God’s Will and the Ocean
True Father Speaks on: “The Heart and Spirit of Fishing, page 271-273
July 3, 1986, Morning Garden

The Heart and Spirit of Fishing

July 3, 1986, Morning Garden

IS THERE ANYONE here who is seeing me for the first time tonight? Are you new members? If you are a new member here, I am sure you have not experienced tuna fishing before. What did you do before you joined the church? Are you at least eighteen years old? Even though you are all in your early twenties, you are too young. Those who are here for tuna fishing for the first time, please raise your hands. Don't worry about your result this season. I understand that most of you are inexperienced. You have learned much during these ten days of education and training. However, when you look at the difference between these few days of classes and actual fishing itself, this training is nothing. It is like a speck of dust compared to the reality. The most difficult kind of fishing, amongst all the various kinds which you can learn, is tuna fishing.

Giant tuna are such difficult fish to catch. They can be found all over the world, in five different seas. Because they travel such great distances, they need speed. When you finally see an actual tuna, you will see that the side and back fins fold in so that the tuna moves just like a torpedo. Their top speed is around 100 knots and they average about thirty knots. Think about the life of the giant tuna. They have lived in the ocean for ten to fifteen, some of them more than twenty years. They have gone through so many risks, dangers and difficulties and are still alive. In that sense, some of their brains may work better than ours. For example, when the tuna seiner comes, the tuna don't just pass by the boat casually. They turn sideways and look very carefully. We are here to catch that very smart kind of fish.

Some of the largest tuna weigh over 1,000 pounds. They are larger than a big bull, but they don't have bones like the bull. In this sense, God has prepared the tuna as a gift for mankind and we are here to receive that gift. However, in general, American people have been ignorant of how good tuna tastes, but the Japanese people have known about it for a long time. The tuna is extremely tasty. A professor in Japan who has been developing and managing a tuna farm expressed concern that if Americans acquired a taste for tuna there would be none left for the Japanese. Fortunately, Americans don't know so much about tuna yet. However, when they find out the Japanese people are in trouble.

Let's compare something. If we say that whales are the kings and queens of the ocean, then tunas are the most handsome princes and beautiful princesses. We are here to catch this handsome and beautiful prince and princess of a fish. How beautiful and handsome are they? Let us suppose you have been on the ocean for days and days and then you catch one. You look at it and then immediately you go and kiss that tuna. Many people have been inspired like that. You can think like this, "I'm here to catch this tuna, but my skinny and rough Japanese hands are too ugly to even touch such a beautiful and handsome fish." You can certainly think like that. You must have lots of curiosity about catching tuna. I myself started fishing fourteen years ago. When I brought the New Hope here for the first time, the entire country knew about it. When I first came here, I didn't know anything about tuna fishing. I didn't know what kind of hook to use or how to make the lines or anything at all about it. However, I had more confidence than anyone else that within three years I would be the master of tuna fishing.

Father's Foundation in Tuna Fishing

When I first came here there were lots of tuna, maybe more than there are now. On the average day, it was not unusual for a boat to go out and catch at least one fish a day, and many times they would catch two fish. Thinking about those early days, I want to share a deep experience with you. In the beginning, I went out time after time and hooked up a fish, but then I would lose it. All the fishermen who had caught their fish would come back and say, "Another day where Reverend Moon hooked up a fish, but lost it."

I was not able to catch the fish and bring it up to the boat. This happens almost every day. And so, this became their daily gossip, whether I could actually bring home a fish or not. You will see that there are many large and luxurious boats which go out tuna fishing. Some of them bring their children and wives. I experienced them telling their families day after day, "Oh, Reverend Moon lost another fish today."

How many times in a row did I hook up but fail to catch? Not once, not twice, not even three times. Not until the sixteenth fish did I finally succeed. That was the first time in twenty-one days that I was finally able to bring one up to the boat. Mr. Ohnuki is a living witness to this history and he should stand up tonight so that you can see who he is. Think about those twenty days that we went out and the fifteen fish which we couldn't bring up to the boat. When we got that sixteenth fish, Mr. Ohnuki was in tears at that moment. Think about the conviction that we had to have to get that first fish.

In my mind was the thought, "I must train the youth of America to be able to catch at least one fish a day." Think about having that thought during those twenty days. My focus was on the way to hook the fish and not lose it. I was constantly studying this point. Another way of looking at it is to consider the money that is spent on tuna fishing. Think about spending so much money day after day and not being able to catch even one tuna. I became a desperate person.