Barrytown
When I was born a year ago, I never thought I’d change the way I’m changing.
You came into my life so hard, I should have known there’d be some rearranging.
So though it hurt at first, to a man dying of thirst,
It’s the only way to go to change it.
As the days, they came and went, and I had the chance to get to know You better
To my joy the things they said about You came true down to the letter
And so I cut my hair, and I asked can I stay here,
And do my part to help You make things better
For me Your life is on the line
The least I can do is give you mine
You left Your home, across the sea
To bring us love, and set us free
And since that day You’ve led me on, Through many hours and many days of struggle
But through them all You bared Your heart, And You shared with me Your secret joys and sorrows
Binding me to You, and to those precious few,
Who give today so that all might live tomorrow
For me Your life is on the line
The least I can do is give you mine
You left Your home, Your family
To bring us love, and set us free
So when I hear some news of you, it goes so deep sometimes I can’t help crying
I’m so proud of this family, God bless your days, and all the ways you’re trying
To ease our Father’s pain, and fill this world again
With the kind of children He intended.
For us His life is on the line
The least I can do is give you mine
He left his home across the sea
To bring us love, and set us free
For me Her life is on the line
The least I can do is give her mine
She leaves Her home, Her family
To bring us love, and set us free
(1976, Montana)
The lyrics to this song came in 1976, my second year into the movement, when I’d finally accepted the conclusion of the Divine Principle. It took that long because through college in the 70s, I’d become skeptical of theology. But when I began studying Unification Thought, I was stunned by the clarity, logical continuity and especially the vision of its philosophy. And I had the most powerful spiritual experience of my life during my first seven-day Unification Thought workshop. At the week’s end, I accepted that a person who had this clear vision of humanity’s potential could indeed be the central person of this age. That made my issues with the theology secondary; they’d work out over time, because the philosophy was so compelling.
As an amateur musician, I’d occasionally expressed myself through words and music of my own. So I now aimed to share experiences of this new life. But Unification Thought’s Theory of Art posed a number of arresting questions like: What is beauty? What are its different types? Objectively, what key qualities make something beautiful? What is art? What is its purpose? How can a creator hone a creative consciousness?
In regard to that last question, I found this quote particularly striking:
“Artists who have such an object consciousness…can receive blessings from God and assistance from the spirit world.…Such works may be considered to be the fruit of a co-creative effort between God and the artist.” – New Essentials of Unification Thought p 314
That would explain why I’d sometimes had sudden inspirations that could lead me into a flow state. And besides, there are accounts of great artists or scientists who felt that they’d received divine inspiration as they struggled with some difficult problem. Such folks are hailed as brilliant, one-in-a-million geniuses, cut from a different cloth than normal folks. But Unification Thought has a very different and striking take. The Theory of Education explains:
“Man is given creativity by Heaven, from birth; in fact, ‘genius’ (天才 in Chinese characters), means ‘Heavenly talent’. If someone develops his creativity to the full, he may be called a genius.” – Theory of Education, §2D ¶4
The first character 天 means sky, heaven; god, celestial and the second one 才 means talent, ability. Put together, they mean God-given talent. That’s what Unification Thought means by “genius”. Furthermore, Unification Thought explains that this gift is given not just to a select few, but to every single individual:
“Though some people are born crippled or intellectually handicapped, everyone, nonetheless, has the capacity to become a genius, because, originally everyone is given boundless creativity…” – Explaining Unification Thought, p. 228, ibid
This was incredible (i.e., not believable) to me when I first read it. But since Unification Thought is based on Dr. Lee’s intense study of Abonim’s words as well as one-on-one dialog with Him, I couldn’t just dismiss it—I had to think about it seriously. Then I remembered a young person in our community who had Down Syndrome. I didn’t know him well, but it was evident that he bore an innocence which allowed him to be exceptionally trusting, friendly and spontaneous. I could then understand Unification Thought’s position and elevate my viewpoint.
If the true nature of genius intrigues you, take a moment to look at its first definition in this dictionary. And if you’ve 20 minutes to spare, there’s a lively and thought-provoking talk about it here.
A closing note
In case you’ve the impression that Unification Thought’s Theory of Art is only for fine artists, please note that it’s absolutely not. Instead, it’s directly related to a much larger audience: persons concerned with fulfillment of their Third Great Blessing.
“The meaning of God’s third blessing is the perfection of a human being’s dominion over the natural world.” – Divine Principle, p. 35
And the Theory of Art explains the vast scope of that dominion:
“ …the purpose of man’s creativity is to enable him to dominate all things. ‘Dominion’ has various shades of meaning. It may imply ‘ruling’, ‘controlling’, ‘dealing with’, or ‘protecting’. Consequently, various human activities fall under the category of dominion. For instance, industrial production, commercial enterprises, farming, scientific research, artistic creativity — all these can be considered under the concept of ‘dominion’.” – Explaining Unification Thought, p. 27
Have a blessed and creative season!