'Walking with Philosophy'

Most people are able to  separate theory from practice, knowing and doing. A scholar with great knowledge is not necessarily a virtuous person; a philosopher is not always a moral person; and a great theologian is not always a spiritual person or a saint.

 

However, at the  appearance on the world stage of philosophy, both in the East and in the West, this was not the case. The study of philosophy began around the 6th and 7th centuries before Christ.  It was the intellectual  search for knowledge, not generally concerned with systematization and theory but was more practical: learning how to live. The goal was to discover the right relationship with nature, things and other people.

The Catholic Times, in its "Walking with Philosophy" column, pointed out that the first philosophers, for the most part, were not interested in abstract metaphysical theories or dogmatic systems. They were interested in living the good life.

The systematization, speculation and theorizing came later, and is the reason, according to the column, we have lost interest in philosophical  studies. In the beginning, the philosophers were interested in right actions. How was a right-minded person to act? They wanted to know how a person could be consistently one in action and in thought.
 

From the beginning of philosophical thought in those early centuries, we have wanted to understand the significance of existence and the world we live in. This desire comes from the very nature of humanity. The word 'philosophy,' as we know, comes from the word for wisdom (sophia) and the word for love (philos). We naturally and enthusiastically search for truth to solve the problems of life. As long as they exist we will always be philosophizing, always seeking meaning and a better understanding of life.

Being of the one Doing

A priest, reminiscing with friends concerning the times they spent together on Mondays for talks on different aspects of their work, remembers that it was not easy to sit attentively while hearing lectures. He mentioned that during these lectures a few of the priests were valiantly trying to keep themselves from dozing, and the professor, seeing the effort, commented that they must have had a busy weekend.

This incident was recalled by the priest in his column for the Catholic Times. At the time, the speaker, was an assistant priest who was responsible for the funeral and wedding Masses, morning Masses, and Masses for the young; it was a busy week, he told the Professor, who was surprised at the answer. "I understand the work that you are doing, he said, "but it seems to me that when you are saying Masses it should recharge you to do your work with new vigor and energy."

From that time on, the priest never ever said he was tired from the Masses he said. Many decades have passed and the Masses and communions have been a source of recharging and renewal for the work.

The Mass has, indeed, been life-giving. An antidote to our common experience of life, which at times is difficult and tedious, leaving us with a feeling of burn out, and dreaming of the kind of existence we would like to enjoy. Stress is felt by all of us. Even priests, who have devoted their lives to the service of others, find that even relating with their parishioners and fulfilling the requirements of a sacramental life can be tiring and unsatisfying.

It is at those times that we have to reflect not on what we are doing as much as on the one doing. Our being is what is important. By focusing on the one doing the work, we nourish the work, making it more effective in helping others. Seeing  ourselves with different, more understanding eyes allows us to receive new strength for the work. God has led us to where we are. We should trust that he will continue to move us with grace, making our response one of surprise and  gratitude--and more effective.

Wanting to Better the Life of the Elderly

Many, late in life, feeling a need for more education to do their work well, decide to go on for added studies. The Peace Weekly tells us of Monica, who worked  with poor and alienated women, and who decided, in her 50s, to go to Japan to get a doctorate in gerontology.

After 13 years, not knowing any Japanese when she started, she got her degree. Her dissertation was an exhaustive study of the Korean history of work with the elderly. She will translate it into Korean and plans to publish it in the future. At her age, to go on for a doctorate in another country, unfamiliar as she was with the language, is not something easy to image. Next year, she will be teaching at the Catholic University, which will make her life even busier.

She admitted to wanting to give up many times, but she overcame the difficulties and persevered with her studies, receiving help from many during her time in Japan, and has many to thank, she says. She now has the qualifications of a first-grade social worker, care-giver.  She saw a need to gain knowledge regarding the needs of the  elderly and made her decision to become a specialist in the field.

She has been  a leader in the Catholic Workers Movement and began  a home for women, becoming a Godmother to many. She received education in many different areas of study, and earned a master's degree in women's studies. She  aspires to starting a group home exclusively for the elderly with the necessary cultural accompaniments. Following England's example, she would also like to see restaurants that cater to the needs of the elderly, not only as places where they can eat and drink tea, but where they can get counseling and  enjoy their leisure time.

Her goal will continue to be, she says, to use her knowledge to further the well-being of  the elderly in Korea.

Are You Happy?

When we die and go to heaven, God will ask, according to Sister Park, whether we were happy. She believes we will not be happy without living a spiritual life. 

Sister Park is a Holy Name Sister who teaches spirituality in the States, and was written up in the Catholic Times on her visit to Korea. ( Before going to the States, she was a journalist for the Times.) Spirituality for the Sister is a way of being happy. If you are happy, she says, there must be, underlying the happiness, a spirituality of some sort.   Experience in  our faith life and  experience in our daily life are not separate.  Attempting to find meaning in our lives is what spirituality is all about.

She is preparing to write a book about her experience of community life in Shamanism and in Buddhism. She wants to show the rest of the world  the understanding of community life in Korean culture. She also feels it's a good way to understand our own Scriptures.

Her  community in Korea has taught her about her own personal journey. She was given strength while in the community and wants to discover why this was so. The synergistic effect from  participation in community living is an antidote, she feels, to the present individualism of society.

The article concludes by telling us never to despair. We live within a world where money is everything, but this gross distortion of the truth can be overcome, she says. Failures are means that allow us to grow as mature persons--when we use the failures as challenges. She tells the young to keep on looking for mentors to help in the maturing process. Keep on desiring and praying, she advises, and you will find your mentors.

North Korean Rufugees

North Korean refugees who  flee their communist homeland in order to avoid oppression and  food shortages risk their lives to resettle in the South. The number now living in South Korea is about 24,000.

The Catholic Times  tells us the story of Hong Teresa, 55 years old, who arrived in South Korea in 2008. She remembers hearing about the Catholic Church from her mother as a child and being told to be careful not to speak about this to anyone. This remembrance helped her to receive baptism, in 2009, while living in Seoul.

Teresa escaped from North Korea for the first time in 2002 and was returned to the North by the Chinese authorities. She escaped again in 2005. While in China, she saw the name of a Catholic Church written in Korean script. This brought  back the words of her mother years earlier.

Her mother told her about the foreign missioners who worked in the North and that her maternal grandfather had worked for the Church  but suffered under the Communists because of this connection.  Her family had difficulty finding work, she said, because they were considered undesirable elements within the society.

When she was in China and saw the Catholic church, she entered and introduced  herself to God as the granddaughter of her grandfather, and started to cry. The person that led her to the church gave her a prayer book which she has used ever since.  Three years after leaving the North,  she arrived in South Korea.

There are no Catholic priests in the North, about 3000 Catholics, and a mission station. She feels that the reason they have a semblance of religion there is to publicize an 'openness' to religion to the outside world.  While in Pyongyang, she never heard about the Church; she did, only when she arrived in the South.

Too Much Talk About the Environment?

Too much talk about the environment makes our attempts at eating and living well  worrisome. Some  would like the talk reduced; it tends to bring fear into our lives, says the author of the book Where are the Polar Bears Going to Go? 

Interviewed by both Catholic papers, the author, a priest with a doctorate in environmental science, says the issue is not going to go away simply because we don't want to talk about it. 

He explains why we need to take an interest in the environment: the diseases we are exposed to because of the chemical toxins that are entering the food chain, the spread  of hormones in the environment which can affect sterility, the dangers of genetic engineering, among many other areas of concern.

 Some time in the future will we be talking less about the state of our democracy, he maintains, and more about the state of our environment. At present, those who are harming democracy are penalized; the time will come when those harming the environment will also be penalized. The pollution and destruction of the environment are serious matters, but we are not sufficiently conscious of the destruction.

Koreans, generally, do not appreciate the beauty of our environment, he says, even though the natural environment of Korea is one of the most beautiful in the world, and we are taking care of it. There is no other country that has succeeded in preserving its forests like Korea has: over 65 percent of the land surface is forested. We should start celebrating the beauty of our natural environment.

The author wants religious people to read the signs of the times and be prophetic in their efforts to speak out in this area before it gets worse. He gives us a list of ten things we can do to help: 1) Love nature as we love ourselves. 2) Don't do harm to the animal and vegetable life. 3) Let us boast about the ways of simplicity and be embarrassed about luxury. 4) Have a simple diet and not  waste food. 5) Separate our waste and recycle. 6) Use electricity and water sparingly and use detergents carefully. 7) Don't use disposable products. 8) Control the use of heat and air conditioning. 9) Use the bicycle and public transportation more. 10) Reduce the emitting of methane gases.

International Marriages

A Religious Sister mentions, in her column on pastoral work, that we are all citizens of the world. In the past, when she was asked to write about her experiences, she always refused, feeling it was like making a public confession of her life. But she has relented and shares some of her experiences with us.

She has been in the work with migrants for the last eight years, she says. In the past, it was with the heart, but now it is mostly with the mind. She is not trying to fathom the workings of the migrant's inner feelings and desires, but is more interested in helping them get ahead in the business world. It is now my desire, she says, to help make the life of the migrants understandable to our citizens.

An important aspect in her approach is to deal with the conflicted feelings concerning international marriages. Compared to how it was viewed a few years ago, much as changed--for the good. It is now something that is accepted as natural, and she is asked by many of the Christians to introduce some foreign girls to their sons. She has little difficulty in doing this,  but it is another matter to have these marriages turn out healthy, and  the family developing happily.

Most people have heard stories of  international marriages in which the woman has abandoned her husband and family, left to find work in a factory to earn money, found a man from her own country, or has not been faithful. There are many such stories.

Because of these stories, many have qualms and fears about international marriages. Our increasingly closely knit world is likely to bring us more, not less, of these marriages. But there is no need to see this negatively; we need only open ourselves, without prejudice, to the different cultures of the world.

If we ask whether the poor women who come to Korea are of an inferior status, most will answer no. When we see  things that are strange, we should ask for an explanation. When we see something we don't understand, we should be tolerant and try to explain our own culture. At times, it is our feeling of superiority in dealing with the immigrants from the poorer countries that is the problem.

International marriages can be as happy, she insists, as any other marriage. It requires getting beyond the financial difficulties and seeing others with a more open and understanding heart. We are all citizens of the world, she is fond of repeating, and we all share its joys and its sorrows. This is not all that difficult. We have the example of Jesus, who had no prejudice and considered everyone equal. He is our teacher.