Seeing Virtue from Another Angle

A columnist in Our Daily Life and Our Spiritual Life has an interesting and different from the ordinary understanding of the word "vice." In Korean the word translates as '악덕' ( evil virtue), a characteristic of certain behaviors that can appear to be virtuous to some and not to others. However, the word "virtue," in Korean as in English, is always seen positively, meaning to follow a middle course. Too much or too little could be a problem, but to be virtuous is generally understood to be a good quality to have, both for oneself and for the other. It helps us to see the significance of life and tends toward joy.

The writer describes "'evil virtue" as anything done for another that we think is good but is experienced by the other as less than good and, more often than not, as something annoying. In our own minds, we are acting charitably, virtuously, but the person on the receiving end sees it differently: not as charity but as an unwanted intrusion. This is what the writer considers "'evil virtue."

Typical examples: a person doing something that he thinks is motivated by love and the person receiving is probably thinking: "For heaven's sake, please desist." When we are trying to help others, those receiving the help may consider it irksome, preferring not to have the help. There are times when someone may be sacrificing to be of service to others, and those helped are saying to themselves: "When is he going to stop and go home?" The person offering the help may be thinking it's valuable advice, but it may be seen as just empty prattle by the other--virtuous to one, "evil virtue" to the other.

Many of those caught in the receiving end of this situation see such "help" as an imposition, and not the help it was intended to be. Things done in the extreme are often more of a problem than leaving things undone.

The writer persuasively concludes that virtue taken too far is not really a virtue--too much love, too much helping , too much sacrificing for the other, too much advice--all these can become "evil virtue." Virtue, rightly understood and made a part of our lives, frees and comforts all of us. It is well to reflect on this when we are trying to do good.

Leopard will lie down with the kid-- Isaiah 11

In the early years in Korea, a woman, seeing a foreigner on the same street with her, would tend to fear for her safety. This was partially due to the increased presence of soldiers after the Korean War and the distressing stories circulating at that time involving soldiers. However, these days foreigners are no longer a problem but rather other Koreans. A columnist in the Korean Times mentioned that when he had been out late one night, riding his bycycle and had stopped to check his head light, a woman walking in front of him quickly started to run, thinking the writer had some evil intentions.

The topic of his column was the lack of trust in Korean society. The problem, contrary to what one might expect, has nothing to do with national security or similar issues requiring a high level of trust but simply citizens trying to know the truth of what is being said and what is not being said. A South Korean Navy patrol boat sank in the western sea following an explosion on March 26th. There was no confirmation on what happened so all kinds of rumors circulated to fill the vacuum-- in this case, understandable but another sign of lack of trust.

The signs of public distrust are many: there is little trust that our faucet drinking water is pure enough to drink, so the use of bottled drinking water continues to increase. When at the supermarket, shoppers do not always find it easy to select foods without doubting their quality. Patients don't trust the doctors, students don't trust the teachers--and sometimes for good reasons since both doctors and teachers, it has been reported, have lied about their credentials.

All this uncertainty adds even more stress to what is normally present in a typical day. When we cannot easily accept what others are saying at face value, we feel compelled to work at not being deceived. Society then becomes a burden, not a help as it should be in living a joyful and productive life. Even in contemporary novels, it is difficult to find warm and genial situations depicted. Instead, we have writers who focus almost entirely on distrust, betrayal, lies, deviancy, and addiction to sex.

Is it impossible to expect a different kind of environment? We expect lack of trust in the animal world: the lamb fears the leopard, the calf the lion. It is only in the world of humankind that we can expect something different: going from distrust to trust. The writer takes the word 신 (sin) with three different meanings: 神 meaning God, 信 meaning belief and 新 meaning renewed. If we believe in God then we will be renewed. The world will be changed.

What We Feel Does Affect Others

In the Winter Olympics, the Koreans had been heading for a sweep of the medals in the short track 1,500 meter skating event when the favorite to win, a Korean, crashed into another Korean--also expected to be a medalist--overtaking him on the inside and taking him down with him, the eventual gold medalist just missing the crash.

A columnist in a recent article in a Catholic newspaper referred to this accident as an example of what greed can do to any of us at any time. He described how upset he was at the skaters for ruining the opportunity Korea had to sweep all medals in that particular event. He admitted to feeling greatly upset and cheated by the accident and the failure of the skaters to sweep the medals.

He mentioned this to a friend on the day of the crash. The friend said that God had given him a great topic for meditation. Greed is not a personal problem but a problem that can give pain to others. His friend told him that by meditating on how he felt at the time of the crash, it was useful in revealing habitual attitudinal patterns of behavior in his own life.

He soon realized he was upset at the players for not bringing glory to Korea. It was a manifestation of his own greediness--wanting, in this case, an all-Korean sweep of the medals. His friend's "spiritual take" on the event made him rethink his way of responding to things in the world over which he had no control. As he thought about his unjustified anger at the skaters, he was overcome by a feeling of embarrassment.

How we react to anything in life will often depend not on what is being reacted to but on who is doing the reacting. People see the same event and the responses can be quite different. It depends on the way we have in the past reacted to similar events in our life that will influence how we will react to them in the present. When things don't go the way we want, we don't have to respond with complaints, irritation and anger, spreading discontent to those we are with. We can accept whatever happens, no matter how distasteful, without being upset, knowing that in most cases we could not have made a difference in the outcome.

Koreans did hope that it would be an all Korean victory. Confidence and desire to have the Koreans do well in the Olympics was a feeling shared by many, and the writer's feelings about the accident was undoubtedly shared also by many; it was a natural response to the accident but his friend's words were also proper. What we have done to grow spiritually will tend to appear in all aspects of our daily life, enabling us to see reality more completely. A reality where greed is naturally replaced by a spirit of generosity.

Activity to Contemplation Very Difficult

Living a more contemplative life in today's world, with its many interesting and often useful diversions, is far from easy. In a recent Catholic newspaper, a columnist tells us that if we are to discover who we are, we need to spend more time alone and sacrifice some of the many enticements that surround us, especially the most alluring from the virtual world: the internet, with its world wide web, its email, its Facebook and Twitter, putting people in touch from around the world; the mobile phone, which in only a few years has evolved from cell phone to smart phone, with each new model being replaced by an even "smarter" phone, combining most of the new technologies in one magical package: music, images, email and text messaging, camera, and web browsing. This virtual environment is mindboggling and addictive for the inquisitive and for those searching for something more satisfying than what they are now experiencing.

Spiritual growth may be what they, unknowingly, are looking for but for this to happen time alone is a prerequisite. The habits of the past and supposed needs of the present, however, are always there encroaching on our limited time. To determine what most people did when alone, the writer received the following answers to his question: They are gathering information on the internet, sending text messages or talking on the telephone. To the question "What do you do after that?" Typical responses were: “Isn’t it strange to be by oneself? We have to live with others. Those that like to be by themselves are selfish and introverts." Obviously, the youth of today do not think that being alone is a good thing.

And yet, if we are to know ourselves in the deepest sense, attaining wholeness as the person we were meant to be, periods of silence, of being alone, have always been considered important in Catholicism. Even in society at large, there are all kinds of programs that recommend finding some quiet time during the day to meditate.

By spending time alone, we come in contact with the person God made in his image. Knowing the person we really are, getting deeply in touch with the stillness--the still presence we share with everyone ("Be still and know....")--allows us to know and to live harmoniously with others because of that shared awareness.

A help in maintaining a sense of this harmony and closeness was the extended family, a tradition now largely replaced in Korea by the nuclear family--parents and children. This has brought loneliness to the Korean family that was not there in the past. When familial ties are broken as we chase after temporal and ever changing material goods of the world, believing they will satisfy us, instead of looking within and, in silence, finding true satisfaction by heeding the inner voice, there is bound to be a disappointment. The rate of suicide is a serious problem in Korea, and loneliness and severe depression will continue to be a problem for many Koreans who once lived in large intimate families. The Korean society, no less than western society, places great importance on doing rather than on being. It's a doing focused on possessing and enjoying the things of the world, rather than being focused on a more rewarding contemplative life. It's a journey we all need to take.

Nature Helping Us to Grow Spiritually

Ecology is a topic that is very much a part of the world culture we live in. We see not only the harm that we have done to nature but to ourselves. Apathy and evasion are no longer acceptable responses. A priest with a degree in the Theology of Ecology reflects on the topic in the recent Korean Catholic magazine.

Most of us are familiar with Wis.13: 5, Job 12: 7-8, Rom.1: 20, and Eph. 4: 6 but less so with the thinking of the Fathers and Saints of the early Church on Nature.

St. Antony, the dessert Father (250-356), could not read but with his study of God's creation, he could come to knowledge of God and a healthy spirituality. The philosophers visiting him asked how he spent his many lonely hours, since he couldn’t read. "My book is the creation itself," he responded. "Whenever I want to read that book it is always at hand."

"It is the divine page that you must listen to; it is the book of the universe that you must observe. The pages of Scripture can only be read by those who know how to read and write, while everyone, even the illiterate, can read the book of the universe," wrote St. Augustine.

Pope John Paul in the Encyclical Fides and Ratio #19 tells us, "A first stage of divine Revelation is the marvelous “book of nature”, which, when read with the proper tools of human reason, can lead to knowledge of the Creator."

The author of the article, using the traditional three steps of spirituality, suggests: First, the way of purification: Moving from seeing creation as instrumentality, to opening our hearts, to seeing the divine within nature.

Second, the way of illumination: Meditating on nature to discover God’s attributes: wisdom, goodness, beauty, and omnipotence. "Look at the birds in the heavens...." (Matt. 6:16-28).

Third, the way of unity: Contemplation in unity with the Triune God. To see nature with the eyes of God and to see the world with the eyes of nature.

Imitating the Ancestors in the Faith

Over the years, the Catholic Church in Korea has in many ways attempted to get Christians to take more interest in reading. In 2007, on the 80th anniversary of the launching of the Catholic Times, a survey of Christians showed that 58.6% had not read even one book related to the Church during the year. Despite an increase in the number of Christians, spiritual maturity has not kept pace with external growth.

Efforts in the past have not been successful in fostering a reading culture within the Church. The Bishops' Mass Media Committee and the Catholic Times have tried and ultimately failed. Campaigns to rectify the problem succeed for a period of time but with no lasting results once the campaigns come to an end.

The importance of reading books that give spiritual life and maturity to our Christians cannot be overemphasized. The foundation for the start of the Catholic Church of Korea was built with books from China. Two books, especially, had a profound effect: a catechism by Matteo Ricci and the other, on the seven capital sins and the virtues to overcome them by Diego Pantoja.

In 2005, more than 1000 Christians participated in a program to get everyone to read 33 books in 3 years. At the end of the campaign everyone went back to the normal routine--life without books. It is not sufficient, obviously, to have campaigns that only work when the need to read more is being actively promoted. A change in the reading habits of Catholics is needed.

In pursuit of this goal, the bishops' committee and the Catholic Times will set up a committee to train leaders for the different parishes, produce pastoral guidelines for ongoing reading programs, and publicize these efforts weekly in the Catholic Times.

Reading is a very important part of our growth as Christians. The importance of the Scriptures for our faith life, in deepening our faith and bringing passion into our lives, is obvious. The head of the bishops' committee hopes that the parish leaders will put in place a more reader-friendly environment, with the priests in the parish taking an active role as readers, recommending books and, ultimately, bringing about the publication of more and better books, and enabling synergic growth of mature Christians in the years ahead.

Human Rights Giant's Humble Confession

Cardinal Stephen Kim revealed his inner feelings, as noted in this week's editorial in the Peace Weekly, when he said: "for love to go from the head to the heart took 70 years." This journey from head to heart is the spirituality of the fool, he blamed himself for taking so long to move closer to the pain of those who were poor.

The Cardinal often mentioned that we need to be food for the soul of those in need if we are to establish a humane society. Sharing in the suffering and sadness of others will be the 'food' we share with them. These last wishes of the Cardinal will be enshrined in the legally incorporated foundation, " Fool's Sharing Fund."

The hope is that there will be many 'fools' that will care enough to share what they have to create a better society. It requires, the editorial concludes, in having love go not only from the head to the heart but from the heart to our hands and feet.

To help make the transition from good intentions to active participation easier, the Diocese has enlisted the help of the figure skating star Stella Kim Yu-na as its goodwill ambassador. And efforts will be made to select from among the different systems of sharing the best one to ensure a country-wide campaign, transcending religions, regions and race. By September of each year all the money that has been raised will be used. There will be no amassing of funds and there will be transparency in their use.

Cardinal Cheong, on the day the fund was established, said, " We will do our best to bring about a small part of the society that Cardinal Stephen Kim dreamed was possible."