God’s Will and the Ocean: Episode 67

God’s Will and the Ocean
True Father Speaks on: Why We Have Ocean Training, page 216-218
July 2, 1984, Morning Garden

Learning to Work Together

I have a reason for bringing you together this summer. Some of you are Ocean Church members and you have already tasted this training experience. Others of you have sold fish, but you never knew how hard it was to catch them. You simply said to the fishermen, "Go out and catch the fish; I will just sell it for you." However, this wasn't right. Those who sell the fish should also understand how hard it is to catch them.

When you have separate channels, when there is just the one who catches and the one who sells, the one who sells always makes demands. He will say, "Oh, I don't like the fish you are catching. You should do this and you should do that." If they have to catch the fish, they will understand and they will not be able to blame the other so easily. At the same time, fish are often wasted after they are caught by bad handling on the boats. They are spoiled in many different ways. Therefore, you have to learn from each other and work together more closely.

Americans can learn a great deal from working with Japanese members. They have an advantage. I have watched them closely for the past several years. The Americans manage boats and they are always sloppy. On the other hand, the Japanese boats are always very tidy. Do you agree that the Japanese are tidy people? They keep everything very neat and orderly. There is very good proof for this: go to New York City and look at the automobiles parked on Fifth avenue. They look really dirty even though they are owned by rich people. However in Tokyo every automobile is spic and span. There are no dirty looking cars in the streets of Tokyo. This tells us something about the personality of Japanese people in general.

These are observations. Please keep your boat tidy and up to the Japanese standard. Another point about Oriental people is that they tend to be more frugal with money. Look at the Japanese people, the ones in Happy Group. They are small, they are not so aggressive, but every single one knows how to manage money. Even though you may not like it, you have a lot to learn from them. That is why I am putting you together, so that you learn from each other. The first step is for the Western members to observe the Oriental members.

Let me ask you another question. Do you like me? How come you like me? I am not a Western man. My eyes are slanted and smaller than yours. My skin is brown, not white. I am a Korean man. What if I were to say, "Okay, I'll put someone else in my position. Well, how about Gerhard? He is a very big man. He is seven feet tall and has a big face and big hands. His one foot is larger than both of mine. Maybe I should put him in charge of the Unification Church because he is bigger." Do you think that's a good idea? Should Gerhard replace me? You don't think so? Well then, how about Mr. Reagan? Do you think he would fill my shoes? He would never be able to perform as well in my place. I have a capability that cannot be replaced. In the same way, the Japanese are capable of certain things and you cannot replace them. The American leaders and the Japanese leaders are different. In the face of difficulties, the American leader tends to think of a way to retreat. On the other hand, the Japanese leader would never think of retreat. Also, in religious life, in the life of faith, they are your elder brothers. They were blessed earlier and have pursued this life much longer, so don't complain about them.

I am not favoring the Japanese. Americans may have a better potential, but the Japanese have already proven themselves. Be honest with me. Which one would you take? Once the Japanese have made up their mind to do something, they will do it for the rest of their life. If they get a job in a company, they serve that company for all of their life. How about an American who runs a Japanese restaurant? He hires two cooks, one is American and the other is Japanese. After one year, the American cook gets offered a better salary and without a single regret says "good-bye," and leaves right away. The Japanese would never do that; he would stay with that same restaurant for ten to twenty years. For this reason, the American owner should learn a lesson and hire the Japanese. Once their heart is tied to something, they will never cut from it. You have to become just like this. I have a great deal of hope in you and that is why I have brought you together with the Japanese members.

This begins your training for the summer. Go out and learn from the ocean. I am asking you to be serious and especially have no accidents this year. In tuna fishing, if you don't catch anything for one or two weeks, you begin to lose concentration. You may kick the baskets around and the lines may be on the deck and you just don't care about it, but the tuna strikes without any warning. Your feet must never be standing on any lines. This is very serious. Always pay attention to where you are and where you are moving on the boat.

Keep everything orderly on your boat and this will minimize accidents happening. What will you do if your feet get caught in a line? Be very careful about this point. If you ever get to that point, you would care less about the tuna. It's your safety, your life that is in danger. This summer I am stressing the point that you protect yourself from danger and accidents.

Organize yourselves like a tree. Each ten boats will have a leader, and then, each three boats will have a trinity leader. These three boats should especially be together as a trinity. Look out after each other and help each other. With this kind of organization make sure that no boats are out of order. Take very good care of one another. Three trinities should back up each other and one boat should look out for all three trinities. That is how all boats should be organized for the training courses to come.

Your main concern is not to let your boat get out of order. If your boat goes down, you cannot go out. You should do everything to prevent that. This is the way we shall do it. Today is the beginning. After three more days, we will finish the training on land and we will all go out and begin fishing. Whether I continue to be here or not is not the focus of this training. Don't be concerned about that. I have already done enough tuna fishing. I already know enough about that. Don't worry whether I am fishing or not. Every morning, we will go out at a certain hour. This is our tradition. You have to follow that. However, I am now exploring other kinds of fish, such as striped bass and flounder. Later I will go to Alaska for halibut fishing. Those who make a good record here can go with me. Your concern this season is to become real fishermen. Sleep in the boat and eat in the boat. This summertime is priceless. It is valuable training for you, for the rest of your life. I only want you to put in all of your heart and effort. God bless you.