pain-filled beauty

this past year, i have done one thing that i have wanted to do for awhile now: “leave” facebook. i want to keep my account open so that i can stay in touch with a number of people that i have met these past years. but i want to spend as little time as possible on FB.

also, this past year i have done two things that i thought i would never do: subscribe to NBA league pass and get netflix. in the past when in full time ministry, i’d always think to myself, “if i get league pass, i would never get anything done!” so before the coronavirus changes, i was watching more nba hoops than ever before in my life because of access to all the games through league pass. i was in nba heaven!! well, that is over for now

i never thought i’d get netflix because i prefer seeing movies on the silver screen. i have always been distracted with video/dvd movies at home. well, that has changed too. in this first week, i have enjoyed the movies that i have seen on netflix.

i have especially gotten into korean dramas

there is an aspect of korean culture called “han”. there are various aspects to han but a translation i like is “the beauty of sorrow”

for various reasons, han really comes through in their movie storytelling. suffering, pain, heartbreak, shame, hurt etc are all felt differently in the korean experience than in other cultures.

in films, this sentiment of sorrow and hurt is a captivating and powerful dimension of how our stories are told.

in faith, it seems to me that it shines light on the power of the cross. as we acknowledge and embrace pain and suffering as part of life these crosses can be transformed because of love. death, sorrow and suffering do not have the last word because of grace-filled love.

thomas merton wrote: “the truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt.”

who does not fear being hurt? who does not suffer because of insignificant things (that we are usually blinded to)?

this crisis of coronavirus/covid19 can bring out suffering and sorrow in many different ways; the cross is coming out in a very unique way in this unique time for us all. insignificant things can torture us at times.

we pray for the healing grace of the Spirit of all in need. we pray for the peace of Christ over those who are carrying heavy crosses right now