(written in 2005)
We are usually making constant efforts to do something with our self-will and resolution. We are careful to make some plans to bring a better outcome. When we are successful, we feel great and become more adventurous and challenging.
When one of our plans comes true, we often say "I did it" or "I made it". Here the persona 'I' is more important than those who helped to accomplish the goal. It's true that I myself did something. But that's not all. It's true that there are some people with generous and willing hands around us.
When we really think "I made it" without paying attention to those to whom we are indebted, we can become ungrateful, proud, and arrogant. Looking back at our lives, there are always people who cause and support our accomplishments.
Like those helping hands behind personal success or accomplishment, there is always the dual presence of joy and sorrow, life and death. The church is now at the point of celebrating the joy of resurrection after 40 days of Lent. Especially these days, Christians contemplate the passion and rebirth of Christ, which is the climax of faith.
The life of Jesus tells us that he is different from us. Being gentle and humble of the heart, he is never stubborn, selfish, one-sided, cruel, or demanding. He seems vulnerable and powerless. He didn't do anything by his own will but he was always in tune with God's will.
At the last point of his life, Jesus did not say "I accomplished it," but "It is accomplished." It has been achieved. The subject here is not "I" but "it." He is not active but passive. God's will has been truly accomplished.
This humble and gentle attitude has sprouted since he was conceived. His mother Mary responded to the Holy Spirit, saying "let it be done to me as you say." Constantly following God's voice, Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth. They were attentive to the guidance of an angel.
Jesus was painfully accepting the cup of death, but he made up his mind to accept his destiny if it is the will of God. Throughout his life, nothing was done by his own will. Before dying on the cross, he said "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit." In this way, his whole life was led by God's plan to make the world a happy and joyful place to live with one another.
Because of this faith, a new life came into being. Pauline has recently published the Korean translation of the story of a prostitute under the title "When the Lord calls over your name." This book reveals the mystery of a new life after poverty, wandering, and suffering. Michele in this story was born in 1917. When she was young, her drunken father heavily influenced her. Her mother had to support her family under miserable circumstances.
Michele was illiterate at the age of 15 and became a prostitute in Paris. It was almost like the blind alley. She was naturally exposed to every kind of evil but ultimately led to the truth with the help of some pious people. It was not easy to overcome her old habits, but she finally completed elementary school at age 40. She also earned a nurse's license.
Thus, she became quite a new person and was willing to respond to God's love. Confessing her life as it is, she dedicated her life to helping those who suffered from the same misery. She said, "God is alive and heals everybody in our age." She thoroughly gave of herself to encourage and give hope to people in the same situation.
It's an old story originally published in 1971 in France but reveals the same reality as ours today. And that reality is led to the mystery of Jesus Christ. Passion, death, and rebirth are going on in our lives. Many women are still selling their bodies either for money or pleasure.
I still remember an Indian man who visited me one day in search of a way to help his professor at his university. He asked me if I could go directly to the professor to advise him because he was having an affair with his student near campus. As a sister, I couldn't do anything except listening to his request. In fact, I was afraid of getting involved in the matter. I wonder if that man is still in Korea. He was a foreigner but was more conscious of the situation. Let us hope all those who suffer go beyond their limits.
The Korea Times/ Thoughts of the Times/ March 28, 2005
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