The Words of In Jin Moon from 2011
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The Words of In Jin Moon from 2011 |
Good morning, brothers and sisters. I am delighted to be with you once again in New York City. We just got back last night from spending a little time with our True Parents. I caught up with them on the London leg of their tour and accompanied them on to Switzerland, before we returned to New York yesterday. Again as I traveled with our True Parents and saw the European members who have long awaited the arrival of our True Parents in their countries, I realized how richly blessed the American members are. To have True Parents at the London event was an amazing experience for all the brothers and sisters in London, and likewise in Geneva, Switzerland, as well.
I always find myself wondering why is it I who has this privilege to accompany our True Parents as their daughter as they travel around the world, to see them up close and personal, getting a rare look into the lives of the extraordinary man and woman we call our True Parents.
My younger brother, the international president, Hyung Jin, asked me to give the introduction to True Mother because she was addressing Parliament at the House of Commons. It was a profound experience because, as we know, the English House of Commons is the mother of all parliaments and has a longstanding tradition. When Mother arrived at the House of Commons, one of the lords, Lord King -- that's his real last name -- gave us a private tour of Parliament, talking to us about the history that is more than 600 years long. I felt I was entering the history books. We went into the hall where Queen Elizabeth opens parliament every year, where she prepares herself in the robing room before she enters. We were able to look at all the different portraits that hang in the gallery.
Lord King was talking to our True Mother about what an incredible day this was, that True Mother, a significant woman in her own right, could come to this Eve country of England and grace the parliament with her presence. When she spoke, of course, she delivered our True Father's address, and she did so in a most loving and profound way. I believe that everybody who heard her speak could not help but be moved.
Later that evening True Father addressed more than 1,600 British people and poured out his heart. The interesting thing about that event was that Father was so excited about giving his address. After reading almost every line of the text he would ad lib and explain what he meant by what he had just read.
We were making our way through his address, but quite slowly. He was well into an hour before he got to Page Three. True Mother and I were thinking it would be close to midnight by the time he finished, but he got so animated and inspired in addressing the British people. He must have felt that the brothers and sisters and guests had embraced him wholeheartedly, because, and I've never seen this before, at some point he jumped through all the remaining pages to the end and said, "May God bless you!"
In the beginning we thought it was all a joke and after saying "God bless you" Father would go back to Page Three or Four and run through the remaining text. But he said, "God bless you," and stood there beaming. We realized it wasn't a joke; he wasn't returning to the text; he'd finished for the evening. True Mother joined him on stage, and we had a wonderful picture with the Ambassadors for Peace who presented True Parents with a marvelous gift, and then True Parents took their leave.
I was delighted that even though my eldest son, Preston, and his wife Krista were smack in the middle of their exam schedules, they were able to get away. They caught the last segment of True Parents' address and were able to greet them. It was three generations together celebrating this event with our brothers and sisters, so it was extremely profound. Preston's Korean name is Shin Myung, and the Chinese character "myung" is the same as in Father's name. We call my father the big Myung and Prezzy the little Myung. For Father to light up in seeing his little Myung as they were greeting each other was a beautiful and moving moment for me.
Then True Parents continued on to the next destination, Geneva. We were scheduled for two events there. In the morning Mother was scheduled to address the World Council of Churches. Everything is so sensitive, and this whole question of whether the World Council of Churches is going to include the Unification Church as part of its club is a big question for a lot of people. In the end True Mother's participation in that event was canceled, so she sent a representative to talk about True Parent's good work and about why the Council should reconsider its stance in keeping our True Parents out.
If it is truly the World Council of Churches, it should sponsor and support all faiths. It should support all the good work our True Parents have done over the years and allow them the honor of participating fully in the interfaith dialogue that is going to be extremely important in creating a world of harmony and peace.
Nevertheless, our True Parents sent a representative. Tom Walsh did a wonderful job of presenting the work of our True Parents over the years. Our American counterpart representatives were members of Sonic Cult. We had Joshua Cotter on keyboards, Ben Lorentzen on vocals, and Joe Young on guitar. They performed two songs that moved the audience and touched their hearts so much so that several people came up afterward and said, "We could have listened to you all day." Our brothers said, "Thank you so much, but we're hoping next time you can listen to True Parents all day."
Then we went for Father's address to the United Nations. This, too, was profound in that smack in the middle of Geneva we could have our True Parents, gracing the country of Switzerland with their presence and conveying our Heavenly Parent's message of true love and what humankind needs to do to arrive at the world of peace we have long dreamt of.
As is True Parents' custom, they greeted everyone. The guests and Ambassadors for Peace were delighted to see them. The interesting thing is we had a three-hour limit for this 3:00 pm event because other conferences and discussions were scheduled. True Father started with great enthusiasm and a big smile, but again he ad-libbed after every sentence. Toward the end we realized we would run out of time. When we only had 40 minutes left, True Mother held up a postcard, "Only 40 minutes left, Father." Father looked at it and kept on going.
One of the Korean leaders took that little card to Father, and Father said, "I only have 40 minutes left? True Mother, why don't you come up here? You're a woman, and you read so quickly and so lovely; please come up here on the dais so we can finish on time."
This was the first time that in the middle of his speech he invited True Mother up to the stage as well. It was quite beautiful because here at the United Nations, symbolizing the unity of all nations coming together to preserve this world as a peaceful world, we had the example of a beautiful couple united in true love -- a man and woman together as the parents of all humankind -- addressing the United Nations as a wonderful example of unity themselves.
Mother was seated next to him, so she began reading the text. But of course Father was not just going to sit there next to her. As she was reading, Father was saying, "Do you understand what I mean by that? This is very important." He kept on interjecting, so Mother would pause in a lovely way, but still go on. In one instance Father got so animated that he literally got up and sat back down and started to get into a whole new section of the message. It was beautiful the way True Mother just looked over at him, grabbed his left hand, calmed him down, and put his hand under the table, where she held it firmly. In a loving voice, she continued to read on.
I was watching them as the True Parents of humankind, but on stage they were the most beautiful and almost cute couple. Here is lovely True Mother giving the address in her customary gracious fashion, and here is True Father, the symbol of masculinity and passion, wanting to convey his powerful message. Watching this duality at play -- this loving, nurturing, and compassionate True Mother, and the fiery, almost volcanic Father next to her, interjecting after every sentence or paragraph -- was almost like seeing a beautiful old couple. You realize they have been through all different kinds of experiences -- happiness, sadness, grief -- you name it, they've been through it. But they looked so cute up there.
Here in America we have "reality TV," but how interesting would it be to film our True Father and Mother 24-7, to follow them around and capture all this interplay that takes place every day? That moment in particular was so beautiful.
Cast
from The Sound of Music movie
One of my mother's favorite movies, which she liked to show us over and over again when we were much younger, was The Sound of Music. I love that movie, but I watched it so many times that by the time I was a teenager I was pretty sick of it. There's a beautiful scene where the family is asked to perform in front of an audience of Nazi officers and sympathizers. Of course the father figure is terribly sad at what is happening to his country, but because they are well known as a musical family, they've been chosen to perform at this event. The father comes out and starts singing his solo number, but he gets so emotional and choked up that he can barely sing.
The most beautiful part of that movie to me is when the character of Maria slowly comes on stage in support of her husband, holds his hand, and sings the song together with him. That moment is when my Kleenex box and I really had great unity. To this day, when I see that moment, I can't help but shed tears. It's so beautiful. Here is this strong man who realizes all the things taking place in his country and he is still trying his best to perform his last number before he departs, but he can't quite get through it because there's so much he wants to convey, so much he's feeling. At moments like that, how remarkable it is that his wife can graciously and quietly come onstage and help him finish the song.
That was exactly what took place at the United Nations. Here was our Father, very emotional with so much he wants to share with the world, and he feels like he's running out of time. He's almost desperate in a sense, trying to put all he's feeling, all he knows, all his experience into a 30-minute speech. That's a really difficult thing to do.
But then True Mother comes on stage so beautifully. Even as Father continues to interject and get animated, our True Mother's presence calms him down and together as a couple they finish the address. It was the most extraordinary and the most beautiful delivery of the address that I've experienced. I believe everybody in the audience could not help but be moved.
In celebration of the successful event at the United Nations, even though True Parents went back to the hotel, Father decided immediately we needed to go out and have a celebration meal. My younger brother, whom I call "Lovey," [Hyung Jin Moon] quickly found an Indian restaurant -- called Nirvana, of all things. After an address like that at the United Nations, everyone is feeling as if they're in Nirvana. We had a lovely Indian meal, the first for True Father, and wonderful conversation with everybody there.
For the first time Father tasted naan bread [a leavened flat bread], roti bread [an unleavened flat bread], palak paneer [cottage cheese cubes in spinach gravy], vindaloo [pork with red chili paste], chicken korma [a type of chicken curry], aaloo gobi [spiced potatoes and cauliflower]. I'm getting hungry already and it's not even lunchtime. But this was what Father ate for the first time. He was saying, "This is so amazing. This cuisine is so amazing. Think about all the spices that go into -- what's this called? Think about all the ingredients that make up this dish. How incredible Heavenly Parent is when he creates spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and pepper." Father was talking about how God probably imagined Nirvana-like platters of Indian food that we were enjoying so much.
The amazing thing about True Parents, when you spend time with them up close and personal, is that no matter where they are or what they are doing, they are always appreciating God and always so thankful to God for everything. That luncheon was no exception. But one of the most beautiful things about that luncheon is that after we had our fill of all these glorious Indian foods -- and Father really liked roti, the unleavened flat bread made with whole-grain wheat flour and he just kept on eating it. He was saying, "True Mother is…" and here we interjected. "really wonderful." And then Father went, "Mmm, mmm." Then he was closing his eyes, and I think he was reliving what had just taken place at the United Nations. He was shaking his head like this, and said, "I should live the rest of my days complimenting the beauty and virtues of True Mother." Lovey and I went, "Ummm, hmmm." Father laughed.
Roti
One of the Koreans sitting at another table had a really loud voice, and he said to True Father,
"Father, they say in Korea that when you pass the age of 60 you'd better listen to your wife because when you pass the age of 60 you are entering no-man's land, where your body starts falling apart and you're going to need help doing a lot of things. So if you're not good to your wife, you're not going to be left in a very good place. So we have to start being good to our wives."
Then True Mother said,
"Why does it take you men 60 years to come to that conclusion? If you came to that conclusion a little earlier, think about how much happier your life and our life would have been."
So Father heartily concurred,
"I'd better be good to True Mother."
So we said, "Umm, hmm." We had a lot of laughter regarding that topic.
But for me, as somebody who has the privilege and honor to accompany our True Parents so close and in such a personal, intimate way, I realize that they are truly the embodiment of living for the sake of others; they are the living embodiment of true love. They are an example for us as to what living for the sake of others is like. We have the Divine Principle that teaches us about true love: how incredibly powerful it is, how we have to exercise true love in our lives, and how we go about practicing this philosophy of living for the sake of others.
When we look at the Good Book, Philippians 2:3–4, the Bible says, "Do nothing in selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than ourselves." It says, "Do nothing in selfishness or conceit." When I hear the word selfishness, it makes me chuckle because sel-fish make me think of le sel, which in French means salt, and fish meaning fish. So in my ears when somebody is being selfish, they're being like a salted fish.
What do I mean by that? If you've ever come across dried fish when you wanted to prepare some Japanese or Korean cuisine, you probably noticed a couple of things: Dried fish is awfully smelly and it has very little moisture because it has been dried. This dried fish is petrified. It is not growing anymore; nor is it moving, thank God.
But when you have in your hands a dried fish that is smelly, all dried up, and not growing because it is preserved, you may realize that this same dried fish can be great when it's used as an ingredient in a fantastic dish. If, however, you use that same description on a person, it's not a very nice thing to tell a person, "You're smelly like a dried fish," or, "You're dried up like a dried fish," or, "You're petrified, or not growing, like the dried fish."
When we become a self-absorbed, selfish person, living a selfish existence, that is exactly what we become. We are smelly in that we are no longer emitting a fragrance of true love, but a foul odor that any person will recognize as not good once they smell it.
When you open a container of cottage cheese and it smells foul, you know it's not edible and should be tossed out. Likewise, when you come across a person who only thinks selfishly and lives a selfish existence, that person is foul-smelling and you know that relating with that person won't be a palatable or satisfying experience.
When you come across a selfish person who is only thinking about him or her-self, you realize that person projects no sense of being filled with the truth of God, with the water of life. The water of life, love, and lineage is severely lacking. This "water" of life that replenishes the soul, nourishes, and empowers the soul, does not exist in a selfish person because that person is living a dried up existence.
When you come across a selfish person, there's a sense that he or she is stuck in their world, whatever it might be. Because they're so consumed with themselves and nothing else, there is no desire to grow. There is no desire to become better because "me, myself and I" is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
In the passage in Philippians that says, "Do nothing in selfishness or conceit," God is telling us to not live a life like the salted fish that we're talking about. A person who is selfish or conceited is living a life of conceit, which sounds like "con-seat." In many of the Romance languages, con means "with," so con-ceit sounds like "with-seat," like you are constantly thinking about where you are sitting in terms of your position. You think you're always sitting higher than everyone else. You don't realize that no matter how high you might be, you are still sitting on your butt.
When you're preoccupied only with where you are sitting, it's almost like you're carrying a chair attached to your butt wherever you go, so that chair or seat might represent you being a fantastic lawyer or doctor, or fantastic speaker or singer. But without it you're almost a nothing. Your reliance on the position or the seat is what defines you, while you are not realizing that what really defines each of us is our relationship with our Heavenly Parents, and our knowing that we are divine and eternal sons and daughters of God.
Philippians is telling us, Do nothing with selfishness or conceit, but in humility. It uses the word count. It says, "In humility, count others better than yourself." It does not say, "Think of others better than yourself," or "Pray for others better than yourself." It says "count."
Many times what selfish people do, or what we do when we find ourselves going through a phase of selfishness, is to be always counting what we have and what we don't have. But the Bible is saying to count how others are better than you. It is asking us to be actively articulating the virtues, glories, and successes of others. We are to count the glories and successes of others and be happy for them before we think about our own.
Philippians goes on to say, "Let us not be so preoccupied about our own interests, but think about how we can live our lives in the interest of others, thinking about the interests of others." Through this passage, the Bible is reminding all of us to keep a couple of things in mind. It's asking us not to be self-centered, not to see ourselves or the individual as the king of the world, as the most important thing, above everything, including God. When we are self-centered we forget to be centered on God, True Parents, and humanity, our fellow beings, the others that we need to be counting the praises of, and not ourselves.
It is also asking us not to be self-interested, in that we're only thinking about the benefit of ourselves. The band sang earlier, "More Than Meets the Eye," and our True Parents are an example of somebody, or two people, who are something more than meets the eye. To us they are our True Parents, a beautiful man and woman, almost cute sometimes. But they are more than that in that they are not just a man and a woman. Together they represent the True Parents of all humankind. Our True Father is the messiah, the Lord of the Second Advent that we have been waiting for, and beside him we are so privileged to experience his beautiful bride, who is now in the position of True Mother.
They symbolize for us the beautiful harmony of the masculine and feminine, the yin and yang. In a way these are the two half spheres coming together. It's almost like the two hemispheres of the brain working together, and the brain becomes like the true parents for all of us. They work so beautifully together, not being self-interested but living for each other – the husband living for the sake of the wife, the wife living for the sake of the husband. Together as True Parents, they are living for the sake of God and humanity, their children. They symbolize all that we need to be, and they embody what an unselfish existence is all about.
When Philippians reminds us, "Don't be self-interested, be interested in others more than ourselves," it's reminding us to be like True Parents in not always thinking about how we can benefit from a particular situation or relationship, but instead thinking about what we can do for the other.
Philippians is also asking us to think about not being selfishly motivated, in that when we truly live a life of unselfishness, we're not constantly thinking about what I am going to get if I complete this action or this homework or this assignment. We need to ask ourselves, "Am I only being good because I will be rewarded at the end? Do I want to be good if there is no reward?" We need to think deeply about, "Why should I be good, not expecting anything?"
We should all be good, not demanding a reward at the end for a job well done. Our True Parents and Heavenly Parents are hoping that we can be men and women who symbolize what living for the sake of others is all about: We are not good because we have to be or because we want that reward or praise; we are good because we simply are. That's where our True Parents would like us to be, and that's what our Heavenly Father and Mother are waiting for us to be. They want us to be the kind of children who do not rely on them just because they're going to reward us for a life well lived. They want us to be the kind of children who voluntarily decide to live a good life and honor our God and True Parents simply because we are, and simply because we know we're good people.
They want us to embody all the good character and virtues that make up a decent human being. They want us to grow up and not remain forever as children internally. They want us to be the kind of young adults who have gained ownership of the habits our parents initially made us practice by saying, "You do your homework, and you will get a cookie." "You do the good deed for the day, and you will get 50 cents."
Instead of these being the end goals of our lives forever, our Heavenly Parents are waiting for us to grow up and say, "I want to take out the garbage for my parents because I love them. I don't care whether I get 50 cents or not. I'm not doing it for the money." Or, "I want to love my spouse, I want to take care of my children just because I want to, not because they're a burden to be borne so that having been a good mother or father I will receive a reward in the future." You do simply because you do, and you love simply because we love.
I think about the example and model of True Father and True Mother and realize how when they are together they're always supporting each other. Father is counting the ways our True Mother is wonderful, and she is counting the ways our True Father is wonderful.
That reminds me of my experience in London, where a sister came up and asked to have a word with me. I don't know what it is about me, but when people usually grab me, they want to tell me their whole life story in 10 minutes. Basically this sister was saying that she knew I work with entertainers at the Manhattan Center and with different people in the industry, and she wanted my guidance. She said that her husband is a talented artist who attracts a lot of attention, and she said, "I can never trust that he is doing good. I feel like I have to be his police officer. I monitor his e-mails, monitor his calls; I check his pockets for phone numbers and his collars for lipstick." She was saying, "I'm going crazy."
I looked at her and asked, "When you're going through these feelings, how is that feeling being expressed in your relationship?" She said, "I don't know how it's being expressed in my relationship, I only know how I feel. He makes me feel incredibly insecure." I said, "Why is that? Are you not a divine daughter of God, just as he is a divine son of God? Why are you saying that he makes you feel insecure? It really doesn't matter what the other person is doing, if you are secure in your relationship with God and your understanding of who you are. It should not affect what you do as a person."
I said, "Tell me a little bit about your husband." She explained how he's very attractive, lots of women follow him around, and she can never trust him in a room full of women. I said, "Well, has he done anything to make you think that he cannot deserve your trust?" She replied, "No, no, it's just that he's very social and I can never trust him. It just makes me upset."
I said, "Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but more than half the world is populated by the opposite sex. If your husband has a job in the outside world, he is bound to bump into some people who are not the same sex he is. If you are forever being insecure and angry that your husband is living in the world and you take it out on him, you're going to end up chasing him away. Do you realize that?" She said, "Yes, I have already, and I would like to get him back." I said, "Well, this is hard to talk about in 10 minutes."
What I got from this woman was that she was so afraid her husband might leave her that through her own insecurity she was doing everything to ensure that he leaves precisely because she herself has chased him away. I said, "If you really want your husband to come back to you, you need to work on yourself. You need to understand where your fears and insecurity come from. If you cannot be with this person without these feelings flaming out of control, perhaps this is not the best relationship for you, and you need to take a real hard look at it and figure out what the two of you are going to do together."
She said, "You are the senior pastor; you're supposed to fix all my problems." I said, "No, dear sister, I can only advise you of the things you could think about doing. I cannot fix your problems. Only you can fix your problems."
When I saw how desperate she was, I realized in that split second that she had no idea how monstrous she had become. Even though I don't know exactly what's been going on in her marriage or what she and her husband have gone through, her demeanor -- the way she presented herself and articulated all the things about her husband, that basically she does nothing wrong and everything is his fault -- told me that this person probably needs to do a whole lot more honest self-analysis before she can even think about working things out in her couple. I realized she was consumed with "me, myself, and I."
When the band sang about being something more than meets the eye, their words were speaking to all of us in the Unification movement who understand we are divine sons and daughters of God because our True Parents have shared with us the breaking news, we realize we are more than what meets the eye. But this sister who was consumed with herself was not realizing she is much more than what meets the eye. Okay, maybe God put a not-such-attractive lady with an attractive man, but so what? Outside attraction has nothing to do with what you are on the inside.
I've often noticed, having met a lot of beautiful men and women in the course of my life, that an extraordinarily beautiful woman, a magnificent piece of work, may, upon getting to know her, become incredibly ugly very quickly when you realize that her inside is not beautiful. Her character, her habits, and the way she treats people is not beautiful. The same can be true with an extraordinarily handsome man. What you initially thought was remarkably beautiful becomes ugly very quickly.
I've met a lot of people that the world might not recognize as attractive, but because they're so beautiful on the inside, every time you meet them they become more and more beautiful. The inner spirit in such people shines brightly the more you get to know them and overtakes the external form in many instances.
This sister did not realize that we are more than our external form; we are more than what meets the eye, because we are spiritual beings as well as physical beings. We all have a spirit body. The reason we have to practice living for the sake of others is that doing so is almost like putting gas in a car. Living for the sake of others is the secret ingredient that makes the spirit body grow, that makes the spirit shine. So the more we concentrate on the other, the more we discipline ourselves to think about and do good work for the other, the more our spirit body grows along with our physical body. Then, we are beautiful not only on the outside but on the inside.
Many times our True Father, having matched thousands and thousands of couples all around the world, takes very unlikely candidates and throws them together. If the husband and wife in those couples cannot get past the external form or the accomplishments or the superficiality that all of us wear in our daily lives and concentrate on the internal, then all these fears and insecurities can run out of control.
But we can gain control of our fears and insecurities when we realize that we are all divine beings -- and yes, there is a physical body but we also have a spirit body that can grow together with the physical body. Our True Parents have come to raise a generation of beautiful young men and women who are beautiful young adults not only in their physical form but also in their spirit form. So when they ask us to practice the virtues of true love, they're basically saying, "Look around the world. There are lots of young adults all around the world. Their bodies are fully formed, but their spirit body is still like a child."
We have had people going to the blessing as adults whose spirit body is still like a baby. But within a blessed couple there is a whole lot of work in dealing with the relationship between the two of them as they try to come together and build a family. It is most unfortunate when one of the spouses may resemble this sister, who was a young adult but her spirit body was like a two-year-old child crying out, "me, myself and I," "satisfy myself, do this for me, make me feel secure, take my fears away, fix my problems." Her internal form was like a child's.
We as parents who want to nurture our children to be great men and women of God need to always remind ourselves that it's not just our job to raise children by taking care of them and feeding them externally so they become superb external manifestations of a human body, it's our duty also to nourish and empower the spirit body so our children's internal form matches their external form. That's what our True Parents have come to teach us. That's what they have given us as a symbol of what we can aspire to -- not just learning about and knowing the Divine Principle, but experiencing through our True Parents both truth and love, in feeling what it is to be a child of our True Parents and also to be a parent to our own children through the blessing our True Parents bring to all of us.
In that sense our True Parents are the living examples that encapsulate for us what the philosophy of living for the sake of others is all about. In realizing the true meaning of Philippians, teaching us not to be self-centered, that the individual is not king, we always need to be thinking about others -- God, our True Parents, and all humanity. Don't be self-interested in thinking, like a teenager run amok, that all benefits should only come to me. We need to be more conscious that we need each other, just as when we want to make a fabulous meal we can't do it without ingredients that have come from all over the world.
Paella
One of my favorite dishes to prepare is paella, a traditional Spanish dish. To put paella together you need a great source of rice and the other ingredients. If you're making lobster paella, you need a good lobster. I like my lobsters from Maine. But the most important ingredient in that dish is saffron. That's what gives it the golden color, its unique taste. That's what aids in the whole experience of this grand dish, and saffron comes from far, far away.
Think about the people who, knowing we are interconnected as humanity, have prepared the saffron in the hope that if they do their best to produce the finest saffron, somewhere, sometime around the world a family is going to enjoy it in the beautiful paella prepared for their family. Thereby the person who supplied and sold the saffron is partaking in a family meal that might take place not just in Spain, but perhaps in a small city of Korea. Thinking about this saffron, we can realize how we can't really be independent islands unto ourselves. We need each other. We are all interconnected, and therefore we cannot think about living lives of self-interest. We need to be thinking about something bigger than that.
The Bible also teaches that we should not be living a life that is selfishly motivated all the time. We should do good things, just because -- not because someone asked you to, not because there's a chocolate bar waiting for you when the job is done, not because people are going to sing your praises, but just because you want to be a good person.
When we do think about these things and we take the time to work on ourselves, we realize what the Bible means when it says in I John, "We love because He loved us first." We exist because God had a desire to love. He and she wanted to love their children. We exist because God loved us first.
So what should we do with our lives? We should love and honor each other, we should count the great things of others and sing others' praises. We should articulate wonderful things to each other, knowing that we truly belong to one family, and we need each other to work to bring about this glorious world of peace that we're talking about.
Brothers and sisters, let's think about not living a selfish existence, but following in the examples of our True Parents, aspiring to be the kind of a man or woman who embodies what true love is all about, and applying and practicing that in our daily lives, making real the philosophy of living for the sake of others.
God bless and have a wonderful week. Thank you.
1: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2: complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3: Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.
4: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8: And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
9: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name,
10: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11: and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13: for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14: Do all things without grumbling or questioning,
15: that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
16: holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
17: Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
18: Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
19: I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you.
20: I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare.
21: They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
22: But Timothy's worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
23: I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me;
24: and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also.
25: I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphrodi'tus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need,
26: for he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
27: Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28: I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.
29: So receive him in the Lord with all joy; and honor such men,
30: for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete your service to me.