Eating in the East and Sleeping in the West

A collection of meditations, written by a priest from Pusan, that first appeared in the Peace Weekly  has now been reprinted in a book, On the Road to Emmaus.  One of the meditations has to do with "straddling the fence" and not being authentic.

"Eating in the house of the East and sleeping in the house of the  West" is a well-known Chinese expression which in a dictionary would be defined as a vagabond. The origin of the expression, taken from one of the Chinese Classics, is quite different.

A young girl of marriageable  age received on the same day a proposal from a man living in a house in the East, and a proposal from a man in the West. The problem was that the man in the East was from a very wealthy family but was extremely ugly; the man in the West came from a very poor family but was the handsomest man in the county. The parents did not  know what to do and wanted the daughter to make the decision.

If she chose the man from the East, she was to uncover her left shoulder, and if she chose the man from the West, her right shoulder. She  also was in a quandary for some time, but finally decided to uncover both shoulders. She said she would eat with the man in the East and go to sleep with the man in the West. This is the origin of this famous expression.

Today this kind of thinking is called straddling the fence or being an opportunist. The author believes many Christians do the same thing. They go to Church on Sundays but the  rest of the week live without thought of who they are. They serve both God and the world. With the head and the ear, they believe one thing but with their actions something else.

In life, there are many times when we are tempted to straddle the fence. This is not the attitude of a follower of Jesus. In the Gospel of John 3:15, we hear:  "I know you are neither hot nor cold. How I wish you were one of the other--hot or cold!" One would think that being neutral would be a wiser way of acting, but taking a position, and being transparent and authentic with others, requires honesty. It is easier to talk with one who hates what you love but is honest, than to talk with one who is indifferent.  It is said the opposite of love is indifference, and that the distance from indifference to concern is often greater than the distance from hate to love. Straddling the fence may at times be unavoidable. Most of the time it is avoidable and  to "uncover both shoulders,"should not be the response.

Religions Existing In Peace

At the winter solstice,  a group of men dressed in military uniforms entered a Buddhist Temple, interrupting their prayer service.  They were demonstrating against the Buddhists. It  was considered a terrorist attack by many religious groups and condemned. The Peace Weekly and The Catholic Times reported on the support the  Buddhists received from many Christian groups.

Fundamentalist Protestants have entered the grounds of a Buddhist temple in the past, disrupting  their service but later apologized for their actions; this left a bad impression on many in society. The Buddhists have had trouble with the present government because of what they feel is the President's Protestant bias. The government did cut a  subsidy that was going to the Buddhists for their temple-stay program, and they then refused  to accept  anything from the government. They will also boycott any participation with the government in the future.
    
Representatives of ten Christian associations strongly supported the Buddhists, signing a statement that expressed their feelings on the recent incident at the Buddhist temple. The statement included the demand that the government show how public power was being exercised in this situation and asked that those who were responsible apologize for their actions and be punished.

In the statement, they pointed out that this problem exists not only between religious groups but between many sectors of the society. When we add the discord between religions to the discord we have in Society how can religion be shown as needed?

Korea has a history of harmony between religions and this kind of behavior is an embarrassment. No government or political party should be allowed to interfere with a simple matter of faith practice.

In the words of the Peace Weekly editorial: "Discord between religions comes when we do not attempt to understand  the other as different and are not open to the other. Religious groups should work together, before things get worse, to help to solve the problems we face. It's not only important to have public statements but also important, within the world of believers, to respect one another and to encourage one another to communicate and be educated in the peaceful ways of living with others. If those who have a religion continue to worry the citizens of the country, it is not only an embarrassment. We lose our reason for being."                                                                                  

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Difference Between Cutting and Untying

In the recent Bible Life Magazine, a pharmacist who worked closely with a doctor in a charity hospital in Seoul recounts the story of a Mr. Kim, the first son of a poor tenant farmer. At the age of three, he lost his hearing because of sickness and found it difficult to help out around the farm. Being of little use to his father, he was often the  target of his anger and cruelty. Even when it came to eating, the son had to be careful on the amount of food he ate. His life was unbearable, and at the age of 16, he ran away to the big city of  Seoul. 

He worked around the Seoul train station, delivering Chinese's noodles with bean sauce. Since the young man never attended school, he made many mistakes, lost his job and was never paid. During his five years in Seoul, he worked at many jobs: washing dishes, cleaning kitchens, picking up trash.  He found it difficult to keep a job no matter how hard he tried.

It was time, he thought, to return to the country, his nostalgia for home overcoming the fear of his father. The house was no longer there; his mother had died and his brothers and sisters were in an orphanage. His father's whereabouts unknown. He returned to Seoul.

All his efforts to find work were unsuccessful. He was not very adept at judging others and was taken advantage of by many. The problems were too much for him and he tried to alleviate the pain of loneliness with alcohol.

He was treated like a dog. He was called every name you can imagine and finally because of drink ended up at the charity hospital. He was  quickly given an entry to the hospital as a patient for life. On his visits to the hospital, the doctor would give him a look of  displeasure  every time he appeared and would not say a word on his departure, but there was great love shown to the young man which  Mr. Kim did not return. This began to change over the years, and he gave up drinking and started getting work. No longer drinking even brought back some hearing to his right  ear, and he was outfitted with a hearing aid that allowed him to relate to others.  With the first 20 dollars he earned, he wrote a thank you note to the doctor, with a scribble: "Thank you, I will not drink anymore."
 
Everyone who remembered the old Kim commented on the change, and many thought he would make a good subject for a  documentary on what could happen to a "loser." But it was not to be; the doctor suddenly died. Shortly after, the pharmacist heard that Kim committed suicide.

The pharmacist ends the story with an incident that happened when he received a package that was tied with string. He looked for some scissors to the cut the string, but  the doctor, who happened to be present, told him you don't cut string; you untie it so you can use it again. If you cut, said the doctor, it  goes into  the wastebasket.  The pharmacist compares this untying of the package with Kim's dealing with the difficult 'package' of his life that was bound up with many knots. He was not able to disentangle himself from what bound him, said the pharmacist. The knots were too many and too difficult. The doctor had done his best to untie those knots but after the doctor's death, Mr. Kim was not able to continue the work of disentangling, and felt the only option left was to cut. If he had found someone who cared about him, like the doctor who attended him in the hospital, the end may have been different.










                                                                                                                    


                                       

The Dark Side of Internet Games

A professor, writing in the Peace Weekly on the culture of life, discusses the current popularity of playing internet games indulged in by our youth: another affront to the dignity of the human family. More than 10 percent of the young are addicted to these games and the number continues to grow.

In 1997, when the country was having difficulties with foreign exchange and the economy, the government tried to remedy this by fostering interest in the internet and in other worthwhile activities. This has enabled most of us to have high speed internet access and an infrastructure that makes Korea one of the most sophisticated internet users in the world.
 

This has given the makers of internet games a profitable enterprise, but we are now beginning to see the abuses and problems that have come to the fore in this new cultural development: problems for society and for the individual. Many of the games deal with violence: the use of guns, knives and other lethal weapons. And the graphics and sound that accompany the games increase the sensation of violence. Because of the immaturity of those playing the games, control over their actions is not easy; they often have a problem differentiating  the real world from the world of imagination.

The government, although concerned with these abuses, has helped the makers of these games by legislating in their favor. Germany has gotten involved in dealing with the unacceptable consequences of playing these games by rating the games and limiting the making and distribution of some of them.

Because parents are often away from home, working for most of the day, their children are left unattended at home with the computer always available. The professor feels that parents and schools should make sure there are other possibilities available for children to use their leisure time more profitably. Prevention is easier than the treatment of the addiction.

Pope John Paul said, in the "Gospel of Life," "There is too much concern for efficiency and pleasure to the neglect of the more profound dimensions of life."  The professor would like to see the Church put the Pope's words into action by encouraging the makers of these games to develop games that are not against the culture of life and designed only to bring in more money. Their responsibility, as socially concerned members of society, should be not only to maximize profits but to create  games that will help our youth develop into mature, responsible human beings.


 

 

 

Win-Win Free Enterprise System

During December, two discount stores were selling very popular items below the average price of the competition. First, it was E-Mart with their low-priced pizza, and then Lotte Mart joined in with their low-priced buckets of fried chicken for one third the price of the leading chicken delivery franchises.

What  was to be done? many were thinking.  'Dumping' to get people into the store is breaking the fair competition rule. E-Mart decided to keep selling its pizzas but Lotte decided to discontinue the sale. There was, according to Lotte, too much confrontation in society about the wisdom of selling at such a low price. Both discount stores only sold  a limited amount of the product, and they did not deliver. Many consumers had difficulty understanding why Lotte decided to discontinue the sale. It was the consumer who suffers and even the President agreed that the fried chicken on the market was too expensive.

The Catholic Times entered the discussion with an article on the issue, written by a  professor of economics. He agreed with the position that Lotte took to discontinue the sale of the fried chicken. It was going to put out of business many small stores. In the free enterprise system, success comes to the one who has a better product and competition is the driving force that makes this possible.  Much of the press sided with the discount stores in favor of the consumers. The professor saw another value.

The professor was happy to see that Lotte decided to be altruistic in its decision to stop its low-price campaign. He sees that as a healthy sign of our society, and dubbed Lotte's decision a win-win decision for all involved and a sign of introspection and self regulation. It was  a sign of  basing our actions on the dignity of man--one of the principles of Catholic spirituality-- and of the possible appearance of a new kind of capitalism. Since the beginning of  industrialization  of economic life, the professor goes on to say, the constant voice of the Church has been there to remind us to respect man's dignity. This would make for a healthy enviroment.

When the big corporations show this concern for the low-income competition, they will also receive acceptance and trust in return from the consumer, which will help them to  continue to excel in their field. This is enlightened self-interest, and good business practice. 

This way of thinking, the professor believes, is part of the Social Gospel. It shows a preferential option for the poor, the paradigm that we as Catholics should have not only in the world of big business but also in our daily lives. When those who invest, who consume, who produce, who employ and are employed--when all of us have a spirituality that takes this into account, we will have a win-win society.

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A First For the Catholic Church of Korea

The Diocese of Incheon will commemorate its 50th anniversary this year by announcing that a church is being constructed specifically for the hearing impaired: the first Catholic church of its kind in Korea. It will not have parish boundaries but include the whole of Incheon for its pastoral work.

The church will seat 100 hundred and the priest now responsible for working with the deaf in the diocese will be the first pastor. The ground breaking ceremony was held recently, and construction is scheduled for completion in April of this year.

The parish will use not only sign language for the Mass but all that contributes to a vibrant parish life: teaching catechism, studying scripture, providing retreats and  a meeting place for the hearing impaired to socialize.  The Catholic Times' editorial chose to  recognize  this work for the alienated as a very important step in the growth of the Church. We now have a sensitivity to the handicapped in our midst by having toilets readily accessed by wheelchairs and by having signs with braille.  We have still a long way to go but there is increased interest to include the handicapped as valued members of our society.

Up until now the hearing impaired had to read the lips of the priest. It had  been difficult for parishes to provide the necessary aids to deal with their particular needs, such as setting up a monitor screen in the sanctuary for those in the congregation to follow the liturgy, teaching sign language, hearing confession, scripture study, and putting aside enough extra time to counsel those who wanted to become Catholic. Even though each diocese has a priest responsible for working with the deaf, there is a  limit to what can be done. This difficulty will be solved when the hearing impaired have their own  parish.

The  pastor of this new parish said the prospect of ministering to the needs of the hearing impaired in a church-friendly environment is giving him the greatest happiness in his  last ten years of priestly life. Because of their inability to hear, the deaf feel more alienation than those who are blind because of the lack of communication. That the diocese did see the importance of what was needed, and responded in such a marvelous way is a wake-up call to the other dioceses to put more effort and money into removing the walls that separate us from the alienated.

How to Determine the Health of a Country?

In the recent  Chosun Ilbo, a survey report of 5000 people from Korea and nine other countries did not surprise: Koreans were shown to be the most attached to material prosperity.

One of the survey questions was to select from a list of eight celebrities the person you thought the happiest, including yourself.  In most countries the persons surveyed selected themselves. In second place was the Dalai Lama; in  Korea the  top pick was Bill Gates, considered by many to be the richest person in the world.

Responses to the question: What degree of happiness do you have? revealed the "happiest country" to be Brazil, with 57.2 percent considering themselves very happy and nearly 92 percent considering themselves happy. Korea had slightly over 7 percent who considered themselves very happy, and 70.3 percent, happy.

To the statement that there is no relationship between money and happiness, only 7.2 percent of the Koreans agreed.  Which was, again, the lowest of the ten countries.

A professor reviewing the results said that, according to some, after reaching a certain level of prosperity the law of  diminishing returns begins to operate. You sacrifice other values to achieve material prosperity. The work necessary to gain this prosperity takes away leisure time that could be spent with family and friends. The desire for the material comforts of life in Korea is three times that of the  States and twice that of Japan. Since the beginning of 1960 Korea has increased its per capita GDP(Gross Domestic Product) 250 times. A world record. Despite this remarkable achievement, the happiness index of Korea is the lowest of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries.  This is an indication, he feels, of an unconscious desire for material satisfaction.

The positive conditions for happiness in Korea are many compared to other countries. Although Korea faces increasing unemployment, an aging population with its attending health concerns, and the destruction of the environment, which will impinge on the degree of happiness of our citizens, the professor feels the conditions are there  to see a change in the index of happiness.  "However, it is not only an individual  task," he says. "Without a happy society, we will not have  individual happiness. Happiness in society can  be achieved only by working with others."

Many see the GDP as a good indicator of material prosperity but a poor gauge to determine the well-being of a society. A better way to indicate the overall health of a society is needed. A way that would also take into account the non-material areas of life--that would be a happy change.