LOVE, OUR HOME

It is Monday morning here, back in a familiar cafe in my neighborhood in Yangpyeong, Korea. The afterglow from the Closing Residency is bright and persistent. One of the constant routines of my life over the last eighteen months has evaporated like a sweet dream, bewildering me. . . For this week’s entry, I decided to share the speech I gave on the last night of the Closing Residency. It was a great honor to represent the cohort alongside Corinne, a classmate.

I thought I would provide a bit of context for some of the imagery and language below. First, the image of the river and the ocean comes from a poem titled Fear by Khalil Gibran, which I highlighted during the theological reflection module. Then the first line of my poem below comes from a game we played during the Opening Residency in December 2024, “Who is your neighbor?” Finally, the word "Opalite" by Taylor Swift has its origin in a surprise dance number that seven of us did, which elevated joy, fun, and celebration to a climactic level. Thank you for journeying with me.

CenterQuest Asia School of Spiritual Direction Cohort 1
Grad Speech

Rivers were us, having traveled through layered forests, enchanted villages, pinnacles, and deep gorges of life. We are about to merge with the ocean, vast, fearful, mysterious, and generous. We are all meant not only to merge but to become the ocean, with all the unique journeys we coursed through intact.

CQ Asia’s commitment to an ecumenical stance provided a safe and generous space, which enabled seeing and embracing my unique journey more deeply and widely. Additionally, its commitment to creating and safeguarding a hospitable communal space allowed all to be known and loved, empowering us to extend such a sacred calling to the world. It is no small thing in today’s context to be who we are meant to be, not who we are supposed to be or even aspire to be. CQ Asia’s communal space, I believe, unleashed a love movement from courage to freedom to service.

And service we do. We exist not only for our life’s sake, but for the sake of the world. The ocean reminds us that we are already in union with God. It is “Christ in me” and “I in Christ.” What we do, then, is not our doing but Christ who lives in us. Ultimately, love is who we are, and love is what we do.

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Love, Our Home

“I love all men,” shouted a nun, 

chaos erupted, a frenzy of laughter 

unbridled joy took the center stage like 

carefree children at play who know a thing or two about joy ecstasy, 

the opalite sky kind

Children know a thing or two about 

looking and listening,
looking and listening we did

alone, together

with silent pauses and solitary punctuations

We can see because we listen

We can listen because we see

We see and listen as things are, not as we are

That is a good thing, 

for that is how our Father comes to us

the world offers sophisticated seeing and listening

shining shekels, subtleties, seductions, surety

Silent, savvy, spry our Father is

patiently waiting for those who linger, look, listen

Children we were

children we are

who shout we love everything our Father created

including all humanity

chaos will erupt,
a frenzy of laughter will return

so will joy ecstasy

All along, lurking and holding everything together,

Love was the stage, our home.