Going down 'The Road Not Taken'

Sun Hi Jeon
April 29, 2010

Elder Sun Hi Jeon is the third from the left in the back row.

Although I grew up as the youngest child in a farming family with strict Confucian traditions, my family was tolerant when I became interested in Christianity while in middle school. I read the Old and New Testaments while in my first year of middle school, and during the term break of my third year of middle school I studied Myungshim Bogam (a classic from the Goryeo period), Daehak (one of the Four Books of Confucian teachings), the teachings of Mencius, and the Analects of Confucius. At this young age I began to examine and analyze everything that I read, and from the time I was in the second year of middle school, every time I met a famous missionary, preacher or evangelist, I brought my analytical questions about the Bible to them, and the discussions often continued long into the night. Finally, none of them were able to give me a satisfactory answer to my questions, and I decided 'Christianity is Blind' and could not go to church any longer.

A little later, in the summer of my 2nd year of high school I was introduced to the Divine Principle by Sook Yung Yoo, who was on a summer witnessing campaign. Ms. Yoo was friendly and modest, and I found her lectures intellectually stimulating. Over a period of seven days, she introduced me to the Principal of Creation, the Fall, Restoration and the Second Coming. Her moving lectures convinced me, and exclaiming "This is it!" I joined the church right away. The other seven people who joined at the same time were all members of the same student club. This was October 10, 1961.

This is the way I came to choose Robert Frost's "Road Not Taken.".

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, . . .

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; . . .

In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day! . . .

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

We were on fire, and studying the weighty material in the Principle was not a problem for us. Our school classes began to seem very insignificant, and all the time we were in school we were impatient to get back to the Principle. Thinking "Isn't this the time . . ?" we felt driven to be involved in the church. We couldn't bear it if we missed even one day of going to the church. Even when there was a church rally in the middle of our final exams, we climbed over the back wall of the school or snuck out the back gate and attended the rally. Our studies suffered as a result. Our ten years of reputation as model students was completely ruined. My rank for the 2nd year of high school was 60th out of 72 students in my grade. Our families were alarmed. Everyone became involved in trying to explain why we had become lost, spending our time on heresy instead of our studies. They said "When they attend the Unification Church, honor students become bad students who can't focus on what's important." And our classmates, as well as other students at the school began to treat us coldly and avoid us. Despite this whirlpool of difficulties, I didn't miss a day of the summer 40 day witnessing condition.

After that, I realized "A heavenly soldier should be exemplary in every aspect of his life." And in my third year of high school, I went from 60th place in my class up to 23rd place and I also took care with my words and actions so that by the time I graduated people said of me "There is nothing wrong with him except for the fact that he attends the Unification Church."

The first national Sunghwa Student General Meeting was held at the Cheongpadong Headquarters for three days, beginning on October 7, 1962. On the evening of October 8, there was a Divine Principle lecture contest, and I was chosen to represent Gyeonggi Province, because, even though I was not skilled at explaining the Principle, I was an eloquent speaker. I could see that there were many skilled lecturers from around the country. 30 minutes before the competition started, the chosen speakers were gathered to draw lots for their lecture topics. I drew 'The Life and Death of John the Baptist', a topic I had never thought about. The lecture was supposed to be seven minutes long. But after three minutes my mouth clamped shut and everything went black. The one thing I could remember was that John the Baptist had not fulfilled his responsibility.

"...John the Baptist, who had the mission to witness to Jesus as the Messiah did not fulfill his mission to attest to Jesus. Because of this jerk's failure, the providence of salvation was extended and extended again." I struck the podium in indignation.

And I stepped down from the podium. My lecture was over, and Church president Hyo Won Eu gave his critique.

"Today we saw a most miserable lecturer. Why did you call John the Baptist a jerk? He was such a respected man that people asked him whether he was the messiah. But you said..." As he gave his critique, I stared at the floor and could not raise my head. Cold sweat was streaming down my back. I wanted to run away. Most of all I was ashamed of myself in front of the church leaders and members who had put their faith in me.

There was no evaluation whatsoever for the worst lecturer of the day. The Ganghwa and Gyeonggi church leaders patted me on the shoulders and expressed their appreciation, saying "It's all right. Giving a good lecture is important, but being loyal to heaven is more important." I was overcome with tears. The experience taught me something I never forgot.

After that I studied the Principle carefully and read the "Explanation of the Principle" about 20 times, nearly memorizing it. I have also read the Divine Principle ten times. I have read the New Testament seven times, and I read from True Father's Collected Speeches every day. So far, I have read up to volume 121. True Father's Collected Speeches are truly remarkable. Starting the day by reading from them in the morning brings grace that lasts all day. Sometimes while I am reading, tears come to my eyes, sometimes I slap myself on the knee, sometimes they bring a quite smile to my face and at other times they make me laugh out loud.

Within those collected speeches you can find all the principles that govern heaven and earth, the right path for life's journey, and the wisdom of life. God's heart and True Parent's joys and sorrows, along with the internal history of the Completed Testament providence are all minutely described and vividly alive on those pages.