Not By Bread Alone

David Hwang
January 2010

But Jesus answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." -- Matthew 4:4

In October 2006, a hundred and twenty Christian ministers responded to True Father's call to visit a hundred twenty countries on behalf of God and read a special Peace Message endorsed with True Father's personal seal. I had the privilege to help host these ministers during their visit to Korea, and when we joined True Parents at the original palace for a special Hoon Dok Hae, True Father said that everything he wanted to say was contained in this Peace Message.

At that moment, I happened to be holding a copy of the same Peace Message on my lap, and I said to True Father in my mind, "Father, I will unite with this Peace Message more than anyone else in the whole world."

Since that pledge to Father, I have been reading the Peace Message at least once every day for the past three years. During my short missionary experience in Albania, I read it three times a day. I always carry a copy of the speech in my backpack, so I can read it while I am waiting for my car to get an oil change or during other spare moments.

At the beginning of the Peace Message, Father explains that he had read this message in a hundred and twenty countries, and then True Mother and the True Children read it in a hundred and eighty countries, and finally the Christian ministers read the same message in a hundred and twenty countries. As a person with a strong Christian background, I compare the ministers' condition to the time of Jesus' resurrection and the one hundred and twenty early Christians who had spiritual experiences in the upper room with the tongues of fire.' Father even decided to read this same message at his eighty-eighth birthday celebration.

My determination to read this particular Peace Message every day was based on my desire to unite with True Father's spirit in a way that made sense to me. When talking to one of the Christian ministers, he mentioned that this Peace Message represents Father Moon's life, and I fully agree. Therefore, by reading this speech, True Father's words and life are coming through my vocal cords. Surely, there is no better condition than this. When I was asked by a young member in Albania what spiritual conditions he should make, my response, without hesitation, was to read Father's words.

Since my determination to read the same Peace Message at least once a day for the rest of my life, many miracles have occurred in my life. For example, my wife and I finished writing a book of over five hundred pages about our lives, and my oldest son was matched and blessed by True Parents last November 16. In fact, there are too many other small miracles to list. I can honestly say that I can now go to the spirit world with no regrets.

I believe God wants to give each blessed central family incredible results in life, but the foundation must be True Father's teachings. In the past year, I also managed to convince my sons to read the Peace Message with me every day, resulting in some incredible experiences together. In particular, I challenged my younger son to read the speech three times a day for twenty-one days, and after just three days, he declared that he would no longer doubt the power of True Father's message.