We are already one quarter of the way into the 21st century. This is not just a new century but a new millennium. Did we not expect some kind of new beginning for humanity to come with this new millennium? Certainly, I hoped for a world of peace, a new age of prosperity building on the great advances of the 20th century. Sadly, this has not been the case.
I had an interesting experience as I was waking one morning. I was struck by a deep feeling of sadness. The sadness was so pure, completely devoid of any anger, or accusation, just genuine sorrow that could only come from Heaven. With that feeling came the message, “You won’t be alive to see it.” I understood that “it” refers to the new age for humanity, the “Promised Land,” God’s Kingdom on earth, and that this will not happen in my physical lifetime. No, it wasn’t announcing my imminent death! It meant not just my lifetime as an individual, but the physical lifetime of all of us of my generation (the “Boomers”). This is indeed sad.
When we look around it is obvious that the 20th century was a special time. Advances in human thinking as well as external advances in science, technology, and all aspects of human culture moved forward at an incredible pace. Those of my generation have lived through amazing achievements, from the first commercial flights to human beings walking on the moon, breakthroughs in medical science including organ transplants, not to mention the advent of information technology including smartphones that are so much more powerful than the first computer I used that required a whole building. We remember when not every family had a telephone, and when they did it was a party line shared with several neighbors; when the first televisions appeared that showed only a few channels in black and white and played the national anthem at the end of the day’s broadcasting; when music was played on gramophones that had to be wound up by hand. I could go on. It’s been an amazing life!
But, with all these advances, why are we still suffering? Why are people still living in poverty while others have more money than I can imagine? Why are we still having wars? What has happened to the family, to morality, to ethics? Why do we still hurt others, emotionally and physically, even kill them? Why do people adopt conflicting ideologies and hate each other for their different views? Why are we still arguing about whether God is male, female, or both, or even exists? Why are women still undervalued and male-dominated patriarchies predominate?
Is a world of peace possible? And if so, when, and how will it come?
The answers to these questions, and more, are not found in the existing writings of any faith. Some suggest a Messiah, a savior, some kind of superhuman, maybe even God incarnate, will come to save us and establish God’s Kingdom. But when? And is that a realistic idea? If all we have to do is do what this Messiah tells us and all will be well, what happens to our human free will and responsibility? Are we not the highest of all creations, to be the stewards of all, and even to be co-creators with the Creator in bringing about this ideal world of peace, prosperity, and happiness for all? We should not expect to depend on one messianic figure to dictate our lives, leaving us as forever inferior to this perfect person.
If anyone is going to save us, they should be a pioneer, showing us the way to live so that we can follow that example, based on our own choices. Also, we need a perfect woman as well as the usual male savior. In fact, we need a model ideal family, with happy parents raising beautiful children to become wonderful adults who carry on this ideal. A man alone can never do this, even if he is “perfect.”
It cannot be an easy task, just having faith and obedience in a special person or persons; there has to be more to the ideal than that. Any Creator God that I am interested in knowing would not have created us to be robots, or clones, but gave each of us individual free will with accompanying responsibility. In other words, we are free to make bad choices and pay the price for our mistakes.
Every religion or mythology includes not only the creation of the world including human beings, but also wrongdoing on the part of the first human ancestors. That wrongdoing has never been corrected. We continue to pay the price for those bad choices. When and how will we ever learn to get it right, to live the way life should be?
Surely God knows the answer. Well, at least God knows what we did wrong and what we need to do to fix it. The when is less certain. Surely that depends on us, on our choices, when the price for mistakes has been paid and God gives us the opportunity to get it right.
A recently published text, Divine Heart Principle, gives hope that answers are being revealed. The author of this book, Ye-Jin Moon, is the first daughter Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han, the founders of the Unification Movement. As such, she is in a unique position to carry on their work as bringers of peace to the world.
I was privileged to be one of her professors while she was pursuing her doctorate at Unification Theological Seminary (now HJI), and was greatly impressed by her passion for academic excellence. Her dissertation on gender balance, which reveals the reasons for the predominant understanding of God as male and the prevalence of patriarchal culture in human society even today, was truly groundbreaking.
This new text goes far beyond that work, explicating in detail the nature of God, the creative process, and God’s ideal for human beings as the highest of all creations. It then covers the full timeline of human history, from the very first human beings until today, revealing the human mistakes that have led to the current situation we face today.
This text is not for the faint of heart. It is the author’s life’s work, based on academic research, in depth study of scriptures, and countless hours in deep and tearful prayer. It is truly a monumental work, and much needed at this time of ideological confusion and division.
The book is not written for a particular faith; it speaks to all humanity. It clearly explains that the vision of an ideal world of peace and prosperity for all of is not an unreachable pipedream; it is the Creator’s plan for all of us. Equally, though, it clarifies that this will not arrive on a “silver platter” at some time decided on by an all-powerful God. Rather, there is human responsibility to co-create a world that will bring joy and happiness to all.
Reflecting on my experience of Heaven’s sadness, this work gives me hope. Even if I may not see it in my physical lifetime, the Divine Heart Principle gives us the tools to move forward toward the goal of complete restoration and establishment of the ideal. Surely it will not be another 2000 years of waiting, like it was from Jesus until the 20th century, before we can make another attempt at creating a world of peace. I can live with that.
The text is in four parts, with Part I already published. The Introduction, which is included in Part I, discusses the content of the full text, ending with a review of the current world situation together with human responsibilities at this time. Part I covers God’s purpose of creation, the human portion of the responsibility to co-create His/Her Ideal, and human history from Adam and Eve until the time of Noah. This volume is available to purchase now.
Divine Heart Principle Part I can be purchased in hardcover, paperback, and ebook (ePub) formats, from Lulu.com.
If what is contained in this text is truth, it is sorely needed today. As I continue to study it, I look forward to more and more people engaging with its contents. Perhaps then we can focus on establishing the world of peace that has eluded us throughout human history.