We Can Declare To The World

In Jin Moon
February 7, 2009
Lovin Life Ministries

Good morning, brothers and sisters. How are you this Sunday morning?

I would like to extend a warm welcome to 106 churches all across the country that are joining us via live broadcast this morning. Welcome to Lovin' Life Ministries. I am delighted to be in front of you again, and I'm so happy to share this Sunday morning with you.

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful gift sitting on stage with us, are we not? [Referring to Liberace's piano, recently donated to the Manhattan Center.] Liberace has a special place in my heart. I came to this country as a tiny little girl, eight years old, and a couple of years later we had the wonderful opportunity to travel across the country with my parents. That's when I saw the Petrified Forest, Niagara Falls, and other beautiful wonders of this country. My parents took us children to see a Liberace show in Las Vegas. I must say that he was fabulous. He not only knew how to play the piano with a beautiful candelabra to his left, but he used to fly through the air, hoisted by a cable. He wore glorious capes -- some were rhinestone, some were velvet, and they had all different textures. I said to myself, "If I could be that age and that happy, flying through the air back and forth in my glorious cape, life would not be too bad for me."

He used to tease the audience to come to the front of the stage so that he could show them his magnificent collection of jewelry. He would ask various men or women to kiss it. People would line up and come to the front of the stage; he would be holding out his left hand and then his right hand, with a big smile on his face while people, one by one, took their turn, kissing all his glorious rings.

He was such a unique character who actually had a tough life. But as a performer he wanted to give some joy and share a time of happiness with his audience, so he really put himself out there, literally. People who walked out of his performances usually had a big smile on their face because they were so royally entertained by this man. So to have his presence here at Lovin' Life Ministry this morning is a wonderful thing, and I would like to thank Gibson for this wonderful gift.

When I first came to this country and took that tour with my parents, we went to as many states as my father could manage to fit into his schedule. One of the places where we always stopped to eat was McDonald's. That was the first time I tasted this glorious thing called a cheeseburger, with something gooey wedged in there, I guess the special creamy sauce. For somebody coming to this country, it was incredible.

Nowadays we call French fries cholesterol sticks, but back then they were so tasty, and we could not get enough of them. I remember we would always stop at McDonald's or Burger King for lunch, and many times Father, while we were eating, would point to different families that were also eating there and say, "That family must be so and so, and that family must be going through such and such." He would give a snapshot opinion on what that family was going through.

I remember my father saying to the children, "America is such an incredible country, especially prepared by our Heavenly Parent to exercise its powerful ability to influence the world, to really recognize who our Heavenly Parents are and how we should live our lives in accordance with the teachings of our Heavenly Parent." He used to say to us over and over again that America is such a great country but that the children of America have forgotten how important their parents are. He used to say that if only America could recognize that its greatness comes from the generation before, that parents' greatness comes from the grandparents, and could inherit something that is very well taught from the beginning in Eastern families -- that is, respect for elders and respect for families -- imagine how great America would be. It would not just represent freedom and independence but also tradition and honoring the people who have come before us.

From time to time when I read the Bible, my mind goes to Exodus 12:20 [actually Exodus 20:12], where it says, "Honor thy father and thy mother." The Exodus passage is asking us to remember that it is God who put us in this land. The way I understand it is, when we think that God is our father or mother, or True Parents are our father or mother, we recall that we are in the embrace or within the cradle of their hands, their warm, supportive, and empowering hands. By remembering who they are, we recognize who we are. In knowing that we are divine and eternal sons and daughters, we aspire to the greatness that is destined for every person sitting in the audience. Just as this one man, Liberace, touched and changed so many people's lives, every one of us sitting here has that ability to touch and change someone's life.

When I think about time spent with my father and mother and the words that he spoke, I think he was beseeching his children to remember, honor, respect, and love parents. So when our True Father gives us a new banner for this year, the Year of the White Tiger, as a time or year when we should be reflecting on how to create oneness with our True Parents and our Heavenly Parent, I believe that this passage from Exodus is a good one to think about.

When I think about how I can apply this oneness or unity into my daily life, I find myself looking at Psalm 91:1–2, which I shared with you earlier. This psalm has a special meaning for many people because it's a psalm they say when they want to feel protected by our Heavenly Father. It asks us to remember. It opens, "You who dwell in the Most High," with Most High meaning God, our Heavenly Parent, or even our True Parents.

It's we who live or dwell in the Most High. God is reminding us that we are His children, that we live and dwell in His embrace, that wherever God is, that's where we are. If God is the Most High, then, as his and her children, we are living with God in the highest or most holy place. When you choose to live somewhere, you will note that there's a wonderful verb that precedes where you're going to live. That word happens to be choose.

When we as sons and daughters of God choose for ourselves that we are going to live our lives as sons and daughters of God and that we are going to dwell in the Most High, it is a conscious decision. It is a way of saying to ourselves that we are who we are and we know who we are; therefore, we're going to live our lives according to what we believe our Heavenly Parent would like us to be.

When you read further, it starts by saying, "You who live or dwell in the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty." Some of us sitting in the audience, when we come across the word shadow, we might think, "Why are we living in the shadow of the Almighty? Is it something disgraceful? Is it something embarrassing? Is it something negative?" But our Heavenly Parent through the psalmist is trying to tell us that it's not a negative understanding of what a shadow is but is using this word to convey how close we are to the Almighty.

When you walk down the street on a sunny day, your shadow follows you wherever you go. It's with you everywhere. Every movement you make, the shadow follows you; every step you take, the shadow is right there with you. I remember when my brothers and I were little -- I was a tomboy, so I used to spend more time with my brothers than my sisters -- and we used to run around in circles, trying to escape our shadow, but to no avail. The shadow would grow long or short, but it was right there with us, stuck on us. When the psalmist says that we are the ones who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, he is reminding us how close and how unified we should be with the Almighty.

When you are the mother of five children, you become well versed in the Disney collection. I remember when my children were young, especially Truston, one of their favorite videos was Peter Pan. The character of Wendy, a very motherly figure, goes on a journey to Never-Never Land, and Truston used to just love the crocodile. You could always hear the crocodile coming because he had swallowed a clock that went, "Tick tock, tick tock." Truston found it ridiculously funny. Every time he heard the crocodile go tick tock, this roly-poly baby would burst into laughter.

The children used to so enjoy when Peter Pan pops into Wendy's life because he's looking for his shadow, which is off doing its own thing. So with Wendy's help he finally catches the shadow, and Wendy helps him sew it on.

When I was watching that and thought about Psalm 91:1, I thought, "At times maybe we are like that rebellious shadow, trying to run away from the Almighty, trying to run away from who we are." But sooner or later, God will cradle it back into his arms and be the one stitching our shadow back onto each and every one of us. This is visual imagery of how incredibly close we are to God.

There is an incredible story told over and over again about the beauty of a mother's relationship with her only son. In this story, the son is going off to fight a war. This mother does not have a husband anymore, so this son is the hope for her future. While he's away at war, the mother is so fearful that he will not come back to her that she visits the temple and various churches, praying each day.

Before the son left, she had him promise that at a certain time every day they would pray together so they would remember each other, and remember that both of them were waiting to see each other again. So even though the son went off to war, he never forgot that hour of prayer. Both the mother and son were united in prayer.

The son's warship was torpedoed by a submarine, and everyone on board perished. When the mother heard the news that the warship was struck and everyone perished, you can image the state she was in. But at the same time, something in her said that her son was still alive: "We decided to pray at a certain hour together, and we promised to see each other." She refused to believe that her son was gone. Concerned neighbors tried to convince her that she needed to come to terms with the reality that the warship was sunk and her son had gone back to God. But she refused to believe it, and she kept on praying.

The most miraculous thing happened. After several weeks, she heard news that her son was found, and he was found in the most interesting way. Maybe because of the mother's prayer, because of the son's prayer, or because God promised through the psalmist that those who abide in the shelter of the Most High will be protected -- maybe those were the reasons why this person was protected. He was knocked unconscious and thrown into the sea, but when he woke up he was riding on top of a giant sea turtle, which had come out of the depths and saved him. That's how he was discovered by another boat and brought back to safety.

This tale is almost impossible if you think about somebody being knocked unconscious and thrown into the sea. But because of the power of the prayer, or because of his own belief that he would live to see his mother again, God worked his mysterious magic, this time in the form of a giant sea turtle, and he came back home safely into his mother's arms.

We live in the shelter of the Most High. It is we who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, and "we call out, 'My refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust.'" I love this line in Psalm 91 because what we are encouraged to do is make a personal claim on God: God is my refuge. God is my fortress. God is my God. The psalmist is encouraging us to own up to who we are.

When we go home to visit our families, we know that home represents a refuge for us, a place of comfort, a place of security, where we can be protected from all the elements of the world. A home is a fortress in that when you are well fortified in the love of your parents, when you are well fortified in the love of your family and your siblings, you have an incredible confidence that you can conquer the world, that there is nothing you cannot do.

God is our strength, just the way a home can be a great source of strength. We call out, "God is my refuge, God is my fortress, my God in whom I trust." The interesting thing about these two lines is that they have wonderful action verbs. The first line reminds us, "You who live." We need to live in that shelter of the Most High. We need to choose to live in God's home.

The second line ["We call out"] reminds us that we need to say this out loud. The word say is another action verb. It's another call to action, for us not just to think that God is my refuge, God is my fortress, my God in whom I trust, but to say it, to articulate it, to own it, to believe it, to exercise it with the power of our voice, saying, "This is the Heavenly Parent in whom I trust."

When you truly trust somebody, what are you doing? When we truly trust God, our Heavenly Parent, what are we doing? We are giving our love. We are entrusting our love to the Almighty. When we really trust, believe, and live accordingly with our True Parents in this time of breaking news, what are we doing? We are loving our True Parents. We are entrusting the most precious thing that we have, which is our heart, to our True Parents. When we trust ourselves in each other, or our family, or our worldwide family, what are we doing? We are loving each other. We're giving our hearts to each other because we believe that we are all divine beings, that we are all eternal sons and daughters, and that we were all put here for a purpose: to be agents of change, to do something wonderful for the world, to leave something beautiful behind by raising up glorious children whom we can proudly call our future.

When God asks us to call out loud, own up, and claim this personal relationship by saying, "My God, you are my refuge, you are my fortress, you are my God in whom I trust," Heavenly Father is not just saying, "Own up and be glorious unto yourself." He is saying that when you realize that there is a purpose behind your existence, it really is a call to live your life for the sake of others.

My father's philosophy of altruism, of living for the sake of others, just because, then becomes something that we need to do in our daily lives. When I meditate on the Word of God, there are three things that come to mind. I love trying to explain things using acronyms or mnemonic devices so they are easy to remember. Thinking of "God" as an acronym, the thing that I remember is that God represents Goodness; he represents everything wonderful. But God also represents the Oneness that we should have with our Heavenly Parent by having an intimate, personal relationship through prayer and through inviting God into our lives, no matter what we are doing. And when you want to live your life honoring God, it calls for a life of Discipline. My father loves to start his day out with Hoon Dok Hae at 5 a.m., but your discipline could also be a series of fasts that you do because you are making a condition to set the foundation to do great work. We are called to live a disciplined life, meaning an orderly life, a life with a purpose.

When you're thinking about bringing God into your family, it is a call to encourage each other, the husband and wife, the bickering older sister and younger sister, the older brother and younger brother who are having difficulty, to concentrate on the goodness of each other and to remind each other of the importance of understanding that we all belong to one family of God, that we are all part of this oneness.

An application of that understanding of what kind people we need to be calls for a certain amount of discipline in that the children should always honor the father and mother. Children should always greet their father and mother at the start of the day. Don't leave the house without saying, "Good morning, Father; good morning, Mother. I'm off to school. Please have a great day." And when you enter the house, greet your father and mother again because you are living in the shelter of the Most High.

Think about how you're going to take care of each other. In a family setting, have a set of chores for everybody to do so you can work as a moveable, functioning unit in which everybody is working together in the spirit of oneness to make the family an effective one. If you want to be great in life -- if you want to be a great musician, for instance -- you have to practice, right? I'm sure Chris Alan, when he first started out, practiced many hours on the piano. I'm sure when Ben first started out, he practiced many hours on the guitar. I'm sure Alistair, when he first started out, practiced many hours on the keyboard, and so on and so forth. It takes a certain amount of dedication. It takes a choice on the part of the person to say, "I want to be a great musician," or, "I want to be a great person. So I am going to schedule a certain part of my life in dedication to what I want to be."

If you want to be a great student, you'd better do your homework without your father and mother asking you to. If you want to be a great dancer, you can find ways to get yourself to a dance academy and practice (and practice and practice!). If we do such things in remembrance of God, in remembrance of what we're all about, exercising goodness in our lives prepares us to be great human beings.

When we concentrate on the importance of oneness, of how we must operate like one family, it allows us to remember that we all belong to the same Heavenly Parent. So it doesn't matter whether your hair is curly, whether your hair is black, whether your hair is blonde, or whether you come from a Jewish background, whether you have Palestinian parents, whether your parents are from Nigeria or from Germany. We are all part of one family.

So by concentrating on the importance of unity and oneness, we become more open in our understanding and appreciation of one another because everybody is just as great as we are. Nobody is better than anybody else. We are all divine beings. A black brother is as precious as a yellow sister. A red grandfather is as precious as a white baby. It doesn't matter what religion we come from. When we concentrate on oneness, when we concentrate on the importance of opening up our hearts so we can experience the beauty, the diversity that God prepared for us in this world, then we realize how lucky we truly are.

When we apply ourselves in the daily discipline of a religious and pious person's life, our lives slowly take direction. Once you decide to be a disciplined music student, you might not be Prokofiev or Rachmaninoff overnight, but en route to becoming a great musician, you realize that your life has direction, and you understand why you are so special. You understand why you have been touched by this gift of music: to share it with the world by becoming somebody great.

Or when you become disciplined in your studies because you want to be a great professor teaching at one of the best universities in the world, in the beginning you go through various courses -- and you have to go through the core curriculum before you can concentrate on what you really love to do. You might feel like you're really not sure whether you're en route in that clear direction of what kind of person you would like to be. But if you keep on being disciplined and if you keep on practicing, slowly your life will come to have a very clear direction. As it comes into focus, you will realize that this is how God tapped you to be so special.

Or if you feel called by God toward a life in the ministry and you start living a very disciplined life by reading the Bible, familiarizing yourself with World Scriptures, knowing the Divine Principle, and learning different languages, in the beginning you might think that you're rummaging in the dark. Maybe you're testing out different faiths to understand whether your faith is really valid or whether it has something tremendous to offer to the world. But if you open up your heart, while staying disciplined and focused on what you feel is the gift that God gave you, the gift that makes you unique and special, and if you are persistent and consistent in your application, then you realize that you are going to be a great minister who not only leads people but leads people in service to other people.

In whatever capacity we may enjoy our lives, as a great professor, as a great artist, or as a great minister, if we don't remember why we're here, not to glorify ourselves but to speak out loud about the glory of the Almighty, our God, our Heavenly Parent, and share the breaking news about our True Parents, then we are falling short of our true potential.

Let's remain vigilant, knowing that we are not circling, we are not dreaming but actually living in that shelter, in that home, in that embrace of God, our Heavenly Parent. Knowing that our God and our True Parents are as close to us as our shadow is to our bodies, then we can proudly proclaim who our True Parents are and who our Heavenly Parents are; we can declare to the world that we have absolute faith and belief in entrusting our hearts to them, remembering that they are our parents, we are their children, and how blessed we really are.

On this Sunday morning, please remember that because we are his children, it is the heartistic desire of our Heavenly Parent to raise us up to be great sons and daughters who live the potential, who fulfill the destiny, who respond to the calling in each and every one of us because all of us are meant to do great things. Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes; sometimes the greatest gifts come in a very tiny box. So it doesn't matter whether our victories are small or great, as long as we can focus on God and as long as we can take one day at a time and really treat that day as one step taken closer to heaven. There is only God whom we can look forward to seeing. How wonderful it would be to take each step every day, knowing that one day we're going to be face to face with our Heavenly Parent, he's going to invite us deep into his embrace, and we are going to celebrate all of eternal life together.

Brothers and sisters, this is what Lovin' Life is all about. It's about understanding who we are. It's about unleashing our greatness. It's about tapping into that infinite reservoir of true love. It's about being the dream and living it, making it a reality. So brothers and sisters, we have a lot of wonderful things that we can look forward to in this Year of the White Tiger. Please have a wonderful Sunday and a wonderful, wonderful week. And remember, with everything we should honor our Heavenly Parent. Thank you.

Notes:

Exodus, chapter 12

1: The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

2: "This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.

3: Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household;

4: and if the household is too small for a lamb, then a man and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.

5: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats;

6: and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening.

7: Then they shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them.

8: They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9: Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.

10: And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.

11: In this manner you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD's passover.

12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.

13: The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

14: "This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance for ever.

15: Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses, for if any one eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

16: On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly; no work shall be done on those days; but what every one must eat, that only may be prepared by you.

17: And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as an ordinance for ever.

18: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, and so until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

19: For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for if any one eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.

20: You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread."

21: Then Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Select lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the passover lamb.

22: Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood which is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.

23: For the LORD will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to slay you.

24: You shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you and for your sons for ever.

25: And when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service.

26: And when your children say to you, `What do you mean by this service?'

27: you shall say, `It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he slew the Egyptians but spared our houses.'" And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

28: Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

29: At midnight the LORD smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle.

30: And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where one was not dead.

31: And he summoned Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Rise up, go forth from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said.

32: Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!"

33: And the Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, "We are all dead men."

34: So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their mantles on their shoulders.

35: The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked of the Egyptians jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing;

36: and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they despoiled the Egyptians.

37: And the people of Israel journeyed from Ram'eses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.

38: A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very many cattle, both flocks and herds.

39: And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any provisions.

40: The time that the people of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.

41: And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

42: It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

43: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the passover: no foreigner shall eat of it;

44: but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.

45: No sojourner or hired servant may eat of it.

46: In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth any of the flesh outside the house; and you shall not break a bone of it.

47: All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

48: And when a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

49: There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you."

50: Thus did all the people of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

51: And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Exodus, chapter 20

1: And God spoke all these words, saying,

2: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3: "You shall have no other gods before me.

4: "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

5: you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

6: but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7: "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9: Six days you shall labor, and do all your work;

10: but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates;

11: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

12: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

13: "You shall not kill.

14: "You shall not commit adultery.

15: "You shall not steal.

16: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's."

18: Now when all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled; and they stood afar off,

19: and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die."

20: And Moses said to the people, "Do not fear; for God has come to prove you, and that the fear of him may be before your eyes, that you may not sin."

21: And the people stood afar off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

22: And the LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: `You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.

23: You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

24: An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

25: And if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you wield your tool upon it you profane it.

26: And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.'

Psalms, chapter 91

1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,
who abides in the shadow of the Almighty,

2: will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust."

3: For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;

4: he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5: You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6: nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7: A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it will not come near you.

8: You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.

9: Because you have made the LORD your refuge,
the Most High your habitation,

10: no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.

11: For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.

12: On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13: You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

14: Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15: When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will rescue him and honor him.

16: With long life I will satisfy him,
and show him my salvation. 

We Are Not Dust In The Wind

In Jin Moon
January 31, 2010
Lovin Life Ministries

How is everybody this Sunday morning? I'm happy to see you once again. I bring you greetings from True Parents. In two weeks we will be celebrating the beginning of the lunar year together with our True Parents back in Korea, so we have a great White Tiger Year to look forward to.

When I was thinking about the Sunday Service and what I would like to talk about this morning, I was overcome with a lot of different emotions. In particular, a couple of days ago I had an experience that left me feeling very warm and fuzzy. I woke up to start my morning and jumped into the shower. As I was shampooing my hair, somebody was making some noise in the bedroom and I peeked out. I saw a very tall man standing in front of the window. I thought, "That's odd. It's very early for anybody to be in my room fixing something. That certainly doesn't look like my husband."

So I peered through the shower curtain again because I just had to take another look. Then the person turned. You can call it a dream, a vision, a wild experience, but I saw the side of my brother Hyo Jin's face. He is the reason why we're here at the Manhattan Center. He was intently looking outside the window. But the feeling that I got was that he is very much present with us and very happy to know that the Manhattan Center is alive and well.

Now we have this wonderful ministry called Lovin' Life. I think he's realizing his dream of seeing the Manhattan Center as a cultural center in the world, as the heartbeat of New York City infused with the spirit of God and True Parents through this ministry. I think he was feeling very good. The feeling that he left me with was "Sis, you're on the right track, and don't stop."

In all honesty, sometimes being a woman religious leader is not the easiest thing to do. In fact, I can think of other professional options that might be more to my liking. But whenever I've had a tough day or a tough week, I like to turn to my father's words and to the Good Book. I like to remind myself of those precious words in Scripture such as Romans 12:12, which says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

When I've had a tough day, these words are an incredible comfort to me: to be joyful in hope, to be patient in affliction, and to be faithful in prayer. Regardless of where we are in life, it has ups and downs. Sometimes life is exhilarating and exciting, but sometimes it's very painful and dark. Sometimes you wonder if you'll ever swim out of the darkness. But this Scripture passage reminds us to be joyful in hope. In fact, it's actually a command: "Be joyful in hope."

When I hear those words, I'm reminded of the words that my father, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, shared with all of us children when we were growing up. He always told us that happiness is not something that you have; rather, being grateful and having a happy life are really a matter of choice. He told us, "You will be happy and you can have a grateful life if you choose to be happy and if you choose to be grateful." If we choose to be joyful in that hope, in the understanding that we belong to our Heavenly Parent who loves us eternally, who loves us absolutely, who loves each and every one of us in a unique way, then we can be filled with hope and with the feeling that no matter where we are in life, God is always walking with us.

That reminds me of a little poem I'm sure many of you have seen in greeting cards. It was written by Margaret Powers, called "Footprints." She had a dream with many scenes, and in some scenes she saw two sets of footprints side by side on the beach. But then she realized that in the lowest points of her life, the darkest moments, there was only one set of footprints. She had to ask the Lord, "Where did you go, Heavenly Father? Why did you leave me?" Heavenly Father answered, saying, "I never left you. I was just carrying you." The footprints that she saw in the final scene of her dream are the footprints of our Heavenly Parent carrying us in our lowest and darkest moments.

This poem is incredibly comforting. If we really believe that our Heavenly Parent in heaven truly loves us as his children, then no matter where we are -- whether we are high with feelings of exhilaration and excitement, in the depths of despair, or suffering through affliction -- our Heavenly Father and Mother are always with us. That has got to be the greatest comfort for anyone to feel and experience, and certainly for me as well.

I remember as a little girl our family spent the summers in Gloucester and Provincetown. My father would invite many leaders and brothers and sisters to come experience the beauty of the ocean and the challenge of being on the open sea. He called it Ocean Challenge, Ocean Church. I spent my whole summer vacation there. Lucky -- or unlucky -- me! Even though many times I wanted to stay in Gloucester and do things about town or spend time with friends, because I happened to not get seasick, I always had to go to sea with my father at 4:30 in the morning, and we'd be out all day.

In the beginning, it was incredibly exciting, but, day in and day out, it becomes extraordinarily difficult. I had the responsibility of cooking: preparing lunch and different snacks and drinks for people on the boat. I was below decks most of the time and could not really enjoy the ocean. For me it was really a labor of love. Many times I felt so much like complaining because I was only 12 and wanted to go back home, but my father was keeping me out at sea. How horrid and horrible! No amount of pleading would get my father to take me back home until the fishing was done.

Whenever we made it back before dinner, it was the greatest thing because then we didn't have to eat the same kind of sandwiches that we already had every day. We could eat some hot food, a nice homemade meal. When we got back before dinnertime, I would rush into the kitchen. Back then one of my favorite foods was Korean-style kimchi fried rice. When you're out in the salt air of the ocean, eating very bland food, you want to come back home and have something hot and spicy.

This particular day when we got back, I rushed into the kitchen because I wanted a kitchen sister to fix kimchi fried rice for me. But she just looked at me and said, "We don't have the ingredients." Then my world fell apart because I was dreaming about this the whole ride back home. I said, "What! No ingredients?!" I had a volcanic eruption, I'm sorry to say.

My mother rushed into the kitchen and said, "What is going on, daughter? Why are you having this eruption?" I said, "Omma, Omma, I was dreaming about kimchi fried rice all the way back home, and there are no ingredients! No ingredients! They used it all for dinner tonight. I want my kimchi fried rice!"

Then my mother took me by the shoulder and pulled me aside and said, "Okay, first of all, you're going to calm down." When my mother talks to me lovingly and very calmly and very slowly, I listen. It's the power of the feminine here. She just quietly calmed me down. She said, "Okay, now you want this fried rice. Why don't we look around the kitchen to see what we have? The sister says she doesn't have those particular ingredients, but let's see what we have. Let's look in the refrigerator."

The fresh kimchi was served for dinner, but for fried rice you want to use kimchi that's a little more fermented than usual. But that was missing. So my mother said, "Okay, we don't have the old kimchi. Let's see what we have. Well, we don't have kimchi, but we have something crunchy. We have Vlasic dill pickles." I just stared at her. "Vlasic dill pickles instead of kimchi?! You've got to be kidding!"

Then she said, "We don't have any leftover bulgogi or kalbi, but we have Oscar Mayer frankfurters." I was staring at her, thinking, "She's not really going to make me eat this, is she?" It just doesn't sound as good as kimchi fried rice. How are you going to marry an Oscar Mayer frankfurter with a Vlasic dill pickle and come up with fried rice that might be palatable to your senses? I just could not see that happening.

Then she said, "We're kind of low on sesame oil. We won't have enough, but we do have good old-fashioned butter." I was watching my mother the whole time and could not believe that she was actually going to put butter in fried rice. That's sacrilege for a lot of Oriental people! She said, "Come here." She took out a pot, got some cold rice, and started making her version of my kimchi fried rice. We had ko-chu-chang, hot pepper paste, and she put a lot in there, I think basically to cover up the taste of the frankfurters and the dill pickles. We had Kikkoman soy sauce, and she said, "You know, we're not doing too bad here!" I definitely was not a believer while she was cooking this concoction.

But then she tasted it and said, "It's not that bad. You really should try it." After she prepared it, she put it in a really beautiful bowl for me. It really didn't matter what kind of food was in it, that bowl made anything look really good. Then before she served it to me she sprinkled some chopped scallions here and there, some sesame seed, and it looked divine. She said, "Go ahead and have a taste."

I cautiously approached this bowl of I-don't-know-what-it-was. But my mother urged me and said, "Have a taste. It's not bad." I cautiously took one bite. I couldn't detect the crunch of the kimchi, but there was something crunchy in there, the dill pickle. I couldn't quite make out the bulgogi, but there was a new texture in there, the Oscar Mayer frankfurter. After I put my apprehension aside and just closed my eyes and tried to savor what my mother lovingly prepared for me, with the ingredients that she happened to find, I said, "It's not so bad." If you could take the Vlasic out of your mind, take the word butter out of your mind, take the words Oscar Mayer frankfurter out of your mind, and you're just enjoying what your mouth is experiencing, it wasn't bad at all.

After I finished, I had to get my younger sister, and I brought her to try it. "I don't know what it is, but our mother just made it. Please try it." She had it, and she loved it. Just like in the Life cereal commercial, "If Mikey likes it, everybody likes it," in my family, if my younger sister likes it, most likely other people will like it, too. So the others came into the kitchen and we had a consensus. We decided that this was much better than the other kimchi fried rice that we liked so much.

That's when I realized that life has a strange way of putting us in situations that invite volcanic eruptions that invite a feeling of, "Why don't I have this? Why don't we have this?" But actually what if we trust, just the way I trusted my mother, that if she said it was good, it was going to be good? Likewise, we can trust our Heavenly Father when he says to us, "Be joyful in hope, be happy and be grateful for the kind of life that we have because life is truly an opportunity to create something beautiful."

This is how I came to know that sometimes from the most difficult or strenuous situations, something beautiful, something new and better comes out just because we are willing to trust, just because we are willing to try, and just because we are willing to believe.

From time to time I make the same concoction, and now we have named it Sausage Bibimbop. It's my mother's recipe, and all the grand-kids love it. My kids ask for it. It's become part of my life, part of my children's lives, and it will be part of their children's lives. So something that was an occasion for me to be angry actually turned into something beautiful that I can pass down to my children and grandchildren.

When God asks us in Romans 12:12 to not just be joyful in hope but also to be patient in affliction, the person that comes to mind is a woman called Fanny Crosby. I'm sure many of you know her as the Grande Dame of Hymns: she has written numerous Christian hymns that are sung all over the world. She was born in 1820 and lived well into her 90s before she went back to the embrace of our Heavenly Parent.

She was an unlikely person to have touched so many lives. First of all, she was born to a father and mother who were very poor. When she was six weeks old and suffering from an eye infection, the doctor back then mistreated the infection and it caused her to be blind. So she was blind at six weeks of age. Several months later her father passed away, leaving her mother, Mercy Crosby, alone at age 21 and without any great prospects in life.

But her mother carried on, working hard as a maid at any kind of job she could get. But Fanny, or Frances Jane, as she was originally named, had a kind of guardian angel in her grandmother Eunice. Though the future career opportunities for a blind girl in the 1820s and 1830s didn't look that great, Eunice saw her granddaughter as a gift from God. Eunice knew that she was born with a purpose, that she had so much to give to the world. Even though she was blind, her grandmother believed that there was a purpose behind it: Maybe it was her affliction that was going to turn her into a greater daughter of God.

Eunice taught her to not understand what impossible meant. Back then, putting a blind girl into a mainstream school was unheard of, but her grandmother encouraged Fanny to enter the local public school. In her third year of her education there, she discovered the beauty of poetry and realized she had a gift for it. In fact, all her teachers recognized her gift and her intellectual powers. She was a mental sponge that soaked up anything that was taught. She had almost a photographic memory, so the teachers were excited and encouraged her to dream and to write and recite poetry before her classmates and her school.

Her grandmother was right there, urging her on: "You're going to be a great woman of God. You're going to move a lot of people with your writing. You're going to inspire a lot of people with your poetry, so continue to write." But as she got into her middle-school years, her blindness became a problem. Her mother entered her into an institution for the blind in New York City, where she met many wonderful teachers who encouraged her. There she took off in learning to read with Braille and had the confidence to recite her poetry in front of the class.

She became so eloquent in her readings that whenever anyone important visited the institution, the school officials asked her, "Could you please recite your poetry for the dignitaries?" The living presidents became her best friends, and they were so moved by this blind girl that they said, "You need to recite your poetry at Congress." At the tender age of 17, this blind girl with an unlikely beginning, losing her father and being struck with blindness at six weeks of age, became a sensation at Congress. She spoke there three times in the course of her life.

But when she realized that she had a gift, she thought, "I'm not just going to recite my poetry; I want to be a published author, like my idols, Homer and Milton, who were also blind." Seeing them as her inspiration for what she could be, at the tender age of 24 she published a book called The Blind Girls, and Other Poems. It was a huge sensation back then. She became famous for her work.

She was writing a lot of secular poetry, but as she got older she began to take in the world around her. She couldn't see, but she could feel and sense the suffering on the street. For blind people, perhaps because they do not have the power of sight, oftentimes their other senses become heightened. She became really sensitive to the voices of people, especially to the voices of people crying, to the voices of anguish on the streets. She started to think, "How can I help these people? How can I help the prostitutes? How can I help the orphans? How can I help the people who no longer have hope or dreams in their lives?"

Then she suffered through the cholera epidemic of 1851, hearing and feeling all the death around her. She said, "I must find my relationship with God." So she went to the nearby John Street Methodist Church and there had the first spiritual experience of her life. There, in 1851, she pledged her life to God, our Heavenly Parent. She continued to write her secular poetry, but because she was such a gifted writer and people knew about her magic with words, she got to meet a famous musician and composer named William Bradbury. Together they became a phenomenal team. At the age of 44, she started writing hymns.

The interesting thing about her life is that right before she started working with this gentleman, she suffered probably one of the greatest losses of her life. She married a wonderful man when she was 37 years old and very soon afterward welcomed the news that she would be a mother. But the child was born dead. She suffered deeply from this trauma and fell into the depths, the lowest point of her life. She wondered whether she would ever get out, whether the poetry, which had been a vehicle for understanding throughout her life, could really bring her out of something like this.

After a grieving process that took several years, she decided to try poetry again, but this time she decided to marry poetry to music. The result was the first hymn she wrote, called "Safe in Jesus' Arms." It was actually this hymn that William Bradbury heard that so inspired him to contact her and want to work with her. When she teamed up with him, she put herself on a strictly disciplined schedule of writing three to five hymns each week. By the end of her life, she had compiled a huge collection of 8,000 hymns. Her hymns are sung to this day in many churches around the world. Many ministers have said that her words and hymns have brought more salvation than the best preachers.

This unlikely heroine, this petite, blind woman, ended up giving so much to the world because she did not blame God for her blindness. In fact, she embraced it almost as a gift. Toward the end of her life, someone asked her, "If God gave you three wishes and God told you that one of them could be fulfilled, would you ask God to cure your blindness?"

Fanny gave a very interesting answer. She said, "Being blind hasn't been easy, and in many respects it's been burdensome because I wish I could see what you see. God closed the windows of my eyes, but that compelled me to open the windows of my heart. When God compelled me to open the windows of my heart, I realized that I want to honor and praise him for the rest of my life and in that way give something back to the world. Touch the world with something beautiful. Touch the world with the divinity that is within all of us. We are all divine beings. We are all God's eternal sons and daughters." She continued, "I do not wish for my eyes to be opened. I am grateful that God gave me my affliction because as long as I was willing to persevere, be patient, be grateful, and work through my affliction, then I realized that through my suffering, through my affliction, I could give so much to the world." And she did give so much to the world.

Romans 12:12 finally reminds us to be faithful in prayer. When we say someone is a faithful daughter of God or a faithful son of God, we usually think of that person as an internally excellent person, as somebody who's excellent in moral integrity, in character, and in his or her willingness to live for the sake of others. We know that a great pianist does not become great overnight. When we see externally excellent people, say, straight-A students or valedictorians, how did they become excellent? It is because they live a disciplined life, practicing excellence each and every day, devoting themselves to their studies, doing their homework, doing the research, writing and rewriting term papers over and over again.

When Aristotle reminds all of us that excellence is not an act but a habit, what he is saying is that an excellent person is not somebody who acts excellently for just one day. If somebody is truly excellent, it's because he or she has lived a life of excellence in practicing and applying his principles so that it becomes habitual.

When we see that our dear brothers and sisters are excellent in faith, or excellent as sons or daughters of God, or excellent in prayer, we know that they are excellent because they have practiced. They have made prayer a part of their life, and a great habit. For me, better than a mere habit, the wonderful thing about prayer is that there's a sound associated with it. When we speak with the voice that God gave us and engage him and her in an intimate conversation, it's probably one of the most profound experiences that anybody can have.

This passage from Scripture reminds us that it's important not just to feel and not just to believe but to articulate with our own lips, with our own mouth, our belief system, practice it, and be faithful to it every day. When we're faithful in prayer, when we're excellent human beings, and when we can live our lives as incredible sons and daughters who are like light bulbs to the world, illuminating the world of darkness with the power of true love, what we realize is that God, our Heavenly Parent, is asking us to open up our spiritual eyes and to realize how incredibly blessed we really are.

This life is not a meaningless voyage. We're not dust in the wind. We have a divine purpose: to express our own individual divinity to the world and to leave something beautiful that can inspire, that can encourage, that can empower our brothers and sisters now and the ones who will come in the generations ahead. Fanny is no longer here with us, but her hymns are, as well as the beautiful divinity within that was expressed because she was patient through her affliction and because she was always joyful in hope and ever faithful in prayer. Even to this day her writings, her poetry, and her hymns inspire us.

It's always an incredible honor for me to stand here on Sunday morning, just so that I can remind you how incredible our lives are, and even more so because our True Parents are here with us. We have our True Parents here with us. We have a man and a woman who can stand in the position of True Parents and really show the world the true relationship between a man and a woman. We have for the first time a true family. I feel so privileged to be a member, to be working out or dealing with everything that comes in order to build an ideal family. How wonderful it is that all of us have an opportunity to graft onto the true olive branch and inherit the true love of God ourselves, the opportunity to build an ideal family in our own lifetime.

Brothers and sisters, this is not a time to be wallowing in darkness. This is not a time to be wallowing in our own afflictions or suffering. Our Lord up in heaven and our True Parents, who are with us, are asking us to be joyful in hope, to be patient in affliction, to be faithful in prayer, and to remind ourselves how uniquely beautiful we really are.

Please have a wonderful Sunday and know that, just as the band sang earlier, no matter how difficult it is, God is our Heavenly Parent and we are all divine beings. In fact, if you could truly see yourself with your spiritual eyes, you would realize that all of you have a beautiful halo about you. No matter how difficult life is, no matter how wonderful life is, we should take life one day at a time and always rejoice in the glory of God, our Heavenly parent. So please have a blessed day and a blessed week. Thank you.

Notes:

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.

9: Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

10: love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

11: Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.

12: Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

13: Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

14: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

15: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

16: Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.

17: Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

18: If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.

19: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

20: No, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head."

21: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Footprints by Margaret Fishback Powers

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened
at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you." 

Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Remembered in a Weekend of Service

In Jin Moon
January 28, 2010

In order to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Lovin' Life Ministries (LLM) coordinated a number of service projects and events throughout New York City on January 17-18, 2010. The theme of this weekend of service was Livin' the Dream, or actually practicing Dr. King's dream through service. The main organizers of the three programs were:

[For the event on Sunday in Harlem] Victoria Roomet (LLM Volunteer), Mitshi Ishioka (LLM Volunteer), Elizabeth Kernan (LLM Volunteer), Rev. Dr. Luonne Rouse (American Clergy Leadership Conference [ACLC]/ Unification Theological Seminary [UTS]), Rev. Dyer (ACLC/ UTS), Rev. Hardaway (UTS)

[For the Sunday interfaith event in Queens] Rev. Yuji Mizaguchi (LLM), Rabbi Michael Weisser (Free Synagogue), Bishop Ebony Kirkland (Church of the Living God, ACLC), Imam Shamsi Ali (Jamaica Muslim Center), John Kung (International Chinese Association) For the event on Monday in Queens] James Gomis (LLM Volunteer), Yuji Mizaguchi (LLM), Tony Devine (Service for Peace), John Kung (International Chinese Association), Rev. Days (Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal [AME] Church), Assemblywoman Grace Meng Chris Stair (LLM Volunteer) designed Livin' the Dream 2010 t-shirts for these events.

Review of Programs
Community Center Renovation

First, on "Justice Sunday" (which is an officially-recognized holiday -- the day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day) about 22 youth gathered in the heart of Harlem to kick-start the creation of the "Heian (Peaceful Mind) Interfaith Friendship Community Center" at the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church. When complete, this new community center will offer a series of programs to Harlem, including sports and health education, theater arts, martial arts, computer classes, tutoring, and bible study. Right now, Rev. Dr. Rouse from the host church and Rev. Dyer, from First Church of Illumination in Harlem -- who are both involved in the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) and the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) -- and Rev. Hardaway from UTS are bringing their skills and resources together to create the programs for this center. Lovin' Life Ministries contributes mainly in the capacity of providing enthusiastic volunteers, particularly through STF (Special Task Force) but also New York City youth.

Twenty Lovin' Life volunteers and 2 teenagers from Rev. Dyer's church in Harlem met at the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church (MCUMC) at 2:30 pm to participate in the projects. They assembled in the youth room and received opening remarks from David Gibbons, who is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the MCUMC. He expressed his gratitude for the volunteers' presence and their support for the community center. He also briefly explained the significance of remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through service on this Justice Sunday. Victoria Roomet then briefed the group on the purpose of the project and what they would be doing that day. She explained that the inspiration to create the "Heian Center" came from Dr. King's vision. It was to establish a center that would serve the community with a central focus on God. The project began on Justice Sunday so that we could use this center as a way to remember

Dr. King as a man of God, not just as a social activist, and to continue his dream of peace and brotherhood from that viewpoint. The group began working at 3 pm. About half of the youth volunteers moved to paint the computer room and the other half stayed in the youth room to make floor cushions. At around 5 pm, Michelle, who is the youth leader for the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church, ordered pizza for the volunteers. Everyone took a break together to enjoy the food and each other's company. This was a great morale booster, as it seemed to give the volunteers (especially the painters) extra energy to complete their projects. Activities resumed at 5:45, and the volunteers stayed to complete the painting and cushions by 6:30pm. Before the volunteers left, they heard from Rev. Dr. Rouse who had just returned from a UTS Interfaith program. He shared his inspirations from the program he had attended and expressed his gratitude for the work the volunteers had done that day. He expressed that he was very moved by their willingness to honor Dr. King through service and through supporting the interfaith work that the community center will be endorsing.

Interfaith Event

Also on Justice Sunday, a number of religious leaders in Queens coordinated an interfaith program, which brought together over 100 people from different faith communities, including Unificationism, Judaism, Christianity, Sikhism, and Islam. The program was hosted by Rabbi Michael Weisser at Free Synagogue in Flushing, Queens and it opened with a group rendition of the One Family Under God song, which is quite popular among this particular group of religious leaders. Following the song, a representative from each faith present spoke about Dr. King, the relevance of his legacy in the present time, and the importance of interfaith cooperation, from their specific religious perspective. Rabbi Weisser was the first speaker representing Judaism, followed by Imam Shamsi Ali, representing Islam, and Bishop Ebony Kirkland, representing Christianity.

All three of these religious leaders from Abrahamic faiths have prayed at Lovin' Life Ministries and have expressed how much they love Lovin' Life. Next, Dr. Frank Kaufman spoke representing Unificationism, followed by a representative from Sikhism, Apostle Nolan, and New York City Councilman Peter Koo (who is an Ambassador for Peace). Rabbi Weisser facilitated a collection for the victims of the recent Haiti disaster, and Pastor Anderson, a Haitian minister, expressed his appreciation for this inter-religious group's work towards helping the situation in Haiti. After each talk, wonderful cultural performances were offered by the respective faiths. The event closed with another group song, We Shall Overcome. The religious leaders present are in the process of forming an inter-religious group in Queens to continue organizing these kinds of events.

MLK Commemoration and Food Drive for Haiti

Finally, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, over 150 volunteers of all ages, races, ethnicities and faiths gathered at the Macedonia AME Church in Flushing for a commemorative program to honor and practice Dr. King's vision of the "Beloved Community -- A reality in the 21st Century." The program included a series of performances and special presentations depicting the legacy of Dr. King, like praise dance and a speech reenactment. When the program concluded at 12pm, the volunteers were served lunch and played a few icebreaker games to prepare for the afternoon service work. At 2pm, the volunteers went out to the Flushing area to collect can and monetary donations for victims in Haiti. Over $400 and 300 pounds of food were raised. A group of volunteers also visited a senior center in the area to share songs and converse with the community's grandparents.

The volunteers assembled at Free Synagogue at 6:30 pm for some dinner to close the weekend together. Volunteers who participated in the various projects shared short testimonies of their day. This was followed by thank you's from the organizers of the projects. To officially close the weekend, Rabbi Weisser gathered all the volunteers to sit with him in a cozy circle and he taught the group a beautiful Hebrew song about how wonderful it is when brothers and sisters live in harmony. He was moved by the volunteers. He said, "When you love each other, you make God smile, and today God smiled." He added, "You guys have it right. Religion is about loving each other as one family, not about building walls between each other. See those kids, they are growing up knowing this, and they will make the world even better."

Testimonies

"People donated even if they didn't speak our language. Love goes beyond the confines of language." - Nathan Yujiri, age 20

"My goal was to keep positive and keep sight of why I was there. I accomplished my goal because I was still smiling by the end of it and it felt good" - Sunhwa Reiner, age 15

"I feel very happy and accomplished because I was able to do something for others and I think God is happy, too." - Emi Tachinaka, age 16

"Finally, I did something for people who really need it." - Johana Tehoho, age 12

"I worked hard for others and had a lot of fun" - Yuuki So, age 12

"Thank you for the work in remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. I wanted to assure you that we, Michelle and I especially, appreciate your efforts and tireless work." - Rev. Dr. Luonne Rouse

Reflection

This Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend went well, especially because of the diversity of programs offered. This weekend served as a true testament to the work Rev. In Jin Moon has been doing to unite our church and its various organizations, because many different aspects of our church were able to work together to honor a true patriot, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, not just by talking about his dream, but by living it through service. ACLC, UTS, STF, Youth Ministry, the Queens Church Community, as well as community partners, such as AME Macedonia Church, Free Synagogue, Church of the Living God, International, First Church of Illumination, Jamaica Muslim Center, Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church, Assemblywoman Grace Meng, NYC Councilman Peter Koo, and Service For Peace partnered to organize these projects and to serve the community in honor of Dr. King. The bulk of the funding for the service work came from a Service For Peace Grant. Each partner also chipped in with different things, like food and supplies. One of the challenges of this weekend was that it was so close to the winter holidays, making communication difficult on a number of occasions, and often the organizers of the programs were busy with other projects. However, everything seemed to go smoothly in the end and close to 300 people were able to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a meaningful way. 

The Revolution Of Heart Can Change The World

In Jin Moon
January 24, 2010
Lovin Life Ministries

Good morning, brothers and sisters. It's so good to see you again. I wanted to start off this Sunday with a year in review, and not just because the video crew did such a phenomenal job of giving us little snapshots into what we've accomplished. Also it allows me a chance to thank the congregation for the lovely 40-some weeks of our time together. Lovin' Life started out as a little dream in my mind, but to have it realized here at the Manhattan Center and to have it experienced each and every weekend together with our brothers and sisters from the Tristate area is really a dream come true.

I want to thank all of you for being such wonderful participants and for being the jewels, if you will, that allow this Lovin' Life Ministry to exist. So, can we give a round of applause to each other?

This morning, when I was reflecting about what I would like to share with the congregation, I was reminded again that this incredible thing called belief in someone is really the reason why miracles happen. When I first introduced the concept of Lovin' Life Ministries to the district leaders and the people on my team, the look that I got back said a million words in one split second. All those question marks! "Why New York? Why Midtown? Why Manhattan Center? It's too far a commute! How do we get all of our communities excited about coming?" All these different questions came at me all at once. I expected that. In the weeks and months that followed, my team and I had to work together to make everyone see that something like this could be wonderful for our community and necessary in order to reinvigorate the Second Generation, as well as the Third and Fourth Generations that are to come.

When I speak about my parents, I often use the possessive "my father; my mother," because I want you to feel the same way I do. I want you to think of our True Parents as your father, as your mother, as people who belong to you, people with whom you can have an intimate conversation, an intimate relationship. In my deepest moments in conversation with our Heavenly Parent, I call them my father and my mother. I encourage all of you to do the same because it's important to take ownership of the relationship that we have with the divine, as well as with our True Parents.

In this hall, when we celebrate who we are, that we are the sons and daughters of our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents, it's an invitation to own up to it, to be confident about it, and to let everybody know, "I am proud to be my father's daughter; I am proud to be my mother's daughter."

Because I am proud, if I can dream of a place where we as a community can come together and not just suffer together -- just what Chris Alan sang about so beautifully -- not just commiserate together, but to really celebrate life together in the joyous company of each other and in celebration of each other's beautiful families, beautiful relationships, beautiful accomplishments, then this is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

When there was doubt and fear cast upon this dream of Lovin' Life Ministries, I took that as a wonderful invitation to do greater work. Whenever God puts an obstacle in our path, it's an invitation to just work harder and not give up, to just try a little bit extra. Let's go that extra mile to overcome the mountain and see what's waiting for us and to give ourselves a platform to have a voice in this world. Our movement is speaking the true words of our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents; it's speaking the words that are ushering in the breaking news. People should hear what we have to say because what we have to say is the hope for the future. What we have to say is a good thing: It's something that should be shared with everybody in America.

When we visually and audibly look back and see the year in review, we can realize that what seemed like small steps and insignificant victories day by day are part of a whole picture, something that we were able to do for America.

All of you sitting here at Manhattan Center, coming each and every weekend to celebrate life and love together as a beautiful community, are giving life to all the different states in America. And not just in America. You are giving life to many European countries that are following everything we're doing every week. You are the instruments through which many brothers and sisters in the East and in South America can be reinvigorated in their faith and come to realize again how precious our True Parents are.

As difficult as it was to get Lovin' Life Ministries started, once we got going, there was no turning back. That's the incredible thing about heart. When he was four years old, I once asked my youngest son, just out of curiosity, "What is love, Paxton?" And he gave me the most profound answer, which I contemplate and reflect on from time to time. He said, "Love is what makes the heart move." I truly believe that.

Regardless of how tough a week I've had here at headquarters, the minute I come into this hall and partake of this spirit of our community, I see the love that makes the heart move. Love is alive in this room, and it makes our hearts move. This is the secret ingredient that can change the world. I have seen it over and over again. It's love that makes the heart move, and it's the revolution of heart that can change the world.

Just the other day a friend of mine sent me a YouTube video clip of a dog that was born without its two front legs. It was actually thrown away as a worthless creature and was scheduled to be put to death. But one woman believed that this dog had a purpose in its life and that maybe she could be the angel of love that could make this dog into an instrument of goodwill for the world. The extraordinary thing is that she took the dog home, as almost her own child, and began to love and nurture it. At the same time, she taught it different tricks. She actually taught the dog how to walk. The dog does not have two front paws, but with the help of this woman's persistence, guidance, and love, it learned to walk like a human being.

It's a profoundly intriguing sight for anybody to behold a dog standing on its hind legs and walking bipedal, like a human being. It's almost like animation made flesh. When you see that, you cannot help but be moved that something that was cast aside as worthless and condemned to death could come back and be an ambassador of goodwill because of the love this angel had. She simply decided to do good, convinced that this creature was made by our Heavenly Father and that there was a reason for it to be born without two of its legs. What she saw through the eyes of love is not what the dog didn't have.

When we look at our own children, or when we gaze upon the people we love, we don't look at what they don't have; we look at what they do have and what they can be. That's the magic of love. Instead of this angelic woman looking at the dog missing two front paws, she saw what the dog could be if she gave it enough care and raised it up to be a goodwill ambassador.

This dog is hitting the talk show circuit and all the late-night television shows. The dog is a miracle, a living testament to the power of love and of believing in something. By just believing in something, you're giving birth to the opportunity of what can be. You're giving birth to the dream, to the endless options and possibilities that exist if we just open up our spiritual eyes and start to look at each other with the eyes of love, with the eyes of seeing what we have and what we can be instead of seeing what we do not have.

It's not just about this dog. You can see this time and time again. There are countless stories of goodwill ambassadors, angelic men and women who, for example, give their lives to public school education, deciding that they will pick the most violent and most difficult schools to teach at. Hollywood has made movies about these men and women who came in alone but with the eyes of love realized that the only thing that they needed to do was to practice love and to believe that these struggling (and some would call them worthless) children could be transformed into students who can look forward to Ivy League educations, fantastic careers, and successful lives. It's these teachers who make the difference.

It's not just the teachers; it's the mothers and the fathers. It's you in the audience who look at these beautiful specimens called our children, gifts from God. We look at them, and we treasure them, and we love them. But when we gaze into their eyes, we're not gazing into what they don't have. We're gazing into what they do have, who they are, and what they can be.

Here at Lovin' Life Ministries we are reminded as parents to take stock of these beautiful gifts that God had given us. Instead of just seeing them as some human beings or physical bodies to be fed and taken care of, how wonderful if we as parents can nourish them not just physically but also spiritually and emotionally with our love, so that all areas of growth are taken care of.

We're not just physical beings here. We're very much spiritual beings as well. We are also emotional creatures in that we need to feel love in order to be inspired. Wherever I go, I often am responding to parents who look to me as the senior pastor to help their child. Then I will usually look back at them and say, "The first step in taking care of your child is to be the parent," meaning taking ownership. Instead of just looking for different people to help, they need to take stock and say, "This is our situation; this is a loving child of mine. How can I develop a loving, empowering, and supportive relationship with this child and make this child into somebody truly extraordinary in the future?" Let's take the time to share in that quality time, no matter how busy we are.

We adults can always make excuses, right? It's much more fun to have a cup of coffee with our best friend than to talk with our teenage daughter who's maybe going through some difficult things. Or it might be easier to leave the house and go grocery shopping when maybe our son needs some care because he's not doing well at school. It's not always easy to own up to the fact that God put our children in our care; it's easier to shift the responsibility onto someone else.

But if we can truly own up to the fact that we have an incredible opportunity as parents, at least for the first 18 years of our children's lives, to leave lasting imprints of love and care, of support and guidance, we will find that it's really the greatest gift. I always like to remind my husband and myself that many times the greatest blessing comes with the greatest responsibility. So when God gives us these greatest gifts called children, it comes with great responsibility.

When I think about all the advantages that our children have growing up in an international community, I cannot help but be inspired and excited because here we have a chance to teach our children the importance of honoring our grandparents and of respecting our parents. We should not call our parents by their first names. We should respectfully call our parents, "Dear Mother, Dear Father," and we should respectfully honor our siblings. If we have an older sister, we should honor her as an elder. And if we have a younger sister, we should honor her as well and try to encourage one another in a loving relationship.

The vertical aspect, the Eastern aspect of honor, tradition, and respect is something that our children should learn and should practice. At the same time there is beauty in the Western tradition: the importance of a father communicating and having a conversation with his son, the importance of a mother having that conversation and quality time with the son and vice versa for the daughter, the importance of a husband and wife respecting each other and respecting the environment that they're bringing up their children in -- meaning that we should not invade our children's air space with the bickering of our voices. We should respect our children as God's children. We should respect each other as God's sons and daughters as well.

If we understand the proper context of the Eastern and the Western traditions at play in our own community, we realize that we can build something brand new here. We can build a heavenly culture, a heavenly tradition in which elders and parents are honored. My dear Second Generation, and the Third Generation, too, we must honor our parents. It is through the sacrifice of our parents and the First Generation that we exist and that we have the opportunity and the blessing to call ourselves blessed children. Where does that come from? It comes from our parents.

No matter how difficult the dealings of each family might be, we must always honor and always respect our parents. That goes for those of us in the True Family, too. The True Family is still a work in progress. We are working toward building an ideal family, and as we deal with the day-to-day problems, we need to remind ourselves that the most important thing in our lives is our Heavenly Parent, up in heaven, and our True Parents, who are with us. If we can be proud and confident in our lives, then we have our True Parents to thank. If we have such a phenomenal movement that is composed of international representatives from all over the world such that we can look upon our church as one family under God, we have our True Parents to thank.

As we go forward, what we need to think about is how we are going to treat each other. Right now we're engaged in overcoming obstacles that need to be ironed out as we transition into the next millennium and into building this thing called the Generation of Peace. This is a time when our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents are asking all of us to be exercisers and appliers of true love.

Yesterday when I spent some time with 160 leaders from around the country, one of the things that I stressed to them is the importance of practicing true love in our daily lives. It all starts with our True Parents. As the True Parents of humanity, they truly loved and gave everything that they had to the First Generation, to the early membership of our movement, to the leadership of our movement.

I don't know how many times the True Children were told over and over again:

"I am sacrificing you in order to love the Cain children. I am sacrificing you to love the leadership of the movement. I am educating them and spending time and raising them up to be great leaders so that they can represent God, our Heavenly Parent, and True Parents well. And if they truly understand the purpose of their position in the history of the providence, then they will realize that as those who received the most complete love from our True Parents, they should likewise be the exerciser of that true love themselves and apply that true love to the True Children. And that allows the True Children to grow up and to exercise true love again by raising up and loving the First Generation's children, or the Second, Third, and Fourth Generations."

This is how the power of true love becomes manifested and substantiated in the body of our American movement and the worldwide movement. It's Principle 101. But you know what? Sometimes the simplest principles are the most difficult to carry out. In these different relationships where we exercise true love, where we honor each other, where we support and empower each other, there is no room for doubt. There is no room for fear. There is no room for jealousy. The only room we need to have for ourselves is love: the power of love, including the way we can exercise it and the way we can experience it each and every day of our lives.

In that way we become like incredible weavers. In weaving, there's a thread that goes up and a thread that goes down. The thing about human character is that we like to go up, but we don't like to go down. But the simple principle of weaving a beautiful fabric, a beautiful tapestry, is the movement of up and down on this beautiful thing called the Principle, which is like a grid. How we move up and down is by exercising true love in our daily lives.

Sometimes when you want to make a long stroke, you have to go deeper and cross over a couple of grids, not just one, before you can come up again. It's the natural process of life. It's like inhaling and exhaling. No matter how great we are, if we're constantly inhaling, we will turn blue and cease to exist. Or if we're constantly exhaling, just giving and giving and giving and not taking in, not replenishing, not being healthy human beings, we will have very little left to give.

When we look at the four seasons, we realize that the universe revolves in cycles. We as human beings operate in a certain cyclical manner as well. Just as there is night and day, when we breathe, we exhale and we inhale. When we have relationships upon this grid that we call the Principle, there are times when our thread rises high, and there are times when our thread dives deep below in preparation for the next glorious color, to enhance and to grace this beautiful tapestry called our movement.

Brothers and sisters, when we think about what we are as a movement and who we are in context with our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents, we realize that, first of all, we are divine beings. But second of all, we have a responsibility to illuminate the world with the divinity that exists within us. It's our responsibility to share our beauty with the rest of the world.

I've been asking the Second Generation, What are your passions? What can you be passionate about in your life? It might be a call to ministry. It might be a call to break open a box of acrylics or oil paints and brushes and to grace a canvas with a beautiful painting that exists in your mind. Or it might be a call to sit at the piano for a good many hours to hone your skills so you can one day play for our congregation here on the stage at Lovin' Life.

It's important to be excited, to be passionate, and to be loving life because that's what makes us feel alive. We need to feel alive in the spirit of our Heavenly Parent, in the spirit of our True Parents, and in the spirit of the divinity that we hold within us, waiting to come out and waiting to be expressed.

There are some people in this world who like to say, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." But when you gaze upon the old dog with the eyes of true love, you can teach the old dog new tricks. If the First Generation was excited and invigorated about meeting our Heavenly Parent and True Parents a long time ago, you can teach an old dog new tricks in that they can be re-inspired.

When the First Generation gets inspired by understanding their sacrifice as laying the foundation to reap a huge harvest in their children, their grandchildren, and the brothers and sisters around the world, then they realize that everything that they have gone through is really a preparation for what's to come. They went through the harsh winters, through the difficulties of the leaves falling from the branches. But we have to understand that our Heavenly Parent has always loved us and continues to love us; spring is right around the corner, waiting to shine upon our community.

In the Bible, Matthew 9:28-29 has a conversation of Jesus Christ and a blind man. Jesus asks him, "Do you have faith? Do you believe that I am able to do what I am able to do?" The blind man replies, "Yes, Lord." It's interesting what Jesus asks the blind man. He doesn't say, "Do you believe in miracles?" He doesn't say, "Do you think that your belief in me will heal you?" What Jesus Christ says is, "Do you believe that I can do this?"

What our True Parents are asking our movement is the same thing. Does the movement believe that True Parents are True Parents? Do the brothers and sisters of the American movement believe that our True Parents came to usher in a World of Peace, to bring up a Generation of Peace, to help build ideal families for each of them? Do we believe?

Our True Parents are asking us whether we believe that they are able to do what they are able to do. It's a profound question that we should think about in light of the trials and tribulations that our movement had to bear last year. I'm sure that just as many great victories will be won this year; great victories come with difficulties and suffering, too.

This is a time when we need to be asking ourselves exactly what Jesus was asking the blind man. It's interesting that the blind man is a metaphor for people who do not see: for the people who have not opened up their spiritual eyes to realize who Jesus Christ really is, for the people who have not opened up their spiritual eyes to see who True Parents are, namely, that they are God's servants and God's chosen teachers for all of us. It is only through uniting with them, through acknowledging them with our faith, that we can say, "Yes, Jesus, I believe that you are able to do what you are able to do. Yes, True Parents, I believe that you are able to do what you are able to do." That firm conviction and that firm acknowledgement of who they are and what they are capable of allows for the foundation of faith that enables us to experience, reap, and harvest the foundation of substance.

So the blind man's eyes were opened when he acknowledged Jesus as God's chosen representative and he believed that Jesus was able to do what he was able to do. It was upon that firm conviction and that belief that God could exercise his power of love and his power to work in mysterious ways, healing the blind man's eyes. Likewise, in this time of confusion, we must not be blind. We must open up our spiritual eyes, our heartistic eyes, and realize who our True Parents are, why they are here, and why it is so important that we stay connected in oneness to the pure heart that our True Parents are calling for in the motto of this year.

Let us remain vigilant in our hearts and understand why True Parents are here and why they must be the ones with whom we must be unified in spirit, in heart, and in all that we do. The power of love, which turned a worthless, condemned dog into a goodwill ambassador traveling all around the world, can turn those students who are marked as worthless to society into men and women who will become future politicians, future ministers, and future great teachers of the world.

Many times when we're thinking about loving our children, we understand that as not putting the children to work. I've seen time and again as I visited different families that walking into the kitchen is usually a great litmus test of how the family works. When you walk into a functioning and efficiently run household where the parents are respected, where the children are cared for, where the brothers and sisters are truly loved, what you see in the kitchen is maybe a dad peeling some potatoes, maybe a mom manning the stove, maybe a daughter cleaning the dishes, and maybe the son taking out the garbage or setting the table. It's a concerted effort.

I see in a lot of homes that it's only the mother in the kitchen. The child never goes in, never does any work, never learns to clean the dishes properly, never learns to put away the plates in their proper place, never learns to take out the garbage without the mother asking. It's these simple little mundane things that we do as a family that need to be taught.

In an Asian family, when you first come into the household, the daughter-in-law usually heads for the kitchen and usually remains there, so while the family eats, the daughter-in-law makes sure that everything is prepared, taken care of, and cleaned up. I don't think that's the heavenly way. But there is something beautiful in understanding that the first thing you want to do for your in-laws is to serve them. How wonderful if we introduce a bit of the Western tradition there! So when we see a new sister-in-law heading toward the kitchen, maybe a younger brother could say, "Let me help you." Or the father and mother could say, "Let's prepare the meal together," and it would be a beautiful experience.

We have something phenomenal in this thing called the Unification Movement. Not only are you beautiful on the inside, but you're beautiful on the outside as well. If we can encourage our children to be beautiful both internally and externally as they navigate their lives, and if we can be that constant source of love and of a belief system that helps them believe in themselves, there is no limit to what our children and our community can accomplish. The only limit is the one that exists in our minds. I've seen that time and time again.

When I first attended a Russia–America Association piano concert, I walked in and saw phenomenal pianists playing. I looked at them and immediately said, "Oh, I don't think my kids could do that." But the minute I changed my thinking and said, "If they can do it, why not mine? Of course my children can do it." Then I believed that they could do it, which allowed them to believe that they could do it. So it's the belief of the parents that gives the belief to the children.

As a movement, let's believe in all the possibilities that we can accomplish this year. We were talking about one example of a mega-church that started out with a congregation of 600, grew to 15,000, and now is looking toward 30,000. I'm sure a lot of people back then said to themselves, "Impossible!" But by utilizing the CDs and video equipment that they had, they could touch 15,000 people.

Think about the Manhattan Center. This was prepared by our True Parents and our Heavenly Parent. We have everything we need here to touch America. So I asked the national leaders, state leaders, and district leaders to continue to support our efforts here at Lovin' Life because, although we may be in New York, through the Manhattan Center's facilities and the equipment available here at our fingertips, we can touch all of America. Not just America, but we can touch the world.

When we ask ourselves how we should be toward each other, I would have to say, let's start by believing in ourselves. Let's start by believing in each other. Many of us are looking for the signs of the divine, hunting for angels in our daily life. The angels that we've been hunting for might be sitting right next to you or right behind you. We are Heavenly Father's gift to each other, so the only thing we need to do is to dream, to dream about the possibilities of how we can share the breaking news with America and the world and how we can effectuate a change, starting with ourselves, just by believing in ourselves and believing in each other. Then this goodwill, this good power of true love, will start becoming contagious and will affect everybody. Before we know it, we can be celebrating life and loving life each and every day of our lives.

I believe that that is why we are here; I believe that this is the reason why we breathe. But more than that, we have the opportunity to not just breathe but to love and to experience love. We have the chance to make the world hear our voices, to hear the news that our True Parents are here. What could be more beautiful, brothers and sisters?

We have a lot of work to do in this coming year, but a lot of exciting things are happening. So take heart and know that our True Parents and our Heavenly Parent love you and love America. Please face each day with the belief in yourself that you are here for a divine purpose and for a divine reason, that you and I are here to illuminate the beauty of who we are and share it with the world.

So God bless. Have a wonderful Sunday and a lovely week.

Notes:

Matthew, chapter 9

1: And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.

2: And behold, they brought to him a paralytic, lying on his bed; and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven."

3: And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."

4: But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?

5: For which is easier, to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise and walk'?

6: But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he then said to the paralytic -- "Rise, take up your bed and go home."

7: And he rose and went home.

8: When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

9: As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.

10: And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.

11: And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

12: But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

13: Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

14: Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

15: And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

16: And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

17: Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; if it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

18: While he was thus speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live."

19: And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.

20: And behold, a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment;

21: for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I shall be made well."

22: Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well.

23: And when Jesus came to the ruler's house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd making a tumult,

24: he said, "Depart; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him.

25: But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

26: And the report of this went through all that district.

27: And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David."

28: When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

29: Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you."

30: And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, "See that no one knows it."

31: But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

32: As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to him.

33: And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel."

34: But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."

35: And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity.

36: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

37: Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

38: pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."  

HSA-UWC Haiti - Earthquake Victims Aid

In Jin Moon
January 21, 2010

NHQ20100121 No. 30

To: District Directors, State Leaders, Department Leaders, Blessed Central Families, all Brothers and Sisters
From: Reverend In Jin Moon, Reverend Ki Hoon Kim, Reverend Joshua Cotter
Re: HSA-UWC Haiti - Earthquake Victims Aid
Date: January 21, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This letter is an appeal for help. We are all aware of the devastation and tragic circumstances that the earthquake caused last week. Many people have lost their lives, many children are now orphans, there is little food or water and rebuilding will take years and cost billions of dollars.

To think of about such a huge issue seems almost hopeless for many of us as we often have difficulties meeting our own monthly obligations. On the other hand it is not really possible to just sit back when something like this happens. Our hearts are moved and it is natural to want to help.

Our church center in Haiti has been completely destroyed. Members and missionaries were in the center when the quake struck and even though the top two floors collapsed they were able to escape with only injuries.

Here is a Letter Rev. Theodule Paul the Haiti National Leader sent us.

Dear Brothers and Sisters

7 days after the earthquake, we are still waiting for some help from the government or international community, we are about 100 people living in the yard of Unification Church with nothing: no water, no food, no blankets, no tents, and we are breathing death... our place is like a huge cemetery, children are crying but parents can not do anything.

We only listen on radio that help has come but we do not see anything, the coordination is not made well, people must fight in order to find some food or water.

We are living with many injured people who are also suffering from lack of water and food.

We do not have electricity, many of us do not take a bath since that tragedy, we are breathing all kind of thing particularly we are breathing the death. We really need your help, your donation in order to face all this tragedy.

Many people are becoming crazy because they have lost everything they do see not the value of life any longer.

Please help us, may God bless you.

Theodule

Phone and internet are difficult to come by at this time but our brother Theodoul is sending us updates as he can and our sister Evelyn Drake in Florida is also helping us collect information.

We have learned that most members along with others are living in an open space behind the now destroyed church center. There is little food and no water. Most people have not been able to bathe since the quake hit. They have shared that the most prominent smell comes from those who have died. This is hard to imagine.

Theodule Paul the National leader, his wife Fugiko and their three children were in the center with members when the quake hit. When the quake hit Theothane their 6 year old daughter ran into the room where her mother was with their new born daughter. Fugiko could only run out of the house with the new born and one of the walls fell on Theothane.

Rev. Paul was able to escape with other members and his 3 year old son Theothile. It took them over an hour to dig out Theothane who was bleeding from her head and eyes.

The Japanese Embassy was able to relocate Fugiko, Theothane and their new born daughter to Dominican Republic. We are not sure how they are doing in Dominican Republic. We are not sure how other members are but it looks like only Theothane was seriously injured.

The North American Regional Headquarters of the Unification Church has started a campaign to raise funds to support our Blessed families and members in Haiti and to rebuild our mission there. We would like to focus our efforts on helping the Unification Church community so that they can feel our love and know that they are a part of a larger global community of faith.

UPF, WFWP and IRFF are working with their partners to help bring in food, water, medical supplies and other needs to the general population that was affected.

It is possible that some of the banks will reopen in Port-au-Prince and we can start sending funds directly to the church account there. For now lets work together to help make sure the members can have basic food and water and help raise money to rebuild the church and mission in Haiti.

We are currently accepting donations online, via credit card or PayPal account, and checks mailed to the national headquarters office in New York. 100% of donations marked "Haiti Relief Fund" will be sent to the Haiti Unification Church headquarters.

Once we have helped members in Haiti stand on their own two feet, they will be enabled to provide greater help for others in their communities.

Please use the link below to make an online donation, or send a check to:

HSA-UWC Financial Office
481 8th Ave. 30th Floor
New York, NY 10001

Checks should be made out to HSA-UWC.

Click here to make an online donation www.familyfed.org/members/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=315&Itemid=390

IMPORTANT: Please make sure you mark your donation: "Haiti Relief Fund," so that it can be counted as a donation for the Haiti Unification Church.

For online donations, when you "Review Your Donation," look for the little '+' sign, which you can click to add a comment. Click on the '+' sign, then type in "Haiti Relief Fund."

For checks, use the memo line on your check to write "Haiti Relief Fund." Make the check out to HSA-UWC.

Thank you for your love and support for our family in Haiti.

Haiti Relief Fund

In Jin Moon
January 15, 2010

The national headquarters of the Unification Church in America is collecting funds to support the Haitian Unification Church and its members after the recent earthquake.

We received news from one of the national messiahs to Haiti that, though one child was injured, all the members survived the earthquake. Unfortunately, at least three buildings belonging to members have collapsed. Funds are needed to help the members rebuild their homes, to repair damage to the church center, and to give general support to the members and their families.

We are currently accepting donations online, via credit card or Paypal account, and checks mailed to the national headquarters office in New York. 100% of donations marked "Haiti Relief Fund" will be sent to the Haiti Unification Church headquarters.

Once we have helped members in Haiti stand on their own two feet, they will be enabled to provide greater help for others in their communities.

Please use the link below to make an online donation, or send a check to:

HSA-UWC Financial Office
481 8th Ave. 30th Floor
New York, NY 10001

Checks should be made out to HSA-UWC.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure you mark your donation: "Haiti Relief Fund," so that it can be counted as a donation for the Haiti Unification Church.

For checks, use the memo line on your check to write "Haiti Relief Fund." Make the check out to HSA-UWC.

Thank you for your love and support for our family in Haiti. 

4th Original DP Workshop in Las Vegas

In Jin Moon
January 10, 2010

NHQ20100110 No. 29

To: HSA-UWC District, State and Church Leaders, all Blessed Central Families
From: Reverend In Jin Moon, Reverend Ki Hoon Kim, Reverend Joshua Cotter
Re: Fourth Special Original Divine Principle Workshop in Las Vegas, Feb. 4-8
Date: Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

May God's blessings and True Parents' love be with all of you.

We would like to cordially invite you to attend the fourth in a series of the special workshops entitled "Education Session Proclaiming the Completion of the Liberated Realm of the Portion of Responsibility in God's Providential History.

At the request of our True Parents, the 4th Special Original Divine Principle Workshop is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas from February 4 - 8 at the Riviera Hotel. We understand that True Parents will be in Las Vegas at that time and will visit the workshop. Thus far, the ODP workshops held in America have been greatly successful and highly inspirational, giving new life to our brothers and sisters across the nation. Now even members of the clergy and Ambassadors for Peace are coming to hear this wonderful content.

True Parents have requested that all members attend this most meaningful workshop as soon as they can. In the four nights and five days of the program schedule, participants will receive thorough presentations on the "Original Divine Principle", with rich internal guidance that provides deep insights into the culmination of God's providence today. This teaching is a new expression of the Principle revealed for the Age After the Coming of Heaven, essential to understanding True Parents' main focus of establishing the era of God's Sabbath based on absolute sexual ethics.

Through attending this workshop our families are setting a fundamental condition to receive God's Word and to fulfill our portion of responsibility in supporting True Parents in their course of liberating and comforting God. The practice of this teaching as an absolute sexual ethic is the fundamental internal condition that protects heaven's blood lineage, secures the blessed family and allows God to be at peace, taking His Sabbath.

We have entered a new year together with our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents, and the final three years of Cheon Il Guk. By attending this workshop, we can have the opportunity to meet True Parents and to connect deeply to their heart. Now more than ever it is important to be rooted in God's Word. Thus True Father is calling us to make the condition of inheriting the Original Divine Principle through participation in the "Education Session Proclaiming the Completion of the Liberated Realm of the Portion of Responsibility in God's Providential History" and through making a special condition of offering.

It is our great blessing that True Parents are making this precious educational experience available to us in the US. We have also been informed that True Parents intend to celebrate their birthday with the brothers and sisters that come to this 4th ODP workshop in Las Vegas, so please make every effort to attend. Father has also requested that many young people can attend and receive the benefit of being with True Parents and receiving the Word.

1. Education Session Details · Date: February 4 - 8, 2010

Arrive in Las Vegas on February 4th no later than 6 PM; the opening ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 PM.

The workshop concludes with lunch on February 8th; please schedule your departures for the late afternoon or evening.

Venue: Riviera Hotel & Casino, 2901 Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89109.

Presenters: Rev. In Jin Moon, Dr. Chang Shik Yang, Bishop Ki Hoon Kim, Rev. Michael Jenkins.

Participants: We are expecting Blessed Central Family Members from the USA, Europe and Japan.

2. Registration and Participation Fee

Registration fee of $500 covers 4 nights in the Riviera Hotel (double occupancy), all meals during conference session, and ground transportation for scheduled tours.

Deadline for registration: 12 noon (EST), Sunday, January 31, 2009

Registration will be done online. Information on how to access and use the Online Data Base to follow.

3. Transportation

Travel costs to Las Vegas are the responsibility of each participant

Please use the public shuttle or take a taxi to the Riviera Hotel. A ride of about 20 minutes.

4. Special Offering Condition

Participants from USA - $700

Participants from other countries - $700

Thank you and may God bless your family.

Sincerely,

God Works In Mysterious Ways

In Jin Moon
January 10, 2009
Lovin Life Ministries

Good morning, brothers and sisters. Happy God's Day, and Happy New Year!

I bring you greetings from our True Parents, who are with us in America right now. They send you their love this morning.

I just came back from Korea, where we celebrated the holiday season with our True Parents. We started the year off with a beautiful silence before the midnight prayer. Father gave a beautiful prayer and a new motto for the year. Every year Father gives us a motto for the year, but I feel like this one is truly special because he was talking about oneness with the True Parents' pure heart and celebrating that oneness throughout the year.

I was very moved throughout all the festivities and all the different Hoon Dok Haes and speeches that Father had, together with the family and all the members. On the second day we celebrated the 27th Day of Victory of Love. I realized that 27 years have passed since my blessing, since I lost my younger brother. It was a wonderful time for his wife to offer a moving tribute to her husband and for her to thank God, our Heavenly Parent, and our True Parents for the life and the responsibility that she's been given.

She, together with the rest of the family and also my older brother's wife, Yeon Ah, had a chance to read from the text. It was a wonderful celebration in memory of the brothers who have gone before my siblings and me and a beautiful time to remember them as brothers, as men, and as fathers, especially the older brother whom I have loved so much and who gave birth to the Manhattan Center and the vision that I strive to accomplish each and every day here.

I was reminded again what a great family I belong to -- not just my siblings and True Parents as my own biological parents, but such a great worldwide family, with all the members coming up and greeting us, blowing kisses for the New Year. It was wonderful and heartwarming.

Even though I could not be here with you in America, I heard that at 43rd Street you had a wonderful God's Day together with the Lovin' Life band, Reverend Grodner, and everyone else who took part in the celebration. I was very happy to hear that everybody was dancing and really celebrating life together with our Heavenly Parent. I was truly moved about that.

Here at the Manhattan Center we just celebrated the first CARP Winter Ball, with around 300 participants and different representatives from each chapter. I got a chance to meet a lot of the up-and-coming young ones in the movement. I must say that I was deeply inspired and moved, not only with the leadership of Hero Hernandez, our new CARP president, but also with his team. We celebrated and shared in the vision of what CARP needs to do this year to bring tremendous victories for our Heavenly Parent, our True Parents, and our movement.

I believe that CARP members studying at some of the finest universities in America can be ambassadors of Generation Peace, agents of change who can truly help usher in this new millennium. I am so filled with hope, and I hope that everyone who attended had a great time, experienced the power of each other, and saw in our eyes all the great things that we will accomplish in our lifetime.

This morning when I was meditating about what I would like to share with the congregation, especially in light of the fact that our True Parents' banner for this year is creating unity or oneness with True Parents' pure heart, I thought I would talk about how we can apply or understand True Parents' pure heart in our daily lives.

We are so blessed to have the Lord of the Second Advent, the Messiah, here together with us, in the form of our True Parents. They are a man and a woman just like you and me; they are a father and a mother, just like you and me. But they are extraordinary in that their pure heart of love is so transcendent, so eternal, and so all-encompassing that you cannot come near them without feeling like you're in the presence of people who are divine, holy, and uniquely special.

Even though I have been blessed with a life that allows me to get up close and personal with them and look upon them as my dad and my mom, every day I'm reminded that these two people are the first of their kind. For the first time in our providential history, we have the True Parents; we have a true couple. For me as a woman, seeing the female component fully realized in the representation of my mother as the perfected true Eve is something wonderful to behold.

But, truly, the incredible thing about them is that they look upon all of us as their children. They don't distinguish their love for me from their love for you. You and I are their children. Their love for us is absolute and unchanging, eternal and unique. Even when I greet my True Parents and welcome them to America, the first thing that they say to me is, "How are the brothers and sisters?" They don't ask me how I'm doing or how my children are doing. It's always, "How are the brothers and sisters in the American movement? How are they doing? Are they united with True Parents? Do they love True Parents?"

Even before I answer those questions, they can feel the love. So many times my father breaks into a smile, even before I have a chance to answer. He says, "Yes, American people, very, very interesting. But they have a really good heart." That's something so special about the American movement.

Within the context of our worldwide movement we have the Asian countries, including Korea and Japan, and here in the West we have Europeans and Americans. One of the things that my siblings and I have noticed over the years is that Koreans are very good when it comes to obedience, and Japanese are very, very good when it comes to obedience, duty, and honor. In the American movement, we have a great deal to learn from these Asian cultures about obedience, duty, and honor. But one of the things that has always moved me about the brothers and sisters here is their level of heart. You might not know all the Eastern protocol of how to approach True Parents or how to approach an elder brother or sister. But one thing I've noticed is that for those of us who truly love God and True Parents, there's an incredibly profound understanding in each and every one of our hearts that is absolutely priceless.

Even without the language, even without the external etiquette or protocol, there is this level of connection in the heart that many times is difficult to find in the East because there's so much emphasis on structure and obedience. I understand, when I think and reflect on my father's words, that the new culture must truly be the marriage of the East and the West. We need that structure or backbone, that incredible protocol that the Eastern members are so well equipped with. But our generation and our culture also need this profound sense of love as well, this profound sense of heart that many times a lot of American members have but may not know exactly how to express in proper form or context.

When I see my father and mother encouraging both the East and West to unite together to create this new heavenly culture that our children will inherit and carry forth to the world as a Generation of Peace, then I realize my father and mother's wisdom. Each culture and country has their strengths and weaknesses, and America has its strengths and weaknesses, too. As long as we keep a pure and open heart, with the courage to love and with the courage to take that first step forward, we are well on our way to building a worldwide community where we can look at our True Parents as our parents, look at our Heavenly Parent as our Heavenly Parent, and really feel that we belong to this family.

This morning I shared with you a passage from Luke 6:38. It talks about giving: You give and you give, and you get back what you give. This passage is told in the context of not judging others: Do not judge the people around you. If we want to judge, we need to judge ourselves. But what this passage is really talking about is that it's asking us to give what we deem the most precious to us. It's asking us to give the very things that we might want for ourselves.

When I read this passage, it made me think about my own relationship with my True Parents. I have the added blessing of having them as my biological parents, but sometimes over the years it's been very difficult because they're so public, and they belong to everybody. In my family, we long for that personal interaction, for that intimate conversation, for that special quality time. Many times because our True Parents are so busy and so engaged in their public mission, they've sacrificed their relationship with their children.

I know that, not just me, but my other siblings had to overcome and work through our own understanding of ourselves, our own understanding of who our True Parents are and how we should really learn to love them. But this passage reminded me that as much as I long for these things, if I give the very things that I want -- this quality time, this personal interaction, this intimate conversation with others -- then that allows me to be not just the receiver of humankind, but somebody who can initiate, somebody who can be proactive, somebody who is not going to be a victim and feel sorry for myself, but somebody who's going to take that personal misery as a catalyst to do something wonderful.

This passage reminded me to give what I really want instead of commiserating with my siblings about how much we miss our True Parents. You long so much for personal time with True Parents, so then give the very thing you want to the brothers and sisters next to you. Give the very thing you want to your congregation. Give the very thing you want to your siblings. In so doing, don't just grow as a human being but participate in this incredible power of true love, and work on this pure heart of connecting ourselves to our Heavenly Parent.

God works in mysterious ways; sometimes the most miserable situations or the most difficult obstacles in our lives can become catalysts to achieving something extraordinary or wonderful. I know for a fact that in my life, because I long for this kind of relationship so much with my parents, it really allowed me to think about what kind of a parent I wanted to be. Even though I never got the special quality time that I longed for with my parents, I realized that as a mother myself I have a great opportunity to give the very thing that I want to my children.

By giving the very thing that I want to my children, I can raise up not just one person but five human beings into the great specimens of true love that I see. Of course, they are works in progress, but it was that very longing, that memory of miserable situations that made me decide to be an engaging mom, an involved mom, and a mom who's going to be there for intimate conversations with my kids.

So instead of being ungrateful for what I did not have, what I did not have allowed me to be a giver to people, to raise them up in a way that I was never given a chance for. So instead of my being a black hole, I can be that agent of change. I can give to somebody who maybe needs receiving. Out of my difficulty, out of my misery, out of my suffering can come something beautiful, like the way an oyster creates a beautiful pearl out of irritation from a grain of sand.

If we can maintain this understanding of ourselves as eternal sons and daughters of God and understand our lives as a process or an opportunity through which we can become outstanding human beings, then just because we do not have something doesn't mean that we should be miserable, or complaining, or negative. Sometimes not having allows us to think of ways to give something to the other person and make the other great. In so doing, we become great ourselves.

I love waking up early in the morning. In New York City, it's pretty much noisy all throughout the day. Even at dawn you can hear the trucks rattle on and hear people walking up and down the street. But there's a sense of beautiful silence in that you're waiting for daybreak, for the possibilities of what you can do that day, the possibilities of exercising this ability to give, this ability to love.

I usually start my day wanting to thank our Heavenly Parent, thank our True Parents, and thank my family for working so hard each and every day. I know that the last year was truly the Year of the Ox in that we had to do a great deal of plowing and a great deal of work. Just as the ox is stubborn and persistent in its effort, last year was really a year when we had to be persistent in our faith. The fields in front of us were quite challenging and strewn with not just rocks but boulders. But we just had to keep the faith and had to keep going, and really stay united with our True Parents.

But this new year God has given us is the Year of the White Tiger. In the Eastern tradition, the tiger year is seen as something auspicious. For the newlyweds who are looking forward to creating a family of their own, a Tiger Year is considered a very good year to have children. But a White Tiger year, which comes once in 60 years, is considered the year to have a child. In the East, anybody who has walked down the aisle will be trying for a White-Tiger-Year baby.

My eldest son just recently got blessed, so the whole time he and his new bride were in Korea, their uncles and aunts had such a wonderful time calling for the fourth generation. Even my mother and father chimed in, teasing, "Oh, it's a White Tiger year. It's a White Tiger year. Did you know, it's a White Tiger year?" And then my father said, "It's good to have the fourth generation in the White Tiger year." So my poor son and his wife are still recovering from all the pressure. But I still have to tell the congregation, it is a White Tiger year!

This is supposed to be a very lucky year. The tiger symbolizes great leaps and strides in history, so great forward movement occurs in the tiger year. Things that are unusual occur in the tiger year. My father is looking at this year as the year that's going to bring a lot of great victories for True Parents. You can sense it in the air and feel the vibe if you stick your finger into the socket of universal vibrations. You can feel that this whole concept of True Parents and the Lord of the Second Coming and the Messiah here on earth, which was so difficult for a lot of our highly placed friends to accept or even to consider, is something that they're eating up. It's something they're agreeing with.

Recently my younger brother gave an interview with a BBC journalist who came to watch my younger brother's service and spent a good chunk of the day with him. When the reporter asked him, "Do you really believe that your True Parents are the Second Coming?" then Hyung Jin looked the reporter straight in the eye. And this is a very well educated journalist, a student of religion who knows his theology. But when he asked that question bluntly, my younger brother confidently and with conviction looked him in the eye and said, "Absolutely. Our True Parents are the True Parents."

This BBC journalist was so inspired. He first came to check on what the church was all about, but he ended up covering the blessing that my eldest son and Krista were participating in, the 40,000-couple blessing ceremony that took place, and he wrote a wonderful article about the blessing.

You see, this is the tell-tale sign of the times to come. In the past we weren't really quite sure under the banner of Family Federation for World Peace exactly what we were. We were so busy with interfaith work -- and that is still a priority in our movement -- but we have to be clear on who we are when we're engaged in this interfaith work, inviting all the different religions to come and work with us. When we clearly know who we are, when we clearly know that we are the eternal sons and daughters of God who want to inherit the true love of God, that we are proud Unificationists, and that we are proud to proclaim our True Parents as our True Parents, as the Messiah come again, as the Lord of the Second Advent, then people's feelings toward and understanding of our movement will change.

This was a very critical journalist who came for a story on my younger brother. He was transformed because he experienced the conviction, confidence, and certainty of who our True Parents are in my younger brother's voice, eyes, and heart. That is what is going to move people. In that pure-heart moment when we are alone together with our Heavenly Parent in beautiful silence, in times like that when we can confidently say, "I am who I am, and I am proud to be who I am; and I'm proud to be the son or daughter of our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents," then we will exude our faith, exude our belief, and exude our conviction. That is what is going to change the world. I've seen it time and time again in my own work here at HSA and at the Manhattan Center. The more confidence, the more pride, and the more conviction that we have in our hearts, the more the people will come to know the breaking news that our True Parents are here.

Father has expressed to the family again the importance of the last three years before 2013, so we have a lot of work to do. My younger brother is continually working hard in Korea, and other members of the family are continually working hard. If we can start this new year proudly knowing that we are proud Unificationists, that we are proud sons and daughters of our True Parents and we have nothing to hide, then I feel like we have a message to share with the world. If True Parents are who they are, if they are the true olive branch through which humanity can graft onto the true life, lineage, and love of God, then this is an incredible opportunity for everyone to partake in international blessing ceremonies and unite the world as one family under God.

We should not keep this blessing just for ourselves but share the breaking news with our friends, with our relatives, with our colleagues, so that they also can be blessed in their lives by allowing God to call their home his home or her home. Isn't that what we want at the end of the day? Don't we want a family where we can invite God in and say, "This is your home; please come and rest in your home?" If we are truly his children, isn't that our greatest blessing? Isn't that the best way that we can truly love God: by creating the kind of a family where God can be at peace, where God can celebrate with his children? Where God can partake of the love that is ever flowing, that is incredibly powerful, and that is empowering?

When I contemplate the poem written by Rumi called "What You Gave," I see that it is really a poem about what God gives to us. God gives to us the gift of love. He pours and pours without a flask or without a cup. His love is not contained in some form. His love is not contained in some structure. Our Heavenly Parents' love is endless, all encompassing, and all inspiring.

When we open up our hearts and realize that in the pureness of our being, there is a place where we hold a reservoir of what God is all about, and we allow God to give us new rainfall into that reservoir that we already hold within our hands, we know that we are the most blessed sons and daughters in the world. We realize when we gaze into his eyes that it's the kind of love that will forever give and not take; it's the kind of love that's always in service of the other.

Here in our movement we talk about living for the sake of others. It's the most beautiful, altruistic concept. But often I tell our brothers and sisters that living for the sake of others does not mean dying for the sake of others. What God gives us is an incredible reservoir of love that continually flows in our veins and in everything that we are. But what God is asking of us is that we should not be selfish, thinking about just me, myself, and I. He's not asking us to totally deny everything that we are because we are divine beings. We are eternal sons and daughters of God. God is not asking us to be selfish. He's not asking us to live a life of total self-denial, so much so that we cease to exist, that we die for the sake of others.

God is asking us to be empowered and emboldened by this love that he gives to us. We need to decide for ourselves that we are going to live a life of self-service or self-sacrifice, in that we choose as healthy emotional spiritual and physical beings to give without thinking about giving.

Everybody in this room just experienced the great performance of the band. Human beings are like a melody, if you will. We are born into this world alone. We will leave this world alone, even if we have somebody holding our hands or even if we have the family together with us at our last dying breath. We die alone. But in between these two events, between birth and death, we have an opportunity to do something other than be alone. We have opportunities to engage in relationships that can yield fruit, that can be profound, and that ensure eternity through our children.

Just as in a beautiful song or in beautiful music, the melody line is present in human beings. But when writing a song, you need to give the melody words, and many times the melody is made more profound by different layers of harmony. Better yet, when you add drums and bass to ground the song, and different accoutrements like viola, violin, guitar, and other instruments, you achieve an even better sound, or an experience, if you will.

I like to look at human beings like that. Each of us is like a melodic theme in a song. The people that we have a chance to touch are like the harmonies, like the different sounds the band can create. We start alone, but then we have to engage in the course of our lives in these wonderful working relationships. The spark of a wonderful melodic phrase provides the kind of spirit that allows music to truly express the universal language of love in a most profound way and move our hearts, move the pure hearts that connect to the divine.

When I think about this poem by Rumi, "What God Gave," I think that God created each of us to be like that melodic theme. All of you are so beautiful, so different, having so much potential, so much incredible power just within a simple melodic line. When we can continually go about our daily business with an open heart, with an open mind, engaging in relationships that not only highlight who we are but really showcase what our team is doing, then each and every one of us becomes that indelible song that plays on and on and brings so much joy and happiness to people all around the world.

When my father in a 1984 said in a speech, "It is in giving to others that we find the true meaning of life," he was absolutely right. Meaning comes in giving, not taking -- and in giving because you want to give, because you decide to give, because you realize that you are an eternal melody ready to be played. God is speaking to you and me in many different ways if we can just open up our hearts and let God partake of the purity that is inherent in each and every one of us.

We are divine beings, brothers and sisters. We have the ability to experience and to carry true love. By being in this world and by being in this kind of movement, and by being in a wonderful family where we have to deal with all the issues to become ideal, we have been given an opportunity by God to truly rub up against each other. In the process, we will experience something so profound that it will lead to something eternal.

That's why, as a mother, I must say that the most incredible creations that we leave behind and through which we live in forever are our children and grandchildren. How wonderful would it be if we as a community can concentrate in building incredible second, third, and hopefully fourth "white tiger" generations to come?

This year is an incredible year in which our movement will make great strides. I feel that the public image is turning. I just had a meeting with the American Clergy Leadership Conference a few days ago, and Reverend Jenkins was giving me a briefing on all the things that they've been working on. It was a meeting to set the agenda for this year, to set the vision. He noted that for so many years we've worked with many different ministers who had small congregations in lower income sections of the city, and many of them were not well known or powerful pastors. But he said in just the last year there's been a buzz in the world of the clergy. They know that something interesting is happening in our movement.

First of all, they're not accustomed to having a woman in their fold as a fellow minister. But on top of that, they realize that our movement is going through a process of our True Parents handing the baton over to their children. They sense that something exciting is going on, and they want to get involved. They want to go up to the mountain with us, brothers and sisters.

Reverend Jenkins was telling me that these ministers who would not give our movement the time of day are coming to us, wanting to work with us. He said the exciting thing about ACLC is that we not only have established pastors wanting to work with our movement, but now we have a fresh young crop of up-and-coming pastors wanting to get involved, wanting to work together with ACLC, highlighting the Goto case, highlighting the injustices that are being committed against our brothers and sisters in Japan. They are understanding our members as truly the victims here, people that the world needs to protect.

Even in that environment, the tide is changing. I believe that CARP can carry on the good work that is being done at ACLC and encourage all our sisters and brothers on campus to become social activists, highlighting this issue of deprogramming that's going on in Japan, highlighting the injustice that is being committed, and getting the students on campus excited about carrying this cause forward, just the way the apartheid issue and the civil rights movement found their flowering on college campuses. I believe this can help rebrand our movement as one that should not be persecuted. It can show the world that we are good people, wanting to choose for ourselves what we believe in and how we want to live our lives. This should be a fundamental human right that is enjoyed by every man and woman living on earth.

Brothers and sisters, this is an incredibly exciting time. There are so many other exciting things that are happening that I just don't have the time to share with all of you, but this is the banner, White Tiger year. It comes only once in 60 years, and our Heavenly Parent is giving it to us. It's our responsibility to take full advantage of it, to be courageous in our ability to love and to be confident in the convictions that we are here to do good work, that we are God's eternal sons and daughters, that we are going to change the world, and that we are going to bring in that new generation of peace to carry our message of true love forward.

So treat each hardship, each difficulty, each bit of suffering as an opportunity to give, just as the passage Luke 6:38 reminds us. No matter how difficult our situation might be, no matter how many things we do not have, that can be a catalyst to allow us to be agents of change so that we can give to others what we do not have and they may experience this power of true love in their lives through our good efforts and through our good hearts.

I feel that if we can concentrate on this unity, or the oneness with our True Parents, as they set forth the motto for this year, it's an invitation for us to concentrate on the word unity. U = all of us; ni = we need; ty = we need our True Parents. All of us need our True Parents. They are and have always been our guiding light, and they are continually guiding us into the next millennium. So have faith, take courage, and know that all of us are in good hands in our True Parents.

I pray that this Sunday you can concentrate on the word unity and the concept of oneness with our True Parents. Have a lovely week and the beginning of a fantastic white tiger year. Thank you so much.

Notes:

Luke, chapter 6

1: On a sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands.

2: But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath?"

3: And Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:

4: how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?"

5: And he said to them, "The Son of man is lord of the sabbath."

6: On another sabbath, when he entered the synagogue and taught, a man was there whose right hand was withered.

7: And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him.

8: But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come and stand here." And he rose and stood there.

9: And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?"

10: And he looked around on them all, and said to him, "Stretch out your hand." And he did so, and his hand was restored.

11: But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

12: In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God.

13: And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles;

14: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew,

15: and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot,

16: and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

17: And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;

18: and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

19: And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all.

20: And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21: "Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.

22: "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!

23: Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

24: "But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25: "Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. "Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26: "Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

27: "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

28: bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

29: To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.

30: Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again.

31: And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

32: "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

33: And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

34: And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

35: But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.

36: Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

37: "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

38: give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

39: He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

40: A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher.

41: Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

42: Or how can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

43: "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;

44: for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

45: The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

46: "Why do you call me `Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?

47: Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

48: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

49: But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."