Grandfathers of Pilgrimage
Ham Seok-Heon, Voice of People, 1976. 7 No. 55
[Remark] This is the first translation aimed at sharing Sir Ham Seok-Heon's writings with a foreign audience. Therefore, other talented individuals should revise sections that do not accurately convey Mr. Ham's intentions. Mok, Seong-Kyoon.
America transcends the traditional notions of ally and enemy.
This year is the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States, so there is much talk about America here and there. Let us take this opportunity to think about what kind of country America is.
Just as individuals need to know themselves to know others and need to know others to know themselves, so too as a nation; unless we are citizens who know our own country, we cannot know others, and unless we are citizens who know others, we cannot know our own country. Moreover, the only way to know is to love each other. When we love, we come to know; when we know, we love more deeply. This way, we reach the highest state, where you and I are one.
To love is not necessarily to exchange kind words and beneficial items, or to fight for our lives. Rather, it is nothing more than a shallow emotion. Rather, it is not to discriminate between you and me. This cannot be done without seeking something profoundly spiritual. So Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself," and Confucius said, "A noble man is like-minded and not like-minded, while a mean man is like-minded and not like-minded." A nobleman is like-minded and not like-minded, and a mean man is like-minded and not like-minded. George Fox said the same thing in a more understandable way: "Each of you should answer for the things of God that are within you." The wind that is sweeping the world right now is the exact opposite. Every individual and every nation is looking at each other as if they are all on their side or against each other. And so, individuals and nations cannot know each other, and because they do not know each other, they cannot help but suspect and hate each other, and so it is said that the whole world is an enemy, and it is natural that the world is in chaos. If I say that everyone who follows my doctrines or rituals is a good person and that those who do not follow them are all evil, then that is not a true religion that saves the world.
If I say that those who follow my orders are good citizens and that those who have different opinions are unconditionally unacceptable, then that is not politics for the sake of the country.
If I say that only my paintings, my poems, and my songs are good and that other people's paintings, poems, and songs are all dirty, then that is a dirty mind that does not know what art is.
What defines our humanity is not a mind of suspicion or hatred, but a mind of trust and understanding, and not a habit of competition and isolation, but a habit of collaboration and sharing. Love fosters understanding, and understanding fosters cooperation, leading to something more powerful, more beautiful, and more meaningful.
Therefore, it is erroneous to view America as our ally, just as it is misguided to see America as our enemy. This perspective blinds us from seeing the true essence of America. We are not a country for America, and America is not a country for us. Every individual and every country can contribute and serve others only when it is within the whole. A neighbor is another body of the self, and a neighboring country is another expression of 'that country.'
That is why the psychology of sightseeing is also a wrong attitude. The popularity of tourism is a corruption of civilization. It comes from the wrong use of leisure time.
If the United States prepared various events to commemorate the 200th anniversary and did it just to show off, it is a foolish nation that insults its ancestors. Also, if the person who sees it goes to see it, it is also a foolish nation that insults its own country and other countries. There is no room for the psychology of sightseeing in the difficult and sacred act of creating history.
The psychology of sightseeing for pleasure is the psychology of shirking duty. But how can one rest from duty? The most scenic places and historic sites are where the blood and sweat of our ancestors were shed. Those who put them on display are foolish, and those who view them are ignorant of their country. This is why a tourism policy is a form of dirty materialism. Materialism ultimately sells the personality of individuals and the entire nation. It is no coincidence that tourism is often accompanied by prostitution.
Moreover, the act of sightseeing is not isolated from the broader socio-political context. It is connected to war. Tourism, often seen as a form of luxury, is a comprehensive act that, if pursued on a large scale, inevitably leads to the development of industries and, in turn, to war. Civilization, in this sense, is ultimately a luxury. If the people of each country were to forego such luxuries, war would cease to exist.
A free country, a founding spirit
If you want to know about another country, you must first look at its founding spirit. An oak tree comes from an acorn, and a gourd vine comes from a gourd seed. If you want to know about our country, you must go to the foot of Baekdu Mountain, and if you want to know about Christian culture, you must go to Ur in Mesopotamia and find the traces of Abram. So, where should you go to learn about the birth of the United States? Without a doubt, you should go to Plymouth Rock on the coast of Massachusetts in New England and find the traces of the "Pilgrim Grandfathers." They greatly valued the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and commemorated it by saying that it is 200 years old, but that is only talking about the acorn sprouting and breaking through the hardened ground. What is more important is the story of the acorn falling to the ground and breaking through the hole. That happened in 1620, 156 years before Independence Day.
People probably think of the dollar first when they think of the United States. Yes. Who doesn't know that the American dollar is what claims the world's economy? We also got through hardships by receiving economic aid from the United States, and there are still people who try to calculate the amount of dollars they have when they think about the fate of the country. And it's not just us. There are almost no countries in the world that do not receive that aid.
So it is natural that the United States was first known as the country of gold. However, it is like answering the question of what kind of tree an orange is by saying that it is a tree with lots of yellow fruit. It is true that it has yellow fruit, but how can you know the characteristics of the tree from that? Gold may be the light that shows its presence everywhere in the United States, but it does not explain why it has become a leader in world history after only 200 years of its birth.
It could also be said that it is a country with great military power. That is also true. It is true that the United States was the first in human history to create and use terrifying nuclear weapons, making the world shiver, and it is also true that it currently has the most of them, has bases all over the world, and has many countries under its control. It cannot be denied that the United States military power is what maintains world order in this state, whether it is a cold war, a hot war, or a détente, by fighting against the communist forces that are trying to put all of humanity under their dictatorship. (The communists will say the exact opposite, but let's put that aside for a moment.) Therefore, the United States can be called a country of military power. But that is like saying that a mountain is a high and steep rock. It is true, but how can that be the word that tells us about the mountain that made Moses meet Jehovah and made Shakyamuni realize the truth of Buddha? Although military power may be a threat to the United States, it does not explain why great scholars from all over the world go there and why artists with amazing talents gather there despite the controversy over its gold and military power.
In fact, when you think about it, you want to say that the United States is a cradle of scholarship and art. Until World War II, the center of scholarship and art was Europe, not the United States. However, once the war broke out, all the world's famous scholars and artists fled to the United States, just as birds hide in the branches of old trees during a storm. Thus, a country that had been looked down on as a young and inexperienced country with a shallow culture suddenly became a great power that held all authority in its hands. Now, in this space age, no country can compete with the Soviet Union in terms of research, technology, or application. How can we explain this? There is only one word: "freedom." The United States is the land of freedom.
The Pilgrim Grandfathers
The reason we went to Plymouth to learn about America was to see this. The Pilgrim Grandfathers were people who escaped from England. Why did they escape? It was for freedom, especially freedom of religion. It was the time when Cromwell was making a revolution. At that time, England was extremely corrupted by the luxury of the aristocracy. So, a movement began to arise among the religious people to sweep it away and save the country. They tried to achieve this through a strict moral life, so they were called the Puritans. Cromwell was their leader. The story of his army drawing their swords, driving out members of parliament, and singing psalms loudly as they went into battle was a spectacle that made the listeners straighten their collars, but originally, a moral revolution could not be completed by a sword. For the first time in history, the people rose up, cut off the king's head, abandoned the monarchy, and began a republican government, but it didn't take long for that to go wrong. So, an extreme group that was dissatisfied with the lack of thoroughness arose, and those who refused to go to the state church and gathered freely among themselves to worship began to appear. They were oppressed and insulted and called them the Separatists or the Independents. Because the oppression was so severe, they temporarily fled to Holland, and finally made up their minds, abandoned their relatives and their country, and decided to leave for the New World to live a life of faith according to their conscience. It was the early winter of 1620. They set sail from Lydon, Holland. Since it was before the invention of steamships, they left on a wooden ship of about 180 tons. The ship was named the Mayflower, and its purpose was to go on a pilgrimage to America. The families of the Separatists were about a hundred men and women, and about twice that number of other people were on board. About half of them died on the way due to the strong winds and illnesses, and after a difficult 66-day voyage, they arrived at Plymouth on December 26th of that year, the night after Christmas, with only 102 people. When the icebergs set foot on the rocks, they discussed that if they separated, they would forget their original common purpose and would easily act individually, so they made a promise to God before they separated. They knelt down together and prayed and made a covenant. That was the famous "Mayflower Compact," which is said to be the beginning of the American Constitution. In this way, it was the first settlement colony in the New World. The number of people who signed the compact was 41 men, excluding women. At first, they were simply called "Old Comers," but 200 years later, in 1820, the name "Pilgrim Fathers" began.
A New Civilization, a Seed of a New People
To understand the spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers, we need to look back at the entire history of mankind. Human civilization has been around for a long time. If we look at the East for a moment and look at it from the West, it started in Mesopotamia and Egypt and passed through Palestine, Persia, Greece, Rome, and finally Europe, taking 6,700 years. During that time, there was a lot of development, but there was something very wrong from the beginning. They discriminated between people, distinguishing between high and low, and the strong began to suppress and take away the weak. Now, because it has been a long time, we know that it was their nature from the beginning, but people are not by nature like that. Some wise people realized early on that it was wrong and tried to teach people that. All religions teach this. However, once they began to live in an organized society, the rulers did not want to listen to it and did not want to abandon class oppression and war. That is why, even though civilization had developed considerably by the Middle Ages, it was like a leper, seemingly healthy on the outside but rotten on the inside. The new movement that arose in the 15th century was an attempt to fix it. So, there was a long period of brutal oppression and war.
However, the New World was discovered just before that and various scientific inventions occurred. So many people who believed in freedom, equality, and peace fled from Europe to the New World. Now, the Grandfathers of Pilgrimage are one group of such people. What makes them more thorough is that their intentions are strong, and their thoughts are meticulously planned, but they do it as a group rather than individually. In other words, their historical consciousness was that deep. Therefore, they chose themselves as the orthodox members of the new civilization. You could often see this kind of epitaph in the graveyards of the old New England region.
As you are now, so once was I:
As I am now, you soon will be;
Prepare to die and follow me.
It is said that there were many tombstones with this inscription, not just one or two. Then, can't we guess their spirit? They are all escapees. They are escaping from a place that will soon be destroyed, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Even though I have been a Christian for 70 years, it was only after reading this poem that I was able to deeply feel the meaning of Jesus' words, "Follow me!" This is something that a dead person says to a living person. A living person cannot dare tell someone to follow him. They do not know what will happen to them in a moment, and they cannot guarantee that they will follow them. In that sense, these pilgrim grandfathers were people who were preparing to die even before they died. For what? For freedom. When we look at it that way, we can guess a little about the meaning of the words, "He who seeks to find his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it," and "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." He died before he died, and because he died, he was already resurrected. If a person who prepares to die before he dies is not free, who else is free? Who can take away his freedom? "Give me liberty or give me death" was not the mouth of Patrick Henry. It was a cry that came out 156 years ago. The meaning of the terrible religious trials and religious wars was not that many people were killed and killed together but that a small number of escapees from the 7,000-year-old sins of Europe were being squeezed out like grape juice from a winepress. That was the seed of a new seed that wanted to create a new civilization. I first heard this story from a foreign teacher when I was twenty-six, and I still can't forget it to this day. I feel ashamed of it, but if it weren't for this story, I probably wouldn't be as bad as I am today. I don't feel even a hair's breadth of shame as I stand before the court with my white hair because of these saints of Plymouth. If I could squeeze out the dregs of old civilization inside me and show the true nature of freedom, equality, and peace that God originally gave me, I would suffer a thousand times more shameful hardships. Amen!
When I first heard this story, I felt a cry of joy in my soul, but at the same time, I felt resentful toward our elders. (In fact, I know I shouldn't be resentful.) Why didn't you tell me this good story? What did you think education was? If I had heard it earlier, I might have grown up a little more!
I had another similar feeling. From where I was born, Yonggol Mountain stood only 50 li away, but until I was in my thirties, I did not know that Yonggol Mountain Fortress stood on top of that mountain and that it was built by General Im Gyeong-eop. When I read the record that the general had come to Uiju-bu-gun and built it to block the invasion of the Qing Dynasty and that when he was escorted from Bongcheon to cross the Amnok River to be beaten by the rioters and disappear into the dew, men, women, young and old went out and hugged the horse's head and said, "Our magistrate is coming. Our magistrate is coming," I dared not say, "If you don't tell me even one story like this, what are you going to teach me and what are you going to raise me?"
The golden tribe that covered the pilgrim tribe
The fundamental principle of history is escape. It is not just the Pilgrim Fathers, but a constant escape. Only by escaping can we escape decay, escape death, and create a new history. Abram was an escapee, Moses was an escapee, and Dangun was an escapee. The story of leading the three thousand Dangun and coming down to Mt. Taebaek is the story of someone who escaped from somewhere. It is also recorded that the people of Buyeo called themselves refugees. That is why Mencius, who appeared in the Warring States Period and saw warlords and monarchs who did not know how to feel pity for people and abused them, said, "A bird that drives birds for the forest is a hawk, a fish that drives meat for cattle is a hawk, and a people that drives people for Dangun is Jie Zhou." The summit of freedom can only be reached by always having a beast that drives them. It was built from the creation of heaven and earth, but the American continents were hidden from the stage of history until 1492, and then the monarchs, nobles, and clergy, who were destined for destruction, trained them with their own means and sent a small number of souls purified like pure gold to the virgin continent, untainted by the old evil so that they could start a new life at will. How meaningful and delicious is that? However, do you think that is all that is mysterious and wonderful? The history that sent the pilgrim grandfathers to New England in the northeast also sent the opposite type of escapees to the southwest. Originally, two types of people who were opposite each other went to the new colonies. They are the same in escaping from being confined in old houses, but their hearts and minds are opposite. There is a saying that "those who wake up at dawn and diligently think about doing good are the Shun group, and those who wake up at dawn and diligently strive to gain profit are the Tu group." However, humanity should not be divided by color but by whether they are good or profit. If the grandfather of Pilgrimage was the Shun group, then the gold miners and cotton farmers in the southwest were the Tu group. Their only goal was gold. In order to obtain that gold, they went to Africa to hunt humans like animals, chained them up, and enslaved them. Therefore, their conflict was fateful. They modeled and confronted the old civilization that had been abandoned as if to test it out for real. However, it is always the case that the human mind is dangerous and the Tao mind is weak. Humans are weak. The gold tribe suppressed the Pilgrimage tribe. That, at least in appearance, is today's America.
I believe that the United States and the Soviet Union have a unique meaning in human history. While other countries are all entangled in myths, traditions, and superstitions and have developed according to circumstances, these two countries are the only ones that emerged (at least publicly) in order to realize what humans consciously thought of as ideals. Therefore, their success or failure is of interest to all of humanity. However, in the current situation, both are failures. The United States has failed to live up to its ideals and has been called imperialist, and the Soviet Union has abandoned its original claim to communism and has become a slave to old nationalism. It is by no means a coincidence that these two countries are now opposing each other and trying to dominate the world. Isn't that wrestling again a new compulsion to escape? However, this time it is global in nature, and it is incomparably bigger and more serious than before. However, they say that we have now entered the space age.
Prepare to die and follow me!
What are Americans thinking on their 200th birthday? The United States has people but no nation. It cannot become a nation in just 200 years. However, the people are excellent people. They gathered people from all walks of life, from all nations, from all traditions, cultures, and customs of the world, and created a nation that cannot be destroyed in just 200 years. It cannot be denied that natural conditions helped, but people are the main element in people's affairs. It is noble and admirable that they did not have an idol called a king, did not allow the superstition called aristocracy, and tried to establish a country purely for the seed. However, it is impossible to deny that the United States has fallen. Their children testify to this more than anyone else. I am a person who accepts the accusations of hippies as right. At the beginning of World War II, the United States seemed to be a champion of freedom, but at least from the middle of that period, it gave it up on its own. That is why those who talk about the revival of America confessed at the beginning that the United States has fallen into a corporate state. Even if they are accused of being American imperialists, there is no room for excuses. However, there is hope in Watergate and the Vietnam War. As a great nation with such great material power, even if it was forced by circumstances, they were able to defeat the war because they had something more than material or honor. In fact, there is more to defeat than victory.
Without further ado, I will use the will of their ancestors as a congratulatory message for their 200th anniversary.
Prepare to die and follow me!
Grandfathers of Pilgrimage
Ham Seok-Heon, Voice of People, 1976. 7 No. 55
[Remark] This is the first translation aimed at sharing Sir Ham Seok-Heon's writings with a foreign audience. Therefore, other talented individuals should revise sections that do not accurately convey Mr. Ham's intentions. Mok, Seong-Kyoon.
America transcends the traditional notions of ally and enemy.
This year is the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States, so there is much talk about America here and there. Let us take this opportunity to think about what kind of country America is.
Just as individuals need to know themselves to know others and need to know others to know themselves, so too as a nation; unless we are citizens who know our own country, we cannot know others, and unless we are citizens who know others, we cannot know our own country. Moreover, the only way to know is to love each other. When we love, we come to know; when we know, we love more deeply. This way, we reach the highest state, where you and I are one.
To love is not necessarily to exchange kind words and beneficial items, or to fight for our lives. Rather, it is nothing more than a shallow emotion. Rather, it is not to discriminate between you and me. This cannot be done without seeking something profoundly spiritual. So Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself," and Confucius said, "A noble man is like-minded and not like-minded, while a mean man is like-minded and not like-minded." A nobleman is like-minded and not like-minded, and a mean man is like-minded and not like-minded. George Fox said the same thing in a more understandable way: "Each of you should answer for the things of God that are within you." The wind that is sweeping the world right now is the exact opposite. Every individual and every nation is looking at each other as if they are all on their side or against each other. And so, individuals and nations cannot know each other, and because they do not know each other, they cannot help but suspect and hate each other, and so it is said that the whole world is an enemy, and it is natural that the world is in chaos. If I say that everyone who follows my doctrines or rituals is a good person and that those who do not follow them are all evil, then that is not a true religion that saves the world.
If I say that those who follow my orders are good citizens and that those who have different opinions are unconditionally unacceptable, then that is not politics for the sake of the country.
If I say that only my paintings, my poems, and my songs are good and that other people's paintings, poems, and songs are all dirty, then that is a dirty mind that does not know what art is.
What defines our humanity is not a mind of suspicion or hatred, but a mind of trust and understanding, and not a habit of competition and isolation, but a habit of collaboration and sharing. Love fosters understanding, and understanding fosters cooperation, leading to something more powerful, more beautiful, and more meaningful.
Therefore, it is erroneous to view America as our ally, just as it is misguided to see America as our enemy. This perspective blinds us from seeing the true essence of America. We are not a country for America, and America is not a country for us. Every individual and every country can contribute and serve others only when it is within the whole. A neighbor is another body of the self, and a neighboring country is another expression of 'that country.'
That is why the psychology of sightseeing is also a wrong attitude. The popularity of tourism is a corruption of civilization. It comes from the wrong use of leisure time.
If the United States prepared various events to commemorate the 200th anniversary and did it just to show off, it is a foolish nation that insults its ancestors. Also, if the person who sees it goes to see it, it is also a foolish nation that insults its own country and other countries. There is no room for the psychology of sightseeing in the difficult and sacred act of creating history.
The psychology of sightseeing for pleasure is the psychology of shirking duty. But how can one rest from duty? The most scenic places and historic sites are where the blood and sweat of our ancestors were shed. Those who put them on display are foolish, and those who view them are ignorant of their country. This is why a tourism policy is a form of dirty materialism. Materialism ultimately sells the personality of individuals and the entire nation. It is no coincidence that tourism is often accompanied by prostitution.
Moreover, the act of sightseeing is not isolated from the broader socio-political context. It is connected to war. Tourism, often seen as a form of luxury, is a comprehensive act that, if pursued on a large scale, inevitably leads to the development of industries and, in turn, to war. Civilization, in this sense, is ultimately a luxury. If the people of each country were to forego such luxuries, war would cease to exist.
A free country, a founding spirit
If you want to know about another country, you must first look at its founding spirit. An oak tree comes from an acorn, and a gourd vine comes from a gourd seed. If you want to know about our country, you must go to the foot of Baekdu Mountain, and if you want to know about Christian culture, you must go to Ur in Mesopotamia and find the traces of Abram. So, where should you go to learn about the birth of the United States? Without a doubt, you should go to Plymouth Rock on the coast of Massachusetts in New England and find the traces of the "Pilgrim Grandfathers." They greatly valued the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and commemorated it by saying that it is 200 years old, but that is only talking about the acorn sprouting and breaking through the hardened ground. What is more important is the story of the acorn falling to the ground and breaking through the hole. That happened in 1620, 156 years before Independence Day.
People probably think of the dollar first when they think of the United States. Yes. Who doesn't know that the American dollar is what claims the world's economy? We also got through hardships by receiving economic aid from the United States, and there are still people who try to calculate the amount of dollars they have when they think about the fate of the country. And it's not just us. There are almost no countries in the world that do not receive that aid.
So it is natural that the United States was first known as the country of gold. However, it is like answering the question of what kind of tree an orange is by saying that it is a tree with lots of yellow fruit. It is true that it has yellow fruit, but how can you know the characteristics of the tree from that? Gold may be the light that shows its presence everywhere in the United States, but it does not explain why it has become a leader in world history after only 200 years of its birth.
It could also be said that it is a country with great military power. That is also true. It is true that the United States was the first in human history to create and use terrifying nuclear weapons, making the world shiver, and it is also true that it currently has the most of them, has bases all over the world, and has many countries under its control. It cannot be denied that the United States military power is what maintains world order in this state, whether it is a cold war, a hot war, or a détente, by fighting against the communist forces that are trying to put all of humanity under their dictatorship. (The communists will say the exact opposite, but let's put that aside for a moment.) Therefore, the United States can be called a country of military power. But that is like saying that a mountain is a high and steep rock. It is true, but how can that be the word that tells us about the mountain that made Moses meet Jehovah and made Shakyamuni realize the truth of Buddha? Although military power may be a threat to the United States, it does not explain why great scholars from all over the world go there and why artists with amazing talents gather there despite the controversy over its gold and military power.
In fact, when you think about it, you want to say that the United States is a cradle of scholarship and art. Until World War II, the center of scholarship and art was Europe, not the United States. However, once the war broke out, all the world's famous scholars and artists fled to the United States, just as birds hide in the branches of old trees during a storm. Thus, a country that had been looked down on as a young and inexperienced country with a shallow culture suddenly became a great power that held all authority in its hands. Now, in this space age, no country can compete with the Soviet Union in terms of research, technology, or application. How can we explain this? There is only one word: "freedom." The United States is the land of freedom.
The Pilgrim Grandfathers
The reason we went to Plymouth to learn about America was to see this. The Pilgrim Grandfathers were people who escaped from England. Why did they escape? It was for freedom, especially freedom of religion. It was the time when Cromwell was making a revolution. At that time, England was extremely corrupted by the luxury of the aristocracy. So, a movement began to arise among the religious people to sweep it away and save the country. They tried to achieve this through a strict moral life, so they were called the Puritans. Cromwell was their leader. The story of his army drawing their swords, driving out members of parliament, and singing psalms loudly as they went into battle was a spectacle that made the listeners straighten their collars, but originally, a moral revolution could not be completed by a sword. For the first time in history, the people rose up, cut off the king's head, abandoned the monarchy, and began a republican government, but it didn't take long for that to go wrong. So, an extreme group that was dissatisfied with the lack of thoroughness arose, and those who refused to go to the state church and gathered freely among themselves to worship began to appear. They were oppressed and insulted and called them the Separatists or the Independents. Because the oppression was so severe, they temporarily fled to Holland, and finally made up their minds, abandoned their relatives and their country, and decided to leave for the New World to live a life of faith according to their conscience. It was the early winter of 1620. They set sail from Lydon, Holland. Since it was before the invention of steamships, they left on a wooden ship of about 180 tons. The ship was named the Mayflower, and its purpose was to go on a pilgrimage to America. The families of the Separatists were about a hundred men and women, and about twice that number of other people were on board. About half of them died on the way due to the strong winds and illnesses, and after a difficult 66-day voyage, they arrived at Plymouth on December 26th of that year, the night after Christmas, with only 102 people. When the icebergs set foot on the rocks, they discussed that if they separated, they would forget their original common purpose and would easily act individually, so they made a promise to God before they separated. They knelt down together and prayed and made a covenant. That was the famous "Mayflower Compact," which is said to be the beginning of the American Constitution. In this way, it was the first settlement colony in the New World. The number of people who signed the compact was 41 men, excluding women. At first, they were simply called "Old Comers," but 200 years later, in 1820, the name "Pilgrim Fathers" began.
A New Civilization, a Seed of a New People
To understand the spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers, we need to look back at the entire history of mankind. Human civilization has been around for a long time. If we look at the East for a moment and look at it from the West, it started in Mesopotamia and Egypt and passed through Palestine, Persia, Greece, Rome, and finally Europe, taking 6,700 years. During that time, there was a lot of development, but there was something very wrong from the beginning. They discriminated between people, distinguishing between high and low, and the strong began to suppress and take away the weak. Now, because it has been a long time, we know that it was their nature from the beginning, but people are not by nature like that. Some wise people realized early on that it was wrong and tried to teach people that. All religions teach this. However, once they began to live in an organized society, the rulers did not want to listen to it and did not want to abandon class oppression and war. That is why, even though civilization had developed considerably by the Middle Ages, it was like a leper, seemingly healthy on the outside but rotten on the inside. The new movement that arose in the 15th century was an attempt to fix it. So, there was a long period of brutal oppression and war.
However, the New World was discovered just before that and various scientific inventions occurred. So many people who believed in freedom, equality, and peace fled from Europe to the New World. Now, the Grandfathers of Pilgrimage are one group of such people. What makes them more thorough is that their intentions are strong, and their thoughts are meticulously planned, but they do it as a group rather than individually. In other words, their historical consciousness was that deep. Therefore, they chose themselves as the orthodox members of the new civilization. You could often see this kind of epitaph in the graveyards of the old New England region.
As you are now, so once was I:
As I am now, you soon will be;
Prepare to die and follow me.
It is said that there were many tombstones with this inscription, not just one or two. Then, can't we guess their spirit? They are all escapees. They are escaping from a place that will soon be destroyed, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Even though I have been a Christian for 70 years, it was only after reading this poem that I was able to deeply feel the meaning of Jesus' words, "Follow me!" This is something that a dead person says to a living person. A living person cannot dare tell someone to follow him. They do not know what will happen to them in a moment, and they cannot guarantee that they will follow them. In that sense, these pilgrim grandfathers were people who were preparing to die even before they died. For what? For freedom. When we look at it that way, we can guess a little about the meaning of the words, "He who seeks to find his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it," and "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." He died before he died, and because he died, he was already resurrected. If a person who prepares to die before he dies is not free, who else is free? Who can take away his freedom? "Give me liberty or give me death" was not the mouth of Patrick Henry. It was a cry that came out 156 years ago. The meaning of the terrible religious trials and religious wars was not that many people were killed and killed together but that a small number of escapees from the 7,000-year-old sins of Europe were being squeezed out like grape juice from a winepress. That was the seed of a new seed that wanted to create a new civilization. I first heard this story from a foreign teacher when I was twenty-six, and I still can't forget it to this day. I feel ashamed of it, but if it weren't for this story, I probably wouldn't be as bad as I am today. I don't feel even a hair's breadth of shame as I stand before the court with my white hair because of these saints of Plymouth. If I could squeeze out the dregs of old civilization inside me and show the true nature of freedom, equality, and peace that God originally gave me, I would suffer a thousand times more shameful hardships. Amen!
When I first heard this story, I felt a cry of joy in my soul, but at the same time, I felt resentful toward our elders. (In fact, I know I shouldn't be resentful.) Why didn't you tell me this good story? What did you think education was? If I had heard it earlier, I might have grown up a little more!
I had another similar feeling. From where I was born, Yonggol Mountain stood only 50 li away, but until I was in my thirties, I did not know that Yonggol Mountain Fortress stood on top of that mountain and that it was built by General Im Gyeong-eop. When I read the record that the general had come to Uiju-bu-gun and built it to block the invasion of the Qing Dynasty and that when he was escorted from Bongcheon to cross the Amnok River to be beaten by the rioters and disappear into the dew, men, women, young and old went out and hugged the horse's head and said, "Our magistrate is coming. Our magistrate is coming," I dared not say, "If you don't tell me even one story like this, what are you going to teach me and what are you going to raise me?"
The golden tribe that covered the pilgrim tribe
The fundamental principle of history is escape. It is not just the Pilgrim Fathers, but a constant escape. Only by escaping can we escape decay, escape death, and create a new history. Abram was an escapee, Moses was an escapee, and Dangun was an escapee. The story of leading the three thousand Dangun and coming down to Mt. Taebaek is the story of someone who escaped from somewhere. It is also recorded that the people of Buyeo called themselves refugees. That is why Mencius, who appeared in the Warring States Period and saw warlords and monarchs who did not know how to feel pity for people and abused them, said, "A bird that drives birds for the forest is a hawk, a fish that drives meat for cattle is a hawk, and a people that drives people for Dangun is Jie Zhou." The summit of freedom can only be reached by always having a beast that drives them. It was built from the creation of heaven and earth, but the American continents were hidden from the stage of history until 1492, and then the monarchs, nobles, and clergy, who were destined for destruction, trained them with their own means and sent a small number of souls purified like pure gold to the virgin continent, untainted by the old evil so that they could start a new life at will. How meaningful and delicious is that? However, do you think that is all that is mysterious and wonderful? The history that sent the pilgrim grandfathers to New England in the northeast also sent the opposite type of escapees to the southwest. Originally, two types of people who were opposite each other went to the new colonies. They are the same in escaping from being confined in old houses, but their hearts and minds are opposite. There is a saying that "those who wake up at dawn and diligently think about doing good are the Shun group, and those who wake up at dawn and diligently strive to gain profit are the Tu group." However, humanity should not be divided by color but by whether they are good or profit. If the grandfather of Pilgrimage was the Shun group, then the gold miners and cotton farmers in the southwest were the Tu group. Their only goal was gold. In order to obtain that gold, they went to Africa to hunt humans like animals, chained them up, and enslaved them. Therefore, their conflict was fateful. They modeled and confronted the old civilization that had been abandoned as if to test it out for real. However, it is always the case that the human mind is dangerous and the Tao mind is weak. Humans are weak. The gold tribe suppressed the Pilgrimage tribe. That, at least in appearance, is today's America.
I believe that the United States and the Soviet Union have a unique meaning in human history. While other countries are all entangled in myths, traditions, and superstitions and have developed according to circumstances, these two countries are the only ones that emerged (at least publicly) in order to realize what humans consciously thought of as ideals. Therefore, their success or failure is of interest to all of humanity. However, in the current situation, both are failures. The United States has failed to live up to its ideals and has been called imperialist, and the Soviet Union has abandoned its original claim to communism and has become a slave to old nationalism. It is by no means a coincidence that these two countries are now opposing each other and trying to dominate the world. Isn't that wrestling again a new compulsion to escape? However, this time it is global in nature, and it is incomparably bigger and more serious than before. However, they say that we have now entered the space age.
Prepare to die and follow me!
What are Americans thinking on their 200th birthday? The United States has people but no nation. It cannot become a nation in just 200 years. However, the people are excellent people. They gathered people from all walks of life, from all nations, from all traditions, cultures, and customs of the world, and created a nation that cannot be destroyed in just 200 years. It cannot be denied that natural conditions helped, but people are the main element in people's affairs. It is noble and admirable that they did not have an idol called a king, did not allow the superstition called aristocracy, and tried to establish a country purely for the seed. However, it is impossible to deny that the United States has fallen. Their children testify to this more than anyone else. I am a person who accepts the accusations of hippies as right. At the beginning of World War II, the United States seemed to be a champion of freedom, but at least from the middle of that period, it gave it up on its own. That is why those who talk about the revival of America confessed at the beginning that the United States has fallen into a corporate state. Even if they are accused of being American imperialists, there is no room for excuses. However, there is hope in Watergate and the Vietnam War. As a great nation with such great material power, even if it was forced by circumstances, they were able to defeat the war because they had something more than material or honor. In fact, there is more to defeat than victory.
Without further ado, I will use the will of their ancestors as a congratulatory message for their 200th anniversary.
Prepare to die and follow me!