Hans Lee

Christmas Carol

      I attended the Christmas service at church. I am part of the English-speaking ministry,  but I went to the main Korean ministry this time because I wanted to celebrate Christmas with my family (they are all part of the Korean ministry). One of the carols that the church choir sang in Korean is "Angels We Have Heard On High", one of the carols that I know. 

      "Angels We Have Heard On High" is a Christmas carol that commemorates the story of Jesus Christ's birth. In the story, shepherds see angels praising the newborn child from outside Bethlehem. The story is from the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament. The carol was originally written in French by an anonymous author in Languedoc, France. The French title is "Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes" (Angels in Our Countryside). The English version, which is the version that most of us know, was translated in 1862 by Bishop James Chadwick. Jesus is portrayed as the newborn child in Bethlehem. He is called "Him", "Christ the Lord", "the newborn King", "Jesus Lord of heaven and earth", and "our Savior".

Lyrics:

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o’er the plains

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains

CHORUS:

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, why this jubilee?

Why your joyous strains prolong?

What the gladsome tidings be

Which inspire your heavenly song? Chorus

Come to Bethlehem and see

Him Whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord, the newborn King. Chorus

See Him in a manger laid

Jesus Lord of heaven and earth;

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,

With us sing our Savior's birth. Chorus

Church Choir

In front of the big Christmas tree at church.

My Shema

God is love, He is my shepherd, He is holy. He has planned everything ahead of me so there are no worries, doubts, and troubles. He loves you and me. He is perfect. Every day I feel blessed to be God's child. He put me in the environment that is best for me, and I am thankful for it. An example would be giving me the permission to attend the right schools. To remember what He has done for me and the world, I go to church every week, pray day and night, and read the Bible when I have time.

Reflection #3: Buddhism: Following the Path to Enlightenment

      During the last few weeks, our class studied the religion of Buddhism, including the origins of the religion and the principles (the 8 Fold Path and the Four Noble Truths). We learned that Siddartha Gautama rejected some principles and aspects of Hinduism such as yoga. Throughout the past few weeks, I learned some important ideas of Buddhism. I learned that Buddhism started out with no God, which I thought was quite surprising. I also learned that some ideas of the Buddhist principles are things I try to obtain in life such as releasing greed.

      During our time in Bongwonsa Temple, I examined the Buddhist buildings and garden surrounded by lotuses. I examined the Buddhists bowing and praying to the Buddha Statue. After examining, I sat down outside, closed my eyes and tried practicing the meditation technique we learned in class. As I meditated, I was not able to reach enlightenment or any state close to it. It was very difficult to concentrate because some of my classmates were still making noises during our time of meditation. However, after a while when I heard no talking around me, I heard the sounds of the wind and the water fountain. These sounds made me realize that life goes on like a flow of water and that life is breezy. I learned through this silence that my life can be simple if I lay back  a little bit from the busy world and release greed, anger, and foolishness and relax, realizing that peaceful nature is around me. I believe I learned some valuable lessons through these past few classes.

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Reflection #1: Poem

Drawings on the Wall

Another hard day at work is done

And now we are ready to worship the gods and goddesses.

We made our way to the pond

To sacrifice what we had.

We entered the sacred cave

Where we carved records in many ways

We carved the gods as well

Protecting us every day.

I felt protected every day,

The gods are on our side.

There is nothing more important

Than worshipping them day and night.

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Reflection #2- Hinduism In Action

Gandhi: Hindu and Activist

Gandhi's Quotes

Quote #1- "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

         Gandhi strongly believed that payback is never the solution to anything. Therefore, he opposed the concept of striking back. For example,  when Gandhi was in South Africa, he encountered three young white men while he was walking on a sidewalk with Charley Andrews.  The three men blocked Gandhi's path and stopped him. Gandhi was not afraid to walk past them; he was ready to take a blow and not strike back. Luckily, one of the men's mother was calling from upstairs and they eventually had to let Gandhi walk by. Also, during the salt making protest demonstrations, the British soldiers used violence to Indians and arrested them. Neither did the Indians strike back nor resist the British force. I think Gandhi supports nonviolence and opposes revenge because he, like any other Hindus, believes in karma. He believes that good consequences will result from good actions. Instead of using violence, Gandhi constantly told the Indians to follow civil disobedience. 

Quote #2- "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS."

          This quote is very evident in the movie Gandhi. Throughout the whole movie, Gandhi demonstrated with his beliefs and actions that people who use violence always fall in the end. Gandhi encouraged his fellow Indians to maintain their nonviolence. Nonviolence was the key to independence. Although it was difficult for a significant number of Indians to follow the principle, they tried their best to listen to Bapu. For example, one British General ordered the British soldiers to open fire to the Indians who would not stop protesting. He claimed that he was trying to teach all the Indians a lesson. As a result, 1650 bullets were fired and there were 1516 casualties. Even the British government opposed the General's actions. Gandhi and the Indians did not use violence after the chaos, but Gandhi told the British that it is time for them to leave India. The strong dedication and hope for independence of the Indians was more powerful than the force and violence of the British.

Yoga 

          The yoga lesson on Wednesday by Mr. Harsh was an eyeopening and valuable experience to me and my classmates. In the beginning of class, I was eager to do yoga for the very first time. My first few attempts were very bad. I did not feel peaceful inside and my body hurt a lot because I stretched my body more than I usually do. My body and mind did not seem to be even close to uniting. However, as Mr. Harsh kept on emphasizing the importance of breathing and focusing the eyes on a certain point, I was able to improve my confidence and skills in yoga. Through this yoga lesson, I was able to learn more about Hinduism. Hindus do yoga in order to unite their bodies with their minds. I learned that yoga is not only about stretching, but also about reaching the state of peace inside the mind and body.