How can we help ourselves and those around us go deeper into that “deep soil” level of our true God-given selves (where Christ lives and we die), which is also where we will truly connect and be as one?
In order for us to be able to connect with another, we must be willing to take that first step in becoming vulnerable. That is also the reason why it is very hard to do so. When I said that Jesus Christ can help in the emptying process, I meant it in the way that Jesus Christ is the Light that exposes our own darkness and we can no longer hide from our ugly side. If we can see and acknowledge our own weaknesses, then we won’t be so hesitant or worried to show the ugliness within us. We must be willing to work to empty ourselves and let Christ work his magic within us. If we all let Christ within us, we will be of the same mind. A mind full of love and care for one another. But we like comfort, we need to see that a comfortable life does not always mean a good life. We can be as comfortable as possible but we can end up with a very boring and mundane life. We strive and strain for excellence but excellence doesn’t come from being comfortable, we must be willing to suffer for it.
– Joshua Chung
I think that by starting to show ourselves more, it helps bring down other people’s walls as well. Of course this is way easier said than done, but the 5 words that we talked about during the mini-retreat; compassion, encouragement, consolation, sharing, sympathy are things that should come into play if we want to be able to go into that deep soil. I think if those 5 words are in action and we can truly feel them, it’ll make us open up more and be vulnerable with one another in ways that we might not think we can. I think I really felt this at that one hi-c retreat, where the execs had a meeting late at night and the theme was to bear each other’s burdens. The way we were all able to share such deep and personal thoughts and feelings really came about when we could all feel the genuine care that was in the air. I think this was a time where I can truly say I was able to empty myself and let God come in. I think I was most vulnerable at that time, and there are too many good things that came out of it. I also think that that moment was only made possible because we were all able to open ourselves up to each other, and each of the 5 words were truly there.
– Jocelyn Chung
I don’t really know how exactly we would help ourselves and those around us go deeper into that “deep soil” level, like all that I can really think of is to be open with those you trust. Like even the whole “deep soil” topic, if we didn’t have that mini-retreat with you and we didn’t discuss and reflect on that with our groups and the whole big group, most of us wouldn’t have even come across this, nor even reflect on it in connection to our own lives. But, through discussion with people you trust, you slowly start to open up about deeper and more raw things like this, and through that you reflect on what you opened up about and what other’s open to you, and all of that I feel is apart of the uncovering process for getting to that “deep soil” level.
– Monica Park
I think a good way to help us achieve the “deep soil” level of ourselves is to be open and accepting of others and listen to their experiences. I think sharing and learning from the experiences of others may help us grow and make better choices in life. Personal reflections also seem like a good idea because it helps practice one’s intrapersonal thoughts and helps evaluate one’s self at a deeper level than our surface.
– Joie
I think the only way to do this ourselves is to let the fear inside of us go. I think by constantly reminding ourselves that God is with us, we can forget about the fear that ties us down to material things, which in turn allows us to go the ‘deeper soil’, where we value the true joy of life. In terms of helping those around us achieve this, I believe the only way to help them is by setting an example first. I think if we as individuals achieve this, and show it to the people around us, it will make it easier for these people to strip their fear down and just be their true, God-filled selves.
– Hannah Lee
Honestly, I think the only way we can really let go of ‘the me’ is through reflection. When you’re in the moment, the things you do for ‘the me’ are so natural because they’re a part of yourself. It’s only after, when you reflect that you see how fear or survival instincts or greed drove your actions. We don’t want to see ourselves as fearful, greedy or narrow-minded so I really think that reflection is the only way we can start to get to that ‘deep soil’. It’s instinct to hide and be closed off but through reflection, we can start to realize what holds us back. I hope that we can all reflect and go into that ‘deep soil’ together so that we can make true connections without holding back. Having others around you who are doing the same thing will help a lot. I realized that during the ESM retreat when all the adults shared so openly. When there is a collective will to share, it’s so much easier to open up yourself.
– Sarah Choe
I think that the only way we can delve deeper into the deep soil is to get rid of our compartmentalized mindsets when it comes to God. God can’t be apart of our lives just for one day and then be gone for the next six, he has to be apart of our everyday lives so that we can reflect on what is happening, why it’s happening and what we can learn from that experience. I think that through this mindset, we can strengthen our relationship with God as we struggle with everyday occurrences.
– Paul Jang
As mentioned before, I think acknowledging the importance of digging deeper into our true selves would help in us becoming more willing to do so. For others, I feel like it is something a bit less in our control as we cannot really make other people go deeper to truly connect and be as one. However, one thing that I feel like might help would be to truly have a sincere desire to connect and dig deeper into that “deep soil” with them. Many people can sense when others are being sincere and so if they feel this and you are starting to show your “deep soil,” then I feel like they would be more likely to reciprocate.
– Elisabeth Jong
I think for me, just being more intentional with my faith. I think that I take my faith for granted sometimes. I forget when, but during the summer we talked about how in some cases people are Christian because they want to go to Heaven, or they want to be perceived in a certain way. I feel like before doing the internship in 2018, I was like this. I don’t think I took my faith seriously until then. I’m not entirely sure why, but maybe I wasn’t educated, or I had my doubts.Since doing serious bible studies and reflection, I was able to more intentional. Actually thinking about my own life, and reading what the bible has to say has helped me a lot. I gain a greater faith throughout this whole summer. I don’t think I’m in that “deep soil” yet, but I’m getting there. It’s a journey, and I’m excited for it.
– April Chia
This job was a perfect example of getting deeper into our soil, the mission trip I was on opened doors to a different way of seeing my peers, who I now look at as family, we are so close and I couldn’t figure out why, I thought maybe it was because we only had each other, but it was the struggle we face together that brought us to be one, I saw how us understanding and facing the same problems made us one mind, and one love, we were able to share things I know we would never say at our regular Sunday service, or at work. Living and struggling together is the ultimate test of patience, and understanding, we all did that amazingly well, and in turn we became one mind.
– Torrance Yoon
I think we need to be more intentional in diving into that “deep soil” level. I think that through things like sharing our stories of faith, it has brought us, interns, closer together, as we learned more about one another and began to really feel for the things we were going through. It was also the same during the ESM retreat. We were able to open up within our groups and share our struggles. We became a community that bears each other’s burdens. But, I think that we also need to start doing this on a regular basis, not just during those “special” times. I feel like this can be done if we, ourselves, take the initiative and start opening up first. We need to forget thinking about what others think when you share. We need to push past our fears! I think this helps in encouraging others to do the same, because it becomes something normal and something natural that we do. If we get more comfortable sharing things, or even having Prayer Nights or times where we can pray for one another, I think that we can truly achieve what God wanted us to do; to be as one.
– Lauren Lee
Using what we learned especially during the mini-retreat of Philippians and share that knowledge and insight with those around us. It’s not our duty to convert or convince others of the legitimacy of it. All we can do is share our stories and our experiences. Once we’re able to do that, if those individuals feel compelled to find out more, to learn more then they will take the steps to accept that teaching. We can only help those go deeper into the deep soil level when the people are open to accepting it and learning more about it.
– Joel Chung
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