God’s Will and the Ocean: Episode 03

God’s Will and the Ocean
True Father Speaks on: The Way of Tuna, Pg 3-7
July 13, 1980, Belvedere

I have experienced all kinds of sports in the man's world, yet I have never found any that was as exciting as the struggle with tuna. Do you have an appetite for that? Not everyone can do it; you have to be born with the traits for it. However, women can be interested in it too. I am always studying how the American fishing industry can become prosperous once again, so whenever I am in Gloucester I am always planning how to interest American young people in the ocean.

Tuna season is like the Olympics of sport fishing, and I determined that I would be a record-breaking tuna fisherman. It took me twenty-two long days to catch my first tuna, however. There were many strikes during that time, but for lack of experience they were all lost. When a strike is so exciting, you can imagine how disappointing it is to lose the fish, but then you restore your spirit and resolve to go on. When the sun starts to sink at the end of the day, I feel like ordering the sun to stay up so I can stay out and get another strike. You really don't understand how I feel. If you have this kind of spirit when you attack any task or problem, there is nothing you cannot do. Though you lose the tuna, you just keep trying until you catch one. That's the way it goes.

When I first started out, people laughed at me as a novice. I thought, "They should watch me for three years and see what happens." All the professional fishermen were astonished that I broke record after record during those three years. Now they feel threatened by this "novice" who is having an impact on their world. They worry about what to do with the Moonies who are stealing all the honors. They can't stand to see us taking all the records, so they have started getting up earlier in the mornings in order to beat us. When they discovered that I was going out at four-thirty in the morning, they decided to go out one-half hour earlier. But, it didn't last; after the first day, only a few people came out at four. In the meantime, I started going out at three-thirty in the morning. When they resolved to go earlier than that, I started going out at two-thirty! 

When you go out that early, you usually have to wait four hours because the tuna come to breakfast on time...their time. However, it was a war and I went out early. Now people are giving up trying to beat the Moonies; they know that for sheer consistency and hard work, they cannot compete with us. What is interesting is that even with all those boats anchored up and fishing, the first strike always comes to the New Hope. Yesterday when I went out, it only took four minutes for the first strike to come!

Do you have some interest in this? How about the women? If you are interested, you have to marry a tuna fisherman to enter that world. Those who don't know the taste of tuna fishing don't really know the taste of life. When the interest in tuna is so great, will the number of people getting involved start to shrink, or become greater? A person with a really masculine character who tastes the spirit of tuna fishing wants to go out each day, regardless of how rough the sea is. This is the fundamental attitude of the men of the ocean. When you know this thrill and excitement, even if you are seasick, you still go. Tuna fishing is the best way to learn about the fishing industry.

People begin fishing with smaller boats, but each year get bigger ones. They make it their goal to beat the best person of the previous year. In Gloucester, excitement starts to swell when tuna season comes, because they know the top champion always comes—Reverend Moon in the New Hope. I feel it is good competition and young people will want to challenge that goal and record. If I set a goal for them to challenge, then the American fishing industry has some future.

Today, that industry has almost come to a halt because no one has that spirit. American women are not particularly fond of fish smells or the life of ocean-going men. It is an extraordinary woman who is interested in the ocean and its fish. When the battle starts with the tuna's strike, there is no time for courtesy or pleasantries. A team has to be organized and busy, and a fisherman would even yell at his own father at such a time. It is a rare woman who wouldn't mind being kicked by her own husband in the heat of a tuna battle. What about Unification Church women?

I am certainly not fishing for money. I already have the foundation to move in any direction. My goal is to break the record and demonstrate the sea-going spirit to the world. Year after year, I have set the record and people know now it is not happening by chance or coincidence, and that I have a special secret. People want to learn that secret, so they are trying to be nice to me. The other fishermen follow the New Hope with their binoculars, and when I get a strike, everyone's eyes are on me. Anyone in Gloucester who is interested in tuna fishing knows about the New Hope.

We want to establish something permanent in Gloucester, so we recently obtained a big estate there, which used to belong to the Catholic church. That house is being prepared to welcome people from all over the world. If anyone is invited up there to participate in our tuna fishing, they will not refuse. The mayor has been negative toward us, but let him come and see what we are doing. I see this house as an essential diplomatic base. 

Gloucester is close to Boston, a major city in the world, and near Provincetown, where the Pilgrims once landed. The spirit of this nation was born in the New England area, so it is an important area. It is a cultural center of America, and well-known as a seaport. Thus, it is a strategic location to show the world my spirit.

Recently, we bought a marina that was up for auction and many people bid against us, but the price kept rising and soon everyone stopped bidding. Even the mayor was interested in that marina, and he was anxious to keep us from getting it because it was such choice water-front property. Many powerful corporations bid, but I never paid attention to them, and eventually, we bought it. 

Now we have that marina, plus a dock and an estate, so Gloucester is being impacted by Moonies. Also the entire sport fishing industry is influenced by us, especially by our first opening of the world tuna tournament this year, offering the first prize of $100,000. Everyone was completely shocked when the announcement was made, but they became eager to see the Moonies come to their town. Gloucester citizens, the police chief and Coast Guard are all excited. Everyone's eyes popped at the thought of $100,000 and all of a sudden, they didn't mind the Moonies so much anymore. They say it is the most exciting event in a century in Gloucester. Boston, Gloucester and Provincetown are all bases for the tournament, so it is a topic in those cities as well. Everyone is talking about who will win the prizes, but I know who will win. However, since I am sponsoring the tournament, it would not be good for me to win first prize. I will, therefore, be the honorary chairman and compete, but I will not take the prize even if I do the best. Moonies can win, however.

The most important thing will not be who wins first prize, but which boat does it. I am determined that our people work the hardest for all three prizes. If they win, people will want to know which company made their boats, and then they will discover that I designed the boats and created the company that made them. I have planned down to the most minute detail what kind of boat would be best for tuna fishing, and yesterday I checked what our factory is doing, specifying what details must be changed. The people of the world will know these boats are my creation.