Special / Column
Through the ways and events of the visible world, you come to deeply think about the invisible world and the will of God.
Before It Gets Too Late
The Four Things That Matter Most is a book written by Ira Byock, who has been in hospice care (a type of health care that helps terminally ill patients to spend their last moments of their lives in peace) for over four decades. In his book, he gives suggestion to terminally ill patients and their families. It is to say four phrases: “Please forgive me,” “I forgive you,” “Thank you,” and “I love you.” He came up with this after witnessing many cases that the patients and their family members regret later for not having confessed what was in their hearts. In fact, a man, who had not talked to his father for twenty years, let go of old hurts…
Beautiful Trace
If you cut the trunk of a tree and look at the cross section of the tree, you can see a pattern of concentric tree rings. Tree rings form when there are differences in growth speed as the weather changes. Between spring and summer, when cell division is vigorous, the wood texture inside the tree is soft and the color is bright, while cell division is slow starting from late summer or autumn, resulting in a hardened texture and a darker color. As such process repeats, a distinct pattern of tree rings is formed in the trunk of a tree. If you look at tree rings, you can tell not only the tree’s age but also what had happened during…
Together
This is as harmful to the body as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. This increases the chance of getting certain diseases. People who suffer from this have 30% higher chance to suffer from a stroke, 40% higher chance to suffer from dementia, and twice the chance to suffer from a heart disease, compared with healthy people. What is this? It is loneliness. Vivek H. Murthy, who is a former Vice Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, pointed out that loneliness is a factor that causes issues of modern society such as depression and drug addiction. He stated that the diseases that break out from loneliness can be more harmful to the body than general physical diseases. He…
How to Not Repeat the Same Mistakes That Lead to Regrets
In September 2019, a bus suddenly stopped in downtown Seoul. The driver who stopped the bus asked the passengers to excuse him, and ran outside. It was to save a woman in her 60s who had fallen in the street. The woman had not recovered her consciousness although some other passersby had been trying to help her. The bus driver immediately started CPR on her. After a few minutes, she recovered her consciousness and started breathing again. Then the bus driver asked one of the passersby there to stay with her until the ambulance arrived, and he returned to his bus. The passengers were moved by the act of the driver who saved the woman’s life with quick thinking. The…
Letters from Prison
Jawaharlal Nehru fought for India’s independence together with Mahatma Gandhi, and later became India’s first prime minister. During the time when India was under British rule, he was imprisoned many times for resisting the colonial rule. Since he was imprisoned in Naini Prison, he wrote letters to his only daughter, Indira. He sent her about 190 letters for three years. Then what did he desperately want to say to his beloved daughter? “On your birthday you have been in the habit of receiving presents and good wishes. Good wishes you will still have in full measure, but what present can I send you from Naini Prison? My presents cannot be very material or solid.” Nehru made every endeavor in the…
What We Need to Save Lives
Mack Horton, who won a gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, received an email from one of his fans. According to the e-mail, skin cancer was suspected because a mole on his upper chest had become larger and darker than before. Horton went to the hospital immediately, and the doctor said that the mole could develop into melanoma. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that develops when melanocytes start to grow out of control. It is a deadly disease but has no symptoms, so you cannot accurately detect the disease unless you pay close attention to your skin. Thanks to his fan who sent him the e-mail with concern and care for him, he…
One Bun or Two Buns
The main character, a high school student, comes home after school and finds two red bean buns and a note his mom left on the kitchen table. “Share them with your younger sister. Have one each.” After reading the note, he eats one of the buns right away. However, he doesn’t feel satisfied with one and ends up eating the other, which was for his sister, despite his mom’s note. To remove the proof, he throws away his mom’s note in the trash can. After some time, his younger sister comes back home and finds the mom’s note thrown away. She gets angry, and an argument begins. The brother thinks it is a simple matter that will be solved if…
A Thankful Mind
Five people from Chongqing, China, who had never known each other, formed a music group. They had different professions and personalities such as doctor, housewife, and real estate salespeople, and were all ignorant of music. Nevertheless, holding guitar, bass, and maracas (a rhythm instrument) in their hands, they practiced hard for a performance, being coached by a professional music instructor. The band’s name was “One Man’s Band.” The members had a plan to play difficult songs like “Reborn” and “Feel Life.” The band’s name originated in the story of the members, who received corneas, kidneys, and liver from a donor who died a while ago. After hearing that the donor liked music and was at the forefront of public interest,…
Giving Love
Augustus, a short fairytale written by a German writer named Hermann Hesse, shows how the mind to receive love and the mind to give love influence our life. Born as a posthumous child, Augustus received love from everyone, growing up, as his mother expressed that wish to a mysterious old man. Since the boy only received love from others, he grew to be arrogant and heartless, committing all sorts of crimes; he even decided to give up on his life, getting bored of the love of other people and feeling life as uninteresting. At that moment, the old man appeared again to ask for his wish, and he wished to be able to love everyone else. The next day, he…