WOMEN: THE HEART AND HOPE OF THE WORLD

Mrs. Laura Hornbeck presenting "Principles of Peace"

The Dallas-area Chapter of WFWP has been somewhat dormant for the past two years for various reasons. Most of our members are extremely busy with work, family, and daily responsibilities, a common reality for women. Also, in what we call "the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex," members may live up to 60 miles away from Dallas itself. The Dallas Chapter is in that situation.

In June of this year, I was deeply moved by my experiences on the "God's Hope for America" bus tour. I flew to San Francisco and rode the bus for the first eight days, disembarking in Dallas. During that time, my mind and heart were touched by the beauty and diversity of our country. The people on the bus reflected that beauty and diversity, with American, Korean, African, Japanese, European, and Latin American people all together in one vehicle trying to revive the founding principles of this country. I won't go into a lot of testimony about the bus tour because that has been done already in other articles. What I do want to mention, though, is that I was reminded deeply of my own responsibility for improving the culture of America.

Discussion group

One thing I know I can do is talk and write about the WFWP "Principles of Peace," inspired by Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon's Divine Principle. This is a God-centered ideology explaining the purpose of human life and the central role of love between women and men in achieving joy for both God and human beings.

We women have great power and we have not been utilizing it well! The world and all of its conflicts testify to this fact. So I decided to inaugurate a lecture series to "kick start" WFWP again in our area. I developed an introductory lecture called, "Women Are the Hope and Heart of the World," and publicized it through our email invitation list and printed fliers that members passed out. I also posted an invitation on Facebook, which brought some interesting results.

A friend in New Jersey, Mrs. Cynthia Nakai, who is also a long-time WFWP member, saw my Facebook post and immediately emailed me about it. She has some friends who recently moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a married couple from the Middle East. The husband, Pastor Heny, is a Christian pastor from Egypt and his wife, Hiba, is an Iraqi Christian. Cynthia told them about the meeting, and they came. Their presence was truly inspirational to us because we learned what they had had to endure in their home countries, with the war, ethnic strife, and religious persecution. It made me more grateful than ever to live in this religiously tolerant, free country built on the noble ideals of our Founding Fathers.

Discussing in groups

The meeting was held on Saturday, August 16, at a local public library, which for a nominal fee offers beautiful facilities to nonprofit organizations. I gave my 30-minute PowerPoint presentation utilizing their projection system.

After the lecture, the 18 people there gathered in a large circle and discussed our personal role models. Universally, regardless of nationality or religion, we mentioned our parents as first and most important role models. This tied in with my presentation that emphasizes the value of both mothers and fathers, who are uniquely suited to their roles in parenting. The lecture also highlighted the innate biological differences between female and male, specifically the shape of the pelvic bones. Women have a pelvic shape designed by our Creator for carrying a baby in the womb.

When women understand our value as bearers of love, life, and lineage, and learn to respect ourselves to the fullest, we can achieve great things in the world. When men respect women as equals in the family, society, and world, and when both work together as partners, healthy children can learn how to become mature women and men, as well as great mothers and fathers themselves.

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the co-founder of WFWP, teaches that this is the "era of women," and we must take leadership roles to guide the world in the right direction. When we learn to trust our own instincts and stand up for peace over violent conflict, we will be doing our descendants a great favor.

Women have hearts and minds capable of encouraging right behavior in our own husbands as well as in our children and the society at large. We must move beyond small-mindedness and the barriers of ethnicity or religion and stand together at this historic time for the sake of a joyful world of peace. This is why women are the heart and hope of the world!