Listening to the Echoes of Your Own Heart
by Grace Kim
Grace Kim is one of our 2HC spiritual directors. She encourages us to listen to our own “snail song,” those longings reverberating in our heart. Her story also provides a model of the generative, healing space and place that those in the “second half of life” can provide for younger generations.
_____________________
In one of my earliest spiritual direction sessions, my spiritual director at the time wisely said to me, “Grace, it’s not a decision that marks the end of a discernment process but a deeper integration of who you are with what you do.” This wisdom has stayed with me and continues to guide my life.
My husband Chong and I are currently spending a month in a quiet and quaint Airbnb located in Yangpyeong, South Korea, about an hour outside of Seoul. Yangpyeong is a rural area, near the great Bukhan River and gentle mountains that are now displaying various spring shades of green. Our purpose for being here is to offer an experience of hospitality in the form of a “Healing Stay” for young Koreans. They have a deep ache for a more holistic faith journey that integrates who they are with what they do. Henri Nouwen has profoundly shaped our definition of hospitality. “Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.”
In Korean, there is a phenomenon that is captured by the phrase “Canaan church members.” The phrase is a play on words, because “Canaan” spelled backwards in Korean means “no longer attending.” It is used to describe the many young people who have left the institutional church. Our hope is to give these “Canaanites” and other spiritual seekers a safe space in which to wrestle with their doubts, questions, struggles, longings, hopes, and desires.
Several months ago, I began sensing a strong urgency for Chong and me to be in Korea. One of the ways I was guided was through a Korean pop song entitled “Snail Song,” sung by a popular Korean artist named Yi Juk. The song tells of a snail that dreams of someday reaching the ocean. The snail is guided slowly but steadily by the echoes of the waves that are reverberating in its heart. “Snail Song” moved me to tears as I listened to it repeatedly on my daily walks. What I heard was my own heart’s desire to provide a safe space for the “Canaan” young people in Korea. I sensed God speaking through this song, uncovering my desires that were reverberating like echoes in my own heart. Chong and I discerned that this vision is worth pursuing, albeit slowly, like a snail making its way to the ocean.
Perhaps you are in a season of discernment. Take a moment to hear Jesus ask you, “What do you want?” Similarly, a friend recently shared these profound questions she is asking herself, “Heart, where are you? Heart, what do you want to say?” Sitting with these questions may help uncover your deep desires. Where are your yearnings and longings leading you? I invite you to pause and listen to the reverberating echoes of your own heart.
