Children's Day 1984

Mose Durst
October 24, 1984

Dr. Mose Durst speaking at the World Mission Center.

It has now been a little over three months that Father has been imprisoned. In these three months I have seen him about a dozen times, but never once has he appeared to be anything other than bright-spirited, all-embracing, and loving. Last Sunday I brought a world-level figure to the prison to meet with Father. Father came out the door and immediately embraced him. The man had been wanting to meet Father for a number of years, but Father had always told me, "The timing is not right."

I his has been going on for more than three years.

Finally Father said to him at the prison, "You've wanted to meet me for a long time, haven't you? Well, I thought I would wait for the right occasion!" They both laughed. The man spoke to Father for about an hour, and then for about two hours Father inspired him with a Principle lecture and his vision of the future world. They spoke until lunchtime.

You know how Mother is; she gets bath towels, spreads them over the table, and makes a beautiful place setting. She places a can of coke, a paper plate, popcorn from the machines, and cotton-bread ham sandwiches, on the table. Then we all ate the holy meal together. Father then said to the guest, "Don't you think that this is a memorable meal?" After we left, the person told me, "That was the most memorable meal I ever had!" He had been to the White House, and yet he felt that the prison meal was the most memorable.

Four elders cut the Children's Day cake. From left to right: President Jae Suk Lee, Rev. Young Whi Kim, Rev. Won Pil Kim, and Mr. Moto'o Furuta.

What is significant is how Father acts during the most difficult times. Even in the most difficult circumstances Father has never done anything other than express concern about the church, and the Christian community. Whenever I go to Danbury he urges me: Go out, and try to awaken the religious leaders of the world, to awaken people to their God-centered purpose! Every time I visit the prison he talks about the need for ethics, morality, and values. As we speak, all around us are prisoners with tattoos and big muscles, and here is Father giving a sermon to me about how we have to create a beautiful ethical society!

One week Mother said to me, "You know, those prisoners really need something! We should teach them all the Principle! Why don't you teach them all the Principle?" I said, "Yes, Mother, but you see, we're not allowed to teach the Principle directly in the prison." She said, "But they need to hear the Principle!" I said, "Yes, Mother, they do need to hear the Principle." It's such a beautiful innocence! Rather than urging me to do something for Father, Mother urges me to help the prisoners in the prison. That kind of beauty and innocence are exactly what Father and Mother are all about.

This year, with all the terrible difficulties that have come to him -- often because of our failures -- Father has exhibited extraordinary constancy. You've all heard how Father won the award for having the neatest bed and the cleanest room. Even in prison Father knows how to love his environment and love other people around him. It struck me again that the purpose of our lives is to become people who are normal in love, normal in ideals, and normal in values. That's exactly what Father is. In the most abnormal circumstances -- in prison -- he is a truly normal human being.

Col. Bo Hi Pak reads the Children's Day card, which he later brought to Father in Danbury.

It's very easy to feel good when we're doing what we like and when we're in a good mood. It's very difficult to do good when we're in a terrible situation and we feel rotten. I'm sure Father doesn't even enjoy the cotton-bread sandwiches that he eats, and yet if you look at him he relishes that food as if it were the best-aged kimchee in the world. You could probably bite the machine and get a better taste than the food that comes out of it. In Father we have the example of a true person, a true husband, a true father; in Mother we have an example of a true wife, a true mother, at a time when the world is false.

The central message of all religion is that the world is fickle and false in its faith. What the world needs is a true person. What the world has never realized and what religion has never realized is that what is needed is True Parents. Thank God we at last have the example of the True Parents.