The Words of the LeRoy Family
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The Words of the LeRoy Family |
Flying from San Francisco on Saturday, May 8, my wife and I arrived in Las Vegas at 5:00 pm. After checking in at the sumptuous Mandalay Bay Hotel, we were asked to attend a rehearsal for the main ceremony, the Coronation and Golden Wedding Anniversary of True Parents, at 8:00 pm at the Aria Hotel. Upon our arrival at the Aria, we were told that there was no need to worry about representing a specific nation, but that twelve couples were needed on stage to welcome True Parents in the first ceremony. My wife and I were truly blessed to be chosen to go on stage.
On Sunday morning we had another stage rehearsal at 6:00 am at the Aria hotel guided by Dr Thomas Walsh and Mr. Jim Gavin, newly appointed Secretary General for the Universal Peace Federation.
The Coronation and Golden Wedding Anniversary event started at 9:30 am this Sunday, May 9, 2010. Over 1200 people, mostly members of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, as well as guests, completely filled up the room. The event started with music played on stage by Lovin' Life Band from Lovin' Life Ministry who came especially for this event from New York.
Around 10:00 am, after an opening prayer by Hyung Jin Nim, youngest son of our True Parents and our world President, and as the twelve chosen couples, the attendants, wearing traditional Korean ceremonial robes, had formed two rows of six couples on each side of the stage to welcome True Parents, True Parents appeared.
True Father came from the left of the stage and True Mother came from the right. They met in the middle, bowed to each other and sat down in front of the assembly. Royal gowns and royal crowns were then presented to True Parents and set on a table beside them. Then representatives of 12 major regions of the world came also on stage and each received a flag from the Universal Peace Federation as well as a set of Eight Sacred Textbooks containing the Words of God and the True Parents.
After a 30 minutes break, it was time for the Ascension Festival. Some important persons were honored. Among them were General Alexander Haig, President Kim Dae Jung, Mr. Hedi Annabi and Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, as well as the 46 South Korean Sailors who lost their lives with the explosion of the Cheonan ship which sank near the North Korean border a month ago. Another important person honored was Dr. Reiko Kawasaki, a 17th generation descendant of the last Shogun in Japanese history. She was also a medical doctor from Las Vegas. True Father said in his speech that through her benign influence from the spirit world, Dr Kawasaki will play a major role in Korea, Japan, and the United States.
This event was emceed by Dr. Thomas Walsh. Rev. Jung Ok Yoo, President of the Unification Church -- Pacific Rim Region gave a PowerPoint presentation (in Korean) about the three stages of life and the meaning of the Ascension Festival, called Seunghwa Ceremony. Then we had an overview of the previous US and Korean Rallies, an offering of flowers by miscellaneous representatives, a moment of meditation and prayers of remembrance led by representatives of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and the Unification Church.
It was then time for lunch and we were blessed to sit with True Parents who came to join us and sat in the front row beside our main VIP guest, Mr. Neil Bush, younger brother of the former US President George W. Bush.
After the delicious lunch, Lovin' Life Band played a few more songs and then In Jin Nim came on stage to introduce her father. As she was talking and truly giving honor to True Father, and was saying: "my father…." True Father walked on stage and interrupted her graciously. He seemed very happy and told us that he was about to give a very important speech and therefore, for the first time ever, purposefully interrupted the introduction so that we could remember this special occasion.
The title of this speech is: "The Establishment of the Abel UN and the Completion of God's Kingdom of Cheon Il Guk in Korea."
True Father really seemed relax and happy. He took over three hours to read the five pages speech, making some comments after each sentence. He said that we should read this speech a hundred times in order to really understand it. He also said that this speech represented his last will and that he really wanted to speak to representatives of each nation.
He mentioned that this is the age of the heart, the age of heavenly affairs, which is different from human affairs. He also said that whatever we do, the final goal is not to be making a profit but to offer something to God, to create a way for God to work. He reminded us that God cannot teach us directly if we do not fulfill some conditions… Las Vegas need to be serious and fulfills its responsibility in front of God… It was the 27th time that True Father had come to Las Vegas.
Toward the end, True Father asked two elder Korean members to sing, and he even sang a few verses with them truly expressing his heart and love for our members. Then he asked his son Kwon Jin Nim to sing a song, and, after lovingly waving his hand to the crowds, he left the stage.
We sincerely felt the profound love of our True Parents who once again invested 100% their entire heart to bless us and give us heavenly wisdom to build Cheon Il Guk. Thank you True Parents.