내가
나의 사랑으로 나를 사랑했을 때
참 많이 노력해야 했습니다.
더 나은 내가 되기 위하여...
내가
나의 사랑으로 남편을 사랑했을 때
참 많이 울어야 했습니다.
남편을 나의 사람으로 만들기 위하여...
내가
나의 사랑으로 아이들을 사랑했을 때
참 많이 화를 내야 했습니다.
아이들을 잘 키워야 한다는 욕심 때문에...
내가
나의 사랑으로 이웃을 사랑했을 때
참 많이 참아야 했습니다.
그들을 사랑해야 한다는 윤리 때문에...
이제는
하나님의 사랑으로 사랑합니다.
더 큰 사랑으로 사랑을 하니
사랑하는 일이 쉬워졌습니다.
사랑하는 일이 기쁨이 됩니다.
사랑하는 일이 감사가 됩니다.
-사랑이 가장 아름답다 中 -
2009년 5월 18일 월요일
2009년 4월 22일 수요일
What Are Friends For? A Longer Life
In the quest for better health, many people turn to doctors, self-help books or herbal supplements. But they overlook a powerful weapon that could help them fight illness and depression, speed recovery, slow aging and prolong life: their friends.
Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age.
“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t terribly well appreciated,” said Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. “There is just scads of stuff on families and marriage, but very little on friendship. It baffles me. Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships.”
In a new book, “The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a 40-Year Friendship” (Gotham), Jeffrey Zaslow tells the story of 11 childhood friends who scattered from Iowa to eight different states. Despite the distance, their friendships endured through college and marriage, divorce and other crises, including the death of one of the women in her 20s.
Using scrapbooks, photo albums and the women’s own memories, Mr. Zaslow chronicles how their close friendships have shaped their lives and continue to sustain them. The role of friendship in their health and well-being is evident in almost every chapter.
Two of the friends have recently learned they have breast cancer. Kelly Zwagerman, now a high school teacher who lives in Northfield, Minn., said that when she got her diagnosis in September 2007, her doctor told her to surround herself with loved ones. Instead, she reached out to her childhood friends, even though they lived far away.
“The first people I told were the women from Ames,” she said in an interview. “I e-mailed them. I immediately had e-mails and phone calls and messages of support. It was instant that the love poured in from all of them.”
When she complained that her treatment led to painful sores in her throat, an Ames girl sent a smoothie maker and recipes. Another, who had lost a daughter to leukemia, sent Ms. Zwagerman a hand-knitted hat, knowing her head would be cold without hair; still another sent pajamas made of special fabric to help cope with night sweats.
Ms. Zwagerman said she was often more comfortable discussing her illness with her girlfriends than with her doctor. “We go so far back that these women will talk about anything,” she said.
Ms. Zwagerman says her friends from Ames have been an essential factor in her treatment and recovery, and research bears her out. In 2006, a study of nearly 3,000 nurses with breast cancer found that women without close friends were four times as likely to die from the disease as women with 10 or more friends. And notably, proximity and the amount of contact with a friend wasn’t associated with survival. Just having friends was protective.
Bella DePaulo, a visiting psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose work focuses on single people and friendships, notes that in many studies, friendship has an even greater effect on health than a spouse or family member. In the study of nurses with breast cancer, having a spouse wasn’t associated with survival.
While many friendship studies focus on the intense relationships of women, some research shows that men can benefit, too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-age Swedish men, attachment to a single person didn’t appear to affect the risk of heart attack and fatal coronary heart disease, but having friendships did. Only smoking was as important a risk factor as lack of social support.
Exactly why friendship has such a big effect isn’t entirely clear. While friends can run errands and pick up medicine for a sick person, the benefits go well beyond physical assistance; indeed, proximity does not seem to be a factor.
It may be that people with strong social ties also have better access to health services and care. Beyond that, however, friendship clearly has a profound psychological effect. People with strong friendships are less likely than others to get colds, perhaps because they have lower stress levels.
Last year, researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone.
The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
“People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”
Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship and social networks in overall health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could promote brain health as we age.
“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t terribly well appreciated,” said Rebecca G. Adams, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. “There is just scads of stuff on families and marriage, but very little on friendship. It baffles me. Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships.”
In a new book, “The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a 40-Year Friendship” (Gotham), Jeffrey Zaslow tells the story of 11 childhood friends who scattered from Iowa to eight different states. Despite the distance, their friendships endured through college and marriage, divorce and other crises, including the death of one of the women in her 20s.
Using scrapbooks, photo albums and the women’s own memories, Mr. Zaslow chronicles how their close friendships have shaped their lives and continue to sustain them. The role of friendship in their health and well-being is evident in almost every chapter.
Two of the friends have recently learned they have breast cancer. Kelly Zwagerman, now a high school teacher who lives in Northfield, Minn., said that when she got her diagnosis in September 2007, her doctor told her to surround herself with loved ones. Instead, she reached out to her childhood friends, even though they lived far away.
“The first people I told were the women from Ames,” she said in an interview. “I e-mailed them. I immediately had e-mails and phone calls and messages of support. It was instant that the love poured in from all of them.”
When she complained that her treatment led to painful sores in her throat, an Ames girl sent a smoothie maker and recipes. Another, who had lost a daughter to leukemia, sent Ms. Zwagerman a hand-knitted hat, knowing her head would be cold without hair; still another sent pajamas made of special fabric to help cope with night sweats.
Ms. Zwagerman said she was often more comfortable discussing her illness with her girlfriends than with her doctor. “We go so far back that these women will talk about anything,” she said.
Ms. Zwagerman says her friends from Ames have been an essential factor in her treatment and recovery, and research bears her out. In 2006, a study of nearly 3,000 nurses with breast cancer found that women without close friends were four times as likely to die from the disease as women with 10 or more friends. And notably, proximity and the amount of contact with a friend wasn’t associated with survival. Just having friends was protective.
Bella DePaulo, a visiting psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, whose work focuses on single people and friendships, notes that in many studies, friendship has an even greater effect on health than a spouse or family member. In the study of nurses with breast cancer, having a spouse wasn’t associated with survival.
While many friendship studies focus on the intense relationships of women, some research shows that men can benefit, too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-age Swedish men, attachment to a single person didn’t appear to affect the risk of heart attack and fatal coronary heart disease, but having friendships did. Only smoking was as important a risk factor as lack of social support.
Exactly why friendship has such a big effect isn’t entirely clear. While friends can run errands and pick up medicine for a sick person, the benefits go well beyond physical assistance; indeed, proximity does not seem to be a factor.
It may be that people with strong social ties also have better access to health services and care. Beyond that, however, friendship clearly has a profound psychological effect. People with strong friendships are less likely than others to get colds, perhaps because they have lower stress levels.
Last year, researchers studied 34 students at the University of Virginia, taking them to the base of a steep hill and fitting them with a weighted backpack. They were then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some participants stood next to friends during the exercise, while others were alone.
The students who stood with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill. And the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
“People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”
2009년 4월 8일 수요일
2009년 3월 19일 목요일
<마가복음 4:1 - 4:9> 유명한 비유 한 가지
마가는 이 장의 대부분을 예수님의 통상적인 교육 방법이었던 비유들(34절)을 몇 가지 소개하는 데에 할애한다. 대부분의 군중들은 비유의 말씀을 듣고 그것이 무슨 뜻인지 스스로 파악해야 했다. 그러나 이 복음서의 독자들은 주께서 제자들에게 따로 해주신 설명을 듣는 특혜를 누리는데, 본문도 그 중의 하나이다. 그러나 우리도 당시의 구중들의 입장에 서서 9절까지의 말씀이 무슨 의미인지 스스로 파악하려고 노력해 보아야 할 것이다.
이 비유는 길이와 복잡성에 있어서 거의 격언에 가까운 ‘의원’(2:17)의 비유와, 비사(比辭)에 가까운 탕자의 비유(눅15:11-32) 중간쯤 된다. 그렇지만 이 비유의 각 항목이 각각 어떤 뚜렷한 상(像)을 가리키고 있는지, 아니면 그 세부적인 묘사들 전체가 한 가지 사상을 전하기 위한 단순한 배경이 되는지 살펴 보아야 한다. 비유는 그 두 가지 방식을 다 취할 수 있다. 구약성경에도 이와 비슷하게 여러 가지 양식의 예화들이 나온다. 오늘날 설교에 자주 쓰이는 ‘예화들’도 같은 부류에 든다고 볼 수 있다.
예수께서 비유를 시작하시면서 “들으라-보라”라고 말씀하셨는데, 이 두 단어는 중요한 의미를 지닌다. 주께서는 청중들에게 듣고 보라고 하신다. “씨뿌리는 자를 보라.” 아마 그곳에서 보이는 언덕에서 한 사람이 실제로 씨를 뿌리고 있었던 것 같다. 비유들이란 원래 모든 사라들이 친숙히 알고 잇는 사물이나 사건들을 소재로 삼는 법이다. 그러므로 비유의 소재들과 그 외적인 의미에 잇어서 만큼은 청중들은 예수께서 무엇을 말씀하고 계신지를 정확히 알았다. 비록 시대가 바뀌면서 그 중 어떤 것은 오늘날 우리에게는 생소하지만 말이다(예를 들면, 이 비유에서는 씨를 먼저 뿌린 다음에 밭을 일구는 것으로 묘사되는데, 이런 상황에서는 밭의 어떤 부분이 좋은 땅인지는 추수할 때나 되어서야 알 수 있다).
예수께서는 청중들에게 또한 ‘들으라’고 하신다. 비유는 겉으로 드러나지 않는 속뜻을 가지고 있기 때문이다. 이 비유의 속뜻은 땅의 여러 가지 상태와 관계되는 것일 수도 있고, 아니면 열매를 맺지 못하는 대부분의 씨앗들과 괒ㄴ계될 수 도 있다. 아니면 반대로 자라난 씨앗에서 거둔 많은 양의 수확과 관계될 수 도 있다-왜냐하면 비유는 듣는 사람의 주목을 끌기 위해 상당한 과장법을 쓰긱도 하는데, 이 비유에서는 백배의 결실이 그것에 해당되기 대문이다(백배의 결실이리가 하면 그냔 100%가 아니라 10,000%나 된다!).
이 비유는 길이와 복잡성에 있어서 거의 격언에 가까운 ‘의원’(2:17)의 비유와, 비사(比辭)에 가까운 탕자의 비유(눅15:11-32) 중간쯤 된다. 그렇지만 이 비유의 각 항목이 각각 어떤 뚜렷한 상(像)을 가리키고 있는지, 아니면 그 세부적인 묘사들 전체가 한 가지 사상을 전하기 위한 단순한 배경이 되는지 살펴 보아야 한다. 비유는 그 두 가지 방식을 다 취할 수 있다. 구약성경에도 이와 비슷하게 여러 가지 양식의 예화들이 나온다. 오늘날 설교에 자주 쓰이는 ‘예화들’도 같은 부류에 든다고 볼 수 있다.
예수께서 비유를 시작하시면서 “들으라-보라”라고 말씀하셨는데, 이 두 단어는 중요한 의미를 지닌다. 주께서는 청중들에게 듣고 보라고 하신다. “씨뿌리는 자를 보라.” 아마 그곳에서 보이는 언덕에서 한 사람이 실제로 씨를 뿌리고 있었던 것 같다. 비유들이란 원래 모든 사라들이 친숙히 알고 잇는 사물이나 사건들을 소재로 삼는 법이다. 그러므로 비유의 소재들과 그 외적인 의미에 잇어서 만큼은 청중들은 예수께서 무엇을 말씀하고 계신지를 정확히 알았다. 비록 시대가 바뀌면서 그 중 어떤 것은 오늘날 우리에게는 생소하지만 말이다(예를 들면, 이 비유에서는 씨를 먼저 뿌린 다음에 밭을 일구는 것으로 묘사되는데, 이런 상황에서는 밭의 어떤 부분이 좋은 땅인지는 추수할 때나 되어서야 알 수 있다).
예수께서는 청중들에게 또한 ‘들으라’고 하신다. 비유는 겉으로 드러나지 않는 속뜻을 가지고 있기 때문이다. 이 비유의 속뜻은 땅의 여러 가지 상태와 관계되는 것일 수도 있고, 아니면 열매를 맺지 못하는 대부분의 씨앗들과 괒ㄴ계될 수 도 있다. 아니면 반대로 자라난 씨앗에서 거둔 많은 양의 수확과 관계될 수 도 있다-왜냐하면 비유는 듣는 사람의 주목을 끌기 위해 상당한 과장법을 쓰긱도 하는데, 이 비유에서는 백배의 결실이 그것에 해당되기 대문이다(백배의 결실이리가 하면 그냔 100%가 아니라 10,000%나 된다!).
2009년 3월 18일 수요일
피드 구독하기:
글 (Atom)