A Different Dream
So, I began to wrestle.
How do I honor the Lord
and also honor my parents?
How do I repay their sacrifices
while also honoring the sacrifice my Savior made for me?
“You’ll bring honor to us all.”
“Honor your father and mother.”
Father's PNEUMA
Father's PNEUMA is a very personal project for me. It was my attempt to reflect and process the devastating effects of Pulmonary Fibrosis - a debilitating lung disease that is taking my father's life. Through this piece, I explore the heart-wrenching journey of watching a loved one's gradual loss of breath and the overwhelming helplessness of such a condition.
How to Explore Your Inner World While Honoring Your Parents
How does one live faithfully to Jesus when you cannot stand your parents and do not know how to turn the ship around? We all come from varying degrees of conflict in our families of origin. It is my hope that my story can show a potential way forward and most importantly give Asian Americans permission to wrestle with the hardships of family relationships without shame.
Between Worlds: Rethinking Honor
In traditional Asian culture, and certainly in the Indian culture that I grew up in, honor is relational, communal, and duty-based. Our vocations, careers, lifestyles, and decisions in life may be scrutinized through an honor-based lens. While the Western society that many of us grow up in places great importance on self-expression and chosen respect, Asian honor translates to sacrifice, family reputation, loyalty, and obedience.
Discovering the Ancestors, Discovering God’s Family
Our cultural heritage matters to God. Within our cultural heritage there are things we can learn about God. As Asian Christians we’re rarely told this. Perhaps we’re more often told that God wants us to set aside parts of our cultural heritage in the name of following Jesus.
How Do You Honor Your Parent After Their Death?
But after this time of immobility, I've slowly come to realize that what I've received from my mother—my inheritance—is much greater than any sum of money: My very flesh, my whole life, was a gift from her.
“Why Can’t Our Family Do That?”
This was the mentality that my parents instilled in me when I was growing up. Grounded in cultural (i.e., Korean) and biblical principles, a part of this mindset was for my sister and me to be kind to one another as siblings. But make no mistake about it: in my family, the “family comes first” mentality disproportionately emphasized the need to honor our parents.
Discovering Your Voice
As we learn how to tell our story with God, our voice becomes our superpower and points people to Jesus. It’s not just about knowing our story; it’s about telling it with the voice we have been given.
Son Goku or Superman
One of my favorite stories is Akira Toriyama’s manga/anime Dragon Ball. Loosely inspired by the novel Journey to the West, Dragon Ball follows a young boy named Son Goku, who enjoys martial arts which helps him to fight strong opponents and push his limits. While Dragon Ball never explicitly states its Asian setting, Toriyama prominently features Asian food, martial arts, and characters with dark hair and eyes. These examples may sound simple, but my younger self, who grew up on white superheroes like Superman, instantly felt a deeper connection to Goku as I experienced Asian representation for the first time.
The Songs of Ages
do not forget
the ropes
suffocating the necks of
the Chinese
who sing the song of ages:
we can’t breathe.
I Belong Here: AACC Civil Rights Tour Reflection
Somehow learning that I have an Asian American accent felt fitting after learning snapshots of history. As if I inherited an unexpected gift or was mysteriously re-connected to the Asian Americans who came before me and struggled the same way. While I’ll probably always fumble over Korean, I know that regardless of my proficiency in Korean or English, I belong here.
The Fight Is Never Over
Let us embrace the roots we’ve come from; And stand on the shoulders of our elders; The roots we grow from; The roots we rise from
Where All Parts Belong
When injustices arise in the world, some churches speak up while others stay silent. In one of Jesus’ parables, a priest and a Levite see a man on the road who has been robbed, attacked, and left for dead. Their response is to pass by on the other side. What is the difference between them and a church that remains silent? Are they not the same? Both choose to disregard suffering and look away.
Invisible Leaders
When I think about my grandmother, I wonder, “Wasn’t her life also a ministry?” Perhaps she was not welcome to hold a title or a position in the church, but I believe my grandmother’s life looked a lot more like the life of Jesus than the lives of some of the male church leaders.
Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul: A Pop-Psych Guide to Activism
“Finding your own way in social justice work requires courage, creativity, wisdom, and an openness to possibility. It requires shaking off the unhealthy and unrealistic expectations of others. It asks us to embrace our differences as beautiful and our unique personalities and perspectives as gifts, rather than comparing ourselves to others.”
Creatively Narrating the Stories of Multiracial Individuals: A Conversation with Becky White
My own bitterness towards the Korean society and culture followed me for a long time. I hope I can relieve my fellow mixed Koreans of that same bitterness by providing the words to help us understand ourselves. Perhaps this isn’t explicitly a “Christian” tenet wrapped neatly in a Bible verse; but everything I do, I hope it may be founded in the honest and joyful love of Christ.
Two Halves Make a Hole
When you put two halves together you make a whole. This is basic math. But when you merge different ethnicities the rules of math change.
Book Review: Passport to Shame: From Asian-Immigrant to American Addict by Sam Louie
Sam’s former profession as a storyteller is apparent as he vividly paints a picture as though you are there with him in his humble beginnings and follow him through his highs and lows.
Communi-tea
We are not a myth, Of a minority nor a monolith, Foreign, we are perpetually not. Asians aren’t a footnote, An afterthought
I Didn’t Go to Church This Year…
How can we find peace and hope in the midst of the realities of relationships, anxieties, and responsibilities? Where is the joy?