Faith & Life

How to Get Away from Worries

When you go on a diet, you would want to eat more food, and when you want to forget a memory, it would remain more vivid in your mind. When someone tells you not to do something, you would want to do it more. What is that? Daniel M. Wegner, a former professor of psychology at Harvard University, separated students into two test groups and gave different instruction to each group. The first group was instructed not to think of a polar bear, and the second group was instructed to think of a polar bear. The result was that the first group thought of a polar bear more often than the second group thought of it. In the 1970s, a…

The House Shines, So Does My Mind

“What is a real hassle among all housework?” “What is physically the toughest housework?” Gallup Korea questioned Korean housewives on domestic work and found that cleaning ranked no.1 for both of the two questions mentioned above. In a nutshell, house cleaning is recognized as a tiresome work and a hassle. So, people would have ever wished that someone else has already cleaned up every nook and corner of the house when they return home or imagined that someone would suddenly appear and dust off the shelves, sweep the floors, and mop until everything shines while they’re resting. A strong detergent that removes dirt by just a gentle rub, a disposable damp house cloth, a vacuum cleaner that takes in fine…

Thinking from a Different Angle

There was a restaurant at the entrance of a famous mountain with its beautiful scenery. When the cold winter came, the number of hikers had been decreased and people rarely visited the restaurant. One day, a welcome guest came. He was a teacher of the restaurant owner, who came from far to see him. “How have you been? Is your business going well?” “As you see, there is not a single visitor. I’m so distressed.” “How was it in last autumn?” “I was very busy as the restaurant was crowded with people coming to view the autumn colors of the mountain.” “Then, how was it in summer?” “It was full of summer visitors thanks to the vacation season.” “Really? How…

Instead of Waiting for a Time and Opportunity

While I often visited my aunt to preach the gospel, I came to have a good relationship with one of her friends. When I found out that our offices were near each other’s, I suggested that we have lunch together. Her character was so gentle and nice. When we talked about this and that during lunch, I sensed she had curiosity about the spiritual world and God as well. As the Passover drew near, the university students in Zion organized a Bible seminar and I invited quite many friends to the seminar, but among them, she was the only one who gladly agreed to come. She seemed to enjoy the seminar, saying that the presenters did a good job. After…

Wei Wei from Philadelphia, PA, USA

Whoever and Wherever

One hundred million people around the world take this medicine a day, and 60 billion of this medicine gets taken every year. It was the best selling medicine in 1950s; as a result, it was recorded in the Guinness World Records and got included in the first-aid medicine kit for Apollo spacecrafts. The long-term use of this medicine, which is effective for alleviating fever, pain, and inflammation, is helpful for preventing cardiac infarction and stroke. There is an anecdote that says that one prominent American doctor prescribed one pill of this medicine to Boris Yeltsin the first President of Russia when he suffered from heart disease. If you place this medicine inside a flower vase, it makes flowers wither less.…

Mom-Cooked Meals

‘What should I eat for dinner this evening?’ This is what lingers in my head from the moment when I leave work until I enter the kitchen. Since I changed my job and started living alone, I had to invest my time in what I had not put much weight on. One of them is cooking for myself. One evening, I couldn’t eat till late. I didn’t want a good feed or the same side dishes I ate the day before. I looked through the cupboard for anything to eat, and found a can of stir-fried kimchi. A simple and easy-to-eat menu just came to mind. It was kimchi fried rice. I wanted to enjoy a delicious dish, so I…

Kim Jeong-ha from Anyang, South Korea

A Lioness That Regretted Her Hunting

Even for the lion, the king of beasts, the predominant predator of the food chain, it is not easy to hunt. It’s because herbivores are always on alert, and when a predator approaches them, they recognize it soon and run away for their lives. So, wild lions are hungry more often than they are full. One day, a lioness, which was successful in hunting in the Madikwe Game Reserve in the Rep. of South Africa, showed an abnormal behavior against instinct. After a chase, the lioness bit the neck of an antelope and stopped its breath, and began to satisfy her hunger. Then she found something in the stomach of the antelope, and pulled it out with her mouth and…

The Law of the Minimum

There are occasions when plants that seem to be in excellent environments at first glance do not grow as expected. Justus von Liebig, a German botanist and chemist, found out through his studies that plant growth may slow or even stop because of the scarcest amount of a nutrient among essential plant nutrients. Considering that nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are nutrients necessary for plant growth, no matter how rich phosphorus and potassium are, if nitrogen is insufficient, the plant will no longer grow after its nitrogen is all used. This is called the “law of the minimum.” On the other hand, the plant will grow if you make up for the deficient nutrient through fertilizer. Look back on yourselves when…

Thoughtful Friendship

“Hey, buddy! I finally found someone who would buy your painting!” A nameless painter was glad to hear his friend’s words, but on the other hand, he had a feeling of doubt because his paintings with views of simple rural landscapes had been ignored in the art world. “He even asked me to pick a picture instead, paying the deposit. Here it is.” The friend handed a bunch of bills to the painter and returned with a piece of painting. The money not only saved the family of the unknown painter suffering from a deprived life, but also gave hope to the man having a hard time. Since then, his works began to receive favorable reviews from the art world…

We Give Happiness

During the school holidays in 2019, our church student group members, along with our teacher who was in charge, planned to perform a volunteer service and visited a senior citizen center with a hope to create good memories and spend our vacation meaningfully. The person at the center heard our plan and gladly allowed us to carry out our plan. “I’ve watched how the members of the Church of God conduct volunteer services. If you are students from that church, you are always welcome,” he said. Grateful for such unexpected hospitality, we prepared a program with a resolution to bring joy and inspiration to senior citizens. On the day of our volunteer service, the seniors greeted us with smiles as…

Park Chae-wun from Incheon, South Korea

Definite Hope

There were two brothers who drew a glider against biting wind up to Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S. The engine of the Flyer, which is the airplane made by the two brothers, started, and they successfully made mankind’s first flight with a manned aircraft that flew under its own power. Although the flight lasted only 12 seconds and the distance over the ground was only 120 feet [36.5 meters], it was a great success because their plane blazed a trail in the sky by flying under its own power, not by the wind. To fulfill their childhood dream of flying in the sky, the Wright brothers pored over aeronautics, mathematics, physics papers, and related books as…

Wake Up Your Family in a Good Mood

How do you usually get up? Some people get up at once when the alarm sounds, while others barely open their eyes after the alarm sounds several times as a heavy sleeper. Also there are some people who dally in bed and spring to their feet, surprised to know that it’s past the wake-up time. It’s not easy to wake up from sleep as a saying goes, “Even a champion wrestler cannot lift up his sleepy eyes.” Also, while sleeping quietly, if you are forced to open your eyes due to noise or physical shock, you may become irritable or feel heavy. However, if you open your eyes in a good mood, hearing someone’s soft voice or a light massage,…

Boasting about Heavenly Father and Mother Every Day

In January, 2019, I flew to Aracaju, the state capital of Sergipe in Northeastern Brazil, to find our lost brothers and sisters who were eagerly waiting for the news of salvation. Thinking I didn’t have much time to stay there, I diligently delivered God’s voice to as many souls as possible. However, people negatively responded to the message: “I already have enough knowledge of God’s word. I don’t need to study the Bible anymore,” “The Bible may testify about God the Mother, but I will believe in God the Father only,” “That’s your own interpretation about the Bible,” and so on. Most of them didn’t want to believe in God the Mother the Bible testifies about. There were some who…

Ha Yun-ah from Jeonju, South Korea

Sixty Years’ Worth of Birthday Present

“Could I pre-order sixty years’ worth of flower bouquets?” About ten-year-old boy named Toby came by a flower shop alone and said that, after looking at the flowers for a while. At his words, I nearly burst with laughter as I had never received such an order and asked him why. “My mother is forty years old now and she may live until a hundred years of age. So I would like to pre-order sixty years’ worth of flowers.” Touched at his pure heart, I promised I would and said that thirty dollars were enough for the total cost of flower bouquets. The next day, Toby came again and drew a portrait of me out of gratitude. I thought he…

Safe Base Station

Antarctica, a continent of ice, is sixty times larger than the Korean Peninsula in size. This vast undefiled continent plays an essential role in the earth system along with the Arctic. It sensitively reacts to climate change, so that we can perceives climate change and predicts its effects all over the globe. Many governments have their base stations in Antarctica, and carry out diverse activities: drilling into Antarctic ice, collecting meteorites, exploring sub-glacial lakes, and making research on geological features, volcanoes, astronomy, and microorganisms. Every activity is centered on each base station established by each country. The most important factor in constructing a base station is safety. A base station is designed to facilitate saving human lives in the strong…

Gospel, God’s Gift to Fill My Weak Faith

It was when I was attending a college abroad. When I went to my home in Mongolia for summer vacation, my mother who had become Christian preached to me the word of the Bible many times. Since I had grown up with Buddhist beliefs, I had no idea of ​​God or the Bible, but gradually the words of the Bible began to get my attention while having conversations with my mom, and finally I converted to Christianity. After graduating from college, my husband and I decided to live in Mexico. There, we tried to find a church to attend. One day, I got a call from my mom. She said she had found the true church, and she arranged a…

Uyanga Shar from Mexico City, Mexico

A Young Eagle Soars Up

A curious and talkative eaglet greeted Dad eagle, who had just returned to the nest after flight, and asked. “Dad, can I fly powerfully as you do?” “Dad, can I fly to that distant mountain over there in a breath?” “Dad, can I also have the title, ‘king of the sky’?” “Dad, can I feel free, giving myself to the wind?” “Dad, how do you feel when you look down on the ground in the air?” “Dad, when can I use my two wings? My wings are small and weak…” Dad eagle, who looked with affection at his young who was not giving him a chance to answer, said, “Why don’t you find the answers by yourself? Now, look at…

Virtue for Unity

Regardless of field, a team that produces a great result with a fantastic team work becomes the subject of interest and study, including their episodes in detail, core technology, and leadership. One managing consultant had been working for decades to see what kind of people makes the best team, and finally paid attention to three things: "modesty" to praise colleagues’ contribution without boasting about one’s achievement; "good sense" to behave, considering others’ situations; and "eager" to find things that one has to do and has to learn. It turned out that the members, who were equipped with these virtues, made a strong team work and received good results by supplementing their lacking points and moving in one direction. In other…

Family Trusts Each Other

Someone lost his life after drinking what someone else handed him; people remit a large amount of money, deceived at a call that pretends to be a public agency. As fraud and tricks prevail in our communities, the expression, “a good neighbor,” is put to shame today. People distrust even their neighbors and lock their doors securely without knowing who is living next door. Since they can’t trust each other, they even raise their guard against a small favor of others and become suspicious of them first, and so 24-hour running CCTVs are installed everywhere. Thus, people do not trust one another, and family members are no exception. For example, some people place GPS tracking devices on their spouses’ cars,…

Redwoods’ Way of Survival

Redwood National and State Parks in California, U.S., is like a forest where giants live. It’s because redwoods, the tallest trees in the world, inhabit in the parks. Redwoods boast of their height; they are as tall as a 30-story building, which is about 100 meters (328 feet). As they are too tall to draw water from the root to the highest reaches of the trees, the upper part of the trees absorbs moisture from fog. The trunk is so big that even a car can drive through it. They look deeply rooted into the ground as much as they grow up into the sky, but their roots are only about three meters (10 feet) deep. Despite that, they do…