St. Kim Sun-il
Not that this makes his death more or less tragic, but it seems that South Korean beheading victim Kim Sun-il was a devout Christian whose ambition was to be a missionary to the Arabs.
Pastor James Wetzstein, who draws the lectionary cartoon Agnus Day, provided the link. Pr. Wetzstein remarks, "Everybody loves the martyrs, but nobody wants to be one."
Technically, Sun didn't die for the Faith, so he doesn't quite qualify as a martyr- unless, perhaps, he volunteered for his translator job in preparation for his ministry. But nonetheless, my mind is drawn to Martin Luther's first hymn, originally written to commemorate the martyrdom of the first martyrs of the Reformation. One verse goes like this:
The Father has received
Their latest living breath-
And vain is Satan's boast of triumph
At their death!
Still, still, though dead, they speak,
And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim
To many an awakening land
The one availing Name.
Pastor James Wetzstein, who draws the lectionary cartoon Agnus Day, provided the link. Pr. Wetzstein remarks, "Everybody loves the martyrs, but nobody wants to be one."
Technically, Sun didn't die for the Faith, so he doesn't quite qualify as a martyr- unless, perhaps, he volunteered for his translator job in preparation for his ministry. But nonetheless, my mind is drawn to Martin Luther's first hymn, originally written to commemorate the martyrdom of the first martyrs of the Reformation. One verse goes like this:
The Father has received
Their latest living breath-
And vain is Satan's boast of triumph
At their death!
Still, still, though dead, they speak,
And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim
To many an awakening land
The one availing Name.
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