In honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the founder of CARP, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, CARP hosted a writing contest for students to submit what inspires them about Father Moon’s legacy. Here is the first place entry:
By Mia Taguchi, CARP Las Vegas
When I was little, I had a hard time falling asleep. I would lie in bed hearing the sirens of firetrucks and police cars zipping by my home, afraid that one day I’ll wake up to find that the people I loved were gone. Like many adults, my parents would have the news channel constantly turned on, and that impacted me greatly. Perhaps I was more sensitive than others, or maybe I was simply more easily paranoid, I’m not sure. But the undeniable reality that the world was not a good place terrified me. Every night, my mind became filled with a whirlwind of horrific possibilities, each one just as bad as the one before it.
With time, I came to understand that despite the prevalence of violence and crime that the news always talked about, I and the people I love were not prone to it. The thought didn’t ease my mind entirely, but it was enough for me to go to bed a little bit more at ease.
As I got older, the pain of reality became more evident in different ways. While I was no longer haunted by the possibility of crime, I was struck with the knowledge that pain and brokenness could be found everywhere. It didn’t take knowing a lot of people to understand that the lives people have lived were far from ideal. For everyone, pain and heartbreak was real. What rested heavy on my heart each night became a matter of the current circumstances of others, instead of the fearful possibility of what can come. I wanted to believe that this world was a good place, that there was a version of the world where everyone was happy and safe. Yet, there was no denying the reality.
Doubt for the goodness in this world crept into my life like droplets of water from a leaky faucet— slowly but cumulatively. I once prided myself in my pursuit for a world of peace that I believed in wholeheartedly. It took time for me to realize that my belief in such a world was no longer present. I found myself doubting people and God and the motivation of others and not knowing why. My natural inclination to be righteous and forthright never wavered, but I questioned why doing the right thing mattered so much to me when goodness wasn’t promised at the end. Preaching about a good world was one thing, but living a life that would allow for such a good world to come about was another. I couldn’t fathom the thought that those who talk of a good world could also be the ones inflicting pain on others.
I grew up knowing Rev. Moon as a man that changed my parents’ life. My parents made sure I never forgot that. While I never met him or his wife in person, I always knew I wanted to. From a young age, I had dreamed of the day that I would meet them and thank them for everything they have given me. I had no idea who they were or what they had done; I only knew that my parents were living better lives because of them and for that, I was grateful. Without Rev. Moon and his wife, my family would not exist.
Yet, over time, I began to doubt them too. Just as learning the reality of this world had corrupted my belief for the potential goodness in this world, it had also begun to corrupt my belief in the people that Rev. Moon and his wife were. They may have made my parents’ lives better, but I know some others who had it differently. Striving for the ideal in this world is hard no matter how much a person wants it. That thought crushed me inside and furthered my doubt for the world. It seemed as though despite what people did for the sake of world peace, lives were hurt in the end. I couldn’t bear that thought.
It took years for me to finally start to understand the essence of Rev. Moon and his teachings. I had heard his teachings many times before, but it was only through learning about the life that he lived and the sacrifices that he made that I started to truly see what was behind everything he taught.
He spoke of a God of love that cared for everyone. He spoke of marriages that were centered on selfless love. He spoke of children raised in beautiful and happy families. He spoke of a world that God had originally created that we are still meant to have. He spoke of the potential of humankind and each person’s capacity to change the world in unimaginable ways.
But it was only in looking at the life that he lived did I truly start to understand what he spoke of. I learned of the sacrifices he made in giving up his family to pursue the Will of God. I learned of the pain he had to endure going through prison six times, unjustly. I learned of the immense persecution he received for speaking the truth. I learned of the children he lost along the way. I learned of the lives that were lost from following him and the heartbreak he felt as a result. The more I learned of his life, the more I began to see that this man was a man of his word. He didn’t just speak of the world changing and the potential it had; he lived every moment to exemplify those facts. He showed us first hand how to change the world.
Reverend Moon was the one who believed in world peace the most—and lived every moment of his life according to that belief. I had never known anyone to be so willingly misunderstood for the sake of pursuing something so great. Those misunderstandings led to an onslaught of suffering and pain that isn’t even fathomable. However, despite all of that, he never gave up hope.
Rev. Moon was fully aware of the pain and suffering of the world, yet he did not let that fact phase him. Rather, it was this pain and suffering that drove him to work harder each day. To him, the need for the world to change was evidenced in the reality of our circumstance; It was his prime motivator for the way he lived his life. Rev. Moon recognized that each day that he did not strive to make the world change, was another day in which the world will continue to suffer. This thought pushed him to strive for solutions in this world that were not temporary. He saw that much of the problems in this world began in a fundamental societal structure - the family. Thus, his biggest efforts were towards raising people who could create beautiful families.
Rev. Moon passed away in 2012. While there is still a lot of work to be done in the pursuit of world peace, Rev. Moon left behind a legacy of love that never gives up. Even until his final breath, Rev. Moon did everything he could to make the world a better place. He only died with the regret that he couldn’t do more.
There is a long way to go before we can fully reach world peace. Many people find it hard to believe that it’s even possible. I know for myself, there were moments when I felt that way. The reality of this world can be overwhelming and difficult to face, but I have learned to have faith in the ideal. The ideal is possible and there’s power to believing in it. There’s power in knowing that there are people who will do anything to fight for it.
Now, when I fall asleep, the fears that once pervaded my thoughts so intensely, are silenced by the reminder that there are good people in this world who are willing to go above and beyond to ensure a better life for others. Rev. Moon lived every moment of his life in pursuit of a better world. I thank him every day for that.