2nd Place Essay by Kanna Orikasa

For a long time, True Parents were just central figures to me, and I wondered what exactly made the earlier members join the church and stay. As someone born into the church, I was not fortunate enough to be able to directly attend the True Parents as our First Generation members had. But when I read Chambumo Gyeong, I could hear True Parents’ voices, and it felt like I was directly receiving their heartfelt words.

The part I was most inspired by was Book 13, Chapter 4, “The Settlement of Cheon Il Guk and Our Path.” Here one really could hear True Mother’s voice pouring out her heart. She starts by questioning how we can “rekindle the heart and spirit as it was in the early days of our church.” She recalls memories from back when members were so devoted to attending True Father that they willingly stayed up late at night to listen to his mesmerizing words, temporarily left their own children in orphanages for the sake of mission work, and endured harsh conditions. But besides reminiscing about the passion of the past, True Mother emphasizes the need to revive that passion and make our church into one “where the lights are always on.”

Her voice is that of a mother, for despite knowing that no one actually has fulfilled their responsibility in this world of chaos and grief, she still gives words of encouragement to lift up the spirit of her audience. Specifically, she speaks to the women and youth of the world to remind them of their potential, call them out to take the lead and build a new world of true love.  True Mother stresses the fact that we are now in an era of change, and it is imperative that we take action now and not waste a single moment to “raise many sons and daughters of filial piety, men and women who are more outstanding, more trustworthy, and more loyal” than ourselves.

The ideal Cheon Il Guk citizens’ virtues of gratitude, forgiveness, love, and unity are illustrated by True Parents’ own actions of humility and embracing those who opposed them. The world may know about True Parents’ accomplishments, but True Parents reveal how much of a challenge it was for them to achieve it. They have paved the path to the settlement of Cheon Il Guk, but now they urge us to follow them in liberating God and realizing a world that attends Him.

As a whole, Chambumo Gyeong captures True Parents’ own voice, and it feels as if I am listening to my grandparents’ wise words and stories of the past. How can True Parents have so much patience, forgiveness, and hope, even when many are against them? The conclusion is that they have the heart of parents. Through reading this scripture, I felt that I became closer to True Parents and came to understand their life course, work, and dreams more clearly.