The event in Oakland was good if only because it got our entire family together for a spiritual activity (except for my daughter who is currently in Berlin), and it was a tremendous reunion of long-time friends, brothers, and sisters. It was empowering for me to see literally thousands of our sons and daughters becoming great human beings.
One of my experiences was that of catharsis. Godwin D’Silva, the State Leader for Southern California, died on February 12th, and his SeungWha was held on February 16th; two days before the event began (with a day of driving in between). I have become fairly good friends with Godwin, working together on many events, and travelling to Jerusalem, Seoul, and Washington D.C. together. In his last few weeks I spent a bit of time with his wife Darlene, their kids, as well as his Mother, brother and several sisters.
So, at the SeungHwa on Friday, I maintained a fair degree of composure. On Monday, during the Dae Mo Nim event, Dr. Yang was considerate enough to mention Godwin, and asked Darlene to stand and be ackowledged. Grief hit me then and there, as if I was being tackled. For several minutes I wept. Shortly after that, we had the presentation from Dae Mo Nim, and forgiveness prayer. The tears helped me prepare for that.
