Living to Teach Rather Than Teaching to Live

As I ponder the possibility of returning to teach at Handong University in Korea, I have been revisiting the Analects of Confucius.  One in particular is especially applicable to anyone who senses that the calling upon their life is a call to teach.

Of his own role as a teacher, Confucius said, "For anyone who brings even the smallest token of appreciation, I have yet to refuse instruction."

This responsibility to the one seeking instruction was again impressed upon me when I read this morning these verses in The Wisdom of Solomon: "The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction, and concern for instruction is love of her."  So when one is met with a request from those who are sincerely seeking instruction, the one who has a call to teach must give the most deliberate consideration to responding.

This type of thinking challenges me to confront the question:  Do you teach to live or do you live to teach?  Another way to put the question would be to examine whether I am accept the offer to teach primarily and principally as a means to make a living, or do I view the opportunity to teach as an open door through which God is directing me to proceed in faith depending upon him and him alone to provide for my earthly needs?

Am I taking no thought for tomorrow, anxious over what I will eat or where I will live or how I will be clothed?  Am I willing to follow on trusting the one who is my Guide, not only to make the way clear, but also to provide all that will be needed for me to progress along that way?  Here Bonhoeffer instructs: "The only way to win assurance is by leaving to-morrow entirely in the hands of God and by receiving from him all we need for to-day" (Discipleship, 178).

"Watch and Pray"

I find myself in a time of waiting. As I ponder the options that are before me, I continue to wait on the responses of others to clarify what opportunities are presently open to me. While prayer is always essential to the one who seeks to follow Christ, I'm realizing even more how necessary it is during these times of waiting.

Bonhoeffer's comments on the petition "Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth" are particularly poignant as I seek to practice living a submitted, singular and sacrificed life. He writes: "In fellowship with Jesus his followers have surrendered their own wills completely to God's, and so they pray that God's will may be done throughout the world. No creature on earth shall defy him. But the evil will is still alive even in the followers of Christ, it still seeks to cut them off from fellowship with him; and that is why they must also pray that the will of God may prevail more and more in their hearts every day and break down all defiance" (Discipleship 166).

Psalm 40 echoes this theme -- "my delight is to do your will, O Lord!" -- and so may my heart and mind! Show me your way, O Lord; lead me in the path you have set out ahead of me. Again, Bonhoeffer speaks to the heart of the matter: "It is always true of the disciple that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, and he must therefore "watch and pray" (Discipleship 170).

Practicing Mindfulness

A few weeks ago I learned that a teaching opportunity that I had been told would be opening for me in St. Louis within the next academic year will, in fact, not be opening. The door to that opportunity seems to be closing or is actually completely closed now. I had been planning on that position, but now it appears that I have a much greater need to practice daily mindfulness rather than living so much for an imagined future whose fulfillment was and is completely out of my hands.

In the midst of this time of searching for guidance and reflection upon my calling to teach, I have started to read Thich Nhat Hanh's little book, The Miracle of Mindfulness. Thich Nhat Hanh had a substantial impact upon Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in the movement for peace in Vietnam during the 1960's.

I was first introduced to the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh by my good friend and colleague, John Han, when I served with him on the faculty of Missouri Baptist University. As I have read, I have been challenged by Hanh's insights in to living a whole life. In this little book, he writes: "Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves. . . it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life" (21).

Thich Nhat Hanh's instruction on the practice of mindfulness echoes the theme of "single-mindedness" that pervades the New Testament. More than merely a self-discipline, single-mindedness is very much a gift of the Holy Spirit as he is at work forming within each follower of Jesus the mind of Christ. Paul exhorts the disciple of Christ to do whatever your hand finds to do heartily as unto to the Lord (Colossians 3:23) and to do all things to the glory of God. This is practicing mindfulness.

May I be living more wholly in the fullness of my present calling today that I may know and practice such mindfulness in each moment that is granted to me.

Study*Practice*Teach

Today, I launched a new blog where I'll be posting my reflections, from time-to-time, along the way of studying-practicing-teaching.  Together with the direction I received to return to teaching at Fontbonne in St. Louis, I've also sensed a renewed call to engage this path more deliberately now and in the coming days.  By God's sustaining and empowering grace, I'll seek to follow the pattern of the ancient Ezra who "set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes." (Ezra 7:10).

Concluding Thoughts

I've now been back in the States for five weeks. Much of my time since returning has been spent with my mother who still lives in my hometown in central Missouri.  She has been experiencing some health issues which at 81 years of age can be quite debilitating.  I've been thankful that I have been able to be near, help and encourage her. My days with her have affirmed God's direction for me at this time.

During my visits with my mother, I've also have been afforded a considerable amount of quite time.  So among other studies, I've been reading Eric Metaxas' new biography on Bonhoffer.  It gives some wonderful insights into the daily life and struggles Bonhoeffer encountered, especially in the mid to late 1930's, as he sought to learn and do what he believed to be God's will for his life.  Bonhoeffer's view of the Scripture comes through quite vividly as he writes to his family and friends regarding his decisions.

Bonhoeffer believed that God desired to and did speak very personally to his servants through his Word.  He read the Scriptures daily with an anticipation of God's revelation to him -- not, however, of some new or extra-biblical idea, but of God's will for him.  When pondering whether to stay in America in the summer of 1939 as Germany under Hitler was on the verge of war, Bonhoeffer read Isaiah 28:16, "The one who believes does no flee" and became convinced that to remain in America was "to flee" from his responsibility before God in Germany. 

He decided to leave the safety and security of America and return as soon as possible to his homeland. A few days later he read 2 Timothy 4 - "Do thy diligence to come before winter" and reflected in his personal journal upon this verse in these words:  "Come before winter" -- it is not a misuse of Scripture if I take that to be said to me.  If God gives me grace to do it." (Emphasis in the original) (p. 340 in Metaxas). 

As I think about the way Bonhoeffer lived his life, I am becoming more and more convinced these days that to live a life truly submitted to God's Word, I too must look daily to God in faith with an expectation for his guidance and direction through the revelation of his Word.  This will not come by the effort of analyzing the Word with human reason, but through the work of the Holy Spirit in a heart and mind that desires to do God's will.

I believe this is one of the most important lessons that I have been learning during the past year, most of which I have lived abroad at Handong.  I am open to return and serve others there in the future as God directs.  For now, though, I'll remain here seeking to study, practice and teach God's Word and way by serving others, my mother and family chief among them.  I'm also thinking of starting a new blog where I'll continue to post some of my persistent ponderings along the way.

Last Days

I find myself now living in the last days of my sojourn here at Handong.  When you know the date of your departure, the last days seem to lengthen. I finished the reading and marking of my last set of student exam papers and have now submitted my student's grades for the semester.  I'm nearly packed, but I still find myself wondering whether I'll forget something or whether I'm trying to take too much back to the States.

I have distributed out to others nearly two-thirds of the books I had shipped over last August.  I invited my students and colleagues to stop by my office over the past two weeks and select two or three books that they had an interest in reading.  Some students asked me to write a personal inscription in the book they chose.  Others (colleagues on whom I had placed no limit) just took arm-loads. The few that remained were donated to Handong's library.

During these last days, I have also enjoyed the fellowship of both students and colleagues alike who have invited me out to a dinner.  One group of students (several from my Law & Advocacy study group/debate team) treated me to a meal at Hyoam Restaurant last week.  In the course of our dinner conversation, one student asked if he might be permitted to pose a personal question.

Without hesitation, I encouraged him to fire away.  He asked me a question that is often put to students at Handong by their professors.  The answer that is expected, here at Handong, usually involves the description of a long-term plan for addressing some pressing global need that the student believes he has been called to fulfill as his contribution to changing the world.

His question:  What is your vision?  The answer I gave, though, did not fit the expected mold.  I did not have a grand vision of establishing 300 universities around the developing world (this, however, is an example of the scale of vision that students have come to expect from their professors).  Instead, I expressed my desire to be willing to do God's will whatever that might be in the coming days I am given upon this earth.

I admitted that I really did not know, with any degree of confidence, what was lying ahead of me.  I believed that for now, at least, I am to return to my home in the States and continue to fulfill the callings that God has upon my life as a teacher, husband, son, father, grandfather, and student.  I trust that God will lead and provide me with the grace and strength to do what he wills for each day.

I expressed my aspiration in the words that the Apostle Paul used to describe the life of King David.  I said that I will have fulfilled my vision if it can be said by others of me at the end of my life that I "served the purpose of God in my own generation." (Acts 13:36). 

As I now come closer to the last of my days here in Korea (for the time being, at least), I am realizing in a deeper way, I trust, the importance of keeping a willingness to do his will as my singular vision.

Let Us Not Love in Words or Talk, but . . . .

“Let us love with deeds and in truth,” so said the Apostle John when writing in the first century to followers of Jesus.  (1 John 3:18)  His words speak to the heart of a problem that has recently come into sharper focus for me here. That problem is the human intendancy to "talk a lot" about how we love others but actually to do very little true acts of love. I realize that this is a problem in my own life, and it appears to be a present deficiency in large number of professing followers of Christ today. 

The idea that we can love merely in words is indeed a persistent problem. It came into clearer view for me a few weeks ago when a visitor to our global campus here in Korea made a presentation to students and faculty on the international crimes of human trafficking. Our visitor's stated purpose for her presentation was "to raise awareness" about this tragic reality in our world. She presented an extremely informative lecture with heart-rending photographs of victims of sexual slavery and forced labor. It was a very moving presentation. 

During the Q & A session, one very perceptive student asked our visitor what she had done to help free a victim of trafficking. The presenter's reply was quite telling. She acknowledged that there were organizations on the front lines that are engaged in direct efforts to free victims and prosecute the perpetrators of these human rights violations, but that was not something she did.

Instead, she believed her role was to raise awareness about the problem because "she was gifted at talking and making presentations." She also recounted a story about a group of high school students to whom she had given a similar presentation. Following the presentation, the students raised a significant amount of money to send to one of the organizations that is working against human trafficking. 

There is no doubt that "raising awareness" as well as "raising funding" are important dimensions in the success of any endeavor to address pressing human needs in the world. But the Handong student who first raised the question of what a person can "do" was not satisfied with the presenter's response. She knew that there must be something more.

Is there a willingness on my part to consider whether "awareness" of a need should lead us to ask the more important question: "What can I do?" And am I willing to consider whether the answer to the question of "doing" is not resolved by merely giving money or joining in the effort to "raise awareness" even further?

Are we willing to allow for the possibility . . . opening ourselves to a readiness . . . to actually take action by going and being with those whom we are so ready to talk about? Will we consider and seek God's grace to obey the command to "bear the burdens" of others?

Will we begin to move beyond merely "loving" with our words and by talking about the needs of others? Will we begin to love others with deeds that cost us more than a few dollars contributed to a cause? Will we begin to love in truth by going to, being with and bearing the burdens of others?

Happy Birthday, Thea!

Today is my older daughter Thea's birthday.  (I'll let her tell you which one it is). She's the wife of Juan Luis, and mother of Taya Maria, Maya Theresa and Aydan Juan.  She's a teacher at both Rockwood Summit High School and Missouri Baptist University.  She's also an event coordinator for MBU's annual commencement exercises as well as weddings and other special events for many.

Now, in addition to everything else, she's working on her second Master's degree -- this one at the University of Missouri - St.Louis in English. By God's good grace, she has accomplished much already in her life and will continue to have a positive impact upon the lives of her family, friends and her students. 

I am very proud of you, Thea!  Happy Birthday! Enjoy the special gift I sent along to you last week -- the safe return of your children's grand mother!  (Save a piece of that birthday pie for me.)

Hahoe Village -- The Williamsburg of Korea

One of our last opportunities to experience the wonder and beauty of Korean culture was provided to Sandy and me when my Teaching Assistant, Mr. Mok, and his girl friend Narang, treated us, a few weeks back, to a day of touring in Andong -- one of the most traditional cities in Korea.  The high-light of the trip was the our visit to Hahoe Folk Village.  Hahoe is one of the most well-preserved traditional villages in the entire country. 

The decendants of one family -- the Ryu's -- have lived in this village for over 600 years.  Although they have added some modern updates -- electicity and plumbing, as well as automobiles and tractors -- the homes and other structures within the village are authentic.  As we walked toward the village on a path through the surrounding wooded hills, I realized that we were about to enter the "Colonial Williamsburg" of Korea.

Just inside the primary entrance to the village, we came upon this example of a traditional home.  This is actually just the front gate entrance to the family's compound.  It consists of retored and updated structures owned by the CEO of a large Korean corporation.  Our guide told that the reconstruction costs were in excess of $5 million US.

Here's Sandy and our guide, Young Ju, walking down a typical street in Hahoe.

Each of the established (wealthy) family homes is actually a compound of several buildings enclosed by a stone wall. Within the walls there will be a main dwelling for the women of the family, another dwelling for the men, dwelling for the servants usually built onto the interior side of the surrounding wall.  Most of the family compounds will also have a Guest House like the one pictured above.

Within the walls of the next family compound, this calligrapher had set up a tent and would gladly write a word of phase of your choosing.  I asked him to write the name that my department chair, Profressor Chi, had given me:  高 德

Situated at the very center of Hahoe Village is this 600-year old zelkova tree which the villagers call "Samsindang".  The name means "shrine for three gods."  According to traditional animistic beliefs, the tree is worshipped as a spirit. On the 15th of every January (by the lunar calendar), the villagers perform a ritual at the tree to pray for the peace of the village.

When I was walking back along one of the paths, this little sparrow caught my attention.  It reminded me that no matter where you go in the world, you always find sparrows.  And when I remember what Jesus taught.  Not one sparrow falls to ground without the Father's knowledge. And as God cares for the sparrows, you can be assured He cares for you.  You are worth more than many sparrows. 

Yangjindang, one of the oldest houses in Hahoe Village, belongs to the head of the Ryu clan in the P'ungsan area. It is one of the Korean national treasures. Ryu, Seong-ryong (1542-1607), a famous court minister who helped protect Korea from the Japanese invasion of 1592, lived here.

This is a picture of the interior of the large meeting room within Yangjindang.  I made the grevious mistake, though, of stepping-up on the wooden deck structure that surrounds the outside of the building.  The sign warning against stepping-up was written in Korean only.  I should, however, have asked our guide before stepping-up and taking these pictures.  My offense resulted in one of the other Korean visitors (who had observed my disrespectful conduct) giving me a sound chewing-out as I was later told by our guide.

Just a few kilometers down the Nakdong River is located Dosan Confucian Academy, one of the oldest in Korea.  At the top of these stairs is the entry gate to the shrine within the academy's grounds that was built to house the memorial tablet of Yi Hwang (이황). Yi is one of Korea’s most celebrated philosophers.

At the end of this very full and inspiring day, our guide, Young Ju Choi, asked another visitor to snap this photo.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the "Williamsburg" of Korea.

Leav'n (and Safely Arriving) on a Jet Plane

Yesterday was Sandy's last day in Korea.  Around 9:30am we departed with our friend Abraham Lee on the first leg of Sandy's journey back to St. Louis.  Abraham drove us down from Handong's campus to Busan's (about 125 km south) Gimhae Airport.  I was the worried one.  The trip down took a little longer than I had expected due to a few "wrong turns."  Abraham, though, assured me all along the way, "No worries.  We have plenty of time to get there."  And, we did.

We arrived well before Sandy's flight was scheduled to depart.  We checked-in her luggage and then she proceeded on through the security check to her departure gate.  Gimhae in a new airport, but it only has 6 gates for departure in its international terminal. No risk of getting lost there, but Sandy was on her way to Narita (Tokyo) which is one of the largest airports in Asia.  We had hoped our friends, the Han's, were going be able to meet her at the arrival gate since they would be traveling together on the same flight form Narita to Chicago. 

That hope, though, was not to be realized.  While still awaiting Sandy's departure from Busan's Gimhae, Abraham encouraged me to check my email to see if Dr. Han had sent me any information about the arrival gate for Sandy's flight into Narita.  When I checked, I found an email from him, but it contained information that I did not give me any reason to reduce my worries. 

In fact, I got even more concerned when I read that John would not be able to go down to Sandy's arrival gate -- Gate 81 at Narita.  Rather, he informed me that Sandy would need to find her way through the international terminal's connection security and then further make her way down to meet the Han's at Gate 73 for their departure.  I was able to page Sandy and get a message with that information to her before she departed on the flight from Busan to Narita.

That was my last opportunity to speak with her in Korea.  So, with "I love you, and I'll talk to you soon," we concluded the call, and Sandy boarded her departing flight.  Abraham and I stayed at Gimhae until the status board showed that American Airlines Flight 5848 had in fact departed.  I was hoping that Dr. Han might be able to send me a quick email from Narita when he and his wife met-up with Sandy, but that email did not come.  I, however, took "no news" (as my mother always taught me) to be "good news."

And it was.  Sandy moved smoothly through Narita, met-up with the Han's and departed on the trans-continental flight to Chicago.  She was seated beside an elderly Chinese woman who was on her way to Chicago, too, to visit her daughter.  Sandy was able to help her with her immigration and customs forms and visit with her -- even though she spoke very little English -- during the flight.

About 14 hours later, I was able to get a call through to Sandy's mobile while she was waiting in Chicago's O'Hare Airport for the connecting flight down to St. Louis.  Another 4 hours later, and I called my daughter's mobile phone and confirmed that Sandy had arrived safe and sound back in St. Louis.  She was enjoying the celebration of her arrival with Thea, Taya, Maya and Aydan!  My load of worries was finally lifted as I heard all their voices over the phone!

Now, I have another 25 days to complete this semester, prepare for my own departure from Korea and travel back to the States.

Two Weddings and a Talent Show

Earlier this month, Sandy and I were invited to attend the weddings of two teachers from the KEBS Sunday School class that we help to teach at The Joyful Church in Pohang.  Pictured above is our friend Samuel and his new bride.  Their parents stand together on each side of them as they are presented to their 500+ guests as husband and wife for the first time.  Korean weddings are very elaborate affairs.  Both of the weddings we attended (one on Saturday and the other on Sunday afternoon) were held in the Grand Ballroom of the Philos Hotel -- the biggest hotel in Pohang.

In between these two formal events, we were invited to serve as judges that Saturday night for the University's International Student Union "Open-Mic" talent show.  Our trainer, Aleksey, was among the many contestants.  As a graduating senior this semester, he sang a parting song that brought tears to many of the young ladies' eyes.  I was happy when the other five judges agreed with me that Aleksey was clearly one of the top performers of the night.  He won second place!  I was called upon to announce the winners and hand-out their prizes.

We enjoyed a full weekend of celebration and quite a bit of fun!  There was a striking similarity, though, between the weddings and the talent show.  All three were very much staged "productions."  At both weddings, special songs were sung by friends of the bride and groom.  The second wedding even featured a singer who is well-known in Korean popular culture.  The weddings themselves were performed in the midst of banquet tables at which many of the guests had already begun to eat and drink even as the ceremony was occurring. 

The weddings were, however, distinctly marked by the honor given to the parents of the bride and groom in Korean culture.  At the point in the wedding ceremony when American bride's and groom's would give roses to their mothers, the newly wed Korean couple is instructed by the presiding minister to turn first to the parents of the groom and bow.  The bride bows from the waist so that her upper body is at nearly a 90 degree angle to her lower body.  The groom, however, goes down on his knees and then bows with his arms extended out in front of him along the floor and with his face all the way down to the ground.

After bowing to the parents of the groom, the couple comes across to the parents of the bride and the same bowing ritual is performed in their honor.  The value and respect such actions showed to the parents of the married couple was definitely the hallmark of the ceremonies and what -- in the midst of a fun and entertaining weekend -- we will remember most from these two weddings and a talent show.

How Do You Celebrate Buddha's Birthday?

The 21st of May is a national holiday in Korea. 

It is the Buddha's birthday. 

So, how do you celebrate? 

The answer I suggested to my students was this: 

"Be Awake!"

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 

Ephesians 5:14

(The pensive Buddha, pictured at right, is a Korean national treasure.)

Some Thoughts from a Visitor

Shortly after I arrived at Handong last August, I was asked by the student newspaper to write a brief essay describing my initial impressions as a visiting professor. Occasionally, a view from the outside can be a help to enlighten those on the inside.

In that first article, I focused on some early experiences with my U.S. & International Law (UIL) students whom I found needed to be encouraged to pose questions in class.

I suggested that asking questions is not a sign of disrespect or inattention, but rather, a good question is actually the most authentic signal that a student is truly interested in understanding the deeper meaning of things and not just memorizing facts that will quickly lose their significance once the class exam has passed.

Now, as I come even more quickly to the conclusion of my visiting professorship, I’ve been asked to reflect back and recount some lessons I’ve learned during my sojourn here – lessons that I will take back with me when I return to teaching at Fontbonne University this fall in St. Louis.

While those lessons have occurred on nearly a daily basis, I believe they may be best expressed in a few words. Through my days of service among you as a teacher, I have learned anew, from experiences with students and colleagues alike, the value of a walking-paced life, the value of interruptions, and the value of listening.

Coming from the States, one of my greatest challenges here arose from my nearly in-born tendency to live life at a rapid pace. Multi-tasking is considered a mark of proficiency. During my time at Handong, though, I have been put in a position where I lived within a short 5-minute walk to where I worked and worshipped. Leading a walking-paced life slows you down. It prompts you to be more reflective about what you do and even what you say.

You also can discover more opportunities to think when you slow down. The life I had been living in the States could fairly be described as a “driving-paced life” that frequently filled me with tension, stress, and worries. At a walking-pace, life may more readily become an on-going occasion for prayer trusting that Christ will lead us step-by-step as we seek to follow him all the days of our life.

Another challenge facing me came from a personality trait that is often inbred in people with my ethnic heritage (i.e. German as the “Sch” in my surname signals). That personality trait is one that insists upon orderliness and precision, especially in my daily schedule.

I usually approach each day with a pre-determined plan for nearly every hour. What I often found, though, was that my “plan” was interrupted by knocks on my door or emails announcing meetings for me to attend, not next week, but within a few hours.

To say that these interruptions caused me a bit of consternation would be to put it mildly. But, when I allowed the “interruptions” to change my plans, I found that instead of keeping me from doing what I thought I needed to do, pausing to heed those “interruptions” was actually what I was supposed to do. Being ready and willing to respond to the requests of others resulted in greater meaning for that day.

Likely the biggest challenge, though, that confronted me arose from neither the pace of my life nor the pattern of my day. Instead, it stemmed from my ever-present propensity to talk, and to talk too much. In my professional career, I have been a lawyer, a pastor and a professor. Each of these vocations is a “talking” profession. From my months here at Handong, I learned that well-spoken words have an essential prerequisite – thoughtful, engaged listening.

I learned once again the value of being quick to hear and slow to speak. I also learned anew (and tried to convey to my students) that when I do speak fewer words are best. These are the lessons that I will take with me from my time of teaching and learning here – slow down, pause and listen. What I hope to leave to my students and colleagues at Handong is this seven-word admonition: Question everything! Hold on to the good!

(This essay is planned for publication in the June edition of Handong Today, a student English-langugage newspaper)

Look Out for Them Thar Boars!

That's what I said, "Boars!" -- as in wild pigs!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked out the back window of our apartment late Saturday afternoon.  At first, I could only make out some movement in the tall grass that had overgrown the rice fields in the valley immediately behind the Mission House.  I was drawn, though, to watch. 

There was something out there. In a matter of minutes, he came into the clearing, or at least, I'm pretty sure it was a he. It was a boar! He was as big as any pig I had ever seen back in Missouri.  But he had something those hogs did not.  He had a mane of short, stiff, black hair running from the top of his head to the middle of his back -- the sign of what an Arkansan would call a "razorback."

But then, I realized that this big guy was not alone.  There was a second dark and equally big boar rooting around, too . . . and three more young pigs.  A whole family of wild boar had come out of the woods to root for their evening dinner in our "backyard."  We haven't experienced much of Korean native wildlife, so this was quite a sight. 

I tried to take a picture -- just in case some of my more skeptical readers might be supposing that I've gone to composing fiction just to liven up our last few weeks here.  Here's what I was able to catch with my little Samsung digital camera with its 31.5mm zoom lens.

When I recounted this little adventure to my mother in a telephone conversation this morning, she highly recommended that we not take any more hikes up into the hills behind the Mission House, unless of course, we were well-armed with a big stick.  Look-out for them thar boars!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Our daughter Hannah is celebrating her 27th birthday this week.  Her day is May 13, but in our family, we do our best to stretch out our birthday celebrations for at least a week.  In order to make sure that my gift would arrived by or before the 13th, I put it in the mail here in Korea 10 days ago. Sandy put a card in the mail to Hannah the following day.  Yesterday, when checking her email, Sandy noticed that Hannah was on-line and connected with her via Skype for a video call to wish her a happy birthday and catch-up on all her news from the home front.

So, here's another of our on-going birthday good wishes to keep the celebration progressing!  Congratulations, Hannah, on your new position as the Sous Chef at Molly's in Soulard! With your 11 years of experience in fine-dining, you have well-earned this recognition. (By the way, I strongly encourage all our friends in the St. Louis to make the trip down to Molly's for lunch.  You will have a thoroughly enjoyable time!)  Its one of the first places I plan to take Sandy as we re-accustom ourselves to American cuisine once again.

Continue enjoying the celebration of your birthday, Hannah! 

Don't spend all that 27,000 Korean Won I sent you in one place!

A Red-Letter Day

The 5th of May is a national holiday in Korea. On every Korean calendar the date is highlighted in red. Its Children's Day. Everyone gets the day off from work to spend the entire day with their children.  Here on campus all classes were cancelled, and even the weekly faculty meetings that are ordinarily held every Wednesday were post-poned until next week.  Most of the faculty members plan outings with their families at the local park or hikes into the foothills of the surrounding mountains.

A few of my Law & Advocacy Study Group students had learned that May 5 was also my birthday, so they invited Sandy and me to a brunch at Hyoam Restaurant.  I wasn't exactly sure what would be on the bunch menu, but I was looking forward to an enjoyable, leisurely morning with some of my brightest students.  When we arrived at the Restaurant, though, I was a bit confused to find that none of my students had shown-up. Koreans generally tend to be somewhat late to events, but when students plan a meal for their professor they usually arrive well in advance to make preparations.

The owner of the restaurant must have noticed that I was puzzled, so he suggested that Sandy and I should wait in the special dining room and assured me that my students were "on their way."  About ten minutes later -- as we were considering putting out a call to the study group leader -- the doors on both ends of the dining room opened, and my students processed in singing the traditional Korean birthday song to a guitar accompaniment.  The song was followed by the presentation of a beautifully decorated cake sporting one, tall and thin, lit candle. As I accepted the cake, the whole group together sang "Happy Birthday to You" in English.

At the end of the song, they all encouraged me to blow-out the single candle.  They explained that, while they knew this was not my first birthday (by a long shot, a 50-year long shot), it was the first of my birthday's to be celebrated in Korea.  They wished for me to celebrate many more birthdays here at Handong in the future.  Some already knew of our decision to return to the States this summer, but they were still attempting to use their influence to persuade me to stay longer.

Next, I was presented with a rice paper scroll from Prof. Chi, the chairman of the School of Law, on which he had hand-painted in Chinese calligraphy the characters Ko Deok (shown below) which one student translated for me as "high character" or "practicing the highest good".  It is the name that Prof. Chi has given to me. 

Another of my students then presented me with a gift box (about 8 inches x 8 inches x 5 inches in size) in which I found some 50 small pieces of orange paper all rolled-up in scrolls. I later unrolled each of the orange scrolls to find a special individual birthday wish written by my students.  Some expressed their wishes in their language and provided me with a translation, others even drew pictures. 

The final gift was presented when we all took our seats around the tables.  I had cut the cake for everyone to enjoy, but just before I could take a bite, Ms. Han -- the leader of my student study group -- placed in front of me a bowl of traditional Korean birthday soup that she had prepared herself.  It consists of a broth with a healthy amount of seaweed, an excellent source of nutrients, topped with a small portion of beef.  Along with the soup, a bowl of rice is also served.  The soup is an expression of everyone's wish that the one celebrating his birthday experience a long and healthy life. I ate nearly all of it before moving on to the less-than-health-enhancing (but delicious) cake.

Needless to say, I was quite overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and kindness of my students and fellow colleagues.  It will be a birthday celebration that I will long remember -- a true red-letter day!

Set Your Seal

There are many things that fascinate me about Asian culture.  I believe my interest in Asia, in general, and in the countries of China and Korea, in particular, dates back to my elementary school days when my father was member of the local Rotary Club in Boonville, Missouri.  One of the regular events that dad's Rotary Club sponsored was a series of films shown at the high school auditorium called the Travelog. 

Each month a different film would be shown about places around the world that folks from Boonville had never heard of and would be even more likely to never be able to visit.  I recall several films over the years that featured China, Korea and other exotic countries of the East.  One film documented life in the small Himalayan country of Hunza.  It is located near Tibet and is one of those countries that many travelers believe may have inspired stories about Shangri La. 

I imagine that those stories and films of Asia were the earliest seeds that grew my increasing interest in this land over the years. In particular, I have always been intrigued by Asian calligraphy. I remember once when I was a teenager purchasing a wall scroll at an Asian imports store in Columbia, Missouri, located next door to the health foods grocery where my parents would frequently shop. I don’t think I realized at the time that the scroll I had purchased was written in Korean Hangul.

The Hangul alphabet, as well as the intricacies of Chinese characters, continues to fascinate me. On our recent trip to Seoul, I discovered several hand-made paper and stamp shops in the Insadon traditional shopping district. One of the customs of Asian writing is to sign one’s name with a special seal that is always inked with a particular hue of red. I asked my faithful teaching assistant, Mr. Mok, to order a signature stamp with my name in Korean Hangul. That’s the stamp in the upper right corner of this post. It reads: 코(Ko)델(Del)슐(Schul)튼(Teun). 

Now, I can “set my seal” in Korean upon any document I write. This is one of the many Korean customs that I will bring back with me to the States. These months that I lived here have definitely had a formative impact upon me, and I trust that the forming that has and is taking place is for the better -- as my thinking is broadened and my experience of life deepened.

A Letter of Decision

For the past five months, I have been seeking God's guidance concerning my future.  What follows is a letter that I wrote and presented earlier this week to the chairman of Handong's School of Law faculty.

Dear Prof. Chi, 

At the end of the 2009 fall semester, you extended to me the University’s invitation to apply for a full-time professorship. At that time, I stated that I believed it would be wise for me to wait until near the end of the spring semester to make a decision in response to the University’s invitation. I wanted to have additional time to learn more about Handong and to seek God’s guidance concerning my future academic service. I also wanted to give my wife the opportunity to come here to Handong so that she might experience life with me on the campus and meet both my fellow faculty members and students. 

Throughout this semester, my wife and I have been praying for God’s direction and wisdom regarding our future. We have had many long talks about my service at Handong. We have also talked about the needs of our children and grand children back in the United States. During my visit to the United States during the Christmas holiday break, I also had the opportunity to meet with members of the administration of Fontbonne University where I have been teaching for the past five years prior to my visiting professorship at Handong this year. Lastly, I met with my Doktorvater at Concordia Seminary where I am currently working on PhD studies. 

Based upon these extended times of prayer and conversation, as well as my meetings with both Fontbonne University and Concordia Seminary in January, I have decided to accept an offer from Fontbonne University to return to my teaching post in St. Louis, Missouri, this coming fall term. I will also be returning to complete my PhD studies at Concordia Seminary. I believe that this is the best course for me to follow in serving God’s purpose according to His call upon my life as a teacher, husband, father and grandfather at this time in my life. As a result of this decision, I will be concluding my service as a visiting professor at Handong at the end of the current spring semester. 

My teaching experiences here at Handong these past two semesters have been wonderful. I am very thankful that the Lord has given me the privilege of serving together with you and my other esteemed colleagues on the faculty of the School of Law. I am very interested in maintaining an on-going working relationship with Handong Global University. I would look forward to opportunities to return in the future for additional terms of teaching should the occasion arise for the University to request my service again in a visiting professorship capacity. 

Please accept my most grateful thanks for your leadership and for the opportunity to serve the students of Handong Global University as we together seek the will of God and His Kingdom. 

Yours in the service of Christ,
Cordell P. Schulten

Bodily Exercise Profiteth (a) Little

One of the benefits of living on a campus with nearly 4000 young people is the constant motivation you sense to be active and even a feeling of guilt for being so out-of-shape. This impression comes home to you when you get up at 6:30am each morning to set out on your daily "walk-about" the campus only to find that teams of students have already been up for almost an hour (since the sunrise) and are vigorously engaged in battle upon the soccer pitch that occupies the better part of the center of campus. If only I had the energy and stamina to be out there running around and kicking that ball! 

Well, Sandy must have picked-up on those unspoken expressions by means of her feminine intuition. How do I know? She hired one of the seniors on campus to be our personal trainer! His name is Aleksey. He's a national judo champion from Uzbekistan. Not only is he in spectacular physical shape, he also speaks four languages -- Uzbek, Russian, Korean and English -- so his mind is as fit as his body! Now, every Wednesday and Friday evenings, we meet Aleksey in the campus health club -- located on the basement level of Shalom Dormitory -- for our training sessions. 

They begin with warm-ups and a series of stretches. We then proceed to running on the treadmill for about 12-15 minutes at various levels of speed. Aleksey is working us up to 8 km/h, but at this point -- three weeks into our training -- we're doing well to make it to 6 km/h -- a nice jogging pace. Then comes the squats. Three sets of 10 rep's each by the end of which the tops of my thighs are beginning to burn with pain. But, we're only about half-way through our program.  

Next, Aleksey demonstrates three floor exercises. The first one requires us to lie on our backs, pull our heads up at 30 degrees, fix our eyes on a point on the wall, and then lift our legs up and then lower them down -- sloooooowwwwwly -- until they are about two inches off the floor, and then lift them back up again. We repeat this exercise 6 to 8 rep's for two sets. Now, lie back and bring your heels toward your bottom so that your knees are raised up about 12-14 inches; extend your arms placing your hands on the tops of your thighs and then raise up siding your hands up toward your knee caps and hold it there! Gently, lie back and repeat this exercise now 6 to 8 times for two sets. 

Tired yet? I forgot to tell you that in between each set of exercises you are to get up and walk around in order to keep yourself loose all the while controlling your breathing with long and deep inhalations followed by slow exhalations. Now, back down on the floor -- this time on your stomach. Bring your knees up under you with your palms flat on the floor in front. Gradually extend your legs back while you arch your stomach in and your head back almost forming a C with your body. Got the picture? Now do that 6 to 8 times for two sets. 

We're nearly through. At this point, we move to the exercise machines. The first one requires us to sit in a chair and place our feet on a platform that is connected to a set of pulleys. The cable running through the pulleys is connected to a series of weights that allows you to increase and decrease the amount of weight that your legs will be lifting as you push the platform with your feet. We start with 20 kilos and gradually move up to 30 and then 40. Finally, we head over to the last apparatus. This one is a bit tough to describe – not because it is particularly complex, but because it requires your body to bend and stretch in ways that are not a part of the normal range of physical activities you might encounter in an ordinary day. 

Here’s the scene – first you place your thighs on pads that are set at about a 45 degree angle. Then, you place your heels up against a set of rollers. This essentially locks the lower half of your body into a slanted position. Now arch your back up with your hands raised up in the surrender posture (because at this point in the training you are ready to say, “I give up!” – but you don’t). Instead, you slowly lower the upper half of your body down farther and farther until you are now making an A frame with the highest point of the A being your bottom – you feet form on base and your head is the other base of the A. Now, raise-up slowly (inhaling along the way) back up to the arching position. Repeat this movement 6 to 8 times for two sets. 

Did you survive? Aleksey keeps a close watch on us so we don’t overdo it. One time last week, though, Sandy couldn’t make it to the training session, so I was working on my own with Aleksey. Another one of my international faculty colleagues, Alex from Australia, was also doing a workout in the gym on some nearby equipment. He happened to overhear me say to Aleksey that I wasn’t feeling as sore as I thought I might be this the level of training I had been through thus far. Alex, looking out for my best interests, shouted over, “Don’t say that Mate! Yaur trainer will pushya even haawrrder!” 

Needless to say, that was the last time I made any comments about not feeling sore. In fact, it was the last time I've not been feeling sore as I’m finding that this bodily exercise is profiting – a little. So far, though, a very little.

HomePlus Plus

What your local Target store is to any American suburb, HomePlus is to us here in Korea. Its the department store where you can find nearly everything you're looking for and at a quality that is usually about a step above what you find at Wal-Mart. So you might imagine that a trip into town to shop at HomePlus would be an adventure that my wife (who rarely sets out upon adventures) would be motivated to undertake. And that is exactly what she did.

Hopping onto the University's shuttle bus (here, though, shuttle buses are not like those you would ride from the long-term parking lot at the airport to the terminal -- they are the size of a full-scale Greyhound touring bus), Sandy rode the bus as far as its route went into downtown Pohang before turning around to head back to campus. Exiting the shuttle bus, she crossed one of the busiest streets in Pohang to catch the local 101 city bus that would take her further south passed Jukdo Market where she would get off and then walk -- a few blocks -- to HomePlus.

That was the plan, but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men -- they often go astray. And, its extremely easy to "go astray" in downtown Pohang where the streets are configured in no particular pattern and where street signs are of very little help -- even to those who can read the language -- and of even less assistance to those who don't. In a certain way, though, Sandy did not go "astray" since she just kept walking along that same street where she had exited the 101 bus. She walked and walked. At each intersection, she looked and looked for that HomePlus sign (it at least was in English) -- but to no avail.

After nearly an hour walk about, she decided to head back toward a familiar landmark -- Joyful Church -- where we help to teach a kids Sunday School class each Sunday. Feeling quite disappointed in her efforts to locate her desired destination, she was almost at the point of giving-up. In one of those times of conversational prayer, she expressed a readiness to accept that today was not to be the day that she was to shop, but just in case the Lord had other plans, could He send along an English speaker to be her guide.

Within minutes, as Sandy was continuing her walk back toward the church, she encountered Abdul, one of my students from last semester who is now a first-year law student at Handong International Law School. What was even more interesting was the fact that she was able to recognize him and felt comfortable in approaching him because he and another of my former students, Prophete, had just -- the week before -- taken Sandy and me to dinner at the restaurant on campus. He just happened to be on his way to KBStar Bank when their paths crossed.  When asked, Abdul was not only willing to show Sandy the way to HomePlus, he offered to help with the shopping too.  He mentioned that he had had good practice helping his own mother do shopping in their home country of Afghanistan.

The two of them perused the aisles on each floor and ended-up filling a big cart with all sorts of groceries and household items.  In many ways, Abdul reminded Sandy of our son Justin -- a young man ready to be a help in any way that he can even when it means changing his plans. So, with full bags in hand, Sandy and Abdul caught the 101 bus back to the spot where they transferred to the University shuttle and then made their return trip to campus with even more than they had both bargained for -- all in all, a real HomePlus plus!

All the Trees of the Forest Sing for Joy

This past Saturday, Sandy and I enjoyed an outing with three of our colleagues from the international faculty. We traveled together to Gyeongju, the ancient capital city of Korea, and Bulguksa, a monastery that is nestled up in the mountains above Gyeongju. The cherry blossoms were at their height and many of the other trees and shrubs were beginning to show their many hues of new-growth green.

Cherry trees fill the hillside along the pathway up to the entrance of Bulguksa.

Just inside Bulguksa's main gate, we come to a lovely mountain pond.  The newly constructed monastery enclave can be seen in the background above the stone bridge.

Here's a close-up of the cherry blossoms with the new-growth of green leaves beginning to unfold.

As we walk along the path that encircles the garden pond, we can look back toward the monastery gate.

Another stone bridge leads over a slow-flowing, spring-fed stream that trickles down the mountain and fills the pond.

More cherry trees surround the monastery's 10-foot tall bell suspended in the center of this structure. The bell's low-tones mark the hours of prayer.  The entrance to the old monastic enclave can be seen along the left side of the photo.

This is the most popular perspective on the ascending stairs to the main temple enclosure.  The second stairway (in the distance) is called "The Stairway to Heaven."

Here we are with Lynn & Debi in front of one of the other temple buildings.  Lynn's husband Roy took the photo.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord. ~ Psalm 96:12-13

Taciturnitas

Dennis Okholm, a professor at Azusa Pacific University, wrote a wonderful little book entitled Monk Habits for Everyday People.  The subtitle particularly caught my attention: "Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants."  Ever since my wife and I had the opportunity to participate in a retreat at the Pecos Benedictine Monastery in New Mexico nearly five years ago, I have been increasingly interested in the lessons I can learn from this tradition. 

Prof. Okholm's book makes those lessons very accessible.  For example, take this story from Okholm's own efforts to practice one of the disciplines taught by St. Benedict in his Rule, the discipline of taciturnitas.

"Recently, on an Ash Wednesday, I was encouraging students to think of one deficiency in their lives that they could attack with a spiritual discipline during Lent.  Never afraid to barge in where uninvited, a member of the class in the back row (the source of much consternation for college professors) asked, 'What deficiency are you going to attack?'"

"I had to be honest, so I answered, 'Actually I've got several, and I need to decide on one by the beginning of the first full week of Lent.  I'll let you know.'  But I knew what it would be, and , true to my word, I soon announced to the class that I needed to learn to listen better to others, so I would be attempting to talk much less in some small study groups of which I was a part."

“What I attempted – with a mixed degree of success – was what Benedict insists upon all the time for his monks in . . . the Rule – namely, restraint of speech. He does not command silence (silentium) but restraint (taciturnitas), because sometimes silence can be a bad thing, such as when someone needs help with directions or counsel . . . When a monk speaks, he should do so gently, seriously, briefly, and reasonably.”

Beside the advice from scripture that he cites (Ps. 39:1-2; Prov. 10:19; 18:21), why would Benedict be so concerned with a topic about which we hear so little in the church? Michael Casey answers with a litany of possible dangers of talk: ‘It restricts our capacity to listen; it banishes mindfulness and opens the door to distraction and escapism."

"Talking too much often convinces us of the correctness of our own conclusions and leads some into thinking they are wise. It can be a subtle exercise in arrogance and superiority. Often patterns of dependence, manipulation, and dominance are established and maintained by the medium of speech . . . . So if we want to grow in grace, we must learn to talk less and listen more.” (pp. 43-45).

Wise instruction worth my careful attention and adherence.

So . . . What's It Take to Find a Good Chinese Restaurant around Pohang, Korea?

This past weekend, my wife and I had the pleasure of returning the favor of hospitality to our new friends from Seoul, Kurt and J.Sun.  They had traveled Friday along with their friends, Sam and Suzanne, over to the southeast coast to tour in the beautiful island of Tongyeong.  Then, Saturday afternoon, they gave us a call to let us know that they were on their way driving north and anticipated arriving at Handong in a few hours.  We had made reservations for them at the Pine Beach Hotel on Chilpo Beach. (This particular hotel gives all guests from Handong a 30% discount, so we thought that this would be an ideal place for them to stay).  Chilpo is one of several less crowed areas (at least at this time of the year) to the north of downtown Pohang. The hotel itself sits back from the sandy beach with a beautiful, unobstructed view of the sea to the east.

As the time for their arrival drew near, we walked across campus to greet our visitors in front of the University's chapel -- the prominent landmark that greets everyone at the top of the entrance drive leading up the hillside from the new highway that now runs through the valley below our campus. I had suggested to Kurt that he might want to by-pass Pohang as they drove up from the south around the city on the new highway and come in from the west. What I did not realize, though, was that the highway is so new that all the its interchanges have not been completely constructed, and when our friends tried to enter on to the new Interstate (since there are no "states" in Korea, I guess I should call it the "Interprovincial" highway), they could only travel east back toward Daegu, and not west toward our campus.

This unfortunate bit of misdirection resulted in their arrival being delayed until a little after 6pm. Once they did arrive, though, we were able to take a nice strolling tour around the campus with notable stops at All Nations Hall to see both Sandy's and my offices. Then, we continued our walk along the south campus drive and reached our apartment for a short time of light refreshment and conversation, and yes, all six of us were able to squeeze into our studio, though some of us had to stand. (By this point in the story, you might be asking yourself what all this has to do with finding a Chinese restaurant, so here is where the plot thickens).

Our friends had been traveling quite comfortably over the past two days in their Honda Accord – adequate room for four, but six would be a bit tight. So, I called my trusty TA, Mr. Mok, who in turn, summoned a taxi in which Sandy and I would ride through the countryside to Chilpo Beach – the taxi being the guide for our friends to follow in their Honda. (Have I mentioned the tendency of Korean cabdrivers to drive as excessive rates of speed along even the narrowest of roadways?) Picture this – the time is about 7:30 in the evening. The sun has set and darkness is now covering the countryside. One lone taxi speeds along a narrow road followed at varying lengths by a Honda Accord that is clearly doing its best to keep up with each twist and turn along the way. Finally, we drive into the parking lot of the Pine Beach Hotel as the beach is shadowed in the dark of night.

In the distance, the flickering neon sign in the window of the hotel’s famed Chinese restaurant glimmered, and just as we step out of the cars, that sign’s light was extinguished. I suggested that it might be a good idea for our friends to go ahead and check-in so that we could confirm that the room reservations my TA had made were in fact being “held” (those of you familiar with the Jerry Seinfeld Show will recall that what is important is not just the “making” of the reservation, but the “holding” of it) through the evening. Thankfully, the rooms were still available – although one had only twin beds and not a single full-sized bed. Having secured the rooms for our guests, we now set upon to find a Chinese restaurant since the one that we had promised to them in the lobby of the hotel had indeed closed its kitchen just moments before our arrival.

My first thought was to call Mr. Mok and have him order from another nearby Chinese restaurant that I knew delivered to Handong; so I hoped it might also deliver to the hotel where we were on Chilpo Beach. When the innkeeper learned of my plan, though, she recommended that we drive a short 5 minutes north into the next village where she assured us we would find a delightful Chinese restaurant that would be quite suitable for our needs. What I only just then learned, however, was that our friends had not stopped to eat a regular meal all day. They were – and I think this is the first time in this blog that I can actually use this word in all its fullness – famished!

So, rather than waiting for a delivery from a restaurant that I knew, we – all six of us – piled into the Accord – the taxi was long gone by now – and set out to find that Chinese restaurant in the next seaside village up the coastal roadway. True to the innkeeper’s estimation, J. Sun spotted the sign for the restaurant within a short 5-minute drive. But as we turned into the yard in front of the building, we noticed a lady coming out the front door onto the porch. It looked as if she was just about to close and lock the door and turn-off the light.

In a flash, J. Sun pealed herself out of the front passenger seat she had been occupying with Suzanne and ran over to the restaurant owner with what must have been perceived by this dear little lady as a dire request for dinner. I didn’t overhear the exchange, but within mere moments, we were all warmly welcomed into the restaurant as the lady and her husband turned the lights back on and began to fire-up the stove in the kitchen.

What a relief! For the next hour or so, we all sat cross-legged with chopsticks in hand around the center table in the restaurant’s single dining room and enjoyed a wonderful feast of several entrées, including but not limited to, sweet and sour pork along with hand-made noodles and black beans – the local substitute for fried rice in these parts. At the end of this very long day for our new friends, we were able to share a delightful meal together with fervent fellowship around the table of a well-found Chinese Restaurant on the eastern seacoast of beautiful Korea just a tad north of Chilpo Beach.

That’s what it takes.

My Testimony to God's Grace, Mercy and Faithfulness

Last week, the campus pastor asked me to give my testimony at the weekly faculty chapel service that was held this morning.  I thought it best to write out my story in order to keep the telling of it under the twenty-five minutes I had been allotted. Here is what I said:

My parents were devout Lutherans. So, shortly after my birth, they had me baptized in their home congregation, Immanuel Lutheran Church in Boonville, Missouri. I was confirmed in the Lutheran faith at age 13 and expressed an interest in studying for the ministry at that time. Although I had an “academic” understanding of the person of Christ through my upbringing in the church and even an inclination to pursue the ministry, it was not until my freshman year of high school that I came to personal faith in the Lord Jesus.

My algebra teacher spoke with me one day after class and asked me if I was saved. He also pointed me to a number of Bible passages that spoke about a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He encouraged me not only to read God’s Word, but also to study it seriously. I began to attend Bible studies at my teacher’s home on a weekly basis and also during my lunch break from school in the basement of a Baptist church across the street from the high school. I developed friendships with believers from a variety of evangelical and reformed churches. After about one year of study, I came to place my trust in Christ’s work alone for my salvation.

At this point in my life I began to study the Scriptures with an even greater intensity and seriousness. I attended St. Paul’s College High, a Lutheran school located in Concordia, Missouri, for my remaining two years of high school. My direction, though, changed from ministerial training to Christian education, and I made a decision to resign my membership in the Lutheran church in order to fellowship with a small group of believers who met as an assembly of Plymouth Brethren. My decision to leave the Lutheran church was extremely hard on my father whose family had been Lutheran for generations. I did not, however, realize the extent of his disappointment at the time.

Instead, I was being significantly influenced by my reading of the biographies of both George Mueller and Jim Elliot. In addition, while attending a church youth retreat in St. Louis at the South Side Bible Chapel, I met the young lady, Sandy White, who would later become my wife. Throughout this formative period in my life, my parents continued to support me and gave their blessing for both my upcoming marriage to Sandy and our decision to go into full-time ministry as a school teacher with Victory Christian School operated by South Side Bible Chapel, the Plymouth Brethren assembly where Sandy had grown-up and where we would be members.

In August of 1978, Sandy and I were married at South Side and in that same month, the church ordained me to full-time ministry as a teacher at Victory even though I had not yet completed my undergraduate education. I continued to take classes at local colleges during my two years of teaching middle school students at Victory. During these years of teaching, I developed a particular interest in the many legal issues facing Christian schools and ministries, as well as parents who were seeking to home school their children.

After consulting with a number of older brothers and my parents, my wife and I decided to move to South Carolina where I enrolled in Bob Jones University in order to pursue a pre-law course of studies. I believed that the Lord was now leading me to serve others through becoming a lawyer. So, Sandy and I and our 7-month old son, Caleb, traveled over 700 miles to a new place away from our families for the first time.

We spent three years in South Carolina. In addition to my studies at university and working a full-time job, we were actively involved in our local church another Plymouth Brethren assembly -- where I served in both the preaching and teaching of the Word. Upon graduation, and the growth of our family to three children, we returned to St. Louis in the summer of 1983.

We renewed our fellowship with the believers at South Side, and I entered law school at Saint Louis University. During my three years in law school, I continued to serve my church through preaching and teaching. My ministries also expanded to working with college-aged young people. At law school, I assisted with the establishment of a local chapter of the Christian Legal Society and led Bible studies on campus.

After graduating from law school in May 1986 and passing the bar later that summer, I joined a large firm in downtown St. Louis to provide for my wife and now family of four children – our youngest, Justin Mark, had been born in the middle of my second year at law school. I had started the professional stage of my life journey. Still believing that God has called me to use my profession to serve others, I attempted to develop a practice in the area of First Amendment law. I found, however, that the demands and restrictions of being an associate in one of the largest law firms in St. Louis did not complement my pursuits.

Instead, I became distracted by the wiles of “big firm” practice, and after about six years, I was nearly consumed by the world. All the while, though, I continued outwardly to serve in my local church. I was drawing near to God with my lips, but my heart was growing farther and farther away from him. Through a series of challenging circumstances over the next three years of my law practice, I began to experience deeper and deeper bouts of depression largely due to my leading a duplicitous life.

At one point, I remember distinctly driving my car into the parking garage of the office building where I was working, and as I drove down into the garage, I felt as if darkness itself was completely enveloping me. It was my Psalm 88:18 experience. Do you know that verse? I think it must be one of the saddest verses in the Bible. Heman the Erzahite sighs and says to God: “You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.” I turned my car around, drove straight back to the big two-story colonial house I had had built to show all my friends how successful a lawyer I had become, got out of my car, went into the house and went back to bed.

Sandy was concerned that I was ill, but I told that I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I didn’t want to do anything; I didn’t want to talk to anyone; I just wanted to go back to bed. She left me there for several hours, but later she came back to the bedroom and said to me: “I don’t know what is wrong with you. I only know that you need to get back to doing what you used to do.” By that, she meant, I needed to get back to reading God’s Word on a daily basis and journaling my thoughts and ideas, my prayers and concerns. A few days later, by the grace of God, I started back to doing what I had been taught to do in the early years of my walk with Lord.

I was restored in my faith through meditation upon Scripture, prayer and the discipline of journaling. Within the next few months, I ended up leaving that large law firm I had been working for the past nine years, and  joining a small firm of Christian lawyers. In January, 1995, my family and I also decided to move our church fellowship to a small gathering of believers who met at place providentially called Grace Bible Chapel.

This transfer out of “law” and into “grace” was accompanied by my desire and interest to return to full-time ministry. The elders at Grace Bible Chapel invited me to spend a year praying with them about an opportunity for me to serve in a pastoral-teaching ministry within the church. That year turned into 18 months, after which the church ordained me in May 1996. Having now left behind the practice of law, yet another stage in my journey had begun. Over the next four years, I committed myself to ministry in the local church. My elders also encouraged me to start theological studies at Covenant Seminary, and I continued there as a part-time student for the next seven years.

During that same time period, I also started teaching on a part-time basis at Missouri Baptist University as a lecturer in law. In January, 2000, the University offered me a full-time appointment to its faculty as an assistant professor. This marked a new stage in my journey. The course of my life over 25 years to that point had been marked by my respective callings to teaching, law and ministry. These three strands were brought together in the opportunity to serve on the faculty of Missouri Baptist. I began teaching as an assistant professor of Interdisciplinary Studies. Later, I was appointed Chair of the Division of Social & Behavioral Sciences and then, Associate Academic Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

The high-light of my years of teaching at Missouri Baptist was the opportunity I was given to develop a senior seminar focusing students on critical thinking and analytical writing skills. The course required the students to read broadly and to consider what it meant to live an examined, an integrated and an offered life according to one’s calling. The theme of this course became the challenge I would use to conclude every class session of every course I have taught from then until now: Question Everything! Hold on to the Good!

In the fall of 2003, I had the privilege of meeting two professors from Handong while presenting a paper at an academic conference in Florida. Those two were Professor Hee Eun Lee and Professor Guk Woon “Kuyper” Lee. They told me about a young university in Korea called Handong, and they invited me to apply for a summer visiting professorship.

The next summer, after completing my seminary studies at Covenant, I traveled here to Korea for the first time and taught a course on Antitrust Law at Handong International Law School. Upon my return to St. Louis that fall, I continued to serve on the faculty at Missouri Baptist until August, 2005 when I began teaching as a part-time lecturer at Fontbonne University and also started my PhD studies in Theology & Culture at Concordia Seminary.

For the next two years while teaching and studying, I also served as a chaplain to the legal community in St. Louis, Missouri through the Christian Legal Society’s Spirit of St. Louis Pilot Project in Marketplace Discipleship. In conjunction with this ministry, I was ordained as a pastor of discipleship by my current home church, West Hills Community Church.

After completing that project, I continued to teach part-time as a Senior Lecturer at Fontbonne University as well as study in the Theology & Culture PhD program at Concordia Seminary. Last summer, I received an invitation to come back here to Handong as a visiting professor of American Law in the undergraduate School of Law’s U.S. and International Law program.

God has led me on a long journey. It has taken many turns -- from my Lutheran family upbringing, through the Plymouth Brethren to now serving at a Baptist church. Along the way I have been a student at a Fundamentalist University – Bob Jones, a Jesuit Law School – Saint Louis University, both a Presbyterian and Lutheran Seminary – Covenant and Concordia. I’ve taught at a Southern Baptist and a Catholic University – Missouri Baptist and Fontbonne – and now, for this academic year – I teaching here at Handong.

All in all, as I look back over my nearly 51 years upon this earth, I realize anew that it has only been the grace, mercy and faithfulness of God through Christ Jesus that has brought me through. I continue to look forward to the opportunities for service that the Lord has yet ahead of me as I continue to seek, by His grace and strength, to fulfill both His calling to teach and His purpose through serving others in this my generation. I can confidently say, as I know you too will confess, that it is only: “By the grace of God [that] I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.”

If the LORD had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot slips,”
your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
Psalm 94: 17-19