Faith & Life

Dreaming of the Universe

In his writings, American astronomer Carl Sagan introduced the “Cosmic Calendar,” a model that compresses the 13.8-billion-year history of the universe into a single year. According to this scale, the Big Bang takes place at midnight on January 1, and the present moment falls at the final stroke of midnight on December 31. This framework offers a striking perspective on the vast timeline of the cosmos. Within the Cosmic Calendar, one second represents 475 years on Earth; a single day spans 38 million years, and a month amounts to roughly 1.1 billion years. Earth appears in early September, and modern humans emerge only in the final moments of December 31. All of human civilization fits within less than a minute,…

Jo Mun-gyeong from Cheongju, Korea

A Truly Valuable Education

For students in the Church of God, the most anticipated time during school breaks is likely the student camp. Among the many programs offered, such as Bible studies, character education, volunteer work, and hands-on learning, my favorite activity is environmental cleanup. That’s because it provides meaningful lessons both physically and spiritually. During a recent break, we carried out a street cleanup in the Bisandong 4-ga area of Daegu. When someone litters, someone else has to pick it up. It’s exactly as the saying goes: “Some throw it away, others pick it up.” Those who clean up the trash work hard and sweat, even though they didn’t create the mess. Perhaps the reason people still volunteer despite the effort is because…

Bae Sani-a from Daegu, Korea

Envisioning Instead of Predicting

The tablet PC is one of the smartest devices, often cited as one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century. It supports various functions, making it highly versatile and convenient to carry. The tablet PC began to gain popularity in 2010. However, 40 years before the tablet PC came into existence, there was someone who envisioned such a device. That person was the American scientist Alan Kay. He was the first to conceive of a personal computer in 1968 and later illustrated it in a paper he wrote. Its shape closely resembled today’s tablet PC. At that time, computers were as large as automobiles, so the idea of creating a portable one was hard to imagine. How was he…

Gentle on the Outside, Strong on the Inside

Plantago asiatica springs back up even after being run over by a car tire. With its strong vitality, plantago asiatica is known to grow even better on paths where many people walk and it is frequently trampled. There are several secrets to how plantago asiatica endures adversity, and one of them lies in its leaves. The leaves of the plantago asiatica are very soft. If the leaves were stiff and hard, they might hold up the first time they were stepped on, but would eventually break or snap. Because they are soft, they suffer less damage. If they were only soft, they would eventually tear, but inside the leaves are five strong strands of fiber. Thanks to these, the plantago…

The Blessing of the One who Reads God’s Word, Hears It, and Take It to Heart

While on an overseas mission, I met someone who attended church but had never once opened a Bible. Believing it to be a book reserved only for clergy, he had never read a single verse. I opened the Bible and read this passage aloud: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart [keep, KJV] what is written in it, because the time is near. Rev 1:3 I had always thought that reading, hearing, and keeping God’s word was something anyone could easily do. But I came to realize that there are still many people in the world who have neither heard nor seen the words…

Park Ji-ho from Seoul, Korea

Let’s Talk for a Thousand Years in Heaven

The greatest lesson I learned during my three-week overseas mission was the meaning of brotherly love. Until then, I had admired our overseas members from a distance, viewing them as amazing prophets and key figures in God’s prophecy, but I had never truly felt close to them. However, throughout the mission, as we laughed, shed tears, and preached together, a deep bond naturally formed. When the time came to part, I couldn’t hold back my tears. Seeing me sobbing, a deaconess gently came over and offered comfort: “If it’s this hard for us to say goodbye, imagine how hard it must be for Mother.” Though we were unforgivable sinners, our Heavenly Mother came to this earth because She could not…

Park Min-ji from Seoul, Korea

Youth

General MacArthur, renowned for the Incheon Landing during the Korean War, was 70 years old when he served in that conflict. In his office, he always kept a poem he often read like a personal creed, Samuel Ullman’s “Youth.” Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; . . . Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. . . . In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless…

Kim Hae-gyeong from Taebaek, Korea

The Heart Behind ‘Animo!’

While I was briefly standing still after sharing the message of the Passover with passersby, I sensed someone slowly approaching. When the presence stopped beside me, I turned in surprise to see a person cheerfully exclaim, “Animo!” while handing me a bottle of vitamin drink. It caught me completely off guard. For a moment I thought, “Animo? That sounds familiar . . .” Then it clicked—the person seemed to be a member from another Zion who worked at the convenience store near Zion. I immediately expressed my gratitude. That warm greeting and the thoughtful gesture of offering the drink moved me deeply. I couldn’t help but wonder, “How much she thought it through before coming over?” “What could I give…

Ahn Ji-yeong from Gwangju, Korea

An Old Lady on the Platform

"Mind the gap" is a warning to watch the space between the train and the platform. At one time in the London Underground, this announcement was delivered in the gentle voice of an unknown actor. However, as digital technology was introduced over time, this announcement gradually began to be replaced. In November 2012, even at Embankment Station—the last place where his voice remained—the announcement was finally switched to a new version. But not long after, his voice began to echo once again through the station. How did this happen? There was an old lady who visited Embankment Station every day. She didn’t board any trains; she would just quietly sit on the platform and then return home. The reason she…

Preparing for Father’s Birthday

The three siblings gathered together to plan a birthday celebration for their father. As their father was turning sixty, the children wanted to prepare something special and put their heads together to come up with ideas. After much discussion, they decided to take their father on a trip, treat him to delicious food, and enjoy sightseeing together. They also divided up the responsibilities. It happened while the eldest was searching for accommodations at the travel destination. Their father called and said, “I haven’t been able to sleep well lately, so I’m thinking of going to the hospital, but I don’t know which one I should go to.” The eldest replied, “I’m busy right now. I’ll check later.” It happened while…

Fresh Strawberries and Rotten Ones

On a table sat a basket of strawberries. Most were fresh, but about 15% were spoiled. Children were divided into two groups. One group was asked to pick out the fresh strawberries, and the other group to pick out the spoiled ones. Afterward, they were asked how many spoiled strawberries they thought were in the basket. The children who picked the fresh ones gave almost accurate answers. But the children who picked the spoiled ones said there were more spoiled strawberries than fresh ones. They even thought some of the fresh ones were spoiled. The same result appeared when the experiment was done with adults. This experiment, conducted by Austrian psychologist Elisabeth Lukas, demonstrates the Negativity Effect. The Negativity Effect…

The Reason for Differences in Skill Level

Psychologist Gary McPherson had a question about children who play musical instruments: “Why do children progress so differently even when they receive the same lessons?” To find the answer, he randomly selected 157 children who had just begun learning to play an instrument and began his research. About nine months later, he evaluated their progress and analyzed the data. What he discovered was surprising: intelligence, hearing development, sense of rhythm, and family income level did not significantly affect improvement. The decisive factor that made a difference in skill level was the children’s passion and interest. In fact, before their first lesson, McPherson asked each child one simple question: “How long do you plan to play your instrument?” The children who…

Good Harvest From Good Soil

I visited my younger sister’s weekend farm on Ganghwa Island to harvest garlic and onions. The garlic cloves we had planted individually last fall had grown into six-clove garlic by the time of harvest. My sister and her husband were very pleased, saying that this year’s garlic and onion harvest was much better compared with last year. They shared that they had put in a lot of effort to achieve a good harvest this year, learning from the lessons of last year’s poor results. The first thing they did was enrich the soil by making natural fertilizer. They mixed and fermented various ingredients such as coffee grounds, oilcake, EM (Effective Microorganisms), and rice husks, then spread the mixture over the…

Ahn Hee-yeon from Seoul, Korea

Although I Am Less Than the Least of All God’s People

I wanted to be like Apostle Paul, who preached the gospel of the new covenant with tireless passion, enduring countless hardships and persecutions. While reflecting on his life, I came across this verse: Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. Eph 3:8–9 Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen and an elite of his time, having studied under the renowned teacher of the law, Gamaliel. Yet, while carrying out the work of the gospel, he humbled himself,…

Lee U-rim From Guayaquil, Ecuador

Between Mistakes and Self-Reproach

As the saying goes, sports are an unscripted drama. The outcome of a game depends not only on the athlete’s skill, but also on various factors such as condition, weather, and the environment of the playing field. One of the key variables is an error—a mistake. When an athlete makes a mistake during a game, it’s natural for them to feel rushed, thinking they must make up for it. But this mental pressure interferes with their performance and often leads to more mistakes. In sports psychology, there is a technique called ASDR self-suggestion that helps athletes stay composed after making a mistake so they can return to their own rhythm. The process works like this: First, the athlete becomes aware…

Action

In a barley field lived a family of larks, huddled together in a cozy spot. One day, the mother lark said to her baby larks, “When the barley is harvested, we’ll have to move.” A few days later, the owner of the barley field said, “The barley is ripe. I should ask my neighbors to help with the harvest.” The baby larks were startled. “Mom! Let’s move right away!” “Not yet. It’s okay,” the mother lark reassured them. The next day, the field owner said, “I really need to harvest soon. I’ll ask my friend for help.” The baby larks looked anxiously at their mother. But she gently shook her head. “Still not yet.” Several days later, the owner said,…

Joy Upon Joy

I actively participate in the church’s regular volunteer services. Recently, I joined a drainage maintenance activity. I had come across news reports stating that blocked drains could cause flooding during the monsoon season, so this was a perfectly timed effort before the heavy rains arrived. On the day of the service, about 40 volunteers gathered, wearing boots and equipped with shovels, hoes, rakes, and sacks. As we lifted the drain covers and began scraping the inside with rakes, I quickly realized it wouldn’t be a simple task. Sediment from the mountains had piled up to nearly 30 centimeters, mixed with various insects and all kinds of debris. It was clear that rakes wouldn’t be enough, so we used shovels to…

Kim Sun-jeong from Gumi, Korea

Affluenza

In the state of Texas, United States, a teenage boy from a wealthy family caused the deaths of four people while driving under the influence of alcohol. The boy’s parents stated, “We gave him everything he wanted, but he suffered from severe affluenza, so he was difficult to control.”
Although the law in Texas allows for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, the court sentenced him to 10 years of probation and ordered him to receive treatment for affluenza. The victims’ families strongly protested, calling it a ruling that favored the rich. "Affluenza" is a compound word formed from affluent, meaning wealthy, and influenza, meaning a contagious flu. It is a neologism that expresses the greed of modern people…

When I Think of My Mother

At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, a Chinese athlete named Zhou Jihong, small in stature, won the gold medal in the platform diving event, defeating tall and slender Western athletes. During an interview, a reporter asked how she was able to perform such beautiful dives despite her small build. She answered: “Ever since I was little, I loved running. But whenever I competed, I would often fall and stumble. My mother would always say to me, ‘My dear, I find it more beautiful when you fall and then stand back up than when you come in first place. You are my beautiful daughter.’ I made mistakes while diving, and there were even accidents, but every time, my mother said the…

Mother, Mother

Not long ago, an online news story titled “What Was in the Bundle of a Mother With Dementia” quietly stirred hearts across the internet. The story began when police received a report that an elderly woman with dementia had been wandering back and forth, carrying a bundle. Responding to the call, the officers learned from the woman that her daughter gave birth and was in the hospital. After some investigation, they brought her to the hospital where her daughter was staying. Upon seeing her daughter, the elderly woman began to carefully untie the bundle she had been holding tightly in her hands. Inside were cold seaweed soup, seasoned vegetables, and a portion of plain white rice. Those who witnessed the…