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J. Toribiong: Address to Summit 2022, Session VIa
Written by H.E. Johnson Toribiong, President (2009-2013), Palau
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Excellencies, dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen, greetings from the smallest nation here today. It is an honor to be invited by the Co-Founder of UPF, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, fondly called “Mother Moon.” I believe she deserves our applause for not only carrying on her late husband’s work but having the grit and heart to realize world peace for God.
Dr. Walsh’s letter of invitation mentions the following: “The ILC program will feature sessions to explore solutions to critical global problems such as conflict, poverty, climate change, and family breakdown.”
Running a small nation, these are all elements that a leader must deal with. A person who thinks spiritual wisdom is important in leadership, seeks spiritual insights.
I would like to quote the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon whom we are honoring on the 10th anniversary of his passing. I like to think he is our modern-day Prophet; one who is not only a voice but a Parent. Father Moon says:
“The biblical account of Cain and Abel reveals the beginnings of human conflict right in Adam’s family. It provides the archetype for humankind’s unending history of struggle, war and conflict. We are conflicted on many levels, beginning with the war between body and mind within each individual and extending to wars between nations and even to the global conflict between materialism and theism. Who can untie this ancient knot of Cain and Abel? Peace among nations can never come when those entrusted with the task have not resolved the Cain-Abel relationship between their own mind and body.”
World Scripture II, p. 257 (September 21, 2005)
I wrote an article for one of the UPF ILCs, titled: Learning Parental Leadership, which is now in the book, Peace King (published Feb. 2007).
I attended a conference of the Universal Peace Federation in Davao, Philippines, as one of the invited traditional chiefs of Palau. From this conference, I felt a sense of peace and greater tolerance for others. I renewed my commitment to cultivate unselfish and unconditional love for my family, lineage and clan. I realized that to be a traditional or a modern leader, one must sacrifice his resources and efforts for his people; he must love them.
I then developed from my association with the Universal Peace Federation the concept of “parental leadership” as opposed to “peer leadership”; the former being leadership which derives vicarious happiness from ensuring that his people are happy—like a father seeing his children are happy, which makes him twice as happy—as opposed to “peer leadership,” where a leader competes for wealth, fame and privilege among the people he governs, which inevitably leads to self-aggrandizement, mistrust between a leader and the governed, corruption and eventually the downfall of society. I then consciously began to strive to be a “parental leader” to my people.
The climax of my journey was when I went to Korea, which is of course where Rev. Moon was born. There, I saw the impressive Peace Palace. I heard Rev. Moon speak. I learned of his personal story, coming from a background of utter deprivation and isolation to his miraculous ascendancy to become the founder and inspiration behind the internationally recognized Universal Peace Federation. Regardless of my personal Christian religious persuasion, I felt that Rev. Moon was a man of great faith and vision and that he must have been divinely chosen and ordained from the East—not the Middle East, the cradle of religion, and not the United States, the land of religious freedom and a superpower—to lead a movement of tolerance and peace in the world.
I learned that his international influence was energized by his fervent prayer and vision. He is a dedicated promoter of international peace and harmony in his special way. If one fights for peace, he is a peacemaker. Jesus Christ said in his famous Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” In this context, the hope of all mankind, I believe, is that the movement for peace in the world which is desperately needed today will blossom into realizing international peace.
May the Universal Peace Federation inspired by Rev. Moon contribute to its fruition. Peace is not merely the absence of conflict; it is the presence of harmony between people. Because man in his natural state is prone to make war not peace, unless there is a proactive international movement for peace, war and the scourge of war will spread like wildfire all over the world bringing destruction, deprivation, pain and suffering to all mankind, wherever they live.
There is a lot of truth in the cliche, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” The Palau flag has a blue background with a full moon. This symbolizes a full cycle and the bringing of many blessings. Rev. Moon’s name is now seen by a growing number of people in Palau as synonymous with the coming of the full moon with all its blessings.
In a personal way, my association with the Universal Peace Federation has been a journey along a long and winding path. Together with all the God-loving people, let us all move forward in the spirit of Father Moon and the courage of Mother Moon.
Thank you so much!
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.