Sept 9. 2014. 만사 II

We met again. The last time we met on Skype was 3 month ago, when I first arrived in Sierra Leone. During those 3 months, I hardly had any time to catch my breath. Moving here and there in Sierra Leone, urgent evacuating from Sierra Leone, adjusting new environment in Tanzania… And now, I can finally make time for 만사, weekly meeting with a mentor from Church of Philippi. I guess all mentees who began 만사 with me might have already finished this 4-month’s discipleship training. But I have not. Even though I am not able to meet with my mentor in person, the word ‘impossible’ is not in my dictionary! 만사 should be continued no matter where I am. My mentor and I have exchanged e-mails a few times to make the progress, but I thought having conversation might be much better way to study bible. I have had the good fortune to come to Tanzania and continue my fellowship work, and I have a pleasant office with decent Internet connection. There is no streaming buffering for video call!

It's good to see you again, June! 

We found the time to meet on Skype. There was 7-hour difference between Maryland, the U.S. and Tanzania. He has also been spending busy days recently. He studies oriental medicine in the U.S, which seems to be a quite novel walk of life, because he must be learning acupuncture, Chinese traditional medical treatment, on the opposite side of the planet, Western country. Recently, he told me a surprising but wonderful news that he would become a father soon. Wow. I am glad to know that his life is well under way. God bless him, his wife, and a child about-to-be-born. When on earth do I get married and manage home life? I have always thought mapping out my life for raising a family is the least urgent thing that I will have to do. Or, I just do not know how to manage my time to prepare for it. On the other hands, even before I knew him, he must have prepared for his marriage and family planning quite steadily while he was keeping with his schoolwork and working part-time in the oriental medical clinic. If I were him, I would struggle along to catch up with everything he does. However, he is always earnest, prudent, and especially, super-calm. He must have been pressed for time to do 만사 with me when I was in the U.S., but he never expressed his hectic schedule and came to see me every week by driving 1 ½ hours round-trip. He is only two years older than me, but there is a lot I can learn from him. He is a great spiritual guide as well as a life mentor to me.

Today, we talked about “meeting with freedom.” If we do meet others with freedom, equality, honesty, and love, we will make sincere and invaluable relationship with people around us.

Proverbs 24:3-4. “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.”

Psalm 133. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.”

Everyone has his/her own free will. I think freedom is human being’s unique human right. In the relationship with parents, wife/husband, children, friends, and superior/colleague, it would be really important to respect for their life and dignity, without coercing or pressing anything. Even if each person is able to do whatever he/she wants, freedom always entails responsibility. Nobody may want to be a lost son who left home dicing away his fortune. There is no person who is flawless; everyone is craving for being loved and embraced. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” It is easy to criticize, judge, diatribe or even upbraid other people. However, you may have to take out the speck of sawdust in your eye first, before measuring to somebody else.

I have my free will at the every single moment. No one urged me to complete 만사 and go to church in Tanzania. But I am asking myself, “What is the most valuable lesson that I should not miss? Is the school? Is the writing report? Or enjoying myself to the full?” When I feel the futility of life, I come back to the Bible. Like a lost son who finally came back home, I wish I could repent bitterly and dedicate my free will to the true purpose of my life. Surely, I already have so many sunburned skins, so it would take a long time to shed all of them. Perhaps, I would never be free from faults, because I am just an imperfect creature. All I can do is to realize how to use my free will most wisely; it would be slowly but it must be gradually. I will have to find what my genuine passion is by thinking, behaving, and behaving as I thought. If I do not do it, I will be swayed by my thoughtless behavior and think as I behaved. What is my next free will after Tanzania? I wonder too. Although I cannot change what I already have done, at least I can draw a new picture on a piece of daily white paper to sketch my future little by little. Did I round off my all today well? Did I draw the picture to the best today? I am looking forward to seeing a tomorrow’s white paper.