(Fiction) "Something New Was Beginning!" by Regan Kim

Christmas this year was harsh. I lost my job in August due to the second Covid-19 lockdown. 

On Christmas Day, I had nowhere to go, so I was wandering the city centre alone. Late at night, I took a bus to go back home.

Had It been about half an hour? I was desperate for a smoke. There seemed to be no other passengers. 

I sneaked an e-cigarette out of my pants pocket and started vaping. The vapour was floating in the air, forming a cloud.

Then a woman's scream echoed on the bus. "Oh, no! He's smoking! I'm pregnant!" The bus driver freaked out and stopped the bus at the next stop. 

The woman was sitting in the far back seat. The driver asked me, "Did you smoke?" I didn't answer. He told me to apologize to her.

'What? Apologize? Who apologized to me when I lost my job?' I yelled silently. Despite myself, I burst into tears.

I couldn't stay on the bus anymore. I hopped off and walked a while. Loneliness in the dark turned my heart back to smoking. 

I took the vape out of my pocket, but it slipped from my hand and rolled into the road.

The moment I jumped off the sidewalk to pick it up, I found a car rushing towards me. It was too late to avoid a collision with the vehicle. 

Then I saw a weird thing. The shadow of a cross in the middle of the car's headlight turned up! Simultaneously, the vehicle hit me head-on. Bang!

The big noise caused my eyes to open. Am I dead? But I found the bus driver standing before me. Seeing my confusion, the driver explained what had happened. 

I was still asleep when we arrived at the last stop. When the driver failed to wake me up by shouting, he clapped his hands loudly and, finally, I woke up.

As I got up, I noticed a cross necklace hanging from the driver's neck. I asked him, "Are you Christian?" He smiled and answered, "Yes. Merry Christmas!"

As soon as I got off the bus, I took the vaporizer out of my pocket and threw it into the rubbish bin. I was humming as I made my way home on foot. 

I was still unemployed, and things didn't change at all. Nevertheless, I felt something new was beginning.

I was born again!

(Book Review) "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

"The Good Earth" was written by American female novelist Pearl S. Buck, who spent most of her time in China since childhood, in Nanjing, China, and was published in 1931.

Here's a brief plot.

Wang Lung was married to O-Lan, a maidservant of the wealthy Hwang family. She not only took good care of her father-in-law but also did well in housekeeping.

Oran was a strong woman, such as giving birth to her son alone and working on household or farming from the day after childbirth.

Wang Lung and O-Lan thought that owning land was the only way to escape poverty. A series of good harvests made them earn money, and they began to buy land.

Due to severe famine in the village, Wang Lung moved to the south with his whole family. Riots occurred here and there, causing rich people to hide their property in their homes and evacuate.

Because O-Lan, who used to be a maid of a wealthy family, was well aware of the rich's habits, Wang Lung and O-Lan found hidden gold coins and jewels and intercepted them.

After returning hometown, Wang Lung bought all the land from opium-addicted Hwang, desperate to purchase opium. Wang Lung became a large landowner. He brought Lotus to his house as his concubine, treating O-Lan harshly.

O-Lan died lonely, and over the years, the two sons came to Wang Lung, who had become an older man, and asked him to sell the land. Wang Lung firmly refused their suggestion, saying selling the ground means the end of everything.

The eldest son and the second son promised they would not sell the land, but they were smiling, facing each other behind Wang Lung.

<Lessons>

Wang Lung and O-Lan made their fortune with land, but their life didn't result in a happy ending. The wealth set apart the two and also ruined the relationship between Wang Lung and the sons. They were a broken family.

It was indeed a vain ending, like the words of Ecclesiastes 1:2, "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

Seeing this, Christians who read Pearl Buck's "The Good Earth" hope for a land of life and peace, not a land of money.

We can find the precious land in Matthew 13:44. It is the gospel of heaven. I want to hold this word as the lesson of the novel.

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

(Question) What is the land of Wang Lung to me? What is hidden in my field that I want to buy with everything I have?

(Book Review) "Peter Pan" by James Barrie

 

"All children, except one, grow up."

It is the first sentence of the fairy tale "Peter Pan." 

For Peter Pan, becoming an adult means losing his dream. What is Peter Pan's wish? It's a thrilling life full of adventures.

But we can't always live as a child. Author James Barrie doesn't seem to intend it either.

Above all, the writer describes Peter Pan as an extremely short-memory child. It is far from Peter Pan to remember a promise made with others. His heart is self-centered.

Psychologically, Peter Pan's personality is not a healthy type. There is a symptom called Peter Pan syndrome.

It refers to a person who acts like a child even after becoming an adult. They are irresponsible and tend to escape reality and hide in their world.

So what is the lesson of Christians who read Peter Pan?

Like Peter Pan, I hope our Christians are not afraid of a life of adventure and challenge. But unlike him, may we be filled with love and responsibility towards our neighbors!

I hope we can draw such wonderful self-portraits every day in our lives.

(Book Review) "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

             

1.Summary

The Great Gatsby, written as a first-person point of view by a narrator Nick Carraway, was published in 1925 by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.

It's a tragic love story of Gatsby, who ought to make a fortune to gain love.

Here's the plot.
 
The background of the novel is America of the 1920s, called the "Jazz Age." After World War I's victory, Americans enjoyed abundance and luxury, like jazz's sweet melody.

Born as a poor farmer's son, Gatsby craved to get out of poverty by all means. Gatsby is the symbol of the American dream achieving something from nothing.

Being a soldier, he met Daisy at a party and fell in love. Their love contained a tragedy due to the social status gap of the two.

As Gatsby participated in the war, the two lost touch, and Daisy got married to Tom. Both Tom and Daisy came from wealthy upper-class families. 

Gatsby, who returned from the war, earned enormous amounts of money from alcohol smuggling during the U.S. Prohibition era. Gatsby tried to get Daisy back.

Gatsby bought a mansion in West Egg in the Long Island Strait near New York City. He threw a grand party every weekend, waiting for the party-loving Daisy to show up one day.

Gatsby finally met Daisy. He wanted Daisy to divorce Tom and return to him. Gatsby's love was blind. He could do anything to win the heart of Daisy.

One night, a woman named Myrtle was killed by a car, which belonged to Gatsby, but was driven by Daisy at the time of the accident; Gatsby hid this fact for Daisy's sake.
 
However, Tom told a lie to Wilson, the deceased Myrtle's husband, that Gatsby drove the car. Wilson got fury and shot Gatsby to death.

Daisy traveled with Tom without knowing the death of Gatsby.

Gatsby threw many parties for hundreds of guests, but Gatsby's funeral was too lonely.

There was only one mourner at the funeral, an owl-eyed man who'd been one of Gatsby's party guests.

2.Lessons

In this novel, all messages are focused on the scene of Gatsby's funeral. In a way, we can say that this novel was written to show the background of Gatsby's funeral.

Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

What makes Gatsby great? Some would say that his achievement in the American dream was outstanding, and others would say that his love was great. But either way, the essence is earthly.

The funeral scene shows the vain ending of their love that would be gone like fog.

Gatsby, who had devoted everything to Daisy, ironically lost Daisy and destroyed even himself.

Many of the people who enjoyed Gatsby's party also disappeared as soon as he passed away.

It reminds us of Ecclesiastes 1:2, "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

Let's ask ourselves: What kind of death do I want to face? Then how should I live?

The novel ends up with a monologue of Nick, who is the narrator.

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
 
If, as Nick said, we can continue rowing against the current, that'll be great. However, if it is only that, we cannot avoid another meaningless death like Gatsby.

Wholly and urgently, we must change the direction. Which way? Towards the Gospel!

 

(Essay) The wisdom that we learn from Uncle Tom's Cabin

I remembered one thing, reading Uncle Tom's Cabin by American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe.

When I was a university student, I had asked what I was wondering to my Christian friend. At that time, I was an unbeliever. "Why did Jesus not fight against Rome?" 

I thought that Jesus, as a Jewish leader, should have dedicated himself to the liberation of his country.

His answer was: If the world were turned upside down by force, there would still be another ruler who suppressed the people.

He added that Jesus came to the earth to break such a vicious circle. What Jesus wanted to transform was not politics but humankind.

There is a similar debate over Uncle Tom.

From the perspective of today's human rights activists, Uncle Tom was an easy-going slave who was just obedient to his master.

But we need to realize that Tom's character, looking weak, has rather become a spark that burned the flames of the Civil War.

A greeting from Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Stowe, the author, tells the truth. "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war."

Tom forgave his evil master, Simon Legree, even as he was beaten to death. It reminds readers of the image of the deacon Stephen(Acts 7:60), who followed the forgiveness of Jesus on the Cross. 

We Christians are concerned about how to change our history. Reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, I saw that Tom's obedience, patience, and forgiveness destroyed the stronghold of slavery.

I would like to remind ourselves of the lessons learned from Uncle Tom's Cabin in a situation where human rights are still being unfairly violated. 

(Essay) Are we waiting for Samuel Beckett's Godot or God's grace?

When will the COVID 19 spread come to an end? Even if NZ is in a better situation,  there are still heaps of outbreaks of coronavirus worldwide.

It looks like only when the whole world is free from the pandemic simultaneously, each country can say it's okay.

A few months ago, I read an article in the Washington Post, where the editor said we all became Vladimir and Estragon in Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot.

I agree with him. The two characters of the play were waiting for Godot to the end. However, they had no idea who Godot was and when he would arrive.

It's just like us now. We are waiting for something in the pandemic. But what is it? Is it a cure or a vaccine or a collective immunity? What is Godot we are waiting for, and when will it arrive? 

I remember the ending of The Plague by Albert Camus. The epidemic was gone on its own in nine months since the first outbreak.

The pestilence was a new kind, like the current new coronavirus. Updated medicine was urgently needed for treatment.

The new serum had been dramatically developed through many failures of the clinical trial. But the novel doesn't say the remedy was the decisive factor that ended the plague.

People in the story anticipated the plague would withdraw as it got cold, but that didn't happen. The epidemic was still going on, despite the first winter cold coming in December.

By the way, the strong plague suddenly weakened in January. Patients began being recovered, and alive rats were moving around the city.

The government announced officially that the plague had been eliminated as of the 25th of January.

The novel doesn't let readers know the exact reason for the elimination of the plague. It remains mysterious.

But we Christians confess there was the grace of God behind the salvation from the misery.

The grace of God is like sunlight for both the evil and the good. (Matthew 5:45) But we respond differently. Christians will praise God, but non-Christians will honor their luck or effort or principles of nature.

We are going through tough times. Under the pandemic, we feel like all humankind is kneeling before the coronavirus. 

What shall we wait? The Meaningless Godot? Or God's grace, that is, Jesus who saved us?

(Book Review) "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett

1. Introduction

'The Secret Garden' was published in 1909 by Frances Hodgson Burnett, a British-American novelist.

The novel has a touching story that dying lives revive. The restoration of life! When and how can we experience the heart-pounding moment?

2. Summary

Mary Lennox, a ten-year-old girl, was born and raised in India. Her parents had died of the epidemic Cholera.

After that, she came to Misselthwaite Manor, her uncle Mr. Craven's place in Yorkshire, England.

Mary had been not well and a spoilt child. Anyone had never liked her at all in India. 

 

In Misselthwaite, she got associated with a maidservant Martha, an old gardener Ben and a red-breasted robin. The f8nellowship got her better in body and mind.

This manor had a secret garden, where nobody had been allowed to enter in the past decade.

 

It used to be Mrs. Craven's garden. She was sitting on a tree branch when it broke, and she fell. She was so severely hurt that she finally died. 

Mr. Craven had closed the garden since she died. He wouldn't let anyone talk about the garden.

One day, Mary happened to find a key to the secret garden, thanks to a robin.

 

She got into it and began looking after the desolate land. Dickon, the brother of maidservant Martha, helped her.

Mary heard the faint sound of a child crying at night. She asked the servants about it, but no one would tell her.

 

The child was Colin, Mr. Craven's son. He grew up hearing that he would die before reaching adulthood due to his weak back. He was always sitting in his wheelchair.

But a famous doctor had been to see the son, and he said Colin would be OK. Nevertheless, the poor child was scared of his dark destiny.

One night, Mary, following the cry, met up Colin. She took him to the secret garden that she was cultivating. Colin first experienced the joy of planting life there.

 

He became healthy, and he could walk on his own without a wheelchair, not long after. Colin called it magic.

When Mr. Craven returned home, he was surprised to see his son, who had changed completely. Colin told his dad that he would never rely on a wheelchair again.

With all the servants watching, Mr. Craven walked home across the lawn with Colin, a strong and upright as any boy in Yorkshire.

3. Lessons

(1) Revival of Life

The Misselthwaite Manor that became  Mary's new home used to be a place of darkness, where life had been gone for a long time.

 

The life of the house came back when Mary opened the door of the secret garden.

The writer reveals the restoration of life one by one.

First, the life of Mary, who everyone hated in India, then the life of Colin, who was forgotten by all, and last, the life of Mr. Craven, who wandered alone after his wife died.

This story reminds us of the recovery of life that we see in Ezekiel 47 of the Bible.

 

The water flowing out of the temple rose to the ankle, knee, waist of the person, and finally became a river enough to swim and cross.

 

Wherever the water flowed and touched, the work of restoring life took place.

Therefore, when we meet our neighbors who are losing their light of life, we can find words to encourage them through this novel.

" If you have a secret garden in your life, open it first."

(2) The Life of Helping Neighbors

We see people who are killing or harming others for their benefit. They insist that in a competitive society, they can survive only in that way.

 

The path may bring them money or power right now, but it will end up ruining their future eventually.

Proverbs 14:12 leads us to that lesson. "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death." (NIV)
 
If so, what should we do to help ourselves? Unlike the worldly view, the Bible teaches that helping neighbors is the way of helping myself. 

Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself."(Mark 12:31) But that's not the end. Furthermore, the Lord says, "love your enemies." (Matthew 5:44)

Proverbs 25:21 has the same lesson. "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink."

When doing this, the promise of verse 22 will bless us. “The Lord will reward you.”