Have Internal Confidence (January 6, 2008)

Have Internal Confidence through Overcoming Obstacles
Hyung Jin Nim
January 6, 2008

Some members say that they cannot make time for the family because their works are busy. Then, I want to ask you. Did you see the TV drama Chumon? Many of you answer that you saw it.

God gave not a life of failure but a life of victory to blessed families in the Unification Church.

Then, isn’t it an excuse that you cannot make time for the family? We need to succeed in every part of our life. It is not for your boasting of it. It is because God blessed us in living a life of victory. God gave not a life of failure but a life of victory to blessed families in the Unification Church. On the way for success, there is only one obstacle: It is myself

Therefore, it is very important to manage myself. True Father also said that it might become the biggest devil, Satan, and enemy.It is important to train myself and make myself strong preventing from becoming the enemy. You have to give power to me, become a friend of mine, and inspire me. When we live our lives, we desire to be encouraged by others. However, we can not expect other people to encourage us always, so we have to raise our ability to encourage us by ourselves.

People usually want to tell how many difficulties there were in their life, or how big mountains of hardships they overcame. However, instead of talking about your difficulties, we should talk about God who was together with me who overcame the mountains (difficulties) We should tell how big God was, and then, how big I became by overcoming difficulties. However big adversity we may fall into, we should overcome the adversity. You have to see such strong myself, and have confidence internally.

Everyone encounters obstacles in his/her life. Everyone has pains. Whatever you may do, there would be a painful time spiritually and physically. However, through the time of endurance, your victory would become more valuable. It is a real victor who can overcome the adversities. If we escape from the difficulties making an excuse, it actually kills our future and our blessing. To give up might be easier in a sense.

When you are betrayed by the person whom you loved and devoted yourself to, it is difficult for you to love others again. Even in such a time, we have to be able to love people again.

The farther you go, the more obstacles you encounter. There will be many challenges. There will be many mountains you have to overcome. Such is life. When you overcome these challenges, you can get wisdom, and your mind is trained.
Have you ever climbed a mountain? It might be difficult during climbing a mountain, but once we stand on the top of the mountain, we feel good, we won this mountain. We can feel joy of achievement.

By the way, after reaching the summit of the mountain, we have to go down next. It is easy to praise God on the top of a mountain, but it is not easy to praise after going down, or when we look up at the next big mountain. Everyone can praise God and thank God in a good time of his/her life. Everyone can do it. Even children can do it. However, in time of trials, when people betray us, or when people take advantage of us, it is more difficult than anything to be thankful for it. In such a moment, we go through a trial. When you are betrayed by the person whom you loved and devoted yourself to, it is difficult for you to love others again. Even in such a time, we have to be able to love people again.

Be careful of your thinking. If you are not careful of your thinking, it becomes words. Be careful of your words. If you are not careful of your words, it becomes your action. Be careful of your action. If you are not careful of your action, it becomes your habit.

Everyone! Love does not mean a certain feeling. If we think love is a certain feeling or emotion, we cannot find true love. Love is practice. Love is not a noun but a verb. Some people tend to tell that they cannot feel love between husband and wife, and tend to doubt the love between husband and wife. However, they do not know what love is. Love does not mean only a certain feeling.

After you have your children, there will surely be a time when you are disappointed with the children. Your children sometimes do not listen to your words. Actually, it is children who give you hardest trials. In a sense, children might make the parents grow. I also learnt a lot from my children. When we raise our children, our attitude should not change. It is not good that our attitude is sometimes good, and sometimes bad. We have to love them consistently.

Heart Training by Rev. Hyung Jin Nim (June 28, 2007)

Heart Training

Rev. Hyung Jin Nim

June 28, 2007, Japan

Good morning.

Every day I do a “heart-training” together with brothers and sisters. I would like to do it here also before I start to speak.

First, let’s warm up. Please close your eyes. We’ll do a little warm-up. Imagine your kitchen. Imagine it in detail – where you have chopsticks, where the table is. Actually it’s a bit difficult to visualize everything in detail. However, if we start moving within this image, we’ll be able to see everything more precisely.
For example, let’s go to the fridge. See how your hand moves and opens the fridge. When you open it, you see a glass of water. Take it in your hand. Feel its wetness and temperature, feel how cool it is. Drink the water and put the glass on the table. As you have experienced, it’s much easier to visualize things when you move.

Now, imagine that you are not in your kitchen, but in a cell of the Hungnam Prison, alone. Right in front of you, there’s a window with a bar it. See how you hand moves towards it, and grab the bar. Feel it.
It’s made of steel. It’s cold. You cannot move it. Now look at the wall to your right side. Walk towards this wall. See how your hand moves. Stroke the wall. It is very old, so when you touch it, little stones peel off the wall. Look at the back side of the room. There’s a metal bucket in one corner. Walk towards that bucket. Watch both of your hands go toward that bucket. Take it in your hands. You know what this is. It’s the toilet that prisoners use. Father says that when he was in prison he slept right next to such a bucket to train himself.

Go back to the center of the room. Right in front of you there is a window with a bar. Sit down on the floor. Touch it. The earthen floor is cold. In this place, in this environment, let us say a prayer for 3 minutes, which Father used to say all the time when he was in prison.
When you inhale, say, “I’m alive,” when you exhale, say, “Thank you!” Keep saying these words as you breathe in and out. Control you mind and body during these 3 minutes and don’t move. Let’s start our prayer. When you inhale, say, “I’m alive,” when you exhale, say, “Thank you!”
Look once again at the wall to your right side. We hear that Father is right in the next room. In your imagination rise, make a step towards that wall and make a full bow in front of it.

Thank you for your efforts. Father says he kept saying that prayer of gratitude while in Hungnam prison. He says he even thanked people who beat him while his hands were tied. He also was grateful to the people who fed him, even though they were simply throwing food to him as if he were a dog. Sometimes when we drive a car we turn on a radio and listen to a program. Imagine that every time you turn on a radio the announcer says, “You’re a looser. You’ll fail, no matter what you do.”
Would you like this kind of program? Sure, you wouldn’t. However without our being aware of this, our mind broadcasts this kind of a program. According to one scientific survey, every person has 50 to 60 thousand thoughts a day, and more than 30 thousand of these thoughts are negative.

Through our training we must learn to change these negative thoughts. We need to train ourselves, so that whenever these negative thoughts come to us – “I’m a looser. I can’t do it. I’m going to fail,” we can think, “Father was in much worse circumstances and still he was grateful, therefore my heart must be like his.”
One scholar made a study of our church back in 1970s. He pointed out that most members of the Unification Church were single. Is Family Federation an organization of singles? But in 1970s he wrote that in his survey. Now, in 2007, the circumstances of our church have greatly changed.
What are these changes? In 1970s most members were working for the church full time. Are you still doing it now? You received the Blessing and have children. So, now, in 2007, we are not a church of single people anymore, we became a family church.

For the first time in our church’s history we have families with 3 generations – grandparents and grandchildren – in our church. Actually the age has come for the first time in history when we can embody all principal notions of our philosophy: the four-position foundation, the four great realms of heart, the three great kingships, the ideal of true family and so forth. We couldn’t do it in 70s, because church members didn’t have families. So, I view this time as very important.
Try doing like this – look at you fingers and quickly connect tips of your index fingers. Do it only once. It’s not difficult, is it? Now close one eye and try doing it again. It’s more difficult, right? Our two eyes should move in accord with each other. By the same token, it’s important that the development of our church is accompanied by strengthening of our families.

Sermon: God's Invaluable Peace (January 12, 2008)

Reverend Hyung Jin Nim Sermon
January 12, 2008
Headquarter Church, Seoul Korea

Let’s remember that God has guided each and every one of you until this point (until this day). It’s important, of course, to know how far we have to go and to outline many times the goals we have to accomplish, but it’s equally important to acknowledge how far we’ve come and how many trials we’ve been through, how many challenges we’ve overcome.

Yeon Ah Nim’s Message:

We often heard how intense the early stage of our church (was). People literally threatened True Father and True Parents. At times our members even physically fought back to overcome the persecution. We Unificationists have overcome, have been through all these hardships as real issues (in real life).

However, when we think of our Church now, we face now bigger and invisible enemies that lie within us. The only one who prevents us from our God given gift is ourselves, when we think about it. Our God given gift is to be victorious, to illuminate this world and have peace in our hearts. I sometimes ask myself, “Am I really proud of being a Unificationist? Do I really have peace as Unificationist?” When somebody asked me, ‘What tradition are you from?’ Did I want to avoid that question? Or was I embarrassed to tell the truth?”

If I don’t have peace in my heart as Unificationist, if I don’t teach to have peace as Unificationist to our children, they also will not have peace in their hearts.

When True Parents were persecuted, they did not physically fight back, but they had peace in their hearts, they knew that they were good. Brothers and sisters, Blessed Families, we Unificationists are good people. That I firmly believe and we are blessed to know True Parents. From today let us choose to live the blessed life that True Parents blessed us to live and have peace in our hearts and peace in our minds. Aju.

Sermon: Learning to work with your God's given Ability (January 5, 2008)

Video of Sermon
Headquarter Church, Seoul
Jan. 5, 2008

It is important in our life to find our God’s zones, the zone in our life wherein God is working through us to actualize what He is doing. And let’s remember, that in our own life, when we really examine ourselves, that we have a world class person within us. There’s something in our life that we are world class at. It maybe some field, it maybe even a subfield within a field or particularly in a discipline. But to find that zone where God can work through us, becomes so important.

Yeon Ah Nim’s Message:

When I was young, I really thought that True Father was God. When my father was a minister, I was very used to bowing in front of a big picture of True Parents on the wall. After about 10 years of being very close to True Parents, I once again thought, that True Father is not really a human. I thought that as a human being no one can pour that much love into people. When I think of True Father, he truly doesn’t have time for himself. He always shares his time with the public. After 2008 God’s Day Ceremony True Father was eating lunch with the True Children, and as we were eating True Father briefly talked about his ministry life.

He said, if he did not make his congregation happy, he felt down and he literally said that he went around crying with guilt until the next sermon came. When I heard that, I felt, “Oh, True Father is really human, yes, that is right, he’s a human, who really tries to actualize God’s word.”

And strangely enough because of that I could appreciate True Father more deeply. Brothers and Sisters, they are our True

Parents and they love us and they love you and they believe in you…AJU

Hyung Jin Nim's Inaugural Address (December 1, 2007)

Induction Ceremony as Senior Pastor of the Headquarter Church
December 1, 2007

Dear members, Good morning. I do not know what I can say to you who have worked hard for the church. In 1999, my elder brother Young Jin Nim passed into the spirit world. His ascension was a great shock for our family. Since then, however, I can feel that our family has grown and matured. It was from then that I began my 21-year-course. That was about the time I shaved my head and began wearing the long robes (he laughs). There was a lot of talk around me.

Curiously though, Father never reprimanded me but always supported and encouraged me..

Actually I was afraid of what True Father would say to my appearance. Honestly speaking I was actually waiting for Father’s judgement, wondering, “When is he going to scold me?”
Yet strangely during the six years I spent with that shaved head, not once did Father scold me for it. I am also quite shocked when I look at the pictures of myself from that time. I was completely bald. I looked exactly like a Buddhist monk. Yet, Father supported me and encouraged me.

Continue your studies, study the world religions. Learn from all religion; once you penetrate their teachings you will become God’s most beloved son.

At that time I had many doubts about myself. I struggled deeply, wondering, “What is the meaning of life?” and “What kind of path should I now follow?”. Curiously, Father never reprimanded me; but he always supported and encouraged me. He told me, “Continue your studies. Study the world religions. Learn from all religions; once you penetrate their teachings you will become someone God deeply loves.” He said these things to encourage me. That was when I became a genuine Unification Church Member.A group of buddhist monks from the Jogye Order once visited Harvard University, when I was a student there. With the professors I met those monks.

I tell Father, “Father, we grew up in your love. Your grandchildren are also being raised in your love.”

Along with these monks there were reporters from the Joongang Ilbo and Gonga Ilbo (Korean newspapers). They knew I was the son of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and seeing my shaved head they interviewed me. One of them asked me, “Didn’t your father kick you out of the house?” (laughter from audience). I told them candidly, “I honestly thought my father would kick me out. But instead he supported and encouraged me, telling me to continue with my studies. He embraced me in his love. That’s the only father I know.” I am the youngest son in my family and thus grew up in my father’s love. While I have been living in Cheongpyeong with True Parents, I have seen Father express love to Shin Joon and Shin Deuk. I told him, “Father, we grew up in your love. Your grandchildren are also being raised in your love.”