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: Three Cents Column by Director Bong

Three Cents Column by Director Bong of RGO 24! 'Although I am lacking and my writing is only worth as much as 'three cents...' I share the Sunday messages and interpret them with 'the language of the world.''

칼럼_연재칼럼_Three Cents Column

Some good examples of 'people who did well as individuals'

Captain Jeon Jae-yong, who saved 96 war refugees

In November 1985, the pelagic tuna fishing vessel Gwangmyeong was returning to Busan port after a year-long operation. As it was passing through the South China Sea, Captain Jeong Jae-yong encountered boat people crying out S.O.S. They were refugees displaced by the Vietnam War. The captain notified the company, but he was instructed to not involve himself. He was left with no choice but to ignore them and continue the journey to Busan port. However, the captain was haunted by the lives he had turned away. Eventually, with a determination to accept responsibility for his actions, he decided to turn the ship around. This decision saved the lives of the 96 war refugees who were tangled up in a small, fragile boat, waiting only to starve to death. After seeing off the 25 boats that had ignored them, they were saved by the 26th boat, Gwangmyeong, which reached out a hand to them.

The captain was immediately dismissed for violating the company’s guidelines, and he was even investigated by the government. After that incident, no shipping company would hire him. All these consequences had been predetermined the moment that Captain Jeon Jae-yong decided to turn the ship around. He, himself, had foreseen it as well. Ultimately, he retired in the country, where he ended [his career in] ship operations--which he had enjoyed--and barely made a living through sea squirt aquaculture. Then he heard news that the Vietnam War refugees were looking for him. The Vietnam War refugees that he had rescued had moved to America and settled down; for a long time they had been making inquiries through all possible means in order to find Captain Jeon, the man to whom they owed their lives. After 19 long years, their tearful reunion took place in America, and the captain was even nominated for the UN Nansen Refugee Award.

Zach Hodskins, a one-handed baseball player

Zach Hodskins was from Milton High School in Atlanta, a school well-known for basketball. He was an excellent, 185 cm-tall guard, who averaged 11 points and 2.3 assists per game in 2013. Later on, he joined the University of Florida’s basketball team and became a National Collegiate Athletic Assocation (NCAA) athlete. For American college basketball players, NCAA is a direct route to the NBA. It is unmatched by Korean professional basketball, and in some ways, it can even be considered a notch above the NBA.

This story of an individual who plays basketball very well becomes a moving story with the addition of a special fact--Zack Hodskin only has a right hand. He was born without a left forearm and hand. He is a one-handed player in a sport that requires both hands. The amount of effort and hard work he puts in must amount to at least double, even just according to simple arithmetic calculation. Perhaps he has reached the level of being superhuman.

Blessed and holy are individuals who do well on their own according to the Will of the Holy Trinity

One person defined the three major factors that motivate us: autonomy, mastery, and purpose (from Daniel Pink’s Drive). People who do well on their own as individuals are equipped with a strong determination that drives them to make decisions on their own, regardless of what others say. In addition, through long periods of hard work and effort, they make themselves proficient to the point that they have fun with what they do. These are people who have their own clear sense of a goal that no one can defeat and who have the ability to give definite meaning to their actions.

The message, ‘Let individuals do well,’ is a message that makes us into individual heroes like the two people above. Furthermore, it presents the key methodology for achieving true salvation.

Blessed and holy are the individuals who do well on their own according to the Will of the Holy Trinity in this great new history. They are the ones who will reign for a thousand years.