A little bridge
A few years ago, I joined a small group in Seoul that wanted to make a difference in our community. The network was small at first, but it grew to include hundreds of people in Seoul and beyond. The name of the network and its purpose are quite simple — “Footbridge: People walking together across boundaries.” At our gatherings in Seoul, one will find people from all walks of life, from various cultural and language backgrounds and from various faith communities.
At a group meeting not long ago, I was seated at a small table having a simple pre-meeting meal of a gimbap roll and a small cup of instant coffee. As others needed a place to sit, I invited some to join me at the table, including a younger woman, an older woman and a young man of other-Asian origin. We enjoyed small talk as we ate and got to know each other. We soon discovered that this Protestant pastor was sharing with a Catholic sister from an order that typically did not wear the habit, a Presbyterian woman and a young Muslim man from Indonesia. And so it went, around the room of a hundred people. The meeting was hosted in the fellowship hall of a Methodist congregation.
Members of Footbridge gather for hikes or walks each month, rain or shine, hot or cold. Walking on one of many mountain trails in and around Seoul, along the Han River or through the royal palaces brings people together in a casual, friendly manner. The conversations we share focus on our common humanity. We can share our understanding of life and how faith helps us through both good and tough times, but there is no need for overt recruitment to a singular way of thinking.
Another monthly gathering is a prayer-for-peace worship service that for the past few years has been hosted by brothers from the interdenominational Taizé community at the Anglican Cathedral in downtown Seoul. A special feature of the Taizé community is a unique collection of hymns and songs. Most follow simple melodies and repeat what might best be described as prayer and praise phrases focused on peace, reconciliation, and bringing together all into the big embrace of divine love. Readings from the Bible are shared in the various languages of those in attendance; we commonly hear Korean and English, but also Mandarin, Cantonese, Burmese, Tagalog, Japanese and a collection of European languages. We pray, we read and hear scripture, and we sing.
Footbridge’s sponsors are ordinary people and churches that want to be part of something less parochial than what often passes for Christianity in the world today. Footbridge is not a church, nor does it aim to organize an alternative religion or faith community. Instead, Footbridge focuses on one part of the New Testament that many who profess to be Christian often miss, found in Luke 4: 18-19. It tells the story of Jesus standing in the synagogue proclaiming “the spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free." Jesus has many fans these days, but any Christian who does not align with the mission and message of Jesus is not actually following Jesus.
Rather than claim, as many in the modern world are wont to do, that Jesus is a source of power and privilege, crossing boundaries is foundational to the philosophy undergirding “Footbridge.” Conceived by Brother Han-Yol of Taizé, a Korean-French Catholic, he has brought together a diverse group that operates under an independent board of directors. The brothers of Taizé and those of us who are part of Footbridge espouse a Christianity that is broad enough to embrace all without demanding uniformity of interpretation and expression.
For me, the kingdom of heaven is not a place where we go after we die. Jesus often said the kingdom is “near” and “within you.” He never said it was up in the sky somewhere or that the kingdom would come someday in the distant future. This means the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God, is not a destination, but rather a conscious decision on my part and yours to create heaven or hell in real time by how we act, how we live, how we think and how we love. We can best do all of that by seeing the Bible as a conversation across generations about who and what God or the divine is, rather than a rulebook.
With the new year fast upon us, let’s vow to make the world a better place for everyone. In Footbridge, this is what we try to do. We resonate with the words of a prominent faith leader, recently addressed to all Christians (but the principle can extend interfaith as well): “Jesus calls you to be witnesses of communion, builders of bridges and sowers of trust in a world often marked by division and suspicion.”
Rev. Steven L. Shields, FRAS {slshields@gmail.com} has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. A Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, he is also a lifelong member of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea, of which he was a director, vice president, and president. He was a copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect The Korea Times’ editorial stance.