First Words / What is precious to us?

1 The warmth of the study room

Little Poet's Little Joy
Haein Publishing House
Bookmark
lamplight
Tools of Love
new watch
About hospitality
Flower clouds
The poet's share
Letter Alley and Letter Warehouse
Word drawing box
Peace of mind
Twelve Letters
Guestbook
Growing plants
Welcoming guests
With just a little effort
Joy Discovery Research Institute
Writing room thoughts

2 The Mystery of Life

If you smell the scent of flowers, you become a flower person
I love camellias
Magnolia
Dandelion seeds
pine cone
a flower garden of one pyeong
vegetable garden
The trees move
The old nun's exclamation
I want to become a bird and start anew
leaves
Manse cactus
succulents
cotton
Life fragments

3 The fragrance of the capital

Always with a round heart
Statue of the Virgin Mary
Our house
Become a student at Farewell School
Jangdokdae
belfry
Back view
Hillside room
Corridors and stairs of the monastery
Cloud bridge over the stairs
window
cathedral
small bell
Capital stage

4 The Softness of Life

hug, love
Looking at the horizon
shell
parrot doll
Back scratch
The many things books give us
Calling names
Humility learned while wearing shoes
a piece of wood
cane
pebbles
A stone picked up on the road
Life stories

5 The Beauty of Memories

As if washed and shaved in clear water
Good Words Notebook
Mother's letter
Broom Card
Sister Sister's Letter
Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan's postcard
pharynx
Flower thimble
button
Handkerchief No. 88
When I look at my father's picture
First Vow Diary
The chief sent by my brother
Professor Jang Young-hee's watch
Wood carving of a death row inmate
Postcard from a Death Row Inmate
Dandelion Territory
passport photo
ring
Memories

The person who will become the end / poem
Appendix / Ten Poems

A story that has been kept with a warm heart for 60 years

Everyone has a secret drawer.
However, the author's secret drawer is never closed and is always open.
Inside the drawer are things that can be used as gifts to be given to guests, such as shells, stones, stationery, colored pencils, postcards, and handkerchiefs.
“I believe that gifts shine only when they go around and eventually return to those who need them” (p. 9), so he repeatedly empties and fills his drawers in order to share what he has throughout his life.

A death row inmate received a letter from him and wrote back, “Auntie, everyone tells me to repent, but you are the first person to tell me to bring out the pure heart within me” (p. 35), and a reader planted the “flower seeds in front of the study” (p. 45) he received from him in his yard, and pink flowers bloomed.
People cry, laugh, and gain strength to live again from the small gifts he gives them.
It's not because it's an expensive jewel, but because it's not cold, and because it's made with precious sincerity, it gives off a warm feeling.

And so the world says that the traces of his life and the look he gave are poetry, and that the single line he wrote with his bent fingers is poetry that leads lonely hope to a place where it is not lonely.
Kim Jin-suk, the author of “Salt Flower Tree,” was comforted by reading his poetry when she “felt lonely and helpless, as if she were standing alone in a field after being fired at the age of 26” (p. 43), and an elementary school student, after reading his book, vowed to “be grateful for the things that make me sad” (p. 53).

A book titled “Precious Treasures” has been published, containing stories collected over 60 years by Sister Hae-in Lee, a poet who does her best for everyone with a sincere heart.
I compiled together pieces written while looking through old diaries while organizing my life's journey, poems written after returning to my bedroom after saying my final farewell to a friend, notes taken from a memo I kept in my apron, and excerpts from columns I serialized in daily newspapers.

He entered the convent in 1964 and wanted to be “a kind-hearted ‘child’ who always lives with a poor heart, chewing on the starlight and breathing in the wind” (p. 193). Now, as a great adult of our time, he humbly hopes to become “a little mother who gives small comfort to someone with poetry, however inadequate, and who never stops praying” (p. 191). These are the first words he spoke.
“What is precious to us?” (page 8)

A list of precious things we may have forgotten

The book's table of contents reflects on the precious things we may have missed.
Since it would be impossible to list them all, I have divided them into 5 parts.
The photos in the book were taken by author Jeong Mel-Mel while accompanying Sister Hae-In Lee from November 2022 to April 2024.

Part 1, “The Warmth of the Study Room,” tells the stories of the people Sister Hae-in Lee, who has spent her days in the 10-pyeong Haein Study Room since it first opened in the fall of 1997, and the stories of the objects in the study room.
He calls himself a “researcher of joy discovery” (p. 51), and remembers “the sound of happiness blossoming quietly with just a little effort” (p. 49), telling us about the small joys of living as a small poet.

Part 2, “The Mystery of Life,” shares the wisdom learned and acquired from nature, from a one-pyeong flower garden cultivated by Sister Hwanwoo to magnolia trees, cacti, and cotton.
The sentences that say, “Holding a pine cone is like holding a mountain” (page 67), “Smelling the scent of flowers makes you a flower person” (page 91), and whispering to a white butterfly, “Thank you for remembering even a small blade of grass” (page 191) are like a cozy shade spread over the heavy daily life, leading us to meditate.

Part 3, “The Fragrance of the Capital,” depicts the convent’s landscape, from the hillside room where the late novelist Park Wan-seo experienced emotional recovery after losing her son, to the cathedral, cloud bridge, and bell tower, drawing a round heart.
Even in convent life, there are unpleasant things that happen because of human relationships, but at those times, it is said, “Peace comes when you forgive today what needs to be forgiven today” (p. 121).
“To become a little angel, you must know how to make big sacrifices” (p. 121). This will help you avoid the breathless climbs up and down the hills of life.

Part 4, “The Gentleness of Life,” recounts the joy of embracing and loving my day, from picking up seashells at Gwangalli Beach to putting on my shoes with a humble heart every day.
“I think again that being alive means calling someone’s name and being called by that name” (page 139), and it makes me think about the beauty of the heart that wishes well-being while thinking of the names of the people around me.

Part 5, “The Beauty of Memories,” tells the story of how memories become more beautiful over time, like stones being carved and polished by clear water, from the mother’s belongings to anecdotes with writers.
The final part of Part 5, “Memories,” unfolds his life in chronological order from his days in the capital, his period of illness, and his later years, leaving a lingering impression.
“Encounters are always short, and partings are always long.” (p. 197)

A book of hospitality that embraces pain without pain

Sister Lee Hae-in said in her final remarks, “Was the score given generously simply because it was written by a nun?
So that's why it got the attention, the spotlight, and the recognition it deserved.
He wrote that he once asked himself, “Is it true that my colleagues said that if I had stayed outside the monastery, I would not have enjoyed the love of readers for so long?”
In one of the new poems included in this book, “Longing,” he says, “Because the theme of my life/ has always been longing/ my life has never been boring/ and I have been able to be happy all the time.”
What kind of business card or title would a poet who writes poems that replace ‘longing’ with ‘happiness’ need?

His attitude towards people is 'hospitality', his way of overcoming pain is 'cheerfulness', and the theme of his poetry is 'small comfort'.
So what can we add to what he wrote?
Through his poetry and prose, he brought warmth to our hearts that were thirsty for a little love.
Through his writing, we learned that love has weight, just as a single flower petal has weight, and so we were able to willingly endure the weight of love and strengthen our muscles in life.
So he will be a strong pillar of our times.

Just as there are moments when the sound of a bell struck once resonates deeper in the heart than the sound of a bell struck a hundred times, a single sentence from “Precious Treasures” may resonate with the reader.
His honest confession that “I sometimes envy those who cry loudly without any shame, as I only quietly swallow my extremely restrained tears” (p. 191) will probably be heartbreaking.
Then, you might even raise the corners of your mouth when you read the sentence, “We need a cheerful chatterbox who brightens the atmosphere as much as the silence of the flowers that practice silence” (page 88).
The reader will find out in the end as he reads this book like a treasure hunt.
“Pain is also a precious gift” (page 121).