The Words of the Hiroshi Family
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The Words of the Hiroshi Family |
"Only by overcoming every
difficulty and suffering can you stand in the position of the highest
glory. Let us overcome with belief that difficulty I am facing now in
human relationships and the hardship of my work are all food for my
growth"
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
Alone on a night illuminated by light reflected off snow-covered ground, I recklessly continue climbing. My watch shows it is already past three o'clock in the morning. It is January in Hokkaido; the cold wind blows into my coat from above. Five or six hours have already passed since I dashed out from the church, unable to contain my feelings.
"Dear God, if you do exist please show yourself to me. Dear God, even if I have to give my life I want to meet you today Heavenly Father..."
The night sky is full of glittering stars. I pack the snow with my feet, making space for only one person to pray.
"Heavenly Father, I lost the person I have loved for ten years; and now as a pastor not one person is coming to the church anymore. I am on the verge of losing my faith. Heavenly Father, God of all creation, please give me the strength to regain my faith, If not, I cannot..."
I become immobile on top of the snow. I don't move; for how many hours I don't know. Eventually, the eastern sky begins to brighten; the light continues growing brighter and brighter until I cannot keep my eyes open because of its brilliance. It is the light of God. God's spirit floods my body and I begin shaking from joy. God's spirit fills everything around me; there is no "I," no "other," only God exists. Hymns flow from my mouth. "So this is God!"
There was no room for doubt. Descending from the mountain, I continued singing hymns at the top of my voice. When I arrived home, my mother looked very relieved and said, "Hiroshi, you look so happy today." She had been very worried about me at that time because I had been so downcast.
After that experience, I was able to return to my life as the pastor of a Mennonite church, giving sermons, offering prayers and sharing God's grace with others. The scattered church members returned. Our church revived to such an extent that in August of that year we built a small church building.
The Mennonites emerged from the Anabaptist movement in the sixteenth century; during the Reformation. It was founded in Holland by a former Catholic priest, Menno Simons, and initially was a group of believers who tried to live like the early Christians, practicing a life of love as taught by Jesus without concern for theology or doctrine. Because especially fervent believers from other churches converted to the group, they received severe persecution. As a result, during the seventeenth century:, they immigrated en mass to America. Today their headquarters is in Pennsylvania.
As a high school student, the life of Saint Francis of Assisi deeply moved me. When I met a Mennonite pastor, it seemed to me that his lifestyle was the same as St. Francis's. I was captivated by the pastor's teachings. For the next six years, every morning at dawn I prayed to Heavenly Father, helped with chores at home, spent any spare time visiting the church, and strove hard at witnessing.
When I was twenty-five years old, at the encouragement of the pastor, I enrolled in Eastern Mennonite College in the United States. I returned to Japan two years later, after receiving my qualification to be a pastor. However, upon returning to Japan I learned that my girlfriend of ten years had married another man. I was devastated and went through the crisis 1 have described.
After recovering, 1 continued to serve as a pastor until 1980, when I completely stopped going to church because I had confronted a question I could not resolve. It was about Jesus' teachings in the Synoptic Gospels. For example, if you read the Gospel of Mark, you can see that the coming of the kingdom of God is a central theme throughout the book. The Gospels clearly say that a world of love and peace will come, where God's spirit will cover the earth. Yet, God's kingdom has not come on earth.
In hymns we sing of God's kingdom of love and peace being established on earth. However, the churches today hardly ever speak of realizing a world of love and peace on earth, centered on God. They only proclaim Jesus Christ's salvation for individuals. I once asked a person I respected very much in the Mennonite Church about this. He answered, "It's true that the Bible speaks the good news of the corning kingdom of God. But the center of God's kingdom is Jesus Christ. That's why we testify to Jesus Christ."
This point is a very delicate issue among Christian believers. If you speak too strongly about God's kingdom still not having come on earth, it almost sounds as if Jesus has failed. As a result, I came to be seen as a heretic in the Mennonite Church. I finally discontinued going to church but continued studying the Bible on my own.
It was the Divine Principle and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon who beautifully solved all the questions I was carrying inside myself.
Belonging "only to God's love" On the evening of August 31, 1988, I went, along with some forty other professors, to a dinner meeting held at Rev. Moon's home. Having heard Divine Principle lectures and Rev. Moon's life testimony I felt he was truly a man of God who was shouldering the world's burdens and working to give rebirth to humanity. I had hoped that one day I could see Rev. Moon with my own eyes and hear him speak with my own ears.
Now, that long awaited moment had come, and there he was right in front of me on the other side of a large dinner table. During the course of the meal, the invited guests were asked to introduce themselves. As my turn approached, I felt excited but also deeply moved by the opportunity.
"Since I was very young," I began, "I have always been yearning for the appearance of a person who could stop the wars and bring real peace to the world. When I heard about the course of Rev. Moon's life, I understood that he is the person who will change the world and bring eternal peace. I am deeply moved that I could meet that person here today."
It was a brief introduction, lasting perhaps two or three minutes. During that time, Rev. Moon looked steadily in my direction. After dinner, Rev. Moon and his wife sang a Korean duet, then he remained standing and quietly addressed us.
"What shall I speak about?" he asked. "Do you have any questions?"
After several exchanges with the professors, the question "how can world peace be achieved?" sparked the evening's discourse.
"Currently, there are 3 billion people living on earth. Each person lives according to his or her own thinking. In order for true peace to come to earth, everyone must have the same thinking. In other words, they have to unite with God's thinking. Then we can achieve peace."
"Yes, that's right," I thought.
Rev. Moon continued, "Each of you belongs to a different church, but from now on please say, 'I belong only to God's love. I belong only to God who created me and loves me.' Then we will be able to overcome many barriers." "That's absolutely true." I felt my chest growing hot.
"Forty years ago, I was scorned and persecuted and not one person followed me. However, today after forty years, there are more than a million members around the world, and people come to me to hear me speak. Why did this happen?"
Rev. Moon raised both his arms and slowly turned his large body. I was all earss, my eyes were wide open. I was totally focused; I didn't want to miss a word he said.
"It's because this great universe moved."
"What? The universe moved? How can you make the universe move?" I thought.
Then, as if to answer my thoughts, he said, "It happens by living for the sake of others. By living for the sake of others, give-and-take action occurs and rotation begins. And that will even move this great universe."
"Move the universe." Those words produced an indescribable resonance in me, and the very person who had actually "moved the universe" was there stating the fact in front of me. The effect was irrefutably convincing.
I thought, "I want to live that way as well. I want to live for the sake of others, live for the sake of creation, live for the sake of God and experience this great universe moving."
That moment of deep inspiration, which was beyond words, reconfirmed to me that Rev. Moon truly is a spiritual giant who is carrying the entire world on his back.
The dinner meeting continued until nearly 9 pm, when we each shook hands with Rev. Moon and bid him and his wife farewell.
Today, both my Mennonite faith and Unificationist faith exist within me without any sense of contradiction or incongruity. That is because, first, I believe from the top of my head to the tip of my toes that I belong solely to God's love, and second, because the purpose of the work of God, the Creator, and the purpose of Jesus coming to the earth were both to establish God's kingdom on the earth.
There is no doubt that the Unification Movement is heading toward great achievements in the coming twenty-first century.
Mr. Mi-ne is a former professor at Kushiro Junior college.