Let us pray!

Once, while visiting a family near Clifton, NJ I met an old gentleman. They were taking care of him. He is a war veteran. He is unable to take care of himself. The only thing he does all day is watch the TV that has been put on for him, but operating the remote is not something he can do either.

 As I was departing from the home of my friends, I approached him. He had been put by the dining table and was about to be fed, I suppose. I whispered in his ear the following: “There is still something you can do for your country”. He turned his head towards me and with a rough but forceful voice he responded: “Whaaaat”.

 I said, “You can pray”. He understood.

Today, it is my turn. My energy level has gone down in the last 3 years, but especially since last December. My intellect is only active for a very short few hours, and the rest of the time, I am able to help with the household chores a bit, and care for my beautiful granddaughter for a bit too. So, as I remember what I told the gentleman, it is now my turn.

I have plenty of times on my lounge chair to think of Heavenly Parent and our world and pray. However, thinking is what I do more than praying. My prayer is at night prior to going to bed, sitting in a chair in front of my altar. I feel comfortable there, and I can be there for quite sometimes.

However, prayer is not just something we do in front of an altar with organized words and sentences, prayer is also a state of mind and heart. I believe that many people pray while driving, or doing the dishes, or any other type of activities, I do. The presence of God, is always there, we simply need to recognize it and talk with our Heavenly Parent. Jesus said so, and I truly believe it.

Christmas eve 1944, they prayed together then they had to kills each other again, because their countries where at war with each other. A few individuals in this world have the power to declare war or peace and all of us have to follows. What would happen if throughout the world every single soldier decided to put their weapons away and pray instead - Would the leaders kill millions of them just because they want peace?

How to study religious teaching?

                                            So that we will understand what we are supposed to learn.

 What is our attitude of mind when we start reading? 

• I must understand
• I must follow
• I believe in this book

Believing in the teaching prior to reading it is not a very good start. It will impair our ability to use one of the gifts that God gave us when he created us. Our creative thinking, our ability to discern good from bad, important from useless, and so on.

The best attitude when reading a “new” religious teaching is trust in ourselves, and in God if we already know about God enough to have that trust. And we need an open mind. A mind willing to learn, to discover, and to understand.

I have read many books encompassing the teaching of our True Father, Dr. Sun Myung Moon. I read a few of them more than once. I had three different reactions when reading a particular paragraph or chapter.

• I understood and agreed
• I did not understand what I read
• I did not agree with what I was reading

However, I never stop reading, simply because I did not agree or did not understand. I kept on reading. This attitude, gave me, I least to some degree, the full spectrum of the personality of our True Father and what he has been trying to communicate to each of us throughout his life.

After years of reading, I have a solid trust in our True Parents. I believe in their genuine desire to be the conduit of God’s love and teaching. They have done and still doing today through Holy Mother Han their very best to help humanity understand who we are in relationship to the creator, in relationship to human beings, and in relationship to the creation.

Let us remember that we are not yet “another church” but a movement to eliminate the need for churches because each individual and families in the entire world will have their lives connected to one another and our beloved God, our Heavenly Parent. We will know the meaning of "Living for sake of others".

May 8, 2025

All about “Love”

Love is a very popular word used often and most often in our fallen world, misused. One thing occurred to me recently. Though this particular word is often used, it is not understood correctly, and most people don’t even know how to define it.

If you ask a young adult to explain “love” they may very well think right away about the sexuality of it. If you ask young parents, they will automatically link it to the caring of children, and if you ask an old person, some of them will respond, “I don’t know how to explain, it is too complicated”.
Therefore, teaching the definition of love is very important, along with how to practice it.
We are told to “love our enemies”, but we are not told how! How do we accomplish this?

My personal thoughts are as follows:

The very first thing that should come to mind is respect. An attitude of respect is necessary to pursue the ability to love the way God, our Heavenly Parent does. If God had not respected his creation He will have destroyed it a long time ago.
Once an attitude of respect is established then the ability to listen is necessary. If we are able to listen, even rambling, we will start understanding this person or this other group of individuals. Then our ability to listen will allow the other individual or group to do the same, meaning now we can start to speak.

Understanding someone else, or another group of people, is necessary to help humanity progress in creating a peaceful and happy world. Understanding will not come without the 3 bold words above. Practicing true love starts with them. Then, all the other dimensions of love will be able to come and invade our heart.

NOTE: One may argue that serving should be first, yes, it will work but only if the person serving has respect for the person served. Otherwise, the service may not be well received.

 

When do we reach completion stage in our lives?

Someone ask this question recently via Facebook, and my response was as follow:

Some will say that the completion stage starts after receiving the blessing. However, it may not always be the case. One should be able to recognize on their own when their relationship with Heavenly Parent has reached a new level.

My personal experience has been as follows: After the departure of my husband to the spiritual world October 2012, I found myself alone for the very first time in my life. My daughter (and only child) was all the way in California, and my husband was gone. For the first time in my life, I was able to think of "me". So, I sat in my living room, in the evening, near my altar and just did nothing. I will look at the altar, I would think of my husband, my daughter, but also, I will think of me. Pretty soon, I started to read one by one all the books printed about True Father and True Mother's lives and talks. I read all of them, some of them, several times.

12 years later, I realized that my ability to relate to God and understand True Parents most definitively grew tremendously. I was not just a Unificationist because I believe in the Divine Principle. I was a lot more. I could relate to God and think of True Parents with a lot more "true love" not mandatory love.

I believed that I am now in the completion stage of my life. It's about time at 73 years old and 52 years as a Unificationist

PS: According to the teaching of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, we have 3 stages in our lives:

Formation, Growth, Completion. Not all of us reach these levels at the same age, it is a matter of discovering who we are in relationship to the creator our Heavenly Parent (God, the Almighty), our relationship with each other, and our relationship with the whole creation. 

Providential thoughts

             Last night I went to bed two hours earlier than usual, I was very tired and felt that I needed more sleep. During the night I woke up three times. The third time a lot of thoughts came into my mind. I thought of my work.

I have a lot of problem remembering things, and this affect many brothers and sisters who are dependent on me.

Then, my thoughts moved to the providence of today, which in many ways is in a “pioneering mode”. Meaning that the focus are two things. The first is witnessing and the second is the blessing. Both extremely important and needed. Because of it, other, important activities cannot be completed successfully. One of them is taking care of our Special Needs families. I took responsibilities several years ago for it, but I do so little for them.

My thoughts went back to the witnessing and blessing work and I could not fault the focus that we are taking, following True Mother’s guidance. We are in the 21^st century. 21 is a very providential number, and it seems to me that this century of ours should be the one who will see the victorious completion of the providence of restoration. In my personal opinion, it is a priority, therefore witnessing is a priority.

Once, we have the whole humanity comprehend the teaching of our True Parents, then, and only then, can we take care of ourselves in a big way. So, no matter how sad I might be that many of our families do not receive the support and care that they need. We have no choice.

I choose to trust Heavenly Parent and the True Parents. I will remain grateful and continue to live my life to the best of my abilities, even if my abilities are now very limited.

With gratitude, always,

Anne-Marie

PS: the picture is from Hawaii (the big island). An amazing beautiful plant that is able to not just survive but truly become whole even in a very difficult physical environment. Let us do the same.

Personal reflections about “love”, God’s love and parental love.

Do we love our 1st born more than any other children?
Do we love our 1st son more than any other son?

These are expressions that do come from Asian cultures. I am not aware of this kind of “comparisons” in my culture, or the way I was raised.

My answer to both of the questions above is: NO a categorical NO.

Each child is unique and therefore each child will have a different relationship with the parent, and the love coming from the Parent will be unique (and therefore different) for each child, but it is not due to being a 1st born or a last born.

What about God’s love for Adam and Lucifer? Our teachings says that God loves Adam more than Lucifer. I don’t think so. God’s love for Adam and Lucifer, was different, but both were receiving 100% love from God, not 99% or less.

So, what made Lucifer jealous and envious of Adam? His immaturity, as a created being. Though he was “in charge” of the angelic world, it was obviously that it was not enough for him. But, in my personal opinion, it had nothing to do with God’s love for him, but everything to do with his immaturity of heart.

Translations from Korean to English is not 100% accurate, to no fault of anyone. That is why I take the liberty of questioning some statements, I don't think God minds it or our True Parents. They know that I have the most respect and love for them.

You are my Abel

You were there, in the 60’ and 70’. You follow with a deep heart our True Parents demands. I was not there.
You were the missionaries that pioneers, not just Korea, but the whole world. I was not one of them.

Today, many brothers and sisters, TribeNet members included, are witnessing and teaching the Divine Principle every day. I am not doing that either.

My path was different. Heavenly Parent guided me differently and ask me to do something different. So, I did and still do. I cannot complain. Heavenly Parent need each of us according to our abilities. However, to me, in my heart, mind, and soul, Brothers and Sisters, whose main public work is witnessing and teaching the Divine Principle will always be my Abel.

With gratitude,
Anne-Marie

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PS: “Abel” in the Unificationist language means:
Someone who guide, protect, and lead, someone else in their spiritual journey towards the fulfillment of God’s will.

About Social Drinking

A question I received several years back from a Parent, and the answer I gave. I

think it is very much relevant still today.

Question:  What should we be telling our 2nd gen. concerning social drinking?

Answer:

This question has been the most difficult for me to answer so far.  Not necessarily because I do not know the answer, but I want to make sure that I would not be misunderstood, and/or misrepresent True Parents.  Also, through my answer I want to help not cause additional confusion and possibly alienate blessed children or others.

It cannot be denied that social drinking has been observed among Unification Church members, and we cannot pretend that it does not happen.

This time I am going with bullet points to begin my answer and then elaborate on them.

1)      TF cannot openly approve of social drinking
2)      One must be educated as to the ups and down of alcohol consumption and the mechanisms of addiction
3)      It is best not to judge the behavior of another
4)      Each individual should take responsibility for what they do

I have never heard any speech or read any document where True Father endorsed drinking, including social drinking.  It is obvious to me why True Father would not publicly endorse the use of alcohol.  True Father is not here to micro manage any of us.  But, for example, if he would have said something like, “Social drinking is okay,” would we be capable of knowing when social drinking stops and actual dependency starts?  It would be hard to tell.  It is well known among medical circles that many so-called “social drinkers” are actually dependent on alcohol and, therefore, way beyond social drinking status.

Peer pressure is what usually causes a young person to start drinking, but this is not the best reason for starting to taste alcohol. The more knowledgeable about the pitfalls of drinking alcohol, the better the chance a young person will have not to start.  The more immature reason for starting to drink is to do it because others are doing it.

I am French; in the French culture drinking alcohol starts at baptism and, at least when I was there, never ended!   I drank growing up in a French household, however, I am not a drinker.  I have done it on occasion in the past and observed that actually even though I do like the taste of a sweet red wine, my body does not like it.

Young people are very judgmental, it comes with the territory, and it is important that we guide them to make decisions that they can be comfortable with for a very long time.

Hopefully, by the time a parent is dealing with late teen difficult questions such as “social drinking,” there is enough of a trust element between the parent and the child for the conversation to be truthful and helpful.  One element that is very important to teach one’s child is non-judgment.  Judgment belongs to God, not to humans.  If we start judging other people’s behaviors, we limit ourselves in our ability to comprehend others and see them from God’s point of view.

Many religious leaders in the past and present have lost their flocks because they were not able to live according to the standard they were demanding from their followers.  Does that mean that their religious principles were false?  Not necessarily.  Religious people throughout history have failed miserably to follow basic principles taught by most faiths.  Does that mean that we should not try to follow God’s principles?  Yes we should try--forever try to be the best people we can be.  If a blessed child talks him or herself into the idea that it is okay to drink simply because they have seen church leaders, their own parents, or their peers doing it, they are passing judgment, and their motivation for drinking is not necessarily the best.

One will have to make up one’s own mind according to one’s conscience as to whether it is okay to drink a glass of wine or a beer in a particular setting.  And one will have to live with the action of doing so. One’s spiritual growth is dependent on every action taken throughout one’s life.

I am reminded of one of the most famous Buddhist stories passed from one generation to the next. It goes like this:

In the old days man was close to nature and it was easy to become silent. This story belongs to that time. One day two Buddhist monks were returning to their monastery in silence.

A small river used to flow close to their monastery. Walking slowly, meditatively, they came across the river.  They needed to cross it but there was no boatman.  A beautiful young lady was waiting for a boatman to cross the river. The sun was about to set and darkness was spreading its kingdom.
They all waited for some time for the boatmen and eventually decided to cross the river on their own. The younger of the two monks carried the lady on his shoulder, and three of them then managed the crossing. On the other side of the river the lady thanked the monks and went on her way. The two monks started moving towards their monastery, again in a meditative state. After some time the older monk broke the silence "I will tell everything to Master." The young monk was surprised and asked, "And what will you tell Master"?  The old monk said, "That your reputation is spoiled. You have carried a woman on your shoulders, and it is a sin for a monk to touch a woman.” The young monk replied "I only dropped the woman at the river bank. But you are still carrying her in your head."

Drinking a beer or a glass of wine once in a while is a bit the same.  If the one doing the drinking is going to carry on the burden of doing so for days on end, then one should not do the drinking in the first place.  On the other hand, if one does drink a glass of wine with a meal for whatever the reason, appreciates it and is grateful for being able to do so without succumbing to drunkenness and addiction, then that person most likely will be able to handle the spiritual responsibility of it quite well.
 
One last point before I close:  education is the best way to help someone’s behavior.  If I was a high school or college teacher I would have my students do research on the effects of alcohol--in the family, and in the workplace.  I would have them research not just the social effects, but also the monetary effect of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependency.

That is the best I can do at this time, I hope it helps,

Anne-Marie

How to improve our nation in a single generation (30 years)

Most of our society’s problems would be solved if we were taking care of our children the right way.
The government is limited in its ability to control families but has full authority to control what is going on with the public schools, and therefore, at the risk of losing their governmental post should do the right thing.

What should be done:
•    Updating our ancient curriculum
•    Distributing all funds equally

I would like to approach the 2nd point. In most communities today around the country, funds for school are distributed in accordance with the location of the taxpayers. This system creates beautiful, well maintained, well equipped school buildings in area where individual with wealth live and leave run-down, roof liking, and empty libraries in areas where families who are already in dire need of financial support live.

The result is that many of the children in impoverish areas do not get stimulated to go to school and learn, instead they get pull sideways and repeat the cycle of a life that they don’t like and too many of them do not have the ability to take themselves out of that destructive cycle.

It is not just the buildings that are not good enough, sometimes it is the teachers too. Some teachers are more talented than others, more resourceful than others.

Often, a good teacher, in an impoverish school, who is able to get the score of his class up, will, the following year be sent to a “better” school because of it. It is truly sad.

I believe that most children who come from disadvantaged families, drugs infested neighborhood, would love to escape to school every day, if they were finding themselves in a nurturing and physically healthy environment. They would do their homework, and they would study, I guarantee.

We owe it to ourselves to care for our children. I cannot do it on my own, but together we can. If we want to get rid of the massive low self-esteem and self-destructive environment that we see our children getting into when they are adults, we need to serve them well when they are children, and that takes willful sacrifices.

Originally written September 5, 2019.

Joshua and Caleb verses Cain and Abel

This morning reading during our prayer meeting (HDK), True Mother spoke about Joshua and Caleb. She says: “Throughout their lives, Joshua and Caleb remained loyal to Heaven, and they led the chosen people into Canaan.”

I then realized, that referring to each other as Cain or Abel may not be the best way anymore. What about if we were using the expression “Joshua and Caleb” instead?

Cain and Abel had their time. Including in our movement.

We referred to each other as either being in the position of Cain or Abel. I have prayed many prayers, mentioning the necessity for Abels to become “True Abels” so that Cains become “True Cains”. However, this morning reading, tells me that it is time for us to refer to each other’s as Joshua and Caleb instead. They had a relationship of respect towards each other with the same goals. They supported each other and each found their place in the providence in accordance with their own abilities.

Our young people of today are the one who are going to face the end of the last days. Not an easy task. The only way they will make it, is by supporting, caring, and working together with the same goals. Thinking “Joshua and Caleb” is a good way.

With gratitude, always,

Anne-Marie 

Living for the sake of others, how to apply this life principle?

It is not difficult to fulfill this when the situation is obvious that someone needs help, many of us will rush to help, give money, provide a meal, and pray.

However, living for the sake of others is a lot more than just taking care of emergencies. Living for the sake of others is to be constantly aware of what we do and not do, which might affect someone else’s life and emotions.

One example:

I have seen, way too many times, in my line of work, the missing opportunities of “living for the sake of others”. The example below is, unfortunately too frequent.

Singles register on OMS in order to find a spouse. They create a profile, they become a candidate. Then, at some point, via a different source they do find someone, and start an earnest conversation. However, they do not notify me, so that their profile becomes invisible to others.

In the meantime, their profile still gets looked at, and shared by Matching Supporters to candidates. Someone gets their hopes up because they read a good profile that truly appeal to them. And then, suddenly, we get an email that tells us, the individual has been in a relationship for a while now, could you please turn the profile off?

This is truly sad.

My Christmas Wish

My Christmas Wish,

Today is Xmas eve and at Morning HDK, I was able to hear Dr. Thomas Ward comments and reflections on some of True Mother’s words written in her memoirs.

It is my Xmas wish that our children would listen to these few minutes of reflections without being distracted, but truly listen with their whole being.

In 2012 and 2013 important events hurt their heart tremendously, so much so, that many could not reconciled their budding trust in True Parents with these events, so they walked away.

My eyes are wet. My heart is longing for our children to be spiritually reborn. I don’t want them to have a blind faith, I want them to have a faith that can be dismembered and dissected and yet stay whole and withstand the invisible powers of the remnant of the fall still within all of ourselves.

Dr. Ward, like many of the 1stgenerations who worked closely and intimately with the True Parents for many years, has the knowledge and ability to defy the spiritual ignorance of all who sincerely are looking for an unselfish, caring, respectful, and loving world centered on the original creator of us all.

Sincerely, with gratitude,

Anne-Marie

December 24th, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5HvFElMsU8

From:18:20mn to 33:07mn

 

 

Definition of a True Woman

A true woman will have accomplished what she was created for.  A true woman will have the feeling of fulfillment that will resonate throughout her being.  A true woman will have experienced all feminine aspect of God’s love.  A true woman will know she is not a man and will have no desire to ever compete with one or become one.

 A true woman can give life.  A true woman can nurture life.  A true woman can look at her husband and sons in ecstasy and be proud of their worldly accomplishments without envy, their victories are her doing.  A true woman will raise her daughters to become true woman.

 In an ideal world, a true woman shall be found at all levels of society.  She will not be found there because she victoriously overcame men’s rules.  She will be found there because she was the best individual for the position she now holds.

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This post was originally posted in February 2014.

 

Our names...

 

 

 

 

This picture is from late May 1979 - Jim and Tula Mylar, President Salonen, Kem and I.

 

 

From the time I was engaged to my future husband Kem Mylar, I was always presented to a new comer as “Kem’s wife”, not Anne-Marie, but “Kem’s wife”. I had no problem with it. From the very beginning I appreciated the choice that Rev. Moon had made in choosing him as my future husband.

He was, at that time, the assistant of the President of HSA-UWC in the USA. Many brothers and sisters knew him.

Thirty-one years later, A matching platform, which I created became live. It is called the “Online Matching System”. Quite quickly, it started to be used across the world as one of the tools for the new generations of Unificationists to find their future spouse.

My husband then became “Anne-Marie’s husband”, not Kem, any more, but “Anne-Marie’s husband”. He used to joke about it, he did not mind it. He actually loved it.

He and I were and still are today “one”.
Thank you Heavenly Parent and True Parents for our blessed lives.

The black and white picture is our very first picture together - We had just been matched. The other picture is our last one - August 2012. About 5 weeks prior to his departure to the Spiritual World.

Let us seek the beauty within our heart...

Someone shared with me recently the poem below. It remind us that love, heart, and beauty can be found in every human being. It is not exclusive to certain groups or races.

A peaceful and meaningful world will only exist when we humble ourselves enough to realized that we know very little about each other and therefore before we kill out of fear or hate we need to learn each others heart and soul.

Anne-Marie

 

Rumi or Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, was a 13th-century poet and Sufi mystic originally from Afghanistan in the then Greater Iran.

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I tried to find Him at the cross of the Christians, but He was not there.

I went to the temples of the Hindus and to the ancient pagodas, but there was no trace of Him anywhere.

I searched for Him in the mountains and valleys, but I could neither find Him in the high places nor in the low places.

I went to the Kaaba in Mecca, but He was not there either.

I questioned the scholars and philosophers, but He was beyond their understanding.

Then, I examined my heart, and it was there that He was dwelling when I found Him.

He is nowhere else.

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source: book by Johannes Huber – “Die Datenbank der Ewigkeit”, Seite 217