Sharing the Good News

This week in history, December 24-30:

• The first God Conference is held (December 26, 1981)
• The Little Angels perform at the United Nations (December 27, 1973)
• A letter from God is received from the spirit world (December 28, 2001)
• International Cross-Cultural (Gyocha) Marriage Blessing Ceremony is held (December 29, 2005)

December 26, 1981

The First God Conference

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

The first God Conference, entitled “God: The Contemporary Discussion,” was held from December 22 to 31, 1981 on the island of Maui, Hawaii. Dr. Frederick Sontag, distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of Pomona and author of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church (Abingdon, 1977), suggested the conference as an “internal” equivalent of the annual International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS). The conference attracted 170 participants from 33 countries and all major religious traditions. Seventy-five papers were presented, 22 of which were selected for inclusion in a resulting book, God: The Contemporary Discussion (1982).

The Youth Seminar on World Religions (YSWR) emerged out of the first God Conference. From 1982 to 1984 it sponsored annual seven-week around-the-world pilgrimages to sites associated with the religious traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Unificationism for 150 students and professors. This expanded the movement’s ecumenical and inter-religious network and involved religious scholars of the highest rank, including Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions and one of the country’s foremost authorities on world faiths, who with his wife co-chaired the first two Youth Seminars and served as chair of the fourth God Conference.

December 27, 1973

Little Angels Benefit Performance at the United Nations

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

True Father conceived the idea of forming a Korean children’s dance troupe “as a means of promoting world peace and sharing the Korean culture throughout the world.” He asked Dr. Bo Hi Pak to take responsibility for assembling the group. Dr. Pak agreed, and he traveled back and forth between the United States and Korea in developing the “Little Angels” from 1962 to 1964. The Little Angels’ inaugural tour of the United States in 1965 was difficult, and in many cases “the performers outnumbered the audience.” However, their tours were increasingly successful, and by 1971 they had performed on national television, at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games at Mexico City, and before numerous heads of state including U.S. President Richard Nixon and President Park Chung-hee of the Republic of Korea, as well as at a Royal Command Performance before Queen Elizabeth II, who broke with protocol by receiving the performers and greeting each of them, escorted by Dr. Pak. On December 27, 1973, the United Nations opened its General Assembly Hall for the first time for a cultural performance, a gala benefit for UNICEF by the Little Angels. TheNew York Times reviewer wrote, “Judging from the standing ovation the children received, their performance of sometimes exotic national dance to music played on replicas of ancient Korean instruments has a universal appeal.” True Parents also received a standing ovation when they were introduced as The Little Angels’ founders.

December 28, 2001

Letter from God

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

True Father understood Cheon Il Guk to be the nation of cosmic peace and unity. As such, it encompassed not only the visible world but the totality of creation, both physical and spiritual. As he expressed it, “The world has entered an age in which the spirit world and physical world can become one and communicate freely with each other.” Communication with the spirit world was nothing new to the Unification movement. In fact, since 1935 when he encountered and experienced a divine call from Jesus, True Father had carried on a ministry to spirit world in parallel with his ministry on earth. For most of that time this was not a matter of public knowledge. With the proclamation of Cheon Il Guk this changed. True Father insisted that messages from the spirit world be disseminated as widely as possible.

The most prominent of these was “The Cloud of Witnesses,” a collection of messages which derived from “seminars” in the spirit world, initially for four religious founders (Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad) and subsequently for leaders in their traditions as well as for famous communists. The “Cloud of Witnesses” messages culminated in a “Letter from God,” addressed to “My beloved True Parent” and dated December 28, 2001. If True Father’s lifelong goal was “to melt the block of ice frozen in the heart of God,” the letter indicated that he had succeeded.

God, who self-identified as “Jehovah, the God of all humankind,” stated: “My gratitude and appreciation for you is beyond words. The word ‘love’ is inadequate to express My feelings. … I want to embrace you in My bosom and never let you go! I would carry you on My back and never let your feet touch the ground! I would hold you, and we would talk together all night long.” Apart from this, God validated True Father’s position, stating, “You have been victorious on every level and have restored to its proper position everything that had fallen. … Hence, Jehovah, the God of all humankind, hereby bestows upon His beloved True Parent the title King of all kings.” The Unification Church subsequently published “The Cloud of Witnesses” and “Letter from God” in space purchased from leading newspapers in all fifty states.

December 29, 2005

International Cross-Cultural (Gyocha) Marriage Blessing Ceremony

Photo credit FFWPU-USA

True Parents conducted a Gyocha, “cross-cultural” Marriage Blessing between all cultures, races and religions on December 29, 2005. True Father also opened the gate for all who were blessed but lost their spouse due to divorce to be re-blessed. Grace was opened for all. True Father matched second-generation Unificationist couples and first-generation Unificationist couples and gave the responsibility to all continental directors of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) to heal the families through matching of previously blessed couples with one another and allowing them to be blessed. The Gyocha Blessing of 1,147 Couples was conducted at Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of December 24–30.