The Picture Bible

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I was baptized into the Christian faith last December. Unfortunately I don't go to the church I had attended because there have been struggles over power and money between a preacher and church elders. What a shame and how ridiculous!

Instead, I have been reading the NIV BIBLE and Oswald Chambers' 'MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST' which are English books. Actually, the BIBLE translated into Korean is sometimes not easy for me to understand. That's one of the reasons that I persist in reading the original books in English. Another reason is to have opportunities to become more familiar with English. At first, it was hard to even think about reading the NIV BIBLE from cover to cover, so I have read focusing mainly on the New Testaments.

Meanwhile, I got to know of a illustrated book named 'The Picture Bible' which includes great stories, time line and maps. Above all, it's pretty easy to read and, before going to bed, I have read the book from the front page with great pleasure since last week. I look forward to getting a better understanding of God's will.

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There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverb 14:13

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3rd letter from Chloe

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Hello, Sam teacher? it's me, Chloe.
Today, I bought this yellow fruit paper, pink flower paper, a fan(that I hoped to get and secret to my 7-year-old sister, Ida), and a paintbrush. Anyway you said the poem in the Andrew Lost was a little bit scaring. A bad and scary person wrote that poem. But don't worry. It's just a poem. And how did you know my hand were aching when I was writing past-letter. And I did know about Atom, but I didn't know Marine boy and Chadoli. Did you know Atom's name's meaning is the smallest part into which an element can be divided(원자)? And also, I like reading comics a little bit too! By the way, I want to grow a vegetable garden with you. I like vegetables well. I'll also like to eat your family's green onion pancake. Anyway, I also like eating pizza. But I don't eat too much pizza. And I'll teach you a scary(Michaek Jackson) movie. It's called 'THRILLER.'. If you type 'THRILLER' in Naver, you'll see its scary Englsih video. Also I got my stocking ripped doing ballet. I love ballet. Anyway, now I'll answer you now. We'll go camping in the summer vacation. I don't knwo where ...... But it'll be fun! I went camping last summer. You know I'm very hungry now... Ah! my mom calls me to eat dinner. Bye!
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Hi, Chloe!
It's hot and humid, isn't it? How do you handle this heat? I'm just patient.^^ What a beautiful yellow letter with the design of oranges on it!!! Sadly, I can't eat them. As you know, it's 'a pie in the sky' (그림의 떡 in korean). Do you know your letters always surprises me? How did you know the meaning of the word 'Atom'? What's more, your explanation of its definition in English was really excellent. Chloe! I enjoy listening to various kinds of music, So I have already known of the Michael Jackson you talked about. When I watched the scary (in your words) music video 'Thriller'. I didn't feel thrilled, but excited. HaHaHa!By the way, you want to be a ballet dancer? Have you ever taken ballet lessons? Strange to say, your ripped stockings aren't such a big deal. I'm worried your pretty toes might get hurt and look ugly. Speaking of ballet, I recommend you to watch the well-known ballet movie 'Billy Eliot'. P.S ; If I grow a vegetable garden someday, I'd invite you in the first place.
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Invictus

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By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul

* William Ernest Henley (August 23, 1849 - July 11, 1903) was a British poet, critic and editor.

"I should like to see Japan have Korea." - A hidden, horrible history

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Once upon a time, there lived a king who had sincerely loved a country called Japan. Falling in blind love with Japan, he decided to satisfy its desire to exploit the neighboring Korean peninsula. Their inappropriate affairs had been ceaseless. In the end, Japan was allowed to own the naive Hermit Kingdom, which was cold-heartedly dumped by the king. Unfortunately, the king's crafty love turned out a false illusion due to the partner's betrayal. On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. The great king was no less than a person than President Theodore Roosevelt who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1907.

Too sad, embarrassing! Don't take the story for a fairy tale. It's just what I had to improvise, upon reading the James Bradley's article 'Diplomacy That Will Live in Infamy', which tells us a hidden history we have not totally noticed for about a century.

=Facts from the article=

• "The Japanese were a wonderful and civilized people entitled to stand on an absolute equality with all the other peoples of the civilized world.” from Theodore Roosevelt
• Back in 1900, Roosevelt had written, “I should like to see Japan have Korea.” When, in February 1904, Japan broke off relations with Russia, President Roosevelt said publicly that he would “maintain the strictest neutrality,” but privately he wrote, “The sympathies of the United States are entirely on Japan’s side.”
• To signal his commitment to Tokyo, Roosevelt cut off relations with Korea, turned the American legation in Seoul over to the Japanese military and deleted the word “Korea” from the State Department’s Record of Foreign Relations and placed it under the heading of “Japan.”
• Theodore Roosevelt, confident that he could influence events in North Asia from afar, wrote to his son, “I was thoroughly well pleased with the Japanese victory, for Japan is playing our game.”
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"History... is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake." ~James Joyce, Ulysses
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A beneficial eavesdropping

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We parents tend to be overconfident of reading our kids' thoughts such as what they think of, what's eating on them, and so on. Of course, I, as a father having two kids, am not an exception to that preconception.

Regretably, however, an unexpected event surrounding my daughter made me awake from the illusion. A month ago late afternoon, I received a text message from my wife "I have something to tell you about our daughter. Why don't you see me at the park near our house around at 7 p.m.?" After doing my business, I went toward the appointed place thinking of all kinds of assumption.

"What's up?" Sitting on the park bench, I broke silence in a bit solemn way.
"Well, I have felt somewhat deceived at our daughter's behavior" she said with the expression of having some doubts.
"She's got a boyfriend or what?"
"No." She returned in a strong tone.

Her story runs like this:
My daughter in the third year of a middle school was goofing around home after lunch. The swine flu had made the school closed for three days, on the last day of which my wife was supposed to meet with my girl's teacher as part of a periodic talks. The moment she got out of home in the late afternoon, my kid suggested going outside together with a request to put her electronic dictionary in mom's purse for a moment. Her school was just 15 minutes away from my house on foot. Approaching the school, my daughter, waving goodbye to her mom, hurried to head for her destination without taking out the dictionary in the purse. As soon as my wife came back home, my kid asked her to return the dictionary. She handed it over unwittingly.

"Guess what happened?" she talked to me like giving a puzzle.
"Well..." I just stared her in the face.
"Listen! She seemed to fiddle around with the electronic dictionary, and then familiar voice began pouring out of its tiny speaker! It were the very talks between her teacher and me." Her accent sounded a bit strained.

"Only then, I figured out why she had not taken the dictionary parting from me in front of the school." She looked like a monkey whose self-esteem was damaged and felt perplexed after falling from a tree.

"Really? Unbelievable! How could she create such a wonderful... wait!... such a weird idea? Was there such a recording function in that electronic dictionary?" Hearing the story like showing up at spy movies, I didn't know of what the hell to respond to her any longer.

Meanwhile, I was agape at my girl's plot, wondering why she had designed such an elaborate thing. As we, unlike other parents, had respected her own discretion with regard to her daily routines including studying, she must have doubted our inner thoughts on her. By the way, what if her teacher knew of being eavesdropped on their conversations from his loved pupil? Alas! Just thought of it made me shudder.

Anyway, Fortune smiled upon us. The result went against her imaginations. No bad mouth on her could be found. My daughter only confirmed mom's trust in her through the plain voice coming out of the dictionary utilized as bugging. She clearly saw through our thoughts of expecting her to grow brightly and well, though her school grades had not met our expectations.

Relived, we struck for home at about 9 p.m. By the time we reached, an unexpected present was ready to greet us. "Sorry, but thank you for loving me. You have brought me up well." My daughter laughed away her tears. I talked to myself, "You're welcome. Someday, you'll realize it is you, not us, that has raised you. We'll probably not have changed, if any, it'll be you."

A month later now. thanks to the failed plot, my daughter is changing little by little. She appears to be no longer what she used to be. She is spending more time reading than before, not to mention planning her daily plans for studying by herself, rarely to be seen before. I don't know how long it will last. Bringing to mind the old saying 'better late than never', my wife and I just appreciate that we can see my kid cultivate her life on her own. By the way, who could have thought that eavesdropping would be of benefit to my family?