Hyung Jin Moon
June 20, 2010
Cheon Bok Gung, Yongsan, Seoul Korea
Welcoming Remarks
Yeon-ah nim:
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters. Good afternoon. Welcome to the headquarters of the Unification Church. It is really, really great to see you all. Today we sincerely hope and pray that, through this service, we can rejuvenate our daily life and we can return our praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father. We know that we love True Parents with all our hearts and we truly, truly believe in them. Aju.
Hyung-jin nim:
Good afternoon, everybody. We have brothers and sisters from everywhere today. We have many brothers and sisters from Japan, I believe. Let's give our brothers and sisters from Japan a very warm welcome.
We are practicing something now. Usually it is said "Hallelujah" and then "Amen". "Hallelujah" basically means "Praise the Lord" and "Amen" means "truth" in Hebrew. We have all learned a bit of Korean, and this is the Fatherland, so we have understood the word "Aju". "Aju" means "My Lord" in Chinese characters. Instead of "Amen", in the Unification Church, we say "Aju" because every time we hear something very powerful, then we proclaim and we lift up God. When we do that, it does not matter what country we are from because this portion we can all understand -- that we all say "Aju".
Before then, we have been practicing saying "Na-e junim", which basically explains what "Aju" means. "Na-e junim" means my Lord or praising the Lord, and then we say "Aju" which means "My Lord", lifting up God again. So, even though we are from different countries, on that point, we can know, and we can all say and lift up God. Let's try that one time, "Na-e junim" ("Na-e ju nim"). One more time, "Na-e junim" ("Na-e junim"). That's exactly the point.
Let's start by manifesting the Principle: give and receive action; four position foundation; may I inherit the true love of God. Aju.
Today, we read from the Cheon Seong Gyeong, page 604. Father says,
"We know of the existence of the spirit world. It is more certain than this world. What kind of a world is it? It is one in which everything is possible as long as it is acceptable in God's plan."
Brothers and sisters, we know the reality of the spirit world and we also know that the great spirits and the saints and sages of the past are looking down on True Parents, helping the providence, and also protecting our brothers and sisters all over the world. Let's give it up one time for all our brothers and sisters in the spirit world.
Today we want to meet a very special family. Every week we have the chance to meet wonderful families, our Blessed families that are really living the life of faith; fighting the good fight of faith on the ground, in the real world; such wonderful people. Today we are going to meet Miyajima-san and Jo-jipsa nim. Let's take a look at this video.
Video: "I am a Proud Unificationist" Miyajima Kasuo (44) and Jo Mi-Seon (42) 30,000 Blessed couple
Husband: In Japan, I heard the Divine Principle and True Father's life course, and how much he was persecuted by the Japanese police. I felt like I had been the one who tortured True Father, the Messiah, but he forgave me. I cried so much after that experience, and I felt that this is the path I have to follow.
Wife: While I was reading the Bible, the scripture "love your enemies" stood out to me very much for a month. Who are my enemies? Who is this enemy that God and Jesus tell me to love? I thought my enemy is really our country's grudge toward the Japanese. I was very grateful and inspired to see True Father give us the chance to love the Japanese people through the International Blessing.
Although I was a Christian, I couldn't find a way to love my enemies until I realized it is achievable through the Blessing. I thought to myself 'I can go to heaven,' and with that determination, received the Blessing. (Her husband is Japanese.)
Dream of True Mother
After the Blessing, my husband came to Korea. Within seven months after he came, he said he wanted to make a branch of the Segye Ilbo. My husband told our pastor, "It is the company Father made, and if nobody does the job because it is too difficult, who is going to do it?"
It was a very small church, with one room for the brothers and another room for the pastor's couple. But this church life was extremely difficult for a person like me with a feeble life of faith. It was so difficult to get up early and make deliveries, even in the rain. The church life itself does not give you much time to rest, and even though I received the Blessing with the determination of loving my enemy, because it was so difficult I even thought of leaving. It was very difficult to continue to keep up this lifestyle, especially when I could not have a prayer life.
Right around the time I was thinking of leaving, I had a dream. True Mother appeared in the dream, but she was not the usual beautiful mother. Her hair was a mess and she had no makeup on. She told me, "I have suffered a course of hell, but was victorious in order to become the True Mother I am today. If I do not experience a life of suffering, how would I understand the people who are in hell, and how would I offer them up to Heaven? Because I experienced a course of suffering, and was victorious, I am who I am today."
After the dream I said, "Yes, I, too, will be victorious in this hell. Without overcoming this course of suffering, I also will not understand the people who are living in hell and cannot attend God." That is why I am still here.
The End of Suffering
Why did we have to face such trials? I was not resentful, though. Just like Job in the Bible, where everything he had was taken away but was returned as a bigger blessing, I also believed that this course would bring about a bigger blessing. We were in a situation where we had to leave our home as soon as possible, and I felt like I had become an unfilial daughter to True Parents because I had let Satan take away our possessions. I thought I should set a foundation on Heaven's side before we moved out. I thought of making an offering for the Cheon Bok Gung. It would allow us to stand in front of True Parents in honor, instead of in shame. So I secretly offered the Cheon Bok Gung offering and we moved into a small one-room apartment.
But I wanted to report this joyful incident to the International President and our pastor as soon as possible. Not a report saying that we moved to a smaller place, but informing them about the Cheon Bok Gung offering and the blessings we have and will receive, and showing other members how we have overcome the challenges that all members worry about.
After the offering, my husband's work has been going well, and my heart-broken parents have been supporting us as well. It has been eight months since we were kicked out of the house, but now we have moved to this place. People around me ask, "Can this really happen?" But now I can confidently say that these blessings were brought upon me because we made that offering for the Cheon Bok Gung.
With love, we can overcome anything! Brothers and sisters, we love you.
Main Sermon by Hyung-jin nim:
Today, brothers and sisters, I want to talk to you about "Moving Towards the Light".
As our core scriptures, we are going to use the "World Scriptures". Let us begin with Christianity, Romans 12:9-11.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."
Aju.
Here, we can see Paul talking to the church in Rome and describing the power of love. Paul says that in order for love to be genuine, first it must be sincere. Many people mix up the next point which is that if you are called to love, then you cannot hate. But this is wrong. Paul teaches us with wisdom that, if one truly does love, one must also hate evil.
If you truly love your spouse, you must hate adultery. You cannot have a quasi love towards adultery, "Oh it's OK, just love everything." You cannot have that. If you truly love your spouse, you will hate adultery; you will hate infidelity, because that will destroy your spouse. That will destroy and bring them great suffering and pain. In the same way, if we truly love our parents, then we must also hate shaming them, because that also brings destruction to their hearts.
In the providence, we can see that God separates good and evil all throughout providential history. The Principle reveals that all throughout history, God had to make the difference between good and evil. Because God is the absolute standard of goodness, there is a clear differentiation between what is good and what is evil. It is not a relativistic view. God separated good and evil in the flood; with Moses, in the separation from Satan period when he went to receive the Commandments; Abraham, in separating the offering, separating that which is good from what is evil. We can see this all through providential history.
We can also remember that love, as Paul talks about, is, moves, and has its being in action; that love is a verb. He calls us to hold to goodness; for us to be sincere and hate what is evil and also to hold and to cling to what is good. To love other brothers and sisters -- in this context he means believers in Christ -- with brotherly affection. Honor those who are among you. And stay strong in spiritual fervor and, the main point is, in serving the Lord. When Paul explains love, the fundamental point of love is to serve and uphold, uplift the Lord. It is all about God. Everything must be centered, and here, love is centered on serving the Lord.
For us as the Unification Church, we only have one center. This is forever our center. True Parents are forever our center. They are the king of kings and the lord of lords. They are the True Parents that we as Unificationists serve. Na-e junim! (Na-e junim). It is so important to understand that we have an eternal center, that we do not have a new center or a new king. This is a very fundamental point.
During my fast, I had a great experience. I found a wonderful new appreciation and gratitude to our brothers and sisters around the world, who all fasted before they were Blessed, and numerous other times during their faith life, praying for True Parents' victory and praying for the Unification Church, etc. Today, at the first service, we had one brother from Japan who did forty-day fasting ten times during his life. I did eight days and that was something else. Forty days! Ten times! Let's give him a great round of applause, because that is incredible discipline. So, I found a whole new appreciation for our brothers and sisters who practiced fasting training and especially our brother whom I met this morning.
Brothers and sisters, we as a movement may be facing certain storms and confusion right now, but we must remember that these issues are not simply physical. They are not only rooted in the physical; they are rooted deeply in the spiritual. There is darkness where there is confusion. There are clouds that confuse. The only thing that defeats darkness, as the old saying goes, is the light. The only thing that can penetrate through the thousand eons of darkness is the candlelight or the light from the sun. The light can destroy the darkness that surrounds it.
We, as Unificationists, are light. We move forward with the light of truth. We serve True Parents. We declare True Parents, testify about True Parents. We live to glorify True Parents and God. This is our eternal center, which, for us as Unificationists, does not waver. In this very difficult time, this is the light; this is the horizon, the rising sun that we must seek. This is the light that, I believe, will save a dark world. Brothers and sisters, we want to always recall that this is the reason why we are all here.
Let's look at our second world scripture today. This is Buddhism, from the Dhammapada 1.
"Mind is the forerunner of all evil states. Mind is chief. Mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with wicked mind, because of that, suffering follows one; like the wheel of a cart follows the hoof of the ox."
We know that Satan always assaults the mind; that he assaults the spiritual before he assaults the physical. When Adam and Eve fell, Lucifer tempted them spiritually first. He made them fall away from God spiritually before they engaged in a physical fall. Satan knows that if he can turn the mind and heart away from God and True Parents, then he can start controlling all things and, as he does, create suffering.
We also know that in the life of Jesus, Satan tempted Jesus with material goods. He said "I will give you all the kingdoms of this world if you bow before me, Jesus." He tempted him with material goods.
When True Parents had the Entrance of the Cheon Jeong Gung Palace Ceremony in 2006, they gave us many responsibilities as citizens of Cheon Il Guk. One of them was very important: this was the one that said that we must not abuse public foundations. You see, the foundation of the Unification Church is public. It is True Parents' foundation. It is the Unification Church brothers' and sisters' foundation.
It is from the blood, sweat and tears of our brothers and sisters -- primarily for the last thirty years, of our Japanese brothers and sisters, who sacrificed everything to create the world foundation that we have today as the Unification Church. These are not simply things that we can use at our own discretion because we have some title. The foundation of True Parents, of the Unification Church, was built by members who sacrificed; built by members who donated and contributed. This cannot be misused. If this is misused for personal purposes or against the will of True Parents' providence, then we are committing grave sin, very grave sin.
We must realize that these things are not just physical but they are also spiritual, because many of our brothers and sisters, particularly in Japan, had spiritual experiences from their ancestors, from people who had passed. I remember one sister telling me that she saw a picture of her parents, her physical parents, crying and begging for her to contribute and help True Parents' providence. So, we must remember that this public Unification Church also belongs to the spirit world. It is not just a physical thing. If we misuse these public foundations, we receive condemnation not only in the physical world, but also by the spirits.
I remember talking to Otsuka-san, who is now our continental director of the North East Asian region. He used to be the president of the Japanese church when we were visiting the Japanese church, even before I did ministry. We were visiting and staying with the Japanese members in the local churches and trying to encourage them and thank them for all their sacrifice throughout the years. At that time, I had a chance to have lunch with Otsuka-san.
He told me of how his wife is a descendant of samurai. She has in her possession a samurai sword that has been passed down through the generations. However, she has never opened or unsheathed this samurai sword, not even once. They keep it locked up, tied up and hidden away. He explained that this is because the samurai sword is cursed; anyone who has opened it has had some kind of disaster happen to them. They would pass away or have an accident or get a terrible, incurable sickness. He explained that the spirits cursed the sword. They have resentment and pain because they had been hurt by that sword.
What we must also remember is that when we use True Parents' foundation against their will, foundations that were built by the blood, sweat and tears of brothers and sisters who sacrificed, it is just like the samurai sword. There is so much pain and there is so much effort that went into that foundation from the spirit world. In the same way, those spirits do not forget if we misuse those things. That is why Father has given us, as one of the laws, to not misuse the public foundation. This is why, as the Buddha said, we must guard our mind from being tempted by thinking that we have the ability to use these things at our own discretion.
This is why, in the Korean church, we have gone through so much effort to create transparency in the church. This is why, every two months, we report to the congregation how the donations have been used. This is the reason why we have decision-line chain management which records every single decision and every single person who tried to make the decision, so nobody can say that they did not make the decision. It is all recorded. This is the reason why, whenever we have a major decision that has to be made, True Parents must approve it before we are able to act on it, because it is not our foundation. The Unification Church was built upon True Parents' victorious foundation, upon the victorious foundation of the brothers and sisters who helped to build this incredible church.
Let us now look at the Hadith from Islam.
"The heart is like a king with his troops. If the king is a good one, then his troops will be good too, and if the king is wicked, his troops follow suit… If a person's heart is healthy, his body will be at ease, and if a person's heart is malicious, the body will be malevolent."
Here, we are reminded by the Qur'an to guard the heart from malice and also from temptations of the material. We can pretend or try to rationalize the reasons for engaging in temptation or committing sin, but in the end, the sin remains. As the Qur'an warns, if the heart is overcome, then the body also will move in that direction. It warns us that in order to be good leaders, we must seek the public good and live by example, and then, as the Qur'an states, the "troops" will follow suit.
If the mind falls away from that which is true, honest, good and transparent, then the body, too, will fall away from that which is good and we will do bad actions. So, we must keep our mind focused and, as Unificationists, our mind must be focused on serving True Parents.
Even though, we are in tough times now, I told Korean members that I don't worry, because the tough times are impermanent. Storms are impermanent. But there are things that are eternal that we can focus on, and that we must focus on. The things that are eternal are our true Parents, the victorious foundation of our True Parents. It is that which is eternal. The things we can follow are God and the goodness of God, focusing on right goodness action, right deeds, etc.; things that are in conjunction with, that move along with God's goodness, that don't go against this. We can also learn to differentiate, discern what is good, what is evil, not take a relativistic view -- what in Buddhism they call a "foolish compassion" -- which is "Accept everything is OK". No, there is right and there is wrong. Rape is wrong. Abuse is wrong. Misusing public foundation is wrong. That is discernment, the discernment of love, that Paul talked about. These things that we are dealing with now actually give us an opportunity to remember why it is that we are here. In Cheon Bok Gung, we have three main objectives that we are given by True Parents. The first objective is that we create the temple of God in the third Israel, the Holy land of Holy lands, the Jerusalem of Jerusalems, the land from which the returning Lord has come.
We know that when the Israelites left bondage in Egypt, the generation that walked through the wilderness with Moses couldn't enter the kingdom of Canaan. Only the new generation, the young generation, entered into the land of blessing. But they made a critical mistake. The critical mistake was that, once they had the spoils and riches of Canaan, they became secular; they forgot their faith. They forgot the God who had brought them out of bondage and led them through the wilderness so that they could be free in Canaan. They forgot their ancestors who died before them so that they could be free in Canaan. They forgot to center everything on the worship of God, the God who had brought them through the tribulations of the people of Israel. We know from the Principle perspective, that because they didn't do that, and because they became secular, the national foundation for the Messiah couldn't be created and that providence failed.
In the Unification Church, because we know about that providential failure, we're not going to make the same mistake again. We are going to enter into Canaan as believers and faithful people. We are going to erect that Temple of God which will be our eternal point of reference, our eternal remembrance of those who have come before us, and of True Parents who have led us out of bondage and into the Promised Land. Let's give it up for True Parents and the Unification Church! This is our first purpose for the Cheon Bok Gung: to create the Temple of God where God is praised, where He is remembered, where He lives in our lives; and where we come to be rejuvenated, to be cleansed, to make ourselves new, and then go out into the world again and challenge the world. That's the number one purpose we have in Cheon Bok Gung.
The second purpose is what Father calls the "Abel UN", the substantialization of the Abel UN, to bring religious unification and national unification, particularly North and South unification.
We here at the Cheon Bok Gung, because of True Parents' order, have been engaged in a 120-day Jeong Seong as an offering of sincerity. Father has called all the leaders around the world, particularly the ones who are growing up into leadership, to come and to give Jeong Seong devotion, center their lives on the Word of True Parents, center themselves on True Parents. This has been going on for over 100 days, and will finish next week. At first, we did not know why True Parents were asking us to do such a thing. We just thought it was time to give Jeong Seong, so forty days was the initial one and then Father extended it to 120 days. But during this time, we discovered so many incredible things happening.
During this time, True Parents have been going around the world, holding the Seunghwa Chukjae, that is the Ascension Ceremony, for those who have passed, those people who have served the providence in different areas; for example, General MacArthur, and Alexander Haig who, with his troops, freed True Parents from Hungnam prison. True Parents went around the world to honor the lives of such individuals, or "to honor the legacy of peace" as we say in English. Literally, it was a funeral, an ascension ceremony, where they were given the greatest blessing, the blessing that Unificationists must work their whole lives to receive.
We must go through the Eight-Day Offering Ceremony as a newborn child, then we receive the Blessing, and when we die, we receive the Seunghwa ceremony -- and through that, we can go to Heaven with True Parents. But now, during this time, True Parents have given this blessing to a very special group of people. This was the first that this ever happened on such a level. It's absolutely incredible!
While True Parents were creating that spiritual foundation, during the 120-day training in Cheong Bok Gung and the Guri center, where many brothers and sisters from around the world have been participating, incredible things have happened. There were things happening that have never been seen in Korean history. We had a huge situation in Korea. The explosion of the submarine Chonan, in which South Korea lost 46 navy men, was discovered to be an attack from the North. It was again bringing back the whole struggle between North and South Korea. Actually, for the last few decades, Koreans cannot remember a situation where there was such tension between North and South.
Interestingly enough, the whole 120-day Jeong Seong ceremony ends on June 25th, which in Korea is called Yuk-Ee-Oh (6.25, June 25th), that is the beginning battle of the Korean War. It is the 60th anniversary of Yuk-Ee-Oh jeongjaeng (the Korean War), the war in which North and South fought, killing one another. How coincidental that it is the exact time when the Jeong Seong finishes! Sixty years -- because we gave the dedication with True Parents, Father and Mother, the condition becomes 120. So many things happened here with the South Korean military. We had the opportunity, with Father's great blessing, to meet a monk who opened the doorway to meet the Korean military, preparing the way so we could do the Seunghwa ceremony for the soldiers who have passed and lost their lives in the war. For this, Father had to give special permission, because, as I mentioned, the Seunghwa ceremony is the greatest blessing. It allows one entrance into Heaven, a task which Unificationists must live their whole life of faith to achieve, but Father has given that blessing. Three weeks ago, we went to Daejeon, and for 4,024 Korean patriots who died in the Korean war, we were able to give the Holy Wine Ceremony along with the Seunghwa Ceremony because of Father's blessing. We were able to have great meetings with the current two-star general who was there.
Also, because of this situation, another opportunity has arisen on June 23rd, when we head down and do a Seunghwa Ceremony for over 37,000 American soldiers who lost their lives fighting for this land of Korea. Let's give it up for all those American soldiers who lost their lives to fight for the Holy Land! Father gave an incredible permission this time, to be able to give the Chuk Bok Shik, which is the Holy Wine Ceremony, and the Seung Hwa Shik, which allows them entrance to Heaven. We're so grateful for all those spirits who can now receive that incredible blessing.
It is also the time when, through those connections, the North and South Korean governments gave us permission to send a Unification Church pastor into the military. Until now, when our children went to the military -- because in Korea it is mandatory, all men have to go the military service -- they had no guidance because there was no pastor. Many times, they were alone and were greatly depressed. We have been fighting to get a pastor into the military, but because our Unification Church is still small, we were not able to do so. However, during this incredible time of Jeong Seong, when we were praying for North and South Korea, and when incredible things were opening up on the South Korean side, we were able to send a Unification Church pastor into one of the main training centers, which is called Nonsan training center. Now, when our kids are there, they can receive guidance, they can offer service, they can study True Parents' words, and continue their life of faith in the military when they are giving their service.
It is a year full of worldwide catastrophes. We see the volcano eruptions in Iceland. The first time, the Europeans said they looked into the sky in the broad daylight, and it was dark. There were earthquakes all over the world: in Haiti, Chile, and also in China. For the last hundred years, Korea had never received such an incredible amount of snow. All these incredible natural signs have been culminating at the same time as the 60th anniversary of the North and South Korea conflict. Only during that time, a new conflict arises between North and South, where there is actually an attack on the South.
But I do believe, brothers and sisters, that because True Parents understand the shift of heavenly fortune, they knew that crisis would arrive, that a crisis would occur again between North and South Korea. They called us and told us to give our sincerity, to pray for North and South Korea. They reminded us to center ourselves back on the Word. I believe because they did so, and our brothers and sisters who are participating did so, that we had a minor incident like the Chonan, and we didn't have a full scale war North on South. I believe that our brothers and sisters and leaders who participated in the Jeong Seong were able to protect Korea and be a conditional offering before Heaven, and protect this world from absolute chaos and this nation from war. Let's give it up for our brothers and sisters who are in that Jeong Seong. That's the second purpose of the Cheon Bok Gung, the Abel UN.
Now in the growth stage of the Cheon Bok Gung we have a prayer room which houses the Saints from all religious traditions, but in the perfection stage Temple, that is the worldwide Temple, the world will see True Parents and will know who they are. In that temple, even though it is the Unification Church world headquarters, there will also be a Christian Church, there will be a Catholic Cathedral, there will be a Mosque, and there will be a Buddhist temple in there.
We're not just talking about inter-religious tolerance or peace. In that temple, we'll be living it, we'll be living with those communities, and we'll be creating the new model of peace. We will actually be substantializing the unity of the religions. Let's give it up for the Unification Church! We're not just going to talk about it; we're going to live it! That is the perfected stage Temple. I've been around the world, studying religion, and I have never ever seen such a thing as that. That is the second thing we do at the Cheon Bok Gung.
The third purpose is the substantial foundation for Cheon Il Guk: 21,000 believers at the growth stage, 210 000 believers at the second stage, in the middle of Seoul, to truly create the center where all believers come together, where people who believe in True Parents, who truly want to fight for North and South Korea unity, those people who have discovered who the return of Christ is, come together and start creating the substantial foundation for Cheon Il Guk, not just doing ceremonies, but actually living the life of faith together.
It is my thinking -- I know I cannot read heavenly fortune like True Parents can read it, and I cannot predict these things like they can -- that incredible world change will happen. I do believe, more specifically, that something will happen in a new relationship with North and South Korea. Isn't it ironic, that in this time, when North Korea has cut off every single line of communication around the world with every single government, and every single organization, that only the Unification Church has the final avenue with North Korea? Isn't it ironic that only True Parents now have communication with the North? Isn't it ironic that we're imploring them, through Mr. Park, who is there on the ground, to build North and South unification?
In fact, now many Koreans in the peninsula believe that. The highest monk in Korea, Cha seonsaeng nim, the president of the Chogae order, with 20,000,000 Buddhist followers, came to Cheong Bok Gung last week because he knows, all the Buddhists know, and now the citizens of Korea know, that Tongilgyo is the last avenue of communication to the North. They are begging, they are searching for the Messiah, searching for the Savior, searching for someone who can try to create this peace we all yearn for here on this peninsula. It is my feeling that in 2013, there will be an incredible opening, somehow a new relationship with the North, a new relationship that will bring depression.
Until now, the North has been told that it is the greatest nation in the world, the most powerful nation, but I believe that when the North has a new relationship with the South and actually gets a view of the South, they will face the reality of the situation that they are not very developed in comparison with the world. We have to understand that the North Koreans have incredible patriotism. Their patriotism will collapse, and they will fall into great depression because their self identity as proud North Koreans will crumble before their eyes. There is also the situation where, if 20000,000 North Korean people have to be assimilated with the South, it will be a huge economic burden that the Korean government cannot deal with. This is a situation of great difficulty.
However, when the North realizes the true reality and falls into a state of depression because of losing their own national identity and their sense of self pride as North Koreans, when they feel that kind of depression and emptiness, what can fill that void, who can fill that void? Doing service works, cleaning the streets will not fill that void, that loss of identity that has been totally destroyed. I believe there is one thing that can fill that void and that is the True Parents of Heaven and Earth! That is what I believe, brothers and sisters!
What religion proclaims that the Messiah, the returning Lord, comes from North Korea? There is no other religion that does that. If the North Koreans are going to find hope in a life of faith, wouldn't they find great hope when they discover that the Messiah has come to their land, and has gone to the world and founded the most successful religion in the time of its founder, and created a worldwide foundation? Because of True Parents' foundation, over a hundred thousand brothers and sisters come to the Holy Land, to Korea, every year. Because of True Parents, people around the world want to learn Korean, just like Muslims want to learn Arabic.
When people all around the world who are Unificationists receive the Blessing, we offer thanks and bow to Korea. We offer our great gratitude towards the Holy Land. Who was able to do this as a Korean? If there is anyone that a Korean person can be proud about -- and especially a North Korean can be proud about -- it is the Reverend Sun Myung Moon who is from that nation, who has gone to the world and has brought the True Parents of Heaven and Earth! That is who they will find new hope from!
I believe something of this nature can occur; it is not impossible. We're on the brink of war right now. The tension is immense. Brothers and sisters, True Parents tell us there is a world change happening. We may have the opportunity to communicate with our brothers and sisters in North Korea in a new relationship with them, when they want to learn the faith, and try to find a new identity that can give them even a greater sense of pride -- not arrogance but a new sense of pride of who they are -- a sense of mission and purpose that they lost in facing the reality of their situation as North Korea. It is during this time of Jeong Seong that things are being prepared.
I asked the leaders why True Father is making them center themselves on the word, why he is making them almost professionals of the Principle. It is because, if we have a new relationship with the North, people will want to learn the Principle, and we'll need people who can teach the Principle. We need people who are living the Principle, people who can inspire the life of faith in new members and build them up so that they can be great people and testify about True Parents. That is the reason why I believe True Parents have sent us on this 120-day Jeong Seong offering, which will actually end next week. Let's give it up for all our brothers and sisters who are participating in that! Give them encouragement! It's ending next week!
Even though we are dealing with certain things in our movement now, confusion and such, I'm simply not worried about that because they are based on things that are not eternal. Things that are based on falsehood are not eternal. We don't have to focus on that. We can focus on what is eternal. We can focus on our purpose, on our relationship with God. We can focus on our True Parents who are victorious before Heaven and Earth. We can focus on the mission of North and South Korea and their unity. We can focus on building the Promised Land, building the Kingdom of Cheon Il Guk. These are things we can focus on. These are things we can put our faith and energy into. These are the things that will bring about Cheon Il Guk, not other things. These are things that remain, that are eternal, that are our legacy in the Unification Church.
Let's end with True Parents' final word, which is from the collection of speeches, volume 17, page 227. Let's read together:
"In order to attain the object of your sincerity, your mind must be unified. You must possess a single mind; you cannot have two minds. You must offer your sincerity with a single mind from the beginning to the end. Sincerity is not something you can lend to someone and then take back. Therefore, if your initial sincerity is not matched by equal sincerity in the middle and at the end, it cannot be called sincerity."
Aju!
Final prayer:
Dearest Heavenly Father, we thank You because we need You, we need our True Parents. You are our eternal center; there are no other True Parents than True Parents. There will never be another True Parents, and there will never be a new returning Christ. Father, we pray that we can find this center in this time when many forces are trying to shake the Unification Church. We know and we are confident that we will overcome these storms because we hold the Truth, we hold to what is good.
Although we may not be perfect, we move, we take action in our lives, trying our utmost to represent You with our best ability. Father, we pray during this time that You may be with us, and we may have strength, even though we are weak before Heaven; that You may make us strong; that we can pass through this storm and see the new horizon, the sun that is rising up ahead.
The precarious situation between North and South Korea, this relationship that can escalate into a conflict -- Father we pray that it doesn't get to that level. We pray that the Jeong Seong that our brothers and sisters have offered for the last 120 days can be remembered by Heaven. From now on, we will continue to pray and to work so that the North and the South can come to peace in the Holy Land.
Father, thank You so much. We know You are preparing great things, especially for 2013. We look forward with expectancy, but not foolish expectancy. We want to prepare our life of faith and our study so that we can truly represent You, teach the Principle, move people, and save those people who are so in need of knowing You.
We pray for the North Koreans. We don't want to see them as our enemy. We see them as our brothers and sisters. We pray for the Holy Land, for unity here. Once more, we thank You for all things. We move toward Your light and Your presence forever and ever. Thank you, True Parents and thank You, God. We give all these things in our own name, the names of central blessed families, the name of True Parents. Aju.