Notes from In Jin Nim's August 15, 2010 Sermon

1) In Jin Nim began by making reference to her experience at the BC Sport Festival held at UTS. She was especially impressed by the talent show. It was a snapshot of the different types of talent in our community dancing and bands. In Jin Nim realized that there is so much to look forward to and wonders where the talent will be 1 or 2 decades from now.

2) When In Jin Nim thinks about the importance of celebrating our culture through different mediums, like the youth concerts for world peace and the sport festival, she realizes that this is an opportunity to reinforce in the up-and-coming generation the importance of mind over body and discipline.

3) This reminded her of the tennis camp that she took her boys to in New Hampshire. She was impressed with the program there, not only because they were teaching fantastic technique, but more important than technique they stressed mental conditioning, having the right frame of mind in preparation for the sport, the court, and to face your opponent. She thought this was a wonderful way to train her kids. The program teaches that you must be a winner in your own mind and head before you step onto the court, so that you are prepared to win even before the first serve.

4) The importance of where one's mind is, what one is thinking, how one perceives themselves to be, is very much what you end up becoming. This is not only taught in our community, but is stressed again and again in this tennis program.

5) As important as it is to condition the physical body to be strong and to have endurance, be persistent and focused, the program at the same time stresses the sharpness of the mind, ability of the mind to focus, regardless of what you face during the tennis game. The training process takes you through many obstacles, physical and mental. This is an important lesson to have in life, regardless of what you do. We realize that what we think is what we become.

6) If we have the view of ourselves as that winner, as successful men and women, incredible eternal sons and daughters of God with divine value, with the purpose of manifesting our beauty to the world, then we realize that we are something precious and valuable, we have meaning and a purpose and a direction in life. But many times when we are confused in our minds or in our thinking, and at the same time we have to enter the court every day of our lives, we have to play the good tennis game. But if our mind, our thinking process, is confused, then it is very difficult to become successful, become that winner in life that we all were meant to be.

7) When In Jin Nim thinks of how we have such talented up-and-coming athletes, when you see them play there is a certain level of expertise that they have but In Jin Nim is hoping that through these sport festivals it won't be just an occasion to have fun, but perhaps it could be a catalyst, not to just have a great time, but to try our best in whatever we are doing. If we are passionate in soccer, why not be Beckham, if in swimming why not be Phelps, in basketball why not be Jordan.

8) These sport festivals are not just a social gathering where we have fun with each other, just to feel good they should also be an occasion to remind ourselves that we can be the best. If we can be the catalyst for future Phelps to come out of our community then In Jin Nim thinks that something like this is a well served event.

9) As we celebrate the beauty of our community through the arts, sports, and academics, In Jin Nim is hoping that our children can be inspired by the concept of internal and external excellence, and the importance of having the proper way of thinking, because that determines what kind of people we are going to be in the future.

10) When we look at scripture, Mark 4:24, the Bible says, "pay attention to what you hear" and some translations say "be careful of what you hear" The first part of this, the verb, is an admonition, a warning to all of us, to pay attention, to focus on and be careful of what we hear is it positive or negative? Is it something that is conducive to our life of faith or something that takes away from our life of faith? Does it embolden us to try harder or does it enervate (to deprive of nerve, force, vigor; weaken physically mentally or morally) us to do nothing about our lives? It says pay attention to what you hear and then goes on to say the measure of what you give is the measure of what you get.

11) The scripture starts out with an admonition, telling and warning us to pay attention and to be careful of what we hear. Because what we hear and allow ourselves to hear in our own minds determines our thinking process which will have a direct consequence on the kind of people we will become. The Bible goes on to say, The measure of what you give is the measure of what you get. It is a reminder to live for the sake of others, for us to invest, and try our best in everything we do, knowing that it will come back to us in equal measure.

12) But the Bible does not just leave us with this statement, it goes on to promise us that still more will be given if you hear, if you allow yourself to hear correctly, if you can truly hear what is positive and conducive to your life of faith, what emboldens you to become a better person, it still promises you more and more and more.

13) When we think and meditate on this verse, this scripture, we realize that what God, our Heavenly Parent, is reminding us to do is I want you, my children, my eternal sons and daughters to be powerful men and women of God, and you can be powerful if you pay attention to what you listen to, what you hear, what you allow your mind to say to you, as to what you are going to become. Our True Father and Mother want us to be successful men and women.

14) When you look at the definition of the Greek word dunamis, it means power. It is something that we all seek to possess or exercise in our life. We want to be powerful in what we do; we want to exercise power correctly. But when you look at this same word in different parts of scripture, we understand that it can also mean virtue or ability. When you contemplate on this word, and what we can become if we can hear the right things and pay attention to the right things that are being spoken to our minds, in our ears, then we realize that what God is asking us to do, to be that powerful son and daughter of God, is to practice virtue.

15) A virtuous life is a very simple one in that the idea is simple, but it is extremely difficult to accomplish mind-body unity, to apply virtue in our lives. In the context of sports or artistic pursuit, when we seek to be that virtues athlete, or student of the arts, what we seek to do is to practice discipline in our lives. When you have a sport camp you get up early, stretch, eat the right breakfast, get to the camp and it's an all day affair of discipline, not just physical, but mental conditioning. It is no different if you want to be the best in the arts discipline, effort, and persistence is required you have to set a certain number of hours each day to perfect your craft your art to be that masterful artist that you so long to be.

16) A virtuous person in the context of sports or in the arts, is someone who practices discipline in their life. So, the measure of what you give, of what you put in, is the measure with which you get meaning the more that you put in to your art, or invest in your sport, the better the athlete and artist you will become.

17) In our life of faith it is not different. If we are to truly be that powerful eternal son and daughter, that virtuous son and daughter, discipline is required as well. Mind over body, practicing the different things you meditate on, taking each day one step at a time, making small accomplishments and building upon them day after day and one by one, slowly, with persistence and consistency, become that virtuous person that we were all meant to be.

18) When you think about the word power, of becoming that powerful person in our life of faith, in the arts, or in sports it doesn't matter which culture you come from, we all have different versions of the importance of ability. If you have a proclivity or bias towards something, if you prefer soccer to football, piano to the violin, guitar over the base if we have a certain bias or preference for something, but we want to make ourselves the best that we can be, we have to exercise our abilities in order to truly be that ripe artist or athlete that can stand in the position as a master in each field. In order to do this, each culture has its own little wisdom nugget (as In Jin Nim calls it). In English you have grandparents telling their grandchildren you know you munchies, practice makes perfect.

19) Nothing in life that is worthwhile comes easy. If you want to be the best athlete or artist, achieving that best status does not come easily. It requires certain things of us like discipline, but also putting that discipline into motion by practicing everyday is something that is required if we want to be the best in our field.

20) Yesterday In Jin Nim was having a conversation with her daughter she had just come back from a day of riding with her siblings and they were talking about their day. They came into the room with a birthday cake for In Jin Nim and they looked so tired. In Jin Nim asked what had happened and then Preston came in with his hand on his back, walking like a grandpa. They then told In Jin Nim what had happened. (In Jin Nim shared how True Parents love the equestrian sports. Two of In Jin Nim's siblings [Hyun Jin Nim and Un Jin Nim] were equestrian Olympic athletes, but her kids, who grew up in Boston never had a chance to ride horses.) They had not ridden horses in a long time. On this occasion, they started out on their horses together, and seemed to all have equal opportunity, but Preston got a big black old grandpa horse. This horse began to lag behind and began to rebel refusing to follow commands, not liking the fact that Preston was on his back. For sometime Preston struggled with this very large horse, trying to maintain control. It wanted to eat and poop, to the left and right and stopping to eat what was in front of it. No matter how Preston tried it would not cooperate. Then it began to buck and try to knock Preston off, which it eventually succeeded at doing. Finally the horse had to be walked back, tempting it with some fresh leaves. This is why Preston was so tired walking like a grandpa.

21) This story made In Jin Nim think how many times life is like trying to ride a grandpa of a horse. Many times you are set on this horse that you did not choose. You don't choose to be born into a particular family, you don't choose your siblings or particular parents or grandparents, or, in our movement, your in-laws. Many times when we are on this course, this trail that we are supposed to enjoy, to take in, life pushes us to do many different things. Sometimes it throws us into the bushes, even if we don't want to be in the bushes. Sometimes it tries to push us forward on to the pavement even though we don't want to, and many times life has a way of bucking us off, because life has a way of putting many obstacles in our path. In a way it is watching us, teasing and playing with us, to see how we will recover, how will we lead the horse back to the barn?

22) When In Jin Nim was listening to this story she told Preston, know that I am responsible for the whole movement and the education of the 2nd and 3rd generation I think I will make horse back riding a part of the required course. Because, for young people, who are so bright eyed and bushy-tailed about all things in life, except their parents, they don't realize what their parents go through and many times we as parents feel like we are on this horse called our children who want to do all these things and how do we guide them into the proper way, how do we keep them focused on the trail. It's a very difficult thing.

23) In Jin Nim realized that the children can't realize what the parents are going through because they never had the opportunity to be in the position of parent, of responsibility. Horse back riding is wonderful because it is not a mechanical thing that you ride; it is a breathing, feeling, powerful animal. It is something that knows a particular language it responds to you how you squeeze it with your thighs, the reins in a way it operates with rules, but it has feelings, desires, and its own passions it is like dealing with another person. Learning how to ride is a wonderful opportunity for a young person to realize that working with another living breathing thing is not the easiest thing to do.

24) Maybe a new appreciation of parents might come out of such an experience, perhaps a new appreciation of working with their siblings in the context of their own family life might be something newly realized and understood.

25) This riding lesson, as painful as it was, is a wonderful reminder to all of us that when we are on this trail, called life and Preston who was bumped off the horse could have had 2 different reactions. Even though he was extremely tired, he was still a happy camper he was chuckling to himself his was a wonderful experience, in that I learned a lot how stubborn an animal can be, how I need to be more patient, about doing things differently the next time around.

26) As a mother In Jin Nim was very pleased in her elder son, coming off of being bucked off a horse, he still had a very positive attitude towards this experience. That reminded In Jin Nim that when we are searching for happiness in our lives, what she likes to tell herself each day is that happiness is not something out there that needs to be reeled in like a fish, happiness is something that we hold in our hands already. We just have to decide to exercise it, to apply it into our virtuous living and that is what will make us into a powerful son and daughter of God. In essence happiness is the decision to be happy every day.

27) When we decide to be happy we are already taking that first step into owning who we are, what our mental process is, our thinking process is, and thereby defining ourselves to be that successful, powerful, eternal son and daughter of God who has infinite value, a rich reservoir of love to share with the world, that was blessed with so many talents from our Heavenly Parent up in heaven. In a way, our life is an opportunity, like a beautiful canvas. God prepared the canvas, gave us a pallet of colors to play around with and the only thing we need to do to decide to pick up that paint brush and paint be responsible and grateful for the canvas that has been given to us and exercise our beautiful, individualistic creativity that we all have, that is uniquely you, me and each painting that we create will be that unique masterpiece that we can share with the world and give back, in the form of a beautiful life, to our Heavenly Father and Mother.

28) Happiness is really an inside job, in that it is a decision that we make that determines whether we will be happy or not. Then we realize that many times when in the context of our lives and difficult situations when we think that misery is our best friend it is kind of interesting how in an international community like ours with eastern and western misery is a word, in one way in English but many times when In Jin Nim heard Japanese sisters, and sometimes Koreans, express the word misery (In Jin Nim imitated the Japanese accent for the words misery and miserable) in regards to their difficult relationships with their children, with their spouse, it sounded like we are sorry. It sounded like they were really sorry about themselves. When In Jin Nim heard this she thought, you said it sister. You are sorry, that is the problem.

29) We are so engulfed in our own misery, we want to blame everybody else for our problems. We are so sorry because of our spouse, our ungrateful children, our miserable in-laws and mother-in-law, and so we want to say to ourselves we would not be so miserable if these types of people didn't exist. But when we realize that happiness is the decision to be happy each and everyday, when we decide in our mind, in our mental process misery so much in a way we have already lost in our game of tennis. We have told ourselves we are defeated because we are so sorry for myself. feel so like a victim, I have already lost before I have made the first serve.

30) When we decide to blame other people for our misery, in a way it's not doing us any good. It's deflecting our responsibility to decide for ourselves to be happy. When we say to ourselves miserable with a Japanese accent it sounds like we or I and hawe which could be your view or an actual cutting saw, and ble sounds like rubble. So when we are miserable we literally saw our selves into miserable rubbles something that could be as brilliant and majestic and powerful as the Empire State Building. Each and everyone of us is like the Empire State Building, but when we decide in our minds to be miserable, what we are doing is we are sawing ourselves off into tiny pieces of rubble and we forget what and who we are and what we must be and what we need to do.

31) When these sisters were trying to convey their heart In Jin Nim saw much misery and miserable. Maybe they are not as miserable as they think they are perhaps we can start making thankful lists. Yes life is difficult, there are difficult times when we so desperately want to blame others for our problems. One thing we need to realize is that it is very difficult to change other people. The only person that you can change today is yourself. And, once we change ourselves it is amazing how everyone around us starts to change and look better.

32) When we desire for this happiness and we desire a wonderful life you know these Japanese sisters want more than anything a wonderful husband, wonderful children, wonderful in-law, mother-in-law. Perhaps as they are articulating what they want, they can be reminded of the scripture, Mark 4:24 that says pay attention, be careful what you hear, pay attention to what you are saying, what you are allowing your mind to say to you, to what you are hearing. Because when we are seeking that won-der-ful life, in a way the word wonderful sounds like one meaning God. der sounds like door in that God has the key to open the door to our hearts. And if we can truly listen with our hearts, to the right positive kind of empowering message, the message that emboldens us to do great things, then we can be a person that has a full and satisfying life.

33) We can have a wonderful life if we can be truly unified with God and understand that in unifying and listening to God it is almost mandatory that we open up our hearts to really listen to what God is saying. And when we truly listen and absolutely unite to what God is saying to us through many, many different miraculous ways then we realize that indeed we do have a full life.

34) Many times in life one's greatest obstacle is one's self. We need to realize, if we want a wonderful life, we are only one step away from opening that door to an endless possibility, of that fulfilled life that we so yearn for, desire, and dream of.

35) Again, the importance of a mind set, just as it is important for an athlete to have the proper mind-set before the game starts, before they leave the locker room, they must know that they are a winner and that is how you prepare to win. Likewise, before we start our day, before we enter the arena of life, we need to know clearly in our minds that we are winners, that we are the precious eternal sons and daughters of God, that we have a purpose and that we are here to do great things.

36) If we can truly contemplate and meditate and ruminate on this idea that the way we think determines what we become, then we realize that we must remind ourselves and refer back to scripture again and take another look at Luke 1:47. And there it says hear and rejoice in God our savior and we realize that the happiness we so yearn for is that decision to be happy every day, in essence it is that decision to be grateful everyday.

37) When we go about our lives, as Preston endeavored to fix the horse, to stay on the trail, and many times as we go about our lives we have static to deal with. Preston horse had different statics to deal with, a bush to the left and right and grass right in front, but if we can remain focused and grateful, then there is no end to our own possibilities of what we can become. If we apply our passions and our efforts in a disciplined and applied way we can become anything that we aspire to become, anything that we dream about becoming and we can be those satisfied and fulfilled human beings that we all desire to be.

38) Brothers and Sisters In Jin Nim hopes that we can think about the importance of the thinking process and the importance of paying attention to what we hear, because scripture promises us that the measure of what we give is the measure of what we get and still more is promised. If we can truly listen then we will be the eternal sons and daughters and more. Our life is a precious gift and at this time

39) Before In Jin Nim says farewell, she asked us to say a little prayer. There was an incident in Europe where a group of blessed children were doing a service project and there was a car accident. One brother, Tony Yuen, passed away, so please say a prayer for him and his family, and one sister, Tiffony, is in France in the intensive care unit fighting for her life. Please say a prayer for her.

40) For all of us here In Jin Nim hopes that we can make it back safely. Pray for the sister Tiffony, and be grateful for the constant guidance of our Heavenly Father and the embrace of love and care with which He and She take care of us each and every day. God Bless and have a great week. Thank you.