Message 1
Mother’s hope for all of us
Since True Mother entered the Seoul Detention Center on September 22, the Inheritors of Heaven’s Love and Blessing, Shin-chul nim and Shin-heung nim, Yeon-ah nim, and Hoon Sook nim have been visiting her, and they have shared about her condition and words during Cheonshim Won Special Night Vigil Prayers. The following is part of Shin-chul nim’s message from September 23 and 24. It is a translation and compilation of the content he gave in Korean.
Mother sill worries about the members even in detention
1397th Cheonshim Won Special Night Vigil Prayers
Cheongseong Wanglim Palace, Sep. 23
Greetings, fellow members.
Today must have been truly difficult, and I am sure many found it tough to eat or sleep. Many of you must be dealing with a deep sense of frustration, unable to comprehend the situation, perhaps consumed by rage—“How could this happen to our True Parents?”—and are overwhelmed by your own powerlessness.
I want to express this frustration to the world, but how do I do so? It was a day that made my heart ache so much.
However, I’m afraid I don’t have the capacity to fully understand these feelings nor empathize with all of the members. Just trying to comprehend how Mother must be feeling right now is all I can manage.
Members who are irreplaceable
Nevertheless, there is one thing I have become certain of. I feel I can understand why Mother sent Shin-heung and me on world tours this year, despite these difficult circumstances, even as recently as last week.
What I learned while touring the world is that the most significant and irreplaceable presence within the Family Federation is that of the members.
Just two weeks ago, Mother called us before we left and told us not to worry, and not to worry about Korea. She told us to tell the members around the world that she would be fine, that she was grateful for them. She also told us to tell how grateful she was to the missionaries and how the providence is alive today because they kept their positions. She told us that we are here today because (the missionaries and members) had been witnessing in places we weren’t aware of.
So now, as I agonize over what Mother’s greatest hope is in these trying times, both circumstantially and psychologically, I found myself thinking that perhaps this is what she is thinking.
(True Mother) knows how much the members love her, so perhaps she worries that this very affection might cause them pain. Might the members, whom she sees as her own children, be hurt? Would they not be able to bear this situation without her and suffer emotional wounds?
I believe these are her worries.
Forgive, love, and pray for society
And this is how I personally feel:
“What does Mother desire most for us now? Is it to hold a large convention? Is it to make some kind of statement? Is it to start some kind of revival?”
When I considered these things, I realized that, from beginning to end, Mother consistently spoke of herself as the “Mother of Peace” and told us to “pray for the world.”
If we were to consider staging demonstrations or taking radical actions in society, would Mother not say, “Forgive. Love. Demonstrate (these virtues to) society through your actions. Even if you cannot believe in me, look upon my children who follow me?”
At this very moment when we have lost our True Mother, who is more precious than our own lives, the actions we must take are forgiveness and love. Wouldn’t she rather want us to pray for Korea, for society, and to move forward?
Through taking such action, I personally felt we could show Mother the vision where she could witness the results of her own life—the life of True Parents—which are us, the members, so that she may feel her lifelong journey for peace and for the world will be preserved through her children, and that there is no need to worry even after she is gone.
Honestly, I can’t understand it either. My mind just can’t grasp it when looking at it from society’s perspective. How could they possibly make the decision to detain an elderly woman who isn’t even healthy, in a detention center? It’s impossible not to become angry.
But I should not respond in anger or rage, but instead, I personally felt that, in this situation, Mother wants us to show love, forgiveness, and understanding—just as True Parents’ lives attest. (Applause)
I am still only twenty-seven years old. I am sure you may have many concerns, but even so, I feel we must move forward with one heart, centered on Mother, through this difficult situation. (Applause)
Though you may harbor unresolved anger within your hearts, at the very least, at the VERY least, until Mother’s safety is secured…until she is with us, is it not the duty of filial children to digest these feelings for her sake and move forward together?
With these words, I will conclude my brief remarks.
Thank you.
Message 2
Forgive, Love, and Unite
1398th Cheonshim Won Special Night Vigil Prayers
Cheongseong Wanglim Palace, Sep. 24
Dear fellow members.
I believe we are still in a time of truly grasping how much of a responsibility and immense burden Mother had been carrying.
Today, I have a testimony I’d like to share with you all. I speak with hope that through my testimony, we may take a moment to reflect on our lives.
Meeting a brother in front of the courthouse, struggling with his faith
I was with Mother from the moment she entered the courthouse the day of her hearing, until she was taken to the detention center.
I imagine all of us watched that scene with genuine concern. I’m sure those who were not there only had Mother in their thoughts, while those present must have wondered how she endured that period.
Incidentally as the wait was growing longer, I met a second-generation friend I hadn’t seen in a while. He was (emotionally) hurt about a year ago at church and told me that he wanted to think over his faith (take some distance).
Since I knew him personally, I naturally respected his choice and said I’d respect his decision. However, I ended up meeting that friend—who hadn’t contacted me for a year—right in front of the courthouse where Mother was facing the detention hearing. Honestly, I never would have imagined it.
I remembered how he had said he was struggling with his his faith as I went over to greet him. I said, “Is that you? Long time,” and asked him why he had come.
“What do you mean,” he answered.
“Well, you told me a year ago you were ‘struggling with your faith,’ and I haven’t heard anything about you since then. So why did you come?” I asked.
He then said to me: “Faith is faith, and Mother is Mother.”
That friend lives in Busan, (but he had come to Seoul and) he said, “Sorry I’m late.”
That made me look inward (toward myself). I had been judging that friend’s faith and his feelings toward Mother by my own standards.
The incident that triggered my anger towards second-generation in Europe
I have been reflecting deeply (since then).
In fact, this may be news to many of the Korean members, but at the very end of my European tour this January, something happened that triggered me.
While touring Europe, I gained a deeper understanding of the situation there. I learned of a significant second-generation group, which was run by core second-generation members from the UK and Germany, and these individuals are now publicly criticizing the Chambumoron, they’re criticizing True Mother, and they’re criticizing the providential truth that Mother is striving to establish.
I was furious at that time. Why do they still not understand True Mother? I hear there are about 100 (members with that group). While confirmation is needed, many second-generation members in the UK and Germany have deep ties with them and listen to their teachings.
In a sense, it was a providential interpretation similar to what some senior members held toward True Mother: “True Mother was chosen; she has original sin; she attained the position of True Mother through True Father.”
I couldn’t understand this, and at the time, I publicly criticized them. (I said,) “How could such a thing be possible? How could you deny True Parents, who showed only love to us and bore witness throughout their lives?”
But today, I am repenting. Just as I had judged the faith of my second-generation friend I met at the courthouse, perhaps my words actually blocked their (the European second-generation’s) path to Mother. As a brother, what I should have done was try to understand them and give them the space to meet Mother in their own time.
Can I truly judge and criticize someone else’s faith, someone else’s beliefs? And above all, what must the Heavenly Parent (God) be feeling?
The True Mother, who cannot hold anyone responsible
I thought about Judas Iscariot in the Bible. Judas was the sinner who drove Jesus to the cross, right? All of humanity believes this, and I think all Christians around the world see him this way. But I thought to myself, “What does the Heavenly Parent think of Judas?”
And we learned from Father, from True Parents. The Heavenly Parent desired to forgive even someone like Judas Iscariot, who’s actions drove Jesus to the cross. True Parents desired to bless even people like Hitler and Stalin, who inflicted immense suffering upon humanity.
I thought, “True Parents always keep the path to themselves open for everyone. So how could I possibly judge someone’s faith or stand in their way?”
We are currently facing real confusion. Many members are feeling legitimate pain and anger. I can not criticize their anger as being wrong because I too have felt that anger.
However, we must think. Mother was detained. Mother was the only one that was detained. Yet, when I met Mother today, she did not blame anyone. What Mother told us was that the Four-Position Foundation and the Three Directors of International HQ must move forward together.
However, I must confess that I am yet to be a vessel capable of enduring the members’ anger. Seeing your statement of declaration fills me with a sense of dread.
But as you all know, the world is watching. According to that, I felt we would be placing Mother on the judgment seat yet again. She is already in such a difficult situation physically, and this would deeply trouble Mother’s heart if she received such a report.
Mother said that the Four Position Foundation (Hyo Jin Nim and Heung Jin Nim’s families) and the Three Directors must become one. She said this while being confined alone. You all know this. Mother is profoundly wise. She is not swayed by anyone.
Yet, even in that moment of solitary confinement, the instruction she gave us was for the Unification Family members to become one with the Four Position Foundation and one with the Three Directors to push forward in this critical time.
Let us show the world we are one
I understand the anger and concern you all feel. However, I repented yesterday.
What was the core of the Unification Family faith I learned? What was the core of the Unification faith I learned through True Parents’ lives?
“Love your enemies. Forgive them. Embrace them.”
Father helped the Japanese police, even though they had criticized him, and helped them to Japan. He even embraced communist leaders who threatened Father and True Parents multiple times.
Mother still does not hold anyone responsible. Yet, no matter how much we may be angered, no matter how much our hearts ache, how can we possibly judge anyone in place of True Parents?
Through the senior members, I have learned about life-and-death decisions and to give my all. As Pure Water, I took that first step as the future generation Mother sought to establish, with that same heart.
Yet I repent that I could not contain all this anger and resentment, nor fully convey Mother’s will. Mother said, “The Four Position Foundation and the Three Directors of International HQ must become one.” It must be frustrating. It must be concerning. It feels like we are driven to the edge of a cliff right now. But Mother is telling us: “Forgive, love, and believe.”
Even in her situation where she’s is in prison, Mother says to forgive, love, and become one.
Senior members, I truly ask this of you. If the moment that we are in right now, is the moment that opens a new era—the era of Pure Water that Mother cultivated—and if there is a choice, I believe the first button to be pressed should be forgiveness and love, which is what we learned through True Parents’ lives. (Applause)
I thought about (the Israelites). From their perspective, Moses striking the rock at Kadesh Barnea twice was utterly incomprehensible. They must have doubted, “Can we truly defeat the Canaanites? Is going there the right thing to do?” Yet Heaven’s will was for them to enter the land of Canaan.
We must examine ourselves. Does this feeling I have in my heart come while thinking of True Parents, or not? And if not, is the foundation of my faith currently True Mother, or not…?
I would like to ask this of you. Even if it is difficult, rather, because she is not here with us, I want everyone to believe in Mother even more.
Please. Let us show Mother: we are one. And let us show the world too. (Applause) We are one. We will not waver.
