Readings:

"The Providence and the Individual, Past and Present" in God's Will and the World, Page 528 - 529

"Have you ever considered how many words you have spoken so far in your life? …let's say you speak 1,000 words a day. That means you speak (about) 36 million words in your lifetime. Words arise from your thoughts. Thoughts could not be expressed without someone to communicate with. Thus the word is the tool of communication. When you speak, of whom are you thinking, yourself or the listener?

Ask yourself, "Is that for my benefit and protection, or is it for the benefit of another?" There is always a purpose and reason for a particular sentence. Is that reason for yourself or for others?

Actually, the most powerful weapon in the universe is language. It is like a machine gun, and even much more powerful. In a fight between a husband and wife, the wife may be really firing her "machine gun" of words at her husband (or vice versa). Words are sometimes that destructive. … have you ever compared a person's mouth to a gun barrel, shooting bullets of words. Some things you say may make no impact upon your parents, for example. But other words will hit them like cannonballs. If their loving son turns around and says just a few abusive and angry words, they will be shocked. Such shock waves are not only physical but also spiritual, shaking people's minds…

If you speak 1,000 words a day, ask yourself, "Did I speak even one word today for the sake of my country? Was one word for the sake of God? For mankind? Do you speak even one percent of your daily words for something noble and good, for the sake of others and God?"

"…..the number one men and women are those whose words and actions are equal"

Bible Quotes

Proverbs 12:18

Careless words stab like a sword, But wise words bring healing.

Psalms 34:1- 2

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise is always on my lips. My whole being praises the Lord.

James 3:13 -- 15

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let her show it by her good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom

James 4:11

Do not speak evil against one another.

Colossians 4:6

Let your conversation always be gracious (pleasant), seasoned with salt (salt makes things taste better), so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Jn 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Proverbs 18:20, 21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit Yf it (for death or life).

Matt.15:11

It is not what a person puts into his mouth that makes him unclean. It is what comes out of his mouth that makes him unclean.

"Becoming the Word: To speak or not to speak, that is the question" -- an unusual sub title, as this IS a sermon so I AM GOING to speak!

However, by the end of this sermon, my hope is that it will be more clear to all of us HOW and WHEN to speak.

I find it challenging to prepare for a sermon because it's confronting. I see how far I am from living what I'm talking about. So please know that everything I say today, I am saying to myself as well as sharing with you.

In preparing this sermon, I was comforted by words of Hyung Jin Nim in "A Bald Head and a Strawberry" pg. 67

"I admit that I am inadequate and fail often. I get frustrated, angry, hateful, resentful, etc. I tell people that I am the biggest hypocrite. I believe that knowing your own hypocrisy is essential on the spiritual path. If one is aware of it one has hope to go beyond it. In fact I find it quite liberating to sincerely admit to myself that I am a hypocrite. Then I can address my inadequacies and deepen my spiritual practice."

Here Hyung Jin Nim addresses a key point of this sermon - the importance and necessity of being honest, with ourselves and before God as this is what leads to authenticity in our lives.

So why did I choose this topic? We are living in the time of settlement. We need to SUBSTANTIALLY create a heavenly community. To me, this means we need to go beyond merely reading the word, speaking the word and knowing the word intellectually. We need to be LIVING EXAMPLES OF THE WORD. This isn't a new concept. In the NT, 1 John 3:18: "Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." But it is what we need now more than ever.

Hyung Jin Nim clearly explains the central significance of BEING living examples of the word or as the title of the sermon says, BECOMING THE WORD in "A Bald Head and a Strawberry" (pages 29 -- 31) He says:

"I searched for months for a single Chinese character that could sum up and embody the heart of God. I yearned to find a single character that could be a reference, a point of continual reentry into the Divine….. I asked Abba (Father Moon) to share with me what character was most precious to him….without hesitation he wrote a single character… he wrote Jung Sung Sung. This is the combination of characters for word and to become, which means SINCERITY….

What jung sung sung taught me is that (the spiritual life) is not about seeking but rather BECOMING... we must become peace, not search for it; we must become love, become compassion, become forgiveness, empathy, understanding, virtue, benevolence, patience, humility, gratitude, kindness, etc. As long as we seek it we will never bring it substantially here to this world. But if we become it, and we must become it again at every new moment and at every new opportunity, we will tangibly allow the world to become a better place."

I think this beautifully expresses WHAT we need to do, including the important understanding that becoming is a moment by moment decision and attitude, and that we have the opportunity to start over again in any given moment. Knowing what to do is one part of the challenge, the other HOW do we do it? In this sermon I'll focus on the how of our words.

It is important to constantly bolster our minds and hearts with God's word and truth by reading scriptures (HDH tradition) and by speaking good words. That is why Psalms 34:1 says, "bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." What is in our hearts and minds will come out of our mouths. The more we study and practice this affirming approach, the more positive our outlook will become and more positive things will come our way. Even when difficulties do come our way, we will be better equipped to deal with them.

Jn 1:1

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Like God, we create through our word, we manifest our intent through our word. The word is a force, a powerful tool of communication, therefore our choice and use of words is extremely important. So, in order to become our word, we first need to: BE AWARE OF OUR WORDS AND THE THOUGHTS BEHIND OUR WORDS.

We sometimes try to control our mouths and speech, but do nothing about our thoughts. That is like cutting off the top of a weed--unless the root is dug up, the weed always comes back. We'll never control our mouths, unless we first learn to control our thoughts.

What kind of self-talk do we have? How aware are we of the running internal dialogue going on constantly in our heads? A study at UCLA showed that 73% of people's self talk was negative. How would you rate yourself?

We need reality checks. We need to be willing to look at ourselves honestly, not pretending to be someone we're not. Who are we kidding anyway? It is unhealthy to suppress and deny our negative thoughts and emotions. We need to stand naked and vulnerable before God, express whatever is in our hearts and ask God to show us how to change.

We need to repent, or at least be willing to want to repent. Then we can begin to release and let go of what is holding us down. Often times we need to be willing to share our deepest, darkest thoughts and feelings with our spouse, an elder or close friend. By doing so we become transparent and the love and light of God can shine in and through us again. Having released and emptied out, we need to refill the space with positive, powerful, life-giving thoughts.

For years, I have found affirmations, repeated over and over again, to be really helpful. I write them down multiple times each day for 21 or 40 day periods. I have them on cards to refer to throughout the day.

Another practice I enjoy and which really helps develop my thoughts, is writing down just before I go to bed, 3 things I'm grateful for in that particular day. It sounds so simple, but it is so effective. It ends the day by bringing my mind into a state of gratitude which many times carries over into the morning so that I awaken with a good attitude and thoughts. In fact gratitude is one of my key words for this year of 2006 (Go Gratitude website www.GoGratitude.com/masterkey)

ANOTHER WAY WE NEED TO CONTROL OUR MOUTHS IS BY NOT GOSSIPING. Words are long lasting. Once spoken we can't take them back, and we never know how far and wide they will travel, what person they will reach and what harm they may cause. Gossip can be compared to a computer virus that gets into your computer unbeknownst to you. (How we all dread that!) Its intent is to destroy, and once infected, the computer won't work properly anymore. In the same way, one little piece of misinformation about a person can break down communication between people, causing every person it touches to become infected and contagious to others.

I remember teaching a Sunday school lesson about gossiping in which the students pushed toothpaste out of a tube, and then tried to put it back! All they created was a big mess, they weren't successful at all.

I also heard a story about a lady in times gone by, who went to confession because she had been gossiping. As a penance, she was told to go and buy an unplucked chicken in the market and during her walk back home, she was to pull the feathers out one by one and scatter them along the way. Then she was to return to the priest and he would tell her what to do next. This seemed a strange penance, but the lady did exactly as she was told (although feeling somewhat foolish). On her return to the priest, he praised the lady for her obedience, and told her that to complete her penance she had to go back and pick up all the feathers. "But Father," the lady exclaimed, "you know that is impossible. The wind blew them away and I could never hope to capture them now." "Quite true" said the priest, "neither can you recall the damaging words about your neighbors which by this time have passed from mouth to mouth far beyond your reach. Be careful in the future and watch every word you utter."

Now sometimes we find ourselves in a situation in which we hear someone saying something wonderful about a person that we know something about. It can be sooo tempting to tell what we know -- but if we stop and look honestly at ourselves, at why we would do that, we can see that such an action is coming from our own immaturity, a lack of security, a desire to put the other person down, or from our resentment, hurt feelings, etc. So, instead, we need to bite our tongues and not say anything!

Don't be the one to spread negative words about anyone else. Also, if someone starts gossiping TO you about someone else, first know, you can't really trust them, as if they will speak of another person in such a way to you, they will probably speak to other people ABOUT YOU; and secondly, just say, "I'm sorry, I don't want or need to hear that," and stop it right there. Draw the line. The buck stops with me.

We need to focus on the good within others and ourselves and speak to that. Let's express appreciation to one another, say how much we care, tell someone "I love you." We all need to be cherished and uplifted, acknowledged and validated. In fact, when appreciation and gratitude are not expressed, we can actually cause hurt to someone's heart. We also need to watch that we don't make empty promises as that also hurts hearts and breaks down trust.

We need to be true to our word and we need our word to be true. Let's be people of integrity, people who really mean what we say.

At the same time, it is not healthy for us to hold onto grudges and let them fester inside and eat away at us, and at God inside of us. Here the words of Jesus in both Matt 11:6 and Lk.7:23 can guide us. "BLESSED IS HE WHO TAKES NO OFFENCE AT ME"

What is a healthy way to deal with someone who has done or said something hurtful? How do we prevent grudges from forming and festering inside?

It is actually, a sign of spiritual maturity not to take offence at what someone says. Many times we are so concerned with being "right" that we sacrifice relationships, time and energy to maintain our own rightness while at the same time condemning the other person.

We often hear the phrases 'LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS" and "LOVE YOUR ENEMY" in our movement, but what do they mean moment by moment, day by day? How can these principles be applied to this situation. WHO IS THE OTHER THAT WE'RE TRYING TO LIVE FOR, WHO IS YOUR ENEMY? In this case, whoever has just done something to hurt you. It is much easier to think of a far away enemy, whether it be terrorists, child abusers, etc. and talk about forgiveness. It is much more difficult when confronted face to face, say with our co-worker or our spouse.

(How many times have we driven to church mad at someone in the car, only to arrive putting on our "church face"; or cursed out a car that cut in front of us. I've learned to say a blessing "Godspeed and angels protect them)

We need to root out bitterness and unforgiveness quickly when they emerge. Feelings buried alive never die (the title of a book I highly recommend). We need to address them, be willing to release them, let them go; to forgive others and forgive ourselves. The biggest block in our relationship with God is not lack of faith, but anger and bitterness stemming from lack of forgiveness. We need to constantly work on forgiveness and letting go, clearing out.

It helps enormously when we learn NOT TO TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY -- this is not so easy when someone has just said something about you, to you directly. YET we need to take our self out of the way and realize that ultimately everything a person says is really revealing something about themselves and their worldview and isn't necessarily an accurate reflection upon us.

We have to learn to know and trust ourselves, and then we can choose whether or not to believe what another is saying to and about us.

When we are hurt our first response is often to place BLAME. We put so many things onto others when really we need to be responsible for ourselves. No one can ruin your life if you don't let them. You see, it's not so painful for me to look at what's wrong with YOU that are irritating ME. The pain starts when I get beyond what you're doing or what I think you're doing, and look inside. So much of what I'm feeling is actually based on previous hurts in my own life. We have to find out what's really going on inside of ourselves. So, if for example, you get mad easily, don't blame others saying, "They made me mad". Look inside. Call it what it is. Go to God and ask him to show you why. We need to own our own feelings and not blame others.

Then, we need to LET GOD DEAL WITH OTHERS. We cannot change any one else. I repeat, we cannot change someone else. There are plenty of people out there in the world who we think need to change! Instead, I need to find out how I can live with hurtful, rude, angry, inconsiderate people and still remain peaceful and loving inside. For a long time, there will be people around that annoy me. So, I need to practice being the peace I want to see in all relationships.

We need to be good to people even when they aren't being good to us.

Is it ever appropriate to say something? With careful parameters, I think it can be. Whenever we are hurt by someone, the first thing to do is to go to God. God is a great listener, and can take anything we unleash -- so we can get it off our chest/heart, rant, rave, sob, storm, stomp, and God will listen.

Once we are emptied out, we can then listen to that still small voice inside, and hear what God has to say to us. This may take a while, so if I've been upset by someone, I try and wait at least 3 days before I say something to them, making sure I try and work out my feelings with God before I do. (I'm also from the north of England, and we are a people known for our bluntness and directness, so I don't always succeed at this). If we do speak to the person, it is helpful to use "I" statements and explain how I felt when the difficulty occurred. Make time and space to really hear each other. Be willing to face up to mistaken assumptions. Be ready to apologize.

Becoming the word requires our full attention and action. I would like to illustrate the process by using water as an example that comes from a phrase I overheard while preparing this sermon, namely: Saying the word "water" does not make you wet. I repeat -- saying the word, "water" does not make you wet. (PowerPoint slides) How about if you are thirsty? Here's "Thirsty Tom." Along comes "Spaced out Sam" Thirsty Tom asks him for some water. Sure says Sam, but actually only thinks of water Does that quench Tom's thirst? No.

Sam spares no trouble, goes to the ocean, fills a bottle, brings it and offers it to Tom. Better now? No -- why? Wrong kind of water. Show picture of glass of drinking water, Sam realizes what is needed. Just then, along comes Helpful Harry (who doesn't have water) -- can you give Tom some water? Doesn't have any, so Tom is still thirsty, in fact probably thirstier than ever, and frustrated.

Who can quench Tom's thirst. Has to be someone who has drinking water to give. We can't give what we don't have.

However, there is one more scene to add to this illustration: Imagine Tom is actually not thirsty, and in fact really wants to know where there is a bathroom. If I insist on giving him water to drink, he will only be annoyed, angry, frustrated and resentful -- he needs to empty out before he can drink the water. I remember in my early CARP days, Tiger Park saying, we need to spend at least the equivalent of 3 days listening to people, letting them empty themselves, understanding their hearts and minds, their situation before we say anything. People need to be empty, to have space to receive.

We can't give what we don't have. If we haven't been honest with and we don't consistently work on ourselves - dealing with and releasing buried emotions and feelings, forgiving ourselves and others, studying God's word, creating positive thoughts, controlling our mouths, learning to trust ourselves and listen to the still small voice within, we cannot give a word that reaches the heart and spirit of other people.

The word we give will be empty and will not resonate with them. Knowing the Word intellectually is not enough. We need to BE the word in order to share it in a way that is nourishing, that fulfills its purpose in another. AND we need to BE it and SHARE it in a way that is appropriate so the person can receive it.

How do we help prepare their container to receive? -- By being with the person, being their friend, working on projects together, even walking the labyrinth with them!

Hyung Jin Nim says, our spiritual path is one of going deeper inside, "it is here that we can connect with God, the Original Mind, and our innate divine goodness". (BHS pg 37) …in simple terms it means to deepen the qualities of our natural and innate warm, compassionate, loving, caring, empathetic heart." These are the qualities we need to focus on acknowledging, developing and becoming as we substantially create our heavenly community. Hyung Jin Nim continues,

" the Unification Movement is only as loving as myself. The Unification Movement is only as compassionate as me. The Unification Movement is only as peaceful as me."

I would like to close with some words said to have hung on Mother Theresa's wall:

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It never was between you and them anyway.