The Words of Yeon Ah (Choi) Moon (wife of Hyo Jin Moon)
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The Words of Yeon Ah (Choi) Moon (wife of Hyo Jin Moon) |
Good afternoon brothers and sisters!
It’s really great to see you all. As you all know today is the first year of the commemoration of Hyo Jin Nim’s Seung Hwa. As the first son of True Parents, let us all remember him as our eternal older brother. Aju.
Brothers and Sisters, today we are going to start with Cheon Seong Gyeong 960. Father says:
“People on the path of true love cannot separate. They are in balance. Since love is always level it does not disappear just because your son has passed away. He passes to the spirit world and grows with the same quality of relationships.”
That’s what Father shares with us today.
Let us always remember that these words can be so empowering in our lives. Let’s remember that the love that we share with people while we are here, even though they may be in spirit world, that that deepness continues to grow. And here on this day where we have the one year commemoration of Hyo Jin Nim’s Seung Hwa, it is our hope that we can remember those words that the path of true love cannot separate, that they are in balance, and that even though somebody has passed to the spirit world that relationship and heartistic quality grows with the same quality forever. And this is something we need to remember as we live this most blessed life, that is such a precious offering and chance.
Brothers and sisters, today at this service we hope that we can remember Hyo Jin hyung’s great heart of filial piety, that we can understand the depth of his heartistic nature. And we pray once again that at this service today we may also be able to return and bring joy to God and the entire spirit world, to all the brothers and sisters up there and that Hyo Jin hyung Nim, Heung Jin hyung Nim and Yeong Jin hyung Nim will join us together with the spirit world.
Brothers and sisters, if we make this time that we spend together here a time where we can reflect about our lives and return glory for a greater purpose then I do believe that this service will become a new catalyst for this new week and that it will allow God’s blessings to come pouring into our lives, every single day. Let’s return that glory and joy to God at this service.
Welcome to this service.
Heavenly Father, thank You for this day that You have blessed upon us. Father, we are standing in Your presence today. We are feeling the goodness of spring, the warmth of the weather that is changing. We are feeling the coldness of the winter gently melting away under the new warmth of spring. We see the beautiful spring flowers as we walk through the streets and as we pass through gardens. We can know that You are alive and that the seasons are changing. Father, let us know this day with certainty, that in our life, even though we may have winters, even though we may have cold days, let us know that just like the seasons change that our seasons are changing.
Let us know, that this is our season to rise up to higher levels of maturity, victory, success and blessing so that we can truly be those people who inherit Your great and true love and spread it to the world. Thank You so much for allowing us to gather here today. We are grateful, excited and we pray that today we may truly inherit Your wonderful heart, that we may remember our brother in heaven and that we can go forth with filial piety and loyal hearts. Father, give us that strength and wisdom today and we offer all the joy and glory to You in our own names together here as Central Blessed Families. Aju.
Today in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of Hyo Jin hyung’s Seung Hwa Ceremony, we want to start by looking at the bulletin. On the front page are the characters that True Father wrote for Hyo Jin Hyung when he passed. Roughly translated it says: “The master who opens the gate to loyalty and filial piety, opening the way to the deep, wide, lofty realms of heaven.” I want to give a huge round of applause for Hyo Jin Hyung who is up there in heaven and is watching us today. (Applause)
Today I would like to share with you some words from Hyo Jin hyung’s speeches. This was given on March 12, 2006, and he was talking about teamwork. As you know Hyo Jin Hyung was speaking and guiding members every week at Belvedere, especially during the latter parts of his life. I want to share with you just a couple of his words. As you know, Hyo Jin Hyung had a very casual style of speaking and he is very honest and straightforward.
Talking about teamwork he says:
“Before we talk about independence and individuality, let us focus on teamwork. Why do we need that stuff? Because certain things are very difficult to achieve alone. That is why. It is not just for the sake of taking care of your menial things or your livelihood. But it is because of your faith, because you believe in something greater. And basically your life that you accept in this physical world in the presence is all about preparing you for that final stage. And you need to think of that kind of support. You need people who understand that, who can think in communion with you, who can take care of you at times, and who you can depend on.”
He goes on saying:
“The important thing about knowing how basic teamwork works is to know ‘what is the lesson that is being taught through teamwork process?’ What is being taught is, obviously, you have to have a purpose. You set a goal. You set a realistic time duration expectation. Then you have to understand your boundaries. In other words, set your limit based on your capability, collectively, because we are talking about teamwork. And of course, it is important to support because that gives you something.
It teaches you how to share ideas and how to do check and balance. For me teamwork is important because it keeps me humble. That’s about it. I have to keep myself humble if I want to embody the people that I am working with. Why? Because it goes on. Anything that has worth, anything that is meaningful, should last forever. Why? Because love is eternal. And what is the purpose of coming together? That we all grow up together and not just me, right?”
I really believe that that was Hyo Jin hyung's greatest wish during the last stages of his life. He really tried to invest a lot in bringing the family together. He took us out to have dinner with him and to have a good time. Especially during the last period of his time he was really trying to reach out and help and encourage his brothers and sisters.
During the last past year so many things have happened. And on this day it is so important to remember our dear elder brother Hyo Jin Nim. He was always that elder brother figure. He came to the States much earlier than we did. He was with Father when they first came over, in a time when it was really intense in America. There was tremendous persecution; there was always TV and media broadcasts that were very negative about our church. So it was a very difficult time. It was a time when we had people calling in with death threats. It was really an extremely intense period.
And Hyo Jin hyung grew up in that period of extreme external persecution towards the movement. At the same time he also grew up in a position where he was in a fishbowl. He had to live in front of the members all the time because Father's life was always on the front line with the members. So I can’t imagine how much pressure he had to endure as a young child growing up, always having to be that perfect child. Especially as the first son, how much stress that must have been. He had to defend his younger brothers and sisters many times. It’s not like it is now in the United States where people don’t say a lot of things about Unification Church. Back then in the ’70’s and ’80’s they were extremely negative. He grew up in that kind of environment and it was very intense. Hyo Jin hyung was also a very intense person. He was very strong and powerful.
We have like 20 years age difference. Even though he is my elder brother he could be my dad. I never really got to spend time with him because the age difference was so great. When he was in college I was still running around playing with building blocks. Whenever we thought of Hyo Jin hyung we really saw him almost like a deity, the big elder brother! Sometimes when we were getting in fights about our toys, and all Hyo Jin hyung had to do was come into the room and it all stopped and we would be very silent! He had that kind of presence. Whatever he said we really took that into consideration.
When we think about Hyo Jin hyung's latest stage of his life, we can see that he really reached out, not only to his only family but also to the people around him, in his own way. He began doing ministry every week, giving the sermons and really trying to share his heart. When we look at his words, we can see what kind of internal nature he had cultivated inside. We can see what deep reflection he had and how very philosophical and heartistic he was. You can understand his heartistic realm he was trying to communicate from. Many times he felt frustrated that he could not communicate it the way it was coming out of his heart. But I do believe that in the words we shared today, when he was talking about teamwork, we can really feel how he wished for Cain and Abel and all the different brothers and sisters in our movement to be able to understand the importance of teamwork. That it is so important that we all work together and at the same time, by doing so, become better people.
In the last year Yeon Ah Nim has been doing a lot of things. She moved her whole family from America to Korea, she is now teaching at Sun Moon University as professor teaching Sociology, as she has a Masters degree from Ehwa Women’s University in Sociology, and just recently Father asked her to be the Vice Chairman of Women’s Federation for World Peace. So, let’s give it up for Yeon Ah Nim. (Applause).
We are really proud of her. We live in the same training center in Han Nam dong and we see her beautiful kids, who are so bold, enthusiastic, and energetic. Like us, she has a lot of boys in her family, so with our boys and her boys combined it’s really loud, but fun. It’s good; it’s always a good training.
We saw Yeon Ah Nim for the last year and, of course, like anybody, she was in a lot of pain. We had to see that process but we are very grateful because she was able to courageously step over every single one of her internal difficulties she was dealing with. I don’t think any of us until we actually are in the situation can understand that but I remember that many nights she was really missing Hyo Jin hyung Nim and many times she asked herself: “What will I do?” And she had many concerns. We saw her really struggle and battle through that year. Many things she had to endure as a woman, as a mother and as a daughter in law to True Parents, serving them. So, we are so very proud of her. She has really been a warrior for her children and for True Parents.
She has been trying to exemplify and embody what Hyo Jin hyung always talked about in his life. Many times she would reflect on the many things he taught her. She was learning through him how to attend True Parents. When we see that kind of thing we are filled with gratitude. We are so grateful that True Father allows her and asks her to now step forward and participate in a really profound way, working with Women’s Federation and also in Education. So, we are really proud of having Yeon Ah Nim here with us today. Without further ado let’s give it up for Yeon Ah Nim!
Good afternoon brothers and sisters! This is the limit of my English. Don’t expect any more. Nice to see you again.
Yeon Ah Nim gives her speech in Korean.
I’m nervous now. Maybe you can hear my heartbeat. Some people make comments about me, saying that I’m a person that does fine on stage, not being nervous. But the fact is that I do have issues coming on stage.
It has been one year since I have been last on this beautiful stage. It’s the first time that I saw these changes in this church. Everything looks so beautiful so that I thought that I was in a different place. I really felt that each one of you brothers and sisters here have made so much effort in order to make this accomplishment. Thank you very much! When we take a picture together I will look more beautiful because the stage is so beautiful. (Laughter)
Our International President Hyung Jin Nim made such great explanations and comments about Hyo Jin Nim that I don’t know what to say furthermore. Before coming to the stage I was at the first floor sharing and talking with some church members. They have really encouraged me, thank you very much! I have received energy from these church members who I was talking with but I feel that all of your energy has been collected and transferred through them and conveyed to me. Thank you very much, to each one of you. So I’m full with Vitamin C now, please take some with you before you go!
I thought very deeply while preparing for this sermon about what I should say. Fortunately, Hyo Jin Nim gave sermons every single week in Belvedere through 2006 and 2007, so I do have a lot of information sources. So, I have read through all speeches again. There were many quotes and contents of Hyo Jin Nim’s speeches that really moved my heart but I have decided to talk about teamwork today. I think maybe Hyo Jin Nim has sent this message to me from spirit world.
The main point of this topic is that we have to unite; all of us have to become one. Who do we have to center on? The center is God and True Parents who are the eternal substance of God. Hyung Jin Nim has mentioned the key word during his speech which I would like to repeat, “We can make bigger accomplishments if we work altogether.” These words seem to be so obvious and common, however if you look at the reality we stand in, we should always reflect upon them. We are already one team, right? And we also have several team leaders, right?
Ultimately God and True Parents are our leaders. They will be guiding us. However, we must also understand that the quality of each team depends on the effort of each individual. As I explained before, a team needs a goal and also an expectation of duration for time period. I believe we have all of these components. January 2013 is our given time period. And the goal which needs to be accomplished until 2013 is to substantiate God’s homeland on this earth. Now the question is how each one of us is making effort as a team centering on that goal.
Hyo Jin Nim always said that one must know his boundaries and limitations. Once you know your limitations you can become humble. Once a person becomes humble he can move in the right direction in order to live for the greater good. I have been in Belvedere often and I repeatedly listened to Hyo Jin Nim talk about this. He always made it simple. He said: “Know your limit!” I have heard that before but after Hyo Jin Nim’s Seung Hwa I was really able to understand the depth of the meaning of these words.
All those words that he had given me in the past came to enlighten me, one by one. I understand that Hyo Jin Nim was encouraging and helping me through this. But also I was able to come to this enlightenment because of True Children’s and True Parents’ continuous love.
I feel like I am a newborn baby now and that this is a new beginning for me. In the past I felt unworthy, and in my process of growing many brothers and sisters supported and helped me. To be honest with you, my surroundings have changed, Hyo Jin Nim was not next to me anymore and I suffered and have faced my own difficulties. Sometimes it was difficult for me to come to church. But now I’m back once more after one year. (Applause)
But Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim were always patient with me and have always waited for me. I’m very grateful for that. Despite the heavy responsibility that Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim have, guiding this church, they also supported me and my family and I really appreciate all their effort. I really feel that all of that resulted in my children... For this past year they had a happy life. I was sometimes not able to take care of my children, however because of all the people and True Children that have loved my children I was able to overcome this period in this environment full and rich with love.
I think that if I was back in America alone with my children I probably would have encountered more difficulties. When True Parents called me to Han Nam dong and told me to live here in Korea I was able to feel their love and pain at the same time. Because many people supported me and loved my children I am able to stand here once more on this stage. I understand that there are brothers and sisters who have encouraged and prayed for us and supported us spiritually. I don’t know in which condition I would be or if I was able to stand here today if you all haven’t sent this invisible love to me. Thank you all very much!
So, going back to my topic about teamwork, I feel that all of us here are one community, heading in one direction, having one destination. This community is like one big boat with the crew on it heading for one destination. If each of the crew members fulfills their given responsibility the boat can operate and move in the right direction. In the course of their journey there might be physical and spiritual difficulties; it’s not an easy course.
But we must understand that we are all in one boat and if we start to become negative and complain about each other and do not work together, this boat cannot move forward anymore, it will stop or sink. Please, look at our reality. We are living here in Korea in True Parent’s presence but we must understand that our position and each of our responsibilities are all different. Even if ONE person is not able to accomplish his or her responsibility it will be difficult to accomplish the ultimate goal centering on True Parents.
The question, we have to ask ourselves is, how we can operate this boat to our ultimate destination quickly. We know what we are heading for, we know what our destination is. We also know the date and the given time period. Are you confident looking at that goal or are you worried? From the perspective of faith we have hope and confidence but when we look at the actual reality we may encounter difficulties. If you try to work it out all by yourself it will be more difficult. Hyo Jin Nim said that even for True Father it is difficult to guide this entire providence alone.
True Parents need each and every one of our help and support in order to accomplish our goal. If you look at the reality here in Korea and our members you will see that we are still not a majority. Despite this reality, there is hope because we are here all together, we are not alone. We have one center and one common goal. We understand that if there are difficulties in the course we will be helping and supporting each other. Hyo Jin Nim explained that the components of teamwork are honesty, humbleness and cooperation. If we don’t consider about teamwork and just go straight for the goal there will be a lot of sacrifices and difficulties.
Hyo Jin Nim always emphasized that we always have to have love and support each brother and sister as we move towards our goal. In other words, his point was “living for the sake of others.” This true love protected my family and also each one of your families. And it is the shield and protection for our children and the coming generations. There might be negative influences coming from the society but if we have this true love we will be able to defend and protect ourselves. So, how can put this true love into action?
This is what I have learned about living for the sake of others and putting true love into action -- it always has to be centered on God. God is the precondition of true love. Living for God doesn’t mean living for an individual. In society people do volunteer work for other people but what is their motivation and the result they are looking for? What’s the point if God is not there? When you cooperate and work together as a team you always have to think about the greater good.
We have many individuals here with various kinds of characters and every one of you has different abilities. The question therefore is how we can adjust ourselves as a team with so many different capabilities. It is a really good motivation if you want to use your abilities for the greater good. But what if there is the need for 10 people with a certain ability but there are actually 20 people who can do it? What do we do? In that situation we have to think of our limitations. Do I have to be the person to do this work and take this position or can someone else do it? From that perspective Hyo Jin Nim said that we need to know our own limitations. Otherwise we will start fighting for that certain position and that will bring negativity into and break the teamwork. Can there be love in that kind of situation? What is happening there is that team members start fighting although they should build teamwork to protect each other. If we start fighting that means we want to kill each other instead of protecting each other through teamwork.
I’m talking about Cain and Abel relation here. Looking at the Biblical history, Cain and Abel had to unite and work together. Cain is the older brother, Abel the younger one. I would like to phrase it “elder and younger brother” instead of using the terminology “Cain and Abel.” Looking at the providence we can see that God has his desire for every individual, whether it is Cain or Abel. If Cain had understood his own limitations, his given responsibilities and his position he might have acted in a different manner. Cain might have been a better person intellectually, physically and also ability wise.
Even though Abel was selected as the central figure by God, he might have been unworthy and without many abilities from a humanistic point of view. But where did God’s will lie? That is the ultimate question that we have to ask ourselves. Where do you think God’s ideal was? They were not able to think about these questions, and they interpreted things from an individual perspective. Because Cain had more physical abilities and was more intelligent than Abel he was in the position and responsible for raising Abel who was chosen as the central figure, so that Abel could climb to that position. This kind of relation we can see even with the first man and the archangel in the Garden of Eden.
You have to look at yourself from the perspective of God. What can I do for the greater good? When we have to sacrifice ourselves will we be able to endure the suffering? Those who have more skills should make more effort. Those who know more about the truth should voluntarily take the harder way. This is the path that True Parents have shown as model. True Parents always suffered and showed us the way. We must understand how painful it was for True Parents whenever they sent us out to the frontline. I was able to attend True Parents frequently last year. Just being next to True Parents I was able to feel their deep and gentle love. Even at this moment I can feel how serious True Parents are about the providence. True Parents are not making all this effort just for True Parents’ sake or their glory. They are taking this path of providence for God, True Children, our brothers and sisters and all mankind. Don’t you feel we have to do something for True Parents in return?
I think we are still lacking and unworthy people. But don’t think that because of that there is nothing we can do for True Parents. There is always something. If you can’t accomplish something alone, why don’t you just work together? True Parents have blessed us with many brothers and sisters, here in Korea, in Japan, America and all around the world. Just imagine how good it will be if all these brothers and sisters from around the world collect their hearts and efforts, become one and work for one common goal. If you are able to support what the other lacks and if you are able to move forward with that kind of motivation, 2013 will be no problem. There is nothing to be afraid of.
This is the reason why I wanted to talk about teamwork today. We are one big crew on one big boat. If we look at the current reality we feel that our boat is going through a blizzard. Because the environment is so difficult we have to put our strengths together and unite. We have to love each other, support each other and encourage each other. True Parents will also feel hope and will be very happy if they see all the crew becoming one and united.
My conclusion today is simple and clear. Let’s unite and become one! In order to do so we must know our limitations. We might be lacking in some points but we should supplement, help and raise each other. There may be times where you face difficulties but understand that an elder brother is always patient and waits, loves and supports his younger brother. The heart of the elder brother is such that he wants to help when he sees a younger brother that is lacking, and he wants him to become a great person. I hope that each one of you will become an ideal Cain and help each other. The reason why we are still suffering and facing difficulties is that we were not able to fulfill our responsibilities as Cain figure. If we are able to become a greater elder brother or sister then we will be able to accomplish more.
If my younger brother or sister lacks something we need to embrace each other. I should make more effort as an elder brother in order to make my little brother’s or sister’s way easier. When we have that kind of perspective we will be able to develop together. If you love your little brother and sister you would want to give and sacrifice everything you have. If you truly love your little brother and sister you can embrace them even if they are lacking. Also True Parents loved us continuously and gave everything to us although we were unworthy and lacking. They have given us very valuable things. They were able to do so because they loved us so much although we lacked and were unworthy.
Honestly speaking I think of myself as unworthy. I was appointed as Vice Chairman of Women’s Federation and also I’m a professor at Sun Moon University but honestly speaking I think I am not worthy of these positions. But I do feel True Parents' love there. This is True Parents’ love. Although they understand that somebody lacks and is not capable of doing some things, still they trust and send them to the frontline, keep supporting and believing in that person until he actually comes up to the level in order to accomplish the given position. Don’t you think this world would be a better place, if each on of us could have that kind of heart? Thank you very much.
Closing Prayer by Hyung Jin Nim:
Heavenly Father, thank You for this day that You have blessed upon us, this day on that we can commemorate and remember the passing of our dearest elder brother, the first son of True Parents. On this day we want to honor our brother and remember the great words that he left with us, challenging us to see the value of each other. In a place that we as individuals may not be able to create the desired success, let us look around and see the internal potential of all those around us. Let us be able to acknowledge and embrace that and be able to work with that to create a larger and greater success.
We are grateful that You could speak through Your daughter Yeon Ah Nim today, that You could give her this time to share her heart, where she can reflect and think about the great words of Hyo Jin hyung, the great heart and desire that he wanted to see all of us truly become one and move forward into victory. We pray that we may always hold this in our hearts through this coming week, that we may realize and see the value and preciousness of each other. Let us recognize the value of the time together. We pray that we may never take our loved ones for granted. We never know when they may pass or when our lives come to an end.
Let us live each day with that tremendous sense of blessing and meaning and giving honor and praise to those around us, so that they can shine for You. We pray that You may be with all the families here and around the world that are joining us via the internet. We pray that Hyo Jin hyung's heartistic elder brother's heart may be truly engrafted in each of our hearts. Thank You so much. We pray these things together here as one, as central blessed families. Aju.