The Words of Won Pil Kim
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The Words of Won Pil Kim |
This year marks the beginning of the second 21-year course -- the children's course. Starting with the holy marriage in 1960, Father's first course would have required only seven years to fulfill if Korea had accepted him. But because his country and his people rejected him, his course was extended three times, to 21 years.
We are deeply moved at the news of the Blessing of Ye Jin. The Blessing of the blessed children, at the start of this second 21-year course, signifies that we have the great privilege of going through this course together with them. If we are able to unite with them and inherit Father's tradition, we can fulfill our mission in seven years. If we cannot, however, our course will be extended to 21 years, and if we still are unable to fulfill our missions, our children will have to go through the 21-year course in our stead. In other words, if we can fulfill our mission, there will be no 21-year course for our children. So you can understand how crucial this time is, especially these first three or four years, which will determine the victory of the seven-year course.
Father gained the worldwide victory during his 21-year course, but on what should we center our seven-year course? The 360 homes which Father gave us represent the whole world. In other words, Father is having us go through the worldwide course in the 360-home area of our home church.
Today, I would like to focus on the attitude we should develop at the beginning of this second 21-year course, which if at all possible, we should condense into seven years.
We must remember not only our True Parents' sacrifices, but also those of the True Children. The members always surrounded Father, so his children never had personal time with him. For children, the most important words are father and mother, and when they face some problem, they call first on their mother. Don't you also cry out for your mother when you are in extreme difficulty? When children are confronted by danger, if they know that their parents are with them, they feel at ease. In a way, however, by calling True Parents father and mother, we have taken these names away from True Children; because of us, they had to sacrifice these precious names.
Even while True Parents were living in Korea, it was difficult for their children to find an opportunity to be with them. But while their parents were on the various world tours, away from home six months or even one year at a stretch, the children were unable to spend any time with them. They had a babysitter of course, but that is no replacement for parents. Thus, they seldom had the opportunity to receive their parents' love directly.
Because their Father and Mother were away most of the time, True Children were surrounded and raised by our members. This means that the children were influenced by the members. Ideally, we should have an excellent impact on them, but our effect was not always good. Our True Parents have so deeply touched and transformed our lives, but is our influence on their children good or bad?
1972 was the year for Father to start the world-wide dispensation, so he came to America. At that time, the situation in Korea was very tense, and it was said that North Korea would attack or invade the South. Government officials, presidents of companies and those who had the money sent their children to safety in foreign countries. Many people left Seoul and moved to the southern part of the country. Those who owned property tried to sell it, but there were few buyers.
In this situation, Father left for America, leaving his children behind in Korea. You might think that because he is Father, he did not worry about the situation, but he was very concerned. Still, he had determined to save the world, so even though he knew the dangerous situation his children were in, he left them behind when he came to America.
Try to imagine his situation: your nation, where your children are living, is expecting an attack at any minute from a neighboring country, but in order to fulfill God's providence you have to set out for another country, leaving your children behind. How would you feel?
When True Parents were absent from Korea, I was in a way in charge of the Korean family. My greatest worry was how to get Father's children to safety, in case of an attack.
Ye Jin was then in her first year of junior high school. Of course she studied very hard, but sometimes she dreaded going to school, because of the emptiness or loneliness she felt inside. Finally, one day she called her father in America and talked with him a very long time on the telephone. In the conversation she bared her heart and told him how much she missed him and how badly she wanted to come to America to study. (She did not mean America as such, but that she wanted to be in the same country as her parents.) Father, however, spoke to her very strictly and told her she should not come. Then on the phone she began to cry.
Before leaving for America, Father had told Ye Jin and Hyo Jin to act as mother and father to their younger brothers and sisters in their parents' absence. That memory also filled Father with loneliness. When Ye Jin began to cry on the telephone, Father's heart broke. The next day, he wrote her a letter. One day when I visited her school, she showed me the letter Father sent her and allowed me to copy the contents. This is the letter I want to share with you, so you can understand more deeply this aspect of Father's heart.
This letter shows us very clearly that Father loves his children very much, but still he had to come to America to fulfill God's providence, initially leaving his children behind.
Usually, a father should appear strong, bold and courageous in front of his children, but in this letter Father wrote, "My heart flies to you, to embrace you and to cry together with you." This implies a weak aspect of Father, which is not his usual appearance. That is why Father wrote that he felt he was not writing to her as a father should.
When Father explained that strong love can dominate and even rule the world, he meant that in this way heavenly love will be able to rule the world. Thus, if parents and children are united with true love, then this love can change even the whole world. In this letter, then, Father was trying to explain to young Ye Jin the true love of parents.
We should understand that Father has really loved us, even sacrificing his own children for us.
Through this letter, I think you discover that Father's parental love towards his children is different from the love of ordinary parents for their children. Father loves the children because the children love Heavenly Father.
Nature is purer than man; in it we can see tranquility quietness and calm, all of which are good elements to comfort man's heart. So Father told his daughter to draw close to nature and learn many things from it. He taught her to love nature and the world, more than her own parents. He encouraged her to have a broad mind.
Usually, a father will not ask a young child to take care of his smaller brothers and sisters; but because he could not personally care for them, Father had to entrust this to Ye Jin, even at a young age. Usually, a father has time to spend with his children, but True Father had no opportunity. Think how miserable it is when a father cannot take care of his children. This is why Father sometimes thought he was an inadequate parent for his children.
He used this circumstance to try to teach Ye Jin about God's situation. Even though True Father is in this miserable situation, he is the one that God has to use to advance His will. Then if True Father is so miserable, God must be even more miserable, since He has no one else upon whom He can depend!
Father cares for each child as an individual. I have even seen him talk to them as babies. When Hyung Jin was born, for the first 40 days of his life, Father was absent from his house most of the time, taking care of the members. Even when Father was home, many leaders would come to him for advice, so Father had no personal time to spend with his new child. Also, Father had meetings here at the New Yorker; even when the baby was born, Father was away for a leaders' meeting.
So one day, as he was leaving the house, rather saw the baby in the arms of one of the sisters and stopped to speak to him. The baby was not even 40 days old and thus could not comprehend anything. Father told him, "I am sorry I could have no time with you. Please understand my situation; members are waiting for me to come so the meeting can begin. I have to go now, so please forgive me."
Recently, we celebrated Hyun Jin's birthday. During the celebration, as we were taking pictures, his expression suddenly changed to one of extreme loneliness, missing his parents, who have been in Korea. Deeply longing for them, he began to cry. Then Ye Jin and the older brothers and sisters took him aside and tried to encourage him and lift his spirits, hoping to see him smile; still, he felt so lonesome without True Parents. Having no appetite for breakfast, he left for school without eating anything.
Through these examples, we can glimpse the intense love and loyalty the True Children feel towards their parents. I can perceive a big gap between our level of heart and that of the True Children.
In order to carry out God's mission first, Father has always had to leave his children behind. We ought to ponder the situation of our True Parents and their children. Father takes such good care of us members and loves us so much; when he guides and educates us, he shows us such profound love. But don't you think he must feel much more love for his own children and must long to take even greater care of them? In reality, however, he cannot do so. How painful he must feel to be unable to care for his children!
But even under such circumstances, True Children always appreciate and welcome the members. In one sense, we can say that we have taken the Father away from True Mother and True Parents away from their children. That is our position: we have robbed them of everything. Still, Mother has never protested and their children have never complained. So we should understand that Father has really loved us, even sacrificing his own children for us.
If we cannot inherit Father's tradition and gain the victory, True Father's sacrifice can never bear fruit and will all have been in vain.
Then who do you think should take care of True Mother and True Children -- those who have sacrificed so much for us members? We must.
In this second 21-year course, we must gain the victory for if we cannot inherit Father's tradition and gain the victory True Father's sacrifice can never bear fruit and will have been all in vain. Father longs for this sacrifice to bear fruit through us. Thus, we should never forget that if we cannot win the victory in this 21-year course, True Father himself will have to walk the 21-year course once again, in our stead.
Now when we go to our Home Church, we have to remember what True Father did for us and how much he loved us. The same things he did for us, we have to do for our area. Then when we gain the victory, the people from our area will want to go through the 21-year course instead of us, just as we children are going through this second 21-year course instead of Father.
In the beginning of our 21-year course and also at this glorious time of Ye Jin's Blessing, we must resolve to inherit True Father's tradition in our home church. We have to pledge to Father that we no longer want True Children to sacrifice for us, because True Father has already suffered so much for us; he has paid more than enough. From now on, instead of True Father and True Children, we will walk this way; we vow to work harder and try our best.