The Precious

The Precious

Do you remember the story of the Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, an English writer? He published it in 1954 when I was a high school kid. I did not know about the story until I watched its movie version years ago.

A magical gold ring came into the hands of a Hobbit Bilbo somehow. Gollum called it “the precious.” He claimed that the ring is his, and that Bilbo stole it from him. Gollum, by the way, could not live without it, and therefore had chased after to the end of his life. The gold ring had a legend to have a magical power to make the person who wears it invisible and capable of doing many other things good or bad yet unknown. Bilbo was a rich man in town and might have used the ring to accumulate his fortune. It came a time for him to retire. He decided to bequeath Frodo, his nephew, the ring and the fortune and became a freeman again at last. He would become free, because he would need not to struggle whether to wear the ring or not to wear anymore.

Frodo with the inheritance is advised to handle the ring with gravity and possibly not to wear it at all. As the story goes on, he encounters so many dangers of his life to have temptation to put the ring on his finger just to escape from the impending danger. Finally, he overcomes such temptation by throwing it into the abyss of hell.

What is “the precious” in today’s term? I like to know. The precious is the magic like the sleight of hand. It is in another word the lie. Frodo had been tempted to lie just to escape from danger. But he overcame the temptation. Gollum is the embodiment of lie. He is like a packman living on eating lies. He starves where not to lie. I vividly remember in the movie the ugly Gollum desperate in pursuing the precious only to kill himself.

As for the national health care, no one argues that Americans need a fair health care system. Both liberals and conservatives agree on the need. A suspicion is that Obamacare may have been built on the deception on Americans who are supposed to be beneficiaries, as is exposed recently. The utopian plan without the spirit of Frodo is likely to take the spirit of Gollum. The credibility of the White House is at stake plummeting like never before. The Lord of the White House may have a magic wand to turn around from the dip like a check mark. A humble citizen’s hope is that his magic wand is not indeed “the precious.” Pearl Buck once said, “Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.” Tolkien sixty years ago might have prophesied what is happening in America today. The Return of the King may be imminent. (November 21, 2013,KYP)   

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precious

Den of Liars

Den of Liars

Past week, the world’s leaders gathered together to address at the general assembly of the UN. How many of us believe they were telling the truth and taking the bull by the horns? I have not heard them talk on the Syrian biological weapons or Iranian nuclear weapons. At least, I was relieved not to hear something like the scandalous video tape this time. The noble idea of the UN established 60 years ago now has been degraded in my opinion into a den of liars able to achieve nothing urgent for the world peace, yet wasting our scant national resource. We are no more strong enough to bring other nations even on the table.

Very recently, a Republican Senator took filibuster on the national health issue for over 21 hours. Praise him for his courage to express his opinion in public so that Americans decide what is at stake for them. Republicans are divided, while Democrats are united in unison. What does that mean? It means to me that Democrats does not think individually to come up with alternative ideas, or have no brains, while Republicans do. They are stuck with one idea which could be evil. What is evil is that they think they are good people and others are evil. They are even against the national polls.

In past five years, the government has grown monstrously big. If the Obamacare were to be fully implemented as is now, the power of government is likely to grow to be not manageable by the people forever. The president is now able to tell Americans a lie in daylight with impunity as exposed in the Bengazi attack. American can no longer force him to tell the truth.

We begin to realize that our government has grown too big for sanity.  American people are not eggs protected in the government shells. Americans are already hatched to be independent. Any attempt to build a big shell is absurd, whether it is the Obamacare or something else. Chicks can never be eggs again.   They are not baby chicks either. They know what to want. But they are not ignorant or wicked. Wicked are in most case those in power. (September 26, 2013, KYP)

Empty Tomb

Empty Tomb

This is a story of the Resurrection and the empty tomb understood by a self-proclaimed amateur theologian, me who warrants absolute truthfulness of the story.

In Jerusalem 2000 years ago, the Jewish religious authority charged Rabbi Jesus with blasphemy meaning that he acted as if he was God. The Roman soldiers killed him on the cross as a criminal on the Friday before the Passover. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of Sanhedrin which is the Jewish high court, obtaining the permission of Pilate, the then Roman Governor, pulled the dead body of Jesus down from the cross and buried him in his private unused tomb under the guard of the Roman soldiers. On the first Sunday morning, it was found by the women followers that Jesus’ corpse disappeared and the tomb was empty.

The reaction to the empty tomb heated up in Jerusalem. The Jews and Christians were diametrically opposite in their arguments. Here is an argument written by Matthew (Mett. 28:13):

    Christians:    The Lord is risen.

    Jews:        Jesus is stolen.

    Christians:    The guards were watching the tomb.

    Jews:        The guards fell asleep.

The stolen Jesus story was needed for both the Roman occupiers and the Jewish leaders to keep the country as usual as status quo so that taxes are collected with no interruption to the Rome and revenues are secured for the Temple authority. They were political and religious power in Jerusalem and in Judea. The veracity of the stolen Jesus was secondary to them. The Judea and the Roman empire are long gone, but still the mystery of the empty tomb is as fresh as yesterday. No contemporary natural scientist, or historian has reportedly found the cause of the empty tomb yet and probably will never find by their methods only.

The Jesus followers on the other hand had experienced very unusual things. Jesus appeared in the day light after the Sunday to talk, touch, and eat together with them, but not all the time. The appearance of Jesus was not in personal basis, but in public all together so that anyone who happened to be in the scene could see Jesus. It was not just a visionary thing, but the physical appearance of Jesus. When we say that one is spiritual, we mean that he is a physical person, whose action is motivated by the spirit. By the same token, when Jesus was said spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:44), the meaning is that the body of the risen Jesus was there with the spirit, not spirit only. Jesus was not seen in a vision like in a movie. Jesus appeared in real not just one time but in multiple times in forty days. These appearances transformed the followers’ lives to spread the resurrection story and to build the Christianity to the end of the world. These are witness stories majority of theologians today support as reliable.

The resurrection story is the most unbelievable, but the most fascinating story ever told, written, and studied in the history of mankind. The Bible, especially Psalm, Prophets, eyewitnesses, and Revelation, is clear about what happened to the empty tomb. (August 21, 2013, KYP)             

Visiting a friend

Visiting a friend

D and his wife invited us (HJ and me), and Y and his wife for lunch at their home about one and a half hour drive away from where we live. At our age, an invitation of friends to home for a homemade meal is a special treat. We are among golden friends of the college contemporaries. Y volunteered to drive insisting that he is going to save us gasoline, yet I accepted it as an immeasurably warm friendship offer. So we went to Y’s which is not very far from ours earlier than the promised time. We could not wait to see friends. However, we decided to give our hostess ample time to prepare as Y suggested, so we took all our time driving with no hurry.

We took Interstate Freeway 5 North and then Ronald Reagan Freeway 118 West. The 5 was high traffic as usual and gave Y an extra tension in addition to carrying a distracting person like me. But he was a good driver. I barely remembered D’s house for which this is our second visit. Our first visit was when he bought the new house (a brand new with no yard work done) and just got married with the present wife. We prayed for them a new happy life together. They were both in the second marriage. They both lost their spouses. They decided to build a new life. Today we have witnessed a fruit of their efforts. The back yard and side yard are well built with beautiful and well groomed trees including Japanese bamboos and grape vines. The back yard was decorated with a big parasol, a picnic table and a few comfortable chairs. Every spot of the place showed their effort to rebuild their life again in my eyes. He is a retired Ph.D. in engineering. He also has built a good workshop in his garage. He did not say what he is building, but I was assured for him to be busy everyday. He also has demonstrated a radio controlled model hovercraft he constructed as one of his hobbies. I was happy to see him busy with those stuffs. I was proud to have such a good friend with me. I know he is also a faithful man to God. May God bless all of us to follow Thy Word with passion and love so that the fruits of Thy Word be seen plentiful around us in the days to come.

I give my big applaud to Mrs. D for her taking so much trouble to prepare such a good lunch for those almost useless guys and gals. Mrs. D was slim and could not have been more beautiful. She plays golf at least twice a week as always has been. I noticed that she lost a lot of weight. But we were told she is healthy. The lunch was great. I was impressed with the Southern style even the pork with cabbage, fresh green pepper, and bean paste. Those were my favorites. I enjoyed all of them. I decided to forget my diet that day. (July 26, 2013, KYP)

Temptation

Temptation

“There is none good but one, that is, God.” (Matt. 19:17)  Jesus said we are not good. Apostle Paul also said, “they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable: there is none that does good, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:12) Both Jesus and Paul seem to talk to us right now, when we see what is going on in America today. The Word is eternally true in both social and individual level. Christianity believes that no society is good, unless individual is good. We are not good, but want to be good. The only way we can be good is to exercise our free will to make right choice. The difficulty is that every choice is a temptation, which is an inner struggle for us to settle.

Do we know how to make a right decision? Of cause, we do, only if we know what is right and what is wrong. Alas, our knowledge is imperfect, no data collected are totally errorless, and our will has a tendency to make a hasty decision. It is as if we take our best shot with the blindfold. There are simply too many choices to make all right. We meet temptation to fight. Ignorance exacerbates the fight. Our wisdom is not sufficient to keep us good. We must choose without knowing how; it is inevitable for us to make mistakes, but possible to learn from them.

Sin is the choice we make against the will of God, and degrades human quality. It is not good and hence injurious to us all. We are likely to fall into sin, but our hope is to correct in humility our missteps to come back on the right track again as the prodigal son returned to his father. Our neighbor is here to help us and God is in us to help each of us with His mercy.

We pray that “God be with us on earth as in heaven. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Here, evil is not a substance, but a lack of goodness. No goodness, no life! We are asking God to come down to lead us to be good. How can we be good? We seem to ask God to protect us from temptation. This world is full of temptation. Then without facing temptation to overcome, how can we grow to be just in this world? How can we become good without trying? Don’t we need temptation for spiritual maturity as an athlete needs physical exercise every day?  Even Jesus suffered temptation in the wilderness. He took forty days to overcome it. Perhaps, we may never be able to come out of the wilderness ourselves.

God is perfect. God does not tempt us. (James 1:13) But we are imperfect and incomplete. Our infirmity causes temptation in us. God may want us to be strong in spirit by allowing us to battle against temptation as a tool of discipline. Then, I would read the portion of the Lord’s prayer as follows: Though we may be defeated by temptation sometimes, save our lives and deliver us from evil. Fire proves iron, and temptation a just man. We may not know clearly what to do, but temptation shows us clearly what we are. God says, “I have set before you, life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life that thou and thy seed may live.” (Deut. 30:19) (June 22, 2013: KYP)    

Stars in the night sky

Stars in the night sky

God created light. What is this light? This is not exactly the sunlight but, for the lack of an easier term, is called synonymously as if it were the sunlight. Without the light, we are spiritually in darkness that we cannot say the precious from the vile. The light enables us to make right decision and good choice. The light is compared to the sun by analogy. The sun brings us such a beautiful world into our sight. In the early morning when the sun is on the rise from the east, we start our day with a new hope and expectation, but we see the sun set to the western sky with nothing much accomplished every time, hope with wearied bodies waning unknowingly. God is graceful, faithful, and long suffering to give us another day for another chance. The light is from the wisdom of God. We often waste daylight in vain. Then we come into a long dark night until the next sunrise.

I used to walk alone in the dark at times to and from school, when I was in teen years. I was walking on a rural hillside path where no passerby could be seen after sunset. The full moon gave me enough light to find way home safe. But the moonlight made into my sight a fantasy world of weird shapes of rocks and trees combined with their shadows nearby on my way. They sometimes gave me chilly feelings, because they seemed to be in motion, as I moved for the walking.  With no moon, I could see countless number of stars glittering in the sky. Everywhere else was dark, quiet and open space. Stars hardly gave me light I needed. But they became my companion. The north star, the big dipper, and many other constellations were not strangers to me. Those stars seemed peaceful so as to make me think that they have so many stories to tell me, if I had ears to listen. They have been there in the sky probably millions of years watching persons including me. They must remember my father who became a victim of the Korean war. They may have witnessed all the joys and sorrows of the human race on earth. They looked to me like saints, the souls of sons of God, who once lived on earth. What did they do to become saints as such? I asked myself. Were they really saints in the heaven, they might watch and guide me walking alone on the road. Then, I was no more alone. I was with the saints.

The Genesis says that God created the light the first day of the creation and the sun the fourth day. I wonder how three days and three nights were counted before the sun was created. I do not pretend this is the only thing not to understand. I realize that my knowledge is so narrow and limited as I feel as if to walk in the dark night I experienced years ago. Now, I praise God, You created light. Your word is the light. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. (May 26, 2013, KYP)

American Bulwark

American Bulwark

Mr. Hicks was Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya, the number two U S official in Libya, when Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans were attacked and killed in Benghazi during the night on September 11, 2012. He is a 22-year career professional in the State Department and has received numerous recognitions of outstanding performance in his job. He decided to stand on a testimony to describe what really happened the night in Libya as the highest official in the region after the death of the ambassador. He took the risk of losing his job. In fact, he was demoted for his action. He was not very likely to be political, but rather to follow his conscience. Let American conscience be free from suffocation. God bestowed us the freedom.  

In his testimony in oath at the congressional hearing on Benghazi attack held on May 8, he said, that he had the last conversation with Mr. Stevens, who said, “We are under attack,” and that he reported the night to Washington that the attack was done by organized terrorists. This is very different from the YouTube video story the Government issued later. The U N ambassador Rice appeared on five different TV shows to insist that the Government have information on the attack of being a spontaneous mob, and of being instigated by the YouTube video. She tried to quell any idea of an organized terrorist attack. Her intention is still unknowable, but she certainly confused American thinking.

A citizen, Mother of Mr. Smith, a State Department information officer, one of the dead victims, complains that she has not yet received a full explanation as to why and how his son really died. She has been told so far that the spontaneous mob killed him.  If Mr. Hicks’ testimony is true, the Government highest officials are likely to have lied to her face to face and nose to nose (in her own word). The testimony indicates that they knew from the beginning the terrorist attack and made up the video story for a political reason. The former CIA director conceded in a different occasion that he knew, based on his information collected, the terrorist attack from the beginning even before the video story came out. Ms. Smith is sad, because she is neglected by the Government. We also are sad, because we all be neglected one by one.

“What does it make difference?” The then State Secretary Clinton asked in a hearing. We do not exactly know what she meant by the question. She acted as if she was still a better politician to handle this mess. She acted as if she did nothing wrong, but she was missing the point. At issue is the Government credibility in jeopardy. No government can or should cook up a phony story for political expediency. Americans want to know who fabricated the video story. No government can run without credibility and Americans cannot live in peace and engage in business activities without trusting the Government. We are urgently in need of the restoration of credibility. In the current standing, no one can predict as yet where the Benghazi scandal will lead to. Credibility is the American bulwark. Thank you, Mr. Hicks, for your courage to speak. The more will follow you to break silence. Have you ever thought some of the four might have been saved, had we have acted? Truth will prevail in the end. (May 10, 2013, KYP)   

Boston Bombing

Boston Bombing

The Boston marathon bombing awakened us all Americans. Three people were killed, among whom was an eight year old kid who was watching innocently to encourage his father running in the hoping to run himself someday also, and more than 300 other people critically injured and wounded. Two pressure cooker bombs installed with sophisticated triggering devices exploded in the middle of the spectators, while the marathon was in progress. Two suspects were hunted down and resulted in one killed and the other captured alive but gun-shot wounded. The whole Boston city was paralyzed by the acts of these two men. The citizens were trembling in fear inside their home forced to follow the order of the authority.

After the capture, terrorized citizens came out sheepishly to streets still suspecting their freedom regained, waved the Stars and the Stripes, and sang the Star Spangled Banner. Soon afterward, the suspect in the hospital bed read Miranda right even before being asked any information that might be useful for the national security. What is the real story of the Boston terrorism? We have no way of knowing it, unless the media report to us honestly. Terrorists were in our backyard. We feel that America is not safer than before. America is in the dark.

How would God see all this? Apparently motivated by conflicting interests are two opposite views on this incident in the Government, in the two parties, in the nation, and in the world. The varying interests will change in time and place. But it is the moment of the truth to show whether the leaders work for themselves or American people.

God tells us to love one another. We should love our enemy. So is said. But what about justice? God is just. Justice should be done on the terrorist. God confuses us, but the Government confuses us even more by keeping us in darkness. Is justice incompatible with love? The notions of love and justice are not clear anymore, because they are all perverted. Sexual love and fair share for example had made our heads spin in dizziness. We became foolish. Then, let me reiterate the same question: Is perfect justice incompatible with perfect love? The answer is resoundingly, ‘No, they are compatible,’ because perfect justice is perfect love – they converge to each other. God is the justice and the love everlasting.

The injured victims now have to suffer every moment in the hospital for no good reason, when the opposite camps are in vain pointing fingers at each other in false effort to vindicate themselves. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Cain once said. We are all descendants of Cain. We cannot hide our faces with our bloody fingers before God. Let us bury the hatchet of political and ideological interests to reestablish our trust in God in this land. Let the love and justice prevail. (April 26, 2013, KYP)

Bread

Bread

 

When the History Channel broadcasted last month in a series “The Bible”, a Christian story starting from the Genesis and ending in Revelation, audience watched with great interest and praise with diverse reactions. Among others, caught my eyes one scene which I am about to talk: Then was Jesus led of the Spirit into the wilderness (of Judea) to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. And when the tempter (in a black wardrobe) came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

 

We know the rest of the story as late Paul Harvey used to say. Turning stone into bread is a presumptuous proposition. Jesus was challenged of His divinity by the tempter with the stupid proposition. Jesus needed not to prove who He is, but had let him find for himself.

 

The tempter might have come with Plan B on the same subject of bread, before he moved to the other two temptations. Plan B could have gone like this: The tempter said, “Jesus, you look terrible. How could you stand without eating for 40 days and 40 nights. Perhaps, you had at least some water from a stream down the valley. Listen! There is oven-baked fresh bread plentiful left over by those greedy rich in Jerusalem, which is not very far from here. I have the world’s swiftest hovercraft with me. I can fly to steal the bread and bring here to feed you so that your hunger pain would turn into pleasure in satiation, if you just say ‘yes’ on my vote.”

 

Talking about the Plan B, there is a different Plan B called the morning after pill. An innocent young girl made a mistake on a night. Since we are so concerned about her otherwise bright future, we have to save her from a potential trouble. So even under 17, she is to have access to the Plan B without any restriction, though the long term side effect of taking the pill in underage has not as yet been determined. But this is a health issue of the next generation. In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies will have a boon to flourish, while we debate who is going to pay the bill. This is getting complicated with no promontory in sight.

 

It is in essence the issue of morality. If we took morality out of our society, our society would start to crumble quickly. For it is the glue that binds us together, morality requires us not to be careless, but to be responsible. Therefore, in response to the tempter, Jesus answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (April 6, 2013, KYP)

Mother

Mother

 

My mother passed away on August 19, 2009. The story of Monica, mother of St. Augustine prompted me to recall my mother. Though I cannot compare myself to the saint in any measure, my mother is in my view comparable to Monica in her dedication to God, her sons and her husband. She is now sleeping next to her husband, my father, in the national cemetery in Daejeon. When my father at the age of 36 was killed during the Korean war, she at 35 was left with empty hands and two little kids to raise. I still remember how hard it was to fill empty stomachs every day.

 

My father was left hardly attended for twenty years in a public burial place near the seashore where my father was murdered by the people’s court. When I left for study to the States in1970, I had his body moved to a hilly mountain place an uncle owned with my promise that I would find another place after finishing my study. Another twenty years was long for a mother to wait for her son to return even for a visit. In fact, one of my good friends helped me to make the visit possible. Only God knew that I would stay in my motherland for a long period.

 

My mother had already prepared, not very far from her home, a nice burial place on a sunny hill for her husband and herself after death. A small graveyard was constructed, and a tombstone was put. My mother was visiting him almost every day by walk, though there was no answer from him. But she did not make bow to the tomb, because she was a devout Christian. She prayed for her sons, friends, and our nation. When Korean Government got into financial trouble during the IMF crisis, she donated all her gold and jewelry.

 

It was time for me to return to the States after ten years of good time with our friends and old folks – March, 2003. Since mother sensed that it would be difficult to maintain the graveyard after my return and learned that my father was eligible to be buried in the national cemetery, she desired father to be moved to the cemetery. Since then, I visited mother every year until 2007. After the following two seasons, my mother could no longer sustain. She was 94. Mother! I missed your last moment. I am not a very good son. Forgive me.

 

Time flies, but memory stays longer. I remember my father was riding a horse back as a local police chief, when I was a little kid. He was a handsome young man, who attracted eyes of worldly women. It took a generation to bring him to honor from the seashore to the national cemetery, his name chiseled on the tombstone. My mother brought the honor into reality. My mother was beautiful, pure, and faithful to God and her husband. She had only one man before and after her marriage. Now, they are together in honor. I am so blessed that I had such a good parent. (March 23, 2013, KYP)

Self-Relience

Self-Reliance

Korean fishermen in Yunpyungdo are trembling in terror under the potential threat of the North Korean leader, Kim jungeun, while the South Korean defense forces and the U S forces are jointly conducting a war exercise in the nearby Yellow Sea. The North seems extremely self-reliant on protection against foreign influence. Who likes a foreign nudge? They do not like America and some South Koreans do not either. They are patriotic in a weird way and have ended up building a horrible nuclear weapon. The off-track self-reliant culture initiated by the grandfather Kim has brought only fanaticism and poverty. I have lived long enough to witness the three generations of the Kims. The self-reliance is in my opinion an inflated pride.

South Koreans are told to have a special culture which has been formed to bring today’s prosperity from the devastation of the Korean war. It is a good culture the world watches with envy. It is called the Korean way. A question then is whether the Korean way is embracing other good cultures or excluding them?

I used to teach at a university which is now merged into KAIST. We had many U S educated faculty members. So we found no problem in teaching technological knowledge. The faculty members obtained the knowledge from the U S universities, but not the culture associated with technologies and businesses of the advanced country.

For the new President Park has launched a campaign to bring in the second miracle of Han River through the technological innovation, it is necessary in my opinion to engraft the advanced culture into the Korean way by inviting those who are immersed and proved successful in such culture. The Korean way is to embrace the other culture. It is greatly different from the exclusive self-reliance of the North. This separates prosperity from poverty or stagnation. (March 16, 2013, KYP)

Super Bowl XLVII

Super Bowl XLVII

It was the Super Bowl Sunday. It was the day we have been waiting for to have fun with all our kids gathered in front of the huge HD flat TV screen, screaming, yelling, and laughing together. After the church service, we drove down to San Diego, an hour and a half drive, where Cherry’s home is. I drove and HJ promised to drive on the way back home. HJ prepared something to eat for lunch and Cherry made unsalted popcorn with her new air corn popper. She knows I like no salt popcorn. Later Christine joined and finally Alan came having finished his duty as a pilot flying from Texas to San Diego. We could not miss the delicious pizza for dinner. It is no fun to watch a Super Bowl without pizza.
 
TV at every channel was about the Super Bowl from the early morning. The game started at 3:00 pm PST at Superdome, New Orleans. 49ers of San Francisco and Ravens of Baltimore were fighting. I was a fervent 49ers fan. I loved Joe Montana, when he played in 1990 against John Elway of Broncos. Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of 49ers is young, promising, and excellent player. However, somehow my heart went to Ravens. Baltimore is in Maryland where we lived for 12 years. I felt Joe Flacco, quarterback of Ravens, like being my hometown kid. The coaches of the opposite teams are real brothers, Jim and John Harbaugh. Their parents were among the spectators and watching them facing off. Jim the younger of 49ers was to me like a buffoon with samurai eyes. Every turn of the events was reflected on his facial expressions and bodily motions, while John the elder tried hard to maintain equanimity in his demeanor.
 
By the end of the first half, Ravens led 49ers by 21-6. A TV cameraman often showed audience Jim diligently working with commotion. At the beginning of the third quarter, on 49ers’ kick off, the receiver of Ravens stunned spectators by making 108 yard run to make additional touchdown, scoring 28-6. Can you imagine what could have happened to Jim? Or what would Jim do to change the momentum? All of a sudden, most part of the stadium went dark. A power outage occurred. “Poor Jim! We know you did not run up to the power room to turn off the light, simply because you did not like the score.” After more than half an hour delay, John seemed to concern about the momentum change. Indeed, 49ers came back to catch up within a touchdown to 34-29.

The last two minutes was like a one choreographed. At the 2 minute warning, 49ers had the ball on the 4th down within 5 yards to the goal line. Kaepernick with his energy and confidence was highly likely to make the touchdown to win. Alas, the throw he made was slightly too long to make the catch. There appeared to be a momentary mingling of the intended catcher and an opponent during the flight of the ball. Jim Harbaugh immediately cried in desperation to call for interference, yet no penalty marker was seen on the ground. Then was the Raven’s turn to take offence. They played a safe game not attempting to make a throw but waiting for time to expire. There were only 12 seconds left when Ravens were on 4th down to make a punt. The 12 second might be enough for 49ers to make a touchdown. Upon receiving the snapped ball, the punter unexpectedly, holding the ball, stayed in the end zone evading any assault until pushed out of the zone. The punter gave 2 points of safety to 49ers and in turn consumed 8 seconds of playtime which was like infinity. With the score of 34-31, 4 seconds remaining, Ravens made a great kick. The time left was too short for 49ers to do anything meaningful.

Ravens have become the champion of the Super Bowl 2013. 49ers are good players with the dynamic coach and will probably win next year. We enjoyed watching the game with all our family. HJ drove home safe the night. (February 5, 2013, KYP)

Luncheon of camaraderie

Luncheon of camaraderie

HJ (my wife) has her hair grown enough to curl herself for the first time since her surgery a year before, for we are going to have a luncheon with our old college friends. We invited Young Hi and his wife to share our car to drive to a restaurant in the Korean town. The Korean town is not like Seoul with high-rise buildings but like Yungdeungpo with a taste of small city. Driving with an old friend couple gave me and HJ an unusual delight. HJ even warned me a couple of times not to get too excited for the safety on the road.

Choi, Chung, Kang, Koh, Kim, Park, Park of San Diego, Shim, and most of their wives also came. It was a big new-year meeting thanks to Bryan and Dongku for organizing. We are now all around mid-seventies (septuagenarians). Everybody congratulated HJ for her complete recovery from the cancer. And it was a great day for all of us celebrating our healthy longevity and a new year.

Bryan, a legitimate member of a Korean poets association, read three poems of his own. Poems were either interesting or a bit difficult to comprehend for a stone head like me. Expressions were odd but creative. At our age, anything is meaningful, I thought. One could be ill and lie down on bed struggling for life. Bryan took pain to create those poems with his old brain for us. We thanked him. I give him applaud. Then Dongku with humor and friendly seriousness brought a Chinese verse to pontificate with his interpretation. Participants had to read parts of the verse one after another. It was a time to check if we still remember those Chinese characters we were forced to learn back in those rebellious young days. It was a good try and fun.
 

We are in a sense out of touch of the real world being retirees over ten years. So, I thought anything is blessing that gives us a peace of mind. I put some of my effort to know God, though impossible. I decided to understand Christianity besides being a Christian that I am. Christianity in my opinion is higher level than Confucianism. Objection being granted, Confucius thought that ethics (moral law, which could be a god to him) and reason are the essence of the universe. Chinese culture grew out of Confucianism. On the other hand, Christianity has moral law, reason, and God. God is believed to have created the universe and man. Christianity is easier to access in English than in Chinese. So, I chose to read English literature. It gave me peace of mind. Knowing God is joy to me. (January 15, 2013, KYP)

Ten Righteous Men

Ten Righteous men

I want to write at the beginning of a new year something bright and hopeful like the morning sun rising from the horizon. But it is hard, because this year is dark to me. Americans chose to stand on a long line to get food stamps and free health care. They do not seem to care to know  ethically what is good and what is bad, because the Government will decide the good one. The Government will provide them with free education. The congress representing people is just a voting machine, because the Supreme Court will legislate. Then, who is going to make America right and prosperous? Where is “We the People?” Americans have to put up with less than before and a longer line for the food and health care. This is a landscape of America today
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Americans think they still have freedom. Abortion can be done free of charge so that they have sex freer. The Government will take care of the irresponsible sexual acts. Alas, we have to be careful in saying something. We have to use politically correct language. The media is strictly controlled. Poor media persons! No news is real news. If you want to be a college professor, you must first become a liberal.
 
But Americans are not dumb. They are unlike Europeans. They would not like to stand on the long line any longer for anything. They will unshackle the yoke of unnecessary regulations. Politicians cannot transform Americans and instead will be transformed by them. Americans live on the Judeo-Christian ethics. They know how to endure. European relativism blows into America too. It could be epidemic only for a short time. America may suffer only to be stronger. It is dark now, but it is already dawn. We have creative minorities at work (January 4, 2013, KYP)