New Year

2024, a new year has dawned. I will live a simple, content life every day. I will plan things without ambition and execute them gradually. I will focus on myself and won't complain about others. I will thank God for all I have. I will learn humbly, teach confidently, and write clearly.

God says to me in my heart: "You are my servant, the beloved; with you I am well pleased. Empower my people and teach them what they need."

"The Body of Christ" (soma christou)

Since my debut book's publication in 2008, I have not changed my thesis about the body of Christ. I still believe it.

Choose the way of life (Psalm 1)

Psalm 1 (NRSV Updated Edition)

1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path that sinners tread or sit in the seat of scoffers, 2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. 4 The wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, 6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1 points out the two ways of life: the life of righteousness and that of sinners. Whereas the blessed people meditate on the law of God, the wicked seek their own will. The former live like trees planted by streams of water and yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all they do, they prosper. The wicked are not so. They are like chaff and will not stand in judgment.

When I meditate on the law of God, the first thing that comes to my mind is the acknowledgment that God is sovereign and merciful. We must see and honor God as God, which means we must allow for the power of God in our lives and acknowledge our utter dependence on God.

Every morning, every moment, our life depends on the grace of God. Every walk we take, every inhale and exhale we have, every word we say, and every smile we make are possible because of the grace of God. We should not allow negative energy to overwhelm or ruin us. We must see shining hope amid despair. We must visualize the moment that the stormy clouds will part soon and recognize the sun already shining above them. At a time of distress or turmoil, seek God and the Spirit. Listen to your body and attend to each breathing. Thank God for each inhale and exhale. Life is a gift. If there is night, there comes also day.

Every morning, I remember that I am a gift of God and embrace the spirit of God, which fills me with an active mind imbued with positive thinking, curiosity, and creativity.

I won’t focus on yesterday or tomorrow. My time is today, and I focus on the present moment. I do my best today and every day. Tomorrow will be the grace, but today is a true gift I received.

Lastly, I quote a neuroscientist, Jaime A. Pineda, who argues that we must choose each time the AAECC impulse (active, adaptable, energetic, curious, and creative) rather than the AFRAID impulse (avoidant, fearful, resistant, arrogant, inflexible, and distrustful). He argues that these two impulses are within us (Jaime Pineda, Controlling Mental Chaos: Harnessing the Power of the Creative Mind by Rowman & Littlefield, 2023). They are like the two sides of the same coin. Choosing the AAECC means appreciating the positive side of life and thanking God for such a gift in our lives. 

I pray:

Dear loving and gracious God, we celebrate your presence, your grace, and your power every moment. Thank you for your boundless, bountiful energy that surrounds us. Help us to choose the way of life amid negative realities in the world. Empower us to seek justice and righteousness as we navigate uncertainties and hurdles in our world. Inspire us to see the needs of others and stand in solidarity with them across the globe. In turmoil and chaos, sustain our body and mind through your everlasting love and care. Amen.

Be curious and creative

I will be curious and creative in all things I process in my daily life. I will embrace both critical thinking and a nonconscious, intuitive mind. 

Allow a curious and creative mind to enter into your body and mind. Respect your body rhythm and attend to things surrounding you. Hear your inner voice. 

What you think is not absolute. Don't be hasty. Stroll and ponder everything deeply. Never stop wondering. 

Morning Psalm

Thank God
Every morning is a miracle. There is no guarantee that I would wake up in the morning after conscious or unconscious journeys of my soul or mind during the night sleep. Back to my conscious mind, I must thank God for saving me and giving me another day. Slowly, I put myself in the bosom of God, feeling his love and soft touch on my soul. I am like a child again and dependent on the limitless love of God.

Be active
I am filled with an active mind, imbued with positive thinking, curiosity, and creativity. I also feel the energy, spirit, and inspiration from my inner soul and the external environment.

Focus on the present moment
I don't focus on yesterday or tomorrow. My time is today, and I live in the present moment. Even though I may be doing many things with a busy mind, I keep focusing on the present moment. I count the blessings I receive from God and feel the power of God every moment.

God is love (Dios es amor)

Dios es amor. Si preguntas dónde está Dios, puedo decir que no está sólo en el cielo sino aquí y en todas partes. De hecho, Dios es la fuente de nuestra vida. Donde quiera que vayas, hagas lo que hagas, Dios siempre está contigo. Debemos ser conscientes de la presencia de Dios en nuestras vidas. Debemos sentirlo en cada momento. Dios no es una idea sino el poder que nos permite vivir en abundancia.

Mix-up

[Skyline Drive, Virginia 2023]

I am a Latin-Afro-Korean-American. I traveled throughout Latin America because of my job, living in Panama in the 1990s. I still remember many good things about the culture, food, and Corazon que viene de America del Sur. Later, I moved to the States and met more culturally diverse people. I have been working with an African-American institution for almost twenty years. Deep in my soul, I enjoy salsa, hip-hop, pop, and Arirang (Korean folk song). I need a constant mix-up—a third space to grow.

Virtue of Self-control

I don't know when the word "self-control" disappeared from my mental dictionary to apply to everyday life. I forgot about it for some time. Although I used it in lectures or books, it did not come into my daily life consciously enough. Usually, my pendulum has swung back and forth between a soft, malleable mind that personalizes or internalizes things I face and an ironclad confidence coupled with high self-esteem that often results in hurts and defensiveness when things do not turn out favorably. But today, in my trail walking, the word "self-control" abruptly came to my mind. It was like a lightbulb moment when I recovered a dormant concept of self-control---a virtue that helps to control one's thoughts and emotions and establishes the critical role of autonomy and agency.

More than ever, I also realize that self-control needs flexibility and a strong will about one's relation to self, others, and the world. It is a capacious yet self-determined response to things and people. In the end, robust mental health needs a balanced mode of rule between self, Other, and relationality. While self-rule is a sine qua non to human agency, it would be never complete because human conditions are uncertain and uncontrollable in many cases. What makes us whole is not merely a keen sense of self apart from other beings or realities but a sense of viable connection with them. Now the question is, How can one relate to them effectively and healthily while maintaining a robust self?

Philosophy of Today

 

 

  

How Does “Getting in Front of the Text” Speak to Issues of Black Liberation and Social Transformation?

[Courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org]

“Getting in Front of the Text” for Liberation and Social Transformation

Ellison-Jones Convocation Faculty & Alumni Panel (2023)

Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology

Virginia Union University

Yung Suk Kim

Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity

Biblical texts do not mean, but we mean with the texts. No interpretation is neutral. All readings are contextual to a different degree. Our task is not to make a perfect or complete meaning but to engage with them critically. No meaning is everlasting or fixed forever. 

Given this nature of contextual interpretation, we need to know who we are as readers, what we read in the text, and how we read it. So when we talk about meaning in front of the text, we must recognize all these three elements—reader, reading lens, and text. I wrote this view of interpretation in my book, Biblical Interpretation: Theory, Process, and Criteria (Pickwick, 2013).  

With these in mind, we can engage with biblical texts and focus on liberation or social transformation. For example, we can read the Exodus story as a model of liberation for the oppressed. So much of this reading goes well with Jesus’s teaching and ministry for the marginalized and oppressed. Black theology, or liberation theology in general, goes on in this direction. But there is another story we must read alongside it: How can we read Joshua’s conquest narrative of Canaanites? How come Israelites who once were oppressed could become oppressors? Do all Canaanites and animals deserve death? There were some innocent people, children, and babies. Is the God of liberation merely a tribal God for Jews? 

Compare this view of God with Paul’s understanding that God is the God of Jews and the God of Gentiles also (Rom 3:29). Ultimately, the question is: How do we understand God in the Bible? Whose God or what kind of God do we read? Essentially, the reader must decide. The bottom line is that the true God is more than what the Bible says or goes beyond it. We, the readers, must engage with various texts responsibly and take a stand. 

Think about Matthew 15:21-28. Jesus forcefully denies the Canaanite woman’s request for her daughter’s healing. Not one time but three times with a Jew-first mission or Jewish exclusivism. He said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and “It is not fair to throw the children’s food to the dogs.” His saying is wrong or ethically problematic even though he finally allows for her request because of her faith. He represents a perspective of imperialism or triumphalism. At the end of the story, he reverses his view and praises her faith. This story is not merely about the woman’s great faith, which needs explaining, but about the narrow vision of the mission of Jesus and his disciples. The readers must investigate the historical context of Matthew’s Gospel and the historical Jesus’s time and his ministry. They must see the power dynamics in the story, conflicting ideology, and matters of race, gender, class, economics, religion, and culture. By the way, all people in this story need transformation, including Jesus.

The typical reading of this story emphasizes the woman’s faith, especially “submissive, docile faith.” But this kind of obedient, tractable faith condones injustices and evil acts. What bothers me most is not so much the lack of faith as the lack of justice. The woman needs justice! Justice for healing. Justice for family and community. She asked for it through her faith in God. She believed Jesus, the Son of God, was supposed to advocate for the marginalized (italics for emphasis).  

The lesson is how we stand on God’s side, not merely having God by our side. Apostle Paul is helpful here, as he presents his radical view of God and politics in 1 Cor 1:27-29: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor 1:27-29).

Liberation movement or social transformation must address all kinds of marginalization, locally and globally, economically and socially, religiously and politically, personally and communally, psychologically and spiritually. Readers of texts must recognize multilayered, intersectionality-woven marginality, stand in front of the text, and witness the power of the gospel in our world today.