Faith & Life

God, the Light of My Heart

Scientists have discovered that when mice are placed in threatening situations, a particular set of cells activates to signal anxiety—cells they named “anxiety cells.” If such cells exist in humans, I am certain I must have twice the average. I tend to worry excessively about everything, earning the nickname “chronic worrier.” I fret over the smallest details, wondering if a completed task contains hidden errors, or whether a minor prick from a sewing needle might lead to tetanus. Concerns that others might dismiss as absurd often weigh heavily on my mind. Whenever my heart is overwhelmed and sleep evades me, I reach for the Bible. Strangely, but consistently, when I open the Scriptures, my anxiety fades, and peace washes over…

Lee Seon-mi From Yongin, Korea

It’s All in Your Mind

When two people suffer the same injury, one might recover quickly while the other struggles with ongoing pain. Why does this happen? Experts say the way we emotionally respond to an injury can affect how much pain we feel. A research team at a university in the United States conducted brain scans on volunteers who had been dealing with lower back pain for 1 to 4 months. They found that people who reacted more emotionally to their injury were more likely to continue feeling pain even after their injury had healed. The researchers explained that in some people, the part of the brain that controls emotions becomes more activated during injury, meaning that it’s not the injury itself causing prolonged…

A Life of Living Together

There is a mother who raised six children, all of whom were accepted into prestigious universities in the United States. Along with her husband and two sons, she herself was also named one of the "100 Most Influential Korean Americans of the Past 100 Years." This mother had a unique philosophy when it came to education: She believed that not only her own children, but also others' children, needed to be raised well in order for everyone to grow up properly. That's why she told her kids not to study alone, but to invite their friends over to study together. Even though their home was small, she brought in 18 desks so they could all learn in one space. She…

Heaven’s Way of Calculation

I visited the bank with my son, who had recently been discharged from the military, to take care of a savings account he had contributed to during his service. While we were waiting for our turn, a memory—a precious one I have cherished in my heart for about fifteen years—suddenly came to mind. My son was about seven or eight years old at the time. We had gone to the bank together, and after a long wait in a crowded lobby, it was finally my turn. My son, having grown restless from waiting so long, was already getting fidgety. I worried whether he would stay calm while I spoke with the bank clerk. Sure enough, he began wandering around, looking…

Yun Eun-ju From Goyang, Korea

In the Name of Family

In November 2016, a small rural high school received a ministerial award at the 4th Korea Character Education Awards, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. About half of the students at this school come from low-income families, farming or fishing households, single-parent homes, or are raised by grandparents. Most of them have had to take on responsibilities for their family’s livelihood from a young age. Just ten years ago, the school had a reputation as a “troubled school,” marked by frequent tardiness, students sleeping or goofing off in class, and widespread defiance of teachers. What turned things around was a program called “Family Bonding.” In it, each teacher was paired with…

The Law of Reversibility

Usually, our emotions influence how we act. But interestingly, the reverse is also true: Our actions can change how we feel. In psychology, this is known as the Law of Reversibility. The idea is simple: if you act positively, you begin to feel more positive; if you act negatively, negative emotions tend to follow. In other words, you can influence your emotions through your actions. A common example is how smiling—even when you’re not in a good mood—can actually make you feel happier. Even if you don’t feel motivated or confident about something, approaching it with energy and a positive attitude can eventually spark genuine passion and lead to good results. That’s why people often say, “If you aim to…

The Wisdom of 90 Seconds

Emotions are often compared to waves. Just as a person who doesn’t move deliberately in the ocean can be swept away by waves, we too can get caught up in emotional turmoil if we lose control of our minds. But just like waves that crash and quickly disappear, intense emotions also pass. For example, when the brain encounters something negative, it activates the sympathetic nervous system and releases stress hormones. This triggers physical reactions like a racing heart, trembling voice, or flushed face. However, these hormones only remain active in the bloodstream for about 90 seconds. After that, they’re flushed out, and the body begins to calm down. Neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor explains: “If you’re still angry after 90 seconds,…

The Secret to 80 Years of Marriage

On May 31, 2005, British couple Percy and Florence Arrowsmith celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary, earning a Guinness World Record for the longest marriage at the time. Percy was 105 years old and Florence was 100, making them not only the longest-married couple but also the oldest living couple combined. When asked by the BBC about the secret to their long and happy marriage, Florence shared this: “Like any couple, we had our share of arguments. But we never let a day end without working things out. We never went to bed angry. If you want a happy marriage, you should never be afraid to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ ”

True Love

At my mother’s request, I set out on an errand with my younger sister. We’re five years apart, and though she is now in high school, she still seems like a little child to me. Maybe that’s why I often say, “I love you,” without thinking twice.
 Today, however, I was unusually tired, and the heat pressed heavily on me. Wanting to make things easier for myself, I handed off the heavier bags and kept only the light ones. That’s when my sister turned to me and said: “You say you love me, but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s all talk—your actions don’t show love.”
 Her words stopped me in my tracks. Ashamed, I looked inward and asked myself,…

Son Yun-gyeong From Gyeongsan, Korea

Important Matters Require a Personal Touch

I work as a chauffeur, taking on driving assignments as requests come in. Today, I was tasked with escorting the branch manager of a bank to a factory in a rural area. The branch manager remained silent and visibly tense during the drive. Upon our arrival, he stepped out and said, “I’ll only be a few minutes. Please be ready to leave as soon as I return.” True to his word, he was back in the car within moments. This time, his face was beaming with relief. He made call after call, cheerfully telling each person that everything had gone smoothly. As it turned out, the matter had already been arranged—he only needed to obtain a signature. I found myself…

Oh Dae-yeop from Seoul, Korea

Even to This Extent

When spring arrives and the first green sprouts emerge from the earth, my mom’s steps grow hurried. It is the season of wild herbs, and she moves busily—gathering, preparing, and sharing them with her children. Among the many seasonal delights, her homemade green onion kimchi is a cherished favorite for all six of us siblings. She makes it faithfully, year after year.
 As long as I can remember, I’ve only received this gift—never once helping her make it. But this year, after cataract surgery, she finally confessed that her strength wasn’t what it used to be. She asked if we could make it together. So my two sisters and I set out early in the morning to her house. When…

Baek Jeong-hwa From Jeonju, Korea

Once a Stranger

“At that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. . . . Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” Eph 2:12–19 As I read through a sermon in Elohist, these words caught my eye. For so long, I had lived with no memory of my Heavenly Father and Mother. I had forgotten the home I came from—the eternal kingdom where I once belonged—and the brothers and sisters…

Park Ji-won From Toronto, Canada

Longing

My children live in distant cities now, and I only get to see them once every few months. After graduating and settling into jobs far from home, they had promised to visit at least once a month. But reality had other plans. Far from coming monthly, they would show up after several months—just long enough to share a meal before hurrying back.
 One day, they finally came home. I thought I would feel only joy at their arrival. And yet, as we sat down for a meal together, a quiet emptiness stirred in one corner of my heart. Even in their presence, I missed them.
 “How can I miss someone who is sitting right in front of me?” I wondered.…

Park Jin-mi from Daegu, Korea

The Gift

When I was a child, the moment my neighborhood friends and I gathered, we would divide into teams with a game of rock-paper-scissors and play “fist baseball.” It was a simple game where we hit a rubber ball or tennis ball with our fists and caught it with our bare hands. As long as we had a ball about the size of a fist, we would play joyfully in the alley until the sun went down, never tiring. As we pounded the ball with our bare fists until they stung, the one dream we all shared was to have a baseball bat and a glove of our own. We wanted to swing a bat and catch balls with a glove,…

Park Dong-min From Yongin, Korea

Power and the Ability to Empathize

Professor Adam Galinsky of Northwestern University in the United States conducted an interesting experiment. He divided participants into two groups. Group A was asked to recall a time when they gave orders to someone else, while Group B was asked to remember a time when they were given orders by someone else. After that, everyone was told to draw the letter E on their own forehead. Surprisingly, 88% of Group B drew the E in a way that others could read it correctly, while only 67% of Group A did the same. A similar experiment looked at mirror neurons, which are closely tied to empathy. Again, Group B—those who had recalled following orders—showed active mirror neurons, but Group A showed…

What He Did in the Meantime

A college student was looking for a part-time job, but it was hard to find one. One day, he saw a job posting from a company and went straight there, expressing his eagerness to do any kind of work. Impressed by his enthusiasm, the hiring manager said, “If you know how to type, you can start right away.” The student asked for four days to prepare. When he showed up for work four days later, the manager asked what he had done in the meantime. The student replied: “I did two things. First, I borrowed a typewriter. Then, I stayed up all night practicing how to type.” This is a story from the student days of Herbert Hoover, the 31st…

God’s Grace in Every Circumstance

My brother-in-law, who lives overseas, recently visited Korea. After a meal at home, we all gathered to watch a women’s volleyball match. The players kept the scores neck and neck, exchanging sets back and forth until they reached the fifth set. Though drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, they gave their all under the coach’s guidance, spurred on by the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers. Regardless of the final outcome, the focus and dedication of both teams were truly admirable. After the match, my brother-in-law shared a story that had touched him beyond the game itself. Each team had a foreign player, and he had been particularly attentive to one of them. This foreign attacker had spiked the ball countless times…

Lee Mi-suk From Yongin, Korea

Invisible Love

I watched a video featuring an aquarium beautifully decorated with colorful coral. Inside lived marine fish such as the porcupine puffer, yellow tang, clownfish (famous from an animated film), and the blue-striped imperial angelfish—it was as if a slice of the ocean had been transplanted into the tank. Curious about how sea fish could be raised in an aquarium, I looked into it and discovered it was far more complicated and demanding than keeping freshwater fish. First, an aquarium is needed, along with a sump tank—a separate tank that filters water through special media made for marine fish and pumps it back in. You also need a salinity meter, a submersible heater, a thermometer, lighting, a wave-making motor, an oxygen…

Gahng Yo-na from Moscow, Russia

To Sound a Clear Trumpet

“How can I preach about God as boldly as Paul?” “How can I proclaim God as confidently as Peter?” I used to think that to preach boldly and confidently, great faith was necessary. After learning that “faith comes from hearing,” I diligently studied the Bible. However, my faith did not grow as much as I had expected. While wondering what I might be missing, I came across a verse that made me realize: “Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” 1 Co 14:8 To produce a trumpet sound loud and clear enough to be heard from afar, the one blowing it must take a deep breath. Prayer is the breath of…

Park Mun-seo From Seoul, Korea

The Warmest Words

A few years ago, a Korean news outlet surveyed 305 people to find out what they thought were the warmest, most comforting words. In the results, phrases like “Did you eat?”, “I’m proud of you,” and “Get some rest early” came in fourth place. Third place went to “Good job,” and second place was “Are you feeling okay?” But the phrase that received the most support—chosen by 30% of respondents—was simply, “Stay strong.” Regardless of age, people felt the most warmth when they heard these words. It shows that we all long for encouragement and comfort in our lives. “Dad, stay strong. We’re here for you.” This memorable line from a past TV commercial brought comfort to many fathers. In…