Dr. Joseph C. Paige is the former President and Dean of Shaw Divinity School in North Carolina.

The speeches of Dr. Bo Hi Pak provide a valuable resource and a seasoned worldview for those who love peace and justice and who respect religious pluralism and the right to believe and practice one's faith.

In these speeches, Dr. Pak, an unusually gifted and spiritual person, discusses contemporary social and spiritual concerns and challenges at the world level, thus enabling the reader to craft a holistic personal worldview and vision that, hopefully, will engender reasoned and aggressive action.

In his speeches and during my many behind-the-scenes conversations with him over the years, Dr. Pak has always demonstrated a remarkable understanding of the things that make for peace and justice in the world. He has always emphasized that it takes a person of courage and determination to make a substantial, positive difference.

In many of his speeches, Dr. Pak addressed the urgent need for a God-centered world based on "Godism." He has a God-inspired vision, the ability to both analyze and synthesize in simple form the times in which we live, and the ability to articulate what it means to be a responsible person, a responsive movement, and a caring government at the national and world levels.

Dr. Pak believes strongly that the people of God, as they mature in God-centeredness, are mandated by the Creator to help make the world, God's global village, a more just, peaceful, and humane place to live, work, and play.

Dr. Pak is a champion of dialogue in human bridge-building. He considers dialogue essential in our quest for unity, especially in matters of differences in religious practices and beliefs. In his view, this dialogue must be open, uninhibited, and unhampered by ideological, socioeconomic, or geopolitical conditions or considerations. He believes that a good way to understand people is to study their religions and engage the leadership and faith practitioners of the various world religions in continuing dialogue on all matters affecting human life and conduct. He believes that religion is intrinsically related to moral value and ethical conduct, around which the expressions and meaning of life seem to come together.

Dr. Pak understands the dynamics of peace-building and coalition-building, and he developed a dedicated and courageous cadre of world leaders and a machinery within the Unification Movement capable of mobilizing these leaders to promote causes related to religious liberty, social and economic justice, and world peace.

He was keenly aware of the threat of world communism to a just and peaceful society, and he devoted much of his time during the 1980s to activities that eventually led to communism's collapse.

Dr. Pak believes that at the world level, with competitive systems of regional, political, and economic interests, the realization of justice, peace, and freedom of religious expression will depend more and more on the determined will of people in a global society. Accordingly, it is his opinion that people must be provided with the necessary tools for empowerment at all levels. In concert with the vision of his mentor, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, he developed several empowerment initiatives with grass roots organizations and with the broad participation of the leadership of the religious and political communities around the world.

Dr. Pak is also outspoken in his quest for racial justice. He often refers to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as one of the greatest Americans that ever lived. He views the American civil rights movement as "inspired by God" and "spirit-led."

He seems to understand that the solutions to the injustices of the world require intervention at every level of society, local, regional, and national, and most especially at the world level. Here, too, his goal is to design and operationalize a corrective system directed toward men and nations involving various agencies of the movement and a most unusual network of world opinion leaders.

On the personal side, Dr. Pak has been my mentor and is my friend. It was God's providence that we should meet. We visited with each other frequently during the 1980s in Washington, D.C., and occasionally in North Carolina, where he was my special guest, together with Mrs. Pak, at our family farm. We traveled around the world together, Europe, Asia, and Africa, meeting with heads of states and religious leaders in efforts to promote world peace and in our quest to make a difference. He was my teacher. He held my hand. He lectured to me, challenged me, questioned me, and prayed with me. I am a better person today because of him.

Dr. Pak is a unique role model and a major inspiration for my role as advocate for world peace and religious liberty, worldwide. I am indeed grateful to share these reflections.

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