——————————————

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AT THE UPPER RIGHT.

IT’S FREE!

You will ONLY receive notifications when I post new entries to my blog.

——————————————

Of Rivera and the Reverend

Most of my time in the Marines I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and served with Nelson G. Rivera.  Rivera was a Puerto Rican from New York City.  We had gone through boot camp in the same series and arrived on Lejeune at the same time.

We hit it off immediately.

——————————————

Rivera was one of the few guys I hung out with regularly but one of the many who depended on me for a ride from time to time.  Many of the Marines who came from the city arrived at Lejeune with no car, or even a driver’s license.  Most of those men left the same way. 

Rivera was an exception to that.  He asked if he could borrow my car to take his driver’s test.  I helped him study and let him drive with me now and then.

He passed the driving test with flying colors…the same way he did everything.

——————————————

But Nelson Rivera was exceptional in a lot of other ways too.  He was an A.J. squared away Marine.  That meant that his uniform was always clean and pressed and his cover (hat) was heavily starched.  He had plenty of snap and pop too.  By that I mean that he practiced his movements and, when we drilled, he could march sharply and follow commands instantly and accurately.

He lived his life the same way.  Anything he undertook, he did with a passion for getting it right.  In those days when reading wasn’t as uncommon as it is today Rivera read a lot, about as much as I did.  He could carry on a conversation on just about any subject and we had some great, in-depth discussions.

And we didn’t always agree.  Nor were we afraid to disagree.

You don’t learn much if you only hang around people who agree with you all the time.

——————————————

One evening he rode with me in my red 1974 Pontiac Ventura into Jacksonville, North Carolina, the town right outside the gates of our base.  We were headed into town to grab a bite to eat and take in a movie.

Our first stop was at Burger King.  The meal was cheap and tasty so, before long we headed out to the Ventura.

——————————————

In the parking lot we were almost to my car when a soft, feminine voice asked, “Would you like to donate to help my church?”  I turned to find an attractive girl in her late teens or early twenties.  We stopped to talk for a minute and reached for our wallets.

Hey, we were two young men stationed on a base that was at probably 99% male.  Oh, did I say she was attractive?

——————————————

“What church are you with?”  I was a Southern Baptist but I wasn’t afraid to help another church, or even religion, do the good work.

The girl smiled sweetly and said, “I’m with the Unification Church.”

I hesitated, “Isn’t that the Reverend Sun Myung Moon?”

She knew I was familiar with the church.  Her smile faded a little.

——————————————

According to what I had read and seen on TV about the Unification movement, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in Seoul, South Korea, based on conservative, family-oriented teachings from new interpretations of the Bible.  He was staunchly anti-communist.

So far, so good.

——————————————

After moving to the United States, the reverend attracted a growing number of followers.  He said that, when he was fifteen, Jesus anointed him to carry out His unfinished work by becoming a parent to all people.

Moon and his second wife, Hak Ja Han, called themselves the “True Parents” to their followers.  The reverend said that Jesus was actually intended to be the second Adam and when He was crucified before getting married, He redeemed man spiritually but not physically.  That was left to Moon and Han.

Moon performed several well-documented mass marriages of his converts.  It was reported that Moon himself assigned those followers to their partners then married them in “Blessing” ceremonies.

According to news reports, the Unification Church was simply a religious cult.

——————————————

I slid my wallet back in my back pocket.  “I can’t donate to help a cult.”

The smile was completely gone now.  Tears flowed down the girl’s face.  “You don’t know the Reverend Moon.”

Walking toward my car I said, “I know him well enough.”

Rivera’s smile was gone too, but he took some money out of his wallet and gave it to the girl.  He said something to her that I didn’t hear and she nodded her head.

——————————————

With my friend in the passenger seat I backed out and started toward the theater.  When I looked both ways before pulling out of the lot, I saw Rivera looking at me.  He still wasn’t smiling.

“What?” I asked him.  “Do you agree with the Reverend Moon?”

He shook his head.

“Why did you donate to his church then?”

“I donated to her.”

“She’ll just give it to that church.”

“Maybe.”  He hesitated, “Probably.”

——————————————

After a minute, Rivera said, “Do you think being mean to her taught her that you were a better person to listen to than the reverend?  Do you think she went back to her church thinking the reverend was a bad person…or you were?”

——————————————

A few months later Rivera reenlisted for embassy duty and moved on to travel the world providing security for U.S. embassies.  He and I remained friends up until the day he left.  We’ve since lost touch.

But I never learned more from him than I did in five minutes that night when we ran into the girl from the Unification Church.

Thank you, my friend, wherever you are.  I hope the world has treated you well.

——————————————

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AT THE UPPER RIGHT. IT’S FREE!

You will ONLY receive notifications when I post new entries to my blog.

Go to the top of the right hand column where it says, “SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL”.  Fill in your email and hit the “Subscribe” button.  You will receive a verification email.  Please confirm that you want to subscribe by clicking, “Confirm Follow” and you will be set!  Thanks!

It doesn’t seem to work from a cell phone, only a computer.  I don’t know why.  Sorry.  If there’s a problem, send me your email address and I’ll sign you up.

——————————————