Inheriting Mother Moon’s Life of Hyojeong
Waking up in Yongpyong, I realized that GPA’s two-week excursion to Korea was about to end. I was filled with a desire to look inward and reflect on what this experience has meant for myself and our GPA group. But how could I summarize what has happened internally, the transformations that have taken place, and the essence of what God taught us during this time in a short blog post? As we drove back to Cheongpyeong, I realized that the answer was in the GPA goal for this trip: Inherit Mother Moon’s Life of Hyojeong. “Hyojeong” translates to a heart of filial piety. It goes deeper than having a sense of duty but rather having an overwhelming desire to bring joy to one’s parents. Mother Moon has modeled hyojeong towards God in all aspects of her life. Everything Mother Moon does is for the sake of helping all humanity find God as their true Heavenly Parent and see/treat everyone as brothers and sisters as children of God.
Remembering this, I decided to take a short hike to the Tree of Hyojeong on the Cheongpyeong grounds to reflect on this trip and prepare for our last stop, the Cheon Jeong Gung. When I got there, I was ready to think about having the heart to give everything for God and humanity to connect to hyojeong, but I was surprised by the description of the Tree of Hyojeong. It read, “The Tree of Hyojeong, which gives everything from its bark to its leaves for people’s health, is a reminder of the love of parents who give generously to their children.” I realized I had forgotten an essential aspect of hyojeong when thinking of Mother Moon. You need to have gratitude first to your parents; then, from that gratitude, you cultivate the desire to return everything and bring them the utmost joy. Mother and Father Moon are the best models of receiving God’s love, which is the first step for us to follow to inherit living a life of hyojeong.
Looking back on this trip, I can see how much love God had been pouring into our group and how much GPA was receiving and returning joy. From preparing a performance for Mother Moon to make her smile and her giving us joy and food to praying at various historical sites and being provided so much by the caretaker staff. As children, we still receive so much from God; every time we try to give, we get offered much more in return. But I could see the effort that GPA made to return this joy. While preparing for the performance, the members invested their whole hearts in learning the dance and song lyrics so that they could just focus on giving the most joy. Many were even moved to tears during the performance because they felt grateful.
After returning from the Tree of Hyojeong, I joined GPA heading to Cheon Jeong Gung. This museum was built to honor God and allow people to see the history of Mother and Father Moon’s work toward building a peaceful world. The GPA members meandered the halls and took in the life achivementsof Mother and Father Moon. Walking the halls, I felt so much gratitude for Mother Moon and her work for peace. Despite the challenges she and Father Moon faced, they always were able to put God and humanity before themselves.
We offered prayers in a special prayer room and afterwards, received words from Mother and Father Moon that responded to our prayers and a pumpkin candy, one of Father Moon’s favorites! GPA took time to pray and connect to God and digest all the experiences from this fantastic trip. And as we internalized the experiences and shared about them during the testimony night later in the evening, I felt we were cultivating more and more of that heart of gratitude. As we leave Korea, I believe that GPA was able to begin to inherit this heart of hyojeong. But we don’t want it just for ourselves. We, as GPA, hope to inherit this heart and lifestyle and spread it to the rest of the world.
Sarah Takhar
Korea Blogger, Generation Peace Academy
