YANGPYEONG JOURNAL | FINAL

May 11 Entry

Exactly one month ago from today we began our stay at Yangpyeong, and today also happens to be our last full day. I appreciate having this day to reminisce and reflect on the last month without having to be in a hurry or being in demand. We got situated outdoors in a café very close to where we have been staying but never had a chance to visit until today. The café features an impressive open-air space with retro industrial-style structures meshed with simple sleek modern designs. The garden, or so-called the art space, is where we were drawn to sit today mainly due to the perfect weather outside and the height of spring in Korea. I can’t let this pass by without sucking the marrow of the now while reflecting on the past month. . .

This morning in a group spiritual direction session, we did Lectio Divina on John 21:1-14. I volunteered to share while others companioned me in my reflection, helping me to draw out further from my inner space. John’s familiar passage is about Jesus appearing back (after the resurrection) in the Sea of Galilee (where it all began) where disciples went back to fishing and Jesus instructing them to cast the net on the other side. They ended up catching loads of fish. Jesus then prepared breakfast with the fish caught and the bread he brought. If I am given an opportunity to direct a movie portraying the story of Jesus, my opening scene would be this. Then I would go back to the beginning to fill in the rest of the story. . . Below is the summary of what I shared in essence.

First, the phrase, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” caught my attention immediately. John was referring to himself as one whom Jesus loved. It could be read as John showcasing careless audacity or even blatant arrogance. This time, I did not read it that way. I read it as a matter of fact. John’s identity was solely and securely based on Jesus’ love for him. As John was reaching back to his memory of this day (in John 21) from his ripe age in his 90s, he did not fail to insert that phrase. He felt it then and he still held that conviction, decades later. In that short phrase, I can imagine the life of John and what it must have been like.

Second, the phrase, “As the sun came up, Jesus appeared standing on the beach. . . ” Perhaps because of my growing “trained” eyes of observing and noticing nature, I can better appreciate John connecting the sun with Jesus’ appearing. Something small but it must have lodged in John’s memory of the day at the beach. John’s memory of the night and the day is remarkable, and I notice that John is using all his senses to remember and recollect. There is seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and even eating (I say yes!) in fine detail. One of the unexpected gifts of being in Yangpyeong was the time, space, and ability to notice things. I have found that I am noticing things that I had not noticed before or cared to notice before. As I notice, I retain much of what I felt, saw, heard, smelled, etc in greater detail. It is almost like things are moving in slow motion. I see, hear, and feel, therefore I am.

Third, I am moved by Jesus’ invitation of “Breakfast is ready” (The Message). Breakfast consisted of the fish the disciples caught (which were caught because Jesus intervened and the disciples obeyed) and the bread Jesus brought. Jesus did not have to bring bread as He was the living bread. The theme of Jesus being the bread of life in earlier chapters in John naturally gets invoked. . . Even then, it seemed that Jesus did bring bread. When Jesus tells us “ready,” it is where God’s unconditional provision meets the fruit from our effort (in loving obedience) which is a direct result of God’s graced guidance. God is doing all the heavy lifting and all we need to do is go “fishing” and then follow His instructions of “casting the net on the other side of the boat.” God’s readiness for us occurs when all we have to do is to show up and start moving and the rest is God’s grace. Simply and wonderfully too good to be true, but true. Jesus spreads the breakfast before us and tells us it is now ready.

This Yangpyeong stay has been exactly that. I now have the language to couch my experiences. We went “fishing” and followed Jesus’ guidance, which ultimately was met with Jesus’ unexpected gifts of “bread” prepared for us. And Jesus told us that the breakfast was ready. We partook in the meal with Jesus, getting a taste of what union could look like, and were blessed. We in turn shared the blessing with others.

As I sit pondering back after a month-long stay, I am reminded of Thomas Keating’s wise words in “What Matters.”

 Only the Divine matters,
And because the Divine matters,
Everything matters.

We arrived in the dawning of spring when cherry blossom flowers were at their peak, and life began to peek its head out into the world ever so coyly after a long harsh winter. Even within a month, I saw gradual and breathtaking changes every day. Never did I know that within spring, there would be multiple smaller spring seasons. I leave Yangpyeong at its spring peak where everything is in a full spectrum of greens bursting and abundantly more colorful flowers than I know by name. I saw God in more of God’s handiwork than I had before. I witnessed God in people as well as children who came to visit. I perceived God by random chance encountered people, bakers, artists, street vendors, “grandmas,” baristas, gardeners, farmers, pastors, restaurant servers, etc. As I began to see God in everything, they invariably became my teachers, and I learned to listen and heed their teachings. None of them were audible teachers. They are teachers of the heart because what was already in me recognized the teacher in others, confirming what was already in me. What was not already in me remained in me as wonder and tucked away as causes for further reflection. At some ripe time in the future, they will bear fruit in my heart to make what is mine; I am confident of it.