by Kathryn L. Coman
When I joined the church in 1972, major church centers had a booklet prepared by national headquarters which explained how to prepare an offering table for the holidays and various other accepted traditions relating to at relating to attending Rev. and Mrs. Moon and other elders. These traditions were not ones that we Western members were taught by our parents, so we would practice them focusing on the center director and his wife. In this manner, we learned the proper attitude of heart. After I left Kansas City to go out on a One World Crusade mobile team, I discovered that the smaller centers did not have this booklet. We went many years in America with no written resource for the traditions of True Parents. When I worked on the ICUS staff, we made the effort to include local center members on the staff so they could have the experience of attending True Parents. Of course, many mistakes were made, but everyone involved knew the members were learning. Confusion reigns
As I got older in the church, I found younger, newer members of the church looking up to me for guidance in the proper traditions. Yet I knew that there was so much that I did not know. In 1982, when I was blessed with Hugues Coman, things became so much more confusing. We discovered that we had been taught different things by elder members; we had different attitudes and traditions. Some were not so different, but some caused major problems.
It was a great blessing to finally have the Tradition Book in 1985. Now we had a clear concise place where the traditions of our church were written. If my husband and I had a difference of opinions, we were now able to consult the book and learn the proper way to do things. Most important of all, was the attitude that "heart is the most important thing" as stressed by Rev. Kwak in his introduction.
I have consulted the book with questions about holy days, seung hwa ceremonies, funerals, birth control, and family celebrations birthdays and dedications. I have found it helpful many times in the eleven years of our marriage, and still find it so.
Hyo Jin Nim once said that each person should read the Tradition Book completely through. I agree; if you read it once through (at least) then you will have a grasp of what information is available. You may not remember every detail, but you will at least retain a general sense of what it contains. Thus, you will be able to consult the book when you have questions.
The Future
Rev. Kwak has begun work on the next book of traditions. At the time of the 30,000 Couples' Blessing last year, he told me that another book of traditions would be one of his top priorities after the 1992 World Culture and Sports Festival was completed. He explained to me that since Rev. Moon has completed his responsibility, our responsibility is now much greater (tribal messiah). Yet in order to build the Kingdom of Heaven, we must establish the proper traditions. He, therefore, feels it is very important to put these traditions down so they are available to everyone around the world.
Every blessed couple should have a copy of The Tradition: Book One. It is the only complete source of information which we can turn to with respect to the traditions we are establishing now while we build the Kingdom of Heaven. The traditions we create now are the ones that our children will be expected to continue to practice. Let's make sure the proper traditions are established!