Minimal Life and Spirituality

Tomorrow we begin the Season of Lent and begin living the Paschal Mystery so that it will become second nature to us: we die so we can live. At the liturgy we receive ashes on the forehead and hear that we came from dust and will return to dust. Sad as it may sound, it's the journey to happiness in this life and the one to come.
 
A seminary professor of spiritually writes in the Kyeongyang magazine about the minimal life. We empty ourselves so God can fill us with himself. He quotes a well know Buddhist monk who was well known for his 'lack of possessions' which to the monk was the way of having the whole world open to him. A different religion but makes sense to all of us. It's not the possessions but our attachment that is the problem. It takes our attention and freedom away from the important things in life.

Minimal life is a world-wide topic of discussion in recent times and can be compared to our evangelical counsel of poverty. Is this truly the fact that poverty is a means toward happiness? The Scriptures also tell us that God is the one who gives wealth. Why does Jesus say the poor will find happiness? Those who choose to live the life of poverty are not the same as those who without choice have to live in poverty.

It's not that poverty in itself is a good but a condition in which we can find joy in life. The poor need to rely on God more than those with wealth. The life of the counsels is to imitate and be united with Jesus. Poverty, chastity and obedience are a means of being united with Jesus. Not the acts themselves but what they enable us to do is important. If riches allowed us to be one with Jesus that should be our choice.

St. Ignatius of Loyola expressed this with the word 'indifference'. We choose the way that will enable us to attain the object for which we were created. Wealth or poverty is not what is important but our relationship with God.

Why then does the Church put so much emphases on poverty instead of wealth? The reason is that wealth has a stronger pull on our actions and a greater temptation to pull us way from God. When God is the center of our lives than whether its wealth or poverty, health or sickness, slight or honor is not important, but the freedom we enjoy.

When we say God is the center of our lives we are at the same time saying that we are open to the love of our neighbor. We are open to others and willingly giving ourselves to others. This is living the life of love and the virtues. It's then we enjoy the peace that Jesus gives and not the world's peace.

If the minimal life is only a way to manage our material things and to feel unburdened with the material it's good, but only another way to be centered on ourselves. Here again we take center stage and not God. This, as we have learned, does not last long. We want to fill our lives with what will not disappear. When we gaze on ourselves this is extremely narrow. We want to bring into view our neighbor and beyond to God. It's then that our life becomes filled beyond imagination.

Victimless Offenses are not Crimes

Same-sex sexual relationships have always been legal in Korea but not  socially approved. This is true today and possibly more so because of a large number of Christians in society. Our president is also Catholic.  An article in the Catholic Times is the explanation of a priest to a  young man Peter, on what we mean by victimless offenses. 

"When we talk about a sexual minority one idea that must be remembered is the 'victimless offense' category. After the French Revolution in 1791 in the Constitution victimless acts were no longer considered crimes. This included all acts of heresy, magic, witches, and same-sex sexual acts. They were  victimless and no longer concern of the law.

Just because these minority sexual groups think differently than I do is no reason to punish them.  This is a big step in understanding. Whether I like it or not is not the issue and can't be a  reason for the punishment of these acts between consenting adults.

In Europe gradually these victimless offenses were accepted by society and homosexuality was no longer considered a crime. Peter, when I was a child in the 1970s  I  can remember when victimless acts were considered a crime and punished. Do you know this?  I remember seeing this." Peter did not know how to answer.
  
"Long hair and miniskirts were not allowed. Police would measure the length of the hair and shortness of the skirts. (The priest saw the expression on the face of Peter  and decided to discontinue these examples) 

In Europe, there is no problem with homosexual acts between consenting adults. The number of marriages of same-sex couples also continues to grow. However, in many areas of the Middle East and Africa, it is illegal and in certain areas of the world, punishment is the  death penalty. There is a difference in the way people in different cultures see human acts.

In Korea, same-sex marriage is not allowed. In  Korean law  any discrimination against those who are homosexual or lesbians is forbidden. Two celebrities who are gay and living together wanted to get married but they were refused. They filed a case against the ruling but the court has refused to hear it. This is still a cause for talk. No way to know how this will work out but the way society sees the gay life is changing greatly.

Twenty years ago you would never hear the issue discussed but now very much in public discussion.
If one thinks this is a development it's a development, on the other hand if one thinks it is the downfall of society that's what's thought. Peter, what do you think? Is this  a development or a foreboding of ruin?"

"Um.... Father, isn't the forcing of an answer from me on sexual  orientation a failure to respect my human rights?"

In Search of the Sacred

We live in a secularist world environment. In the last house census over half of the Koreans  reported they have no religion. Those of us with a religion do not come across as being much different from anybody else. Sacredness is not something that is easily discovered in the life of religious people. A Jesuit priest on the opinion page of the Catholic Times introduces us to his thoughts on the sacred.

In our society, we see a great deal of uncertainty: unemployment, North Korea and the nuclear issue, the direction of society towards artificial intelligence. Everybody is intent on making a living: interested in going in search of what each considers their ultimate goal of life. How many are interested in the sacred and to experience the sacred in their lives?

From the beginning, the boundary between the holy and the secular was not present. All that God made was holy. The whole world is to be a temple of the sacred. Our journey to God is a journey to find the sacred, a fuller life, a spiritual life.

Zen Buddhism and Catholic Monasticism say that everything in daily life is sacred. Catholicism says that human life and the foundation of our moral vision for society is sacred. The writer points out that housewives are living this life in their daily work and living a form of priesthood and participating in the work of creation in a great degree.

When we are concerned with the preciousness of life at our work site we are dealing with the sacred. This is something that doctors will not experience when they are only working for a livelihood and do not meet the patients as persons when making a diagnosis. He as a priest when he doesn't do all he can to help a person grow spiritually he is only a person with a job and not witnessing to the sacredness of life.

In the midst of social conflicts pursuing the common good, we find the sacredness of life. God wants to elevate the dignity of the poor and wants us to help share more of the world's goods and services with them. "In their proper spheres, the political community and the Church are mutually independent and self-governing. Yet, by a different title, each serves the personal and social vocation of the same human beings." (#76 The Church Today: Vat. II) The Church respects the inherent characteristics of religion and politics but calls for ethical judgments of political power in order to promote the common good.

Church desires  through the political system not only the happiness of a few privileged people but the happiness of all: a fuller life and happiness working always for the common good. We witness to the sacred in seeking a new order, reconciliation and co-existence without trapping ourselves with self-imposed fences.

In the many conflicts of our society:  North and South tensions, labor problems, political party conflicts, youth and the aged, God doesn't just choose between alternatives but as a parent caring for all the children shows greater concern for the weakest child. 

He finishes the article with a quote from Father Peter Arrupe 28th Superior General of the  Jesuits: 
"Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything."

The Educated, the New Nobility?

Looking back on life, we hear of persons who have done much good and yet in retrospect with great humility, considered it vanity. St. Thomas Aquinas was one of these who at the end of life considered every thing he had written as so much straw, after the things he had seen in a revelation while saying Mass. He wrote no more and left his Summa Theologiae unfinished. He died shortly after.

An article in the Catholic Peace Weekly by a university professor of art asks the readers what human desire is the most difficult to abandon? Is it money or honor? She tells us about a famous Buddhist monk who prohibited the publishing of his books after his death. Did he understand at the end of life that his fame was vanity? Was this similar to the thinking of St. Thomas Aquinas at the end of life?

The article is about the great Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti who lived most of his life with the nobility of that time. He died at 88 years old and during that time saw the change of 7 popes. Even if the heavens should divide he was honest and rational in everything he did. He was thrifty in the clothes he wore. He worked hard to support his family, a humorous person, good to those who worked for him.

"He was an extraordinary painter and sculptor. He was from the family of Count Canosa,who came from the region of Reso, he inherited the blood of the illustrious emperors of Rome."

He had one of his students write the above lines in his biography, the first paragraph of the book. The professor says there is virtually no evidence that the Buonarroti family is descended from Count Canosa. Why was Michelangelo obsessed with the fame of his family? He told his nephew when scolding him: "We are a family that is noble."  

The writer wanted to find the reason for Michelangelo's obsession with nobility and she feels it was the social status of the artist of that time.  Artists were craftsmen but they became a social elite and this is partially with the help of Michelangelo. He is quoted as saying: "Art is what nobles do not common people."

She wrote a book about Michelangelo and a few years ago visited his home. The town Caprese  was 700 meters above sea level, a mountainous village.  His father was a magistrate in the village. She believes that in the town, they lived the life of the nobility and later dealing with kings, popes and cardinals he felt something missing in that rarefied society. May this not be the reason, she asks, for his obsession?

She concludes the article by wondering if the search for an education at the best of schools is not a sign of this looking for honors that has taken the place of the noble life of the past.

Women and the Church

A woman theologian wrote an article for a diocesan bulletin on how she sees women within the church community.  She begins her article by introducing us to a bestselling book (2016) Kim Ji Young born 1982. It's a feminist novel. Ji Young is an ordinary woman in her 30s. She goes to school, gets a job, gets married, quits her job, has a child. Portrayed are the ways a woman has to maneuver within a patriarchal and sexist society. She considers it a good picture of the way women face present-day reality.
 
In recent years not only this book but many others have the feminist understanding of present-day society. This feeling has especially spread after a young woman in her twenties was brutally stabbed in a busy Seoul neighborhood for no other reason than she was a woman. She was unknown to the murderer and it touched off a strong response, for it was seen as a hate crime against not only one woman but all woman. Many women felt the violence towards themselves.
 
She reminds the readers the need to change the culture and structures that permit the discrimination against women. We need a movement to work to change what has been our way of dealing with the problems relating to a misogyny experienced by many women. This is not only something in our society but recently in other countries we see the '#Me To Movement' is in full swing. Women who have experienced in their lives: sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual violence are expressing this vocally.
 
With modernization in Korea even though it is a rather short history, many things have changed in the equality of the sexes. 30 years ago a woman who wanted to go on to college often encountered awkward  talk about  women wishing to go on to college.Today those who would attempt such talk would be considered barbarians.
 
It's true that in the  past the desire for the male was a reason for the abortion of female fetuses but that has changed for today we have a preference for girls over boys. During the years of schooling, most of the discrimination has disappeared it is after schooling has finished we see it appear. Women find it more difficult for they are considered commodities that need to beautify themselves for their work.
 
When they marry there is a demand for a wise mother and good wife still the remains of the patriarchal order. When pregnant they are forced to retire or to  be a superwoman both in the home and the workplace. The sexual abuse and sexual violence still remains and a reason for the feminism we see.
 
She would like to see the enthusiasm for feminism in society be a topic of study in theology. In the past, it has been a man's way of understanding the Scripture she wants to see the women's viewpoint considered. Not only in the world but also in the church a woman's vision of what we need to do should be present.

Simple Life "Minimalism"

The simple life has always been an ideal of the traditional religions of the world. A teaching of the sages of the past and a very important teaching of Christianity today. Attachment to the material and the promises of the comfortable life given to us by the popular media is just too strong to give time to the opposite possibilities and we continue with our cluttered and complicated lifestyles.

However, charismatic people find themselves on the world stage and people begin to take notice. Marie Kondo, a Japanese woman is one of these influential people who are leaders in the minimalist lifestyle. Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was a best seller and Time magazine named her one of the world's 100 most influential people.

The Kyeongyang magazine introduces us to the minimalist life and minimalism which have been aspects of art, architecture, and music for years in the search for what is essential. Recently we have minimalism applied to our manner of living.

Minimalism has become an interest in many parts of the world. Life is not synonymous with possessions, it's much more than what we own. In the back of the minds of many was that happiness was after all the amassing of luxuries. The work ethic that followed was compensated by the opportunity to consume. Results: the bank book had too little and the credit card was always in debt.

This movement has been alive and growing from the middle of the last century but it seems to be getting larger and the movement stronger with the understanding that the economy will not continue to grow as in the past. Income and expenditure are difficult to keep balanced. The economy is slowing down and the fear of financial crises is felt by the citizens. Stress and fear for the future are experienced and doubts appear in the lives of many.
 
Seeing what others possess, jealousy, envy and comparisons made life miserable for many and some became disillusioned. Competition was a big value in society, possessions a virtue, and the abuses began to eat away at their confidence, consequently 'opting for what was necessary.' Getting rid of the unnecessary (emptying) enabled them to consider what was important: relationships.

Instead of adding and filling up, the change is to emptying and belonging: a simple and frugal life style. In the process  finding the reason for true happiness. 

With emptying we think of the environment and sharing. We learn a great deal from experience and why relationships are important. When the numbers of those who are emptying and appreciate the value of emptying continue to increase, our society will be healthier. This is what minimalism is all about.

Why Are We Here?

A Jesuit priest writes in the Kyeongyang magazine about one of the most basic questions humans can have: Why are we here? The first question in the Korean catechism.
 
He remembers asking his father this question as a child. His father told him about a dream he had about his son. He saw a worm which changed into a snake and then a dragon and went up into the heavens. (In Korea dragons are revered as benevolent) His father said he would be a great person if he accepted his parent's  teachings. He thanks them for the faith life they passed on to him.
 
How to live is still the question. Personally, he finds it better to have a clear picture of the future instead of a blurred one. He thought his father knew everything and asked again for more details. His father told him the "I" is not as important as the "We". He quotes from article #23 of the 'Spiritual Exercises' which explained in detail what he considered his father to be saying:
 
"Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord and by this means to save his soul. The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created. Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him. Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition.Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life.The same hold for all other things. Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created."
 
As a young man, he understood his father's words as a short explanation of what he learned later on as a Jesuit seminarian. This he feels is the mission that we have all received. They are the first principles and foundation of our lives. The golden mean is given to us as the ideal. Another expression would be indifference to many goods in life. We don't consider our likes or disposition as the final position on what is to be done but look towards the reason for which we were created.We choose the path that will lead us closer to God.
 
Our choice of coming closer to God is what is important. We all would prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life but when the former would take us away from our reason for life, we are open to the latter.
 
The rich will have concerns because of their wealth and so the poor with their poverty. All of us no matter the circumstances have to keep our hearts attuned to what God is saying to us in these circumstances. We all have a vocation, the call from God, and in life, there are many forks in the road and here the principles and foundation of God's call are to be the signposts to take. If we carefully ponder over what road to talk we will not take the wrong path.  We need to take the road that gives greater glory to God. He will always bless this choice.
 
When we go in search of the call received, this becomes an experience in life and our teacher.  When we remember the times we have felt fully alive, God has been leading us. Elders have helped him on this path and many have influenced his future. When we work for the common good, God is leading us. My call is the universal call of all.