In Jin Moon
1. (Loud applause) You certainly know how to blow away your Senior Pastor this morning! Thank you. It's really good to be back.
2. We just came back from Korea a couple of days ago and I had the great privilege of spending Friday afternoon with the Lovin' Life Camp. I really want to thank them for allowing me to feel like an 18-year-old for about an hour. They were so gracious and so cute. It's always kind of an interesting experience for me to see the young kids, because even though I'm in a body that belongs to a 40 some year old woman, I still really feel young at heart. I still feel as if I am 15 or 16. I realize that they are looking at me as the senior, Senior Pastor. Although I feel quite junior in my spirit. But you know, it's such a wonderful thing to see these beautiful children, all different colors, different shapes – so much promise of things to come.
3. When I look at them I really see the future of our movement. But not just our movement, the future of the world. And I feel if we keep on this course of doing really good work, of building great families, building great communities – then truly the next millennium is really going to be, and it's not just lip service, it's really going to be a world of peace, love, and harmony.
James Holmes (left) and his lawyer
4. I got to spend a little time with lovely children on Friday. But we also know what has happened in Denver. This young, 24 year old James Holmes decided to take it upon himself to play the Joker on the opening night of the new Batman movie – and decided to take away the lives of 12 people. And he wounded 58 people.
5. When I hear things like this on the news I cannot help but wonder, I wonder what kind of a role model James Holmes had in his life. If only he could have had a wonderful role model like the ones we have in True Parents. I wonder how different his life would have been. Because many psychologists and sociologists have studied human behavior over the years and have studied human character and the way character develops, and they have pretty much concluded that the most important type of learning is observational learning. It's not what we're told, it's not what is said to us, but it's what we perceive or what we've observed in the course of our lives that really models for us the kind of people we want to be. I think that is the reason why our Heavenly Parents, up in heaven, really wanted to send us a wonderful role model in the form of our True Parents.
6. We've had wonderful men and women throughout the history, providing good role models for many of us, but very few times in history have we had a couple, a beautiful man and a woman, a beautiful partner that can really show us what a loving couple, or a loving parent is all about – that kind of gives us a glimpse into what our Heavenly Parent is like, up in heaven. What is it about True Parents that makes them so loving, so encouraging, so empowering, so inspiring? What is it about their relationship?
7. As we observe them, as the children of God, really yearning to inherit this true love of God and really yearning to be like God, yearning to be like God through the example of our True Parents, we realize that we've been afforded an incredible gift in our lifetime, the gift of an incredible role model that we can look at, that we can aspire to, that we can follow, that we can be guided by, and that we can be inspired by.
8. I realize, every time something like this takes place, like the Columbine school shootings or different shootings on different college campuses – of really misguided youth, wanting to let the world know they exist. In this sea of human beings how do you stand out as somebody to be remembered? I think for a lot of these young people, this young man in particular, he was in the process of leaving his PhD program in neuroscience at the Colorado University. And so something must have happened in his course of study that made him realize that perhaps his dream of getting a PhD, perhaps his dream of becoming that incredible academic or scholar and getting a fine job at a university, was coming to a close. So I'm sure he was fighting with himself trying to kind of see, "how can I leave my mark? I can leave my legacy? How can I be remembered?"
9. And sometimes when we're going through the zest of life or sometimes through desperate measures, we don't always opt toward the most positive way to go out with a bang. Sometimes young people want to go out with a bang by destroying other people. If you cannot have it yourself then might as well make it so that the other person cannot have it as well. So when we are miserable, we are going to make sure we inflict misery on others.
10. This is the reasoning why our True Parents teaching of really living for the sake of others is an incredible philosophy that we need to keep in mind whenever something like this takes place. Because, we realize, what they are teaching us to do is, regardless of how difficult or miserable or what a suffering state we happen to find ourselves in at that moment, and we may be tempted just like James Holmes to say, "you know what, I'm miserable, I'm not going to be successful in life, I'm not going to have the love of my life, I'm not going to have and become that big powerful person at this moment – so, might as well go out with a bang and take everybody with me."
11. Instead of thinking like that, our True Parents are encouraging us to think about the other. In a way telling us, regardless of how difficult our situation is, how do we learn how to be happy for others – even though we may be in a difficult situation, we may be going through this period of misery – how can we learn how to be happy for others? How can we learn how to wish well on others? How can we learn how to love others, despite our own suffering? This is what the philosophy of living for the sake of others teaches us how to do.
12. And through the guidance of our True Parents through the example of our True Parents we realize that our life, here on earth, is really an opportunity to leave something beautiful behind. Meaning, that our end goal is not just to settle down with a fine wife or a fine husband, even though that would be a lovely thing to do, but really the goal in life is to become that parent, to experience God's parental heart, to finally understand what God must have been feeling when he created Adam and Eve, to finally experience what God must have been feeling when he first gazed into his beautiful son and daughter's face. What God must have been feeling as a parent when he looked upon his children and wanted the world for his children, this is what we are meant to experience in our lifetime.
13. And we are given a certain allotted time in life. When we are young we think life lasts forever, but when you really think about it, life is quite brief. It's not that long. One of the foremost ministers, Billy Graham, used to say that one of the first things that hit him whenever he found himself at a pulpit looking into the audience of men and women who had gathered to come and hear him speak – one of the things that hit him all the time is that life is brief. The brevity of life – he could be standing at the pulpit one morning, one moment, and how he could be gone the next.
14. In a way, the desire to really make this time count, to make our life count, to be that kind of a family that can really raise beautiful children, so that the children that we leave behind are so much more beautiful, so much more well positioned to do well in life, then the children that we found ourselves to be when we first came into this world.
15. As we go forward in our movement, and as we go forward in thinking about – how do we really practice this life of living for the sake of others? -- One of the things that the Bible teaches us comes to mind. The Bible says in Luke 21:28, "lift your head up high, because the redemption draws near." "Lift your head up high because the redemption draws near." What this passage is saying to all of us, God's children, is that God is basically saying, "Look to God, children." Whenever we are in a sea of difficulties, sea of problems, in a sea of our circumstantial situations – you know, instead of looking at ourselves or looking down at our problems, lift your head up high and look to God.
16. What God is asking us to do is, as the children of our Heavenly Parent, number one, God is asking us to look at ourselves from God's perspective, to look at our situation from God's perspective. In a way, had James Holmes taken the time out, not to just look at his situation from his own perspective, but perhaps from a bird's eye perspective, but even better yet from God's perspective – he could not do what he really did, what he carried forth.
17. He was wrapped up in his own situational pain. He wanted to be remembered in this endless sea of mindless faces. He felt lost. He felt unappreciated. He felt unheard. He wanted to be seen. And he thought that, perhaps, (the way) he could finally be heard and seen is to go out in a bang the way he did, to take other lives with him, to play God, to play Joker if you will.
The Joker
18. I think in his mind, and his intellectual understanding of his own life, he was thinking that somehow he was the character of Joker in the Batman series. Anyone who's read Shakespeare over the years has known, and is well aware, that sometimes the character of the fool in different plays or different settings, is really the only one who knows the truth, is really the only one that understands the truth. But by acting silly, but by acting crazy, but by acting insane – to provoke a man and a woman to think about the important matters at hand. Or the fool's job is to provoke people's way of thinking in the King's court. And so some of the things that perhaps the king is not aware of, the fool usually knows. He parades the truth in such a way, in a playful or zany or crazy way, then he's not going to get his head chopped off by the King, but it's going to make the people think.
19. I think James Holmes, in his own delusional mind, was thinking, I want to play the Joker. I want to play the fool. I want to, in a way, teach the truth of life – perhaps that life is tough, perhaps that life is miserable. And, hopefully provoke a response in the people to think about their lives, to think about what life is all about. Perhaps he thought he was a kind of a messianic figure of some sort.
20. If he, being engulfed in his own perspective, of himself, vis-à-vis the world, really were in a situation, or in an opportune setting where he could take himself out of himself and see himself from God's perspective, then from God's perspective he would have known that he is God's eternal son, that God has given him the gift of divinity, that God wants for his son an empowered and an inspired life, and that God wants his son to do his best, finding his passions, utilizing his talents, giving back to his community so that he'll be remembered for something that he created in his lifetime, and hopefully leaving a beautiful family behind. And, had he thought about his moment of difficulty from God's perspective, then, in a way, the end result would have been very different than the ones we heard about on CNN.
21. The Bible Luke 21:28 is reminding us of just that. Regardless of what circumstances or difficulties, that we all find ourselves in from time to time, we need to learn how to look to God. We need to look to God and realize that God's perspective might be slightly different from our own. We might be looking at the glass, thinking that it's half empty, but God might be looking at the glass seeing that it is half full.
22. When we look at the different boulevards and avenues of New York City, because we are an art student and we want to make a painting on perspective, we realize that we, from our vision, have a certain perspective on how we are going to draw those buildings. But if we take ourselves, to look from a different perspective, for instance, if we were in a plane or riding in a helicopter and we were looking at the city from top down, we realize that our perspective on the same location is going to look very very different. Likewise, when we can learn to look from God's perspective, and not be defined by our own perspective all the time – we realize that God has a purpose for all of us. There is a reason why we are here. And, no matter how difficult life can be, we have a reason why we need to treat our life with gratitude, with respect, and with care, and create something beautiful and leave something beautiful behind.
23. When I spent time at UTS with the Lovin' Life Campus, I realize, "Gee these kids are so different." Because they are not only the handiwork of God, but they understand, or they are coming to understand that they are eternal sons and daughters of God, that they have a purpose for why they are here. They have a reason to exist. And they understand the meaning behind all the things that have taken place, in terms of their parents, having gone through all those sacrificial years in the wilderness.
24. So, even though the Lovin' Life Campus, at different moments in our lives (we) might have looked at our parents as "Wow, what a bunch of losers." Why are you laughing? You are laughing because you thought it. And I am laughing because I thought it too. I thought, "What losers my parents are. All they care about is the providence, all they care about is the mission. What about money power and knowledge? What about all these things? Why does my Father where the same 70s polyester shirt day in and day out, decade after decade. In terms of the fashion he is a fashion victim. In terms of fashion is a fashion loser." But looking from God's perspective, I realized, "Oh my goodness! I thought he was a fashion victim, caught in the 70s polyester shirt, but I realize he is the Lord of the Second Advent that we've been waiting for!"
25. "Oh my goodness. I thought my parents were losers because they can't make ends meet. How many times have we stood in line for food stamps? How many times have we suffered because we couldn't pay for the gas in the car? How many times did I wish I could have been born into a different family?" But looking at it from God's perspective we realize, "Oh my goodness! My loser parents are actually incredible heroes of history! They have done what the 12 disciples of Jesus could not do. The 12 disciples of Jesus did not stand by the son of God when he was crucified on the cross. But our parents – maybe our parents are not that beautiful or not that handsome. They don't have bodies like Mr. Universe or Ms. Universe. Maybe they look kind of plane. Maybe they look old and tired. But oh my God, looking from God's perspective! They are like Batman and like Superman and like Apa Man. And they are here fighting the Vikings. They did what the disciples of Jesus could not do. They stood by our True Parents during the time of the wilderness, 40, 50 years. They stuck to our True Parents like the way a leech sticks to your leg. They just wouldn't let go and they just never gave up, and regardless of what our True Parents were going through, because they stuck to True Parents all those years and they never left True Parents, our True Parents are still with us today!" And we realize, what we thought were losers, were actually incredible men and women, heroes of history.
26. And so, when we look at, from God's perspective, we realize what an incredible time we are living in. Absolutely incredible! And so, when we are young looking towards the future and thinking about our careers, sometimes we find ourselves in different settings where we feel stuck. We feel bogged down. But when the Bible in Luke 21:28 asks us to lift up our heads because redemption draws near, what the Bible is asking us to do is to look to God. And in looking to God, asking us not to get bogged down, not to get stuck. In a way, it's up to us not to get stuck. We are only stuck if we allow ourselves to be stuck. We are only bogged down if we allow ourselves to be bogged down.
27. There is this fantastic book that Dr. Seuss wrote. This is one of my favorite readings. When my life gets really complicated and really convoluted, of course I love reading different novels and theological works and philosophical works, but there is something really simple, simply elegant about Dr. Seuss' series. There is this tiny little book that he wrote called, "Oh the Places You Will Go." It's a fantastic book of encouragement and empowerment. He's basically saying, think about all the things you're going to do. Think about all the places you'll go. Think about the different planets, different dreams, places of dreams that you thought about, everything that you wanted to create for yourself in your life. It's really a book about tapping in to the inner child in all of us, and reminding us, that we are that divine being, divine sons and daughters of God, and all we need to do is to decide that were going to go – "Oh the places you will go."
28. But when you read the book, you realize, he talks about different scenarios of life, there will be moments when you're alone, but you need to keep on going and be inspired and be empowered. Sometimes you'll get stuck but you need to just keep on going because you need to keep fixated and focus – and, all the places you will go.
29. And he says, there is this one really sad place. And the sad place in the book is called a waiting place. A waiting place in the book is where everybody sits and waits, everybody sits waiting for that dream, waiting for that gift, waiting for that love, waiting for that happiness. And Dr. Seuss says this is a sad, sad place.
30. What God is asking us, when God asks us to look to God, is – don't get stuck, in what Dr. Seuss says is a sad, sad place. Don't get stuck being bogged down by the burdens of the world. Don't sit and just wait for salvation to come. Don't sit for redemption to come. Don't look down. The Bible is saying, lift your head. It's an active verb. We have to do the action of lifting our heads to look to God. Don't get stuck. Don't wait.
31. This reminds me of a very, very good friend of mine who was in a very, very difficult relationship in his marriage. He loves his wife so much, and they have a wonderful family, but they've been through many, many different things over the years. The husband was saying to me, "You know, I love my wife. And my wife, I think, loves me. But she's really going through the hell of being addicted." She is an alcoholic. And he says, "I've been waiting all these years for her to turn around, for her to realize that redemption is near, she needs to look up, she needs to look towards God. And I've been waiting and waiting, but she's not changing"
32. Well, what God is saying to this husband at this time, in Luke 21:28, is not to just sit and suffer in silence as that poor victimized husband, not knowing what to do, just waiting for his wife to change – but what God is asking this person to do is to think about how, perhaps, he can be a catalyst in his wife's life by deciding to change himself. In a way he didn't realize that over the years he had become a helpless codependent, helping her to continue in her addiction to alcohol. He didn't realize that because he didn't firmly decide not to be a victim, and because he didn't decide that he wanted to be a healthy husband, taking the steps today, not tomorrow, not waiting for tomorrow to bring salvation and deliverance, but to decide today the steps that he can take so that he can, perhaps, change the way he behaves, the way he talks, the way he relates to his wife – so in changing himself he can be a natural catalyst to help his wife want to change.
33. He realized that, once he decided that he no longer wanted to be a codependent in this relationship, and decided to put his foot down and not just be guided by his wife right and left and up and down and following her addiction, just because he wanted to show the world he cared. In a way, he didn't understand that caring also comes with tough love. But the minute he decided tough love was the way to go, and if he really loved his wife he needed to change himself and he needed to catapult himself out of that codependency to become a healthy person, by working on his life, by taking measures into his own hands, becoming the master of his own destiny if you will. He realized that, only in doing so did he become the very catalyst that helped his wife realize that she needed help.
34. So, he was sharing with me all those years of waiting, waiting for my wife to change. "I thought God had left me. I thought God didn't care about me. But I didn't realize that God was waiting for me, in a way, God was asking me to be that agent of change, and do something."
35. So this passage really reminds us to look to God, to look at our lives, our circumstances, our situations from God's perspective. And it also reminds us not to get bogged down and stuck, and not to get stuck in this eternal waiting game where we feel like God has forgotten about us, not realizing that God is not forgetting about us – he is just watching to see what we're going to do.
36. That leads us to the third thing that this passage reminds me of. This third thing is that I realize, so many times in my life, our desire is to love and to be loved, but many times we're stuck in the waiting game. Many times we let years, years go by, days and weeks go by, and we are straddling on this horrible relationship or a horrible marriage and we are wondering whether there is any hope for us in the future. Well, this passage in Luke reminds me, to not just take God's perspective, not just don't get stuck in the waiting game, but it also reminds me to act now. In a way carpa diem, seize the moment, have the courage to act.
37. This reminds me of this documentary that I saw a couple of years back. This was a documentary on obesity – different people who are fighting a struggle, the losing battle of obesity. This documentary followed them in real time, how they try to overcome their addiction to obesity. And you realize that the most difficult thing that an obese person has in terms of dealing with their problem on a daily basis is the desire to do something today. That is the biggest hurdle for these people. You realize that every time the moment comes for that crucial decision, "I am not going to bite into a Twinkie anymore." It always leads to, "maybe I will have one bite today, one bite of Twinkie today and I'll start tomorrow." Its one bite of Twinkie today, every day, that has led to the problem of obesity. And you realize that, many times, we in a religious community have really, really good intentions. We know exactly what we need to do. We know exactly what we should not do. We know what we would like to be, and want to be that today. But many times we don't have the courage to act, or have the strength to follow through – to say, "No Twinkie today, starting from today. No smoking today. Stop smoking today, not tomorrow." Because every time we allow for tomorrow, there is always another tomorrow.
38. When somebody, in the context of a family – you know many times we go through many, many different things, and sometimes as siblings we want to encourage our other sibling, "If you have a problem go talk to parents. Please go talk to parents." And just like biting into a Twinkie the person will say, "I will go see my parents. I will go see my parents at the end of the year. I will go see my parents next year." But if we really love our True Parents, then we are going to go see our True Parents today. And if they are not here physically we are going to go see them in our prayers. In a way, so much of life is, well and good intentions. But unless we seize upon our good intentions and substantiate it, starting from today, nothing will be accomplished.
39. And this reminds me of something that I thought was interesting. From time to time, we, coming from the Eastern tradition, we tend to be very superstitious people. We come from a shamanistic culture – it's part of a Korean culture that when somebody gets married, when somebody's about to go into the next phase of life, maybe graduating, going abroad to study in a different country – usually the parents like to do a little astrological reading on that person's destiny or that persons, what I call, blueprint.
Hoon Sook (Julia) (Pak) Moon (wife of Heung Jin Moon)
40. Hoon Sook and I from time to time like to visit this astrologer. He did a reading for me and he did a reading for Hoon Sook. And I thought one of the things he said was very interesting. I said, can I ask you a question? He's been reading astrology for a great many people, including presidents, anybody who is anybody in Korea has gone to this man. And I said, "What do you think about destiny? What is your understanding of a person's destiny? Is somebody born to be a certain thing, and just because a person is born with a certain blueprint, is that the person they're going to be?" And what he said to me, that I thought was very interesting, he said, "Many people don't realize that there is a God up there, there is a supreme being up there, and yes we are born with incredible destinies. But so many people come to me to have their charts read, because they are saying, "I am stuck. Nothing is working out for me. Why is my destiny so horrible? Why did God give me a bad one? Why does everybody have great destinies, but I have a bad one?" And he said something that I thought was very interesting. He said, "Most people are born with incredible good destinies. But the problem is, the destiny is there, but the people are not responsible." Of course he does not use the Divine Principle wording, "they are not exercising their 5% responsibility." That's not what he said, but that was basically what he was saying. He said the destiny is there, but people are afraid to act. They don't have the courage to love, they don't have the courage to take the first step, they don't have the courage to decide, today, how they are going to make their destinies come true. 41. And so he said, "When I study the chart of winners versus losers in society, the only real difference is in the fact that the winners have acted. They have decided. They have exercised their 5% responsibility." And that's something that I realized about True Father and our True Mother for many, many years of my life. These are not just people who are consumed by their own perspective. They take God's perspective. These are not the kind of people that are stuck in the quagmire or stuck in the swamp of our existence. They don't play the waiting game. They don't wait for us. They are going to run with or without us. They are going to move the Providence whether we are there or not.
42. I always like to say to young people who come up to me and say, "How do you know they are the Messiah!" And I say, "I know they are the Messiah because they are here. And guess what, I believe that I am living at a blessed time. And I have studied enough, I've spent enough time in the library and in research to know that there is something quite groundbreaking about the breaking news that our True Parents bring, the gift of the Blessing. It is groundbreaking because they bring the gift of the Blessing. But not only do they bring the gift to the blessing, they bring themselves as incredible role models that we can aspire to, that we can look to. And one thing about Father and Mother, they don't wait for tomorrow. Once something goes into their head, that's when they act. They act today. I am sure they want to bite into a Twinkie just like any of us. Every now and then I look at that Twinkie wrapping and I'm salivating. But I'm also thinking, I would like to be healthy. I'd like to make sure that I take care of myself. And so you don't.
43. Likewise, our True Parents, once they decide they're going to do something – I have never heard our True Father say, "I am going to be the Messiah tomorrow! I am going to be the Messiah at the end of the year! I am going to be the True Parents next year." No, our True Parents, they seize the day, they seize the moment. They are here to substantiate what they came to do. They are the Messiah now, today, and every day. And they have been for the last 40, 50 years!
44. So, you young people with a glorious future – when I went into the Lovin' Life Camp meeting room – such handsome young men and women, such beautiful faces. Some of them happy to be there. Some of them still trying to figure out, "why I'm here?" Some of them happy to make their parents happy – that they came. But one thing they all had in common was hormones raging. In that room I could cut the hormones raging with a knife. It's a young people, the young people environment, and whenever you group the young people together – I feel it. You know we are all divine spiritual beings. When you walk into a room, when you walk into a place, there is an immediate feeling and you feel – and I felt hormones!
45. I said to the young people, "you guys are so awesome, you have so much to look forward to, and I'm sure some of you are wondering – "who is going to be my eternal partner?"" And you're there to learn about your community to learn about your tradition, to learn about the Divine principle, which I'm sure you did, because I know David Hunter and I'm sure he did a fabulous job. And he has had a lot of young couples there, a lot of young men and women helping out as a team – and I'm sure you must be thinking, you must be wondering. It's like, what's that movie? It's either, Wayne's World or Bill and Ted's Great Adventure. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's this movie that plays out a stereotype, typical life of a teenager. These guys are kind of geeky. They don't really fit into society. They are kind of weird. Kind of like the way we all feel when we are adolescents.
46. There is this guy, one of the weirdos, the geeky guys, is madly in love with this incredibly looking blonde woman. And every time this blonde woman comes into view the lights go out, the spotlight comes on, and he goes foxy. And he starts singing, "foxy." And he's looking at this beautiful blonde with wind blowing in her hair. And all he's thinking is, "foxy." Because he wants to be seen. He feels like an invisible tree. But he wants to catch her attention. That's what it's like many times, when the hormones are raging – it's like, in Wayne's World, every time you look at a beautiful woman its shwing! You see a beautiful woman, shwing! You see a really handsome guy, shwing! Everything is shwing! And you're wondering, when am I going to get focus in my life? When am I going to have enough solid foundation so that I can concentrate on what I need to concentrate?
47. The reason why Lovin' Life Camp is important, and the reason why Divine Principle is important, is that there are a lot of people who live their whole life shwinging. And at the end of their life, realize that all they have ever accomplished was a whole lot of shwing. And nothing else.
48. What True Parents, as a great role model, is here to tell us, is that our life is not about shwing here and then a shwing there, and then after we've lived a life, a life of shwinging. Our true parents are here to remind us that we really do have an opportunity to work on ourselves. Many times when we are young we are looking to the other to complete us. But, as somebody who has counseled many, many blessed couples, if you want a healthy marriage, if you want a great blessed life – the hard work of working on ourselves needs to be done before the Blessing.
49. In that way, by working on ourselves, is how we prepare to have a good foundation, or develop a kind of latitude, a great kind of depth so that we can invite another person into our lives and build something really beautiful.
50. Working on ourselves is something that we young people might not be too inspired to do every now and then. But if you really want to be a great father and a great mother, if you want a great family, then the huge bulk of character building, of setting goals and accomplishing them, being a committed person, being a person with a purpose, being a person with a goal in life – all of this must start way before the Blessing. Then, when the ultimate gift of the Blessing comes, then we can work on something that is even more great and even more important – and that is rubbing up against each other to create an ideal family.
51. And so, I see, many times in our movement, young couples well-meaning. And I've had many, many personal experiences, and I have also seen my friends and I've seen a lot of first generation – you know we all went to the Blessing not being properly prepared. Because nobody knew what to do with all of us. Nobody gave us a manual or a handbook on how to prepare for the Blessing. We were rushed into the Blessing, all unprepared. And then over the years we have had to work on our character, work on our issues, work on all the problems that naturally should have been taken care of before we brought another person into our lives. But because we didn't, many of us suffered a great deal. Many of the bad habits that were never resolved in a person's life came into the Blessing. Many bad habits.
52. And one of the bad habits that, really, I would like to address to the congregation – especially we have a lot of young people here – is that we are fighting this big problem, this big addiction with pornography. It's a huge problem. Not just in our community, but in all the different churches around the world. People are being addicted through this kind of a medium. The reason why we have stood firm against this fight, against pornography – when you are constantly engaged in a visual relationship, with someone other than your future wife, or your future husband, or your current wife, or your current husband – what it is doing is it's really blurring the lines between what is proper and what is not.
53. If I'm already having sex with the Internet, what's the difference with having sex with a real person that I found on the Internet? It blurs the line. And for young people, people who have problems – and this is not just for boys, this is also for girls. A lot of girls have this problem too. If you get addicted to something like this, this does not prepare you for a good married life, in that you are accustomed to using another person, visually, for your own sexual pleasure. You're not looking, you're not teaching yourself visually, the way we hope to do through ballroom dancing to look upon the other sex with respect, with honor, to take God's perspective. This is not just my sexual toy that I can play around with for the moment, but this is a child of God. This is a daughter of God. This is the son of God that is going to be a mother or a father someday. How can I do that? This is the kind of question we need to ask.
54. So many times, because the individual did not have a chance to resolve the problem of pornography, before they got married – guess what? It enters a Blessed life. And now you have another person you have to take care of, all the while trying to overcome your addiction to pornography. And, it can make the marriage absolutely hellish. And it can destroy marriages for many people.
55. And so the difficult work of confronting this issue, not just pornography, but addictions of all sorts, need to be addressed prior to the Blessing. And that's why in the Blessed Family Dept. I have been stressing the need for proper education before we send our children to the Blessing.
56. And we have to talk about the difficult things. We have to talk about pornography. We have to address it. We have to have the children here, like in GPA, listen to lectures given by John Williams on the subjects that many people find to be taboo. We need to talk about it. We need to educate ourselves. We need to give our children the tools, the ways through which they can overcome their addiction and look towards a healthy, emotional, and a spiritual, and the physical life. That's really the only way we're going to build the kingdom of heaven on earth.
57. So, brothers and sisters, when this passage Luke 21:28 reminds us to take God's perspective, not to get stuck just waiting around, and really encourages us to act. If we are in a lousy relationship let's think about what we can do today that might make it better.
58. I have heard of situations where some couples are having a really tough time, because the husband is taking care of the children while the wives go off to Chung Pyung to pray for 40 or 120 days. Well, going off to Chung Pyung to pray for 40 days, 120 days, is great – but how does that better your relationship with your husband. If you're not working on your relationship with your husband in the same room, how the bleep is the relationship going to get better? How does the relationship get better by running away? It's like, giving God our problems. And what about our husband? Poor husband, going without sex for 40 days?! Come on sisters, let's think about this. Or for 120 days?! And then we expect our husbands to be good.
59. Being in a Blessed life, in a Blessed marriage, it should not be a prison. Blessing is forever, and so we think we don't have to take care of our husband, we can just go off and do whatever we want as long as it's in the realm of the spiritual. But guess what? Substantiation of the kingdom of heaven on earth means it's got to be substantiated. Meaning, we've got to take our heads out of the clouds and start thinking about how we are going to build ideal families!
60. We need to work on problems together. We need to act. So, if you're going to go off for 40 days and leave your husband high and dry with the kids, you better come back with something. Make sure your man is taking care of. And people might be thinking, why am I hearing such things from the Senior Pastor? Because I receive a lot of e-mails from husbands who are at wits end, from wives who are at wits end. And so we need to talk about these things. And we need to laugh about it. And not just laugh about it, but address it, and act now.
61. Maybe it might be a good idea for some wives to go shopping today, later in the afternoon. Maybe visit Victoria's Secret. We are supposed to be a movement of ideal families and people loving life. Can you imagine if we are known as one of the best clients of Victoria's Secret, because we love our spouses, and we want to take care of our families? I think that would be kind of cool actually.
62. When people look at our True Parents and they say miracle. When our True Parents survived the helicopter accident Which took Place July 19, 2008 – it's been three years since that accident. People said it's a miracle. True Parents survived in a Sikorsky helicopter. 16 survived, having crashed into a hill in Chung Pyung. In the history of Sikorsky, in the history of helicopter aviation, they've never seen anything like it. Nobody could believe that all 16 people survived.
63. And the interesting thing about the helicopter accident – yes indeed it was a miracle. There was this man named Kim Young Ho. He was a three-time chairman of the Korean film producers Association. So, he together with the top movie producers of Korea, get together and like to go fishing near Chung Pyung Lake every year. And that particular day that the accident happened he happened to be there with a bunch of his buddies, different movie producers, the best in Korea. And usually he says, "I fish across the river from where the accident happened." But one of his friends said, "Why don't we all come over to my house and we can share some (Korean liquor) and we can talk about the new script that we are thinking about and we can decide who the actor and actress that we want, in this film to be." So he, along with a couple of other producers went over to his friend's house across the river. And it was there that they had lunch, then settled down, they put their fishing poles in the river, and he was waiting to catch some fine fish. And he heard the helicopter. And so he looked up, and he said, "It was absolutely incredible. I looked up and I saw a helicopter, but the weird thing is, the helicopter was surrounded by the ring of a rainbow. And the helicopter looked like it was buttressed or held up by this huge lotus flower floating in the sky." And around the helicopter he said he saw 50 or 60 angels flapping their wings. And so he said, "oh my goodness! What is this!?" And the next day he heard on the news that my father and my mother were in a helicopter accident and miraculously a true miracle, miraculously all 16 survived.
64. And so this guy who is the chairman of the film producers Association – he has been a Christian for over 21 years before he had this vision. But he realized, "oh my God, the rainbow, God and the angels and the lotus flower is what saved Chairman (he calls my father Chairman) chairman Moon. He is an outside person having nothing to do with the church, but he felt so overpowered by the Holy Spirit that, the next day, when they were having an international film Festival and he was the honored guest – he got up when he was being introduced, he got up to the podium, and everyone was expecting to hear – what movies will be coming out, what actors and actresses can we hope to see, or his comments on some of the international movies that are floating around for the year. But he got up at the podium, totally consumed and overpowered by the Holy Spirit, and he said – "did you know who saved Rev. Moon?" He said, "God, the angels, and the rainbow saved Rev. Moon!" And everyone at the festival was totally shocked. "This is our chairman? What has gotten into our chairman?" And different people at the film festival said, "sit down, sit down, you're drunk." "I'm not drunk. I saw what I saw. Rev. Moon was saved at the angels, by the rainbow, by the lotus flower!"
65. And then they literally had to escort him out because this was not what his prepared speech was supposed to be. But this man said, "I don't know what came over me. The spirit just moved me. Something from the belly of my stomach just came out, and before I knew it I was saying these things." Then he said, "When I got off the podium my friend was saying, "what is wrong with you, you're the chairman? You're the Korean film producer. We are under the Ministry of culture, sports, and tourism. You are a big man on campus, what are you doing?" But he said, "I don't know what I was saying. I just had to say it."
66. And on the way back, they were all riding the bus back together to Seoul and he got consumed by the spirit again. The belly came forth, the Holy Spirit had to come out, and on the bus he started talking about his vision. He said, "Rev. Moon survived because of God, the angels, the rainbow, and the lotus flower." There was no stopping this man! And somebody on the bus happened to be a member and so he heard about it.
67. I heard one of the leaders in Korea contacted him and said, "you know you need to share your story." And he goes, "I don't know what happened to me. I was consumed by the spirit. I said what I felt I needed to say. But I'm a public person, I can't meet with you now." And so he didn't meet with a representative of our faith for over three months.
68. But then he said, "The weird thing is the producer's most busy day of the week is Sunday." And he said, "even though I've been an ardent Christian I have not really been to church that much." But he said, "Three weekends in a row somehow opened up for me, and again I was consumed with a feeling that I had to find a Unification Church." "Back then I was looking for Unification Church, I called 114" (the equivalent of our 411), but he said, "I couldn't find Unification Church listed anywhere. Because, he realized later that it was Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. But somehow he got in touch with somebody who knew the church and so he went to the church and he sat for three consecutive Sundays, before he shared with our minister. Later Father came to hear about it.
69. Because he felt so pushed to share this news, to share this vision that he had experienced – he was accused of embezzlement and voted out and another person was elected chairman. And he said, "They accused me of embezzlement, but they checked all my back statements and realized there was nothing that warranted such an accusation." But in a way the whole experience left him feeling like, "I may have lost my temporary position, but I have found an eternal position as the son of God and as the son of True Parents."
70. And so this guy, he came to visit our True Father at one of the Hoon Dok Haes. And he came to True Father and he greeted True Father and Father just looked at him. He said, "Father looked at me with those piercing eyes. He looked right through me." He said to him, "You lonely guy. You lonely, but you've been good to your ancestors," and then he just broke down and cried, because he usually doesn't talk about his personal past, the fact that he lost both of his parents to the Korean War. (Sorry, I missed this – but he was an orphan – and he lived a very lonely life – but Father comforted him by saying that because he had honored his ancestors in his life, that his children would have good fortune)
71. He was saying, "it's a miracle." In English he is saying miracle, right? But when Koreans say it, it sounds – "Mira –cool." In my ears when it's set to Korean pronunciation it sounds like two words. Mira -- which in Spanish means to look. Look, mira. A miracle is something we want to see. It's something that's really not supposed to happen, something that contradicts scientific law as we know it. And we see it as an act of God and we want to see it. It's like, saying look, look, mira. And cool sounds like cool.
72. So the helicopter accident was a "mira-cool." That was a vision showing this Kim Young Ho the Messiah is here! Our True Parents are here! The breaking news is here! And there's is a message to all the young and old and happy and sad and thin and big people in the audience – our life is a miracle. We only need to lift our heads. We only need to mira, look, to realize – coooool! This community is cool. Our kids are cool. And our future is cool.
73. And so, we are always waiting for the miracle, but we only need to lift our heads to realize the miracle is all of us here. And if we realize that, we realize that we have the greatest miracle in our lives each and every day. The great role models that are going to guide us, that are going to inspire us, that have inspired us, and that continue to empower us to be that incredible, awesome, cool, eternal sons and daughters of God – brothers and sisters.
74. So be grateful, be happy, and always know that you are loved, because True Parents truly love you and are Heavenly Parent up in heaven truly loves you – for giving us such a wonderful role model as our True Parents in our lives.
75. God bless and have a great week!
Notes:
Luke, chapter 21
1: He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury;
2: and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins.
3: And he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;
4: for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had."
5: And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said,
6: "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."
7: And they asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?"
8: And he said, "Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, `I am he!' and, `The time is at hand!' Do not go after them.
9: And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once."
10: Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
11: there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12: But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake.
13: This will be a time for you to bear testimony.
14: Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer;
15: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.
16: You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death;
17: you will be hated by all for my name's sake.
18: But not a hair of your head will perish.
19: By your endurance you will gain your lives.
20: "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
21: Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it;
22: for these are days of vengeance, to fulfil all that is written.
23: Alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! For great distress shall be upon the earth and wrath upon this people;
24: they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25: "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26: men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27: And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28: Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
29: And he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees;
30: as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near.
31: So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32: Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place.
33: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
34: "But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare;
35: for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth.
36: But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man."
37: And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.
38: And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.