Removing Unnecessary Obstacles

A priest from the diocese of Incheon writes in the priest bulletin of his frequent climbs to the top of a mountain near his parish:  the view encompasses the airport, North Mountain and the Han River.             

Recently the owner of the property near the mountain fenced about 200 meters to preserve his property, he said. Mountain climbers from the direction of the parish had  to go around to find another entrance to the mountain. This did not sit well with the priest, and like many others complained about the situation among themselves. 

On one occasion, he had the thought: "Have I also been a stumbling block to others? If I have this is not  good."

He tells us of a  conversation he had with one of his parishioners:

"Father, is it  possible  to  change some of the qualifications for attending the parish elders' college program?"

"Why?" he replied.

"Because there is the study of the Scriptures and only those who can read are accepted. My mother was very sad; she wanted badly to attend but because she can't read  she was not able to  apply."

"That is true. I will have to give it some thought," he replied.

After this conversation, the priest realized that he was preventing those who couldn't read to approach closer to God. He doesn't know how many are not able to read, but even if it is only one person, he thought, the door should not be closed.

The next time the program started the paragraph that said one had be literate was removed. Those who were illiterate would still be able to understand the lectures and gain much from the program. He apologized to the elders in the congregations for not being more understanding of others.

Blocking the way to his mountain climbing was the beginning of a long reflection on the way he was blocking others from getting closer to God. Upset as he was on seeing the fence, and experiencing first hand the anger of others in similar circumstances, did open his eyes to the ways he may have been blocking others in his own congregation from growing. If there are blocks in the way of this growth, he wants to begin removing them.

Where Was The First Button Placed?

On the spiritual page of the Catholic Times, the columnist tells us we all have a scroll that when unfolded reveals our life. But that only we can make it known to others, revealing minutely how we have reacted with others and the world. There are laughs and tears, scars and my brutal moments. If we want to be happy, he says, we have to examine this scroll and see what it tells us.
 

There are places where we see the constructive side of life, its joy, but also the inadequacies and much that is negative. There is no one outside of Jesus with a perfect scroll, so there is no need to be embarrassed or lose hope.

There is no need to see our history with  human  judgments and measurements. The glasses we use see mystery. We have from the beginning in God's providence been formed well. We have been made to live in harmony with God's will.

This is the measurement that we should use in looking over our life. Saying this in another way is to say that God is the only one to judge definitively. I do not make the judgement but leave it up to God to use his measurement.  According to the same rules, the world of politics, finances, culture and our present situation will be judged. Our work is to live in harmony with God's will.

Jesus is the model we are to imitate. Jesus was one with the Spirit and with God. We are made in the image of God; are we striving to live according to the blue print Jesus has given us.This standard is the first button that will lead us to genuine happiness. 

 

In recent times, we see many regretful things. The values of society are going in a different direction. But no matter our station in life, after a time, with this attitude, the bottom appears. 

 

Do our hearts hurt? Is life difficult? Are we giving our neighbor blame for the present situation? Do we have pangs of conscience because of some of our actions? Do we experience God? Is life a battle? Do we see life as meaningless and empty?

 

The answer our columnist says is to check to see where we have placed the first button.

 

 

Hearing, but not Caring to Understand

A 19-year-old only son left home on a motorcycle one night 25 years ago, and did not return that night as the mother expected. After waiting for her son all night, she had been told by a police officer next day that he died in an accident and that his face was beyond recognition. This tragedy, documented in a recent TV series, was the subject of an article in a priest bulletin.

The mother had to live with the memory of this tragedy for 25 years, until May of this year when her daughter received a call from the police station telling her that  Min-nam, the son they thought dead, was alive. The family had been offering the rites for the dead for the last 25 years, so it is not difficult to understand how the news was received.

The man who said he was the son had an accident and had been admitted to a hospital, where he had brain surgery. The doctor who performed the operation said that what he knew about the man and what the mother had said were identical.

After the accident this man, later confirmed to be Min-nam, spent ten months in the hospital.  Not being able to remember who he was, he was thought to be mentally defective and was admitted to a mental institution.

The man would often tell those who attended him his name, address and middle school from which he graduated, but no one  paid any attention to what he was saying. (This was before the fingerprinting of all citizens and a reason little was made of what Min-nam was saying.) The provincial office, with no fingerprints to certify what Min-nam was saying, also paid no attention to what they heard. It was a social worker who, on hearing the story, started checking and notified the family that he was alive. If it wasn't for the social worker, the writer has no doubt that there may well have been another 25 years of waiting for the family.  

"I will spend some  time looking into the case!" is the kind of response the writer feels is all too rare nowadays. Our busy lives do not allow most of us the time to look with sufficient attention into anything that doesn't seem immediately apparent to us.  Is unconcern for what is going on around us the reality we live in? he wonders.  This unconcern is what the writer worries may be happening to him. There are  many in our society, like Min-nam, he says, who live with others and are at the same time isolated from them. He hopes he will be freed enough from bias and indisposition to hear the cries of despair of those who need our concern..

Wisdom Gained from Fishing

The Catholic Times desk columnist recounts a fishing trip that he made with some friends, during which they caught few fish but came away with some interesting insights. On arriving at the island and seeing the color of the water, they made some judgements on what was to be the result of their trip.

The water was muddy, and one of his companions blurted out:  "Ouch, the water is disturbed, and we have been away from fishing for a long time; it will not be a good day."

The journalist, who admitted to not being an expert, came to the same conclusion. They started fishing at 3:00 in the afternoon and finished at 10:00 that evening, catching one flounder the size of a person's hand. One of the companions took time off to take a nap.

They had something to eat and returned home. One of them said that when the water is so muddy the fish can't see the bait, which means there is going to be a problem. They had picked the wrong day, he said, for fishing.  

Another said that it was not all bad; when the water is turned upside down, as it was on that day, it's time for a  cleaning; the top is exchanged with the bottom. The garbage at the bottom comes to the top and becomes food for the seagulls.  Fish also will be removing the edible material floating on the water. 

When things are disturbed, reflected the journalist, we  know what peace and  tranquility means. The journalist had come to the same conclusion in his own life: when things are upside down it is then that he makes the step to renew himself.

He wonders if this is not also true of the Church. When the Church appears to be too much at peace and too comfortable, he questions whether this is the reality. He sees the disturbance 'at the bottom' and wonders if this is being overlooked. He is left with the question: Is it a good thing to have what is happening at the bottom come to the top so that something can be done?

This is a question, he says, we all can ask ourselves. When we don't have transparency, we may be fooling ourselves into thinking all is well. That which bothers us, if not allowed to see the light, does not always leave us unharmed.Bringing to the light what is 'down below' can be the effort required to  remedy many of our troublesome issues.                                    

Things We Have Lost in Life

 

Looking at Our Present Reality

And Seeing the Things We Have Lost  in Life

(From an internet website and printed in the bulletin for priests.)

 
Buildings are taller but our characters have become smaller,
Turnpikes have become wider but our vision narrower.
Consumption has increased but our spirits poorer.

We buy more goods, but our happiness has decreased.
Houses have become larger but families smaller,
Life is more comfortable but there is less time to enjoy it.

Formal schooling has grown but elegance reduced,
Knowledge expanded but the ability to discern lessened.

Specialists are everywhere but problems have multiplied.

Medicines are many but our diseases have mushroomed.

Possessions have  multiplied but values decreased.
Words are many, actions meager, and lies abundant.

We live longer but have forgotten how to live,
And lost the ability to give meaning to life.

Grown taller but character has been dwarfed.
In the  search for more profit, relationships have suffered.
We have more leisure  but joy has diminished.

What has been said could probably have been said, similarly, for every century from the beginning of time. We can go back to Qoheleth where we are told that "All is vanity," and "What has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun." This puts the above in the right perspective.  We do not learn much, sadly, from our history. And as the saying goes are condemned to repeat it.

St. Benedict's Enlightened Leader

It  took us about 100 years to  see  business enterprises as  living organisms which is not difficult to understand. The way they function is going to determine the way the hearts of persons are going to be moved. Writing in the Peace Weekly a professor in the business department of a university wants us to see the influence of big business on society.

Employees, consumers,  investors and many others place much  hope in these enterprises. The energy of those involved with the enterprise will determine the success of the business.

The cells of the enterprise  are the workers; they have to be healthy if the enterprise is going to have vitality. This very obvious principle of management  is difficult to follow in this world of unlimited competition.  If a business enterprise wants to grow healthily it is necessary to be vigilant about the problems of unlimited  competition. 

There are examples of companies that have developed  this  concern for one another and  nurtured the growth of the company.  It is the enlightened  leader who is the motivating cause for the  growth  of the company and helping in the enlightenment of the workers. 


An enlightened leader can be described as  a loving and humble person. This is the secret that attracts one person to another. When the workers see  a leader as a father figure the workers  are more disposed to devote themselves to the work.


 Benedictines have shown  us  this type of management for the last 1500 years. This is what the Rule of St. Benedict says about the person who is responsible for the finance of the community.  " As cellarer of the monastery let there be chosen from the community one who is wise, of mature character, sober, not a great eater, not haughty, nor excitable, not offensive, not slow, not wasteful, but a God-fearing man who may be like a father to the whole community. "(Chapter 31)

The professor leaves us with the thought that one enlightened  leader in the world of business  with an inspiration has the possibility of changing the world. This  he sees as a great blessing.

Oriental Medicine and Sterility

From the very beginning of the Scriptures, in Genesis, we are told of God's desire that we are to propagate. The culture of life column in the Peace Weekly, written by a doctor of oriental medicine and a member of the Seoul Catholic Committee for Life, reflects on the problem that one out of five Korean couples desiring children are sterile.  

Many of these couples, after an examination that finds no medical reason for the infertility, will decide for artificial insemination. However, there are problems with this method. According to the doctor the method is used without first trying  to find the cause of the infertility, and solving the problem artificially sometimes results in failure, and often in multiple births. The health of the prospective mother, during this period of attempts to conceive and the repeated failures, is a serious concern for all involved in the use of this artificial solution to the problem, says the doctor.

Oriental  medicine, relying heavily on herbal preparations, looks for the causes of the problem, with the intention of bringing about conception naturally. It looks on sterility differently than Western medicine. Instead of describing the condition negatively as sterility, with the implication that it may be a permanent condition, oriental medicine prefers to describe it simply just as the woman is experiencing it: difficulty in conceiving.   

When a woman is not able to conceive they consider there is something not functioning properly in her body, even though the exams of Western medicine will find nothing wrong. The  doctor mentions that when a pregnant woman comes to him for consultation, he tells her that her womb will be the room for the baby for ten months, (Korean calculation)  and he will be trying to make it a place the baby will find congenial and will enjoy. 
 

This is the strong point of oriental medicine: it does not rely on the artificial means of fertilization in vitro to correct the problem, but is interested in using natural means to get the body to a condition where conception occurs naturally. Recently, even those who are following the Western procedures often come for natural medicines prescribed by the herb doctors.  

He ends the article by saying it is not only the women who may have the problem but the men may also share the responsibility for the 'difficulty in conceiving.' 

The TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) approach to restoring health is more philosophical and holistic than the scientific and logical approach of the West. The two approaches, when working together, will have a great deal to add to the world of medicine.