On November 15, a pledge service was held at the Shoto Headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, to commemorate the 64th True Children’s Day and the 36th Foundation Day for the Unified Nation of Heaven and Earth. In his commemorative speech, President Tomihiro Tanaka explained the significance of True Children’s Day and the attitude that is expected of us, and called to “do our best to become entities worthy of celebrating True Children’s Day.”
Editorial Department
How aware are you of True Parents’ realm of victory?
Good morning, and congratulations on the 64th True Children’s Day and the 36th Foundation Day for the Unified Nation of Heaven and Earth.
Church holidays are precious days for us to reaffirm and reflect on the significance of True Parents’ achievements made through their victory in Heaven’s providence. Today, I would especially like to reflect on the significance of True Children’s Day and the attitude that is desired of us.
With the fall of Adam and Eve, the first ancestors of humankind, the parent-child relationship between the Heavenly Parent (God) and humankind was severed, and the ideal that the Heavenly Parent had envisioned was destroyed. This resulted in a tragic history of false love, false life, and false lineage.
We have learned that the providence of restoration was a struggle to restore the original parent-child relationship between the Heavenly Parent and human beings, to realize the Heavenly Parent’s ideals, and to restore true love, true life, and true lineage.
The core of the providence of restoration is True Parents. True Parents held the Holy Wedding on March 16, 1960 of the heavenly calendar (April 11) and were established as the True Parents of humankind. How great was that from the perspective of heaven’s providence? The day of True Parents’s Holy Wedding is a precious day that humankind should reaffirm on every occasion and it should be a day remembered in history for all time.
Through True Parents, the parent-child relationship between the Heavenly Parent and human beings was able to be restored, and the path toward the realization of the Heavenly Parent’s ideals was made clear. We were then able to regain the original love, life, and lineage. The question is to what extent are we aware of this realm of victory.
The following is written in True Mother’s autobiography:
To live as true people in this world and enjoy eternal life in the next, we need to meet True Parents. We need to meet them even while walking down the path of death. Even if we have lost all of history and our own descendants, when we meet True Parents, we will regain the past and the future. We will be the true family of the True Parents. True Parents embody the eternal word. The greatest gift of God is rebirth through His word. We can become true parents ourselves, perfected through love.
Mother of Peace, p. 273
Since I became the president of the Family Federation in Japan, I have had more opportunities to meet True Mother in person. Whenever I see her, I am reminded of her words. I ask myself deeply, “Is this person in front of me the one whom I should meet even at the risk of my own life,” and “Will I be able to accept any difficulties that may arise on the path as I walk with this person?”
In the meanwhile, there is a struggle with those who try to water down the relationship between True Mother and us. (There are) humanistic and self-centered thoughts that well up from within ourselves. (We have) our own judgments about Mother’s words based on our experiences, beliefs, and limited knowledge. (There are) criticisms spoken of Mother that we hear from those around us. The fact that respected senior family members, who had served True Parents for a long time, are turning their backs on Mother and leaving…We must overcome the conflicts caused by these things and take a hard look at our relationship with Mother. Perhaps you all are facing similar conflicts.
Rights, including the right of inheritance, are given based on rules
Let us revisit what True Children’s Day is all about.
The Family Church Handbook states that “Children’s Day is the day when the victorious True Parents were established, and the standard that allows fallen human beings to be reborn through the blessing they give was established globally and cosmically. In other words, it is a day to commemorate when humankind converted from the realm of Satan’s lineage to the realm of God’s lineage, and when human beings were allowed to be registered as children of God.”
The realms of love and lineage are accompanied by the right of to inherit from God, to live with God, to have equal status with Him and to participate in His work as equals. True Parents’ blessing is the immense grace bestowed upon us that allows us to enter this realm of God’s lineage.
You are probably familiar with inheritance rights, as it is often discussed in TV programs in relation to inheritance disputes. Inheritance is given according to the rules of the world, that is, according to the law.
The Ministry of Education has submitted a request to the court for a dissolution order against the Family Federation, and the Diet is discussing the need for measures to preserve property. The enactment of a new law, the so-called “Victims Relief Law,” which allows people other than the donors—such as the donors’ relatives—to demand the return of donations, may also be a factor. The return of donations is also related to the existence of inheritance rights.
In the general society, what connects lineage (blood) and inheritance rights are the rules established by the state. We live by these rules.
My family name was originally Tomita. I spent my life as Tomihiro Tomita until I received the blessing and registered our marriage. The moment I entered the Tanaka family register, I was entitled to inherit the Tanaka family property. All I had to do was to put my seal on a document. You may be wondering, “That’s it?” But this is also a legitimate procedure in accordance with the rules.
Most of my personality was developed while growing up in the Tomita family, where I was born and raised. The Tomita family is located in Hokkaido and the Tanaka family in Fukui Prefecture, so the customs and traditions of the two families are different. Even though I became a member of the Tanaka family when I registered into the family, it does not mean that my personality changed instantly. In many respects, I have felt as though I don’t belong. Even for such a person like me, inheritance rights are granted based on the rules.
Receiving the blessing puts you in the position of God’s child
After True Parents were established in 1960, the way was opened for humankind to return to God’s lineage from Satan’s lineage. We have been converted from the realm of Satan’s lineage to the realm of God’s lineage in accordance with the heavenly ordained rule of the Blessing, and we are now in a position to have the right of heavenly inheritance. So, how aware are we of this value, and how much pride and conviction do we have in our lives about this?
I may not have had the right character for the Tanaka family, but I became a child of this family. Likewise, a person who is not worthy of being a child of God, who does not have the right character, who does not have the right dignity, can still become a child of God. Even if he is too far removed to be called a child of God, he who has received the blessing is a child of God. How do you perceive this astonishing fact? I think we should be aware of this fact once again.
By receiving the blessing, the first generation were able to stand in a position without original sin. After receiving the blessing, if we had become people where others would say, “From the looks of it, you are children of God,” then the providence of restoration would have advanced more quickly. If we had become a flock that shines light in the world and is praised as those who follow the True Parents of humankind, I don’t think we would be in the situation we are in today.
Although it rarely happens these days, at one time, a propaganda truck pulled up in front of the Shoto headquarters every day and used a blow horn to shout abusive words like, “Get out of Japan!” If we had looked like children of God, and if we had been told that we were worthy of being God’s children, many people would have begged us, “Please, let me meet the children of God!” People would have lined up in front of the Shoto headquarters, eager to see children of God. It would be like a crowd of fans waiting to see a Korean star at the airport.
Unfortunately for each of us, our inner reality is very far from being children of God. I once had this kind of exchange with a second generation.
Second gen: “Are my father and mother children of God?”
Me: “Yes, they’ve received the blessing and are cleansed of original sin, so they’re in the position of God’s children.”
Second gen: “What?! No way! How about that Youth Director?”
Me: “Same with him.”
Second gen: “Are you kidding?”
Second generation are straightforward. There is indeed a great difference between standing in the position of God’s children and being befitting of a child of God. We must not turn our eyes away from this fact and strive daily to become a being worthy of heaven’s will.
Above all, the Heavenly Parent gives priority to embracing human beings as His own children
The Heavenly Parent and True Parents made it a top priority to put us, who are not really qualified to be God’s children character-wise, in the position of being God’s children. Why did they do so? Wouldn’t it have been better to only select and bless those who are worthy of being God’s children internally, so that heaven’s will could be advanced further?
Needless to say, it was the “parent” in them that made it a priority to allow us to be able to take the position of God’s children. Even though we may not have had the proper internal character, no matter how deficient we were, as long as the path was opened for us to become their children through True Parents’s realm of victory, the Heavenly Parent had no other choice but to make us His children. That is how much the Heavenly Parent wanted to embrace humankind in His bosom.
We must once again be aware of the context in which humanity has come to be blessed. We must also continue to strive to become an entity worthy of being God’s children for all eternity.
True Father said the following:
You are not just the sons and daughters of your natural parents. You have to first proclaim that you are the sons and daughters of God. Even though you may be unworthy now to call yourself God’s son or daughter, you need to have confidence in conditionally having become the sons and daughters of True Parents after receiving the marriage Blessing from them.
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: The Holy Scripture of Cheon Il Guk, p. 1114
True Parents welcomed us as their children, knowing all of our shortcomings. Children’s Day is the day of a great historical turnaround when humanity was allowed to receive the blessing and take the position of God’s children because of True Parents’ unilateral love and grace. This is the understanding (of this day) from the perspective of lineage.
Today we celebrate True Children’s Day. The modifier “true” was added to Children’s Day in 1994. This is because the “True Era,” in which children fulfill their responsibilities, had finally begun after the 40-year course of indemnity led by True Parents. The word “true” is a title obtained from the fact that we have entered the True Era, in which the children are now fulfilling their portion of responsibility. This is in contrast to the previous era where the gift of grace given was one-sidedly. Therefore, what True Children’s Day will become will depend on the children.
What kind of era are we now in? It is a time where children clearly know their portion of responsibility and take action; they display themselves worthy before heaven as true children. Meanwhile, let us not stay in the position of just receiving grace, but let us become people who can return beauty to heaven.
Restore our hearts where we can feel “True Mother is the Great Mother”
Recently, True Mother uses the term, “Wang Omma” (Great Mother) to express herself. The “wang” in Wang Omma is a prefix meaning “big” or “one generation before.” When I met Her on October 19, 2003, Mother told me, “I am Wang Omma.”
The term True Mother can feel distanced or it has a revered feel to it. On the other hand, the word “omma” is a word used by a child to call the mother, and is uttered with unconditional adoration for her. There are no barriers or separations. The ideal would be for us to naturally call True Mother “omma” without any heartistic gap or obstacle, but since we are still in the process of restoring our hearts, Mother is closing the gap between us by saying she is Wang Omma.
Many of us may feel that there is a separation in heart in our relationship with True Mother. We must do our best to return to the heartistic state where we can feel that she is my “omma.”
True Father told us that he had to restore the four great realms of heart in his relationship with True Mother. He had to restore the father’s heart, husband’s heart, brother’s heart, and son’s heart through Mother. Father and Mother are twenty-three years apart in age. Therefore, the father, husband, and brother’s hearts could be restored immediately, but the son’s hearts could not be restored easily. Father testified that in order to restore his heart to feel as though Mother was his own mother, he sat beside her every night as she slept and called her, “omma.”
Even True Father made an effort to restore his heart through True Mother, and we should make even more effort to do so. Let us be deeply grateful for the blessing of having Mother here on earth, and let us restore the world of heart without any barriers or gaps in our relationship with her. For us, Mother is not only “True Mother” in the principled sense, but also “omma,” with whom we have a strong heartistic connection. Let us firmly grasp that feeling.
Become a children of God who can pave the way
More than 6,000 second and third-generation from Japan were able to feel this world of heart immensely at the General Assembly of Second Generation from the Heavenly Japan (September 17, 2023, Chyeongpyeong, South Korea). As I observed True Mother, I really felt she was truly uplifted when she called to them and wave after wave of sons and daughters called back to her. Mother was completely befitting of the situation and did not get cold feet.
I think True Mother would like to have such a feeling in her relationship with all the blessed families and members. We must not remain “self-proclaimed children of God” who are only given the position (of God’s children). We must absolutely restore our hearts, worthy of being a true children of God, in our earthly lives. With that in mind, I can’t help but wonder how grateful I am that Mother is still alive.
Actually, I saw True Mother sigh before me many times. She is distressed by all of the problems around the world—the conflicts and environmental issues—and she sighs as if to express her anguish.
It was nice to feel I was someone whom True Mother could express her feelings. However, it is not easy to take responsibility for what is vented. I also feel the burden. Yet, I desperately want to share Mother’s hopes, heart, and circumstances, and be able to forge a path as a child.
Our individual, family, and church entities testify of True Parents
We have passed the age of preaching about love and entered the age of showing love. It is an age in which we must walk the talk. More than ever before, the individuals, families, and churches will be called into question.
The request for a dissolution order. We are already in a court battle regarding this matter. What is the most important factor that will determine whether we win or lose? It is to prove that the Family Federation is a religious organization. Some of you may be surprised and ask, “What do you mean?”
In its complaint filed with the court, the Ministry of Education claims that the Family Federation is not a religious organization but a money-raising organization, and therefore, is not suitable to be an organization that is given corporate status as a religious entity. Using everything from interviews with former followers to past civil court decisions, the Ministry is trying to prove that the Family Federation is not a religious body.
We’ve started the fight to overturn this appeal. We will prove that the Family Federation is an appropriate organization worthy of being a religious entity based on the records of our missionary activities.
Donations are a noble act of religion. The former followers mentioned in the petition were also active in the church at the time of their donations and were happy to live a religious life. What thoughts did they once have? What kind of environment did they practice their religious life in? In order to understand things in detail, we conduct interviews with people who know them well. The result will prove that the Family Federation is indeed a religious and valuable entity that serves the public.
We proudly look up to True Parents as the Messiah of humankind, and we live our lives of faith by substantializing the words, that we have received, in our daily lives. If you could see this, you would clearly understand that the Family Federation is a religious organization.
What were the donations—which were offered by all of the members who dedicated cheongseong—used for? You can understand (what they were used for) when you know about the accomplishments made by senior members, who dedicated themselves all over the world as missionaries, and the youth missionaries of Cheon Il Guk, who left for the world in response to True Mother’s wish. (It is the) religious motivation (of these people) that wanted to give shape to God’s will. We will prove from all angles how much each missionary country all over the world benefitted from the missions that were started by the missionaries, even in Japan.
We do not know if the fight will be over in a year or if it will take longer. In any case, we will proudly show, in court, that the Family Federation is a necessary religious organization for this country.
It may be difficult for the members to see what is being contested in the trial. Also, many are not directly involved in the trial. However, under the guidance of the Heavenly Parent and True Parents, we can walk faithfully as one religious entity, live our daily lives based on the word of God, and create happy families and happy communities. I am convinced that through the accumulation of such efforts, the trial will enter the realm of heaven’s protection.
Please understand that we are a powerful force in the court battle. Let us strive to show our happy families to all people.
In closing, I would like to share True Father’s words.
The filial children should not be separated from their parents, whether a hundred years or a thousand years pass by. You must feel as if you want to be with them! If possible, you must make the parents feel as if they want to be with you for a thousand or even ten thousand years. If you are not a child who attracts such a heart from your parents,, you are not a filial child.
The One and Only Eternal True Parents [Japanese version], p. 122
Let us do our best to become worthy of celebrating True Children’s Day as we aim to be the kind of children that True Parents would want to be with forever.
