Here are my notes from Hyo-Jin-nim's speech Sunday 07 October 2007. My ability to convey what was actually said is limited. These, at most, convey some sense of what Hyo-Jin-nim said and are not a verbatim record. Hyo-Jin-nim's website is: www.canaanstation.com To see two of the projects that Hyo-Jin-nim is working on log on to: definingmoment.tv and definingmoment.eu
Joe Kinney

Rev. Andrew Compton is the MC. All welcome Hyo-Jin-nim and Yeon-Ah-nim and offer a standing bow.

Hyo-Jin-nim bows to the audience as he approaches the stage.

How are you doing? (Good)

I feel a little restless; a lot of routine.

So how have you been doing? Hanging in there? (Laughter, yes)

Let's talk about tradition.

These days we have a lot more than the amount of church holidays than we used to have. Right? (Laughter)

It's almost like every week there's some ceremonial days. Right?

Is that good? Does it make you feel better?

What does tradition give you; what kind of feeling does it give you?

What do you do with tradition; what happens to you when you face tradition? What goes through your mind?

"Today it's this celebration; on this day we're celebrating or ceremonializing something" What does that mean to you? (Closeness to God). And you want that every day? So every day should be ceremonial day (Laughing).

We have to find some kind of ceremonial topic to celebrate three-hundred and sixty-five days a year. When are we going to work when we're always celebrating? (Laughing) I mean that it's all good...

It's just that give-and-take stuff I guess. That's what it's trying to emphasize, I guess, to symbolically try to teach us.

When we celebrate something, we take something, right? And we have to give. That's about it, isn't it?

How does one celebrate something? How does one make something that is important into a tradition? How does something become a tradition?

Let's say that you're Japanese and that you're proud of something. You like a certain tradition. Why do you like that tradition; why do you think that tradition is important? Because it gives you pride. Pride in something, what ever you identify with, what ever it means, that's what it gives you.

Without pride you can't have tradition. So how does one become proud of some thing? So how do you inspire... how do you go about achieving pride?

It's inspiration, and there's the degree of it. But, before pride there has to be some kind of provocation. And what does inspire us to go to the next phase? How do we feel that something "Hey I want to be part of that stuff!" Of course it can be good and bad; it depends on where your head is at. But if it's going to last, it should be good. That's safe to say because we're good people in the end, everybody. We can make bad choices because of the problems that we face, as we know, but we're all good in the end.

We want to be good, and we want to inspire each other in goodness. So what is good inspiration? What is the inspiration that makes us better? We have to know the basic things that give us our quality as a human being that I can say "THIS is me!" This is my innocence; this is my truth; this is my humility; this is my sacrifice; this is my gift, to you God, because all of us have to do that.

Some people will inspire you a little more than the other. They'll be fluctuations, but that's life. That's how we grow. But that is the way. You want absolute; that is the way. You want a way to make everyone good, that is the way. So that's how you try.

It doesn't matter what you have left. You will grow. Children can bother you when they're crawling around and they grow up and start to complain and give you a hard time and try to overcome you, and try to ride on your shoulders; Especially in the secular world, when you go like this (gesturing like washing my hands its over) after eighteen years old that's basically what it is. You know good riddance.

Are you having a jolly good time?

We need to make more good traditions. We have a lot of traditions, but if we want to compete and win, we need good traditions, more good traditions, more new good traditions. Why? Without it you can't build a culture. You can't build a society. We need to have that stuff. We need to be strong. Without that kind of pride and tradition, you can't be strong.

Unfortunately physical world is physical world. We need to face it as it is and that's what we have to do. We need to focus on those things; that's what's important.

Unfortunately a lot of stuff that church members did in the past wasn't done properly. A lot of people are no good, fallen people. They try to stay in certain positions for that reason. Before the eyes of Father they speak well, but in the end they have nothing. Why, because it's just about that. It takes basic stuff to make you good at anything, and it takes time and it takes a whole lot of stuff just to be good at one thing. And who are you kidding?

I know my Father's urgency, but that does not give you the right to do the things that some people do. That's wrong. And due to it, we'll suffer in the end. There are always the consequences. You will suffer.

Tradition, what kind of tradition do you think that we need to create?

A new tradition that can change the world, little-by-little.

OK?

What is that thing that can change thing a little bit starting from you to your friends, your work place, whatever.

That little change, what is it; that little change that you can make?

That's what you need to focus on, because that's something that you can do.

WE have to do it. You can't just allow somebody to make a lot of noise and talk and talk. No that's wrong.

What can you do? What kind of tradition can you make that is good?

Think about it. And if you're part of a certain group then talk about it. Talk to each other.

If you're on a fundraising team or a witnessing team talk about it. You're not going to be there for ever, right?

You have to do something. Just try to think in a way that makes sense to you in reality. OK?

But it will grow that way, (emphasizing each word) it should!

That's how you're going to get bigger... and better...

And you will die. (Laughter)

It's good to see you. (Thank you)

Everything is going OK; I'll tell you later. I don't like to talk too much about stuff until it's done.

Anyway if it's done right you can see it for yourself.

(Taps podium twice)

See you next week.