The image of a health center worker, dressed in a full white gown, with a hood over their head and a mask covering their face, inserting swabs into the noses of the crowd without pause for a COVID-19 rapid antigen test, already seems like a scene from a distant past.
When wildfires broke out on the East Coast and in southern regions, the firefighters and emergency workers who collapsed on the streets, exhausted and covered in soot, did their best. Thanks to those who gave their best, whether for a few moments or an extended period, our safety and peace have been maintained.
There were also dedicated people in our church. People who, beyond the severe social stratification of the late Joseon period, dreamed of a world where everyone could live equally as children of God, who devoted everything to make the world pleasing to God within the order of creation. We called those who did not abandon their beliefs even unto death' martyrs.'
At that time, society did not tolerate deviation from the norm, labeling it as treason. Imprisonment, torture, and execution were probably considered natural consequences. For our faith ancestors who proclaimed equality in a world sharply divided by class and gender, the suffering they endured was wholehearted. Moreover, for those who left their homeland to spread the truth in distant countries, it was truly 'seeking suffering.' They must have known it was an unattainable dream, like 'hitting a rock with an egg.'
Yet, they did not resort to violence or gather forces to oppose to achieve their dreams. They did not stray from the path of truth. From the contemporary perspective, it didn't seem very smart to live a hundred years ahead, doing what might have been possible after the 1886 Joseon-French Treaty.
There are people in every field who do what seems impossible, those who go against the prevailing trend. People who, next to already built military bases, cry out for the closure of war facilities, insisting that peace cannot be achieved through force; environmental activists demanding the dismantling of the sixteen dams of the Four Major Rivers that have already been completed; those seeking to uncover the truths behind the Yongsan tragedy and the Sewol ferry disaster, even as they hear the words, 'Still at it?' People who protest and go on strike, calling for the revocation of layoffs in a world where restructuring and labor market flexibility are considered natural….
They are the ones who do what could only be done if the world were in a better state, yet they do it precisely in these dark and difficult times without giving up. Thanks to them, the world gradually inches closer to the kingdom of God.
Some people do their best in everyday life. Those who live day to day, earning just enough to survive! Those whose whole day is taken away, even if a single day goes wrong; those who live a life filled with debt to pay off month after month; people who gain disabilities from unforeseen accidents; those who care for elderly family members with dementia, living in constant tension and anxiety; people who take care of family members ruined by alcohol, gambling….
Yet they all strive to endure each day to the best of their ability. Surely, the temptation to throw everything away and leave comes several times a day, but never give up, and strive to do their best. This, too, can be considered a form of martyrdom in today's world.
I hope to be a supportive community that encourages and reassures those who give their best that their efforts are not futile or foolish. Isn't this the loving community we always talk about and dream of? May our best efforts be such that we live, "considered as sheep to be slaughtered, yet confident that with the help of the One who loved us, we can overcome all things and even more" (cf. Romans 8:36-38), and may our best efforts not be those that trample or overpower others, as we commemorate the month of the martyrs.
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