I was joined by Christa, Tokuwa and Maggie yesterday at the Albert Hall to watch one of the proms. Standing in the arena, we were entertained by a performance of Beethoven’s first and fifth symphonies and also Beethoven’s violin concerto. You can listen to the recordings on BBC iPlayer.

Both Maggie and I play the fiddle – although we’re both quite rusty – so we could really appreciate the virtuosity of the violin soloist. Check out the cadenza 48 minutes into the recording – I hope you’ll be able to see what I mean. While I never believe I’ll have the time or dedication to play the violin that well, it inspired me to give my violin a good cleaning and get back into playing it more frequently. Interestingly (at 1 hour and 15 minutes into the recording) the soloist plays a gigue by Bach that I tried (and failed) to perform in Livingstone House about a year ago – this is how it’s meant to be played!

I haven’t been to a classical music concert in ages, so last night was quite a refreshing experience. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the live performance of some of my favourite music. Despite being in the spirit world, Beethoven’s creativity and genius was able to move me along an emotional journey, through joy and sadness, fear and hope, fragility and strength. Thanks in part to the German orchestra and the American soloist performing last night, Beethoven’s legacy will continue to make people’s lives better with magical music.

I was blessed in marriage with Natasha six years ago today. Yesterday after Sunday service we went out for lunch at the Café Rouge opposite the Chislehurst pond. Natasha’s family took David & Olivia to their home, so we could enjoy our meal with only Bronwyn to keep us company. Thankfully she provided little distraction as she slept for most of the meal.

After the meal we went for a walk. We were remembering the details of the ceremony six years ago and the events surrounding it. We reflected on the progress we’ve made as a couple, which can be measured by the three children we’ve had so far. We also looked ahead, thinking about the direction our couple would like to take in the next few weeks/months/years.

When people try to woo each other or express their romantic affection for each other, the concept of eternity is often implied – “my love for you will last forever… my love will never die… I will love you for all eternity” – but inversely the idea of being stuck with someone for eternity is a commitment many fear to make. Six years seems like a long time from our perspective,

but in the grand scheme of things it’s not long at all. Those of you who’ve been enduring married bliss for 30+ years probably are thinking, “You’ve barely scratched the surface! Wait until this-or-that happens…” and you’re probably right. But right now, I like the idea of spending eternity with Natasha, learning all the complexities of each other and exploring the infinite ways of expressing greater love for each other.

To everyone else blessed at the 400 million couples 5th phase holy marriage event: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

For me, it’s official. The final scene in Toy Story 3 is one of the most moving ever made. As Bonnie inherits Andy’s favourite toys and they play together for the last time, we are faced with the inevitable passing of the generations. It’s art that moves and talks, musing on our own vulnerabilities when faced with loss and departure and moving on. And it points subtly toward the inevitable event of death, both yours and mine. In fact Toy Story 3 is all about death;  from the blackness of claustrophobic bin bags, the demonic screechings of gate-keeper monkey to  the inferno of a twisting fiery doom.  Just don’t tell the person sitting next to you! Don’t even mention the ‘D’ word.

I’m surprised that no one on the Fireplace has expressed their feelings having heard Father’s recent speech in Korea. I watched it live from our computer and I felt something quite mysterious in the atmosphere especially as it appeared that the crowds there were above the clouds. Most significant for me is how Father spoke about death.  ‘It is a time for celebration’. He went on to tear down the fearful walls mankind has built that have left us cowering, unprepared to face this most unique event of all our lives. Father’s own death must occupy some of his thoughts  as he knows his time here is quite limited now. His passing may be the ultimate bridge for all of us.

We visited the British Museum last week and in the Egyptian and Greek rooms I could see clearly that all we have here is their collective preparations for their passage (or not) into the next (possible) world. Animalistic symbols, beautiful ‘perfect’ figures, the cold stone representing something far more permanent than wrinkly old skin. After thousands of years of their culture, all we have left of them is their dreams about death.

Both my parents approach their mid-eighties due to good health and some good luck too, I guess. Do I dare broach the subject of their impending end (or new beginning)? They give off many signs that they are more happy to ‘get busy’ because it is not a topic with a clear ‘instruction manual’ or a conclusive outcome.  Most others would suggest that I am ‘needlessly distressing’ them if I bring up the issue of ‘you know what’. In a way, we’re all in denial because any spiritual discipline seems to require our daily concentration,  that we don’t forget the eternal  quality that lies behind each passing moment and opportunity.  Father says that  ‘ the moment of death should be a time of greater excitement than that of a newlywed bride going to her groom’s home for the first time.’  Should we be excited about death? We carry the burden of knowing ourselves too well,  that we probably shouldn’t expect too much happiness on ‘the other side’.

It’s also possibly a massive historically mistaken assumption that the’ God’ mankind has believed in, the ‘God’ in our collective religious supra-culture has used fear of unknown punishment after death to  keep us ‘in line’. What if a kind of ‘karmic amnesty’ was presented to you? Would it become an excuse to live shamelessly? I don’t think so. At least , not if we can understand the message of July 8th. Why make ourselves and others unhappy?

Has the time finally arrived where God knows that this  ultimate ‘Good News’ will encourage us to be even more genuine in our motivation? Perhaps our True Parents have simply (not easily!) cleared the way for us to become like we have never been before.  Maybe  now all our lives can have a happy ending/ beginning! Oh well, we’re off to summer camp now! And enjoy that movie!

As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, the book that tells the story of True Father’s life in his own words, is now available in the UK! Many thousand autobiographies have arrived at 43LG. Different communities are picking up their orders. Father has asked us all to distribute over 400 copies per Blessed couple/family.

This is the time we can start to really share father’s heart with people in a powerful way. The Korean version reached the bestsellers list in Korea, and the new 2nd English translation is greatly improved and has included pictures too.

You can buy a box (containing 28 books) for £100 each, or individual books for £3.50.

We are suggesting if you wish to sell the books on to make a standard cost of £12. Of course you are free to sell them for less and of course to give them to people as a gift, but it is good for people to know that they are also being sold for a real price. We will provide price tag stickers for those who want them. We will be setting up an amazon.co.uk shop asap which will allow us to sell them online too.

Uncle David surveys the container

If you have creative and good ideas that you want to own and get support on for distributing Father’s book, then get in touch.

Arriving at Lancaster Gate shortly after 10am, I met Takao , Réamonn and Sung Jong waiting in the lobby area of Headquaters. We were anticipating the arrival of a lorry bearing the expected 11,000 copies of True Father’s autobiography. I mentioned to the lads that I had walked past a lorry, which I suspected could be the one for which we were waiting. After a brief conversation with the vehicle’s driver confirming this, he skillfully manoeuvered his articulated lorry into the spaces in front of 43 Lancaster Gate.

Then the hard work began, transferring more than 400 boxes (containing 28 books each) from the lorry container into the building. It took not much more than an hour to transfer the boxes from the shipping container to the inside of our church Headquarters.

Just as we were nearing the end, Uncle Bernard Chellew arrived to collect as many of the boxes as would fit inside the Chrysler Voyager he was driving. Later, Uncle Franklin Fortune and Uncle William Haines also dropped by to collect boxes of books. Each time a vehicle drove away with their load of books, I prayed for the rear suspensions not to be overwhelmed!

With perfect timing, just as the last item was removed from lorry, the absolute good spirit world blessed us with the emergence of a Westminster council waste collection vehicle. The refuse collectors were happy to throw our left-over pallets into their rubbish truck, which gobbled them up quite easily.

Matthew de Souza then emerged with some lucozade bottles and some maple and pecan pastries, rewards for the hard workers (prepared by Uncle David Franklin, I assumed).

Many thanks also goes to Irene, Abi, Kenko, and Matthew de Souza who all offered their help.

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And here’s a (rather dull) film stitched together by Simon and myself:

Recently the squad of our community football team, Mind Body United met up with their coach/manager, Steven Huish, and team chairman, Chigo Ahunanya, for an end of season party and ceremony. Each player, even those who only made a couple of showings….like myself, received a beautiful certificate and the chance to take a picture with Stevo&Chigo.

We had the player of the year award which went to Seijin Thomas for his all round skill, commitment and team work.

Big congratulations to all the staff and team members who made the launch year for MBU a real adventure. They go into a new season this autumn with a level of trust, commitment, skill, and team spirit that will only result in them moving up the league table.

Pics below (sorry couldn’t get everyone’s) and a little video of Seijin’s player of the year speech.

(click on pic to double the size…if you want to check how handsome everyone is.)

Video insight: Seijin cracks a few…

As a team they even walked away with some league silver ware winning best sportsmanship of the year award. This is significant because part of the team’s mission statement involves team members being role models for other young people. Next season they’ve got their eye on a few other trophies.

Just back from Korea. Here is a little video from the iPhone with some highlights, spent some of the flight back messing around with imovie:

Diary notes: video explanation

7.30 Saturday morning 10th July:

True Parents have just arrived by helicopter out of the blue and are talking to a few hundred of us. Father’s checking to see which of his close disciples are here. He ends up staying with us until 2.30pm. He mentions how he hasn’t slept the night before. Finding it hard to keep up with his train of thought. True Father is like a cosmic encyclopedia. And he is jumping from topic to
topic before I can deconstruct the English translation…but he must be the sweetest grandfather in the whole world: completely at ease and full of the brightest energy. It’s not easy for me to sit for so long when I don’t speak Korean. But eventually I realise that Father’s main motive for being here is to just be together with us for as long as possible. That’s when I really get it, and catch this 90 year old man’s heart for his disciples, his children.Several times he asks if we are hungry and that he should get back to Yeusu, and then he decides to stay longer, talk more, sing more, etc. You get the sense of how he has been through so much in his life that nothing phases him. At one point he said about his life (amongst the hundreds of different things he shared about) “….I couldn’t go forward as I planned to, I was a man alone, but God supported me and you supported…”

Here is a link to the message Father gave on the 8th July in front of several thousand up on the mountain top:

http://www.slideshare.net/familyfireplace/july-8th-2010-proclamation-full-speech

Peace TV:

I heard from Peter Kim, who I bumped into in the new Coffee shop in Cheong Pyeong, that True Parents were very happy after hearing from Rev. Song about Europe. Especially True Mother was happy to hear about the younger generation in our community, and I think they noticed how many came as part of the European group for the event on the 8th July. She asked Peace TV to talk to Rev. Song to do an item on us, so I was called in with Geros Kunkel from the European Youth Dept. to their studios a few hours before my flight back to London.

I’m at the departure gate at In Cheon airport, waiting to begin my journey home after 2 nights in Korea. It’s pretty crazy to think that I invested a lot of time and effort just to be in Korea for a couple of days. I did this kind of visit only because True Parents invited us; otherwise I would have stayed at home.

I knew that coming to Cheong Pyeong, I had to be ready for anything and to expect the unexpected. This paid off, as the originally planned visit to the Cheon Bok Gung on Friday had been suddenly cancelled (according to the announcement just before the big event on Thursday morning) and True Father wanted all international visitors to participate on a 2-day Original Divine Principle workshop. It’s a good thing my flight home is tonight, after the workshop finished.

The workshop was intense. There was a lot of shim jung expressed, although not always logically conveyed. I caught myself thinking, “I don’t have to be here – I can do whatever I want, relaxing or resting somewhere else, instead of enduring the difficult environment of this workshop.” Nevertheless, I quickly rebuked such thoughts: “I’m here to attend True Parents. True Parents want me to receive this content. So I will invest to receive this content as sincerely as possible.”

As you can imagine, it wasn’t comfortable. I was sitting on my bottom almost all day, listening to English translation through my mobile phone radio. When my mobile battery died, I had to quickly find a socket to plug in my charger. It was especially hard staying focused (OK, I mean awake) when the climate was hot and humid, and especially yesterday when we had very little rest and had had a long, hard day. I had beef with some of the statements (e.g. “The argument between creation and evolution is finished!”) but nevertheless, I took things with a healthy pinch of salt and tried to digest as much as possible, without getting information indigestion. Rev. Yoo poured his heart out and made me think about who True Parents are and what they have accomplished.

If there’s anything I’m taking away from the past couple of days, it’s to take the word more seriously. Rev. Yoo explained that the ODP isn’t something to be memorised, rather something to become. Of course I should still study the word, as understanding the content will help me to embody the content. Thus I will strive to study the word more – especially the 8 designated scriptures bequeathed to us by True Parents – and pray to embody it more in my life.

Here is Father’s speech at the:

“Convention to Proclaim the Word that Firmly Establishes the Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind.”

After we had no buses so we (8000 people) had to walk down the mountain. Our calf muscles felt the gradient. And I was glad I had followed the advice of others and had not brought one of the boys with me. Not sure they would have handled the schedule and not sure how I would have managed carrying one of them down on my back….

Here are my notes from Hyung Jin Moon’s message to us this afternoon at the start of a 2 day Original Divine Principle seminar that father asked us all to join after the event today:

“True Father said today we should go back to our roots. Our unification movement tradition has a very short history of only 50 years and in that short time it has spread across the whole world, and of course as a result we have many limitations as well.

We want to go back to the core of True Parents revelation and the essence of the Divine Principle.

When I was in Brazil recently we read Father’s  autobiography in our morning study and we were discussing about our faith and our fate.

Our fate is connected to the path that we take. There are a series of decisions that we make that determine our future.

If you look back at your life you can see this reality.

WE MUST KNOW where we are heading. There is a biblical verse in Proverbs where king Solomon was looking out of a window and saw a young man walking on a path, and he could see that young man’s future. On one side of the path there was a very decadent town with a big red light district, towards which the young man was heading.

King Solomon compared him to a cow that is heading to the abattoir

However the young man did not see that future as he was thinking about something else, about happy thoughts of a very beautiful woman who had invited him to the town. So the young man was having a very sweet dream, but king Solomon had seen many men walking down this path and knew what fate he would have; that he would become trapped by this town of decadence. (this is somewhere in Proverbs apparently…no ref. was given…but William Haines helped me find it, he uses it in his lecture on the Human Fall. See the link to Proverbs 7 here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+7&version=NIV )

We can see from this that the path we are taking is always connected to our future. And when there is the opportunity to look down on that path with objectivity we can see where it will lead.

The reason I am telling you this story is that this young man did not realise that this choice he was making would effect his life so significantly.  There are many choices that come up in our life: these are essentially the paths that we chose to take in our life.

We have to always ask ourselves what is the path I am taking and where is it leading to. Brothers and sisters, we are seeking the eternal path. We are not seeking the transient or temporary path.

That is the path of seeking True Parents, which is eternal.  That is our bright and eternal future.

We are not to centre one generation or another. We have an eternal centre which is True Parents. If you look at Christianity, there have been many saints and church leaders, but they have always focused on Jesus’ eternal love, rather than their own significance.

If we forget that we will find ourselves going on the wrong path with out noticing it…

We will always be True Parents children….

….After my elder brother past away I started to doubt whether God existed, and with that kind of mind I started studying religion, and then I started training……

When I go before True Parents I do not go as an adult, regardless of however many responsibilities and positions he has bestowed on me. When I go into the room, Father does not see an international president, but he sees his youngest son, and that is when I feel the greatest freedom and love. I don’t feel the need to have to prove anything to them and this is the most precious quality time for me.

We should get rid of thoughts we have that put us in the context of some official position when we are in front of True Parents. Of course it is important to be mature in our actions and in our words, but as Jesus said in order to go to the Kingdom of Heaven we need the heart of a child.

Through this important proclamation today there are a lot of expectations….

It is because of this 120 day workshop which has just been completed that a war could be prevented between the North and South Korea. Even the sinking of the naval ship did not bring about war. Because these leaders who went through the 120 day workshop and united with True Parents and continued through out the 120 days faithfully (from UK: Constance Rennie and Haesul Fagcang) an important condition could be set by True Parents.

We do not know what conditions are being set by this 2 day workshop that we are starting now on Father’s request, we do not know how big a condition can be made by even the offering of a pigeon.

If we can think like that we will go down one path, if we look cynically and with disinterest we will go down another path. How we take this short workshop is a decision we will make.

That young man thought he was going to be with the beautiful woman for just one night and he did not realise how that one night would have a big effect on his life course, …for us this one night , and two days workshop will also involve us making a decision that will effect our path and our future. Let has have that kind of awareness and heart.

Let us look into our hearts and either have king Solomon’s perspective , or the blissfully unaware perspective of the young man who was oblivious to the choices that he was making regarding his future.

Let us go on a path of seeking True Parents in our life.”

We headed straight out and over to Hyde Park after worship on Sunday morning. Well, it’s never straight over when your a big crowd and there are small babies to feed etc. but we all congregated eventually at our holy ground by the plain tree.

here’s a short video with a sound track from one of my favourite old tribe called quest tracks:

The message this week and I guess for the next few weeks is about ‘developing spiritual maturity’. We started to look at what it means to become a disciple and how that path is first a choice, secondly requires commitment, and thirdly is experienced through a relationship

Here is the power point:

and if you want more of the content, here is the message on our Ustream archive:

It was a good to see our momentum building through the summer which is normally a difficult time for church development as we all head off for different projects and holidays.

I can see we still have a lot to do, and however well things go, somewhere in me I get the feeling something is still missing, like we are not there yet. Quite a few people came an hour early for worship today cuz I sent an email out about getting together to pray. I felt like; “this is our first service in the 2nd half of 2010, and we’ve got to do something to let God know that we know we have 6 months to the end of the year, and that we want to get our plans together with his.

So we prayed for all our family members, for their lives, and for our community’s goals and hopes. We know that in order to grow in number we have to be more concerned to grow closer together through fellowship, and becoming a channel for each other to experience God’s love.

A big thank you to all who helped out in all those different ways. Especially the people who were taking on roles from staff who were away. Thank you for making it work! One HARP member came all the way in from Collingdale to set up the sound and mikes on Saturday evening, and then came in again for 9am on Sunday to do a sound test with Chris and George. That’s commitment.

So, this blog is a little late in coming to you, but I wanted to let you know about the conclusion of the 5-day workshop for students hosted in Cleeve House a couple of weeks ago.

I think the workshop can be best summarised in the words of the participants themselves:

“I guess the main things I wanted out of this workshop were a deeper understanding of DP & finding ways of actually applying it to my life. The lectures that we have had have definitely helped. I have heard Uncle William’s DP workshop content before but he’s either added more or, upon hearing it for the second time, parts have finally got through to me. Hearing how DP is needed in fields, like politics & economics, makes me realise how it truly can be applicable to more, if not all, parts of life…”
(Takao Kobayashi)

“…it’s nice to get a different point of view and some very basic and simple points that were mentioned with examples became more understandable for me. Like the 3rd blessing! Before I couldn’t connect to it, but now I understand the meaning of it much better… I’ll definitely recommend this workshop…”
(Jeanne Penhard)

“Well, certainly not your orthodox DP workshop. Uncle William has illuminated the historical context surrounding the ideas discussed in the Divine Principle in a far more exhaustive fashion than is typical and re-emphasises its intimate relationship with the many, seemingly unconnected at first glance, goings-on on earth. The philosophy of human nature and the natural world is revealed in a fascinating manner through the lens of the Principle…”
(Christophe Murphy)

“Why I came? I suppose I was looking for answers to a couple of fundamental questions I had with the church, or maybe looking for someone to reafirm my own beliefs on the subjects. Whatever it was, I was definitely pleased with the content…”
(Iain Davies)

“This time here has also allowed me to think more deeply about what I should do in the future. So far I haven’t been too worried as I am still studying, but I have really started to feel an urgency in terms of what I should do with my life. I felt I was able to tell this to God very clearly and I am openly waiting for a response, and will continue to search until I find one… Somehow a new view of God has been awakened in me but also an understanding or rather feeling that there is soooo much that is yet to know and experience with Him. Just as I believe the relationship between husband and wife is infinite so is the relationship with God, and only by living according to the Principle more, or more simply the 3 blessings, can we come to reach these deeper and deeper levels of relationship. I get the feeling True Father wants to share these things but it’s something that can only be experienced and is different for every person and couple. Life is awesome! This I know.”
(Jonathan Bateman)

“… I really like the idea of trying to put oneself into a certain situation in history, to try to figure out what exactly was going on and how people felt, because sometimes I forget all of these historical figures were REAL people, normal people, they felt real emotions and sometimes I wander what I would have done in their situations…”
(Katrina Earle)

“I appreciate the fact that God gives us so much freedom to decide who we want to be and what we want to do. There are infinite possibilities in life. I am happy my life doesn’t have to be about following someone or only doing what I am told to do. I don’t want to be only a servant of God but I prefer to walk besides Him, like Abraham and True Father. Even if sometimes we have to do something our of duty, at least I can decide to di it or not. Whatever I am doing, I want to do it with my heart, this gives value to my life.”
(Tony Yuen)