The Mother of Peace - 6 - 7. A mother's hand soothes a stomach ache

[대태양/김현수]

MOTHER of PEACE
CHAPTER 6 CREATING THE ROAD TO ONE WORLD

7. A mother's hand soothes a stomach ache

'Mommy, my stomach hurts.'

When a child complains of stomach ache, his mother lays him on her lap and rubs his tummy without a single word. Her hands may be gnarled and rough, but in a few moments the child feels better. This may be a simple approach, but it is a practice based on love. We all dimly remember our mother's warm touch. This is the very touch with which I long to embrace all of humankind as a mother of the universe and a mother of peace. As we know from our own experience, a mother hears her child's cry very clearly and she has no thought but to quickly run to her child. This is because a mother's love and attention are directed solely towards her children. A mother will walk through a fiery pit without hesitation to save her child.

Koreans often pray for cheongbok, which means living in happy contentment even without possessions or power. Health is most important for our happiness. We have a saying, “If you lose your possessions, you have lost little. If you lose your reputation, you have lost a lot. But if you lose your health, you have lost everything.” Taking these words very seriously, I have long pondered over the secret of good health. It is not easy for anyone to live their entire life without ever getting sick.

During my early life, I saw many people suffering from malnutrition or whose lives were broken by injury or disease. At age 16, when I entered St. Joseph's Nursing School, I felt joy and pride, knowing I had found exactly what I needed to do. However, in taking on the mission of the Mother of peace, I had no choice but to put that vocation aside. While traveling around the world, I saw many children who could have become healthy if they had better care. Some lost their sight; some had limbs amputated because they could not be treated in time.

This pain remains as a deep knot in my heart. I want to be the mother who can embrace all people who are ill, physically and spiritually. When we injure a toe, we feel the pain throughout our entire body. As the Mother of one family under God, I feel the pain of each person as my own pain. Having fallen ill myself in countries not my own, I know what it means to be a foreigner in need of medical care.

To address this, Father Moon and I decided to realize the dream I had when I attended nursing school. We established an international hospital in Korea where all people can receive expert spiritual and physical care and feel a mother's touch.

When we get sick, from the depth of our hearts, we yearn for our mother's warm touch. However, our mother is not always near us. To provide a mother's touch, after receiving permission to build in 1999, we opened the HJ Magnolia International Medical Center (formerly Cheongshim International Medical Center) in 2003. It overlooks Cheongpyeong Lake, where the waters are clear and the mountains are beautiful. The Medical Center is not a typical hospital. Beyond providing excellent standard treatment, we focus on the true meaning of health. Health does not simply mean having a sturdy body. An original human being has mind and body united in harmony.

Thus, Unification medical science is based on the principles of truth and the spirit of love. The HJ Magnolia International Medical Center is the first facility to develop and implement this new model. Doctors and nurses from various nations take care of patients with a motherly heart in the midst of beautiful natural surroundings, which are Heaven’s gifts. They are answering a question that has been neglected until now: “Does faith in God truly enhance our health?” The answer to this question is not difficult. For good health, the harmony of our mind and body is an important agent of healing, and faith is what allows us to realize that harmony. The HJ Magnolia International Medical Center not only uses state-of-the-art medical techniques, but it is also the first full-scale hospital to integrate spiritual healing in the prevention and treatment of disease. Behind this are True Mother's prayers for the physical and spiritual salvation of all people so that none may be orphans.

We must take care of our health when we are healthy. Most of the time we tend to ignore that simple fact. In our busy lives, we can easily forget to take care of our mind and body. God gave us the blessing to 'be fruitful.” That does not only refer to producing offspring or generating material prosperity. It means to have spiritual, psychological and physical health. The mission of HJ Magnolia International Medical Center is to provide people that joy.

Every year a team from the HJ Magnolia International Medical Center, together with volunteers from various walks of life, offers medical services in Southeast Asia and Africa. In these countries many people despair for lack of medical treatment. Lack of medication sometimes leads to amputation, blindness or even the loss of life.

My husband and I established the HJ Magnolia Global Medical Foundation in the hope of relieving some of this suffering. Its purpose is to serve as a foundation for humankind to achieve total health, to provide everything from voluntary medical services in impoverished areas to enlightenment as to the cause of disease and the path of true health.