Our Passion Will Carry Us Forward

On December 3, Dr. Ki Hoon Kim spoke at the annual headquarters Christmas celebration. He shared a few anecdotes about how people’s passion gave greater depth and meaning to their lives, and encourages us to find the same kind of passion within ourselves to tell the world about our True Parents. Read the full message below.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, to our communities around the nation and brothers and sisters around the world! Thank you so much for your great and wonderful heart throughout the year 2014, working together like heavenly soldiers of Cheon Il Guk. True Mother is really looking for us to become true owners and pursue the Kingdom of Heaven here in this country. True Parents came to America and spent every day of 40 years, rain or shine, pursuing the hope that one day this country could be the first nation of Cheon Il Guk before our Heavenly Parent and True Parents.

I just came back from Wisconsin and Chicago. Since Thanksgiving, I have been sharing this one story everywhere I go:

What did you do for Thanksgiving? Of course, eating turkey and watching the football game, right? I went to upstate Wisconsin where I stayed in a remote farmhouse for four days. The owner was an 85 year-old grandmother, but she acted like she was 60. I asked her son, “How does your mom look so young?” His answer was very simple: “Because she lives in this kind of farm area where she can enjoy fresh, organic air, where she can grow plants and make food. This makes her stronger, not only physically but spiritually.”

This lady was a very big fan of the Green Bay Packers, the only NFL team owned by citizens, the citizens of Green Bay. Only 200,000 people live there, and they own a very expensive team. How did they do it? Almost every household is a shareholder of this team, costing just $250 per household. It’s not expensive, but this 85 year-old lady could not get a ticket within 30 years. She had to apply and wait. She was on the waiting list for 30 years! And she has passion for this team, too.

Now I’m from Chicago, so I told her I am a fan of the Chicago Bears. We don’t just dislike the Green Bay Packer team; we hate the Green Bay Packers team! They are always beating the Chicago Bears. My son always supports the opposite team whenever the Packers play. However I’d like to share the passion of this Packers fan with you all. How can an 85-year-old woman have this kind of passion for her team? In her home, nobody leaves the game until it is fully over, not even five minutes before the end of the game. Everybody stays and supports their team with their whole heart. This 85-year-old woman not only has passion for her team, but ownership. This is not just a team owned by citizens; this is a kind of religion. I learned so many things from her story. We have the Second Coming of the Messiah, our True Parents. We believe in them. How much do we take ownership? How often do we tell people about them, that our Savior is here? True Parents are here for all humankind.

True Mother really wants True Parents’ birthday to be a national and worldwide holiday. I really want you to have passion to tell the world, “Our Savior is here. The Messiah is here.” This is like the Christians’ mission to tell people about Jesus. A few days ago I was at the Chicago O’Hare airport and I saw an old man around 70 years of age. He was walking around with a picket sign that read, “Jesus is Here. He Will Save You.” He was walking around the Chicago O’Hare airport like this. I would like to shake the hand of such a man, who, no matter what, has passion. He had the passion to testify about Jesus.

There was a big story in Times Magazine last week about a young gentleman, age 26, named Peter Kassig. He was a student at Indiana State University and he came back from the war in Iraq after three years. He returned to college, and while studying never forgot the suffering he saw in the war zone: refugees, women and children, those who lost their home and their parents. He decided that was God’s call, and without even his Army uniform he went back. This gentleman came back to the war zone instead of studying, and he was killed by an Islamic militant group last month. The world knew about him. American people know him as a patriot.

Those who have passion are moving forward. Let us have passion testify to our True Parents. Wherever you go, try to testify the good, joyful news. Thank you and merry Christmas!