The Significance of Danbury

Hyo Jin Moon
August 20, 1988
World Mission Center

From Korea, True Father asked that on August 20 all members in the New York area celebrate together the third anniversary of Father's release from prison -- the Day of the Victory of Danbury. Hyo Jin Nim gave a powerful speech on the absolute standard Father continually follows. Then Dr. Bo Hi Pak spoke, reminding everyone of the injustice done to Father and Father's complete victory over it. After that, Rev. Kamiyama shared deep insights about Father's heart in prison from his position as his constant companion. Listening intently to all this were Bill Sheppard and Larry Evola, two loyal men who took care of Father after Rev. Kamiyama left Danbury, and Larry's wife Teresa. Bill and Teresa then each humbly shared their unforgettable experiences with Father and Mother during this momentous time of offering.

I am sure all of you know that today is the third anniversary of the victory of Danbury. What are you feeling on this occasion? Are you feeling grateful? It is important for us to know the significance of Danbury and what it has to do with us.

You have heard in many testimonies from our elder brothers and sisters how Father's life was a path of much suffering. He went to prison six times, and the reasons why he went were always the same. I wasn't there during those times, but I have learned about them and I know those experiences were very deep and painful. The time Father spent ii- Danbury was a turning point in my own life, honestly speaking, because of what I saw Father go through. After I started to understand Father more, I saw a deeper side of Father's life and the reason for his suffering.

There is a difference between Father's realization of the Principle and my understanding of the Principle. Father started out with the desire to find the ideal. He received a revelation from Heavenly Father, the understanding of the purpose of life, and he determined to live according to that standard. We in True Parents' family have been following the example set by True Parents, and only as we grow are we gradually coming to understand the essence of what Father has been teaching us. As the days go by, I am realizing more and more of the depth of the Principle.

The Way of Supreme Sacrifice

Most of you know that after Danbury, the American people's attitude toward Father changed almost overnight. Prior to Danbury, people were saying that Rev. Moon had to have an ulterior, selfish purpose behind all his idealistic desires to save the people of America. The people didn't think they needed anyone to tell them to change. They said, "How can we believe Rev. Moon? Isn't he just like all those other 'prophets' who manipulate their followers under the guise of ideals?"

But after Father went to Danbury, the people no longer had a case to prove his manipulation. Why? Because Father voluntarily decided to go through the trial that led him to Danbury. There were options left; he could have avoided going to prison, but he didn't. That is the significant thing. He knew he had to let the American people know exactly where he stood. He was in America for a reason: to bring about the fulfillment of Heavenly Father's will, the Kingdom of Heaven, and to propagate the message of God at the cost of any sacrifice to himself. He had a purpose and he was determined to carry it out. To secular eyes, choosing to go to prison is crazy. When people compared that supreme sacrifice with their own standards, they were stunned. In many philosophies, both Eastern and Western, there is the concept of yin and yang, of two opposites becoming one. Continuity comes from circular motion. A man needs a woman to start a relationship. Let's be frank. When do we feel happiness? It's when we are making love with our husband or wife, right? Lovemaking brings us joy. People want that physical give and take of love in marriage. Let's face it, that is pure joy, because in that act a man and woman literally become one.

But in America today, the value of a relationship is so small, so external. Divorce is so wide-spread that people are starting to think of divorce as a norm, as a part of life. If a relationship doesn't work out, you just leave and start a new one. But a relationship that doesn't have an eternal base cannot last. We want to avoid this. When we step into marriage, our vows are meant to last forever. People just don't understand the meaning of eternal value, that absolute, unchanging value -- which is true love.

Hyo Jin Nim and Ye Jin Nim, representing Father and Mother, receive flowers at the August 20 celebration.

Our Lives Have to Be Based On an Ideal

Do you think a relationship can function without the ideal true love value? For many American couples, sex is the most important part of marriage. Communication, forgiving, understanding -- these are not seen as essential. But in order to bring us joy, our relationships have to be based on an ideal. If I am a composer writing a song, and the notes I write do not satisfy my original mind absolutely, I cannot get any joy out of it. But if I work hard enough to reach that ideal in a song, then I can feel happiness. If your ideal is based purely on the physical, then when you are satisfied physically, you feel temporarily happy. When that ideal starts to deteriorate, you are not satisfied anymore. But if your ideal is true love and that is your emphasis, then once you are absolutely united with that goal, your happiness and joy will be eternal. Obtaining that absolute goal of "true love, isn't easy, is it? What was the fall? It was an individual effort without an absolute standard.

Heavenly Father needs a substantial created world to build the Kingdom of Heaven. If God's ideal is goodness, joy, happiness, and all those blissful things we dream about and desire,

God must substantialize this. Unless we ourselves create our lives to have the magnitude of God and choose to live the way of goodness, His Kingdom will never come. Our consciousness, our awareness, our imagination, is unbounded. An evil person can think of a hundred ways to commit murder, but we can be creative in obeying Heavenly Father's will; that is what Heavenly Father needs.

Since Heavenly Father created the creation and gave us the Three Blessings, He obviously wanted to be a part of it. He doesn't want to be left out. His goal is to build the Kingdom of Heaven through a substantiation of true love on the earth.

To the child, parents are the representation of love, the embodiment of love. The conception of a child comes from the father's and mother's love and is a product of their love. As the child grows, he learns from his parents about the essential quality of a human being -- true love. Through Adam and Eve, God's love was meant to propagate. Through the love of the first parents, the seed of Heavenly Father was to be planted and spread through all the people of the world. Through the marriage of the children of Adam and Eve with the children of those around Adam and Eve, the true blood lineage of God would have literally passed to all the others, and that process would have gone on and on.

But because Adam and Eve failed to listen to Heavenly Father's commandment, they took the fruit of good and evil and fell. This means they united as one without Heavenly Father being present. That is deviation from the path of absolute goodness. You must understand that only with Heavenly Father can the way of goodness, the true love way, be substantiated. The only other way is the way of evil.

Hyo Jin Nim embraces Larry Evola.

You Are the One Who Decides

Our desire always motivates us to seek the greatest thing in life. What is the greatest thing? It is love. If we can perceive and understand the ideal value of true love, then through our desire we will reach it. Our desire is put there for our own sake, so we will be motivated to find Heavenly Father's true love. Through our responsibility, we will create a way to reach that standard of goodness. We might be trampled on along the way, and we might feel great pain, but we will go on; we will not hesitate or stop, because our strongest desire is to seek that happiness. The other things don't mean much if there is no love. When we get to our final destination, all the pain and suffering we went through will have been worth it. I hen we can accept everything in our life as having been a good experience.

Heavenly Father, as the Creator, wants to give us love; He wants to reciprocate with us, so we must give back to Him. That means we have to create something of our own. That's why we are endowed with the abilities of the Creator; and that's why we have responsibility. Of course this means we can also fall.

You are the one who decides whether to go this path or not. If you choose to unite with Heavenly Father, then you are creating something ideal. The effort needed to create is not easy. You have to apply yourself 100 percent. You have to invest every ounce of your mind and body. But through taking that responsibility, you will earn your way to become children of God. You will become the recipients of Heavenly Father's love.

Try to visualize Eve's struggle. She made effort, but she fell for Satan's temptation. In order to take a step, to go anywhere, you have to know where you're going. I am sure all of you sitting here want to know where you're going. Without knowing, it's very hard to follow, right? There has to be a commitment of some sort. The person making the effort has to follow the ideal he knows to be right. Eve decided to follow Satan's path. So without the absolute standard, your effort doesn't mean anything. I hope you understand this.

What I Can Do, You Can Do

Think about it -- if the moon shifted its orbit, we'd be in big trouble. We'd probably get sucked out of space or something. Our existence is quite fragile. But because of the absolute standard, the Principle, we can function and maintain our existence.

I will not deviate from Father's path. Whatever I did wrong, I will set it straight. Nobody helped me get to this point. That much I can say for myself. I got here to this point by myself. I am proud of that. I am saying this because I am no different from you. What I can do, you can do.

The problem we face is that everybody has his own interpretation of the Principle. Within the Unification Church, everyone has his own values and standards.

We don't want that here. America's pluralistic system doesn't work. You have to draw a line; you have to set an absolute standard at some point. Even among Christians there are so many different interpretations of the Bible. Many people say, "Oh, Rev. Moon is saying the same thing as So-and-So," or "There is the same kind of philosophy in the Orient." But Father is explaining the exact causes behind this earthly reality.

He is telling us exactly what went wrong, and exactly what to avoid. Knowing the cause is very important, especially the cause of the fall, which resulted in all this mess, confusion, and chaos. Without knowing the cause, you can never cure it.

We do not have some kind of vague relationship with Heavenly Father; it is an intimate relationship. A body follows the intention of the heart. You must find the right path, which your body must then follow.

Bill Sheppard offers Hyo Jin Nim a pair of shoes that Father wore in prison.

Goodness Is Not "Anything Goes"

All of you have the desire to obtain happiness. If there is a barrier in front of you, you want to go over that barrier, don't you? Parents have to scold their children when their words aren't being heeded. As a last resort, parents have to spank their children when their awareness is too limited. That's because parents want their children to do what is right and good. Goodness is a specific function; it is not "anything goes."

Being spanked is painful. A child doesn't want pain; he wants joy and happiness. So you are, in a sense, putting up an artificial barrier by spanking your children which your children will hopefully respect if they don't want to get spanked again. They don't understand why right away, but they will obey their father's or mother's dÄ sire. As they continue to do what is good, their consciousness will develop. They will realize what you, their parents, were trying to accomplish during those times, during those struggles. You must understand -- parents have to discipline their children in order to let them know that they have responsibility. You must be responsible in order to become the children of God.

Once a person realizes what h has done wrong and changes, I will embrace him, I will forgive him. As long as you stay on the course and follow the principled path, I will love you as much as I love any person that I have a relationship with. Even though I may not know you personally, I will love you just as much. Love goes beyond time and space. But you must follow the principled path. That's the only way you can eternally feel joy and happiness. If you deviate from it, there will be a barrier waiting for you. You must face the barrier. That is the Principle. It's absolute.

We must know the significance of Danbury. Danbury to us means that Father, himself, always followed the Principle course. He showed us that even he himself has to live precisely according to the Principle in order for Heavenly Father's ideals to come true. We must unite with that idea absolutely. Adam and Eve's responsibility was to absolutely obey. Showing obedience is an act of love. You must understand -- Heavenly Father's purpose is love. That's why He suffered at the fall, and that's why He's still suffering.

The true way of life, the way of goodness, has to be physically demonstrated to us in order for us to follow; that's why we value tradition. I know many times the standard is hard to follow; it's hard to substantialize true subject / object relationships in our daily life. But we must do this for the sake of love, especially for the sake of our children. We want to do away with humanistic, superficial relationships. We really want deep, heartistic relationships -- something that goes beyond our external perceptions. In order to reach that depth, we have to strive for the eternal, heartistic, and absolute value.

Apply the Tradition in Your Life

This course is not easy. In order to reach the ideal in this life we must fight. Heavenly Father will persevere until He accomplishes the ideal. As long as this world exists, fighting will go on; that is guaranteed. If we die, Heavenly Father will find someone else to carry out His mission. I don't like to fight, so that's why I'm fighting now -- to end this war quickly.

It's a struggle for me to stand here, but it's because this is a battle. I'm fighting with your old concepts and trying to give you a new standard. Even I have to follow it. It's a struggle for me, too, but we have to become ideal individuals, because that's what we really want, deep in our hearts.

This is why I ask you to follow the Principle course. Know about the tradition and apply it in your life. Fight every day. Deal with Satan. Control the falsity in your life. You will overcome. Eventually you yourselves will be standing here at this podium speaking this truth all over the world. Father wants to give you that love. Because only through this way can we change the world. There is no other way! People have tried, but there is no other way. Father went to Danbury for the sake of that ideal. He did not hesitate even for a single moment. He went through that path of suffering and overcame the barriers and brought about the realization of true love.

We will give our utmost effort to break all the external barriers that Satan has brought into this world. We will build a bridge right over those barriers; and we will even break directly through them. Starting from you, this effort has to generate out. But we have to be clear enough and pure enough to reflect Heavenly Father's light of love clearly. Father set the tradition and we will follow it. If we make that ideal foundation of substance, we will eradicate Satan from our life. That's what we all want. Live for true love.

In carrying out what I have to do, many times I struggle because of my physical body. I get frustrated sometimes. I'm very hot-tempered, and I become over-stressed very easily. I often have to suppress my feelings. If I let those feelings linger around me, it will affect my work, so I have to find a way to get rid of all that excess energy. I've heard from some people that when they get angry, they go fundraising. That's a great outlet!

When I was younger, I did a lot of martial arts. In order to get rid of my angry feelings, I drained myself literally to the point of exhaustion. The first thing I'd do in the morning was exercise for an hour. That's how I could maintain my sanity in school. After school I used to go and work out to the point of exhaustion again. But nowadays I find other ways: I play my guitar or I do target practice or I go hunting. More often now, I go and talk with the blessed children. I try to make that my outlet.

The main thing is to always be thinking: How can I fulfill my responsibility? I want to fulfill my goals, so what do I lack? You have to find some way to work this out constructively, not destructively. Always be aware of your situation. Awareness is the key to combatting your struggles. Mobilize all the qualities that heavenly Father has given you and direct them in a way that will bring some fruitful result.

Understand what you should do and do it! Heavenly Father has given you everything you need to become children of God -- to reach that ideal point. You can be the next leaders of America. Your belief system is very important. A leader must stand for something; so stand for true love value. If you become an embodiment of that value, you will lead the next generation. Don't you have that desire? It's up to you. I know it's up to me. So make a choice -- decide clearly and decisively.

Please live up to your ideals and be a reflection of your beliefs. Those of you who can promise this to True Parents and to True Parents' family, please raise your hands.

Thank you.

Bill Sheppard

Testimony of Bill Sheppard

Bill Sheppard, who just this year came out of Danbury, brought to the celebration a pair of shoes that Father had worn in Danbury and had given to Bill as a gift. Knowing their precious value, Bill wanted to present these shoes to Hyo Jin Nim, which he did, in a moving, spontaneous offering on the stage. Both men were in tears.

Bill Sheppard to Hyo Jin Nim: We share something together in that I became closer to your father than I did to my own. I was inspired by your speech. I'm here in the World Mission Center for the first time, and I didn't expect to hear and see what I've heard and seen. These are just inexpensive shoes, but they've been worn by a great man. I present them to you. [He presents the shoes to Hyo Jin Nim.]

Hyo Jin Nim: [Grasping Bill's hands that are holding the shoes] In a way, I feel that by Father giving you these shoes, as an inmate sharing the same hardships and injustices of the system in this society, he is telling you that you must carry on the mission that Heavenly Father has bestowed upon you. At some point, we all have to come to the realization that we have responsibility. I know these physically worthless shoes literally carried Father throughout his prison time, but he has been bearing the burden of Heavenly Father his whole life, trying to bring His ideal to fulfillment. I feel Father's giving you his shoes was his way of telling you indirectly that you can be a child of God and that you have to take initiative and be responsible. You must bear the burden; you must carry and propagate this message.

I know that's what Father meant and what he felt. (With tears) I cannot receive these shoes. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for offering them to me, but I cannot accept them, because I accept you as a man of God and I accept that you must fulfill your responsibility. I am grateful for your heart. Thank you. But please keep them. I know it means a lot to you.

I know it meant a lot to Father when he gave them to you. Everything he does has a purpose; I know that. Please keep these and accept that. Thank you very much.

Bill Sheppard: {To the audience] I thank you all. I have empathy with someone who says, "I find it very difficult to speak in front of people." However, I know I am among friends, some whom I have lived with, some who have visited me. Many of you out there came up to Danbury to visit Rev. Moon. My friend Larry and I spent an awful lot of time there together, and this is the first time I have seen him and his beautiful wife since those days.

I can recall many experiences we had over that period of time. They are very vivid to me and to Larry and Mr. Kamiyama. But some of you may be wondering -- I cannot keep this back -- "Are all these stories true or have they been embellished? Is someone telling you what to say?" Hardly. I could be considered the Danbury "loose cannon"; no one knows what I'll say! I spent time with Father, with Kami, with Larry. The four of us interacted personally on a human level and a spiritual level. Little did I know who I was dealing with at the time! I must confess to all of you: I am the person who said quite loudly at Danbury, prior to Father's coming, "This is the monster."

"I Expected Robots!"

The news of this monster's arrival came a month before Father came to Danbury. I was already there; I was among the people putting up the snow fences in front of Danbury. The snow fences weren't for keeping out the snow; they were to keep you out -- the Moonies. The prison security envisioned crowds of Moonies coming across the fields! [Laughter from the audience] So for days I had to put this fence up because of all of you. [More laughter]

I was in a very lucky position because I had the opportunity to talk with a lot of the high-level people who were serving time in Danbury. There were senators and congressmen, people from the Mafia, drug dealers -- all types of people. Now we had a religious leader coming -- Rev. Moon! Plus all of you, we thought. You were just going to come in waves and do all kinds of crazy things. I expected brainwashed robots! That's what the media had led me to expect.

Two Oriental men arrived in the middle of the night, Father and Mr. Kamiyama. They came into the dorm that I slept in. I paid them little mind, but there was a lot of talk. I can remember my first reaction upon seeing them the next morning. I turned to someone and said, "Which one is Rev. Moon?" And he said "I don't know." I wish this story was more sophisticated, but that's just the way it happened.

I became very close to "Kami," as he was known. We became good friends. I wasn't quite sure of the details of their religion or what their ceremonies were about, but I knew Father was a holy man. There is no one who would be embarrassed by the way he acted. I think Larry can bear me out when I tell you that I'm the skeptic. If there was something that transpired there that would have either embarrassed me or would have revealed a standard lower than you would have expected of Rev. Moon, I'd tell you. Believe me, I'd tell you.

While we were in Danbury, Father was continually planning many things; he had big dreams. He told us this would happen and that would happen. I know Larry and I couldn't believe half the things we heard. I was not a believer.

You must understand where I was coming from. Although very religious, I had no idea what the Principle was and who the Moonies were. To this day, in my own bumbling way, I can still insult Mr. Kamiyama. I didn't know it was a tradition among Oriental people that you weren't supposed to hug and kiss anyone. I didn't know this. I realized it today when he stiffened up like a board!

A Wake-Up Call from Father

When it came time for my good friend Kami to be released from Danbury I saw how worried he was about Father, and I made a promise to him. I saw the love for Father that he exuded, and Larry and I made a promise to him that we would take care of him. I think we all know and can admit that Father was taking care of us! I had no idea why, but we got up at three every morning. I'd like to be able to say that I got up every morning at three and was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but it just didn't happen that way.

Once I had to move upstairs to another room because I had duty in the fire department. Because of the move, I fell asleep late one night, and at three o'clock I was sound asleep. I tell you, I think I am the only person who got a wake-up call from Rev. Moon! Everyone was stunned. So was I.

I was in Danbury for four years. I just got out this year. I watched all the others go. First Mr. Kamiyama -- on December 4, 1984 -- then Larry, then Father. But then I began to receive messages from around the world, little notes from people, and visits periodically. Then Mr. Kamiyama sent me his spirit, if the form of this man over here that I know as "Tex" [Mr. Matsuzaki].

When I said Father is closer to me than my own father, that is very true -- and not in the superficial sense. What I think I can offer is to substantiate the many things you've already heard about Father. He showed me how to be a man. He showed me how to be a father, and how to be a son. He shared his innermost feelings with me.

This all occurred over a long period of time. No one can act that long. I wanted to ask you to apologize to me for making me have to put those snow fences up. But I must apologize to you. I feel I have had a very unique opportunity to share for a long period of time the innermost thoughts of someone who has deeply influenced all of our lives.

What I have to share with you is that the standard put forth by Father and his loyal friend was amazing to all of us. It was even more amazing to the two of us who were so very close to them. They were so real; they were living. Father would go over many things with us as a father and as a teacher. But that wasn't his job; we really had to pull it out of both Kami and Father. You see, they had said they wouldn't do any preaching. Well, we had to twist their arms. Their preaching was done by their actions in different situations. And for that opportunity that was given to me, I'm eternally grateful.

I'm eternally grateful to Father and Mother, the True Family, Mr. Kamiyama, and to all of you. I thank you.

At the close of his speech, Dr. Pak embraced Bill on the stage.