There’s a Korean word that describes a sense of woundedness so deep that no English word serves as a true equivalent. That word is han, and it’s a concept that artist, theologian, and immigrant Phuc Luu discussed with Steve Cuss, the host of Being Human, on a recent podcast episode. It’s also a topic that Sara Kyoungah White explored in a CT article titled "Blessed Are the Bearers of ‘Han’: What Koreans and the Israelites Teach Us About Collective Grief."

White, a Korean American, writes that "han is a deep sorrow, resentment, and rage, felt in the collective and wrought by enduring oppression. Han hearkens to history and is relentlessly present from generation to generation."

Luu, whose family came to the United States because of the Vietnam War, knows that history intimately. In his conversation with Cuss, Luu describes how he has explored han in his work through the lens of Jesus’ approach as a physician who came not for those who are well, but for those who are in need of healing (Mark 2:17).

In other words, healing han is imperative for human flourishing. And the first step in healing is acknowledgment.

As we come face-to-face with our own individual and collective hardships, may we do so with history, han, and healing in mind.