Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 196

Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 7: True Parents’ Course of Suffering and Victory
Chapter 3: Suffering In Danbury Prison And True Parents' Victory
Section 2: The Ascension of Heung-jin Moon, Paragraph 23
Section 3: Prison Life in Danbury, Paragraph 08

23 A report came from the British church leader. He shared a report given by one of the blessed wives about Heung-jin's activities in the spirit world. She reported about St. Francis of Assisi—that after he died in Italy he had not been able to return there, not even once. But as a result of Heung-jin's arrival in the spirit world, for the first time he could go and visit Italy. He expressed how overjoyed he was that he could return to his country. 

Also, a bishop from southern Germany died in Germany, but had been unable to go back to his country after his death. However, after Heung-jin took charge, that bishop was sent to Germany to supervise his nation, and he now has the amazing blessing of cooperating with the work of True Parents. He was extremely happy with this as well. 

Her report that I received through her church leader coincides with what I have said. People in the spirit world at first did not know who Heung-jin was. They were wondering about him, saying, "Who is that Asian boy?" They wondered all the more when they saw that Jesus was humble in front of him. So Heung-jin introduced himself to them, "I am Heung-jin." And then Jesus said, "I am the older Christ and Heung-jin Moon is my younger brother Christ."

Section 3. Prison Life in Danbury

Forgiving America

On July 20, 1984, True Father was imprisoned in the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut. The day before his imprisonment, he delivered a public statement, asserting that the root of this case was not a matter of tax evasion but the abuse of government power to persecute religion. Earlier, on June 26, 1984, he had testified as to his innocence at a hearing of the US Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution.

1  I am innocent. I have not committed any crime. I am simply a victim of the US government's persecution and abuse of power. Thousands of members of the clergy from all over America have protested the government's persecution of me and have made a pledge to undertake one week of imprisonment in solidarity with me, in the name of protecting religious freedom. 

In 1971, God called me to come to America and lead a movement to revive Christianity and restore the founding spirit of this nation. He sent me to awaken the American people from their spiritual ignorance at a time when an oppressive spirit of atheism and religious intolerance had emerged. I myself suffered nearly to the point of death in a communist prison camp. I am willing to suffer in an American prison if it will serve God's purpose in awakening America from its spiritual slumber. 

If you truly understand the scope of my work in America, can you really believe that I came to America to defraud the United States government of an estimated $25,000? From the very beginning, this was not a tax case. It was an attack by the United States government on the religious freedom of my church. I stand convicted for no other reason than that of my religious beliefs and activities. 

I will now move the world headquarters of my church to Danbury Prison, where I will continue to pray and work for the sake of this country. I thank God that He is using me as His instrument to lead the fight for religious freedom and to ignite a spiritual awakening in America at this most crucial time in human history. May God bless America.

2  When I was leaving for Danbury, our Unification Church members around the world asked, "What shall we do while you are gone?" But I said to them, "Do you not see the new beginning that will take place around the world? You may not be able to see the things that God is preparing beyond Danbury, but I can. Can you not hear the sound of drums as the foundation is being set for a hopeful future, when all who oppose us will surrender? Can you not see the American people bowing their heads in reverence?" I held on to this vision as I entered Danbury Prison. 

My opponents gloated, saying, "Look at this man. He thought he was strong enough to pick up and put down the whole nation of America. Now he is nothing but a loser." But I am not a loser. For me, prison is just a stage on the path to accomplishing my incredible dream. I said to myself, "When I leave prison and step outside, the morning sun will be shining brightly. You will be greeting the darkening days of autumn, while I will be greeting a spring garden budding with new shoots. When you are unable to step into this green garden, your hearts will be filled with what feels like 1,000 years of bitter sorrow." With such thoughts in my mind as I entered prison, I walked tall.

3  Up until the very moment Father departed for Danbury, he encouraged you and tried to inspire you with hope. Even so, July 20, 1984, is a day I truly would like to erase from history forever. 

Departing from East Garden at 10:00 p.m., I accompanied him to Danbury Prison. Biting my lip, I firmed up my resolve to be strong, yet I could not hold back the tears that flowed even without my realizing it. During that ride, Father was not the least bit concerned about what would happen to him. Even as he thought about America and God's providence, his only concern in that moment was to comfort me. When I saw that, I was overwhelmed; I did not know what to do. 

Before his departure, Father said, "I will liberate even this prison." He repeatedly said we should not cry for him but rather pray for the sake of accomplishing God's Will. 

Today, July 22, at the crack of dawn, he called and asked me to convey this message to you, "You are the people who have received God's royal summons to kindle a beacon of light within Christianity." 

Securing Fathers freedom depends on you. I see this as the final opportunity God has given to us. Please continue fulfilling your mission and activities with the most sincere devotion, and carry out Father's direction. When you move God's heart with your sincere devotion, Satan will raise his arms in surrender, and history will welcome a new age.

4  Whatever bitter pain I suffered, it cannot be compared to the bitter sorrow of God. Every time I went to prison, I poured out everything. I was imprisoned under Japanese imperial rule, I was imprisoned after going into North Korea, and I was imprisoned after I came back down to South Korea. I was imprisoned even in America. As I carried out my God-given mission, I even looked forward to the prisons I might go to in the Soviet Union and China. I have faced death and imprisonment throughout my life. Yet I had to stay alive. Even in the worst prison, even under torture, I did everything possible to stay alive. No matter how thick the prison walls, each time I made a breakthrough. 

In Danbury Prison I was taken aback by how our Unification Church members from around the world wept profusely when they came to see me. Before entering the prison I said to them, "You are only staring at the iron gate of Danbury Prison. You cannot see the world of the future that lies beyond its prison walls, but I can. I hear the trumpet call sounding liberation and the shouts of workers gathering the harvest." 

Wait and see. We will surely embark on a path to a brighter future for America. If I cannot get there, you must teach people and lead them until it comes to pass. The time is coming when America will have to seek my advice.

5  When God loves people, what if He were to love them only at the level of 80 percent and put the rest of His bundle of love in a warehouse? People are greedy; they would not be able to sit still. They would surely explore the entire warehouse, licking their lips and tasting everything, looking for more. They would not leave until they felt certain there was no more love left for God to give away. People are that greedy for love. God created people to be greedy for love, so they will scrape up the bits of love at the very bottom. For this reason, history welcomes people who are in search of love, and has done so for thousands of years. 

I have been bringing a tide of love to America. We were opposed from the front but welcomed from the back; we were opposed from above but welcomed from below; we were opposed by the present but will be welcomed by the future. How marvelous! So I did not worry about my imprisonment. Lying in a prison, I felt so comfortable. My digestion was good. I was comfortable through and through. The other inmates would clamor about this and that, saying they wanted to die. I, on the other hand, slept well and ate well. To me, prison is no problem.

Winning new followers

As True Father suffered through this world-level Golgotha, he never despaired. Although he was unfairly incarcerated, he served his time as an example to others, giving profound inspiration to the other inmates. Seeing the way he practiced true love in his daily life, the inmates came to respect him. The environment of love he created transformed the atmosphere of the prison. 

In prison, True Father continually prayed for America. Knowing the great purpose God has for this country, he could not stop loving America. Also, throughout his incarceration he continued leading the providence.

6  The prisoners at Danbury Prison were starved for love and yearned to receive it. So I spoke every word with a heart to love them. Consequently, they all wanted to be close to me. 

At mealtimes, in the beginning I would sit in a corner and eat by myself. But within three months there were people who would gather at my usual spot and wait there for me to come and sit down. When so many people came to my table that every seat was occupied and there was no seat for me, I would go to a different table; but then they would leave their seats and come to sit near me. This happened frequently.

Why do you think this happened? Were they forced to do it, or did they want to? The human heart is attuned to heaven's heart. People are spiritual beings who know innately who loves them, who cares about them and who guides them in the right direction. They can recognize a loving heart and an upright mind. This is why we do not need to witness to people with words. When love is overflowing from our heart, flowers will naturally bloom there. Even if a frigid wind blows, some flowers will bloom through cracks in the rocks. Some flowers can bloom even in the arctic regions amid the world of ice.

7  I thought that if I had a mind to love the inmates in this American prison, even if I was only able to love one of them, it would be as if I were loving all the citizens of America. I regarded the prison as a microcosm of heaven and earth. So in loving the inmates, I would be loving America. In that place I determined that I would love America more than anyone else. No one tends to like prison inmates, but I loved them more than anyone else ever loved them. When I make such a claim to the world, no one can dispute me. The people in the prison will testify to it. Whenever the prison served some delicious food, the inmates would bring it to me.

In general, prison life is not easy. Even so, you have to live for the sake of others. When you serve others, new and higher things can be created. And when you continue to serve, those newly created things will fall into your possession. This is God's fundamental principle. This is what is signified by the Garden of Eden that God created in the beginning; it is the realm of heart where people live for the sake of others.

8  Shall I share with you one of my experiences from when I was in Danbury Prison? I received a letter from someone who had once been a member of the Unification Church. After seven years of hardships doing fund-raising activities, he could no longer endure, and left the church. But after he left, all the things he had learned during his time fund-raising helped him to become a self-reliant person capable of earning his own living. What he had learned helped him to become a person who had compassion for others, whereas before he had always expected others to have sympathy for him. 

He wrote that all the principles of the Unification Church had proven true in every situation. He had gone on to complete graduate school. But during his school years, not a single professor helped him to establish the foundation to have a bright future; nor had his parents done that. The only person who taught him how to establish his foundation for the future was me, a teacher from the East, and he was truly grateful for it. 

As I read this letter in prison, I thought, "Hmmm, what I have been doing is not wasted." This ex-member is proof that I am resurrecting the American people who are withering away, helping them to become new sprouts that will bud and blossom. The young people whom I am deploying in crucial positions, and who love this country, can become mainstays of a new America in the future, and through them this nation of America will be renewed.