Dear brothers and sisters,
Father says in Peace Message 4, “Our ultimate purpose is to find and establish His kingdom and His righteousness, while serving God as the center”. And I believe we, blessed families, are supposed to promote such kingdom and righteousness. Unfortunately, I do not see great encouragement when I see what Hyun Jin Nim is going through. People criticize him as someone not obeying Father, etc. But what I see the background behind the incidents based on which such criticism has been developed, I feel nothing but disappointment. I do not want to discuss such concrete incidents in this letter because they are quite disturbing.
In the autobiography, Father says that all religions were born for peace but that politics utilizes religions and create wars. There is so-called “workplace bullying” in society, as a form of politics in work environment. Workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable attack towards a worker. Examples are blame without factual justification, smear campaigns, character assassination, spreading malicious rumors, etc. The impact on organization having workplace bullying is increased absence, increased resignation, increased disciplinary actions and failure to meet organizational goals. Bullying is often directed to someone whom bullies feel threatened by. Those who are causing bullying are expected to deny and perhaps misconstrue the accusation. These descriptions are from the study about workplace bullying. I see nothing holy in workplace bullying.
I am sorry to say but what I see in our church resembles workplace bullying and is actually much worse. It is far from what Father says in Peace Message 3, “Heaven is a world overflowing with God’s true love and established with true love as its axis. It is a world where true love is the external form as well as the internal content of every environment…Consequently, antagonism and despising cannot be found in that world, for it is a natural world where each person lives for the sake of other.” Are we going closer to heaven or not, when we campaign to attack Hyun Jin Nim? I am afraid that innocent church members are becoming the tool for such bullying intent without noticing it. What if the news was created and released in such a way to drive people to hate Hyun Jin Nim as a bad person? I am afraid that we, church members, could be easily manipulated by such bullying because our immune system for such politics is not well developed.
If the current conflicts continue, we would probably become the study material of history in the future as how a church, which started with high ideal of the founder but divided through politics. People in society can understand those types of politics much better than church members, especially when the facts are disclosed and contrasted with the bullying. Historically, these types of politics divided nations and religions. Father says self-interest and division are the remnants of the Age Before the Coming of Heaven in Peace Message. English translation might not be clear, but Father says in Peace Message that we (children) have the responsibility to substantiate the Age After the Coming of Heaven even though God and True Parents opened the age. I think we are meant to overcome these historical obstacles.
Mark Sano
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Dr. Hyun Jin Moon - by Keiko Sometani
If we want to build a world of peace, we need people of integrity to lead the way. A person of integrity has no inner- outer contradictions, is self-disciplined, respectful of others and oneself, is honest, has nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of and is an individual whose words matches ones actions. In other words, there is a consistency between values, speech, behavior, and actions. Dr. Hyun Jin Moon (Hyun Jin Nim) is one such individual. He is truly a man of integrity. From a spiritual perspective, I think integrity means you can stand before God with a pure heart and spirit with “no shadow” to cast. Rev. Moon (TF) states that our best teacher is our conscience. If only we lived according to our conscience, we would have nothing to be ashamed of. Hyun Jin Nim is leading the way in being a person of conscience, a person of integrity. He has never done anything to compromise his integrity. The reason being, that he truly wants to build a world of peace, following in his father’s footsteps. To build peace, one cannot simply talk about peace. One first has to be a living example and he has been growing and challenging himself throughout his whole life to be that living example, just like his parents (True Parents).
If we want to build a world of peace, we need selfless people. As a history major in college, I see the same problems repeated throughout history across every culture. People are greedy and seek for power, position, wealth etc. People are extremely insecure and fear for their own well being. Those things only create a sense of isolation, disillusionment, extreme inequality, suffering, conflict and eventually war. We need people to lead the way who are selfless. Hyun Jin Nim says that the key to leadership is ones motivation. One should not seek position, power, wealth, or recognition if one wants to be a leader. Hyun Jin Nim has never sought those things and is motivated by his love for God, TPs and humanity in his efforts to bring about peace. I remember when I was 18 years old; I drove out to New York for the Service for Peace (Non-profit service organization) rally in 2002. Hyun Jin Nim spoke that day about the culture of living for the sake of others, which is what he inherited and learned from his own parents. He has continuously talked about living for the sake of others over the years and is first and foremost being that kind of an example and is raising his own children with that kind of standard.
Rev. Moon (TF) has dreamed about peace ever since he was a small child. He has been trying his entire life to build at least one nation that is an example of peace where God is sovereign, not where a particular religion is sovereign, or a particular political party, race, culture or nationality is sovereign, but a nation where God is sovereign. In other words, God dwells within the hearts of people within that nation, and people live according to the law of their own conscience which is connected to God. This is why TF has been trying to unify Christianity, bring about reconciliation among the major faith traditions and for many years has sent delegations of various faith leaders to the Middle East to stand together as brothers and sisters under one God, not bound by their particular faith traditions. Religion plays an important role, but it is a means to an end which TF has talked about in various speeches. In order to bring about a world of peace, one family of humankind, we must go beyond the barriers of race, religion, culture, nationality and ethnicity. That’s why TF has promoted cross-cultural marriages. In peace message 10, he states, “These marriages contribute to the enormous task of transcending the barriers of race, culture, nationality, ethnicity and religion, and to creating one family of humankind. In God’s sight, skin color makes no difference. God does not recognize national borders. God does not stand behind the barriers of religion and culture. They are nothing more than the devil’s tricks (p 156).” My grandfather on my mother’s side is Irish American and fought against the Japanese in WWII. My grandfather on my father’s side is Japanese and fought against the United States in WWII. They had deep resentment to each others’ races. Rev. Moon introduced my parents to each other in his hope to bring about reconciliation between these enemy nations. Over time, the resentment in my grandparents’ hearts was melted by the love and beauty of my parents’ unity and our family. Race didn’t matter anymore.
Rev. Moon has dreamed of a world of peace and continues to strive for peace even though he is ninety years old. Hyun Jin Nim has inherited his father’s dream for peace and wants nothing more than to aid his father in this quest for peace, of building one family of humankind, one family under God. This is his motivation behind doing the Global Peace Festivals. He’s bringing together people from all sectors of society through a common vision of one family under God and asking these leaders from various faith traditions, these educators, political leaders, business leaders and top artists to stand together for peace, strengthening of the family and creating a culture of service.
He is not simply talking the talk, but he is walking the walk. Like I said, he is not motivated for recognition, status, power, or motivated out of a sense of duty or even resentment. He is simply motivated by his love for God.
I find myself easily inspired by an incredible vision of peace. The hard part is taking my inspiration and putting it into action. Yet, it is a vision worth living for every day. It includes a lifestyle that challenges one to live up to a very high standard every day. So, I have much work to do and collectively we have much work to do.
-Keiko Sometani
Feb. 15, 2010
If we want to build a world of peace, we need selfless people. As a history major in college, I see the same problems repeated throughout history across every culture. People are greedy and seek for power, position, wealth etc. People are extremely insecure and fear for their own well being. Those things only create a sense of isolation, disillusionment, extreme inequality, suffering, conflict and eventually war. We need people to lead the way who are selfless. Hyun Jin Nim says that the key to leadership is ones motivation. One should not seek position, power, wealth, or recognition if one wants to be a leader. Hyun Jin Nim has never sought those things and is motivated by his love for God, TPs and humanity in his efforts to bring about peace. I remember when I was 18 years old; I drove out to New York for the Service for Peace (Non-profit service organization) rally in 2002. Hyun Jin Nim spoke that day about the culture of living for the sake of others, which is what he inherited and learned from his own parents. He has continuously talked about living for the sake of others over the years and is first and foremost being that kind of an example and is raising his own children with that kind of standard.
Rev. Moon (TF) has dreamed about peace ever since he was a small child. He has been trying his entire life to build at least one nation that is an example of peace where God is sovereign, not where a particular religion is sovereign, or a particular political party, race, culture or nationality is sovereign, but a nation where God is sovereign. In other words, God dwells within the hearts of people within that nation, and people live according to the law of their own conscience which is connected to God. This is why TF has been trying to unify Christianity, bring about reconciliation among the major faith traditions and for many years has sent delegations of various faith leaders to the Middle East to stand together as brothers and sisters under one God, not bound by their particular faith traditions. Religion plays an important role, but it is a means to an end which TF has talked about in various speeches. In order to bring about a world of peace, one family of humankind, we must go beyond the barriers of race, religion, culture, nationality and ethnicity. That’s why TF has promoted cross-cultural marriages. In peace message 10, he states, “These marriages contribute to the enormous task of transcending the barriers of race, culture, nationality, ethnicity and religion, and to creating one family of humankind. In God’s sight, skin color makes no difference. God does not recognize national borders. God does not stand behind the barriers of religion and culture. They are nothing more than the devil’s tricks (p 156).” My grandfather on my mother’s side is Irish American and fought against the Japanese in WWII. My grandfather on my father’s side is Japanese and fought against the United States in WWII. They had deep resentment to each others’ races. Rev. Moon introduced my parents to each other in his hope to bring about reconciliation between these enemy nations. Over time, the resentment in my grandparents’ hearts was melted by the love and beauty of my parents’ unity and our family. Race didn’t matter anymore.
Rev. Moon has dreamed of a world of peace and continues to strive for peace even though he is ninety years old. Hyun Jin Nim has inherited his father’s dream for peace and wants nothing more than to aid his father in this quest for peace, of building one family of humankind, one family under God. This is his motivation behind doing the Global Peace Festivals. He’s bringing together people from all sectors of society through a common vision of one family under God and asking these leaders from various faith traditions, these educators, political leaders, business leaders and top artists to stand together for peace, strengthening of the family and creating a culture of service.
He is not simply talking the talk, but he is walking the walk. Like I said, he is not motivated for recognition, status, power, or motivated out of a sense of duty or even resentment. He is simply motivated by his love for God.
I find myself easily inspired by an incredible vision of peace. The hard part is taking my inspiration and putting it into action. Yet, it is a vision worth living for every day. It includes a lifestyle that challenges one to live up to a very high standard every day. So, I have much work to do and collectively we have much work to do.
-Keiko Sometani
Feb. 15, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Hyun Jin Moon
Dr. Hyun jin Moon is one of the most amazing roles models I know. I met him last month. He and his wife are madly in love with each other and all of his kids have the utmost love and respect for him. Dr Moon's life goal is to bring about world peace through the vision of "One family under God". He believes that the war on terror cannot be won simply by investing more money towards military might. He wants to bring an end to this war on terror through interfaith unity. That's why he has been leading the "Global Peace Festival" movement which focuses on the 3 pillars of interfaith, family and
service. Wow. I am totally bought. I decided to join the GPF movement because I am also passionate about getting rid of the violence, hatred, poverty and corruption in the world. I don't think this can be accomplished by force or pressure. It begins from values, principles and aspiration within ourselves. I just became a dad last year and I want my daughter to live in a better world. That's why I'm investing my time and energy where it counts - GPF.
service. Wow. I am totally bought. I decided to join the GPF movement because I am also passionate about getting rid of the violence, hatred, poverty and corruption in the world. I don't think this can be accomplished by force or pressure. It begins from values, principles and aspiration within ourselves. I just became a dad last year and I want my daughter to live in a better world. That's why I'm investing my time and energy where it counts - GPF.
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