![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
meiface.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
chineseinkIt is oft-ignored in fandom that anyone but Siwon is Christian but we know that's not true. This was supposed to be a drabble about Kyuhyun and Siwon. Somehow it ended up like this... What is my life, seriously.
Religious themes throughout, natch. I may or may not subscribe to some or all of the views portrayed within. No offense intended; portrayals are fictional, etc.
Five Super Junior Members Who Believed in God
Super Junior (M), gen, PG, 1170 words
Faith is different for everyone.
V
Kyuhyun was raised Protestant but he's not sure what that means he believes. He's not sure he ever found God; God was, instead, there and waiting for him every Sunday morning, thanks to his parents and his sister. He is accustomed to praying before meals and praying before bed, accustomed to thanking God for the good fortune in his life, and accustomed to singing songs before the congregation from the time he was in elementary school and onwards.
Kyuhyun thinks of God the way he thinks of math: it's something that is part of his life, ineffable and ever-present, but not something that requires him to have faith in it. It just is.
He slowly realizes that this is not the "right" way to believe - or, at least, not the way he is supposed to believe. His pastor talks of faith, of bridging the gap of what can be known and what cannot be known. He talks of following the path of righteousness, when Kyuhyun has never been able to see that path. He has seen only "what we do" and "what we do not do" by the living testimonies of people around him. Kyuhyun doesn't follow the path of righteousness so much as he follows the cues of those around him.
It is a strange thing, a combination of Korean tradition and Christian tenets. Always respect your elders, of course; be kind to those around you; do your best with what you have. But his mother always worries what their neighbors think, and his sister always worries how she looks - it's not vanity, she tells him as she frets over which pair of earrings to wear before a date with her boyfriend. It's not vanity, but making sure you present a good image to the world. They know you are Christian. You are, in essence, God's representative. So you have to behave well and dress well.
Kyuhyun, at fourteen, isn't quite sure he buys her logic. But it doesn't make any less sense than his father always drinking with his business partners, with extended family and other guests. They are drunk often and Kyuhyun remembers in the back of his mind some Sunday school lesson about the evils of the vine - he doesn't know if it makes a difference that soju comes from rice. His father tells him that it's different, because it's culture. This is what being Korean is about, and he can't forsake that any more than he can forsake his God.
Kyuhyun doesn't question anymore, because even as he grows older, his faith stays the same. God is a constant in his life, unquestionably true the way math is unquestionably true, but Kyuhyun is the one who makes the choices in his life. He games. He sings. He drinks the older members of Super Junior under the table, and laughs. This is his faith, natural in the back of his mind like breathing.
IV
Kyuhyun has never been quite sure what to make of Siwon. Siwon, whose faith is so different from his own, and yet, the same. Siwon is passionate and earnest about his God - proactive about his beliefs in a way Kyuhyun never was. He has, Kyuhyun suspects, found the path of righteousness. He is following it eagerly. Kyuhyun still doesn't know where to begin to find it or if he even wants to.
He is drawn to Siwon despite himself. There is something almost mesmerizing about someone who is so blessed - good looks, a charming manner, a generous heart - who is at the same time so humble about it. Siwon doesn't dismiss his assets in false modesty; instead, he attributes them to God, with a smile. Kyuhyun doesn't understand it but he is fascinated by it.
Kyuhyun believes, but he doesn't really care if others do. His faith is his own, and his relationship with his God is a personal one. Siwon, on the other hand, can't seem to help asking Heechul-hyung if he wants to go to church with him. He can't seem to help asking if Hankyung minds praying before their meal together. Siwon doesn't just love God - he is in love with Him - and he is so eager to spread that love.
Kyuhyun doubts that Siwon will ever change Heechul's mind, because Heechul is stubborn that way. He has set himself in his atheist ways long before Siwon, and he is even more resilient against change in the face of Siwon's badgering. Hankyung... Hankyung may be swayed, some day, but Kyuhyun can't see it either. Hankyung would be hard-pressed to put anyone, anything, before his mother and his country.
But even if neither Heechul or Hankyung will ever change their minds about Siwon's God, Kyuhyun can tell that Siwon's exuberant, unwavering love for Him is part of what makes him so irresistible. He would not be himself if he didn't love his God so deeply. That is part and parcel of why the people who love him, do.
Heechul has freely admitted it to Kyuhyun over drinks, shameless. He isn't bothered by it.
Kyuhyun believes, too, in his own way. And even should he never fully understand Siwon's faith, his way of loving, Kyuhyun admires him for it nonetheless. This is, some part of him acknowledges, true love.
III
Donghae believes as strongly as Siwon does, but his is a much more private faith. He prays by himself at night for his mother and for his brother. He believes with every inch of his heart that his father is in heaven, watching over him. He knows he will get married in a church one day, blessed in holy union with a wife he will love until death do them part. He thanks God for every reminder to be grateful when the days are hard.
Donghae doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve; that space is reserved for his heart. He keeps his faith around his wrist, in a silver bracelet that was a gift from his mother the day he was baptized. He wears it as a reminder that there is something bigger than all of this: a reason for him to keep going without his dad and a love that will never fail him. He puts his faith on display, just as Siwon does, but in an entirely different way. His marker is not for others, but for himself.
II
Zhou Mi doesn't believe in God, per se. He believes in a Higher Being, a nonspecific entity who has some sort of cosmic control. Zhou Mi believes in love in all forms, and he doesn't believe in a God that would condemn that. Zhou Mi is too much in love with this life to imagine forsaking it for a second, promised one; to waste it, he thinks, would be a tragedy.
I
What Heechul doesn't tell people is that he grew up believing in God. He stopped the day he fell in love with a boy.
--
Started/Finished: 2009.11.30 | Edited: 2010.11.20
Notes: Members chosen were chosen because, as my biases, I tend to overthink about/overanalyze them? So I have put more thought into their possible religious beliefs than, say, Kangin's. orz
Religious themes throughout, natch. I may or may not subscribe to some or all of the views portrayed within. No offense intended; portrayals are fictional, etc.
Five Super Junior Members Who Believed in God
Super Junior (M), gen, PG, 1170 words
Faith is different for everyone.
V
Kyuhyun was raised Protestant but he's not sure what that means he believes. He's not sure he ever found God; God was, instead, there and waiting for him every Sunday morning, thanks to his parents and his sister. He is accustomed to praying before meals and praying before bed, accustomed to thanking God for the good fortune in his life, and accustomed to singing songs before the congregation from the time he was in elementary school and onwards.
Kyuhyun thinks of God the way he thinks of math: it's something that is part of his life, ineffable and ever-present, but not something that requires him to have faith in it. It just is.
He slowly realizes that this is not the "right" way to believe - or, at least, not the way he is supposed to believe. His pastor talks of faith, of bridging the gap of what can be known and what cannot be known. He talks of following the path of righteousness, when Kyuhyun has never been able to see that path. He has seen only "what we do" and "what we do not do" by the living testimonies of people around him. Kyuhyun doesn't follow the path of righteousness so much as he follows the cues of those around him.
It is a strange thing, a combination of Korean tradition and Christian tenets. Always respect your elders, of course; be kind to those around you; do your best with what you have. But his mother always worries what their neighbors think, and his sister always worries how she looks - it's not vanity, she tells him as she frets over which pair of earrings to wear before a date with her boyfriend. It's not vanity, but making sure you present a good image to the world. They know you are Christian. You are, in essence, God's representative. So you have to behave well and dress well.
Kyuhyun, at fourteen, isn't quite sure he buys her logic. But it doesn't make any less sense than his father always drinking with his business partners, with extended family and other guests. They are drunk often and Kyuhyun remembers in the back of his mind some Sunday school lesson about the evils of the vine - he doesn't know if it makes a difference that soju comes from rice. His father tells him that it's different, because it's culture. This is what being Korean is about, and he can't forsake that any more than he can forsake his God.
Kyuhyun doesn't question anymore, because even as he grows older, his faith stays the same. God is a constant in his life, unquestionably true the way math is unquestionably true, but Kyuhyun is the one who makes the choices in his life. He games. He sings. He drinks the older members of Super Junior under the table, and laughs. This is his faith, natural in the back of his mind like breathing.
IV
Kyuhyun has never been quite sure what to make of Siwon. Siwon, whose faith is so different from his own, and yet, the same. Siwon is passionate and earnest about his God - proactive about his beliefs in a way Kyuhyun never was. He has, Kyuhyun suspects, found the path of righteousness. He is following it eagerly. Kyuhyun still doesn't know where to begin to find it or if he even wants to.
He is drawn to Siwon despite himself. There is something almost mesmerizing about someone who is so blessed - good looks, a charming manner, a generous heart - who is at the same time so humble about it. Siwon doesn't dismiss his assets in false modesty; instead, he attributes them to God, with a smile. Kyuhyun doesn't understand it but he is fascinated by it.
Kyuhyun believes, but he doesn't really care if others do. His faith is his own, and his relationship with his God is a personal one. Siwon, on the other hand, can't seem to help asking Heechul-hyung if he wants to go to church with him. He can't seem to help asking if Hankyung minds praying before their meal together. Siwon doesn't just love God - he is in love with Him - and he is so eager to spread that love.
Kyuhyun doubts that Siwon will ever change Heechul's mind, because Heechul is stubborn that way. He has set himself in his atheist ways long before Siwon, and he is even more resilient against change in the face of Siwon's badgering. Hankyung... Hankyung may be swayed, some day, but Kyuhyun can't see it either. Hankyung would be hard-pressed to put anyone, anything, before his mother and his country.
But even if neither Heechul or Hankyung will ever change their minds about Siwon's God, Kyuhyun can tell that Siwon's exuberant, unwavering love for Him is part of what makes him so irresistible. He would not be himself if he didn't love his God so deeply. That is part and parcel of why the people who love him, do.
Heechul has freely admitted it to Kyuhyun over drinks, shameless. He isn't bothered by it.
Kyuhyun believes, too, in his own way. And even should he never fully understand Siwon's faith, his way of loving, Kyuhyun admires him for it nonetheless. This is, some part of him acknowledges, true love.
III
Donghae believes as strongly as Siwon does, but his is a much more private faith. He prays by himself at night for his mother and for his brother. He believes with every inch of his heart that his father is in heaven, watching over him. He knows he will get married in a church one day, blessed in holy union with a wife he will love until death do them part. He thanks God for every reminder to be grateful when the days are hard.
Donghae doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve; that space is reserved for his heart. He keeps his faith around his wrist, in a silver bracelet that was a gift from his mother the day he was baptized. He wears it as a reminder that there is something bigger than all of this: a reason for him to keep going without his dad and a love that will never fail him. He puts his faith on display, just as Siwon does, but in an entirely different way. His marker is not for others, but for himself.
II
Zhou Mi doesn't believe in God, per se. He believes in a Higher Being, a nonspecific entity who has some sort of cosmic control. Zhou Mi believes in love in all forms, and he doesn't believe in a God that would condemn that. Zhou Mi is too much in love with this life to imagine forsaking it for a second, promised one; to waste it, he thinks, would be a tragedy.
I
What Heechul doesn't tell people is that he grew up believing in God. He stopped the day he fell in love with a boy.
--
Started/Finished: 2009.11.30 | Edited: 2010.11.20
Notes: Members chosen were chosen because, as my biases, I tend to overthink about/overanalyze them? So I have put more thought into their possible religious beliefs than, say, Kangin's. orz
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}