The Words of the Love Family
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The Words of the Love Family |
Andrew Love is the Team Captain for the witnessing department at Lovin' Life Ministries, New York City.
Question: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I'm originally from Toronto, Canada. I am twenty-nine, going on thirty. I came down to California in 2003 to perform comedy. It was going pretty well. It's interesting how things turned out: I had all these leads but all the potential projects that had been lined up just sort of disappeared and I was never quite sure why. When I look back at it now, though, I feel like it opened the gates for the opportunity for me to meet the Unification Church. I met the Church while I was writing screenplays. I wanted to go to the beach to get inspiration but didn't get any. On the way back, I met this girl that introduced me to the Church.
Well, I didn't really understand everything she was saying, but she showed me a video and asked if I would like to come see a lecture. I ended up following her. I felt I could trust her. Back then in California, they had a video series. You sign up for one and watch it and so on. At the beginning I watched one a week and then after a while I watched two a week and I finished the series very quickly. I started coming in every day to watch one.
Question: What appealed to you about the message in these videos?
Well, the video series was coupled with discussion forums. Luna Tomy was the facilitator at that time. She would show provocative documentaries about world issues and then she would give a Divine Principle perspective on how we could fix those problems. It was interesting. I would invite my friends but they weren't so in to it. I would notice when I was hanging out with my friends we would have similar conversations but they wouldn't seem to go anywhere; we wouldn't come up with any answers. We might satisfy ourselves, pat ourselves on the back, we had this attitude that "the world is screwed up but we're okay" whereas, going to these lectures made me look more deeply and be more honest with myself and acknowledge that I'm kind of screwed up as well; we all are, and that's actually how we're going to fix the world, by fixing ourselves.
Question: Was it that whole experience that appealed to you?
Yeah, I came into the Unification Church in a very humanistic way. For example, I once had a big conscience that had been getting lazier by the day. The Church had stirred my conscience back into action. During the lecture series I heard about the Messiah. I have no background at all about what a Messiah is, but I almost fainted, literally, when I first heard it. The world felt like it was spinning. At that point I thought all this might actually be true, be real, because I could feel it. It was the whole process that convinced me to join. Interestingly enough, two months before meeting the Unification Church, I gave notice to my friends that I was going to move somewhere else. I wasn't sure where but I knew I wanted a change, because what I was doing at the time was not working out for me. I started doing comedy with the best intentions -- to make people laugh and make people happy -- but now it was about my succeeding and I would have done anything to do that, and I noticed that about me.
Question: That happens when you go to California, doesn't it?
Yeah, you just want to survive. After a while I just didn't want to work as a waiter anymore. Then my art, my morals, everything starts to suffer. My last movie I wrote very quickly and it was garbage! I was so ashamed of it, so I knew that I was time for a change, but I didn't know what change. Then this came about and they asked me, "Do you want to join?" and I joined the way most people joined: I gave up everything, separated myself from everything. I had already been kind of going that way, conveniently.
Question: So it wasn't too difficult for you to say "yes?"
Yeah, there was something that inspired me to prepare in that way. I just gave away some of my stuff, sold some stuff and then joined. Then I had to go home for my sister's wedding before I could really get into it. Nobody believed I would come back because my family already knew I joined the Unification Church and they hated to see me go.
Question: Did you grow up religious?
No. We had a kind of traumatic experience. I was a kid. We lived right by a beautiful church and for a while there was a Scottish minister there who told amazing stories; he was a good family friend. So we would go to church and listen to him, but we had no relationship with Christ or anything; it was just a nice place where they served tiny triangular sandwiches after the service. Then the minister unfortunately contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion and this was back in the 80's, this was before we knew anything about AIDS. He died relatively quickly and many people reacted so negatively and wouldn't even support his family, because it was an unknown and rare predicament. There was a lot of fear around it. My parents kind of rejected that whole scene after that, my mom much more readily than my father. My dad ideally wanted us to be religious but not to believe in God; rather, to get us to lead a squeaky clean lifestyle. My dad's kind of like Ned Flanders from the Simpsons.
Question: Your last name, Love, what ethnicity is that?
My family heritage goes back to the U.K. So, Ireland, Scotland and Britain. My grandparents are Canadian. My great grandparents came from England. One of our ancestors died when he came over. Even my grandma is an atheist. We have a long tradition in our family of not believing in God.
Question: And yet, you're here.
That's why it was such a shock to everybody. That was why during the first conversation with my mom after I joined, I threw my cell phone for the first time in my life. There was so much accusation. They just couldn't understand the process of how this came about. I hadn't been just a passive non-believer; I was definitely an in-your-face non-believer, always challenging people. One of my best friends, whose grandpa was a Baptist priest and whose father was a strong believer in God, was kind of a new-agey guy. He was always bringing up God in this weird, vague way that was convenient to him. I was always nagging on him: "That's so stupid. That's so naïve. You believe He's up in the clouds? I've flown through the clouds in an airplane, what are you talking about?" If I felt inspired, I would just nag on him about God. So this is a huge departure from that.
Question: What happened to turn an atheist into someone who loves God and believes in Him?
It was a gradual process of breaking myself down and being as honest as I could be with myself. The lady who invited me -- her name is Maiko, she's my spiritual mother -- she was so good at calling me out. Since then I've been my own nanny, calling myself out on my lies, challenging myself more and through the fundraising process. I could break down my fake self -- the self that I used to protect myself, the self that I would use to make it in society, to get my piece of the pie -- and be recreated.
Question: So you went through a growth process?
Definitely. It took about a year before I could really say that I believed in it. People talk about ancestors a lot and I believe they keep me going. Actually, when I first joined, I would always wake up early, devoting myself a lot for the first couple of years. I just went crazy for God, just to see if He was real. But as soon as I would wake up in the morning, my mom's voice would pop in my head and nag me, saying; "You're crazy for doing this." So I would say; "I don't believe you. I want to give it a try." There was always all this doubt and then eventually, it just kind of went away. Some people would say liberation, but in terms of spiritual experiences, I feel a lot, definitely; because I'm so stubborn intellectually, I wouldn't get it unless I felt it first.
Question: Are you the type of person that feels things intuitively, emotionally, first before thinking about the other stuff?
Yeah, I would say I was like that. I used to mention to other people that I had an intuition about something but people would tell me that my intuitions were based on misinformation and, in retrospect, they were right. I grew up in a world where it was all about survival, so if it seemed that somebody was judging me, I would just walk away from them. Now, I've trained myself to not judge them, and through this process, through Principled living, I can see the value in that moment and still try to love them and in my heart still pray for that person.
Question: Now, when you are being challenged by people, do you feel you can look at yourself objectively and grow?
Yes. A good example of my growth is, I didn't know how I was going to get back into comedy -- that was my Isaac offering. I came to the church and I said, "I'll give up comedy, I'll give up writing -- "
Question: The thing you love most.
Exactly. It was also the thing I was abusing a lot. I received a lot of satanic rewards for acting a certain way and some of them were enjoyable, so basically, I used comedy for evil. Also mostly for my own ego's sake, so it was mostly about myself. That's why I was a bit hesitant about getting back into it.
Question: Were you afraid you would end up back where you used to be?
More that I wouldn't wield it properly, that I wouldn't use this beautiful gift for the right reason and, also, that I might not have it anymore because I gave it up, so it's not mine.
Question: Have you tried to get back into it?
Well, they needed an emcee for Friday Open Mic Nights at Lovin' Life Learning Center in Manhattan, and this event was part of the witnessing program, so I said I'd do it. It made sense, so I just agreed. That first night, there were several million army men fighting inside me over what the outcome would be; I just prayed like crazy. There was a packed audience and Reverend In Jin Moon's husband and children were there, so I was extremely anxious, but it worked out better than I could have imagined.
Because I could tap into the idea that "We're here for the sake of them," I could feel this energy about it. The way that art is presently: artist subject, audience object -- should be the inverse. The artist is object to God's inspiration and to what the audience needs; what can I give to the audience to help them feel a certain thing? In comedy, what I desire is how can I make them feel pure joy, or pure laughter, where they can forget about everything else.
Question: What was your motivation in the past?
How many laughs can I get for myself and how many compliments can I get afterward? I know many comedians from my years, from all levels; they're typically manic depressive, or at best mildly manic depressive, because they feed off of compliments from other people, but they themselves are not so stable; when that's not there, they're kind of empty in a way. That's why I have a deep desire one day to help bring comedy back to a healthy place.
Question: Of all the things you could have chosen to do at Lovin' Life Ministries why witnessing?
In mid-April of this year I was asked by my central figure to come out to New York from the West Coast. and I chose to stay here because I saw so much life and I saw our Senior Pastor's vision. I had the privilege of meeting with Reverend In Jin Moon three days after I came here. I could see her heart and how desperate she was for people to help, for people to actually get it, and I felt a tremendous, overwhelming desire to help. Our church is this kind of beautiful flower to be acknowledged, waiting for some bumble bee (or a hoard of them) to take advantage of it; but instead, it's been neglected in a way. It's this object that's waiting for a strong subject to just take a deep appreciation and find the value in it and pass it to the world. It's been rough, here and there, because the church is a growing entity. I heard Reverend Edgerly say once, "There are two kinds of businesses: there are control-based businesses and growth-based businesses." A growth-based business isn't going to grow in any particular way. It's going to continually grow in all directions, and that's what we're trying to become: a growth-based entity. That may have its rough patches but the rewards are finally revealing themselves. In the past couple of years, if a small number of people joined, they would leave after a while because there really wasn't anything for them to do. This is what we're figuring out now; it's really starting to come together in terms of providing new members with something to do.
Question: What is the relationship between the witnessing department and the education department?
Well, these two departments are coming together through the Starting Point series. New members need to meet certain qualifications before they can attend a Vision Class. They need to go to Sunday Service, they need to have studied the Divine Principle text, and they need to know who True Parents are. The Vision Class is like a membership class that shows the vision of our church. We don't want anyone joining unless they are enthusiastic. It's not about numbers; it's about trying to inspire people to help create a beautiful world. When someone does decide to join, they participate in a 4-part series broken down into 10-week increments called Starting Point, which was created by the education department at headquarters. The program takes place at Lovin' Life Learning Center, which is where the witnessing department is located. It's a joint effort. Starting Point is based on the 4 Realms of Heart, which we can find reference to in the Family Pledge, and we teach the traditions of our church.
Absolutely. We want to inspire other communities to do the same, using the materials headquarters is developing. Again, a problem has typically been, what do you do with somebody when they join? Who guides them? People are coming in new ways; how do we provide them with the atmosphere for their own growth, their own spirituality? People are coming in off the street for Service, for Junction, for Open Mic night and they end up being enamored by our community and want to learn more and join in that way. Sometimes GPA participants will witness to someone and bring them in but then those participants leave for college and we have to think, how do we continually provide this new person with opportunity for growth?
Question: So you're meeting lots of challenges?
Yeah but they're good because we are learning a lot and coming up with a system that can function on its own; one that cannot only produce results but can maintain those results and continue growth. Another challenge is providing a safe place for growth for new members who are not full-time members, who live elsewhere and in some cases, live in dangerous places. Even now we have a new member who fits that description. He feels good when he's here but he feels bad when he's out there. So we sit and talk with him about what he has here and how he can keep what he has here wherever he's going.
Question: It sounds like the witnessing team is made up of parents. Do you find you need to go out with that parental heart or you really can't express the heart that Father wants us to have?
That's how we grow, that's our benefit. If we really want to create a peaceful world where people actually care about each other, then you have to actually care for and about these people. You have to train yourself; "How do I care about all types of personalities?" This has been really challenging for me because many different personality types come and I believe I have to provide a welcoming, beautiful atmosphere where they feel like it's their home. That's difficult because sometimes we conflict in our personalities and I have to be the first to overcome, as a member, to show them that Divine Principle is real. I've benefited because of it. When we practice what True Father is talking about, when we have that parental heart, the growth is endless; you feel so much better. It's just like Reverend Hyung Jin Moon says; "The more you testify about True Parents, the more you get to know True Parents." The more you talk about them, the more you fall in love with them every day.
Honestly, you can see the transformative power True Parents have when people join the church and are transformed; you a reborn again and again, vicariously, through them. It's a beautiful process.
Question: Does GPA and the witnessing team often work together?
One of the modules for GPA is to come to the Lovin' Life Learning Center and learn how to witness. We're trying to figure out right now how to educate second-generation Unificationists to understand what witnessing is and be empowered by it instead of frightened by it. A lot of people have misconceptions of what witnessing is and some have negative experiences, but, really, the experience can be very simple and rewarding.
Question: What are some misconceptions people tend to have about witnessing?
That it's all or nothing. They put too much pressure on themselves and think they have to get everything right away. A lot of people have ownership issues -- the idea that, "these are my spiritual children," things like that.
Question: Would you say they have a lot of Old World Thinking?
Yes, because the new world has yet to be established, right? It's being established before our very eyes, being defined little by little. We [at UM] are trying to open the gates to what it could be, but we're also practicing quality control so we don't get flooded.
Question: Reverend In Jin Moon speaks about "natural witnessing." How would you say natural witnessing fits into how the witnessing team conducts programs?
We're trying to address that as well, because that has misconceptions as well. Whenever a new idea is introduced it's often taken to extremes. Some people feel that natural witnessing is as loose as saying, "Hey, I'm a good person, and you're a good person." And that's it; everything is generalized. There isn't often an intentional effort to bring people in and show them anything. We're trying to show people, little by little, that it can be a simple experience. When GPA participants come here we help them prepare "elevator speeches", which are just quick explanations of who we are and what we believe that they can take with them when they are travelling. People can learn how to witness to a taxi driver on their way to the airport. I've seen Rev. Bruce Grodner, New York District Leader, do it. We were in a taxi headed to a gala and it came about so naturally; the taxi driver asked, "Why are you dressed up?" and Rev. Grodner said, "I'm heading to a Unification Church function." The driver said, "Oh, the Unification Church, it's still around?" and they just talked. He didn't join right away -- he's a taxi driver, he's a busy guy -- but the seed was planted and he was interested and positive about what he received. So, natural witnessing is just planting seeds, as the circumstances or situation for it naturally presents itself.
Question: How does your family feel now about what you are doing?
They're a lot happier now. I finally got to visit them after two years. My sister had a baby and they wanted to see me and wanted me to see the baby; it gave them great satisfaction. Plus, now I can better explain what I'm doing. I've lived this life for a while, which is important, and I can now explain it in real terms. Of course people witness to are going to go on the internet; this is a challenge of modern-day witnessing. We all know the internet is predominantly, viciously negative. Witnessing here at headquarters, I know it's something that continually pops up, and some people are totally not affected and others are very much affected. We definitely have much better ways now of dispelling those things and challenging people, especially once they've met us. We can ask them, "What's true? You've met us, are we brainwashing you?"
Question: Do you feel your family is receiving your decision more positively now because of who you're becoming and how you are faring?
Actually, I have to credit Reverend In Jin Moon's and what she's done to normalize our church, in terms of changing the members' concepts from thinking we're some weird, crazy cult, when actually we're really this beautiful church; if we treat it as such, then others will as well. If we feel it's weird, then it will be weird to other people as well. I brought my dad to service out in Montreal, Canada where we stayed with the Garand's -- a Unification Church family in Montreal -- that was the best witnessing ever! We stayed at their house and went to a church barbeque. My dad had a great time, met a bunch of good people who were similar to him, that were normal and acted normal. We let the witnessing happen on its own, without force. I also knew my dad was ready, that he wasn't going to attack or challenge anybody. He went in with a smile and was treated amazingly well; people knew not to just cram things down his throat. That night when we went back to the Garand's home we spoke for hours with them and they were enthralled by the fact that we were there and we were enthralled by the fact that they were allowing us to be there. It was so natural. Mrs. Garand would sometimes say; "So what do you think about your son being in the church?" because she was genuinely inquisitive and my dad answered honestly, "Yeah, I was weirded out at first and I started reading all this negative information, but then I saw the publication dates on all these books." He had noticed the dates were from twenty years back and then nothing was printed in the past twenty years and he wondered, "What's happened since then?" He could look at our church a little more objectively and the process I took to get here.
Funny enough, the next day, we go to service and it is an all-French service, down to the Family Pledge and the holy songs. We don't speak French, but the translator there just happened to be standing right behind us; it all worked out perfectly. On the long ride back home, my dad asked, "So, son, when are you going to teach me the DIVINE PRINCIPLE?" and I was like, "Really?" I was so surprised but kind of reluctant, at first, because I didn't know how much he could take. I just started going for it because he was pressing me. I gave him a short overview, but after about twenty minutes I noticed his eyes were getting a little heavy and he was driving, so I stopped. But that weekend was so great! Everyone just naturally started giving testimonies. Bob Duffy, the first Canadian member (such an awesome guy), just started giving all these testimonies about all his positive experiences with the church. For some reason everyone who gave a testimony kept going back to how inspired they were by the Divine Principle, so my dad wanted to know about the Divine Principle. So I said, "Well, come to New York and you can participate in a workshop!" That was natural witnessing, people talking, sharing naturally about their lives, their backgrounds and, of course, about the church and their positive experiences and When you do that, people want to know more. People are saying, "This thing changed my life!" It's like an infomercial -- "This will change your life!" If you feel that this experience has changed your life you should speak up about it. People want change and they're going to want what you have from what they see in you. That's natural witnessing at its best: people want what you have and you tell them how to get it.
There is something happening right now that has never happened before. I really feel that True Parents have a vision and True Children can really tap into that vision; it's light years beyond what we can see. It's not just about, how can we witness to several thousands of people, it's about how can we witness to America, to the world! How do we put True Parents up on a pedestal where they belong? How do we lift them up there? Reverend In Jin Moon's vision is so vast and it's taking some time to catch up with her, but it's happening. I feel that people are really starting to come together and care about different departments at headquarters, at the Learning Center -- separate entities coming together -- and this is going to create an atmosphere where we can welcome endless amounts of people. I believe, as a church, learning how to receive people and how to help them know the value of True Parents is so important. This is something I don't think we were able to do before our Senior Pastor brought her vision to us: The more that we believe, the more it will happen. This is the value of this present day, the merit of this age. It's taken us a while to truly believe what Reverend In Jin Moon has been talking about, but the more people accept what she is saying, the more it will happen. Our trepidations -- these are our own concepts -- and if we project that onto others, it's a travesty. If we believe in True Parents enough, believe in Reverend In Jin Moon, believe in God, our Heavenly Parent, believe that they have a plan and it's much bigger than we can understand and if we could just let it happen and unite, great things will happen at great speeds. That's a large part of witnessing. Everything is done for us: the Word is there, and if we believe and we invest, miracles can happen.