Old Age is Not a Disease

Korea is one of the world's fastest aging societies and the population growing at the slowest pace ever. This brings problems the government is working to remedy. Korea is an 'aged society'.

Confucius in the Analects 2-4 said: "At fifteen my heart was set on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I was unperturbed; at fifty I knew the mandate of heaven; at sixty my ear was obedient; at seventy I could follow my heart's desire without transgressing the norm."

Down through the ages, Wisdom was considered a gift of old age but as we know they don't always go together. Confucius' experience in old age can be very similar to what St. Agustine said many centuries later: "Love and do what you will." Meaning love will give us the wisdom to do the right thing. In an article in the Catholic Digest, a medical doctor wonders if society is helping the old to grow in wisdom and asks: "Is getting old a disease?"

As we get old the 'hardware'  begins to break down. This is readily seen as the normal reality of aging. However, many still find this difficult to accept: "My body is not what it use to be, what can I do to get back what I lost?" Aging is seen as a treatable disease.

The overwhelming information on health and the pharmaceutical companies'  propaganda does a good job of bewildering many. They see the symptoms and conclude:  "this must be it." We are seduced into a hypnotic state. The advertisements aimed at the elderly are overly abundant.

Society doesn't have the necessary experience of what it means to grow old and the old are not familiar with the natural changes that come with age and are in search of medical help and waste a lot of their twilight years on pilgrimages to doctors. Society needs to teach the changes that came with age and the old need to learn.

As we grow older our organs weaken and our vitality decrease. The muscles of our breathing organs become weak and the amount of the oxygen we can inhale is limited so that just running a few meters we are out of breath. The tiny air sacks in our lungs no longer work efficiently, a normal stage of growing old. So we try deep breathing and continue to exercise.

The swallowing muscles become weak, and food or impurities can enter, a cough is a sign that the body is reacting as it should. The stomach and the organs are sluggish, the pancreas and liver operations have decreased and eating less at one time and more frequently is a help. The possibility of not enough enzymes may make milk products difficult to digest and bean milk can be used instead. If constipation is a problem make sure food fiber is on your menu. The hearing will also be a problem, have your family members speak louder although hearing aids will be a help.

In old age, one has to be careful since the liver is not detoxifying as it once did, medicines which are supposed to help may not. We are interested in anything that may help to give us health but it is good to remember that there is the stark fact that adverse reactions do appear. Processed and refined foods should be few. Natural foods eaten often is the best policy. Our genes have recorded what has to be done. Live in harmony.

Eat evenly not too much, drink enough water, exercise, and know what is necessary for health, rest, when you rest— everything in moderation. The genetic factors will be active and keep you healthy for a long time.

Who Is My Neighbor?

Last Year Australia had a large forest fire it would have destroyed 85 percent of the wooded area of Korea; many animals were killed, human lives lost but most people in the world saw it as an Australian problem. It was not our disaster but an Australian disaster. In Bible & Life magazine, a priest in Justice and Peace work for a diocese gives us some thoughts to mull over.

We have lost the ability to see universally, relationally, communitarianly. We live in the same space but not together, absorbed only in our individual lives, no time to be concerned with others. Our ability to sympathize to empathize becomes less. Consequently, we are not living together with others but each for himself. Putting it more succinctly: the survival of the fittest and natural selection is operative.

Recently, the coronavirus has entered our world. The little virus has shocked the world and brought fear. Many have been infected and died: caused great suffering to many. In our world, there are all kinds of viruses that cause diseases but the coronavirus without any special reason doesn't play favorites. The World Health Organization called the virus pandemic. It can infect all of us. Those who were busy making a living were suddenly shocked by an unexpected enemy at the door.

Each person going along with his daily tasks was suddenly faced with great confusion. It was not just a tragedy for life is full of tragedies which we have to face. No this was a tragedy that humanity has to face. It was not something we could handle ourselves; it required the help of all; it was a world tragedy.

The virus helped us see the issue as a universal problem. We began to understand universal in a different sense because of corona 19. Earth, humanity, neighbor, solidarity, coexistence words that have connoted universality were understood in a subjective sense but the virus gave life and meaning to these words. People in a different country and culture are going through the same suffering; we began seeing them as our neighbor. "When you hurt I am hurting" these lines from melodramas took on new meaning for us. We experienced the dignity of all humanity thanks to the virus.

In this vortex, some continue to seek only their own personal goals and needs and to protect their assets at all costs. They may even be infected and not concerned with the contagion and fear they are promoting for nefarious reasons. However, we do have many who are not concerned for themselves and are there to help those in need unconditionally. In this miserable situation, many are showing great empathy for others. What we had forgotten has returned: universality, relationship, neighbor. Who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29).

This question sets us thinking as a protest to those who only think of their own needs. Yes, who is our neighbor? Is it not anybody in need?

In this world in which we live we have many disasters that confront us in life. Not only the corona 19 but parents that lose a child to death, a worker who is fired, a young person who can't find a job, a person without the necessary funds for a hospital, a foreign worker expelled from a country, for many, these situations are worse than death.

This is a time where mercy needs to be shown. In the parable, the Samaritan who showed mercy to the one who met the thief is what we are all called to do.

I am You and You are Me

Crisis situations make the poor, poorer, and the rich, richer. During the 1997 IMF crisis, oil prices tripled and real estate prices fell by half. People lost their jobs and many had problems with daily expenses. The results are still with us after 20 years. Instead of narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, it grew larger. This is the background that explains the social polarization of society. A scholar in the humanities writes in the Catholic Peace Weekly of what post-corona will look like.

Corona 19 is a crisis that threatens life itself and reduces social life. It is imperative to survive without infection right now, but the shrinking economy and housekeeping will continue to be a burden. At the end of the complications, emergency disaster funds will be distributed with expectations the rich will donate voluntarily. Of course, some rich people will be generous, a good example of social solidarity and Noblesse Oblige.

The state's fiscal soundness mentioned by public officials is not difficult to understand. However, in this situation, if the State does not accept the debt it will be the citizens who will be shouldering the debt and where the weak become the food for the rich. Those who don't understand this struggle for survival are not employed and there is no danger of their earning to drop sharply.

At the very least, we should make sure that this crisis does not accelerate polarization again. Indeed, poor people around the world are easily infected and die from corona, while the rich are relatively safe. In such a situation, wealth is on one side. As this vicious cycle repeats, humanity takes a big blow. Even if you survive the epidemic, human life is impossible, it is already a life of hell.
 
Emergency funds must be quickly distributed to all. Those who can live without the money can refuse it and give it to the poorer in society. I am you and you are me. Without you, neither am I. There is no increase in capital without workers. Social relationships are not unilateral, it is not human to deliberately victimize another group in society.

The Republic of Korea has demonstrated the world's best prevention system in response to Corona 19. It is not something that just happened. This was possible because of reflection and preparation based on the experiences of the SARS and MERS events. If we didn't learn from those experiences, our anti-virus system would have been impossible.

The result of our preemptive response, the diagnostic kits, and prevention methods, surprised the whole world. Also, our self-esteem has increased and we see the world differently. We have witnessed how ignorant the reckless attitude of evaluating a country by military or economic power alone.

Beyond our success in precautions and prevention, we must be able to express our humanity and social solidarity. We remember only too well the 1997 crisis; it has been with us for over 20 years. Don't repeat that in Corona 19 this time. It may be more difficult economically, but rather it should lead to more solidarity and cooperation. The crisis becomes an opportunity. It is a time when the sense of urgency needs to enter solidarity: when you fail I also fail.

May 18, 1980 Korea

This year marks the 40th year of the democratization movement in Gwangju on May 18,1980. It was a peaceful protest by college students and citizens who demanded democratization, but the military government responded with force by sending airborne troops to Gwangju. The news of these events has been publicized widely within the Catholic media during this month of May. The Catholic Peace Weekly mentioned it in its editorial and featured articles.

The events that took place in Gwangju for about 10 days from May 18th to 27th, are disputed and not fully understood. The Archdiocese of Gwangju continued the spirit of May 18 by taking the lead in spreading the truth of May 18. They recall the activities and roles of the church around May 18th, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the May 18th Gwangju Democratization Movement.

On May 18, 1980, protests centered on college students gathered in front of Chonnam National University were no different than other parts of the country. It was a period of student protests that shouted for democracy across the country after the 12/26 murder of President  Park Chung-hee and the 12/12 military take over. The difference from Gwangju on this day was that the people who suppressed the protests were soldiers, not the police.

On May 17, the new military government expanded martial law, dispatched airborne troops to Chonnam National University, Chosun University, and Chonbuk National University and began to attack students. Innocent citizens were no exception. The soldiers randomly beat, trampled, and imprisoned many all over downtown Gwangju. There was no distinction between men and women in the bludgeons and swords wielded by airborne troops. In a short time, the street became a frenzied battlefield.
 
Citizens who were indifferent to student protests also began to join the protests in anger at the ruthless violence of soldiers. As the number of citizens participating in the protests increased, the airborne troops did not hesitate to shoot. Citizens also began to arm themselves against the shooting. The soldiers retreated to the outskirts of Gwangju on the 22nd and re-entered the city on the 26th with a tank in front.

The citizens of Gwangju were angry. The merciless response of soldiers of a different level from previous, evoked rage and fear at the same time. Priests were no different. However, watching young people and citizens bleed and fall in front of their eyes, the priests began to take steps to achieve a peaceful settlement.

On May 21, some of the parish priests participated in the Gwangju  Citizen Response Committee, and the negotiations with the martial law command took the lead in recovering the weapons possessed by the citizens. There were citizens who responded to violence to the end, but the priests pushed for nonviolent resistance.

At that time, Archbishop Yoon of the Gwangju Archdiocese was busy moving between Seoul and Gwangju. In close contact with the parish priests, he told Cardinal Kim of the Seoul Archdiocese, what happened in Gwangju, who sent a letter to President Choi Gyu-ha.

However, Archbishop Yoon's heart was always heavy. He later recalled May 18 and said he regretted countless times and prayed for forgiveness to God for seeing people who had been assaulted by the soldiers and bleeding outside the Catholic Center in the middle of the city and was too afraid to go outside. This was always a source of great sadness to the Archbishop.
 
This sadness of heart was a debt that many had who survived the May 18 Democratization Movement. On the other hand, however, it was also the driving force that motivated many to make known the truth and continued the spirit of May 18.

The new military, which led the suppression of May 18, defined May 18 as a Gwangju riot caused by mob-controlled rioters aiming at social turmoil and state overthrow. It was prohibited to mention or report on May 18 other than what the government allowed. Attempts to conceal the May 18 Democratization Movement revealed what the new military thought of May 18.
 
It was the Catholic Church that steadily and courageously voiced the truth. Archbishop Yoon visited Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan to report the situation in Gwangju, and when he heard this, Cardinal Kim met with Chun Doo-hwan and US Ambassador Gleysteen and asked to stop the bloodshed. Archbishop Yoon sent a message to believers requesting prayers and to report the situation in Gwangju. 

The Gwangju Archdiocesan priests made efforts to correct the government's false announcements and distorted reality in June by announcing the statement 'The Truth About the Gwangju Incident'. In the talks during the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Korean War, Cardinal Kim comforting the grief of the citizens of Gwangju, said he hopes the situation will be resolved fairly and honestly according to the truth.

Archbishop Kim Hee-jung of the Gwangju Archdiocese said in a recent interview, "The spirit of the May 18th Democratization Movement should not stay in Gwangju. The value of democracy, peace, human rights, and reunification of May 18 must be spread as values ​​of the world."

More Dangerous than Corona19 is Dehumanization

"When you go on horseback and you have to cross a river, don’t change horses in the middle of the river. Those who decided to leave Jesus changed horses midstream. Instead, moments of crisis require that we persevere, remain silent, stay grounded in our convictions. It is not the moment to make changes. It is the moment to remain faithful. It is the moment when God is faithful. A moment of crisis is a call to conversion in which remaining faithful may inspire changes for the better, but not to distance ourselves from the good."

Pope Francis on May 2nd in a talk to government leaders dealing with the Corona Virus in this time of crisis is quoted beginning an article in Being a Light in the World of the Catholic Times by a priest in the labor apostolate.

He quotes Robert B Reich a former Secretary of Labor in the US government on a new class division because of the coronavirus.

The Remotes: These are professional, managerial, and technical workers — an estimated 35 percent of the workforce — who can work remotely.

The Essentials: They make up about 30 percent of the workforce: nurses, home and child care workers, farmworkers, food processors, truck drivers, warehouse and transit workers, drug store employees, sanitation workers, police officers, firefighters, and the military. 

The Unpaid: They're an even larger group that the unemployed —whose ranks could soon reach 25 percent. Some of the unpaid are furloughed or have used up their paid leave. 

The Forgotten: This group includes everyone for whom social distancing is nearly impossible because they're packed tightly into places most Americans don't see — prisons, undocumented immigrants, camps for migrant farmworkers, Native American reservations, homeless shelters, and nursing homes. 

If society turns away from them, they remain forgotten and unseen. If a company prioritizes efficiency in a crisis, the impact of an infectious disease is likely to pass on to the weak. This is like the front and rear on the battlefield. Those who can endure are in the rear, and those who do not have the power to defend themselves are driven forward.

The real crisis is 'human marginalization'. Work is essential to sustain society. Food production, construction labor,  housework, kindergarten, nursing home, school meals, and restaurants. These tasks are usually low cost and require physical work. The cost determines the rank in society. It's a sad reality, but we live in a society that is determined by income. The class divisions are not created by Corona 19, but by money and our perception of it. 

The Pope declared Corona19 a serious crisis. On May 1, St. Joseph's Day and Labor Day, he said slavery is dehumanization. The real crisis is the moment when human dignity is lost. It is truly unfortunate when we understand everything by the cost. 

In the Compendium of the Social Gospel # 271: "The subjective dimension of work must take precedence over the objective dimension, because it is the dimension of the person himself who engages in work, determining its quality and consummate value. If this awareness is lacking, or if one chooses not to recognize this truth, work loses its truest and most profound meaning. In such cases — which are unfortunately all too frequent and widespread — work activity and the very technology employed become more important than the person himself and at the same time are transformed into enemies of his dignity."

Life has been enriched compared to the past, but alienation and dehumanization have also increased. Still in Korea alone, in 2019, 2,020 people died from industrial accidents and occupational diseases, and 12,889 people committed suicide. What's the problem? We are not living the way we should. Can we avoid the crisis? Our decision of what to do first in times of crisis is more important. Moments of peace and crisis coexist. Christians must be able to survive both of these moments. The way is to resist the temptation to enslave human beings in society and the workplace and practice the true values ​​and human dignity that sustain peace.

"Human work not only proceeds from the person, but it is also essentially ordered to and has its final goal in the human person." (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, #272).

Religious Life Online

One of the positive influences of the Corona 19 crisis on the religious world was the greater use of 'online religion'. Social networks that were undervalued for religious purposes have been in the spotlight. So begins an article in the Catholic Times by a Seoul Pastor.

The religious community is broadcasting online Masses, Worship, and Buddhist ceremonies to keep health precautions and social distance. Pope Francis also converted Sunday prayers and sermons in St.Martha's house, without believers, for the first time on the Internet. The epidemic disaster has become a catalyst for religious online activities.

Korean believers watched or listened to daily and Sunday Mass through TV, YouTube, and radio, and spent Lent online. The parish priests shared their sermons for Sunday Mass with the believers on social media, and the Legions of Mary even broadcast allocutions. Protestantism, 84%  replaced Sunday worship with online worship. Families gathered at home to offer online worship services, and various ministries became more active through social media. Buddhists were no exception. Most of the temples conducted online rituals using the YouTube channel.
 
Moreover, the 4th Industrial Revolution, which brings new changes by integrating the real world (offline) and the virtual world (online) through artificial intelligence and big data technology, has a profound effect on religious consciousness and practice. For example, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) can be used to vividly experience pilgrimages to Israel without leaving home or to experience various liturgies in virtual space.

Online religion was once called 'Cyber ​​Church' or 'Internet Church'. This serves to lead Internet visitors to participate in religious practices such as prayer, meditation, ceremonies, and spiritual counseling. On the other hand, there is 'Religion Online,' which serves as a tool to extend the existing offline church by providing religious information and various services. This includes virtual spaces such as homepages or portal sites built by parishes, parishes groups, religious groups, and individuals. Together, these two forms are called 'digital religion'. In fact, these two are often mixed together rather than distinct. The church must now become familiar with digital religion. In Korea, where the penetration rate of smartphones is 95% and leads the world there is a favorable environment for active online religious activities.

These days, the friendly use of YouTube and Instagram are increasing both inside and outside the church. Various YouTube photos and music appear on the YouTube channel. There is a great use of the SNS media by clergy, religious, and laity. They are sharing their knowledge, opinions, music, movies with an evangelical perspective.

Digital religious activities through online spaces enable various communication and friendship between pastors, groups, and believers in the parishes. While sharing photos, videos, texts, music, etc. by using various social media such as KakaoTalk, and Facebook, text messages, and e-mails, it is possible to share information at any time. 

However, online religion is not only positive but we can't ignore the negative. A lot that is shared is of little value and can cause trouble without basic good sense. There are also believers who can't live without KakaoTalk. If you don't deliver the Gospel message of a priest that you are accustomed to sending to others you become psychologically uneasy. It is necessary to control the use of the internet and not to use it to excess where it can develop into a health problem and fatigue.

Overcoming Dichotomy

It is the era of dichotomy. The new virus splits the human world in two: negative and positive. The new borders and divisions have not only divided our society and the world into segments but have also determined our movements or even when we are to leave our homes. The writer in the Diagnosis of the Times article in the Catholic Peace Weekly gives the readers some thoughts in the world we are entering.  

If you think about it, human history without exaggeration is a history of dichotomy. First, there is a black-and-white logic that embraces those who think like I do and excludes those who don't. Historically, human society is a strategy of integration, conflict, war, aggression, alliance, cooperation converging in two ways: those we embrace and those we exclude.

We divide human existence into two domains, the soul and the body, and further expand it into spirit and matter. The study of the realm of the soul and mind has spread to religion, philosophy, humanities, and even psychology and psychiatry. The study of the body has diversified into medicine, and from there to physics, chemistry, biology, and geoenvironmental science exploring the whole world of things.

And the dichotomy that hit our world with a new paradigm at the end of the 20th century is the differentiation of analog and digital, which we often call offline and online. Or it can be divided into the world of atoms, particles of matter, and the world of bits, which represents the unit of information online. The real world is offline, but when I connect to the electronic information and communication network I  enter the virtual world, my thoughts become part of the online world. The body is in the office, but the mind is in the stock market, or the body is sitting in a cafe, my fingers bring me into the world of shopping.
 

Creativity, which is often emphasized these days, comes from crossing the boundaries of this dichotomy. We have been living in an online world: multiplicity, multilayer, hybridity, and different space and time world but it is true that the mind, for a longer time, has been familiar with the world of matter, offline.

New viruses have made us fearful of physical 'contact' and infection, and now online schooling, internet education, videoconferencing, telecommuting, and work from home are rapidly becoming commonplace. A new order,  and even if the corona19 virus infection is over, it will be difficult to return to the previous lifestyle and social customs.

With the emergence of electronic networks from the end of the 20th century, we have the popularity of the Internet, online and cyberspace,  We hear about the “Digilog” theory that emphasized the harmony of digital and analog. [What we see with the eyes is converted into something analogous which is the analog, the digital, what is seen with the eyes is changed into a number].  

We are forced to embody 'Digilog' in real life. We need not worry for we will all get used to it. When Sir Tim Berners Lee of England founded the World Wide Web, its philosophy was open, shared, and engaged. If you can't make physical contact, connect.  As long as there is a 'network' to maintain relationships, our community will work.