The Art of Aging,
a book by Anselm Grün, is used by a columnist of the Peace Weekly to
give us some helpful spiritual pointers for aging well. Learning to let
go is the key. We are forced to let go of our infancy and years of
youth, and old age is asking us to do the same, says Fr. Grün. With age
this becomes more difficult, but he tells us the more earthly desires we
get rid of the more spiritual fruit we will yield.
Those who
have lived life sincerely and with intensity will find this possible,
says Grün. The first part of life, infancy, youth and middle age, is
naturally lived with intensity; the second part of life, old age, is
time for letting go. Those who have not lived life sincerely and
intensely will have nothing to let go, and will look back with regret.
In
the last years of life, we have to give up our possessions, health,
relationships, sex, power, and finally, our very self. At death all
earthly possessions are given up, he reminds us. We give up all these
things to prepare us to give up ourselves. The last challenge in life is
to give ourselves up to receive God, the last spiritual challenge we
will all face.
To
grow old gracefully, as we confront the mystery of life and death,
means to become calmer, more accepting of this mystery. Silence becomes
more important to us, and peace comes forth. Loneliness is not a concern
and one looks back with
gratitude.
Our reminiscences of the past need not suggest that we
are tied to the past, but merely a looking back on the way we have
lived. There are those that go back in their lives and are bothered with
guilt; they remember the hurts and the missed opportunities. These
thoughts bring depression. There are also thoughts of hurts that were
healed and these are profitable. This is not a return to the past that
looks for the hurts, but a search for healing.
We
are all preparing for death: the completion of life. Only those who see
themselves being born again in God will have peace and gratitude in
facing old age; our older years will be lived with spirit. Facing death
in this way is a blessing to others. To die well is not only for oneself
but opening the way for others to die well. When
we do not hesitate to go back to God, no matter at what stage in life we
find ourselves, life becomes a gift to others.
Each year from January 18th to the 25th is Christian
Unity Week, a time to go beyond our own communities of faith, blame
ourselves for out lack of unity, while making efforts to do better, and
pray for the day we will be one in Christ. This was the reason behind
the creation of the Octave, renewing our desire for unity and fellowship
among Christians. The Catholic Times editorial stresses the importance
of this week of prayer for all of us.
The
Church began a renewed desire for Christian unity after the Second
Vatican Council. In the Decrees on Ecumenism and on Eastern Catholic
Churches, and in the Declaration on Religious Freedom, ecumenism was
covered in detail. We have more in common that unites us than in the
elements that separate us. The belief in Jesus and love, and the
absolute love for the word of God that we have in common, makes the
Church here on earth work for unity.
Our fellowship with other Christians, as
brothers and sisters in Christ, should also be extended to those with
different beliefs. We as Christians continue to dialogue and to
cooperate with the other religions in our own country. We should not be
limited, the editorial goes on to say, by our religious beliefs and
different cultural backgrounds from embracing the whole world.
The archbishop of Gwangju, president of the Korean Bishops
Conference commission promoting Christian unity and Inter-religious dialogue, in a recent talk, quotes Micah 6:8: "You have been told, Oh
man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the
right and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God." This, said the archbishop, should be our concern.
We
need this true unity and harmony within our own faith communities, as a
prerequisite, if we are to be successful working for unity with others.
We should have a unity of the diocese with the parishes and a unity
and harmony of priests and parishioners. This should be our starting
point when our goal is to live in unity and harmony with all religions
and be of service to all of humanity.
It
is easy to forget that the way we relate with those we know the best
often translates into the way we relate--often even more so--with those
not so close. Our attitudes are what affects our words and
actions in our present communities, which can prepare us to be more effective peacemakers to the larger community outside.
Whether the
material wealth of a nation brings happiness to its citizens is a
question not easily answered. For many countries, however, it clearly
does not bring happiness. Korea, for example, has become an economic
powerhouse. Back in 1960, it had a gross national product per capita (the wealth distribution of a country showing the dollar value of its goods and services in a year, divided by its population) of 100 dollars. Today, with a GNP per capita of over $20,000, Korea is the envy of many developing countries, but despite the remarkable increase in the material wealth of the country, there has been no increase in the level of happiness.
Writing the recent opinion column of the Catholic Times, a professor with a doctorate in education introduces us to the Easterlin Paradox: poor
countries, like Costa Rica and Columbia, have a higher happiness index
than the economically advanced, OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development),
countries.
If
this is true why do countries continue to praise themselves, he asks,
for their economic achievements. There are many countries
that have gone from a colony to independence, having received a great deal
of help, but have not been able to leave poverty behind.
Although Korea has made great strides economically, she still has a large foreign debt, the middle class is disappearing, the number of the poor is increasing, and, with the acceptance of neo-liberalism, there is increased polarization within society.The upper 20 percent has 13 times more income than the lowest 20 percent and many families are in debt. At the beginning of 2013, the competition is intense and employment is difficult to find. The
disparity between the haves and have-nots is increasing. Moreover,
Korea leads in the number of suicides among OECD countries and has the
lowest birth rate and happiness index.
The professor, using the United States as an example, says that after a GNP per capita income of over $10,000 is reached the influence of economics on the happiness
of citizens decreases. Now that Korea has reached $20,000, there will
be little influence on the happiness index of the country, the professor
says. The Saenuri party expressed an interest in equalizing the income
of 99 percent of the citizens in comparison to the 1 percent of the highest income earners. The Saenuri Party could read the pulse of the citizens, noting that the middle class was less interested in the right or wrong of issues but rather in earning enough money to eat, live well and pursue happiness.
The promises of the Saenuri Party will be their political platform for the next five years. They have promised to help more workers enter the middle class, and they have indicated that they will report on how successful they have been in keeping that promise each year. The citizens will be eagerly waiting to see if the Saenuri Party can deliver on their promise.
Today there
are many unorthodox theories and remedies to alleviate medical problems,
though most of them the medical profession considers old wife's tales
and superstition. The
Catholic Times recently interviewed a searcher, also known as a dowser
or diviner, who goes about the country intent on finding subterranean
water veins or streams. He has begun a research service to study the
radiation from these water veins to neutralize them.
Many
Koreans are willing to believe that underground water does harbor
radiation that can seep to the surface to harm them. This belief is easily
confirmed by media advertisements for beds that promise to prevent the
radiation from reaching them during their sleeping hours. Many ill
persons whose illnesses have not been helped by medicines will change
the location of their beds to avoid what they believe are the harmful
radiation. Since dowsing is so widely accepted in Korea, there is a
general acceptance that this unorthodox approach to curing some medical
conditions may be valid.
When
the French foreign missioners came to Korea back in the 19th century,
they introduced dowsing to find underground water for wells. This
practice was continued as a result of some well-known priests who wrote
on the subject. However, the subject is still surrounded with
skepticism, and the scientific community has little sympathy for it.
Water
diviners will often determine before building a house where the water
veins are located in order to avoid them. This way of thinking is a
throw-back to the days of the geomancers. During the interview the research head said he began his study of water
radiation after his wife became sick. He spent most of his money for
treatment, and she was close to death. After her recovery he decided to
devote himself to the study to help others with his research center.
Today, he is a firm believer and promoter of dowsing for water, and what the practice can do to help alleviate medical problems.
He has traveled to different parts of the country to discover water veins and to neutralize their
effects. His research center will train dowsers, he said, with the knowledge
necessary to discover and prevent the effects of the radiation. He has
given lectures at the Catholic University of Pusan in the life-time
study program. He intends to prepare lectures on water radiation, its history and why it's harmful to health.
The
center head admits that many who come to him have all kinds of doubts
but are looking for the last piece of straw to grasp, after they tried
everything else. He wants to be a missioner for this message.
Many ideas concerning health, long popular in the East, have been accepted in the West; acupuncture, for example, is no longer dismissed, but largely accepted as a valid medical remedy. Whether dowsing to discover underground veins of water seeping radiation up to the surface will eventually become as popular, we will have to wait for the future to tell us.
A questionnaire was sent to 626 college professors to choose a motto for the year 2013, and the motto chosen was 除舊布新"Blow
Away the Cobwebs." Do away with the old and extend the new would be
another and more literal translation of the 4 Chinese characters that were
chosen. Our columnist in the Catholic Times uses these words as a
meditation on the new year.
The
wise of the past, according to the columnist, were not interested in getting rid of all
that is old, nor did they believe that the new is always good. Wisdom tells us to keep the
good of the old and to block the evil practices of the new. This is
what it means to blow away the cobwebs.
To
rid ourselves of abuses and unhelpful old ways is one means to be renewed. In
our present society we talk a lot about renewal, says our writer, but he feels that this talk has little to do with interior change, but is an
easy way of escaping our present crises.
The
columnist recently interviewed the president of the Bishops
Conference and was impressed by his comments on this crisis: "There
are many who are talking about the crisis in the Church. We see many
who separate life from faith. Can we describe this as a pattern of
secularization and relativism? Our faith life is not being changed by a
desire for renewal and a change of heart. We have a desire, a
prerequisite for renewal, to believe and to confess Jesus, but many do not
know him. There is a strong desire to know him. Many Christians know
what we are to believe with their heads, the way to receive grace as
something of habit, and the commandments seem to mean little. The
commandments should be embodied in us, but we remember only the words. They have not become part of us but separated from life."
If we believe that faith
is one thing and life another, this is not a sign of a Christian. Renewal means to become what we are. Faith is to make what we
believe a part of our daily life. We are not to think that our parish can be used by us like a lifeboat, a Noah's ark; we need to be continually
renewed. The first step is to see ourselves as sinners. We have to set
aside our own opinions; expedients only weaken our ability to face
the challenges.
We often act like the squirrel on a treadmill, going around and
around, making little progress. This is not what our faith life should be. We should make
the crisis of faith into a challenge, an opening to a new way of living
our religious lives.
Catechetical programs in the rites of Christian initiation in Korea
take different forms and are an important part of the pastoral work of
any parish. The catechumens hear the words of the Gospel message, "The
Holy Spirit opens their hearts, and they freely and knowingly seek the
living God and enter the path of faith and conversion."
The
response of the catechumens to this Gospel message, as they prepare for
baptism, is important not only to the catechumens but to the whole
Church. Without this concern, even if baptized, they will soon lose
interest and fall away, which makes it a concern of the whole Church.The community needs to be a welcoming community and this has to begin with the programs of initiation.
A
sampling of those participating in the catechetical programs revealed
that many found them boring. The cramming method of teaching was not
helpful, and many did not find what they were learning connected with
their daily lives. The memorizing of the prayers for some was tedious.
After baptism, they forgot everything they learned. One person said he
tries to attend Mass weekly but wants to know how to find the motivation
and passion for what he has received.
A catechumen who dropped
out of the program said he lost hope when he was told he should increase
his offering at Mass. He was under the false impression that
Catholicism did not put a financial burden on its members. Having his
own money problems, he felt he couldn't give any more than he was
already giving.
Another
person baptized at Christmas said that the Catholicism she knew was
different from Protestantism; she was surprised at the lack of warmth
within the Catholic community. Even
though many congratulated them at baptism, it didn't seem full hearted,
she said.
The godparents they were given, possibly because of the age difference,
seemed inappropriate. She would have liked someone assigned to them
during
their period of study, and afterward,:someone to be a mentor.
A
list was made of what most of them felt about the program: difficult text,
the length of the program, the memorizing and cramming method of
teaching, the strangeness of the liturgy, and the lack of time for
fellowship.
A teacher in the catechetical program said that it
was necessary for teachers to be able to teach in a way that would
accommodate what they learn to their daily lives. And to teach in a way
that would be easy to understand. Programs are necessary to improve the
teaching ability of the catechumens. The teachers have to be able to
give life examples of what it means to be a Christian.In conclusion,
the article mentioned that in these programs, it was imperative that
they be shown the way to live the Christian life. Every possible means
should be used to enable the catechumens to adopt the new way of living
they have been taught.
"We should be
lenient with the faults of others for they were our faults yesterday.
None of us is perfect, and we should remember this in dealing with
others." These Shakespearean words, as translated into Korean, prompted
the desk columnist of the Korean Times to explore a topic, which he
believes deserves more attention in today's world: concern and respect
for others.
He begins with the example of automobile drivers who
have good reasons to be upset when the driver in front of them suddenly
makes a turn without using the turn signal, concerned only with getting
to their destination. However, the columnist admits that when he's in
a hurry, there's a lot that he does that upsets other drivers.
An
African proverb says, "In a hurry, travel alone. If you are on a long
trip, go with others but go as fast as the slowest, and lighten their
load." This appears to be a sacrificial concession on the part of the
fastest, but it's meant to maintain good terms with the slower persons,
which in turn is helpful to the faster ones on a long trip. This
demonstrates, he says, concern and respect for others.
If we
look at those who have been notably successful in life, we see that many
have certain traits in common: the obedient type, the leader type, the
analytical type and the adaptable type. According to circumstances,
there is a need for different types but the columnist prefers the one
who can fit in smoothly with others, usually the one exhibiting concern and respect for others.
In the present
society of cut-throat competition where one is expected to outdo the
other, the adaptable type does not
find it easy. We all want to have the concern and respect of the other
but we also have to ask ourselves how much concern and respect do we have
for others.
We have the belief, says the columnist, that our
concern for others will be detrimental in achieving our goals in a
highly competitive society, despite the findings of psychology, which
show that we are happiest when we are concerned for the welfare of
others. The essence of concern, he says, is to be able to put ourselves
in the shoes of the other. If we think that everybody is the same our solicitude for the other may be doing the other harm. Respect and concern for the other is what is required by love.
As
Christians we have the example of God, says the columnist, who bestowed
on us the greatest amount of concern possible by sending us his son. We
in turn should give this same concern and respect to his children. It will bring great joy into our own lives and turn our dream of a better world into a possible reality.
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