The Words of the Kamiyama Family
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The Words of the Kamiyama Family |
She arrived, uninvited and unannounced, to the event, with her opinions firmly set on what she was going to hear. During the event, she repeatedly characterized anything she heard Mr. Kamiyama say in terms that left the other listeners stunned. If he said "The Holy Spirit isn't floating around, it's the spirit existing in a true bride and true mother," she heard "Mother isn't the Holy Spirit." If he said "Father said his words are all he has to leave mankind, and he didn't want even one word changed," she heard "Mother isn't allowed to change Father's words." Everything was like, "huh? Where did you get that from?" If he said "H2 (Hyung Jin, the youngest son) said that Father had 13 tubes and needles in him in the hospital, and looked like he was being crucified," she got "Mother crucified Father."
Honestly, all I could do was hug her, tell her she is my sister, and try to love her. I'm sorry she is in some kind of a crusade here; she seems to believe she is defending Mother's honor or something. But her comments are neither accurate, nor do they capture any of the real content of the meeting, which was pretty revolutionary in a very different way.
The real spirit of the event was a deep sharing of Father's actual words, a lot of Divine Principle content, some additional explanation of concepts we had heard many times before (engrafting to the true olive tree, lineage, etc.) and some of his own experiences with Father, with the providential events, etc. People were respectful, listening deeply, and were able to consider what they were hearing without any coercion. Mr. Kamiyama encouraged people to go and listen to anyone, to pray and discern God's spirit wherever. He said "You're not middle schoolers. You can listen and see if what they are saying feels right to you." He stresses Father's words so strongly, because that's where we can connect to Father's spirit, purpose, intention.
He did clearly say that many of the church decisions, post-Seunghwa, were in opposition to Father's continued instruction in his lifetime--but he referred to the leaders directly doing the opposite of what Father decided during the last two years of Father's life. He did say that Mother's role is to be one with Father, just as Father's role is to be one with God, and that she is specifically supposed to bring the children into unity with Father and with God's will. So, it's true that seeing the state of the family, we could draw the conclusion that Mother has not yet accomplished her role. He clearly said "Without lineage, what happens when Mother dies? Who carries on the providence? The leaders?" He cried, talking about Mother, his concern for her, his concern for the repercussions in history if we fail our responsibility as Blessed Families. He explained so deeply (actually, the first time anyone has explained this to my satisfaction) about the need for sons to carry on the mission of the father, and specifically for an Abraham/Isaac/Jacob kind of continuation of the mission to finish the work Father spent his life trying to complete. He wasn't talking about a position thing, or just "who's in charge," but a real, heartistic, spiritual, action standard of taking on and owning Father's words and Father's love for humanity and Father's life standard.
His point about following Mother if Mother is following Father was what many of us have been feeling, that we are all supposed to be seeking God's will, God's heart, God's character, God's viewpoint, not just become obedient to a person. If Mother was honoring Father's directions, bringing peace among her children, focusing people on the core issues rather than on the latest ceremony, it would be natural for people to feel "Yeah, I can see God's spirit working, I can feel this is right." (This last sentence is my own description, not his.)
What she is not seeing is that Mr. Kamiyama isn't fighting to promote a viewpoint or to curry favor with some higher up. In fact he said "If I wanted those things, all I would have to do is praise the leaders, praise Mother." As someone married into the Japanese culture, I know what extreme seriousness someone like Mr. Kamiyama, or my own husband, have to be in, in order to take an stand that seems to be disloyal. Basically, it's suicide. For an American, it's just "standing up for what's right." For a Japanese, it's "standing up to one's lord, one's nation, one's entire ancestry, only because something is so wrong or dangerous or unjust that it absolutely has to be corrected." In Japanese history, once someone takes this position and wins, they commit suicide, because although they were able to right the wrong, they still feel they have to make up for seeming disloyal.
(This is my interpretation here.) I think Mr. Kamiyama's motivation is to save God's providence from an irretrievable failure. He stands in a unique position, having witnessed and worked with Father intimately, during some of the most crucial moments of Father's work. He sees the movement dying, collapsing, second gen fleeing, people becoming focused on power struggles or lawsuits instead of God's will. He's desperate, he feels God spared him from a near-death situation for some purpose, and he wants to save us from making some huge providential mistakes. He loves Mother, he loves the children, he loves members, but that's not the key point. The key point is that if we miss our own historical purpose, and get distracted and embroiled in side issues, we risk destroying thousands of years of sacrifice and hard work, and leaving God's dream unfulfilled.
What he's advocating is Mother carrying on the real teaching and words of Father, uniting her kids and focusing the family on God's will. At least one son needs to willingly take on the burden of bringing that forward, and then one grandson, and making it solid and real for all the world. Us, as Blessed Families, connecting to God's will and manifesting God's word in our lives. That's it.
Anyway, I appreciate your heart. I wish we could all erase the last five years, or maybe ten, and get back to the sense of family-hood and simplicity and working together for a clear vision that creates blessing for everyone.
Hope this adds some new information that can be helpful.