Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 103

Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 5: Expansion of the Providential Foundation and the Annual Mottoes
Chapter 1: Registration of the Holy Spirit Association and Expansion of the Internal Foundation
Section 5: The Holy Songs, True Parents’ favorite songs
Section 5: The Holy Songs, Paragraph 15 

True Parents’ favorite songs

In all kinds of meetings, True Parents lightened the atmosphere by singing or calling one or more members to sing. The songs “Sarang Hae” and “Ommaya, Nunaya” are songs that True Parents sang with each other or with members at church holiday celebrations and other gatherings. True Parents also like to sing songs whose lyrics speak of yearning for the hometown, such as “Kagopa,” “Gohyang Mujeong,” and “Hyangsu,” that evoke feelings about the salvation of human beings who have lost their original homeland. They also like songs of spring, such as “Bom Cheonyeo” and “Song of April,” that stir with new life and hope, like plants that survive the cold winter and sprout forth in spring.

As he presided over the ocean providence in Cheong Hae Garden, Yeosu, True Father sang “Sailors’ Song” together with Japanese members, and he also sang Japanese songs like “Furusato” and “Akatombo” in chorus with the members. He liked “Hollo Arirang,” a song about Dokdo that expresses the lonely path of the providence, and “Thousand-Year Rock,” which expresses unchanging loyalty.

As he approached his Holy Ascension, True Father would have his grandchildren sit on his lap or at the table, and he would sing “Windflower” with them, smiling broadly. He also sang “Eight Scenes of Korea” and “In Praise of the Fatherland” out of his yearning for the kingdom of God.

9  “Arirang Alone” is a song about the island Dokdo. Another way to read “Dokdo” is with the Chinese characters Dok (獨) meaning loneliness, and Do (道) meaning path. The song relates how this rocky island’s small facade fares through a stormy night. The clear waters of Mt. Baekdu and Mt. Seorak flow to the East Sea. They find their way to where the sun rises. Then people take a boat to Dokdo, where they cast anchor and greet the morning sun. All members of the Unification Church should know this song. Dokdo is not actually lonely, but in the song the island refers to Eve. Dokdo is where Eve cultivates herself morally. Women should hold their children close to their hearts and teach them this song about Dokdo. It is a song that cannot be sung without tears, for it is very profound.

10  The song “Thousand-Year Rock” reminds me of the days I spent in Danbury. I was not lonely in prison; I was not estranged from others. Sunlight maintains its sovereignty with bright light at all places and at all times, night or day. You should think of Danbury when you sing this song.

Verse two is about the evening, when night approaches. When night comes, the place where I live and breathe is illuminated. This means that even if you go to a world of darkness you should represent the path of the Will, and even if you are in prison you should cast the light of the kingdom of heaven. This is how I established the name, “saint of the prison.”

The last part of the song says that there is nothing I miss in this world; now I know everything, I have experienced everything, and I have found everything. But as the days come and go on the path, stand straight or you will fall away. You need to think about that. If you act as you please, you will fall away. I am telling you to find the right way and follow it in order to establish and own the kingdom of heaven desired by God.

11  The song “Kagopa” is about going over the hill of arirang and finding the path on which one can love ones hometown and one’s country. It means going over the 12 hills of arirang. That is the path of the Unification Church, the course of restoration. We sing this song because it describes the course of restoration, liberating the fatherland by missing one’s hometown and looking for one’s original homeland. What matters is not what the song is about, but rather how we can absorb its contents.

At night, you miss the day, and after daybreak, the day comes. On the path of God’s Principle, we are persecuted so that we can restore everything in the enemy’s world. That is why persecution is not a bad thing. For a person who voluntarily endures persecution, a valley awaits after the hill, and the higher the hill, the deeper the valley. In that valley a spring of water flows and grows bigger, until by and by it becomes a great river whose current flows across the country from east to west and brings life to all parts of it. Where that river flows, it creates boundless and open plains. That earnest heart that left and is returning to the hometown is identical with the heart of the Unification Church, as it finds its way with the heart of restoration.

12  There is a song called “Man of the Wilderness.” If you are a man, it can be great to leave everything behind and run across the wilderness. You should try living like that at some time or other. When your wife is out on the frontline witnessing, and you visit her carrying a backpack with food and money in it, you feel splendid. You meet under a shady tree with sorrowful hearts, and speak to one another of what each of you have gone through. You say, “How hard you have worked! Let us sit here!” You thank her for working so hard in such a lonely place. You express how she has overcome difficulties while supporting you. This creates, right then and there, a bond of love that will last 1,000 years.

13  In the song “Shining Korea” there is a poetic and musical refrain that goes, “Dingdong daengdong.” We could say that the Unification Church is a “dingdong daengdong church.” That actually has a nice meaning; it signifies that the church stays in rhythm whether it goes up or goes down. The Unification Church is quite an interesting church. All kinds of people, young and old, come together, speak with one another and understand and sympathize with each other. They harmonize because the walls are not high. I feel that it is a good place, a place where people can make friends and close acquaintances.

A happy environment is one in which you meet someone for the first time and feel no distance, no barrier between you. What if our whole life, in which we build our circle of influence and practice our faith, were like that? Many leaders would come into being, people who can influence others wherever they go and leave behind fond memories. That is the hope based upon which I, too, am continuing this work.

14  The content of “Eight Scenes of Korea” is excellent, for it contains the philosophy of patriotism. People across the world who believe in the Unification Church can gain knowledge of Korea through this song, and based upon that they will inherit Korea’s ideas and traditions. With that in place they can adopt the ideal of benefiting all humankind, an ideal unique to the white-clad people of Korea, and become subjects who uphold the Will of God. Since this song contains the essence of such ideas, I inquired into who had written it. I discovered that it was in fact my great-uncle, who was a pastor. He wrote the lyrics and taught them to my father.

15  Let us sing “Song of Unification” loudly and with a heart to achieve unification through our devotion, our energy and our effort. We need to follow a path to restore North Korea and South Korea. Communism, however, has built a global structure and is persistently taking root. We need to tread on a thorny path until we can subjugate communism and expel it from the Korean Peninsula. We need to revive this country as quickly as possible. Our families should unite, both internally and externally, and in solidarity unify North and South Korea, forming one self-reliant nation. We are lighting against Satan, the enemy of the world. That is why we need to go through an internal revival. An external revival takes place automatically on the basis of an internal revival. When you love God, love True Parents, love your tribe and love your family, you experience a revival.