Finding Father with a Spiritual Antenna

by Ronald E. Pine-Sacramento, CA

When I was a young member living in Berkeley California Dr. Edwin Ang taught me that for proper spiritual growth to take place, one must develop an intuitive sense about God. Meaning we must be able to recognize how God guides us.

I remember one time Reverend Moon once said his spiritual antenna is perfect. This was said just a few years after he purchased the New Yorker Hotel. The reason the comment was made was due to an announcement about a new convention center being planned for construction just a few blocks from the New Yorker. And as a result investors began offering to purchase the hotel at a hundred times what we originally paid for it. So, consequently Father said his Spiritual Antenna is very good.

So what is a Spiritual Antenna? To explain this point let me give you details of two events that happened in my life of faith that were unbelievable, to say the least.

First Event: In 1972 I was the driver for President Neil Solonen. At that time we were attending the first 21 day training seminar for European members at Belvedere. During the training I was asked to drive President Solonen to the airport. When I dropped him off he gave me a few dollars and said why don't you go downtown and buy some new clothes. Needless to say, I thought that was just a great idea Especially since in those years we had virtually no personal money and therefore my wardrobe left a lot to be desired. So, I proceeded to drive to downtown New York.

While driving in the city I had no idea where to go, so I just pulled the car over and started looking at my map so I could figure out where I was. While setting there reading the map someone knocked on my car window. Much to my surprise the person knocking was Diacon (Father's Driver). Apparently I pulled the car out of moving traffic and parked directly behind Father's car. Diacon asked me why was I there and how did know how it was that True Parents were in Macy's shopping? I quickly said I had no idea they were here. I didn't even know their were out traveling around town. You can imagine my surprise, in that, I just simply pulled the car over to the curb and low and behold wound up parking directly behind Father's car. Can you now begin to understand about what I'm refereeing to concerning Spiritual Antenna?

Second Event: In 1982 when the movie "Oh Inchon" was schedule to launch in a 1000 theaters, I was determined to watch the first showing on the first day the movie was to be released. At that time I was living in the World Mission Center. The theater closest by that was showing Oh Inchon was the Lowes at 2nd and 34th street. Therefore, I planned on going to the first show at 12:00 o'clock. That morning I found my good friend Peter Spoto and said let's go watch the film together.

Well Peter wanted to go, however he was responsible to purchase a gift for one of Mr. Kamiyma's top fund raising teams. So Peter and I went off shopping for a television set. While out shopping Peter kept saying we will be late so let's watch the 3:00 o'clock showing, I said no we will simply work harder, walk more quickly and buy the TV as fast as possible. We managed to get back to the World Mission Center about 11:30, a huffing and a puffing. Again Peter again said let's go at 3:00 o'clock and I said no we can make it in time if we run. And that's just what happened. Here we are, running and walking as fast as we could down 34th avenue.

After arriving in the nick of time we were standing at the theaters window buying tickets when Peter said "Ron" Father's here. I turned and sure enough their was Reverend Moon walking from his car going right past me into the Theater. I quickly bowed, bought the tickets and went inside completely flabbergasted. Peter said "Ron" did you know Father was coming here. I replied absolutely not! I had no idea I just felt deep down we should watch the first showing on the first day of the film's release.

After we went inside Father had already gone to his seat. We went in hoping to sit by his side if possible. However, the theater was dark and we had no idea where Father was sitting so I grabbed Peter and motioned him to down next to me. All during the movie I kept rubbing the back of my head because I had this warm feeling, like something hot was behind my head. Well much to my surprise when the lights went on I turned and low and behold I had sat down directly in front of Father. Well you can imagine our shock! Not only had we managed to wind up at the same theater as Father to watch "Oh Inchon" but while groping in the dark hoping to set near him we actually sat right in front of him. Peter said to me later he would never ever doubt my intuition again. I'm not trying to blow my own horn here, I just want to make the point that sticking to one's idea when doing something you feel deep down is right, is a must.

So what does this all have to do with the subject of Spiritual Antenna. Well in short it is whenever God wants to teach us some deep lesson He works some form or a recognizable miracle. Meaning, these two events are not just meant for me to appreciate. God guided me towards True Father so I could more deeply realize what my destiny is. This spiritual phenomena, by this world's standard are unexplainable. However, from my point of view God is showing me that I must follow and learn from True Father. How else can these kind of unexplainable events take place. Why would I be placed in situations like this unless the purpose was to more deeply learn a lesson God wanted me to learn.

For those brothers and sisters reading this article I want you to know the only reason these stories are being put to pen and paper is so you can also learn the same lesson. Why are we guided to meet Reverend Moon in such miraculous ways. Because we are to learn from him and follow him lifelong. Our commitment can and must be for the rest of our natural life. To gain such commitment I am convinced we all need to face extraordinary events so we can more deeply realize True Father is the center of God's dispensation. And we are the first to come and recognize this.

Now back to my main point. Spiritual Antenna. Intuition etc. That internal sense that God wants us to have grow in our inner most self. In other words, following the light from within should and can only lead us towards True Father and nowhere else. The center of my life is and will always be following True Parents path in this life. I have told my wife many times if you do not develop that antenna so God can lead us daily, then we can easily get lost. Also, True Parents are without question, the center of all things in this universe. I can say to any and all who read this article that it was God that led me to the Unification Church in 1967 and it is God who has led me through all my many trials and tribulations since then. And following God through True Parents is the only way to find happiness and eternal life, in which we will finally become God's children. We have the principle and True Parents but do we really believe deep down who is the center of our life?

The Spiritual Antenna I'm referring to can if properly develop also be a great guide when searching for spiritual children. When we witness are we following that inner voice that says speak to this person. How many times have we not followed God's idea for someone else's sake. I have said to members before those who are fortunate enough to find True Parents and the Principle at this time are truly very lucky. However, we are as well greatly burden. Father one time said to know the Principle is a great weight on our shoulders because we have to walk the path of indemnity for others without their knowing or even caring for our commitment. Therefore, we like God walk a lonely and tearful path.

We have before us such a wonderful standard set by our True Parents. All we have to do is follow their life's course. Walk in their shoes and live as they have for the sake of others. God has shown me through these extraordinary events His son. I have asked myself for years now why these events happen. Are these experiences to be taken lightly or are they meant to open my heart and mind to more deeply realize the profound significance of True Father. I know now that God is walking and talking through His son Reverend Moon and we are to be the witness. Our witness is to be with the totality of our lives. We must follow in service but more deeply we ourselves must and should also become the embodiment of God's True Love. We can realize the Kingdom of Heaven. We have the Blessing the change of Blood lineage so now the only question is can we reach out through our Tribal Messiahship and touch whomever we can with God's deep and saving love? After 27 years I still feel this is just the beginning. We can bring all mankind to understand and follow our True Parents. Just as Jin-Sung Moon said "It only takes 11 times of each member gaining one new member for all 5 billion people to join God's new race!"

This article was written May 21, 1994. The reason was because I was telling the story of meeting True Father to my children and wanted to teach them about developing that inner voice that God calls us with. I felt so inspired I decided to put it to pen and paper.

Critical Intelligence

More and more people day by day realize that the world is in need of drastic reformation. The Reverend Moon is no longer a voice in the wilderness, or, if he is, there is a growing population out there in the wilderness with him. For instance:

The monthly periodical Critical Intelligence comments on the national politics and economics. Its editors, led by Daniel Burstein, recognize that our social-cultural foundation has collapsed. The following passage, a typical one, refers to "the precarious edifice of an America that is dangerously fractured and dysfunctional. Everywhere around us we see a society that seems to be falling apart. Deep structural flaws in our economy have turned the promise of steadily rising living standards into little more than a faded memory held by those over 40. " Can we find the political will required to truly confront our complex and deeply entrenched social problems-from the paralysis of our institutions to the structural inertia of our economic life? " We've become very skilled at technological innovation. We can accelerate that very, very well. But how many people are thinking about what a new political system would look like for the 21st century? Very few." (pp. 2-4)

The editors of Critical Intelligence call for a reconstruction of our political system, calling the two-party system an outmoded relic of the industrial age. They call for a new constitution. Further, they recognize that the West must look to the East, with its economically productive, orderly societies. This writer only wishes that they would also recognize the fact that cultural life is the product of the religious life of a people, embodied in its religious institutions and fundamentally embodied in the family.

Further, CI must recognize that the East offers no real salvation to the West. The problems of the West are emerging in the East. Numbers of divorces are skyrocketing in the economic giants of the Pacific Rim. The relatively well-ordered and prosperous societies of the Far East are a temporary phenomenon. The problems are deeply-rooted in the human condition east and west, north and south, and the solution must be equally universal and radical.

Touchstone Magazine

I recommend to the reader's consideration a periodical entitled Touchstone-A Journal of Ecumenical Orthodoxy. Like another magazine of which my readers must be familiar, First Things, Touchstone is intellectually well-grounded, morally informed and religiously inspired. It represents, in my mind, a promising sign of life in the Christian world. What follows are some excerpts from the Spring, 1994, issue, with my comments.

God Out of the Girl Scouts

Girl Scout leaders voted 1,560 to 375 to allow scouts to substitute another word for God when pledging the Girl Scout promise. The vote came at the 46th National Girl Scouts Convention in Minneapolis and is said to have been responsive to growing ethnic and religious diversity within that organization. One wonders how many ethnic or religious parents or girls object to the name of God, as opposed to a phalanx of secularists forcing the organization to march to a politically-correct drum-beat.

Muslims In Germany According to a recent report, Islam, with more than two million members, is now the third largest religious community in Germany, after the main Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

Mother Teresa Touches Raw Nerves Left and Right

Nobel laureate Mother Teresa has risen to the defense of the unborn. Last February, at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, attended by both President Clinton and Vice President Gore, she starkly proclaimed, "the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. " How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. " By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. " Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want."

Although the predominantly evangelical Protestant audience applauded loudly for her anti-abortion comments, she received only stone-faced silence from the White House. The entire audience, however, grew silent when the respected Mother spoke out against contraception as well. She said that it is "destroying the power of giving life," and "abortion follows very easily."

Mainstream Protestants and the Media

If I remember right, it was the mainline Protestants, along with the government, who were behind the "worship at the church of your choice" media campaign of the 50s and 60s. However, at the recent National Conference on Christianity and Communication, Penn State communications expert Cathy Sargent counseled against such a generous message. She offered network television advertising and televangelism as a necessary solution to the declining membership in mainline Protestant churches. Independent evangelicals have used the medium successfully, said Sargent, and the mainline churches' failure to do likewise ignores the extent to which Americans have cultivated a dependence on broadcast media.

Church Repression in China

Recently, Chinese authorities have increased efforts to crack down on unofficial religious activities. On February 6, Prime Minister Li Peng signed new legislation that forbids any religious activity that threatens "national unity or social stability." The law specifically bans house churches and prohibits foreigners from making disciples, distributing religious literature, or establishing religious schools or organizations.

Although media reports have raised international concern over the apparent step backward in religious freedoms in China, a spokesman for the Chinese Christian Council (CCC) minimized the significance of the new law. He told Amity News Service in Hong Kong that the CCC "could see no departure from the practices which have existed for years."

Reports of religious repression, however, continue to abound. Five days after the laws were passed, authorities arrested 14 Christians, including 3 Americans, in Henan Province for conducting "illegal religious activities." According to Asia Watch, an independent human rights organization based in New York, as of February over 1,200 people are imprisoned in China because of non-violent religious and political beliefs and activities. The report provides details of 250 new cases of imprisonment, of which about 80 percent are in Tibet, where the Chinese government is waging a campaign against the pro- independence movement led by Buddhist monks and nuns.

On Sex-Inclusive Language

This issue of Touchstone focused on the issue of sex-inclusive language. It featured an interesting argument against the imposed usage of sex-inclusive language, set forth by Paul V. Mankowski, S.J.. The argument begins with the assertion that "there is no such thing as exclusive language." The human mind naturally works in an inclusive way, recognizing the meaning of a word within its context.

"If a set A," he continues, "is so treated that subset B is distinguished within it, the label or name given to A will have two meanings (or two uses): first, the general or universal meaning, and second, that of all non-B members of A. Linguists refer to the use of B as `marked' and that of A as `un-marked.'" Mankowski gives as one example the word "pig," which is unmarked for size, and "piglet", which is marked for size. In relation to goats, we use the word "pigs" to describe that pigs of all sizes. In relation to piglets, we use the word "pigs" to describe the adults.

Another example is from the military: "man" is the unmarked designation with reference to members, and "officers" is marked for rank. If military chaplains used the sex-inclusive argument, Mankowski reasons, the creedal statement that "for us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven" would have to be amended, "for us men and officers." Combining this with gender considerations would result in the phrase, "for us men, women, female officers and male officers."

Further, to utilize "men and women" is not enough, by this reasoning, for it excludes other marked terms, such as children and hermaphrodites. Thus, the creed would have to read "for us men, women, children and those of indeterminate gender." But this still excludes babies-yet-to-be-born, who certainly belong to humankind for whom Christ died. One can see the absurd lengths to which the argument for sex-inclusive language can be taken.

Mankowski then points out that practical usage, not artificially imposed sanction, is the true source of changes in language. Practical usage respects the marked, un-marked distinction. For instance, we do not find intelligent women diving into a pool with confidence that the sign which says "Danger: man-eating shark" does not apply to them. They know automatically that "man" in this context is an inclusive term refering to all human beings.

On the other hand, in the context of public restrooms, all know automatically that women will never enter a door marked "men".

Mankowski further observes that "even in places where political gender-awareness has reached its highest pitch, even in the U.S. divinity schools, a dyed-in-the-wool feminist will run into a room full of women, or women and men, and say, "D'you guys want to order out for a pizza?"

In other words, "guys" has, by practical usage, become an unmarked term referring both to men and women. No one would insist that the pizza request refer to "guys and gals," although this phrase was common thirty years ago.

I think Mankowski is on to something here. While "man" has been drummed out of the unmarked category, "guy" has slipped in the backdoor, moving from being a marked to an un-marked term. "Guys" even refers to children, and why not to hermaphrodites? So we have the solution to the creedal problem: "for us guys and for our salvation, he came down from heaven."

Okay, enough constructive theology.

But what do we say of those of us who would respond, "Whatever you say, I know I feel differently now when I hear the word `man' used generically than I did fifteen years ago, and I think most people of similar background share the same feeling." This, to Mankowski, does not reflect a change in language but rather the operation of a supra- linguistic phenomenon called a "taboo." He offers an example of this given by Peter Berger. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, in the mid- 1930s, declared in a speech that the generic use of lei (third-person feminine singular) is effeminate, and all Italians should use voi instead. From that point on, those words were politicized. There was an artificially imposed, government taboo on the word lei. Use of lei was an anti-fascist statement; use of voi was pro-fascist.

Similarly, argues Mankowski, the use of "man" as a generic term is politicized; one makes an anti-feminist statement when he uses "man" in reference to all people. On the opposite side, use of "sex- inclusive" language is pro-feminist. One is tipping one's hat toward feminists by its adoption. In academic and liberal religious circles, one is identifying oneself as enlightened, liberal, open-minded, etc., by use of "his or her" instead of simply "his," or "men and women," instead of simply "men."

Mankowski doubts the honesty of such righteous self-identification. "I doubt very much," he writes, "that the champions of inclusive language exist on a higher plane of appreciation and respect for women than the rest of us." In fact, he cites them for tending to treat women as means to political ends: "When I see self-proclaimed advocates of `gender-inclusivity' deal with those women who vocally resist feminist-inspired changes to liturgical or other language, I do not find in their demeanor the patience, attentiveness, humor, respect, or even elementary human sympathy for the struggles of others that would count as evidence for this Higher Justice they claim to have found."

While realizing that there may be many responses to Mankowski's position which should be considered before final evaluation of his thesis, I do believe that he has made some challenging points. Sex- inclusive language arose out of a liberal, intellectual and, in many ways individualistic western sub-culture. The presuppositions underlying its advocacy are, to my knowledge, consistent with that egalitarian world-view, which counts the equality of all individuals as the foundation for all values and norms.

It is doubtful that these presuppositions are entirely consistent with Unification Thought. It is not that Unification Thought denies the value of the individual; far from it. But the fact is that Unification Thought understands the individual to exist and have that value only within a universe of "levels", from that of the family to the tribe, society, nation and so on up to God. The stress (in more ways than one) placed upon the isolated individual in modern society, which underlies the rationale for sex-inclusive language, represents only a fragment of reality for the Unificationist worldview. The implications of this for language have yet to manifest.

Children and Racism

by Haven Bradford Gow

In his book The Constitutional Logic of Affirmative Action (Duke University Press), Dr. Ronald J. Fiscus, who before his death was professor of political science at Skidmore College, observes: "Life has always been unfair. It is unfair now. And it will always be unfair. People have treated people unfairly through the ages, whether the mechanism has been social class and economic inequality, ethnic or racial or gender-based prejudice, physical appearance, xenophobia, simple thoughtlessness or meanness of spirit, or any of a host of other factors that people have mistakenly believed were valid indicators of how other people should be treated."

According to Mennonite scholar Jody Shearer, author of Enter the River: Healing Steps from White Privilege Toward Racial Reconciliation (Herald Press): "For most white people, this racism business is awfully uncomfortable.... I empathize with people who feel uncomfortable talking about racism. But that hardly seems reason enough to evade the topic. Just as domestic violence and sexual abuse...were not talked about for far too long, so too discussion of racism has remained tightly shut in both ecclesiastical and secular closets."

According to child psychologist Dr. Louise Derman-Sparks, these are ways parents and educators can help young people develop respect for people of different races, religious and cultural backgrounds: demonstrate that you value diversity in the friends you choose and in the people and firms you select for various services; make it clear that someone's racial or religious identity never is an acceptable reason for ridicule or rejection; talk positively about each child's physical characteristics and cultural heritage; respectfully listen to and courteously respond to children's inquiries about themselves and others; teach children to recognize stereotypes and caricatures of different groups; use accurate and fair images in contrast to stereotypical ones, and encourage children to talk positively about the differences; help children understand that injustices can be changed; involve children in steps toward racial and religious harmony and understanding.

Dewayne Horn, a Good Samaritan in Eudora, Arkansas, says he once was a member of the Ku Klux Klan but that he left the KKK because he started to disagree with its philosophy and methods; he says he now is a Christian, and that he believes children can lead the way toward racial understanding and harmony; he states: "Just watch the black and white children playing and going to school together; they don't care if their friends are white or black; they just care about being with one another and sharing common interests. It's only when adults start putting racial bigotry and prejudice in the minds of the children that they begin to think about race. The children can teach the adults about how to learn from, respect and get along with one another."

In this connection, a heartwarming and inspiring news story in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal revealed that black and white children at one elementary school in Memphis were participating in a school program designed to promote racial understanding and harmony; the children discussed their differences and especially all they have in common.

Clearly, Christ is right: if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must possess the purity, innocence and spiritual beauty of children. Christ was talking about children like the ones I recently encountered at the Hodding Carter YMCA in Greenville, Mississippi. Recently, while visiting my aunt Mrs. Lena Wong Yee in Eudora, Arkansas, I traveled to the Hodding Carter YMCA in Greenville, Mississippi to play basketball with our good family friend Danny Snyder. After Danny and I had played basketball for an hour, a young black boy came up to me and asked me to play pool with him. Since he had no one his own age to play any games with him, I asked two white boys to help him learn the game. It was beautiful and inspiring to watch the two friendly and polite white boys teaching a little black child how to play a new game.

On another occasion I played basketball with a charming young girl named Marla. Despite my encouragement, Marla was despondent because she was having difficulty scoring any points. So I asked two boys her own age-one a black boy, the other a white boy-to help her with the game. Together the boys kindly and patiently helped Marla with her dribbling, passing and shooting.

Certainly the best way to overcome racial prejudice and bigotry and foster racial harmony and understanding is to put into practice the basic Christian affirmation that we should treat others the way we would like to be treated. In other words, as Christ so trenchantly and eloquently put it: do under others what you would have them do unto you; love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Mr. Gow is a columnist who has published more than 1,000 articles and reviews in over 100 magazines and newspapers.

Beyond Patriarchy and Feminism: "Parentarchal" and "Familarchal" Models of Human Relationship

by John and Marilyn Morris

"Any movement that goes in a straight line will finally come to an end, and no being performing such movement can exist eternally. Consequently, in order to exist eternally, everything moves in circular motion. In order for revolution to occur, the action of give and take between a subject and an object must take place." (Divine Principle, p. 40)

This is in response to the article written by the Quinns in the June UNews which I read with interest. As a continuing theological student, I have found many useful books that help me as a Unificationist better understand the vast concepts of the Principle. However, I would like to caution each of us to be careful when we use models from works written by deep thinkers and doers who have not yet contended with the enormous issues that True Parents have brought to light in the principles they teach.

The Quinns categorized feminist authors as "Cain" type and conservative Christian writers as "Abel" type. At first glance it may appear to be a straightforward assessment. However, we ought to be wary of relegating people into "Cain" or "Abel" areas of thought. Quite often, when we use the word "Cain" it means someone we do not agree with or like. When we use "Abel" it means we found the person to have insights remarkably akin to our own.

We are not saying that we should avoid reading anything apart from the Divine Principle or directly related material. (We will recommend a few books ourselves at the end of this article.) We are saying it may not be in our best interest to use (in wholesale fashion) authors who have not yet grappled with the content of the Principle.

The Divine Principle opens up new realms of human spirituality. To derive advice for the most intimate aspects of our relationships from those who have not yet dealt with these realms may truncate our ability to enact the restoration process.

This response is not a defense of feminist writers, but these women should not be cast into a "Cain" type category simply because they want to throw out the more damaging vestiges of patriarchal thought and behavior. Neither would we advocate authors who use patriarchy as a model, labeling them "Abel" type people. Both have it right and both have it wrong. One group might be closer than the other to the ideal based on their views of the family, but let's consider more closely what we mean by a model family.

When we look at Father and Mother, we see both fulfilling roles within and beyond the home. Apparently, their children have been inspired and motivated by this model and are practicing it themselves. We can now see that their sons and daughters are accomplishing great things in sports, music, academics and commerce, to name but a few of their areas of interest and achievement. They are (and this is important), at the same time, loving fathers and mothers committed to their children.

True Parents represent an ideal towards which their own children and grandchildren are striving. We have the same goal in mind, but also must face and deal with our realm of fallen reality. We are on a restoration course (a re-creation of the ideal), meaning that we often find ourselves moving in what appears to be the opposite direction. Early in our Blessing relationship it became clear that one of us would have to sacrifice more than the other. It seemed unfair, but our circumstances demanded it. Together, after many repentful prayers, we resolved the dilemma. We had spent 7 years with both our bullheaded horns locked in a fierce fight over everything, but the first child on the way forced us to set priorities. What was "subject" to use was not the husband's role, but the relationship itself, which we believed God had given to us as our responsibility.

For ten years, John's mission took the front line for us. Marilyn's mission was, well, to have a child or two or three. Since the children were physically attached to "Omma" for quite some time after their birth, she naturally took the home front.

John also made sacrifices, but while we were creating the relationships and the consequent children from it, Marilyn went with him to his mission area and helped him fulfill the goals that he believed were necessary. It was fortunate that his goals were large and public-minded. This is not always the case with husbands. We have counseled quite a few brothers and sisters. Many times we sensed deep pain in the voices of wives who described their desire to do things for a greater purpose, but had husbands who were reluctant to reach beyond themselves.

Sanity in a marriage does not come from wives obeying their husbands, but from both obeying God.

Before we make any decisions regarding one or the other, we pray together. We have found that when we do not pray, we "pay". We usually end up in contention, no matter who is making the decision. When we enter into a reciprocal relationship with God, the issue gains a new perspective within and between us. Then, we readily come to a resolution.

Father once said that a man could spend all of his life chasing the tail of a tiger in hopes to capture it and hang it on his wall. A woman could spend all of her life taking care of her home and children and not much else. Big visions and small details do not belong to men and women respectively.

Father's instruction in this little lesson is clear. While women are the nurturing aspect of parental responsibility, they should not confine themselves to their homes and families, but reach out to their community, nation and world. Likewise, men have the same responsibility in a naturing way to take care of their family, community, nation and world.

Patriarchy is a vertical straight-line model while feminism might be considered as a horizontal straight-line model. Neither work very well in the long run. As the Divine Principle states, "no being performing such movement can exist eternally."

What we see in the Principle is that parents are involved in and must work out of a dynamic unity. Through this unity and harmony, children find the greatest source of direction and affirmation. True Parents are displaying a "Parentarchal" structure where direction (naturing- initiation-masculine) and affirmation (nurturing-response-feminine) are first unified in the realm of the parents' hearts and then given down to the children as love. Without first having this unity, love cannot come into existence.

As the children mature, the unified realm of parents (subject) must also become involved in and work out of a dynamic unity with youth (object) in much the same way. The "parentarchal" model now extends into its fullest expression as a "familiarchal" model.

Children no more want to receive things in a straight line than women do, or men for that matter. No one really wants to be in a straight line down from God. If it were so, where is the urge to come closer to God derived from? It is Father who declared that God is not complete without humankind and that God's original ideal is to have us in a fully reciprocating relationship with Him. This one concept wreaks havoc in other religious traditions because until True Parents opened up the realm of circular-motion relationship, everyone thought more or less in straight-line concepts. This was especially true about the relationship between God and humankind.

Greatness has to do with how much we love others. In this respect, men and women share a common mandate to become great people and do great things.

True Parents clarify this mandate in our new family pledge. We now promise each Sunday morning to produce positive daily developments and to gather blessings in our lives in order to extend those blessings to others.

Do we automatically come into circular-motion relationships? No. Not even belonging to the Unification community guarantees that we will enjoy this more complete model of relationship. Prior to the "Historical Children's Day" speech of November 1981, we experienced a rather strict vertical structure within our community. God gave revelation and instruction to Father and he obeyed. Then, he gave instruction to our church leadership and they did their best to obey with various abilities to comprehend Father's direction. Members followed suit. This structure was necessary for the sake of restoration. It was necessary for the birth and growth of our movement. (Consider below an explanation of two excerpts from this speech taken from Today's World, January 1982.)

Honestly speaking, if leaders want a better relationship with their members, they must radically alter concepts they held before November 1981. Straight-line models stifle relationships and lock subject and object into roles they really do not want (unless they are selfish and lazy, respectively.) Father gave us the go-ahead to grow up and achieve the same status of relationship with each other that parents enjoy with their adult children.

"Today I am declaring a new beginning: the leader-centered movement is over and the member-centered movement is going to begin.... Those who can harmonize with others will rise higher and higher.... Whether I am present or not should not matter, for you already know the secret of going to heaven-loving each other."

When Adam and Eve fell, they voided the process of growth under God's original ideal. Father often equates restoration with re-creation. We can also think of restoration as "re-growth." Cain and Abel inherited the fallen state of their parents and thus had to go through a restoration or "re-growth" process. Until True Parents arrived, humankind had no absolute vertical point around which they could harmonize horizontally. This included husbands and wives; thus St. Paul's best insight into the relationship was more or less a straight- line model of obedience rather than a circular-motion concept of love. Christian writers, with all the best intent, are somewhat limited by St. Paul's and other biblical descriptions of human relationship.

As Father and Mother opened up greater realms of heart, they could then extend the same to us. "On the journey towards Canaan [the ideal], our supreme duty is to follow orders, but once we enter Canaan, we no longer live by commands, but by love. This is that time. We are now arriving, and we must live in a God-like way."

We have had 12 years to implement the promise of this speech. Marilyn was present when Father gave it and she clearly remembers the tingle that went down her spine as she realized that Father was creating a profound shift in human history. The Unification community may be in the fulcrum of that shift, but all other communities in the human family are experiencing, to one extent or another, this cosmic transition.

The 4-position foundation model graphically suggests what the Principle clearly states. Circular-motion models are the only ones that will eventually work. Father has said many times that we should revolutionize our way of thinking and behaving around the 4-position foundation concept. We should see everything as a 4-position foundation.

We can both remember speeches in which Father described how the forehead, cheeks and mouth of the human face create a 4-position foundation. We have listened to Father speak at length about burtterflies, mountain peaks, valleys, oceans and examples we no longer remember. What we do remember is that Father could take anything and show how it manifested the 4-position foundation.

When we look at the 4-position foundation in light of the 3 Blessings, we clearly see that mind and body, men and women, humans and creation achieve their greatest fulfillment when they come into a harmonized horizontal position towards one another while each enjoying a vertical relationship with God.

The family is the most profound expression of the 4-position foundation. The experience that we had at the birth of our first child convinced us that Father is 100% right about this. When she arrived and we both embraced her, still wet and slimy, but so exquisitely alive as she squirmed in our embrace, we burst into spontaneous praise of God.

Did we sing a holy song? No. One of us bellowed and sobbed, rivulets of tears streaming down his face. The other one gasped with uncontrollable laughter (not at him), nearly insane with relief and gratitude that she was with us in full at last. We both knew that God was right there in the midst of us in that sacred moment.

We believe that True Parents are calling us forth to create a "parentarchal" and "familarchal" model of human relationship. In the dynamic unity of a family, all the unique aspects of masculinity and femininity, subjectivity and objectivity can come forth, equally valued and cherished.

Tribal messiahship involves Blessed couples, Blessed families. There are no single messiahs in this community and that is a significant difference between Unificationism and other religious traditions. Ultimately, only the family can save the world. Salvation means to bring back true love between God and humankind. That can only begin with the family unit. It is the focus of everything that True Parents do and the heart of everything towards which the Principle guides us.

As promised, here are a few books which might complement the monographs mentioned by the Quinns. Hopefully, others will contribute their ideas, continuing and enlarging the discussion they engendered.

"You Just Don't Understand," by Deborah Tannen. She discusses "hierarchical" and "relational" methods of communication which men and women use. She illustrates how misunderstandings occur because men and women do not realize they speak to each other from different [vertical vs. horizontal] cultural perspectives.

"The Wounded Heart of God: The Asian Concept of Han and the Christian Doctrine of Sin," by Dr. Andrew Sung Park. He clarifies why black, feminist and liberation theologies arose. The Christian doctrine of sin offers salvation to sinners, but leaves little or no resolution for their victims. His explanation of Han is extremely useful for Unificationists who want a deeper understanding of this term which Father has used in many speeches. Reading this book helped me to clarify "Cain-Abel" patterns of restoration in my own life of faith even though he has not studied this aspect of the Principle.

"Global Paradox," by John Naisbitt. Check out how this guy uses the world "tribalism" and get one smashing insight after another why Father is at the cutting edge of almost anything going on in this world. He also has some clues on how we might better function as many cultural entities working under an overall ideal. Father has founded many "federations" and Naisbitt gives us some brilliant examples of how we might better put this word to use in our own community.

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," by Stephen Covey. I know he has been read by many Unificationists already, but if you have not picked it up, find a friend who has a copy and borrow it. He offers some good models for building personal integrity, working with others and creating win-win situations in all areas of life. His models are fairly good stuff for married couples and parents dealing with familial relationships.

The Morris' are in transition from Texas to their hometown. They have 3 children who are much more intelligent than their parents. The Morris' are writing in their children's stead until a technology for ideas conveyed by crayon is implemented.

A Lesson in Passing

by Richard Van Loon-Falls Church, VA

"Pass it to me! Pass it to me!"

It was my best friend, Jamie. He was standing at the foul line. I darted forward, stopped short, spun around in the clear and shot him the ball. All the guys on our team started shouting, "To me! To me!" but as soon as he got the ball, Jamie launched it. It hit the backboard high and to the left. The other team got the rebound and passed the ball down court.

Peter ran up alongside me. He punched my shoulder right to the bone with his big knuckles.

"I thought I told you not to pass to Jamie," he panted.

I winced. Then the other team laid one up and the pain in my arm gave way to a pain in my heart.

I didn't pass to Jamie for the rest of the game. No one else on our team did either, except when they were in a jam and he was the only one in the clear. And although Jamie shot the ball every time he got it, he never scored.

After the game, Jamie and I walked home together through the woods bordering on the schoolyard.

"You know why we lost, don't you?" Jamie said, bouncing a stone off a tree with a thud. It was one of those questions you don't answer. No team work, that's why," he said.

He smacked another tree. I watched the stone veer off through the speckled sunlight. Another one of Jamie's shots ricocheting off the backboard.

"Mike scored a lot," I said. "And Benji too."

"I know, stupid. That's because every time they got the ball they shot I'm talking about team work."

I couldn't believe it! First of all, it was not like Jamie to hog the ball. And second of all, he was accusing the others of the same problem he had. Suddenly in the thick, filtered light of the forest, the truth seemed far away.

Now I had known Jamie practically all of my life and before I had never hesitated to tell him what was on my mind. But this time it was different. One of his stones seemed to have gotten stuck in my throat. We walked along in silence until we came to Jamie's street. We stopped and looked at each other for a moment, then he turned away.

When I came up the drive Dad was unloading groceries. He was sorry we had lost and wanted a play-by-play account, but I still didn't feel like talking.

"We just lost, that's all," I said.

He carried two fistfuls of plastic sacks into the house. I grabbed the handle of a box of laundry detergent and hoisted it out of the station wagon.

Dad came back.

"So the other team was just better, huh?" he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I nodded and then carried the box inside.

Something smelled good. I put the detergent down while mom handed me a cupcake.

"How was the game?" she smiled.

"We lost," I said, unwrapping the cupcake. It was sweet and warm and pushed the stone down out of my throat.

"Mom? Why do people accuse others of having the same faults they have?"

Mom asked me what I meant, and I told her about the game and about Jamie. She squatted down and ran her hand softly through my hair. "That doesn't sound like Jamie. Maybe something's troubling him," she said. "But whatever the reason is, it's never easy to admit when we're wrong. That means we have to change. Instead, we blame everyone else."

I took a quick, painful look inside myself. Mom was right. "If he doesn't stop hogging the ball, no one will want him on the team," I said.

Mom looked right through me with her sparkling eyes. I knew what she was gonna say.

"You're his best friend, Alex. Why don't you tell him? After all, isn't that what best friends are for?"

I felt the stone coming back into my throat. "Mom, can I have another cupcake?"

Whatever Jamie's problem was, he was sure making things difficult for I finally got around to talking to him a week and three more me. disastrous basket ball games later. We were heading back to class after lunch and our latest defeat. As we crossed the grassy field, memories of Jamie and me filled my head: cruising through the quiet streets and along the forest path on our bikes; fishing in the lake at summer camp; pillow fights sleeping over at each other's house. They were wonderful memories but they had an edge of sadness around them, like the memories of our dog Willie after he'd got run over.

So now I was trapped. Good friends were hard to find, and I was closer to Jamie than to anyone. But like my mom said, if I was really his friend, I'd tell him. I looked down at the scraggly green field splotched with patches of brown and felt my stomach go tight.

"Did you see that shot?" Jamie said. "I thought for sure it was going in." He kicked an empty juice carton.

"You shoot the ball too much," I blurted out.

Jamie glared at me. "Oh yeah? Well how about you? I don't see you passing the ball around."

"I do too," I protested.

"Not to me you don't."

"Nobody passes to you unless they have to. That's because you always shoot the ball as soon as you get it."

"Oh yeah? What about Benji? He always shoots the ball." "Benji's a good shot," I said.

Jamie glared at me again, more hurt now than angry. "Some friend you are," he said. Then he ran away.

Jamie and I were walkers. We usually walked home through the woods together after school. But from that day on Jamie went ahead without me. He avoided me in class, too. And during basketball games he was worse. He hounded everyone who had the ball, no matter which team they were on. One day he was all over Deryk Anderson. Deryk pushed him and they almost got into a fight. (Lucky for Jamie they didn't.

Deryk would've creamed him.) And although no one passed the ball to Jamie, he still managed to get his hands on it. When he did, you'd hear this "Yes!" go up from the other team and a groan from ours. His shooting was more reckless than ever. Sometimes he even missed the backboard completely, almost as if he'd done it on purpose.

Mom said to give him time, that he'd get over whatever it was that was bothering him the way he'd get over a skinned knee. This was no skinned knee, I told her. This was a torn ligament.

The worst of it all was the way Jamie ignored me. Every day hurt just as much as the day before. My only consolation was knowing that I had told him the truth for his sake, not mine. But that didn't lessen the pain any.

There was a rule in school that when a kid had a birthday, he could bring treats for the class, but if he was having a party at home, he wasn't supposed to hand out invitations at school. That way kids who weren't invited wouldn't feel bad. Of course, if you weren't invited to a party, you'd find out quick enough, but that was the rule.

That's why when Jamie handed out invitations to his birthday party just before class one day to practically everyone but me, I couldn't help feeling that he was doing it to hurt me. All day he kept giving me this weird grin, his chin sticking out and his eyes closed, the kind you'd like to ram your fist into.

That was a Friday and the next day was the longest, most miserable day of my life. Mom kept making suggestions to keep busy. She brought out the expensive clay. She set up the badminton net in the backyard. We played Monopoly and Chess. She even had Dad take me to Chuck E. Cheese. But not even pulling Chuck E.'s tail could push away the fact that my best friend hadn't invited me to his birthday party. A funny thing though. I never once wished I hadn't told Jamie the truth.

The following week, whenever anyone on our team had the ball, Jamie would yell, "pass it to me, pass it to me. I invited you to my birthday party, didn't I?" So the guy would pass me the ball instead and since I wasn't invited Jamie would quiet down.

Later that week, Benji recruited a guy from the other fourth grade class to play with us. When the teams were picked, Jamie was left out. Boy, was he sore.

Jamie went into the woods ahead of me after school that day, but when I came around the first bend, he was waiting. I didn't stop, just kept walking as if he wasn't there. He fell in step alongside me.

"Can you believe it?" he said, his voice friendly, as if nothing had happened between us. "Benji getting that kid from Mrs. Burk's class just so they could dump me? It makes me wanna throw up." I kept walking. If all he felt like was throwing up, he was getting off easy. Still, I was a softie. I knew I was gonna forgive Jamie, but not that quick. I walked a little faster, looking straight ahead, while Jamie tagged along.

"Who does Benji think he is?" Jamie continued. "All of them, they're all like that. Don't trust 'em, Alex. They're scum bags." Then Jamie kicked at a rock. It must've been buried deep for he let out a yell and grabbed his toe. I kept walking, with Jamie hobbling along behind me. Then I stopped and turned.

"Don't you get it?" I said. "You're such a lump head. You talk about team work, but you're the one who doesn't cooperate. What's the matter with you anyway?"

This time Jamie didn't get upset. He looked at me with this helpless look, just standing there, favoring his stubbed toe, his black, wavy hair falling tangled on his forehead, his big cow eyes looking sadly down. Then the forest got unusually quiet, as if time had come to a standstill.

Jamie looked up. His eyes were filled with tears.

"Dad's in the hospital," he said.

My eyes nearly popped out and mom's words about something bothering Jamie exploded between my ears like a freight train howling through a canyon.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He has colon cancer," Jamie said and his face melted into tears.

I asked him when that had happened, knowing before the words had even left my mouth what the answer would be.

"A month ago," he said, exactly when he had started hogging the ball.

I put my hand on his shoulder and he cried it all out.

"I'll do it," he said with a brave sniffle.

"Do what?" I said.

"I'll pass the ball. You know, not just shoot it all the time." We both laughed and Jamie wiped away his tears. Then he reached around and took something out of his back pocket. It was a small white envelope. The corners were all turned up and it was curved, like he had been carrying it around in his pocket for a while.

"Here," he said. "I...I forgot to give you this."

"I thought you didn't want me to come," I said.

"That's because I thought you weren't my friend. I was wrong, Alex. You're the best friend a guy could have." Then he smiled. His face looked so natural and sincere, like he had just taken a bath or something. It felt so good to have my friend back, all my pain completely disappeared. "And Alex, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad," he said.

"Forget it," I said. But it was I who owed Jamie an apology. I had judged him too quickly.

"I'm sorry, too," I said. Jamie gave me a bewildered look, like Goofy in those cartoons. I started to laugh. This set Jamie off laughing, too, then both of us erupted into one of our unstoppable sessions. We laughed 'till our sides ached and we couldn't breath anymore. Then, arm in arm, we went home.

"Moonie" a Bad Word?

This was published in a magazine whose editor had invited an essay on the position of the Unification community on the use of the term "moonie."

I can remember occasional nocturnal adventures going home from the club-house after an afternoon's rugby and an extended evening of camaraderie. As freshmen in college, it was not unusual for my friends and I to pass a rozzer (Dublin slang for a policeman) at his post and "moon" him from a speeding car! Emboldened by the ingestion of copious pints of Guinness, we were anesthetized to any possible offensiveness with which such conduct might be received by the innocent and hard- working officer, never mind anyone else who happened to witness the crude exposure of an Irish tush!! Later as a full-time missionary for the Unification Church when I began to be accosted with verbal barrages of "f--k you Moonie" from speeding cars, I realized that some youthful indiscretions had caught up with me. Purgatory had for some unknown reason begun prematurely on earth! Upon hearing that other church members had been subjected to the same abuse, I questioned them as to what sports they had played in their youth and what the accompanying social life was like. It was only then that I realized that this name calling had nothing to do with any occasional youthful disregard for authority but that it had all to do with my religious affiliation.

The term "Moonie," as a reference to a member of the Unification Church, was not coined by Unificationists. Rather, it is a drive-by shot from the coward in the speeding vehicle intended to harm and to injure. Like the paintball fired from an air-powered gun in mock battle, it impacts and splats, leaving the modern-day version of the yellow cross impressed upon the conversos (a term referring to those Jews in the Middle Ages who were forced to "convert" to Christianity and who were then required to wear identifying yellow stars). The coiners of the term "Moonie" knew full well the impact of the suffix "ie," and its informal, disrespectful, and derogatory "register" (a term of art for any linguist). Add to that the prurient undertone, and the coiners of the term, the editors at the Washington Post, had landed a keeper in February of 1974. Not known for any overt displays of affection towards Unificationists, the Post has perpetuated the use of this term until today. When challenged recently to finally let it go, Leonard Downie, executive editor at the Post, wrote to me and stated that "we do not agree that the term is pejorative and offensive and therefore allowed its use""

In the intervening years since the Post first introduced the "Moonie" term, their editors have ceded any exclusive rights and this offensive epithet came to be generously shared with anyone seeking to exhibit their own naked prejudice. And so "Moonie" came to be added to an undistinguished list of similar terms, such as, "nigger," "kike," "fag," "chink," "jap," "mick, "guinea," "spick," etc..

After its inception and adoption by the movers and shakers of our social mores, the editors and the TV anchors, the term was picked up by those detractors of the Unification community. In particular it was seized upon by those who elected to turn their animus of the Unification Church into a profitable career. The use of "Moonie" came to be persistently used in order to blind-side any project, activity, or initiative, undertaken by the Reverend Moon himself, by any single Unificationist, or by the Unification community as a whole. Call it a "Moonie such-and-such" and any consideration or regard for the matter at hand is justifiably and expediently excused. Call the individual a "Moonie" and the listener or reader is immediately endowed with all there is to know of the individual being discussed. The New York Times , in an editorial Winking at Baseball's Racism, criticized the suspension of Marge Schott from baseball for one year as being too lenient. The Times questioned why Ms. Schott did not receive the same punishment as Al Campanis who was forced to leave the game forever for stating that blacks "lacked the necessities" to manage baseball teams. A more recent example is the public outcry over the comments of the New York Yankees' community affairs liaison officer comparing his Bronx neighbors to "monkeys" whom he contended did nothing more than hang on basketball rings.

Such insensitive and offensive rhetoric incited universal indignation in the press and along the hallowed hallways of the major networks.

One can only wonder how long Unificationists must bide their time before their sincere petitions regarding the offensive use of the term "Moonie" will finally be acknowledged. I consider twenty years to be enough. Any short-term anesthesia has long since worn off and it really hurts to be so persistently abused. Unification Church members have been derided as "Moonies," then mobbed and beaten. In New York city, a seven-months pregnant woman was beaten and sent to the hospital as a result of irrational hatred of "Moonies." Church missionaries have been murdered in the course of their public church duties because they were "Moonies." Members have been abducted, imprisoned, assaulted and abused. In many instances the perpetrators were not charged by the authorities or even admonished by society because their victims were only "Moonies." Hate-mongers are depicted as "experts" on this sub-species called "Moonies" and all too often they are provided free air-time to express their moonophobia with impunity.

While I am familiar with the saying that there is always someone out there who doesn't get it, I do hope that at least one ol' die-hard finally gets it! And so I invite Leonard Downie to step forward to do the decent thing and hit a vestige of the Washington Post's own religious bigotry out of the ball park! And then I promise not to show my Irish tush around the offices of the Washington Post ever again!!!

August 1994

Village Vision: Starting a National Publication for the Hometown Mission

by Ron McLachlan
A Hometown Testimony from Glasgow, Scotland

I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but left my hometown at the age of two. Several months before my fortieth birthday I came home with my wife and two children.

Glasgow, the commercial capital of Scotland, is a city of well over a million people and, including the conurbation of townships surrounding the city, covers most of Scotland's five million population. Apart from Edinburgh and several other small cities, Scotland is a wild and beautiful nature reserve. The mountains, glens, lochs and rivers offer scenery of unparalleled charm as well as some of the best hunting and fishing in the world. For a small country, Scotland has offered a few major things to the world culture: for example, golf, Scotch whisky (the malt Talisker having no equal) and "Old Lang Syne"-a song by the most famous of bards, Robert Burns, which is used through the world culture to express heartfelt unity, friendship, peace and love at the end of many functions or events.

Glasgow's history is, like most old cities in the world, not always something to be immensely proud of, but the people of this suffering city exhibit a sense of humor, openness and sympathy for their fellow men that is unequaled anywhere in the world. The population, similar in some ways to that of the USA, was influenced greatly by the Irish and this descent is reflected in their down-to-earth humanity and grasp of man's nature as well as an uncanny ability in spiritual matters. The Irish are often called the Koreans of the west, and this could also be said of native Glaswegians.

For as long as I can remember, True Father has talked about the day to come when he will ask us to return to our homeland and work there for God's Providence. When Father announced the advent of this time, I requested permission to go to the hometown mission. In the new pledge, it is mentioned (Number 1) that we will search for our roots, the homeland of our ancestors, and will go there to restore that place as a Tribal Messiah-a family centered on True Love. (Literal translation: "chaja"=search.)

When I was twelve years old, I felt and dreamt that I was living in the time of the Second Coming of the Messiah. On occasions, I even dreamt that I was the Messiah who was to come. All my life I felt as if I was being prepared for a mission that would be revealed to me sometime in the future. When I joined the church in January 1979, I knew that my time had come.

However, many years passed and I worked in many missions, but the feeling that I had still not yet found my mission persisted, like a gnawing, nagging feeling in the center of my soul.

In October 1991, around the time of the ninth anniversary of our Blessing, we returned to the lands of my ancestors. But we didn't know what to do or how to go about making a start. I strongly felt that we needed to make a fresh beginning-a new kind of life. Since the age of twenty seven, my health has been quite poor and this has limited our options to some extent.

The first two years at home were quite difficult, but after prayer and meditation during this time, I felt that my future life and work lay in the field of the media. I was inspired by Hyo Jin Nim's words when he talks about the power of mass communications and, indeed, I myself was often amazed by the raw power that could be engendered at rock festivals and concerts: young people on fire with emotion and passion. I thought how great it would be if we church members could set the hearts of young people alight in such a way, but centered on God and True Parents.

Although not personally, I have some background in the media field in that I have several cousins who work in relatively prominent positions in the press. Also, my maternal grandfather was a fairly well-known journalist.

If I think of the years I have spent working as a church member here in Britain, it is easy to reflect with resentment on how we have been treated by the media. Perhaps I can do something during my lifetime to redress this imbalance and inspire the British media to do something positive for True Parents and for God. Well...I consider this my mission and my life's work. Originally this was not my idea but the result of revelation from prayer; it is an idea which I have made my own over the course of the last two years.

At the beginning of this year, I started researching the media at the University of Stirling. I want to discover what the academics say the media is and what the media does. Also, I will be starting work with an environmental charity which channels its efforts through media outlets such as local radio and the local and national press. They offer free training in the media with many chances of career placements.

I strongly believe that the future Providence will be worked out through our direct involvement with society. I believe that in the time of Tribal Messiahship, we can choose our own field and set up lifetime commitments to that area which, although starting in hometown, can expand through the national level and onwards, if that is necessary.

My first aim is to start a local newspaper or magazine which will give positive and moral views centering on Divine Principle and will thus provide a service to the community.

However, I feel that before I do this I should offer this to the church and this is why I started a national publication for Tribal Messiahs in Hometown. It is called Village. I feel that there is a "gap in the UC media market" here in Britain which could be filled by a publication which offers testimonies, reports, articles, artwork, poetry and free communication between Couples working in this field-a kind of horizontally communicative journal. And this is the idea or vision behind Village.

The world "village" has many connotations: from local township and starting place of Tribal Messiah's mission right up to the "global village." It is a word which suggests also, I think, a sense of family and society working and living together in peace. The Principle surely embraces the idea of family as a central tenet of faith and I believe that our future lies in the family. The Confucianist ideal of all relationships in the world reflecting those fundamental ones in the family-a central promulgation of the Principle-gives us a clue as to what our approach towards society might be. To me, the word "village" represents a reaching out to hometown society with the unifying truth and love of God and True Parents.

At first, Village will be mainly for Tribal Messiahs, but it has the potential to expand onto a level where it could be used as a witnessing and outreach tool for Tribal Messiahs working in their hometowns. Indeed, quite a number of articles and presentations, which will be written by non-members, are lined up for future issues.

The Village project has been in my mind for over a year and the first prototype versions appeared in my office in January. It took until May for the first issue to come out and this was itself a kind of template or possibility for future issues. My hope was that Blessed members working in their hometown would offer suggestions of what they might like to see in such a publication as well as write articles and letters on thoughts or reports of activities which they might like to share with the emerging hometown community.

After the first issue, I received many suggestions, letters, articles and phone calls of encouragement, and now have stock for several issues. However, I am hoping that I can build up a larger collection of articles, letters, photographs, stories, art, poetry, etc., and so I want to appeal to the Church community worldwide: If you have suggestions and would like to communicate with us here in the hometowns of Britain, please write to me at the enclosed address and help me to set up an international network of communication among Tribal Messiahs working in their hometowns!

The vision of Village is to present local news and views from the hometowns to others working in their hometown in order to inspire, encourage and give hope to the extended family of Tribal Messiahs. It is a vehicle for sharing among "families in the field" and what can give hope to us and energize us more than give and take action centered on True Love? The time of "we families centered on True Love" has surely come!