The Words of the Moffitt Family
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The Words of the Moffitt Family |
To those who helped Hyun Jin Nim take over the Sunday service in Brazil:
Like everyone, and I'm sure you as well, I am most distressed by the recent events in Brazil.
Seeing the video of a handful of respected brothers storming the stage with Hyun Jin Nim, made me heartsick. Hyun Jin Nim shoved the Continental Director and National Leader aside and commanded, "Take him out of here." Those on the stage shouted victoriously, gleefully fist-pumped the air and knocked Rev. Shin to the floor (although not intentionally I am sure).
I will refer by name to a few individuals who were on the video, however this is not a personal letter to them, or even only to those who stormed the stage. It is addressed to everyone who participated in the event, and partly, to we who witnessed it. I saw my old friend, Tom Field, in the group of rebels. Tom, your demeanor was gentle as always. Mostly your back was to the camera, but I have known you many years and could see you were trying to talk to Rev. Shin and inject calm into the situation as you removed him from the church. Nevertheless, when you are acting with your central figure, his glory becomes your glory and his violence becomes your violence. This was not the finest hour for any of you.
A couple of things struck me as significant. Hyun Jin Nim took the stage, led a reverent kyung-bae to the photo of True Parents, and then proceeded to tell the members:
"Mark my words today. This is my first public speaking engagement after my 41st birthday. Before heaven and earth I set the condition of filial piety before my parents and my family. However, this farce will no longer continue."
He also said,
"The time has come when I as an older brother must educate our movement properly… The movement and the blessed central families shall be realigned to the direction of God's standard."
By his words, Hyun Jin Nim, having turned 41, is now empowered by God to abandon the True Parents of humankind and then… what? Become the new True Parent who will realign the movement to the direction of God's standard?
Become the new Messiah because he's the eldest son and he turned 41?
At least Hyun Jin Nim is no longer trying to maintain the fiction that he is True Father's most obedient son and that he represents True Father and is acting on behalf of, and in complete cooperation with, True Father.
Consider that in order to be able to abandon True Parents and realign with Hyun Jin Nim as the new voice of God, it is necessary that you must first buy into the idea that True Father is mentally incompetent. And furthermore that he is a virtual prisoner in his own home, controlled by the lies and manipulations of his family. In order for Hyun Jin Nim to do what he does, he must assign to his mother and siblings, the blackest of hearts and intent. And he must convince you and others to believe this as well. With some of you, he seems to have been successful. Without making this mental arrangement with yourself, it is very difficult to adopt the position that you are fulfilling Father's mission, even at the price of breaking Father's heart and destroying him personally.
However, nobody who is around True Father and the family supports this scenario at all. What you see in Father's house is people loving, supporting, nurturing True Father and filling in the gaps. When some corrective course is suggested for any of the True Children, it is Father who initiates it. Interactions take place normally and humanely, the way they do in your family and mine.
At its heart, the struggle at the podium and the brutality at Hoon Dok Hae the following morning was not about true love or living for others, or as Hyun Jin Nim says, "Realizing God's dream of building one family under God."
Interrupting every other paragraph of the reading of Father's Peace Message to walk over and kick and berate Father's representative, was tragically paradoxical. After about the tenth time seeing Hyun Jin Nim kick Rev. Shin in the chest with his shoes, or slap and kick Brazil's National Leader, Simao Ferrabolli, it began to become obvious that the guiding hand of God was not behind what was going on. What was going on wasn't even about God's tough love. After all, Father sometimes bangs heads. But this event had an entirely different spirit -- unforgiving, retaliatory. More than that, it appeared to be about ego and control and bullying. The world witnessed a horrendous abuse of the special power we grant to a person simply because they are a member of the True Family.
Hyun Jin Nim claims a great deal as the son of True Father and Mother. And he should. He has certain rights in his father's house. But his parents are every bit as much our parents too, and our relationship with them is also absolute, unchanging and eternal. We also have walked the suffering course with them. They are the True Father and Mother of every person reading this, and our stake in the Providence of God is every bit as valid.
The followers of Hyun Jin Nim are fully convinced that he is an obedient son of True Parents. Or was, until he declared himself free of all that a few days ago. I also know some of you are disappointed with various leaders of our church, especially in South America. There is not a single person I know who does not have legitimate grievances against those above and below them.
Likewise, I know of nobody who does not harbor regrets about mistakes they themselves have made when they were leading others. As a human being, it comes with the territory.
But the Providence of God is required to be much more than that. The Providence of God will not, and cannot, be about personalities. It cannot be about who is a good leader and who is a bad leader, or who was treated justly or unjustly. It has to be bigger than that, no matter our feelings. It has always been the case that God is stuck with using the people who happen to show up.
None of us has all the answers. We barely even know the right questions. We are all of us, feeling our way intuitively, prayerfully. None of us is qualified to judge each other, much less God's infinite plan. We can only look to our best understanding and try to sublimate our self-interests. There come times in our life of faith when we have to reevaluate the path we are on and ask difficult questions of ourselves.
For example: Will I now kyung-bae to True Parent's portrait at public Hoon Dok Hae gatherings, but not do so in private meetings with Hyun Jin Nim?
Am I still a child of the True Parents or is this no longer the case? When Hyun Jin Nim's children reach age 41, will they receive his permission to abandon their alignment with him? What about when you reach 41? Did you ever imagine things would turn out this way when all this began? Is this what you signed on for?
History has an unfortunate way of reducing a person's lifetime of experience and effort into a single phrase: "Adam and Eve fell," "Benedict Arnold betrayed his country," etc. There were a hundred justifiably human reasons why John the Baptist could not follow Jesus. Jesus was socially unacceptable; he broke laws of the Sabbath and tore up the Temple. But history remembers only that "John the Baptist failed his mission." You and I as well, will receive this same treatment from history.
Tom Field, for more than three decades you have given your life to frontline work in the mission field. You have created spiritual foundations and raised up members and have become the most respected North American in our movement's southern hemisphere. There are few people I admire as much as you. I believe in the goodness in your heart, and your desire to serve God until your final breath.
I have worked with Jin-man Kwak and others of you for long days and into the night until we could barely keep our eyes open. Jin-man, I have rarely met a more caring individual than you and have been humbled by the ability of you and others of Hyun Jin Nim's inner circle to give and give and give, with no thought for your own comfort.
Hyun Jin Nim, you are profoundly gifted, the best of the best. With extraordinary oratory and personal style, you move through a country with a mighty presence, as though walking through a room. By the time you exit, you have touched the original mind of everyone. People who were cold and skeptical at the beginning are inspired and convinced that humankind can actually create a new paradigm in which we think of ourselves as members of one global and interracial family of God. When you are at your best, you are focused, dedicated and godly.
At this time, we are all being called upon by God to reexamine where we stand in relation to God and the True Parents. The decisions we make will affect our children and grandchildren much more than they affect us. Please don't let the good you have accomplished in your life be erased and redefined by continuing down the destructive road of disobedience to our True Parents.
Respectfully,
Larry Moffitt