In the first scene of the movie The Last of the Mohicans, three
American Indians are climbing a mountain in a hunt. They pass a
waterfall and small stream and spot an elk. One of the Indians takes
aim. The music stops and we hear a loud sound as one of the Indians
shoots the elk and we see the elk fall to the ground. They rush to the
side of the elk. The oldest of the three speaks: We're sorry for killing
you, brother." A religious-like ceremony follows with these words
uttered. "We respect your courage, speed, and strength." They all kneel
at the side of the elk and in an expression of sorrow caress the elk.
He changes channels and is presented with more of our societies concern with eating. We
see all kinds of animal and plant life but it is only food for us to
eat. We see only its freshness and forget its wonder and mystery. A
seminary rector with these words begins his article in With Bible magazine on the
phrase of the Our Father: "Give us this day our daily bread."
In
the Old Testament eating of meat was only allowed after the flood in
Noah's time. At creation, we were not given permission. "I give you all
the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the trees
with seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food." (Gen. 1:29). We were
given permission after the flood to eat the flesh of animals but with
one condition: "You must not eat flesh with life, that is to say;
blood, in it" (Gen. 9:3).
This changed for Christians
after Jesus. It is not difficult to understand how shocking were the
words of Jesus to the Jews when they heard: "Eat my flesh and drink my
blood" (John 6: 58).
We understand the words give us
our daily bread as referring to the Eucharist but primarily it is the
food we need daily for sustenance. It's not 'my' but 'our', not what we have stored but my daily sustenance. In our society food is left over
and thrown away and others go to bed hungry.
According
to World Food Programme (WFP), one person out of nine live with hunger. Another statistic tells us that under the age of 5 over two and
half million die of malnutrition. We know the large number who are overweight.
35 percent of the grain is fed to animals. Over
the past 50 years, the consummation of meat has increased twofold. The
large amounts of meat consumed in the developed countries have
accelerated the climate change. ( Many do not see the relationship
between meat consumption and climate change)
We have
developed a very delicate palate. Our mass media has helped to make gourmets of us all. A word that was not in the dictionary of the past we magnify to a degree that closes ourselves off
from what is important. When did our 'taste buds' become so
important? We need to stop worshiping our palates and our
gourmet sensibilities and hear the cries of the suffering and hungry.
No Korean is unfamiliar with the shaman and shamanism. However, the rector of a seminary writing in the Catholic Times wonders if they really know the shamanistic world. There are those that think they know but really don't, according to our writer.
Ordinarily, we think that those with no religion look to the heavens for blessings and that many other religious people are superstitious. In Korea, we have had no serious study of the non-believers (religious 'nones'). They have their own 'gods' and followers and in their own way, many have found liberation and a zest for life. Before we criticize them we have to ask ourselves have we found happiness in our religious life?
In all religions, we find superstitious elements, when we don't live according to of our beliefs. We have those Christians who go to fortune tellers and believe in the four pillars (year, month, day and hour of birth) as a reason for their destiny. He blames himself for not being kinder to those who have been influenced by these superstitions.
A life of faith is not like playing the National Lottery. There is a place for looking for blessings but it is not the essence of our faith life. Passion, purity of intention, and wisdom are needed. Without passion, spineless, without purity of intention, vacillation, and a calculating faith will not last long. We saw this in the recent scandals in government, looking for blessings and superstition.
We see this with some religious people, their religious articles are no more than charms and amulets to ward off evil. The Bible is in the bookcase as an ornament. Prayer is often the rattling of words when it should be the movement of our hearts to God.
We are living in a pluralistic world. With all kinds of religions, ideologies, and theories. Each with their own dreams and visions, and he introduces us to the Chinese classic: The Art of War (孫子兵法) an ancient Chinese military treatise.
Using the words from the treatise: In this pluralistic world in which we live we need to know ourselves and others if we are to live wisely. If we don't know ourselves and others it may be comfortable but it is a life of ignorance. If we know only ourselves it is a life of egoism. However, if I know only the other and don't know myself what kind of life will that be?
We have to be slow in criticizing another's vision of life and make sure to avoid parasitical superstitions and the gospel of success, wealth, and health. We don't want to be an ornamental Christian.
