What We Call Death Is Really a Time of "Birth" or "Ascension"

Kwon Jin Moon August 12, 2014 Chairman of the World Martial Arts Federation for World Peace At the banquet on the Second Anniversary of Sun Myung Moon’s Seonghwa Cheon Jeong Gung HC 7.

Hak Ja Han with Sun Jin Nim and Kwon Jin Nim at the banquet

Your Excellencies, Distinguished World Leaders:

It is a special privilege and an honor for me, and my entire family, to have the opportunity to share this day with all of you. Thank you for being here. I want to thank all of you for attending the World Summit and this Seonghwa anniversary luncheon.

I am quite amazed by the extraordinary quality and diversity of the World Summit delegates, including many heads of state, heads of government, first ladies, United Nations officials and religious leaders. There is a great deal of power and capacity assembled in this room, and we sincerely hope the UPF World Summit can be a catalyst for peace, stability and prosperity throughout the world.

This morning’s program was very significant, and it means a great deal to my mother and my entire family that you participated in this second anniversary of my Father’s Seonghwa, or ascension. While I was growing up, my father and mother always taught us about the importance of God and the true meaning and purpose of our lives. While each of us was encouraged to try to excel in school and to develop our God-given talents, we Kwon Jin Nim welcoming everyone to the banquet also were repeatedly reminded that our ultimate destiny is not in the physical world. Our ultimate home and final dwelling place is in the spirit world.

With this in mind, my parents always reminded us that what we call death is really a time of “birth” or “ascension.” It is a time of transition from the physical world to the spiritual world. Each and every one of us will one day pass into the spiritual world. Even when we speak about one family under God, we do not mean only this world but also the spiritual world, where all our ancestors dwell. For this reason, as much as we all miss my father, we also look forward to the day when we will meet with him again.

What is most important about our lives on earth is that we develop ourselves morally and spiritually, so that when we finally enter the spiritual world, we are people who have developed the capacity to love God and one another. If we live selfish or corrupt lives during our earthly lives, our spirits do not develop

correctly. If we have been hurtful to others or have misused money, we will not want to lift up our head in front of God and our ancestors.

The commemorative banquet

Therefore, on this day, we are not simply looking to the past. rather, we are thinking of the incredible love and the lifelong labors of my father; how he dedicated every day of his life, every minute, every hour, to try to carry forward God’s providence. He always talked about living our lives without casting any shadow, as at “high noon.” That is how he lived. The same is true of my mother.

I am so proud of my mother. Even though she has experienced a very sudden and incredible loss of her husband of fifty-two years, she has immediately stepped forward to carry on the mission she and my father started as True Parents.

So, while this is in some ways a day of remembering the past, more importantly it is a day of looking to the future. Many of us are thinking about the ways in which we can work harder to achieve the goals that my parents devoted their lives to fulfill. They have wanted nothing less than to try to help God, our Heavenly Parent, build a world of universal peace, happiness, unity and true love: one family under God. I truly hope we can work together toward this goal. If we work together, we can transform the world. That is our hope.

Once again, I welcome you here on this special Seonghwa anniversary day. May God bless each one of you, your family and your nation.