Dr. Baughman is the President of the Unification Church in America

First of all, I would like to extend a warm greeting to members and friends of our Unification Church family throughout this potentially great nation of America. As we have now entered not only a new year, but also a new era for women, our church and our world, there is much for us about which to be grateful and to contemplate.

Given the many changes which we will all face this year as individuals, families, church and nation, the most important is the change which must first transpire within ourselves as faithful and filial children of God and our True Parents. This change is not only necessary for our own personal growth, but also for the sake of the success and blessing of our efforts throughout the coming year.

Although the change about which I speak takes on unique qualities and meaning for each specific individual, there is a common denominator which defines the direction of this change for all of us without exception. That fundamental quality is a renewed commitment to an actionized faith concomitant with consistancy in word and deed.

At the outset I qualified our nation as potentially great. In a similar vein, Mother has stated in her WFWP address that the "moral foundations of this great nation are still alive." What makes it possible for a nation to transform its potential greatness into something true and tangible? As Alexis de Tocqueville once observed many years ago, this greatness will not be defined by innovations in architecture, economic strength, political platforms or advances in technology, but rather by the religious and moral strength of the people.

Perhaps more than any other time in recent American history, many are questioning the moral direction of our nation. However, before we can contribute answers to these questions, we must first demonstrate with our lives an alternative standard so that people might have something concrete with which to compare. One means to characterize this alternative derives from a common theme implied in the inspirational guidance given to us by Father and Mother Moon over the last couple of years for us to become mature sons and daughters of faith and action.

First of all, we must rededicate ourselves to renewed faith in the living God, our Heavenly Parent. We must make more effort to pray and mobilize the spiritual world for protection and guidance so that our personal efforts will be more likely to succeed. We must remember that our human actions alone are not enough to solve the complex problems which we are now facing within our families, church and nation. God has often reminded His people of this timeless fact as evidenced throughout history, for example, in the lives of Gideon, Joshua, King David, George Washington and Douglas McArthur.

Likewise, however, we will never solve our problems by merely believing or hoping that God or anyone else will do it all for us. This is the attitude which infant children have towards their parents. It is essential for us to actionize our faith and behave as adult sons and daughters by taking on the work of our parents and proving our worth for having received so much from them. Too often religious people have put the burden entirely upon God, Allah or Jesus. How often do we expect True Parents to solve our problems or wait for them to instruct us before we decide to take initiative on our own?

In this time of Tribal Messiah, Hometown Providence, the Women's Federation for World Peace and United to Serve America, we are being called to be faithful, mature sons and daughters who are willing to take initiative on the foundation of what we have learned from our True Parents. 1993 is the first year of the second seven-year course of our True Parents since the "40-year wilderness period." This marks the beginning of the growth period for our movement worldwide. It is a time to step forward and prove our worth in terms of faith and action. It is a time for us to finally shoulder the burden of this nation and do what is needed to save it.

I am often reminded of the guidance offered by St. Theresa of Avila:

Pray as if everything depends upon God, and work as if everything depends upon me.

By making this our operational motto for the new year, we are certain to come closer to making this nation truly great as mature, responsible sons and daughters of God and True Parents. My personal wish is for each brother and sister within our church family to find prosperity and blessing in all you do, and that you will be able to contribute the best you have to this noble and holy task.

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