Ep 429 - Indomitable Faith, Determination And Perseverance Part 2
Indomitable Faith, Determination and Perseverance #64 - December 28, 2021
I have come back two years after I left my family and enjoyed Merry Christmas with my family. Did you all have a Merry Christmas too?
These are pictures of our three grandchildren. The eldest grandson is 5 years old and the other two grandchildren are 2 years old each. When I came home from America this time, I brought many Christmas presents for my grandchildren. This is a scene from a Christmas party. First, we worshiped Heavenly Parents and True Parents. Then, we briefly talked about the meaning of Jesus' birth and cut the cake.
Our family is currently living together as 4 generations. A total of 12 people live there. Our father-in-law, our couple, our daughter’s couple and one grandson, our first son’s couple and two grandchildren. And our second son’s couple is starting the family this year, so they don't have a baby yet. In accordance with our family tradition, the whole family first offers the Kyungbae to True Parents, and then offers the Kyungbae to our father-in-law, the oldest in our home. The following families of three children are offering Kyungbae to our couple. After the ceremony, we had time to share all the prepared food. It was so delicious! My wife and two daughters-in-law prepared everything. It was a beautiful time. I am grateful to Heavenly Parent and True Parents.
Also I remind our North American brothers and sisters to pray for me. I think about our North American brothers and sisters.
This is a recent photo of my mother. Currently, my mother is 92 years old and lives in Korea. My mother is still in very good health. My mother has absolute faith in True Parents. My mother still wakes up early every morning to pray. I am thankful to God and True Parents because there was mother-and-child cooperation in our family,
My mother supported me and trusted me so much. So all our brothers and sisters are blessed, and my mother has 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. I hope my mother lives a long life. I feel she has great faith in me. She absolutely believes in True Parents.
Recently I have been talking about the mother-son cooperation. What is the foundation in the family? It begins from mother-son cooperation. We learn (this) through our central figures.
Today I’d like to talk about “Indomitable faith, determination and perseverance ” from True Mother’s Anthology, Book 1.
This was because the circumstances True Father passed through were identical to the path I had trodden, so much so that it was almost uncanny. True Father and I had an insightful understanding of the one, common purpose, for which we endured everything with indomitable faith and fought against all hardships, and we feel triumphant because we have reached the standard of perfection where Satan cannot invade us in any way. This feeling of triumph we feel when True Father and I look at each other is a source of infinite consolation and comfort to me. There is one more thing I want to say to you. Through many experiences with God, I came to learn a great deal about how He accomplishes the Will. In my life I truly have traveled to both heaven and hell. I came to realize that both kinds of experiences, not just one or the other, were necessary to completely mature my character and make me the person God expects me to be.
If I had experienced only the joys of heaven, I would not be able to deeply appreciate the taste of life in the kingdom of heaven, and therefore I would not be grateful for it. I had to travel even to the very bottom of hell and experience its bitter taste. Countless times I said, “I do not have the strength to continue on this difficult path any more. I absolutely cannot take another step. It is impossible. God! Why are You telling me to go this path?” I was required to have endurance and determination. I needed to have truly unwavering faith that would never fray. These qualities, I believe, are what made me who I am today.
I am telling you that when you are on your way to the kingdom of heaven, you should not expect to experience only aspects of heaven. In fact, you must anticipate experiencing aspects of hell. You must absolutely anticipate that you will also travel to the rock bottom of hell, to the dungeons of hell. But I can assure you that these experiences are truly the most precious, for they will guide you to feel God's grace. When you go through such a course, you will be able to stand more firmly and be a more mature person. Your character and your spirituality will become well-rounded. And you will be able to feel the kingdom of heaven deep down in your bone marrow. Such personal experiences will always be your pride. (1977.05.03, Belvedere Training Center)
In order to understand the hardships, circumstances, and heart that True Father passed through, True Mother also had to walk the same path. Since the world of heart is a world you cannot pass through without experiencing the same suffering, we must understand that True Mother also walked that internal course that nobody could understand.
If you think that True Mother only walked an external course of receiving grace, that is a huge misjudgment.
True Father is someone who overcame substantial pain and paid indemnity and touched God’s heart in order to liberate God and humankind’s suffering. Creating a common base with such a person and touching True Father’s heart was not easy at all. The Completion course that True Mother was victorious in through the 7-year course was the first time Eve completed it in the history of mankind.
Many people think Mother did not go through suffering. She just became the wife of the messiah. Don’t think that way. (Don’t think that) Satan just allowed True Mother to become God’s only begotten daughter. This is nonsense! While True Father went through incredible suffering, True Mother had to (have experienced) the same (thing); otherwise she could not have had give and take with Father heartistically. Can you imagine? True Mother needed to inherit the same things as True Father. Otherwise the begotten son and begotten daughter could not have communicated heartistically. That is why both of them, not just True Father, had to go that way. Even though True Mother did not go to prison, internally she experienced incredible suffering and hardship, especially her seven year course. Whenever she shares about that seven year course, she cannot stop shedding tears and tears and tears.
Therefore, True Mother said that the feeling of triumph they feel when True Father and True Mother look at each other is a source of infinite consolation and comfort.
I am telling you that when you are on your way to the kingdom of heaven, you should not expect to experience only aspects of heaven. In fact, you must anticipate experiencing aspects of hell. You must absolutely anticipate that you will also travel to the rock bottom of hell, to the dungeons of hell. But I can assure you that these experiences are truly the most precious, for they will guide you to feel God's grace. When you go through such a course, you will be able to stand more firmly and be a more mature person. Your character and your spirituality will become well-rounded. And you will be able to feel the kingdom of heaven deep down in your bone marrow. Such personal experiences will always be your pride. (1977.05.03, Belvedere Training Center)
True Mother’s testimony is incredible. We really need to learn what she is talking about.
As True Mother said, “In my life I truly have traveled to both heaven and hell. I came to realize that both kinds of experiences, not just one or the other, were necessary to completely mature my character.” She developed a really round character.
What we can know from True Mother’s course of faith is that while we live, if we do not go through a course of suffering like hell, our character cannot be perfected and ultimately, we cannot know what kind of world the Kingdom of Heaven is.
In other words, in Heaven, everyone without exception, must first go through the gates of Hell. True Mother was just now talking about this. We must clearly know that the course and gateway of Hell surely awaits before the gates of heaven.
The kingdom of heaven is not a heaven where you can go just by believing. Everyone has to go through the course of training to see if they can maintain their absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience to God without wavering, even if they go to the bottom of Hell.
All central figures need to go through that kind of course. Even True Father. He experienced hell. Why? He went to North Korea. North Korea is the worst nation in the world. What is the worst place in North Korea? That is Heungnam Prison. Among prisons it is the worst. Father went through such a course of hell, really the bottom of the bottom. That is what he is talking about here. In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, you need to experience the bottom of hell. Then you really will know the taste of the kingdom of heaven and the taste of hell.
LIVING DIVINE PRINCIPLE: Principle of Creation 9 - Life of Give and Take Action 1
• Through the agency of universal prime energy, the subject and object elements of every entity form a common base and enter into interaction. This interaction, in turn, generates all the forces the entity needs for existence, multiplication, and action.
• The interaction generating these forces through this process is called give and take action.
Recently we have studied how to apply the principles of give-and-take action to our daily lives. Yesterday we spoke about a life of true love.
What is the principle of true love?
Life of True Love
1. Principle of True Love: Give first and then receive later.
2. Unprincipled Love: Take first and then give or even forget to give back.
What we should always remember is to live with the belief that “giving and receiving is the principle, and receiving and giving is the fall.”
Of course, there are many times when we receive and give, but the basic idea is to always try to give first. Why should we give first? Some people have questions.
If anyone wants to receive first, he thinks of himself first rather than thinking of others.
Heaven is always thinking and serving others first. And look at our original minds. Anyone who has practiced love knows that giving is much, much happier and more joyous than receiving.
We already have an experience of this. No one can deny this.
Then Why Give First?
Because in true love the output is much, much greater than the input. The law of dynamics (?love?) and the law of nature are different. In the law of nature the input is much greater than the output, but in the law of love, the output is much greater than the input. For example, if you invest 30%, then 40%, 50%, 60% or 70% comes out. However, (an example of) the law of nature is when electricity is connected to your home from the original place (the power station?), (energy) is lost (in using it). However, the law of love is completely different. When you invest with your sincerity and heart, 30% and 40% and 50% (in addition?) comes out. This is an amazing law of love!
Let’s study Father’s word.
Energy is Exhausted as it is Consumed
<39-236> When doing work, energy is consumed. Isn’t it so? Take a motor as an example. The input and output of a motor is different. When work is done, energy is consumed so the output is always smaller. The input is always greater than the output. Isn’t it so? It always becomes smaller when work is done. If 100 volts come into a 100 volt lamp, it creates light and energy is consumed. Because there is consumption in doing work, the output will always be lesser.
Eternal Life is Only Possible in the Law of Love
<39-236> However there is one thing in all creation that can ignore the law of dynamics. That is love. What happens to love? When there is an input of ten energy, it comes out with a plus. When really loving a partner, the energy of love does not reduce but remains forever. Therefore, eternal life for human beings is only possible in the law of love. When there is no love, energy is consumed. Do you understand? You have to understand this.
<164-323> Love is replenished by giving, therefore it can continue forever. Without being an existence centered on love, it is impossible to last forever.
The more I read this content, the more I am so inspired by Father’s word!
When really loving a partner, the energy of love is not reduced but remains forever.
When you give love, how should you give it? You should really give it with all your heart, all your mind, all your sincerity. Then, that love will remain forever. The only condition for love to remain forever and return to me is that when I give, I must give with my whole heart. No selfish thinking. Completely living for the sake of my object partner, with utmost sincerity.
When giving, you must give without any conditions. I should never be giving with the assumption that it will come back, that it will be returned to me. If it is true love, the more you give, the more it remains forever.
Therefore, eternal life for human beings is only possible in the law of love. When there is no love, energy is consumed.
This is the point. Father said, once again, when there is no love, energy is consumed. Whatever you do without a loving heart, without love, you just waste your energy. You become tired and bored easily. That is why, whatever you do -- God’s will, your work, your job, whatever -- if there is no love, then energy is just consumed. But if you do it with love and sincerity, the power is always generating. Father said, “When there is no love, energy is consumed.”
Another important truth is that giving or doing something without love is like a fighting a war by wearing down the enemy to a point of collapse. You gradually lose strength and become tired.
How should we get out from that stress? When we invest our love with complete sincerity, we never lose strength. We have more power and more excitement to go forward.
If we get tired easily or have difficult relationships in our life, it is because we act out of obligation or reluctantly without love. But no matter who I meet, if I truly treat people with love, with sincerity, and think that whatever I do is God's work, when it comes back to me, it comes with greater energy and remains forever.
Therefore, giving without love is just consumption. When you truly give, you definitely gain strength.
This is a top secret about how to get out from tiredness. You need to invest your love with utmost sincerity.
Next is the amazing truth that love is replenished by giving. (164-323). When I am empty, when I am lonely, when I want to be loved, how can I fill that empty space? True Father said amazing words that it can only be filled by giving first. Through giving, it is replenished. I was so excited by this word of truth that I always want to give to people every time I meet them.
Therefore, the giver is eternally satisfied. The more I give, the bigger it comes back, so my life of faith becomes joy and gratitude. Many people live without knowing the secret of how to live a happy and grateful life.
First Attribute: Seeking to Give First
(2)“You have to give with the heart of a parent, or the result will be collapse and failure. You have to give from the position of a servant, with total sincerity, shedding tears and having the heart of a parent. When you give, you mustn’t give with authority or with a pompous mind, or it will cause a reaction. Who should shed tears first? Not the one who receives, but the one who gives, he should be the first to shed tears. That is the parent’s position.”
Amazing guidance!
When I give to others, how do I give and then forget? It should be given with the heart of a parent. A parent’s heart gives and forgets, and when they can’t give more, they shed tears. They never remember that they gave.
When I give something to someone, this is not enough. If you have the mindset that the next time you give, you will give something better, you will forget that you gave.
Another way to forget that you gave is that the giver is happier than the receiver. By giving, I have already been rewarded with happiness and joy. Of course, we are happy to receive, but we are even happier to give. So give and do not remember. Because by giving I have already been fully rewarded.
This is because I felt joy when I gave. Why would you want more than that? If you want to be sure to receive from the other person after giving, you should know that it is really greed and being calculative. When giving, you must give without conditions. And when giving, give without any expectations.
That is beautiful guidance from our True Father.
(4) Try to give totally. No more left. (That) looks like a minus. It looks like losing. However, the universal principle is not like that. When you give totally (100%), God returns it to you. The cosmos will return it to you. Otherwise, the principle of creation is wrong.
(5) The person who gives will never perish - Heaven protects those who give.
(6) If you give, you will definitely receive. This is a universal principle. God never makes me a minus. He is the one who gives back several times, tens of times more than what I gave. Therefore, do not regret what you have contributed to the will of God. If you have lived for the sake of others, do not regret it. God remembers everything you have done. He is the parent of parents.
(7) If you give, power is generated. “I don’t have power! I am so tired! I’m so exhausted!” How can I recover from this? The best way to recover? When you feel normal power, it is a sign to give. When you give, according to my experience, you regain strength again. This is an incredible principle through giving. My original mind is dancing and happy!
(8) When you give, give the most precious thing you have. Not leftovers.
(9) When you give, do it silently - in secret. There is no need for advertisement.
TODAY’S YOUTH MINISTRY: Moses and His Faith Journey - Moses Who Lived With the support of His Sensitive Wife
Exodus 4:24-26: Moses Who Lived With the support of His Sensitive Wife
24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
1. When Moses faced a difficult ordeal, Zipporah circumcised their son and passed that critical moment. Because Moses’ wife was spiritually sensitive, the fact that she passed the trial shows that Moses’ surrounding environment was good. The environment referred to in the Principle talks about the Four Position Foundation centered on yourself. If the environment of the Four Position Foundation is good, Father said, even death can be overcome.
2. First, the external environment of the Four Position Foundation is the relationship between me and my parents, a couple, brothers and sisters, and me and my children. The internal environment of the Four Position Foundation is the relationship with a person I can respect, the relationship with an Abel that I respect like a parent, the relationship with brothers and sisters around me, the relationship between me and my seniors and juniors, and the relationship between me and my spiritual children.
That is why we need a really good environment, both an internal and an external good environment. If we have two kinds of good environment, internal and external, this environment is good centered on the four position foundation. Father said, even death(?) can be overcome.
3. First, we do not exactly know about the mother-child cooperation between Moses and his mother since it is not mentioned clearly in the Bible, but it is believed that they had a very close relationship. Moses’ mother seems to have valued the nation of Israel and the blood lineage of their ancestors more than anyone else.
Moses’ mother was so great. Her position was a nanny position even though she was his real mother. She raised Moses very well. Finally, he left the palace and became the central figure of God’s providence, and he is the one who tried to save the Israelis.
4. Second, when Moses faced the ordeal when God tried to kill him, the fact that his wife dealt with it spiritually and sensitively meant that she had much interest in the things he did normally and observed his behavior closely.
As a couple walks the path of God’s Will together, a wife’s support is very important. There are many cases when a minister without his wife’s support will easily become tired and when a certain temptation comes, he cannot overcome it and becomes frustrated.
I am talking about the internal environment centered on the four position foundation. In the internal environment the most important thing is the relationship between mother and child. Secondly, your relationship with your spouse. (What is important) vertically, is your relationship with your mother, and horizontally your relationship with your spouse. Your relationship with your wife is the most important environment. We are talking about central figures, mother-son cooperation.
In my family why am I still here? Because of my mother. When I joined the church, my mother received a dream: “Do not persecute your son. He is a good boy.” My ancestors appeared to my mother to support me. When I joined in 1975, I joined a Christian church. It was incredible. Surely we received a lot of persecution. That is why my father persecuted me. No matter how much my father persecuted me, I survived because my mother protected me. This is the most important internal environment. Secondly, when you start your public mission, your wife’s support is really important. You have cooperation from your mother; secondly, you have cooperation from your spouse. Then you have everything. In your family the relationship with your mother is critical. If you don’t have that kind of foundation, you need to start from the bottom. If you do not get support in your public mission from your wife, your ministry will be very limited. No matter how hard you work, it will be limited. We are talking about how important the internal environment is.
5. Compared to men who look into the distant future, women are more sensitive about the given situation and deal with it well. Moses' wife did very well. When faced with certain difficulties, men are often slow with their surrounding environment, so those difficulties are often resolved by women with quick intuition.
6. Just as it is darkest under the lamp, men shine light far (ahead), but cannot shine light on their feet right in front of them. While the husband is unaware of his given reality, women have a contrasting character of sensitively observing the surroundings. That doesn't mean you should treat a man as a fool or ignore him. If you ignore your husband, it will inevitably result in all your children ignoring your husband. However, in any circumstance, if a wife serves her husband like God, family harmony can be achieved. When man and woman become one by knowing and fulfilling the different personalities and strengths, it is possible to create a family where harmony can always be achieved.
7. There is one old saying (story): There was a married couple, where the woman did day labor every day to provide meals, and her husband only sat and studied books. One day, as his wife went to work, before leaving, she made a request, 'If it rains, take in the barley that I have spread out to dry in the yard.’ But the husband was only studying without being aware that it was raining. When the wife returned, she said that she could no longer trust such a husband, so she divorced him and left.
8. Her husband studied so hard that he didn’t even know she ran off, and while he waited for the right time, he became very successful. He had passed some national civil examination some time before. He had top results and became a good government official. When he was returning to his hometown, he was riding his horse in the countryside and his wife came before him and wept loudly. After that the man told her to bring a large jar of water. Then he told her to pour it on the path and then fill it back up. But she could not get the water and cried and cried. The man said, “It is the same with us,” and he left.
9. Because the woman left her home to find a new husband or already lost her fidelity by selling alcohol, the husband who returned after becoming successful did this. When he said, “Pour out the water,” it was teaching us that it meant “losing fidelity.” He made her realize that just like you cannot collect the water again, since you abused my love, I am in the same position.
10. In following God's will, if a person enters a public path, the environment must be favorable first. First, one must be raised in an environment of mother-child cooperation.
Mother’s faith is everything. Mother-child cooperation is very important. Look at Moses, Jacob, Isaac, True Father, True Mother, all these central figures were successful because of mother-child cooperation. Why did True Mother become the only begotten daughter? Because of Daemonim.
In a sense, a mother’s cooperation is absolute. The relationship between mother and child must be good. You must receive a lot of love from your mother. And you have to trust your mother. Next, you need your wife's support. The wife's support is absolute in going on the public path. A wife who cooperates in the public way requires great patience. She must endure and endure again and again. Even if her husband has shortcomings, she should always be sensitive to her surroundings and create a good environment.
That’s why any man (should ask himself), “How can I inspire my wife? “ That is most important as a husband. When the wife receives a lot of love from the husband, she is more inspired in raising her children and can fulfill mother-son cooperation.
Today I am speaking about the internal environment. What is the most important internal environment? Mother-child cooperation. Secondly, you need to receive support from your wife, from your spouse. This is important. If you have support from your mother and spouse, you have everything centered on the four position foundation. Based on that foundation, you leave your home and become a pioneer or whatever you do and you can get great success.
We have learned such beautiful things from all the central figures, especially Moses’ family. ♦
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.♦