Praying for Rev Moon to get well soon

Simon Cooper
August 17, 2012

True Parents on the London eye

Right now as we pray for True Father, as he lies sedated in hospital, I wonder how all our prayers work, I wonder how other people are taking the situation, and wonder about where I am in all of this. I don't have too much difficulty believing that prayer does work and has the power to change circumstances, but that is because I know God exists. Also, I understand that things don't just 'happen' outside the physical and spiritual laws with which God's universe and cosmos are designed, but that our prayers are effective within the scope of God's divine principles. I guess I simply feel a need to reflect on the process, because I don't think about it enough.

I had a call from the BBC yesterday who were on the story and wanted to be kept fully up to date. Had a good conversation with their very good religious correspondent, Robert Pigott. One of the things he wanted to be ready for is how to report on True Father passing on. One issue he wanted to discuss was how in the UK or at least in the Church of England, the tradition is that one only speaks of someone as a Reverend in the first instance and then after that it is proper to call them Mr. He already had the sensibility that this was not the way in our movement's culture and that it wouldn't anyway be appropriate for True Father.

And so in our 30 minute conversation I became aware I wasn't considering as much as he was the possibilities and the consequences of all that might happen. It got me thinking about how my prayer at this time v much depends on how I relate to True Father, and also how my relationship with God is.

For me Rev Moon always been an inspirational figure, a rock of certainty, someone who at their very core is unchanging. But most of all I have a sense that he saved me.

How we see True Parents in our movement is a big conversation needing to happen much more than it does. How we see people is v much down to how we relate to them. The concept of messiahship that true father has introduced, different in some ways to the Christian understanding of Jesus' messiahship, has a lot going for it. I think we miss his perspective quite often because we are too busy hero worshipping.

If we see True Parents just as super heroes, then it does kind of limit the depth of our prayer. You can cheer on your super hero, but you tend to live a life very removed from them.

If True Parents are fully human, which they are, then how do I have a human relationship, especially when we don't worship in the same parish. Visits to London are rare for True Parents.

Of course human relationships are conducted differently in different cultural settings around the world, but fundamentally our teaching says that we need to have some common interests with someone to have a relationship with them.

As I pray for True Father at this time, I realize that this relationship factor is very central to how much I am able to pray meaningfully. It is a challenge because part of me senses that he is interested in very different things from me. However, something tells me he is an expert in relating to people who ever they are, just I need to do the work to find out the things we have in common.

His life has been a witness to me about the nature and love of God, and for sure he has got me interested in developing my relationship with God. But I guess my conclusion is that I need a much greater awareness on how I pursue my interests in life, and how I order them.

I hope he gets well soon. I would like the chance to be on the same planet as him for a while longer, and to get more in tune with his way of thinking about life.