When we are in a public setting, we sometimes hear about True Children's suffering and painful past. (They say) it is because True Parents had to save the world and True Parents had to love Cain children first, that they could not take care of True Children. And it is also said that that caused all the suffering and hardship in True Family.

Whenever my husband hears such a statement, he says that he feels very down and sad. He says he's totally grateful for when members worry about true family members, but repeating the negative and painful past over and over in a public setting, he thinks, in the end it doesn't help anybody. It causes pain in True Children because it constantly reminds them that True Parents often were not there for them. Also it blanket blames all members.

Ultimately it causes great suffering for True Parents because they also are constantly reminded that they were not there, they could not be there for their children. So, as my husband thinks, in the end nobody wins with that kind of blame. One day True Mother told my husband, "Lovey, I'm so sorry for not being there while you were growing up." At that time my husband told True Mother, "Mother, please don't say that. The fact that you persevered beside True Father (means) you've done the greatest work, and we True Children are really grateful for what you have done for our family."

Let's not focus on negative and painful thinking of the past or on blaming somebody for this and that, let's focus on our hopeful and mature future. I believe we've learned from the past, and we will not want to repeat the same mistakes. We are the blessed families that True Parents blessed. Aju.

I always like to start with something kind of fun. I don't know if this is fun, but I'll try it. I heard of a story of a young man named John. And John wasn't the best student. He eventually got his job working in a company. And he came to his boss one day and said, "Sir, I'm really sorry. My grandmother just passed and we have the funeral tomorrow, so I need to attend that. So if I could have a leave of absence on Tuesday that would be great." And the president said, "Oh! Of course, John. Please, take time. Take a day off. Take a couple days off. No problem at all."

So John was not at the office on Tuesday. And then of course on Wednesday he returned. The boss saw him and said, "John, can I have a tiny word with you?" And said, "John, are you a spiritual man?" and John said, "Not really. I don't attend church so much." And the boss said, "Well, do you believe in spirit world?" And John said, "I guess I do". "Well it's very interesting, because on Tuesday, when you were at your grandmother's funeral, she came and dropped these cookies off for you. And by the way, you're fired."

Today I'd like to discuss with you: Having God's strength and letting go. In our lives, as we traverse the journey of life, as we work through many difficulties in our lives, one of the great powers that we will need is the power of letting go. And what does this mean? This can be, for example -- when you lose a loved one -- coming to grips with that and learning how to let go in a healthy manner. It can mean also a letting go of negative thinking or maybe self-condemning thinking.

We're going to get into that. Let's just remember that letting go is not weakness. Letting go is power. It is very difficult to do. Not so many people can let go fully.

So let's see it as a kind of muscle or a skill. This takes practice. It takes training. It's very important that we first notice our thoughts, our mind, that we understand the inner workings of the mind, of our thoughts. Those are the things that we have to learn to let go of many times.

We must learn how to let go of unhelpful thoughts. There are thoughts in our mind that many times are unhealthy. Those are not YOUR thoughts. Those are not Who You Are. That's what the archangel wants you to believe that you are.

You may be hearing things like, "Oh why are you so slow at learning", or, "How come you can't get it, like the other kids do." Or you may hear things in your mind that say, "You know, nothing good is ever going to happen to you. You're not special." You may hear things like, "You're not going to amount to anything." You may hear such things. Don't believe them.

It's very important that we have the power to push away or to move gently away from these thoughts. The more we have give and take with them the more they take root in our minds and the more then our life will be moving in that direction. So it's important (to understand) that letting go can save us from curses and even can allow us to find freedom and to live that life of blessing, that True Parents have given us the blessing for.

Let's remember that the negative thoughts are not YOU. That's what the archangels want you to believe. Again, let's not believe those things. Really, let's learn to let go of those and develop a principled self image. What does the principle say about you? Well, it says that you are an individual truth body. It says that you are completely unique; that you have divine and cosmic value. It tells us that you are the only one who can activate a distinctive aspect of God's dual characteristics. It tells us that we have so much power and meaning and value. It tells us that we are central figures and are chosen to attend the Messiah. And now, as we are past the age of indemnity, now that we are in the age of complete liberation and release, (it is) now that we are able to reap the great benefits and the blessings that our fathers and grandfathers have worked and toiled so hard for.

Remember that when God sees you, He sees VIPs. Let's not get into the pattern of holding on to those thoughts that are bringing us down, the thoughts that are condemning us, the thoughts that are attacking us. Let's learn to let go of those things. It becomes a very important practice. In the meditative traditions this is known as an analytical practice of meditation. There is a certain practice.

So it's important for us to be victorious against such archangels. We may have past disappointments that really are still nagging at us. Maybe we have an archangel that's kind of attached to us and it really condemns you. It maybe says, "You mean nothing. You are a big failure. You messed up. You totally blew it that time." You may hear such things. It's very important that you don't let those thoughts come into your heart. Don't let them in. Let them just pass, OK?

So we have to have the power to break free from the grip of these past mistakes, our past failures and disappointments. Maybe you failed a big exam and you are trying to muster the courage to get to the next one. Well, you gotta let go of that and let's move forward. Just focus on preparing. Maybe we had to let go of our work place, which is always tough. But at that time, let's think about what God has in store for our future. Maybe we want to get into thinking, "Oh I was terrible," or maybe, "That person attacked me," or maybe, "It's his fault." It's better just to let that go and move on.

But that takes strength, it's not easy to do that. So let's not let our past determine the trajectory of our future. Let go of condemning ourselves. We have to stop the habit of replaying those incidents in our mind. Maybe we have something that we regret. We said something the wrong way to somebody that really hurt them. We have to stop replaying that in our mind. We have to stop the tape. Press the stop button. Don't let it play over and over and remind you how terrible you are. Because you are NOT. It's very important that we stop that, that we recognize it in our hearts, that we make amends and that we move forward. OK?

So it's very important that we practice this self-honesty, that we can analyze our past mistakes, that we can learn from them, that we don't have to repeat them, and that we can move forward in more maturity every day.

In middle school (some of our brothers and sisters here are in middle school) I was maybe 11, 12. Is that right? Is that the right age? I remember. This is kind of embarrassing but I'll tell it anyway. I remember that when I was at school, I made eye contact with a female student, a peer. I could hear in my mind, "You're Satan! You're going to fall! You're a sinner!" So, oh my gosh I was really condemning myself, and what I found was that this was actually hurting my ability to simply talk and discuss things with women.

Of course, there is always a certain line here. But when I started seeing my peers as my sisters (I always had a good relationship with my sisters) -- when I started seeing them as my sisters, I stopped demonizing them so much. I started to learn to see them simply as people that I'm talking to, just like my sister. "I'm talking to my sister." I had to let go of this self-condemning mind.

This happened when I was 13, or 12, around that age, but I had to learn to trust and respect myself. I had to learn that I had more than plenty of strength to overcome. (I had to learn) that I had plenty of strength and plenty of power that God gave me to remain pure for my blessing. I knew I could do it, and I did. So it's very important that we have that kind of confidence and faith in ourselves.

At that time, I remember, I could not even just simply look at a peer without this kind of condemning mind. But I realized that that was preventing me from simply seeing and respecting my female peers. It's very important in our lives, to get over some issues, maybe anger.

There may be some kind of resentment towards somebody or a certain experience. But it's important for us, if we are going to live a life of blessing, to start learning to let go of anger. Anger is like fire. If it touches another fire it becomes bigger. And it really doesn't help us to hold on to anger. It only drains us in the end.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "He, who holds anger, will be the only one with hands burned." So when we hold onto anger, when we don't learn to release its power over us, then we will be the ones who get burned in our lives. So it's important that we free ourselves from this grip -- the grip of anger.

We may have had some experience; it may be some person who we feel kind of angry towards. It's important that we don't worry about the payback or the revenge. "Oh, that guy! He said something really bad about me, so I wish upon him terrible calamity and curses!" We don't want to get into that. Just like Luke said, "Those who judge will be judged." If we get into the habit of cursing those who anger and irritate us or don't make us happy, or are kind of annoying -- if we get into the habit of cursing them, we will only get more curses in our lives.

So it's very important that we get into the habit of simply letting that go, to return back to the present, return back to a pure heart, a pure mind. You can even do a meditation.

Many times, when I'm angry, I feel myself wanting to do that. Then I would just return into a basic meditation. I'll just simply sit down, return back to my breath. I may even, if I'm outside, do a movement that helps me focus on mind, body and breath, and to simply release the anger. I just return to the presence of the moment, the breath. If I'm walking down a cement street... and I have had some really negative experience -- I remember one time I had a very frustrating experience -- and then, when I was walking down the street I could not release this from my mind. It just wouldn't go. It continued to fester in my mind.

So, one of the practices is simply to become mindful of what you are doing. If you are walking, you simply notice that you are walking. You simply notice your feet on the concrete, etc, in order to release yourself from such things.

When we look at the story of Joseph, he was sold into slavery. Now think about that. If your family members got together and sold you into slavery, that would not be pleasant. Not only that, but he served in prison for 13 years for something that he didn't even do. OK? And yet, he stayed positive in his life. He eventually became the 2nd most powerful person under the Pharaoh. And you can imagine -- you all know the story -- when his brothers, remember, because of the famine, were coming up, they were starving, the nation was starving. But he was now the person responsible for distributing the food and here they are. They appear before him, and he says, "Hey! I'm Joseph! I'm the one that you sold into slavery, remember?"

Now remember, at that moment, how angry he could be. How much he could want to get revenge. Actually he had the power and authority to execute them on the spot if he wanted to. But instead Joseph chose to just let it go. Even in spite of the prison experience, 13 years, he kept a positive attitude. He kept the attitude, "God is preparing me for something…"

When we look at this story we can see that in his forgiveness his brothers and also his family were really redeemed. When we look at the principle and see the story of Jacob and Esau, we know that God worked through and moved from Abraham's to Isaac's family. Isaac restored the foundation of faith, as you all recall. And as you remember, Jacob stole the birthright from Esau. Not only that, he stole his blessing as well.

From a principled perspective we know that the three things were restored, Isaac's blessing was the first blessing to be restored, to be fruitful. And remember, when he is victorious under Laban and he inherits the family and wealth, then the second blessing, to multiply, is restored. Then he defeats the angel, remember, and his name becomes Israel and the 3rd blessing is restored, dominion over creation.

Now Jacob returns to Canaan, and he returns to his brother. Now think about how angry his brother must have been. Now remember those times. These guys are out in the desert. They are rough and tough. They are not just like sweeties, you know? They are really rough, OK? So you can imagine Esau. He's got his fur. He's got his hair all over. He's a big guy. He's a hunter, you know? And here's Jacob sending all these gifts. But how fearful Jacob must have felt? How much anger Esau must have felt? He could have thought, "I'm gonna kill this guy. This guy betrayed me. He deceived me. He stole what was mine."

But we know the story. Esau embraces him. He forgives him. He lets go of that. Because of that, he's able to succeed in the foundation of substance. And for the first time, on the family level, we see that the foundation for the Messiah is substantiated.

So this is important in our lives. Maybe we have certain stubborn fixations, maybe certain attachments that we have in our lives. It's important that we learn that sometimes we have to reassess whether or not this is the right way that we are going.

I know about a person who became a doctor eventually, but all his life his mother wanted him to be a doctor. When he was a baby, she used to call him, "Oh my little doctor, come on in the room." "Oh my little doctor, did you have breakfast today?" She just called him "doctor, doctor" all the time.

Eventually he became a doctor, but he was a little bit dissatisfied with his choice. Let's put it this way: He wanted to retire quickly. If we see ourselves as a doctor, maybe our parents always told us, "Oh, you're going to be a doctor, doctor, doctor." Maybe we're trying and maybe its working out or maybe it's not working out.

It's really important that we start seeing and asking, "Is this really my divine calling? Am I holding on to this attachment too much? Am I holding on to this fixation? Is this actually where God does NOT want me to be? Maybe God wants me to be doing something else that will have impact on my society."

So Its important in our lives, when we come up to that, to reassess whether or not your conscience is telling you: "It's right. It's important." -- And in the end, remember, even Father says, "God does not judge you, we judge ourselves." So, even our parents don't judge us. We are the ones, in the end, who judge ourselves. So it's very important that we live the life that God has called us to live, that we are going in that direction. When we are called in that direction we have to really work with our conscience, our internal compass, our intuition, to find exactly what God is calling us to do.

Let's also learn to let go of anxiety or excessive worry. Remember, there's a statement that says, "Worrying excessively is like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." That's what worrying excessively is.

It's very important that we learn not to excessively worry about our lives, and especially as parents, not to excessively worry about our children. It's very important that in our lives as parents we trust that we are raising good kids, that we know that we will do our best and that we tell them frequently that they are blessings, that they are going to have a great life, that they are going to have abundance and prosperity, that they will be blessed in their lives. And let's have faith that they can overcome obstacles alone. It's very important for us as parents to allow our kids to overcome obstacles alone. They have the courage and they have the talent to do it.

But many times we come in and do it FOR them. Maybe they didn't do their homework, and then we do it for them. Maybe they didn't pack their bag, and we do it for them. Maybe they have a project to make a weird hat like we had a couple days ago, and we do it for them.

Alright? So, we have to let them work through the obstacles alone. The reason why is because that becomes a skill that they earn in their life. They learn to do things alone. They learn to do things without the help, without other people doing it for them. They become more trustworthy and responsible in their actions. They organize their own schedules.

So, it's very important to allow our children (to do things by themselves), to let go ourselves of that excessive worry and allow them to have faith that they can handle some obstacles. Of course you want to start with small obstacles. If we are in a really worrisome situation then of course you don't want to just drop them off and say, "OK it's up to you now!" We don't want to do that. We want to be compassionate and see where they are at.

But if we are in the process where we just had a child, then it's important for us to think about that along the way, as the child is growing, and to work with the child and allow the child to overcome obstacles, and become victorious in small ways.

Let's also learn how to let go of negativity. Let's choose to have God's hope instead, while letting go of negative rhetoric -- my wife talked about it today -- such negative rhetoric and such things in our lives, even sarcasm. Those things will hold us back; they will prevent us from receiving God's blessing. If we live in constant negativity or constant sarcasm, we can not be blessed. It is so important that we learn to have the power to let go, to choose to not engage in the negativity, but to focus instead on realistic optimism.

Remember, when we create negative environments, children can't succeed in those environments. When we create negative environments, it becomes harder for people who come out of those environments to work well with people, to be responsive, to not condemn themselves so heavily. OK? So it's very important that we learn how to let go of negativity and choose to look towards the future with realism and optimism.

It is important to practice empathetic joy in our lives. This is important because this is a part of learning to let go. When we practice happiness when other people succeed, when we're happy for them, then we are learning to let go of our overly competitive spirit. We are learning how to complete with them, instead of competing. So when you are working with somebody, then instead of seeing them as a competitor, someone you have to compete with, see them as somebody you have to complete the mission with, the task, the project, the homework, whatever. See them as a win-win partner, not in a "I win, you lose" situation.

This is very important because the world is as you see it. If you see in a negative way, every experience will be more negative than it is. Every frustration will become an impending doom. So it's very important where our minds are. Our lives will follow our minds. Remember, where our minds go, our words go, our actions go, our habits go, our character goes, and our life goes.

So what can we learn today? We can learn that letting go is power, it's not weakness. Letting go is power. It frees us and others to grow and improve. We can also regain control and subjectivity in our lives.

Remember, brothers and sisters, YOU are the subject in your life, not the archangel who wants to attack you, not the self-condemning voice. Don't let that become the subject. You are the subject. You are in control of your mind. So make sure you keep it strong and hopeful for God's future. Then I am sure and confident that you will receive more blessing than you can even imagine.

Let's live free from self-condemnation, free from anger, resentment, anxiety, excessive worry, stubborn attachments and negativity. Letting go of such things is really, really important to living the blessed life. If you are going to succeed at whatever you do, it's very important that you are able to work with these things, letting them go, letting these things pass. Even if they come again, let them pass. So let's choose to see God's new hope for us.

Brothers and sisters, I like to say it all the time: We are not in the age of indemnity any more. We are not in the age of sacrifice. Right now we are finally in the age of liberation and release. The 6,000 years of God's resentment and pain is gone. True Parents made that foundation. They have the victory. That's why we celebrate them with praise and worship. That's why, in this age, we can celebrate with them. We can praise each other. We can wish blessings upon each other. We can wish you to be happy. We can wish him or her to be happy. We can wish for their marriage to work out well. And when we see that, we can be inspired by that.

It's very important that in this age, when we are in the land of Canaan, that we are able to create a very successful land, a land that has much blessing, not only externally, but also internally. So let's remember, when you hear those words in your mind, "You're a failure!" Brothers and sisters, you're not failures! You are prevailers!

Whenever you hear the word failure, you say, "No! I am a prevailer! I overcome anything." When you say, "Oh I'm gonna give up. I feel like giving up," don't believe that! We don't give up. We GET up for God. And remember, we are not going to be without victory, we're going to be victorious in our lives.

It's very important that we have that confidence in ourselves. Remember, you have the skills. You have what it takes to become victorious in whatever God has called you to do. OK, brothers and sisters?

So what I always say to brothers and sisters, what I try to remind you of every week, is this: Remember, when God sees you, He sees VIPs. Let's get that into our hearts. We're not failures. We're not making True Parents unhappy. We're not making a more heavy heart for people. You are a blessing to people. Think that you are the unique person that is stimulating God's heart in a distinct way. Let's remember that we are VIPs. Let's remember that VIP stands for Victory, Illumination and Peace.

Until next week, let's have a little more Victory, a little more Illumination and a little more Peace.

Brothers and sisters, can you accept these words today?

Thank you.