Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 67

Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 3: The Beginning of True Father's Public Course and the Founding of HSA-UWC
Chapter 3: Founding the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity
Section 2: The Cheongpa-dong Headquarters Church, Paragraph 11
Section 3: Conditions of Devotion and Guidance on Faith, Paragraph 08

11  If visitors complain or make negative remarks about the Cheongpa-dong Headquarters Church when they see it, finding it to have a different standard from what they had expected, the heart of longing they had for the church will vanish. If someone feels, “This is not what I was hoping to see,” and utters such words about it, then even though that person offered much devotion for the main church in the past, that offering will have been in vain.

Looking at the shabby Headquarters Church, if that person thinks, “Should this place where I offered devotions for so long remain the way it is? I will pay any price and make any sacrifice to make this church better than any other denomination’s headquarters church,” and if he makes this resolution before heaven in tears, I believe that he will become my companion in the Will. Because his standard is higher than anyone else’s, God will embrace him in His bosom.

I have heard many times, directly and indirectly, that most of the overseas family members cannot help but feel this way. If this is what family members overseas feel and think, the Unification Church members in Korea should not let themselves fall behind them in caring for the Cheongpa-dong Church.

12  At the Cheongpa-dong Headquarters Church, we held True Parents’ Holy Wedding Ceremony, an event unprecedented in history. Here too, we conducted many historic works; God’s Day, Parents’ Day, Children’s Day and the Day of All Things were inaugurated here. The Holy Wedding took place here in 1960. The 36 Couples and 72 Couples were given the marriage Blessing here as well. This is a historic place and we must not disgrace it.

If I wanted to build a new church, I could do it right away. I could take down this building and build a church structure better than any other church in Korea. However, I am not greedy. I do not hope to get something unless I first offer devotion and my motivation is God-centered. We cannot establish the true history and tradition simply by using money for a beautiful new building.

13  The Unification Church that you see in front of you with your own eyes is not everything. More important is what is behind it. I visited numerous palaces during my tours of dozens of countries. However, when I visited them I said to myself, “I will save the world starting from my small place.” If I offer more devotion in this small place than in the extravagant buildings of the world and make a spring of deep devotion and heart there that God will remember, I believe thirsty people will come to my spring. It does not matter whether the water of life pours out of a rocky cave or from high on a mountain ridge. Everyone will go to that spot regardless of where it is. If that place yields true spring water, even a city will be built there. That place can become the original place of God’s history and the birthplace of His culture.

14 When I see the pillars holding up the ceiling at the Cheongpa-dong Church, I remember the time when I shed tears holding onto one of them. I can recall our church history and remember vividly the time when our whole nation was against us.

I know some people who keep their loved one’s handkerchief inside their bosom as a treasure among all treasures and find solace from it throughout their lives. For others, that handkerchief may be something they can throw away in the washroom, but to the former, it is more precious than their own lives. A handkerchief does not cost much, but once love is involved with it, it becomes priceless.

 

Section 3. Conditions of Devotion and Guidance on Faith

Investment and acts of devotion

After he was released from Seodaemun Prison, True Father lived at the original Cheongpa-dong Headquarters Church. The years that followed, until early 1957, were a period when he made preparations to advance to a new stage. During this time True Father devoted all his energy to educating members. He focused on outreach activities, with Eu Hyo-won, the first church president, giving lectures and teaching the Divine Principle. In addition, True Father often took members on recreational outings in nature to cultivate their physical discipline and their relationship to the creation.

The life of faith of the members was more intense at that time than at any other time in the history of our church. They attended church services, participated in outreach activities, and studied the Divine Principle. True Father himself led the church services. Although he wore a humble work jacket and the church hall was small, it was always filled with members day and night. In the congregation were many women, many young people, and intellectuals, including university professors. Everyone participated in outreach activities as volunteers, each with his or her own method of witnessing.

1  During the time of pioneering in 1957, I slept only two hours a day. In those days I would pray together with the members all night. It was in the midst of a seven-year period during which I prepared and trained myself so that in the 1960s, when we would move into a new world, I would not be ashamed before heaven and would be victorious in my 21-year course.

2  After I founded the Unification Church, I offered prayers and conditions of devotion every day for seven years, staying up in my bedroom until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. My heart was determined, “I will pour out all my sincerity and devotion. No matter how tired and exhausted I am, I will continue. Even when I am hungry, I will pour out my whole self. I will not let sleep overcome me. I will continue until I build a foundation that meets with heaven’s official approval.”

My devotion with this kind of heart sowed seeds that were connected to God’s heart. They will bring forth growth throughout the world. Even if the members of the Unification Church today cannot inherit those seeds, some day without fail their fruits will be harvested, if not in Korea then somewhere else in the world. This is what I think.

3  In the early days of the Unification Church, I prayed so intensely that my nose bled. I thought, “Even though I am bleeding like this for the sake of human history, if that blood moves people to feel indebted to me and so ashamed that they cry bitterly that they cannot repay it, that would be a glorious thing.” I also thought, “It is an honor to be whipped on behalf of the people of the world.” This is true.

Who is the patriot among all patriots? If two people suffer a whipping for the sake of the nation, one receiving 10 lashes and the other 100 lashes, the latter is a greater patriot. A person who receives 1,000 lashes is an even greater patriot, and if someone appears who is whipped with 10,000 lashes, he will be greater still; all the nation’s fortune will adhere to him. Then, what if another man comes and is whipped with 100,000 lashes? Even if this person tries not to take it, all the nation’s fortune will be given to him. Don’t seek fortune in any other way. This is the way to receive it.

4  You have to inherit what I prepared when I sacrificed myself in my youth. By so doing, you should advance to a victorious position where all nations praise you. If you live for the sake of all nations, loving them, you will surely attain victory. It is my earnest desire for you to advance to a position even higher and more glorious than mine. But do you want to receive that fortune by just sitting around doing nothing? It is time for you to stand on the front line.

During the early years of the church, I trained members day and night so that they would not be swept away into the evil world. For example, one day when we climbed up Mt. Gwanak, it was raining hard. The path was very slippery, but despite the difficulties we climbed all the way to the top. This is how I trained the members to fight on the battlefield against the nation and the world, so that they would not become remnants of a defeated army. I trained them like this despite all the accusations that came against me.

5  In 1957 when I was educating the church members in Korea, I used what I call the one-on-one strategy. It is a strategy that will last until the end. I gave my lecture in front of one person as if I were giving it to hundreds and thousands of people, thinking that upon that person would depend hundreds and thousands of people. In order to raise that person as an authentic disciple, I had to pray for him and do sufficient conditions of devotion on his behalf to motivate him to become such a disciple.

In such a case, three levels of relationships are created: me, you and the local members. First, there must be unity between you and me; then you should bring unity among the local members and yourself. Why three levels? It is because originally God and Adam should have been united and then Adam and his sons should have been united. That is a principle. Without reaching perfection through three stages, the realm of perfection of the four-position foundation cannot appear. That is why you have to create others like yourself.

6  If someone says even one word that touches my heart, I might burst into tears. I have such a heart. There is something in my heart that makes me choke up whenever I think of God. I cannot help this. Since I have such a quality within myself, my life itself is prayer even when I do not pray in a formal way. That is why I always feel God’s sorrowful and suffering heart, and why I sometimes fall down, choked with emotion, or grab hold of a tree or a telephone pole while my tears flow uncontrollably. At those times I feel God’s heart so intensely that I can no longer stand upright.

When I looked into it, I realized that something happened to God that made Him extremely sad. When I prayed about it, He let me know what happened and where. Since I have the mission of the person with the central responsibility on earth to make a foundation of heart, and to deal with both spiritual and physical issues required to make this foundation, God always lets me know His actual situation.

7  There was a time when even beggars told each other that they should not go to the Unification Church because the food we offered them was so meager. Yet, we moved up from the bottom step by step.

In the early days I did not even celebrate my birthday. I thought, how many people have died never able to celebrate their birthday while on earth? That is why I fasted on my birthday for three years, to sympathize with them and to connect with them when I meet them in the spirit world.

Also, in the early days I did not wear a suit and tie when I spoke from the pulpit on Sundays. I began my ministry wearing laborer’s clothes. Whenever I spoke, whether a sermon or lecture, I invested my sweat and tears, offering my utmost sincerity, even if only one person was listening. I did not treat people as guests who were just passing by. I now miss those early days.

8  Throughout my life, I invested everything I had to witness to people. When a patient comes to see a doctor at the hospital, the doctor has the responsibility and obligation to invest his life for that patient, even forgetting to sleep. Likewise, in raising the church members I forgot about whether it was day or night. I often ate breakfast thinking I was eating dinner. There is such a tradition in the history of our church.

When you are witnessing, create an environment in which even nature desires to praise you, in which the water in the river wants to stop flowing to praise you and the fish in the river want to be on your table so you can eat them. Then the people who eat those fish will start responding to you. This is the kind of foundation you should leave behind.

Go around the area you are responsible for 10 or even 100 times. Visit every single house without exception. God goes around the world 1,000 or even 10,000 times searching for His children. How can you become God’s sons and daughters and inherit from Him unless you do the same? So in every town you visit, you should want to go around to all the houses in the area 100 and even 1,000 times, and when you are unable to do so, you should repent in tears. As a leader responsible for the heart and spirit of others, you need to do that. That is the way of a representative of the vertical True Parent and the horizontal True Parents. Continue in this way, and your members will take the proper direction without any deviation, find their position, and follow your example.