Surprised by a Gift

A poet writes about her moving to the country and the gift she received in the process. A number of these returning-to-the-soil articles have appeared in the Catholic Kyeongyang magazine lately, demonstrating a growing nostalgia for things of the earth and for its basic life-nurturing qualities. Our poet moved to the country to tend wildflowers and to plant and care for an herb garden which will supply her with teas throughout the year, and to have more time for quiet reflection.

She made the move with some apprehension, not quite sure whether it was an act of bravery or foolishness. She did not dislike city life, nor was she enamored philosophically with life in the country and living close to nature. Her reason for the move: her life was just too fast. Thoughtlessly accepting life was suffocating, she said, and she wanted a change.

Her two boys were now adults and did not need her care anymore. Feeling free to leave behind family responsibilities and the city for a life close to nature, she was guided by the words of St. Matthew that the lilies of the field do not work or spin and yet even Solomon in all his splendor was not arrayed like one of them.

"Mother, today I have begun the course in the catechumenate to be baptized. I will be looking forward to your help." This was the first telephone call she received last year.  She never had a daughter and the caller, a friend of her second son, was to grow closer to her than her own son. In the beginning, she had misgivings on the kind of girl her son would meet, for all he knew from the time he was in grammar school was sports, and now he was in a soccer training camp. But from her first meeting with the girl, at her home in the country, all her fears disappeared.

Since the son was living in a dormitory, when  he had some time off, the girl would come down from the city, and both would meet at his mother's house. The mother  had arranged with the girl's family to have her stay with her when her son could leave camp and be with them in the country.

The girl was baptized last year on the Feast of the Assumption, and now goes to the country to help the mother during weekends; this was the gift the mother feels she has been given. They both work in the garden and go to Mass together on Sundays. The mother wonders now if  returning this gift back to God is not her task along with the gardening. Whether it is the life of living close to nature or the life of raising a family, she has no doubts that God looks upon both with favor.

Freedom of the Press and Democracy

A journalist writing in the premier Catholic magazine recalls a book of only 30 pages that has already sold in France nearly 2 million copies. With the publication of the book, Time for Outrage  (Indignez Vous), its message is spreading to other parts of Europe.

The French author, 94 years old and a resistance fighter during the Second World  War, tells the young, "Just look around, and you will see what is not to be endured. The worst kind of attitude is indifference, 'What can I do? I have my work to do,'" you say. "With that kind of thinking the  strength that comes with outrage is lost--one of the qualities that makes us human--and we miss the opportunity to bring about change."

The first object of our anger, he says, should be the gulf that separates the rich from the poor. The second object of our anger should be the present threat to welfare programs for the powerless in society, and concerns in  maintaining an independent press among other issues--all of which have to be seen if we are to make judgements and move into action.

The author of the book participated in drawing up the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. When we are angry at the violations of  human rights wherever they occur, he believes we will also attain rights and freedoms for ourselves. And his recommendation to cease from violence is to have non-violent, peaceful demonstrations.

The journalist briefly reviews the struggles for change in Korea, especially the recent candle-light processions of college student asking  for an  unconditional decrease in college tuition. They were joined by workers, parents, and by high school  students. He remembers his own struggle for a free press 37 years ago when the journalists of his own paper confronted the government of  Park Chung-hee. When the journalists issued their call for a free press, all the advertising disappeared. In the place of the advertising, the blank spaces were filled with the angry words of the readers, offering consolation and encouragement to the protesters, and also donations.

This could have continued but the shareholders of the paper and radio station decided against the protesters and fired 134 employees of the paper,  including journalists, producers, and announcers.  Our journalist was one of those fired. The advertising income returned, the number of  pages of the paper increased  but the freedom of the press died.

The freedom of the press, he concludes, is the foundation of a true democracy--freedom from  power, moneyed interests, and the influence of  big business.  He ends with the words of Isaiah (10:1-4): "Woe to those who enact unjust statues and who write oppressive decrees, depriving the needy of judgement and robbing my people's poor of their rights...."