Burying them in our hearts (2)

Burying them in our hearts (1)

The entire nation feels an enormous sadness over the loss of lives of people in the sinking of the Sewol ferry. As part of the ongoing “Our hearts are with you” series, we have asked some of our readers, ordinary citizens, to share their prayers with us under the title, “Burying them in our hearts.” — ED.

Sewol

“Hurry!

Climb to the top!”

“We’re to stay down, down, Dad.

Hallway’s crammed, can’t budge, Dad!”

Cell phone

Sank, gripped.

Drowning, How Long Before It’s Over?

Twenty to sixty secs

Of instinctive drowning response

Then, mute slow dance to bottom to musang

(Musang is the Korean word for Buddhist nothingness.)

Three hundred souls, mostly children, are lost with the Sewol — immeasurable losses to the bereaved families, the nation and the world in grief, anger and disappointment.

Their loss is our everlasting outrage. If death is the undiscovered country, from which no traveler returns, as Shakespeares Hamlet said, we must call these travelers, too, undiscovered. Perhaps some of the students equaled Mozarts talent, King Sejongs wisdom or Gandhis righteousness.

Perhaps they would have become kind, loving mothers and fathers. How tragic it is, not only for the victims and their families, but also for their descendants and their lines of history which have ceased to exist, undiscovered under the sea and in the sunken ferry.

It is deplorable that we cannot help watching the news without doing something helpful for the families of the victims. I feel sorry for them. In my opinion, it is true this tragedy occurred largely due to the irresponsibility of some individuals and organizations. But the thing is we should reflect upon our society at large in order to prevent similar accidents in the future. Just blaming someone means it as if we lock the barn door now that the horse has run away. I hope that not a single body is lost and thus they can rest in peace in their families arms.

I visited Seoul from May 2 to 4. I brought back intense memories, including the silent cries of the hearts of Koreans queuing at City Hall.

What happened has incredible analogous with the cruise ship disaster we had in my country, Italy, in 2012. After that, we felt an incredible sense of emptiness and I kind of re-experienced it passing by the yellow ribbons of prayers and messages at City Hall.

There, I witnessed emotion and human dignity, hope and strength. I was deeply touched to see Koreans sad eyes and tears. However, to me the Korean people did not looked confused or desperate, but strong and ready to carry on. I also had the impression that people there were also waiting for some kind of explanation and answers — just like us.

It broke my heart watching the news of the Sewol tragedy where most of the victims were teenagers. The parents crying, kneeling and waiting for their loved ones in front of the sea was a heartbreaking scene. There is a Chinese saying, The white hair sends off the black hair, which sadly befits what has happened. The tragedy must be unquestionably the most agonizing and distressing event that can happen to the bereaved families.

During these difficult times, I offer my deepest condolences to the families and everyone affected in one way or another. I also pray for the safety and well-being of the personnel involved in the rescue operations and volunteer works. From this tragedy may we all appreciate our delicate and frail beings and love one another. The government also must not let the invaluable loss of lives go in vain by tightening safety regulations and perfecting rescue operations.

My heart goes out to all the Sewol victims as well as the diver who lost his life trying to retrieve the bodies. It is my hope and prayer that Korea will learn from this tragedy and not remain in collective despair.

Let this not deter Korea from pressing on to becoming a great nation!

I am deeply saddened by the Sewol ferry disaster.

I offer my sincere sympathy for the tragic loss that has befallen the bereaved families. I pray that God will wipe away their tears.

I hope this tragedy will not be in vain.

I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the bereaved.

I hope that time and memories will help lessen the burden of your sorrows, and that you may draw some measure of comfort knowing that the people of this nation care and share in your losses. May the comfort of God help you during this difficult time.

As a mother of a daughter, I feel miserable.

Actually I dont know how to express my feelings now. I do wish the deep condolence of the people could comfort the families and the victims a little.

I also hope our country will set up a more reliable disaster relief system in the future.

And to do so, some questions related to the initial responses which have been raised by a lot of people should be solved and told to the public. By all means, this kind of tragedy cant happen again.