Mother of Peace: Episode 53
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 261-265
A filial son considers what he can do for his parents and courageously follows through. A filial child has the spirit of serving and is welcomed everywhere. Such a child always fulfills God’s hopes. That is why the spirit of hyojeong is great; it seeks to serve others and not oneself.
I planted seeds of hyojeong in the world on the fourth anniversary of Father Moon’s ascension, which took place in August 2016. After three years of mourning, I transformed the character of Father Moon’s memorial service from a sorrowful gathering into a festival that celebrates new hope and peace. I entitled it, “Becoming the Light of the World through a Filial Heart for Heaven.” Our Cheongpyeong complex became a garden of joy upon which the sunlight of love poured down.
On the one hand, we retraced the footsteps of True Parents, while on the other, we enjoyed diverse cultural performances. On one day, with the motto, “Food Is Love,” we held a “Festival of Sharing True Parents’ Favorite Dishes.” We filled a gigantic bowl the size of a large dining room table with rice and other delicious ingredients, used spatulas the size of oars to mix it all, and made bibimbap to feed 20,000 people in the Peace World Center. It was like a celebration meal bringing all the world’s peoples as one family around one table.
This memorial event included other programs as well: lectures, seminars, leaders’ meetings, ancestor liberation and Blessing, and so forth, in Korea and abroad, lasting over a month. Our global family together built a spiritual foundation for our future direction.
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I vividly recall the pledge I made on the day that my husband passed away: “I will revive the church with the spirit and truth we had in the early days.” I have kept that promise. The filial devotion of our sons, Hyo-jin and Heung-jin, lives on in my heart, along with the spirit of my beloved husband. When we convey filial devotion to all people, and everyone lives for the sake of others and looks after each other, that will be the kingdom of heaven.
Filial devotion is a pre-eminent practical virtue as well as an eternal pillar of life. We must practice filial devotion while our parents are alive. After they are gone, no matter how much we want to sacrifice for them, it will be too late. We must know how precious this moment is and be proud of it.
Across the table, around the world
An image shimmers faintly in my memory, like a gleam of sunlight reflected by the dew on the grass. I was sitting across the table from my husband, right after our Holy Wedding. He gazed at me with the overwhelming heart of God. It seemed as if a waterfall of tears was about to burst forth from his eyes.
That experience, the two of us sitting together at a small table to eat, treading the path of hyojeong in front of God, recurred many times on our path as True Parents. We communed without a worry, sitting across the table from each other, during the three years we ate only boiled barley, and when we barely had time to catch our breath while on speaking tours, visiting two or more countries in a day. We were grateful for everything, and everything was a source of happiness.
For me, the annual Festival of Sharing True Parents’ Favorite Dishes is like sitting across the table from all blessed families. The blessed families are true children of Heaven’s lineage, to whom my husband and I have given birth through our tearful embrace. They are called by Heaven, so I call them chosen blessed families. True Father and I will sit across the table from these chosen blessed families forever. We will not forget for even a moment our countless children’s intense tears and streaming sweat as they endured lonely struggles for the sake of God’s will. My one regret over the Festival of Sharing True Parents’ Favorite Dishes is that I cannot in person place a delicious meal before each of my beloved children around the world, and sit across the table from them.
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In December of 2019, I had that feeling, sitting across the table from Prophet Samuel Radebe. I had just arrived in Johannesburg to conduct the Blessing Ceremony of 200,000 people. Our airplane landed amid pouring rain. When I walked into the airport lounge, I was so happy to meet Prophet Radebe, who is like a son to me. As soon as he saw me, he said, “Mother! I so wished to see you. Welcome to your home in South Africa!” Dressed in traditional South African clothing, Prophet Radebe welcomed me with a bow, expressing his heart of respect and humility, and presented a bouquet of red flowers he had prepared with care.
Accompanying him was a large group of youths and students of the Revelation Church of God, who greeted me enthusiastically right there in the airport lounge. They gave a special a cappella performance of a wonderful song with lyrics that meant, “True Mother came today to bless South Africa and all of Africa.” When I said, “It is raining today. I’ve heard that rain is considered a great blessing in Africa,” my words were greeted by loud cheers and shouts from Prophet Radebe, his youth leaders and students.
When it was time for lunch, Prophet Radebe sat across the table from me. The truth is that he normally would not have taken lunch on that day. It was December 5, a very important day for him spiritually. He told me that on that day each year, he goes to a special mountain and offers devotions. December 5, 2013, was the day that Nelson Mandela, one of the most respected figures in the Republic of South Africa and throughout the world, passed away. Prophet Radebe had publicly prophesied that December 5 would be the day of the president’s passing. Many were amazed when his prophecy was realized. Moreover, on that day, a boy, filled with the Holy Spirit, testified in a heavenly language that Prophet Radebe is the leader who will liberate South Africa, and then coughed up a lion’s tooth and presented it to the prophet. This story is legendary throughout South Africa. That is why on this day each year, Prophet Radebe has gone up to the mountain to offer gratitude for the heavenly mission given to him and to renew his determination to accomplish it.
He felt that it was a most auspicious day for the True Mother to arrive. Despite his commitment to his prayers, he had come down from the mountain to welcome me. Food is love, and to show my appreciation, I served him a bowl of warm Korean noodles. Sitting across from each other, I expressed the love between a mother and son whom Heaven had brought together. He went back up the mountain after lunch to continue his devotions with a life-or-death resolution for the success of our December 7 event.
When Prophet Radebe came to Korea in 2019 to attend the seventh anniversary of True Father’s Holy Ascension, he offered special devotions on the top of Balwang Mountain. At that time, our Secretary-General Dr. Yun Young-ho, with whom Prophet Radebe had become sworn brothers through me, taught him how to use chopsticks. So now he did quite well using them to eat the noodles. Prophet Radebe’s appreciation of Korean culture was another expression of his love and respect for me, his True Mother.
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