The Words of In Jin Moon from 2010
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The Words of In Jin Moon from 2010 |
Good morning, brothers and sisters. How is everyone this morning? We missed you last weekend, but it's so good to be back home in this good ol' US of A. We just got back yesterday and were able to spend about a week with our brothers and sisters in South America. We visited Paraguay, Uruguay, and also Argentina. We shared with them our True Parents' love and a little bit of our spirit here at Lovin' Life Ministries.
The people down there were so warm and so passionate about their love for our True Parents. Just as we had a general assembly in Brazil the last time I went down there, where the vote was unanimous for our True Parents, the same thing happened in Paraguay as well. Again we had a general assembly because there was a great deal of pressure from different parts of our movement that wanted to take the assets that belong to our movement and our True Parents away, under the name of different companies. The members spoke, and their voices were heard. They stood firm that the church assets should remain in the possession of the church. So it was a great victory for our movement and for our True Parents. And again, I thank the brothers and sisters in South America for being courageous, for doing the right thing, and for letting the worldwide movement know that South America stands with True Parents.
When I went to Paraguay, I was joking with some of the brothers and sisters there that the name "Paraguay" is quite interesting to a Korean ear because it sounds like "para-guay," like "para-po-ah-ra," which is what grandparents would say to a grandchild when you want to say, "Please take a look at this." When I first heard Paraguay, I thought it sounded like "Look at this" country, which can be the guide for other countries of South America.
It's interesting that Paraguay is the country where Roman Catholicism took root many years ago. It was from Paraguay that Catholicism started to grow and influence the surrounding countries. In many respects Paraguay is like the birthplace of Catholicism in South America. When I met the governor, vice president, congresswomen, and the great senators they have there, I shared with them the breaking news that our True Parents are here: The Lord of the Second Advent, the messiah that we have been waiting for, is here.
I told the vice president, "Many times Paraguay is referred to as the corazon [Spanish for "heart"] of South America. So if Paraguay can graft onto the original olive branch, to our True Parents, and work in unity to bring the good news, the breaking news, and share it with the rest of South America, then God's fortune and blessing can be given to this great country."
When I met the vice president, we had a pretty large delegation. Though he's familiar with the good work of our True Parents through CAUSA and various other organizations, and he's heard about our belief system here and there, I think he's never heard that our True Parents are the messiah. I think a lot of people in the room felt a little afraid, "Is In Jin Nim going a bit too far? Will the vice president leave the room or start acting nervous?" But I began telling him the story of this extraordinary 16-year-old boy who met Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday in the hills of North Korea and from then on never wavered through all the different trials and tribulations he's had to endure, the six prison sentences and all the misunderstanding and persecution he had to carry in his lifetime -- he has always been consistent, dedicated, and loyal to our Heavenly Parent.
When I shared this news with him, Vice President Franco just sat in his chair with his eyes fixed on my face, and he listened for over 15 minutes. At the end he thanked me so much for coming and sharing with him how precious our True Parents are, why they are necessary to Paraguay, and why Paraguay has a special mission because it sits on the special spiritual heritage of Catholicism. I had explained to him that his country has the responsibility of tapping into the new message, the revolution of love that our True Parents are bringing, and of working together to re-inspire, to reinvigorate, and to empower the young men and women of Paraguay to be excellent people.
He thanked me profusely and said, "Not only am I honored to meet the daughter of Reverend Moon, but I believe I've just met a prophet." So I jokingly said to him, "Prophets are sent to provoke and to make you feel uncomfortable, maybe make you so angry that you would throw me out of your office. But you've been gentlemanly and kind, so perhaps I was not doing my job." We gave each other a hug, and I walked out.
As we were getting into the car, one of his assistants ran out and said, "Please do not leave." I was thinking, "Oh, boy." Some of the leaders were thinking, "In Jin Nim went too far this time." I waited in the car, and the assistant came back, saying, "The vice president has a gift for you." He gave me a beautiful gift that's a typical Paraguayan delicate doily, like a patchwork of lace. He gave it in gratitude to me, but really to True Parents.
Many times in our movement we're afraid to speak the truth, to share the breaking news. But there are lots of people who want to listen to the breaking news; there are a lot of people who are prepared. The message we bring is a good one, a message of hope. Just as this breaking news was a message of hope for the Paraguayan political leaders and for our brothers and sisters there, so, too, it was a message of hope when we shared with the Uruguayan members and dignitaries, including the former first lady whom I had the opportunity to dine with. These are people who are prepared to hear the news.
The former first lady said to me, "For the first time I finally understand what you mean. I finally get it. I've often thought about my role in life, but with the understanding of True Parents as the first man and woman working together in this beautiful partnership to create a family and to be the paradigm of true love for the world, I find immense pleasure and liberation in knowing that I'm a woman. I realize I have equal divine value."
When we went to Argentina and I met with the director of the Teatro de Colon, the biggest theater in Buenos Aires, the same thing occurred. The message is the same. The breaking news is the same. It really doesn't matter whether I'm talking to an artist, a minister, the president or vice president. The message is the same. When I deliver the message, the response is the same.
We have such good news; it's like a wonderful secret we are able to enjoy in the privacy of our own homes, and maybe we feel uncomfortable to share the good news or think we are not prepared. When I ask them what is the image of the Unification movement out there, some of my friends say, "Some people say it's great, that you've done a lot of great work, created great organizations that live to serve the world and promote peace. That's all wonderful. But many people think you guys are always hiding things, withholding. Sometimes at your workshop we hear things like, 'You're not ready for that.'" Sometimes the feeling that they get is, why are they not getting the full story, if it's so good and if it's so truthful?
In my experience, yes, I would like to think of myself as a lady, but when it comes to how I think, I'm rather blunt, and perhaps a little too much to the point for some people to bear. But I would rather be blunt and in your face about my opinions than for other people to look at me as if I'm withholding something.
The same thing happened when I went to Argentina. The Minister of Culture was absolutely taken by this news. He said to me, "What can I do to work with you? How can we build bridges between North and South America? How can we build bridges between the different countries of the world and the different types of projects you're working on? I want to get involved."
I gave him a couple of ideas that we can pursue and look at. But the message of our True Parents being the True Parents of humankind is very clear. He said, "We really do need a good model of a good father and mother. It's a beautiful thing." People are inspired. When I mentioned that my daughter came along to experience South America and also to give something back by teaching ballroom dance classes to young people, I said, "My daughter is a great fan of Latin dancing. She's a great fan of salsa and tango."
Then he got up from his seat and said, "I have the best gift." I replied, "Are you going to enroll me in a tango class?" He said, "No, but I have a fantastic DVD set, one for every day of the week. These are the best performers and artists of Argentina -- the best tango dancers, the best singers. I would like your daughter to appreciate Argentine culture." I thanked him profusely. Before I left, I asked, "When are you going to teach me how to tango?" He replied, "Let's go tonight." I said, "I have a speech to give tonight. Will you be in America soon?" He mentioned that he's coming to New York a couple of months from now. He said, "When I visit you at the Manhattan Center, I'm going to teach you how to tango."
Later during the evening I shared with various dignitaries, "Argentina is a very special place. In America, we have the White House. In Korea, we have the Blue House. But in Argentina, you have the Pink House. Did you know that pink is my father's favorite color because it is the color of love? The fact that the president's house is pink -- is that somebody upstairs hinting a thing or two? Perhaps Argentina can be the place where the revolution of love can take hold, so that the first blush of true love can be experienced by young Argentine men and women. With the good work that you're doing through different cultural expressions you are allowing the Argentinians to take part in, perhaps we can encourage everyone to experience this love of the divine, to tap into our own divinity because we are divine beings ourselves."
When I shared with the different dignitaries the breaking news that our True Parents are here, they responded in the same way. I heard that in the audience in Uruguay and Argentina were many of the friends of our movement who had actually walked out on my father when he came to teach them that he is the messiah and True Parents, that he is the Lord of the Second Advent. But this time around I saw everybody listening so attentively and carefully. I realized the power of the John the Baptist. In a way I became John the Baptist, testifying about my father, so people could accept 100 percent and open up their hearts.
In the past we put that responsibility on True Father himself; we turned him into a self-proclaiming messiah. That's a very difficult thing for people to accept. But if every one of us can be a John the Baptist figure testifying to the beauty of our True Parents, then we realize that people are ready to listen.
I've challenged the members in South America, "Don't you want South America to be the place where the revolution of true love is percolating, where so much noise is being made by young men and women of God who want to do great things, who want to see the world as one family, that our True Parents will hear about it, that they will be excited about it and want to visit your country?" Of course, they said "Yes."
I said, "We in North America are working really hard. If we can work together with you, and I can support you, and you can also support me in North America, and we can really work in unity to bring the two Americas together, to unite the Cain and Abel of these two hemispheres, then great fortune can be harvested and great fortune will be experienced.
I challenged everyone in the audience, "Think for a moment -- even if you don't think the True Parents are who they are claiming to be, even if there's any ounce of a doubt in your mind perhaps because you've heard a lot of things and feel a lot of things when you think about these two people -- think that there may be a 0.001 percent chance that they actually are telling us the truth. They actually might be the True Parents, the prince and princess of peace that many Eastern philosophies have talked about, that will appear in the next millennium, or even may have been predicted by Nostradamus, for that matter. If there is any inkling of a possibility, and if that possibility is actually the truth, then are we not the luckiest people alive?"
My father gave a speech, "The Future of Christianity" (in God's Will and the World, p. 210), in which he stated that Jesus did not come to die. In fact, if Jesus came to die, then there would have been no need to prepare the people for the coming of the messiah. God would have not had to prepare the people and would have sent his son into the persecution of nonbelievers. Then Jesus Christ would have died a whole lot quicker, if that was the main purpose. If Jesus was meant to die, why did God have to prepare the people?
God spent an inordinate amount of time preparing for the messiah, laying the foundation for the messiah, preparing the people of Israel for the messiah, because Jesus was not supposed to die. He was supposed to live, to find his beautiful wife, and to build an ideal family. When we think about that time, maybe the people then were just like us. Maybe some were fervent believers and their lives were changed by Jesus' teachings. But perhaps many were ignorant, or blind, or had only an inkling that he might be someone special. Perhaps they experienced a chill up their spine or intuitively felt that he was someone special, but they didn't have the courage to own up to those feelings. And because they did nothing, then Jesus died.
Fast forward 2,000 years. Here we not only have Jesus Christ come again, but we have the perfected Eve standing next to him. Together as the True Parents they are here to usher in the new millennium of peace. Some amongst us look upon them and want to dedicate everything they have for our Father and Mother. Some people have never heard the breaking news. Then there are some who are blind, who refuse to see. They might feel that the True Parents are here, but they refuse to open their eyes and see them as the Lord of the Second Advent.
I asked the audience, if there is the minutest possibility that they are who they say they are, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to decide? How are we going to live our lives? Are we going to jump in and work together with them because this is the very man that Nostradamus prophesied hundreds of years ago?
Nostradamus could not have made it more simple. When you read the quatrains about the prince of peace who will come, it could not be more clear than to say, somewhere in his name will be Diana's moon. There will be a literal moon in his name. He went on to say that this man will be represented by a rose and by the color red. Of course everybody knows that the color of our Unification Church symbol is red. For those of us who are not familiar, it rather resembles a rose, does it not?
Nostradamus went on to say that this man will carry the rod of Hermes. Hermes is the god of commerce and finance. It's interesting to me that even though my father is a man of God, many people want to label him as a businessman. He's famous for businesses he's built and raised up over the years. He's seen as someone who wields this rod of Hermes.
Nostradamus said that this man will have something to do with the crane. This point baffled many authors who interpret Nostradamus' prophecies, but anyone who understands that the True Parents are a man as well as a woman, then you have to look not only at Father but also at the woman standing next to him. Her name means "heavenly crane." Many times our church symbol is surrounded, almost like a parenthesis, by two heavenly golden cranes. Again, Nostradamus was making it very clear for us.
He said further that at the end of time there will be birds traveling through the air like a rocket, uttering the words, "Now, now." I envision Nostradamus looking into his copper bowl of water, seeing images of airplanes, which did not exist hundreds of years ago. It is our True Parents flying to different parts of the world, saying, "Now is the time of the breaking news. Now is the time we must decide to live as one family under God because if we don't, we certainly have the technological power to destroy ourselves many times over."
It becomes a necessity for us to seek a way to unite with something that is larger than life, something that is eternal, something that is not temporary and fleeting. We need to latch onto this concept of the eternal, of a Heavenly Parent, and to realize that we are His and Her children, that we have a duty to see the whole world as one family.
I went to Paraguay not as just a messenger of my father; I went there as a sister meeting my Paraguayan family. I went to Uruguay meeting my Uruguayan family, and I went to Argentina meeting my Argentine family, men and women alike. I encouraged them and said, "Mr. Vice President, next time you get a phone call saying, "Mi hermano," then you know that I am calling, because I am your sister calling you. You are my brother and you'd better answer my call."
When I see the beauty of the people around these countries and see how much potential True Parents established there -- one of our tracts of land there is the size of South Carolina -- I can see how much these countries have been prepared by our True Parents for the sake of the world. We can utilize these huge assets to perhaps feed the world, to take care of the world, perhaps to discover different medicines.
My father is always thinking about the world, thinking beyond individual salvation. When I first did my listening tour, I shared with brothers and sisters that there are two words in English that we must not forget. It may not be grammatically correct, but it can be a fantastic reminder of why we need to live for the sake of others. I like to share with my children that we should not live for the sake of others because we seek our own salvation. We've done that.
I ask myself, if I've worked so hard and sacrificed so much, bent over backward because I want to live a life of faith for my own salvation, then what good is it if the rest of the world is suffering? Why would I want to sit up in heaven if my brothers and sisters in the world are suffering? If the whole world is immersed in tears and heartache, for me to be sitting in heaven would be a very lonely eternity.
Our True Parents are saying, "Don't just think about individual salvation. We have to want to be good people, just because." Our desire to be good people is not contingent on us wanting to be saved individually. In other words, we want to be good daughters and sons, good wives and husbands, good mothers and fathers, not because we want to sit up in heaven all by our lonesome but just because we want to be good people. Let's practice this philosophy of living for others just because, not because God is going to give us a candy for a job well done, but just because we get a thrill and fulfillment in taking care of somebody else. The beauty of our movement lies in the fact that we are here because we want to save, we want to help, we want to liberate whole world.
It's larger than us. It's larger than our own family. It's larger than our own society. It's larger than our nation. We want to save the whole world. The message that our True Parents bring is incredibly profound and powerful.
When I think back to Jesus 2,000 years ago, as it says in John 1:11, people did not realize who he was. It says, "He came to his own and the people receiveth him not."
What about our True Parents? They have come, and what are we, the people, going to do? Are we not going to receive our True Parents? Or what about those who are born into this movement? What about the ones especially tapped and prepared? We've been thrown buckets and buckets of diamonds, but we do not understand what the value of these diamonds are. Perhaps we're seeing them as cut glass and don't realize that we have been thrown diamonds.
What are we as the Second Generation going to do? Our True Parents have come back home, and we don't know who they are? Do we not see who they are? Can we not feel what they are?
This is an important time to be thinking about where our faith lies and where we lie in terms of our decision to either own up to who we are as Second and Third Generation or not. This is not a time to be sitting on the fence, checking out the lukewarm waters on both sides. This is a time to decide to be that agent of change. This is a time to decide to do right. This is a time to unite with the centrality of our True Parents and to really inherit what they want us to be. If they say that the youngest son is the spiritual head of the family, so it shall be.
The Bible goes on to also tell the leaders of our world to not send our True Parents the way of the crucifixion, as did the rulers of Jesus' time. In I Corinthians 2:8, "None of the rulers of this age knew who he was, for if they had, the Lord would not go the way of crucifixion." The Bible clearly says that Jesus did not come to die. It was the ignorance and the blindness of the nonbelievers that caused Jesus to go the way of the cross.
I've often chuckled to myself when I read this passage because it says none of the rulers knew that he was Jesus Christ, the son of God. What is a ruler in mathematics? It's a long thing that has numbers and calibration, right? You can measure things. I've often thought if the rulers, people in position of leadership, spent less time measuring their own positions, measuring their own power, measuring their own ability to influence but concentrated on the important things, perhaps measuring their own relationship with their God, our Heavenly Parent, measuring their work in service to the people, then perhaps the rulers' eyes might have been opened. They might have heard the breaking news.
It's a great reminder for those of us in a position of power to not become like the calibrated rulers we use in mathematics. The position of leadership is not a position to do whatever you want. It's to serve the people you are leading. If you truly understand that, then you realize that if we are in the position of leaders and serving our True Parents, who represent the original olive branch through which we are grafted into the heavenly lineage and become part of one family under God, then it's our duty to serve our people by absolutely uniting with the will and the desire of our True Parents. That desire is very clear.
The power of true love is very clear. Once you give the people an opportunity to exercise their power to be that voice of strength, courage, and truth, in an atmosphere like the general assembly -- both in Brazil and in Paraguay -- you cannot be there and not be moved. This is a very difficult thing for some people. But when the people own up to understanding that this is what True Parents want -- we should keep God's treasure in God's hands, we should keep God's assets in God's hands -- then it's a wonderful feeling of victory when the vote is unanimous.
Brothers and sisters, as our church grows into the next millennium, as our children become young adults and become couples on their own and raise families of their own, let us remember where all this started. None of the Second Generation would be here without our True Parents. The majority of the First Generation would not be here without our True Parents. They are the ones who gave us life. They are the ones through whom we experienced true love, true life, and true lineage. They deserve our loyalty.
Brothers and sisters, don't let our True Parents down. Be courageous. Do the right thing, just because they are the ones who have given us spiritual life, and they are the ones who will guide us through all of eternity. Be vigilant, be constant, and be dedicated to our True Parents because we have so much to thank them for and we should be eternally grateful.
On that note, have a wonderful Sunday, and God bless you.
1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2: He was in the beginning with God;
3: all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
4: In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7: He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him.
8: He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
9: The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.
10: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not.
11: He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.
12: But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;
13: who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
15: (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, `He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'")
16: And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.
17: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18: No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
19: And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
20: He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
21: And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No."
22: They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
23: He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."
24: Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
25: They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?"
26: John answered them, "I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know,
27: even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
28: This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
30: This is he of whom I said, `After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.'
31: I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."
32: And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him.
33: I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
34: And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
35: The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples;
36: and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
37: The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
38: Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39: He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
40: One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
41: He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ).
42: He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).
43: The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me."
44: Now Philip was from Beth-sa'ida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45: Philip found Nathan'a-el, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46: Nathan'a-el said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
47: Jesus saw Nathan'a-el coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"
48: Nathan'a-el said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
49: Nathan'a-el answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
50: Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these."
51: And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."
1: When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom.
2: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3: And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling;
4: and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5: that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
6: Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
7: But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification.
8: None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9: But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear
heard,
nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared
for those who love him,"
10: God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
11: For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12: Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
13: And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.
14: The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
15: The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
16: "For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.