 돈을 한 뭉치 주었지만, 한국 여성이 한 지역에서 선교 프로젝트를 설명하면서 경제적 지원이 없으면 중단 할 수밖에 없다고 하자 전날 받은 돈을 전부 그 사람의 가방에 넣어 주었다. 그런데 컨퍼런스 마지막 날 한국 여성이 다가와 자신의 삶을 통해 받은 은혜를 감사한다면서 처음에 받았던 돈보다 몇 배가 많은 돈을 예수원을 위해 쓰도록 주었다.
대천덕 신부는 “믿음으로 받는 것만 아니라 믿음으로 주며” 살면서 예수원 공동체의 경제 원리를 세워 오늘날 교회가 에너지의 상당 부분을 내부 정치와 세상적인 야망에 힘쓰는 것에 도전을 주고 있다.
리더를 세우는 멘토에게서 배우는 영성 대천덕 신부는 평생 동안 수많은 사람들을 멘토링하였지만 여기서는 PRMI(국제교회갱신사역)의 총재로서 Dunamis Course(능력사역 훈련과정)을 세운 브래드 롱(Rev, Brad Long)목사와의 관계에서 나타난 모습을 밝히려고 한다. 대천덕 신부가 48세 때 브래드 롱 목사가 15세 소년이었을 때인 1966년에 만나 2002년까지 그들의 관계는 36년 동안 계속되었다. 대천덕 신부의 아들 벤 토레이(Rev. Ben Torrey)는 브래드 롱보다 한 살 많지만 두 사람은 친구가 되어 쉽게 친구의 부친에게 접근할 수 있었다. 대천덕 신부와 브래드 롱 목사의 부친은 미국 노스 캐로나이나에 소재한 데이비슨대학 동문이며, 모친 또한 같은 주에서 미술 활동을 하는 등 많은 부분을 공유하고 있었다. 이러한 요소들을 통해 하나님은 대천덕 신부가 예수원을 1965년에 시작한 후부터 계속적인 관계를 가지면서 바울과 디모데처럼 멘토십을 나누게 하셨다.
믿음과 행동이 하나 되는 예수님의 제자 1970년 겨울 양식인 쌀이 떨어지고 호박과 김치와 멸치 젖도 떨어졌을 때, 금식하며 가난한 자들이 내일 양식이 없는 처지를 생각해 보라고 가르치면서 어떠한 환경 속에서도 하나님을 신뢰하며 일용할 양식을 구할 것을 기도하고 기적을 맛보게 하였다. 예수원에서 식사 후 차를 마시며 여러 사람들의 대화에 참여케 하는 한편, 많은 시간을 일 대 일로 만나 기도하며 질문에 답해 주고, 개인의 하루 일과표와 저술 및 개인기도 시간을 소개하면서 믿음과 행동의 일치를 강조했다. 이러한 체험은 브래드 롱 목사가 1982년 대만에 평신도 훈련원을 세울 때 재정과 사람과 프로그램도 없는 불가능한 환경에서 하나님께 순종하면서 기적을 베푸실 분을 신뢰케 하였고, 미국 노스 캐로나이나에서 ‘십자가 공동체(The Community of Cross)'를 세우기 위해 2003년 30,000평의 땅을 구입하는 과정과 사역을 펼쳐나가는 일에서 철저한 순종과 기도의 삶을 살도록 하여 열매를 맺게 하였다.
예수님을 함께 닮아 가는 ‘하늘 나그네’ 브래드 롱 목사가 한국에서 고등학교를 마치고 미국 대학 입학을 위해 동아시아를 거쳐가는 과정에서 인도 캘커타 거리에서 죽어 가는 사람들을 보고 절망과 회의에 방황할 때가 있었다. 그러나 한국인들도 꺼려하는 강원도 산골에서 공동체를 세우는 대천덕 신부의 실천적인 모습을 되새기며 벤 토레이의 권면으로 다시 일어나 극적인 회심을 경험하고 그리스도께 헌신하게 되었다.
브래드 롱 목사가 대학 재학 때인 1973년 여름에 예수원의 설립 멤버들이 떠나가고 방문객도 극소수에 불과하고 운영에 어려움이 있을 때가 있었다. 그들은 서로의 문제를 부자간에 나누듯이 기도하며 분노하고 울고 들어 주었다. 대천덕 신부는 브래드 롱에게 밤을 세워가며 한 달 동안 성령에 관해 가르쳐 주면서 헬라어와 히브리어를 참고하면서 성경 속으로 인도해 주었다. 그때 한국인에게 예수원의 비전을 구체적으로 나누는 문제와 성령 세례에 대해 공개적으로 가르치는 문제와 공동체 문제에 대해 깊은 아픔과 개인적인 고통을 함께 나누며 함께 새로운 도약을 하게 되었다.
멘토가 자신의 인간적인 문제와 약점을 인정하며 함께 기도하기란 얼마나 어려운 일인가? 대천덕 신부의 모범 속에서 브래드 롱 목사는 자신의 부족한 부분을 인정하기를 기뻐하며 함께 사역하는 사람들이 자신을 위해 기도해 주기를 기쁘게 요청하며 다른 사람들의 제안과 비판을 수용하게 되었다. 진정한 리더십이 무엇인지 보여 주며 가르치는 삶 대천덕 신부는 의도적으로 브래드 롱 목사를 리더로 키웠다. 예컨대, 기도사역이나 전도 집회가 끝난 후, 브래드 롱 목사를 따로 불러 영적 리더십이나 성령과의 협력에 대해 가르쳐 주었다. 1983년 대만 목회자들이 예수원을 방문한 마지막 날 밤이었다. 20명의 목회자들이 대천덕 신부에게 기도를 받으려고 기다리고 있었다. 다섯 명만 기도해 주고 자신은 급하게 할 일이 있다고 하면서 브래드 롱 목사가 성령께 의지하며 기도할 수 있도록 시간과 자리를 내 주고 자신은 밤을 지새워 제자를 위해 기도하였다. 1984년 대만에서 집회와 1991년 미국 레이크 조지에서도 마찬가지였다. 마지막 날 밤 성찬식에서 “지금이 기회입니다. 누구든지 성령으로 세례를 받고 싶은 사람은 앞으로 나오시오 브래드 롱 목사님과 제가 여러분에게 손을 얹고 기도해 드리겠습니다.”라고 전통에 젖어 있는 대만 장로교 목회자들에게 도전하여 주님께서 역사하시는 자리를 마련해 주었고, 브래드 롱 목사가 삼층천의 경험을 할 수 있도록 1년 동안 계속적으로 중보기도를 하여 응답 받았다.
대천덕 신부는 기도가 하나님과 우리 사이에 ‘평생 지속되는 계약에 의해 이루어진 전적인 상호 책임과 상호의 의지의 코이노니아’로 해석하여 기도하지 않는 것은 하나님의 방해하는 것임을 강조하였다. 브래드 롱 목사는 기도를 통해 하나님께서 자신을 그분의 파트너로 불러 새로운 창조를 위해 협력하기 위해 담대하게 순종하기를 명령받았다. 브래드 롱 목사는 대만에서 하워드 초우라는 사람이 400만 불 상당의 부지를 헌금하겠다는 제의를 사양하고 세계 복음화를 위해 미국 사역의 초청을 받아들여 ‘십자가 공동체’(The Community of Cross)를 세워 포기와 순종과 광야를 걸으며 주님이 주신 ‘기적’을 체험하였다.
대천덕 신부는 브래드 롱 목사에게 진정한 리더십은 힘이나 권위가 아니라 하나님께서 원하시는 것이 무엇인지 알고 그것을 이루기 위해 순종하며 나가는 것임을 일깨워 주었다. 브래드 롱 목사는 리더가 순종할 때 권위와 능력이 나오는데, 이는 리더의 은밀한 기도에 나타난다고 생각하여 끝없이 은밀한 기도를 한다. 초기 스탭들이 떠나며 재정적인 문제와 갑자기 심장이 이상이 있어 응급실에 입원하는 환경 속에서도 중보 기도를 요청하면서 하나님께서 하나님의 일을 이루실 수 있도록 기도로 씨름하는 영적 용사가 되었다.
배성현·국제교회갱신사역 한국사역
대천덕 신부는 바울이 에베소 성도들을 위하여 기도했던 그리스도의 사랑에 대한 4차원의 사랑을 깊게 추구하였다. 즉 더 넓고 깊게 사람들을 사랑하기 위하여 예수님을 더 높고 깊게 사랑하길 소원하며 기도와 사랑의 코이노니아 실험실인 예수원을 세워 실천적인 영성의 삶을 살면서 가르쳤다.
가문의 전통과 재정 문제에서 배우는 영성 대천덕 신부(Reuben Archer Torrey III)의 가족이 엄격하게 지키는 전통 중의 하나는 각 사람은 개인적으로 하나님의 자녀로 거듭나야 하며, 하나님의 가족이 되는 것과 개개인의 가족 내력은 별개라는 것이다. 또한 모든 자녀들이 고등학교를 졸업하면 1년 동안 대학을 진학하지 않고 삶의 현장 속에서 살도록 한다는 것이다. 고등학교를 졸업하여 이제 성인이 되었으니 각자 자신의 관심과 전공과 연결되는 삶의 자리에서 ‘사람들의 소리’를 직접 듣기 위하여 음식점, 농장, 어장, 사무실, 공장 등에서 일한 후에 대학에 진학한다는 것이다. 우리는 어떤가? 명문 대학에 자녀들을 입학시키려고 얼마나 힘쓰는가. 좋은 대학은 누구를 위하여 또한 무엇을 위해 필요한 것인가?
대천덕 신부는 “믿음의 주요 도 온전케 하시는 이(the pioneer and perfecter of our faith)인 예수를 바라보자“(히 12:2)는 구절과 “그뿐 아니라 하나님을 대적하여 말하기를 하나님이 광야에서 능히 식탁을 준비하시랴”(시편 78:19)는 말씀을 붙잡고 “책만 가지고 신학을 가르치지 않고” 더 나은 방법을 찾아, ‘그리스도인의 삶에 있는 세 가지 실험실’(The Three Laboratories of the Christian Life)을 세우기 위해 예수원을 세워 개척자의 길을 갔다. 그는 교회가 한 번도 개척되지 않은 시골 마을에 들어가 바닥부터 시작하였다. 그는 필요한 사람들과 자신이 도울 수 있는 사람들을 하나님께서 보내실 것을 믿고 출발하였다. 그는 같은 생각을 가진 사람들과 함께 살면서 노동과 물질과 기도를 나누면서 하나님을 위해 불을 일으켰다. 그러나 우리는 선교와 사역 속에서 안정과 기득권을 유지하려는 노력은 하지만 “배에서 나오라”(마 14:29)는 예수님의 명령에 순종하여 개척과 과감한 실험을 못하고 방황하는 형편은 아닌가?'
R. A. Torrey 선조들은 유럽을 떠나 미국으로 건너와 한 곳에 정착하지 않고 여러 곳에 살면서 수중에 돈이 떨어질 때가 많았다. 그때마다 빚을 얻거나 하나님이 허락하지 않은 일을 하거나 후원금을 요청할 수 있었지만 항상 하나님이 일용할 양식을 주시도록 맡기며 살았다. 4대에 걸친 R. A. Torrey의 간증은 “의인이 버림을 당하거나 그 자손이 걸식함을 보지 못하였다”(시편 37:25)는 것이었다. 사회적인 안정과 지위를 얻기보다 가정을 통하여 하나님의 뜻이 이루어지길 원하며 ‘가난의 서약’을 하고 살았다. 언젠가 예수원의 운영자금이 바닥났을 때에 대천덕 신부는 서울의 미 8군 휴양소에 열리는 컨퍼런스에 참석한 적이 있었다. 그러나 대천덕 신부는 컨퍼런스 중에 사람들에게 예수원의 필요에 대해 한마디도 하지 않았다. 그러나 얼마 후에 한 미군이 대천덕 신부에게 한국 돈을 한 뭉치 주었지만, 한국 여성이 한 지역에서 선교 프로젝트를 설명하면서 경제적 지원이 없으면 중단 할 수밖에 없다고 하자 전날 받은 돈을 전부 그 사람의 가방에 넣어 주었다. 그런데 컨퍼런스 마지막 날 한국 여성이 다가와 자신의 삶을 통해 받은 은혜를 감사한다면서 처음에 받았던 돈보다 몇 배가 많은 돈을 예수원을 위해 쓰도록 주었다.
대천덕 신부는 “믿음으로 받는 것만 아니라 믿음으로 주며” 살면서 예수원 공동체의 경제 원리를 세워 오늘날 교회가 에너지의 상당 부분을 내부 정치와 세상적인 야망에 힘쓰는 것에 도전을 주고 있다.
리더를 세우는 멘토에게서 배우는 영성 대천덕 신부는 평생 동안 수많은 사람들을 멘토링하였지만 여기서는 PRMI(국제교회갱신사역)의 총재로서 Dunamis Course(능력사역 훈련과정)을 세운 브래드 롱(Rev, Brad Long)목사와의 관계에서 나타난 모습을 밝히려고 한다. 대천덕 신부가 48세 때 브래드 롱 목사가 15세 소년이었을 때인 1966년에 만나 2002년까지 그들의 관계는 36년 동안 계속되었다. 대천덕 신부의 아들 벤 토레이(Rev. Ben Torrey)는 브래드 롱보다 한 살 많지만 두 사람은 친구가 되어 쉽게 친구의 부친에게 접근할 수 있었다. 대천덕 신부와 브래드 롱 목사의 부친은 미국 노스 캐로나이나에 소재한 데이비슨대학 동문이며, 모친 또한 같은 주에서 미술 활동을 하는 등 많은 부분을 공유하고 있었다. 이러한 요소들을 통해 하나님은 대천덕 신부가 예수원을 1965년에 시작한 후부터 계속적인 관계를 가지면서 바울과 디모데처럼 멘토십을 나누게 하셨다.
믿음과 행동이 하나 되는 예수님의 제자 1970년 겨울 양식인 쌀이 떨어지고 호박과 김치와 멸치 젖도 떨어졌을 때, 금식하며 가난한 자들이 내일 양식이 없는 처지를 생각해 보라고 가르치면서 어떠한 환경 속에서도 하나님을 신뢰하며 일용할 양식을 구할 것을 기도하고 기적을 맛보게 하였다. 예수원에서 식사 후 차를 마시며 여러 사람들의 대화에 참여케 하는 한편, 많은 시간을 일 대 일로 만나 기도하며 질문에 답해 주고, 개인의 하루 일과표와 저술 및 개인기도 시간을 소개하면서 믿음과 행동의 일치를 강조했다. 이러한 체험은 브래드 롱 목사가 1982년 대만에 평신도 훈련원을 세울 때 재정과 사람과 프로그램도 없는 불가능한 환경에서 하나님께 순종하면서 기적을 베푸실 분을 신뢰케 하였고, 미국 노스 캐로나이나에서 ‘십자가 공동체(The Community of Cross)'를 세우기 위해 2003년 30,000평의 땅을 구입하는 과정과 사역을 펼쳐나가는 일에서 철저한 순종과 기도의 삶을 살도록 하여 열매를 맺게 하였다.
예수님을 함께 닮아 가는 ‘하늘 나그네’ 브래드 롱 목사가 한국에서 고등학교를 마치고 미국 대학 입학을 위해 동아시아를 거쳐가는 과정에서 인도 캘커타 거리에서 죽어 가는 사람들을 보고 절망과 회의에 방황할 때가 있었다. 그러나 한국인들도 꺼려하는 강원도 산골에서 공동체를 세우는 대천덕 신부의 실천적인 모습을 되새기며 벤 토레이의 권면으로 다시 일어나 극적인 회심을 경험하고 그리스도께 헌신하게 되었다.
브래드 롱 목사가 대학 재학 때인 1973년 여름에 예수원의 설립 멤버들이 떠나가고 방문객도 극소수에 불과하고 운영에 어려움이 있을 때가 있었다. 그들은 서로의 문제를 부자간에 나누듯이 기도하며 분노하고 울고 들어 주었다. 대천덕 신부는 브래드 롱에게 밤을 세워가며 한 달 동안 성령에 관해 가르쳐 주면서 헬라어와 히브리어를 참고하면서 성경 속으로 인도해 주었다. 그때 한국인에게 예수원의 비전을 구체적으로 나누는 문제와 성령 세례에 대해 공개적으로 가르치는 문제와 공동체 문제에 대해 깊은 아픔과 개인적인 고통을 함께 나누며 함께 새로운 도약을 하게 되었다.
멘토가 자신의 인간적인 문제와 약점을 인정하며 함께 기도하기란 얼마나 어려운 일인가? 대천덕 신부의 모범 속에서 브래드 롱 목사는 자신의 부족한 부분을 인정하기를 기뻐하며 함께 사역하는 사람들이 자신을 위해 기도해 주기를 기쁘게 요청하며 다른 사람들의 제안과 비판을 수용하게 되었다. 진정한 리더십이 무엇인지 보여 주며 가르치는 삶 대천덕 신부는 의도적으로 브래드 롱 목사를 리더로 키웠다. 예컨대, 기도사역이나 전도 집회가 끝난 후, 브래드 롱 목사를 따로 불러 영적 리더십이나 성령과의 협력에 대해 가르쳐 주었다. 1983년 대만 목회자들이 예수원을 방문한 마지막 날 밤이었다. 20명의 목회자들이 대천덕 신부에게 기도를 받으려고 기다리고 있었다. 다섯 명만 기도해 주고 자신은 급하게 할 일이 있다고 하면서 브래드 롱 목사가 성령께 의지하며 기도할 수 있도록 시간과 자리를 내 주고 자신은 밤을 지새워 제자를 위해 기도하였다. 1984년 대만에서 집회와 1991년 미국 레이크 조지에서도 마찬가지였다. 마지막 날 밤 성찬식에서 “지금이 기회입니다. 누구든지 성령으로 세례를 받고 싶은 사람은 앞으로 나오시오 브래드 롱 목사님과 제가 여러분에게 손을 얹고 기도해 드리겠습니다.”라고 전통에 젖어 있는 대만 장로교 목회자들에게 도전하여 주님께서 역사하시는 자리를 마련해 주었고, 브래드 롱 목사가 삼층천의 경험을 할 수 있도록 1년 동안 계속적으로 중보기도를 하여 응답 받았다.
대천덕 신부는 기도가 하나님과 우리 사이에 ‘평생 지속되는 계약에 의해 이루어진 전적인 상호 책임과 상호의 의지의 코이노니아’로 해석하여 기도하지 않는 것은 하나님의 방해하는 것임을 강조하였다. 브래드 롱 목사는 기도를 통해 하나님께서 자신을 그분의 파트너로 불러 새로운 창조를 위해 협력하기 위해 담대하게 순종하기를 명령받았다. 브래드 롱 목사는 대만에서 하워드 초우라는 사람이 400만 불 상당의 부지를 헌금하겠다는 제의를 사양하고 세계 복음화를 위해 미국 사역의 초청을 받아들여 ‘십자가 공동체’(The Community of Cross)를 세워 포기와 순종과 광야를 걸으며 주님이 주신 ‘기적’을 체험하였다.
대천덕 신부는 브래드 롱 목사에게 진정한 리더십은 힘이나 권위가 아니라 하나님께서 원하시는 것이 무엇인지 알고 그것을 이루기 위해 순종하며 나가는 것임을 일깨워 주었다. 브래드 롱 목사는 리더가 순종할 때 권위와 능력이 나오는데, 이는 리더의 은밀한 기도에 나타난다고 생각하여 끝없이 은밀한 기도를 한다. 초기 스탭들이 떠나며 재정적인 문제와 갑자기 심장이 이상이 있어 응급실에 입원하는 환경 속에서도 중보 기도를 요청하면서 하나님께서 하나님의 일을 이루실 수 있도록 기도로 씨름하는 영적 용사가 되었다.
배성현·국제교회갱신사역 한국사역
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Love Is A Vivid Verb
What I love is a lifelong companionship. Thanks for these people that I could meet in Boston.
Monday, March 23, 2009
[Article] Story of a 'Solitary Yellow in a White World' is Tale of Hope
When Chinese native Yung Wing came to campus in the mid-1800s, there were "precious few people of color, no women and virtually no non-Christians," said Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh in a recent talk. "As the only yellow in a white world, Yung Wing was at best a curiosity and at worst a freak," asserted Koh. Yet, Yung Wing's story is ultimately one of "accomplishment," he noted. "In a very real sense, he is the spiritual ancestor of every one of us of Asian heritage who studies or works here at Yale today."
The dean's talk was the first in a year-long series of campus events honoring Yung Wing, who became Yale's first Asian alumnus -- and likely the first Asian to earn a bachelor's degree from any Western institution -- when he graduated from the University 150 years ago. The event brought an overflow crowd to the Graduate School on Sept. 27.
Koh began his talk, titled "Yellow in a White World," by recounting Yung Wing's tale: His early education in China by Christian missionaries, including Yale alumnus the Reverend Samuel Robbins Brown; his journey to the United States and his matriculation at Yale, where he "made a sensation for bearing off repeated prizes for English composition" and first conceived the idea of bringing other Chinese youths to the West for education; and his return to his homeland, where he found that he had beenso changed by his experience in America that his countrymen could no longer understand his Chinese and he could barely understand theirs.
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Yung Wing spent most of his life traveling between the East and the West, never really at home in either place, Koh said, noting that "In America, he felt Asian; in Asia, he felt American." When Yung Wing volunteered to fight for the Union army during the Civil War, for example, he was turned down because "he was not really an American," added the dean.
In China, Yung Wing worked to promote the nation's modernization. In the 1870s, his earlier vision was realized when he convinced the Chinese government to send 120 youths to schools in the West, including Yale, "to promote mutual cultural understanding and to extend the reach of the Chinese empire," Koh said. Although the Chinese Educational Mission was abruptly ended after only nine years, those students went on to become China's "first generation of 20th-century railroad builders, engineers, medical doctors, naval admirals and diplomats," Koh noted.
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While leading the Chinese Educational Mission, Yung Wing received an honorary degree from the Law School, "which makes him, I'm almost sure, the first Asian ever to receive a degree from the school of which I am now dean," said Koh. Yung Wing married an American woman, who returned with him to China, where he later served in the provincial government and became a diplomat. The couple's two sons both went to Yale, and Yung Wing is buried alongside his wife in Hartford, Connecticut. "Perhaps in Yung Wing's story, you've heard echoes of your own life," said Koh to the audience, noting that it was certainly true in his own case.
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Koh's own parents came to the United States from Korea about 100 years after Yung Wing. His mother was a freshman studying sociology, and his father was one of the first Koreans, "if not the first," to earn a law degree in America, he told the audience. "Like Yung Wing, my parents came away from their educational experience determined to promote mutual understanding between the United States and their home country, Korea," he explained. His parents founded the East Rock Institute in New Haven to carry on that cause, and his father served as the Korean ambassador to the United Nations and as a minister at Korea's embassy in Washington, D.C. He was also an educator who taught courses on East Asian law and society at institutions throughout Connecticut, including Yale.
Like Yung Wing, Koh's parents helped hundreds of Korean students come to the United States to study, and they frequently invited those students to dinner in their home. "So many Korean students came to my house that we had a regular chair that was just left available for whoever was coming to dinner that night," Koh said. "When I was [U.S.] assistant secretary of state, I went back to Korea a few years ago. Hundreds of well-meaning Korean government officials came to me and said, 'I ate dinner at your house.'"
There are many truths that can be gleaned from Yung Wing's story, Koh told the audience. Chief among these, he said, is "a lesson about making our own choices, no matter how difficult they might be." Koh remembers watching "Perry Mason" as a youngster and asking his father if he should become a lawyer. "My father turned to me and said just two words: 'Study physics,'" he recalled. The dean told the audience he later realized that underlying his father's urging were certain "assumptions about choices" -- notably, that law is for "insiders" and "we are outsiders in this country," whereas physics is a profession that is "truly open to Asians"; and that law is not an exact science, and "we will suffer from its inexactness," while in exact sciences such as physics, "they cannot discriminate against you," explained Koh. Although Koh did study physics for nearly 10 years, he decided that law was his true vocation. He wasn't daunted by the "old boy network" and, he said, "It didn't matter that law was not an exact science because, as it turned out, I wasn't very good at exact sciences."
Over a century after Yung Wing, Koh still found few Asian faces among his classmates at Harvard, and the only Asian names he encountered in the Supreme Court cases he studied "were always litigants and never lawyers," recalled the dean, adding that the history of Asian Americans is "not a story of victors of justice, but victims of injustice."
Today, the world of academia is very different, he said. "If you look over classrooms at Yale and the Yale Law School, you see a huge increase in the number of yellow faces." The population of Yale College is now 13% to 15% Asian American, and about one-tenth of the international students at Yale are of Asian ancestry. "More than that, the world is not nearly as white as it was. The United States has become a strikingly diverse country, and the number of Asians is growing," he said. "What we have now is a different kind of Asian experience."
Another lesson inherent in Yung Wing's story is that of one's obligation to others, asserted Koh, urging audience members "to be a bridge between two cultures, to be a ladder for those who come behind, to be a beacon to those who look for us for leadership because of our unique educational advantages, and most of all, to represent not just those people who are like us in appearance, but those who stand for the same principles." Yung Wing's story also reveals "how one person, even a solitary yellow in a white world, can make a difference," said Koh, pointing to the Yale alumnus' legacy -- the Yale Library's world-renowned East Asian Collection, which was founded with a gift of books from Yung Wing; the Yale-China Association, which promotes East-West cultural understanding and educational exchange; the Yale China Law Center, which is working to modernize that nation's legal system; and the delegation of Chinese university administrators who came to Yale this summer to learn about the operations of U.S. universities, which Koh described as a "modern-day Chinese mission to New Haven."
All this shows that "people can change institutions, institutions can build legacies and legacies can make history," asserted Koh. "And so, my friends, that's Yung Wing's story. It is a story of what it means to be yellow in a white world. It's a story of choices; it's a story of hope; it's a story of obligation; it's a story of accomplishment," said Koh. "But most of all, I think, it's a story of justice -- the justice that Asian Americans seek, and the justice that Asian Americans can create with the help of their friends and their colleagues."
Noting that Martin Luther King Jr. once said "The moral arch of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice," Koh concluded: "If Yung Wing were here, I think he would have to agree."
.
Yale Bulletin & Calendar October 8, 2004 [Volume 33, November 6] by LuAnn Bishop
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Process of Healing
I am a kind of careful person. What is more, I am a quite idealist. I guess the characters are main reasons, which have led me to now, as a single. When I was a college student, I used to pray for meeting my soul mate though I had no boy friends. Ideally I hoped to meet my first boy friend, who would be my husband. I didn’t really want to meet someone just for fun. Sadly enough, it seems impossible to meet the right person before knowing who I am exactly as we can usually observe ourselves closely in a relationship. We all are imperfect so there is not much possibility of people meeting the right person at first. It means there is no way to escape from the sorrow of separations.
Right after graduating from my college, I happened to meet someone through a North Korea prayer meeting. I had respected him, of course, it means that I liked him. Later, it was so amazing that I learned that he also liked me. However, he was a more serious person than I was. To make matters worse, he had listened to some prophecies about his wife and his life through several elders of church. For the reason, he did not or could not take a positive attitude in our relationship although he said to like me. That made me really uneasy and painful for a long time. After years later, we decided to give up the strange relationship. The last day we met, he said to me that he would want to meet someone filled with Christ’s beauty. I just zoned out for a moment. And I kept asking God "Why I had to know him after all we did not marry? What is Christ’s beauty?" Everything he said to me stabbed me like a sharp dagger. For many many years, indeed, I prayed that God would let me know about Christ’s beauty and make me resemble the beauty because I thought.. I was abandoned due to the lack of the beauty.
God started healing me when I was in Myanmar. I felt strongly that He helped me see myself with low self-respect, He really wanted to heal my soul's deep problems through the painful relationship that led me to desire for the intimate relationship with God. How amazing He is! Beyond having an inkling of the meaning of the Christ's beauty, suddenly I seemed to be changed as a beauty. It sounds crazy but it was true. I did not say anything to others about this my deep agony, however, when I came back to Korea, many people said to me, “You are so beautiful.” Usually people say to a girl, “You are pretty.” But people say that I am a beautiful woman. I wept at heart whenever I heard the word - "beauty." Only I knew the reason why I had to keep listening to the word from so random people. God knew my struggle for years. He has consoled and encouraged me with the word until now. Truly His another name is Raphael, God of healers.
Everyone has his or her own darkness. I might be unable to drive away the darkness by myself because the roots of the troubles may go deeper than my imaginations. So what can I do? I realized that I cannot do anything for myself. God does reconcile me with myself, others, the world, and Him. After then, I might be able to help others, especially for my spouse to be healed. God wants to set me free from every wounds, fears, oppressions, and other’s judgments. As far as I know, God wants to bless me through my marriage. I am dying of curiosity. Who will be only one, my lovely hubby? How God will work to our couple in our life journey? Anyway we will see.
At one of my favorite cafes in the world, Crema Cafe, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Right after graduating from my college, I happened to meet someone through a North Korea prayer meeting. I had respected him, of course, it means that I liked him. Later, it was so amazing that I learned that he also liked me. However, he was a more serious person than I was. To make matters worse, he had listened to some prophecies about his wife and his life through several elders of church. For the reason, he did not or could not take a positive attitude in our relationship although he said to like me. That made me really uneasy and painful for a long time. After years later, we decided to give up the strange relationship. The last day we met, he said to me that he would want to meet someone filled with Christ’s beauty. I just zoned out for a moment. And I kept asking God "Why I had to know him after all we did not marry? What is Christ’s beauty?" Everything he said to me stabbed me like a sharp dagger. For many many years, indeed, I prayed that God would let me know about Christ’s beauty and make me resemble the beauty because I thought.. I was abandoned due to the lack of the beauty.
God started healing me when I was in Myanmar. I felt strongly that He helped me see myself with low self-respect, He really wanted to heal my soul's deep problems through the painful relationship that led me to desire for the intimate relationship with God. How amazing He is! Beyond having an inkling of the meaning of the Christ's beauty, suddenly I seemed to be changed as a beauty. It sounds crazy but it was true. I did not say anything to others about this my deep agony, however, when I came back to Korea, many people said to me, “You are so beautiful.” Usually people say to a girl, “You are pretty.” But people say that I am a beautiful woman. I wept at heart whenever I heard the word - "beauty." Only I knew the reason why I had to keep listening to the word from so random people. God knew my struggle for years. He has consoled and encouraged me with the word until now. Truly His another name is Raphael, God of healers.
Everyone has his or her own darkness. I might be unable to drive away the darkness by myself because the roots of the troubles may go deeper than my imaginations. So what can I do? I realized that I cannot do anything for myself. God does reconcile me with myself, others, the world, and Him. After then, I might be able to help others, especially for my spouse to be healed. God wants to set me free from every wounds, fears, oppressions, and other’s judgments. As far as I know, God wants to bless me through my marriage. I am dying of curiosity. Who will be only one, my lovely hubby? How God will work to our couple in our life journey? Anyway we will see.
At one of my favorite cafes in the world, Crema Cafe, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
My Testimony Prepared for Park Street Church
This testimony was prepared for the Tuesday New Members' Class with Rev. Gordon at Park Street Church on October 14, 2008.
When my mother was expecting her third child, me, our family lived in a neighborhood that there were two remarkable pastors’ families. Naturally, the two pastors’ wives became good friends with my mother thanks to their mutual interest in children’s education. One of the wives is Dr. Eunsoon Yang, she later established His University in Corona, CA for family ministry. Through their prayers, my mother became the first Christian in our entire families, and my two older sisters and I grew up in a half Christian family.
My father did not have faith when my mother started to believe in God. But to my surprise, even he was not interested in Christianity, he helped Rev. Lee, Tae Woong, who finished his Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, to build Global Missionary Training Center right next door. It was possible because my father liked him. Moreover, sometimes, when the training center was full, some of the missionary trainees stayed with us since my father and mother agreed to open our house willingly to the young trainees. For me, to meet the young passionate Christian families and singles planning to go to mission fields remains one of the most wonderful childhood memories.
When I became a freshman, one day, I started to doubt everything about Christianity. I had too many questions. I wanted to understand God intellectually but often I could not get clear answers to my questions. Soon after, I became cynical about all Biblical messages, church, and Christians. While looking at people praising and praying at church, even I thought that they might be crazy. I totally lost my way. It is very difficult for me to explain exactly how, but I came back to having faith in Christ. I realized that there is no place hidden from God. I could no longer deny that God is God. It was actually a very scary experience for me to feel His real being. Many church friends and pastors knew that I had been struggling against doubts. I believe that God worked with their prayers.
After I went through the transitional time, I wanted to know God deeply. So when I learned about short-term mission works at church, immediately I applied to the opportunity, and was selected as a researcher in Myanmar. Through this rare chance, I could stay in Yangon, Myanmar for four months. During the time, I stayed with a pastor’s family, unavoidably, I had to go to every morning prayer meeting with the family. I am not a morning person, so it was very hard for me to get up before 6AM. However, it turned out that the period was a blessing itself in my entire life!
When my mother was expecting her third child, me, our family lived in a neighborhood that there were two remarkable pastors’ families. Naturally, the two pastors’ wives became good friends with my mother thanks to their mutual interest in children’s education. One of the wives is Dr. Eunsoon Yang, she later established His University in Corona, CA for family ministry. Through their prayers, my mother became the first Christian in our entire families, and my two older sisters and I grew up in a half Christian family.
My father did not have faith when my mother started to believe in God. But to my surprise, even he was not interested in Christianity, he helped Rev. Lee, Tae Woong, who finished his Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, to build Global Missionary Training Center right next door. It was possible because my father liked him. Moreover, sometimes, when the training center was full, some of the missionary trainees stayed with us since my father and mother agreed to open our house willingly to the young trainees. For me, to meet the young passionate Christian families and singles planning to go to mission fields remains one of the most wonderful childhood memories.
When I became a freshman, one day, I started to doubt everything about Christianity. I had too many questions. I wanted to understand God intellectually but often I could not get clear answers to my questions. Soon after, I became cynical about all Biblical messages, church, and Christians. While looking at people praising and praying at church, even I thought that they might be crazy. I totally lost my way. It is very difficult for me to explain exactly how, but I came back to having faith in Christ. I realized that there is no place hidden from God. I could no longer deny that God is God. It was actually a very scary experience for me to feel His real being. Many church friends and pastors knew that I had been struggling against doubts. I believe that God worked with their prayers.
After I went through the transitional time, I wanted to know God deeply. So when I learned about short-term mission works at church, immediately I applied to the opportunity, and was selected as a researcher in Myanmar. Through this rare chance, I could stay in Yangon, Myanmar for four months. During the time, I stayed with a pastor’s family, unavoidably, I had to go to every morning prayer meeting with the family. I am not a morning person, so it was very hard for me to get up before 6AM. However, it turned out that the period was a blessing itself in my entire life!
One day in Yangon, Myanmar, I mumbled myself “Why does it rain everyday here?” Myanmar has a tropical climate, so everyday there is heavy rainfall. At that moment, unexpectedly, God talked to me, “When it rains, let it rain, and you just get wet in the rain. 비가 오면 비를 맞어.” I cannot explain how I could listen to the God’s talking, but obviously he talked to me. I was really surprised at his sudden approach like a close friend. After the unforgettable moment, I came to understand something important. Even though I get answers to my questions, there are always things I can never understand. God created this world and reigns everything. Since then, I have tried to obey what He makes me do, even though I cannot understand the reason wholly.
On the other hand, I began to see the vulnerable, oppressed, and helpless people there. I started to realize that there are many people suffering on the other side of world because of the chaotic political situation, and the lack of education, and etc. God opened my eyes. I started to think about justice, which I had not thought about before. I got an inkling of my passion for governance issues beyond being an architect or an urban planner. Or I probably got a strong desire to participate in something urgent for His kingdom. I think the passion eventually brought me here to the States to study International Development at Cornell University.
Here in the States, as a foreigner, I am struggling to find a job and have many fears of my uncertain future. I still do have many questions. I cannot get clear answers to some of my questions. But it is ok. I know He will lead me and make a way for me. One of my most important prayers is that He may provide me with wisdom and discerning heart to recognize His voice on time. This is because knowing God and following Him are the most important things in my life.
On the other hand, I began to see the vulnerable, oppressed, and helpless people there. I started to realize that there are many people suffering on the other side of world because of the chaotic political situation, and the lack of education, and etc. God opened my eyes. I started to think about justice, which I had not thought about before. I got an inkling of my passion for governance issues beyond being an architect or an urban planner. Or I probably got a strong desire to participate in something urgent for His kingdom. I think the passion eventually brought me here to the States to study International Development at Cornell University.
Here in the States, as a foreigner, I am struggling to find a job and have many fears of my uncertain future. I still do have many questions. I cannot get clear answers to some of my questions. But it is ok. I know He will lead me and make a way for me. One of my most important prayers is that He may provide me with wisdom and discerning heart to recognize His voice on time. This is because knowing God and following Him are the most important things in my life.
Friday, April 18, 2008
[Article] The Guilt of Having a Good Thing -- (HJ) The Life I Long For
One way or another, New York City exacts a price for the privilege of living in it. If you aren’t shelling out an exorbitant pile of cash for your home, then you’re probably paying in some other way — by compromising your comfort, safety or values, for example.
Richard Sennett, the sociologist, is no exception. He and his wife, Saskia Sassen, a scholar of globalism, inhabit a picturesque former carriage house on a cobblestone alleyway just off Washington Square Park. Their monthly rent for the two-story, 1,200-square-foot house, which is owned by New York University, is below market rates. But in the 28 years since Mr. Sennett first moved in, there’s always been a hidden cost.
First it was the drug addicts who used his doorway as a crash pad. Now it’s the guilt of living in what he describes as a “gated community.” Indeed, signs posted at either end of the alley forbid pedestrians from entering between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. “That’s a terrible irony for me,” said Mr. Sennett, a professor at N.Y.U. and the London School of Economics, “because I’ve written about the evils of gated communities. But I’m not a sufficiently moral person to abandon this house. And that,” he said with a laugh, “is a moral failing.”
It would be difficult for Mr. Sennett and Ms. Sassen, who is the Helen and Thomas Lynd professor of sociology at Columbia University and a professor at the London School of Economics, to avoid such failings completely. They have published more than 20 books and 100 articles between them, on everything from immigration (her) to architecture (him), and there are countless points of overlap between their work and their lives. For starters, they live in, and write about, cities.
Until this year, when Ms. Sassen gave up a chair at the University of Chicago to return to Columbia, the couple inhabited three “global cities” — a term that happens to have been coined by Ms. Sassen (whose book “The Global City” was published in 1991). They would spend six months in London followed by six months divided between New York and Chicago. “It seems so much more reasonable to be in just two cities,” Ms. Sassen said. “It’s terribly cozy.” Her most recent book, “Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages,” was published by Princeton University Press last year.
“I am nomadic,” admitted Ms. Sassen, who was born in the Netherlands, grew up in Argentina and Italy and speaks six languages fluently. “I make myself at home wherever I go.” For her, “home” means one thing: “a place where I can work.” “When I go to giant conferences,” she said, “I go to the press room. All I need is coffee, a computer table and people who will just leave you alone. My work is my anchor. It is how I keep the rhythm of my daily life.”
Mr. Sennett, meanwhile, prefers to write at a neat, trim desk tucked into one corner of the house’s grandest space, a double-height living room on the second floor that is illuminated by casement windows and a skylight as wide as the room. “I’ve spent a lot of my life in this room,” Mr. Sennett said. “I’ve written all my books here, and I’ve had the experience for a long time of this light. And the silence, which is so rare.” Mr. Sennett, who grew up in a Chicago housing project and describes himself as a creature of habit, originally found it difficult to divide his time between New York and London. “It’s taken me about 12 years to arrive at the point where I feel skilled at living internationally,” he said. “We were constantly struggling with trivial things like ‘That book is in New York City.’ ”
Now, he said, “we divide up our clothes so that 50 percent are in London and 50 percent in New York.” He also admitted — sheepishly — to owning duplicates of favorite items. “I have a cello here and a cello in London, which may seem over the top. But after 9/11 it became so difficult to travel with my cello.” Mr. Sennett practices every day and plays regularly with informal chamber groups in both cities; he was forced to abandon a career as a classical musician in his 20s, when acute carpal tunnel syndrome led to a botched operation.
Ms. Sassen met Mr. Sennett when she became a fellow at the New York Institute for the Humanities, which he had founded. She was impressed when she heard him give a talk with Michel Foucault and later was invited to dinner at Mr. Sennett’s house, where she had a delightful time talking — in Spanish — to Jorge Luis Borges, another guest. Mr. Sennett, meanwhile, served a magnificent meal. Preparing food, Mr. Sennett said, “is something I love.”
“I do all the cooking,” he added. “All the shopping. All the cleaning. My wife is worse than incompetent. She stares at an egg — she’s a professor at Columbia, and she stares at an egg as if she’s never seen such an object. She loves to eat. But the kitchen is my domain.” Mr. Sennett’s next book, “The Craftsman,” will be published by Yale University Press next year. “It’s a book about the relation between doing things physically, with your hands, and thinking,” he said. “We’re losing that connection between physical and mental skills. Even the most abstract kinds of thinking, like mathematics, draw on something physical.” For Mr. Sennett, doing something physical is a way to find balance.
Four days after touching down at Kennedy Airport earlier this month, he gave a dinner party for 10 people. He served figs and serrano ham, followed by slow-roasted mallards with wild rice. The next morning, Ms. Sassen flew off to a conference in Mexico City. “I like a good comfortable plane ride,” she said. Mr. Sennett stayed home. He wrote every morning, practiced his cello and caught up with friends. “I don’t really feel anymore that I’m moving from one culture to another, because I’ve made a set of friends in both places,” he said. “Over time those friends have crossed, so a lot of my friends in London have become friends with my friends in New York and vice versa. I guess that’s globalization, isn’t it? On a personal level.”
September 23, 2007 The New York Times
The Guilt of Having a Good Thing by Celia Barbour
The Guilt of Having a Good Thing by Celia Barbour
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Game Night
Cousin Chris' two sons: Cole and Ken
Ken is crazy about games so I had to keep playing games with them during Christmas holiday. Thanks to Ken, I got to love to play Othello. My sisters have three daughters so I have three nieces. During this winter break, I met my three cousins' families and got to have six more nephews and nieces. It is amazing I am an aunt of nine children!
I heard from Meg, the two boys' mother, a hilarious episode of Christmas Eve. When their whole family was watching TV around midnight, Cole got to be upset about their family's watching TV. He was ready to burst into tears and then said, "Go to bed now! If you stay here, Santa cannot come in tonight." How cute he is! He is 4 years old now. I cannot hate children.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Stand on Mount Gerizim!
Today is my parents' wedding anniversary. Since December 9th, 1971, our family has succeeded. In the beginning of their marriage, both father and mother didn't know God. My mother became the first Christian in our family and then she brought up my two sisters and me to be a Christian. I often observe others' family history. Though fundamental notions of success in Christ are different from those in secular world, it's clear to me between the family with God and without God. Of course, my household and I will serve my God with all faithfulness as no man will be able to stand against Him. It's a really simple life what He showed us. Strangely enough, people seem to be familiar with intricate ways of life. I'm sure it's definitely a Satan's deception.
Deuteronomy 11:26-29
Deuteronomy 11:26-29
"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse-the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses."
Monday, October 16, 2006
Aunt & Uncle's Visit
Since I came the States, aunt and uncle had planned to see me in Ithaca from West Virginia. It is an eleven hour trip by car. Actually I worried about their health since uncle had a heart operation last year, however, on October 13th, finally they drove to Ithaca without troubles. We talked about many things while cracking chestnuts every nights. They bought winter shoes, clothes, blanket and iron for me. They took care of me like parents for three days.
My heart was warmed a bit by their visit, what is more, I was also able to go round autumn-tinted campus and winery in Lodi, New York. Once again, I have a chance to think about the meaning of family. I made a phone call to my mother in Korea last night. During talking over the telephone, my mother cried. She said to pray for me. I guess lots of blessings of God have been started from her prayers with tears for me.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Aquila and Priscilla
A few days ago, suddenly someone asked me, "What is your vision?" When I was a college student, I made every effort to find a work to be done in my life. I used to dream of becoming an architect like Bezalel whom the Lord gave skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary. However, when I found out Micah 6:8, I was really shocked."He has showed you, o man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Indeed, I had a misunderstanding about Him. What to be before God is more important than what to do. Utterly amazed, since then, I have been able to be free from worry about my future a little bit. (The only matter is lack of patience though.) My vision? Vision is a too immense word to describe mine. I just want to tell this like a modest dream before Him. I would like to build the kingdom of God with my soul mate who has a same heart and love in one spirit like a couple of Aquila and Priscilla who helped Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be continued to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. I keep praying to God for shaping me and my soul mate as seemed best to Him.."You are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand"
A Couple of Celadon Porcelain January 1996 by Heejin Choi
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