The Words of Sun Myung Moon's Family
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon's Family |
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters. As I always mention, it is truly an honor to have you here in this sanctuary. And for those who are joining with us via internet, we are welcoming you as well. Welcome brothers, and welcome sisters.
Brothers and sisters, today we have a very special guest. Yes, very good.
Let's give it up, give it up for Sun Jin!
Brothers and sisters, today the service will be running a little different. We have presentations to give, so we're going to have to be running out of here, probably by 4:00 o'clock. So, please understand. Today really is such a wonderful day. We're going to be able to listen, we're going to be able to pray together, we're going to be able, you know, to sing together. It maybe a little bit shorter today, but that's okay, it's still an offering. It's still an offering of heart. That's what True Parents are always inspired by.
Brothers and sisters, I just want to remind you all that every time when we come to service, we want to start with the right mindset in our hearts. We want to start with the right minds to see ourselves as God sees us, and that is, to see ourselves with the amazing potential that He has put inside of us. So, we want to see ourselves every year getting better. Every year we're moving closer to realizing that potential. We want to see ourselves in that positive light.
Brothers and sisters, it's always a joy to come to service, always a joy to return glory back to our community, always a joy to see brothers and sisters joining us from all over the world, and then, as one heart, all of us being able to offer that to True Parents. That is so wonderful and amazing. Brothers and sisters, we want to invite you again to participate, not just observe, but really participate. You're welcome to join the songs and into the prayers etc. And really, let's offer a wonderful, glorious day and service to God and True Parents. Thank you so much, guys.
Welcome!
Heavenly Father, thank you for this wonderful day that You have blessed us with. Father, today we know that You'll be with us, Father, in our presence, that You will speak to us, that You will, Father, be able to participate here in this beautiful sanctuary.
Heavenly Father, our brothers and sisters are gathering with us from around the world. We pray that our gathered hearts and our gathered sincerity and devotion and love may be returned to You with the utmost glory, Father, that You may be truly able to nourish Yourself and feed, Father, Yourself and Your heart with the love that we are able to show.
Father, thank You so much for this day, we pray for each and every one of the families who are gathered here and their connected families all around the world. Father, we pray for our families who are with us via internet today. We pray that You may work Your miraculous power in their lives, that You may truly be able to give them the wonderful gifts and treasures truly allowing them, Father, to live a victorious life in any aspect, in every aspect of their lives.
Father, thank You so much for being here today. We are here before You with humble hearts but with everlasting joy and everlasting love. We wish to celebrate with You this day and to learn from You this day. Please be with us, be in our presence and, Father, guide us today. We pray these things in the name of the Hyung Jin kajong (family), a central blessed family, together here with all our brothers and sisters, in blessed central families' name. Aju!
Brothers and sisters, today I have such a joy, a joy to introduce the joy of her home, the joy of our family, Sun Jin Ah. It is a really fitting name, Sun. She is just the sun in her family. She shines warm to everybody. My children, all the cousins, have a nickname for her, Santa Auntie. Because wherever she goes, she always gives gifts. She is so generous, always taking care of the kids. Wherever she goes, if she goes to Japan, she always brings candies for the kids. She has always been like this.
She is the fourth daughter, but she is sandwiched among many, many boys. Too many boys. From her very young age she did not really have a sister to grow up with. So we ended up hanging out with Sun Jin Ah quite a bit when we were young.
When I did skate boarding and all these things, nobody else wanted to see what I was doing. Nobody really cared. But Sun Jin Ah watched me practice, watched me train, was always there to encourage me, to support. She was like a big mum to us. We ended up sleeping in her room. I remember those beautiful days, when we were in her love, in her environment.
Sun Jin Ah had such a deep relationship with Young Nin Hyung. When he passed away, really, the younger group of our family went through a lot of life transformations. A lot of us had to really re-analyze our lives. And Sun Jin Ah in particular had such a close relationship with Young Jin Hyung. She is right above Young Jin Hyung. She would coach him in studies. She would be there for him when they were at school in Boston. She was the sister that he could always talk to. She was always down to earth, never scary. She was always so loving. He could always share his problems with her. She was always the sister that we could go to.
When we think of Sun Jin Ah we are so filled with joy. She did so many amazing things in her life. She studied at NYU, graduated from Harvard, cum laude, cum laude! She was inducted in the dean's list and in the National Honors Society. Brothers and sisters, let's give it up! (Applause)
She just finished her studies at Harvard in Psychology, particularly in Positive Psychology. She learned from the world's top in that realm. She has a degree in hotel management. She is interested in studying business.
She is also a phenomenal cook! I can testify to that. She has so many talents.
When we think about Sun Jin Ah we think about sisterly love. In our family we are so grateful for that. We always had an overflowing abundance of sun, that shines upon us. Whenever we are in darkness she always tries to bring us light. We always have that respect and deep appreciation for her. She is really a beacon of light in our house. She is really a Santa Auntie. She is the best sister possible.
Now it is time for me to invite my sun and my moon. Give it up for Sun Jin Ah!! (Applause)
Thank you. With an introduction like that how can I say anything? (Laughs), it’s all not true. Hyung Jin (not me) is the light in the house!
Actually, I was really nervous this morning when I came in, because it's like, "I don't know if I can do this. I can't speak in front of people, I'm going to break down." He is like, "No, Sun Jin, you're going to do it. You're going to do it, we believe in you, you have so many things to share", and he just gave me so much hope and inspiration and... actually, the music here really helped me and the clapping. Oh my God, thank you so much! (Applause)
This is actually the first time I've formally been asked to say something, and I was trying to find inspiration on what to share. I can't stand in front of brothers and sisters and members who dedicated their lives to True Parents. And many of the elders here, who really created beautiful families, look, and all you blessed children, it's just like I really feel unworthy to stand up here.
So I prayed for some inspirations. So actually I googled True Father's name on the Internet and found this one clip. I don't know if we made it as a church or if it is one of our productions, but it is a video clip of Father's life actually. I found it so inspiring. I couldn't hold back the tears and I was just wondering if everybody would like us to start with that, because in watching this clip I think you can feel why we're all here together as one family and what Father's life, what God's life, what all of our lives mean and the significance of it. So let's start with just the clip of True Father's life, if it's possible.
(Video Presentation)
So when I saw that, I just... I can't even express it. That's our True Parents, that's each and every one of us here, brothers and sisters, and this is the one source of all the goodness, all the works. That really is just the hope and the future of creating a world of peace. And when I see this, when I see all of you standing here with your families, and all the work that you have done and that you're continuing to do, I just feel like that I have to bow down to you! (Crying).
I don't know why I'm standing here. I have to hear your testimonies, because there's only gratitude in my heart, when I see each and everyone of you. It's tremendous that because of all your love, all your work, all your faith, all your hope and your dedication to live a life of true love, life and lineage, this movement was created. Everything on that screen is because of each and every one of you! It shows the importance of every single person here and the ability that you all have to move the world like True Parents have taught us.
I can't testify about all these great works, I can just stand here and just say, "I'm truly humbled and, actually, in many ways, I'm truly, truly unworthy and apologetic towards True Parents. Because of our immaturity we haven't been able to really help them in all this foundation you saw right here in the clip. It's been our members, it's been our brothers and sisters, the elders, who have really stood with True Parents and really started building this great foundation that we have now. (Crying)
I just want to share a little bit of my testimony. Just growing up as children in this movement, having parents with this much greatness and goodness -- how to become a filial child to them, how to get to that level, is really daunting in many ways.
And the thing I want to share with you is... I start with a little story. Actually we are in Japan and we've been going back and forth... our mission is to work in the Seil Travel Company, and there's a branch in Japan... so one month we're here and one month we're in Japan. And just recently the President of our Japanese church, Mr. Tokuno, wanted to meet us and have dinner with us. And his thing was, "Oh, it's really wonderful that the True Children are standing up and really trying to serve our True Parents and the membership now. But, how is it that you came to the point where you understood and found your faith to really want to do this for the world, to live for the sake of others? How did you get to that point? I have a son, and it's hard to raise him to that level. So we want to learn from you."
And I was just like, "Learn from me? I don't know what to say. I need to learn from you, you are the ones who have been the true sons, following True Parents and carrying this heavy burden and load all this time. I need to learn from you!" And he was saying, "Well, no. We're the first generation and now we have second generation. And the concern is that because the first generation was mobilized to do the mission to serve the world, that they couldn't really raise the second generation in so many ways."
And like us, too, in many ways, we never saw True Parents while growing up. So his question to me was, "What is the secret of True Parents' teaching to raise such good children? How do you do it? How do you get your children to want to be a part of this movement?" And I was like, "I, honestly, Mr. Tokuno, I can't tell you exactly how, because when we we're growing up we never saw True Parents!" I think, if we saw our parents, it was just to greet them when they came home, and give them a kiss on the cheek. Then they spent the whole day with the members, the leadership, and then at night, our kyung-bae. That was the extent of our relationship with True Parents. Only that much time we spent with them.
So as young kids we grew up actually raised by members, by brothers and sisters. We were growing up together in a house, basically as orphans without parents. I can say that this is a difficult course because you wonder: We talk about families, we talk about living for the sake of others, we talk about true love, true life, true lineage, but when you're young and you cannot share time with your parents and really do not have that connection, there's no way to understand that truth. And there was emptiness and feeling disconnected. What we went through as a young girl, as kids growing up in the movement, as second generation, is a very imperfect growth period in many ways.
And all I could say to Mr. Tokuno was this, "In many ways we were young and immature. In many ways we didn't understand, in many ways we didn't have faith, we didn't understand the meaning of faith, we didn't understand the meaning of God, and we didn't understand why True Parents came on earth. We went to workshops, we heard Divine Principle, the Fall and all those things, but it wasn't real. I mean, it didn't make sense, really, while growing up."
And he was sharing at that point, "I asked my ten year old son, 'Do you believe in God? Do you honestly in your heart believe in God?' And his response was, “Well, I go to workshops as you tell me to, and we learned that there is a God, but I don't know if there is a God. Why are you asking me? You are the parent!" And he's like, "Oh, it just broke my heart! It concerns me so much because when I heard about the Principle, it moved me. I dropped everything and I had to follow True Parents and had this kind of fire, 'This is the way to save the world!' And I look at my son, and he doesn't have that fire, he doesn't even know if he believes in God! And this is what I'm giving my life to! I failed as a parent."
And I was like, "Oh my gosh, no, you didn't fail. Please don't say anything like this, it's so desperate and so fatal!" And he was like, "It's such a concern for so many members, too, because they're raising children but their children are not connected to the same Principle that we fight for, for the sake of the world. We really worry about the future. What's going to happen with our church and our movement?" And I was like, "Well, I can just tell you from my own experience. I don't know what happens in your household. I don't know that, but I can just tell you about the experience I had with True Parents, about what Parents have shown us as a family.
In many ways, we were like that ten year old, we had many difficult growing periods where we were less than anything close to Principle in many ways because we were growing, and we didn't understand. But the heart of True Parents that we've always experienced was: Never losing hope, never, never losing hope, never losing faith. No matter how bad we were or how unworthy we were, we always received like what we receive from Hyung Jin here, we received VIP, all this love and positive encouragement, like, "You can and you will do it, don't doubt, just follow the truth, follow your heart, and you will be able to overcome anything!"
And I can just share a little bit of my testimony. It is amazing when I think about it. Because, in many ways, I feel like I failed True Parents the most, and I have received so much love, so much encouragement and so much faith that I feel many times undeserving. I cry, I feel so guilty in my heart for causing them the most pain because I didn't have that faith and I didn't understand what they were doing because I had a lot of growing up, not connected, and just resentment.
Even to the members I had resentment, like this, "Because you're taking my parents' time, I don't have parents!" So it was a very angry feeling in my heart and that made me kind of rebellious against the movement and the church, while growing up. Even I didn't understand the meaning of getting blessed, "Why am I forced to marry somebody I don't know, and I don't see how this is going to change the world, if this is love. I don't get it. No, no, no, not for me!"
That was my growing up. And True Parents, in many ways, no matter what, always said, "No. We have hope, it will work out". And I have seen that with each and everyone of my family members. They have gone through very difficult courses while growing up, just as, I'm sure, so many of you, the second generation. It is a tremendous climb to find your faith and to really understand what your parents have been sacrificing for, what brought them to live this kind of life, to live this example, to want to do this with their lives to change the world.
Actually, when you think about that, about living for the sake of others and wanting to create world peace, can you imagine that's your Mom and Dad!? That's your parents' heart! That's how they live their lives, it's amazing! They could be thinking of "my house, my car, your college tuition" and all these things, but they're thinking, "I want to save the world. I want to create peace on earth! There's people dying everywhere!"
This is the passion of your parents. And in many ways, while growing up, we couldn't connect with that, because we didn't understand that. But when I look at my life and at all the little failures that I've made... my parents still forgave me, and still have faith in me and still encouraged me and never gave up hope and never, never said that we cannot do it. They said, "You can do it, you can overcome, it's in your mind. All the things that you did in the past, don't think of that, because you can go forward in the future. Look forward, look positively."
This was their message at all times of difficulties, and within the family; too, we got that kind of love. When we were younger we all fought, we had difficulty. With Hyung Jin we had a great time, we played like he was saying, but we are twelve brothers and sisters, all different ages, in our family, and we each grew up with separate kind of surrogate mothers or nannies. So we couldn't unite as a family when we were younger, and that carried on for many years because we grew up so separately.
And there was so much of our own immaturity. We were unable to connect, and there was a lot of judgment and pointing fingers and all this immature stuff that children do when they grow up. There was fighting, but after the helicopter accident we all really united as one family. But that was only possible because we know that throughout all those years of growth there was only love, there was only support, there was always this heart, "No matter what, I will love my brothers and sisters, no matter what, I will love my parents," and the same love is what we got back. No matter what, Parents loved us, their children, and no matter what, all the brothers and sisters, we can't give up on each other.
And when I was talking with Mr. Tokuno and he was saying all these things about his kid, I said, " Mr. Tokuno, please don't lose hope in your children because if you lose hope in them, we have no hope. The children, the family, is the future. Please, don't lose faith in your children and give it time. There's the growth process for a reason. When you believe in the growth process, when you understand that the heart that you basically lived your life with, the goodness within you, is going to be passed on to your children... it will not be lost. So have hope and faith in your goodness, because that in the end is going to be the guiding light to bring your children home."
So when we look at these kinds of things, when I see this on the internet, when I look at Father's life, I say, "It's always a reminder, it's a reminder of how True Parents have lived their life, no matter what, loving God, throwing away their children, serving the first generation, the members." Saving the world was their No. 1 mission, not thinking about themselves. When we had difficulties they didn't come and fix them for us, but they said, "Grow up, follow Principle. You must learn and you must mature, but we don't lose hope, we're not going to lose faith and we're not going to give up."
That was the kind of teaching that we got. And growing up after seeing all these things and getting blessed and going through those difficulties, too, within the blessing, overcoming the husband and wife relationship... and you know, really relate to my husband I'm most grateful, because in many ways he's really taught me what True Parents were preaching their entire life: True love between husband and wife. In many ways I failed him but he still forgave me and he still believed in me and it led us to a point where we were able to overcome so many difficulties... from a very young age.
So I'm always amazed by each and every family member being here. I bow down to you, actually. I bow down to all of you and all your children and all the first generation. The only thing I can share is: Don't lose faith because you will get there, the children will get there and, just like True Parents, don't give up on true love, true life, true lineage, because that is the key and that is the source. So please hold on to that and don't doubt because if you have faith in your goodness, then know that your children will inherit that. And I really see the course that each and every child in my family had to go through. I see True Parents' course as being a parent to each and every child.
I mean, we've lost Heung Jin hyung, Young Jin hyung and, this year, Hyo Jin oppa. In many ways, when you lose brothers and sisters, when you lose your loved ones, that's when you realize the importance of how precious each life is and what it means to have family. Then you realize what it means to find true love and gratitude for your life, for your parents, for your siblings, for the blessed children, for having community, friends, brothers and sisters. If you go and look around the world, globally, there is one family, all your brothers and sisters. How precious that gift is!
I lost three brothers in my life, but when I look all around the world and when I see that True Parents have created one global family and that each and every single one of you are our brothers and sisters, I feel what precious gift that is. So we have been most blessed, we have been given the greatest gift, we've been given the most love. So there is not a moment when you think about what you didn't have in your life. When you look around there is goodness, heart, faith, dedication, hard work, true love, everywhere. Everywhere can I see it. Because True Parents are the parents of first generation, of second generation, because all are True Parents' children, we have received a lot from our Parents. And the greatest gift we can give back to them is showing unity and gratitude!
Once Father was saying to me in the elevator, "Sun Jin, Sun Jin, I'm so sorry. We couldn't be there for you when you were growing up. I'm sorry to all your brothers and sisters. I hope you can forgive us for not being there as your parents." And I was just like, "Appa, how can you apologize to me? I have to apologize to you, how much we failed you as children! You've been loving the world, we've been given everything. We've been given all these brothers and sisters all over the world, and actually, because of our immaturity we caused you so much pain and we weren't able to help you. Appa, please, don't apologize to me. I have to apologize to you!"
And then Father was like, "No, no, you guys, you, all you children! We are always so sorry when we see you!" I said, "Please, Father, don't apologize to me. We are most grateful, we're most grateful that you've saved us all, that you saved each and everyone, not only the members. In my personal experience of my life, in the blessing, it saved me."
I got blessed when I was seventeen, and I didn't understand what the blessing was. At that time I had no faith in it, could not unite with the blessing and all these things. I basically took time and left the movement because I wouldn't find that in my heart. So when Father was apologizing to me and when I said, "I caused you the most pain," I just broke down, because in my heart there was so much... how could I cause True Parents this much pain, how could I fail them this much and how could Father still apologize to me? I couldn't comprehend it.
But in all those difficulties he always forgave us. His heart was always apologizing. He always said he didn't do enough. He always gave more, not asking for anything in return, not counting what he got back. This was always his heart, no matter what, living for the sake of others.
How many members here can say they live a perfect life or lived a principled life? And how many times, no matter what, Father forgives you and says, "No, you have that love within you, you are blessed. I will bless you and, no matter what, I will love you, I will die and I will keep loving you!" That is his heart, and because of that and because of the helicopter experience I pledged to my family that I have the most to make up, I have the most to apologize for.
I have to dedicate my life to really honoring True Parents, for what they've given to me, and because I've taken so much and I've gotten so much. And there is a spiritual debt to pay for all the things that I wasn't able to do. And I really felt at that point when Father was saying that this is True Father, this is God, this is His love, this is how He lives His life. No matter what you do, no matter how you don't connect, no matter where you are in your growth period, He will love you, no matter what.
And that is the same for parents. When we look at our blessed children in our family, try to remember: That heart of True Parents, that heart of God -- if you really connect that with your children, carrying that love to them -- that true love, that unconditional, eternal, unchanging, absolute love, that love is what is going to move your children and what's going to save the world, if you think about it. Because we've only received. We received so much.
And then at that point I was telling Father, "Father, in so many ways, everything good in my life is because of you. The reason I have true love in my life is because you gave me my husband, and the reason I have a purpose in life is because you've given us the truth. You've given us everything, everything! Your life has always been about giving us things, and we were actually in so many ways so far from honoring you, and I just only have gratitude. All I can say is: I'm sorry and thank you, thank you!" And Father said, " Don't thank me, I didn't do anything." I was like, "We just saw that clip, are you kidding me?" And he goes, "No, it's not me, I didn't do anything. It's all because of God."
When you see that kind of heart of True Father, it's never about taking credit for his own life, it's never about him, it's always about others, it's always about others, even when you see this video.
When he visited his family he said, "When I saw my family I wanted to cry." But the whole point of going back to his family home was to say, "Until the world's children can unite, until all religions, all countries can have unity between brothers and sisters and reunite with their families, it's not done!" That was his heart, it's like, "I can't cry for my family until that mission is done." That has been Father's heart, that's God's heart!
So when we really try to think of what legacy we're leaving to our children, it is, no matter what, always centered on... If you follow Principle you're naturally be connected to our True Parents. If you understand that connection, you will naturally be connected to Heavenly Father. And that is the only way that we honor our True Parents and that your children will honor you in your life and honor your goodness. So, in so many ways, this is the key, and this is why Father to this day just repeats, "Principle!"
I can't believe, even after the helicopter accident, he's still doing Hoon Dok Hae! I'm like, "Father, you've done so much already, why are you still teaching?" "Because", he said, "the world is not united yet. The world is not united, there's war, there are people suffering." I said, "Father, rest", and he goes, "I can't rest, God can't rest!" And I was just like, "Father, you have to, physically, you have to rest!"
But never, never, they never stop loving, they never, never gave up hope, and they never stop living the truth, trying to liberate God's heart. And each and everyone of the elder brothers and sisters have been living like this with their lives. I know that all of you who try to raise great blessed families in this church have gone through tremendous difficulty to find and follow your own faith, to connect that with your families and to try to teach that to your children.
But you still have questions, "How is this going to be possible? How is this going to be realized in the future generations?" Like Mr. Tokuno, "How is my ten year old going to believe in God? How he is going to understand True Parents' greatness or God's greatness or what we have to do with the world? The mission is so great!"
The hope lies in this truth: If we connect with the Principle, if we connect with God and True Parents, not looking behind but forward, and dedicating our lives and living our life with hope and gratitude and never, never giving up until the work is done, then there's never going to be a time to doubt that this world can unite.
And I've seen it with my own family, with brothers and sisters that I never thought would come together. But because of True Parents' example, because of True Parents' love, because of their life that we've witnessed, all of you have witnessed, we can really be inspired actually as a family. Because of that we can forget our own personal issues and go beyond a selfish heart and stop promoting what people promote who do not want to live for others. Every single one of our family members now is committed to working to promote True Parents' legacy, to promote God's legacy.
As you all know, you are all witness to Hyung Jin here -- he's been tirelessly giving. I live with him in Korea. He's the youngest one but he has the most amazing heart and the most amazing dedication. Each morning I can hear him at 2:30 getting ready to go to his 2:30 training and at home, if he is at home, he's always there for each and everyone of the family members, always loving, giving, taking care of counseling.
This morning when I came in here not being able to speak, too nervous, having nothing to say, feeling most unworthy, he was like, " Sun Jin Ah, these are your brothers and sisters, don't worry, you know, don't worry about it, we love you no matter what!" I was like, "Don't give me more pressure!" But this is the kind of heart he has, always encouraging, always. He is our VIP actually in our household. He is the Victory, Illumination and Peace!
I'm so grateful to all of you brothers and sisters for letting me ramble on here in my nervous state as much as I can. And still you are really just listening to what I have to say! Actually you're the most important part of everything that we're doing. I just have tremendous gratitude to all of you for trying to live your life with faith, for really following that call to connect and to save this world.
So thank you for inviting me here and thank you, Hyung Jin, for staying here. I know he has to go. And please, never lose hope and just have gratitude. And I know, we'll definitely make it. It's not impossible! And so, thank you, brothers and sisters.