Title: God in Things
Contents
When the Pope visits a foreign country, you will always remember the first kiss on the ground upon arrival. Each time, I reflect on the meaning in my own way with a warm feeling. I feel warm because wherever the Pope visits, by kissing the ground, he seems to express his most intimate feelings and will for that country, but I also go beyond that and feel another meaning. If all things were created in harmony with God's providence, I am trying to attach my own meaning to whether the land that we first encounter upon arriving in that country is another aspect of God in that place. I would also like to give meaning to the land that everyone treads on, and the first kiss on the low ground that is trampled on and dug by anyone is a reverence for the sign of God's providence.
My interest goes further and expands to the extent of finding meaning in all things, even if they are insignificant or small. If affection can be felt there and even God's providence can be found, every little thing will give us a sense of the meaning of a great existence.
Not long ago, while renovating the house, we decided to use it as it is, even if we fix everything that can be used as much as possible. Of course, it will feel much newer if you replace it with a new one and place it properly, but that's because you can't just embrace the things you've been using for a long time. Either way, I can't throw away the stuff I've been using. Even now, in winter, I wear the jumper my mother bought me 28 years ago. I am exhausted from the inside, but the clothes seem to blend the love of my mother and my affection for my mother, so in winter it feels like it wraps me warmly more than any other clothes.
In general, it is said that, at a certain point, it is economically beneficial to throw away used items. In the sense that only consumption can provide the basis for production, it is at first glance reasonable, and furthermore, the argument that 'consumption is a virtue' comes out. However, we are now acutely experiencing that human greed for consumption cannot be controlled and eventually leads to environmental destruction due to excessive disposal. So, the saying that we should be frugal to protect the environment is persuasive, but I think that thorough frugality is also required to prevent the deterioration of humanity due to over-disposal. If we use a certain thing for a long time, it must be the story of the person and the love that permeates between it and the thing. No matter how small it may be, a special relationship will develop with the person who uses it, and a warm personality toward things will grow.
I want to go beyond this and find a deeper meaning. In other words, if we consider that any object exists because God's providence is there, then all objects can be recognized as a symbol of God's will. In this regard, I will introduce a fairy tale. R. M. Rilke is known as a romantic German poet, but he also wrote a book of fables called 『The Story of God』 (translated by Hwandeok Park, short-lived 4293). When I was in high school, when I was skeptical about my faith, I can still vaguely feel the emotion I received from this book. Although it is a small paperback edition, it seems that my attachment to this book has not disappeared when I see that it is still easily found on the bookshelf. Inside, the fable “The Story of the Thimble Becomes God” is particularly impressive.
Seven children are gathering and complaining about the adults for a long time. Among them, the words of the captain, Hans.
"Adults seem to have a god, but no one can find a god. It's very suspicious. Adults are driven by work, so it seems like they lost it somewhere. But God is indispensable no matter what. It can't be created because God is turning the big watermill to make flour even when making bread. But it's clear that adults don't have a problem with God, so we have to do it instead. Follow everything I'm thinking right now. We There are only seven people, so let's each person worship the god one day at a time. Then God will be with us for a whole week. And we can immediately know where the god is." ......
But a problem arose. I had to carry the god with me, but I couldn't find a way. Hans speaks again.
"Anything can be a god, so you can call it a god for that. In that case, it has to be a small object that you can take anywhere. Then, let's all take out what's in our pocket."
There were pebbles, shavings, scraps of paper, etc., but the last thing I liked was the thimble that came from Regina's hand. It is a thimble that I received from my mother one day, and it is comfortable and pretty, so the children decided to make it a god. First, Hans put the thimble in his pocket. From the next day, I decided to take turns carrying the god thimble in my pocket.
But it was Saturday. As the children were running around frantically, Hans suddenly shouted. "Who has a god now?" It was that I hadn't seen God in the last two days. It turned out that Marie should have had it. But no matter how much he looked in his pocket, he couldn't find it. I got it in the morning, but it was obvious that I lost it during hide and seek.
After all the children had returned home, Marie remained alone in the field, looking for the thimble. When a man passed by and asked why, Marie replied, "I lost my thimble." I searched for him too, but in the end he got tired and just went away. Another man said, "Stop looking and go home. Why not buy a new one?" And he said and went away.
As the sun went down, the fields grew darker and the grass began to get wet. Then a stranger came and said, "What are you looking for?" ' Marie replied with a cry, "I'm looking for God" now. Then the stranger smiled and took Marie's hand. Unknowingly, Marie was led by her uncle. The old man was saying, "Look, you picked up a really beautiful thimble today."
Although it is a thimble, the story that is seen as a symbol of God is a story told through the pure hearts of children.
There is another article that comes to mind along with the story of Thimble. This is Jochimmun (弔針文), which was also included in the Korean textbooks of old high schools. This is a poignant story about a broken needle written by a man known only as Mrs. Yoo in the late Joseon Dynasty.
.....This needle is just a small thing, but I am sad like this because my normal life is different from others. Oh my gosh, it's a shame and it's pitiful. It has been twenty-seven years since I obtained you and held you in my hand. .....
It's not worth it, needle, beautiful needle, you have a subtle quality and special wit. Its beak seems to be speaking, and its clear ears seem to hear a sound. .....
Oh well, there are times when a child loses his or her hand, and there is a time when the secret is good but goes against the good. pass by The house was made of heaven and blue, and the five colors were put on the side pus, so it is a women's plaything. Touching while eating, touching while sleeping, we become friends with you during the summer and daytime, and against the lamp in winter night, we knit, weave, weave, weave, weave, and weave the double thread while weaving. , as if wearing a bongmi (鳳尾), when sweat and sweat rise, the beauty and beauty match each other, and the harmony is endless when they are attached with a brush.
I have been blessed in this life, oh my dear, needle, at the eleventh day of October this year, under a dim lamp, wearing a generous collar, while wearing a generous collar, is startled that it breaks in the middle of the heart, ah ah ah , needle, it's cut in two. The mind is distant and the soul is scattered, as if crushing the heart, as if breaking the skull, and eventually lost all signs and emotions, but finally came to his senses, touched him, and then he was helpless. no way .....
It's a pity, needle, when I touched the hem, there was no place where it was stuck.
Oh my gosh, it's my fault for not being careful. What to press and how to press? How can I hope for a skillful personality and a clever love affair with my own strength? Exquisite clothing is three-fold in the eyes, and the special style is bleak. Yes, even if you do not care about things, I hope that we will meet again in the future and continue the same relationship for the rest of our lives, making life and death one thing.
Of course, we cannot find the meaning of the deification of the needle here, but the woman's tenacious affection and the process of humanized awareness seem to be clearly visible, who has devoted her life to one needle for 27 years.
The following passages from 秋水篇 by 莊子 also teach us the essential meaning we must find in the existence of things.
Looking at the Dao, there are no demons in all things. From the point of view of [individual] existence, the self is precious and the remaining low. From the point of view of social customs, nobles do not belong to individuals. From the point of view of discrimination, if one being is greater because it is greater than another, then among all things, there is nothing that is not greater. If a being is said to be small because it is smaller than another being, then there is nothing in all things that is not small. Recognizing that heaven and earth are the size of a grain of grain, and recognizing that the tip of one turret is a hill or a distraction, can come from relativizing the differences between things.
In the East, since ancient times - especially in Neo-Confucianism - '格物致知' has been taught as a way to learn the Way. Here, '格' means 'appreciating' to things, or 'making things' with things, that is, reaching the essence of their existence. In other words, we do not understand all things by looking at their appearance alone, but only when we explore the origins of things to the extent that we can understand the fundamental meanings of them, that is, 'knowledge', that is, true knowledge. It may be possible to explain that any creature can feel and seek God through it as long as it exists in God's providence.
If we say that there is a way to recognize the existence of God and realize its meaning, of course, beyond the first response attitude that we cannot easily dispose of all things related to them because of the stories and affections involved therein, all things will never be It will have meaning as a noble existence that cannot be treated in vain and cannot be thrown away at will. In this way, affection for all things and frugality are not the way of life, but the way of our godly faith in the image of God.