EAST GARDEN, August 1984
(Click to read Part 1, and Part 2)
Part 3
This interview with Hyo-jin nim took place when he was in his early twenties. It was first published in Today’s World magazine, and has been edited slightly for length for inclusion in this series of testimonies by early members. Hyo-jin nim’s testimony is both informative of his outlook on the subjects he addresses and refreshing as a personal perspective on how his life was unfolding.
Uniting beyond Differences
I really feel that it is our church members’ responsibility to bring interracial unity. I was shocked when I heard a complaint from a brother that he suffers a lot of racial prejudice in our church. He never experienced that kind of prejudice before. I don’t know who is in the worse prison—the one receiving the prejudice or the one giving it out. The one who is prejudiced against another must be a great distance from God. I was shocked to hear it. I mean, in my church? I had heard reports that everybody loves each other here. I realize people suffer for many individual reasons, but prejudice? I never thought members suffered prejudice. That was a shock to me.
I love black people. One of my favorite friends is Reggie.[1] You know Reggie? He’s very emotional, you know. Black people stand up for what they believe. You know in the rallies you see the black ministers who have a deep feeling and just shout them out. Black people suffered a lot; they paid their dues. Through their blood, sweat and tears, this nation could stand. They have a lot of love. White people and black people really have to cling together. We really have to show the rest of this world a true standard. That means we ourselves have to be one. When you’re a bank robber, when you’re a criminal, how can you say to your child, “Don’t commit a crime?” How can you do that? If you have an honest conscience, can you truly say that to your child? Can you say “unite in brotherhood” to people who are walking around in the streets suffering or lost? Our church members have to really know this, they really have to understand this. We have to live our ideals. That’s what Father wants. That’s the only way we can go.
Some people pride themselves in trying to act very distinguished. They don’t see any further than themselves. A person who goes beyond his limit—that’s a good person. God needs that kind of person. God needs the kind of person who’ll cry out for His sake. Not the kind of person who knows God exists but has to think about it in his own terms. I think that’s wrong, that’s no good.
I have hope for our church. I have hope for our members. Because those people who grew up with me—Reggie, Joe, John, Hiroshi, all different kinds of people, all different personalities—those people can sit in the same place and love each other.
When we play in our band together, we love each other. All of us who were in the band love each other. I feel I can say to them: You can come to me anytime, but God comes first, Father comes first and our missions come first. In order to make our children happy for eternity we have to suffer for that moment of triumph, for the moment of victory. Don’t shed your tears—not for you, not for me. Bite your tongue, just go on, don’t look back. Don’t ever look back. What we want to reach is ahead of us, not behind us. We are here to fight. You and I know that very well. We are warriors, only going forward, never backward. We might stop but don’t ever take a step back.
An Approach to Leadership
When I look at church members, I know that they are suffering. The church needs the right leadership—leaders who totally understand Father’s heart, without any misunderstanding. It’s like a book; you have to understand the whole thing. If you have a 500-page book and you read 100 pages, you might feel that you got the whole essence, but you can’t be sure. How can you give something to other people for their well-being that you are not sure of yourself? How can you advise them?
And we are talking about restoration—not a book, not just a simple thought or a simple state of mind. How can we take this lightly? I am amazed sometimes by some people who take it lightly. I surely believe they need to open up.
They’re young, they’re adolescent. They think they are somebody, but in my eyes, they are young kids. Many people have to repent.
For example, I can defeat almost anybody physically. I know I can do it. But some people think like that, even though they cannot do it. I went to martial arts contests, and I was number one. But I don’t like to think like that. Just because someone is a black belt who feels bold and proud and sticks his shoulders up, sorry, but should I bow down to you? We have to have leaders who understand that just because they feel they have something more than other people doesn’t mean they have it. Don’t take pride in yourself; take pride in others. Give them pride. You are the fertilizer for the soil that has been infertile. But if the fertilizer doesn’t want to fertilize the barren ground because of its pride, what good is it?
When the world is suffering from lack of food, develop the barren land. You have to do that. I tell the blessed children: Just love even one single thing. I hang around with them and, while I see much that is wrong, I try to see the good. Many are still adolescents, and so, many things go wrong, but it will take time for them to understand. I open myself up to them. Sometimes when others make a mistake, I quickly bow my head and don’t say anything, letting them realize on their own what is wrong. I don’t use forcefulness or make them suffer and struggle inside. I try to avoid that all the time. When there is something to be fixed, I try to tell them in a way they would really understand, never raising myself up. I try to be a part of the person I am talking to: I once was like you, and I went through this kind of path, these kinds of things, and I felt, this is right. What do you think? For your sake I tell you, follow that. I sincerely hope you will follow that.
I don’t ask to be respected. I do not do things to gain respect or authority. Why do I need that? I know who I am. Why should I want to be respected? I don’t do it for that reason; I do it for you. So you can go out and help other people just like you. I always say to them: Hey, l am not saying this for myself, I am saying this for your sake. You can go out and earn respect from other people. I want you to earn respect from other people. That’s why I tell you this. You have to have pride in yourself because you are a Unification Church member, you are a blessed child. I have pride in myself because I am True Parents’ child, the son of Father. You have to have pride in who you are. You have to go on speaking with a true voice. Once you do that, I am helping you. The only thing I am doing is helping you to be better, to gain more respect, to gain the respect of generations to come, to be a hero in your family tree. ls that bad of me? Am l doing a wrong thing to you?
Even when l tell people to do things, I try never do it to make myself greater. I am a very ungreedy person. In my Kingdom of Heaven, I would want to have just a little stone shack by a cliff overlooking the ocean. I don’t like all those synthetic-fiber, plastic houses; l like natural houses. I love rock and wood houses. l’d make a fireplace and hunt for my own food. I am a very simple man. The whole sky is my roof, the forest is my house. What more do I need than some place to sleep, protected from the rain and so on.
What I want is something that lasts forever. I don’t look for something that is glorious for only a moment, because then I would be just a shooting star hero. l don’t want to be that. I would rather be a simple, humble man and last forever, than be strong and bold and live for a second. l would rather be a simple man. That’s what I believe in. I am sure God does not disagree. He built all this for us! You don’t have to try to claim it for yourself.
Continued next week….
[1] Reginald Woolridge, a singer with the movement’s performing arts in the United States