Ep 424 - Meeting True Father Part 1
Meeting True Father #59 - December 23, 2021
Today I am going to Australia to meet my family members, so I am recording my speech to brothers and sisters.
Today I’d like to talk about “Meeting True Father” from True Mother’s Anthology, Book 1.
Before joining our church, Daemonim set the goal of witnessing to people until she found the Lord. She took care of my maternal grandmother and me when we lived as refugees, and it was during that time that she met Elder Jeong Seokcheon's family, who were members of the Holy Lord Church in Daegu, and she lived there for a few years eating nothing but uncooked food. Then she went to seek out Elder Jeong Seok-cheon's younger brother, Jeong Pyeong-hwa, in Jeju Island, where she lived for a few months on raw grains and vegetables. Afterwards, she returned to Chuncheon, where she heard the news from Elder Jeong Seok-cheon in Daegu that an “unusual teacher” had come there. Saying that if he was an unusual person, he could be the person we had been searching for, Daemonim went to Daegu to meet him. When she arrived, however, he had already left Daegu for Seoul, so she went to Seoul, where she finally got to see True Father at Cheongpa-dong. (1999.10.21, Punta del Este, Uruguay)
I did not meet True Father in North Korea. The first time I met him was in Seoul, after I had come down to South Korea. At that time I was 13 years old and had recently graduated from elementary school. The meeting happened shortly after my mother and I joined the church, and since we had followed such a difficult course to arrive at that point, we had no idea what would happen in future. In particular, we did not know what to what might happen in the 1960s.
The first time I met Father, he looked at me and asked, “What is your name?”
I answered, “My name is Hak Ja Han.”
Then Father closed his eyes and meditated for a moment and said, almost to himself, but I could still hear, “Oh, God, You have given such a woman, Hak Ja Han, to this country of Korea.” He was almost talking to himself, but that is what I heard him say. At that time I felt strange that this religious leader should have received a special message or revelation regarding my future. I was then living in Chuncheon, far from where True Father lived in Seoul at the headquarters in the Church at Chungpa dong, so there was quite a distance between us. After that first encounter at the church, my mother and I continued attending that church on Sundays. During that time I graduated from middle school and went on to high school. (1977.05.03, Belvedere Training Center)
The first meeting between True Father and True Mother was the first meeting as the only-begotten son and only-begotten daughter. Because True Father is a spiritual person, when True Father sees a person, he knows what kind of person that person is, what that person's mission is, and what the background of the ancestors behind that person is.
Even before True Father decided True Mother to be True Father's bride, people around him were already preparing for the holy wedding. It is said that the date of the wedding had already been set, but it was not decided who would become True Father's bride.
But in the end, when we see that True Father chose True Mother, we do not know how revelatory God's providence is. We do not know God's providence, but we come to know that it is carried out thoroughly by God's program.
LIVING DIVINE PRINCIPLE: Principle of Creation 7 - The Relationship between God and the Universe
♦ The relationship between God and the universe can be summarized thus:
♦ God is the invisible subject partner, and the universe as a whole is a substantial object partner to God. In accordance with the Principle of Creation, God's dual characteristics manifest themselves symbolically or in image as individual embodiments of truth, which constitute the universe.
♦ The relationship between God and the universe is similar to that between internal nature and external form. It is a mutual relationship like that between dual characteristics: internal and external, cause and result, vertical and horizontal, subject partner and object partner, and so forth.
Based on this EDP content let’s study True Father’s word regarding the relationship between human beings and the universe in more detail.
God’s heart dwells within the Creation
<9-174> I have told you to live with God’s love. Now, what should your goal in life be? You must live a life of attendance with a heart of love. If you are to bow before such handkerchief with such mind, it is not idolatry. It is not idolatry. Nothing can dominate you when you are bowing your head with a heart of love. When you rise above your glory and bow with your heart, Satan will tell you to do no further. Idols do not exist when you are connected with the heart of the creation.
This is very important content. We need to know this.
How can we build the relationship between humanity and the universe. True Father emphasizes in his words that in our life of faith we must live together with God’s love all the time.
True Father said that serving any creation with the heart of God’s love is not idolatry.
If you bow your head with a heart of love for God, nothing can dominate you. For example, if there is a handkerchief used by True Parents and you place it on an altar and bow before it with a longing heart for True Parents, nothing can dominate such a heart.
When you rise above your own glory and bow with a heart and love of dealing with God, Satan will tell you to go no further. Idols do not exist when you are connected with the heart of God and creation.
An idol is some object or thing you worship to realize your own glory or your own desires. Those who love themselves are like people who worship idols. If you love and serve materialistic things and money more than God, that is idolatry. If a person loves knowledge they have more than love God, that is idolatry.
We need to know that when we love something more than God, that is idolatry. But whatever we do in the name of God, when we put him as the top priority, when we love something centered on God’s love and heart, that is not idolatry. We need to know that. All fallen men carry the concept of idolatry (?practice idolatry?) because they love money more than God; they love themselves more than God; they love their own family more than God; they love their own knowledge more than God. These are idols. If we do not put God as the top priority, that is idolatry. True Father clearly teaches us: even though you externally worship God, but internally you love yourself, then you practice idolatry.
< 9-174> People criticize Buddhists for offering Buddhist mass by making Buddha statues with stones, but even God cannot strike you if you are connected with heart before Him. If you look at Buddhists from such stand point, they, too, will go to heaven. They will go to heaven no matter how they had worshiped idols. You go to hell when you do not have the penetrating yearn for heavenly law.
This is incredible guidance by Father.
The problem is how to go through the heart of God and connect with the heart of God.
If Buddhists enter the temple where the Buddha is worshiped and bow to the Buddha, thinking of it as True Parents, how is it a sin and idolatry? How could it be a sin to go into the tomb of a famous king and bow down to it, thinking of it as God, who was imprisoned in that tomb after laboring for the fallen man?
Recently I went to Japan. Some of the Japanese members took me sightseeing. I visited an area where there were the tombs of past Japanese kings. Many people worship (there). I worshiped (there) as well. I bowed down. Some members felt strange (about this), but internally I felt that if that tomb were our True Father’s tomb -- he worked so hard -- if our Father’s body were buried there… When I bowed down to that tomb, incredible tears came down. If Father is there, I want to touch that tomb. The important thing is not external appearances, but what kind of heart we have.
Do not judge externally here and there. What kind of path are you carrying on? That is the point.
When dealing with creation, how beautiful it is to bow down before all creation while thinking of them as creations created by God, thinking about God’s heart as He created them, and having a longing heart.
The world of the heart is the world of longing. True Father said that you will go to hell if you do not have a pierced heart for longing for the laws of heaven.
How important heart is. What kind of person am I? How much do I connect to God’s heart? How much do I connect with brothers and sisters, my family, my Cain and my Abel centering on God’s heart? This is the point.
Rather than going to the mountains to offer early morning prayers or vigil prayers, you must become a person who sheds tears at the sight of a clump of grass with the thought of God’s hands which created the universe and God’s rejoicing heart at the time of creation. If there was such a person, he/she is truly a son/daughter of God, the great subject partner of the universe. He/she has the rights to receive full marks.
The purpose of our prayer is to meet God and exchange hearts between parents and child. Therefore, the more we pray, the more our longing for God should come out.
If there is no longing heart after praying, it is only a prayer of form or a conditional prayer.
You should know that the purpose of prayer is to deepen your longing for God and man.
OK, I need to pray for the candidates for witnessing. I need to pray for A and for B and pray and pray and pray and pray. “Heavenly Father, I want to witness to him.” But if you do not have a longing heart, your prayers are only conditional, just conceptual prayer. “Heavenly Father, I truly long for him. Because I thought that he was presented (to me?) by God, I want to see your child, Heavenly Father. I really miss him. I have a longing heart for him.” Then your object partner surely can become God’s son or daughter. We need to go beyond our concepts, beyond our conditions. We need to really love our witnessing candidate. We need to treat them as the son or daughter of God. The most important thing is our heartistic relationship, and we need to have a longing heart for our witnessing candidates, but not just witnessing candidates -- anyone we relate to because he is my leader, my Able, my Cain, my family member. If there is no longing heart, then there is nothing. You are like a hypocrite. Without using heart, it does not make any sense.
Aren’t you curious? Have you ever thought of how God felt when He created the universe? Have you ever asked a rock, “Oh, rock, what kind of inner connection did you have with God when you were created?,” or a clump of grass, “What kind of inner connection did you have?” You must say, “God created the universe so that human beings can come to understand God’s heart through them, but since I am so insensible even by looking at you, you must curse me.”
The relationship between man and the created universe is a relationship of dual characteristics. We have already learned the meaning of dual characteristics. It is an inseparable heartistic relationship.
The relationship between human beings and the created universe must be a relationship between you and me, and between me and you. It is an inseparable, heartistic relationship.
You should be able to praise God's creation regardless of whether you see a clump of grass or a rock, and weep for all of the creation that has not been loved by humans.
Although the world of the heart of creation is lower than that of humans, since all things are a museum created for the perfection of human love, there is always an exchange of emotions and the world of the human heart becomes rich.
Actually, the creation is similar to a shadow of God’s heart. Since God devoted all His energy to create all things and since they all went through God’s hands when they were created, they have wanted to be loved and considered as precious and valuable like God’s deputies. However, nobody was able to treat them like that ever since the Fall. How could they not heave and groan? This is the reason why it says in the Bible that the whole creation has been groaning in travail.
True Father says that when humans treat creation without heart, creation groans.
Romans 8:21-22: The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
What is the Fall? The fall is treating the creation without heart.
It is a sin to treat anything without heart. That is the fall. That is committing sin.
Now, we must understand. When you look at nature where God dwells, you must think, “No fine goods possessed by kings or well-known figures, or any kind of antiques are better than God’s creation. No gorgeous clothes worn by ladies of names can be more gorgeous than God’s creation.” If you cannot do this, you are unconsciously committing a sin against nature.
The value of a clump of living grass cannot be compared to the work of a famous painter. No artist, no matter how famous, can create or imitate living nature or life.
True Father says that if you do not value a clump of living grass as more precious than any famous antique or more than the gorgeous clothes worn by ladies of name, it is committing a sin against nature.
If there was a person who looks at a life form and say, “This cannot be compared to anything created by human beings. Even the most praiseworthy person cannot be more praiseworthy than God,” and consider the creation which God devoted His whole heart in as most precious, he/she is truly a son/daughter of God. Such person does not need to pray. He/she lives with God. God pushes humans out to such a position.
Beautiful items. When you look at each thing of the creation, we treat all things much better than any famous person's painting or any art. If we treat as very precious each item of the creation, Father said that this kind of person does not need to pray. If you have a heartistic relationship with any item of the universe, you are already a child, a son or daughter of God.
TODAY’S YOUTH MINISTRY: Moses and the Course of Faith - God who Commands and Moses who Objects
1. Exodus 3:13 “And Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” This passage reveals the absoluteness of God.
Many people cannot understand this.
If the Israelites asked what the name of the one who sent Moses was, God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” Why did God answer that way?
God could not reveal the inner identity of God because the people at that time were still in the position of servants. Servants do not understand the heart of the parents. God expressed his identity with his absolute and dignified “I am who I am” because he had to show the absoluteness and majesty of his master to his servants.
God had to teach the majesty of the master to get the Israelites out of the state of slavery. They needed to get out of Egypt and to enter Canaan. That is why God said that “I am who I am.” He needed to show his dignity and his power. Then the Israelites would respect God and follow him. That is why God appealed (?revealed?) to them his identity: “I am who I am,” (showing them) his absolute dignity and power.
However, if they had had a high spiritual level and heart, how would God’s explanation have started(?)? He would have answered, "Hey, my sons and daughters, I am the parent of your parents, the teacher of teachers, and the master of masters." But God revealed here only “I am who I am.” This means that he (Moses) only experienced the last part, namely, “I am the master of masters.” God did not express, “I am the parent of your parents and the teacher of your teachers” because the level of heart of the Israelites was that of servants. They were still (spiritually) young and did not know. That is why God needed to show absolute dignity and authority. Then they would be a little fearful of God and would follow and respect God.
2. The word “Jehovah” itself refers to “absoluteness.” Just as how nature exists absolutely, God is also an absolute entity. Upon hearing this response, Moses states in Exodus 4:1, “Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” In response, God encouraged Moses by showing him the miraculous works of turning a rod into serpents. (Exodus 4:1-6)
If the spiritual level of the Israelites were high, God would not have had to show them miracles. … He would have guided them by his word, But those who do not understand this level of heart can only obey and follow through miracles. That is why God had no choice but to show that kind of miraculous work because of heart.(?)
3. “And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent … but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue,” (Exodus 4:10) and God responds, stating, “Who had made man’s mouth? … Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” (Exodus 4:11-12) Moses misunderstood God by thinking that God’s command was only for Moses. Of course, Moses could have been chosen to lead the people of Israel from having received secondary education while at the palace and having built up sufficient knowledge and moral influence. Although God ordered such tasks to Moses, God intended to work together with Moses without sending him off alone.
4. Moses then states, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” (Exodus 4:13) God then expresses his anger upon hearing this fifth objection from Moses. “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well.” (Exodus 4:14) God was telling Moses not to worry, as God will speak through Moses’s elder brother Aaron.
What we learn through the course of Moses is that when God commands you, first believe in God. God never entrusts us with things that we cannot do. It's like a school teacher who doesn't give students homework that they can't do.
Second, when God tells you to do it, he doesn't ask you to do it alone, but God will do it through you. But the mistake humans make is to say they themselves will do it. This means that as long as you deny yourself, God will do everything for you.
When you receive a command from God, you simply believe and stand up and go out. Then God will take care of everything. This is very important in our life of faith. When we are not confident, we hesitate because we think we do everything ourselves.
That means even though you say you believe in God, you do not actually believe in God. Why are you hesitating and struggling? “I do not know the Divine Principle. I do not know how to teach. I do not know how to talk to pastors. I do not know how to relate to political leaders. I do not have confidence.” You hesitate and hesitate and delay and delay. Your original mind says, “Get out! Get out! Go to the front line. You need to visit Christian churches.” (And you respond) “I don’t know. I don’t have confidence.” You have all kinds of excuses -- the same as Moses. If God says, “Get out!” that means God will be responsible. Just deny yourself. You need to become God’s mouth, God’s instrument. Even though you do not know what to say, if you just believe in God, he will work through you, your heart and mind, your mouth, your hands. God will use you as his equipment, his tools. You need to strongly believe in that. If you absolutely believe in that, God will have no choice. He will need to come down and intervene with you. He will talk to you.
I have so much experience with this. I am Korean. I deliver Morning Devotion every day, not just one or two days. In order to deliver one lesson, it takes six or seven hours every day. Sometimes I struggle and struggle every day. “Heavenly Father, you know my limitations with English, my expression. If I were to speak in Korean, it would only take a few hours to prepare. But I don’t have confidence in English. Whenever I hesitate, God tells me, “Do not hesitate. I know your ability in English. I know your limitations. Just deny yourself, then I will do it. I know your limitations; I know your ability, just deny yourself. I will do it. Just go to the Morning Devotion room, open your mouth, and I will talk to them through your mouth. Wow! After I finish Morning Devotion, I feel that when I deny myself, I can get incredible power. I receive so much inspiration from Heavenly Parent.
5. Moses then headed to Pharaoh upon hearing these words. Moses conveys his message to Pharaoh starting at Exodus 5:1 and requests, “Let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God.” (Exodus 5:3)
6. However, Moses commits an act of defiance to God in Exodus 5:22-23 “… Why is that thou has sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither has thou delivered thy people at all.” In other words, Moses was asking why God, who said He would be with Moses, just sat there idly while having sent Moses and not delivering the people of Israel, even amid increased persecution by the Pharaoh to the people of Israel. These passages exhibit how Moses is truly something else.
Here we can see how strong Moses' character was. If you look at him arguing against God, you can see how great his character is. He says he'll make sure of everything before he leaves.
It is not just believing in God's word and going out, but Moses himself is going to take action after he is convinced by God. In some ways, Moses may appear to have no faith, and in other ways, he shows the will to do everything after he is convinced.
7. In response, God states, “… Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.” (Exodus 6:1) God was telling Moses to not fret with impatience no matter what, even if immediate results are not visible.
8. In Exodus 6:12 Moses then states, “… Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?” This was in response to the disappointment and complaints by the people of Israel. Moses acted not out of his own volition but out of God’s command, even when he tried to decline. However, the people of Israel complained how Moses’s interference has caused the Pharaoh to increase persecution upon them, making their lives worse.
9. In other words, Moses expressed his disappointment toward God. “God, look at this! I did not want to come here since I knew that the people would be like this. Now the people of Israel are blaming me by saying that all of this is my fault while you left me to fend for myself, and Pharaoh is tightening his grip on them. And I am getting the short end of the stick, while you just sit there idly! It is in situations like these that I wish You would do something for me! If You are just going to sit there idly and leave the incapable me in charge of everything, then when will You actually do something going forward?
10. Thus, God does not give an answer of what He will do and instead commands Moses and Aaron to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt together. (Exodus 6:13)
11. For his sixth objection, Moses states in Exodus 6:30 “… Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?” God responds in Exodus 7:1 “… See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.” God was stating how He would deal a devastating blow to Egypt, bestow powers like that of God to Moses in front of Pharaoh, and reveal critical proof of God’s works. It was after this eighth objection by Moses that God entered the phase of the ten judgements.
12. When we study about Moses in this way, we can have a good understanding of the relationship between God and Moses. We can also learn lessons to apply to our own lives of faith by having a good understanding of this relationship.
13. It is truly amazing how Moses can object to God. God gave much more authority to Moses due to his objections to the end. Moses did indeed object to the end. At each objection, God stated that He would raise Moses to be like Him. Around the eighth objection, Moses hoped that they would enter Canaan together with God as promised, but he started having second thoughts after seeing the people of Israel’s incessant distrust and complaints toward him as he stood in front of God.
14. Such thoughts were wondering why God would raise me (Moses) in this position, only to sit there idly while I continue to be persecuted. In other words, the lack of a response was seen as God sitting there idly in hiding. Moses did everything he was told, only to be met with embarrassment… That is why Moses acted in defiance to God.
Moses' character is really amazing!
15. Moses conveyed his suffering to God, while the Pharaoh was tightening his grip on the people of Israel and the people were complaining to Moses… Whenever we do God’s work going forward, we must not just have our own opinions, thinking, “Let’s do it like this since this isn’t working out.”
I really love Moses’ attitude. He really wants to make sure. If he were to understand only very roughly and then go to Pharaoh and the Israelis without being clear and convinced, then he would have complaints. That is why before going to the field, he wants to make sure between him and God. “I want to get more confirmation. I want to be more convinced by God. Then I will be able to convince my people and convince Pharaoh, we can get out of Egypt (with my people), and finally I can lead them to Canaan.” I love his attitude.
16. Pastors must earnestly cling onto, discuss with, and ask God when going out to do God’s work. When someone comes to us with a request for consultation, it is easy for us to respond with our own opinions instead. It is also easy to give unconfident answers. Instead of answering what you yourself would do in the client’s situation, you must cling onto God and pray together.
This is really important. When a member asks your opinion, “I am the minister. I am the pastor. I am a church leader. I am Abel. I am higher than he. No matter what, I need to give an answer.” However, you are not clear and do not have confidence. Then do not give an answer.
Then what should you do? This is really important. If you really have confidence -- “If I give this kind of anser, I can convince (him). My word is like God’s word.” -- if you have that kind of conviction, then you can deliver and talk to your object partner. However, when you share something when you do not know how to give an answer, then you have to be honest. What is the result? “Ok, my brother or sister, let’s pray about it, think about it.”
When I was at UTS, a friend asked Yo Han Lee, (Hey, Yo Han Lee, what is the fall?” We were quite upset at him. “You know what the fall means.” But Rev. Yo Han Lee took it very seriously. He did not give an external answer. He (the student) wanted to know about the internal content. Rev. Yo Han Lee waited for a while - one or two minutes -- and then said, “Let me pray about it.” A few days later, he came to us and shared what that fall means. I was really moved by his attitude.
As a minister we have to get an answer from Heavenly Father and then deliver it to our object partner. This is beautiful education.
17. You must pray in tears, “God, our Father! This person [client] is in such and such a situation. What should (s)he do?” If you then receive a response and advise him/her in such a manner, you will come to have a greater understanding of God, and you can come to grow through such situations.
Always ask, get an answer from God and (then) convey it to your object partner. If you have that kind of attitude, you will never make a mistake. Because we are using our own concepts, our own knowledge, our own understanding and sometimes have no confidence and try to give an answer, that is the reason our heart cannot become deeper.
However, many leaders of today carelessly do consultations based on their personal methods alone, widening the gap between themselves and God.
Wow! I love Moses' attitude. He seems to be fighting with God, but he wants to really convince (others). When we have that kind of habit between God and me, (we can receive a) clear and convincing answer, then my way to go is more sure, more clear.♦
NOTE: This lightly edited transcription may contain errors and omissions. Indecipherable or uncertain words are tagged with a “(?)” and phrases with an ellipsis “ ...”. First, second and third person pronouns have been left as spoken, and other apparently Korean English expressions have been preserved. Some repeated phrases have been eliminated. This text and the powerpoint slides from this speech are available as pdf files at the top of this text and at text.morndev.com & yong.hoondok.com. Audio only is available at anchor.morndev.com, spotify.morndev.com & audio.morndev.com.♦