Contributed by Keisetsu Nakamura
On March 25-26, CARP NY held its second workshop of the year with the theme of “Culture of Heart” in Manhattan, NY. The workshop was attended by participants from CARP and the Manhattan Family Church. The workshop started with Mika Uokawa, the MC, introducing CARP’s mission and founders and leading participants into fun and engaging icebreakers. After a fruitful time of getting to know each other, participants were divided into smaller groups to read and discuss the core contents of the Principles of Creation, the Human Fall, and the Mission of the Messiah, based on the 3-hr Exposition of the Divine Principle Lecture Manual. After each reading and discussion, Divine Principle commentaries were given by CARP NY leaders: Michael Bartsevich, Keisetsu Nakamura, and Tyrone Clarke. To wrap up the principled education, a Q&A session was led by Keisetsu Nakamura, CARP NY Director, and Rev. Miilhan Stephens, Pastor of the Manhattan Family Church. All of the questions that the participants asked and the responses that were shared provided deeper insight into the application of the Divine Principle. The first day ended with a nice meal and time to fellowship with one another.
On the second day of the workshop, the content was focused on the introduction to the Principles of Restoration. Tyrone, CARP Farmingdale Chapter President, gave a thoughtful commentary on the principle to repair broken relationships. At the conclusion of this workshop, participants were given the opportunity to digest their experience through a guided reflection and sharing time. They also had the opportunity to travel to Bryant Park for one final bonding activity where they would pick personal questions out of a hat and ask away. Despite a handful of last minute participant dropouts before the workshop, we were able to have a meaningful workshop experience learning and teaching the Divine Principle and creating a culture where everyone can grow towards becoming true men and women who strive to live a true principled life, a life lived for the sake of others. We had a total of 14 participants attend within the span of two days. One student joined his very first Divine Principle workshop and this is what he had to say about his experience attending just the first day of our workshop:
“For a while I thought that I knew just about enough or merely an average amount about God, the Bible, God’s will and so on. This workshop helped me understand and learn things that I never really thought about nor considered before. It gives me more of an insight on God and his plans for us and clarifies things I never really understood before. I always try to enjoy learning something new but in this workshop and during the Divine Principle reading sessions, I have found it really easy to enjoy and pay close attention to the conversations and readings taught to me. One example I love to bring up has to do with the Human Fall, specifically Eve eating the apple. I’ve learned recently that eating the apple is a symbolism/metaphor for the illicit sexual relationship Eve had with the archangel Lucifer. Prior to this, I thought Eve ate a literal apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I can’t wait to learn more about God, his plan, his will, and how we as humans can get back to him and learn how we broke apart from him and the things that must happen before we return to him. This kind of learning could give me a new perspective on life, a more humble, compassionate, faithful perspective.”
- from a 1st year student, CCNY
Mika (MC) expressed the essence of God’s heart during and after the Human Fall when she said,
“No one took responsibility and we ended up blaming it on God… We are the ones who left God. It is easy to blame it on our situation or those who hurt us, yet the blame will continuously go back to God because no one would take responsibility. How can I take responsibility over my past by focusing on my future? God wants to continuously help us and through our conditions we offer to God, we can become more trustworthy.”
Part of Michael’s reflection really captured the heart that was experienced behind planning for this workshop:
“I was able to appreciate the responsibility that we as leaders play and the role that God plays. I feel like it was a test of faith to make sure we do our part, regardless of how many people came. There were times when a sense of doubt came over me, but I was always able to quickly shift it to a feeling of gratitude and joy and I was able to be present in the moment. After the workshop, I am more interested in reading the DP in a meticulous manner, sticking to a concept until I fully understand it before moving on. The way that I prepared for my lecture allowed me to see the value of reading the Divine Principle book.”
- Michael Bartsevich, CCNY CARP leader