New Year 2014 with friends,
I am almost exhausted in using all those good words, praises, and blessings in the past long years to make greetings and still trying to find a good word for friends I most care. I no more look for good words, but seek after a spirit that would transform our mundane days into joyful days. No matter how meager it is, joy is to share all together with no worry, as joy in peace. A joy to one person seems also the same to another person, while a happiness may be not.
We had yesterday a lunch meeting with friends so old that we enjoy relishing our interests to the stories, with which we have been familiar over the years. They are not even important stories and are easily forgotten immediately after the party is over. When any one starts talking, we already knew what he was going to talk about before opening his mouth. But his talk is not very uninteresting, nor harmful. A broken record is sometimes useful to fill the gap among us, old sluggish heads. Some friends bored of such old stories did not even bother to come. Yet we felt comfortable being together spatting out to some nonsense arousing laughter and merriment. We were in a comfort zone and camaraderie. After all, we enjoyed time together so much that we agreed to meet more often. I thought making a time merry is an art, because it gives us a taste of joy. Not all luncheon meeting has been memorable. But everyone were seemingly joyful that day.
Elder Kim, our friend who is actually one year junior of our college, (but who cares about it at our age even by the old Korean tradition) announced that his family suffered from an illness past year, and that now would let us celebrate the complete recovery from it. He volunteered to pay for the lunch that day for the celebration. This was totally unexpected to me. I was helpless for my passivity. I thought it would have been much more joyful to God’s eye, had we invited them for the lunch. Anyway we thanked them sincerely. They must have tasted the joy of giving in the suffering. I could feel the joy though vicariously. Mrs. Kim looked healthy and beautiful. No one could ever tell she was a cancer patient last year. Thank God.
I overslept this Sunday morning. Laziness attacked me. I felt like to skip the worship service. We have been this church members over ten years. The present pastor, who is in thirties of age, is the third generation of a renowned pastor. The congregation consists of mostly seniors. I was tempted to think that our absence for just one day would not make much difference to others. My wife did not aware the attack of my laziness. We made hurry not to be late for the service notwithstanding. In the worship, the choir was to me unusually good and the violin performance of the orchestra impressed me much and the sermon was even greater. I repented my laziness I had this morning.
At the fellowship class after the service, Pat showed up. She needs a walker to stand on her feet and to move. We have known her for almost ten years. She is ten years senior than I am. Though she is frail, she maintains serenity. She never hurries. She may hurry in her mind in irritation. But she is calm. She lives alone. She no longer attends church every week because of her weakness in body. At the last yearend, She wrote in her Christmas card she would find a church closer to her. Later she told me she was in a bad mood when she wrote. So, we did not expect her every Sunday. Not long ago, Hay J. and I visited her apartment house. She kept her home very neat with a few expensive Chinese drawings on the wall. I helped her have U-verse AT&T service installed. I knew what to do to get the service, because we have the same service at home. We were so happy to see her at the class so healthy that I gave her a big hug welcoming her. She looked so happy and joyful to come. Her joy was also mine. The joy was countless. I was delighted in heart to realize that I might have given her one more reason, though it may be a meager one, to come to church even one day more. I have been a backseat passive Christian in a way. It dawned on me that Pat actually aroused probably by providence me from my passivity. This made the whole day in full joy. I thank by heart Pat for coming to church with her heavy body. She came not only for herself, but also for me. I praised God for His work again. I could have missed the good choir, the orchestra, the sermon, and the friend come out that day. More importantly, I could have missed God’s working. Even for one Sunday, God must have a plan for me and for us. (January 19, 2014, KYP)
