Coming Closer to True Mother
In the following testimony, Dr. Michael Balcomb, Regional Chairman of Family Federation Europe and Middle East reflects on the recent Vienna events and his interactions with True Mother during his time as a Unificationist.
Holding events with True Mother
Two years ago, our American Unificationist family celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Yankee Stadium Rally at Belvedere. Just as at Yankee Stadium in 1976, it had rained, but it didn’t rain until the very end of True Mother’s speech. Several thousand Unificationists gathered that day and we were tremendously excited to have True Parents back at Belvedere, and to have True Mother speaking on that auspicious anniversary.
After this successful event, we realized that we needed to make a bigger and better offering, and following the lead of Korea, Japan and Thailand, we were able to fill Madison Square Garden in New York. It was the first time in many years to have such a large gathering.
Immediately following the great success of the “Peace Starts with Me” rally at Madison Square Garden in July 2017, True Mother assigned my wife and I to Europe and the Middle East. From the very beginning, True Mother was interested in holding a similar Rally of Hope in Europe, and it was our goal to make it happen as soon as possible.
In the early stages of planning, one of the questions True Mother asked us was, “You are aiming to bring ten thousand people, but if you do, are they all going to be Unificationists?”
I replied, “No; at most, half will be Unificationists, so the other half will have to be people we witness to, or friends or relatives.” That was what True Mother wanted to hear—that we would make the effort to bring new people. We felt a great deal of support from True Mother for the Vienna event from the very beginning, and I think that’s what made our success possible.
True Mother’s concern and advice
After True Mother arrived in Vienna, we had breakfast with her every morning. This was an opportunity to report to her what had happened the previous day. In response, True Mother felt free to make suggestions and give direction, just as True Father always did.
One morning, True Mother suggested that we should follow up with those who could not attend the event. She said, “Don’t give up on them. You cannot just move on. The seeds have been planted but they need to be watered; they need to be cared for.”
True Mother is a true student of God. I think people don’t recognize this enough, which is why sometimes there is controversy about some of her statements. To give an example, True Mother said something along the lines of, “True Father didn’t educate me; I had to learn for myself.”
What I learned from True Mother is that you need to actively seek out your responsibility. You can’t just sit back and think, “Maybe the responsibility will pass by on the other side of the street.” If you have made a commitment to God, you have to cross that street and meet your fate and your destiny. What I see True Mother doing, particularly in the last five years, is crossing the street to confront her destiny, to tackle the issues our movement faces, with confidence that we are going to win.