[Editorial] The World of Sharing is Beautiful

The year is coming to a close. To the cold and hungry whom nobody visits, the end of the year is all the more weary. Caring for the elderly abandoned by their sons and daughters, children abandoned in childcare facilities, and teens who cannot continue their meals once vacation starts is the responsibility and duty of us all.

Fortunately, sharing and donating are hitting a year-end boom. At the Social Welfare Community Fundraiser, where they collect and operate national charity donations and funds, invisible and anonymous good deeds and donations like “Donation Relays,” given in the name of lovers or friends, are forming an endless line. The Salvation Army alms boxes on the streets are brimming with merriness. Even large companies suffering from the stagnant economy have thankfully increased their charity donations, compared to past years.

This year, the people have especially suffered the hardest. The tragic story of the three siblings whose innocent lives were taken in an abrupt fire while their parents were out working pained the hearts of many. What use are history and ideology-talking politics if they do not solve the survival problems of the needy?

To be able to sit around a table and talk with your family, unscathed from any harm, is a precious blessing in itself. The many families of the Catholic welfare facility “Kkottongnae” believe “it is the grace of God to just be able have the strength to beg for one’s food.”

Quite recently, the Ven. Bupjeong left writings of Buddhism that said, “If help is given, givers and receivers both become abundant, and the secret of sharing lies in the greater abundance of the givers.” There is also a saying: “Happiness shared is doubled, burdens shared are divided.” I urge those who are healthy in mind and body, the classes benefiting from society, and the learned, to lead the “Sharing Movement.” Helping others is helping your own, and is the path to living harmoniously as a community.