Follow Me

In Jin Moon
September 13, 2009
Lovin' Life Ministry
Tarrytown NY

Good morning, brothers and sisters. Did you all have a lovely week? It's nice to be out of the city every once in a while. I'm delighted to see all of you again, and so close to where I grew up at East Garden. We had a lot of memories as we were driving here today.

Last weekend was truly an incredible weekend. We were celebrating the 21st anniversary of Pal Jeong Shik, as well as also celebrating and honoring my younger brother, the Reverend Hyung Jin Moon, who just completed his 21,000-bow condition. I don't get to see much of my younger brother because he is based in Korea. In addition, at the Lovin' Life Ministries we celebrated the end of our 21st week.

But I was especially honored and privileged to have the presence of our True Parents here in the United States. I felt that their presence foreshadows a great fortune that we're about to harvest here. At True Parents' direction, I had a chance to tour the United States together with my younger brother, which set a wonderful foundation for our work this year and beyond.

One of the things that my younger brother and I have been emphasizing and encouraging the members to do is to take this call to unity very seriously. This comes from God, our Heavenly Parent, and also from our True Parents. They're giving us an opportunity to use this time to come together in heart and spirit, in heart and soul, to realize our value as sons and daughters of God. Instead of concentrating on our differences "the different cultures or the different types of baggage that we bring to the table that we call our community" we have a chance to really concentrate on the common denominator that binds us together into this incredible community that we have here.

As I was thinking about the weeks to come and of the great gift from our Heavenly Parent to go forth in our second 21 weeks, I found myself meditating a bit, reading the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew is really a church-affirming literature. I was reading the passage in which Jesus stills the storm, in Chapter 8:23-27. That unit is preceded by a unit, titled would-be disciples, in which Jesus comes across a scribe and a potential disciple.

The scribe says to him, I want to follow you, and Jesus acknowledges what he says. And then another would-be disciple comes up to him and says, Just give me a minute while I go bury my father. Jesus tells this potential disciple, Follow me, in Matthew 8:22, and let the dead bury the dead.

This phrase, Follow me, is a very important one because it ties this unit, would-be disciples, together with the next unit, which is the account of Jesus stilling the storm. The next passage begins by stating that the disciples followed him into the boat. So this repetition of the word follow links these two passages together and gives us a sense of what the story is going to be about.

Then the followers, the disciples, follow Jesus into a little boat; many times in Scripture a boat symbolizes the community, what would become the church. This is really a story about Matthew's community and the different kinds of tribulations it was facing. The author is asking us to think about how we keep the community together, how we keep the community strong, how we keep the community focused on the important thing, which is our faith in our Heavenly Parent and in Jesus Christ.

In this unit we learn that after the disciples followed Jesus onto the ship and faced the open sea, they were met with an incredible storm, a really violent storm. For any of you First Generation or Second Generation in the audience who have had the experience of Ocean Challenge, I am sure you understand how scary it is when you cannot see the horizon or the sky and the waves are something like 25 feet tall, crashing down on your boat. You feel like a little mosquito in the middle of a bathtub, wondering, where is my lifesaver, who is going to save me?

For the disciples in this tiny boat, which symbolized the church of Matthew's community, this is exactly how they felt. The storm represents a lot of things, but in this particular passage it symbolizes all the tribulations that Matthew's community was dealing with: for instance, their expulsion from synagogues, the trauma of actually allowing Gentiles into their community, or persecution by the Roman authorities. Each and every one of these things was a huge obstacle for the community as it was trying to stay together. A relentless storm was crashing down on the boat.

I remember when I was 12 years old my father, the crew of the New Hope, and I were stuck in one of the worst storms of the season. Usually my father took me out fishing because I happened to be the lucky child in the family or unlucky one, depending on which way you look at it the one who didn't get seasick. My father used to drag me out at 4:30 in the morning, and off we went, usually to Northwest Corners, which took us, on a good day, more than 30 minutes' travel and, on a really bad day, sometimes more than an hour. I knew that this day in particular was going to be really bad because the rain looked like sleet.

As we were driving to the New Hope, we could barely see. But for some reason my father was really determined to go out that day. The driver said, Father, today is really not a good day. It's quite dangerous. And Father said, "Drive." Another leader sitting in the front said, Father, "There's a storm warning up." Father said, "Don't stop." So off we went, and I felt like I was being pulled into something in which I didn't know what was going to happen. It was quite frightening.

When you leave at 4:30 in the morning, its pitch black, and you can barely see anything. We finally made our way onto the boat, the captain started the engine, and off we went. From the get-go, the waves were relentless. The boat was literally bucking up and down and side to side. For a girl who never got seasick, I started to get scared. We kept on steamrolling right ahead into the open sea. When we got to the open sea, I could not tell the difference between the sky and the ocean. The only thing I felt was being jostled from left to right. All the contents of the cupboards started falling out. I felt like I was stuck in the middle of a hurricane.

At that time my father was sitting very quietly on the sofa, looking out the window in his usual way. He had a really serious expression on his face. I said to him, "Appa, I'm scared."

He didn't say anything and just looked at me. He said, "I'm here."

So I said, "Appa, I think you didn't hear me. I'm really scared."

Then my father said, "I'm here."

Then I said, "Appa, I want to go home!"

Then my father said, "Come here," and that was the end of our conversation.

But, see, on that day the waves were so huge. They looked like the skyscrapers that you see in New York City. I really didn't know if I would make it out of this movie alive. For the first time in my life I started feeling queasy. I was never seasick before, but this time it was really, really difficult. I started feeling a little blue and woozy. I couldn't focus anymore. That was the first time that I got really sick. I was literally lying on the sofa with my security blanket that I didn't go anywhere without, thinking to myself, Okay, if I go, at least I have my security blanket here with me, and also I'm here with my father. Maybe I will be all right.

The interesting thing about that day was, even though we could barely stand, my father managed to catch one of the biggest tunas of that season. After fighting the fish for a couple of hours, he was able to haul it in the boat, and we were finally able to go home. I've never been so happy to see land as when I arrived. I think I literally mowed my mother down because I was so happy to see her.

The things that I was feeling and going through on the boat are exactly what we go through when we're confronted with a difficulty or an obstacle many times in life: We feel like we're just being thrown left and right. It's like mayhem; we wonder what's going to happen to us, and we're overcome by fear.

In Matthew 8:25, it says that Jesus was sleeping on the boat. Can you imagine Jesus Christ sleeping through all of this? While the disciples were scared out of their minds, probably screaming bloody murder, "Get me off this boat," Jesus Christ was asleep. Maybe he was thinking about all those wonderful promises that God had in store for him and for his brothers and sisters. Maybe he was reveling in all the things that he could share with his future family. But then his disciples woke him up and said, "Lord, Lord, save us."

It's interesting that the author of the Gospel of Matthew (which is a church-affirming literature), instead of calling Jesus Christ master, meaning teacher, consistently used words like Lord in reference to Jesus, which was a title of majesty in the church, again to emphasize the ship as a church. His disciples say, "Please, please save us, Lord, from perishing." The first thing that Jesus does when he is being pushed by his disciples to save them is to ask them, "Why are you so afraid? Why do you have such little faith?"

Jesus is imploring them to think about the situation at hand. Why are we always afraid of dying? Why are we always afraid of an obstacle or a difficulty that's placed right in front of us? Why do we have such little faith? As a student of Scripture, when I read this passage I said to myself, Well, at least in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus does say that his disciples have little faith, whereas in the gospel of Mark, Jesus referred to his disciples as people who do not have any faith at all. I felt, we're doing a little better here. But little faith or puny faith is what Jesus has to work with.

I've always wondered at how incredible our Heavenly Parent and True Parents are because they are willing to work with us and work through us, regardless of how puny or how big our faith might be; as small as the faith shown in this passage was, it gave Jesus Christ a starting point to work on when it came to his disciples. I think that during the storm my father was probably thinking, Why does this girl want to go home; why does my daughter have such puny faith in me? She might be scared out of her mind, but couldn't she just believe because I am here? What my father was trying to say to me was exactly what Jesus Christ was trying to say to his disciples. Why are you afraid, my disciples? Why are you afraid, my daughter?

President Franklin Roosevelt said that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. When we're afraid, it's because somehow we've lost our sense of direction or something that grounds us. But if you really think about why Jesus was asleep in the middle of this incredible storm, it's because he did not allow the tribulations of life or the difficulties of politics, social problems, economic problems, or religious problems to affect his time with God or his time of peace.

Jesus was secure in knowing that he was the Son of God. He was secure in knowing that God, our Heavenly Parent, is our anchor. He knew that whatever might come, it was what was meant to happen, and he would find ways, no matter how difficult it was, to be grateful for whatever our Heavenly Parent put in his path.

When Jesus said to his disciples, Why do you have little faith? it was almost like he was waking up from his slumber, looking at this vision of his disciples being scared out of their minds because they thought they were going to die even though they were in the boat with the Son of God. You have to wonder, couldn't they at least have believed that as long as they were with the Son of God, maybe they'd be okay? But his disciples were scared.

Jesus was basically asking that question to diagnose the situation. When we see a doctor, the first thing he or she does is take a look at our vital signs and gives a diagnosis on what our ailment is. At that moment, when Jesus said, Why do you have such little faith? he was giving his disciples a diagnosis: Why are you afraid? Why do you not have faith?

What's the next thing Jesus did? In verse 26 it says he immediately stood up, and not only that, he rebuked the wind and the sea. Not only did he stand strong as the Son of God, but he actually took control of his situation by fighting back, by standing up for what he believed in.

My younger brother was so overwhelmed last Sunday by the Tithe Rap that he asked me, Do you think I could get those three guys to do the Tithe Rap in Korean, and could I have them in Korea just to remind our community of the importance of tithing? I said, Well, maybe, but you might have to get them inspired. So before my brother left he gave the kosher bling-bling of the Unification symbol to my eldest son, who is proudly wearing it today.

I said to my husband before walking in, I tried my best, home schooling the kids and sending them to the best schools to keep them rap free. And here at Lovin' Life Ministries, not only is my eldest son singing Tithe Rap, but he's wearing the bling-bling. God works in mysterious ways.

But back to our story of Jesus stilling the storm. So Jesus stood up, just the way we should and we will stand as proud Unificationists. Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, just like the way we can start fighting back, not in an offensive way but defending ourselves as the decent community that we are the minute we are confident and comfortable in our own skin, realizing that we have this incredible opportunity from our Heavenly Parent to become true sons and daughters of God and to establish ideal families.

What happened when Jesus Christ rebuked the wind and the sea? His environment became still and calm. It's almost as if the environment, with all the tribulations, difficulties, and suffering, is like a massive satanic force trying to swamp us, trying to drown us. But the minute that we stand strong in knowing who we are, all those things will die away. The disciples witnessed this calming of the storm. Then the disciples realized, as we read in verse 27, Who is this man whom the wind and the sea obey? Is this man not a man worth following? Is this not a man worth obeying? Is this not a man worth uniting with, to try to create a beautiful community and a world and a cosmos?

This unit in which Jesus stills the storm ends with a question, which is actually preparing the reader for an answer that is to come. In the second crossing of the sea, the answer is given at the end. Who is this kind of man? This man is God's son (14:33).

When we listen to the story, yes, we can understand it as a really exciting event that took place on a boat with Jesus Christ and his disciples, who had puny faith. But if we understand the boat as symbolizing the church that was Matthew's community, then we can see that the boat may symbolize our community here in this huge and blessed country of America.

I have five children, and they're well on their way. My youngest, being 12, is ready to enter the door of adolescence. When he was much younger, my oldest used to have a little plastic steamroller. Every time he took a bath, he would take his rubber ducky and his plastic steamroller. The only way I could coax my son into the tub was to put those things in there first. Then he would dive into the water. Being a mother but also someone trying to learn from different situations, I used to watch my children to see what they would do. My son would get in the tub and play with his rubber ducky and his plastic steamroller. Then he would start creating waves in the tub, pushing the water this way and that way, causing the water in the tub to almost turn into a violent storm on the open sea.

Then he would try his best to dunk the ducky and the plastic steamroller. The minute he let the ducky go, it would pop out of the water. He kept trying his best to saturate this plastic steamroller with water so it would start sinking. But it was quite tenacious, so it took him quite a bit of time to get it to sink. When he was not successful, he got frustrated and realized that all the waves he made in the tub weren't doing the job. Then he would suddenly stand up and sit down on the steamroller. Then I would hear the water splash, and then hear his little voice, Gotcha!

When I was reading this story of Jesus and the storm in the Gospel of Matthew, I was reminded of that kind of visual experience from when my child was much younger. Our church, which has experienced the backlash to our own success, probably felt like that plastic steamroller, and this huge Godzilla of a monster, like my son, was constantly trying to sink it.

Unless the Godzilla of a monster is big enough to stand up, sit down, and smash our community, I think we're going to do all right. But more than that, just as the journey across the sea is a parable of the journey of the disciples, and we fast-forward 2,000 years to the time of our True Parents, we realize that this is our journey, our chance not just to be disciples of Jesus Christ, not just to be disciples of our True Parents, but to really be sons and daughters of our True Parents. This is the time when we are given this incredible opportunity to take a journey as God's sons and daughters and as the sons and daughters of our precious True Parents.

That's why I've often said at Lovin' Life Ministries, Jesus Christ brought us the good news, but our True Parents brought us the breaking news. I was on the phone with a good friend of mine who reminded me, Did you know that last week somebody won $350 million on Wall Street? He and I were having this little conversation. I said, The odds of winning are like 1 in 200 million, right?

What are the odds of being born at a time when our True Parents are here with us? If you really think about the hundreds and thousands of people who have come before and who will come after our True Parents are no longer here with us on earth, everybody in this room looks like a lottery winner of the finest kind.

So the only things we need to concentrate on is having a heart of gratitude and exercising our faith just like the way my boys loved to exercise their biceps with barbells, every morning and every night. We need to exercise our faith as well so that, while we might start out scrawny and skinny, if we exercise, practice, and live our faith every day, we can become the Arnold Schwarzenegger's of faith. Not that he's my model, but we can be just as strong, just as magnificent by our own effort.

I always say that there's nothing more satisfying than a job well done. Why a job well done? If something is just given to you, it doesn't really have the heart behind it. I would much rather receive a little scrap of a card that my children have made with all their heart and all their prayer and all their effort, wishing me a happy birthday, than for somebody to buy me the biggest house. Buying something is easy to do, but when you do something out of the goodness of your heart because you truly love and care about someone, that's special.

When I'm grateful at the end of a job well done, it's usually because the job was quite difficult. I'm hoping that at the end of my life, when I can retire and finally be the cafe / bakery owner that I wanted to be so badly, I can feel like my time here at HSA was, although very difficult, rewarding and satisfying as well.

We are in a time of transition, as I call it, from First Generation to Second Generation and to the Third. Now the Fourth Generation has arrived. My younger brother Hyun Jin's son's couple just gave birth to their first son a couple of days ago. So now we have the Fourth Generation in the True Family. With the True Children really understanding the importance of this providential time frame and deciding to work together as a family to realize God's dream, in understanding that God has taken so much to raise us up all these years, really loving and investing in us, its high time that we all as children become the kind of sons and daughters who are grateful for everything that we have received, grateful for the opportunity that's right here within our hands, and grateful to be a part of a community that is absolutely phenomenal.

Father and Mother are calling us to unite. Just as Jesus was able to sleep and be at peace in the middle of the storm because he knew who he was, because he knew who his anchor was, Father and Mother are asking us to remember who our anchor is in this time of transition. They are asking us to remind ourselves who our North Star is. Our North Star, our anchor, is our God and our True Parents.

So as children who really need to honor our parents in our daily lives and in everything that we do, the only thing we need to remember is to love God, love True Parents; follow God, follow our True Parents; obey God, obey True Parents. We do not need to ask ourselves the question any longer, as the disciples did in Matthew 8:27. We don't need to ask what kind of man our Father is or what kind of woman our Mother is. They are our True Parents.

In them and in our Heavenly Parent, there is no room for fear. In fact, I John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love. We have the certainty in knowing who we are." So do not be tempted, do not be swayed, and do not be jostled just because you hear different things in the wind. Do not listen to people who say my father is old, my father is incoherent, or he doesn't know what he's doing. My father is the Son of God. He has carried this movement this far along. Shouldn't we give the man a round of applause? [Applause]

My father might be 90 years old, but he still has a spirit of that 16-year-old boy who was anointed by Jesus Christ to fulfill and carry on his message. We must honor the teacher who has kept us together all these years. We must not listen to people who are saying this and that, just like the winds howling in the storm. If our True Father says that the youngest son is the spiritual head of the movement, then it is the youngest son who is the spiritual head of the movement. The only thing we need to do, brothers and sisters, is to come together.

Now when my youngest brother is living and practicing as the spiritual head of the True Family, he's not saying, Look at me! I'm so awesome! I'm wearing the word pride with the letter I emblazoned on my chest. That is not what he is doing. He is saying, I may be the head, but without the body of my family, I am nothing. And he understands that.

Just as importantly, as a student of religion, he understands the importance of women in the life of a religious vocation. He is somebody who knows that it takes time to restore 6,000 years of the misunderstanding in the proper role of women in the context of family, society, and world. I have great hope that we have as the spiritual head of our movement somebody who understands that women's proper role needs to be restored and needs to be worked toward. I see it as a huge step forward and we will just continually keep on building: When you want to go to the second floor, you have to take that first step before you take the second, third, and fourth.

My father always says that if the first seven generations of our movement can truly come together, inheriting the spirit of true love and uniting in understanding how precious each and every one is how precious each and every one of our siblings are, and I am so honored to have my eldest sister [Ye Jin Moon] here sitting in the audience and not be overcome by fear, suffering, or tribulations along the way, then there is nothing that we cannot do; there is nothing that we cannot be. Just as the old proverb says, good sailors are not made on kind seas. In fact, the best sailors are made on tough seas. God has placed us on tough seas, but that's because God knows that we're going to be the best darned sailors around, brothers and sisters.

So take pride in who you are. Take pride in our community. Second Generation, honor your parents like no other. They are the people who allowed you to exist by the blessing of our True Parents. And the First Generation, be kind to the Second Generation. Be supportive. Help them. Empower them with your love.

If we can come together as a community to realize how special each and every one of us is, then the world is our oyster, and we're going to reap many great blessings and harvests.

God bless, and have a wonderful week.

Matthew 8: 18-27

18: Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.

19: And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

20: And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."

21: Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

22: But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

23: And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

24: And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

25: And they went and woke him, saying, "Save, Lord; we are perishing."

26: And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

27: And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"

Matthew 14:22-33

22: Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

23: And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

24: but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them.

25: And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

26: But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.

27: But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."

28: And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water."

29: He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;

30: but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."

31: Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?"

32: And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33: And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Mark 4:36-41

36: And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

37: And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

38: But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?"

39: And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40: He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?"

41: And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?"  

True Parents' Great Grandchild Jeong Nam Moon Born September 10, 2009

In Jin Moon
September 11, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

All American members congratulate the birth of True Parents' second True Great-Grandchild, Jeong Nam Nim, who was born yesterday, September 10, 2009, as the first son of Shin Won Nim and Jin Hwa Nim. Shin Won Nim, who is the first child of Hyun Jin Nim and Jeon Sook Nim, and Jin Hwa Nim were blessed by True Parents on August 28, 2006.

May God and True Parents' blessings and love flow abundantly into your families.

Unification Church USA HQ 

International Blessing Ceremony- October 14, 2009 in Korea

In Jin Moon
September 8, 2009

Family Federation for World Peace and Unification
North American Headquarters
481 8th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10001
Tel: 212-997-0050 | Fax: 212-768-0791 | E-mail: admin@familyfed.org

(MEMO: BFD 2009-09-08)

TO: District Directors, FFWPU Leaders, Blessed Central Families
FROM: Reverend In Jin Moon and Reverend Ki Hoon Kim
DATE: September 8, 2009
RE: International Blessing Ceremony- October 14, 2009 in Korea

We are pleased to announce, as many of you have no doubt heard, that there will be an International Blessing Ceremony held in Korea on October 14, 2009, which will be officiated by True Parents. The accompanying International Memo [No. FFWPUI 2009-41] explains the purpose and basic details of the ceremony. This national memo will further clarify how these relate to the USA, and how those matched couples who wish to participate in the Blessing should prepare. Further details will follow as they are announced.

I. Purpose of the Blessing:

To commemorate and bequeath the important achievements of the 9th year of Cheon Il Guk, including the Coronation Ceremony for the Authority of the Liberation of God, and more (see international memo for details).

II. Date, time, venue:

October 14, 2009, 11:00 AM, at Sun Moon University, Asan, Korea. That is 10:00 PM EST (New York and Washington, DC), and 7:00 PM PST (Los Angeles and San Francisco) on October 13 in the USA. Local ceremonies will be conducted via internet throughout America at that time. NOTE: matched couples attending in Korea will take part in a program from October 13-14. Details will be announced soon.

III. MATCHING:

True Parents will not match Second Generation candidates for this Blessing.

IV. WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE:

This ceremony is for couples seeking the Blessing, but also represents an opportunity to connect with and inherit True Parents’ foundation of victory in 2009. Father has instructed that all Blessed Families throughout the world should participate in this significant level of Blessing.

True Parents taught us that the Blessing, given to us conditionally even before we had lived up to its standard, is being bequeathed in stages. Even as True Parents reestablished their own Blessing in the era of God’s kingship, Blessed Families worldwide are called to commemorate and connect with the providential achievements in the 9th year of Cheon Il Guk, 2009.

Therefore, this ceremony will welcome (refer to international memo FFWPUI 2009-41):

A. Representative VIP couples worldwide
B. Matched First and Second Generation couples, previously married couples, widows
C. All Blessed Couples

Since there is no matching ceremony for Blessed Children planned for this Blessing, only second generation couples who are already engaged should participate in this ceremony. New international guidelines for matching and Blessing in the era after the coming of Heaven are being developed with the guidance of International President Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, emphasizing education, preparation and candidates’ ownership.

Therefore, we do not recommend hurried matches in order to join this ceremony. Candidates should have an appropriate foundation of education and commitment. Couples need the time and opportunity to know each other and become committed owners, responsible for their marital future, before making an eternal vow in front of God and True Parents. Blessing ceremonies will take place with regularity, and no couple, parent or pastor need push or rush to participate in the October ceremony unless fully prepared.

V. INTERNET BROADCAST:

Participants are welcome to join with True Parents at the main ceremony in Korea. However, every Blessed Couple should have access to the ceremony via internet broadcast. Details regarding US ceremony locations will be announced.

VI. BLESSING WORKSHOP:

Matched couples planning to participate in the October 14th Blessing should complete a special preparation workshop designed for couples prior to the Blessing. This workshop will be held in the New York area from Friday evening, October 2, through the Loving Life Worship Service on October 4. A workshop will also be held on the west coast. Details and registration information will follow soon.

NOTE: Previously, one Blessing Workshop was held for candidates of all ages and situations. From now on Blessing education will naturally be woven into youth education, and Blessing preparation will be more relevant and specific:

(a) for candidates to prepare for finding a match,
(b) for engaged couples to prepare for Blessing,
(c) for Blessed couples to prepare for married life, and
(d) ongoing educational support for relationships, parenting, etc.

VII. BLESSING OFFERING:

The Blessing Fee is an important condition for each couple to receive the Blessing, and should be completed prior to October 14. The designated fee for North America is $2,000 per candidate [For those traveling to Korea, $1,500 per candidate is acceptable]. Candidates being re-Blessed, who completed their Blessing fee previously, should offer $500. Previously married couples should prepare $2,000 per couple. Details will follow.

Blessed couples who are also joining the ceremony at True Parents’ invitation should prepare a special donation to True Parents of $1,000.

VIII. APPLICATION PROCESS:

Matched couples must register for the Blessing, and complete the application process by September 30th. Forms and directions may be obtained in the members’ section at www.familyfed.org (login at top right). Detailed instructions for matched candidates will follow soon. Already Blessed couples joining the ceremony should complete the attached application form and submit it to your district by Sunday, September 27th.

IX. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Contact: Blessing@familyfed.org, or call Mrs. Hiromi Stephens or Mrs. Debby Gullery.

Sincerely, 

STF Driver Opportunity

In Jin Moon
September 7, 2009

Dear Blessed Central Families, 1st and 2nd Generation,

This year, under the guidance of our Family Federation Executive Director, In Jin Nim, STF has a revised safety policy whereby all drivers of STF vans must be 25 years of age or older. This direction comes out of her deep concern for every STF member’s absolute safety during the training program, and we are excited about this opportunity to upgrade STF to a whole new level. In order to effectively carry out this policy, STF USA will need additional staff to act as drivers on fundraising and witnessing teams on a part time and full time basis.

This letter an URGENT CALL FOR DRIVERS who would like to support this important educational program, and who would like to experience the excitement of working together with these wonderful young people on a full-time basis over a period of 2 weeks to 2 months.

STF is looking to hire about 12 full time drivers to drive fundraising teams from this week, and 15 full time drivers following the conclusion of our October workshop in Texas, at the end of October. STF teams will fundraise through November and December during the “Super Challenge,” driving through various parts of the country and gathering again at the end of December back at Camp Flaming Arrow, San Antonio Texas.

This is a tremendous opportunity to support the character development, leadership training and spiritual growth of our second generation living and working together side by side as one family.

Job Description:

This is a 24/7 position where the driver would basically live together with a team of 5-6 STF members, which would be led by a 2nd year STF member trained in fundraising. The driver’s responsibilities will include not only driving the team, but helping to find and plan appropriate fundraising area, shop for meals and scout out appropriate places for teams to spend the night each night. Some teams will be based out of Family Federation Centers, and others will be out on the road with the team sleeping in camp grounds, motels, homes or occasionally the van.

Required: applicants must be 25 years of older and need to show proof of a good driving record. All applicants need to be interviewed in person or on the phone -- to ensure this will be a good match for employment. Experience driving a van with many passengers and preferably leading a team would be ideal but is not absolutely required. Applicants must be US citizens or Green Card holders.

Salary:

Family Federation will pay drivers $85.00 per day. All meals and lodging will be covered by STF. STF will be unable to offer medical insurance or other benefits.

Please note:

Teams will be led by a second generation STF member who has been trained to lead fundraising teams. The role of the driver will be support the team leader spiritually and logistically; the driver needs to take care not to confuse the team members by countering the team leader publicly in any way. Unity is as crucial to safety as driving expertise.

For more information please email or call Roger Brinkmann. 

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. In Jin Moon’s Tour Opens in Los Angeles

In Jin Moon
September 1, 2009

Over 500 members from Los Angeles came together with our International President, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, and our National President, Rev. In Jin Moon, on the evening of Tuesday, September 1, 2009. This unity came from an outpouring of the heart from the True Children that moved members to tears and formed a deeper level of harmony with our True Parents. It was a new beginning for our congregation. Rev. In Jin Moon, Senior Pastor of the Lovin’ Life Ministries, and National President of our movement, has already moved so many hearts through her caring ministry and inspiring teachings in the U.S. Although we prayed for it, we had never dreamed she would be the one to open the very first meeting in our new Los Angeles church facility at 715 S. Brady Street in East Los Angeles. The entertainment of the bands had already stirred-up and exciting atmosphere, but she breathed a special life into the gathered church family through her words.

The feeling of family became evident as she testified to the heart and wisdom of the True Parents. She helped attendees understand the unique role and ministry of her brother, Hyung Jin Nim, and why True Parents have given him the responsibility to guide our movement to higher levels of spiritual renewal.

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon then spoke with honesty and confidence, coaching members by relating to his own personal journey of faith. He explained about the need for pride in our identity as members of the Unification Church. The way of desperate prayer and victorious faith was revealed by retelling the story of Hannah and Peninnah from the Book of Samuel in the Old Testament. His heart-to-heart talk with members about the seven deaths and resurrections of the True Parents exposed the essence of our faith and the core of our hope. It was truly amazing! When he testified to our True Parents’ life of “parent’s love”, the depth of giving and forgetting, members were struck to the heart.

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon revealed the towering beacon of love and life, our own True Parents, in a way that was like giving sight to the blind. So easily one can say, “True Parents’” without awareness of the unspeakable sacrifice and undying love they poured into giving life to sons and daughters of the enemy. Like a new dawning, the realization of what kind of love we must inherit and practice became clear. He revealed True Parents as we have never truly known them before.

Mr. Julian Wema, a Blessed member, reflected that this was just the right timing for Hyung Jin Nim to guide us to be one with True Parents, not because we know of them by Divine Principle, but by spiritually knowing that they have paid a price for us, and that therefore our lives are not our own. By understanding this we must become proud and courageous Unificationists and take action in our daily life. She also shared, “True Children must have been so very tired, and yet they took time to greet each family personally. Amazing love!”

Jatoma Gavin, our Director of the HUB young adult ministry center, remembered Hyung Jin Nim’s testimony as a great statement of faith. He also said, “it was great to see the unity of the International and National Leaders demonstrated right there with us. It was important to have guidance about how we can make unity and take the movement to a new level.”

Camie Gavin, Jatoma’s wife, added “staying to greet the members made a tremendous difference. They demonstrated the Parental Love which sets us apart from other faiths.”

Miwa Aparo, who with her husband leads the Project Connect youth service, explained that she “values that Hyung Jin Nim put into a nutshell the true essence of what our movement is all about. He grappled with the question and realized what makes our faith special. I now feel inspired to use this topic as a discussion starter for the young adult service”

Jane Berg, wife of the State Leaders of Arizona, commented that “one could really see the unity, respect and love between the True Children. It is a genuine love for one another. Their couples really modeled cooperation, unity and support for us. Hyung Jin Nim’s insight into the essence of the Movement, the Seven Deaths and Resurrections, was truly profound. Our identity became clear as proud Unificationists -- no question that we are Unification Church members first and foremost. No more self-doubt or confusion with questions such as, “Who am I?” I am also amazed at the willingness of the In Jin Nim and Hyung Jin Nim to meet with every brother and sister, despite the fact that they must have been exhausted.”

Rick Joswick, our Music Minister, thought Hyung Jin Nim gave a great message this evening. “He spoke very honestly about spiritual struggle and also his triumph in discovering a deeper aspect of the true love of True Parents.”

The event was a joyous celebration. Hyung Jin Nim and In Jin Nim cut a ribbon officially opening the sanctuary for ministry. Although there was a general power failure in Los Angeles, which left the surrounding area completely in the dark, the light poured from every window and door of the church that night! Externally, a power backup kept floodlights on, but internally the outpouring of the True Children was highlighted as the direct connection to the source of spiritual light and hope in a world of darkness and confusion. This night marks not only a grand event, but a historical turning point in the development of the Los Angeles family. 

USA Tour for Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. In Jin Moon

In Jin Moon
September 1, 2009

Rev. Hyung Jin Moon and Rev. In Jin Moon have been asked by True Father to do a tour together in four cities of the U.S. It will be taking place from September 1st to September 6th.

1) Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 1st at 6:30 pm

2) Chicago on Wednesday, September 2nd at 6:30 pm

3) Washington D.C on Friday, September 4th at 6:30 pm

4) New York City on Sunday, September 6th at 10:00 am

National HQ 

Celebration with True Parents in Las Vegas

In Jin Moon
August 31, 2009

The 21st anniversary of Pal Jeong Shik (The Ceremony of Settlement of Eight Stages) was held together with True Parents at Cheon Hwa Gung, in Las Vegas, at 7am on Aug. 31st, 2009.

Hyung Jin Nim, Kook Jin Nim, In Jin Nim, and approximately 300 leaders from America as well as organizations in Korea and Japan, attended this ceremony.

The ceremony was opened by a representative prayer by Hyung Jin Nim, followed by a Hoon Dok Hae reading by Archbishop Ki Hoon Kim, which was the prayer and speech given by True Father on the very first Pal Jeong Shik occasion in 1989.

True Father greatly emphasized in his speech that morning that True Parents are the one and only True Parents, and nobody can replace them. The foundation of America is completely standing on True Parents’ foundation. True Father said, “Who is the founder of organizations such as Washington Times and UPI? If anyone else claims to be the center than it will block the Unification Church”.

True Father also shared his message entitled the Owner of Peace, Owner of Lineage, which was originally spoken by True Father on July 7th in East Garden, New York.

True Father explained to everyone in attendance that day, “You have to remember these words that I spoke in the Owner of Peace, Owner of Lineage. You have to ask yourself if there is any place for you to stand in this message.”

True Father also mentioned the importance of the October 14th Blessing that will take place in Korea this year as well as the providence of migration of Blessed members to 120 countries by lottery.

The gathering lasted for over 8 hours, finishing around 3:30 pm after True Parents sang together with leaders present. Participants were touched by True Parents’ love, and confirmed their promise to fulfill what True Father had asked of them by raising their two hands numerous times in Eog Mansei. Thank you, True Parents! 

Results of Pride: Judgmental-Critical-Gossiping Lovin' Life Ministry

In Jin Moon
August 30, 2009
Manhattan Center, New York City

Good morning, brothers and sisters. How is everyone this morning? This is a very special Sunday for us at Lovin’ Life because it’s the 21st week of our ministry here. Just recently our international president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, my younger brother, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, completed a special devotional meditation and condition for 21,000 new members as the goal for his ministry. He did a series of 21,000 bows, starting from July 29 and ending August 7. Anyone who has tried to bow consistently for anything more than 30 times will realize that it’s a very difficult thing to do. Toward the end he had to take 15-minute breaks. But he completed his condition.

This was a condition of laying a devotional foundation and preparing the way for the harvest that we are about to reap, not just in Korea, not just in America here at Lovin’ Life, but all over the world. I’ve asked for a special 21-week condition; I’ve asked for the District Directors to come together in unity and in understanding of what our international president has initiated in Korea, following in his footsteps to use this time to come together as a community by celebrating the next 21 weeks in remembrance of our True Parents and our Heavenly Parent, God.

So I thank all the District Directors, and I thank all the congregations around the country who will be participating. I think it will be a wonderful coming together of minds and hearts in preparation for all the great work that we’ll be doing in this country and elsewhere. I am truly delighted that our True Parents are here with us in America. Their presence in America when we are reaching the milestone here of 21 weeks at Lovin’ Life is quite significant for my team and me.

In spite of a lot of difficulties that we faced in the beginning in bringing this ministry to fruition, God blessed what we’re doing here, and God has allowed us to come together in heart and spirit to celebrate what we have, which is the true love we have for each other, for American members, and for the American people. I can only hope for greater things in the coming weeks, when I can look forward to seeing your beautiful faces every Sunday. So thank you.

When I think about the importance of unity, the coming together of our hearts and minds to create the power of true love that can be exercised within our own community, our own families, and this great nation of America, I’m always wondering, what is the greatest hindrance to unity, harmony, and peace? When I’ve prayed and meditated about this point, what comes to mind is pride. Romans 12:3 - 8 talks about being cautious of high-mindedness. What the Bible means by that is excessive pride.

The dictionary defines pride as arrogance or excessive belief in oneself as being superior over others, a sense of conceit toward others or wanting to blame others because you think that you’re so great. I call pride the I problem -- me, myself, and I. The letter I sits smack in the middle of pride. When we are filled with the high-mindedness of how great or how awesome we are, it can very quickly degenerate into a feeling of arrogance, into almost an entitlement to be conceited. The Bible and the great religions of the world have always cautioned men and women about this -- so please be careful and don’t be arrogant, please try to be more humble, more sacrificial, more serving. If we start concentrating on me, myself, and I, the I problem, and we think the whole world revolves around us, then we can easily become very selfish people.

As I shared with you earlier, the word selfish can mean a lot of different things to people, but in its essence selfishness is quite offensive to others. It’s something that sucks the living juices out of you and turns you into a dried fish, the type of person who’s not really growing at all. When you’re a good person, then the goodness of your spirit, heart, and character causes goodness to multiply all around you. But when you’re thinking only about me, myself, and I, that has a tendency to repel people.

I remember going to high school in America. School starts every September. Soon you young people will see a lot of old friends, but you’ll also see a lot of new faces. I remember when I was a sophomore. An absolutely gorgeous girl, someone who looked like a model, came to school, and the boys’ eyes popped out. The girls started huddling, thinking of ways to say something bad about this girl. But I thought, “What a masterpiece of God she is!” She was tall, with light ash-brown hair and beautiful, sapphire-blue eyes that looked too pretty to look at. There she was, waltzing into class, and even the teacher was speechless: the power of beauty!

On the first day of school we went around the class, introducing ourselves to each other. She seemed like a nice girl, and she was so externally beautiful. But it was interesting that in the course of the year, people started finding out that she wasn’t a beautiful person internally. Even the boys who were literally falling over themselves to talk to her, as the year went on, didn’t want to be anywhere near her. What was so beautiful initially turned out to be something not so beautiful. When the internal character starts coming out, it doesn’t matter how beautiful you are: Who you are is more powerful than what you look like.

At the end of the day, nobody wanted to be around her because she only wanted things to be done for her, and she only thought about herself. At lunch, instead of waiting in line like anybody else, she would just go to the front, push people aside, and get her lunch. People came to realize that she was a very selfish person. When you realize somebody is selfish, he or she is no longer beautiful and becomes quite offensive, really. Nobody wanted to be around her.

I remember when she and I struck up a conversation. Being a woman myself, in the presence of somebody so magnificent, I felt pretty humble. But I realized that she was like a little child inside, wanting love all the time, and I learned that she came from a family that was less than ideal so she had never really practiced living for the sake of others. She always felt that she had to grab for things and fight for what she wanted, never really thinking about giving and sharing. In the course of the year, when no one wanted to be anywhere near her, she and I became quite good friends. In the course of our friendship throughout high school, she became somebody more beautiful because she started to change the way she was on the inside, shaking off the armor of pride that she wore around her.

Many of us who are fantastic at what we do -- maybe we’re doctors or lawyers, ministers or teachers -- become so good at it that we start concentrating on what our purpose for existing is. For instance, if you’re a doctor, you’re there to save lives, to help people. If you’re a lawyer, you’re there to help people who are in trouble legally. If you’re a professor, you’re there to raise up young people to become better than you.

But over the years, realizing that you’re good at something, you may start getting wrapped up in your own armor of what you think is so awesome about yourself. Then you end up creating barriers, hiding behind your awesomeness or your incredible professionalism so nobody gets to know the real you. You easily can degenerate into thinking, “I’m a Ph.D. I’m a fantastic professor; I’m really awesome.” Then you can start feeling arrogant.

If you’re a professor, you might come to class not wanting to give any more but wanting to receive from your students. You want the students’ adoration, you want them to think “How awesome this professor is; he is so knowledgeable, so intellectual, so engaging!” Then you realize that what you’re seeking from your students is something that’s more about you, the I problem, than what you are supposed to be doing in your life. When we’re good at something, many times we put up this kind of barrier.

My husband has a Ph.D. in finance, and he’s also a graduate of Harvard Law School. When he was practicing as a prosecutor in Somerville, Massachusetts, he handled a lot of domestic abuse cases. He would come home with his armor on, an armor of professionalism: “I’m the hottest litigator in town. I am so hot, my wife should really be happy to be my wife.” He would waltz in the door, saying, “Hi, honey!” but the body language spoke louder than his words. It was like, “Your Hotness is back.”

Yes, absolutely he was a great litigator. In fact, he was hired by the Number One law firm in Boston, which tried to pry him out of going into a Ph.D. program right away after law school. Every year Harvard Law holds what is called a Moot Court competition in which students engage in a court process, arguing a case. These are the finest minds at Harvard Law School. My husband participated during his third year. He and his partner, Mr. Sacks, were arguing a case.

I was watching the way things were going. Mr. Sacks was a fantastic law student. By his being white and my husband being Asian, he thought that naturally their team was going to win. But his attitude was that if their team was going to win, then he should be the winner. He had incredible pride, thinking that he was the best law school student. But when you looked at the way these two men, on the same team, were arguing their case, you realized that my husband was better. He argued his case very well and ended up winning the Moot Court competition. It’s the most important competition at law school.

You should have seen his face. It was literally glowing; ever since then, I’ve called him the glowworm. In the 1970s, it was a really delightful little toy, a greenish little thing with huge eyes. My husband has huge eyes. In the early 1980s he wore glasses that made his eyes look bigger, and he was glowing. He was glowing with so much pride because he really worked hard to prepare for this competition. To be awarded the first prize, and then on the spot be given an invitation to join the Number One law firm in Boston, was a huge achievement for a law student.

When we drove home, he could not stop talking about how exciting it was. I was like, yes, it’s really exciting; it’s really great. When we got home I said, “Honey, first of all, you were magnificent. But honey, just promise me one thing: that your successful career as a great professor of law or finance will not get in the way of my ability to see the real you. You’re going to have so much armor. When you go into a court case, you are going in like a knight in shining armor in full glory gear. You’re there to wield your six-foot sword and smash the enemy and to win the battle. But when you come back home, I don’t want to live with a man in armor. I don’t want to live with a man who’s swashbuckling his six-foot sword all around the apartment. You might nick me every now and then. I want to see the real you without the superficial armor on.”

When I tell this story about my husband, I’m just using him as an example because we all go through this, every one of us. We all have our superficial armor that we put on because maybe we’ve been hurt in the past. When we tried to be vulnerable, somebody abused us badly or hurt us badly, so we don’t want any more emotional scars or wounds. We cover ourselves up with what we do with our professional careers, with what we do best. Many times we hide behind this thing called pride, this selfish arrogance or conceit.

But when I talk about being a proud son and daughter of our Heavenly Father, that’s not the kind of pride I’m talking about. When I say we have to be a proud son and daughter of God, it means understanding our proper self-esteem. It’s not pride, the noun meaning arrogance and conceit, but it’s to be proud as an adjective, to describe our state of being when we realize who we are, namely, God’s children. When we start thinking that we are God’s children, this glorious thing called true love action starts to flow, and we feel the love and tenderness that we didn’t feel when we cloaked ourselves behind pride.

Just as true love has certain attributes, like being unique, eternal, unchanging and absolute, the three fruits of pride are:

being judgmental
being critical, and
being a gossip.

If you really think about it, when people are judgmental toward somebody, it’s because they think highly of their own opinion. They really think they know better; they think that they have the right to cast condemnation because they’re superior.

When you refer to an expository dictionary of New Testament words and look up the word judgment, you realize that the translation from the Greek implies deciding to find fault in another. When you cross-reference that understanding, you realize it’s pointing to the word condemnation. When you look up the word judge, you will find that it is partially defined as forming an opinion. The cross-reference of that definition is sentence.

If you really think about judgment and about judging people, the only one who can truly judge any of us is God, is it not? Only God condemns and sentences us to what we need to do. But at the same time, of course, he’s encouraging us and empowering us.

When we put ourselves in a position where we are judging and being judgmental of others, we are actually putting ourselves in the position of God. Instead of realizing that we’re all God’s sons and daughters and that we all have equal divine value as human beings, we start thinking that somehow we’re better, somehow we’re superior. I think that this is one of the greatest obstacles to creating a united feeling, a feeling of being at home, which can come only through the experience of true love.

When we’re in the process of settlement in a community such as ours, we realize that a lot of us come with different experiences and different baggage. Some of us are still together with our spouse; some of us have gotten divorced and maybe are seeking a new blessing. Others are well on our way in preparation for the blessing, or maybe some of us took the low road, going the roundabout way, and now find ourselves back in our community, hoping to get back on track. As a community we have all different kinds of people, just the way we have all the different races and religious backgrounds and all the different hair colors here.

In order for us to come together and trust each other, to feel and experience this thing called true love, one of the things we have got to stop doing is being judgmental toward each other. Many times it’s not a wise thing to judge because even though you might think that you know everything, many times when you cast judgment you are literally petrifying that person into a category of what your understanding of that person is. You’re not giving that person an opportunity to grow or become better.

Many times what we’re doing when we judge somebody is casting a judgment that might often turn out to be 180 degrees opposite of the truth. For instance, everybody thought the girl was beautiful, a masterpiece of God when she walked in on the first day of classes in high school. But the class soon realized that she was absolutely the opposite. Many times when we quickly come to a point where we are exercising judgment on other people, especially on our precious brothers and sisters, we can be wrong.

There’s a delightful Chinese folktale about a very ugly man who was judged by others to be so hideous that nobody wanted to be around him. As he was nearing the age when most men would look for a lovely wife and start thinking about having an ideal family and wonderful children, he realized that he would never have a wife because he looked something like Phantom of the Opera, like the Elephant Man..

He heard that in the palace was a beautiful princess who was nearing the age when she needed to find a husband. The king opened up the palace and invited the country’s eligible men to come. The country’s most dashing, most educated, most cultured men came to pay her a visit. This ugly man, externally so hideous, really wanted to have a chance to be in front of the king and the princess. So he devised a plan.

He visited the great shaman of his town, saying, “I’m so ugly, but I have one wish. I would like to go before the king and have a chance to bow before the princess. I know she’ll never look at me because I’m so hideous, but I still want to offer her my bow. Is there any way that you can make my hideousness a little less offensive?” The shaman said, “I have a glorious mask, and when you put it on, it will mold to your face and turn you into the most handsome man in the universe.”

The ugly man believed in the shaman, as quacky as the shaman might have looked, and he put on the mask. The mask made him look like the most handsome man he’d ever seen in his life. The mask became his superficial armor, and he had incredible pride when he had this mask on.. He thought, “I am so handsome; maybe I can act a little arrogant.” As mothers, when we see our teenagers growing up and realizing for the first time that they’re quite pretty or that they’re quite handsome, the body language changes, right? The guys start strutting, and the girls start flipping their hair around, what I call feathering or puffing up. They realize, “Wow, I’m something to look at.” You build up this pride that you have a right to be arrogant toward the ugly people, or the less fortunate, because you are so hot.

Once this superficial mask went on the ugly man’s face, his face, his body language started changing. He started strutting, raising his chin a little higher when he glanced at the lower subjects. He left the shaman’s house and said, “I’m sure the princess will look at me.” So then he went before the king, and the king was overcome by his handsomeness: “Oh my goodness, what a glorious country China must be to produce such a son.” The king immediately took this gorgeous masterpiece to his daughter, and the princess was also awestruck. He was so lovely!

Off they went into matrimony, and he found himself the husband of this beautiful princess. But he had a dilemma because one thing he could not do was go to sleep with the mask on. The problem with marriage is that your wife is sleeping right next to you. He realized that he had to somehow expose what he was all about, become honest, and tell her the real story. But he felt so overcome by fear that if she really saw how ugly he was, she would behead him on the spot for being so deceitful.

So he devised a plan. He said, “My dear lovely wife, I realize that I have been so blessed to be even considered and given this opportunity to live the rest of my life as your husband, but I don’t feel I’m good enough to play this role in the court. Is it possible for me to do some outreach mission in the different villages so I can really take care of our people and serve them? Then maybe when I come back, I will deserve you.”

The princess agreed, so off he went for a couple of months. It’s like the First Generation witnessing and fund-raising. Off he went with nothing, maybe just a little bag of goodies that would help him on his journey. So he went from town to town, wearing his glorious mask and serving the village people. If people were sick, he went out of his way to nurse them. When people were hungry, he went out of his way to gather food from the village and create a wonderful communal soup that everybody could partake in. Everywhere he went, he tried his best because he realized he was really unworthy of the kind of love that the king and the princess had shown him.

But the day neared when he promised his princess that he would come back, and he realized that he had to confront his demons, to face his fear and tell his beloved wife who and what he is. So he came to the palace and sat before his wife. She was so happy because she had heard glorious reports from the villages about what a good job he’d been doing uplifting the people and encouraging them to be great sons and daughters. She was so happy to see him.

But his face turned grave and solemn when he said to her, “My dear wife, I have to tell you a secret. I have to tell you that I am actually a hideous person, an ugly, ugly person. I visited the shaman when I heard the king was opening the palace to consider eligible bachelors for your hand in marriage. From him I received this magic mask that makes me who I am. It’s this mask that you fell in love with, princess, but I need to show you my true form.”

The princess wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but he slowly took off the mask, and the princess just stood gazing at his face. At that moment this ugly man was thinking, “My time has come to be beheaded.” But the princess looked at him and said, “But, sweetheart, why do you say you are hideous? You are just as handsome as the mask you’re wearing.” At that moment he thought, “Did my princess have too much to drink? Did my princess lose her eyesight while I was gone?” He said, “No, no! Look at how hideous I am. Look at the scars, the pockmarks, my deformed nose.” The princess said, “I am looking at your face. It’s absolutely beautiful. You are beautiful.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, so he grabbed the mirror and saw that he had become the same beautiful person that matched the mask.

The moral of the story is that this happened because he served the people by thinking more of them than of himself. By forgetting about himself, he allowed his true beauty, the inner beauty, to come out. His inner beauty was more beautiful than what he could ever be on the outside. Through his good works, through his altruism, living for the sake of others, he became a substantiation of what is truly beautiful, meaning the beauty of something within manifesting itself as something beautiful without. Someone who was originally typecast as an ugly Chinese man became the total opposite. The princess did not petrify him into a corner, declaring that he was ugly and would always be ugly.

When we talk about being judgmental, we will find ourselves also being critical of many things. When we think about the word critical and about what kind of person is a critical person, it means that when we’re critical of somebody in our family or our community, we are always looking for a fault or blame. Instead of thinking that something might be right about this person, the immediate response becomes, “What’s negative about this person? What’s wrong with this person?” (We’re not talking about constructive criticism here, which is very important when you’re studying literature because it can help you to become a better writer.)

Many times we feel very much self-entitled in thinking that we have chosen to live our lives for the sake of others, but in the process we realize it’s a life of suffering, a life of great difficulty. Instead of overcoming our difficulties and understanding them as opportunities to grow, we may become stuck in a quagmire of feeling really, really sorry for ourselves. Then we become hypercritical of everybody around us.

Frequently it’s very tempting to be critical of our spouse, not constructively trying to help but simply saying, “Why are you like this?” Or you have made my life so miserable.” Then we can never get out of a victim mentality. Being a victim, we feel we have the right to criticize everything else because we are so miserable.

Everyone thinks that being a member of the True Family is a glorious thing. But it’s a lot of work, and it’s a great deal of responsibility. Living a public life when you have no choice, when you’re born into it, is very difficult. I’m raising my children to the best of my ability, but sooner or later they have to choose for themselves whether they want to be part of the public life or not. I think it’s no different for all of my brothers and sisters in the True Family.

So often the environment that we grew up in was less than ideal. If we really allow ourselves to be negative, there’s a whole list we can go through. My brothers and sisters and I joke with each other that we should never start on that list because it would be never ending. When we start to think a little bit more about ourselves than living for the sake of others or being concerned about other people, it’s very easy to feel, “I did not choose this. I feel like a victim. This thing has been done to me. Don’t I have the right to be negative and critical and blame everybody?” It’s so easy to get into that rut.

When we were teenagers and testing out exactly what kind of a person we wanted to be or how much we wanted to be engaged or disengaged from your community, then we were testing out the different areas of what we thought we wanted to be. But when we’re concentrating on ourselves, it’s really difficult to be grateful. It’s difficult to be loving when you’re thinking about all the things that have been done to you.

When I look at my mother’s lifestyle as a wife of an extreme workaholic husband like my father, who thinks only about God and about world peace 24/7, I say to myself, it must be so difficult being my mom. Many things she must feel, “What did I ever do to deserve this?” Here she is supposed to be the true mother of humankind, and yet she’s married to a husband who can never really be there for her because he’s always taking care of the world. If anybody has a right to be critical or blaming, I think it is my mother.

But the incredible thing about my mother is that she understands how to use language as a vehicle of emotion and empowerment. Instead of being critical and throwing daggers at her spouse or family, or like a teenager in a rebellious mode and so unfairly critical of others, my mother, understanding the importance of language as a vehicle of emotion, decided to be not critical but to be empowering and to praise the people around her, including her husband. Instead of saying, “Why don’t you spend time with me?” she would say things like, “What a wonderful father you are, always working so hard for the sake of your children.”

We make decisions each day; we can decide to judge or not judge. My mother would feel judgment, but in her true love process she would return judgment with love. Whatever critical feelings she had, she would return those critical feelings with empowerment and praise. In that way she urged her family on to achieve many great things in our lives. My mother is truly an incredible woman. Thinking about her takes me to the third point, the third fruit of pride: the love of gossip.

To a non-English-speaking person learning the language here, the way I did when I first came, the word gossip looks like go sip. When I see people who love to gossip, who revel in the misfortunes of others, I visualize them as something out of Cirque du Soleil. It’s one of my favorite circus shows; all the characters are surreal and mystical. In my mind, I envision an incredibly funny-looking creature holding a straw, going to different people while they’re trying to have their soup or coffee or tea or water, and just sucking away the soup from this person, sucking away the water, sucking away the nutrition, something that the other person wanted to enjoy.

When you’re gossiping about something, you’re taking away something that belongs to someone else, turning it into something that you want, and sharing it with others, but not in the best way. Imagine a little creature going around our community with a big straw, sucking on everyone’s misfortune and wanting to talk about it. It’s not conducive to creating the one unified family that we want so badly.

My mother is a Korean woman, and she knows Koreans have incredible pride in who they are. But one of the things my father has stressed to the Korean people time and again is, “You must think of yourself as more than just a Korean person. You must think of yourself as a son or daughter of God.” As wonderful as it is to have nationalistic pride, sometimes it can be an incredible armor, a hindrance or an obstacle to greater unity when we’re talking about a community like this.

In our movement, because the founder and his wife are both Korean, there is a natural tendency, if we Koreans do not become vigilant about our understanding of ourselves, to so easily degenerate into thinking that we are the chosen people, that we are somehow better than other races, that somehow we are better than other nationalities.

I love to quote Dr. Young Oon Kim when I spend time with members. She clearly stated that if you are going to think of yourself as a chosen person, a chosen nation, or a chosen leader, the understanding of chosen means that you are chosen to serve. If you are a leader, you are chosen to serve your country. If you are Korean and you think that it’s so wonderful and the country of Korea has been blessed to have our True Parents, then the country of Korea should have an understanding of serving the other nations so that the other nations can be empowered to become better than the Koreans. By making the other nations better, then naturally Korea becomes the center and becomes a chosen country because it has done its job well by serving the other communities.

The American understanding is that a family that eats together stays together. There is a strong emphasis placed on to coming together for an evening meal. I think of Sunday worship and any church holiday worship as sharing a family dinner. If we cannot come together as one family and sit at one table, how can we say we’re a family? If the Koreans want to be just Korean and maintain their own identities in a separate location, never becoming part of the greater fabric that we call our American movement, we will never be as powerful a community as we truly can be. Lovin’ Life Ministry is a ministry for all of us. It’s for all our families. It’s not just for the Japanese, the Europeans, the Chinese, the Russians, and so on. It’s for the Korean people, too.

If the Koreans are in such an elder position to have been blessed with the honor of having the True Parents come as a son and daughter of their country, then we have to be the prime example of service. We have to be the first to shed our superficial armor and to reveal the genuine self that we are, which is the sons and daughters of God. Instead of delighting in our own conceit, we need to delight in the fact that we’ve been given an opportunity to love.

Just recently we had a wonderful Sports Fest, with different districts represented and competing in Second Generation games. We had the headquarters team, made up of an amalgamation of STF-ers and the KEA. For the first time the KEA, instead of being its own team, was advised to play together with STF. This was not Korea competing against Japan. We’re talking all the families in a particular district. Instead of creating a separate identity, how wonderful would it be if the Koreans could be part of the headquarters team?

We had a wonderful event, and there were some great games. Every district wore a unique T-shirt. I heard that there was a bit of a kerfuffle because though the Koreans came on the first day wearing their headquarters T-shirt, on the second day they no longer wanted to be part of the headquarters team; they wanted to be the Koreans. So off came the headquarters T-shirt and on went the Korean T-shirt. When that T-shirt went on, they did not behave in the best team spirit, as one would expect of an older brother or sister. One starts becoming too prideful, starts strutting, starts pushing the muscles here and there. At the end of the day, it results in not such a good feeling, a feeling of disunity, of un-cooperation.

When I’m asking our congregation to really think of ourselves as one family under God, it means that we have to rise above our individual egoistic pride and our own nationalistic pride, which might be hindrances or obstacles to our community really coming together in enjoyment and celebration.

For the Koreans to have a separate service would be like Italians at the Vatican having their own service. How can the Koreans continue to have their own service in the context of our community? Are we not one family? And shouldn’t our children be allowed to worship in an international family environment so that they can be better than mere Korean Second Generation blessed children? They can start practicing what it’s like to think of themselves as something more than what their race or nationality tells them they are. And how wonderful it would be for every child in our community to come out of our embrace as a confident and proud son or daughter of God, with proud meaning having the proper self-esteem.

I’ve heard a lot of feedback about the Sports Fest. Some of the kids from KEA actually said, “I never knew I had so many international brothers and sisters.” Why should we keep our children away from their international family members? We really need to encourage ourselves in this time when we’re practicing through the next 21 weeks this important thing called unity. The only obstacle that I see on the road to achieving just that is a thing called pride. It has the three fruits of what I call being judgmental, being critical, and gossiping about each other. You guys, we are all great people. So what I would like to see going forward is changing what I call the I problem of the word pride into something that we can consider the love emblem of our movement, which is people, sons and daughters, wanting to practice true love in their daily life by not concentrating on I, but on we.

We are wonderful. We are incredible. And our children should be given an opportunity to enjoy the full glory of this incredible, international community that we have in America. This is not a community where we’re going to be bickering about who’s better or about who’s more beautiful, about who’s more powerful, about who’s richer, or about who’s not as good in terms of their marital relationships. I always tell couples, “If you have a wonderful relationship, you should revel in the fact that you are really blessed. At least think of yourself as being blessed, to have been given a spouse who is willing to work with you and willing to grow with you. If you see some less fortunate members of our community who are struggling in their marital life or who have gone the difficult course of separating and finding somebody else, take pity instead of being judgmental. Maybe they didn’t have a spouse as wonderful as yours. Maybe their spouse didn’t want to be working on the relationship as seriously as your spouse did.”

Many times when we judge, we can be totally wrong. We need to love. Instead of being super-critical, we need to empower and we need to love. And instead of resorting to gossip, if you want to exercise the muscles of the tongue, God gave us this wonderful thing called prayer. It’s a great way to exercise the muscles of the tongue instead of selling somebody out or literally skinning someone alive with your criticism, petrifying a person into a category or slot and saying, “You will never grow.” Being critical is like skinning a live person. Can you imagine how painful that is? And when we gossip, it’s like taking somebody out into the marketplace for everyone to tear apart.

Instead of exercising our tongue in that way, why not exercise our tongue in a glorious way, by saying a prayer for the very person we want to gossip about? Why not say a prayer for the less fortunate? In that way we can create a feeling of belonging to a place that feels like home. A home is something worth fighting for.

When we pledge ourselves to our Heavenly Parent that we want to live a good life and we want to live for the sake of others, what we are doing is making a commitment to God and telling him, “I’ll be there for you, no matter what; I will never leave you. I am and will always be your son or daughter.” When we give ourselves to God, it’s like signing a document, putting it into an envelope, and sending it off. Instead of harassing the postman to bring your mail back to you, why not just send it and commit and live your life as a good person? Not because you want the glories of heaven, but because -- just because -- you want to be a good person.

On this glorious Sunday morning, please think about the different obstacles that stand in the way of us coming together into one family under God. We are so lucky in America to have so much variety and diversity represented here. It will be our strength, not our detriment. Before we think about our own glory, let’s take a moment to think about how wonderful everybody else around us is. Let’s spend our energy and time to raise everybody up so that everybody in the community can be greater than we are. Then we will realize that when we take care of others, we’re becoming wonderful people in the process.

Have a wonderful Sunday, and God bless you.

Romans, chapter 12

1: I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

2: Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3: For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.

4: For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function,

5: so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

6: Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;

7: if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching;

8: he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.