The Korean Church and Cyberspace

There are a few difficulties for the foreigner living in Korea and one of the least trying is the inability to register on the internet when it is required. We all have a 13 digit registration number. When it is used to access Korean websites most of them do not accept the alien registration. The government keeps on saying this will change and it probably has changed but the websites have not.

Even if this is true Korea has a wonderful internet system. In my understanding they have the world's fastest internet connection speed which will be getting even faster. It is a pleasure to work with the internet in Korea and the after service is just exceptional. All one has to to do is call KT and within a few hours he is at the house and no charge.

The Catholic Church in Korea has a great technical tie up with all the other dioceses for exchange of data but they are not in the forefront of using the internet for communication within the diocese between the Christians and the Diocese.

The Suwon Diocese has taken a lead with the starting of an internet newspaper. It will facilitate the mutual communication of the Christians and the Diocese. Since they are limited by the funds they have: a lot of people involved are volunteering their time and know how. Congratulations are deserved. Hopefully this will be a priming of the pump for the other Dioceses to follow.

ONE PLUS ONE IS NOT ALWAYS TWO

This is “pumasi" time in Korea (품앗이). Life without it would be very difficult. This is a word that is used to signify exchanging labor. It is not easy to find laborers to work in the fields so the farmers lend their hands to others to be repaid in kind when asked. This is partnership where the results are easily seen.

In the district in which I live there are usually 6 families that group themselves to help and be helped during the busiest times of the farming season. That means that with the husband and wife it usually is 12 people. Here in our district they are presently getting ready the rice seedling beds.

When I first came to Korea I remember seeing 3 farmers with one shovel working together. The one in the middle would hold the shovel and you would have one man on the right and the other on his left with a rope that each held that was tied to the shovel handle. It was like a dance. The man in the middle would take the lead with the shovel moving it from the earth that he was digging and letting the dirt in the shovel fly off in the direction that he chose. The other two with a similar rhythm would go back and forth helping the man with the shovel. It seems that they could do more work doing it separately but it would not be as much fun.

The word synergism can teach us a lot. I have heard it over and over again that two horses, pulling in unison, can pull more than three times the amount that each horse can pull separately. You hear this

so often that there has to be some truth to what is being said. I would like it to be true also in our human society. This would revolutionize everything. I also believe this is the reason Our Lord sent his disciples out in twos. One plus one can be more than two.

It has been said that “the society we are living in has set the task of making it

unnecessary for one human being ever to ask anything of another in the course of going about his daily business” This is certainly not Christian nor very human either. Would it not be better to do nothing alone that could be done better with another? The Korean pumasi is a good lesson for us.