Faith & Life

Refinement

“What do you say about a person who is poor but does not flatter, or a person who is rich but not haughty?” “He is a decent person. But he is not better than the one who is poor but enjoys life, or the person who is rich and keeps courtesy.” “The Book of Odes says, ‘A man of virtue cuts, sharpens, chisels, and refines.’ Is this what you mean?” “Yes. Now we can discuss the Book of Odes!” This is a conversation between Confucius and his disciple Zigong. Confucius says, “It is hard for a poor man not to flatter and for a rich man not to be arrogant. But what is harder is to enjoy life despite poverty…

Laying the Foundation with the Love of Serving One Another

Whenever I heard fragrances of Zion from the members who bore fruits of the gospel by making much effort and earnestly praying to God, I would feel a lump in my throat, because I could feel their burning heart. It was even more touching to hear that family members who didn’t open their mind for a long time eventually came into the arms of God. My wish to lead many people to God’s love grew stronger as time passed by. One day, I visited my husband’s family to attend a family event. Thinking that it must be a God-given opportunity, I recommended to my husband that we preach the truth to his family, and he willingly agreed, saying, “Yes, that’s…

Go Su-jeong from Yongin, South Korea

True Faith

In June 1859, a French acrobat, Charles Blondin, challenged himself to a feat to surprise the world. It was to cross the Niagara Falls by walking on a tightrope. Numerous people came to see the exciting scene. He stepped forward step by step, balancing himself with a pole on a tightrope, 160 ft (49 m) above the water. He succeeded in crossing the waterfall. He even showed other feats such as a handstand on a tightrope and a blindfold walk. He asked the cheering crowd, “Do you believe that I can cross the waterfall, carrying a person on my back?” The crowd yelled, “Yes, we do believe!” However, when asked who would be carried on his back, no one volunteered.…

Invisible Difference

In the 1990s, Anders Ericsson, a world-renowned psychologist, studied the students of a music academy in Berlin. The research focused on what factors differentiated the best musicians from the good or the mediocre ones. After dividing the students into three groups according to their performance abilities, he let them fill out questionnaires about music-related activities. Most students, regardless of group, started playing the violin at the age of about eight, and the time spent on the music curriculum was similar. There was no statistically significant difference. However, the difference in performance skill was in the invisible part. The group of best students spent an average of three times more time practicing alone than other group students. Deliberate practice during their…

A Happy Path of the Woman Pastoral Staff in Zion

I am the first born child in my family, and my parents always wanted me to be given over to God just like the mother of Prophet Samuel. My parents sent me to a theological seminary so that I could become a pastor and serve God. Before receiving the truth, my dream was only to be a pastor who serves God. In India, pastors are approved in society; they are honored and served by Christians as absolute beings to them. When they are registered in the association, they are guaranteed with lots of income. More than that, I had passion to serve God. Unknowingly, however, I had pride that I attended the second largest theological school in Asia, so I…

Angela Berry from Thane, India

Guide Runner

In the Paralympics, a major international sports event for physically challenged athletes, there are people who can participate in the Paralympics as the able-bodied. They are guide runners. Their role is to guide the way for visually impaired athletes to play safely without leaving the course. As for Alpine ski racing, the guide runner constantly informs the following racer of all the information such as course conditions, directions, and proper speed through wireless headsets. If the guide runner fails to keep a certain distance from the athlete or touches him or her, they are disqualified. So, the guide runner must keep checking the athlete following him, adjusting the speed. If the athlete wins a medal with the help of the…

Mother’s Last Beautiful Message

A 78-year-old woman living in Gwangju, Korea, died of cancer. Since her husband passed away, she alone raised her three sons and one daughter for 35 years. Feeding, clothing, and educating her four children, she could not look after herself. Despite that, she only thanked her children to the last moment for enabling her to bear up in the harsh world. Just like writing a graceful poem, just like making a shy confession, just like rubbing her children’s back, she wrote down her last message. It is so touching beyond comparison. Thank you for having taken care of me. / You were born in the world and called me Mom. / When you looked at me, nursed enough at my…

Small and Trivial Things Have the Butterfly Effect!

“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of the shoe, the horse was lost. For want of the horse, the rider was lost. For want of the rider, the battle was lost. For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost. And all from the want of a horseshoe nail.” It is an English folk song about a kingdom being lost because of a want of a horseshoe nail. How can one small nail ruin a giant kingdom? Although it is somewhat extreme, it shows that small and trivial things can lead to massive consequences as a result of chain reactions. People generally tend to take small and trivial things lightly. People take a matter that…

Together with God, the Owner of Zion and of My Soul

The continent of Africa is vibrant with zeal for the Gospel, more powerful than the heat of the sun. When I was young, I once dreamed of preaching the Gospel in Africa, and as I became a young adult, I got an opportunity for a short-term mission in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. It took us one whole day to get to Angola via Ethiopia from Korea. As we arrived in Luanda, the brothers and sisters were waiting to welcome us. The members were waiting calmly like passersby, but as we arrived at the airport, they suddenly surrounded us and made a welcoming performance. The atmosphere was like that of a concert hall, and we woke up to the…

Jang Min-gyeong from Seongnam, South Korea

British Schindler

In February 1988, an English TV show host released an old notebook. It had information on Jewish children who were rescued from Czechoslovakia to be placed with foster families in England in 1939. The owner of the notebook was Sir Nicholas Winton in the audience. When Nazi oppression against the Jews was in full swing, he could not stand still, seeing the Jewish children living miserably at a refugee camp in Czechoslovakia, after losing parents. He rushed back to England to find the families who would adopt the children and to get visas for the children. Despite much cost and risk, he sent them by train to safe households eight times. However, the 250 children who were scheduled to get…

Mom’s 70th Birthday Party

March 1, 2019, was my mother’s 70th birthday. The four of my siblings took each role and made full preparations for her wonderful and memorable birthday party. And the day before her birthday, we all gathered at the appointed place. We were 18 in total including my parents, oldest brother’s family of five, older sister’s family of four, older brother’s family of six, and me. My oldest brother had booked the accommodation for the whole family to stay overnight. That day, the first part of the event began with the opening address of my older brother in the restaurant of the accommodation. As an emcee of the event, he handed out the leaflets on the event orders and held the…

Yun Ju-yeong from Seoul, South Korea

Two Sons Who Saved Their Father

In 2017, a 60-year-old Korean man was diagnosed with liver cancer recurrence. His only hope was the liver transplant. His two sons, who always got along well with each other, started to argue because of their father’s surgery. The reason was that they both insisted that their own liver be transplanted into their father. The older brother stopped the younger one, saying, “You should not leave your office because of the surgery,” and the younger brother persuaded the older one, saying, “I can’t let you go through this hard surgery. You even have two children.” The brothers could not find any agreement and decided to follow the doctor’s decision after checking whose liver was better to transplant. The result was…

If You Want to Assess

It was when Jeong Yak-yong, one of the greatest thinkers in Joseon Dynasty of Korea, was conversing with his acquaintances in a pavilion. When they were in good atmosphere, one man lamented the current state of affairs. “Someone has power without knowing shame. Isn’t it frustrating?” Then, Jeong changed the topic of the conversation, saying, “Man is not the one we can assess.” After a while, another person mentioned the horse on the reins. “That horse just eats into hay without carrying a load.” This time, too, Jeong said, “Do not criticize animals because they too understand what you say.” Then somebody else complained. “I’ll have to sew my mouth when I’m with you!” At his words, Jeong replied with…

The Mind of Serving Others

A teacher and his student were going on a long journey. The teacher asked the student who was excited to go and see the world. “One person has to lead and the other has to follow, for the order of our journey. Which role will you choose?” The student said that it was natural for him to follow the teacher. That night, when the teacher and the student were about to sleep under a big tree, suddenly it rained. The teacher put off his outer garment and covered his student with it. The student was so sorry that he declined strongly. Then the teacher said, “It is a matter of course that a leader should protect the follower.” The next…

With the Spirit of Ownership

“Things have changed, but I’m fine because Father and Mother are always with me!” This is what I repeatedly say to myself these days to let go of negative emotions that pop up in my mind, spending much more time alone due to COVID-19. My faith in God transformed my lethargic and passive lifestyle. In this particular situation when all people are tired and exhausted, I wanted to share love with them. Then, just in time, I got an opportunity to do a meaningful work with the members of Salt Lake City Church. We made a plan to carry out ASEZ’s Cheer Up Campaign. We reminded ourselves of the fact that there is a lack of quarantine supplies due to…

Sidney Rogers from Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.

Power of Collaboration

The Higgs boson is an elementary particle that composes the universe, and it plays an important role in explaining about the universe through modern physics. However, physicists failed to prove its existence for about 50 long years even though they could foresee the existence of the Higgs boson. CERN [the European Organization for Nuclear Research] is the place where the existence of the Higgs boson was proved. CERN successfully developed and manufactured LHC [Large Hadron Collider] which is a 27-kilometer long powerful particle accelerator with collaboration from 10,000 physicists in 25 years. Furthermore, thanks to long years of hard work from thousands of physicists who visited CERN, the existence of the Higgs boson finally got proved in 2012. Such a…

Enjoy a Family Staycation!

Since the pandemic, more people prefer Staycation to going somewhere for vacation. Staycation is a compound word of stay and vacation, which means spending time off in or near your own home. It is good to travel far to relax your tired mind and body. However, staying with your family in your comfortable home can also be a great vacation; you don’t need to worry about making travel plans and preparations, and you’re much less tired. So, isn’t your home the best vacation spot for real relaxation? Enjoy a staycation with your family this month. The place where your love for family resides and you spend your daily life with your family, will look different. Tip Set up a tent…

The Key to the Bird’s Intelligence

Birds that belong to the crow family, including azure-winged magpies, nightingales, and magpies are the smartest of all bird species. In fact, some magpies or crows can even perceive the concept of volume as well as the flow of time, and they can recognize themselves through reflected images in a mirror; it is also known that they spend leisure time, enjoy their own culture, and have a language of their own. Particularly, New Caledonian crows are able to grab food out from bottles by bending wires and using them. Even chimpanzees that are known to be the smartest of all wild animals aren’t able to make a hook as they do. Max Planck Institute in Germany analyzed the correlation between…

Joy Found in God’s Love

A few years ago, a mission team from the Peru Zion came to Caracas, Venezuela, where I lived, with the slogan “Let’s Find Our Lost Brothers and Sisters to Make Heavenly Mother Smile!” While preaching in unity with the mission team, I met one precious soul whose name was Luis. He had lived in Venezuela for a long time, but he was originally from Peru. I then met him again with other brothers and sisters. Luis welcomed us and let us into his house. I prayed to God that his heart would be opened. Luis was getting things ready to go back to Peru, his home country, because of the bad economy in Venezuela. We invited him to Zion, hoping…

Ydermo Lugos from Caracas, Venezuela

Shackleton and His Crews 2:The Captain Who Gives Hope

“Low wages, harsh cold, impenetrable darkness lasting for months, constant hazards, and unsecured return! However, honor is given when you succeed.” Captain Shackleton did not ask the applicants who came to join the Antarctic expedition for their professional backgrounds or experiences, but asked if they could sing. It was to see if they could get along well with others. He thought the mindset was the most important thing in choosing the crews to explore the unknown territory where there might be unexpected dangers. The final 27 crews firmly trusted the captain from departure to distress, drift, and rescue. One of crews left a comment in his diary that he was “happy” even while feeding on seals and penguins day after…