Mother of Peace: Episode 51
Mother of Peace: And God Shall Wipe Away All Tears from Their Eyes
A Memoir by Hak Ja Han Moon
Chapter 9: God’s Kingdom In our Midst, pg 251-257
CHAPTER 9 God’s Kingdom In Our Midst
The Most Important Teaching
We are taught many things in the course of our lives. Our parents teach us even at mealtimes and our teachers teach us most diligently. We learn about science, which explains the order and logic of things, and practical skills that help us escape poverty. Our elders teach us attitudes to adopt in the workplace. All these teachings are important and make us brighter and wiser. Knowledge and wisdom are precious, and we need to pursue them continuously. Nonetheless, of all teachings, what are the most important? The teachings of religion are the most important. In Korean, the word religion is jong-gyo, which is made up of the Chinese characters jong (宗), meaning fundamental, and gyo (敎), meaning teaching. The doctrines of the religious founders, including Confucius, the Buddha, Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad, have served as driving forces shaping civilizations and safeguarding the human conscience throughout the ages. Religion is necessary for the eradication of the world of sin and the creation of the ideal world desired by God and humanity. Accordingly, religion should be our lifelong companion.
Selfishness has become commonplace in our world. We enjoy improvements in living standards based on technology, but with each passing day, we are increasingly isolated. We take little personal responsibility for our country, our society and even our family. The rising divorce rate proves that husbands and wives no longer take responsibility for each other. Parents do not care for their sons and daughters, and sons and daughters abandon their parents to pursue self-centered desires. Can you imagine the pain God feels seeing humanity, whom He created as His children, living this way?
Our world houses many religions. What should those religions teach? Religion must first teach the truth about God. I do not mean simply that God exists; I mean teaching about our relationship with God. True religion teaches the nature of God, the reality of God’s love, and how to live in that love.
I do everything I possibly can to convey God’s truth, traveling hundreds and thousands of miles, crisscrossing the five oceans and six continents. Wherever I go, I meet righteous people prepared by God. No matter how difficult the circumstances, God searches for righteous people. In the Bible, Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of lewdness and immorality. God said that He would not destroy them if 50 righteous people could be found in them. Abraham negotiated the number down to 10. In the end, he could not find even one, and the flames of a volcanic eruption consumed those cities. That is why I tell our church members to look for righteous people prepared by Heaven. In every place I visit throughout the world, I find that God has prepared righteous people. From among all races and nationalities, I find righteous people waiting for
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In 2018 I visited South Africa, which has experienced heartbreaking agony due to racial conflict. In the past, it was not easy for me to enter the country, but this time the nation welcomed me with open arms. I hosted the Africa Summit and a marriage Blessing Ceremony. More than 1,000 representatives from some 60 nations attended the Summit and adopted my proposal for the settlement of peace and improvement of living standards. The Summit’s purpose was to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela and honor his legacy. The participants cheered the speech of Mr. Mandela’s eldest grandson, Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela, a member of South Africa’s Parliament, in which he sincerely testified to me. “Just like my grandfather,” he said, “Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon is an icon of peace in this age. Africa should carry on the work left by President Mandela together with Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, who has presented a new hope and vision to us through the Heavenly Africa Project.”
That day, through the only begotten Daughter who is the True Mother, more than 3,000 couples from some 20 nations received Heavenly Parent’s grace in the marriage Blessing Ceremony, the salvation of our age. Jesus said that “the last will be first.” South Africa, Zimbabwe and Senegal, as well as Nepal and other many countries, have suffered through painful histories of poverty and political turbulence, yet now they are shining brightly through their faith in the only begotten Daughter. Humanity is seeking the love that comes from True Parents. We long to be true sons and daughters who inherit true love, life and lineage. I open the gates for all to attain true happiness and eternal life.
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The great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, wrote a beautiful poem in praise of Korea. At the time, Korea was hidden from the world, suffering under Japanese colonial rule. And yet Tagore prophesied: “In the golden age of Asia, Korea was one of its lamp-bearers, and that lamp is waiting to be lighted once again for the illumination of the East.” The lamp of which he spoke is a new expression of the truth. He prophesied that it would appear in Korea and illuminate the world. I am now traveling the world to teach the Divine Principle, the new expression of the truth. The soil is plowed; all that remains is for us to sow the seeds and let them take deep root. This is a task we all must strive to accomplish.
Saving a prison guard
My husband used to say that I am a selfless person. He pointed out, more than once, that I give away my extra clothes to others until my closet is empty. It is true that I dislike holding on to possessions. I want to give all I have as gifts to those who are working hard day and night for the providence. Just as I did at the Cheongpa-dong Church and the Hannam-dong residence in Seoul, here in Cheongpyeong I open up our closet and give away clothes and shoes when missionaries and guests visit. My husband’s shirts and pants, belts and neckties, along with my clothes and accessories, find new owners. When I see the hard-working members, I feel at ease only after giving them something, even if it is small.
I sometimes visit orphanages and impoverished areas when I am in Africa or South America. Turning this impulse to help others into a reality, in the 1980s I founded the International Relief Friendship Foundation. As I have mentioned, I more recently set up the Women’s Federation’s 1% Love Share project and other non-profit service organizations, and, as I mentioned before, I established the Wonmo Pyeongae Scholarship Fund to award scholarships to promising college students with high ideals. When I see people in need, I cannot pass them by. That is the nature of true love that originates in the deepest heart of Heaven.
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“What comes first, life or love?” When asked this question, most people answer that life comes first. “After all,” they say, “only when there is life can there be love.” In my view, it is love that comes first. Thinking externally, we define our birth as our starting point, but love came before our birth. Our body and mind came from our parents. If not for the love of our father and mother, we would not be in this world. We should never give up love, even if it means having to give up our life. We were born through love, so we should walk the path of love and we should die for love.
I am talking about eternal and unconditional love—true love—not temporary, conditional love. To find true happiness, we need to practice true love. True love means living for the sake of others, serving others, not being served. True love means to forgive endlessly. Jesus told us to “forgive seventy times seven” times. Even when he was nailed to the cross and soldiers were piercing his body with spears, Jesus entreated God, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
My husband once saved the life of a Japanese prison guard who had severely tortured him. The torture took place at the police station in Gyeonggi Province of Korea during the Japanese colonial rule. When Korea was liberated in 1945, this policeman could not find a way to return to Japan. He went into hiding, but some Koreans found him and were intent on killing him. The policeman, Kumada Hara, was only hours away from death when my husband heard of the plot. He took it upon himself to free Mr. Hara and get him on a small boat heading out of the country in the middle of the night.
The capacity to forgive your enemy and save his or her life does not appear overnight. It requires that we eliminate the resentment and anger in our hearts and see the countenance of God in the face of our enemy. Father Moon could do so because he did not think of Mr. Hara as his enemy. Even while being tortured, he prayed for him and forgave him. This is only possible when you lead a selfless life.
FFWPU, USA