By Rev Hyung Jin Moon (09-01-2010)

Second stage Heaven's Heart Temple (Cheon Bok Gung)

Last night I had a dream:

My memory of the dream is sketchy – I only remembered having the dream during my morning run some time after waking up.  The significant feature of this dream was the presence of Hyun Jin Nim.  I think I bumped into him in a cafeteria during a conference at which I had presented a report about the interfaith work I have done.  We didn’t have a meaningful exchange, although he acknowledged my contribution to the conference.  I had the feeling Hyun Jin Nim had a lot on his mind, so I respectfully gave him some space, but I felt happy and comfortable to be in his presence.

That’s all – nothing terribly significant on the surface of it.  When I shared this dream with my wife, she then told me about a dream she had just had during the same morning:

Natasha was in a hospital bed being visited by many nurses although she was keen to be discharged.  All of a sudden, Hyung Jin Nim appeared with a tray of food, offering her something to eat and drink.  He encouraged her to rest and recover her strength.  Natasha asked him if he didn’t have any more important things to do, and although Hyung Jin Nim did not answer the question directly, he simply smiled and continued serving her,  wishing her a healthy recovery.

These dreams have been influenced by real-life situations: I recently sent a letter to Hyun Jin Nim, which perhaps has been read by now.  Natasha recently spent a few frustrating nights in a hospital after undergoing a Caesarian-section when our 3rd child was born.

Interesting.

Coincidentally, this morning after my run, I continued my reading of A Bald Head and a Strawberry, which I picked up again recently.  While I had many realisations in the few pages I read, these words jumped out of the page:

“If we hold the worldview that others are objects to satisfy our wants then fundamentally we poison our hearts. When they don’t give us any more satisfaction, we lose our interest, our compassion, our care for them. The relationship becomes conditional only on how well the other is pleasing us.

“This shows a fundamental ignorance to the fact that others, just like us, desire to find happiness and avoid pain.”

The last line in particular made me remember something.  Doesn’t it remind you of a very familiar line from the Divine Principle?  The first sentence, in fact, of the Exposition text reads “Everyone, without exception, is struggling to attain happiness and avoid misfortune”.  Having recently spent some time with the STF witnessing team, during which time I helped them study the Introduction, this connection revealed a new level of meaning to a phrase I have studied and repeated countless times.  Suddenly, the struggle to attain happiness and avoid misfortune was no longer MY struggle, but a struggle shared by every other human being.  How could I be so arrogant to not recognise that others are struggling just as much as I am?

The next step is to realise that the members of the True Family are also struggling in this pursuit, to “find happiness and avoid pain”.  I love Hyun Jin Nim and I love Hyung Jin Nim, or at least I want to love them.  I hope  the fact that Natasha and I are dreaming about these brothers demonstrates our passion for them and I hope we can serve and support them, and the entire True Family. As Hyun Jin Nim often encourages us:

“Together, we can dare to dream the greatest dream of all!  Let us own the dream to create One Family Under God.”

Last night, Matthew and I went to go see Dan Brown’s new movie, Angels and Demons, a fictional thriller about the centuries old rivalry between science and religion. (Both Matthew and I liked it better than the DaVinci code, both the book and the movie.) With the death of the Pope, 4 cardinals are kidnapped just before Conclave (where the College of Cardinals convene to vote on the next Pope) and are being held hostage by an underground organization called the Illuminati. Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard University, Dr. Robert Langdon is called in to assist with the investigation.

From the moment he arrives there is obvious tension between him and the head of the Vatican’s Swiss Guard. In trying to persuade the chief to take his advice, Dr. Langdon shouts out, “If you care about your church, you’ll listen to me!” To which the chief of the Swiss Guard retorts with, “My church comforts the sick and dying. My church serves the poor and needy. What does your church do Mr. Langdon?”

What he said really stuck out in my head. I couldn’t help but think, Yes that’s exactly it. This is why so many people cling to religion, because it strives to serve the needs of its people.

I’ve always respected the Salvation Army because they were founded upon the idea that you must first help a person meet their basic needs before you can meet their spiritual needs. A person consumed with hunger will only be able to listen to your words once you have satiated their need for food. People look at us strangely because we have been perceived by the world to be “takers”, not “givers”. We “take” people away from mainstream society and ask them to become part of ours. Shouldn’t we be following True Father’s advice to “go forth in the shoes of a servant, with the heart of a Father*”?

Now that we’re Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), what is it exactly that we are doing to serve families? We should be going out into our communities and serving our neighboring families. Play dates, car-pooling kids to football or ballet, having a neighborhood parents’ dinner just to talk about parenting issues and how to better support each other; these are all small but hugely significant things in aid of the family. Yes, conferences and talks are good and everything, but when Joe Plumber comes knocking on our door and asks “What have you done for me lately?”, what will be our answer?

______
*taken from True Parents and Our Responsibility – Dec. 27th, 1981

Dear sisters and brothers,

I want to talk about the visit of Hyun Jin Nim and Jun Suk Nim. It was a very intense but also a wonderful experience for me. My responsibility was hospitality. Basically my job was to make sure that Hyun Jin Nim and Jun Suk Nim and any guests visiting their rooms were taken care of and were served tea or coffee etc. One thing I could witness was the standard of their life style. From when they arrived at the hotel until when they left they had visitors in their suite almost without any break. Their suite had a small living room and you could see part of the bedroom from the living room. Many times Jun Suk Nim was sitting with Hyun Jin Nim when there were guests, but sometimes she was not, and I am sure they had jet lag and I am sure she wanted to lie down a bit, and of course she also had their six month old daughter with them. I just felt if I was in that circumstance I would not feel able to relax very well. Also, I am sure it must be exhausting talking with people and giving guidance throughout the day. I had one experience when I had to go into their suite when no guests were there for half an hour, to clean up the coffee table. That was the only break time I saw them take during that four days, and I wish I didn’t need to go in to disturb them during that short time. I tried to not make any noise. Both of them were in the bedroom, and Hyun Jin Nim coughed once, as if to clear his throat, to let me know they were there. I felt such a pain in my heart that they cannot relax fully even for that half an hour. Where ever they go everyone looks at them and there is always a storm of camera flash lights. I am sure their whole life is like that. I don’t think I would be able to live such a public life; it was a special experience for me to deeply respect them.

We cannot afford the local organic butcher of fishmonger, but whenever we see the posh French bakery like Paul, Maison Blanc, Le Pain Quotidien, we always stop. Especially we buy the sour dough or French stick. I don’t know how they can make such wonderful bread. Have a nice week.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Paraguay

How are you? I am in Paraguay at all the conferences and events surrounding the first Global Peace Festival of 2008 which is the international project that Hyun Jin Nim is leading. I always find it quite over whelming to be in these large meetings with hundreds of people from many different nations, and to be so far away from my family which is my anchor.

There have been many amazing things happening here, with people from the Government to Coca Cola, to religious leaders, to youth organisations, etc, getting involved and lending their substantial support to the festival. Today there will be a big concert in a stadium, where they have now closed off the roads in order to build an extra stage for the over flow crowd. There is a band coming from Cuba, which is very popular in South America. I will try to write an update after tonight.

As always what many of the conference delegates appreciate is the incredible international networking opportunity the UPF provides through its global family of activists, and leaders of societies and communities.

I was asked to do the promotion for the interfaith session as the moderator was busy with Hyun Jin Nim. I was been hurried onto the stage in front of 500 people and ran up a bit too quickly almost knocking the podium over.  We had about 100 people come to the interfaith forum, and after everyone was keen to copy the power points onto their sticks, and exchange business cards. Even the next day people were introducing themselves expressing their interest to get involved in Faithlink and interfaith initiatives. I am just wondering how we could practically and effectively interact, and I think probably connecting online is the way to start.

Hyun Jin Nim is the same as always, leading with great strength, conviction, and really practising his core values, especially the one about dreaming big. He was talking two days ago about Paraguay being the womb of South America from where a new culture will be born. I was wondering: “what does he mean?”  Then yesterday the Brazilian bishop of 44,000 churches, the Assembly of God, flew in to meet with Hyun Jin Nim. At the evening meal in front of 700 people he gave the benediction prayer, but then went on to talk apologising to Hyun Jin Nim that he cannot keep the news secret that they have decided together in their meeting  to hold a GPF in Brazil. After that I caught HJN’s metaphor of Paraguay being a womb as it was now here that it was unofficially announced about the GPF would also take place in the largest country of South America, which borders all but two nations in the region.

He had said to Hyun Jin Nim in their private meeting that he had been observing cautiously our Movement over the last 12 years, but when he recently heard about the vision of ‘one family under God’ he decided that this is a message that God has brought for the time we are in and he decided he wanted to work together towards accomplishing this vision.

On a personal note, I am trying to improve the regularity of my reports. It is not always easy to be in the right frame of mind, hence the recent irregularity. Thank you, for all your efforts that you make in your life with your family, community, and with God and True Parents. Take care.

Simon

Dear brothers and sisters,

Family Federation…

So, Hyung Jin Nim was last week appointed the international president of FFWPU! He has also inherited from Hyun Jin Nim, his elder brother, the CARP organisation and the responsibility for all matters relating to the 2^nd Generation of our movement. Hyun Jin Nim who is currently touring many nations in South America will continue to develop the YFWP and UPF international foundation, along with his many other responsibilities in the USA which include the Washington Times Foundation.

I was very inspired to hear this news. For me it made me think again how profound True Parent’s heart must be that they are able to raise their children to take on such responsibility with so much confidence and dedication.

Couple of days ago I found Damon and Lenny chatting, wrapped in their towels in the changing rooms after swimming. They were sharing with each other about their three greatest wishes.

Damon’s were: to own the whole of Legoland, that no bad spirits existed, and that everything could work without fumes and electricity. (He is trying to work out his environmental credentials.)

Lenny’s were: To own the whole world (Damon explained he already owned Legoland), that no one killed the baby seals, and that there were no bad spirits.

So, that was another inspiration for me, to hear them discussing the bigger picture so seriously together.

Last 2 weeks the boys have been on holiday so it has been a juggling act especially since Chieko is really getting more involved every week with our mission. But we were able to take all the children for a four day holiday to Wales. We stayed with the Rosselli, Crosthwaite, and Brown family – about 7 parents and about 12 children. It really is a good idea to go on holiday together with other families. It’s good for the kids and very good for the parents. We met each morning as parents before the children woke up and then went out for lots of fresh air and adventures. (pls see attached)

In the last two weeks we could visit the new West London region which meets in Lancaster Gate (W2) which is led by Mr Hayashi and family. His community have joined together with what was central London region. We could express our gratitude to Marshal De Souza and family who have for many years always played a key role in keeping the small community around Lancaster Gate connected.

Also, this Sunday just gone we were able to visit the Birmingham region where we had a beautiful experience meeting all the Blessed families there. The message I gave over the last two Sundays was entitled ‘realising the dream’. Will try to put my notes together on this for everyone. The theme relates to how we can understand and then also experience the very special quality of the era after the coming of heaven which True Parents and True Family have begun and are inviting us to be a part of.

UPF HQs

Last week in Lancaster Gate UPF signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Nurses Association of the UK, to become a partner of the Global Peace Festival. We took a picture together, please see attached. We are planning to work on several projects together working towards the celebrations that will take place in September.

We have been working on many different matters connected to developing the UPF, and also the Global Peace Festival project and all the working groups and committees that are helping to build the momentum for September and beyond. We are still trying to finalise and secure the venue for the festival on September 14^th in London, so please keep that in your prayers. I will try to report in more detail next time on the UPF work.

Take care

Simon