Mother of Peace: Episode 49
Mother of Peace: And God Shall Wipe Away All Tears from Their Eyes
A Memoir by Hak Ja Han Moon
Chapter 8: The Mother Builds The Family, The Family Builds The World, pg 240-245
The new age centers on womanhood
At the end of May in 2016, the United Nations hosted its “Education for Global Citizenship” conference in Gyeongju, South Korea. The UN Secretary General and more than 4,000 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 100 nations came together and held discussions on how to create a brighter world. At that conference, the UN selected the Women’s Federation for World Peace to be a part of the discussions as one of the small number of NGOs with consultative status, in recognition of its genuine and wide-ranging activities for peace over the years. It seemed as if just a few days had passed since the Women’s Federation was taking its first steps to establish itself in the world. In that moment, WFWP’s spirit of peace and service, which we had practiced with devotion throughout the world, shone brightly. The inception of the Women’s Federation traces back to 1991. In September of that year, some 7,000 women, including the wife of the Japanese prime minister, came together in Tokyo, Japan, to inaugurate the Women’s Federation for Peace in Asia. As the founder, I gave a speech entitled “The True Love Movement Bringing Salvation to Asia and the World.” The next year I gave a speech to 50,000 people in the Tokyo Dome, a crowd that had gathered with only 15 days’ notice. I spoke with passion burning deep within, and many hearts were moved.
The following April, 160,000 women from 70 countries gathered in Seoul. Four thousand buses created a traffic jam downtown as they conveyed these crowds to the main Olympic Stadium. This tremendous number of women leaders had come to participate in the proclamation of the era of women. The Women’s Federation for World Peace was born on that day. This was not to be just one more women’s organization but a mirror reflecting this new age. My speech that day provided a compass to guide humankind out of the world of war, violence and conflict and into the ideal world of one human family led by men and women in harmony, overflowing with love and peace.
Over the months following that event, I traveled the world to encourage women leaders and launch a true women’s movement that could win the hearts of both men and women. I joyfully met with leaders from all walks of life and we held women’s conferences successfully all over the world.
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Until now, neither men nor women have known the true value of womanhood. As a result, men have not approached women with authentic appreciation. To break that mold, women in modern times have campaigned to advance their rights and achieve liberation from past restrictions. They have, for the most part, taken a position of complaint against men and channeled their energy into political movements to change laws. With a different perspective, I launched the Women’s Federation for World Peace as a movement to awaken women to their true value and help them embrace men and develop themselves in partnership with men.
To be a clear mirror that reflects this age, each woman first needs to be clear and pure within herself. Each needs to find the indomitable power within that is necessary to overcome self-centeredness. She needs to become a true daughter who attends her parents with filial piety, and a true wife who completes her husband with fidelity and devotion. Moreover, she needs to become a true mother who raises her sons and daughters with love and dedication. She needs to form a family of true love that attends God. God will raise up such true women as leaders on the path to world peace.
A mother’s hand soothes a stomach ache
“Mommy, my stomach hurts.”
When a child complains of stomach ache, his mother lays him on her lap and rubs his tummy without a single word. Her hands may be gnarled and rough, but in a few moments the child feels better. This may be a simple approach, but it is a practice based on love. We all dimly remember our mother’s warm touch. This is the very touch with which I long to embrace all of humankind as Mother of the universe and Mother of peace. As we know from our own experience, a mother hears her child’s cry very clearly and she has no thought but to quickly run to her child. This is because a mother’s love and attention are directed solely towards her children. A mother will walk through a fiery pit without hesitation to save her child.
Koreans often pray for cheongbok, which means living in happy contentment even without possessions or power. Health is most important for our happiness. We have a saying, “If you lose your possessions, you have lost little. If you lose your reputation, you have lost a lot. But if you lose your health, you have lost everything.” Taking these words very seriously, I have long pondered over the secret of good health. It is not easy for anyone to live their entire life without ever getting sick.
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During my early life, I saw many people suffering from malnutrition or whose lives were broken by injury or disease. At age 16, when I entered St. Joseph’s Nursing School, I felt joy and pride, knowing I had found exactly what I needed to do. However, in taking on the mission of the Mother of peace, I had no choice but to put that vocation aside. While traveling around the world, I saw many children who could have become healthy if they had better care. Some lost their sight; some had limbs amputated because they could not be treated in time.
This pain remains as a deep knot in my heart. I want to be the mother who can embrace all people who are ill, physically and spiritually. When we injure a toe, we feel the pain throughout our entire body. As the Mother of one family under God, I feel the pain of each person as my own pain. Having fallen ill myself in countries not my own, I know what it means to be a foreigner in need of medical care.
Thus it was with great joy and satisfaction that Father Moon and I decided to realize the dream I had when I attended nursing school. We established an international hospital in Korea where all people can receive expert spiritual and physical care and feel a mother’s touch.
When we get sick, from the depth of our hearts, we yearn for our mother’s warm touch. However, our mother is not always near us. To provide a mother’s touch, after receiving permission to build in 1999, we opened the Cheongshim International Medical Center, now called the HJ Magnolia International Medical Center, in 2003. It overlooks Cheongpyeong Lake, where the waters are clear and the mountains are beautiful. The Medical Center is not a typical hospital. Beyond providing excellent standard treatments, we focus on the true meaning of health. Health does not simply mean having a sturdy body. An original human being has mind and body united in harmony.
Thus, Unification medical science is based on the principles of truth and the spirit of love. The HJ Magnolia International Medical Center is the first facility to develop and implement this new model. Doctors and nurses from various nations take care of patients with a motherly heart in the midst of beautiful natural surroundings, which are Heaven’s gifts. They are answering a question that has been neglected until now: “Does faith in God truly enhance our health?” The answer to this question is not difficult. For good health, the harmony of our mind and body is an important agent of healing, and faith is what allows us to realize that harmony. The HJ Magnolia International Medical Center not only uses state-of-the-art medical techniques, but it is also the first full-scale hospital to integrate spiritual healing in the prevention and treatment of disease. Behind this are my prayers for the physical and spiritual salvation of all people so that none may be orphans.
We must take care of our health when we are healthy. Most of the time we tend to ignore that simple fact. In our busy lives, we can easily forget to take care of our mind and body. God gave us the blessing to “be fruitful.” That means to have spiritual, psychological and physical health. The mission of HJ Magnolia International Medical Center is to enable people to achieve that joy.
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