Across the table, around the world
A selection from Hak Ja Han’s Moon Memoir (from p.275)
5 minutes
An image shimmers faintly in my memory, like a gleam of sunlight reflected by the dew on the grass. I was sitting across the table from my husband, right after our Holy Wedding. He gazed at me with the over- whelming heart of God. It seemed as if a waterfall of tears was about to burst forth from his eyes.
That experience, the two of us sitting together at a small table to eat, treading the path of hyojeong in front of God, recurred many times on our path as True Parents. We communed without a worry, sitting across the table from each other, during the three years we ate only boiled barley, and when we barely had time to catch our breath while on speaking tours, visiting two or more countries in a day. We were grateful for everything, and everything was a source of happiness.
The annual Festival of Sharing True Parents’ Favorite Dishes is like sitting across the table from all blessed families. The blessed families are true children of Heaven’s lineage to whom my husband and I have given birth through our tearful embrace. They are called by Heaven, so I call them chosen blessed families. True Father and I will sit across the table from these chosen blessed families forever. We will not forget for even a moment our countless children’s intense tears and streaming sweat as they endured lonely struggles for the sake of God’s will. My one regret over the Festival of Sharing True Parents’ Favorite Dishes is that I cannot personally place a delicious meal before each of my beloved children around the world, and sit across the table from them. […]
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True Parents’ guiding life philosophy is “live for the sake of others.” Wherever I may go, I practice living for the sake of others. I always try to love people more than their own parents or siblings do. People tend to keep the best things for themselves and give things of lesser value to others, even in the relationship with their own parents. If you pursue only personal gain, chains of addiction and greed will tie you down. If you constantly put others first and live for their sake, you are on the path to eternal freedom and blessing.
When I see people in need, I give them whatever I have. A world where everyone gives their best things to others is a world of joy. This is my life philosophy. People who live only for themselves will soon hit a wall. You need to live your life with love and generosity.
Many people suppose that Father and Mother Moon are wealthy. The truth is, we have never owned a house, a car, anything. I am sure no one has been as thrifty as my husband and I. How can we possibly eat good food and sleep in comfort while knowing that missionaries are working through the night at home and abroad? We direct that all donations from church members be used for the poor through build- ing schools and other projects.
We have established businesses around the world—fisheries, machine tool plants, pharmaceutical companies, newspapers, hotels, and more. Our members built schools in Senegal, Mozambique and Zambia; a school for the handicapped in Lagos, Nigeria; an orphan- age in Natitingou, Northern Benin Republic; clinics in Cotonou, Benin and Nigeria Cross River State; a sausage factory in Lusaka, Zambia; a hamburger franchise in Côte d’Ivoire; an agricultural school and a food processing factory in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; a farm in Lusaka, Zambia—and that is just Africa. We never focused on making a profit; it was to benefit the host nations, create jobs and improve society. We endured hunger because we knew there were people who were hungrier. We should not be indebted to Heaven. People who follow the