시집: 태초와 나, 그리고 삶과 죽음

나에게 시집은 세상과 소통하는 가장 자연스럽고 의미있는 통로이다. 이를 즐기고 아낀다. 시인이 전문은 아니지만 시를 사랑하고 시를 통하여 나의 이야기를 하고자 한다. “너는 먼지다”라는 시집은 도덕경에 바탕을 두고 썼으며 몇년 전에 출간하였다. 조금의 반응은 있었고 많이 고무되었다. 그걸로 한국시집은 처음이자 마지막이라 생각했다. 그런데 또 다른 작은 시집을 마련하게 되었다. 나도 모르게, 자연스레.

이 시집은 나의 지난 날의 학문여정을 반영하며 개인적인 관심사인 태초와 우주, 그리고 우리의 불안정한 삶과 죽음의 문제를 다룬다. 이것은 나의 불완전한 시이며 이야기이다. 여기에 실린 사상은 오직 나의 불완전함을 전제로 이야기한다. 나는 누구를 설득하거나 내 것이 맞다고 말하지 않는다.

독자는 이것을 읽음으로서 자기와의 대화를 하길 바라고 자기의 이야기를 담아내길 기대한다.

시집: 태초와 나, 그리고 삶과 죽음 (paperback) | Direct link to read online

Poem: Acorns

The Body is our ultimate destiny

What Remains: Why the Body Is Our Ultimate Destiny

—Yung Suk Kim, PhD

Strip away the job titles, the milestones, the accolades, and even the painful stumbles, and what are you left with?

When the noise of daily ambition fades, a quiet, undeniable truth remains: my body is the only thing that stays with me until the very end. Success will eventually leave me, or I will leave it behind. Failure, too, is a transient visitor that loses its sting over time. These metrics are fleeting social constructs—here today and redefined tomorrow. But my physical form is the constant companion of my consciousness. It is the sole medium through which I experience every breath, every joy, and every moment of existence on this earth.

Sowing Today for Tomorrow's Architecture

There is a literal, biological law at play in our everyday lives: what we sow for our body today shapes our future body. Every cell in our physical form is in a continuous state of renewal. How we nourish ourselves, how we move, how we rest, and how we handle stress today serve as the literal blueprints for how we will inhabit the world tomorrow. Caring for the body isn't merely a routine maintenance task or a superficial pursuit—it is an investment in the very architecture of our future agency.

The Myth of Separation

We often live as though the mind and body are separate—as if the mind is merely a tenant renting space in a temporary house. But human experience is deeply embodied. How we think, feel, create, and love is tethered to the vitality of our physical vessel. Tending to the body is honoring the ground upon which all our mental and emotional life rests.

Honoring the True Destiny

Realizing that our body is our ultimate destiny brings a profound sense of peace. It frees us from chasing external horizons at the expense of our health. When success and failure lose their tight grip on our self-worth, we are returned to the quiet dignity of the simple, tangible present: breathing, walking, resting, and caring.

Ultimately, taking care of you body isn't about vanity; it is about honoring the one home you are guaranteed to live in for the entirety of your life.

Reflection Question:

When you look at your daily routines today, are you sowing seeds for the body you want to inhabit tomorrow?

Silent Eloquence

Houseplants are my love,
my companions, and my inspiration.
Wordlessly,
they speak to me with eloquence.
Their beauty is unparalleled—
far beyond a thousand fine garments.
Gently, I water them,
look upon them, and feel their touch.

  

  

Day 10: Living in the Tension (The Art of Being Time-Bound)

Reflection Question

We are time-bound beings who experience both physical decay and profound cognitive hope. How does accepting your temporal limits actually free you to live more fully today?

Day 9: Memory, Narrative, and Tradition (The Living Past)

 

Day 8: Apocalyptic Time

Reflection Question:

When you let go of the idea that a future event or timeline will "fix" your current struggles, how does that change your approach to your own mental health and trauma processing today?

Day 7: Immanent Eternity

Reflection Question:

If we stop looking for the divine in miraculous interruptions and start looking for it in the ordinary laws and rhythms of life, where do you see the sacred showing up in your daily routine?

Once Again, Pistis Christou: The Case of Galatians 2:20

Yung Suk Kim, PhD

Galatians 2:20

• NA27 GREEK: ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός· ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ.
• NRSVue: "...and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
• NIV: "...and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
• My Translation: "...and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

What exactly does Paul mean when he uses the Greek genitive phrase pistis Christou?

Traditionally, this phrase has been rendered as an objective genitive, meaning the believer's faith in Jesus. However, critical Pauline scholarship has increasingly leaned toward the subjective genitive, translating it as Christ's faith or faithfulness.

The primary argument for this reading is that throughout his authentic letters, Paul establishes a consistent pattern of emphasizing Christ's own work and faithfulness. Paul's overarching view is that Jesus, as the Son of God, manifested God's righteousness through his own faithful obedience, not merely by being a passive object of our belief.

The Precedent in Romans
Take Romans 3:22 as a prime example. Here, we see a clear formula dividing the work: "the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ for all who believe." This phrasing suggests that the believers' faith is modeled after and dependent upon Jesus's faith.

In this single verse, there are two distinct forms of faith at play: Jesus's and the believers'. If Paul had meant only the believer's faith, appending the phrase "for all who have faith" would be entirely redundant. Furthermore, if Paul simply wanted to describe a believer's faith in Jesus, he easily could have used the prepositional phrase en (like "in" in English) combined with the noun pistis. Instead, he uses the genitive form. Romans 3:26 further reinforces this subjective reading: God justifies the one who has "the faith of Jesus," rather than the one who has "faith in Jesus."

(I have discussed these grammatical and theological points at length in my previous works, including How to Read Paul and A Theological Introduction to Paul's Letters. See my publications)

The Decisive Case of Galatians 2:20
When we bring this framework to Galatians 2:20, the verse becomes one of the most decisive indicators of the subjective genitive.

Paul’s central point here is crystal clear: he is no longer the active agent. He has been crucified with Christ, and it is now Christ who lives in him.

Notice how Paul parallels the preposition en ("in") twice: he lives "in the flesh" (en sarki) and "in the faith" (en pistei). He continues to exist physically in the flesh, but he no longer decides or acts on his own autonomous behalf. Instead, he is sustained and animated by Christ's faith and love. This is why he declares, "I live in the faith of the Son of God."

I emphasize the preposition "in" to illustrate that Paul is enveloped by and living by means of Christ's faith. Christ is living in him, empowering his very existence. If we read this verse in the traditional objective sense ("by my faith in the Son of God"), it creates a glaring theological awkwardness. How can Paul claim that his own autonomous faith is the driving force if his ego has just died on the cross and he is "no longer living"? The faith that animates the believer must be the faith of the Son of God.

Conclusion
The more I reflect on Paul's letters, the more convinced I am of the subjective sense of pistis Christou. Frankly, it is a profound theological loss if we fail to recognize the vital importance of Jesus's own faith in bringing about God's righteousness.

It is time to reconfigure Paul's theology in its proper, original context—and by doing so, we can constructively relive the faith of Christ in our own time.

Day 6: Chronos and Kairos

Reflection Question Options:

What "season" of life are you currently in, and where might you be causing yourself unnecessary suffering by fighting against it instead of practicing radical acceptance?