Rev. In Jin Moon Meets with Second Generation and VIPs in Uruguay
James Gavin
August 24, 2010
Montevideo, Uruguay
On Tuesday August 24, Rev. In Jin Moon's good will tour of South America came to Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, where In Jin Nim conducted an "Establishment of the Word" program as she did in Asuncion on the previous Sunday. The church members greatly enjoyed hearing the Lovin' Life band perform, and her daughter, Ariana Shin Sun Moon, guided about 50 members on the finer points of ballroom dancing.
On Wednesday, August 25, 2010, In Jin Nim again met with second-generation youth, this time at the Radisson Hotel in Montevideo and counseled them on how to fulfill their mission in life -- "to be happy." She met for breakfast in Montevideo with local businessmen, diplomats, church leaders and heads of various social organizations. After introductions were made, In Jin Nim spoke to the groups about the great investment her father, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon has made in Uruguay for the sake of the country and for the sake of the world. For example, Rev. Moon had invested in the newspaper industry in Uruguay and in America to win the ideological battle over communism during the past several decades.
"Rev. Moon has always been concerned with the breakdown of the family and the corruption of our young people," she said. "The culture is seducing our youth with sex, money and power, and Rev. Moon is spreading the message that God's True Love is the only thing that will build a healthy character in our young people. I met Michael Jackson, who was a great entertainer, but when he passed into the spirit world he could not take his fans or CDs with him. Only the investment we make in our children and in living for others, centered on God, will live for eternity."
"There is a human rights travesty taking place in Japan. People are being kidnapped, being held against their will, physically and mentally abused and women sometimes subjected to rape all in an attempt to break them of their faith. For the past 30 years, members of the Unification Church have had their religious freedom taken away. This is 2010 and just last week two more members of the church were kidnapped," she explained.
She reminded the audience that General Douglas MacArthur has brought the U.S. Constitution to Japan and it was accepted by the Japanese people. "The problem is that the Japanese government is not upholding the constitution. Religious freedom does not exist for everyone in Japan. When members of the Unification Church file charges against kidnappers and faith breakers and the charges are thrown out, because it is not viewed as a crime, but viewed as a family matter, the constitution is not being upheld," she said.
She told the VIP guests that she has taken this issue to the U.S. Congress and her friends on Capitol Hill are writing letters and calling the Japanese embassy to register their concern. The Japanese Ambassador is not responding. He has said in the past that in Japan these issues are considered a family matter, but In Jin Nim pointed out these people being mistreated are not minors; they are 25, 30, some even are over 60 years of age. These people have their rights taken away and no one is doing anything about it. It is becoming an embarrassing matter for the Japanese Ambassador and we have to keep the pressure on them to uphold human rights for members for the Unification Church in Japan.
She mentioned that the kidnapping issue may be compared to Japan's problem of spousal abuse, which until recently was also considered to be a family matter in Japan. Women's groups and human rights groups from outside Japan protested this violation of human rights and now spouse abusers are being prosecuted in Japan.
In Jin Nim asked the managing editor of Ultimas Noticias, the second largest paper in Uruguay, to investigate this issue and to bring it to the attention of the Japanese Ambassador in Uruguay. The editor replied that he was shocked to hear that a powerful nation like Japan could be conducting itself this way and would investigate the issue and call on the Japanese Ambassador.
In Jin Nim concluded by telling everyone that she wanted to work with them to bring North America and South America closer together. She thanked them all for their great work and beautiful hearts and encouraged them to continue to support our movement in Uruguay. In Jin Nim had another meeting to attend and she thanked everyone for coming and briefly talked to individuals as she left for her meeting.
Following the meeting with a government executive Ana Maria Queirolo, who had heard In Jin Nim speak, she commented that she was shocked to hear what was going on in Japan. She said her father was a general and was instrumental in establishing the work of CASUA in Uruguay and that she would get involved in this issue. She said In Jin Nim was fantastic and a very charming person.
Dr. Carlos Flores Santos, a Uruguayan diplomat engaged in developing both commercial and cultural programs with South American countries and Korea, said he was impressed with In Jin Nim's elegance and intelligence. "She impressed me with her concern for social issues," he said. "Of course I will be telling my friends what I heard today about this terrible situation in Japan. It cannot be permitted to be like this. This kind of activity would never be supported in Uruguay and it should not be supported anywhere in the world. I will forward my concerns to the Japanese embassy in Uruguay."
Cono Rossi, a member of the Rotary Club in Montevideo, said he was grateful to learn about the philosophy of the movement to bring solutions for our youth and for our planet. He respects In Jin Nim's appeal to create a common faith so that we can unite together and build a better world.
Mr. Rossi was amazed that Japan, being a modern country, still had such a primitive system. He had always thought Japan was seeking the common good of humanity. He was disappointed that they were not upholding human rights. He said, "I want to work with your movement in order to right the great wrong."
Alvaro Giz, the Chief Editor of Ultimas Noticias, met with Jim Gavin after the meeting and asked what he could do. Mr. Gavin got Dan Fefferman, from the Coalition for Religious Freedom, in Washington D.C., on the phone with Mr. Giz. As a result of their conversation, Mr. Fefferman is now forwarding the information Mr. Giz needs to investigate this issue and also the necessary background information he needs to contact the Japanese Embassy in Uruguay.
In Jin Nim inspired these good people in Uruguay to take action and they responded right away. Wherever In Jin Nim met with people she gave them a vision of a world where we can right wrongs and live lives of passion and commitment. She is inspiring young and old alike to take life head on and live passionately, for the sake of the better world and for our children and future generations.
In Jin Moon Makes Good Will Tour of Three South-American Countries
James Gavin
August 24, 2010
Montevideo Uruguay
Reverend In Jin Moon (In Jin Nim) has spent the fourth week of August promoting the vision of Unificationism to crowds of church members in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina, and has given the autobiography of her father, the Rev Sun Myung Moon, to top officials and lawmakers.
Her 15-person party, which included her daughter, Ariana Shin Sun Moon, Rev. Joshua Cotter, Rev. James Gavin, Kevin Yoon, and members of the Lovin' Life band as well as three Special-Task-Force members, arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay on Tuesday afternoon. Rev. Moon led a special proclamation event in the evening in which she read her father's "Establishment of the Word" speech, which had been presented in the United States on July 24, 2010. In Jin Nim met for breakfast on July 25th in Montevideo with local businessmen, diplomats, church leaders and heads of various social organizations and spoke at length on the crisis of human-rights abuses of Unificationists in Japan. She has been holding similar meetings in Buenos Aires on Thursday and Friday, August 27th.
In Jin Nim's good will tour began in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay on August 21, 2010. She went directly to the church center where she prayed and met with members of the church. She spoke for 15 minutes about the love that the True Parent's have for the members in Paraguay and that she was looking forward to meeting everyone personally. Several Paraguayan members and their families were introduced, and In Jin Nim was able to talk briefly with each, asking the parents about their children and families.
Later on Saturday, In Jin Nim met with 50 Ambassadors for Peace. Rev. Cotter gave an overview of In Jin Nim's activities in the United States including the progress of Lovin` Life Ministries and her human-rights advocacy work in Washington, D.C. In Jin Nim then addressed all assembled and presented a gift of Rev. Moon's autobiography, As a Peace-loving Global Citizen, to each guest. She took pictures and signed the book for everyone. It was a very warm and friendly meeting. Later in the evening In Jin Nim took many of the local members to a Korean restaurant for food and fellowship.
Youth Get Special Attention at Meetings
On Sunday at the early morning prayer service of Hoon Dok Hae, In Jin Nim gave a special message to the Second Generation youth. Later hundreds of Paraguayan church members from all over the country packed the Church Center to hear In Jin Nim lead the "Establishment of Word' program which included reading the text of the Founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon's proclamation. On Monday, In Jin Nim made courtesy calls to a Senator, a Congresswoman, and the Vice President of Paraguay, and conveyed a similar message to all. She talked about the great investment that Rev. Moon has made to advance his vision in Paraguay and all over the world.
"Even at 90 years old my Father is still very active. He travels and conducts his life with great enthusiasm and vitality," she said. Rev. Dong Mo Shin, the Continental Director for the Unification Church in South America, was introduced to the officials as the chief authority for the church in the region. Rev. In Jin Moon concluded all her meetings by saying that "Rev. Moon's teachings tell me that you are my brother or sister and I am your sister. I want to learn from you, I want to tap into your wisdom and I want to serve and empower you. Please consider me your friend and your sister." The officials said that they could not help but be very moved by the sincerity of her message. All of them said they would assist her and the Unification Church in whatever way they could.
On Wednesday, August 25, 2010, In Jin Nim met again with second-generation youth at the Radisson Hotel in Montevideo and counseled them on how to fulfill their mission in life -- "to be happy." She then met for breakfast in Montevideo with local businessmen, diplomats, church leaders and heads of various social organizations. After introductions were made, In Jin Nim spoke to the groups about the great investment Rev. Sun Myung Moon has made in Uruguay for the sake of the country and for the sake of the world. For example, Rev. Moon had invested in the newspaper industry in Uruguay and in America to win the ideological battle over communism during the past several decades.
"Rev. Moon has always been concerned with the breakdown of the family and the corruption of our young people," she said. "The culture is seducing our youth with sex, money and power, and Rev. Moon is spreading the message that God's True Love is the only thing that will build a healthy character in our young people. I met Michael Jackson, who was a great entertainer, but when he passed into the spirit world he could not take his fans or CDs with him. Only the investment we make in our children and in living for others, centered on God, will live for eternity."
"There is a human rights travesty taking place in Japan. People are being kidnapped, being held against their will, physically and mentally abused and women sometimes subjected to rape all in an attempt to break them of their faith. For the past 30 years members of the Unification Church have had their religious freedom taken away. This is 2010 and just last week two more members of the church were kidnapped," she explained.
She reminded the audience that General Douglas MacArthur has brought the U.S. Constitution to Japan and it was accepted by the Japanese people. "The problem is that the Japanese government is not upholding the constitution. Religious freedom does not exist for everyone in Japan. When members of the Unification Church file charges against kidnappers and faith breakers and the charges are thrown out, because it is not viewed as a crime, but viewed as a family matter, the constitution is not being upheld," she said.
Japan's Hidden Scandal Coming to Light
She told the VIP guests that she has taken this issue to the US Congress and that her friends on Capitol Hill are writing letters and calling the Japanese embassy to register their concern. The Japanese Ambassador is not responding. He has said in the past that in Japan this issue is considered a family matter, but In Jin Nim pointed out these people being mistreated are not minors; they are 25, 30, some ever are over 60 years of age. These people have their rights taken away and no one is doing anything about it. It is becoming an embarrassing matter for the Japanese Ambassador and we have to keep the pressure on them to uphold human rights for members for the Unification Church in Japan.
She mentioned that the kidnapping issue may be compared to Japan's problem of spousal abuse, which until recently was also considered in Japan to be a family matter. Women's groups and human rights groups from outside Japan protested this violation of human rights and now spouse abusers are being prosecuted in Japan. In Jin Nim inspired these good people in Uruguay to take action and they responded right away. Wherever In Jin Nim met with people, she gave them a vision of a world where we can right wrongs and live lives of passion and commitment. She is inspiring both young and old alike to take life head on and live passionately, for the sake of the better world and for our children and future generations.
In Jin Moon Gets Warm Welcome in Paraguay
James Gavin
August 22, 2010
Asuncion, Paraguay
Reverend In Jin Moon is sharing news and pastoral guidance to enthusiastic crowds of Unification Church members in Paraguay and giving True Father's autobiography to top opinion leaders.
Her party, which included her daughter, Shin Sun Moon, Rev. Joshua Cotter, Rev. James Gavin, and two members of the Lovin' Life band arrived in Asuncion, the capital, Saturday and went directly to the church center where In Jin Nim prayed and met with members of the church. She spoke for 15 minutes about the love that True Parent's have for the members in Paraguay and that she was looking forward to meeting everyone personally. Several Paraguayan members and their families were introduced, and In Jin nim was able to talk briefly with each, asking the parents about their children and families.
Later on Saturday In Jin Nim met with 50 Ambassadors for Peace. Rev. Cotter gave an overview of In Jin Nim's activities in the United States including the progress of Lovin' Life Ministry and In Jin Nim's human-rights advocacy work in Washington, D.C. In Jin nim then addressed all assembled and presented a gift of Rev. Moon's autobiography, As a Peace-loving Global Citizen, to each guest. She took pictures and signed the book for everyone. It was a very warm and friendly meeting. Later in the evening In Jin Nim took many of the local members to a Korean restaurant for food and fellowship.
The Hoon Dok Hae prayer meeting at 5:00 a.m. was unusually crowded. In Jin nim told those gathered that "South America has a special responsibility to reside in the heart of Heavenly Parent. And this country has a responsibility to embark upon a revolution of corazon, a revolution of heart."
At Sunday service hundreds of Paraguayan church members from all over the country packed the Church Center to hear In Jin nim's sermon. Many of those present were visibly moved by her message, and they responded with enthusiastic applause at the end of the service. In Jin Nim spent substantial amounts of time with the young members of the church.
In Jin nim's meeting with the second generation Unificationists followed Sunday service. She told them:
"We have such a beautiful future. So now we have to think about how do we keep these Paraguayan treasures strong, and continually growing. You know as BC's we have a special mission, and that mission is to be happy. In a way we need to decide to be happy. Nobody can make you happy, except you. Maybe you are thinking I will be happy if I have a beautiful dress. Maybe I will be happy if I have a motor bike. I will be happy if I have a beautiful house. Maybe if I have a beautiful wife. In New York I have worked with some of the handsomest, most beautiful people in the world. But I have realized that the most important thing in order to have a happy life is to understand God, our Heavenly Parent, and that we are specially prepared sons and daughters of God. And we have been given this beautiful gift of a life, and our responsibility is to be grateful and to decide today to be happy."
As she has done for thousands of churchgoers at the Manhattan Center in New York, Arianna Moon taught ballroom dancing to dozens of young Unificationists at the church center.
Church Assembly Votes to Keep Assets under Church Ownership
The following day, August 23, 2010, a general assembly of approximately 100 church members gathered to discuss the disposition of the 600,000 hectors of land owned by the church. The question for the assembly was whether to keep the land in the name of the church or to transfer it to businesses controlled by a nonprofit corporation. A motion was made to keep the land in the name of the church and the motion carried by a vote of 96 to 0. Lawyers and a notary were present to record the vote. According to local Paraguayan church leaders, this was a major step for the Unification Church in Paraguay to hold on to the assets of the church.
Notes from In Jin Nim's August 15, 2010 Sermon
1) In Jin Nim began by making reference to her experience at the BC Sport Festival held at UTS. She was especially impressed by the talent show. It was a snapshot of the different types of talent in our community dancing and bands. In Jin Nim realized that there is so much to look forward to and wonders where the talent will be 1 or 2 decades from now.
2) When In Jin Nim thinks about the importance of celebrating our culture through different mediums, like the youth concerts for world peace and the sport festival, she realizes that this is an opportunity to reinforce in the up-and-coming generation the importance of mind over body and discipline.
3) This reminded her of the tennis camp that she took her boys to in New Hampshire. She was impressed with the program there, not only because they were teaching fantastic technique, but more important than technique they stressed mental conditioning, having the right frame of mind in preparation for the sport, the court, and to face your opponent. She thought this was a wonderful way to train her kids. The program teaches that you must be a winner in your own mind and head before you step onto the court, so that you are prepared to win even before the first serve.
4) The importance of where one's mind is, what one is thinking, how one perceives themselves to be, is very much what you end up becoming. This is not only taught in our community, but is stressed again and again in this tennis program.
5) As important as it is to condition the physical body to be strong and to have endurance, be persistent and focused, the program at the same time stresses the sharpness of the mind, ability of the mind to focus, regardless of what you face during the tennis game. The training process takes you through many obstacles, physical and mental. This is an important lesson to have in life, regardless of what you do. We realize that what we think is what we become.
6) If we have the view of ourselves as that winner, as successful men and women, incredible eternal sons and daughters of God with divine value, with the purpose of manifesting our beauty to the world, then we realize that we are something precious and valuable, we have meaning and a purpose and a direction in life. But many times when we are confused in our minds or in our thinking, and at the same time we have to enter the court every day of our lives, we have to play the good tennis game. But if our mind, our thinking process, is confused, then it is very difficult to become successful, become that winner in life that we all were meant to be.
7) When In Jin Nim thinks of how we have such talented up-and-coming athletes, when you see them play there is a certain level of expertise that they have but In Jin Nim is hoping that through these sport festivals it won't be just an occasion to have fun, but perhaps it could be a catalyst, not to just have a great time, but to try our best in whatever we are doing. If we are passionate in soccer, why not be Beckham, if in swimming why not be Phelps, in basketball why not be Jordan.
8) These sport festivals are not just a social gathering where we have fun with each other, just to feel good they should also be an occasion to remind ourselves that we can be the best. If we can be the catalyst for future Phelps to come out of our community then In Jin Nim thinks that something like this is a well served event.
9) As we celebrate the beauty of our community through the arts, sports, and academics, In Jin Nim is hoping that our children can be inspired by the concept of internal and external excellence, and the importance of having the proper way of thinking, because that determines what kind of people we are going to be in the future.
10) When we look at scripture, Mark 4:24, the Bible says, "pay attention to what you hear" and some translations say "be careful of what you hear" The first part of this, the verb, is an admonition, a warning to all of us, to pay attention, to focus on and be careful of what we hear is it positive or negative? Is it something that is conducive to our life of faith or something that takes away from our life of faith? Does it embolden us to try harder or does it enervate (to deprive of nerve, force, vigor; weaken physically mentally or morally) us to do nothing about our lives? It says pay attention to what you hear and then goes on to say the measure of what you give is the measure of what you get.
11) The scripture starts out with an admonition, telling and warning us to pay attention and to be careful of what we hear. Because what we hear and allow ourselves to hear in our own minds determines our thinking process which will have a direct consequence on the kind of people we will become. The Bible goes on to say, The measure of what you give is the measure of what you get. It is a reminder to live for the sake of others, for us to invest, and try our best in everything we do, knowing that it will come back to us in equal measure.
12) But the Bible does not just leave us with this statement, it goes on to promise us that still more will be given if you hear, if you allow yourself to hear correctly, if you can truly hear what is positive and conducive to your life of faith, what emboldens you to become a better person, it still promises you more and more and more.
13) When we think and meditate on this verse, this scripture, we realize that what God, our Heavenly Parent, is reminding us to do is I want you, my children, my eternal sons and daughters to be powerful men and women of God, and you can be powerful if you pay attention to what you listen to, what you hear, what you allow your mind to say to you, as to what you are going to become. Our True Father and Mother want us to be successful men and women.
14) When you look at the definition of the Greek word dunamis, it means power. It is something that we all seek to possess or exercise in our life. We want to be powerful in what we do; we want to exercise power correctly. But when you look at this same word in different parts of scripture, we understand that it can also mean virtue or ability. When you contemplate on this word, and what we can become if we can hear the right things and pay attention to the right things that are being spoken to our minds, in our ears, then we realize that what God is asking us to do, to be that powerful son and daughter of God, is to practice virtue.
15) A virtuous life is a very simple one in that the idea is simple, but it is extremely difficult to accomplish mind-body unity, to apply virtue in our lives. In the context of sports or artistic pursuit, when we seek to be that virtues athlete, or student of the arts, what we seek to do is to practice discipline in our lives. When you have a sport camp you get up early, stretch, eat the right breakfast, get to the camp and it's an all day affair of discipline, not just physical, but mental conditioning. It is no different if you want to be the best in the arts discipline, effort, and persistence is required you have to set a certain number of hours each day to perfect your craft your art to be that masterful artist that you so long to be.
16) A virtuous person in the context of sports or in the arts, is someone who practices discipline in their life. So, the measure of what you give, of what you put in, is the measure with which you get meaning the more that you put in to your art, or invest in your sport, the better the athlete and artist you will become.
17) In our life of faith it is not different. If we are to truly be that powerful eternal son and daughter, that virtuous son and daughter, discipline is required as well. Mind over body, practicing the different things you meditate on, taking each day one step at a time, making small accomplishments and building upon them day after day and one by one, slowly, with persistence and consistency, become that virtuous person that we were all meant to be.
18) When you think about the word power, of becoming that powerful person in our life of faith, in the arts, or in sports it doesn't matter which culture you come from, we all have different versions of the importance of ability. If you have a proclivity or bias towards something, if you prefer soccer to football, piano to the violin, guitar over the base if we have a certain bias or preference for something, but we want to make ourselves the best that we can be, we have to exercise our abilities in order to truly be that ripe artist or athlete that can stand in the position as a master in each field. In order to do this, each culture has its own little wisdom nugget (as In Jin Nim calls it). In English you have grandparents telling their grandchildren you know you munchies, practice makes perfect.
19) Nothing in life that is worthwhile comes easy. If you want to be the best athlete or artist, achieving that best status does not come easily. It requires certain things of us like discipline, but also putting that discipline into motion by practicing everyday is something that is required if we want to be the best in our field.
20) Yesterday In Jin Nim was having a conversation with her daughter she had just come back from a day of riding with her siblings and they were talking about their day. They came into the room with a birthday cake for In Jin Nim and they looked so tired. In Jin Nim asked what had happened and then Preston came in with his hand on his back, walking like a grandpa. They then told In Jin Nim what had happened. (In Jin Nim shared how True Parents love the equestrian sports. Two of In Jin Nim's siblings [Hyun Jin Nim and Un Jin Nim] were equestrian Olympic athletes, but her kids, who grew up in Boston never had a chance to ride horses.) They had not ridden horses in a long time. On this occasion, they started out on their horses together, and seemed to all have equal opportunity, but Preston got a big black old grandpa horse. This horse began to lag behind and began to rebel refusing to follow commands, not liking the fact that Preston was on his back. For sometime Preston struggled with this very large horse, trying to maintain control. It wanted to eat and poop, to the left and right and stopping to eat what was in front of it. No matter how Preston tried it would not cooperate. Then it began to buck and try to knock Preston off, which it eventually succeeded at doing. Finally the horse had to be walked back, tempting it with some fresh leaves. This is why Preston was so tired walking like a grandpa.
21) This story made In Jin Nim think how many times life is like trying to ride a grandpa of a horse. Many times you are set on this horse that you did not choose. You don't choose to be born into a particular family, you don't choose your siblings or particular parents or grandparents, or, in our movement, your in-laws. Many times when we are on this course, this trail that we are supposed to enjoy, to take in, life pushes us to do many different things. Sometimes it throws us into the bushes, even if we don't want to be in the bushes. Sometimes it tries to push us forward on to the pavement even though we don't want to, and many times life has a way of bucking us off, because life has a way of putting many obstacles in our path. In a way it is watching us, teasing and playing with us, to see how we will recover, how will we lead the horse back to the barn?
22) When In Jin Nim was listening to this story she told Preston, know that I am responsible for the whole movement and the education of the 2nd and 3rd generation I think I will make horse back riding a part of the required course. Because, for young people, who are so bright eyed and bushy-tailed about all things in life, except their parents, they don't realize what their parents go through and many times we as parents feel like we are on this horse called our children who want to do all these things and how do we guide them into the proper way, how do we keep them focused on the trail. It's a very difficult thing.
23) In Jin Nim realized that the children can't realize what the parents are going through because they never had the opportunity to be in the position of parent, of responsibility. Horse back riding is wonderful because it is not a mechanical thing that you ride; it is a breathing, feeling, powerful animal. It is something that knows a particular language it responds to you how you squeeze it with your thighs, the reins in a way it operates with rules, but it has feelings, desires, and its own passions it is like dealing with another person. Learning how to ride is a wonderful opportunity for a young person to realize that working with another living breathing thing is not the easiest thing to do.
24) Maybe a new appreciation of parents might come out of such an experience, perhaps a new appreciation of working with their siblings in the context of their own family life might be something newly realized and understood.
25) This riding lesson, as painful as it was, is a wonderful reminder to all of us that when we are on this trail, called life and Preston who was bumped off the horse could have had 2 different reactions. Even though he was extremely tired, he was still a happy camper he was chuckling to himself his was a wonderful experience, in that I learned a lot how stubborn an animal can be, how I need to be more patient, about doing things differently the next time around.
26) As a mother In Jin Nim was very pleased in her elder son, coming off of being bucked off a horse, he still had a very positive attitude towards this experience. That reminded In Jin Nim that when we are searching for happiness in our lives, what she likes to tell herself each day is that happiness is not something out there that needs to be reeled in like a fish, happiness is something that we hold in our hands already. We just have to decide to exercise it, to apply it into our virtuous living and that is what will make us into a powerful son and daughter of God. In essence happiness is the decision to be happy every day.
27) When we decide to be happy we are already taking that first step into owning who we are, what our mental process is, our thinking process is, and thereby defining ourselves to be that successful, powerful, eternal son and daughter of God who has infinite value, a rich reservoir of love to share with the world, that was blessed with so many talents from our Heavenly Parent up in heaven. In a way, our life is an opportunity, like a beautiful canvas. God prepared the canvas, gave us a pallet of colors to play around with and the only thing we need to do to decide to pick up that paint brush and paint be responsible and grateful for the canvas that has been given to us and exercise our beautiful, individualistic creativity that we all have, that is uniquely you, me and each painting that we create will be that unique masterpiece that we can share with the world and give back, in the form of a beautiful life, to our Heavenly Father and Mother.
28) Happiness is really an inside job, in that it is a decision that we make that determines whether we will be happy or not. Then we realize that many times when in the context of our lives and difficult situations when we think that misery is our best friend it is kind of interesting how in an international community like ours with eastern and western misery is a word, in one way in English but many times when In Jin Nim heard Japanese sisters, and sometimes Koreans, express the word misery (In Jin Nim imitated the Japanese accent for the words misery and miserable) in regards to their difficult relationships with their children, with their spouse, it sounded like we are sorry. It sounded like they were really sorry about themselves. When In Jin Nim heard this she thought, you said it sister. You are sorry, that is the problem.
29) We are so engulfed in our own misery, we want to blame everybody else for our problems. We are so sorry because of our spouse, our ungrateful children, our miserable in-laws and mother-in-law, and so we want to say to ourselves we would not be so miserable if these types of people didn't exist. But when we realize that happiness is the decision to be happy each and everyday, when we decide in our mind, in our mental process misery so much in a way we have already lost in our game of tennis. We have told ourselves we are defeated because we are so sorry for myself. feel so like a victim, I have already lost before I have made the first serve.
30) When we decide to blame other people for our misery, in a way it's not doing us any good. It's deflecting our responsibility to decide for ourselves to be happy. When we say to ourselves miserable with a Japanese accent it sounds like we or I and hawe which could be your view or an actual cutting saw, and ble sounds like rubble. So when we are miserable we literally saw our selves into miserable rubbles something that could be as brilliant and majestic and powerful as the Empire State Building. Each and everyone of us is like the Empire State Building, but when we decide in our minds to be miserable, what we are doing is we are sawing ourselves off into tiny pieces of rubble and we forget what and who we are and what we must be and what we need to do.
31) When these sisters were trying to convey their heart In Jin Nim saw much misery and miserable. Maybe they are not as miserable as they think they are perhaps we can start making thankful lists. Yes life is difficult, there are difficult times when we so desperately want to blame others for our problems. One thing we need to realize is that it is very difficult to change other people. The only person that you can change today is yourself. And, once we change ourselves it is amazing how everyone around us starts to change and look better.
32) When we desire for this happiness and we desire a wonderful life you know these Japanese sisters want more than anything a wonderful husband, wonderful children, wonderful in-law, mother-in-law. Perhaps as they are articulating what they want, they can be reminded of the scripture, Mark 4:24 that says pay attention, be careful what you hear, pay attention to what you are saying, what you are allowing your mind to say to you, to what you are hearing. Because when we are seeking that won-der-ful life, in a way the word wonderful sounds like one meaning God. der sounds like door in that God has the key to open the door to our hearts. And if we can truly listen with our hearts, to the right positive kind of empowering message, the message that emboldens us to do great things, then we can be a person that has a full and satisfying life.
33) We can have a wonderful life if we can be truly unified with God and understand that in unifying and listening to God it is almost mandatory that we open up our hearts to really listen to what God is saying. And when we truly listen and absolutely unite to what God is saying to us through many, many different miraculous ways then we realize that indeed we do have a full life.
34) Many times in life one's greatest obstacle is one's self. We need to realize, if we want a wonderful life, we are only one step away from opening that door to an endless possibility, of that fulfilled life that we so yearn for, desire, and dream of.
35) Again, the importance of a mind set, just as it is important for an athlete to have the proper mind-set before the game starts, before they leave the locker room, they must know that they are a winner and that is how you prepare to win. Likewise, before we start our day, before we enter the arena of life, we need to know clearly in our minds that we are winners, that we are the precious eternal sons and daughters of God, that we have a purpose and that we are here to do great things.
36) If we can truly contemplate and meditate and ruminate on this idea that the way we think determines what we become, then we realize that we must remind ourselves and refer back to scripture again and take another look at Luke 1:47. And there it says hear and rejoice in God our savior and we realize that the happiness we so yearn for is that decision to be happy every day, in essence it is that decision to be grateful everyday.
37) When we go about our lives, as Preston endeavored to fix the horse, to stay on the trail, and many times as we go about our lives we have static to deal with. Preston horse had different statics to deal with, a bush to the left and right and grass right in front, but if we can remain focused and grateful, then there is no end to our own possibilities of what we can become. If we apply our passions and our efforts in a disciplined and applied way we can become anything that we aspire to become, anything that we dream about becoming and we can be those satisfied and fulfilled human beings that we all desire to be.
38) Brothers and Sisters In Jin Nim hopes that we can think about the importance of the thinking process and the importance of paying attention to what we hear, because scripture promises us that the measure of what we give is the measure of what we get and still more is promised. If we can truly listen then we will be the eternal sons and daughters and more. Our life is a precious gift and at this time
39) Before In Jin Nim says farewell, she asked us to say a little prayer. There was an incident in Europe where a group of blessed children were doing a service project and there was a car accident. One brother, Tony Yuen, passed away, so please say a prayer for him and his family, and one sister, Tiffony, is in France in the intensive care unit fighting for her life. Please say a prayer for her.
40) For all of us here In Jin Nim hopes that we can make it back safely. Pray for the sister Tiffony, and be grateful for the constant guidance of our Heavenly Father and the embrace of love and care with which He and She take care of us each and every day. God Bless and have a great week. Thank you.
Happiness For Comes From The Decision To Be Happy
In Jin Moon
August 15, 2010
Lovin' Life Ministries
Good morning, brothers and sisters. How is everyone? I'm so glad to see all of you here again. It's a beautiful Sunday morning, and I'm delighted to be here.
We had a lot of exciting festivities going on this last week. I'm sure you are well aware that we had our Blessed Culture and Sports Festival at the Unification Theological Seminary. I had an opportunity to go up there to see what was happening. I was very much impressed and entertained by the talent show that was held at the sports festival.
It was a wonderful opportunity to get a taste, or almost a snapshot, of the various types of talent that we have in our community. We had great dancers. We had one hula dancer, and a fantastic break dancer, Takashi. We had dancers from Ohio. We had bands from Maryland area, including the Gupta band, which has a fantastic guitarist. We had also a band from the New Jersey area, and one of the musicians is the son of our HSA accountant. I was delighted to see the Second and Third Generation taking part in the festival. There's so much to look forward to as the years move on; I wonder what these young men and women will be, a decade or two from now.
Whenever I think about the importance of celebrating our culture through different media such as the Youth Concerts for World Peace or sports festivals like the one that we just had, I realize that it's a wonderful opportunity to reinforce to the up-and-coming generation the importance of mind over body, the importance of discipline.
I remember taking my boys to one of the best tennis camps, run by Nick Bollettieri, who has a camp in Florida. His students include Maria Sharapova and many other famous tennis stars. He also has a camp in Manchester, New Hampshire, so I took my boys there for their tennis lessons. I was quite impressed with the program, not just because it was teaching the children fantastic technique but also because it stressed the importance of mental conditioning, having the right frame of mind in preparation to face an opponent.
It was a wonderful way to train my kids in the importance of mind over body. The Bollettieri program teaches that you must be a winner in your own head before you step on the court: You are prepared to win, even before you throw your first serve.
Where your mind is, what you are thinking about, and how you perceive yourself are very much what you end up becoming. This is not just taught in our community, but it is reinforced in programs like Bollettieri's again and again. As important as it is to condition the physical body to be strong and have endurance, to be persistent and be focused, good programs stress the sharpness of the mind, namely, the ability of the mind to focus, regardless of what you face.
The training process takes you through many obstacles that you have to overcome, not just physically but mentally. I find that it's an important lesson to have in life, regardless of what you do.
What we think is what we become. If we have the view of ourselves as that winner, as that successful man or woman, as that incredible son or daughter with divine value, with the purpose of manifesting our beauty to the world, then we realize that we are precious, that we have meaning, purpose, and direction in life.
When we are entering the court, if you will, every day of our lives, we have to play that good tennis game. But if our minds are confused, then it's very difficult to become successful, to become that winner in life that we all were meant to be.
There's a certain level of expertise that a lot of our young people have, in soccer, Frisbee, or whatever they're playing. I'm hoping that these sports festivals will be not just an occasion to have fun but perhaps a catalyst for young people to say to themselves, "It's great to have a good time, but it's also wonderful to try our best in whatever we're doing."
If we're passionate about soccer, why not be Beckham? If we're incredible in swimming, why not be Phelps? If we're good in basketball, why not be Jordan? So these sports festivals are not just social gatherings or opportunities to have fun with each other but should also be occasions to remind ourselves that we can really be the best. If it can be the catalyst for future great athletes coming out of our community, then I think that the sports festival is an event that will serve us well.
As we celebrate the beauty in our community through the arts, sports, and academics, I'm hoping that our children can grow up to understand and be empowered by the concepts of internal excellence, external excellence, and the importance of having the proper way of thinking because these attitudes determine what kind of people we're going to be in the future.
Mark 4:24 says, "Pay attention to what you hear." Depending on the different translations, it's either "Pay attention" or "Be careful of what you hear." The first part of this verse is an admonition, a warning. Is what we hear positive or negative? Is it something conducive to our life of faith or something that takes away from our life of faith? Is it something that emboldens us to try harder, or is it something that enervates us, causing us to not care about our lives?
The Scripture starts out with an admonition, warning us to pay attention and to be careful of what we hear because what we hear and what we allow ourselves to hear in our own minds determines our thinking process, which will have a direct consequence on the kind of people that we become.
The Bible goes on to say, "The measure of what you give is the measure of what you get." It's a reminder to live for the sake of others, a reminder for us to invest, to try our best in everything that we do, knowing that it will come back to us in equal measure. But the Bible doesn't just leave us with a statement that the measure of what we give is what we get. It goes on to promise us that still more will be given if we hear, meaning if we allow ourselves to hear correctly, if we can truly hear what is positive and conducive to our life of faith, and what emboldens us to become a better person, we are promised more and more.
When we meditate on this Scripture verse, we realize that what our Heavenly Parent is reminding us is, "I want you, my children, my eternal sons and daughters, to be powerful men and women of God. You can be powerful men and women of God if you pay attention to what you listen to, to what you hear, and to what you allow your mind to say to you about what you will become."
Our True Parents want us to be successful men and women. The Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words translates the Greek work dunamis to mean power. Power is something that we all seek to possess, to exercise in our life. We want to be powerful in what we do. We want to exercise power correctly.
But the same Greek word in different parts of the Bible is translated as virtue or ability. If we truly can pay attention to the right things that are being spoken to our minds, then we realize that what God is asking us to do, in being a son or daughter of God, is to practice virtue.
The idea of a virtuous life is a simple one, but it's extremely difficult to achieve mind and body unity and apply virtue in our lives. When we seek to be that virtuous athlete or that virtuous student of the arts, what we need to do is exercise discipline in our lives. At sports camp, you get up early in the morning, do your stretches, eat the right breakfast, and it's an all-day discipline -- not just physical conditioning but also mental conditioning.
It's no different if you want to be the best in the arts. Discipline is required. Persistence is required. You have to set aside a certain amount of hours each day to perfect your craft in order to become that masterful artist that you so long to be.
A virtuous person in the context of sports or art is someone who practices discipline in his or her life. Again, the measure of what you put in, of what you give, is the measure by which you get. The more that you put into your art, the more you invest in your sport, the better artist or athlete you will become.
It's no different in our life of faith. If we're truly to be that powerful eternal son or daughter, that virtuous son or daughter, discipline is required: mind over body, practicing the things we want to excel in, taking one step at a time, making small accomplishments and building upon them day after day. One by one, one at a time, slowly, with persistence and consistency, we can become that virtuous person that we all were meant to be.
To become a powerful person in our life of faith, in the arts, or in sports, it doesn't matter which culture we come from. We all have different versions of ability. You may have an ability, a proclivity toward something -- you prefer soccer as opposed to football, you prefer piano instead of violin, you prefer guitar over the bass. But we want to make ourselves the best that we can be; we have to exercise our abilities in order to truly be artists and athletes who can stand in the position of masters in each field.
To encourage us to do that, each culture has its own little wisdom nugget, as I call it. In English you have grandparents telling the grandchildren, "Practice makes perfect." Nothing worthwhile in life comes easy. Certainly if you want to be the best athlete or the best artist, achieving that best status does not come easily. It requires certain things of us, like discipline. But also putting that discipline into motion by practicing every day is required if we want to be the best in our field.
Yesterday I was talking with my daughter. She had just come back from a day of riding with her elder brother, Preston, and her two younger brothers. We were just talking about their day. When they walked into the room, they came in with a birthday cake for me, but they looked so tired. I said, "Munchies, what happened?" Then Preston walked in with his hand behind his back, like a grandpa. I asked, "What happened? Why is everybody so wiped out?" As they told me the story, I found out what happened.
My parents love the equestrian sports, so two of my younger siblings were Olympic equestrian athletes [Hyun Jin Moon and Un Jin Moon], but I raised my kids apart from New York, up in Boston, so they never really had a chance to ride horseback. This one day was set aside so they could really enjoy the horse trails in upstate New York. It was their first time in a long while to go riding.
A couple of them decided to go on a trail with a guide and some other people. Ariana was in front of Preston. Preston got a big black horse, and Ariana got one of the younger ones. They set off on the trail. These four or five people started out together, with what seemed like an equal opportunity. They all had horses, they all had reins, they were sitting on saddles, so it really looked good for everybody. They were thinking, "This is going to be a wonderful ride. We can take in the beauty of nature and enjoy the trail. It's going to be wonderful."
But when they set off, very quickly Preston realized that his horse was quite old, 20 years old, meaning in human terms a grandpa of a horse. It was a very big horse. He was given simple instructions on how to get it to walk, to stop, to trot. As the team went down the trail, two people were ahead of Ariana, and Preston was behind. While all the other horses walked briskly, the grandpa horse lagged behind. The grandpa horse did not really like that fact that somebody was sitting on top of him.
The horse started looking around, pulling on the reins in another direction. Ariana kept on hearing behind her, "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Okay, okay." A little bit later on, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, okay." So when she turned and saw what was going on, she realized that this huge black horse really did not want to take this walk. It kept on pulling on the reins, even though Preston tried to maintain control. It kept heading for the bushes at the side of the trail because it wanted to eat, and it kept lagging farther and farther behind the rest of them.
Preston was thinking, "I have this horse that's not really interested in following the others but wants to eat." Occasionally Ariana would hear, "Ari, its pooping!" So it was working hard at both ends, while Preston was trying to get it focused on the trail to follow the others. But the horse wasn't in the mood.
To get the horse to trot, you squeeze with your inner thigh and pull down your ankles so the horse knows you want it to go faster. But this horse did not want anything to do with that idea. Preston kept squeezing harder and harder, but it wouldn't respond. After a while he started almost kicking it, harder and harder. Basically the horse had had it, and this time the "whoa, whoa, whoa" was not "okay, okay, okay." Ariana looked back and saw that now the grandpa horse was trying to buck Preston off.
Preston tried to gain control and make it trot, but the horse got angry. Instead of trotting, it bucked again and Preston fell off. The horse basically had to be teased back to the barn by offering it some grass. It was the only way to make him move. This horse was determined that if anyone was going to ruin its eating time, it was going to make a grandpa of whoever sat on his back. That's why Preston was walking like a grandpa when I saw him.
When I heard this story, I was thinking to myself that many times life is like trying to ride a grandpa of a horse. You're set on a horse that you did not choose. You don't choose to be born into a particular family, or have a particular set of siblings, nor even have particular in-laws. When we're on this trail that we're supposed to enjoy, life pushes us to do many different things. Sometimes it throws us into the bushes, even though we don't want to be in the bushes. It tries to push us onto the pavement, even though we don't want to go there. Life has a way of bucking us off, putting many obstacles in our path. It's almost watching us, almost playing with us to see how we will recover, how we will lead the horse back to the barn.
Listening to this story, I said, "You know, now that I'm responsible for the whole movement, for the Second and Third Generation education, I think I'll make horseback riding a part of the required course." Young people are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about everything in life except their parents. They don't really realize what parents go through. Many times we as parents think we're sitting on this horse, called our children, that wants to do all these different things. It's a very difficult thing for us to guide them correctly, to keep them focused on the trail.
Children don't understand what their parents have to go through because they were never given the opportunity to be in the parents' position or in a position of responsibility. Horseback riding is wonderful because a horse is not a mechanical ride: A horse is a breathing, feeling, and powerful animal. It knows a particular language. It operates with a set of rules, but it has feelings and desires. It has its own passions. Dealing with a horse is like dealing with another person.
Learning to ride is a wonderful opportunity for a young person to realize that working with another living, breathing thing is not the easiest thing to do. Maybe a new appreciation of parents might come out of such an experience. Perhaps an appreciation of working with different siblings in the context of family life might emerge.
This riding lesson, as painful as it was for Preston, is a wonderful reminder to all of us that we are on this trail called life. After being bucked off the horse, Preston could have had two different reactions. Though he was extremely tired, he was still a happy camper, chuckling to himself that it was a wonderful experience that taught him a lot about how stubborn an animal can be, about how he needs to be more patient. He learned a lot about perhaps doing things differently the next time around.
I was very pleased as a mother to see that my eldest son, coming away from being thrown off a horse, still managed to have a very positive attitude about the experience. That reminds me that happiness is not something that's out there, that just needs to be reeled in. Happiness is something we already hold in our hands, and we just have to decide to exercise it. We have to apply it in our virtuous living, and that's what will make us powerful sons and daughters of God.
In essence, happiness is the decision to practice being happy every day. When we decide to be happy, we are already taking that first step in owning who we are and what our thinking processes are, thereby defining ourselves to be successful, powerful, eternal sons and daughters of God who have infinite value, who have a rich reservoir of love to share with the world, and who are blessed with so many talents from our Heavenly Parent.
Our life is really an opportunity, a beautiful canvas. God prepared the canvas and gave us a palette of colors to play around with. The only thing we need to do is to decide to pick up that paintbrush, to be responsible and grateful for the canvas that has been given to us, and exercise our beautiful individual creativity that is uniquely ours. Each painting that we create will be a unique masterpiece that we can share with the world, that we can give back to our Heavenly Father and Mother in the form of a beautiful life.
Many times in the context of a difficult situation in our lives, we see ourselves in the state of a miserable situation, or perhaps we think that misery is our best friend. It's interesting in an international community like ours that misery is a word understood in one context in English. I have heard Japanese sisters, or sometimes Korean sisters express to me, "In Jin Nim, watashino, I miserable. Misery. Misery." They were talking about their difficult relationships with their children, or their spouse, and the word that came to mind was misery. But in the mouths of these Asian sisters, it sounded like "me-sorry." It's like, "I am feeling really sorry about myself." "I me-sorry too much. I too much me-sorry."
When they said this, I replied, "You said it, sister. You sorry. That's the problem." In a sense, we are so engulfed in our own misery that we want to blame everybody else for our problems. We are so much me-sorry because of our spouse, because of our rebellious, ungrateful children, because of our miserable in-laws.
We want to tell ourselves that we would not be so miserable if these things didn't exist or these types of people didn't exist. But happiness comes from the decision to be happy each day. When we decide in our miserable process, "I me-sorry so much," we have already lost before we've entered the court to start the game. We have already told ourselves that we are defeated because we are so sorry for ourselves. We feel like a victim. We have already lost before making our first serve.
When we decide to blame other people for our "me-sorry," it's not doing us any good. It's deflecting our responsibility to decide for ourselves to be happy. When we say to ourselves, "I am so me-sorr-able," it sounds like "me-saw-rubble." When we are miserable, we literally saw ourselves into miserable rubble, something that could be as brilliant, as majestic, and as powerful as the Empire State Building. Each and every one of us is like the Empire State Building, but when we decide in our minds to be "me-saw-rubble," what we are doing is sawing ourselves off into tiny little pieces. We forget what we are; we forget who we are. We forget what we must be and what we need to do.
When these sisters were trying to convey their heart, "I so me-sorry," "I so me-saw-rubble," I told them, "Maybe you're not as miserable as you think you are. Perhaps we can start making thankful lists. Yes, life is difficult. Yes, there are difficult times when we so desperately want to blame others for our problems. But one of the things we need to realize is that it's very difficult to change other people. The only person that you can change today is yourself. Once we change ourselves, it's amazing how everyone around us starts to change and starts to look better."
What these Japanese sisters want more than anything is "wonderful husbands, wonderful in-laws, wonderful children." Perhaps as they're articulating what they want as a wonderful life they could be reminded of Mark 4:24: "Pay attention. Be careful what you hear. Pay attention to what you are saying, what you are allowing your mind to say to you."
The word wonderful sounds like one, meaning God, our Heavenly Parent. The way these Japanese sisters say "won-der-ful," "der" sounds like "door." God has the key to open the doors to our hearts. If we can truly listen with our hearts, listen to the right, the positive kind of message, the empowering message, the message that emboldens us to do great things, then we can have a full and satisfying life.
We can have a wonderful life. We can truly be unified with God and understand that in unifying and in listening to God it's almost mandatory that we open up our hearts, to really listen to what God is saying. When we truly listen and absolutely unite with what God is saying to us in many miraculous ways, we realize that indeed we do have a full life.
Many times one's greatest obstacle is oneself. We need to realize that if we want a wonderful life, we are only one step away from opening the door to an endless possibility of the fulfilled life that we so yearn for. Again, for us the mind-set is so important, just as it is for athletes. Before the bell rings, before the game starts, before they leave the locker room, they must know they are a winner. That's how you prepare to win.
Likewise, before we start our day, before we enter the arena of life, we need to know clearly in our minds that we are winners, that we are the precious, eternal sons and daughters of God, that we have a purpose, and that we are here to do great things. Let's truly contemplate and meditate on this idea that the way we think determines what we become. As well, let's take a look at Luke 1:47. There the Good Book says, "Hear and rejoice in God, our Savior."
The happiness that we so yearn for comes from decision to be happy every day. In essence, it's that decision to be grateful every day. When we go about our lives, as Preston endeavored to fix the horse to stay on the trail, many times we have a lot of static. The horse had different static to deal with -- the bush to the left, the bush to the right, a lovely patch of grass right in front. If we can remain focused, and if we can remain grateful, then there is no end to our own possibilities of what we can become if we apply our passions and our efforts in a disciplined way. We can become anything we aspire to be. We can become anything that we dream about becoming. We can be that satisfied and fulfilled human being that we all desire to be.
Brothers and sisters, I hope that this Sunday you can think about the importance of the thinking process and the importance of paying attention to what we hear. Scripture and God promise us that the measure of what we give is the measure of what we get, and still more is promised.
If we can truly listen, then we will be eternal sons and daughters and more. Our life is a precious gift. At this time, before I bid you farewell for the day, I would like all of you to say a little prayer. There was an incident in Europe: A group of blessed children were doing a service project and there was a car accident. One brother passed away: His name is Tony Yuen. Please say a prayer for him and his family. There is another sister in France sitting in intensive care, fighting for her life. I hope that you can say a little prayer for Tiffany as well.
For all of us who have made it here safely, and I hope go back safely to whatever we're doing, hopefully we'll have a wonderful week. Please be mindful of the sister who is struggling for her life. At the same time, also be grateful for the constant guidance of our Heavenly Parent as well as the embrace of love and the care with which he and she take care of us each and every day.
So God bless, and have a great week. Thank you.
Notes:
Mark, chapter 4
1: Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.
2: And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
3: "Listen! A sower went out to sow.
4: And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
5: Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil;
6: and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away.
7: Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
8: And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."
9: And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10: And when he was alone, those who were about him with the twelve asked him concerning the parables.
11: And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables;
12: so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven."
13: And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
14: The sower sows the word.
15: And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them.
16: And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;
17: and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
18: And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word,
19: but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
20: But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."
21: And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not on a stand?
22: For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.
23: If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."
24: And he said to them, "Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.
25: For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away."
26: And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground,
27: and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.
28: The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
29: But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
30: And he said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?
31: It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;
32: yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
33: With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it;
34: he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
35: On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."
36: And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
37: And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
38: But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?"
39: And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40: He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?"
41: And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?"
Luke, chapter 1
1: Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us,
2: just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,
3: it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent The-oph'ilus,
4: that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.
5: In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari'ah, of the division of Abi'jah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6: And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
7: But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8: Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
9: according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10: And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11: And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12: And Zechari'ah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13: But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechari'ah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14: And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth;15: for he will be great before the Lord,
and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
even from his mother's womb.16: And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
17: and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli'jah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."18: And Zechari'ah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."
19: And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.
20: And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."
21: And the people were waiting for Zechari'ah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple.
22: And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb.
23: And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24: After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying,
25: "Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men."
26: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27: to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28: And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"
29: But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.
30: And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31: And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32: He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,33: and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end."34: And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"
35: And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called holy,
the Son of God.36: And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37: For with God nothing will be impossible."
38: And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
39: In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,
40: and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.
41: And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
42: and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43: And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44: For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.
45: And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
46: And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47: and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48: for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;49: for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.50: And his mercy is on those who fear him
from generation to generation.51: He has shown strength with his arm,
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,52: he has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree;53: he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent empty away.54: He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,55: as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."56: And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.
57: Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son.
58: And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59: And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechari'ah after his father,
60: but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John."
61: And they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name."
62: And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called.
63: And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marveled.
64: And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
65: And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea;
66: and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.
67: And his father Zechari'ah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
68: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people,69: and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,70: as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71: that we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all who hate us;72: to perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember his holy covenant,73: the oath which he swore to our father Abraham,
74: to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,75: in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
76: And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,77: to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,78: through the tender mercy of our God,
when the day shall dawn upon us from on high79: to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."80: And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
Blessed Culture and Sports Festival 2010 Announcement
In Jin Moon
August 3, 2010
The purpose of the Blessed Culture and Sports Festival is to create a time and place for youth and young adults to come and express their talents on the field, on the stage or through culture that is in tune with the commonly held values and traditions of the larger Unificationist community and their friends.
This summer's BCSF is August 11-14, 2010 at the UTS Conference Center in Barrytown, NY.
Our theme this year is Rise Up and is created by Lovin' Life Ministries. Rise up in action. Rise up in excellence. Rise up in faith.
Please visit this year's website www.riseupatbcsf.com. Here is a flyer for the BCSF.
This is the sixth year running and we are excited to be back for our annual community building event. For those of you who have joined us before, welcome back, and for those of you coming for the first time, this event is a marquee community wide event for young adults, ages 16-35, and is open to friends. We strive to create a time and a place where the beauty and love in our community can come out and shine, watch as athletes, artists, and musicians express themselves based on our collective identity. This year we're gonna RISE UP!
No matter what your interest is, you will want to be here this year. See your friends before the summer ends!
Notes On August 1 Lovin' Life Ministries Sermon
In Jin Moon
August 1, 2010
Unofficial notes: Andrew Compton
1) In Jin Nim greeted and welcomed everyone. She spoke about True Parents presence in America -- how much time True Father spends in the US -- trying to give his heart and love to this great country, America. He will be leaving tomorrow -- and she invited everyone to come to East Garden to see them off. She also mentioned that True Parents have been very busy, that this is an incredible time and that the Manhattan Center had the good fortune to celebrate with True Parents and brothers and sisters from around the world the World Congress.
2) She finds it interesting that the month of July, the month of America's independence, is also the month that True Mother first pushed the idea of Parents Day as a national holiday -- which was passed unanimously by both houses in 1994. True Parents are not just gracing the US with their words and presence, but they are actively changing the landscape of this great country -- making sure Parents Day would become a national holiday.
3) On Friday this past week the 16th Parents Day was celebrated at the Manhattan Center. It was a time for coming together, Ambassadors for Peace, our VIPs, Parents, and our youth. In Jin Nim was delighted to see the Japanese mothers led to the dance floor by their children. It moved her to see the Japanese sisters, the backbone of our movement, be honored by their own children.
4) As In Jin Nim watched the interplay between the generations and our community as it came together in the celebration of Parents Day, she thought "Our Heavenly Father must be pleased to have found a community that understands His heart." When God first created the universe, wanting to experience love through the children that He created, He/She waited -- like we all do as parents, to gaze upon this bundle of joy, expecting many great things from them. And we wait for the day that our children will grow up and become beautiful eternal sons and daughters -- awesome, successful, excellent adults, and for them to return the love that we have showered on them, that they give back the love and honor their parents.
5) True Parents have taught us who our Heavenly Parent is, our Father and Mother in Heaven. And True Parents have helped us, through the gift of the Blessing, to experience what a parental heart is all about. When In Jin Nim thinks about her parents, with 14 children, 7 sons and 7 daughters, she is sure that every time they gazed into the eyes of a new child they were so happy and elated, and at the same time prayerfully expecting great things from the child.
6) We know as parents -- Heavenly Father and Mother have a way of tricking us into having more babies -- when they are young they are so cute, charming, and adorable -- they can do no wrong. We do not think about them in their teen years when they want to try out different ideas and rebellions and lots of questioning to their parents. Our Heavenly Father created these little bundles of joy, so wonderful, we want to have many more, and before long we have 4, 5, 6 kids. In the beginning it's wonderful -- you just need to take care of their physical and emotional needs with warmth and care -- but later you realize their needs become more complicated, and we are not fully prepared to be that effective parent we would like to be.
7) When In Jin Nim canvassed the decades of the Unification Church experience / history, there are many wonderful points, but there are also lots of points that can be improved. As the senior pastor -- In Jin Nim is always thinking -- "How can we make it better?" How do we keep the 1st gen excited and renew the spark they had when they first joined? And, at the same time, how do we encourage the 2nd gen., born in the church, never having a conversion experience nor opening up to making a decision for their life of faith -- and help them grow into great members, sisters and brothers, and parents to beautiful children? These are questions In Jin Nim asks herself and struggles with everyday.
8) Whenever she asks herself these questions she always reminds herself to go back to the center, our True Parents. When you think and pray and reflect about our True Parents -- first and foremost you realize how precious they are. For the first time we have a man and a woman who have overcome the trials and tribulations and indemnified the things necessary for them to stand in the position of the perfected Adam and Eve and together as the True Parents inspire the world community to understand themselves as belonging to one family as eternal sons and daughters of God -- and to realize that we have a precious gift in our midst -- not just any regular people [our True Parents], but extraordinary, passionate people with an extraordinary message -- who are absolutely persistent and dedicated to their work every day.
9) Our True Parents, just like us, experience pain and difficulties -- and love and joy and celebration -- but what In Jin Nim has noticed as their daughter, is that they always concentrate on their health, not just their physical health, but their emotional and spiritual health as parents to their children.
10) From time to time True Mother has emphasized to her children -- "Life is difficult and being in the public eye you are hit with lots of different trials and tribulations that most people do not have to go through. So it is your responsibility to be responsible for your emotional, physical, and spiritual health."
11) In Jin Nim's mother encouraged them -- to not just keep their spiritual life healthy -- by prayer, reflection, and good works, but also their physical well being -- because your body is a heavenly vessel through which we can do many great works. She encouraged them to be physically and emotionally healthy as well. When In Jin Nim looks at her parents and all the things they are hit with -- they never waver, they are so consistent and persistent in their mission and in what they have to do.
12) In Jin Nim realized from a very young age, how seriously her father took his health. Some may think -- "Oh, Father is thinking about his physical body too much." But Father always told the True Children -- you have to take care of what God gave you, your body. You have to exercise, you have to eat right and maintain your health so that God can work through you and do great things.
13) When In Jin Nim thinks about her parents, and when she gazes into her children's eyes she realizes, in order to be a healthy parent, senior pastor, and mother she needs to be mindful of a few things. In Jin Nim then told a story about her experience traveling, sitting next to a big woman who was very friendly and animated. The woman wanted to tell In Jin Nim about a diet program that she was on -- she had been on it for a couple of weeks and had lost a lot of weight. She told In Jin Nim about eating a little bit of lemon juice and maple syrup and other nutritious foods. When she found out that In Jin Nim had had 5 children she asked her what program she was on. In Jin Nim told her she was not on a program -- but the woman insisted she must be on a program -- she looked too young to be the mother of 5 children -- where were her "handles"? She then showed In Jin Nim her program -- how vigorous it was and how much weight she had lost -- she told In Jin Nim that health was her new religion -- and that when she finished her program she was going to share it with as many people as she could. She went on to explain her program, the different foods she could and could not eat at different times -- and it all made In Jin Nim quite dizzy. In Jin Nim expressed her concern that she was losing weight too fast -- "was it healthy?" and then she asked the woman if it was a program she could continue the rest of her life? The woman then looked at In Jin Nim and said she only needs to pursue the program until she reaches her goal -- a size 8 -- then she can stop and take a break and eat what she likes, don't exercise, and sleep as long as she likes -- and if she starts to balloon -- she can go back onto the program. In Jin Nim then shared about her kids who were on a program called "Insanity" -- through which they had lost a lot of weight.
14) In Jin Nim shared about growing up in this country -- where she was continually bombarded with the message of how she must look, and be, and carry herself. She too had tried different programs. When you get to be her age you realize that these different programs -- like the Insanity Program -- might help you lose a few pounds, but it is called Insanity for a reason. You cannot maintain it for the rest of your life -- its intense, challenging, and you suffer through it, you feel good, and for some people this kind of a regiment makes them feel that they have accomplished something. She saw that in her children's eyes as they did the Insanity Program -- they could feel their body improving -- they have so much energy! These are all wonderful things -- but like this woman, who was like a serial dater -- but she was a serial programmer, going from one to another, from one diet to another. She had tried everything -- she wanted the right program for her life, that would change her life, give her happiness, and give her the emotional and spiritual sense of being a healthy person.
15) But one thing In Jin Nim noticed is that many times the hunger we deal with is not physical hunger -- we sometimes eat because we are emotionally or spiritually starved and we don't know how to fill the void or satisfy the hunger. That is why people reach for the candy bar, the cookies. What they are seeking is not food, but spiritual well being that comes through understanding God and that they are God's children, divine beings with a special purpose in their lives. This hunger that we fight with every day is not always physical -- and that is why these diet programs never really work.
16) When different people in the world come across our community and our children they respond to us -- "your community looks so beautiful -- your people look 10 years younger than they really are!" When In Jin Nim tells people the age of our members, such as Rev Cotter (she did not want to say the number, but he is quite old) they think he is in his 40s. They also think In Jin Nim is much younger than she is. And when people look at Rev. Rendell they say there is no way he is 60 years old, at the most 50. The 10 years get knocked off because we understand who we are, God's eternal sons and daughters, and that we need to satisfy not just physical hunger but the emotional and spiritual hunger which can only be satisfied with our relationship with our Parent in Heaven and with our True Parents on the earth.
17) When the woman asked In Jin Nim about her program, In Jin Nim answered she is not on a program -- she is on a life-style. It is not the diet program that keeps us healthy, but the life-style that we choose for ourselves that helps keep us healthy physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
18) In Jin Nim always thought the word health is interesting. And one thing about our community is that we have elements from the East and the West. In the case of Rev Sudo's expression "True Love" which becomes "True Rub" -- it is through that articulation that In Jin Nim came to realize that true love means truly practicing and applying true love by rubbing up against her eternal relationships, her family relationships. Once you are born into a family, it doesn't matter who goes to spiritual world first, your relationships are eternal. When In Jin Nim hears Rev Sudo say "True Rub" it is a reminder for In Jin Nim to rub up against her parents, her siblings, and her children in order to become as bigger and deeper as she can be.
19) When you say the word "health" -- many times the Japanese sisters are trying new healthy foods -- it sounds like "hells-food" and it sometimes it really tasted like "hells food." The word health means the soundness of the body, the condition of the body and mind -- or how we are in terms of our physical well being. But when you hear that word through the Japanese tongue, and you hear health as "hells-" you realize that depending on your life-style choice it can be something wonderful in that it is healthy, maintain the soundness of your constitution and condition of your body and mind in wonderful working order, but if we choose the wrong kind of life-style it will be like hell.
20) This made In Jin Nim realize, when she looks at the example of her father and mother, that they take everything so seriously in their life. When her father starts a meal with a prayer, he makes sure every dish of food on the table is touched. He gives thanks for all the platters of vegetables on the table. He is so meticulous about being grateful. And he is so meticulous about never going a day without doing his daily exercises. The first thing he does when he gets up, every day without fail, is his stretching exercises, 30 minutes, sometimes for an hour, everyday for over 90 years.
21) When In Jin Nim sees that kind of discipline, she realized her father is exercising a couple of principles in his daily life, that awards him a certain life-style, that allows him to be emotionally, spiritually, and physically healthy. Unlike this woman, the serial dieter, her father takes responsibility for his constitution, for where he is in life -- whereas this woman did not want to take responsibility. She told In Jin Nim how she came from a family or lineage of obese people and that is why she is obese. There is an acceptance that she will be big. She is not taking responsibility, but is looking for quick fixes here and there. She was giving In Jin Nim reasons why each diet did not work, there was always someone whom she blamed -- it might have been her friend who brought over some baked goods and ice cream she could not resist, or her duties as a mother and therefore her children's fault, but more importantly -- she said over and over again that it was her spouse who would say discouraging things which caused her to always fall short. By shifting blame on everyone else she never took responsibility for her own health, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. She was so busy making excuses why she could not successfully complete the programs. She was always talking about when she becomes that size 8 -- then she will be a wonderful wife, mother, and friend, but while she is on the program her friends must put up with her bitchiness, her irritability. She was so focused on where she wanted to go, her destination in life (size 8 wardrobe) she was forgetting to enjoy the process, enjoy life, and focus on the actual journey she was taking as a human being to reach her destination -- size 8. She was so fixated on her goal she was not happy, she was irritable and always complaining about somebody or someone, because it would be a long while before she got there -- and she told herself that she had a legitimate reason as to why she did not have to enjoy her life or the eternal relationships in her family, why she did not have to be grateful for her life.
22) This kind of an attitude, the inability to enjoy the process, to enjoy the journey that we are on reminded In Jin Nim of a quote in the Bible -- "do not conform to the patterns of this world." The Bible is asking us to be true to ourselves, to stop trying to think that the size 8 or a wonderful car or wonderful house will make us happy. Because we cannot concentrate on what we have now -- a working process of a group of people who are rubbing up against in a form of children, a spouse, or a colleague or friend.
23) When we cannot enjoy the process or the journey then we forget to keep our humor. One of the things In Jin Nim notices about Father and Mother is that no matter where they are in life, Father could be sitting in Danbury Prison, inspiring, encouraging, imploring us to work harder and try our best, but most of the time he spent cracking jokes. You have to look at this man, sitting, unjustly in prison, and here he is keeping up the humor -- not forgetting to laugh. That is something that In Jin Nim realized is the key to survival in her family, in the True Family, and in her job as senior pastor.
24) When you are in a public role or position so many things come at you all at once. You can never do right and you can never do wrong in what you are doing, so even though there are people who are happy you are making the changes you are making, there are always complaints and criticism. In dealing with constant criticism, analysis, back-talking and gossiping -- these things will wear you down! In Jin Nim is sure it wore her Father and Mother down. It must have been excruciatingly difficult to be the True Parents of humankind -- with people looking at you saying "you are not good enough. Why are you the True Parents? Why are the True Parents like this and not like that, why don't you do more of this and more of that? Why don't you fix this and take care of this?" Very rarely do True Parents get a simple thank you from a lot of us.
25) When In Jin Nim became a mother -- she realized that what we as parents want from our children is to receive the love we have given to them, coming back freely and voluntarily. In Jin Nim realized the importance of keeping a smile on her face, thanking Father and Mother, whether they are angry with her or happy with her -- always thanking them. Because, whether they are angry or happy you can always learn something.
26) Instead of being like the dieter who wanted to shift blame onto different people, if God wants to be angry with you -- all right, maybe God had a rough day -- "Bring it on God! I will still love you, honor you, and follow you. And if you want to share your love with me -- I would gladly welcome that with open arms."
27) Being in a leadership position like True Parents you realize how incredibly important it is for True Father to constantly be laughing. And he pokes fun and laughs at himself all of the time. He laughs about his children, poking fun at them all the time. He laughs about the leaders and pokes fun at the leaders, keeping his humor alive.
28) When Proverb says (17:22) "keep a cheerful heart, a cheerful heart is good medicine." Cheerful heart, being able to laugh, to invite humor into our lives is a wonderful thing, its good medicine for life and for all the difficult things we deal with at different levels of our human experience.
29) When In Jin Nim thinks of True Parents and how things are always changing, her Father has been in and out of prison over 6 times, he is over 90 years of age, he started out in North Korea, he has been through the Korean War, he went abroad to study at Waseda University in Japan, he went to South Korea to start his ministry, then he came to America, and then went all around the world establishing our movement in each of the different countries. Her father is a man who has seen many many changes, he has experienced so many sudden changes -- but the way he remained healthy -- spiritually, physically, and emotionally is by remembering who he is -- that eternal son of our Heavenly Parent, and to be responsible for all the things around him.
30) In Jin Nim described one of the times when she was moved in her life by her younger brother Heung Jin Nim. She and her siblings were making a lot of ruckus in the kitchen as they were preparing something and they broke a cup of fine china that there mother had prepared for a special celebration. They all partook in the gaiety, but when it came down to the moment when they were confronted by their mother "Who did this?" the immature thing to do was to say "he or she did it, or they did it." But all of them stood quite -- and then what happened was one of the most inspiring moments for In Jin Nim, her younger brother stepped forward, like a representative of everyone, and said "Mother, I did it. It was my fault and I am so sorry." This younger brother took responsibility for everyone else's problem, and that is what our True Father does over and over and over again. He takes responsibility for all of humanity and as that True Father, he struggles and plows on, at the same time empowering us, imploring and encouraging us to do great, because he wants to be responsible.
31) We as the children, how wonderful would it be if we stopped going "he did it, she did it, they did it." and started taking responsibility for things we can touch, change, and be responsible for. When a leader of a department has a problem where an intern makes a mistake -- there is nothing more heartwarming for In Jin Nim as someone who is running HSA, than to see the department head take full responsibility and apologies on his team's behalf. There is a certain sense of nobility and dignity in a person willing to own-up and be responsible for the things that they can influence. This is something our True Father has done consistently -- he has always taken responsibility.
32) And in the midst of all the sudden changes that have taken place these last 2 years, so much confusion in our church, so much that is being said, so many things are being thrown at different people -- but what Father does is he focuses on the journey at hand. Of course he has an eye on where he needs to go and be, but he is here, enjoying the process with us each and every day.
33) Just as we appreciate how valuable they are to us, we need to know that our True Parents look upon each and everyone of us as there special precious children. When Father comes to spend time with us at Hoon Dok Hae, he is not interested in his children, he wants to see his babies, his brothers and sisters. In a way that is the way he has been for 90 years, he wants to enjoy the process with each and everyone of us. No matter where he is he makes us cry and laugh, he shares in our celebrations and suffering, but he never, never forgets to keep good humor.
34) This morning when Father spoke at Hoon Dok Hae he spent time sharing a speech he gave in 1960. It spoke about the suffering course of Jesus Christ. It reminded In Jin Nim why Father is determined to love life. When you see or study about Jesus' life and the fact that he had to go the way of the cross -- because people did not believe in him and his disciples turned against him in that crucial hour when he was left alone, and when we realize that he never had a chance to find that beautiful wife and to experience the parental heart by having beautiful children of his own, we realize why our True Father and True Mother are so determined to love life, to celebrate life, to live with a cheerful heart, because what Jesus did not have, as that lonely figure in human history, is something that Father does not want us to experience, what our True Parents want us to experience is the completed picture, the beautiful picture of a family that Jesus never had a chance to experience.
35) When we realize that we do have that chance to experience that most rewarding, and at the same time most difficult experience of becoming a parent, we realize -- as at the Parents Day celebration, that we are given the chance to experience something incredibly profound, historical, and monumental.
36) This is not a time when we should be worried, nitpicking, criticizing each other, this should be a time when we are asking the very questions -- "In the position or responsibility that I have been given, am I doing my best? Am I performing to the best of my abilities? And if not, how can I do better? How can I meditate and pray about it, so that I can do better and make the people around me better human beings?"
37) Our musical director in the band shared a story with In Jin Nim. He wanted to be a great Jazz guitar player. There were these great Jazz artists that he revered -- and he had the chance to play with one of them. When they were practicing and performed together -- Joe realized how great this player was -- there was no ego, no "I have a PhD and I know everything and you know nothing." There was no sense "I know better than you" Because, when we are talking about music, its the universal language which, like love, everyone has the capacity to understand, experience, and create it, because we are all divine. And this Jazz player turned to Joe -- and said something we need to think about as a community -- he said "the whole point of playing together, of being on a team, in a band, is to make everybody sound better than you." That is how you get a phenomenal band, a team, and a phenomenal movement.
38) If everyone of us sitting in the auditorium is truly thinking about truly applying this principle, not just studying, reading, or conceptually titillating our minds with this "live for the sake of others" philosophy, but really applying it and practicing it in our daily lives -- it comes down to that simple understanding -- nugget of wisdom, that this iconic Jazz player shared with Joe -- our job as a great musician is to make the others sound better.
39) Our job as a movement is to make each other sound, and be better. It is our job, and In Jin Nim's job as senior pastor, to make sure all of us are better than her. That is how she will know she is doing a good job -- when the 2nd and 3rd and 1st generation get more fired up and better than her. If we can look at each other with that kind of an eye -- of wanting the best, wishing the best for others, wanting everybody to be better than us -- that will be the Kingdom of Heaven, don't you think!
40) This year, the year of the Tiger, we have many things taking place. Soon her younger brother, our International President, will be taking a world tour, traveling to Europe. He was just in Nepal, meeting with dignitaries. Our movement is making a profound impact wherever we go.
41) As we grow, if we can just maintain this philosophy of living for the sake of others and of wanting to make the other person better than us, by really practicing a couple of things -- by being responsible for our selves, focusing on the journey and the process and enjoying and being grateful for the process, and keeping a sense of humor and at the same time realizing how incredibly blessed we are -- then there is no limit to what we can accomplish as a community.
42) Just as here at Lovin' Life In Jin Nim is always trying to up the level in terms of the production and performance and unity, and bring the team spirit here -- keeping it alive and well, if we as a movement can look at ourselves as something worthy of wanting and wishing upon the other to be better than ourselves -- then it will really be a wonderful, wonderful world after all.
43) In Jin Nim expressed again how wonderful it is to have True Parents here for this time period and she encouraged us all to be there at East Garden the next morning for Hoon Dok Hae before they leave the country.
44) Have a wonderful Sunday! Thank you!