Real Vision, Real Harmony
by Josephine B.J.
If we have grown up in this faith and have read the words of True Parents fairly regularly, the concept of vision is something we need to think about and need to deal with.
If we take the words we read seriously, we see that God and True Parents have hoped for much, much more from our community. There is a vision that still exists that is much bigger than what we are currently offering. It is a big and bold dream. We also call it God’s dream – what God really wants and has always wanted for humanity.
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There are different ways to respond to that tension. One is to frame things a little bit better than they are; e.g., proclaiming that things have never been better, that we are in the golden era and that God’s nation is around the corner. But this doesn’t ring true, and what doesn’t ring true doesn’t move people — not deeply, not sustainably. Even if we’d like to do so, our consciences won’t let us ignore what isn’t going well.
The opposite tendency is to quietly resign from big dreams: to accept that we talk about grand visions all the time but they’re never true anyway. “That’s just what we do here” some might conclude, “We say big words, but we never follow up on them.” Obviously, this is also not a good way.
A big vision remains an inseparable part of our faith. We want to connect to God’s heart and God’s heart is big and endless and irrepressible. But while not denying and forgetting what we are ultimately working toward, we also need to see the next right step. Just because the ultimate goal is still far away does not make the direction of the next step any less important. What is the next step I know I can take, that I need to take very seriously, that will be a real movement toward God’s dream?
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Take the idea of “God’s nation” as an example. As long as I can remember it has always been a goal of our movement to establish a nation under God. It is clearly laid out in the history of restoration that while God worked through individuals, families and tribes, He was ultimately looking for a nation. And looking at the state of the world today, it seems obvious that God would yearn for and need a nation. He needs something more than just individuals or a small group of people.
But if our movement were suddenly given the chance to lead a nation — who would actually do it? Who is prepared enough for such a task? I know myself enough to know I am not president material. Who are the people with the great wisdom, skill, deep understanding, and strength of heart needed to handle the incredible challenge and complexity of navigating a whole country? If we don’t have them, there won’t be a nation. It would even seem irresponsible on God’s side to let us lead more people if we cannot do it with the appropriate capacity – as we could cause a lot of harm this way.
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This might sound pessimistic and of little faith, like God can’t work with me and I am simply not visionary enough for this movement. But I do have strong faith — just a different kind. It is faith in the stages we also have always grown up with: first the individual, then the couple, then the family, then the tribe/community, then the nation, then the world, then the cosmos. I believe in them.
As part of that faith, I strongly believe that we can grow greatly and surpass our own expectations in how much of these stages we can handle if we take them seriously. At the same time, we cannot simply skip a stage. We cannot accept that things in the community aren’t going well and simply hope the nation will come anyway. Furthermore, if things at the community level aren’t harmonious and functional, it is an indicator that things on the level of the individual and family aren’t fully harmonious and functional.
For those of us still here, the state of the community is probably sufficient. For us, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be nice even. We can have agreeable friendships and a meaningful personal life. As an individual, it’s fine. I don’t need everything to be perfect.
But if I take God and his heart seriously, it’s different. The stages matter beyond our own comfort. You could say to not be so consumed with the state of the community and just go and do something for the world. And I agree, in the end, even if the community is failing, you want to find ways to do something for others. But then it is always going to remain on the individual level, just my individual effort in the world. Clearly, real harmony beyond the individual, the family and within the community would give us far greater capacity to do the good that God yearns for.
But there is no short-cut to the complex harmony which includes an ever-growing number of people. On paper, you could keep it simple and try the strategy of “everyone should work together and follow the same direction provided by the central figure” and then concentrate your efforts into making people follow in a specific, pre-meditated way. In reality, when dealing with unique and creative human beings with a strong desire for freedom, this won’t lead to real, lasting and thriving harmony.
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Real harmony only comes through real depth, real wisdom, real heart, real love and real compassion at every stage: individual – couple – family – tribe/community – nation. It can only come about when individuals are genuinely connected to their hearts and to the deep yearning to do what is truly good and beautiful — and when, based on this, they become creators and developers of loving environments. Based on real experiences and accomplishments on smaller levels we need to each figure out what is truly essential when it comes to loving our neighbour and then harmonize beyond our differences in this way.
This sounds very nice. It is very difficult because it doesn’t work without individual responsibility, without more and more people stepping up to the task. No one person, however special and loving, can impose harmony from above. It has to come from each of us.
Which is exactly why it’s no wonder that we struggle. Even though we all want to have a loving community and we want to love the world and everything we always talk about is love, it is not a surprise that we struggle to create harmony on the level of community.
But I believe it is possible. And I believe in the next right step.
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We have an original mind that is calling us to our next right step, at whatever stage we can offer at the moment. Sometimes that means stepping up from the individual to the family or community level. Sometimes it might be just as important to return to neglected foundations on the individual or family level, even while already engaged in leading others. It is up to each of us to listen carefully to the truest desires of our hearts.
Your seriousness and commitment to the next right step will open doors and create new paths. It will make another next right step possible. It will inspire others to do the same. We do not know what kind of things can happen when we remain deeply serious about every stage, every step of the way. Let’s discover more beautiful and complex harmonies – harmonies that are not created by being very similar but by connecting the unique expressions of our love and faith in genuine, true and dynamic ways.