Saturday, December 16, 2006

Squash & Clothing

Well, I suppose there are some good things about Korea... SQUASH! But then squash is good anywhere and anytime.

Most traditional things about the country are good. I imagine the loss of most traditional things is the fault of those who decided that things from the West were better than things Korean. It is a shame. I suspect that Christian missionaries didn't help much.

Ultimately the power of money is strong. We do need it to survive, but what is it that forces us to strive for more and more. I had a discussion with some other teachers at school the other day about clothing. They were complaining about having too many clothes and not being able to find their clothes. Complaining about having too much stuff and ending up buying a new thingamajig simply because the already purchased thingamajig couldn't be found. I mentioned to them that I had gotten by just fine with a very simple wardrobe - only sets of outer clothing... I did bring more, but I have only worn 3. They were speechless for a moment, then when they recovered, they reasoned that it was simply because I was only living in Korea for a short time. They had lived in their homes for years and accumulated stuff. "Just wait till you have your own place and accumulate stuff!" Hmmm..... other than books, I'm not sure that's a problem for us. Christians are called to live lives of simplicity - and that means disattachment from things. Not owning nothing, but not being owned by the things we happen to have.

Anyway, the picture of the squash is a traditional Korean squash. It is a beautiful pumpkin sort of thing. Just beautiful. A piece of tradition... It's not genetically modified, it's not been altered, not packaged in plastic... What is the tradition that we will pass on to our children?... What things will we leave them?...

Pastic wrapped genetically modified or natural? It is for us all to choose what we will leave.

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