The Words of the Selle Family
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The Words of the Selle Family |
A personal view of the new kind of workshop True Parents have initiated in connection with the establishment of Cheon Il Guk
Rev. Selle is the pastor of New Hope Family Church in the U.S. State of Maryland.
I found out that the working title of the workshop was "Absolute Sex between Husband and Wife." It was the kind of workshop that God Himself would have given to Adam and Eve before the Fall -- kissing his son and daughter and teaching them many deep truths, especially the commandment the workshop title referred to. Father told us he chose Hawaii as the site of the first proclamation workshop because "it is the place closest in character and environment to the Garden of Eden."
It was also a workshop emphasizing purity and the change from the archangelic to adamic bloodline. It was a seminar for the five religious founders and a hundred and twenty saints, as well as the five True Children in the spirit world.
After going through the workshop, the participants are asked to make a new start and with the help of the spirit world accomplish the work of God and True Parents in their respective areas of responsibility. A certificate signed by the True Parents marks this new commitment.
From the moment I set foot on the island, I was thrilled by the lush environment, the beautiful warm weather and the relaxed atmosphere, especially, on the King Garden property. I was overcome by a strong feeling of wonder, joy, lightness and peace in my heart, which I had never experienced before. God was present everywhere.
The schedule, which went from 5 AM to 10 PM, was intense. Participants listened to Korean Divine Principle lectures presented by Rev. Yu Jeong-ok, from the seventy-two-couple blessing group. Rev. Yu, who was assigned as lecturer and prepared by Father, included his own insights and personal stories about Father. Through our interpreter, Westerners were able to tune in quite deeply to what was going on.
What struck me on the first day as I was listening to the Principle of Creation, was the emphasis on self-change and becoming the incarnation of God. The focus was on perfecting one's heart through developing one's relationship to God and to True Parents -- "to feel," as Rev. Yu said, "an electric current as we think of them and act ever more like them." "Everything we hear and see," he said, "should be based on heart (shim jung) in our lives."
Here are a few other points Rev. Yu made that especially stuck with me:
There are no enemies in the original world. The question is, How many people like me, or us? And how many people have I loved? When we are insulted three times, we become angry, but our Father often didn't say anything even when being hit; he is not allowed to fight. That's a difficult standard to live up to... You need to like yourself first.
What kind of people have we become after living forty years in our church? This is the time to be careful what you say and do in your life.
Sex is the area of human life that Satan has the most under control and where no government, church or institution has power to make an impression or change. It is the area of promiscuity that caused King Saul, King Solomon and King David to fail and the final frontier to be challenged as we enter this new prelapsarian era.
Father, Mother, In-jin nim and Kook-jin nim arrived shortly after breakfast on October 12. True Mother gave a necklace as a gift to each of the sisters and to the wives of each of the brothers. The lecturer later told us that the necklaces are not so much to be worn as to remind us of the experiences we have with True Parents during this significant workshop and to evoke the feelings we shared with them during this time.
Father then asked Rev. Yu's wife to sing. During the song, her husband got up and began dancing, and a few more brothers, including Mr. Oyamada, joined in. In the room were pure joy and the spirit of family. Excitement permeated the atmosphere as one Korean leader sang a song about rowing a boat and some other brothers got up and made rowing motions. This went on and on; the spirit got so high and the room filled with laughter. True Parents truly enjoyed it and Father sang along.
I realized once again that in the presence of our True Parents everyone feels free and experiences joy and unity, an absence of barriers, and a sense that this is where I want to be, this is the right place. This was especially so in such an intimate setting where Father talked freely and frankly with his early disciples whom he knows so well.
Health was one of the main subjects of this workshop, and a part of the training for leaders included learning acupuncture and moxibustion from Dr. Kim Nam-su, a ninety-four-year-old Korean acupuncturist, who runs a clinic where he voluntarily treats patients. Early one morning we watched video presentations of Dr. Kim explaining in detail the benefits and practices of his work with many demonstrations and views of patients before and after treatment.
Later that day, Dr. Kim personally joined us at a session where Father interjected commentary as someone read Peace Message Thirteen. Dr. Kim, a humble but lively man, commended Father on his work for the unification of Korea and said he was rather awed by Father's vision.
He then treated Rev. Hwang, who had badly injured his leg in a soccer game, and another Korean elder. He gave helpful insights into the world of mugwort treatment and acupuncture, after which we all witnessed a demonstration. Father, Mother and the other members of the True Family stayed to watch. Father wants us to learn for the sake of our own health and to help others.
Watching a sunset at the beach, where our brothers had a great time riding the waves on boogie boards, I felt God's love so much that tears came down on many occasions, tears of joy and liberation, feeling innocent, like a child. As I was sitting in the sand with the gentle waves of the Pacific splashing against me, I felt like all my worries, concerns and burdens were washed away. This was part of what God was doing with us through this workshop.
Back in my room (in the hotel we had moved to) looking over the dark ocean and listening to the sounds of Hawaiian singing above the sound of waves gently rolling to the shore, I was again overcome with emotions of love, joy and inner peace. My heart had opened up during these last few days, and I was in touch with feelings on a deeper level. Already that night, I began missing my brothers and my Korean elders whom I had only spent a few days with.
The world of shim jung is very strong and very beautiful. Leaving Hawaii was like leaving a mother's womb, a place where I had experienced God and True Parents in an entirely new way as they are opening the gates of heaven wider and wider for all to enter.