'Gapjil' a new word, thanks to the internet, is on the lips of many. Supporting evidence, we are dealing with something common in society—abuse of power by someone towards a person in a weaker position. Not only a present reality but one that goes back into our history, wherever we had inequality and discrimination. A diocesan priest in justice and peace work writes about the issue in the Bible And Life.
Do you know what ‘Gap-Eul relations’ are? 'Gap' and 'Eul' refer to people who are in contractual situations. Gap (or A) means someone who is dominant in a contract and Eul (or B), who is subordinate. 'Gapjil' is the verb formed, a neologism, which because of the structure of society is seen often and becomes newsworthy.
Put simply: a person with authority mistreating a subordinate. A person who has, towards a person who doesn't, a person with power treating a subordinate with violence. It's violence from above that continues to others. One who has experienced this violence from a superior can continue this with others under them. Those who are in the lower substrate of society can abuse others who they consider even lower. The writer considers this looking for some reward in a relationship and not finding it, resorting to the opposite in a revengeful action—psychological compensation.
A common soldier who was often treated abusively when he becomes an officer will, in turn, treat others in the way he was treated. A daughter-in-law mistreated by her mother-in-law when she becomes the mother-in-law will act in the same way with her daughter-in-law. A vicious circle of abuse, what was experienced is what is done. This type of abuse is not only present in higher society for it permeates all of society.
How do we break from this violence in society? We need to first examine ourselves on the reason for violence and our own understanding of inequality and discrimination. Why don't we see the disappearance of this inequality and discrimination? Is it not that we want the situation we have. We don't want to be discriminated against, but do we really want a society with everybody equal? If we examine the situation we see that we want to be treated well. We like to be treated like the 'Gap'. Consequently, we close our eyes to inequality and discrimination and support the society we have.
The writer calls this situation antinomy: a seeming contradiction between two principles or conclusion both which seem justified, a paradox. His way of overcoming the ever-present situation is by love.
Jesus invites us all to be family, the Gap and Eul, master and slave disappear, we are called to be friends: even to love our enemies. "You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other's feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you (Jn 13:14-15).
Rather than alone from the heights looking down on others; on level ground joined with others in simplicity and sharing the ordinary is what will make 'Gap' love.
Kierkegaard the 19th-century Danish philosopher, called the Father of Existentialism, said: "anxiety is a disease that leads to death."
Uneasiness comes from humanity thinking themselves masters of the world. Strong in their belief they can solve the problems of this age but in the process give rise to obsessions, delusions and a myriad of psychopathological problems for many to carry.
Heidegger asserts that death is the terminus of our thinking. In one way, the fundamental reason we think, worry and become anxious is to avoid death. So begins the article in the Catholic Times in the Eyes of the Believer column by a Jesuit college professor.
We experience life dying in us when we feel we are in a muddy bog, unable to move and life is leaving us. When I have worked hard and in all sincerity and no recognition and reward follow, there is no courage to stand up against the present reality because of fear of failure. I feel that no one understands me. The righteous in the world are ignored and the worldly and selfish get the high seats, we become frustrated and lose hope.
In Zen Buddhism, however, it is said enlightenment comes when we die. The bigger the death the greater the life (大死大覺). Catholic spirituality also experiences the present renewal, regeneration, resurrection, only when we fully accept the existential meaning of death. The journey to an adult butterfly begins with the egg, larva, pupa. We are on a similar journey.
The journey we are on means poverty, shamefulness, difficulties, but when we face them head on, hope in the resurrection appears. Jesus' death shows the state of misery that can't be beautified. Loneliness and anguish in Gethsemane, betrayal of the disciples, rejection by the people, mockery, death on the cross... Jesus always lived with the dream he was given by God and endured all that came.
The Pascal Mystery is the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus to give life to all of us. Jesus taught us that new life can come from death. Meaning can always be found in our lives. Light can be found in darkness. Jesus has given us a new way of living. Death does not have the last word and no longer an object of fear. Hope is always present and helps us to give hope to others. Resurrection faith invites us to do battle to pursue the truth for God will win in the end.
Korea has faced many problems and many have fought courageously with their lives. The March 1st Movement and the military dictatorship opposition, and many others who fought for truth and justice have always been opposed by those who lived comfortably with the injustices and in many ways benefited. Consequently a desire to distort history and truth.
But the resurrection does not just mean worldly success and victory! The hope of the resurrection is not the fulfillment of desire, but the mystery of God that fills our lives! Resurrection faith is in a heart that can see the truth that no amount of darkness can overcome—the light, hope, and trust that we have in God. We are called to live as 'witnesses of the resurrection' so that 'God's dream and love' will go beyond the boundaries of life and death here in this world.
"There is no happiness for man but to eat and drink and to be content with his work" (Qoheleth 2:24). So begins an article by a specialist in the science of the mind in the Kyeongyang magazine on confusion surrounding the word diligence.
Honesty and diligence are considered desirable traits, an advisable strategy for life. Those living in this way will enjoy life more than the lazy and listless. A natural law of life that all accept. However, is that the reality?
In Korea we use a lot of Konglish and recently a new word appeared which in English would be: 'Work+ Life+Balance'. In Korean they have taken the first syllable of the three words and made the word "Wolabal"(Finding a suitable balance between work and daily living)—not always realized.
Koreans are not lazy and presently have either the first or second place in the hours worked among nations of the world. Speed is also one of the traits recognized both by Koreans and others. But is being busy the same as being diligent? Not having time to look around at our surroundings but always ready to move on to our next spot is that considered healthy and human? Laziness is not the opposite of diligence. Thomas Aquinas considered sadness a part of laziness. The world of pyschology also sees laziness containing spiritlessness. Laziness is one of the capital sins and the distinction in our tradition was not always clear distinquishing between sloth and melancholia.
Moderns have all their time filled up. They are busy with many things. Who can call the present age lazy? But they are not present to the moment. At work they worry about the home. At a meeting they are cocerned about other things. Climbing a mountain they talk about their work and miss the beauty of the mountain. In the subway they are busy with their smartphones and even in the bathroom, relieving nature, are not present to what they are about.
Heavy-heartedness and laziness lead to a lack of desire and joy in life. We are busy being busy and forget what the important things in life are and should be. If time is taken away from our own growth, those we love, the family what is gained? It's 'busy laziness'.
We can imagine we were born with a silver spoon in our mouths. What would we do? We would resign from our work we don't enjoy, get rid of the harnesses that prevent us from living the full life, spend more time with family. But we are faced with something strange, for if we compare ourselves with our ancestors, we are all born with a silver spoon?
To live a happy life the minimum condition is not so demanding. To satisfy our expectations we need the leisure of wisdom to enjoy life that we have been given. The most valuable resource that we have is time. When diligence exceeds the degree necessary we are actually wasting valuble time.
In ancent times those that achieved great wealth and power were not always seen by those who went to bed hungry and lacked clothing as people to imitate. But those who are busy about much have much to learn from this. In the past precious time was sold to buy possessions which we mistook as diligence; today with wisdom gained we are diligent in making time to enjoy life. "Vanity of vanities. All is vanity! For all his toil, under the sun, what does man gain by it?" (Ecc. 1:3)
A priest writes in a bulletin on his experience meeting someone from the past. They shook hands but the priest noticed from the facial expression, not all was well. No words on leaving the encounter brought memories from the past.
He remembered planting a lot of trees on the parish grounds and this individual was opposed. Since the priest thought he was in the right, he was angry at the opposition. No reconciliation or forgiveness, even after a long absence no healing. His facial expression remained with the priest and he felt deep sorrow for failure to reconcile
One day working in the parish grounds a man in his fifties joined him. Working together he asked him where he was from. He was from another parish but he was coming out to the priest's parish. The priest found this strange so he asked why. The man was not too keen on speaking but because the priest kept on asking he told him the whole story.
He was a member of the nearby parish but the pastor liked to drink and was often late for morning Mass. One morning he was later than usual and the parishioners more than usually upset at the situation. After Mass, he told the priest to drink less. The priest gave no answer and quickly left the spot.
A few days later, a member of the pastoral council told him: "Why did you lose your patience with the pastor? He doesn't even want to see your face again." The individual knew that these words came from anger but they were hard to accept. His first thoughts were to leave completely but then decided to move his registration to the nearby church.
This made the writer think long about his own lack of forgiveness and made a new resolve. God always forgives, we don't have that kind of freedom. He goes on to quote some words from spiritual books that have helped.
* We must accept people with big hearts full of love. People have to live with the basic consciousness of 'It's okay.' In community we are dealing with all kinds of individuals they are all members of the same body why am I so narrow-minded, intolerant, ungenerous with the family community? When a person crosses me I am quick to respond. Why is that so often the case?
* Do not make demands. What I desire is that the other persons be different. I expect my demands to be what is. If what I expect is not realized, I'm upset.
* I must also forgive myself. You have to forgive others, but you also have to forgive yourself. This is the most important point in a forgiving heart. Sins in life often darken and leave wounds. Through deep repentance and forgiveness, we must remove the unpleasant feelings and accusations against ourselves for then we can forgive people with humble, healthy hearts.
A university professor with a doctorate in education writes in the Catholic Peace Weekly on the death of an ocean sunfish, found on the Australian coast. (They belong to the Molidae family a jelly-eating giant and the world's heaviest bony fish) It mistook a plastic bag floating in the sea for a jellyfish and died.
The professor sees often in the news how sea creatures are dying because of human trash. Seals found on a beach in England had plastic nets wrapped around their necks and oozing blood.The seals in a photograph were gazing at the readers as if appealing for help in their suffering. Seals had fishing lines around their throats, nets, and even bikini swimsuits.
In Pakistan, a sea turtle drowned in a burlap bag. He remembers birds dying in the tidal flats struggling for life in oil slime. Recently he saw a very shocking picture. A mother bird feeding her young chicks on the island of the Midway, not food, but plastic chunks. Human trash is killing creatures on earth.
As we already know, there is a huge garbage island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Garbage that is abandoned all over the world ride the ocean currents to form the garbage dump. Its area is seven times that of the Korean peninsula and estimated in the near future to become "continental".
He read an article on the domestic garbage mountain in Korea, a story written by a reporter looking for garbage sites. There are 235 garbage mountains with trash over one 1 ton in the country. The scale is huge at 1.2 million tons. Half of these are in Gyeonggi Province. The reporter reported that the Uijeongbu mountain was not a mountain, but a mountain range. Construction waste, such as aluminum, plywood, stainless steel bars, form the structure of the mountain. We live in an era where garbage is a disaster.
In order to fundamentally solve the garbage problem, we need to eat and possess less. Appetites are one of our biggest desires. The appetite should be enough to maintain the human body, but when we eat more than enough, there is a lot of food waste. Excessive appetite is producing waste. In addition, endless possessions have caused massive amounts of products to come from our factories. The produced products soon become waste. With the desire to have a house, and a bigger house, architectural waste forms a trash mountain. In order to fundamentally solve such garbage problems, it's necessary to control human needs. We need to eat and possess in moderation.
Naturalist thinker Henry David Thoreau said in Walden that humans spend too much on their daily necessities. "For many creatures, there is in this sense but one necessity of life, Food. To the bison of the prairie it is a few inches of palatable grass, with water to drink; unless he seeks the shelter of the forest or the mountain's shadow." God found his creation extremely good, after creation, we are breaking down this beautiful creation with our trash.
Study—what is it? Koreans have great respect for learning, an article in the Bible & Life by a neuropsychologist, teaching professor, gives the readers a look at a well-known master in learning: Prince of the Humanists.
Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) was born in the Netherlands, the illegitimate son of a priest. His parents died of the plague but made sure, until their deaths, that he received a superb education. His moral education was fitting for both a religious and scholar. He entered the Augustinian religious order at 21, mastered French, German, English, Greek, Latin, etc. and with this easy command of languages translated the Scriptures into language that the Europeans found easy to understand.
His capabilities were acknowledged by many and influenced much of society. He was born in Rotterdam of the Netherlands but was an influence at the Louvain in Belgium, Paris in France, Oxford in England and Basil in Switzerland. His book The Praise of Folly was well read during his time and extremely popular. He was busy publishing and editing books. He did leave the Augustinians but his faith in Catholicism never wavered. Often compared with Martin Luther (1483-1546) who was born a few years later.
Luther did not believe in free will while Erasmus did. One of the reasons for the clash between them. We still have the conflict within Christianity. Erasmus was brought up by loving parents. He did become a priest but left and felt that freedom of the will was a rather obvious reality. On the other hand, Luther was brought up with fear under a strict patriarchal father who wanted him to be a lawyer. He entered the Augustinians and came in contact with the corruption within the church. Indulgences, one of the reasons for his fight against the church got him excommunicated 3 times. Life was hectic.
Erasmus' life was less dramatic. When he criticized the corruption of the times, unlike Luther, he used humor and satire. He was for the traditional teaching of the Church but also for the reformation of the Church in ridding itself of the immorality and corruption. Different from the extreme, humorless opposition of Luther who was not only against the church but the Jews, the Muslims and the uprising of the serfs.
The writer gives the readers his understanding of the way Luther's upbringing influenced his thinking. Both Luther and Erasmus wanted to see a change in the church but Luther found it difficult to understand the extremes he found in society. Erasmus didn't have the drama in his life that Luther had but was grounded in the humanities and with his own deep examination of life was more balanced in his approach.
He goes on to show that because of the place of the humanities in society Erasmus was able to give a human face to the reformation that was beginning. The writer gives credit to the humanities of the West for the progress over Asia at that time. In the West, with the help of Erasmus and Luther, there was a return to the Scriptures which he says was followed later also in the East with their return to ancient scholars. Confucian scholars. Yi Ik (1681-1763) and Jeong Yakyong (1762 1836) were Renaissance men like Erasmus who wanted to return to learning but their concern for the rights of the individual and equality was limited by the subjectivity of the Confucian structures.
In conclusion, the professor points out that we have not come far from the middle ages in our appreciation of the individual and his dignity. He introduces us to the Collective Unconsciousness of Carl Jung. It's a mental complex that affects us: racism, discrimination, aversion, war, etc. giving rise to violence. Luther was never able to rid himself of his opposition to the freedom of the will. Was it not the Collective Unconsciousness?
Erasmus, on the other hand, was involved with reading, reflection, and developing his personality, and wonders whether this was not a reason he was able to overcome, in a relative way, the influence of the Collective Unconscious. We have come a long way today in our technological advancements, but have not matched the maturity of those in the Middle Ages according to our writer. Is it not that we lack some of the wisdom that comes from the study of the humanities? Especially in the way modern society has in recent years gone after the extremes.
We need a return to humanism to interpret it again and give it shape for our society. Sneers, denunciations, lethargy, hatred are the red lights of mental illness that should awake us to our reality. Erasmus is a good role model in accepting the virtues of humanism and to learn from the wisdom of our ancestors.
Recently in Korea, dementia has emerged as a social issue. In the Catholic Peace Weekly, a commentator on social issues gives the readers the problems of an aging society.
It's a known fact the government has no clear solution to the problem. Family members face extreme decisions, at times abuses of those placed in private sanatoriums, even death at the hands of the caregiver.
One of five are senior citizens and we have family members taking care of the aged for long periods, this becomes a burden and we have the killing of the person with dementia and at times followed by suicide. This is no longer only a problem of the sick but of society. Last year the number of cases of dementia was 750 thousand and by 2024 it will reach one million. As the percentage of long-term care for dementia patients increases—over half of the medical cost for the aged are for dementia—the cost of medical care will increase both for the families and government.
After the government proclamation that dementia will be a government responsibility to reduce the burden on families, prevention of dementia centers, peace of mind centers and villages were established. As of now, the short term care centers are decreasing for they are not making money; the care of the elderly in nursing homes for the seriously sick is becoming more of a problem.
In the past, dementia tended to be neglected considered a natural phenomenon of aging, but dementia requires profound and multifaceted care. Generally, dementia is regarded as a disease; care is needed to understand the demented elderly to mitigate or cope with behavioral problems through medication. In addition, alleviating symptoms of behavior, helping them live as a respected member of society.
In Japan and some advanced countries, where we have already entered into a super-aged society and 'killing caregivers' has become a social issue, we need to recognize the need for an interdisciplinary approach to dementia. It is worth noting that they also provide various welfare benefits to the families of demented elderly people who are also called "hidden patients". It is a policy that expects to continue the role of caring by recognizing the economic constraints and many difficulties in caring for the demented.
Until now, most of the dementia patients are cared for by their families. Pope Francis emphasizes "care for the elderly" requires a holistic medical, spiritual, and psychological approach in the home, society, and church. This is because it is something only human beings can do: caring for the enhancement of human worth and dignity of demented elderly people.
Currently, the 'Third Dementia Management Plan' is in operation, hoping to reduce the burden of dementia by a continuous support system with wide community coverage. However, we still have division and competition within areas of health and welfare. Limitation in selection and care are noted. There needs to be mutual complementarity but at present only an awkward connection.
The many facets in the care of patients with dementia, at the beginning stage, does not allow for any pause in the care. Due to the nature of the chronic progression of the disease, prevention and management should be done together. It should be ensured that the country and the citizens actively assist in the care, always concerned with the human dignity of the sick.
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