The Words of the Schanker Family
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The Words of the Schanker Family |
I would like to convey some core contents of the lectures which Rev. Phillip Schanker gave on Sunday, January 8, 2012 in Moscow. When he spoke about the providential path True Parents and True Children have to walk Rev. Schanker explained very important points which can help us to understand the situation of True Parents and their children better.
In this series I will share with you the main content of the first lecture and the one part of the second lecture which I watched via the internet Sunday. These lectures were given after a seminar in St. Petersburg where Rev. Schanker conveyed similar contents and the lectures offered on Saturday, January 7, 2012.
"Yesterday we were talking about True Family's course. We can see a pattern of restoration. God intended to dwell on earth through Adam and Eve in their bodies. But the one who should have raised Adam and Eve to maturity and then inherited the blessing through them once they reached perfection, instead felt less love and sought to dominate Adam and Eve and sought to get love by drawing Adam and Eve to himself. The Archangel could not simply kill Adam and Eve but by drawing Adam and Eve to betray God, God had to allow that.
So following this pattern of Adam and Eve we see that pattern over and over again, three sons following a particular course. The first son having to restore that betrayal of the first Adam, becomes often the one who betrays God. God doesn't want these things to happen but cannot intervene without undermining the value of who His children are. In Adam's family the elder son betrayed God, the second son became a sacrifice and the third son inherited the mission of the second son.
In restoration God's true Love is expressed as sacrificial love. It is the only weapon by which God can pursue restoration. Through a sacrifice of love Satan's resentment, Satan's accusation, Satan's control, is liquidated and eliminated.
We see the same pattern again in Adam, who betrayed God, Noah, who was faithful but became a sacrifice in a sense that he could not build the foundation for the Kingdom. And Abraham who inherited Noah's foundation of Faith, Satan having been appeased or because of Noah's sacrifice Satan couldn't immediately destroy Abraham and Abraham became victorious. But Abraham didn't become victorious on the first try; he faltered and betrayed or fell short. Isaac was faithful but became a sacrifice, and Jacob accomplished the victory.
This is not predestined, it is not automatic that the eldest is going to fail and the second will be sacrificed and the third will inherit but as long as Satan continues to intervene, as long as there is a condition it will follow this pattern.
We see the same thing in the providence of True Family. Why? Because restoration is accomplished not by inspirations, speeches or conditions alone, but it is accomplished by indemnity. Indemnity means to reverse what was done wrong. You can't reverse it unless you experience it, unless it is there, unless it is in the midst of you and you have to overcome it. That's the only way the True Family can be victorious.
Also in the search for True Adam that providence followed three stages. Adam who betrayed God, Jesus who was faithful but became a sacrifice. Satan had the condition to attack and invade Jesus because of Adam's failure and because of many other conditions in history which you know from Divine Principle. But because of Jesus' sacrifice, because of his pure offering of love, True Father came on that foundation.
And the search for True Eve went through three specific stages as well. Eve who betrayed God, Jesus' bride who never came to be and in that sense was sacrificed. And True Mother who stood on that foundation of victory and achieved victory in 1992.
Prior to 1992 it was always about men in the providence of restoration. People only paid attention to the sons of Jacob, to male central figures, even though the Principle reveals the important role of women in restoration. But once there was the model of a true woman, women could be liberated and their value could begin to be realized. Father proclaimed after that that each of the 12 children would be the center of a tribe, the boys and the girls, which shocked many of our elder members.
Father lifted True Mother up and sent her out to the world and became her number one supporter. Every place Mother went, every conditions she fulfilled, Father was connected by internet, listening to every word, dutifully following, faithfully supporting. Father would invite us, people around New York, to be with him while he watched True Mother's speech. He never slept -- the same speech over and over again. He was so committed to Mother's victory.
But Father's course to restore a true bride was also complicated and prolonged through three stages. We talked about Father's three attempts to restore the position of true bride and talked about details which many of you may not have known. We can see the very same thing here: The first was in a position of betrayal, the second devoted – I met with her, I sat down and talked with her – but she became a sacrifice. She became a sacrifice because she was raped and she could not face Father and ran away…
The path of True Children is also not glorious, not simple and natural. It went through many struggles which also reflect the same historical pattern of restoration. Each of these three women had a son. We talked about Sung Jin Nim's difficult, challenging course to return to Father, seek to follow, but ultimately it was impossible for him not to struggle.
The second son Hee Jin Nim loved Father, completely embraced Mother, completely became part of the family, was known to the members, was part of our movement but became a sacrifice. On his way to pioneer witnessing he was killed in an accident on the train…
Hyo Jin Nim referred to himself as the third son because providentially they became one family. Father related with all of them. In order for True Family to be victorious there is also the importance of the Archangel restoring the Archangel. Just as Adam should have been protected by three Archangels, surrounding them and supporting them. If Jesus had three disciples who could unite with him, he would not have gone to the cross but continued to do his mission.
Father raised three disciples as his own three spiritual children. Father treated all early members up until the 124 couples as his own tribe and was a spiritual parent living sacrificially for them. Father raised three early disciples as his spiritual children and matched them before his own Blessing. And he asked these three disciples to take care of his three sons. You and I may think that in order to realize a True Family Father should focus on and invest in his own children as his first priority. But Father's perspective is that he must liquidate the accusation of Satan who feels less love.
And so when the foundation of Christianity failed in 1945 Father turned his back on his wife [Sung Il Choi] and one year old son [Sung Jin Nim] and followed God's direction to go to the north. When Father couldn't break through in Korea in 1971 God called him to America, he put his children into the care of others, asked them to take care and went to the United States.
When True Parents went out in 1969 and sent all Blessed wives out in 1969 they brought in young high school girls to take care of True Family in Cheong Pa Dong. Father could not feel free to love the sons of the family foundation that had failed until he had victory in his own family.
And in 1988 when Hyun Jin Nim stood up and declared that he would take responsibility to follow Father's mission, Father said, 'It is the happiest day of my life.' I was there. I heard it. But he didn't emphasize the point that now he had a faithful son who is standing up. He said, now I can love Sung Jin Nim as my own child. Earlier on Father assigned Sung Jin Nim to Won Pil Kim's family to love and care for his son and asked the family of Hyo Won Yu to take care of Hee Jin Nim and asked Young Whi Kim's family to take care of Hyo Jin Nim. Sung Jin Nim was blessed with Rev. Won Pil Kim's elder daughter and in many ways you could see a beautiful accomplishment that family made. And Sung Jin Nim's children are part of True Family, you see them on photos… because of the course of that family. The second President of the Unification Church became a sacrifice; he went to spirit world…
Creation can realize its perfection only centered on its lord, perfected human beings. The angels after having raised Adam and Eve, to their perfection and supporting them to reach maturity, would have been blessed by God and then the angels would have been able to receive the Blessing themselves. To build the foundation for an ideal world which has nothing to do with Satan Father has to restore this. And so he gave these early disciples this mission. I don't know if he said it like this to them but they should have loved the True Children more than their own children."
At that point Rev. Philip Schanker could hardly hold back his tears as he emphasized:
"That's not because Father demanded; Father has loved you and I more than his own children. I promise you, Father has lived his life for you and me so that we get the Blessing, so that we could inherit more than his own children.
It is not to make you feel guilty. None of this is your fault. But don't judge so quickly, so shallowly. Non-invested brothers and sisters say so cynically, quickly: 'Oh True Family is fighting for power, everybody is struggling for power.' That is not what is happening at all. I know. I worked with Hyun Jin Nim for nine years and I love him. And I know how much he struggled in his relationship with True Father. He's practical, with a practical perspective of things and Father's unchanging vertical religious perspective…
But before I get there let me complete this. So I told you of Hyo Jin Nim's anguish. Anyway, let me just go back here. As we mentioned, there had been 8 sons and daughters born in Korea: Ye Jin Nim, Hyo Jin Nim, Hye Jin Nim, who in the position of second daughter was in the position of Jesus' bride who never came to be. She only lived 8 days and passed away. She became a sacrifice.
In Jin Nim inherited that position and is living that out right now. Then Heung Jin Nim, the second son, who also became a sacrifice. Then Un Jin Nim, Hyun Jin Nim, and Kook Jin Nim. There had been 8 True Children born in Korea and 6 in America. When you realize that there are two who had providential paths, there are 6 who were born in Korea and 6 who were born in America.
Kwon Jin Nim is the eldest son born in America. Then Sun Jin Nim, Young Jin Nim, Hyung Jin Nim, Yeon Jin Nim and Jeong Jin Nim. When we look at the 6 born in Korea they represent the vertical tradition that the True Family needs to embody and when we look at the 6 who were born in America, representing the connection to Christianity and the West, they are a mirror image to each other. Daughter, son, daughter, daughter, son, son – born in Korea and Son, daughter, son, son, daughter, daughter – born in America."