The Words of the Hyun Jin Moon
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The Words of the Hyun Jin Moon |
Peace Message 13 read
Every time I hear that peace message, and there are parts in the peace message, especially when we're doing Hoon Dok Hae, where actually I will stop the reader so we can actually explain further of what this really means, because there is such richness in content and depth in this peace message. The way that we are proceeding now, especially through the Global Peace Festivals, is to actually carrying on with this framework in mind. One of the fundamental messages that needs to get out is that we are a providential movement and that we are aligned to a larger dream that transcends all human institutions. One of the things that this message really emphasizes is that fact that God has been moving throughout history. And that God has been moving in such a way that is touching not only the great events of history and the great civilizations of history, but even our own individual lives, that we have a role to play. That is why my father continuously makes the charge that even though he has been given this tremendous responsibility, that he needs your help to bring this ideal to fruition.
So what is the Global Peace Festival? And what is this Global Peace Convention all about? It is a way in which we can spread that blessing so that there can be new owners of this vision to build one family under God. You know when I first challenged our movement to think of transforming families, one family at a time, centered upon rooting in the providential vision of building one family under God. I remember if I would talk to a hundred people, I would have a hundred different perspectives and a hundred different answers. If I was to ask a hundred different people, "What is the legacy of my father?" or "what is the legacy of our movement?" I would get a hundred different answers? From even those who have served and attended my parents for 30, 40, even 50 years. So although, in name, we were the "Unification Movement", although in name we were "Blessed Central Families", although in name we were associated with many of the organizations that my parents have initiated, in reality we were all separated in not only in our perspective, but we were separated in our identities.
So the Global Peace Festival and the message of "One Family Under God", is a message that can bring not only our movement together, but all of humanity together to align to what? To align to the dream of God. Because that is the central axis of His providence and the way that history was been moving.
You know one of the things that one has to understand? I know that there are some Christians here, and I going to challenge you Christians. As well as I'm going to challenge you Muslims and I'm going to challenge you Jews and also I'm going to challenge you so-called "Unificationists"? Because we have a tendency to hide behind our identities. And identities, in many ways, that we think are valid and true, are the very source of the separation of the human family, especially at this hour. And I don't think that it is happenstance that the world right now is embroiled in a religious conflict, rooted in doctrine and rooted in theology and beliefs.
Remember, God did not create theology. God did not create the traditions that followed after the deaths of the great founders of the great religions. Even the great founders of the great religions did not create the doctrines and the theology that came afterwards. Those were all efforts by their disciples to understand this historic being that was to carry on the work of God through history. In the process, they formulated their creeds and their belief system, and anybody who did not align to those creeds and belief systems, all of a sudden became an outcast, excommunicated. From what? From the providence of God? If anything, we have seen in history, every single major faith, that as that faith starts to ossify, and tries to dictate who is in heaven or who is in hell, all of a sudden God's providence moves and there's a splinter. Because God's providence has been a providence of the salvation of not only a select few, but of the entire human family.
My father talks about the historical role of Jesus -- that Jesus came not just to save the people who lived in the eastern corner of the Mediterranean empire, who called themselves "Jews" that sustained a 4,000 year legacy of a strict covenant with one God. In a world that was filled with polyg… uh. what is the word I'm looking for? Polytheism. That's it… I was going to say polygamy. [Laughter] But polytheism, because polygamy is kind of like polytheism, having a lot of gods. Yet Jesus' message was not just for those Jews. And Jesus' work for salvation was not just for the salvation of those select few who had strictly maintained that covenant, but was even for those who were blaspheming against God, according to the perspective of the Jews. It was a message to build One Family Under God.
My father also talks about the restoration of blood lineage. That this was the weapon that Satan had been using to have dominion over humanity, to fill our hearts with fallen nature. Now what is the difference between God's initial impulse and Satan's initial impulse? We, within our movement, clearly like to define that as true love or false love.
What is true love? True love is a love to live for the sake of others, to live for a greater good. False love is a love rooted in the impulse to aggrandize one's own self, or to use the relationship for the furtherment of one's self. Now, within that general understanding of true love, I would say there are many different levels in which we can express that love. What is the highest form of true love? The highest form of true love, I would venture to say, is a love that can embrace our eternal Heavenly Father, God, that can be so big, so embracing, that could embrace even Heavenly Father.
You know when we think about that as being the greatest love of all… Within the Unification tradition, we aspire, especially on Sundays we have the family pledge. And in the family pledge we aspire to be true sons and daughters, true patriots, true saints and ultimately holy sons and daughters of God.
Now what does it mean to be a true son or daughter, a filial son or daughter? Of course within the family, a filial son or daughter is a son or daughter who gives his life for the sake of his family. Of course, a patriot is someone who is willing to give his life for the sake of his nation. And of course a saint is someone who is willing to give his or her life for the sake of humanity and the world. But what is a holy son or daughter? A holy son or daughter is that son or daughter that is willing to give his or her life for the fulfillment of God's dream, to build one family under God. It is a son or daughter who gives his life for the furtherment of God's Providence.
Now when I reflect on this, and as I pray on this, I can only look to the life of my parents, especially my father, who has made such an indelible imprint on my life. The challenge that we face going forward is "What is the true legacy of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon?" Is it a legacy of just creating a church for the salvation of a few who recognize them as a True Parent of all mankind? And through some process, let it be through a political process, we declare that all of a sudden that we find a nation of Cheon Il Guk? Or is my Father's legacy something greater that is rooted in a providence that has been working ever since the beginning of human history? That the life, blood, sweat and tears that have been shed on this world, for us to carry this holy and noble purpose as a divine son or daughter and so that humanity can realize God's dream to build one family under God.
In the modern era, as I so often explained throughout the peace tours of 2008, the one who has carried that message forward in the modern era, irrefutably… For there were those, even well known religious leaders, as well as people on the political stage that furthered their own political creed or their particular faith communities, but there was not one that was willing to go beyond, and even sacrifice those who have loyally followed, for the sake of bringing this message of One Family Under God to humanity, and to make owners and charge owners… to become members of this One Family Under God.
One thing that you have to understand is that those of you gathered here, those of you who have really inherited this message, are providential people that are planting the seeds of hope for humanity, not only in this century, but in this millennium. That there can be a time, in not some distant future, that the divisive nature of our fallen spirit can somehow find some solace and salvation in a greater dream that allows us to look beyond our pretensions, whether they be black, white, yellow, red. Whether they be nationalistic pretensions or even our pretensions of faith. Let it be our ethnic pretensions, that there will come a time which can truly stand as one family under God, naked, in front of each other as brothers and sisters and naked under our own like God. And that hope and that dream, if planted in the right hearts and minds, can lead to a time when humanity can find the ultimate peace. That is the conviction that each and every one of you has to have.
Excuse me because I'm a passionate person. But we will set the proper legacy. We will plant the proper seeds in the heart of man and we will lay the foundation to bring global peace and make that into a reality. Do believe that? Yes or no? [Yes!] I know that this is a path that I've already embarked on and there is no turning back. And I'm committed to making that a reality. You know, I'm usually not the kind of person to show his tears, but when I think about how much God has had to endure through history to prepare for this time and how much my father has given to prepare for this time, I understand that providential history has changed in a moment because of the failure of responsibility, especially five percent responsibility, that this is a dire time in which we live.
I see a lot of young people in the audience today. Are there young people here, or are we all old people? [Young people!] Old people can excuse themselves because I like speaking to young people because I like to dream big. Dreaming big means that we have to challenge ourselves at this moment and we have to elevate ourselves, although limited, to something that is higher and greater than ourselves. So I'm going to challenge all you young people today. Will you become the owners of this dream and carry forth with conviction and with dedication and with a fervent fire that's burning in your hearts, yes or no? [Yes!]
For we shall find a nation. We shall find many nations that will recognize the sovereignty of God and the fundamental truth of this dream. We shall also set the seeds of peace amongst the faiths traditions, because we are all people of God. We should be one family. We should not be using our faiths as a vehicle and a justification to kill each other. There will come a time when we shall challenge the very leaders of all the great faith traditions right now, and hold them to task of this greater dream. That they can be the ones that bring the end to the violence, as they become the owners of this dream.
There will come a time when all families of humanity will have God as the center in their families. Where all the strife that exists within humanity, that is compounded on a social level, because God has been taken out of that family. There will be peace and there will be reconciliation within families as God becomes the center of that family. There come a time in which the innate culture of humanity is a culture to serve others, to live for the sake of others. And that is why, through the Global Peace Festival, which is just a vehicle to bring about those fundamental changes through the tri-fold platform of interfaith, of building God-centered families and of spreading the culture of service.
This is my conviction and I want to challenge you to make it your conviction. And as the body of individuals that owns the dream spreads, that hopefully there will come a day when God will rest in peace and my father's work will be recognized and this place will be dually known as his proper legacy is established.
So with that said, those of you who are willing to make that pledge, can you stand up, raise both hands and say, Aju? [Aju!] Both Hands. Aju! Aju! Aju. Thank you very much.