The Catholic Peace Newspaper's 'Preciousness of Faith' column by a priest university professor gives readers another look at the Korean author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature and her approach to facing the problems that arise in our lives.
Author Han Kang, recently selected as the Nobel Prize in Literature winner, is receiving worldwide attention. The Swedish Academy introduced the author as “a powerful poetic prose that confronts historical trauma and exposes the fragility of human life.” Rather than dwelling on the violence and resulting wounds that we experience in our daily lives and the fragility of humans who cannot help but be hurt, she went beyond them. She found true humanity, which was recognized as a universal value.
In fact, the subject that author Han addressed is something we all experience daily, and it is also an important subject dealt with in faith. Although we usually do not realize it, the prayers in the latter half of the Lord’s Prayer are filled with content about human fragility. Humans are frail beings who cannot survive without daily bread, who sin and hurt each other, and who cannot help but fall into temptation and evil. The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that asks God the Father to feed us, forgive us, and protect us from temptation and evil.
The columnist read a poem by author Han called “It’s Okay” and deeply sympathized with it. One day, when her newborn baby cried every night and didn’t know what to do, she suddenly said to herself: “It’s okay." Since then, the baby has stopped crying, and she learned the wisdom of comforting herself by saying, “It’s okay,” instead of “What’s wrong?” when she’s having a hard time.
In this way, the author conveys a positive view of human fragility, comforts those hurt by fragility, and seeks humanity's embrace and support of fragility.
Fragility permeates all dimensions of humanity. Faith, hope, and love are indispensable virtues in human life that make humans human, but they are also filled with human fragility. Because they permeate human fragility, our faith is unstable, our love leaves many wounds and tears, and our hope wavers in trials and crises.
However, if we realize that weakness is common to all and that we can only move forward through weakness that embraces and supports each other’s weaknesses, then we have lived well enough and can tell ourselves: “It’s okay.” When we do, we will be able to discover that faith, hope, and love are sprouting anew within us.
The Apostle Paul said that he would boast about his weaknesses if he wanted to boast (cf. 2 Cor 12:5-10). Because he experienced that God’s power is fully revealed in weakness. God gives grace to everyone, but he exerts greater power on those who know how to recognize and accept themselves as weak. As one writer said, we can say: “It’s okay,” and embrace our weaknesses, but believers go one step further. If we can meet the gaze of the Lord who knows our weakness and looks at us with compassionate eyes, and if we can hear His voice saying: “It’s okay,” we will realize that this is enough, and we will be able to approach others in that way.
The God we believe in is a God of compassion, and he raises us up again and enables us to live. It’s okay! Some things cannot be done, fixed, or undone in life. But let’s not be disappointed. The Lord says it’s okay. If we can admit our weaknesses, then we can start again.
“Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin again.” (John 8:11)
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