Well, this reflection is going to be a little peculiar, but it concerns an aspect of the MSG campaign that is little noted. That is the aspect of Father’s foundation in New York City and, believe it or not, the special quality of the city itself. That special quality is the energy and power concentrated in midtown Manhattan. To unleash that energy, Father purchased three major properties: 4 West 43rd Street, the New Yorker Hotel, and the Manhattan Center. This concentration of our movement’s energy is commensurate with the concentration of the energy of America and the world concentrated in midtown Manhattan.

In this world within a world, everything is within reach. This is different from Washington, DC, and Seoul. In those cities, our operations are scattered across the city. Even in the age of phone and fax, physical meetings are crucial, and offices being miles apart from each other and from the event location hamstrings operations. On the other hand, the operations of Blessing ‘98 took place within an area in which one could access everything by a 20-minute walk or taxi-ride of 5 to 15 minutes, depending on traffic. It is interesting how this hyung-sang aspect affects the sung-sang spirit and the overall outcome.

Furthermore, the people both inside and outside the movement in Manhattan have developed a professional and focused approach, having gone through so many "vertical" campaigns together. The church has developed a core team through True Parents’ and True Family’s speeches, holy weddings and holy days. New York membership, spread across diverse departments and areas, unites in a beautiful way when the occasion arises, bringing skills and resources together on an ad hoc basis for a common project.

This teamwork formed the core framework for the wonderful contributions of members from across the New York region, across America and even around the world. The campaign was relatively well-coordinated, focused, efficient and therefore successful. Of course, it was not perfect, but still it was a joy to behold the love and excitement that the New York membership and New York City itself created for Blessing ’98.

To the New York/New Jersey brothers and sisters, and to everyone who ever was one, and that includes just about everyone, my congratulations!

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