The Words of In Jin Moon
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The Words of In Jin Moon |
Thank you, New Jerusalem, for giving me such a warm and inviting welcome this morning, and to Rev Jenkins for giving such a wonderful introduction. I'm delighted to be here with all of you. And it's truly my honor to stand in this position as the chairperson for HSA.
When I look out into the audience and I see your faces, many of those faces that I know and many young new faces that I look forward to getting to know, I realize that we truly have something quite profound here.
Our True Parents, when they came to this country, this great country of America in the 70's some decades ago, my father had a vision, my father had a dream that he really wanted to help this country become the great God-chosen country that it was suppose to be. Father realized that it was a superpower, and Father has often said to me, "What is power?" If you were to sit in political science introductory course 101, they would define power as the ability to influence. Father knew that as a God-chosen country America held that power to influence the world.
So when Father came here and he started preaching and he started teaching and he started living this life of true love and this message of true love, he was hoping that all the American brothers and sisters chosen by God to come into this fold could be the true parents for this great country, to raise up the consciousness of the American people, to raise up the consciousness of the young people that are on their way. And being in this incredible position of influence, Father was hoping that America can really show the way, show the way how we must honor God, how we must love each other, how we must celebrate the life that we're given, and to think about how we're going to give back, so that this true love power can go on and on in perpetuity.
When my Father came here and was initially embraced by America I remember being a little girl and seeing all these little keys to different states that were given by mayors and governors welcoming, "Welcome Rev Moon to the state of Nevada," "Welcome Rev Moon to the state of Colorado." But then after a couple of years and with all these hundreds and hundreds of members joining in I remember once, when I was a little girl, somebody told me that in one weekend 200 or 300 members were joining for a weekend workshop.
It was an incredible time and there was so much energy in the air, and young and beautiful and accomplished American brothers and sisters were so fired up about the fact that the Messiah was here and the fact that they were in the right time to effectuate something profound, not just for their own individual lives but for their country and possibly for the world.
And I remember when I went out to places to visit like Camp K, all the different choo-choo pow that was going on and I was like this little girl with wide eyes watching and being so moved that all these people, these were American beautiful brothers and sisters, and they were just so gung-ho about my dad. And as much as I adore my Father, (for me) he is just this one lovable Oriental man, but to you guys he was the most hippest thing around and the way you were so inspired to be in his presence, and the way you were just so empowered that you were feeling like you were a part of something big, something profound, something important, that's what stayed with me all my years.
And here we are, fast forward, a couple of decades later, we've grown a little wider, we've grown a little grayer and maybe a bit weathered, and a bit tired. But I still see in your eyes that initial spark that you felt when you walked in to our communities, to our family centers, and you heard the DP for the first time. And as we grow, having children of our own, I know that many of us ask ourselves, "How do I keep that spark alive? How do I keep going, when I can't put food on the table, how do I keep going when my teenage daughter won't come home until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning? How do I keep going, when I'm no longer attractive to my spouse? How do I keep going, when I seem to be just drowning and wallowing in my problems?"
Well, I've been there; too, brothers and sisters, and I know what you are going through. But you know, no matter what we go through, suffering is really a part of the human course. It's a part of our lives and instead of trying to struggle with it, I embrace it. And the minute you start to realize that this is something that I need to go through to become a deeper person, to become a richer person or a wiser person, the fear of suffering or the burden of suffering kind of goes away because you begin to see suffering as a reason to grow, as a way to mature, as a means to take us somewhere that we maybe voluntarily would not have gone otherwise. And so, when I stand here together with you, brothers and sisters, as a mother of five kids... and I know that all of you have families of your own... you're not alone on this road, my brothers and I are very much with you.
But no matter what we go through in our personal lives, let's not forget that initial spark. Let's not forget why we are here. From time to time let's look around and see each other and maybe gain strength from each other and maybe help each other and think about how we're going to come together as a community, because that's what I feel like my responsibility is as the chairperson of HSA. How do we bring our community together, how do we bring it closer, how do we make it real again, and how do we make it exciting for the young people of our movement.
And I've thought about quite a few things but one of things that I feel we need to do is to kind of look at where our movement has been and figure out where we are going to go. When I look at the history of the Unification movement with the initial influx of all these people joining the movement in the 70's and 80's, we've had an endless array of events. You were working against the timeline, you were working against deadlines, "We have to do this by such and such a deadline, we have to do that, we have to accomplish this"... and those are all lofty goals.
But I feel like we've become so busy that we forgot what was important, we forgot that the most important thing in our life of faith is our family, and the most important thing in our lives is our children.
When Jesus came to visit Mary and Martha, and Martha out of her love for Jesus was busy scurrying around preparing this and that, preparing dishes, making sure Jesus had the correct chair, making sure Jesus had the proper cushion, Mary just sat at his feet, next to his foot, and just quietly took care of him, and quietly prayed for Jesus. And as hard as Martha worked externally, and maybe Martha looked at Mary and said, "What's the matter with Mary, why is she not helping me, why is she just sitting there?", Jesus was using that example to teach a very, very valuable lesson. The external hurrying and the external campaigning is great and what Martha is doing is great, but what is greater is where we are internally, and what we are going to be doing internally as a movement, as a family, in our life of faith.
So if we look at our movement in terms of all the things that have been accomplished... great things were accomplished, Yankee stadium, Washington Monument, and all those speaking rallies, it's wonderful. And all the great work my brothers and sisters are doing, my husband just coming back from Mongolia GPF, it's just wonderful work. But what about our home, what about our children?
So for me I've always told my Father when he asked me "What do you want to be?" I said,” Well, frankly, Father, I want to be a medical doctor." And he said, "Oh, no, no, no, you can't be a medical doctor, you're a women. I don't want you operating on people. I don't want you touching blood." I said to my Father, "But Father, I want to work with children and I want to help the elderly. I want to be a doctor." He said, "No, no, no. Go study political science." So I did and then I said, "Father, now I've studied political science and I did what you asked me to do. But in the meantime I've taken enough courses so I can take the MCAT so I can go to medical school. Can I go?" He said, "No, you go to Divinity School." So I said, "Yes, Father" and I went.
Once when I came back from my fall semester classes and my Father and I were having this discussion and he said to me, "Why do you always bother me that you want to be a doctor? Didn't you give it up?" And I said, "Well, Father, it's kind of late now. Maybe one of my children might fulfill my dream. But I always thought being a doctor was a really mothering thing to do." And I told my Father, "One of the best things that I want to be in my life is to be remembered on my tombstone, 'She was a great mother.'“ And I said "If I can have that, if I can have my children inscribe that on my tombstone, I'm going to be a happy camper up there."
I've done a lot of things in my life. I've fundraised, and I was a good fundraiser. I've witnessed, and I was a pretty good witnesser, too. And I've had jobs, I've waitressed, I've taught kids, I've taught college students, and I've done a lot of things in my life but the most difficult thing that I've ever done was to have kids and to raise them. And I know you mothers out there know what I'm talking about, right? It doesn't matter how great we are as human beings, it doesn't matter if I win the Olympic gold, or if I become the prime minister of India? Well, I can't because I'm not Indian, but for an example. It doesn't matter what I do, if at the end of the day I am not a good mother, then what good am I? What good or what value have I given to myself and to my family and to my community?
So when we think of this movement as a church and a larger family, we've been doing a lot of great works, but I think part of the reason why my Father asked me to be responsible for this position is that a women's touch was missing in the picture. Also the emphasis on education, the emphasis on mothering, the emphasis of a support system, the emphasis on cooperation, and all the while empowering our children and letting them know how special they are and how each and every one of them were chosen by God, literally, right?
Because many of you, I'm sure, many of your children, were the product of picture blessings and many of you have never met your spouses before. And probably given your own choice you would not have chosen the person you are blessed to, right? Its okay, I can say the same thing, too. But in all of Father's great wisdom when I think about my husband and me, you know, we are like oil and water. We are like night and day. You just could not find two people that are more opposite than my husband and me and many times I ask God, "What was I in my former life to deserve this, if there is ever such a thing (as former life)?"
But you know, through the growth and through the difficulties I came to realize something really profound and that is this. Because I am blessed to this person I have these incredible five children that I never would have otherwise. And they are my reason for being, just like the way I know that your children are the reason for your being, and the reason why you continue on. So one of things that I tell my kids all the time is... we love to tell stories about how mommy and daddy got together. And they think it's hilarious that their granddaddy would marry their mommy to somebody that she absolutely never wanted to marry, and it's all in good humor now. But I think as they kind of mature in their own way and think about what kind of people they want to be and how they are going to live the rest of their lives as grown adults, you've got to hand it to granddaddy, at least life is not boring.
I really hope that this time, you know, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, young adults, young men and women, can really kind of look around and see and think about how you can contribute and be a part of this movement. I always tell my children and I always tell my friends, "If I'm not inspired, I'm no good to anybody, and if we as a movement, as a family and as a community are not inspired by what we are and who we are, we are no good to anybody."
Brothers and sisters, we can claim to high heaven that we are going to teach the world about true love, that we are going to teach the world how to be One Family under God, but if we are not inspired as that family under God, what good are we? And who would ever want to be part of our movement if we ourselves are not living it?
Last week I spent some time with STF. It was their kick-off meeting before they go on their way for a year, and we had a wonderful time. We had a time of sharing and I heard some stories about some of the things they're going through. And what I've been basically sharing with members all around the world was the importance of natural witnessing. We spend a great deal of time teaching but many times we don't give our guests or our friends a chance to ask us, or even a chance to be curious about what we are all about, because, "Here we are, Principle of Creation, we want to start with that."
I was talking to them about how the best and the most effective way you can witness is to raise good families, is to raise awesome kids. And I don't know how many countless times I've had moms and dads come up to me saying, "You know, your kids are amazing. What are you doing that we don't know about?" Or like, "How did you and your husband meet?" And I always say, "Oh, that's a long story.
Maybe we should not start it today." But they are naturally curious, they want to know, and then slowly just by inviting them into your homes like the way you are doing with the small group gatherings, group fellowships, they naturally come to see the beauty of True Parents in you and in your kids. Then the difficult part is already done, brothers and sisters. They are already curious, they already want to know. They already want to hear about your secret or your formula.
And part of the reason why I bring up my sharing about STF is... this one young brother, he is on STF now and his name is Mathew Love, I believe. He was talking about his own experience about this natural witnessing. He said he was going out for a walk, and now we have a sign called True Father's trail, right as you turn to drive into UTS, and there were some people asking about it. "Can you show me the trail, where is the trail?"
And this young brother, together with some of his friends, went out of his way to take care of this lady, to talk about what Father's trail is, where it is, "This is the way you go." And this woman was totally love-bombed and she asked, "Why are you guys so different? You guys are so different from the teenagers that I see everywhere. You guys are so respectful, you guys are so caring." And in that instant that women came to realize the beauty of the True Parent's message.
And it's instances like that in our daily lives, where we can really make an impact, slowly and quietly and naturally, a natural, very organic way of witnessing, that is more profound and more effective than what comes out of our mouth. So if we as a movement can maybe share a moment of silence, maybe 5, 10, 15 minutes in the morning, maybe after your HDH or maybe even before.... I always make it a point to at least give myself 20 minutes a day just reflecting about my day, what I've done, what I didn't have time to do, what I could have done, how I can start the next morning, and in a way make myself a daily list of everything that I want to accomplish, with regards to my relationship with my spouse, my relationship with my children, my relationship with my friends, and now my colleagues.
These little things that are done in the silence, or in the quiet of your home, become the plan for your day, becomes the plan for your week, becomes your plan for the month, and before you know it, these little things add up to something great. Here I have my two pianists who for many, many years have practiced their skills, from 8 o'clock in the morning sharp, 4 octave scales, on and on. Even as a mother -- and you know, your children are good, whenever they start 8 o'clock sharp on their scales -- it's the same old scale. Year after year these kids are becoming amazing. Year after year what started out as chopsticks has turned into Prokofiev Concerto #3, has turned into Schumann Concerto, has turned into Rachmaninoff, and it's just amazing what little things that you do everyday can ultimately accomplish.
So I'm not here, brothers and sisters, promising you big results. I'm here basically saying, could we take a moment to think about the little things that matter in our lives? The little things, like coming together as a community, and doing something for our children, education-wise, culturally, something that is exciting.
On my end, I'm working very, very hard at Manhattan Center. When I work meeting many, many different powerful people of media and of entertainment, all the different celebrities and all the different people that basically influence the whole world, it takes me right back to my conversation with my Father, talking about, "What is power?" Power is the ability to influence.
What is power in America now? It is the cult of celebrity, right? In a way the celebrities have become God for our children. Why is it that, brothers and sisters, we have our True Parents, who have given more and suffered more and done more than the Dalai Lama, have done more than Nelson Mandela, and these men are being honored and recognized as men of peace? They are being awarded Nobel Prizes. What about our True Parents?
I remember many times when Hyo Jin oppa used to come to my room and we used to talk about this because he was just incredibly obsessed with media. Why? Because media has the power to influence and right now it's the celebrities that are influencing your children, that are influencing the world. So Hyo Jin oppa understood this very, very clearly and that is why he strove so hard to make Manhattan Center into the cultural hub of NY that can effectuate a good power, that can have great influence on young people to help them and empower them to achieve the kind of greatness that these young people know that they have inside of them but never really knew how to show.
So these young people that are your children are being taught to dress by the celebrities, taught how to live. MTV shows this all the time, right? Check out my crib. All these music, mansions, money, capitalism. This is what your children, what our country... and this country is doing to the world... what we are engaged in. This incessant advertisement of capitalism, money, power, that is all that matters, and young people are buying into it. So how do we, brothers and sisters, show or tell and, in a way, inspire our children that it is not the most meaningful thing in life?
We've got a tremendous battle ahead of us. It's not easy for me, and I'm sure it's not easy for you. And especially those of you first generation who've given up everything, you have no power, you have no money. In the eyes of your second generation, your children might be looking at you like, "My mom and dad, they have nothing, they are social losers." I know how difficult it is, but if there is any second generation here in the audience, I'm here to tell you that your parents are the most incredible people in America today. Because they are the ones inspired by God to say that it's not about power, it's not about money. It's about love and how we treat each other, and how we can grow together and come and work together so we don't have something like 9/11 happening on our doorsteps again.
I just came from Manhattan Center, and last night's evening program was a party for the NYPD, remembering 9/11, remembering the hatred, remembering the shock, and remembering what America went through, because we were not ready. We didn't realize what Father was saying 20, 30 years ago. In a way what happened with terrorism and what happened with 9/11 was something that Father was warning us about 20, 30 years ago. Father fought against communism and said we have to fight, we have to stand against communism because it is wrong and because it does not recognize human value, human life. My father has seen hundreds and thousands of people murdered at the hands of communism. Father wanted to come to this country and say, "America, please do not be swayed by its message."
Brothers and sisters, terrorism, what is it? What is terrorism? Terrorism is the new communism. It is because the religions didn't unite. It is because religions were not able to unify and work together as One Family under God. And it is because these young idealistic fanatics in these movements are thinking they're the best, they are the new chosen people, and they are literally blowing themselves up to hurt another human being in the name of God, in the name of religion. How can that be? If we don't do anything about it, if we don't come together as a movement, and if we don't realize what kind of time we are living in... people are constantly talking about how it is going to happen again. Politicians are talking about that probably it won't be NY, it might be Chicago, and different things.
What are we going to do as a movement, but more important than a movement, what are we going to do as Americans? If True Parents are really the peacemakers, if they are the men and women of peace, how are we going to save America from another terrorist attack? I feel that in a way this is a new opportunity or a chance, I don't like to use this word, but to re-brand our movement, to rethink what we are all about, and to kind of make it very, very simple for our second generation, what they are.
We've had a lot of talk about generation Xers, generation Y, generation Z. We are now up to millennials' generation, to the 'show me generation' where capitalism is king, but what will our generation be? How are our children going to brand themselves as a new movement that is going to keep this world peaceful? We have to raise our young people to see themselves as a generation of peace. They have to be the gen peace. They have to be the ones who basically say, "Look, we are not just second generation, we are more than that.
Second generation is the way we define ourselves in our movement. But we must always think of ourselves in the context of the larger whole. We are the generation peace makers. We are the ones who are going to turn and tap our colleagues or our friends in the classroom and say, 'Who is going to make this world a better? It starts with me.' “And how are we going to do that? By concentrating on the common denominators, like what? The belief in a higher power. You can call it anything you want, God, Yahweh, Allah. Call it whatever you want, but believe in a higher power. Why? Because if you believe in God, you have this feeling of gratitude. Because when you believe in God you realize that life is a gift, a gift that needs to be cherished, nurtured, and given back.
And secondly, what are we going to tell our kids? It's not just a belief in a higher power; it's about the celebration of life. The sanctity of life. Life is precious. And in our church we always teach our children, living for the sake of others. With what word starts that phrase, brothers and sisters? Living! We must live in order to be able to serve others, meaning we have to be a good, complete individual. We have to be a loving couple. We have to raise great, emotionally, spiritually, physically healthy children. And we have to live. And we have to help our kids to try to be the best, to strive for their dreams, "Go and become the president of the United States, go and be the next Mandela. Go and be the next Rosa Parks." There are so many great luminaries all throughout history. Your children can be the ones that follow in their name. Make your children believe in something great. Living for the sake of others.
And frankly when I think about our church I think all of us were dying for the sake of others. We were individually dying for the sake of our brothers and sisters. We were as a couple dying for the sake of our children, and as a family we were literally dying to make ends meet. So instead of a community that's degenerating into something much darker and not beautiful things, we must be living for the sake of others. We have to raise our children to be the best that they can be. And if you're having problems putting food on the table, encourage your children to get the best education, get the best job. You don't have time to hang out in malls and complain.
We have enough time, and as long as there is willingness and an effort and a desire for persistence, America is a land of opportunity. Your kids can become the greatest men and women of this country. Barak Obama came out of a single family home, and look, he is running for the president of the United States. Who in their wildest dreams ever thought that was possible? I'm sure Dr. Lowery did not ever think that he would see the day when a black man was running for the president of the United States.
Brothers and sisters, your children might very well be running for the president of the United States in the future, as long as we can keep our faith alive and show our children to be passionate, be the best in something and make sure whatever you choose makes economic sense. Tell these three things to your children: be passionate, be the best at something you want to do. If you want to be the best musician be the best, be passionate, and make sure it makes money.
You want to be the best cookie maker, like Debbie Fields, be passionate; she loved those chocolate chip cookies. God bless her because I'm her best client. Be the best chocolate chip cookie maker, and then make sure you can financially take care of your family. If we can encourage our youth to be all that they can be and more, and on top of that every now and then you can remind them how special they are. Because they are really, truly, literally hand-picked by God and True Parents. None of them would be here if you and your spouse were not blessed. So they were literally hand-picked.
The third thing, what is our generation going to be called, what is your children's generation going to be called? We have to stand against violence in any form. Violence is implicit in racism, in sexism, in fanaticism, and we've seen it over and over again in the acts of terrorism. We have to be a generation that basically says, "You know what? I want my world to be a generation of peace. I want my world to be a generation where we honor and not just tolerate each other." In a way the liberal educational system is teaching the importance of tolerance. Brothers and sisters, that's just the bare minimum. That's like telling your spouse, "You know honey, I really, really tolerate you." It's just not the same.
So instead of teaching tolerance, more important is teaching the importance of love, of actually loving your Islamic brothers, loving your Christian fellowman, loving freakish people that sometimes your society wants to ostracize. Then I think in a way we can give our children something to latch onto. Because being second generation in a way is so exclusive. It's not embracing, it's not inviting to the world. We as a movement need to reach a place where True Parents are going to be recognized in the next four and a half years. It just breaks my heart to hear my father say that he'll be leaving us in 2013.
Well, let's work backwards, brothers and sisters. If it is my father's last wish to be recognized before 2013 as the Peacemaker of this World, what do we have to do? If you know you want to get a PhD, there are certain things that you know you have to do. You have to graduate high school, you have to go to college, you have to go to graduate school, and then apply to a PhD program.
Well, I really feel like the first step we need to do as a movement is to heal within. In a way to invite back the people that were afraid to come. Maybe people were somewhat questioning the value of tithing. "If I tithe, is it really going to go to our community? Or is it going to disappear into the black hole?" Well, I am here to tell you that one of things that I would like to work towards is transparency in our organizations. That means to be responsible for the money spent and how it should be spent.
I have a certain bias because I feel that the children need more investment. The education system needs more investment, maybe the support group systems needs more investment. And that is exactly where you will see our resources go. And at the same time, promoting culture, promoting music and the arts as an expression. For so many years we are so busy telling our children, "You can't do that, you can't do this." Many times I ask my brother and sister friends, "What do you tell your kids that they can do? Is there anything you are going to allow them to do?"
Because we love our children so much and we try to take care of them, sometimes we become so possessive and we control them so much that they want nothing to do with us and the movement. And I feel that in a way a constructive outlet or a constructive wonderful way of expressing what our children are going through emotionally, maybe spiritually, is through the arts. It's wonderful to have music. When I walked in and I heard music, I said, "Today is going to be a great day."
When I saw this morning that it was not the 'hippie' generation on the instruments but it's bright and incredibly talented young people, I said, "This is awesome! Now if this is not the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven, I don't know what is."
So brothers and sisters, truly this is not an opportunity for me to just come and talk to you. It's really my opportunity to hear some of the things that you have been doing, and to get a sense of how our movement has been run at the different locations as I slowly make my way around the country.
So in a way I'm inviting all of you to take part in helping to re-brand our movement, helping to re-brand the second generation to think larger than themselves. Maybe you give them the concept of a generation of peace and they will take it to their schools and say, "You know what? These three points, I bet I can get half my school to sign off on it." And boom! One person has a global petition drive going. Just one child. Think about it. And it doesn't matter how young and how old, in elementary school, in middle school, in high school, or in college. Who can say that belief in a higher power, celebrating life and opposing violence is a bad thing? We can start on the common denominators that make us all feel like we're a part of one big family. And if we can do that, even as we grow by inviting people who don't know our movement, then I think we can do incredibly great things.
So I'm hoping that you can join me in my work as I serve you and serve this great country of America. I am so lucky that I get to work with really, really wonderful and incredible brothers and sisters.
Let me not take any more of your time, and I do hope that you will all have a good week. And if it didn't start out that way, I am hoping that you will make it a good week and a good day. I hope to see you again real soon.