SURPRISED BY ONYOU – IMPATIENT AS THE WIND

On a teacher program online, in order to learn more Korean (and teach English in exchange), I met an individual by the name of Onyou (오뉴, in Korean). He/she was quite humorous and a very happy individual. After some introduction, I asked what his/her profession was, and he/she replied with: “I am a patient”. Thinking the English was quite bad, I asked, “What do you mean?” He/she answered, “I had a medical accident when I was a child. I live in hospital.” Explaining that he/she went in with a flu and pleural effusion (accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity, between lungs and chest wall) at the age of 14, and had a series of complications and, consequently, many surgeries. From a healthy youth, he/she went on to become a bedridden patient for 15 years now, never leaving hospital, and with a tracheostomy and an AMBU bag pumped by volunteers 24h a day, day and night.

(Onyou with younger sister)

I contemplated her beautiful face. I was surprised by the story I would never have suspected. Surprised even more by the attitude, I promptly replied, “You seem to be a happy person […].” “Yes I am happy.” Puzzled, I continued,

“Can I ask you just one more question?”

“OK.”

“I saw you like to talk about religion….”

“Yes I have religion.”

“What do you believe?”

“I believe Jesus.”

Surprised, and yet the answered could not have been more obvious. Only a meditating Buddhist, I thought, those that affirm, transcend and ignore and all suffering…or a Christian…! I found in Onyou another anomaly! Another Christian who truly lives out what it means to believe that the Eternal Being, the Creator, forgives a sinner by sacrificing His Son!

“Jesus is my life,” she continued; “My name is Jesus´s mind […] Means meek, gentle.” […] “I like John the gospel [and] my favorite Bible verse is:

David said about him:

‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’” (Acts 2.25-28, NIV)

This is a quote from Psalm 16. Those friends of hers that pump her AMBU bag day and night, are church friends form the Presbyterian Church in Seoul, who do what they call a ‘relay’. Now I understood. They are these: “I say of the holy people who are in the land, they are the noble ones in whom is all my delight” (Psalm 16.3). Her story returned to me the questions of life profoundly! With tears in my eyes, I read and reread her medical history. Something special was taken away form that little beautiful girl. Scared lungs and severe scoliosis. Assisted breathing. She cannot leave the hospital. Her medical history consists of a series of unsuccessful pleurodeses, two tentative reconstructions of the sternum—both artificial sternums dislocated, one of which ruptured a main artery and caused severe internal hemorrhage. Blood transfusion, anemia, infections, necrosis. These were two years of surgeries. At one point, surgery was denied for the apparent presupposition that the patient would not survive. “What is your wish?” I asked her once. “To leave the hospital […] and breathe with my nose again.” I reflected on hope. I reflected on happiness? What´s the meaning of this air I breathe? I complain about so many mediocre things. I said that something special was taken away from that little girl. But something even more special was given to her. Something that perhaps you cannot understand! Here is a light, in the deepest sense, into Maslow´s acceptance of the facts: the ability to quote, with Onyou, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing” (Psalm 16.2). I agree with Ravi Zacharias when he says, “You show me another world view that that talks of love and forgiveness. There isn´t one. Every other world view you earn your right. In the Christian faith, it is a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ.”1

1 ZACHARIAS, Ravi. A broadcast, “The Power of God’s Forgiveness”, Retrieved from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (October 13, 2016). Available at http://rzim.org/just-a-thought-broadcasts/the-power-of-gods-forgiveness-2/. Accessed 09 of November, 2017.