Inner voice

“Repent! Repent!” This is the word that I heard coming out from deep within my heart barely two months ago. From then on, it continued to linger for a considerable period of time. Before taking my summer vacation, there was this sincere longing within me, a deep desire to change. So I observed my conscience more attentively.

I planned climbing Mount Jiri with my second elder sister. But it turned out that the sudden typhoon came in the way of the plan. It however got me to the natural point of looking into my intentions and the journey itself.

Instead of Mount Jiri, I made my pilgrimage to some of the holy places. Along the way, I climbed Mount Suri to reach for the Surisan Holy Place in remembrance of St. Choi Kyeong-whan, the father of the first Korean priest Choi Yang-up. And the other day, I walked along a mountain fortress wall on the way to Suwon Holy Place. I was so refreshed whilst walking on and on along the route that was when I made a confession at Suwon Holy Place Church. Not long after I received an e-mail from the General Superior of my congregation in Rome regarding another calling for a missionary service abroad, needless to say, the experience was an ushering into the communion of saints. Of course, being uplifted amidst all these mysterious happenings, led me into reading through the Bible.

We are constantly facing ups and downs in our daily lives, but everything, whether good or not, is interrelated and finally leads to the betterment of each person. I am now preparing myself before being sent as an apostle to the world.

Another inner voice I heard later on was the admonishment to be humble.

“Be humble!”

Listening to this voice, I realized some resistance and tension against the provincial authority within me. I sometimes replied to the authority with negative silence. I had to forgive and accept the situation as it was so as to reconcile with myself and the organization as well. It took time, but time is surely ‘the great healer.’

Listening more carefully to the inner voice brings about miraculous healing and mysterious power. The heart and conscience, nature and people, events and meetings are constantly telling us deeper and inspiring messages. If we listen to these messages more attentively and carefully then we have a better chance of wisely discerning a situation leading to appropriate decision making.

I do believe such people with good will as Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Won-soon are listening to their inner voices and following their consciences. Not the least, in this era that we are grappling with multiple crises, it is absolutely imperative to have people with inner vision and insight. Simply, those who follow their inner voices are more likely to dedicate themselves and their work for enhancing the common good.

Nowadays, it is common to hear the word “healing” being mentioned all around. There are things such as healing camp, healing leadership, healing land, healing concert, healing industry, healing food, healing marketing, healing therapy, healing journey, healing forest, healing meditation and so on. “Healing” seems to be the key concept of Korean society these days. Why do we emphasize and talk about healing so passionately?

Just as the widespread use of healing, so is the increasing number of ‘cafe’ or coffee shops. It is easy to notice the several cafes on the streets. What does the increasing popularity of cafes mean? Have you ever thought of this phenomenon?

I figure out these trend reveals the deep longing for listening, dialogue, communion, and communication among people these days. Almost 90 percent of subway commuters tend to get deeply engrossed with the screens of smart phones or iPads. But these ultramodern machines can’t solve the profound longing for communion and communication among people.

The healing process transcends merely listening to the inner voice but also to mutual communication as well. We need one another, this includes friends, family, neighbors, colleagues and nature in order to communicate.

Above all, we need to pay attention to the inner voice. When we are friendly and peaceful with ourselves first, we can be more friendly and peaceful with people and nature. Let’s listen to one another and be more considerate of others.

The writer is a sister of Daughters of St. Paul communicating God’s love and thus proclaiming the good news by means of social communication. Her email address is orchid@pauline.or.kr. <The Korea Times/Kim Ae-ran>

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