Become as Eternal as Our Roots

Dr. Ki Hoon Kim addressed leaders at the monthly leaders meeting in New York on April 8, 2015. He gave the following message about Tribal Messiahship, his hope for change in America and True Parents’ call for Unificationists to become as eternal as our roots. 

Tribal Messiahship as a Community

Thank you so much for the wonderful presentations from each organization, from New Jersey and New York and especially the presentation by Tom McDevitt about his tribal messiahship activities. One couple fulfilled the goal of giving 430 couples the Holy Marriage Blessing, and dined with True Mother. In Korea another two families also completed the 430 couple goal, and similarly in Japan two families did as well.

How about America? I will give you one tip for the sake of America’s fulfillment of the goal: in Washington, D.C., inspired by Tom McDevitt, families came together to fulfill the goal of giving the Marriage Blessing to 430 couples as a community.

Let us bring 430 couples by working together. New York and New Jersey, together we have more than 500 families. If each family brings one couple to the Marriage Blessing, we can easily fulfill the goal by the time True Mother comes here in May. So let us look for new and creative ideas with which we can achieve the goal. I want to see America fulfill its mission, as well as other providential nations.

Overcome Crisis with Change

The calendar says spring has come. I don’t know if it has really come! But spring must come, and I hope that by the end of this rainy day, maybe spring is just around the corner.

There is no time to struggle and suffer. Think about True Father’s and True Mother’s life. Even though they faced so many trials, they never stopped. After True Father’s passing, the first words from True Mother were that we must not stop here. We must advance forward with the spirit of True Father and True Mother.

Do you feel we are in crisis, or do you feel we are advancing? Crisis demands change, and without change we cannot overcome crises. We cannot keep the same spirit if we are to overcome a crisis. If we change our spirit, even though True Father is in spirit world, and center on True Mother, we can inherit the spirit of True Father.

True Mother said we can move the spirit of our Heavenly Parent by the practice of the Principle of Creation. What is the Principle of Creation? The answer is joy. By practicing love, we produce joy. So we need to change. If we feel in crisis in our daily life, in our church mission, we cannot overcome. We can see a good example in The Washington Times. We suffered a loss of over $300 million, and in just two years we changed and overcame the crisis. This year, The Washington Times is no longer in need of financial support from a third party. We really want to continue in that kind of spirit.

Think about Americans in general; they are not joyful, they do not have a happy spirit and they are not satisfied. I am an American, and most American people are like that these days. They demand change; the Obama catchphrase was about change. After four years, Americans elect a new president and try to create change once again, because they are in crisis internally and externally. Even if they change their governing body, I don’t think there is much hope, because they don’t know where to go and how to change their lifestyle. The government, although knowing that people are demanding change, doesn’t know how to bring it about. This is a problem.

After the election of the Democratic Party Americans demanded change. Then the Republicans hoped to bring change. But I do not have hope for those systems. However, we as Blessed Central Families and leaders have the greatest hope in the world during this crisis. We know where to go and how to change things. It is very clear because of True Parents.

Our Roots are Unchanging and Eternal

True Mother recently spoke about different kinds of trees and in particular about olive trees. Olive trees have very deep roots, which are the most important part for the tree’s survival. Throughout the seasons the leaves come and go, but the roots remain constant.

Before winter the leaves fall down to protect the root. So the root is our dear True Parents. We have this unchanging and eternal root, but we change easily. We should return to our original state—back to the Divine Principle. This is the teaching of True Parents.

Whenever I see True Mother and her way of administering things, her spirit is becoming more and more confidant, because she understands the Divine Principle. Of course, I have concerns about some issues around us, but, like True Mother, we know how to change it. So when we face this kind of situation, we should go back to the root to solve it.

It is like playing a sport, such as basketball, baseball, golf or football. A lot of training is needed. You know the famous Michael Jordan, who was a top basketball player. After retiring, he decided to try playing professional baseball and he attended training camp. However, it didn’t work out, because the principle of basketball and the principle of baseball are different.

For example, my son was a basketball team leader in his high school, and he watched me trying unsuccessfully many times to get a basket. Then he came to me and said, “Dad, you shouldn’t throw the ball based on the power of your arm. You have to use your knees and jump.” After that, it was a lot easier.

So everything has a principle. We are Unificationists in a movement that was founded by the Second Coming of the Messiah, True Father and True Mother, who are the embodiment of the Divine Principle, the core text of our teachings. You don’t have to worry. True Father said, when you look at me smiling and realize that I overcame all kinds of things, you don’t have to worry.

So I am really grateful that we have great leadership and a great community. We have great hope. You and I should be like that root, like True Parents, unchanging and eternal. I received great hope from seeing True Father’s smile and True Mother’s smile. True Parents taught us to be that kind of person and gave us the title “tribal messiah.”

So this year, let us fulfill our Tribal Messiahship. In Washington, D.C., New Jersey, New York, and even Elizabeth, New Jersey, they have big hopes and big dreams of giving thousands of blessings. Yes, we can fulfill it.

True Father Inherits Jesus’ Mission

We just celebrated Easter Sunday, and with this I will conclude. How did True Father carry on the mission of Jesus? When you go back and read the full chapter of John 14, about the life of Jesus and his mission, you need to think about it. Jesus resurrected and appeared to his beloved disciples, but no one recognized him as Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of Christian history. However, the disciples didn’t know about Jesus reappearing, even though they had heard him say many times, “I will come back, even in spirit.”

Dr. Michael Balcomb reminded me that it was 80 years ago on this day [Easter Sunday] that True Father received his mission from Jesus. Do you know what Jesus’ mission was? What exactly did Jesus tell True Father? What kind of mission was True Father inheriting?

True Father inherited from Jesus three things. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” According to True Father, Jesus had three missions: the way, the truth and the life. Why? Jesus said, “Without me, no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” His first mission was to recover the relationship between Heavenly Parent and humankind.

The second mission of Jesus was to introduce the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven. And last, but not least, the introduction of truth.

What is True Father really trying to teach us throughout the Divine Principle and his volumes of speeches? True Father said the greatest teaching and most important understanding is the relationship between God and human beings as Heavenly Parent and children. No other religion is so clear about this.

We Are Not Far Away from the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

Think about the closeness of the parent-child relationship. This is the teaching of True Father after he met Jesus. And how did True Father see it coming about? In True Parents together, in the ideals of Cheon Il Guk and through Foundation Day (I cannot go into depth on this, but I think it is this way), through Divine Principle, Hoon Dok Hwe (study of Scripture), the Holy Scriptures—Cheon Seong Gyeong, Pyeong Hwa Gyeong, Cham Bumo Gyeong, we are trying to realize it every day.

We have the root, and we can change right away. American people are looking for this kind of change, but we are the root and the people who can lead this country to Cheon Il Guk. This is our mission, and True Mother is really seeking this.

When True Mother met with her son, Kwon Jin Moon, in Las Vegas, he was the only one of her children she had there to whom to point this out. She told him that she wants him to find a good way to teach Divine Principle.

I think this is the same message for all of us. When you teach Divine Principle, you will regain your spirit and have a burning heart filled with True Parents’ love. We have these teachings, the Divine Principle and these messages. With these, we can change, right?

Thank you and God bless you.