What Would Mrs. Kim Do?

Among the increasing number of letters that I have recently been getting -- thanks to the 217th General Assembly -- one stands out. It is not about the general assembly. Rather it is a report from Aikwang Won in Koje, South Korea.

Aikwang Won, literally the Garden of Love and Light, was established in 1952 by a humble Korean Christian, Mrs. Kim Im Soon. Abandoned by her husband during the Korean War, she found succor in the Changsungpo Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Kim supported herself and her daughter (now living in Virginia) by teaching. One day, a desperate government official left seven orphans in her care. As more orphans were left with her, she built an orphanage. In 1978 -- and with the growing prosperity of South Korea -- she converted the orphanage into a home for mentally handicapped children. In 1989, she was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize) for "nurturing hundreds of abandoned and handicapped children to adulthood in an atmosphere of beauty and love."

I had the privilege of spending time with the Queen of Koje Island, as her neighbors fondly call Mrs. Kim. If the Dalai Lama (another Magsaysay laureate) oozes holiness; Mrs. Kim oozes unquestioning love for all people. As the our general assembly approaches, my thoughts often wander back to her. If faced with all our differences, what would Mrs. Kim do? Undoubtedly, it would be to love all of us without regard for our differences or for our handicaps.