Check out the video here:

More to come later.

Nevertheless, the most memorable experience for me was during the 3am morning exercises yesterday morning. Hyung Jin nim was leading us through some breathing and stretching exercises, all of I enjoyed. They were not overly strenuous and I could really feel the benefit of practicing these exercises. Especially the abdominal breathing exercise – I will focus on this a lot more! After about an hour of exercises, Hyung Jin nim invited all present in the Lancaster Room at 43LG to sit cross-legged (if possible, with one foot over the leg of the other) and sit IN COMPLETE STILLNESS for 30 minutes. As soon as he said this, my heart was filled with terror.

I must point out, I have no problem with the notion of stillness. Living in a busy city like London, I enjoy retreating to a quiet, still place for contemplation and meditation. However, I struggle to be PHYSICALLY still for very long at all. Perhaps I have a very mild version of Tourette’s syndrome, but I find it painfully difficult to resist the urges to flex a muscle or make certain movements. Hyung Jin nim clarified that by sitting in stillness, he expected no coughing or loud sniffing, scratching itches or anything like that. This would be a real challenge of mind-body unity training!

To help us, Hyung Jin nim would guide us through a meditation during the 30 minutes. Nevertheless, as he had predicted, 2 minutes into the stillness some of us were struggling, and Hyung Jin nim had to encourage us to be strict with ourselves.

I was concerned that the loss of feeling in my leg would bother me, but I was surprised that actually losing sensation helped, as I didn’t focus on my leg. When Hyung Jin nim stopped speaking, giving us a few moments to focus on our meditation (“I’m alive…thank you…”) I found it really hard to focus. Thoughts appeared from nowhere, and I had to make a really conscientious effort to throw them away. Also I would focus on my body’s feelings. It was quite liberating, however, when I was able to control my thoughts and my body’s movement and focus singly on being grateful for the life I have received.

When the 30 minutes ended, we continued the stretching and exercises, and rather than experiencing the pins and needles of a dead leg, I was remarkably surprised to observe my leg regaining sensation without pain, a seemless reawakening.

That was a great way to begin the day, with a fresh mind alert and ready for the day ahead. I feel inspired to incorporate these exercises into my daily morning routine.

Chelsea Old Town Hall

On Sunday 29th in the evening Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim will be arriving in the UK. The next day on the 30th August, the English Bank Holiday Monday, they will meet with all of us in Chelsea Town Hall. Please see below for more details. You should be receiving information from your pastor at church this Sunday and by email.

What I want to talk about right now is understanding why he is coming. I think it is good to ask ourselves that question, and take our time to prepare the heart and mind so that we can connect to our international church president and his wife. Firstly, let us think of what it means for them to come here together. They have several children, and for any parents that is surely a big step, to have to leave them in the care of others, as they visit different continents. Let us not take that for granted.

Hyung Jin nim and the Dalai Lama (click to enlarge)

The next thought that comes to me is that I can already grasp a strong sense of what Hyung Jin Nim’s message is by watching his sermons online, or reading them when Bruno emails them through to me. So what does it add by him coming here? Of course, importantly, it allows him to see where we are, and maybe a bit how we are. But also they are coming representing True Parents and all that that signifies.

Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim are constantly developing their life as disciples to the returning Christ. That is something I believe we all grapple with in our different circumstances in our daily life of faith: ‘I believe, but I often don’t know how to practice.’ So when someone is able to demonstrate a practical vision, in their own life, of how to live with sincere devotion, it can help us enormously.

Being a host:

Being able to host them also allows us to develop a different type of relationship. Recently when visiting members of my congregation in their homes in the evening I am always struck by how special it is to meet like that. How meaningful it is for us to host each other in our homes rather than just meet in meetings or at events. When we are in someone’s home we share an intimate moment/part of their life, because our homes are like the little universe that we create. We pretend less when we are at home. Hyung Jin Nim’s visit to our nation allows him to visit our home – the place where we live, and of course while he is here he will also visit ‘a’ home of one of our family members.

True Father never really stopped inviting us in to his home, but it’s not quite the same when it is hundreds and thousands of people. Father’s hope is that we will adopt that culture of heart, that he pioneered, where people are connected to God’s heart through our hospitality and service.

The heart of a sincere host is that they prepare well, and so I hope we can all prepare a willing and open heart for our visitors at the end of this month. It is not a show, he is not a celebrity, or someone who will solve our problems for us. Rather the give and take that we all have together while they are here can bring a lot of blessing from God if we take the time to pray and reflect about ‘why are they coming.?’ These are just a few of my thoughts, so if you have any good realisations please feel free to post them below. If we want to find meaning it often helps to ask ‘why?’

In 43LG we are offering morning prayers and study at 5am everyday so if you live in London feel free to join us sometime. There is one brother who comes each morning by night bus. We also are doing a 21 day prayer condition every evening that you are welcome to join. But why not get together with some friends in your community, in your home, and pray, or study together over the next week – preparation and a thoughtful heart is a big part of any successful offering.

Here are some practical details:

There will be a meeting where Hyung Jin Nim  will meet and speak to all UK members and children 10 and over.

Venue : Chelsea Old Town Hall, Kings Road, London SW3 5EE
Date and time : Monday 30th August at 10:30 for 11:00am

click map to enlarge

Immediately after his speech, there will be an opportunity to take family photos with Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim. This will need to be organised very smoothly so parents should quickly, after the speech, gather their children together. Immediately after their photo is taken, we encourage families to leave the hall.

Unfortunately it will not be possible to bring younger children to the event due to lack of space, so please try to arrange for care in your community to    allow as many as possible to attend the speech.

The talk will last about 2 hours and the photo sessions should be over by 3:00pm.

In order to cover the costs of this visit there will be a small fee for all those attending. Please pay this to your Pastor and receive an entry ticket from them.
Adults – 18 and over              £10.00
Young people aged 10 -17    £5.00

I am sure you will all look forward to meet them with your families and guests, so let us all prepare well to receive them and inspire them.

FFWPU Annual Gathering at Cleeve House

We have decided to move the Annual Gathering in Cleeve House to Tuesday 24th August (originally set for Saturday 21st August) so that all our Blessed families can have a chance to meet with Pastor Hyung Jin Nim and Yeon Ah Nim in our own beautiful environment .
We did not want to miss our traditional summer Annual Gathering and it was thought  difficult to gather UK members from all over the nation twice within a few days, so it seemed a wonderful opportunity to ask Hyung Jin Nim to speak to everyone at Cleeve on 24th.  We have there facilities for the younger children to enjoy the bouncy castles, games, etc.
Please try to book time off work if you need to. More details will come soon.

on the outside of the ground floor shrine for the 4 great saints

The world mission department staff did a great job taking care of all the national leaders. But when they asked for feedback on what to improve we gave them several suggestions. There was a severe case of information overload and by the end they also realised this. As a result of the multiple power points and case studies there was way too much talking at or to us rather than with us; generally there was a need to develop a more effective process of communication.

That was the toughest part for me to cope with and I regret that I was not more constructive in getting over those frustrations in the heat of the moment.

Aside from that I could salvage some interesting information which I will compile and send out over the next week or two.

Now here is what really made it all click into place:

morning devotion in the temple prayer room on Ahn Shi Il

We concluded our assembly this morning by attending the first Ahn Shil Il in the new ‘mega’ Unification Church temple. Hyung Jin and Yeon Ah Moon were there and he gave an almost one hour long message that washed away most of the frustrations from the previous days.

He spoke with a powerful honesty. Through charting for us his personal journey he cast a clear vision for the Unification Church.

He outlined the Unification Movement’s main problem: Insufficient faith in True Parents as the Lord of the Second Advent; a lack of personal daily awareness of how True Parents have saved our lives by dying for us again and again. He pointed to the fact that many members are not able to be openly proud of these truths as evidence of our need for deeper more personal faith. He pointed to the book of Acts as an example of the type of faith we should aspire to. He referred to himself as an apostle.

He outlined the solution to the problem with two elements: For each of us to get into a life of devotion which allows us to first see True Parents with our spiritual eyes, and secondly gives us the heart and conviction to bring people to accept True Parents as their saviour and lord.

But why us, and why now?

Father is 90 years old and is doing his very best to stick around and give us a chance to help him secure the future. It is us because True Parents have blessed us and given their lives for us more than for anyone else. In that way we are the bridge for True Parents to the world. If it is not us now, then who is it and when?

Pastor Hyung Jin Moon says thank you as he leaves

It is clear that pastor Hyung Jin Nim will keep on repeating this vision until is sticks. But what we must do is unpack it and bring it into a practical set of action steps for our community. We have to flesh it out so that we have a workable strategy and process which will empower each family member and give all of us the opportunity to fulfil the vision: Establishing True Parents as the Way, the Truth, and the Life for building the Kingdom.

I know we all have different approaches and styles of doing what we have got to get done. That is inevitable and fine. Nevertheless we need a recognisable rallying point for all of our efforts. The Sunday before I went to Korea I spoke about our HQ church’s main purpose. We need to focus on teaching the Divine Principle and bringing people to True Parents. We will do many things, but our clear and transparent objective and purpose should be to successfully do these two things.

Again this needs to be unpacked and articulated in more detail. But let us keep our eye on these two purposes and patiently, step by step, answer all the other questions that will spring up as we go along.

I had my video camera ready because I felt in that precious moment all of you needed to be there too!  Here is part 1 of Hyun Jin Nim’s talk at Ahn Shi Il:

On the bus to Incheon airport after leaving the temple this morning I realised we have to thank the Japanese church members for Hyung Jin Nim. It is because of his experience with their faith in True Parents that he is able to provide authentic spiritual leadership. That is why sincere, genuine, personal, mature faith counts. We need those adjectives to qualify the noun, but let us nevertheless remember that faith counts and trumps personality, local culture, and any other relative human factors.

UNfortunately my video camera battery died. But God bless my iPhone, just it doesn’t have a zoom yet. Here is part 2 and 3 of Hyung Jin Nim’s very personal morning message, u might need to turn up the volume or use some headphones for volume:

True Parents looked well and happy. I had serious jet-lag still, but I do remember Father saying: “excuse me while I take some water. If I drink I am thirsty and if I smile it means I am happy. There, that is a short sermon.”

Barak Obamma sent a congratulatory message, and so did a number of other prominent people.

Later we had an early lunch down at Cheong Pyeong training centre. Most memorable bit: Kook Jin Moon was on the schedule to give  a toast. He got up and said: “I have a confession of faith to make. True Parents are  not only my physical parents but also my spiritual parents.” He went on to state clearly who they are as the returning Christ. Hyung Jin Moon did like wise in front of 1000 people. True Parents smiled, so I guess by what Father said in the morning this meant they were happy about this.

Hyung Jin Moon visits guests at True Parents birthday banquet

In the afternoon we had the opening session of the national leaders meeting. Kook Jin Moon, In Jin Moon, and Hyung Jin Moon all spoke. The spirit and message was strong and clear. Here are some of my notes:

“Our church policy is to declare True Parents for who they are, and if we do so perhaps Father will not feel the need to give marathon long talks, and then he can be more free to rest.”

“True Parents saved our life and that is why we declare them as our lord and saviour. We should get comfortable with that and start sharing that truth. I guarantee if you do, that it will change your life completely, and you will understand why people talk about being born again. Something changes inside of you, when you declare your faith.”

I could connect with the main message, but occasionally the case was not fully developed and some of the points were possibly not fully intended. Kook Jin Moon made the point that we are not here to be a social movement. But surely we want to be socially relevant. I think what he meant is that our primary purpose is to bring people to True Parents. Anyhow, that is when I started to feel v european. Talking with Daniel Bessel I realised that our default mode is to analyse, and when the rationale is woolly we get frustrated. My conclusion was that rather than get annoyed better to take on greater faith and then offer rational and thoughtful feedback.

One elder 2nd Generation Unificationist who must be around 30 now said to me in the bus that the denial of  our faith generally leads to people losing it. He said that many of his friends who grew up being encoraged by their parents not to let people know that they were followers of Rev Moon, and Unification Church members tended to eventually drift away. While those who were open and honest tended to find it easier to stick around.

The other thing I am experiencing here is culture shock. Was never so aware of that before. I always came to Korea thinking this is Father’s nation. But I think I have arrived at a point of separating the two out. So now I am becoming aware of how alien Asian culture is for me. I think it is an important step in coming to understand the people in a more real way.

There was the usual thing when we were waiting for the above mentioned speakers to arrive in the room. The shear number of people involved in getting the mics ready, calling on their mobiles up stairs to see when they were coming down, starting a song, rechecking the mics, etc. And on the 4th set of mansai’s today I was not giving it quite the 100%. Just all very alien to my cultural background. I am sure I could learn a thing or two if I open my mind to it. But, can’t imagine what it must have been like for True Parents to live in the West for so many years and raise their family there. I guess I realised Father is not Korean, he is the Son of God. Big difference.

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.”

My main conclusion was that this needs a very full personal response in terms of evaluating, and reflecting on our faith. He says if my faith is weak, then I need to assess and evaluate it. So, simply to watch the speech online, and be excited by Rev. Hyung Jin Moon’s conviction is not the whole point.
We need to let people know that True Parents are on Earth, but we should allow them to experience their love, their wisdom their guidance and concern for all our lives.We need to absorb and then radiate God’s love just as when the sun shines on this planet.

when the light shines

That means much more than just talking to people. It means serving them.

When you look at yourself remember that God only made one of you. He doesn’t make copies, only originals. Remember that too, when you look at your family and community.

This year can be the year when we discover that we are, and never will be God’s ‘plan B’, but instead God shaped every single member of our congregation and put them in His church for a specific reason, and to be part of His ‘plan A’.

The abilities that God planted in each of us can really shine when we realise how to develop them and how to use them to testify to True Parents’ mission and life.

As a community we just have to get better at empowering each other.

One way I know I can do a lot better at radiating God’s love is by preparing more in my work, paying attention to the details, and working on my different projects with a lot more thought and prayer so that what I create is well designed.

When I look at what Pastor Hyung Jin is doing with the temple in Korea, I can see his motivation is to be able to testify more powerfully to True Parents. If we make our Lancaster Gate HQ a place to receive people and care for our members and guests, we can start to see it as place that personifies True Parents.

God wants to see you become someone who makes a unique contribution, based on your character, life experience, and abilities. God calls us all to serve. As we learn to serve, God comes to trust us and lets us see more of who we are and how we can fulfil our potential.

sunset tree, by Matthew Sawl. let us absorb God's love and radiate in our own special way

This is our FFWPU statement of purpose that we established around 12 months ago:

Statement of Purpose »

1. We share God’s blessing and True Parents’ message with others.

2. We create a spiritually secure community where people can enjoy fellowship as one family.

3. We empower people to discover and fulfil their calling to serve God and others.

It’s a work in progress…

Having said that it would be wise for us to embrace the media and view them as our friends, and help them to get a better picture of who we are. That is one of the purposes of this website: to let people see what we actually do, say, and think as a community.

healthy communication - takes two to tango

The work that started with Tim Read and many others in years gone by and that has been carried on by our current media duo (Richard Biddlecombe and Nancy Jubb) has proven that when you reach out to people, even journalists, you build a healthy relationship.

I was surprised at one or two of the instant reactions on Facebook to the recent BBC article by Christopher Landau who interviewed Hyung Jin Moon recently. Despite the article having been objective and also helpful towards getting our actual message out to the public, there was an assumption that the journalist must have twisted some of his words.

No, I don’t think so. Personally, I want to thank Mr Landau for quoting our founder’s son so much and on so many different points. He didn’t have to do that, but he did.

I wouldn’t say he got the perfect angle or really hit the nail on the head when he mentioned the use of christian songs, as many of what we see as our holy songs are anyhow Korean christian hymns. But hey, its not my article.

At a time when we are trying to figure out what kind of movement we are, what True Parents’ legacy will be, what kind of a religious movement we are, etc, then to have an inquisitive and relatively objective media is only healthy and helpful. It actually forces us to be clear, articulate, and reflective.

"someone who seems determined to establish the faith founded by his father as a credible part of the religious landscape " BBC Quote.

He mentions in the article how Hyung Jin Nim is not afraid to bring in practices from already established religious traditions. This is a key point for us to first consider for ourselves and then to explain to others: we are nothing with out all the established traditions and what they have done for humanity over the millennium, and we honour all the saints of history whether they be Jewish, Budhist, Christian, or Muslim. True Father, Rev Moon’s, starting point was to respond to Jesus. The Divine Principle, our core teaching, is also born out of the Judeo-Christian scriptures. And there is the point for reflection: how many of us especially younger or more recent disciples like me have actually read the Old and New Testament?

So going back to the start. As disciples of True Parents when last did any of us contact our local media to let them know what we are doing in our work, in our community? If you would like to support our UK media team on the local level, get in touch. There is so much more we could be sharing about if we make the first step, and so much we will also learn about who we are when we start that give and take.

If you want to see the facebook conversation:

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=598500267&share_id=188779971223&comments=1#s188779971223