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The Way of Love for the Lord
Chapter 23. The principle of a briquette (October 3, 1981)
The number of customers in my beauty parlor began increasing as those who had their hair done at mine kept on coming back. Sometimes they had to wait for two to three hours when there were a lot of customers to serve. Most of them waited for their turns, so I did not have a chance to take a break even for a little while. Since I attended to the customers’ hairdo standing the whole day, I was exhausted to the brim by the time I returned home after work. During the nights, I still had to wake up from sleep to change the briquettes, which was very hard for me. Whenever I did this difficult task, I prayed for the conversion of sinners, “Lord, burn away the unclean things from the sinners’ souls and let them repent.” Every dawn I woke up with the spirit of martyrdom rubbing my sleepy eyes to change the briquettes and meditated on the following; when a burning briquette is put right below a new one, the burning briquette starts to kindle the new one above. The burning one transmits all its fire to the new one until it is completely consumed, so that the new one can flame up. However, no matter how intensely the briquette burns, it cannot transmit the fire to a new briquette unless it is put right below the new one. If it is placed on top of the new one, it seems to transmit its fire to the new one below at first, but all the fire will be put off in the end. Meditating on the simple truth that I can transmit the fire of love to others only when I lower myself and become a basal dressing like a briquette, I prayed. “O Lord! Now I realize that true voluntary work requires us to first humble ourselves prior to serving others. If we try to become higher, rule over others, and suppress them in a peremptory manner, they would only feel wounded. Then we could not make Your love known to them, and thus would not be able to call it true voluntary work. Lord, let us become lower and littler just as You voluntarily lowered Yourself, so that all of us may not extinguish the flame of love. Let us become embers to kindle the fire of Your love in the whole world. May Your will be done!” “My lovely baby! You pray and offer up everything graciously with the spirit of martyrdom. Therefore, I will sow the seeds of martyrdom in your heart. Cultivate and take good care of them by turning your whole life into a prayer at every moment so that they can bear abundant fruits of the Holy Spirit. I will always be delighted to see you grow beautifully, and will be with you.”
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