(Letter from the Parsonage, Third Story in the ‘Those Who Remained in the City’ series)

Guarding the spiritual self within the body is like a kite lifted by the wind. The owner of the kite is God, the string connecting it is Jesus Christ, and the wind is the Holy Spirit.

When the owner does not release the string, the kite cannot fly an inch. If the kite itself decides to soar higher by cutting the string, it ceases to be a kite at all.

For me to fly into the higher skies, I must first listen to God’s voice before the affairs of the world begin. The Holy Spirit still teaches me today—through the rough waves of life—which way to turn my head in order to meet a radiant rainbow, to reach the cool streams of water flowing in a valley. God does not want our lives to remain fixed in one place.

There are conditions required for flight. I must discard all unclean thoughts, needless worries, conflicts, disorder, envy, and strife within me. These only weigh me down. We may recall childhood moments when, before the kite could rise high, it became entangled in a tree or snagged on a power pole—spoiling the game from the start.

No matter how beautiful or well-shaped the kite looks on the outside, if it is too heavy, it will never rise into the blue sky. A person bound by the clutter of desires cannot be lifted by the wind. At times, a strong gust may momentarily lift such a person, but when life returns to calm, the kite plunges straight down. The less I cling to as mine, the lighter and freer I become. From our weakness we must find courage, from our complacency we must rise decisively, and we must be bold in the work of emptying ourselves.

Emptying myself is never without pain. So many in this world have become slaves to unquenchable desires, striving to solve every hardship and sorrow by themselves. They take medicine. They drink to excess. They gamble away their lives. Yet in the end, they receive nothing but the bankruptcy of self-loss. Some, unable to endure, even choose death.

It is a strange truth: without suffering, humanity neither knows God, nor seeks Him, nor sees Him. God has given us freedom of choice and waits for our permission.

To know God is to center myself and to empty myself. It is no small pain to let my earthly self listen to His word and follow His guidance. The suffering that comes from human sin leads to the pain of falling, but the suffering within Him is followed by abundant comfort and overflowing love.

Entrust yourself to God, the true Owner of the kite. The Lord will hold you, and the Holy Spirit will delight in the free dance of your flight.

• Original text written in Korean.

© WanHee Yoon, 2001