Hyung Jin Moon
July 4, 2010
Cheon Bok Gung, Yongsan, Seoul Korea
Welcoming Remarks:
Yeon-ah nim:
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters! Welcome to the Headquarters of the Unification Church! It is really good to see you all. Yesterday the 120-days "True Parents Workshop" has ended. As True Parents gave us the textbooks of their words, let us all inherit their true words and their true love to all humanity. Aju!
Hyung-jin nim:
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters! Let us manifest the Principle first: Give and Receive Action -- Four Position Foundation -- May I inherit the True Love of God! Aju!
Today's Cheon Seong Gyeong is 331. Father speaks:
"God's Love is stronger than the sun. When the sun rises in the morning, the buds of the plants turn towards the sun. Likewise God's Love is the source of life, the source of our original mind and the core source of ideal elements."
Brothers and sisters, these are such powerful words. We are reminded that God's Love is like the sun. Everything grows and leans and reaches for that warmth and light.
We were in Brazil recently and we are so inspired and thankful for our incredible brothers and sisters in Brazil. They are really amazing brothers and sisters of faith. Through many different circumstances we are all leaning towards the light, the truth and the sun. I want to give a big round of encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Brazil who probably are joining us via internet. (Applause) We love you brothers and sisters!
Video testimony: A 2nd Gen Couple Hwang Jin-nam and Hwang Hye-kyeong
Sincerity??
Husband: A second generation child faces a different set of challenges compared to the first generation members. Our life of faith begins by following the footsteps of our parents and therefore our personal conviction may be weaker than that of our seniors, such as 6,000 couples.
We started going to church because True Father had matched and blessed our parents. Therefore, at some point we all have to begin seeking our identity in faith. I did not know this in my twenties. After I turned thirty, I started to come to appreciate True Father and the truth of Divine Principle, after receiving the Blessing and starting to have children.
Also, I remember how in 2002 I discovered the book "A Bald Head and a Strawberry." It struck me that even the International President Hyung-jin Moon, being a True Child, was not born already enlightened but has to walk step-by-step toward understanding True Father.
Wife: In the United States, he (husband) had an IT-related job in San-Francisco near the Twin Peaks. I remember how he used to offer devotions at the Holy Ground (Twin Peaks) set by True Father. One of the things he used to pray about was to keep the perspective that these IT skills he was working on during that time, in the future would be offered to support the work of a True Child, no matter which True Child it may be.
When we returned to Korea, he had a hard time to find a job and our family fell on hard times financially. Although our children were still young and I didn't feel well physically, I decided it was time for me to start looking for work. I wanted to support my husband because he had worked hard for ten years supporting the family and now it was my turn. I thought this would be a temporary arrangement, but it lasted for three years. Husband Actually, I had a feeling that the trial period would not be short. I am grateful and had no regrets about it. I felt my wife had to go through this three-year course.
Wife: So, I stepped out of the boundary of the family and began to make my way in the larger society. They say that if one wants to go fast, one should go alone. However, going alone is no guarantee for success. I for one want to go far and going together is much better.
Wife: There were lots of ups and downs as I tried to find an application for my skills in Korea. Finally, I started working as a language instructor at Sun Moon University. I looked at our Japanese, Thai, and Filipina sisters and sympathized with their difficulties.
When I had followed my husband to America, I didn't know the language and had no acquaintances there. In that sense, I could understand the language and cultural difficulties facing international couples in Korea. Looking at the faces of Japanese sisters attending the language program, and knowing that they are coming from very challenging life situations, I knew how little emotional space they had for effective learning.
In just 40 days, real life would begin in a Korean family, where they would be expected to serve the husband and parents-in-law, yet not being able to communicate in their language. So I found an interpreter and started to explain the importance of Korean language to these sisters. I would tell them that, as it was in my case, at some point they may also face a long and dark tunnel with no end in sight. However, there is definitely a new bright world at the end of the tunnel.
You were born because God loves you. But if you cannot communicate this to your husband and parents-in-law, the bright future you are destined for may never come about. To our five children, we love you. You are our treasure
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We love you!
Hyung-jin nim:
This time, when we visited Brazil, we had such an incredible experience. We were able to feel the pulse of the members' hearts, and it was such an inspiring visit. It had been about thirteen long years since I had been to Brazil, but True Parents had been there last in 2005. Because of the incredible grace and love that they poured out to Brazilian members, they have an amazing type of Shim Jung --heartistic nature. We were overwhelmed by the incredible brothers and sisters there. We were able to participate in a variety of things that we usually do when we go on overseas-family visits: morning meditation, Qigong training, devotional offering of bows, and also Hoon Dok Hae. What we are going to see now is one part of one day of Hoon Dok Hae, where some really wonderful occurrences happened. Let's watch this video as if we are there with our brothers and sisters in Brazil.
Hyung-jin nim's video:
We had a long morning today. I am very far from perfecting myself; I am far from perfect. You know it is constant training. I believe constant training and practice is very important.
I am reminded of the story in Psalms, in the Bible, of King Solomon [actually The Books of Proverbs, chapter 7]. He was known as the wisest man. In one story he is sitting in the window, and he is looking down on the street, and he sees a young man walking down the street. And he knows that the young man is going to go on the other side. That's a bad neighborhood, not a good neighborhood; like a red light district. King Solomon is sitting in the window, and as he looks down, he can see the pathway that this young man is walking. He knows this young man is in big trouble.
But the young man cannot see from Solomon's view. And the young man is really happy. He thinks he is going to meet the love of his life, somebody who loves him so much, one of the most beautiful women in the city. She called him to come to her. So the young man is singing songs as he is going. But Solomon is looking, "Oh, this is not the right path."
So the young man goes and he sees the woman. She comes out and she sings songs to him, and she says, "I have been waiting just for you. I have been waiting my whole life just for you." And the young man is thinking "Oh, me?" and then big trouble! King Solomon could see the future of that pathway. So the young man thought, "Oh, I am just going to have one very beautiful, romantic night." It would be just one event, "one incredible event, and then I can get back to normal."
But wisdom sees the pathway. That event, the young man meeting that girl, is not just one event. It is a pathway he is choosing. That one night he will fall in love with her and the next night he will want to see her again, and again and again and again. In other words it becomes a pathway that the young man is going to take.
So our destiny always lies on our pathway, whichever pathway we take. Life is not only about certain events and decisions, because once we walk on a path, the path has power.
We don't know, but we can be pulled even further on this path. That's why True Parents always try to make sure we stay on the path, the path going towards True Parents. It's a path with no destination; it is a path chasing, following True Parents. Even if we make Cheon Il Guk, still following True Parents does not stop at Cheon Il Guk. It's endless, it's the eternal path.
Like I mentioned yesterday, we are not perfect in following that path; we are like little children trying to step in Big Daddy's footprints. Little babies sometimes try to step in their parents' footsteps but they are too small and they fall down or lose balance. But if we fall down, trying to follow the path, then we can go another way and give up. Then before we know it, True Father is gone and we have too much to catch up. The best way, even though we are babies, even if we lose balance and fall down, is to get up and come back.
There is a great story about a man on a bridge. It has no handholds, and it is over a huge chasm, with a drop of thousands of feet. This is a tiny bridge. So the man asks his master, "Why do you tell me to do this, and later tell me not to do it?" and "Why do you tell me to go to Brazil and then not to go to Brazil? Why do you tell me the opposite way?" The master said, "When you go too much to the left, I say go right. When you go too much to the right, I say go left." So I save you, and you can get across the bridge. That is a difference in the perspective between Solomon and the young man.
I know this recent situation with the Brazilian brothers and sisters had many difficulties. But I do not worry, because we have True Parents. Actually I am also very thankful. I spent a lot of time with Mauricio and Valdir in Korea. They showed and expressed their penitent hearts and are now dedicating their lives again to True Parents, just quickly. Even though we sometimes fall down like children, we can quickly come back.
I always believe that difficulties make us stronger. Always God can turn around something that was like a storm. He can turn it around and the next day there is a beautiful sunrise. So we have the sunrise; we have the sun and the moon. That's all we have to follow. You shouldn't follow me; you shouldn't follow anyone except True Parents. Our eternal path is a path with destination -- no permanent destination, but it is a path of continually following True Parents. That's why I love it.
I don't like things that just finish. Personally in my life, that's why I like training so much, because there is no end. You can always make yourself better. You can always find some not so good point and then try to overcome and improve to get closer to perfection. That is what we should always be moving towards. Of course we are not True Parents; we are the children who are trying to follow. But still, that's the beauty of the little child, they can constantly try to follow Big Daddy's footsteps.
Okay, brothers and sisters: don't lose hope. Storms are impermanent. They always pass.
But eternity and True Parents do not pass. That is what we all must follow.
Thank you.
Hyung-jin nim's words after the video:
I would like to share a couple of pictures that we took while we were in Brazil.
This is Simao -- he is the president of our church in Brazil. He is such an incredible gentleman. He is actually a lawyer and was elected by the brothers and sisters in Brazil to take on the leadership role. We are so happy that such an incredible leader can guide the church in Brazil. His wife is from Iran, she is actually from a Muslim family, but she joined the movement and was matched to a Brazilian man, Simao. They are an incredible couple. She speaks wonderful Korean.
When I saw this couple it struck me again how amazing it is that these two people from totally different cultures, totally different places of the world, and because of their faith, because of True Parents, they have come together to create this incredible family, and then become the president of the Brazilian church. We are proud of them! It was so inspiring to meet them.
(Next photo) This is in the morning time, at 2:30 in the morning. We were training early just like with the Hoonsa nims. This was the first time that I was able to do this with the brothers and sisters in Brazil. We did the Unification Qigong and the meditation training, the bowing training -- all that good training! We had a wonderful time with the brothers and sisters during the morning training.
Brothers and sisters have been participating in a bowing practice for months now. They continue to pray and bow, particularly for North and South Korea. Isn't that incredible? In Brazil they are giving devotion and bows and setting conditions everyday for the unification of North and South Korea. It's absolutely amazing!
When we saw that, we were able to feel again the incredible miracle that True Parents have done throughout their life time. They started in the small impoverished land of North Korea. North Korea had the economic strength of Nigeria at that time. Absolutely impoverished, but through the blessing of God, they were able to go out into the world to make millions of believers. Hundreds of thousands of people, who now face this nation, give devotions and prayers, so that this holy land, the fatherland, can be united and not be divided. This is such an incredible testament to the fact that our True Parents are truly the Messiah and the Lord of the Second Advent. Let's give it up for God and True Parents! (Applause)
(Next photo) Here we are doing Hoon Dok Hae. Because it is nice and bright and early everybody is trying to go to the spirit world, and falling asleep. So what we do is having everybody read one line. As you all may know, Father's autobiography book has now been published in Portuguese. The Brazilian members were very excited because they hadn't read through it yet and this was a chance to do Hoon Dok Hae together and for everybody to read, and also to not fall asleep. We had an excellent time together with the brothers and sisters. (We also do that when we visit Japan.) This experience was a real treasure.
Before we do Hoon Dok Hae we always have a couple of testimonies from the grassroots; these are brothers and sisters that live the good fight of faith every day, declaring True Parents and sacrificing all their energy for True Parents.
(Next photo) This is a brother from Japan. He is a missionary there (in Brazil). It's important to hear, once in a while, the stories of the brothers and sisters that are around you. During the busyness of our work we usually don't get to hear those stories. So, we always take time to listen to the testimonies, the personal stories of how people met True Parents, of how they were saved by True Parents, of how they were blessed by True Parents and how they continue to live their lives with True Parents.
(Next photo) This is in the main sanctuary on Sunday. We were able to do Worship service at the Brazil church. They told me that they had been watching the English service here (in Korea) for the last two years and they had learned a lot of the songs that the 'Two Rivers Choir' were singing. So when we were there they were singing some of the greatest hits for us! They lifted up God and True Parents and it was absolutely incredible. The choir offered some beautiful songs of praise as well, entering into the presence of God with praise and thanksgiving, with gratitude and heart. We can see True Parents' picture above them. They were really singing and thanking True Parents for their blessing, for their marriage, for the health of their children, etc. It was just an incredible atmosphere of faith. We were so grateful to be able to lead the service there.
(Next photo)We were able to share some words with the brothers and sisters in Brazil. Many of them came from the countryside. Many were not only from Sao Paulo but from different parts of Brazil. They came and were able to spend some time in service and glorify God and True Parents. When you talk about True Parents in Brazil the members start applauding, they start hollering -- it's such a beautiful expression. They still can feel the warmth of True Parents, when they were there physically.
(Next photo) Here we have the offering of the Unification mark, the Medallion, to the Continental Director, Rev. [Dong Mo] Shin, Rev. Heung-tae Kim and also to Simao the President of Brazil. It was so moving because when Simon received the Medallion, he was in tears. He shared tears of gratitude and thanks. He is such an incredible individual with so much talent, and also a deep and warm heart of love towards True Parents. We were so inspired.
After that we were able to choose by lottery which family we would visit.
(Next photo) This is a picture after the service. We took pictures of everybody -- of individuals, pictures with their families and afterwards we took a big picture with everybody in it. I didn't know that, but every member in Brazil knows the 'saranghaeyo' that we do in Korea (forming a heart with your hands). It was wonderful to see that we are truly one Unification family.
(Next photo) This is at night. We were able to visit Valdir Alves dos Santos' family. We had such a fantastic, inspirational time there. What a beautiful family! They have such a deep heart and love for God and True Parents and I was so impressed by their children.
(Next photo) This is William. He is 16 years old, good in soccer and working hard at school. His father said, "Whenever we go visit families, we always have three things that we state in front of everybody. Three wonderful things about each other in front of everybody that we say, we vocalize it, not just keep it in our hearts. We give the blessing." And his father, talking about William, stated, "I am so grateful that William accepts and believes in True Parents and serves them as the Messiah. I am so proud of him that he does that." It was so amazing to see this humble young man; he has an incredible bright future in front of him, very smart, very athletic, but also such a wonderful individual. We are so pleased and blessed to be able to meet him.
(Next photo) This is their daughter Refael; such a wonderful family. This is where the mother is praising her daughter, and the daughter also then returns three wonderful things about her mom. And this family was just such a delight to be with. We had such an incredible time.
The little baby is Vitor. He loves his daddy. He's the baby at the house, so I know what that is like. He was up since 5:00 o'clock, so he's very tired. He's such a good kid. His daddy really gives him a lot of attention. It is really beautiful to see their family.
After this, we had a wonderful time at dinner. They invited us out onto their patio on the street. Many people in Korea who fast, after they fast, they crave doenjang jigae or kimchi. But for me I was craving pizza because I am from New York, and so we ate pizza a lot. So I wanted to eat some pizza but, as you know, after you fast you cannot eat pizza. You have to eat gruel and water rice for like two weeks. So this was the first time after my fast that I had pizza. It was a nice blessing! And it was excellent; very nice pizza, Brazilian pizza, for the first time.
I had a wonderful time sharing meal with them, sharing communion, giving grace.
(Another Photo): This is where we offer them a picture. When we do the True Parent's prayer at the end, with the picture of True Parents, we discover them with our spiritual eyes. We have this little beautiful frame and inside has a beautiful picture. At the back, it has Korean prayers of gratitude, etc. And we're so happy that they really love it, that they really enjoyed receiving that picture of True Parents. And then of course afterwards, we signed a couple of books for them, including Father's autobiography.
(Next Photo): A couple of families were there, some of the other families that are related to them were with us. It was just really amazing. Here's a photo where they all said, "We want to send the picture to all the brothers and sisters in Korea. We want to send a big shout of "Saranghaeyo to all of you in Korea." This is for you; this picture is for you brothers and sisters from the disciples' family. So we thanked them, we thanked the Dos Santos family because they were really truly a great inspiration when we were able to visit the center. It was such a blessing.
Also, I was able to talk to brothers and sisters about the Korean situation, about the tension of the North and the South. Father asked us to do the 120-days spiritual condition, prayer devotion, and many of you I see are participating in that. And of course we saw many miracles during that time, really setting the condition before Heaven so that this nation did not enter into a full scale war. We believe that we were setting the condition to be able to protect the nation spiritually.
Also, I was able to share with them the reality of the 2013 when True Parents talk about the "Substantiation of Cheon Il Guk" age that is coming. I received a wonderful article from Peter; about a British scholar who went through each century and saw throughout the centuries, that within the teens (so that would be from the 10's to the 20's within that period of time) big shifts come that set the tone for the century. For instance, 1517 was the Martin Luther event; 1815 was the Congress of Vienna after the defeat of Napoleon; the 30-Years War also began within that generation of teens in the previous century; also in 1914, of course, was the beginning of World War I. So in every generation, during the second decade when the century reaches its teens, comes an incredible situation that sets the tone for that generation. And this scholar was actually predicting that in 2014, he believes there will be something that will set the tone for the century.
I believe -- I believe that it is in 2013, and that something will happen between the North and the South -- the North and the South peninsula, where a new aspect, a new relationship towards that will set the tone for the century. As you know, in this very critical time, the only person who has a connection to the North, who is still in communication with the North, is our True Parents. It is the Unification Church; nobody else has a connection to North Korea at this time.
It is during this time that God is opening up doors. I believe that in 2013 there will be incredible things happening. I was reminded by our friend that in China, there is now a new generation that is coming out -- they have learned about Communism, about Mao Tse-tung's ideology, but do not necessarily have strong belief in it. With the new developments in the economic market, more freedom, more economic surplus and growth, China is now in a situation where it is actually learning and searching for faith.
As you know, the Chinese Christian Church is the fastest growing Christian church worldwide, with over 70 million members already and growing. That is because when people come out of Communism, come out of that kind of ideology, there is this great void and vacuum that occurs. And only something that is powerful, like a faith, which can give them a new sense of identity and a purpose, can fill that vacuum. And that is the same thing that I predict about North Korea. That is because of True Parents. When we have this new relationship with the North, and once they come in contact with the real modern world, they feel that vacuum and loss of identity, then the people there will be searching for faith.
And if they are truly searching for faith, with their strong patriotism and pride in their country, would they choose a faith from a far off land, or would they be inspired by the faith that was started in Cheonggu, North Korea that spread to the world to become a world religion within the founder's lifetime? That shows that the Holy land of Holy lands is the unity of Korea, that here the Jerusalem of all Jerusalems must be united. If you think about it, what kind of faith would they choose? They would be inspired by this incredible story, by this incredible history and reality; and through that, I believe, our brothers and sisters in North Korea will come to know True Parents, will come to know a new identity that is even more powerful than just the nationalistic identity. A new identity that centers on faith, a new purpose and a new mission that seeks to love and change the world starting from the Holy land.
So when we think about True Father's vision of Cheon Il Guk, and how the world-level Cheon Il Guk will come, I really do believe that something miraculous will happen that God is already preparing, and that God is moving in that direction. When I shared this with brothers and sisters in Brazil, I was so moved because they were so inspired. They are all the way on the other side of the world, but still they have the heart of concern and love and prayers that they pray every day for the unity of North Korea and South Korea.
This is maybe not amazing for people who are not from Korea, but if you are Korean, there is nobody who has made this kind of impact in the world. And that is the real testament of our True Parents' being who they really are; beings who we say they really are: the Messiah, the Returning Lord and the True Parents of Heaven and Earth. When I shared this to brothers and sisters in Brazil, they were so overjoyed. I was so impressed and so thankful that they are also with us on the path of unification.
Brothers and sisters, our prayers go out to the brothers and sisters in Brazil. They had some situation that was very painful, but because of the difficulty we all become stronger. We all become one. And so the brothers and sisters in Brazil came to find an opportunity to center upon True Parents and to then start a new history, moving towards the substantiation of Cheon Il Guk. Let us give it up one more time for our brothers and sisters in Brazil. We are so grateful for all of you in Brazil. We are so grateful for you all.
True Father Prayer:
Glory be unto the Holy True Father, Liberator of God's Heart, King of Kings,
Returning Christ, and full inheritor of God's True Love!
We bow before your sacrifice for us!
For our trespasses you suffered and died, descending into Hell seven times to indemnify our sin from the individual to the cosmic level. We bow before you in utmost gratitude and give you glory! Aju!
True Mother Prayer
Glory be unto the Holy True Mother, Perfected Eve, and mover of the Holy Spirit! Blessed is your sacred womb from which we are born again of the Holy Spirit.
Pray for us, your children, and permit us to come closer to God and our Holy True Father, now and when we ascend to the spirit world, Aju!
Prayer:
Dear Most Beloved Heavenly Parent,
We thank You so much because Your love is exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can think or say. And we thank You so much because we saw Your grace this day. Father, we saw You make a miracle out of a dark storm. And Father, we saw You turn around what brought pain into something that can bring glory. You have the ability to do the amazing, because You are God. We love You and we search after You. We seek You through Your son and Your daughter, True Parents who are our eternal True Parents. We thank You so much that You have sent them to be in our lives to give us life, love, and lineage that we can be connected to You directly. We thank You so much and we want to always approach You with praise and thanksgiving, with humility and service. Father, we pray that we can empty ourselves.
Father, work through us as Your instruments of peace in this world. We thank You so much Lord because we come before You and we know that it is because of Your grace that we are still standing here today, Your grace that we have come this far, and Your grace that we can look towards the future and see a brighter day. We thank You so much because we know You are walking with us every step of the way. We follow the footsteps of our True Parents. Even though we stumble and fall as Your children, Father we get up and we search for them again. We follow after them again. That is our destiny and that is our path.
Father we thank You so much for leading us. And we pray these things with a grateful heart, and in particular, for the hearts of the Brazilian brothers and sisters. We pray for them, bless them this day. Bless them Father. Thank You so much. We pray for all the brothers and sisters that are joining us here today, and all over the world, through the internet; we pray that Your blessing and abundance may continue to be with our brothers and sisters. Also, that we may become one and truly unite the Holy Land, spreading unity, spreading unification towards the rest of this world, setting the new tone for the century. Father, we know You can do all things, for with man they are impossible, but with You all things are possible. We pray all these things in our names, as central blessed families, and in the name of our True Parents, Aju!
Notes:
The Books of Proverbs, chapter 7
1: My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;2: keep my commandments and live,
keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;3: bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.4: Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call insight your intimate friend;5: to preserve you from the loose woman,
from the adventuress with her smooth words.6: For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,7: and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man without sense,8: passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house9: in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness.10: And lo, a woman meets him,
dressed as a harlot, wily of heart.11: She is loud and wayward,
her feet do not stay at home;12: now in the street, now in the market,
and at every corner she lies in wait.13: She seizes him and kisses him,
and with impudent face she says to him:14: "I had to offer sacrifices,
and today I have paid my vows;15: so now I have come out to meet you,
to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.16: I have decked my couch with coverings,
colored spreads of Egyptian linen;17: I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
aloes, and cinnamon.18: Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
let us delight ourselves with love.19: For my husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey;20: he took a bag of money with him;
at full moon he will come home."21: With much seductive speech she persuades him;
with her smooth talk she compels him.22: All at once he follows her,
as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast23: till an arrow pierces its entrails;
as a bird rushes into a snare;
he does not know that it will cost him his life.24: And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.25: Let not your heart turn aside to her ways,
do not stray into her paths;26: for many a victim has she laid low;
yea, all her slain are a mighty host.27: Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.