The Words of the Kazakos Family
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The Words of the Kazakos Family |
George Kazakos is the HSA-UWC Director of Membership Development under the HSA-UWC Education Department. He lives in Clifton, NJ with his wife and four children.
Have you ever felt that the Family Pledge is so important but you didn't know what it really means? Well that's how I felt until I was invited by the Reverend In Jin Moon, President of HSA-UWC America, to the first Original Divine Principle (ODP) workshop. At the workshop, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, made a statement that launched me on a one- year path of self-discovery.
In the middle of one of his speeches he stated with incredible intentionality "You can bypass religion and go straight to heaven, if you live 'The Family Pledge." Well, that got me asking how living the Family Pledge could possibly improve my spiritual path. So, I started reading Rev. Moon's explanations on The Family Pledge, and I soon found that this would not be easy to answer. I was so fortunate to meet a church member from New York City Mr. Elio Roman, who has rigorously studied for many years Rev. Moon's explanation of the Family Pledge; he provided me the coaching needed for this discovery.
There is a vast body of. information that took a year to get through, and I am still reading some of it; however, it was through this research that I gained an unexpected renewal of my spiritual path. Now, I can focus on essential points of he Family Pledge that translate into behaviors that are making a difference in my life and more importantly, in how I relate to others. So, in this article I am not trying to translate The Family Pledge; rather, lam trying to contextualize this great revelation to speak to first-timer and seasoned Unification Church members.
The first revelation I had about The Family Pledge was rather than see it as a document that needed no further explanation, it should be understood as a table of contents for how to live our lives as blessed families who are striving to transform this world, and it needed to be unpacked to fully get the full scope of what is available. The second revelation I had was that in translating from the original Korean text, we get the words but not the context. Without knowing the context I was only able to relate with The Family Pledge abstractly. This further motivated me to dive in and gain greater clarity on the meaning of The Family Pledge.
The Israelites made a covenant with God through the Law. The Christians made a covenant through their faith in Jesus. For the time we are now living in the covenant is living the contents of The Family Pledge.
For me, what was most important was how the Family Pledge plays out in my life, so I sought how to take each part of the pledge and write out my own explanatory statement that would help me understand the essence of that pledge and enable me to then translate it into a way of life so that I can play my part in God's great plan.
The first pledge states: "Our family, the owner of Cheon II Guk, pledges to seek our original homeland and build the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven, the original ideal of creation, by centering on true love."
Simply stated, the first pledge asks us,
"To create a world of joy where all individuals and their families are alive, in the love of God."
For example, you could be living in a big, luxurious house, but if there is no one living there with you, the house and your existence in the house holds no value, because there is no one to share it with. Being together in love is what makes life exciting and worthwhile.
From my study of Rev. Moon's teachings, the place we call heaven is the place where two become one in love. The first pledge gives us the goal, to inherit God's love in "my" family and then share this grace with the rest of the world by taking the two who have become one in love, and multiplying that love over and over again. This is the ultimate outcome, to create a family with God alive in all relationships. This is what the original intention of God was in creating this world. Reverend Hyung Jin Moon, international President of the Unification Church, has eloquently summarized it as "inheriting the true love of God"
The other seven pledge statements are what we need to do to get there.
The second pledge states:" Our family, the owner of Cheon Ii Guk, pledges to represent and become central to heaven and earth by attending God and True Parents; we pledge to perfect the dutiful family way of filial sons and daughters in our family, patriots in our nation, saints in the world, and divine sons and daughters in heaven and earth, by centering on true love."
Simply stated, the second pledge asks us,
"To be devoted children of God, our Heavenly Parent, thus inheriting God's heart and the ability to relate to others with true love."
I believe this statement represents the cornerstone of my faith. The Divine Principle explains, we are in the age of justification through attendance and to the level that I have practice this in my life, I have become clear in the direction of my spiritual path.
Nowadays, it is not uncommon to experience corruption in politics, abuse of power, exploiting corporations, being abandoned, etc., and this can have an effect on the way we trust. This is especially true it for example, one has big expectations and then run into disappointment; one can easily become resentful, which leads to being skeptical.
That prototype can negatively affect how I relate with God. However, Jesus said you have to be like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven. And if heaven is where two become one, then finding a way to relate to God from a fresh perspective will make all the difference. This is the key to breaking through to a new level of love and creating a relationship with God; because in actuality, God is my loving parent.
I found the main ingredient to making my relationships work well is me. I cannot let circumstances determine who I am. It is my choice to be who I choose to be.
When I relate to God, coming before Him with a clean slate -- or as a young child -- then that opens up the possibility of experiencing true devotion, filial piety, a loving sense of duty, and having the heart to attend God.
When I care for God as my Parent, by praying and studying scripture and living a life honoring God's will in order to build God's ideal of true love in my family, God then becomes real in my life.
As a result, I've experienced being guided in my life through my intuition and conscience. In this state, life becomes simple and clear.
The state of heart of attendance and filial piety has a transformative effect in relating with everyone in my life. For example, there are many techniques for improving the relationship between a husband and wife, but the most powerful thing my wife and I share is our common relationship to God. But it does not stop there, it translates to every relationship because exercising this muscle of devotion is the only thing that over-rides or bypasses my selfish tendencies or being apathetic, arrogant and blaming others. The heart of attendance to God can be practice within all levels of leadership in society, including your boss, or the leader of a nation. This transforms how we operate as a community and world... its huge!
Most importantly; the two-way street of love with God is not just receiving; rather, as a child of God, I live for God's dream. In this way, following God is not just doing what I'm told; it's offering myself as a loving child seeking God's point of view; and taking on 'the audacious aspiration of being a source of inspiration to God.
To love and be loved are not active and passive roles. Rather both are active.
So, how does this all come into play in my daily life? In summary, the behaviors or action points that the 2nd Family Pledge translates to are:
Be -- devoted to God
Do -- God's will by studying and honoring God's word
Have -- A loving relationship with God and with all the people in your life
The third pledge states: "Our family, the owner of Cheon II Guk, pledges to perfect the Four Great Realms of Heart, the Three Great Kingships and the Realm of the Royal Family, by centering on true love.
Simply stated, the third pledge asks us,
"To be loving in our relationships and in our families, where we mature and experience God's love."
When sunlight passes through a prism, the color divides. It's not that the prism makes new colors, but all the colors that are in the light become distinguished through the prism. The same is true for God's realms of love within families, which include:
Children's love,
sibling's love
(friendship),
conjugal love, and
parental love.
Experiencing these different colors, or relationships, gives us a context in under- standing who God is. No lecture or class can do that.
For example, Children's love is not just receiving love, but through the give and take with their parents, a child distinguishes love and is molded in the traditions and behaviors of that love from the parents.
On that foundation children relate to each other as siblings in the context of Parental love. By siblings respecting elders and elders serving the younger ones, Sibling's love is distinguished again from the Parental love, in that it grows between brothers and sisters. This then translates into friendship. I have found that type of love has generated bonds with the people in my life that go real deep.
Then, becoming a husband and wife, we create a new family. In doing so, I've learned and am still learning how the opposite sex relates to love. With such different ways of relating to love, only God's perspective can bring my wife and I together, and the source of that love comes from the previous behavior of attending God first as a child with my own parents and then as a sibling with my brothers and sisters.
When my first son came into the picture, I began to understand how God loves me because of the way my heart opened up after becoming a father. Then, when I had my first daughter I began to understand how God loves my wife. This had the most transformative effect on holding on to love when the winds of challenges came between my wife and me.
A parent's heart can be fully understood when his children have children and they become grandparents, because it is then that their children finally understand them in their role as parents.
Lastly, because all families come to know God's heart by learning through the family all the different types of love that exist, we can then relate to others with love, family by family, as in the realm of one larger family.
In summary, the behaviors or action points that the third Family Pledge translates to are:
Be -- loving in our relationships
Do -- experience the different relationships of love in the family and "get" God's heart.
Have -- a community that values each other as Children of God, experiencing God's love in the family and as an extended community.
The fourth pledge states: "Our family, the owner of Cheon Il Guk, pledges to build the universal family encompassing heaven and earth, which is God's ideal of creation, and perfect the world of freedom, peace, unity and happiness, by centering on true love."
Simply stated, the fourth pledge asks us,
"To be compassionate towards all people, thus creating unity and realizing true peace as one universal family of God."
Here the goal is for all people from the diverse ethnic and religious groups to come together as One Universal Family of God. By being compassionate to all peoples of the world we powerfully bring God's anointing into each of our lives by valuing each other as children of God. Because God is our parent, the most wonderful sight is to see His children united. Often what holds us back from this sight is an ethno-centric view that separates us into different camps. We often pick being right over being united.
When we can lift up God as our parent, then that becomes the common denominator that can help us let go of "being right" and take on being united and compassionate.
This can take form in many ways, like going overseas on a service project, or getting involved in bringing ethnic groups together in your community, or even being open to marrying someone from a different racial or religious background.
What we get in the end is new realms of relating with people that have different values from us. In this way, we have a contrast against which to reflect on our identity so that we can powerfully understand ourselves.
In summary, the behaviors or action points that the fourth Family Pledge translates to are:
Be -- compassionate
Do -- get involved with diverse cultures and religions
Have -- discover our selves by discovering others and begin to live in true peace, as a Universal World Family
The fifth pledge states: "Our family, the owner of Cheon Guk, pledges to strive every day to advance the unification of the spirit world and the physical world as subject and object partners, by centering on true love."
Simply stated the fifth pledge asks us
"To be committed in taking action, on the inspiration we receive from God. Our actions then generate a force that becomes a channel for God's blessings to materialize.
I'm sure most are familiar with a popular book that came out a few years back about a secret that once learned, could give a person great fortune. Well, pledge number five takes that concept to a whole new level. After we have experienced pledges two four, our understanding of Gods heart is so deep that we reach the point when we become so compelled, we cannot but help God build His dream of a world living as one in God's love.
So how do we make this dream real? Reverend Moon has received God's calling many times in his life, sometimes towards a particular area that needs resolving. When that happens, he puts tremendous effort everyday into discovering what needs to be done and then goes about his task without sleeping, working tirelessly to reach his goal. Through striving every day, this creates a spiritual force that takes form on Earth as results. This process is a combination of spiritual and physical forces, which has a sum that is larger than its parts.
This is an example of how the physical and spiritual forces come together to bring a result. If we work together, united collectivity, then even a small group of people can bring down the walls of Jericho! In this age, this means we can transform this world with the love and power of God. The key is our unity and going all out for God.
In summary, the behaviors or action points that the fifth Family Pledge translates to are:
Be -- Committed
Do -- Respond to God's call in your daily life, striving every day
Have -- In so doing, you can create great results through your efforts.
The sixth pledges states: "Our family, the owner of Cheon II Guk, pledges to become a family that moves heavenly fortune by embodying God and True Parents, and to perfect a family that conveys Heaven's blessing to our community, by centering on true love."
Simply stated the sixth pledge asks us
"To be unconditional representing God's heart, and reach out to share God's love, truth and blessing to our community"
For me, what is exciting about living for God is the moment when you help another realize for the first time, what's possible to them in understanding God in a new way. Through that realization about God trans- formation takes place. You get to be a part of the process. In doing so myself with those I have met in my life, I experienced my own faith become deep and real, and as life moved along, I got to see the beautiful children that have come as they developed their family. I can say happily and with pride, "that's the person I shared my faith with." A sense of truly making a difference makes life so full and worth living. Because after God has welcomed me into His grace, the best way for me to say thank You is to give His grace away to someone else.
In summary, the behaviors or action points that the sixth Family Pledge translates to are:
Be -- Unconditional in your love to others.
Do -- become part of helping someone else discover God.
Have -- have the experiencing of making a transformative difference in someone else's life and let others know that they can make differences as well.
The seventh pledges states: "Our family, the owner of Cheon Guk, pledges, through living for the sake of others, to perfect the world based on the culture of heart, which is rooted in the original lineage, by centering on true love."
Simply stated the seventh pledge asks us
"To be serving, living for the sake of each other, extending God's love to our community to create a culture of heart"
A first step in understanding a core part of God's heart is to be altruistic, philanthropic, giving, and caring. This is done on the foundation of the previous points of becoming one with God, our family, community, and world. When we have accomplished these initial goals first, then as one team, we can lead our neighborhood or interest community and make a difference in people's lives on a larger scale. We can do more than just inspire or serve our community; we can share God's grace and blessing and truly impact the quality of people's lives by giving them access to the points previously mentioned.
If we work as a united group of people, collectively working in different areas yet in an interdependent way, we can affect many different fields including culture, government, the arts, and education. This is how we can create a culture that is thriving in mutual prosperity.
In summary, the behaviors or action points that the seventh Family Pledge translates to are:
Be -- Serving.
Do -- take a pro-active leadership role in your community
Have -- a thriving community that is mutually prosperous.
The eighth pledge states: "Our family, the owner of Cheon II Guk, pledges, having entered the Completed Testament Age, to achieve the ideal of God and human beings united in love through absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, and to perfect the realm of liberation and complete freedom in the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven, by centering on true love."
Simply stated, the eighth pledge asks us
"To be trusting in God, liberates the pain and sorrow of the past, allowing us to be alive in ultimate joy and freedom."
On an historic and, or personal level, many have endured sorrow and pain. This has caused us in some ways to have a closed heart, which may have led us to miss out on opportunities to create a wonderful life with God where we can freely experience God. God did not create hell; rather, our selfishness, irresponsibility, arrogance, and justifying nature created it. God is our parent and as a parent, God only wants to be with the children. However, God cannot be on the-same wave length as we if we are resentful, jealous, or hateful.
So, then the question is, "how can we let go of this baggage of the past?" Maybe an existentialist would say, "live in the now" or a Christian would say "by the blood of Christ" or a psychologist would say "get rid of your guilt:'
Well, these may all be true to a certain degree, however, when I've taken on being faithful and lovingly obedient to God, and putting my trust in Him, I am able to let go of fear and ego. Or, in other words, I can take total responsibility for my life in spite of crazy circumstances or of being wrongly accused. Through this way of being, this has opened me up to living powerfully with God and being grateful, just because.
This may seem unreasonable in a sense, yet it is the path God has traveled to save His children. Knowing God's story of forgiving and forgetting, gives us the power to do it our- selves. In doing so, we understand, yet again, the heart of God, which is a massive abundance of grace and love. I've come to know through this process that I'm able to experience God's heart in a way that can never be explained.
Bearing this in mind, by being faithful and lovingly obedient to God, we can be liberated from all constraints of the past and be present with God in unrestrained joy and freedom.
In Summary: the behaviors or action points that the eighth Family Pledge translates to are:
Be -- trusting in and grateful to God and to extend forgiveness to others and to oneself.
Do -- take your trust in God and regardless of adverse circumstances, forgive and accept just because.
Have -- a free, unrestrained relationship with God and love powerfully.
In conclusion, through Reverend Moon's inconceivable life path, he and his wife have inherited from God the essential points for us to connect in the most direct way to God. For me, this past year researching and discovering how to implement The Family Pledge in my daily life has been the greatest gift. Life can get quite confusing sometimes and to have a compass like The Family Pledge makes all the difference in the world as it provides a multi-leveled guide for my spiritual path on Earth. Since having unpacked and fleshed out The Family Pledge and applying it to my daily life, I have improved the education for my spiritual growth, and life has been fulfilling knowing where I'm going. I consider The Family Pledge is our modern day covenant with God.