Creating a World of Peace - The Thought and Works of Sun Myung Moon by Joon Ho Seuk

Volume 1 - The Life and Teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon [Part 4 / 20]

3. North Korea

Subsequently, Reverend Moon felt called by God to travel to the communist north. There, he began to teach publicly, despite the dangers of doing so in a country where religion was not welcome. As a poor preacher who looked at the Bible in a new way, Reverend Moon was more vulnerable than the established churches, and he was one of the first to come under attack from the local communists.

In November 1946, Reverend Moon was charged with disturbing the social order and was imprisoned and tortured. Thinking that he was dead, his jailers threw his body into the prison yard, where some of his followers found him and carried him away to tend to his injuries. Not only did Reverend Moon survive but he soon began preaching in public again.

In April 1948, he was arrested again and sentenced to five years of hard labor in Hungnam prison camp, where few prisoners lasted more than six months. Reverend Moon survived there for nearly three years, and many of his fellow prisoners came to him for spiritual strength and became his disciples.

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army invaded the South in an attempt to unify the entire peninsula by force. United Nations and American forces, under General Douglas MacArthur, rescued the beleaguered South.

One month after the capture of Seoul, UN forces reached the gates of Hungnam prison. In the meantime, the communist prison authorities had begun to execute the prisoners. The prison camp was liberated on the morning of Reverend Moon's scheduled execution.

Song of the Victors

The words to this song were written by Reverend Moon in 1947.

1. Sing a loud Hosanna to the Lord,
Offer everything with humble heart.
Come attend the Lord, O rejoice in Him
Who brings new life to all the world.
Let us go determined to seek and find
All the promised glory of the Lord.

Chorus:

There we'll sing new songs in the Garden fair,
Songs of freedom bright with happiness.
There we'll sing new songs in the Garden fair,
Songs of freedom bright with happiness.

2. There are clouds of darkness on the path,
Harmony within the Garden bright.
Sinful night enveloping the land.
Brush the clouds aside and behold the light
That shines in beauty everywhere.
Let us go determined to seek and find
Our new world of joyfulness and peace.

3. Oh, my brothers all rejoice today,
You who sing the song of our new life.
Offer praise on high, blessed for evermore,
As chosen people of the Lord.
Let us go determined to seek and find
All the brilliant glory of our dreams.

4. We uphold the standard of the Lord,|
To restore His true ideal.
Freely give your love, share the Father's joy,
And beauty will return to you.
Let us go determined to seek and find
All the promised glory of the Lord.

Testimony of an Early Disciple

Testimony of Won Pil Kim.
Father was moved to Hungnam, which was quite far from Pyongyang, together with Mr. Kim. Father was taken to the police station on February 22, 1948 and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at the trial of April 7th.
He moved to Hungnam on May 20th. He found there that many prisoners were dying because of the poor food. The hard, forced labor raised the death rate. Father felt that he would not be able to survive for five years when he saw the contents of the meals.
First of all Father had to get the spiritual victory, in order that he could survive even with this amount of food. If he had a weak mind, thinking that he wouldn't be able to survive with such a small amount, he would die regardless of his prison term, in a far shorter time than five years.
For the first three months he gave away half the portion of his meal to others, and he determined that he had to survive for five years with half the food ration. Some prisoners in the same room died whilst eating, because they were so starved.
When someone took a small stone out of his food, the others tried to get it even though it was a stone. If they ate the meal quickly with big mouthfuls, they felt they ate less, psychologically. Therefore they ate the meal bit by bit, taking a long time, to make it seem as if they were eating a lot of food.

After three months Father stopped giving away half his ration to others, and ate his whole portion himself. With what heart did Father eat the whole portion? He thought that the half portion was the normal amount that the prisoners were usually given, and the other half was especially given to him by Heavenly Father as a blessing. Father thought that he was eating twice as much food as the others. Therefore he could satisfy himself psychologically.

Blessing of Glory

The words to this song were written by Reverend Moon in 1950.

1. Now the light of glory arises like the sun that shines on high;
Now awaken into freedom, O revive, you spirits, O revive!
Wake the mountains and the valleys, bring alive the springs of the earth.
Light the world forever with the
Light of your rebirth.
Light the world forever with the
Light of your rebirth.

2.We are called to bring back the glory to the life of God above;
Now the Lord in His greatness fills the universe with tender love,
Ever seeking souls awakened, ever calling them to be free.
How shall I attend Him who is calling to me?
How shall I attend Him who is calling to me?

3. From the dark of death I awaken and rejoice to live in grace;
When the one who came to save me holds me tenderly in His embrace;
I rejoice to feel the comfort of the love He has for me.
What a blessing of Glory, to rejoice eternally!
What a blessing of Glory, to rejoice eternally!

4. Now He lifts me up to embrace me in the blessing that is mine;
What a blessing to receive Him in a love so tender and divine;
How can I return the blessing?
Though in all my life I will try, I can never stop feeling how unworthy am I.
I can never stop feeling how unworthy am I!

Despite his brutal prison camp experience, Reverend Moon did not immediately flee to the South. Instead, he returned to Pyongyang and spent forty days searching for the members of his scattered flock. He eventually found a few members and then traveled south on foot with two of them.

This small group set out from Pyongyang on December 4, 1950 and arrived at Choryang Station in Pusan 55 days later. No matter where they went in Pusan, there was nowhere to stay.

A few days later, Reverend Moon happened to encounter a friend of his from his school days in Japan, and he offered them his home.

In May 1951, Reverend Moon began to build the tiny mud-wall hut that would be both home and study for him and his disciples for the next year. It was in this humble structure that he completed the task of writing down the Divine Principle on May 10 1952. At that time, he told his small following that one day the message of the Divine Principle would be spread all over the world.

Garden of Restoration

Written by Reverend Moon in 1953.

1. In this world, embittered with hate, through the thousands of years,
Father was searching to find One triumphant in heart;
There, where He struggled behold, footprints stained with blood;
Such love is given to us in His providence;
Such love is given to us in His providence.

2. Here we find the flower of joy in the freedom of God;
His garden blesses the world with the blooming of hope;
Fragrant perfume of His will fills us all with joy;
Such life fulfills all the dreams of our Father's desire,
Such life fulfills all the dreams of our Father's desire.

3. Fresh bouquets of happiness grow, gently tossed in the breeze;
Our home eternal and true is a haven of joy;
Here in such beauty divine, we shall always live;
Such is the gift of the Lord, Father's heavenly land;
Such is the gift of the Lord, Father's heavenly land.

4. God's eternal providence is the Kingdom on earth;
On earth He wanted to see His true garden in bloom,
Filled with perfume of the heart, spread His glorious joy;
Such is the glory to come, crowning all of the world,
Such is the glory to come, crowning all of the world.

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