Deep Breathing

Among the parables Jesus used, the good shepherd is one of the well-known stories and I think one of the most comprehensive ones in terms of symbolizing the Christian faith. At the beginning of chapter 10 of the Gospel of John (right after chapter 9, the story of Jesus healed the blind), he started the parable of the good shepherd. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep." (John 10:1-2) The Good Shepherd by Bernhard Plockhorst As we all know, all the sheep here symbolize us, humans, who've been suffering various problems in this world from the "big issues" like poverty, violence, crimes, and injustice, to the "small issues" like conflicts, uneasiness, and unsatisfactory situations we experience each day. We are struggling with our living one way or another in blamin...

Among Paul’s epistles, the one to the Romans is considered as the summary of the whole New Testament; hence, that of Christianity itself. It is also said that all 150 chapters of the book of the Psalms are considered as a poetic outline of the whole Bible. If you are interested in the Christian minimalist approach, then, together with four Gospels, you must understand these two books by heart. If you are a regular Bible reader, then, after the epistle to the Romans, the next book you face is the first epistle to the Corinthians. In this Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, one of the well-known parts is the chapter 13, dubbed as the Chapter of Love, though in the King James Version (KJV), “love” is translated as “charity”. If you check with Strong’s Number, this is identified as G26, which means “ agape “ in Greek. In Greek, there are three kinds of “love”, eros , philia , and agape (strictly speaking there is the fourth love, storge , love between parents and children)....

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 We all have so-called “Doubting Thomas” within us, which makes us “spiritually blind”. Only when we can open our own spiritual eye; only when our blindness is healed by Jesus Christ, we can be aware of the dimension that such eye can see. And if so, what is the meaning of: "Jesus heals our (spiritual) blindness?" While it has various implications theologically and philosophically, here I would like to focus on Jesus' "ultimate act" of healing per se, which is, as Paul said above, "Christ died for the ungodly." To understand the true meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and have faith on this, we also have to understand the true meaning of His de...

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither they hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believed. John 20: 27 – 29 Happy Easter! This is one of the well-known episodes that why one of the disciples, Thomas, is dubbed as “Doubting Thomas”. Among the disciples, perhaps he was a kind of person who is quite careful and always trying to be “rational” or “objective”. Of course, here I am not saying the very definitions of rationalism and/or objectivism derived from the vast history of Western philosophies. But even in such biblical days, or every period of human history, we humans have a tendency to avoid so-called blind faith and are scared by its danger. The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio In the very start of our huma...