J.U.G
Think of yourself as an incandescent power, illuminated and perhaps forever talked to by God and his messengers.
Brenda Ueland
Be ashamed to die unless you have won some victory for humanity.
Horace Mann (1796 - 1859)
Each of us, at one time or another, can say that someone saved our life. Now while they may not have pulled us from a burning building, or jumped in front of a bullet, there were their when we needed them most, and because they were there, we are alive today.
The man who saved my life was Paul Shin. Paul is a Korean missionary who came to Chicago from the otherside of the world, to teach me about my salvation through Jesus Christ. Now he didnt have some vision and hop on a plane to find me personally, but he traveled here to take me, and others like me, and bring to us, a sense of fulfillment, that only god can bring. And not a day goes by, that I dont think about where I would be, if I hadn't met the man when I did.
I was walking across the quad heading to a test in chemistry I knew I was going to fail, when this Asian man in a suit flagged me down, now this happens more than you would expect, we have exchange students all the time running all over the place not knowing where they are going, I just expected he was looking for directions, I couldn't have been more mistaken.
"Do you know Jesus?" that was what he asked me, now for a second I assumed he meant Jesus Zavala, this mexican in my history section, but I realised he meant Jesus Christ. I told him that I did, I went to a catholic high school, a catholic grade school, and I have read the bible before, so I felt comfortable saying that yes, I did in fact "know" Jesus Christ. I was going to shrug him off as one of many religious nuts all over campus handing out fliers, or asking for money, but something about him was diffrent, something I couldn't put my finger on, and I was intrigued. Paul wanted to make an appointment for a bible study session, so that he and I could share the "good word", I figured why not, what can 30mins do, but I never dreamed that those first 30 minutes would have a long lasting impact on me. I joined Paul a week later at the University Bible Fellowship house on Polk street a week later, for a one on one session.
Now I was a little learry that I was being drawn into a cult, but I figured that I was responsible, I could handle myself, and if I sensed trouble I was confident that I would be able to walk. Now Paul greeted me at the door with a friendly handshake and led me into a family room where I met 12 others, who like me, were brought together for a session. We shared the history of our faith, we shared our problems with our faith, now mine were very real to me, I was a firm believer in the catholic church until a man named Ed Cronin became pastor of my church, and the emphasis moved away from God, and bacame about money and evangalism, after his initial attempts to raise money to build his "Cathedral" and his subsequent attempt to re-baptise those of us who disagreed with him, I decided that enough was enough, and I went to a diffrent parish, Sacred Heart. now while I was in a diffrent setting, it was the same old story, Money and a guilt trip for more money, I began to sympathise with Martin Luther, who realised that the churches selling of indulgences was wrong and robbing the faithful of both pocket and mind, I walked away from church and god, telling my parents every week that I was heading to mass, but I would just have my brother run into mass, grab a missalete, and then we would go and get breakfast, and that was a day. I had no intrest in faith, and I was fine with that.
Paul showed me the way back, when I began to read the bible with him, it wasn't about money, it wasn't about sacraments, it was about building a personal relationship between god and I and Paul wanted to take this to the next level. Paul lives more than 60 miles from my home, the FAR northside beyond Wrigley Field, and he drove down to my home to take me to a weekly prayer service downtown for the UBF one that brought together hundreds of college students like me from all over chicago, to hear the gospel, and interpert it for ourselves.
I sat listening to an ordinary person on the pulpit reading the bible, not another priest, minister, etc, it was an ordinary person like myself, one whose faith allowed him to bring the word to all of us, and on top of this I recieved the honor of listening to a orchestra perform music, to aide in my self understanding of the gospel. It was single handedly the most rewarding spiritual event of my life.
It's wasn'tcorrupt, thiers not some predator assaulting alter boys, thier was never ANY request for money, it was a simple ceremony created for a specific purpose, to spread a simple message, to make America again, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
This means, that every man, woman, and child can have the option if they so choose to hear the word of god, and to live a life faithful to the gospel. I learned that day, that I didn't need a church to bring me faith, I didn't need a priest to assure my salvation, my ultimate outcome in life, was determined by my actions here on earth and the life I live, the short and sweet, I am the only one who has any say or fault in my outcome in the afterlife.
That day my entire outlook on life changed, my political and social views, and even my overall mindset changed, I realised fully that thier was a god, that he is a powerful active force in this world, and he wants something from me. I know now what that is, and I spend my days and nights working towards it in my own ways, and for this I feel a total sense of fulfillment that I have never felt anything like before.
I came to hate the violence and chaos I once endorsed, I have started to come to accept the diffrences between other peoples and thier cultures and ways of life, and I want gods mission on earth to be fulfilled, for all of us to put aside our diffrences and work towards a more peaceful, perfect future.
When I was in high school, the Marist Brothers didnt call it detention, they called it J.U.G, Judgement Under God, we were being punished by god for our actions, and he determined our guilt or innocence, I understand this all so well now, when we stood thier with the book open in our outstretched arms, we were supposed to be thinking about what we had done, said, etc, and how it would affect our outcome in the future, JUG is something both powerful and meaningful to me now, and I fully understand why so long ago it seems, I was subjected to it.
But isn't that life, JUG?
"This is Life, This Is Not An Exit"
Brenda Ueland
Be ashamed to die unless you have won some victory for humanity.
Horace Mann (1796 - 1859)
Each of us, at one time or another, can say that someone saved our life. Now while they may not have pulled us from a burning building, or jumped in front of a bullet, there were their when we needed them most, and because they were there, we are alive today.
The man who saved my life was Paul Shin. Paul is a Korean missionary who came to Chicago from the otherside of the world, to teach me about my salvation through Jesus Christ. Now he didnt have some vision and hop on a plane to find me personally, but he traveled here to take me, and others like me, and bring to us, a sense of fulfillment, that only god can bring. And not a day goes by, that I dont think about where I would be, if I hadn't met the man when I did.
I was walking across the quad heading to a test in chemistry I knew I was going to fail, when this Asian man in a suit flagged me down, now this happens more than you would expect, we have exchange students all the time running all over the place not knowing where they are going, I just expected he was looking for directions, I couldn't have been more mistaken.
"Do you know Jesus?" that was what he asked me, now for a second I assumed he meant Jesus Zavala, this mexican in my history section, but I realised he meant Jesus Christ. I told him that I did, I went to a catholic high school, a catholic grade school, and I have read the bible before, so I felt comfortable saying that yes, I did in fact "know" Jesus Christ. I was going to shrug him off as one of many religious nuts all over campus handing out fliers, or asking for money, but something about him was diffrent, something I couldn't put my finger on, and I was intrigued. Paul wanted to make an appointment for a bible study session, so that he and I could share the "good word", I figured why not, what can 30mins do, but I never dreamed that those first 30 minutes would have a long lasting impact on me. I joined Paul a week later at the University Bible Fellowship house on Polk street a week later, for a one on one session.
Now I was a little learry that I was being drawn into a cult, but I figured that I was responsible, I could handle myself, and if I sensed trouble I was confident that I would be able to walk. Now Paul greeted me at the door with a friendly handshake and led me into a family room where I met 12 others, who like me, were brought together for a session. We shared the history of our faith, we shared our problems with our faith, now mine were very real to me, I was a firm believer in the catholic church until a man named Ed Cronin became pastor of my church, and the emphasis moved away from God, and bacame about money and evangalism, after his initial attempts to raise money to build his "Cathedral" and his subsequent attempt to re-baptise those of us who disagreed with him, I decided that enough was enough, and I went to a diffrent parish, Sacred Heart. now while I was in a diffrent setting, it was the same old story, Money and a guilt trip for more money, I began to sympathise with Martin Luther, who realised that the churches selling of indulgences was wrong and robbing the faithful of both pocket and mind, I walked away from church and god, telling my parents every week that I was heading to mass, but I would just have my brother run into mass, grab a missalete, and then we would go and get breakfast, and that was a day. I had no intrest in faith, and I was fine with that.
Paul showed me the way back, when I began to read the bible with him, it wasn't about money, it wasn't about sacraments, it was about building a personal relationship between god and I and Paul wanted to take this to the next level. Paul lives more than 60 miles from my home, the FAR northside beyond Wrigley Field, and he drove down to my home to take me to a weekly prayer service downtown for the UBF one that brought together hundreds of college students like me from all over chicago, to hear the gospel, and interpert it for ourselves.
I sat listening to an ordinary person on the pulpit reading the bible, not another priest, minister, etc, it was an ordinary person like myself, one whose faith allowed him to bring the word to all of us, and on top of this I recieved the honor of listening to a orchestra perform music, to aide in my self understanding of the gospel. It was single handedly the most rewarding spiritual event of my life.
It's wasn'tcorrupt, thiers not some predator assaulting alter boys, thier was never ANY request for money, it was a simple ceremony created for a specific purpose, to spread a simple message, to make America again, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
This means, that every man, woman, and child can have the option if they so choose to hear the word of god, and to live a life faithful to the gospel. I learned that day, that I didn't need a church to bring me faith, I didn't need a priest to assure my salvation, my ultimate outcome in life, was determined by my actions here on earth and the life I live, the short and sweet, I am the only one who has any say or fault in my outcome in the afterlife.
That day my entire outlook on life changed, my political and social views, and even my overall mindset changed, I realised fully that thier was a god, that he is a powerful active force in this world, and he wants something from me. I know now what that is, and I spend my days and nights working towards it in my own ways, and for this I feel a total sense of fulfillment that I have never felt anything like before.
I came to hate the violence and chaos I once endorsed, I have started to come to accept the diffrences between other peoples and thier cultures and ways of life, and I want gods mission on earth to be fulfilled, for all of us to put aside our diffrences and work towards a more peaceful, perfect future.
When I was in high school, the Marist Brothers didnt call it detention, they called it J.U.G, Judgement Under God, we were being punished by god for our actions, and he determined our guilt or innocence, I understand this all so well now, when we stood thier with the book open in our outstretched arms, we were supposed to be thinking about what we had done, said, etc, and how it would affect our outcome in the future, JUG is something both powerful and meaningful to me now, and I fully understand why so long ago it seems, I was subjected to it.
But isn't that life, JUG?
"This is Life, This Is Not An Exit"
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