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Washington Leaders Learn the ‘Way of Tea’
Written by UPF-USA
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Washington, D.C., United States—At the most beautiful time of the year in the nation’s capital, UPF conducted a Japanese Tea Ceremony for more than 40 distinguished guests.
The driveway and entrance to the UPF Peace Embassy were cooled with water, signifying purification of the "tea house." A kimono-clad hostess greeted the arriving guests at the entrance.
The hall of the Peace Embassy was transformed into a Japanese tea house for the April 21, 2016, event, with many festive pieces of origami (folded paper sculptures) and other art from Japan. A Japanese dinner was served afterward.
The guests included diplomats from the Embassies of Russia, Lithuania, Pakistan and the Bahamas, NGO leaders and friends of UPF in the Washington, D.C., community.
Mrs. Tomiko Duggan, executive director of public affairs of UPF-USA, introduced the guiding vision and founding principles with which Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon established UPF. This vision, she said, was a world of peace in which people from different cultures, races, nationalities and religions can live as true brothers and sisters, as “one family under God,” by practicing the universal principles of “living for the sake of others and for the whole.”
She explained at the tea ceremony that the “Way of Tea” is to serve others. What we learn in the “Way of Tea” is how to live in harmony and to develop an attitude of respect toward others and all things, to have purity, honesty, truthfulness, and sincere emotions to obtain tranquility of heart.
Before the ceremony was conducted, two persons were awarded certificates as Ambassadors for Peace.
Susan Fefferman, the Ambassadors for Peace program coordinator, emphasized that the appointment to be an Ambassador for Peace is not for what one has achieved; this is an appointment to become the conscience of society by bringing spiritual and moral principles to the tasks for resolving problems of our world.
The first recipient was Ms. Beverly Ezeokoli, who was born in Trinidad and came to the United States at the age of 13. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree in social work (BSW) from Southern Connecticut State University in 1984. She worked for the City of New Haven (Connecticut) in the Welfare Department for almost ten years, as a social investigator/social worker, and presently is employed by the Montgomery County (Maryland) School System as a para-educator.
Ms. Katrina Johnson, a native of Richmond, Virginia, graduated from Howard University with a bachelor of science degree in interior design and architecture, with a primary focus on micro-environmental studies. She said that true wellness is achieved by nurturing the mind, body, spirit and soul with the natural gifts with which God blessed us and by helping others to do the same.
The guests from different cultures and nationalities enjoyed the ceremony and experience of Japanese customs and different social etiquette. They stayed long after the ceremony had finished, having an enjoyable time talking with one another.
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