사람은 어울려 살도록 창조되었습니다. 천지 창조의 하루하루가 마감될 때마다 하나님은 ‘보시기에 좋았더라’라고 말씀하셨습니다. 그리고 마지막 날에는 “하나님이 지으신 그 모든 것을 보시니 보시기에 심히 좋았더라” 최상급 찬사로 장식하십니다.
그러다가 온갖 꽃들이 피어있고 나비도 쌍쌍이 날고 있는 그 아름다운 낙원에서 홀로 있는 존재 아담을 보시고는 “사람이 혼자 사는 것이 좋지 아니하니 내가 그를 위하여 돕는 배필을 지으리라”고 선언하셨습니다. 독처(獨處)하는 것은 하나님 보시기에 아름답지 못한 첫 번째 것으로 성경에 기록되어 있습니다. 낙원에서 아담도 하와가 필요했고 실낙원에서 우리도 친구가 필요합니다. 인간은 서로 돕는 존재로, 사회적인 존재로 불리고 나이가 들수록 어울릴 친구들이 필요합니다.
무르익은 가을 들판처럼 넓은 밑자락을 펼치는 것은, 주초에 네 가정이 어울려 1박 2일로 ‘대도(大島)’를 다녀온 가을여행 이야기를 위한 것입니다. 세 가정은 이미 목회에서 은퇴를 했고 몇 년 후에 은퇴를 바라보는 현역은 한 사람밖에 없습니다. 스스로 생각해도 이렇게 서로 어울리는 것은 신기방기합니다. 나이도 서로 다르고 키도 서로 다릅니다. 더욱이 고향도 서로 다릅니다. 모두를 찍은 단체 사진 한 장을 올렸더니 우리 모두를 아는 이가 말합니다.
고신은 요즘 한 사람의 설교를 두고 입장이 첨예한데 서로 어울리는 것이 신기했던 모양입니다.
하동 대도라는 곳은 신노량 부두에서 배로 한 20분도 채 걸리지 않는 섬입니다. 그리고 노량은 청소년의 시절을 보냈던 곳이고 부모님 두 분이 묻혀 있는 동네입니다. 그보다 더 중요한 것은 단기 4294년(서기 1961년) 2월 19일 주일에 우리집 대청마루에서 ‘노량교회’가 개척되었고, 뒤에 1993년 6월 노량제일교회(현 갈릴리교회)가 구노량에서 시작되었을 때도 어머니는 개척멤버였습니다.
구노량에서의 복음 사역의 시초에 나도 함께 한 기억이 있습니다. 1971년 신학생 시절 부산 성삼교회(현 부암로교회) 중고등부 학생들을 인솔해서 마을회관을 빌려서 여름성경학교를 비롯한 봉사활동을 했으니 그 땅에 복음의 씨앗을 처음 뿌린 곳이기도 합니다. 1박 2일 짧은 여정에 비해서 개인적으로는 아주 뜻 깊은 지역입니다. 우리가 큰섬이라고 흔히 불렀던 대도, 역시 약 60년 만에 다시 밟아본 곳이기도 합니다.
1박 3끼의 세트 여정이었습니다. 숙소도 더없이 아름다운 곳에 위치했고, 12시 반, 5시 반, 뒷날 아침 8시의 3끼 식사도 탁월했습니다. 평소에 쉽게 접할 수 없는 바닷가 음식으로 차려진 한 끼 한 끼가 특별했습니다.
점심 저녁 식사 후에 큰 섬의 이곳저곳을 걸을 수 있었던 것은 덤으로 주어진 선물과 같았습니다. 뒷 날 아침 8시 아침식사를 하려고 오는 길에는 길가에 앉아계신 큰 섬 동네 어른들과도 인사를 나누었습니다. 그 섬에 살다가 노량으로 이사를 나와서 라디오 수리방을 했던 출향민도, 최근에 퇴직한 노량의 조카 이름을 대었더니 딸 시집보낸 이야기며 우리 자형 이름까지 줄줄이 열거하는 것이 시골 문화를 느끼는 순간이었습니다.
아침 9시 배로 출항해서 노량으로 나왔고, 그 부근에 커피를 마시려고 벼르던 김양카페는 하필 화요 휴무일이라 하동 읍내로 향했습니다.
항상 반갑게 맞아주는 로뎀나무카페에서 드립커피 네 잔과 팟라떼 네 잔으로 가을비가 내리는 날, 나이도, 성격도, 성향도 다른 네 부부가, 1박 2일은 너무 짧다고 말하면서, 서로 편하게 형제로서 어울리는 것은 우리 주님 때문입니다.
Human beings were created to live together in fellowship. As each day of creation drew to a close, God said, “It was good.” And on the final day, Scripture crowns His work with the highest praise: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”
Yet, looking upon Adam standing all alone in that breathtaking Paradise—where countless blossoms bloomed and butterflies fluttered in pairs—God declared: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Being alone is recorded in Scripture as the very first thing that was not pleasing in God’s sight. Even in Eden, Adam needed Eve; and in this fallen world, we too need friends. Human beings are called to be social creatures who support one another, and the older we grow, the more deeply we need friends with whom we can share life.
Laying such a broad foundation—like an autumn field ripening with golden grain—is all to share the story of an autumn retreat earlier this week, when four couples spent two days and one night visiting Daedo Island (literally, the 'Great Island'). Three of the husbands have already retired from pastoral ministry, and only one is still serving actively, looking toward retirement in a few years. When we reflect on it ourselves, it is truly wondrous that we get along so well. Our ages differ, our heights differ, and our hometowns differ as well. When we shared a group photo of all of us together, an acquaintance who knows us well remarked on it.
With sharp divisions currently roiling the Kosin denomination over one minister's preaching, it must have seemed truly remarkable that our group could enjoy such harmonious fellowship.
Daedo Island in Hadong is a small island less than a twenty-minute boat ride from Sin-Noryang Pier. Noryang is where I spent my youth and where both of my parents are laid to rest. Even more significantly, on Sunday, February 19, in the Dangi year 4294 (1961 AD), Noryang Church was planted right on the wooden veranda (daecheongmaru) of my family home. Later, in June 1993, when Noryang First Church (now Galilee Church) was started in Gu-Noryang, my mother was once again among its founding members.
I also carry cherished memories of being involved at the very inception of gospel ministry in Gu-Noryang. Back in 1971, when I was a theology student, I led the middle and high school students from Busan Seongsam Church (now Buam-ro Church) there. We rented the village hall to hold a Vacation Bible School and engage in community outreach, sowing the initial seeds of the gospel in that soil. Compared to such a brief two-day journey, this region holds profound personal significance for me. Daedo, which we used to call the "Big Island," is a place I stepped foot on again after some sixty years.
Our trip was packaged as a one-night stay with three meals included. The lodging was nestled in an incomparably beautiful setting, and the three meals—served at 12:30 PM, 5:30 PM, and 8:00 AM the following morning—were superb. Each meal, laden with fresh coastal fare not easily enjoyed in daily life, felt extraordinary.
Strolling across various corners of the island after lunch and dinner felt like an added grace. On the path to breakfast at eight the next morning, we exchanged warm greetings with village elders resting along the roadside. When I mentioned the name of my recently retired nephew in Noryang to a former resident who once ran a radio repair shop there after moving away from the island, he reminisced about his daughter's marriage and even listed my brother-in-law by name. It was a heartwarming moment that captured the true warmth of rural culture.
Boarding the 9:00 AM ferry, we returned to Noryang. The seaside café we had hoped to visit for coffee was closed on Tuesdays, so we drove into Hadong town instead.
At the Broom Tree (Rothem) Café, where the host always welcomes us with open arms, we ordered four cups of pour-over drip coffee and four red-bean lattes on that drizzly autumn day. Four couples—different in age, temperament, and disposition—lamented that two days and one night was far too short. That we can be so naturally at ease with one another as brothers and sisters is entirely because of our Lord.
Mense is geskape om saam in gemeenskap te lewe. Soos elke dag van die skepping tot ’n einde gekom het, het God gesê: “Dit was goed.” En op die laaste dag word Sy skeppingswerk met die hoogste lof bekroon: “Toe sien God alles wat Hy gemaak het, en dit was baie goed.”
Toe Hy egter vir Adam stoksielalleen in daardie pragtige paradys sien staan—waar blomme van alle soorte bloei en skoenlappers paarsgewys fladder—het Hy verklaar: “Dit is nie goed dat die mens alleen is nie. Ek sal vir hom ’n hulp maak wat by hom pas.” Om eensaam te wees, is die heel eerste ding in die Skrif wat in God se oë nie goed was nie. Selfs in die paradys het Adam vir Eva nodig gehad; en in hierdie gebroke wêreld het ons vriende nodig. Ons is geroep om mekaar by te staan as sosiale wesens, en namate ons ouer word, het ons des te meer vriende nodig met wie ons die lewe kan deel.
Om so ’n wye aanloop te neem—soos ’n goudgeel herfsakker vol ryp graan—is ter wille van ons herfsreis vroeër vandeesweek, toe vier egpare saam vir twee dae en een nag na Daedo-eiland (letterlik die 'Groot Eiland') gereis het. Drie van die mans het reeds uit die gemeentelike bediening getree, en daar is net een wat nog aktief dien en oor ’n paar jaar aftree. As ons self daaroor nadink, is dit werklik wonderbaarlik dat ons so goed oor die weg kom. Ons verskil in ouderdom, in lengte, en selfs in ons tuisdorpe. Toe ’n groepfoto van ons almal gedeel is, het ’n goeie bekende wat ons almal ken, opgemerk:
Met die hewige meningsverskille wat die Kosin-denominasie deesdae oor een leraar se prediking verdeel, was dit blykbaar vir hom ’n wonderwerk dat ons so eensgesind saam kon kuier.
Daedo-eiland in Hadong is ’n eilandjie minder as twintig minute per boot vanaf die Sin-Noryang-hawe. Noryang is die plek waar ek my jeugjare deurgebring het en waar albei my ouers begrawe lê. Wat egter nog belangriker is: op Sondag 19 Februarie in die Dangi-jaar 4294 (1961 n.C.) is Noryang Gemeente op die houtstoep (daecheongmaru) van ons ouerhuis gestig. En toe Noryang Eerste Gemeente (nou Galilea Gemeente) in Junie 1993 in Gu-Noryang begin het, was my moeder weereens een van die stigterslede.
Ek onthou ook nog hoe ek self by die heel eerste evangeliewerk in Gu-Noryang betrokke was. In 1971, as teologiese student, het ek die hoër- en laerskooljeug van die Seongsam Gemeente in Busan (tans Buam-ro Gemeente) daarheen gelei. Ons het die dorpsaal gehuur om ’n Vakansiebybelskool en uitreikaksies aan te bied, en so is die eerste evangeliesaad in daardie grond gesaai. Gemeet aan hierdie kort tweedaagse besoek, het die omgewing vir my ’n baie diep persoonlike betekenis. Dit was ook sowat sestig jaar gelede dat ek laas ’n voet op Daedo gesit het—die plek wat ons altyd die “Groot Eiland” genoem het.
Dit was ’n pakket van een nag en drie maaltye. Die verblyf was op ’n asemrowende mooi plek geleë, en die drie etes—om 12:30, 17:30 en die volgende oggend om 08:00—was uitmuntend. Elke maaltyd, voorberei met seekos wat ’n mens nie aldag teëkom nie, was ’n ware fees.
Om ná middag- en aandetetyd heen en weer oor die eiland te kon wandel, was soos ’n ekstra geskenk. Op pad na die ontbyt om agtuur die volgende oggend, het ons die bejaardes van die eiland wat langs die pad gesit het, vriendelik gegroet. Toe ek die naam noem van my neef wat onlangs in Noryang afgetree het aan ’n oud-inwoner wat vroeër op die eiland gewoon en later ’n radioherstelwinkel in Noryang bedryf het, het hy dadelik vertel van sy dogter se troue en selfs my swaer se naam sonder skroom genoem. Dit was ’n kosbare oomblik waarin ’n mens die egte, hartlike plattelandse kultuur kon aanvoel.
Ons het met die oggendboot van 09:00 na Noryang teruggevaar. Die koffiewinkel daar naby waar ons graag ’n koppie wou drink, was ongelukkig op Dinsdae gesluit, en daarom het ons na Hadong-dorp gery.
By die Besembos-koffiehuis (Rothem), waar ’n mens altyd met oop arms verwelkom word, het ons op daardie reënerige herfsdag vier koppies filterkoffie en vier rooiboontjielattes geniet. Vier egpare—elkeen met sy eie ouderdom, geaardheid en ingesteldheid—wat eenparig sug dat twee dae en een nag veels te kort was. Dat ons so ongekunsteld en heg soos broers en susters met mekaar kan omgaan, is alleen te danke aan ons Here.