From my adolescence I have wanted to be a leader, so for me, the workshop for blessed children was special. All my life at school or with my friends, I tried to discover what I believed to be true and to be a guide for others. Many of the people that I knew misunderstood my standpoint. Many came from unfortunate backgrounds and were misguided as they grew up. I tried to understand their situations and help them to become better people.
I have never wanted to be beaten or put down by anyone. I stand up to people and fight for what, I believe, is true, or against what, I feel, is wrong I even physically fight. I was like this from my childhood. So I had many, many problems. I want to tell you honestly where I am coming from.
When I first came to America I was 10. At that time, it didn't even occur to me that any prejudice existed in the world. All I had seen of America were picture postcards, of beautiful scenery and smiling people. But when I came here, it was a fundamentally different story.
Persecution at School
I met with prejudice as soon as I started school. First, I was a yellow person, an Oriental. Secondly, I was Father's son. People seemed to feel superior, maybe because America is a great nation. Anyway, because I am Father's son, I started to get a lot of persecution, in incredible ways! They joked about brain-aching, made fun of me, and called my father names. I wouldn't have cared if they had only called me names.
Father told me, “You have to hold it in. You have to forgive them. You have to understand them. They are just little kids. Their vision is so shallow. They cannot see into the future; they only see and act according to what they see and feel at the moment. You have to understand that.”
So I tried and tried, but they didn't stop. I tried to talk to them, to reason with them. I tried to talk to them in ways they could understand, but it didn't work. It all kept on getting worse.
Kids like to follow bullies and follow a leader. When one kid started doing it, it became like a fad everybody followed. They put me down just to be somebody. They would snicker at each other, “Hey look at him,” and then they would make a joke about me and slap each other, giggling. I did not like that. But because Father had told me to, I tried to hold it in.
But everything has a limit, I guess. That kind of anger reached a limit in me. I couldn't hold it in anymore. How could I? I wasn't weak. I was strong. I could beat those guys up physically. And that seemed to be the only language they understood.
I knew I had to be quiet and forgiving, to overcome myself for 10 or 12 years, coping with this every day! The kids at my school made fun of me and criticized me for nothing, for no reason. Just to get up in the morning and go to school was a living hell!
One day I said to myself, “Can't take this anymore, or there will be no end. Even for their sake, I have to do something. Tell them strongly, in a language they can understand that they are not right. They are mistaken.”The bully of the school was a big Italian kid. He was the boss and all those kids hung around with him. They followed him and acted just like him. The next day, he came up to me and said the same thing he always said: “How many people did your father brainwash today?”I said, “ll, I don't know. I haven't seen one get brainwashed.”
“Yeah? I hear you saying this all the time,” he said, and he started to call me names, those four-letter words. I said to him; “Don't do that. I try to be nice to you.
I try to understand you. I try to digest what you are saying, but I can't take that anymore. For your sake, not for mine. If what I do now was for my sake, I would have beaten you up a long time ago. The first day you talked like that, I would have beaten you up. But for your sake, I thought and thought, and I think the only language you will learn by is this.” So I punched him and we fought.
And it stopped. The persecution stopped. At least the kids didn't say anything in front of me. They were all afraid to come at me because I beat up their bully, their leader. He thought he was almighty, but I humbled him.
I told Father that I punched the bully. And you know, he just looked at me and smiled. He wasn't angry because occasionally that's the way of male society.
Everybody has pride. Men are strong and have that pride as a male figure, as a strong domineering subject.
What Is “Cool”
Many kids have a certain idea of what is fun and exciting, or what is “cool.” Going out and breaking the law, breaking the school law, going against the principle. The teacher tells you to do this and you avoid it. In the school system, there are rules that some kids break just to prove something to each other. Many young people think that being unusual, being something different, being something else than normal, that is being cool!
After I beat up that bully, some kids started to follow me. My thought at that time was, “I have to lead them somehow.” Maybe it's because I was naive, but I said to myself that if I wanted to lead them, I had to be a part of them, or else they'd avoid me.
That life taught me so many things about people. We have to embrace not only people at the highest intellectual level but also people who are down and out they're God's children, too. Some way has to be found to restore them, to embrace them.
That means I have to know about their thoughts and their life, their environment, and how they think. How else can we bring them back?
I became a leader of those kids by being the toughest kid in school. But then everybody started depending on me physically. Sometimes kids got beaten up by some bully or some gang from another school, and they relied on me.
I got kicked out of school and I went to stay at Col. Bo Hi Pak's house in Washington, D.C. Virginia schools are socially pretty tight. They separate kids into categories of people: fleabags, wombats, greasers, jocks, and nerds. I would rather not be a part of them. I was just being Hyo Jin Moon, Oriental, 15 years old, and doing martial arts that's it. I didn't categorize myself. I had many, many friends, all different kinds of people.
For any individual to cut from their past, he or she shouldn't reminisce about the good times. Candy is bad for your health, it's bad for the teeth, but it has a moment of sweetness that's why people go for it. Criminal life also has a sweet moment, and indulging in fallen nature has a sweet moment. Those kinds of experiences stay in the mind and can't be traced.
Powerful music itself is not bad. Think about how boring it would be if the world were only made of flowers. No trees, mountains, cliffs, or waterfalls just flowers.
How boring! I wouldn't want to live in such a place for more than a week. All these things combine high-rising cliffs, gigantic waterfalls, and great standing trees that show such patience, standing there for hundreds of years. How beautiful. Look at the great plains and how vast you can be if you want to be. You have dominion over all God's creation. Mountains that stand with stubborn patience all these things combined bring unity and harmony into life. The same is true with everything else, music too. Beautiful music, strong music, eye-opening music, amusing music, very soothing music, and very fun music all are needed. But the concept behind it now is wrong.
Kids are wild; they want to be wild. What is wildness?
When I see someone who is wild and strong for righteousness, that's good, but as long as it's for God. That's what I am trying to do right now. That's why I am staying on this course. I have a mind of my own. I don't just follow because Father is my father. No! Because it is true, I follow. If something is true, I follow it. I am that kind of person. If it wasn't true, if I didn't believe it was right, I'd say forget it.
People in the world think that being wild is having a midnight brawl or weekend parties. That's wild in their mind. They use the power of modern technology to get these thoughts planted in young people's minds.
Look what's happened to American society. Look at the old hippies. Their thoughts were good: love, peace, and flowers.
But what is love, peace, and flower?
What is beauty? Having an orgy, that's not beauty; getting high all the time, there's no beauty there. That's like an animal; it's just stupid. I don't see that as beautiful.
The hippies had good thoughts, but they didn't fulfill them. They stirred that whole generation. “We won't fight! We won't stand for wars! We want peace!” That's good. Who would deny that? Who in the world wants war? Nobody. But those people who yelled it out, those “voices of freedom,” were confused. Their beliefs might have been good, but the way they carried it out was wrong. They gave a whole new meaning to hell.
All this focuses on physical attraction it's like Satan working behind disguises. If I grew a mustache, got an eye operation to make my eyes appear Western, bleached my hair, and raised my nose, I could pass as an Anglo-Saxon. But my true nature is that I am Korean. Satan uses masks to disturb and deteriorate people's minds.
When people reminisce about those times [before beginning to live a religious life] when they thought that they were “cool,” they may think it was fine, that they were having a good time. But that's wrong.
I mean, we are here to change all that. You have to have pride in yourself. Pride for God not for yourself, but pride for God. You have to believe in yourself. If you don't strongly off that tendency to worry about whether you're “will,” “or ND just push it away, you'll always suffer.
Love For Heung Jin Him
I loved Heung Jin very much. I would have given anything for him. When I got my first car, a sports car, I would wash it every day and make it shine all the time. But I was going back and forth to Korea to study, and when I went to Korea, Heung Jin drove my car. I never told him he could, but he drove it and he wrecked it.
When I came back he said, “Hey Hyo, I'm sorry, I crushed the car.” He joked like that. I said, “Well, did you get hurt? It's okay, it's only a car. I love you more than my car. You cannot compare yourself to my car. I can fix it, that's okay.” We had that kind of relationship.
“What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours” – we had that kind of relationship.
I would go to his room and wear his clothes. He would come to my room and use my stereo when I was gone.
We shared so much. We shared a room since we were very young. For 10 years we shared a room. We had plenty of quarrels, too, but we loved each other. It's very difficult to relate to God sometimes because we can't see Him. He is not there when you want Him to be, you cannot touch Him when you want to. You cannot embrace Him anytime you want to. He was not there, but Heung Jin was.
What I want to suggest to Unification Church members is, to find somebody you can embrace like that, someone you can love like that inside this movement. That will give you the strength to go on. That's why Heung Jin in the spirit world is telling you that you have to unite with the True Parents and their family.
What is unity? How does unity come about? How can you want to die for someone or something you believe in?
You have to raise yourself to the level of wanting to die for someone or else you will suffer all the time. Every day you will suffer. I cannot relate to God so easily. But I love my brother very much, and that love gives me strength. When I have a hard time controlling myself, I say to myself, “EY, stop it, you love your brother.”I tell myself, “You love your brother. Stop it. Turn. Walk away. You love your father. Walk away.”
[Hyo Jin Nim was very moved and had tears in his eyes.]
That's the way I feel. And I want to tell you, my brothers and sisters, that we have to unite.
Finding Good in Others
What is unity? If you are a state leader or whatever, if you have people following you, you have to love them like your sons and daughters. Don't just try to get work done. There's more to it than that. You have to understand, love, and care for the members.
How can you do that?
Not by rejecting or criticizing the ways they are different from you or don't meet your expectations, but by trying to find something attractive in them, something of goodness.
In this world of hate, you see hate all over. But it takes a greater person to find the beauty, to find the greatness in one's self and others. Anybody can judge a person.
But trying to find beauty in one's self or someone else, even when you are at your lowest, takes a real heart. That's what you have to do. When you are taking charge of a church mission, you have to have that kind of attitude, that depth of feeling, or else it would be just like anything else out there in the world.
Dr. Sun Myung Moon
There wouldn't be any difference. That's what Father is teaching. I feel this is the right way because I used to always find something wrong in people.
I know many church members suffer, but when you suffer for other people, when you give out all your energy for others, it's never wrong. You might not gain from it currently, but you are carving a path, a big room for generations to come, for them to see, for them to follow, and for them to learn from that experience of suffering.
By doing that, you become a hero in a way, a hero for generations to come.
Now, let's say some young kids who believe in something try to fight for it, but they don't have the right concept. The Guardian Angels have a good idea. But first, they have to face the fundamental cause of crime. How can we overcome it? How can we fight it? How can we improve the world?
Let's say you have arthritis in your hand. You can find fast relief through painkillers, but it'll always come back.
But what if you want to get rid of it?
You know that all the parts of your body are connected to your spinal column. And if something goes wrong with one disc, that whole part of your body goes wrong.
All the bones dislocate themselves and calcium is deposited into that place to help you hold your posture. But some places get more pressure than others because it is wrongly set. That's why you get arthritis pain in joints. If you want to fix it for good, you have to find the fundamental cause of the pain. You have to fix it or else you will always have to rely on painkillers. And you cannot go on forever like that.
You have to work on the fundamental causes of problems. All those politicians, come on with a promise of fast relief. They do not see into the future. They cannot see 10, or 20 years from now. That's what people are doing. That doesn't seem right. That's why Father is speaking strongly at this moment.
Believing in a Greater Being
I realized all this when I was very young. At school, they explain all the facts through the theory of evolution. I am God's man. I believe in God. God is my man. I would rather not worship a monkey, I don't want to even hear that an amoeba or a monkey was my ancestor.
Do I have to go to the zoo, to a monkey's cage, to worship my ancestors?
Currently, that is the most reasonable theory. That's why people believe it. But if I want to believe in theories, I'd rather believe in a being greater than myself, a greater being, as my Father.
Sure, that was a million years ago. Before Adam and Eve, there could have been human beings. But God said to Adam: Okay, you are My child. From that moment on, they were blessed. I like to think like that. I will find out about all of those mysteries when I die. There are many mysteries that I ask myself about all the time. When I die, I'll find out. I'd rather die believing in God than not believing in Him.
Maybe I am very unbalanced, but I like to believe that my man, my Father, is up there. Scientists discover facts about life and then develop their theories to explain them. But they just observed things that already existed, they didn't create them. But where did all this come from; how and why?
I am Father's son. I have my position to uphold. I have to have credentials. For the sake of the people out in the world, I have to be prepared in every way because people out there judge people by their titles. I hate that, but I have to do it because I have to embrace those kinds of people, too. That's why, right now, blessed children have to study. I dislike school. Many teachers' minds are so narrow, so blocked. I go because Father wants me to.
I used to love sports. I used to go to the gym and do martial arts. I was an instructor. I used to exercise. I used to box for hours. You know, box and kick and kick and throw and jump up and down, for hours. I used to love it! I used to love to run around. I was always out trying to train myself. I was too much of an outgoing person. But now I have to sit down in one place.
That's what I am doing right now. This, for me, is suffering. I'd rather go out there and do something, you know. I believe in God and I want to do something about it.
I have a mission to follow, I have a mission to carry on. I say to myself, “Okay, this is the preparation stage! I'm preparing myself for my mission.” I always think to myself, “This is war! My pencil is my weapon! My enemy is over-anxiousness. I have to overcome it.” I can overcome the physical pain, but I have to overcome the mental pain. Currently, I put that as a task for myself. I have to have a goal. You can always find yourself a goal if you look hard enough.
People in our church who were chosen by Father to get a Ph.D. shouldn't feel special because of it. They should feel more burdened. Because they have potential, that means they have to use their potential. That means more hardship. In a way, I feel sorry for them. They shouldn't brag about it. They are the ones who have to suffer more.
I think many people assume that Father's children are in a very glorious place. But it is the place of the most suffering because you have to bear all the suffering of the people. I have to lead all the members from now on. You know about being a leader, how hard it is to persuade, to make other people follow. You cannot do that by force. You have to constantly think all the time. The mental burden is greater than any burden.
Hyo Jin Nim
I try not to miss even the little things. I look at an ant and wonder why he runs all the time. How can he move like that all the time? For what reason does he do that? What does he get out of it?
And how much joy does he have?
I sit there, and I want to be like a rock. People look at a cliff and think it's just a cliff. But it has been standing there for thousands of years, always patient. That's the pride of the cliff. A tree gives its shade to a hot, sweaty person, giving him relief. It changes its colors four times a year, wearing different clothes. The cliffs don't change, not so much.
They change only after thousands of years, but a tree can pride itself on being able to change often. It can make a place for mushrooms and creatures that cannot grow out in the sunlight. There's lots of beauty there, right? You can always find beauty in yourself like that. It's how you see it. It's like a pair of dice.
When you hold up a die you might see one dot, but I, looking from another angle, might see six dots. It has six sides on it. All six sides have different dots on them, but there's only one die. There can be two sides to a question, but only one answer is right. When there are two sides, one is wrong. If one is right, that means one is wrong, doesn't it?
Unite In Brotherhood
I feel that it's our church members' responsibility to bring interracial unity. I was shocked when I heard a complaint from a brother that he suffers a lot of racial prejudice in our church. He never experienced that kind of prejudice before. I don't know who is in two-stroke prison the one receiving the prejudice or the one giving it out. The one who is prejudiced against another must be a great distance from God. I was shocked to hear it.
I mean, in my church? I had heard reports that everybody loves each other here.
I realize people suffer for many individual reasons, but prejudice?
I never thought members suffered prejudice. That was a shock to me.
I love black people. One of my favorite friends is Reggie.
Do you know Reggie?
He's very emotional, you know. Black people stand up for what they believe. You know in the rallies you see the black ministers who have a deep feeling and just shout them out. Black people suffered a lot, they paid their dues. Through their blood, sweat, and tears this nation could stand. They have a lot of love. White people and black people have to cling together. We have to show the rest of this world a true standard. That means we have to be one. When you're a bank robber, when you're a criminal, how can you say to your child, “Don't commit a crime?”
How can you do that? If you have an honest conscience, can you truly say that to your child? Can you say “unite in brotherhood” to people who are walking around in the streets suffering or lost? Our church members have to know this, they have to understand this. We have to live our ideals. That's what Father wants. That's the only way we can go.
Some people pride themselves in trying to be a well-distinguished head. They don't see any further than themselves. A person who goes beyond his limit that's a good person. God needs that kind of person. God needs the kind of person who'll cry out for His sake. Not the kind of person who knows God exists but has to think about it on his terms. I think that's wrong, that's no good.
I have hope for our church. I have hope for our members. Because those people who grew up with me Reggie, Joe, John, Hiroshi, all different kinds of people, all different personalities those people can sit in the same place and love each other.
When we play in our band together, we love each other. All of us who were in the band loved each other. I feel I can say to them: You can come to me anytime, but God comes first, Father comes first, and our missions come first. To make our children happy for eternity, we have to suffer for that moment of triumph, for the moment of victory. Don't shed your tears not for you, not for me. Bite your tongue, just go on, don't look back. Don't ever look back. What we want to reach is ahead of us, not behind us.
We are here to fight. You and I know that very well. We are warriors, only going forward, never backward. We might stop but don't ever take a step back.
Question: Recently you were the coordinator of the 21-day workshop for blessed children.
What is your approach to leadership?
Hyo Jin Nim: When I look at church members, I know that they are suffering. The church needs the right leadership leaders who understand Father's heart, without any misunderstanding. It's like a book; you have to understand the whole thing. If you have a 500-page book, and you read 100 pages, you might feel that you have the whole essence, but you can't be certain.
How can you give something to other people for their well-being that you are not sure of yourself? How can you advise them?
And we are talking about the restoration, not a book, not just a simple thought or a simple state of mind.
How can we take this lightly?
I am amazed sometimes by some people who take it lightly. I surely believe they need to open up. They're young, they're adolescent. They think they are somebody, but in my eyes, they are young kids. Many people have to repent.
For example, I can beat up almost anybody physically. I know I can do it. But some people think like that even though they cannot do it. I went to martial arts contests, and I was number one. I mean, that credits me to be somebody who can beat up everybody. But I don't like to think like that. I try not to think like that, even about a person who does think like that.
When somebody touches me in a way I don't like, I say to myself, he doesn't know, he is young. I can always punch him, but it's much harder to overcome, to let him go and pass by.
Hyo Jin Nim
Just because someone is a black belt who feels bold and proud and sticks his shoulders up, sorry, but should I bow down to you?
We have to have leaders who understand that. Just because they feel they have something more than other people doesn't mean they have it. Don't take pride in yourself; take pride in others. Give them pride. You are the fertilizer for the soil that has been infertile. But if the fertilizer doesn't want to fertilize the barren ground because of its pride, what good is it?
When the world is suffering from a lack of food, develop the barren land. You have to do that. I tell the blessed children: Just love even one single thing. I hang around with them and, while I see much that is wrong, I try to see the good. Many are still adolescents, and so, many things go wrong, but it will take time for them to understand.
I open myself up to them. Occasionally when others make a mistake I quickly bow my head and don't say anything, letting them realize on their own what is wrong. I don't use forcefulness or make them suffer and struggle inside. I try to avoid that all the time.
When there is something to be fixed. I try to tell them in a way they would understand, never raising myself because I realize it. I try to be a part of the person I am talking to: I once was like you, and I went through this kind of path, these kinds of things, and I felt. This is right.
What do you think? For your sake, I tell you to follow that. I sincerely hope you will follow that.
I don't ask to be respected, I do not do things to gain respect or authority. Why do I need that? I know who I am. Why should I want to be respected? I don't do it for that reason; I do it for you. So you can go out and help other people just like you. I always say to them: Hey, I am not saying this for myself, I am saying this for your sake. You can go out and earn respect from other people. I want you to earn the respect of other people.
That's why I tell you this. You have to have pride in yourself because you are a Unification Church member, you are a blessed child. I have pride in myself because I am a True Parents' child, the son of Father. You have to have pride in who you are. You have to go on speaking with a true voice. Once you do that, I am helping you.
The only thing I am doing is helping you to be better, to gain more respect, to gain the respect of generations to come, to be a hero in your family tree.
Is that bad of me?
Am I doing the wrong thing to you?
Even when I tell people to do things, I try never to do it to make myself greater. I am a very greedy person. In my Kingdom of Heaven, I would want to have just a little stone shack by a cliff overlooking the ocean. I don't like all those synthetic-fiber, plastic houses; I like natural houses I love rock and wood houses. I'd make a fireplace and hunt for my food. I am an elementary man.
The whole sky is my roof, the forest is my house. What more do I need than someplace to sleep, protected from the rain and all those natural things that can sometimes weaken me?
What I want is something that lasts forever. I don't look for something glorious for only a moment because then I would be just a shooting star hero. I would rather not be that. I would rather be a simple, humble man and last forever than be strong and bold and live for a second. I would rather be a simple man.
That's what I believe in. I am sure that God does not disagree. He built all this for us! You don't have to try to claim it for yourself.
Question:
How can members come to understand Father?
Hyo Jin Nim: For me to see Father is not to evaluate him as a resource that lives in this physical world right now. I never try to compare my father's thoughts to the kind of concepts I grew up with in the world – concepts that I am attached to or that I can easily relate to. I try to avoid this.
First I try to get a glance of the whole, but it has more meaning than you can comprehend readily. How can you tell a depth of a thousand feet when you are only used to a certain level? You do it step by step.
We are talking about the whole thing, the world's future. If you can understand that right away, I congratulate you. I mean, even schoolwork is difficult to understand.
Hyo Jin Nim
Even solutions to mathematical problems don't come out perfect just like that. It takes a long time to find the solution. But the path of the future of the world! If you try to think about it, to understand it, you have to take it step by step.
First, understand yourself before you try to understand Father's vision. Try to realize where you stand, in this church, in your life, in your vision, in Father's vision.
You have to ask yourself that question before you ask yourself how you are going to understand the restoration of the world. How can you give yourself a perfectly good answer if you don't know yourself? Think about that. That's what I believe.
Question:
How do you learn where you stand?
Hyo Jin Nim: For example, even within my family there are many quarrels. Occasionally, those fights are over nothing. They try to find out who is right and who is wrong. And I see that if I listen to one side it makes sense; if I listen to the other, it makes sense too.
How can I decide?
I spend time with my brothers and sisters. I play a significant role in this family.
Many, many times my brothers and sisters are confused about what they see in reality, even in relationships between members. And because I have stepped a little ahead of them, I can tell from my experiences how to be a better person in Father's eyes.
I can help them right now by understanding Father, and by understanding where I stand with my brothers and sisters, guiding them to the pathway Father wants them to take. That's what he wants me to do at this moment. Because even though I am worried about the world situation, I can do nothing about it now. What can I do? Currently, this is what I am doing.
It's the same principle for you. Let's say you're on a fundraising team that goes around with ten people. Find yourself first: okay, I have this kind of character to show to God, this kind of character to be proud of. At that moment, you stop. That's your mission. Show that character to the other people. That's give and take.
And other people too, if you find some good in them, or if they find some good in themselves, stop at that moment. Take whatever level other people give you, stop expecting more, and try to assure other people. Not in an arrogant way, but in a humble way.
What is humbleness?
Always bowing, always agreeing on things? Being humble, I believe, is to be true for God. Not for one's benefit: for God's benefit, for another's benefit. I am trying to do something according to the way God looks at it, the ways of God's heart. That is humbleness.
Let's say the leader drives the van too fast and scares the sisters. And I say to him: “Sir, I know it is very frustrating to drive all day, and you're trying to get rid of that frustration by driving as if on a freeway…
We don't mind if you do that on a straight road, but please, try to avoid that on a mountain road.” In a way, I'm saying I understand where you stand, but please try to understand us in this kind of way. That's give and take, too.
You understand him, but you are also explaining your feelings freely. Everybody is going to benefit. Then everybody is safe, and they don't have to endure the kind of fright they had from going at that speed. This is just an example I am giving you. I am sure plenty of things like that happen in fundraising, witnessing, and in many other situations. You have to be keen. You have to study. Father is not just sending you out there to waste your time.
Let's say you see a mean-looking guy standing in the corner. You go up to him and say: “Hey, man, you look like hell. Why don't you change? You are good. You are God's child. You've got to change right away. You say it for his benefit, but do you think he will gain from that? He wants to kill you. You can feel it inside.
But instead try going up to him, dressed like him, and say, “Hey, man, how are you doing?” and become friends with him. Not to agree with what he believes, just to achieve your means to change his view, help him. I changed myself first; gave first that's giving at that moment. Giving is not just a material thing or just giving your words or giving your heart. Sometimes by even doing something that you don't believe in, you change for the better. Make a blueprint in your mind, a strategy.
First, I have to win his heart.
How can I do that?
By being receptive to him, I'd wear my dungarees and cut-off sleeves. I would go to him and hang around with him for a while; then I'd say to him, “Hey, man, can I be friends with you? You know I am okay. You know where I am coming from. Listen to me, hear me out. I feel there is more to it; I feel there is more to a man than showing your masculinity. What do you think, man? Let's try to share something more positive. You have been living like this for all your life.
Don't you think that now is the time to change for the better?
Why don't we do that? Why don't we do that? That's what Father means by give and take. You can always progress.
You cannot have hard feelings, you cannot have hate if you are willing to sacrifice yourself to come to the other person's level. Always embrace. That way you can always win. I had those kinds of friends. One kid was the worst kind of person you can think of: a drug-oriented, sex-crazed maniac. But I fought with him side by side. I fought for him. He changed. To my words, he'll listen. Because I am his life savior; in a physical way I saved him.
Hyo Jin Nim
There may be some people in the world who don't know the meaning of a life savior. Maybe some people out there do. I am sure some people are bad, but I am talking about people who have the potential to be on God's side, but right currently are lost in the dump. I am sure that maybe less than one percent of humanity is completely dark. The cruel people who hate and kill people and children--even those people we have to change. We have to try to do it if we can.
Question:
Not many of us members know the True Family very well. Hyo Jin Nim, please characterize, from your perspective, your brothers, and sisters.
Hyo Jin Nim: Ye Jin and I don't agree with each other so much. She is very, forceful. It's wonderful. If she were a brother about my age in this position, we'd never get along. But because she's a woman, I feel protective toward her.
I have to understand her. We sometimes have a different standpoint, and that puts me on the line to see both sides, to make a clearer judgment, and to reach a more clear answer. She helps me in many ways. She does not tell me directly, but just by being with her, and sometimes by arguing with her, she expands my direction and my ideas. “Well,' some people think like this…”Wow! Ye Jin thinks of points that I didn't even think of. That is good.
She is forceful, but there is more fragrance of love than there would be with an older brother. If I had an older brother, maybe he would be too rough and tough, too sharp and overbearing, but because Ye Jin rounds off the corners I respect her. She does not know that, but I do respect her.
Jin is very, very emotional, very heartistic, pure, and good: but occasionally, she is stubborn. That is good. Because she is so emotional and heartistic she is very sensitive to everything that goes on in the church. If you look at her while she is going around speaking, you can see she picks things up right away because she is so sensitive. That is another greatness.
Heung Jin, oh, he was a man! I was proud of my brother! I always brag about my brother. I am a physically strong kind of horse, but he is more broadened than I am in his feelings for what he believes in. He gives his life. Unto his life, he'll do what he believes in.
He loved his fellow man. He loved the people around him. He was constantly trying to think of others before himself. Let's say he was hungry and eating a hamburger. If some other kids came he would say, “My, do you want it?””That's pretty hard to say. When you are hungry, that's pretty hard to say.
When you want something for a long time, and then you have it, it's difficult to give it away, but he does. I love that. To that, I bow my head and humble myself to him. I know he is my younger brother, but still, in that sense, I need to learn. That is a great man, a true man.
Un Jin is very diplomatic, in a way, and very humble. Sometimes too humble. She always puts herself down. She knows her potential, and she knows her limit. Still, she always likes to humble herself. She does not say much, even though she may feel something. She doesn't like to discuss things with other people, even suffering.
She wants to hold it inside herself because she feels that she might hurt other people. She might make them struggle in their minds burden them so she holds herself back. That is a greatness, too.
Most people want to get out of their frustration and anger, trying to justify their actions. She would rather not do that. She always holds herself back. She is always quiet. I need to learn that.
Hyun Jin is very, very witty. He can make me laugh when I am in the most anguished state, but he also respects me. He will give his life when he believes in something or when he respects somebody. He will be a great helper to Father. All my brothers are manly. They cannot stand injustice or wrong.
But when Hyun Jin finds someone who has more of a certain quality than he does, he is the kind of person who stops at that moment and humbles himself. He becomes quiet and tries to clear his mind, clearing away even the smallest thought that maybe in some way he is better than that person. In that kind of way, he is purifying his mind for what he believes in, for the truth. He purifies his mind. That takes a great man.
Kook Jin is very, very like a heavenly judge. He likes to make everything perfect. It has to be perfectly right according to the Principle. He doesn't try to just do what he thinks is right, but he judges it according to the Principle. He is also very lovable almost like a teddy bear.
The tone of his voice is always like an echo from his heart. It rings out with truth. It's not just solid, not just penetrating. It's not sharp in a judgmental way, but it rings. Even sometimes he judges me, but he makes it sound so good, so understanding, so reasonable. That is another gift.
When most people judge, they are sharp; but with Kook Ji, it rings from his heart.
That's different, fundamentally different. That is a beautiful person.
Kwon Jin is very diplomatic in a way, too. Maybe he learned that because he has plenty of brothers and sisters, but it's his heart. He does not say even little things like, “o Jin, can you please buy me this?” or “abandon take me there?”But he will say, “Y, Hyo Jin, do you have time? What are you doing today? Do you have plans to go out? Are you going in this direction?”And I said, “Hey, do you ask me? I am just wondering.” well, I am going to get some guitar strings. Yes, I am going in that direction.” and I go with you?” He will not come to the point, not even then. As I go along, and I go there to buy it, on the way back he will say (before we get to that place), “Yo Jin, do you like video games?”I say,“ “why?”” Well, I am just wondering.”And he says, “Well, there is a video game place over here, a video arcade. Do you want to go? There is one good game there. It's fun. You can shoot all those missiles and stuff.” he tries to talk to me about what I like.
He is extremely sensitive and keen, but also cautious. He always subtly directs me to where he wants me to go. That is another talent.
In the little ones, their characters haven't shown up that much because they haven't been going out mingling with friends or other people. Sun Jin's character hasn't fully shown itself yet. She is only seven years old, but she is very pleasant to be with. Some kids that age are very, very rude and only want to do things their way. I have always been studying the bigger ones trying to be with them, to understand them, and to help them. I know them, but young girls… Sun Jin is very pleasant to be with. She always makes oppa big brother happy. Makes me proud of her. It's good to have a sister like that.
She is very plump right now and cute. But that's just external. The kind of smile she gives me is not just made up. She smiles from her heart. I feel that.
Young Jin is a very knowledgeable person; very, very philosophical.
Hyung Jin will be like a saint very loving and caring. You can see it on his face. He is always calm. A little boy's face: peaceful.
Yeon Jin will be the little one to stand up for the older ones. Every so often some kind of mediator is needed to avoid the gap between myself and her generation or level. When she grows up, she will bridge that gap. She has a kind of steady, careful, but very penetrating, piercing character.
Jeung Jin will be the unity of our family. She'll bring happiness to our family, with the kind of cute things that she does because she is the youngest one. Her character is like that; she is constantly trying to make people joyful. She always calls me (Hyo Jin Nim imitates in a high-pitched voice) Cho Chug oppa the first brother. Even though I am grumpy because I am thinking too much, she always clears that away.
Jin Whi has a very noble personality. Even though he feels things inside, things other people don't understand, he will hold them in until other people realize that that is the right step.
He has the right personality for the husband of Father's first daughter. He embraces everybody. That's the only way he could gain respect from our family. If he were a strong, bold, arrogant person, he couldn't make it in this family.
Jin Sung, I love him very much, not just because he is my friend, but because of the kind of person he is. He is intelligent. He is sharp, but it takes a real man to turn this sharpness into humbleness. But he is like that. He is a very caring person a very serving person.
That kind of person is perfect for In Jin because she is heartistic and emotional. She needs a man who wants to serve and help her, love her, and let her talent and natural goodness blossom. Father picked the best one, I think. I was for it, too. Father asked me, “Who do you think out of these three men?”I picked Jin Sung. They are all my good friends. I knew them all very well, but Jin Sung is the best for In Jin.
Hoon Sook is a very committed person. She is gorgeous and artistic inside. It's very difficult to cling to a spiritual marriage. She can do that. She has a will. She might look fragile, but she's a strong person who can love deeply; she can appreciate beauty with the utmost love. And that is the most beautiful thing loving somebody in spirit.
What higher love is there? She doesn't just understand it; she can carry it out. That's why occasionally, she is not so open, but that quietness is needed, so I don't say anything to her. She has so much to carry out; other people have to understand.
My wife, Nan Sook, is good for me. That's all I can say. I don't mean to brag about her, she is my wife. She is perfect for me. Let me say that not many girls can be good for me because I expect very much. She puts me in my place; as a husband, as Father's blessed child. She is perfect for me.
Uniting Beyond Differences I feel that it is our church members' responsibility to bring interracial unity. I was shocked when I heard a complaint from a brother that he suffers a lot of racial prejudice in our church.
He never experienced that kind of prejudice before. I don't know who is in the worst prison the one receiving the prejudice or the one giving it out. The one who is prejudiced against another must be a great distance from God. I was shocked to hear it.
Hyo Jin Nim
