True Mother Offers Special Prayer At Death Valley
Photos courtesy of Rev. Ken Doo
“Now, in this Year of the Blue Dragon ... if there is an increase in Cheon Il Guk blessed families and CheonBo couples who can become closer to our Creator, and through them, if each nation in all corners of the world becomes a nation that attends Heavenly Parent through people — righteous people, who can take on the responsibility like salt — if such time can be brought forward, if such time can be achieved in 2024, how thankful we would be,” True Mother prayed at the arid base of Death Valley.
Arriving January 7 in Las Vegas, True Mother made a special trip January 13 to Death Valley, a desert basin bordering Nevada and California. Walled by high, steep mountain ranges, Death Valley is a barren land of extremes with steady drought and record summer heat. The long, narrow basin is 282 feet below sea level — a depth making it the hottest place on earth and the driest and lowest point in North America.
The road trip showcased the magnificent scale and design of God’s Creation, including the valley’s expansive salt flats which cover 128,000 acres. True Mother pointed out the grand vision and purpose of all created things in her prayer, saying, “We feel Your touch, our Creator, the Heavenly Parent ... In order for all living things to circulate and multiply according to the Principle of Creation, You knew that this salt was absolutely necessary and bestowed it upon the human and animal world.”
Entering the valley, True Mother was joined by Unificationist leaders in prayer for a new year where “we expand Heaven’s providence even more, by the leaders of over 200 countries around the world living lives that can serve as examples like salt,” she said. “We hope that many righteous people who are like salt and who revere Heaven, will arise on this continent, in this nation, and throughout the entire world so that Your children here will expand Your environment through this salt. Please bless them as they will make such efforts,” she prayed.
True Mother also noted 2024 marks the 11th and 12th year of Cheon Il Guk since 2013. And, as Unificationists prepare for the Holy Sanctum Entrance Ceremony in 2025 — a time True Mother said “when all of Heaven should be glorified” — she prayed that God’s long-awaited dream will materialize this year.
“How difficult it must have been for You to wait for this truly great and gracious reality in the history of the providence of salvation which You have come to seek out fallen mankind, who have lost the essence of the Creator and the essence of humanity today,” she said. “Although many true families who can come close to Heaven were produced [through True Parents], when we think about the eight billion people of the world, we realize that this is still a very small number.” True Mother declared her hope that “all of mankind will be born anew through this place, this nation which will produce many righteous people like salt whom Heaven will remember.”
True Parents established 55 holy grounds across North America in 1965, with Death Valley as the fourth location. Rev. Ken Doo of Las Vegas, who joined True Mother on the trip, said members have regularly visited the site for prayer over the decades. Upon the new year, Unificationists began a special 40-day devotion period — from January 7 to February 15 — for the victorious entrance into Cheon Il Sanctum and Cheon Won Gung; the safety of True Parents and their family; to successfully share the Unification faith with more people; for the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and to overcome all global crises to bring about lasting peace.
You can watch the video of True Mother’s trip to Death Valley here.