Faith & Life

The Man Who Bought Flowers

One cold day, a man was on his way to meet one of friends. As he approached the meeting spot, an elderly woman in shabby clothes came up to him, holding out a bouquet of flowers. “My granddaughter is sick,” she said. “I don’t have money for her medicine. I’m selling these flowers to pay for it.” Hearing her story, the man felt compassion. He gave her more money than she asked for and took the flowers. When he walked into the café holding them, his friend immediately asked: “Did you buy those from the old woman outside?” “Yeah, I did.” “She always tells people her granddaughter is sick to sell flowers. But actually, she doesn’t even have a granddaughter.”…

“Ask Your Mom for Help”

A TV personality who taught children how to make origami on a kids’ show during the 1980s and 1990s made a comeback in front of viewers after about 20 years. Known affectionately as the “Origami Uncle,” he had once captured children’s imaginations with his warm voice and skillful hands, quickly folding paper into all sorts of shapes. The kids who used to sit in front of the TV with colorful paper, glue, and scissors to follow along had now grown up, and they warmly welcomed his return. As he recreated an origami session, bringing back fond memories, he jokingly said in his familiar, friendly tone, “If it’s too hard, just ask your mom for help.” Soon, someone commented in the…

The Silent Helpers of Our Alley

Our house is located diagonally across from Zion. Because the church where God dwells is so close, I set off for work each morning with a joyful heart. On top of that, the alley in front of our house is always spotless—not a single piece of litter in sight—allowing me to start each day feeling refreshed. One day, I had to leave for work earlier than usual due to something urgent at the office. That morning, I finally discovered the reason the alley was always so clean. Three male adults, wearing masks and dressed lightly, were sweeping the alley. As I looked more closely at their familiar figures, I realized they were our church overseer and assistant overseers. This alley…

Gwon Mi-jeong From Seoul, Korea

The Fundamental Attribution Error

Person A sees Person B nodding off during work and thinks:
 “He said he loves watching TV. He must’ve stayed up late watching it again.” But in reality, B had spent the night in the emergency room because his child was sick and hadn’t gotten any sleep. The act of trying to figure out the cause of someone’s behavior is called attribution. The Fundamental Attribution Error is a psychological tendency to overlook external factors—like someone’s environment or situation—and instead assume their actions are caused by internal traits like personality or motivation. A has also fallen asleep at work before, but when that happened, he justified it by blaming the stuffy air in the office or his exhaustion from having too…

A Promise Kept After 22 Years

In March 1979, a wildfire broke out in Hongcheon, South Korea. It started when an elderly man carelessly discarded a cigarette while gathering wild herbs. The fire burned around 66,000 square meters (16.31 acres) of government-owned forest before it was finally extinguished. As a result, the man was sentenced to five months in prison and fined 1.23 million KRW—a massive amount at the time, when a government employee’s starting monthly salary was less than 100,000 won. Consumed by guilt, the elderly man worked as a day laborer after his release but passed away from a stroke in 1984. Before he died, he left his wife with one final request: “If I don’t repay the fine, our children will be responsible…

Unless the Dross Is Removed

The Bible contains prophecies about those who will receive salvation. There is one verse in particular that reveals what kind of person must stand at the center of that prophecy—a verse I engraved on my heart: “Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel.” Pr 25:4 If a piece of clothing or a scarf has a loose thread when you’re about to buy it, most people would ask for a replacement. Though a single thread may seem like a small flaw, it can affect the overall value of the item. The same is true for silver—even the slightest impurity must be removed for its true worth to shine through. All the more, shouldn’t those who…

Shim Hyeon-ji From Guri, Korea

‘It’s Possible’

Around 3,000 people gathered at an elementary school in Seoul, while over 100,000 watched via livestream. In the schoolyard, a massive 24-person military tent lay ready to be set up. Then, one person stepped forward to cheers from the crowd. Here’s how it all started: Someone posted a question on an online forum, asking, “Is it possible to set up a 24-person military tent alone?” One user simply replied, “It’s possible.” That short comment sparked a storm of reactions. Other users scoffed, saying, “No way,” “That’s just showing off,” “One person can’t do it,” “Don’t lie.” They had a point—after all, a tent big enough for 24 soldiers is massive and heavy, and the official setup instructions call for at…

One-Minute Praise

Spencer Johnson, a management consultant and bestselling author, said that taking just one minute to praise a child can bring positive change and happiness to both the parent and the child. Here’s how “One-Minute Praise” works: Step 1: Let your child know in advance that they’ll be praised when they do something well. Then, look for those moments. Step 2: Spend 30 seconds giving specific praise for what your child did well, and tell them how happy it made you feel. Step 3: Stay silent for 10 seconds so your child can fully enjoy and absorb the good feeling. Step 4: Use the final 20 seconds to express love—through words, a hug, or any affectionate gesture. It only takes one…

Prayer for Others

There was a time when my emotions were difficult to manage, and both my body and mind felt weighed down. But before I knew it, my mood had lifted, and I regained my strength. On a day overflowing with happiness and gratitude, feeling that Heavenly Father and Mother had helped me through my struggles, I shared with a member sitting nearby that I was feeling much better. The member smiled brightly and replied: “Deaconess, do you know how much I prayed for you?” I was momentarily puzzled by the unexpected words, but soon my heart filled with warmth and deep emotion. When I had briefly and unknowingly expressed my struggles, this member had remembered and persistently prayed to God on…

Ahn Hyo-jeong From Gwangju, Gyeonggi, Korea

Keep Watch

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”…

Park Hye-yeong From Gimhae, Korea

The Man with the Golden Arm

James Harrison, who was born in Australia, underwent major surgery at the age of thirteen, during which he received an incredible 13 liters of donated blood. Grateful to be alive thanks to the generosity of blood donors, he made a promise to dedicate his life to helping others by donating blood himself. As soon as he was old enough, he began keeping that promise. During his donations, he discovered something remarkable: Although his blood type was Rh-negative (Rh-), the blood he had received during surgery was Rh-positive (Rh+). Normally, if someone with Rh-negative blood receives Rh-positive blood, the reaction would cause the blood to clot and could be fatal. However, James had a rare antibody in his blood that prevented…

Small Kindness, Great Impact

The water purifier technician was running late for his scheduled appointment, so I gave him a call. He apologized, explaining that he had left his phone behind while quickly eating some noodles at a convenience store. Hearing his apology, I felt a bit sorry for him, imagining how rushed and pressured he must have been while eating his simple meal. When he arrived at my house, I asked, “Since noodles tend to leave you feeling hungry again soon, would you like a hot dog?” Hearing this, he smiled brightly and gratefully accepted. I also offered him a cup of coffee and encouraged him to eat before it got cold. The technician, perhaps lifted by the kindness, shared some amusing family…

Seong Hae-jeong From Changwon, Korea

What I Need

The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. Ac 16:27–32 I was amazed by Paul’s actions. If it had been me, I would not have tried to…

Bae Su-jin From Cheongju, Korea

The Power of Positive Words

“She pursues her path with confidence, never losing her dreams or hope even in difficult situations.” “Kind-hearted and sincere, she genuinely cares for her friends and is well-liked by her classmates.” “She finds joy in sharing what she has with others—a student with a beautiful heart.” These are excerpts from the “Behavior and General Comments” section of student report cards, written by teachers to describe each student’s overall character. When online access to school records became available, many people looked up their past report cards, and some even shared the comments on social media. One person wrote: “This feels like a lifelong message of encouragement I can turn to whenever things get tough.” Another said: “Reading such hopeful and positive…

God Leads Me

“The lyrics of the New Songs touch my heart and make me cry.” “I can truly feel the sacrifice and love of Heavenly Father and Mother in my heart.” “Now I understand why we are encouraged to say ‘Amen’ out loud.” “Until now, I had only known Christ Ahnsahnghong intellectually, but now I have real conviction.” “While working on my assignments, I ended up earnestly studying for the truth presentations.” These are realizations and the fragrance of Zion that came from the mouths of the students whom I had once regarded as still young and immature. During the school break, through active participation in various events like the student camp, the New Song Festival, and the Bible Preaching Contest, their…

Gwon Mi-suk From Seoul, Korea

Health, the First Condition for Happiness!

There are warning signs ahead for the health of modern people due to increasing environmental pollution, bad eating habits, improper diet, lack of exercise from convenient transportation and computerization of work, and so on. Medical skills continue to improve, but emergence of unprecedented diseases and of mutant virus is also one of the factors that threaten health. So people today pay more attention to health. Almost everybody takes dietary supplements and healthy foods, gets regular checkups, prefers organic products, and purchases anything that is known to be good for health. Many books introduce secrets to living healthy, and health related information overflows online. Why is it that people are interested in health and make lavish investment in it? It’s because…

Broken Car

Pett paf pett paf pett paf . . . With a clamorous rumble, the yellow check engine light came on when I was about to enter the highway, passing the toll gate. ‘Why today?’ It was the last day of the holiday season and there were no garages open on Sunday afternoon. I didn’t know what to do. My car didn’t become odd when I entered the highway. The check engine light had come on and off repeatedly all the day, but the engine started and I could drive with no problem, so I drove here and there to do some work. I didn’t think anything serious would happen. Late in the evening, I started out to go back home.…

Baek Hyeon-mi from Iksan, Korea

It’s Time to Give Love to Elderly Parents

To a little child, his parents are like a huge tree that stands strong even in the heavy rain or strong winds. The child eats fruit from the tree, avoids rain and winds, runs around to his heart’s content, and sleeps peacefully under the tree. And when he grows up, he leaves the tree and lives independently. The tree that seemed to be green and strong forever is only left with thin branches after giving everything to the child. Humans, unlike animals, need their parents’ help for a long time until they can live independently. It takes humans about a year to barely start walking, and three years to be potty trained fully. It takes them some twenty years to…

Joy of Harvesting Fruits

When I was young, my playground was all the fields and paddies in my countryside village. Helping my parents was one of the most fun plays. In the busy farming season, I ran around the fields with a hoe or a pickax in my hand, or followed my parents as they sprayed pesticides. When the harvest season came, I helped them harvest the crops that they took good care of for a year by picking beans and red peppers, or digging up sweet potatoes. Rather than feeling tired, I was just happy to be able to stay with my mom. Whenever they left for work, I always followed them. The time I spent with my parents in the fields and…

Park Jeong-ah from Gimcheon, Korea

A Housekeeper Who Brought Honor to Her Hotel

In 1992, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. It was the first hotel to win this award. This award is a prestigious award which the U.S. government gives to an enterprise with an outstanding quality of service. The hotel decided to offer a Five Star Award to an employee who made a key contribution in earning the award. The name of the employee that won was Virginia Azuela; a housekeeper at the hotel. Ms. Azuela believed that “room service is a key task that decides the image of the hotel,” and she did her best to clean the rooms and keep them neat. She always thought about how to please customers. She even kept a notebook…