Some might say . . . ."Well, its about time!!"

Here I am at the beginning of my fifth semester of teaching at Handong.  When I first was thinking about teaching abroad, (more than three years ago) colleagues who had done so strongly urged me to make the most of my experience by learning the language of my host country. 

But, I've never been very good at learning, and even worse at speaking, modern languages.  Give me Koine Greek or Classical Latin -- you know, those dead languages that no one speaks any more!!  "Semper ubi sub ubi!!"  I still remember that maxim from my high school Latin teacher at St. Paul's in Concordia.

So . . . I've resisted the counsel of my colleagues and the advice of my loving spouse, who, by the way, started her language lessons within two weeks of arrival here in the Spring of 2010.  Within one semester, she had already excelled far beyond my "An yong ha se yo" and "Gam sa ham ni da!" -- which have been my main stays for the past two years! 

I've resisted that is, until now.  This evening, I experienced my first lesson in Korean!

And while I've been told that Korean is one of the most difficult languages to learn, and even with my built-in, hard-wired, left brain-right brain-disability with language-learning (primarily, I would contend, because I'm a visual rather than an auditory learner) I found my lesson this evening to be exceptionally fascinating as well as intellectually stimulating. 

Korean is a very "scientific language" -- that is, the formation of both the consonant and vowel sounds follow a very rational, logical progression.  My tutor demonstrated how the vowel sounds progress from those made with the mouth wide open to those made with it increasingly closed.  As I saw the sounds being produced and heard them expressed, they began to make sense even to this lingua-dumbie!  

Now, I must confess that I find other Asian languages, such as Chinese and the Chin language of Myanmar, to be much more melodious.  But, the precision of Korean is beginning to rival what I had previously believed to be only the province of the ancient classical tongues.

There was, however, one very disappointing discovery.  I say disappointing, but it was also a very enlightening insight into how language shapes our view of the world.  I asked my tutor to tell me the Korean word for "dove."  The word is 비둘기 (pronounced "bi dool gi").  It means "pigeon."  

There is no separate word in Korean for "dove."  So if I were to quote the Song of Solomon to my beautiful wife telling her that she had "dove's eyes" (see Song of Songs 1:15), I would say  in Korean, "You have pigeon's eyes."  Not as romantic as Solomon's words to the Shulamite.

So, in this case, it might not work for me to advise my young male Korean students to master the poetry of Solomon as they make their preparations to woo the woman of their dreams.  Well, so much for Korean as a language of love; at least that is, in translation.  

I hear, though, that I still have much to learn both about and from the Korean language, which admonition I readily accept and yield to.  So . . . . off to start my homework! It is indeed about time that I started!

“People of Yangon, I perceive that in every way you are very religious."

I've just returned to Handong after spending 16 days in Myanmar -- "the Land of the Golden Pagodas."  This photo was taken during my walk through the shines of Shwedagon Pagoda, the largest Buddhist pagoda in the entire world. I felt that I had a greater sense of what Paul experienced when he walked through the shines and temples of Athens (Acts 17:16-34).  I was invited to Myanmar to help teach and train pastors, church leaders and missionaries who serve among the ethnic tribes and native Burmese.  What I found, though, was a study in contrasts.

Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) was once one of the most well-developed countries in all of Southeast Asia.  Now, it is re-emerging from third-world status that has characterized it over the past 50 years.  As a result, contrasts between wealth and poverty abound. On one street, you may find a brand-new high-rise building under construction next to a derelict, dilapidated structure.  Rather than repair and renovate them, most buildings are left to deteriorate. On one side of the river, a modern city is rising, while on the other side, the people of a primitive village eek out an agrarian existence.

But the greatest contrast of all is a spiritual one.  The vast majority of people are cultural Buddhists and over 1.8 million are monks or nuns who daily walk the streets offering prayers in exchange for gifts of rice, fruits and vegetables.  There is, though, a substantial minority of Christians who are the spiritual children of such servants of God as Adoniram Judson.  While their numbers may be small in contrast to the followers of other faiths, the devotion of believers in Myanmar was a true encouragement and challenge to my heart.

Many of these believers gather in small home churches in the villages to worship and hear God's Word.  Others meet in well-established churches within Yangon and other cities.  Bible colleges and seminaries have been founded throughout the country to form and equip leaders for the churches and workers who take the Gospel to the un-reached Burmese Buddhist in the villages.  As I visited among the believers in Myanmar, I realized that the needs of the churches in this country are, in fact, the same needs that exist in churches in all countries, whether developed or emerging.

There is first the need for servant leaders among the churches.  The church in Burma, as well as in Korea and America, already has its fill of men and women who seek to dominate and compel the obedience of others not by their Christ-like example, but by an appeal to institutional position and title.  What is truly needed, though, are followers of Christ who seek to serve others according to the pattern of Christ's life -- by bearing the burdens of others.

Second, there is the desperate need for the teaching of God's Word. All too often, ministries are started and churches are operated according to human ideas and worldly practices.  There is a sad lack of Biblical teaching beyond the fundamental truths of the Gospel.  When church policy decisions must be made, most appeal to the intuition of men rather than to the principles of Scripture. And once decisions are made, there is a lack of willingness to subject those decisions to the scrutiny of Scripture.  These two needs, though, are no more prominent in the churches of Myanmar than they are in the churches of America.

In contrast to what I've found in American churches, however, Myanmar has in abundance among its believers those who desire and are willing to follow their Lord wherever He leads without attachment to this present world.  And it is the evidence of that desire in the words and actions of these dear brothers and sisters that compels my heart to remain open to future calls for further service to the people of this beautiful land.

Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing

This is a study session I was asked to lead for our Handong students this past semester.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I would rather Speak Five Words with my Mind . . .

One thing that I love about my life abroad @ Handong is the depth of spiritual devotion that I find in nearly all my students and faculty colleagues.  There are represented here a wide variety of faith traditions within the Church -- the Body of Christ.  Such diversity is, without a doubt, a strength of our university community.

With diversity, though, comes the potential for an unbalanced, over-emphasis on certain dimensions of spiritual life and experience.  I have recently become even more aware of this likelihood, and my heart is burdened by the possible harm that out-of-balanced teaching and practices may cause, especially in the lives of young people whose hearts are seeking after God and desiring to experience his presence and power in authentic ways.

This, however, is not the first time such a concern has arisen in my mind.  Early on in my walk with other believers, I encountered several brothers and sisters who taught that the only way to "know" that you were blessed and empowered by God to live a life following after Christ was to have a special spiritual experience where you spoke audibly in the hearing of others with ecstatic utterances -- what these teachers called "unknown tongues" -- that is, not an actual human language that one had not previously learned, but rather a series of sounds emanating from your mouth that they claimed were an evidence of God's presence and work through your physical body.

After first encountering this teaching, I asked my spiritual mentor to help me understand whether this was a pathway of spirituality that I should pursue.  As a wise mentor and guide, he pointed me to the Scriptures, and in particular to First Corinthians, chapters 12, 13 and 14.  He said this was the portion of the New Testament that spoke most directly to the exercise of spiritual gifts, including what the Bible calls the "gift of tongues."

He explained that the Apostle Paul was actually answering questions in this passage that had been previously raised by the believers at the church in Corinth.  Paul's main point in response, my mentor said, was to remind the Corinthians that all of the gifts of the Spirit of God were given so that followers of Christ might be enabled to build-up and strengthen others.  Their purpose is not individual benefit, but rather the benefit of the whole body.

He also stressed that whatever spiritual gift I may think God has given me that gift must always be exercised out of a heart of love for others.  He taught me that this is the main point of Chapter 13.  Speaking in tongues, whether they be the languages of men or of angels, is worthless unless it is an expression of love to others.  He then went on to show me that love is demonstrated when we speak in such a way that others who hear us understand what we are saying.

If I speak aloud in the hearing of others in a way that they do not understand, I am not loving them. I am not edifying them.  Only when the unknown language is interpreted and others then understand the message is there any potential for their benefit -- their edification.  My mentor also taught me that some Christians practice speaking in tongues as a private prayer language when they are alone.

He noted that there was even a mention of this type of private "prayer language" practice in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 2, where Paul describes the one who is "speaking to God and not to men."  Such a private practice of tongues, when not in the hearing of others, is consistent with the overall point of the instruction that Paul is giving in this passage, however, it is a practice that focuses the believer's attention inward rather than outward toward others.

In contrast to private expressions, in the cases where audible words or sounds are spoken in the hearing of others, my spiritual mentor said, those words and sounds should either be directly understood by the ones hearing them (that is, they should be spoken in a known, common, human language) or they should be interpreted immediately so that all may understand and benefit.  (See 1 Corinthians 14:26-33).

The aim of all audible expression among gatherings of believers should be mutual edification and common blessing.  In fact, Paul also warns that if this practice is not followed, then unbelievers who might happen to come in to the gathering would be confused and think that those speaking in expressions that are not understandable are out of their minds.  (1 Corinthians 14:23).  As followers of Christ, we are charged to pursue the well-being of others before our own individual spirituality. "So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church." (1 Corinthians 12:12)

At the conclusion of this passage, Paul reiterates the importance of doing all things that can be seen and heard by others in ways that will build them up.  He evens uses a proportional argument to show how important it is to speak in an understandable manner whenever what we say can be heard by others.  Five words that can be understood -- spoken with "my mind" -- are more important than speaking 10,000 words in uninterpreted and unknowable expressions.

The proper balance is struck when we pray and sing with both our spirit and our mind.  (1 Corinthians 14:15).  If we truly desire to be loving others as Christ loved us, then we should pursue practices that build others up with the clear and understandable proclamation of God's Word.  Let us press on to maturity as we seek to live our lives for others, even as Christ so lived for us!

Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.  Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.  (1 Corinthians 14:19-20)

"Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder"

According to one source, the Roman poet Sextus Propertius gave us the earliest form of this saying in his Elegies: "Always toward absent lovers, love's tide stronger flows."  Personally, I thought it must have been Shakespeare or Guillaume de Lorris, but no matter.  Is it true?!?!?

Does spacial separation deepen authentic love? And if so, does the greater the distance and longer the time of separation prompt an even deeper devotion? I do believe it does, and I say this not just as an intellectual contention or an emotional aspiration, but rather, based upon lived-experience.

On the 26th of August, my wife and I will celebrate the 33d anniversary of our marriage.  We will, however, be half-a-world away from one another.  Sandy in St. Louis, and me here, once again, at Handong.  But in the most true sense, only space separates us.  I've just returned to begin preparations for another semester's teaching this fall.  The wonderful seven weeks of our time together this summer during my leave in the States passed all too quickly, but it did afford delightful times of refreshment and strengthening of our relationship.

Now, I'm looking ahead to the third semester that I will be here teaching in the absence of my Beloved.  But periods of separation from family are not uncommon in these present times.  Last semester, Sandy would often remind me during our Skype calls that the men and women who serve us so faithfully in the military are frequently duty-bound to lengthy times of separation from their loved ones.

Our good friends, Kurt and J.Sun, with whom we enjoyed wonderful visits in Seoul last year, are even now separated due to Kurt's one-year deployment in Afghanistan.  And just this past Sunday, I met Seth at our Pohang International Community gathering.  He has begun a six-month tour of duty here with the U.S. Navy and will be separated from his wife and three young children for that entire period of time.

When country calls, soldiers and sailors obey.  Would it be any less the duty of a follower of Christ to heed his command even though it meant parting from loved-ones for that time of service?   Jesus has promised his followers this: "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." (Luke 18:29-30).

But he gives more grace, and by God's grace and mercy, I'm continuing to learn each day the truth that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder.




   

Campaign for a Balanced Life

I've undertaken a campaign.  Its not a political one, nor is it military, nor even a campaign for social or economic justice. Each of those may very well have their own time and place and possibly an appropriate demand for my attention, but the campaign that has gripped me especially during these last weeks of the semester here at Handong is a campaign for living a more balance life.

The busy-ness of life, especially in the life of students and professors alike, has been advancing with menacing force over this past month.  The campaign I have undertaken is my small attempt to thwart this advance. And how might you ask am I mounting such a campaign? What tactics and strategies am I employing?  My chief weapn is the camera function on my mobile phone, and my subjects are the flowers of the field.

As I walk about campus each morning, I purposefully search out beauty -- the beauty Jesus taught us to behold when he said, "Consider the lilies."  When I find beauty, I photograph it.  And then as I go about my day, I display the photo I have most recently taken on my mobile's wallpaper and simply ask the student or professor I have encountered along the way whether they know where on campus this object of beauty may be seen, and when seen considered. 

If they know, they have already joined the ranks of my campaign.  If they're willing to search it out, they are well on their way.  If, though, they do not know nor care to discover, then they have been overcome by our common enemy -- the tyrany of the urgent.  I seek to persuade them that a life balanced with the pursuit and appreciation of beauty might actually enhance their performance of those duties that they seem so burdened to fulfill.  It might just help to lift that burden that has so captured their attention that all around them seems a haze or what's worst, a grayness.

Here are a few of my recent photo's of the flowers that have caught the gaze of eyes that have been gracious opened by the belief that one thing is necessary and when we choose it, we will have chosen the better part of life -- a more balanced life.

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

My Korean Birthday . . .Quite An Auspicious and Lengthy Day!!

What can I say? I think Sandy put it best in her email to me, "Koreans really know how to celebrate!"  And so began the celebrations this past week on Tuesday evening with a "Pre-Birthday Pizza Party" @ one of my students' favorite spots -- "Mr. Pizza"  That's a Hawaiian Special with the candles atop it in front of me.

After enjoying our pizza and endless salad bar feast (the true attraction here -- all you can eat salads!!), we played a hilarious game of "Pictionary" using words and phrases from the case these Law & Advocacy students are preparing for Mock Trial in a couple of weeks.  So, what picture would you draw if the phrase you were given was "in loco parentis" ?

But, the celebrations didn't end there, even though that would have been an amazingly fabulous time.  No, from Mr. Pizza we all walked down the stroll through Yukkuri (the downtown shopping and entertainment district) to what you in the States would call a karaoke club, but what is here called a noraebang (singing room).

That's right, each group that comes in gets its own room equipped with an amazing karaoke machine housing literally tens of thousands of favorite songs from all generations and genres! I'm told this is the number one form of party entertainment in Korea.  I was happy to join right in.  It was my birthday, right??  Well, pre-birthday, at least!!  Ms. YeEun Han, Mr. Vu and I crooned "My Heart Will Go On" together.  What a blast!

The pre-birthday party was so overwhelming that I had to take a day of rest on Wednesday!  Several students stopped by my office during the day, though, to drop off wonderful little gifts and cards.  One, Ms. Ha, even presented me with some home-made rich dark chocolates!!  Couldn't even eat half a bite without a glass of milk!! Amazing!

Another student, Ms. Grimi Kim, brought me two small cactus plants for my office.  Each gift was accompanied with a beautiful card containing more than just the ordinary "Happy Birthday" wishes you find on American cards.  Every card conveyed a hand-written expression of good wishes and prayers.  Then, about 9:30 Wednesday evening I received a call from Ms. Shin, the president of our Law & Advocacy study group asking if she and another student might drop-off "something" at my apartment later on that evening.

"Later on" turned-out to be nearly 11:30pm and the two students turned into over a dozen carrying with them a cake, presents and a large decorated envelope full of birthday cards.  They sang the "Happy Birthday" song twice as the midnight hour approached, and we all enjoyed pieces of the delicious cake.  At the stroke of the new day, they all became the very first to wish me "Happy Birthday" on the Fifth of May!  What amazing students I have!!

Their presents included a beautiful orchid plant for my office and a jar of hard candies that one very special and preceptive student had noticed I particularly enjoy.  They do not miss a beat!!  When I started to open their cards, though, everyone said that I should wait until after they left.  I think they knew that when I read them I might very likely start crying.  And, after they did all depart around 12:30, I read them all and I did.

So now, I have been given a "pre-birthday" party and a strike-of-midnight birthday party, but the celebrations are, in fact, still just beginning.  On the morning of the fifth, I awoke to a beautiful day and took my regular break-of-dawn walkabout campus and was serenaded by some of the most unusual bird songs I have yet to hear here in Korea.  Could it have been that my birthday made me a bit more attentive to their tunes??

By eight,  I was seated on the sidelines of the soccer field with students and fellow colleagues to watch our Law Department men engage the Engineering Department on the pitch.  Unfortunately, our men could not engineer a sufficient number of successful shots on goal, and this one went into the books with disappointment.  It was, though, a hard fought match, and after all, that is what we are daily called to give!

At eleven, I joined with my dear friends from the Pohang International Community core group and we journeyed the short distance from campus to Chilpo Beach, and what a beach party it was!!

We cooked-out and enjoyed a great meal together with the sea breeze blowing in our hair and the sun
beaming down on us!

 Pastor Richie's son, Joseph, presented me with one of my most precious birthday gifts -- an original picture drawn and colored by Joseph to remind me of our day at the sea. (It has now been posted to a prominent spot on my refrigerator).

I even tried to convince Richie that it was a great day to join me in taking a swim in the ocean, but my powers of persuasion were not (fortunately for him and me) sufficiently potent on this occasion.
But wait, . . . . it was my birthday!!! . . . .  don't I get to do what I want to do on my birthday???   Rest easy Sandy!  I didn't end up going swimming, but I did have a thoroughly good time with the best of friends on an amazingly beautiful day at the beach!!  I even jumped for joy!!  Thanks, Boyeon, for convincing I could!!

And, you might think the celebrations had reached their zenith, but you would be wrong!!  We're not done yet!! After returning to campus, cleaning off and out the sand I brought back in my clothes and on my legs and feet, I enjoyed a nap.  Well, it was my birthday, right!  I had to rest because I was due to meet my TA, Ms. Juyoun Han, and three other students for a birthday dinner at Hyoam Restaurant -- the nicest restaurant on campus.

Daniel & Hojong

While it was much more reserved and definitely less rowdy (for Ms. Han would have no other way) than my midday celebration at the beach, we did enjoy our fair share of laughs as I tried to give Daniel and Hojong, who are now both law students at Handong International Law School, some pointers on wooing women.  

I don't think they thought my idea of a first-date walk in the cemetery was all that helpful, though.  Yet, they could not dispute that it at least worked for me.  Just goes to show you how loving and caring my dearest Sandy was and continues to be!  So, as Daniel practiced his French to himself ("mon chéri amour"), Hojong wasted no time in getting closer to one of the fairest young ladies on campus, Ms. Shin, who had also joined in my celebratory dinner.

Hojong, you should really smile a bit more! I know your brute handsomeness is your strong suit, but a winning smile can go far toward melting her heart!  

At the end of the dinner, the four disappeared for a few minutes only to return with a birthday cheesecake adorned with several candles less than 52 -- they would have needed special permission from the fire marshal for that!  It topped-off an amazingly fun and delightful evening.  But wait, there's still more . . . .

After departing Hyoam, we walked across campus to the playing field to cheer on our Law Department girls' wild horse team in their match against the Design Department.  Wild horse is a game combining the intensity of American football, the speed and agility of soccer and the ruggedness of rugby (sometimes). The  team presented me with a great present -- a thoroughly decisive victory!  Go Law!!

So that was it!  I barely made it back to my campus apartment before collapsing!  Although completely exhausted as I was, I couldn't have been happier to have enjoyed such an auspicious day! Sandy was indeed right:  Koreans really do know how to celebrate!  I only wish you could have been here to join in on all the fun, Honey!!