Pope Francis' visit to the United States

After visiting Cuba, Pope Francis visited United States to meeting with President Obama and on September 25th, Pope Francis spoke at the UN General Assembly. The pope, who has been receiving a great attention from the world for his messages, spoke about international conflict and war. As the fifth pope to visit the United Nation, I hope that the visit of Pope Francis will alert the international community of the importance of world peace. As conflicts and threats are increasing at this time such as the Civil War in Syria, it is imperative that leaders such as Pope Francis, current presidents, and leaders of UN to take action to solve for world peace.

As HWPL and Chairman Lee travels around the world and host dialogues to promote world peace, more people are recognizing and accepting the importance of world peace. I hope that the renowned political and religious leaders will support and lead the hopes of these people, so that world peace can be possible.

In his speech, Pope Francis talked about the constant effort to avoid war between nations and people. He mentioned the restless dedication of negotiation to reenact a law to prevent these conflicts. At the visit to the White House, the Pope supported President Obama's policy on environment. In his speech, he spent majority of his time also on environmental issues. He said, "Earth is the fruit of love from the Creator and mankind do not have the authority to ruin the environment."

This is true. Both war and environmental issues, such as pollution, will ruin the earth that the Creator created. We are not the Creator of this world, we only dwell in the world because it was given to us by the Creator. However, if we do not respect the world that we live in, what would the Creator think of us? It is rude to misbehave in someone's house or misplace their things, then how should we treat the world? The basic manner applies not only to a friend's house, but to this world.

WARP of 1st Commemoration

Finally, it is this week. The WARP of 1st Commemoration begins in few days. After the WARP Summit last year, HWPL has continued its effort to create harmony in the world. They have established WARP Offices and invited religious leaders of the community to participate in a discussion to compare their religion and reach to an agreement. Each peace dialogues ended with signing the peace agreement. Although it is a small act of signing a paper, its symbolism is enormous as this agreement is signed by many other religious leaders. These agreements will gather to create a larger unity in the world. The WARP of 1st Commemoration will become another giant step towards achieving the dream that we have longed for.

[Live coverage of WARP 1st Commemoration Broadcasting time]

■ September 18, 2015 ; 10:00~12:30 / 16:00~19:00

■ September 19, 2015 ; 9:00~12:00

■ Broadcasting link ☞ https://goo.gl/MDGjE2

1st Annual Commemoration of WARP Summit - What kind of a world do you want?

It has been one year since the first WARP Summit, where we were able to see the first step towards achieving world peace. It was where we were able to confirm that there is still hope for a peaceful world.

After one year since the Summit, we now celebrate the first commemoration. It is the opportunity what kind of improvements were made after the Summit last year. For the past year, after the WARP Summit, HWPL worked with many different religions to establish WARP Offices around the world. Although wars have happened because ideological differences, most wars that we see today are based on religious differences. The song "World" by Five For Fighting asks their listeners, what kind of world do they want? The participants of WARP Summit wish for a world of peace. This is why even with differences in background they gathered in South Korea last year and also this year to find a solution to create peace in between different groups and in the world.

I am excited to see the result of the first commemoration. The progress that the HWPL has made this year will also reflect through the results that we see next year. I do not believe that peace will be achieved in one day, but it is a continuous effort that requires the dedication of many people. It is to first identity that ultimate problem that causes war and to walk in harmony with others.

What kind of world do you want? ... Let's start at the start, build a master piece. ... History starts now

The First Annual Commemoration of the WARP Summit will start in 18 September 2015 at 10:00 AM (Local Time). There will be a live broadcast of the event. If you are interested please visit -- http://goo.gl/mIt1D6

Civil War in Syria

Few days ago, there was a report about a Hungarian camerawoman, who tripped the running refugees in Hungary. The past five years in Syria were spent on the civil year. Based on the research of International Amnesty and UNHCR, out of the total population of 23 million, 12 million people of Syria have been refugees.

The Civil War in Syria arose from a protest in 15 March 2011,because of an arrest of few teenage students, who wrote "The people want the fall of the regime" using a graffiti. The tension between the protesters and the government grew worse, when the government started open fire on the protesters.

The protesters, who originally used peaceful demonstration, started to use weapons and formed a resistance group called Free Syrian Army (FSA). The 12 million refugees of Syria were forced to leave their home to take refugee in other nations such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. The borderline nations, who did not have enough resources for the countless numbers of refugees closed their borders.

With the Civil War, the ISIS, who slowly increased their powers, took over the northern and eastern Syria. This increased the tension in Syria bigger. The Civil War that began with a non-violence protest resulted into a war that lost its reason. With the intervention of ISIS, the European Union and the United States are planning to resolved the problem.

What would the refugees of Syria want the most? To stop the war and to return to their war. 

As we see, there are great tragedies that are happening around the world. Even though the world is seeing its greatest technology and culture in its some parts, other parts of the world are suffering from civil wars and religious conflicts that lost its meaning. It seems like it is continued just because of hatred and vengeance. Will the intervention of the superpowers solve this problem? Will physical power solve war, as it would create more deaths? I believe that a conflict can be solved starting with showing sympathy and compassion to one another. This is the first step of creating a world of peace.

As we are approaching the First Annual Commemoration of WARP Summit, it is an opportunity to re experience the importance of world peace. The works of HWPL is not about gaining power or fame, but to create a world, where conflict does not exist anymore. It is to help those who are suffering from conflicts and wars to return their home. I hope that through this WARP Summit, these international conflicts will be revisited and that the Civil War in Syria will be resolved peacefully.

HWPL, Declaration of World Peace

As emissaries of World Peace; as people who are working towards the restoration of humanity through a new and heavenly culture, we declare the following.

We call on the heads of state of every country to sign an international agreement - a commitment to bringing all wars to an end. We ask them to do this from a spirit of a deep-seated love for the people of their country.

We call on all youth to unite in an effort to stop wars and pursue the restoration of peace by agreeing not fight one another.

The only way to stop the fighting and pointless, tragic deaths, is to stop fighting. Nobody can sk fro anything greater than this, and know that your efforts - the efforts of the young people of the world today in pursuit of peace - will remain as never fading light of life for all future generations.

Further we call on every person, every man, woman, and child in the world, to pick up the mantle of peace. In whatever way you can, we ask that you work to further the cause of world peace and restoration, making it a reality in your direct environments.

Lastly, we call on the media to report responsibly and promote a message of peace to the world.

Poem: Peace by Rupert Brooke

Peace
Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,
And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,
With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,
Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,
And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,
And all the little emptiness of love!

Oh! We, who have known shame, we have found release there,
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Naught broken save this body, lost but breath;
Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there
But only agony, and that has ending;
And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.

The 3rd G.O.D Awards in New York

Last month in New York, a ceremony was held to celebrate the achievements of the people around the world in humanity. The "We Care for Humanity's 3rd Global Official of Dignity Awards" was hosted by Jacob Wheelr, Denise Cook, "The Oracle" and Princess Maria Amor. Many royalties and representatives from the business and academic and government official participated in this event. Among the recipient was Chairman Man Hee Lee and Chairwoman Nam Hee Kim, who received the Noble Man of the Year and the Noble Woman of the Year respectively. Although the Chairman was not able to participate in the event, it was a special moment, where the peace movement gained recognition. At the same time it was the event to witness how people worked to make the world a better place. Although we do not have the power to create, we have the power to work with one another to make this world a better world.

Poem: Here dead we lie

Recently, I took an interest in the poems of the First World War, because these poems captures the emotions and the thoughts of the soldiers. Through many speeches and messages, I have heard the horrific memories of Chairman Man Hee Lee in his participation of the Korean War. I wanted to compare his messages with the literature that expresses the emotions of the author in the quickest way. Some wrote about their assault against their enemies, but some talked about the tragedy from the battle.

After a short research, I was able to find out that A. E. Housman, the British author of the poem "Here dead we lie", actually did not participated in the First World War. However, by reading his poem, I was able to find connection with the agony that the Chairman described, when he saw countless numbers of war happening around the world. The poem only contains two whole sentences, but through these well-phrased sentences the author, an academic who never went to war, shares his point of view of the war with his readers. I wonder what experience motivated him to write this poem, even though he never experienced war. It is interesting how one is able to depict the tragedy in the war without participating.

The rhyming scheme of the poem is ABCD EBFD and the poem is written in quatrain, in which each stanza contains four lines. In the first stanza, the author uses first person plural to represent the soldiers (the speaker) as a whole about their death. In one perspective, it seems that the speaker is slightly ashamed to be alive. And he did not wish to shame the land that we born into. It sounded like he is rather happy to accept his death. It is definitely heroic to die for one's nation. This is truly a great honor. However, what purpose did they serve? The First World War only started because of greed. Wars are fought by young men, who have a future ahead of them. They may participate in wars for many reason. Regardless of these reasons, they have to sacrifice their lives. It seems like a regret of the choice that they made. We need to still leave a space to question, was their sacrifice necessary? This is what the speaker questions in the second stanza. However, to support their nation's interest, they participated in the war to defend their nations.

The second stanza also begins with the pride in their sacrifice for their country and the patriotism that they showed. Ironically, the poem ends "But the young men think it is and we were young." The young men may think that their sacrifice is a glorious deed. There may be nothing important in life. However, after many years, when the young men grow to older men, they would look back to regret that decision. Youth is when action comes first before thinking. There is more in life. The young men, at the time, may have thought it would be cowardly to run away from their military duty as soldiers, but the older generation looked at something greater. It was not only the pride and the honor of that short period, but it was life as a whole. In their moment of reflection of their last years, one may think about many different things. Did war bring happiness through the pride and honor that he received? The answer may vary depending on the individual, but from the author's perspective, there was too much to lose for the heroic struggle.

What can we learn from their experience? One may ask, perhaps it was the experience of war that led them to reflect back about their experience. There could have been a different ending if one actually did not participate in the war and choose to live. We were able to see the emotions and the thoughts of our veterans through their memoirs and writing. However, were we able to see writings of those who chose not to participate in the war? Not exactly, because wars were consistent in life. In did not allow the opportunity to not participate in wars. I hope that with Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration Life and Chairman Man Hee Lee, we will become that first generation that decided to not participate in war. Maybe 50 years later, we will see a poem, "Here we are alive:"

Here dead we lie by A. E. Housman

Here dead we lie

Because we did not choose

To live and shame the land

From which we sprung

Life, to be sure,

Is nothing much to lose

But young men think it is,

And we were young

Poem: In Flanders Field

The poem, "In Flanders Field" was written by John McCrae, who a Canadian physician Major John McCrae, who participated in the First World War. The major, who survived the Second Battle of Ypres in the Flanders region of Belgium (1915). After witnessing the death of his comrades and friend, Alexis Helmer, he began the poem by describing the poppies that quickly grew around the grave (crosses) of those who died.

The poem is about the tragedy caused by the battle and also war. The only things that are left in the field of the battle are the guns, which were used by the soldiers. The songs of the larks in the sky are only heard by the guns on earth. What could be the representation of the the larks in the sky against the guns on earth? The birds of the heaven sing the song and just as the dove represents peace, perhaps these larks were singing their message of peace, however, its songs were not heard because of the loud noises created by the guns. Likewise it is the will of the heaven and the Creator to see peace on the earth that he created. However, the efforts of the Creator and the will of heaven was only covered in the past history of the mankind with wars and conflicts. No messages of peace were heard and even if it did, it was not heard clearly and disappeared quickly. However, the world seems to change its attention towards Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an organization that is working towards peace so that the will of the heaven may be heard.

The men who fought in the battle were alive and each had family and friends, who they loved and who loved them back. However, they all lie together. It does not matter which side they belong. The numbers of the casualties only matter to decide the result of the war. However, they all return back to the earth as dust together. It does not change the fact for the both sides that the war took them away from their loved ones. I am not sure what the author meant, when he says "The torch; be yours to hold it high", however I hope that this bond and the faith created between those who are dead and those who are alive will serve a legacy that goes toward harmony. I hope that the torch is not a representation of destruction, but a symbol of harmony and goodwill as it is in the Olympic Games. The torch is carried throughout the world and is delivered to the location, where the games are hosted. Just as this, I hope that the torch marks the beginning of unity so that the souls of those who died in every war including the Second Battle of Ypres in the Flanders Field are able to rest and sleep peacefully.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.