This is an excerpt from 2003 "Owning the Culture of Heart" by Hyun Jin Moon.

I was a young man once. I looked around me and tried to find that vision, that hope. Many times, those things that I thought might be going to lead me in that direction came to a dead end. Yet, the ultimate conclusion was this: Truth, hope and vision were right there with me. Because I was the son of True Parents, God's providence, God's hope and God's mission were moving through me.

I know, especially regarding you young people in our movement, because you are young, because you are searching, you get attracted or influenced by many different things. Yet one thing you don't realize is that you don't have to look any further than yourself, who you are, what you are. If you are the Second Generation, your essence, who you are, is connected directly to God's providence. If you are young First Generation, your identity and conviction is directly connected to True Parents and the foundation that was built. You need not look any further than yourself. In other words, your roots are here.

I am 32 years old. I grew up with many of the Second Generation. They were my friends from around my age group. Out of all those friends that I know and remember, not many are left. They are still searching. So I know the situation of the Second Generation and the difficulty that the Second Generation faces. I know it well. I went to the University of Bridgeport and I gathered all the Blessed Children and gave a talk to them. The essence of my talk was this: "Regardless of whether you leave or stay, you will always be a Blessed Child. That's what your essence is. You'll always be a Unification Church member." Let me ask you something. Blood lineage is absolute, eternal and unchanging. Our identity - do we make our identity or is it given to us? Those who think that you create your identity, raise your hands. If you look at the audience right now, most of the young people will say, "We create our identity." Especially in America, that's the case. Each person thinks that he creates his own identity. Individual freedom! Yet think about it and reflect deeply. Do we really create our identity or is it given to us?

Your identity was given to you by your parents, by your brothers and sisters, by all the people who love you, who surround you. That is how your identity is formed. So if you really think about it, identity is something that you cannot just create or remake. It's something that is given to you. Even if I don't want to be Father's son, I will always be Father's son. I will be Hyun Jin Moon. In other words, identity is given to you.

So I told those Blessed Children that what the outside world is telling them is false. To think that you can create your identity without considering all those people who love you and care about you is a tremendous sin. Why? It is because truly, our identity is molded by those around us.

So I know that I am Hyun Jin Moon, that I have two older brothers, four younger brothers and seven sisters, and that I have parents, True parents. I know that I have the whole Unification Church that looks to me as a member of the True Family. In other words, my identity is formed by all the people around me. And it's my responsibility to live up to that and live up to the expectations of that identity. Isn't it the same for you? Think about it. Really reflect and think about it. It's the same for you, too. So the conclusion is that our identity is not our own to make. It is given to us by those who love and care about us most. That's why, especially at this time, the importance of family is going to be elevated.

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