# Category: Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## THE PARTICIPANTS IN CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### December 25, 1977
Manhattan Center
Translator – Sang Kil Han

When we think about Jesus we know that he was not born with a personal purpose, like the average individual, but rather that he came to this earth to save the world. Because of the fall mankind clearly needs a savior if he is to return to God. Since mankind is not united with God everyone must go through Jesus in order to return. God had a purpose in creating the universe and mankind, but because of the fall His purpose was not fulfilled and ever since God has been striving to restore the lost men. He is determined to fulfill that purpose, which could not be accomplished until the time of Christ. We know that the reason God wanted to see Jesus Christ on earth was to restore the families and individuals whom God had lost contact with, even though mankind has never been fully aware that it required tremendous preparation on His part to send the Messiah to the earth.

It was not easy at all for God to prepare fully to send His son. Because man failed to accomplish the original purpose of creation, God had to prepare someone to fulfill that original perfection, someone who could be born in purity. Simply stated, God had to send His son down to earth through the body of a woman, but not just any woman; preparing that woman to be the mother of the Messiah required painstaking work.

Jesus’ mother, Mary, was not quite in the position of having nothing to do with sin. In other words, she was unable to obtain the level which existed before the fall took place; she was elevated, yet not quite to the point of having nothing to do with sin. In order to compensate for that, Mary had to take the firm position of loving God more than anyone else, even to an absolute, impossible degree. Also she needed to establish the position of doing something to cut the ties with the fall. These two conditions were essential.

Once the necessary conditions were met, Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb and could be recognized as having no ties with the fallen act. It is difficult to grasp, but Jesus was born way beyond the realm of the fall and had nothing to do with sin. Once Jesus was born, God must have been happier with him than He was with His original creation. At the same time, however, Jesus’ birth could not wipe away the painful reality of all the fallen people. God could not ignore or forget the fallen world. Before the fall only God exercised dominion over Adam and Eve and there was no such thing as Satan; however, nowadays even many devout people wrongly believe that Satan existed before man was created. This was certainly not so.

### What was the mission of Mary and Joseph?

God was not the only one in a position to try to exercise dominion over Jesus. Satan came into existence at the moment the fall took place, and certainly Satan continued to pursue man, especially a man like Jesus who could fulfill God’s purpose of creation. Satan was very active and persistently tried to take Mary to his side. Mary knew that she was in the middle of an important situation, but she did not understand it fully. Perhaps she had a hint of her responsibility but Mary did not completely know her situation at that time.

What about Joseph, Mary’s husband? He did not fully know the situation either, nor any other close relatives, even Jesus’ brothers and sisters. What about Jesus, then, who was born in these circumstances? Jesus had to have understood each person’s responsibility because otherwise he would not have been able to clarify the situation. Did Jesus know all of this the moment he was born, or did Jesus gradually realize it while he was growing up?

It was God’s intention that everyone around Jesus, including Mary and Joseph and all the relatives, nurture Jesus and protect him from Satan so that he could fully develop himself and his ideals before finally undertaking his mission. They should have devoted all of their possessions, energy and heart towards protecting Jesus so that the will of God through him would be meticulously protected from possible invasion by Satan. The sole purpose of their lives should have been to protect Jesus while he was preparing for his mission.

This was the situation from God’s point of view, but who thought about that kind of thing at the time? Certainly all indications-biblical and historical- show that they did not understand what they were to do for Jesus. Since that time, even religious people have had only a slight idea. The traditional attitude, for instance, has been one of praise for the way in which the Messiah was born in a stable and laid in a manger on straw. How could mankind be proud of the son of God being born in a stable?

The Jews were prepared by God to receive and assist Jesus, but did even those people really have the slightest idea of who Jesus was and what they were supposed to do in order to help him fulfill the will of God? They did not know a thing. Was there anyone who understood Jesus’ mission as an individual, his mission to restore his family and the nation around his family and finally the whole world? It is very clear that there was no one, either secular or religious, who helped Jesus accomplish his mission.

If there was anyone at all who understood Jesus and helped him it was God Himself. God knew, but no one else except Jesus understood his responsibility. Was God contented and happy while looking down on His son born in a stable, crying in the cold, with no one around him knowing what they were supposed to do and with Satan searching intently to find some way to stop him? Could God feel easy in that situation?

Let us go back and think in a little more detail about what the immediate environment was. Mary was Jesus’ mother but Joseph was not his father. When Joseph married her, Mary was pregnant and Joseph knew that it was not his child she carried. He was a righteous man so he married her, but was Joseph rejoicing each day because his wife had a godly son? Or was Joseph always angry and wondering whose child it was anyway?

Joseph did not know anything except what he was told in one short dream. Joseph was a righteous man so he married Mary as he was instructed to do by an angel, but how long do you think Joseph could feel righteous and happy about it? Don’t you think he kept on wondering and repeatedly asking her, “Whose baby is it?” Could Mary just casually answer, “Oh, it was conceived by the Holy Spirit, so you should be happy”? Even if Mary had truthfully said that, do you think that Joseph would have responded with joy?

Be realistic and imagine yourself in that position. Suppose everyone respects you as a very generous man, but you have to marry some woman who is pregnant with someone else’s child. If she told you that it was conceived by the Holy Spirit then perhaps one day you would not have resentment, but could you still feel generous for all the years to come. You are a good sample of people to ask this question of because as Unification members you have a more worldwide point of view. If one of you were in Joseph’s situation, hearing gossip and criticism all around, would you feel very happy and content with Mary? Would you be glad to serve the child once he was born and sacrifice to protect him from evil?

It is likely that Joseph asked Mary many times whose baby she carried because he was curious and because he tried to understand. But remember that at that time an unmarried woman who became pregnant was required by Mosaic law to be stoned for committing adultery. At first Joseph probably thought he would understand, but in the long run he could not accept the situation. Do you think that their relationship was happy for very long? It is probable that they quarreled and distrusted each other rather than fully understanding and cooperating in love in the sight of God.

Once Jesus was born the rift became even greater and Joseph looked upon Jesus as something which was not wanted and which had ruined his relationship with Mary. This was the realistic situation that existed all through Jesus’ life. Because of their parents’ attitude towards Jesus, even his own brothers and sisters did not respect him, much less think that he was the son of God. They even treated him worse than they would other children because he was different.

Whenever parents respect a child then his brothers and sisters will also, but when the father and mother are indifferent or hostile then the chances are that the other children will treat him the same way. The Bible records that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem for Passover, and when they couldn’t find him after the celebrations they left for home without him, only coming back to look for him after three days. Jesus was very indignant and condemned them. Even in an average family can you imagine parents leaving a child of Jesus’ age all alone in a crowded city? We can safely assume that Mary and Joseph quarreled over this. Joseph probably said, “Forget about it. Let’s leave,” and Mary had to go along. Because Mary was very insistent, however, and Joseph knew that Mary would not yield, they turned back again to find Jesus and bring him home with them. This is a far more logical and consistent understanding than any other interpretation.

### As a child, Jesus was caught
in an unbearable situation

While Mary was pregnant and while the disharmony between Mary and Joseph continued do you think that rumors went around the whole neighborhood about how they often fought? In a neighborhood as close together as an ancient Jewish village the chances are that everybody knew that Mary and Joseph did not get along together for some reason. The high priest knew everything about his community, for instance. Zechariah, the high priest at the time, and all the relatives at least knew and disapproved of the situation.

Joseph’s family knew that Jesus was not really one of them and even though they might not have discussed it in front of him, Jesus was not respected. Even now in a society as permissive as America’s, if a girl has a baby whose father is not known then there is some talk about it. An even harsher situation prevailed in Jesus’ time, when an unwed mother was punishable by death. Certainly there would be cruel gossip. Could Jesus grow up happy and contented like an average child under these circumstances, or can you imagine that Jesus was caught in an unbearable situation? Every child that Jesus played with certainly must have made comments about things heard from his parents. Jesus just could not have had normal relationships with other children.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that Jesus was born to save all of the people. He was the only begotten son of God and his object of salvation was exactly the people who ostracized him. The way the king of kings was treated and understood by the people around him was vastly different from God’s ideal for Jesus.

Did anyone around Jesus try to defend him? There is not one account which records such dedication. Jesus was mistreated and persecuted by his own family because they completely lacked any understanding of who he was. Even without his being king of kings and the son of God, was he even treated as well as the son of a common family?

Common sense would say that even on holidays or special occasions no one made special clothing or gifts and presented them to Jesus. The brothers and sisters who were more favored by Joseph might have gotten something, but even Mary was reluctant to anger Joseph by giving anything to Jesus. Of course Jesus must have wanted to wear the special clothes and eat the special food of that time, like we all do, but it was not possible to acquire it. Was Jesus free to do whatever he pleased? Circumstances always blocked him from pursuing whatever he wanted or needed to do.

### What kind of person could have consoled Jesus?

Jesus definitely knew that he was special. He heard what the common people thought about him but his own self-image was completely different. From the time he was small he could never talk openly in his own way. The only consolation he could seek was in communication with God, and he spent most of his time praying to God and seeking His guidance. As a result Jesus became stronger and stronger in this period and circumstances compelled him in only one direction-toward God and the realization of His ideal. He knew that mankind’s thinking was vastly different from God’s and that it had to be corrected; he also knew that society understood nothing about what God wanted and that he himself would have to change it. Because of his adverse circumstances Jesus had to really pray hard to God, to the point where God could talk to him and teach him what he would need for his future work.

Do I imagine these things and then tell you, or do I know the facts? Although most people do not believe this, I have seen this sorrowful situation myself. All of you can readily accept that what I have said is true, but there is even far deeper significance than what has been explained. Under these circumstances, do you think that during Jesus’ years on earth anyone celebrated his birthday with real joy? As Jesus grew older and knew more and more clearly who God was and what his own mission was supposed to be, his heart became heavier and more agonized and his environment became more difficult to tolerate.

The most precious friend for Jesus would have been the person who came to him, not with many presents or words of congratulations, but rather with a tearful heart to console him in his situation and to discuss with him what he was going to do in the future. If someone like this had been there then Jesus would have been far happier than if someone had come with presents. That person could have been one of his own brothers or sisters. Knowing his hidden suffering, he or she could have brought just a small piece of cake wrapped in a handkerchief to give to Jesus on his birthday, saying, “The people don’t understand you, but I will try to help you. You must not be disappointed.” Jesus certainly would have welcomed such a person far more than someone who came with a fancy present for him and then went away. If there had been one such brother or sister in Jesus’ family then Jesus would have remembered him for a long time arid would have spoken about it.

When Jesus felt despondent he had to pray to God more intensely, and being moved by Jesus’ fervent prayer, God would have taught him, “You will later become great in this way and rise to this particular position.” That’s the way it was supposed to be anyway, with God telling him many things in detail. Because of these experiences Jesus knew that God was his best friend and the one closest to him, quite unlike Joseph or Mary, or even his brothers and sisters.

Jesus was very serious in thinking about the national situation at that time, praying about how to change things. He would have asked God time and time again, “Father, when will the Messiah appear on this earth to correct the situation?” Perhaps he was told many times by God, “You are the Messiah. You are the one who has to do it.” Do you think that hearing God tell him once was sufficient for Jesus to believe it year after year? Certainly he would have asked more than once, wanting some other answer.

We can safely imagine that he was to]d in detail many experiences which he could expect to happen, such as, “Expect someone to come visit you tomorrow. At a certain time such and such a thing will happen and you must do this and avoid this.” He was instructed in this detail by God about many things.

It is very apparent that Jesus had to train himself in this way internally. Wherever he looked in the physical world there wasn’t one opening of understanding so he had to strengthen and redetermine himself and prepare for his mission. Jesus knew what God had in His plan for himself, the Israelites and all the rest of mankind. God is spirit, but by having a body Jesus could understand the existing situation of man’s world, and he knew that he had to be the central point to bring that world back to God. Do you think that he wanted very much for someone to show some understanding, or that he wanted to hear even one word of love spoken to him, knowing that without him no one had any chance to return to God? Jesus yearned to hear the high priest say, “We must prepare ourselves to receive you, because that’s the only way for us to return to God.”

Do we know of anyone who understood and said this? The people not only did not come near him, they even opposed him directly. Jesus know they were on the road straight to hell and he was absolutely desperate to make the people believe in him. To the last, the people did not understand him and as a result Jesus was crucified. When Jesus died on the cross he was unspeakably despondent. Jesus was absolutely desperate at the people’s lack of understanding, but how would God have felt at losing him from the earth, and at having to prepare once more for thousands of years to send the Messiah?

God depended upon Jesus to fulfill this mission but should God have blessed the people anyway when Jesus was denied and crucified instead? When Jesus was in deepest anguish on the cross God’s feeling was exactly the same. There could not be any difference whatever. When you are really indignant and absolutely furious inside, can you even think about giving happiness or blessing? When someone comes near you at such a time do you feel like being generous and open-hearted? This is exactly the feeling God had. There was absolutely no chance of His giving any promise of salvation at that time.

With this understanding we know how much the traditional belief of Christian churches causes deep pain to God. The most devout Christians have taught worldwide that God had prepared for 4,000 years for Jesus to come to die, and that Christians should be happy that he died to give salvation. When God hears this do you think He would feel like blessing them?

In this desperate situation Jesus realized the significance of what had happened and he said, “I will come back again.” Not a soul has understood his true meaning. It is not possible for Jesus to come again on the clouds in a happy way and magically restore the world, yet everyone believes that that is what will happen. When millions of people sing hymns and exchange presents and wish each other good fortune on his birthday, could Jesus possibly be happy and wish them well? All the festivity only serves as a painful reminder to Jesus of the failure of half of his mission, which only he could fulfill here.

### The true celebration of Christmas

Is there anyone who can celebrate Jesus’ birthday in its true meaning, understanding his situation and what he was supposed to do? There are millions of people who celebrate Christmas because everyone else does, but is there even one individual who knows Jesus’ situation and then commemorates the day? The only celebration which would have meaning for him would come when one who suffers more than Jesus and is more despondent than Jesus himself comes to Jesus, saying, “I have a difficult situation but your situation is much worse. I would like to celebrate your birthday nevertheless. Forget about your sorrow for a moment.” If there was someone like that then Jesus would burst into tears and momentarily celebrate his birthday.

There are many people here in this auditorium but what kind of people are you and what are you supposed to do? Shall we get many good things by using Jesus’ name, or shall we help Jesus, or shall we just follow Jesus? What is this Church designed by God to do? What is the purpose of sacrificing ourselves? By sacrificing we are to fulfill the idea which Jesus pursued and thus bring everyone into unity.

When we become one with Jesus and he is happy then we will be happy, but when he is not happy and things are difficult will we avoid him for awhile? Are we going to be one with him at the time of the cross or before, or even earlier, when God planned the dispensation? Are we going to be the group whose tradition and vision begin even before the time of Jesus with the ideal of God, when there was no Satan but only perfect unity in every way? Can we start from there and go through difficulty, participating in God’s glory all along? Are we going to be one with the Christ from that time on until the realization of God’s ideal on earth?

At Jesus’ time the people did not understand him, but today everyone must understand this realm of heart. If someone in the most lowly servant position had come to console Jesus and talk with him, Jesus would have felt much closer to him than to all the other brilliant people at that time. Because that person’s heart would have been closer to Jesus’ he would have been close in every other way as well. Jesus wouldn’t have stopped that person from coming just because he wasn’t in the same noble position as Jesus; he would have embraced him right there and burst into tears. That is the realm of heart, the standard of value, which surpasses any national or social boundary and which can link people forever.

Can people feel complete oneness simply by sitting around a plush banquet table eating steaks and good food? It is the really desperate situation where everybody sheds tears together that heartfelt unity with Christ is realized. Why would you prefer the second setting? You feel drawn that way, not because you like struggle, but because Jesus feels that way and God feels that way. The only reason why everyone must also do such a thing is in order to share in whatever God has for you.

This is also true for me. People would prefer many other things, but even though the family may drift away or the society may not give a ready welcome or the world may not understand, we cannot abandon the way which God has opened for mankind and the Messiah, no matter how difficult it is. This is why I am doing what I am doing. The sole purpose for my being here is to have you follow exactly the same path as God Himself. Do you agree with that? Sometimes it is very difficult but this is the only sure way to become a friend of Jesus and of God Himself.

We chose the same way Jesus did and in that way we can understand and participate in the friendship of God. In that process each person will be chased away by his own physical family and society, but still he must follow God and Christ the same way Jesus did. This is the only true religious way and the Unification Church finds itself in that very situation.

Each one must think about whether he is going to cling to the dying Jesus on the cross or to the living Jesus before the cross, or to God’s ideal even before Jesus was born. If anyone is clinging to that original time and becoming one with God, then after the birth of Jesus and his activities on earth he must be one with him until the fulfillment of the dispensation. If a woman is going to follow Jesus she must follow with the heart of Mary and relieve that situation of 2,000 years ago by trying to be the best possible Mary. If it is a man then he should try to serve Christ in the position of Joseph, being determined to protect Jesus from any possible invasion and serving him until the fulfillment of the mission.

To follow Christ a person must also follow like Jesus’ own brothers and sisters, who were meant to understand him completely and love him and do the most difficult things for him. By doing this and becoming one with Jesus, Jesus and God Himself will never be able to say in the future, “I don’t know you.” Those who are following Christ as a real friend can console him, going over the path of thorns in this world and feeling fury at all the injustice done to him. Such people can say, “They don’t understand. I will compensate for their mistakes so don’t blame them or be agonized at the situation. Try to forget about them and let’s do it together.” If the Messiah had had such followers then certainly God would have been able to come and liberate the rest of the dispensation. If someone came to Jesus to express regret at his difficulties then Jesus would answer, “Well, it is difficult but I can bear it. But how about you? Your path is more difficult.” Such a flow of heart is the foundation for heaven on earth.

### How can we soothe the turmoil
in God’s heart and Jesus’ heart?

How should I nurture the Unification Church and in what direction should I lead it? Our purpose is not to become happy and comfortable together but rather to persevere in hardship; the job has to be done and we will even search for the most difficulty to go over in order to console Jesus and God along this way. How can you say that is good? That is the only way to soothe the turmoil in the hearts of Jesus and God Himself. We have to straighten out the regrets and the incredibly oppressed feeling, the furious sense of frustration that God has and Christ has. Without untangling that, there is no chance for mankind to be blessed or to come anywhere near the concept of blessing.

If we avail ourselves like that then everyone can go back before the time of the cross and be the real friends of Jesus, be the best Mary and the best Joseph. Everyone can become completely one with Jesus in its truest sense. Even though you live 2,000 years after Jesus did, you can be friends with him because love is not bound by time and space. When you are persecuted in the street and spit at, are you persevering for yourself or because of mankind and God? Because we can go beyond time and even space to become completely one in dove and heart, even before the time of history, we can persevere that way.

When Satan tries to condemn and persecute Christ himself, each person ought to be very strong and resolve, “For me there is no Satan and no doubt. There is no such thing as a second thought about protecting and serving Jesus himself on earth.” At Jesus’ time the best follower would have thought only of the nation that they were involved in, but now we will go even beyond our own nation and work for the sake of the world. We have to be proud of living that way.

We will pick up where Jesus left off and fulfill the salvation of the nation and then go beyond that to the world. Jesus was opposed by only one race and one religious denomination, but in the course of saving the world we are persecuted by many races and many denominations. We will surely face that opposition so we have to feel supremely confident. Why should we choose that course? We do it so that together with Christ we can inherit his work for the sake of the country and the world. First we inherit the work of Jesus who fought for his country’s salvation and after that we will inherit the work for the world at the Second Advent. Our suffering now is much beyond the national level; not only all denominations will come against us but all religions will persecute us, yet we will still cross over it. Even Jesus did not experience that. This is the first such encounter even for God.

We must determine that by going through this difficulty we will surely become strong leaders, training ourselves in the position of Jesus’ twelve disciples. When the disciples met a difficult situation with Jesus they all fled. There was no trace of them when Jesus confronted his most difficult time. Of course we must be better than any disciples at that time to stand strong and protect our Lord. If we do that then God will have a strong grasp on us and won’t let go. That means we are in safe hands and no matter who opposes us-the communists or the whole free world-could God be really disheartened?

The one who is persecuted can only get nearer and nearer to God. In other words, there is nothing to lose and inevitably you can be the closest of all to God. This is exactly what happens when anyone perseveres to his real breaking point. Then God Himself appears to teach him in detail. Anyone can experience His miracles 24 hours a day.

Though we are scorned we are happy, fortunate people. Sometimes you don’t eat well and you might not get much sleep; your parents even try to kidnap you but still you are fortunate. Even with that kind of persecution we have stayed on the side of God. This is a historic achievement and God will give you His highest praise. At the same time God will pour out His fullest love to you. That is condition enough.

We can call ourselves the fortunate ones since we love God to that extent and since God loves us in return; in the end love reaches everywhere, dominating everything. In fact, we can become like God Himself because of love. Because we love Him that much and He loves us that much, we are the same as God. After all, we are the sons of God; the only difference is that He is subject and we are object.

My topic is “The Participants in Celebrating Christmas.” The world is celebrating Christmas in its best way and we are celebrating Christmas in our way. Let us celebrate this Christmas in the truest sense, understanding the true situation of Jesus and the meaning of his second coming, devoting all our heart and love to becoming one in love with God. Then we are the participants in all that belongs to God.

No matter how shabby the clothing we wear and no matter how unworthy we may be, even if we don’t have any presents to bring, if we devote our heart for that cause, we can be the true participants in this Christmas. The world is celebrating Christmas but not in the true way and God does not find any meaning at all in that celebration. Our numbers are small but our hearts are intense in the desire to be one with Christ.

I wonder whether members were thinking of all the joyous times at Christmases in their past as they walked in here this morning, and whether they didn’t wish they could relive those happy moments instead of celebrating Christmas so seriously in the Unification Church. After this service each one must go out in the rain to continue his daily chores, and you might have wondered why you aren’t taking the day off.

We must remind ourselves that this is the saddest day of all for God and Jesus. Jesus never had one real birthday celebration when he was on earth, and it will be immensely meaningful to him to see the many people who are gathered here to celebrate in the true sense. Wouldn’t you be grateful to participate in the true Christmas celebration? Do you think Jesus would be happy to see that the people gathered here have had tears and sweat staining their faces, and have gone without beautiful clothes to do God’s work? Do you feel confident that Jesus would be deeply moved to see you gathered here to sing Christmas songs and wish him happy birthday?

You must know for sure that you are on the road to becoming sons and daughters of God, to whom even God and Jesus can be thankful for what you have done. Such people are the most beautiful women in the world and the greatest men. Jesus would certainly pick a wife from such a group, completely disregarding anyone else’s beautiful clothing or jewelry or education. Would you be a participant in celebrating Christmas in its truest sense? Do you celebrate with a feeling of complaint hidden in your pocket? Those of you who are determined that for the rest of your lives you will stay close to the path of Christ, embracing the past and present and the future until God’s will is fulfilled, raise your hands. God bless you. Let us pray.

## THE TRADITION OF THE UNIFICATION CHURCH

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### December 11, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator – Bo Hi Pak

Man cannot live apart from his historical position. Everything he does, from making his food and his clothing to his everyday way of life derives from the background of history. Any society also has its inherited position and it maintains some link with the nation, either failing or succeeding on that level. Everyone is affected by their family tradition, social tradition and national tradition.

With this in mind let us determine the meaning of patriotism. The patriot is the person who faithfully fulfills tradition as an individual in his family, society and nation. Who is a saint then? We know that Jesus Christ, Mohammed and Confucius were saints, and that all these people organized the traditional religions of mankind. They are the ones who left posterity the kinds of tradition that all mankind benefits by. Were they people who always did as they wished, living every day in fun and laughter? No, from an earthly point of view those saints lived very unfortunate lives, far more difficult than average. Why did they live that kind of life? These saints were not concerned about their own freedom; instead they wanted to be totally obedient to the one divine will and they subjugated themselves to live that way.

Even though they had individual desires, those saints always thought about God and His tradition and how it could be manifested on the individual level. When they looked at their own families they always thought about what the authentic family would be in the sight of God. In observing their own society they always wanted to know from God’s point of view what society should be. They also had a fervent desire to know what traditions a nation should have in the sight of God. Naturally they also wondered how the world should serve God.

These saints were people who wanted to follow that tradition not only for the sake of life in this earthly world, but also for the spirit world. Their goal in trying to establish God’s tradition from the individual level all the way up to the level of spirit world was ultimately to find union with God. This striving for unity with God was the tradition they wanted to leave behind here on earth.

They knew that God is sovereign not only of this world but of spirit world as well, and this is why the tradition of the saints could have permanent impact on earth and afterward in heaven. These saints lived for the future, even though their contemporaries may have persecuted or accused them. Those saints were living in hope for the future and even though they suffered in their own time they always upheld their vision and kept striving for its fulfillment.

### The basis of trueness is love

Once again, what is a saint? In one word, a saint is a true man, a man who can live in the past, present and future and in whom God can have confidence. A true man will never be corrupted over time, or seem less holy down through history. Such a man is like God, who is unchanging in value throughout the past, present and future. The value of a true man cannot be changed through time; his past value is his present value and his future value equals his past value. What is the fundamental basis for determining this? Is this demonstrated by a man’s faith not changing from the past, present or future? By a man’s actions not changing in purpose with time? What makes God true throughout the ages? Definitely the basis for trueness is love.

God’s love is constant and if a true man is defined as being in the likeness of God then his love also is unchanging in the past, present and future, both here on earth and in spirit world. We must fully understand this basic principle of the true man. You might proudly claim to be a true man because you don’t lie to anyone but does consistent action alone distinguish a true man? What about consistently speaking in one uniform manner?

No matter how consistent that man is in action or in speech, without love he is not a true man. Your natural parents are probably truthful with you, never lying or equivocating and their actions are consistent, but is that enough to make them true people? They must be in the likeness of God by having their love the same as God’s. If a husband, for example, is diplomatic and affectionate and always faithful to his wife, would that alone make him a saint? What more would you want in a husband? It is not formality or appearance that counts, but love in the likeness of God.

If something resembles a husband or parent, can it be called love? It must be something like God, not just like a husband, to be love. If you just cannot help but respond in love then what you have encountered is truly love; the mind and heart have to feel love in return, without having any choice. If you love someone, for example, do you ever wish that he would disappear? Love wants to bring him close, day and night. That is the feeling of love.

Here in America is it true that all parents and children feel a deep closeness? What kinds of sons and daughters are you, real or counterfeit? If you were to tell your parents that they were fake would they agree, or would they exclaim, “what are you talking about!” If a relationship is artificial and formal then people become strangers. For example, compare your family relationships to the true feeling of love; do you want to be close to your parents always, or do you wish that they would leave you alone?

Americans often demand the right of privacy, insisting that their parents stay out of their world and not bother them. Is there privacy in the world of love? Does God have a schedule of love, being available a few hours in the morning, then in the afternoon and again in the evening? When speaking of love there is no privacy in God; He has no schedule. If there is someone who wants to receive love 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, then God wants to be with him. Love is the one thing that God wants to be intoxicated with. If you are really the personification of that love of God then would you be happy just momentarily or 24 hours a day?

You women have been looking forward to having the kind of husband who will bring you right into heaven. As a woman you have three tests to go through; first you must receive the love of parents, and then love your husband and your own children in that manner. Then you can go right into heaven. There has to be some kind of standard. No one can enter heaven in just a mediocre way.

Let’s talk about the providence of God. Some might say that it is a providence of war, that God enjoys seeing people clash. Jesus was a messenger of God who criticized people for being blasphemers and being like serpents and he certainly made some people angry. If Jesus had told the Jews that they were wonderful men of God, would he have been killed? Without exception the other saints like Confucius and Mohammed also declared to the world something it didn’t want to hear.

Why am I being criticized so much today? Am I telling Americans that they are the greatest people on earth and that I love them? I am being criticized for declaring that Americans are ruining themselves and their country. I understand very well that Americans don’t want to hear anything like that even from their own children, but when all of a sudden a stranger comes from a foreign country and criticizes America, they get particularly incensed!

Every Sunday morning I repeat things that even you don’t want to hear, but still I say them. You repent and accept it all because you have hope and you want to make a new beginning, but the rest of the world doesn’t accept what I say and resists changing. Attitude is very important. Unlike the rest of America you think, “No matter what you say to us, we will accept it, knowing that you will only lead us to better ourselves. You are not here to destroy us but to raise our standard.”

You might look back on your life and remember how you had all kinds of freedom before you joined the Unification Church. Now here you might feel deprived of your freedom, and what’s more, you are pushed out into the hard work of fund raising and witnessing. The weather is bitter cold now but in the early morning you get up to come to Belvedere to hear me. You live crazy lives. Why do you have to do this? Isn’t there another way? If you slept twelve hours a day you would still have twelve good hours left to work so why should you bother with being so uncomfortable? Wherever we turn there is always controversy, whether we knock on doors or start a business. Even when I go down to Alabama there is controversy. Americans want to know why I am bothering them. Are we going to become rich? Not at all.

### Please accept your tribulations as training

Actually we are here to spread love. Even if the people hate us, we still want to spread the love of God. We want to talk about the love of God, on doorsteps and street corners and in airports and bus stations m Every word and every deed is the gift of love, a manifestation of love When you ask people to donate they may snap, “Don’t bother me Leave me alone! ” But if you still forgive them then they are the ones who are indebted.

We have a responsibility to share the love that comes from heaven. Representing every race and all the people of the world, you were hand-picked by God to distribute His love. God always works to set anything up conditionally in the beginning, and in our case you are conditionally spreading God’s love when you go fund raising with peanuts and flowers or chocolate. Have you ever thought about it this way? Every morning in the darkness you go out selling newspapers but are you making a lot of money? We are actually gaining nothing and money-wise we are losing, yet still we do it.

You were assigned to 360 homes but do the people like you to knock on their doors? You do it anyway because you are chosen and ordained by God to give out His love. I want you to know that you are all the heirs of God and candidates for sainthood. There are all kinds of people walking on the same street you do, but is there anyone else going down the street in genuine innocence, simply trying to give away the love of God? Early in the morning are you motivated that way, day after day?

Some people may misunderstand us but eventually they will know our true motivation and they will bow down, knowing that we are truly doing unselfish things for the purpose of God. People test you Moonies when they accuse you but then they find that you are strong and firm inside, not boneless like jellyfish. You are not just talkers or salesmen but you have something solid inside, something that they can feel is bigger than themselves. You are individuals who can look straight up to the future, who know the present and also the past. People will see in you the hope of the universe, because you are representatives of God. After all the kinds of suffering you have gone through, people would expect you to look tired out, but instead they see that your eyes are shining and your posture is confident.

We want to polish ourselves and become new. When you go to the riverside or seashore you can find well-rounded, polished stones which are very beautiful. On the mountainside, however, you find stones that are all jagged and irregular in shape. Which kind of stone would you like to be? Why do you prefer the round, smooth stone? You say that it is the most beautiful, but that is just its external appearance. Its smoothness shows how hard a time that stone has gone through, how much it has been tossed by the water and slammed against the sand. It is not easy to make a hard stone smooth. Unification Church members all start out like the stones on the mountainside, with lots of sharp edges, but each time the waves and rocks beat against the stones a little more wears away, making them smoother and smoother. Those tribulations break off parts of you and it’s very painful, but inside you still say, “I want to persevere and go on.”

Once you are seasoned and polished and hardened then you have a well-rounded personality. The beauty of a round shape stems from its sameness on all sides. Try this experiment sometime; pick up a ball and draw faces on it from all sides. You can draw on it from all directions and it will look the same, but you cannot draw too many faces on an odd-shaped stone.

Which would you rather be, a sharp stone or a round one? You are like God and God basically has a round character. He likes roundness and everything that God makes always has some round aspect. I can see one evidence that God loves Oriental people by the fact that their noses are more rounded and smooth!

You actually become smoother faster when you do things like selling the paper, bumping against the harsh cold air and the hardness of the people. Would you rather be very meek in selling the newspapers, or would you enthusiastically go from person to person? After you have been trained in this fashion you have keen eyesight and can evaluate what kind of man or woman a person is.

The public may look at a small sister as a simple person, but all of a sudden when she starts talking a beautiful sermon comes out! They will gasp, “Where did you learn all that? You are talking about big things! ” That’s her Unification Church training. The MFT experience will give you basic training for dealing with all kinds of people. Even without your realizing it you are becoming the best diplomats, with a sixth sense about people This is formidable training which is impossible to get in any other way. MFT is really your most difficult task m A person’s money usually stays way down deep in his pocket and doesn’t like to come out but you are trying to talk it out! It really takes concerted effort to move a person’s heart.

In meeting you, a person might momentarily feel closer to you than to his own wife. You can make such a deep impression upon him in the shortest possible time because you can analyze a person. Instead of wishing that you hadn’t approached him to donate, he will think, “I wish you could be my own daughter,” or “I wish you could be my own brother. What a wonderful person.” If you meet that same person a second time you know that he will greet you first. He might say, “I’m so glad to see you again! Shall I buy again?” You might use wonderful diplomacy and say, “You already donated once so you don’t have to give again,” but if he insists then you could tell him, “Well, if you really want to help then you could give a substantial donation and get a whole case.”

When you come back with a good result at the end of the day, instead of being proud of how much money you have you must be jubilant that you could distribute more of God’s love. Then secondly appreciate the money coming in. You must look at the merchandise you carry as being containers of the love of God. If you have candy and think of it as the love of God, would the candy be happy? If it has a personality, the candy will feel, “I want to be eaten by a man who appreciates the love of God in me as much as the person who sold me.” The candy wants to be possessed by such a person, and would even say, “If he doesn’t eat me himself then I want to be eaten by his loved ones.”

If the person truly appreciates the candy then it will not just be candy but a tonic for good health. Two purposes are being served. First, it gives joy to man by giving love, and second it brings joy to God m Does that make God joyful because God loves money? No, in the sight of God it is not money; it is the appreciation of His love m When you raise funds and come back with result you must pray and offer that money to heaven, saying, “God, these people appreciated Your love and received it. Would You remember them and add Your blessing to their homes?” Indeed God will respond to you and His blessing will go to every home which gave that money.

You are like God’s water holes, offering the water of God’s love m Would you like to be a pipeline the size of a finger, or as big as a giant water main? Would you just stand still, or be energetic and actively embrace the world? You know the answer, but knowing it is one thing and doing it is something else.

Spiritually you look like the jagged stones from the mountains, and you need perseverance in order to become round; many things have to be chipped away so that only the genuine portion will remain. What color stone would you like to be? I like white. White paper is capable of receiving all colors m Blue paper cannot show blue ink, for instance, and black paper cannot accept any color. I like white because I want to embrace everybody of every conceivable color. Wouldn’t you like the kind of man who is capable of accepting anyone? The person who can embrace all circumstances and who is disturbed by nothing is a prince of peace. He has inner tranquillity all the time m If you are that way then everybody can come and share themselves and you will accept them all.

### If you truly represent God, He will vindicate you

Is pushing you out for fund raising right or wrong? If you really love to tackle that mission more than you like eating and sleeping and loving, then by doing it you will discover a far greater love than you ever knew. I want you to have that gift. When you apply yourself in your mission more than you love eating and sleeping and loving then you will inevitably discover a new world of genuine love and value.

Then it doesn’t make any difference where you go. You can go to the dungeons of hell and still have spring all around; I will be there with you and God will be there with you and you will never be alone. Spiritually I will take you by the hand and lead you in each direction. That discovery of new value and the sense of permanent love cannot be found in a comfortable classroom. That kind of experience can only be obtained through actually knocking on the door of the Harlems of this world. By that experience alone can you taste love, which is why I am pushing you out.

Please take it seriously and do not feel that you are being used. If you willingly go that path you will discover new value and meet God there. How many of you have really walked down the street in the heart of God, and how many tears did you shed on behalf of God? Someone might mistreat you, but forgive them and come back with hope. Next time you visit him you can have hope that he will be a new man and treat you differently. You are always being deceived by people, but always be their friend anyway.

Even though you are always being deceived, people will become different with time. Know that the power of God is there, that God is not leaving you alone; if you have that much forgiveness and generosity and prayer but still the other person doesn’t repent then don’t worry about him. Spirit world will come down and chastise him.

When God sees how much you truly represent Him and He is moved by your heart, then God will feel anger and want revenge, exclaiming, “I cannot leave this situation alone! I must come down to help.” That kind of togetherness with God cannot be found when you are sitting idle, waiting for God’s blessing. You must be out there in the forefront in order to meet God.

I am living in this fashion now but this is not the way of life I prefer. I felt much closer to God when I was in prison, when there was no bed to lie on and I just dozed leaning against the wall. In that kind of life I found God right beside me, always watching over me. I long for that depth of relationship with God.

The power source which sustained the saints in history was found in that kind of circumstance. When there was agony and hardship they found God, not in comfort. I don’t need good clothes or a warm welcome from people because the only thing I care about is the love of God. If someone stripped me naked and then threw me out into the cold, God would still be loving me, and I would not feel the chill. Are you that way?

Some of these sisters’ faces are cute and innocent and charming, but I wonder how much longer that beauty will last, how much longer I will see those faces here each week. Maybe someone will lure them away. When you feel you cannot stay here any more because it is too hard and you can’t stand it, then all of a sudden you will find something more attractive outside, perhaps someone who will ask you to come with him. Many women are captivated by their own beauty and when they look in the mirror they admire their nice complexions and slim figures. When they are confronted with the MFT mission they are horrified and insist that they need beautiful clothes and nice things.

Why did you get up early to come to Belvedere on a cold morning like this? What a life! Did you come because you want money or food? If you really want true unchanging love, you must realize that it is not going to be gained in very relaxed fashion. You have to go to extremes and there you will find it, but once you have it you will have unperturbed happiness even at the bottom of hell’s misery. Now when you look at a movie about an ordinary person living an ordinary life do you find it interesting? I’m sure you are more interested in people who are doing extraordinary things.

In Hollywood there are all kinds of glamorous stars but are they really like they are on film? Are they true men and women? History is on record like a film and you are the leading actors and actresses in manifesting the true love of God. Have you ever thought that you were starring in the dramatic movie we are making at the moment? Should you be dressed like a king or queen, or would it be more dramatic if you wore miserable clothes? What about wearing your shoes backwards? There is a very striking explanation of why you should-shoes are going toward the secular world and you want to go in the opposite direction! You may have a ragged suit with many holes but since you have tasted the world as it is, you are now going in the other direction. You women can think that God is your leading man. Could you find any better?

The archives of heaven are being gathered right now, with God recalling every suspenseful situation, and your name will appear there, too. Suppose you were present when some climactic moment was being filmed but you were dozing m How would you like to see that played back later on? If a person is very ugly then whether he is dozing or not doesn’t make any difference in how he looks, but a charming face asleep is not attractive m

### Only the love of God can unify the world

The most dramatic and stirring life is the search after permanent and eternal love. A lot of people think that the presidency of their nation is the ultimate position, but presidents become slaves to their responsibility. Many successful people think that their lives could only be more fulfilled by being an influential member of government, but the permanent rank you want is not of President of the United States but that of a genuine searcher for the true love of God. Let people say anything they want about how we are evil people. One thing is true: the Unification Church is here to find the true, permanent love of God.

How can we create unification? The way of unification is simple. You heard how people tremble when they read in “Master Speaks” that I said we will conquer the world, but how could we possibly do that? With bombs or fists? You say that we will use love, but whose love? My love? I am a mortal man who may change, but the love of God will not change. God is eternal and if the love of God is burning in each individual’s heart then we don’t have to worry about how the Unification Church will unify the world because the love of God will do it.

Do you feel that the love of God is the solution to everything? Is there no better happiness than obtaining the love of God? Even asleep in bed you would still be dancing with that love! This is not just an amusing thing; it is absolutely true. If you are fervent in focusing yourself on that love then you can penetrate not only this world but spirit world as well.

If you are intoxicated in that love then you can see all of spirit world and hear the music of that world. Your nose will not just breathe air but the atmosphere of spirit world, which is love. Your whole body will move in conjunction with spirit world; then you will be on cloud 9 and your feet won’t touch the ground. I searched after that love and I know that is it not stored in a palace, but found inside the boundaries of hell. Those who do not reach out for that love shall remain in hell.

When you understand this, the teaching of Jesus becomes very relevant; “For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” That’s the truth. The bottom of hell is a real gold mine because there anyone can find the true love of God. Since God’s love is blocking the exit of hell, however, anyone who does not know the love of God cannot come out. Hell in the spirit world is beyond the reach of anyone on earth, but you can digest physical hell. In order to liberate hell in the ultimate sense you must start here on earth. The New Yorker is on the avenue of prostitutes, 8th Avenue. I might assign our women to kidnap the men who go to the houses of prostitutes and liberate them from sin. Then you can really straighten out this country of America.

You need to really be experienced and toughened by training so that you can tackle any kind of extraordinary mission. Hearing this, you may be trembling inside, thinking, “What kind of religion are you teaching? I just want to pray and meditate and go to heaven, but now you are pushing me not only into fund raising but into confronting prostitutes. How could we liberate people like that who are at the bottom of human misery?” Someone has to liberate them and reach out for their salvation. They are also lost daughters of God and His heart is broken because of them. If you are in the likeness of God’s heart then in order to liberate God you must get down to liberate your own brothers and sisters. Fund raising and witnessing are only kindergarten training; the real tough training is still ahead of you!

I asked God what kind of tradition He would like to set up here on earth. Do you think He answered, “My tradition is to conquer the world, period. I want power”? If seizing power were God’s only objective then it wouldn’t take more than ten seconds; He would have done it already. God is all-powerful and He could knock everybody out if He wanted to. Suppose God’s tradition was to become rich or to acquire knowledge for the sake of humanity. Would He have done it already or not?

### What has God been lacking that He should suffer?

Then what’s the problem with God? He seems to have everything already, but if you ask God whether His tradition of love is fulfilled, God will say nom God will answer, “My son, love cannot be fulfilled by oneself alone m I need a partner.” God has not found that perfect object here on earth yet and that’s why the world is still suffering.

Not just anyone can be a partner of that love of God because His love is perfect and supreme; whoever will be capable of becoming a partner of that love must have a record of loving the entire world, past, present and future. Such a person should be able to demonstrate that love of God here on earth, but no one has reached that level. Have you seen that incarnate God here on earth? Because God has not seen that individual either, He has been waiting and working for thousands of years.

If that almighty and perfect God puts His trust in you then do you automatically become the object of that love, without any basic transformation? The world has become like it is because no one is capable of qualifying as the recipient of that fullest love of God m What does God need? Certainly He does not need power or knowledge or money; what He needs is an object who can handle His love. How much have you been thinking that God is supreme, that you could sacrifice everything and still feel that God is priceless? Have you ever been totally filled with the love of God, wanting to serve Him totally for the fulfillment of His purpose?

Look at your own heart and discern if it is pure or stained. In all your concern about your own marriage and how old you are getting did you get distracted from concern for the love of God? I know you want to be recognized by me but if you feel ignored then you only get discouraged. Most people today think that God is either all-powerful or dead, but you must realize that God’s ultimate search is for the object who will become the recipient of His love, not for supernatural power. Nobody else even thought about how God might be suffering except Reverend Moon. I have experienced God’s broken heart and I know how He searched for many thousands of years and could not find the partner on earth who could respond to His love.

God cannot be tired, but even that tireless God is almost at the point of fatigue. I want you to know that He is almost ready to say, “There is no hope for mankind. Forget it.” But I am one man who can say on behalf of all humanity, “God, just be patient a little longer. We are not going to disappoint You. If You will wait, we will bring the result to You.”

My only worry is about God deciding not to give me a chance, about seeing the day come when God says, “Reverend Moon, even you cannot remedy the situation. I must give up on this world.” This is the worst kind of condemnation I could receive and that’s what I worry about. I want you to know that God is serious about the situation of mankind. Realizing that the destiny of all mankind is at stake would you think about having your own little home or about how soon the blessing is coming? No, if you are truly the sons and daughters of God then you must be crazy about the mission, busy comforting God, saying, “God, give us a chance and we shall never disappoint You. We will never let You abandon this world.” That’s the Unification Church way of life.

God is breathing your words and actions, for they represent His only shred of hope in the entire world. The things that I tell you to do are so extraordinary that only those who are determined to give their lives and die for the cause could fulfill them. Even if we commit our lives there is still no guarantee that we will get to the ultimate goal; the situation is that serious. God’s world of love should conquer the world of hell step by step and liberate it. The love of God is our weapon.

It’s not going to be as simple as going out to get money. You are going out every day, either witnessing or on MFT, to expand the territory of God. Whatever your responsibility, you have to cling to the mission and cry out day in and day out. You must make your mission wet with your tears and give everything you have-your body, soul, mind, your knowledge, your possessions-and commit yourself to fulfilling your mission. I committed everything to the American movement because the focal point of the heavenly dispensation is now here. I committed my life, my fortune, my family, my know-how, everything I have m Not one penny has been held back. Your position is to make yourself just the same. If you don’t like doing it then I am sorry; you cannot be prosperous in that case and just have no right to be here.

What has God been lacking that He should be suffering? God hasn’t found His object of love here on Earth m There is only one organization of people who can think in this fashion; you cannot find anyone else besides the Unification Church trying to remedy this particular situation. When John the Baptist saw Jesus he called him the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. In the same way, hosts of angels will look at you and proclaim that you are the messengers of God’s love. That’s the way they must describe you if you truly go this difficult way.

You are the children of God who are carrying the burden of God’s love to disseminate it to the rest of the world. No matter what happens, when you see the evil of the world you can’t say, “God, I just abhor all that. I want You to cast down Your brimstone and fire and burn it away.” That’s not the love of God. When you are mistreated by the world you will say, “God, I want You to have hope for them. Give me a little longer and I will claim their hearts and raise them as Your genuine sons and daughters.” This is how Abraham tried to dissuade God when He was ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

Each year is most precious now. Seeing the manner in which 1977 has gone by I feel that it is shameful to welcome the arrival of 1978. I regret not pushing all our members a little more in 1977. I wish I had done it so that everyone would have brought more result and we could have welcomed a greater morning together in 1978. Any of us may become a sacrifice, but the important thing is that God’s front line moves forward and His territory is expanded. Do you understand that heart? Do you think I just hate you and am trying to destroy you, or is this a genuine expression of love?

What is the tradition of the Unification Church? Not money, not knowledge or power. The love of God is the Unification Church’s tradition. I have nothing to be proud of. I am a miserable man from the earthly point of view, a lonely man who is accused and persecuted. How can I complete a foundation for the love of God while I am still living here on earth? The world which is controlled by Satan hates me because I want to be a messenger of God’s love to the world.

### Restoration of vertical history

We are rooted in the tradition of each era in history. The Old Testament is the era of the servant while the New Testament is the era of adopted son. The Unification Church is coming into direct son ship and to do that each person must become better than adopted sons, better than any Christians here on earth. In what respect must you be better? You know that Heavenly Father is searching after His object of love, thirsting for love. A servant always expects some reward and even an adopted son also wants to get more; these religions always expect some blessing from God and worry about their own church, wanting insurance from heaven. God is not the exclusive possession of the existing Christian churches, or of any other religion. Each person can say, “God is my God.” I am His child and I discovered that God is impoverished in love and His heart is broken. Everyone else may want blessing and material wealth, but the true child will tell God, “We will take care of giving them all those things. In the meantime we want something else; we are going to be objects of Your love and respond to You.”

We are accomplishing the vertical restoration of history in the horizontal way. Each person must inherit the love of God m Each one must inherit from the Old Testament the love of the true servant and then consummate it, as well as the New Testament love of the true adopted son. On that foundation the love of the true sons and daughters can be encompassed. The Old Testament era made an offering of material things and in the New Testament era Jesus as the son was given as the offering m In the Completed Testament era we must do both, restoring material offerings to inherit the Old Testament tradition and offering man in the New Testament tradition.

That’s what you are doing in fund raising and witnessing. The persecution you encounter is an encapsulation of the Old Testament history and you must accept it as restitution. It is a test of whether you are still changeable or not, whether you are really permanent or temporary. Even the communists are irate about our fund raising and use this topic as a forum for denouncing the Unification Church.

Should we stop because people are upset? If people oppose us we will only do that much more. When it becomes more difficult, we will work even harder. Each person must restore the Old Testament era in his way of life, needing only about 2.5 years of dedicated effort. After passing through the Old Testament era each one must do the same for the mission of Jesus, which is fulfilled by witnessing. That might take another 2.5 years of dedication, making five years altogether. God created man on the sixth day, and in a seven year period paralleling the seven days of creation each person can enter the era of the direct sonship of God and go beyond the level of the fallen realm. When you reach this level then you are eligible to receive the blessing. At that point you still must go through another 2.5 -year period, the final test of your absolute loyalty.

### Marriage in the Unification Church

Why is it the Unification Church tradition that even after marriage you cannot have a family immediately? Adam’s fall occurred at the top of the growth stage so you are given blessing at that point, but you must still go past the third level. In restoration the two of you must reach perfection instead of repeating the fall. Even though you are husband and wife, together you must love God more m That is how you will fulfill the final period m Selfish and illicit love brought the fall but this time God-centered love will make restitution.

The youngest age for a man to be blessed should be 27, because after three years of separation he will be 30, the age of Jesus when he started his public ministry. Some brothers might be outraged but if they feel that way they should pack up and leave. In America parents get worried if their teenagers don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, but we are just the opposite. What would I gain by installing such a demanding rule? Nothing. If I didn’t have to worry about God’s rules and about spirit world then anything would be all right.

Men and women must be hard on themselves if they intend to pay the historical debt. Each person has to be firm with themselves and cry out for restoration. Sexual desires are torture to withstand, particularly in energetic young people, but in order to pay the historical debt you must overcome them. Only something greater than the urge for sex can overcome it, and without having some greater power from God you could not do it. That is the supreme test. You must show God that you can surpass the urges of satanic love. Just grit your teeth and become totally numb to that sexual level. Then God will give you the blessing of love. That is why the age of thirty is the magic figure.

You know how promiscuous American young people are and outside our Church you would be free to love at any time of day or night, but here in the Unification Church you are really paying the debt of the rest of the world. It is probably the greatest of all torture and normally those are desperate years. I set the minimum standard as three years of giving yourself for God and forgetting all earthly carnal urges. You must make restitution and cleanse and purify your past.

If you look at the early marriages of high school boys and girls in the everyday world, you will see that few of them last even six months. Half of all marriages nowadays break up, but even though your marriage comes late it is built on a solid foundation and has permanency. It has a purpose and a chance of absolute success. If I were to set the age of forty as the minimum for marriage then when couples got together there would be no question that they would be united completely into one! If I told them to get a divorce if they wanted to then they would reply, “Get a divorce after waiting this long? What are you talking about?!”

The length of time you live in happiness is not the most significant thing; if you live only one year as husband and wife then you want to live it with dramatic intensity, not drag it out for thirty or forty years. This tradition of marriage is a very beautiful way of life. You unmarried members should not just think that you are single but that you are actually living with God; as you lie down in bed, think, “God, let’s sleep together.” God is always with you m The more you long for a mate, the greater is your chance to succeed in marriage.

### Restoration of the Old and New Testament eras

In your own lifetime you must restore the Old Testament era, New Testament era and Completed Testament era, and before your blessing you must pass heaven’s examination m You can graduate from the Old Testament era by restoring material things and offering them to God, in our case by fund raising. By investing your heart and body and soul you earn the material which you offer to God m Whoever wants to spend the money on his own needs first and give what’s left over to God should not even go out fund raising. The person who works hard and even adds his own money to the result, even one penny, is beautiful before God m In that case you have completely fulfilled. I know this law of restoration and I don’t like to spend anything you raise; I would rather add my own resources m Your parents may think that Reverend Moon is depriving you of your earnings and slavedriving you, but that is far from true.

The condition for the New Testament era is met by witnessing, giving your heart and soul and mind to restore the people m By linking this effort with your own family members, your entire ancestry will be benefited. I sacrificed my own family because of this movement, taking care of the members while my own family suffered, and eventually was sacrificed. That family will be given ultimate blessing, however, because that is God’s way.

In order to save the world God gave up His own son as a sacrifice. To win salvation for mankind you must not only give up yourself but your own family and children as . The person who is given a witnessing mission sometimes wants to slip away and not go out, but when you go out for witnessing you have to give not only your entire heart but even commit your entire family, trying to do more than any pioneers in American history. When you feel that even in doing that you are not doing enough, then you have passed through the Old Testament and New Testament eras.

It is your good fortune to be able to witness. Many people say they don’t have time to witness, but they are lacking in heart, not time m Those swindlers who think they can get by and go the easy way are wrong m If the easy way were possible, I would be the first one to relax. One lifetime is short enough so why should I have to live this seriously if there were an easy way? I cannot deviate from the Principle, however.

In the beginning, God, Adam and Eve and the angel together made up the whole universe. Originally these three were linked by love but long ago the linkage was severed. This is the fallen world so restoration must begin at the bottom, with all things of creation. Next the loyal servant must be restored, who was the original angel. Since the angel betrayed God in the beginning, no matter how badly anyone in that angel’s position is treated, he must not rebel again but always be obedient. Every member of the Unification Church starts in the position of serpent. for awhile, first fulfilling the position of heavenly angel. The outside world represents the satanic angel and it constantly harasses you, yet you must be superior to that. No matter what they say, you must still love God and follow with burning conviction. Just forget yourself and remember the suffering of God m That’s what counts m If you will not be shaken and will remember that because of the love of God you are different then you will be surrounded by true love, and while the rest of the world may decline you will prosper.

Why will the world hit you and persecute you? You have to prove yourself superior to them and without this confrontation you have no way to show yourself. Unless a fighter gets into the ring he cannot prove how good he is. If people oppose the Unification Church and then surrender then that’s a real surrender, but if in the very beginning they accept us they will soon complain if God doesn’t love them equally. God lets the world persecute you so He can give you the key to the Kingdom of Heaven and not have anyone accuse you of not deserving it.

The time to worry is when there is no persecution. When you go out witnessing do you want a companion so you can enjoy it more? How many men did God start out with? How many Messiahs came 2,000 years ago? God sent only one Messiah here on earth, and there was only one Adam in the garden of Eden, only one Eve who fell. There is a deep reason for you to go out witnessing all by yourself.

When you finally do bring three spiritual children then your headaches really begin! Often you might not want to deal with those men and women, but you must persevere and embrace them and love them with God’s love. Through the first year, second year and third year there will be all kinds of upheavals, but that’s the way you can prove that you will not change, that no circumstance can defeat you. In the meantime you will prove you are better than your own parents or brothers and sisters, and better than your teachers.

I want you to know that even Peter, who supposedly was Jesus’ chief disciple., betrayed Jesus at the end of three years. This test of betrayal is the formula of faith which all men have had to pass through. You must be able to sustain your faith without food and without rest; you have to give much comfort to your spiritual children. If you have food, then you want to give it to them, almost being their servant in every way. You may wonder why you do this, but remember that this is the way I went. When you see me now you may think I never suffered, but actually I have passed through the misery at the bottom of the world. I have fulfilled the condition of giving all kinds of service to all kinds of members. If you feel now that you just cannot help but love me, it is because a long time ago I set the condition in the most dramatic manner of demonstrating love for all men and women.

### You must know the circumstances
of Jesus, True Parents and God

Let me ask you, do you really love me? No, I think you complain to me in your heart about not being given more blessings. Even if your blessing doesn’t come soon, will you still love me? In the end you will have demonstrated such unselfish love and devotion that even a hoodlum in your neighborhood will treat you like royalty and bow down in respect. At one time he probably tried to do all kinds of evil toward you but even he will bow down. That is the glory of our way of life.

This is an unspeakably hard life to live and that’s why once you live it you will receive the most supreme love of God. It is hard, but I tell you that this road cannot be avoided. If you cannot finish it in this world then you will still have to go that route even after you go to spirit world, and then you will vividly remember what you could have done differently that would have changed your situation. Hell is the world of regret, and in that regret you really don’t have room in your mind to think about your husband and family.

Actually the blessing is not of prime importance. What would you do with your marriage without even solving these fundamental problems? Only after putting yourself entirely in the love of God does marriage make sense. You must go down to the dungeons of hell and search there for the love of God. I did not search for or enjoy God’s love at the throne of God; I reached out to that love in the worst kind of suffering, with blood and tears. You don’t know how I was tortured many times and practically killed.

That is the basic formula and without it you cannot find God’s love. When you go all the way to your limit and feel like you are dying, there things begin to happen. When you are so hungry from working without food that you feel almost ready to faint, at that moment things start happening. No one can give you that experience, or buy it with money. Unless you experience this you will not understand. You must feel that you are representing God and that every motion you make is on behalf of God. You must put yourself in God’s place, walking on the road of restoration.

Many mothers in the world went through incredible suffering to feed their children or to give them an education. Just like them, you are taking the suffering road to give God’s children salvation. Is there any room for complaint? Can you get tired? That kind of mother cannot be tired and neither can you. Every penny she makes helps send her son to school and guarantee his success. Every drop of sweat you shed will bring hope to the people of the world.

Go out in the position of father and mother and love the world and then come back. Gathering a billion dollar fortune is less precious than fund raising with peanuts or flowers, knocking on doors. You must go out to witness because otherwise you will not know Jesus’ circumstance or True Parents’ circumstance or God’s circumstance. I am still working at making money and still witnessing. If you pass through all these stages then heavenly love will link them all; God’s love will come down and your love of God will go up, making one whole linkage.

Once you go through this condition with all your heart then you shall have your own things and your own children and your own world of God here on earth. By paying this vertical indemnity you shall do all of this. Only after I did all this has God given me the right to own material things in His name. Because I passed through all these three stages I can now have a family. That is the result of going precisely the same path, through the Old Testament era, New Testament era and Completed Testament era.

While you are setting this kind of vertical condition you are doing horizontal things like fund raising and witnessing and getting the blessing of God to create your family here on earth. It took God 7,000 years to complete this one cycle but you are doing this horizontally on earth in seven years. If God suffered for 7,000 years to make this possible, can’t you even do it gratefully for seven short years on earth?

Your love of God connects every aspect of restoration. What is the connecting tradition of all these loves from the Old Testament, New Testament and Completed Testament? The axis is the love of God. You must put yourself in the position of Abraham, Noah, Moses and all the central figures and love God more than they did. Noah sustained his faith for 120 years, and you must be determined to be better than Noah.

Abraham lived comfortably in Ur of Chaldea when all of a sudden God told him to pack up and take off. Now you live in the comfortable New Yorker and have hot water and nice beds, but if I told you to pack up right away would you respond like Abraham? Abraham became a wanderer, but are you better than Abraham? If you haven’t even thought about it, how could you be better? At least start by thinking about being better. After that would you put it into action? When God asked me to go to America, could I have exclaimed, “God, what are You talking about? I finally have enough room here in Korea to be comfortable and anyway I don’t like America”? I knew that all kinds of persecution would come, that my responsibility would be to shake the world into outrage against me.

Before I came I talked with my closest disciples and told them that I would be a target of worldwide persecution in three years. I prepared them to remain in Korea and gave them instructions, knowing ahead of time what was coming. At that time they said, “What are you talking about? No one will know you.” They never believed it, but what I said at that time was absolutely fulfilled. I am a mysterious man in one sense and you think you know me but you really don’t.

Are you better than Abraham or Moses? Are you better than Jesus? In one sense you are better because without dying on a cross you can have a blessed home and children here on earth. Jesus was crucified but the Unification Church will not be demolished. Even in his lifetime Jesus worked only in the little nation of Israel, but our IOWC is going all over the world. The world is our stage; the universe is our stage. If you are better than Jesus then you should be doing bigger and better work than Jesus.

Are you better than Reverend Moon? Give me a reason why. You are better than Reverend Moon because I am getting older but you are younger and you shall remain longer than I will. When I die will our movement go up or down? If my lifetime goal were to build all kinds of boats so that we could move out to sea then if I were to die would you want to finish or would you just think it was a big headache? After I die will everything move faster? If you say so then you must show me while I am living what you can do after I die.

You should never be satisfied by being better than me. Step out and say, “God, I am Your son so I am going to be better than You! ” You will not insult God if you tell Him, “I love You with all my heart and soul, and because I love You so much I want to inherit Your mission. I cannot afford to let You suffer any further. Won’t you stay behind and let me finish?” Will God be very mad or very joyful? He will be smiling ear to ear. God will say, “I’ve been waiting for this day and it has arrived at last.”

Would you like to have your sons and daughters be inferior or superior to you? How could they be better than you if you are perfect? God will like your attitude and He won’t accuse you of being greedy. He wants your children to be so heroic and beautiful that it will be His joy to watch them. Having such children is God’s promise to you.

If you have no love when you voice all this ambition then you will insult everyone by saying you are better than they are. Saying you are better than God would be unforgivable. But if you do it with love, out of love of God, then it becomes their joy instead and with that desire you can go everywhere. Such unprecedented love was never manifested anywhere and you can be the first pioneer in the conquest of love. Anyone who possesses the greatest love in the universe will receive the respect of everyone, no matter how exalted. We are looking forward to the fulfillment of that supreme love. Is it believable when you hear me?

Before I die I want to bless all the races of the world, and love them and feed and clothe them. That’s my philosophy and way of life. I want you to be the same and even better. There is so much persecution that there are few occasions for me to manifest that love, but because you have more time ahead of you and the world will eventually accept you, you will have a chance to love the world more. You need to taste three kinds of tears-tears of longing for love, then the actual taste of love, and finally the fulfillment of love. These are the tears of joy you must taste.

That is the tradition God wants you to leave and once you fulfill then anywhere you go you will be in the forefront of heaven. At any ceremony Jesus and God will want to put you in front because you are the conqueror of love. How beautiful or handsome you appear doesn’t make any difference; what counts is your state of mind. If I stayed a number of days at the New Yorker, I would walk on every floor at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning and really love that building. I would look for those who are cleaning or preparing food for brothers and sisters. Those are the people who advertise their heart without words.

If there are 1,000 residents in the New Yorker then feel that at least you must do one thing more than everyone else. Get up first and go to bed last. When you pray, feel that you are praying for all one thousand. Perhaps you will fall asleep while you pray and then wake up the next morning and start the day; God loves the person who lives that dramatic kind of life. Whether I am here or not doesn’t make any difference. You are the heirs of the love of God. That is most precious under the sun.

The American people are waiting for the birth of such a man. All humanity is waiting for the birth of that man. Did you see the movie, “Oh, God!”? By the end of the movie the main character had become miserable because he was persecuted and kicked out of his job after he met God, and he was very discouraged. But God said, “You are on a different level, the level of all the saints. That’s not bad company, is it?”

Once you become the owner of the love of God there is nothing to envy in this world. The world is yours because nothing exists without a relationship with God and whatever God possesses becomes yours. Did you live like that in the past? How about in the present? We have one hope: to live like that in the future. Once you live like that your own history will begin. So far the past has been someone else’s but the moment you live as possessor of God’s love, there your history starts. With that background you can knock on the door of heaven.

The Unification Church is going to inherit that tradition of the love of God, past, present, and future, and it will remain as your own accomplishment. You shall be a conqueror of God’s love in that tradition. Before now your hands got dirty working in the secular world, but now you can want your hands to get dirtier working for God m You once ate much good food in the world, but this time you want to eat solely to do God’s work. You must think that everything you have already done you can do more intently for the work of God. If you train yourself like that then in everything you do you will feel the explosion of God’s love around you. Do you know it or not?

If you can say, “Father, I know it now and I want to make my own history in winning the love of God and leave my tradition behind,” raise your hands please. Let us pray.

## RENEWED PRIDE

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### December 4, 1977
Washington, D.C.
Translator-Bo Hi Pak

I can see how hard the Washington members have worked to make this day possible and I’m sure they have learned a great lesson about how hard restoration work can be. It is common sense that it is not easy to restore something to a state better than it was originally. The Unification Church, however, has a new tradition of acquiring something old and restoring it to a state better than its original condition. That is our faith and dedication. It is very symbolic that we have restored a former Mormon church into our heavenly temple, but we are not just talking about one church. We are going to follow this pattern to restore the nation, the world and the cosmos. Therefore, my message this morning is titled “Renewed Pride.”

Suppose there is an ugly man who puts something beautiful and dazzling into the environment; then he seems to be a noble man. We must know how important it is to have the right environment. The goal of the Unification Church is the completion or perfection of restoration. What then is the goal of restoration? It is to restore the original state of creation, to raise everything to the original level of God’s expectation. God created Adam and Eve according to a certain standard in the garden of Eden, but that standard was lost. Now God is going to restore it. Would God want to do it halfway, to perfection or even beyond perfection?

Think for a moment about what kind of face or what kind of appearance Adam and Eve must have had before the fall. I’m sure Adam didn’t have good razors or good hair cutting equipment, or even decent clothes. Without cutting his hair for many days Adam must have looked like a hippie in the garden of Eden. But today man has many conveniences, good clothes, good razors and grooming equipment. Today’s man may be better looking than Adam was in the garden of Eden. Did Adam have a toothbrush and toothpaste in those days? The Unification Church is talking about restoration and going back to the original; does it mean going back to that ugly appearance or primitive state?

Suppose there is a big mansion which is most beautiful and elegant, but there is no host or hostess in that house. That mansion has no value in that case. Before the fall, Adam and Eve may have

looked primitive, but their master, God, was inside of them. With his host dwelling inside, Adam was the temple of God at that time. Adam was beautiful because everything he did and thought was an expression of the living God inside him. Before the fall Adam and Eve were looking with the eyes of God, listening with the ears of God and thinking with the mind of God. God and man were one.

### Adam and Eve’s relationship with God

Was Adam inclined to sing some song at that time? What kind of song can you imagine for him? Probably he had a song of joy, but can you have joy alone? Before the fall every motivation he had came from God and naturally his song concerned the glory of God. He was singing only of God. Adam must have smiled and laughed, but where did his smile and laughter originate, and for whom? Did the motivation for his joy and smile come from looking at Eve and she looking at him? It came from feeling the existence of God within his own heart. Even Adam and Eve’s smile and laughter were expressions of God’s smile and God’s laughter. Suppose Adam danced in the garden of Eden. To whom was that dance dedicated? It was merely the expression of the joy of God and must have been dedicated to God.

They both must have worked, and even their work was for the sake of God. They must have eaten and drunk, but only for the sake of God. There was a full awareness of God dwelling within them. Adam and Eve’s every act-going to sleep, waking up, working-was motivated by God. If this Adam and Eve had matured and married, what would have happened? Before marriage their primary give and take was with God but after marriage a new kind of relationship would have emerged. How would Adam have acted? Would he have thought that now he could do everything on his own, even if God didn’t like it, without caring about God’s feelings, or would he still have listened to God?

Do you think Adam knew that the marriage relationship existed? I’m sure he knew what marriage was and what a woman was. He knew just by observing the natural relationships between male and female animals, but although he knew what marriage was going to be, he was not yet fully aware of love itself. The time would have come when God would have poured an awareness of love into Adam and Eve, awakening them to the joy of love in the level of perfection that they were growing into. However, love cannot mature without the blessing and participation of God m Without God, they could not consummate love.

Suppose the time had come when God could bring Adam and Eve together in heavenly matrimony. What kind of message would He have given them? Have you thought about it? I’m sure God would have said, “You are now husband and wife. Love each other and be happy.” Then suppose they were in love; how would they manifest that love? Because no tradition was already established, there must have been some guidelines from God for Adam and Eve and the first provision would have said, “Love each other. Adam, love Eve more than you love me. Eve, love your husband more than you love me.” Do you think God would have said that or would He have been greedy and said, “Love each other, but a little less than you love me”?

How would you feel if you were in God’s position? Until marriage Adam’s entire love and dedication would be directed toward God, as would Eve’s, and then all of a sudden they love each other more than they loved God. Do you think God would feel left out or forgotten? Until then God had formed a trinity with Adam and Eve, making a relationship with each one of them. All of a sudden Adam and Eve had each other, so wouldn’t God feel left out? Why not? Would a physical parent feel left out? Suppose there was a widow who had a wonderful son whom she loved with all her mind and soul, and one day he married and went away with his wife. The mother would naturally feel happy, but there would also be a part of her that would feel lonely. In studying Divine Principle haven’t you encountered this question? Unlike the mother, God would not feel lonely because God is love itself, the center of the universe. Adam and Eve were a manifestation of that invisible love and through loving each other they would become deeper in God as well. Therefore, the more intense the love they felt for each other, the deeper God could dwell within them because their love was centered on Him.

Therefore, if Adam hadn’t fallen, he would have loved Eve in the position of God. In other words, he would have loved his wife as God loved her and Eve would have loved her husband as God loved him. Therefore, Adam and Eve united in perfection would have been the walking God, living God’s way of life, God’s life itself. It was the Principle of Creation that Adam and Eve feel the joy of God. When they feel joy, God feels joy; when God feels joy, they feel joy. There cannot be any barrier between them because love is one. Love belongs to God, to Adam and Eve and to couples. One love unifies. Even though Adam and Eve were united in oneness, the central figure would still be God. That was the ideal of creation.

Suppose God is in the center. The center is always stable. Love is at the center of everything and the entire universe revolves around it as the active force of the universe. Without love there is no axis and without love there is no center. To make a family one, parental love serves as the axis. For the nation to become one, the sovereignty serves as the center. For the universe to become one, God Himself must serve as the center.

Therefore, when you have that c]ear and absolute center in your life, no matter how far out you stretch, you always come back to the center. You will never stray. Neil Armstrong traveled a long way to the moon but he didn’t want to stay there. He wanted to come back home to earth where love is. Isn’t it true that you want to return to the central place where love is? Sometimes you run home to get food, which is temporal, but ultimately you long for the center where love is. That’s the real home. Love is precious , and when you really want to give true love it means that you are committed to creating a true home, a true center.

Love is the axis around which the universe turns. All creation wants to have its homecoming in love. Therefore, it’s very logical that the entire existence of the universe is in a circle; also the entire motion of the universe is a circling motion because of this truth. For there to be a circle there must be an axis, and all living creation is circling around that axis.

Children have certain items they cherish and carry with them all the time. Parents, picking up an item loved by their children, find hidden value in it. If a little child made a tiny clay bird which you could hardly see, but his mother found it one day when she was cleaning, then knowing the heart and effort the child made to create it she would be attracted to it and use it to decorate her desk or table. Why is that? Love links and communicates.

Let’s think for a moment about what God likes most. God likes power and likes to see wrestling, right? Is God envious of all kinds of knowledge and having more knowledge is God’s goal? More than anything else God likes money? But think about what God does not have and what God needs. Not power, knowledge or money, but love. God needs love simply because even God Almighty cannot create love by Himself alone. Love needs an object or partner, and without a circuit of give and take even God cannot consummate love. For that purpose God created man to be His object of give and take, to create a circuit of love between God and man.

### Can anything be offensive or ugly in the object you love?

What makes everything look beautiful? Love makes the whole look beautiful. Everything else may be partial, but love makes it whole. Love dominates and love controls and love overcomes. Is there anything dirty or filthy where there is love? Is there some ugliness in love? Suppose you are a parent and you love your children. What is ugly; what is filthy? If the dirty things become beautiful in love can you even eat everything the children make or have? If the baby needs a diaper change, the mother and father can take care of it with no problem, but how about tasting it? Why does everyone laugh? “Father, what kind of talk is that? Aren’t you crazy?” But the power of love can go beyond. Maybe you think you can love your child up to the point of changing diapers, but no more. Is that the kind of love you have for your children? No, I want you to go over.

You applaud and you seem to be happy. Suppose a husband loves his wife very much, but on one particular day he takes her hand and sees it is dirty.

Can he say, “I cannot love you today. Keep your distance”? Whether her hand is dirty or manicured doesn’t make any difference in love. Have you thought about which kind of love you would prefer? Perhaps your wife’s fingers have a lot of germs, maybe even poisonous germs, but you are totally intoxicated in the love of God and love itself. When you kiss her hand the germs would become helpless! They could not be lethal because love is all-powerful. will people think you a crazy man or will they envy you? What a love! Do you want to become a person whom people envy, a person who is intoxicated in love to that degree?

Let’s imagine another crazy thing. Suppose the wife is going to the bathroom and is taking a long time, so her husband goes into the bathroom. Whatever the atmosphere or smell doesn’t make any difference to him and he just gives her a big kiss. Is it good or bad? Once you are intoxicated in love you can be blind. You don’t smell any ugly smell. These are extreme examples but think about it. What kind of husband or wife do you want? Do you want the person who can love you conditionally up until this [limit and no more, or unconditionally and blindly?

I don’t know what you think, but I think love which is all-powerful and unconditional is most desirable. Conditional love isn’t even love. I want to have a person truly giving himself unconditionally for the fulfillment of love. What kind of love would you go for? Only love that will be manifested in a clean, sweet-smelling place, or are you intoxicated in love so that you are always giving unconditional devotion?

If you can be a man or woman who can love someone to that degree then you will be a happy person. Or if you are the man or woman who can be loved by someone with that kind of love, you are truly the happy person. When I look at the spirit world I see that the highest realms are occupied by the men and women who demonstrated unconditional love here on earth. Think about yourself. You go to the bathroom and you smell your own smell. It’s not pleasant, but do you think about getting out in a hurry? No, because it’s you yourself who are making it. So what’s the difference if someone else is doing it and you love him or her as yourself? I am using the bathroom as an example so you will never forget this idea!

You can revolutionize yourself and stop being the person who draws a line. Become an unconditional person instead Love transforms everything, transforms ugliness into beauty and dirty smell into perfume. Where does this unconditional love dwell? In heaven Sometimes you see a married couple who are drastically different from each other. The woman is charming and beautiful, but when you see her husband you never could have imagined how ugly he is. Nevertheless, they look so happy together, smile in at each other, talking to each other. What makes them that way? Love does, because love blinds them and goes beyond any logic or reason.

Beautiful appearance is logically stimulating, but when you go beyond that level you don’t even see it. Suppose there is a person with a long, hooked nose, ugly ears and a dark, scarred complexion. Many people think that’s all a deficiency or handicap, but for his loved one those features become his strong point and she will say, “I love your nose.” that’s love. Without love life is a desert and it has no sweetness.

Have you ever thought about how God looks? Is He handsome or is He ugly? I don’t want to answer that question directly because whether God is handsome or ugly doesn’t make any difference. The most handsome man in the universe without love is far inferior to the ugliest man with love. An awesome, all-powerful God without love doesn’t make any sense. God is almighty in love; He is unique and He excels in love. That’s why He is God, not because He might be tall or handsome. His love makes Him supreme, nothing else.

Do you need love?? Nowadays American love is very carnal love. Is that true love? We are talking about restoration and about uniting the world in brotherhood, but unless all these things are centered upon true love, there is no meaning or substance to them.

### What would make God want to dwell in this new church?

This morning Col. Pak was probably very happy at the opening of the church, but I didn’t feel that kind of excitement because I have one small regret. Yes, you have done the job and I commend you, but how much better would it have been had we built this church from scratch? Suppose this morning you could have said, “Father, we carved the marble from the top of the mountain and carried it here and laid it. From scratch to this perfection, we did it all.” Then how much love and value would this church have? You worked in restoration for about two months but when the Mormons built this temple it took them about three years m They worked for three years and you worked for two months; there is no comparison. Was your effort inferior to theirs? Can you people who worked on it say that you put a thousand times more effort and energy into this building so that it has become yours? You said yes, but do you think God would agree with you? Do you think God will acknowledge that you invested more effort in it?

I had another thought when I walked into the building. The Mormons built this building with lots of energy and hard work, but then they sold it. They abandoned it and then went out and built a new temple. The important question is: did they put more energy, tears and sweat into building the new and bigger temple than they did for this church, or did they just invest a lot of money and give the plans to the contractor to build? Did money build it, or heart, sweat and labor? That’s the important question.

Put yourself in the position of God. Will He think, “Since the Mormons built this big marble temple now I have a bigger house. I want to go and stay there.” Or, “Even though this temple is smaller, because the members put their heart and labor into it I would rather stay here.” That’s the key question. Does the size of the building determine where God stays? God isn’t crazy for power or money or economy. No matter how big a temple man builds, in the sight of God it may be nothing. It could be less than dust. The important thing is the spirit and the soul inside. The size of the building will not determine the dwelling place of God.

I walked into this building thinking, “Father in Heaven, Your sons and daughters are in this congregation. They really poured out their heart, sweat and energy for this building. That is valuable for You. Furthermore, we restored this temple not for our own glory but for the celebration of this city, the nation’s capital. We have a purpose and a providence to be here. Even though this temple is smaller than the new one the Mormons built, Father, because of our purpose I know You are dwelling with us here.”

If we gave all of our energy unselfishly for the sake of God in heaven, then we are superior to any church on earth. In that respect this temple could be greater than any temple on earth. If giving yourself unselfishly was your determination, then you have literally made this a historic place. Then from this time on, our action must surpass any record set by the previous members of this church or of Christians of any denomination. Our sweat, our tears, our energy and the intensity of our love of God must be greater than any which was seen before in this place. Then this will become our place.

Therefore, this morning I encourage you to have new pride and new confidence. This building has finally met its master, finally met the people who truly love it. This edifice will feel excitement because for the first time it will truly serve the purpose of God. I wonder what you have been thinking for the past two months. If your feeling of love and responsibility to God were intense and you unselfishly gave of your sweat, then that intensity can surpass any known here before.

What were you thinking while you were painting? “We are restoring our church” or “God, this is Your house. I’m painting Your house so that You can embrace the world and bring the entire world in. For that purpose I’m restoring this wall.” Who was occupying the center of your thought-you, our church and our members, or God and the universe? That determines the value of what you did. Have you made a place where the entire population of the spirit world can come down and dance in joy? Can even God come down and feel that this is truly His house, His temple where He can stay? Did you make that kind of temple? With what frame of mind did you work? If you truly have intense love for God then in even fifty days you can surpass thousands of years in the world of heart. That is only possible in heart.

Don’t talk about the Mormons any more. This is not the Mormon church. This is our church. This is God’s house. From this time on we must make new history and the intensity of your love will determine your success. How much have you loved? How much will you love?

Even among those who restored this building there could be a difference in feeling. “Why is the Unification Church driving me crazy? Why can’t we have two more months to finish? Why can’t we have a fun job?” Some people might have had that complaining heart. Is that loving this place as God’s house? Suppose one person worked sixty days and nights with a complaining heart, but suppose there was one man or woman who came just one night and apologized to God, “Father, this is Your house. I’m sorry I couldn’t come any sooner. Now that I’m here I want to dedicate my whole heart and effort this one night.” That one person’s heart and effort can go beyond sixty days’ work. It’s the intensity of the love in your heart that counts.

Love is great; love is absolute and unique. Love can shorten the time and go beyond barriers. Love is all-powerful. In order to make a new pride and make this a new place, you must love this building as God’s temple more than any previous member of the Mormon congregation did. Then God will make Himself at home right here and will work with you far more than He ever did with the Mormons.

Do you think this temple is saying, “Just love me and take care of me. Don’t let my roof leak.” Or will it say, “Yes, I want to become the dwelling place of the world. Let the world come in and use me for the service of God.” If it had a personality and mouth would this building say, “Love me more than anything else and never leave me” or “Love this city more than you love me. Love the nation and love the world more than you love me”?

What about God? God is here right now and what would He say to you? Let’s say on the restoration team there was one man who was an extraordinary example and loved this building as the dwelling place of God. Would God tell you to love this city, the nation and the world more than this man loved this building, or would God say not to worry about the city or the nation or world but just love Him?

Think about the history of Washington. In 1976 we didn’t have any building like this but we certainly made history anyway. We ran around to every corner of the city and had gigantic impact. What would Washington residents say to you? “Last year when you didn’t have any decent house you visited door to door, laboring to bring God’s message to the city. Now that you have this home you want to be comfortable and sit back and relax, don’t you?” Would you like to hear them say that? They are fair people. But other people might say to you, “Last year without having any decent dwelling you made history. Now with this magnificent church as your home and temple, let me see how much more you can do. I expect you to really bring salvation to this city. I want you to live up to what you said last year.”

God would be a lot happier and would prefer to stay with you without a home if you were going door to door bringing people the message of love. Unless you are more powerful and have more impact on this city and nation than before, you cannot sanctify this place or justify owning it. If this becomes only your dwelling place, God will never come. He will have no interest in it. All the beautiful moldings or the pipe organ will be nothing if God doesn’t dwell here.

### The significance of our
having this church in Washington

Today is the day of dedication and resolution m Each one of you must pledge to God to demonstrate far greater energy than you did for last year’s God Bless America Festival in Washington. “God, we are going to truly give ourselves in a far greater way. We will have an impact on the nation’s capital, on the nation and the world.” This is a day of pledge. Because all members of the Unification Church made tremendous sacrifice to make the Washington Monument Rally successful, on that foundation I was willing to spend the money to further that tradition so we could go on and gain the victory for God. That’s the only reason I spent that money here in Washington Members came from all states to be guests in Washington and work a year ago, but now we want to become the host of this city. None of the Christian churches will even be able to complete with us because of the intensity of our love. This is not just a Sunday church. It’s a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year church.

On 16th Street there are so many churches that people call it the Avenue of God, but many of those churches are run-down and dirty and some areas are crumbling. We have not only cleaned up our church, we are going to make a movement in the community to clean up God’s Avenue. I want you to go out to serve that way, without sleeping and only eating one meal a day. That is precious. God is always with the person who is awake. Many people sleep long hours every night and wake up late, but the Unification Church is busy 24 hours a day. At 5 a.m. someone is praying and at midnight there is some activity. God is with you when you are active, not when you are sleeping.

With our energy and our effort, we want to restore the pride of God and restore the pride of the entire Christian community. Many churches are unoccupied on Sunday mornings and that emptiness is crying out, “We want to be like the Unification Church. We want to be used for God.” We want to set the example. You must feel that you are a history-maker. In the 200-year history of Washington there were many good Christians who fervently gave their service for the sake of their fellow man and for God. But you must think, “I am a historic person. I am going to surpass all the records any Christian of this city has set.”

We should be historically superior to everyone. That is going to be our pride. We are not just competing with our contemporaries; we are competing with history. We want to set the new record in history. We shall surpass all Christians, being in the forefront of the sacrificial love of God. Your physical appearance, however humble it is, doesn’t matter. I want you to have a shining spirit inside. I want you to become men and women who shine as bright as the sun.

Even though Adam and Eve had no shaving cream or beautiful perfume before the fall, they were absolutely beautiful because they were the dwelling place of God. Because love was shining inside of them, they were as bright as the sun. Even though you look pale or weak, your love shining inside will make you beautiful.

Washington is the nation’s capital and what we are doing here is a first. For example, this is the first Christian church we have occupied Moreover, it’s the first time we have put our symbol on a spire high in the sky. When we bought Barrytown, I gave instructions to take down the symbol which our members put up. Why won’t I say the same thing here? This symbol will remain eternally up in the sky in Washington because it represents a symbolic victory. This is the tower which the Unification Church has built in the nation’s capital and from this time on our symbol will remain on that tower; we are trying to show the entire world what we are, where we are and what we are going to do.

The first time I came to the city of Washington in 1965 no one knew the name of Sun Myung Moon, but I prayed to God and made Him a promise. That promise was fulfilled with the victory at Washington Monument last year. Because that victory was won here in 1976 I wanted to make a monument in Washington, a living monument of heart, so that from generation to generation the spirit of the Washington Monument victory of 1976 would be immortalized. For that purpose this building was selected and restored, and for that purpose we are dedicating it today. The foundation of the Washington Church is the victory of Washington Monument. Therefore, this church is standing on the greatest of all foundations. We must build higher and higher and higher.

Following the victory of 1976, 1977 is a new era of fulfillment, of declaration and of victory. For that reason I have been looking for this tower in Washington. For that particular reason this edifice has been chosen and given by God, and for the first time in history we put our symbol high in the sky. I would like to have this symbol shine out from this place to all the world m This is a new history, a new day in our movement. How far will this symbol shine? It will start here and go on until we make the entire world the holy place of God. We will make the whole world the dwelling place of God so that it can be seen everywhere. Until then, the spirit of this symbol is the starting point. That symbol will be the symbol of the heavenly palace and of the Kingdom of God. Our goal is high and noble. It is so deep and far that before we reach it, we may face many setbacks and take much pain, but nothing will stop us until we reach the ultimate destination. We know only one thing: March forward, no retreat. We never learned to retreat.

Marching forward always means the sacrifice of comfort. Despite the amount of sacrifice, we have set the unselfish goal for the sake of God and humanity and as long as we continue on our march, God will be with us and we will win the victory. There is no other result we can expect except victory.

So far we have not been walking on smooth ground. We have been fighting on the rugged sea. That may continue in the future, but nothing has stopped us thus far and nothing will stop us in the future. I want you to know that unless we bring the kingdom while we are here on earth and put the symbol of the kingdom up on high, even though you are elevated in the spirit world there will be no rest. You will have to give your added energy, coming down as a spirit man to continue that task here on earth. We would rather do it while we are in the flesh.

Do you think I would tell you to love this church more than I love it or just to do the best you can? What do you think I expect of you? I want you to exceed me. One thing is sure. I know God and God’s love, and if you had that same power of love, then you would exceed my level. If you really have the same God and the same love of God then it can be done. Compared to me you haven’t suffered so much to come this far. Compared to my standard, you should go farther. If the Christian church had been united and had supported me from the beginning, then I would not have had to go through all that suffering for so many decades. I suffered for them and for the sake of the nation and world.

I won the battle and received the blessing and I want to share it with you and with the world. Do you want to ask me for those blessings free, or would you rather be deserving and worthy of them? In order to do that you must have a parallel direction of love. That direction means that I have been working single-mindedly for one goal for the sake of God and for the salvation of humanity. For that purpose I suffered, so you must think; in the same way. Think of humanity, and without hesitating go toward any amount of sacrifice. God is looking for champions who won over the cross and who want to go beyond the cross. God is not looking for the opportunist who sits idly waiting for the reward. Certainly that is not God’s ideal man.

### Make the upheaval you cause
in this nation the most memorable in history

The Civil War was the largest war fought here in America. Unless you fight a greater war than that, you cannot exceed that record of heroism. The American people know the Civil War had the most impact on this country and they have become complacent, thinking the record has been set. You people have to provoke a greater upheaval and have a greater impact than the Civil Warm Then people will say they have never seen such a thing in history. Let’s say you fought a greater war than the Civil War and contributed to the nation and the world m Then all the great wars of the past would become insignificant because people would have something greater to remember. Even though the Civil War has a 100-year history, our impact must be greater than any of those wars.

By the same token, God has already seen the Washington Monument Rally of 1976 and if you want to draw God’s attention to you then you must start a greater campaign and win a greater victory The only way you Washington members can evoke God’s interest in coming here is to be geared up to another victory. There is no simple way.

All along 16th Street there are numerous churches, but they are dark most of the week except for probably one night. This church shall be lit 24 hours a day, not because we are wasting energy but because there is activity. The lights should never go out. This room should never be empty, even if there is only one person praying. Washington must organize the same standard as the Washington Monument Rally, using this place as headquarters. From this time on, another kind of Washington Monument campaign must be resumed.

We will start a trend by being the only church lit up as the others go out at night, but one after another the other churches will follow our example. They will have to have more meetings at night and more prayer services in the mornings at 4 or 5 a.m. First one church, then two, then four and five will follow. This is a lighting-up campaign. Maybe they won’t respond right away but then you must make them light up. How can you do that? Perhaps we have ten members praying here; one will stay and nine go out and knock on the door of another church. The pastor might answer, or if he is away the janitor must answer, and our members will say, “We have come to pray at your church.” That person has to put the light on to ]et you pray. That is the house of God and if people came and wanted to pray, how could he say he could not light it for them? The pastor might be inside doing something else while the Unification Church members are praying in his sanctuary all night. He would probably feel rather uncomfortable. God was with us at the Washington Monument and that same God will continue to work with us in this campaign.

In the Unification Church our goal is perfection and the completion of restoration. Who was the motivating factor in Adam’s laughing and smiling? God. When he sang, who was the motivation? God. When he danced, who was it for? God. That’s the way we should be, the way this place should be. You sing for God and you laugh and dance because God is the motivation. It is not even for me or for anybody else but God. When loud bursts of laughter come out of this building at night, it is not because men and women are having lots of fun, but because God and man are having lots of fun.

If you should say to God, “You need a better place to stay. Why don’t you go down to the White House or Capitol Hill,” God would reply, “I want to stay right here!” God is not drawn to the size of the building but the intensity of the desire to serve and bring mankind into salvation. God dwells wherever the power of salvation burns. It’s not the White House which brings salvation, or Capitol Hill, and if you make this the place for salvation of the nation and the world, God has no place else to go except here with you. That’s the secret: you make God your prisoner. You can monopolize God. The monopoly of God must start right from this place. God has no choice but to become your prisoner if you are His representative. Then God will say to Reverend Moon, “Because of your good deeds, you have really given me new pride. You really restored my confidence and my value.” God will be joyous, anxious to be with you. He has only one desire. He will say to you, “I want you to make the men and women you are bringing to me better than you are. I want to train and discipline them m Then I shall be content.” In order to assure continued prosperity, the children should be greater than the parents. By the same token, I want you to be better than me. In order to achieve that goal there may be a prison cell waiting for you, or much suffering. There may be all kinds of curses and scorn waiting for you. Do you mind?

Christianity has just the same tradition. God wants to have Christians be even stronger than Jesus. Jesus was put to the supreme test on the cross and God’s plan was for Christians to be even stronger than Jesus and go beyond the cross. That spirit and power was kindled in the early centuries of Christianity and could conquer Rome. That’s the secret.

If you truly love me and truly want to follow me then you must become better men and women in the sight of God than I am. That’s my wish. That means you can inherit 100% of what I have received from God. My foundation, tradition and blessing can all become yours. I am approaching the age of 60 but I never think that I have done the job. I always think, “From now on God, give me a chance and I’ll do it. This is a new beginning.” I will continue in that philosophy until the day I die and on the day of my death I will never think that I have accomplished something, but that death is just a new start.

God has been shamed and you have been called here to save the dignity of God. You are here to save His prestige so that He can really declare to the world that He is God. You can also uphold the True Parents, and save the nation and save your own face too. Because people look at you more than they look at me, they will evaluate the Unification Church and its leader through you. If you are noble then they will conclude that your leader must be a noble man. Your image represents my image. The people who went to the Science Conference were totally enchanted with our young people and declared, “I don’t know too much about Reverend Moon, but through you I can imagine what kind of person he is.’

The Unification Church will prosper and always go on to victory if each one of you thinks that you will go a step further than I have m If you commit yourself to that then you are already a success, and we are already an invincible force which nothing can deter.

December 4 is a very amazing day. I came to Washington, D.C. twelve years ago on April 12. April is the fourth month. Today we are dedicating this building to God on December 4, which is the reversal of the two numbers. When I first entered Washington twelve years ago, Prayed and promised God what I would accomplish in the next twelve years m Those years have all passed and today I am praying and promising God what I will accomplish in the next twelve years m In the next twelve years, our task is going to be very simple if each one of you makes a determination that you will go a step further than me, and go over one more hill than I have. Then the entire world will come under God in those twelve years and you shall be living in the Kingdom of God here on earth.

### You are restoring the dignity
of manhood and womanhood

Will you promise that you v. ill save my dignity and honor? In addition to that, you men must preserve the dignity of manhood which has been lost in the sight of God. When you think of the men in history- Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jesus-it is clear that although they played a tremendous part in God’s providence, in one way or another they failed. In this time in the providence your determination to God will be, ” I will be a man who will not fail You.” You must restore the honor of men. Otherwise, you will not become sons of God. Unless you are honored as being victorious in the satanic world, you cannot even dream of restoring yourself to the level of Adam before the fall.

How about the women? Here in America the women are having a field day, aren’t they? You women have your dignity and honor in America. Even the President has to open the door for a woman simply because he is a man. Who is more responsible for ruining this country, the men or women? Honestly speaking, women have a more cunning character. They are trying to hide their true selves and present some other nature through their manicures, cosmetics and furs m A made-up face is not genuine. You have really inherited Eve’s character; she approached Adam in a very suave and calculated manner and enticed him, and if you women truly want to restore women’s dignity and honor in the sight of God, you must make an about-face. How about Unification Church members, do you have long fingernails or short ones? Women who have long fingernails don’t want to work; they just want to make themselves up colorfully and get attention. That’s why I don’t like a lot of makeup.

In heaven and earth women must feel, “God, I’m a true woman. There is no deceitfulness in me. I am a true, honest person and I am honorable in Your sight. I have no shame.” How many women can say that? You never thought about it from that angle, but when you really think about this, it has a lot of meaning. A lot of thinking needs to be done.

Therefore, let’s dignify woman in the sight of God. If there is a handsome, muscular man who tries to entice you, would you become his victim? I trust you because Unification Church women are different. They listen to what I say and believe the truth. If I ask them to go on the MFT it means that these beautiful women will walk miles and miles every day. I know those devoted women in the Unification Church, and there are many of them.

Why do you follow me? You are obedient to God’s will in order to indemnify the sin that Eve committed in the garden of Eden, when she thought only about herself and tried to have her own way, instead of obeying Adam. In reality you women are restoring your true dignity in the sight of man. Are you MFT members walking the street in that spirit? I have heard about all kinds of unbearable experiences, of sisters going out and getting no result except scorn, and standing on the street corner and literally crying. I let you experience that hardship to let you feel the shame that Eve brought down to earth in the fall. In order to restore her sin each woman now takes a position of being exposed to shame. It is only through single-minded devotion to God that she can still go on, and in that way she can prove that she is a worthy and honorable woman. On the MFT money is secondary. The most providential reasons come first: restoration of the honor and dignity of men and women.

I want women to be absolutely dignified and restored to honor so that they can walk in the sight of God without shame and in the sight of men without shame. Then nothing under the sun can deter or weaken such a woman and she can go straight forward to God. No kind of enticing can weaken that kind of woman. No temptation under the sun can change her direction. Even though her body is tired, if her eyes are shining and looking toward the one goal, nothing can tarnish her. That is a strong, invincible woman.

I want the Unification Church woman to be proud of being hand-picked at this particular time in human history, thinking, “I am fulfilling the most extraordinary role. No amount of work at any other time in history can duplicate my mission. I am a proud woman.” Do you want to fall behind the men or not? I would like to see women in the Unification Church who are more capable than men. I would like to make a woman captain of a fishing boat because most men do not want that job.

Once women do extraordinary things and truly restore their honor, that accomplishment will remain and the words of criticism will be blown away. I want you to know that you are not just restoring your own honor, but you are doing a great favor to the billions of women in spirit world. Those women are ashamed to lift up their faces but because dignified women are being restored here on earth, a condition is being made through which all women in spirit world will be liberated. Because of you, all the women in spirit world can be proud women and they will thank us.

### Each person has the responsibility
of making themselves shameless
in the sight of heaven and earth

I am giving you such hard work and pain and suffering that you want to get back at me, right? I am pushing you out into pain and suffering and you still love me? This seems ironic and certainly people outside our Church cannot understand, but this is the basis for eternal joy. From the shortsighted point of view, you may be a foolish person to follow that kind of instruction, but in the long-range vision of eternity what intelligence you have! What a virtue to accept it and follow and fulfill it. People of the world look down and only see shortsightedly, but we look up with an unlimited vision in front of us. Since we are climbing up, there are a lot of hills to go over and it’s not easy. When you continually go down, however, your sight will be more and more limited until it’s buried in the ground.

Among American people the philosophy of hard work is quickly vanishing. Americans have much food and because they eat instead of work they become heavy. Which sex has more fat people? Women cook and taste the food all the time but men manage to stay slim because they work. The Unification Church is advertising a new diet program: All the fat women can come to the Unification Church. We’ll put them on the MFT and within three months they’ll be thin!

What I am saying is that man must restore man’s dignity and honor, and women must restore women’s original dignity and honor. At the dedication of this Washington Church I am declaring that you must commit yourself to the responsibility of becoming a changed person in the sight of man and heaven. Women, you must become shameless in the sight of the universe. Walk in the broad daylight without shame and let people see you.

You possess the love of God. Wall; without shame, looking straight up to the eyes of God and straight out to the eyes of the people. You are truly noble sons and daughters of God. I want you to know that your rank in the spirit world will be decided by how well you live this way of life here on earth. Each one must become a shameless person in the sight of God. In the sight of husbands, all the wives are to be shameless; and in the sight of wives, husbands are to be shameless. In the sight of the children, parents are to be shameless. Then your perfection and the completion of restoration will be finished. The love of God is the standard.

In today’s society how many wives and husbands have some kind of secret shame that they cannot speak of to each other? What kinds of things are exposed to their children, like divorce, fighting and killing among adults. If we wipe away the shame, everything will be solved. When you women demonstrate pure and genuine love for your own husbands, you are actually loving all the world of men. When you love your own wife, you are loving a representative of the entire world of women of God. When you love your own children, you are loving humanity, because those children represent the manhood and womanhood of God. All mankind is manifest in them. That is the way I five.

Every day I am hard on myself because I don’t want to have shame. Sometimes Mother is weak or sick, but I insist that she come with me all the time. Sometimes she must feel that she has a cruel husband, yet she always comes. I am looking at a different level because I never think of myself as one man or of Mother as one woman; I look at the entire universe and the consequences in spirit world of every action m Whether Mother goes to a certain place or not makes a tremendous difference in spirit world. All of womanhood in spirit world would be disappointed and we just cannot leave this stigma in history. You may not understand much of this sermon, but some day you will understand. When you go to spirit world you will really know how I was right.

Here on earth let’s make ourselves shameless. A woman must become a shameless wife in the sight of her husband. Before heaven and earth you must become a shameless person. If someone doesn’t go along the straight course then you must advise him and bring him back to the original course. If one person becomes shameful and another person becomes sympathetic to that person, it will ruin both of them. You must be a shameless person and bring the other person back to a shameless course. Children must be raised to know these things.

There’s a gigantic universe out there and a gigantic God out there, but man is actually a microcosm of that universe. One man is actually one universe, and one woman is actually one universe. When a man and woman are walking down the street, heaven and earth are moving together because man represents heaven and women represents earth. Love is blooming there, bringing the two together into one entity. You don’t have to seek the love of God or even ask God to give you love. Just open your arms and make yourself a container and the love of God will come and fill you. When you become that kind of container, all kinds of gifts will come to you and all kinds of good people will come around you. When husband and wife become that kind of God-centered man and woman, then good children are the automatic result. Love is the key.

When you can look at your neighbors and mankind and love them as you do your own husband or wife, you are truly the saint of all saints. Indeed you are then the sons and daughters of God. Completion of the restoration is the extension of this kind of life on different levels. You live in this love of God, and love the world and love mankind as you love God, as you love your spouse. You exercise that way of life on a small scale, then on a larger scale in the nation and world. Each time you go over one level you are approaching perfection, and ultimately the infinite world will come under you.

I am doing just that. Wherever I go I want to be with Mother so we can feel sorrow together and feel ecstatic joy together. We will look at people from God’s position and weep from the position of God.

I had an apology to make to my own children. One day l asked them, “I am always going out with Mother. I don’t leave her at home so much and you are left alone. Do you still want me to always go with Mother?” The children all said, “Father, we don’t want you to go alone. Always go with Mother.” When I replied, “But we won’t be here to take care of you,” they said, “That’s all right. For you to go with Mother is far more important than us being alone at home.” Basically they know that if Mother and I go away that something important is being fulfilled. They know where our hearts are and what we are doing.

When we come home very early in the morning, maybe 2 a.m., we go to the children’s rooms and look at their peaceful sleeping faces. Then I really feel parental dove in a silent way, more than at any other time. I feel that distance can be comforting; separation doesn’t mean anything if there is the link of the love of God and genuine trust and honesty. Nothing can break that.

I have created a tradition for my children to follow. You are going to inherit the same tradition, and your children as well. The love of God is the moving force. With the love of God you can cleanse all sins and make yourself whole in the sight of God. Then what is the love of God? It is to love others more than you love yourself. That has been God’s tradition from the very beginning of creation. God wanted to love Adam more than He loved Himself. God wanted Adam to love his wife more than he loved himself and Eve to love her husband more than she loved herself. That was the tradition. What we are setting as a tradition today shall remain as a tradition in the future, and this way shall be walked by millions and millions of people in the future. Our responsibility is a great one.

This is some advice for you. Many people cry and repent for their sins in the sight of God, but you have a faster way to get to heaven. Pray and repent for lacking the love of God m “I want to love God more. I want to love the world more. I’m sorry I couldn’t do enough today.” That’s the fastest route. Our mandate in the Unification Church is to go beyond the level of just loving ourselves. We love others more than we love ourselves. That is the tradition the Unification Church is setting for the world.

God’s love is all-powerful and will dominate all. Those who want to become the hosts of this love, to have burning zeal in such love, those who can pledge to God and True Parents that you can confidently do that and live that life, raise your hands please. Thank you m Let us pray.

## LET US MARCH FORWARD TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### November 13, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator – Mr. David Kim

Even though fallen mankind lives in darkness all men are destined to go to God. Depending upon his or her degree of spiritual growth, each one will march forward to the Father sooner or later. The world’s present situation can be compared to the deep darkness of the night with the only light to be seen showing far above you, like the twinkling stars. If you can grasp this situation you know that your only hope is to direct yourself toward the starry sky, yet even though you can see the light twinkling above you cannot fly up to it. The situation is desperate because you are unable to reach that small light. However, if you find any little light on a lower plane then you have hope.

Suppose that there weren’t even twinkling stars in the sky and total darkness surrounded you m Even though you may be standing you can’t really tell whether you are in the air or on the earth. How discouraging it is to find yourself in that situation! This is the position all mankind is in, surrounded by total darkness with nowhere to go and without any sense of direction. As a human being you cannot just stand still in the darkness, however; you are destined to move somewhere.

What good will it do even if you have eyes? In the darkness you cannot see and you have no hope of getting anywhere. Though you have five senses they cannot function in that utter darkness so what use are they? Even though you are the center of the cosmos, in this situation you cannot declare that you are center. Have you ever thought of yourself being in darkness as deep as I have described? You have no hope in that situation and you grasp for something you cannot hold. You want to see something but you cannot see anything; you try to hear something but you cannot hear. As a human being in that situation you would feel hungry but you can’t see any food in the darkness.

If in that miserable state you find a little twinkling light then you have hope. Your five senses will focus intently on that light, even if it is as weak as a firefly’s. As that little bug jumps you will follow him. If it flies away you will run after it. Once you find that light you cannot bear to see it leave. You could never be content to see it go while you stay. You will want to pursue that fluttering firefly in the night. You have to realize that you are in this position and your hope lies in that light. Even if it comes only once a month or once a year, you have to appreciate that light because it can guide you out of this total darkness.

If that light appears, all mankind will pursue it wherever it goes. If someone knows that the small firefly light will appear once a year then that person will eagerly wait in the darkness for the one year to elapse. He will wait one month, three months, eight months for the time to go by and his longing and the joy and delight he feels at its coming cannot be described. If there were a way for him to grasp the light, how desperately would he try to catch it? Maybe the girls would say, “Why do we need that light? We cannot catch it.”

Would you ignore the light or try to catch it? If another person were to see you desperately grabbing for that light as your hope, he might think you were crazy. Once you find the light you cannot take slow steps; you will do your best and run as fast as possible to catch the light, right? Whether you are white, black or yellow doesn’t matter, or whether you are from an advanced or underdeveloped country. If a country or individual finds the light they will try their best to catch it.

Have you thought about how this fallen world needs that kind of light? You need that light because of the human fall, but you have to be alert. If you close your eyes, you will never recognize that moving light. You have to have wide-open eyes. If it did not come, would you wait with wide-open eyes for six months or even one year on the chance that you could catch the light?

Some other people who do not believe that the light exists will ridicule you and say you are stupid. One type of person will not care whether the light comes or not but another type of person will remain vigilant, regardless of how long he must wait. Which kind of person are you? Many people will say, “We don’t need the light and we don’t need direction. We don’t need to know a purpose of being,” but there are also God-oriented, conscientious people who have hope even after waiting many years for the light.

Only those people who believe that the Messiah will come keep their eyes wide open because they believe the light will appear and crush the darkness of this world m They are the religious people of the world and they are very, very sincere about watching for the light. Even though other people have eyes they cannot see and even though they have minds they cannot reason properly to expect a light to come. Religion teaches that you have to go the watchful way and that over the mountain there is light. This is the teaching of religion in the past. Isn’t this why you come to Belvedere so early in the morning to listen to me, for instance? Are you only here to sit on the cold cement?

The communists claim that there is no direction. They are materially oriented and are convinced they don’t need that light. What is the Unification movement doing with respect to this issue? The democratic system which fosters religion and the Unification movement will both be losers if they do not give mankind clear direction to find that light.

There are many foolish groups which give wrong directions but there is only one true light. The 400 denominations within Christianity are all divided among themselves about what the proper direction is and most of the rest of mankind has become numb and senseless. Even though they have eyes they cannot see and even though they have ears they cannot hear. Man’s five senses are not as sharp as God originally made them.

Where is the light? Toward what can your five senses direct themselves? Your perception cannot be limited to the individual level, but should go all the way to the world level. Unification of the world is possible if that true light appears because it is not limited by class, culture, color or race.

The road we are on leads to the light that all mankind is longing form What kind of light is it? The light is truth but what is the meaning of truth? To the hungry person truth will be food m The thirsty person’s truth is water to drink. The dying person’s truth is life. Truth is the pen with which a person who wants to write can communicate. What is truth to your ears? The wonderful sounds that come to your ears are truth and the beautiful smells that come to your nose are also truth m The definition of truth is ambiguous.

What is truth? That question raises all kinds of philosophical problems. You might say truth is God but if I am separated from God, why do I need Him?

What is my connection to Him? Should I struggle or fight with God or what? Is God an idiot, or can you argue with God about what kind of God He is? If God

I had an invisible hand, would you like to hold it? This is philosophy’s problem. If God can satisfy all your senses then maybe you need God and then you might say that God is truth.

What is the essence of God? Lover. What is the content of love? When you hear the word “love,” before you can even think about it your five senses feel joy and you are satisfied. We need that love. You enjoy dove, right? Have you seen love? You can see or experience the result of love but you have never seen love. Is love latent within you or not? Why can’t you find it?

Love is everywhere in you, even within your clothing. Since love is everywhere, when you have a handkerchief from your beloved you can feel his love. Love cannot exist by itself can it? Where does love start? If there is no position of subject or object then dove will not exist. If I say that without an object I am happy and I have love then everyone will say that I am mentally ill. But if I am by myself and pull out a handkerchief with sentimental memories from Korea, then when I talk to myself I am not crazy because there is a normal subject and object relationship there. An object is very valuable, isn’t it?

What is most valuable in the whole world for women? Husbands. There are different kinds of men -handsome, average and ugly-and sometimes they can be crippled too. Which man would you like to have as your husband? A handsome one? You flunked the test! If you are alone and the only man left is a cripple, you cannot be picky and refuse to marry him. Would you refuse him as your object or would you try to love him? The most important point is not which kind of husband you have but how you can obtain a genuine love in your subject-object relationship. That is the issue, not whether he is ugly or handsome.

Someone might ask what a true woman is. Is she the most beautiful woman? Who knows, a true woman might have big eyes and gigantic hands and arms and look like a lumberjack. Maybe she will be so ugly she can’t even look at herself in the mirror. Can she be categorized as a woman who smiles and jokes, one who is active and sings well and is very versatile? Should she be an Olympic champion? The woman who possesses true love is a true woman.

Let’s narrow down what true love is. Some women say, “I have true love and a beautiful face and a beautiful figure, so I have a right to have a true man as my husband.” Would the true woman say that or would she say, “I am a beautiful woman and I have true love, but I will love a crippled, ugly husband with all my devotion; I will sacrifice myself as a woman to love him.”

Would you like to be a true woman or an ugly woman? If a true woman should marry a crippled man we have a real problem because there are not so many cripples in the Unification Church m How will we solve this theological question?! We can conclude after all this discussion that the final definition of the true woman is that she not only loves someone who is close to the ideal, but she is ready to love the ugliest and meanest man.

The definition of true love includes loving someone who is on the lowest level. Why is it possible? Love is the power flowing between two to unite them. If you always look for the ideal person then you are already limited so you have to expand your scope. If you could learn to love anyone then the power of love will multiply with give and take. The circular motion of such love will make it perpetual.

What is God? How does God exist? Could this idealistic, higher level God say, “I’m on the highest level, so I don’t worry about the worst people.” Such a God could never qualify to be God because God is all-inclusive, able to embrace even the people in the dungeons of hell. God includes both extreme and He even loves those in the dungeons of hell more than those in the higher level of love. We don’t need the kind of God who only functions on the ideal level. God must be able to embrace everything because God is eternal.

What is a true man? The true man is able to love his own enemy because love is an eternally circling motion. At Harvard there are lots of well-dressed young men who are handsome and intelligent but are they true men? Whom are such people centered on?

Usually they are centered on themselves and because their point of view is too limited they all flunk the test. The intellectual guy criticizes and judges everything according to his knowledge, but such a person is not the true man. Would you women like that kind of small-scale husband? It is good for you not to have that kind of intellectual type but a man with a homely face. If you can find true love for him then that’s the best husband for you. Where is the light I described? That light shines in the place where this kind of true man and true woman have true love between them and that is where all mankind is destined to go.

Why do you come to Sunday service at Belvedere in the early dawn? You are sitting on the floor, which is an unusual custom in the Western world. You are here because you would like to have true love and you believe you have found the truth, right? Is it good or bad that you men want to be the President of the United States and you women want to be the First Lady? You must really manifest your true love in that position. If you can love people in the dungeon of hell then you are all set. If as the First Lady you pray for them and shed tears for them and care for them then you merit your position. If the First Lady has diamonds and is a fashion plate but she is arrogant and selfish then she flunks the test. The First Lady should have sensitivity toward the happiness of mankind; that’s what will qualify her to be First Lady.

Let’s look at the Unification movement. I am a controversial figure right now; how do you know whether or not I’m a cheater or swindler? Nearly 200 million other people believe the worst about me. Only one thing is sure. If I love mankind more than anyone else, if I worry about mankind and God more than myself and my family then one thing is certain: I stand for truth. If that is not true then I am false and there is no need for the Divine Principle. Do you love me? I am not satisfied with only hearing your answer. You have to put this into practice exactly as I have done. You have to carry God’s love and any love you have for me and give it to the people through your deeds. Otherwise I cannot believe what you say.

If you love me then you have to go out and love other people. Go even to the end of the world and carry your love to the most difficult places. Will you go complaining all the way, or with appreciation and willingness? How much will you love mankind? You have to love the people more than you love me and more than you love anybody you are close to. That’s the standard. I ask no more than that.

The person who will practice this kind of love will have a free pass to Heavenly Father’s home. T have seen that such people will own the Kingdom of Heaven. These people are copying what God has done and they will freely go everywhere in the spirit world. Their love is their qualification.

If God has eyes, will He just gaze at the blue sky and endless space? Where will He look? God will focus first on the dungeon of hell because that is His sorrow. The God who looks only at the beautiful world is not the true God. God is the one who looks down at the bottom of hell, thinking, “How will I lift up this person’s soul to be just like me?” Even though that person is in hell he belongs to God, and even in hell he desires God.

The souls in hell result from man’s fallen history but even in that shameful condition they are looking at God. Some Christians believe a very strange thing, that at the time of the final judgment God will cast wicked people into eternal fire and only Christians will be lifted up in the air. Heavenly Father does not necessarily believe what the established churches believe. According to the Principle God is going to liberate the people who have been living in hell, and those people who work hard to liberate them will find themselves in a world correspondingly higher. If you work hard in hell, you will be rewarded in heaven. Regardless of how much Divine Principle you know, simply believing that you are going to liberate those souls and trying hard to help is all you need to obtain citizenship in the kingdom. You may not think much of what I have said, but when you go to spirit world it will be proven true. Do you believe it?

What kind of children are pious sons and daughters? Are they the ones who say, “I love you Daddy and Mommy,” and bring their parents presents, but who fight with each other? No. The true mother and father will say that the child who is a good son or daughter loves his brothers and sisters more than his parents. This principle applies to all mankind and if it is applied, the Kingdom of Heaven will quickly come.

Who is a loyal subject to his king? He who loves the king’s subjects as much as he loves the king and queen is a loyal subject. This principle also applies to those we call saints. A saint lives for God. All the past saints lived for God and to the degree they loved God they loved all mankind. After they loved mankind to the same degree they loved God they could come back to be embraced by God. Does it make sense? When Jesus Christ was dying he prayed for his enemies; he practiced God’s love even on the cross. Because God is that kind of God Jesus also had to live that truth as the Messiah. That is why he can be termed the highest saint of all.

Modern Christianity has failed to practice this love which should have been inherited from Jesus Christ. Christians on earth were to love all mankind more than they loved Jesus. That is the responsibility of Christians at this time but they have gone a totally different way. Even though they criticize me the leading theologians and church leaders are destined to go in this direction eventually, regardless of their own doctrine. There is no way to revive modern Christianity except by following this principle of loving all mankind more than Jesus loved God.

With this truth it is possible to erect the Kingdom of God on earth. Do you really understand the truth I am telling you this morning? When you are hungry you long for food, but you must know this truth and practice it with more urgency than you look for food. You should know this more clearly than you know when to sleep and when to get up. Who does not know how to practice this? I want you to practice it, to love God and all mankind. That’s the way you will prepare for your role in the Kingdom of Heaven, by loving suffering mankind.

You work for God and for mankind m Do not say you work for me or the Unification Church. I do not work hard for the Unification Church but for mankind and Heavenly Father. The people who left the Church to do other things will never be judged by the Unification Church but by mankind and the world; we have nothing to say in that situation. People who oppose us often quote our former members when they criticize us to defend their position but in reality those people dropped out because they could not cope with difficulties like you do.

I know that God’s nature and His concept of the ideal world and spirit world is entirely different from existing Christian doctrine. Is it difficult or easy to build the Kingdom of God on earth according to our concept? You know where the light is in the darkness and how you are going to obtain that goal in the future and you also know where mankind is destined to go. When you follow that light your despair and disappointment will go away and the farther you go the more light you will see and the more joy you will find with God.

If you apply this Principle, God will dwell with you even if you are in prison. In the lonely place where you are persecuted God will visit you. Where ever you go God will follow you. Why in the world are you Americans, who are privileged to have academic freedom, following a controversial man from Korea instead of your own theologians, scholars or politicians? You are my main trouble. Why don’t you leave me alone? I know that if I kick you out you would come back again anyway because you have felt joy and satisfaction here m This is a big issue with those who dislike us.

As for me personally, I have no privacy at all. Not only do you follow me but even in the remote countryside of Alabama people recognize me! There is nowhere I can go quietly or privately. In Japan and Korea tremendous commotion surrounds my visits. Why is this phenomenon happening? lt is all a result of the power of love. Only love of a high dimension could inspire even Westerners to be attracted to me. You feel so good that even the different between the Orient and Occident doesn’t matter. You know the whole truth. When you go to spirit world you will be tested on how much you lived this and you cannot say that I did not teach you. This is the key to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Based on this principle I can predict that the Unification movement will spread all over the world, regardless of persecution. Why? There is no other theory or doctrine through which we can unite the whole world except this one. Even though there are many brilliant scholars and politicians who talk about idealistic concepts, they are all divided among themselves. I am the only one with the principle which can unite all mankind. When you are eating, figure out if this is possible or not. When you are walking somewhere or when you are asleep, analyze whether this is true. If you ask Heavenly Father whether it is true He will say, “It is true. You are right.”

Heaven and hell will be connected to each other by love and the circling movement of love shall everlastingly continue. The liberation of hell and the liberation of God are based on this principle. Ever since human history began only one ideology has emerged which can liberate both mankind and Heavenly Father. When people call you a Moonie, think of this precious truth and don’t attack them. When you practice love you will find yourself in heaven.

If your opponent listens to you he will become a member quicker than anyone because he will see the road from hell to heaven. That is heavenly strategy. When you came the first time you doubted everything but now you are Sunnies, right? You have to remember your situation before you become a member. When people argue about something you have to embrace them with this power of love. You have to face your opponents and forgive them so that your own repentance will be actualized and you can bring these people to God.

You know that true love will save mankind and liberate God. Some people may like me while some may not, but regardless of their complaints or doubt, one thing is sure-that you have sensed this love here even without understanding the reason.

If you really long for me and are anxious to do better than I am doing then suddenly the spirit world will open to attend and guide you. Even with your physical eyes you will see this. This is our spiritually dynamic aspect, which is found nowhere else. You cannot purchase this kind of thing. You can only find it here, where you try to live God’s love. No atomic power can destroy this, not even political power or financial power. Even God cannot destroy the Unification Church now because He has no other choice. No one else will believe it unless they have this kind of spiritual experience. We can say there are three stages of development in this movement: First, Moonies, then Sunnies, the Kingies. You can be kings and queens because you aim to love God and have God love you directly. You never wanted such a thing in the past.

You have confidence that you are going to be citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven, right? When you witness, you are writing out your own ID card as well as IDs for your family, nation and the whole world to enter heaven. From the very beginning I received constant persecution, but I always thought of it as accumulating a heavenly bank account-the more persecution I get, the more receipts come in. If I am right then I will be a spiritual billionaire.

Decades ago I planned the dispensational timetable and events have paralleled my plans. The climactic scene was fulfilled in the year 1976, when everything was finished by the True Parents. Ever since the victory at Washington Monument I am on the creditor’s side instead of the debtor’s side and now many other people will help and all spirit world is set in motion. The “Reverend Moon in America” program is being shown to the public and a distinguished scholar has had a book published about us; the deprogrammers were defeated by a lawsuit that was decided in our favor in San Francisco-all of these things are just the beginning.

It was communists who first started using terminology like “brainwashing’, to attack me, but I have kept quiet, even though the New York Times and Washington Post both printed those allegations. One journalist analyzed the amount of media coverage our movement has received and he calculated that in the United States alone at least $300,000,000 worth of time, writing and space has been used to cover us. News from America goes throughout the world, which means that billions of dollars have been spent to attack me. The media did a thorough job!

This is all God’s strategy. Without that kind of trouble it would have taken a hundred years for the world to know about me, but now every nation is aware of me. Two years ago I sent three missionaries to each of 124 nations and the nations which respond to those three people will completely turn to God’s side when the time comes. Truly this work is one of the greatest adventures ever seen in human history.

In the long run Satan’s evil forces did a great favor for our movement by opposing us. In that sense we have a very strange doctrine: persecution is welcome! If an enemy attacks us for no reason then we will receive an equal amount of blessing. This is the law of indemnity and restoration. Any true religion must receive rejection first and then receive benefit. All the saints and sages in the past were attacked and then in turn God’s forces could operate. Truth is the shining light in the darkness of persecution. All of God’s plans will go forward ace cording to its formula. I am the first religious person in history to receive so much persecution in his lifetime, not just nationally but worldwide, with even the communist countries speaking against me.

Objectively speaking we can conclude very easily that the Unification Church is completely on God’s side or Satan’s side but not in between. When you listen to my application of God’s principle you know we are absolutely on the side of good. Before you came here you did not belong to God’s world, so how can I believe that you are convinced? How can you show me? The Bible says truth will liberate you from ignorance, and now that you have knowledge you must practice it and then darkness will fade away. You must have confidence in it.

How are we going to approach our Heavenly Father? You cannot go directly to Him or to the True Parents with no condition. You have to go the opposite way, winning the heart of God by liberating mankind and God. If you go out to the world carrying God’s heart then when you come back after finishing the mission you will automatically be heading toward God. You cannot go directly to Him. Jesus Christ went the same way, going the opposite direction first by loving his enemies. The saints God raised up in troubled times all practiced this truth and then went to be embraced in the bosom of God. When I explored the spirit world I never met famous ministers in the Kingdom of Heaven; those people did much talking but never put their words into practice while on earth.

I want you to be the people who can actually save mankind and liberate God. You are front line soldiers. If you are near to God then you will go out and suffer and love all of mankind which is under Satan’s control. Then even though you look miserable you will automatically be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven when you die. You don’t have to worry about anything; with that spirit you are going to make this hell into God’s earthly kingdom.

Why are you here in New York? We are going to erect the Kingdom of Heaven on earth starting in the dungeon of hell. New York is an earthly hell and that is why I decided to set up our headquarters to save this country in New York City. Our World Mission Center is on 8th Avenue, a street famous for prostitution. Without putting this teaching into practice in the worst place we will be unable to go to heaven.

Some of you may think you lost everything because you joined the Unification Church. You are walking a painful road instead of living easy lives, even though you may be college graduates. Are you miserable in your hearts? When you graduated from college you never thought that you would go fund raising with peanuts! You are experiencing the opposite direction I talked about, the difficult way, so you must uplift your feelings and realize that this is a blessed situation. You are going this way to save mankind and you have to go with appreciation. Then you are overcoming.

Some people protest that I am talking this way to you to hide the fact that I’m making you work hard for myself. They don’t realize that there is no other way but working hard; you are in a marathon race to the Kingdom of Heaven and you have to run fast. When you go forward in your work you are approaching Heavenly Father and then you will have true love. When you have a struggle and you face total rejection then God’s love will come down.

Don’t be disappointed when you have struggles or when you are troubled: don’t cheat yourself. Think of how you are going to run toward Heavenly Father to get more joy and more true love. That’s the power with which you can overcome. When Jesus Christ chose three disciples at the Sea of Galilee they joined him because they found the light. Without any suspicion or doubt they accepted Jesus and became his disciples. That’s the leap forward you have to make if you have difficulty. Do you know now how you are going toward God?

I want to speak frankly now. When you know I am coming to speak on Sunday morning you come with enthusiasm, but you do not come with the same mood when I am not here. You must be more diligent and more enthusiastic when I am not here. The pious son and daughter still love one another even if their parents are absent. The loyal subject loves his nation more when his king is absent. The same thing must be true for you. When I talk to you directly you listen, but when your leaders say something you hesitate. That’s not right. Even though they may give you some wrong direction, if you unite and work even harder, thinking about the True Parents, then you are far better off than before. Now you have the secret of how to work with your leaders.

If I went to spirit world tomorrow would you work harder or would you relax? Even though I may go to spirit world early I have established that the Kingdom of Heaven shall be erected on earth because of this principle. Who is going to do it? You should answer, “I am.” Since coming to America I invested all my heart and mind, all my property, all my energy and love in this country every day. I pour out everything I have, spiritual and physical, and I push you people out to sacrifice yourselves for the American people. This is the sphere of God’s love. If you believe it and practice it then I will appear to you in spirit. Other people do not understand how all this can happen! Even though you are pushed into earthly hell, God’s love will descend on you. This is the power of the love you possess.

The longer the period of suffering for mankind that you endure, the bigger the amount of love you will receive from God. Do you feel that this is fact? How much we push ourselves since knowing the light is the key point. Your thinking must move faster than your body since your body must follow the decisions of your mind, but you have to push your body faster. In the long run all that we gain will benefit you the most, even more than God and mankind. You have no room for complaint because all that you are doing and suffering is for you. That is how I feel too You have to be qualified as God’s worker in order to save mankind. You have to qualify yourself and work harder; that’s why you have to push yourself. You have to be a winner in the marathon race. Do you clearly understand?

Shall we put this into practice or not? I want you to know exactly what to do. Please raise your hands before Heavenly Father if you want to put into practice all that I have said. Thank you. Let us pray.

## THE CHILDREN’S DAY WE HAVE BEEN LONGING FOR

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### November 11, 1977
Manhattan Center
Translator – Bo Hi Pak

As you all know, today is Children’s Day. Since the first celebration in 1960 seventeen Children’s Days have been celebrated, making this the seventeenth anniversary.

If there had been no fall of man at the outset of human history, all celebration days-God’s Day, Children’s Day, Parents Day and the Day of All Things-would have been combined into one. But as you know, the fall of man occurred and from that time human history has been the work of restoration. Everything cannot be done at once in restoration; instead there should be a precise, step-by-step process of restoring one thing at a time.

Through the Divine Principle you know that we must restore the standard or criterion for the true man and woman which was lost through the fall of Adam and Eve. Since Adam and Eve were the very people who fell, God could not work directly through them for restoration, but focused instead on their children and descendants. Unless God’s standard of goodness is understood by mankind, there is no way for man to be restored. Therefore, the providence of restoration has concentrated on one thing: the restoration of the true son who has not been touched by the fall of man.

Restoration has proceeded step-by-step through history. First of all, because of the fall of man human beings fell even lower than the servant position. Therefore, God first sought to restore the servant level, then the level of adopted son and finally the true son who can be recognized and heralded by the entire universe.

Once sinful, fallen man is restored to the level of true son of God, he will be elevated to true parenthood, the world of the heart of God. Presently we are going toward our ultimate goal and destiny, the heart of God. This is the basic pattern or formula of the providence of restoration, to be accomplished not only on the vertical but also on the horizontal level. In servanthood we stand on the outer circle of God’s universe, and as we move toward the center we come to the adopted son’s position, the son’s position and finally to the true parents’ position.

Religions of the world have been the tools which God used to fulfill His entire master plan of restoration. There have been many religions throughout history, but each has its specific role to play in the plan of God. For example, some religions are used to bring man up to the servant level, to the adopted son’s level and another to the level of true son and true parents. Therefore, different religions have emphasized being the servants of God, or the adopted sons of God, or finally the sons of God and parents of mankind. Horizontally speaking, religions also occupy different territories while tending ultimately toward one unified world and one unified religion.

Let’s look at the history of Judaism and Christianity, both of which have gone through several definite processes in their development. Judaism is the religion that restores man up to the servant level, while Christianity restores man up to the adopted son’s level; at the time of the Lord of the Second Advent mankind will enter into the true sonship of the Lord. This is all basic Divine Principle. The history of the world of religion is all God’s external work. Internally the one basic direction comes from God’s urgent desire for His sons and daughters to achieve the level of total restoration, the standard of being untouched by the fall. Where then can God find His son who has achieved the level of perfection, to whom the fallen world will be absolutely foreign?

### The providence of Cain and Abel

We have to look at history in reverse, going back to the point where sin was committed by Adam and Eve. In restoration, everyone must go back to his parents, grandparents, and so on, all the way back to the very level where Adam and Eve were committing sin, and then beyond the moment of sin to the realm where sin was never known. There you can taste the true love of God. In purity you can deserve the love of God. Only through that process can the true son of God be born, but do you think it would be easy’?

After Adam and Eve fell God began the restoration with their children, Cain and Abel. If there had been no fall, there would have been no difference in the positions of their sons because all of them would have been the children of God. However, the children of Adam and Eve were the result of collaboration between Satan and Adam and Eve, and were related to Satan instead of God.

The original hierarchy of creation was reversed by the fall, with Adam and Eve coming under the angel instead of God m Even Satan could not deny that Adam and Eve were originally the children of God, however, and he could not deprive God of them outright. The love of man came to be centered upon Satan instead of upon God by Satan’s diverting that love to himself, and as a result the positions of Cain and Abel became polarized, with one representing Satan’s love and the other representing the love of God.

According to the history of restoration, Abel was supposed to be the savior of Cain. Cain could not go directly back to the side of God, but had to go across a `’bridge,” in his case, Abel. By Cain’s coming through Abel to be restored to God, the condition would be fulfilled for God, Adam and the archangel together to be restored into their original positions.

No one can return to his original position by himself. You Unification Church members should know very clearly that you are cast in the role of Abel, but that you cannot return to God without taking Cain with you. God will not accept you alone. When Abel wins the heart of Cain and unites with him, they serve in a savior’s role together. Only in that position can the true parents’ role be restored.

This particular principle concerning Cain and Abel is apparent in the world today, which is divided into two: the Cain world which is communist and denies God, and the Abel world, the free world, which accepts or fears God. The struggle of Cain and Abel in the garden of Eden is mirrored in the fact that the communist world is more than willing to annihilate the entire free world. There is only one way the Abel world can survive this murderous intent, and that is to hold onto God. The problem today is that the free world is forgetting the true way of salvation, seeking to find solutions without God, and there are none.

We have definitely come to the last days of human history, but if the Abel world forgets the way of salvation at this important juncture and tries to save itself without God, it will inevitably fall victim to communism. In that case there is no hope, for it will definitely be slain by the Cain world m That is the present world situation.

Who will bring this world to the ultimate realization that salvation resides in God and nowhere else? Young people whose ages are approximately equivalent to the age of Adam and Eve before the fall represent the generation before the fall. These young people should rise up to take on this mission of awakening the world. America should proudly stand as a model nation of Christianity, but instead America is now going through rampant moral degeneration. Why is this immorality so prevalent?

Many American young people today are even more corrupt than fallen Adam and Eve. At least Adam and Eve felt shame in the garden of Eden, having the decency to hide their naked bodies with fig leaves, but today young people lack that basic decency, doing all kinds of things even out in the streets and parks. At least Adam had a sense of repentance, for after he realized he had committed sin he wanted to be restored. But today in America there is a lack of shame and repentance. Shame is not necessarily bad if it leads to constructive change.

The Abel world is being attacked in two ways, with the communist world constantly encouraging moral degradation, as well as constantly planning the external destruction of the free world. The world as a whole is becoming corrupt to a degree far worse than Adam and Eve themselves were degraded. It is clear that the trend of immorality in America is leading this nation into decline and destruction. There must be some power that can reverse the tide of degeneration and stop the destruction. That movement is the Unification Church. We are going to reverse the tide, and to do that we must be tougher than any communists here on earth. We are not only fighting the ungodly force of communism, however; we must bring ourselves into purity and eliminate the way of life that evokes the wrath of God. That is our dual mission.

As members of the Unification Church, we must first become far superior to the communists, and second, we must restore and preserve absolute purity. We must not waver but walk unyieldingly to our one goal, the love of God. Man collaborated with Satan, becoming his victim by uniting with him in love, and in order to liquidate this fallen condition we must restore ourselves and love God purely.

### The qualifications of a child of God

Until you meet God’s qualifications and can be recognized as truly being His children, you are not entitled to have the love of your wife or husband. You absolutely must set one condition of totally dedicating yourself to God, and before that time, thinking about your own love and your own future is not acceptable to God. You must be recognized by God as loving Him more than anyone else-more than your own parents, more than your own siblings and even more than yourself. After you have achieved that qualification, you can begin to organize your God-centered family.

What is the first qualification you should have? The strength of your loyalty to God must be superior to the communists’ loyalty to their ideology and you must become better people than they. Second, each of you must make the condition of giving your genuine heart to God and God alone. In the true world of Adam and Eve there is only one single-minded way of life, which is loving God. That is the supreme destiny and mission of man, and neither the angel nor anyone else would be able to disrupt it. As a result of the fall of man all kinds of competing thoughts came into the human mind, but God wanted man to be single-minded instead.

Even thinking about yourself means diverting yourself from loving God. You must love God to the degree that you can even forget yourself, that you are no longer aware even of your own heart. Jesus said that unless a person loved him more than anyone else in the world, that person was not worthy of him. This extreme statement derives from the principle of loving God more than you love your own family.

Has there been anyone who loved God this single-mindedly? The world has not seen human beings who were born to love God and to live in single-minded service to Him; instead man has had to go through the process of restoration in order to finally reach the point where one man can be given by God to serve as an example. In that sense the fallen world has now come to its last days.

That one man is not appointed on the basis of human recognition. He is given by God to ultimately restore the parents’ position and become the true parents of true mankind, to lead the world into the fulfillment of the Cain and Abel process. To do this he must awaken the Abel world to follow his own example, which is to totally love God. Then he will lead the people of God to subjugate the satanic world, in this case the communist world. His purpose is to bring both worlds together and return them to God.

There is an old saying that evil people must follow the example of good men. Why should that be? The good man is in the position of Abel and the evil man in the position of Cain, and to be saved Cain must follow Abel. For this reason, religion has constantly emphasized performing good deeds as an example for the world to follow.

What is the definition of a good man? Some might say, “I never harmed anybody. My conscience is clear. I am a good man.” Others might say, “I am a good man because I have a good home. I don’t steal from anybody, and my wife and I don’t fight too much.” Some might even say, “I am a good man because I am an American. I am a number-one citizen in the world and everyone should respect that fact.”

What is the true definition of a good man and where is the origin of good and evil? At the end of your finger or on the top of your head? Good and evil originate in you, for you have both dwelling within yourself. Can you look at God face to face and say, “God, as much as You are good, I am good too”? Everything starts from you, and you can be good as well as evil. Therefore, it is up to you to make yourself wholly good. Evil can be illustrated by describing a powerful conqueror who wants everyone else’s well-being to be sacrificed for his. You know that such a person is evil. For the good man there is no “myself,” but only God and humanity; for their sake there is nothing belonging to “me.” There is no self to serve. Such a person is wholly good.

The goal of religion in history has always been the subjugation of self, with holy men constantly teaching others to not allow their bodies to be used as contact points for evil. That is why good religions in history have always emphasized giving and self-sacrifice. Unification Church members should become foremost in that public-centered, selfless way of life.

Did you go out to sell the paper this morning? Do you have mixed motivations in selling? You can go out with bundles of papers because you want to buy breakfast, which means you are selling newspapers for your stomach. Is this good or evil? An ordinary newsboy might say he has to sell papers to help his mother or brother, which is good, but in a limited way. What if he bought some food for his family’s breakfast by selling papers, but on the way home he decided he was even hungrier than his family and instead of taking the food home he ate it himself? His original motivation was good, but the final actions were evil.

Suppose there is another person who sells newspapers in order to serve his neighbor next door. His motivation is higher than the first person’s, but if his father takes the money and scolds him for helping the neighbors instead of the father, then even his good intentions can end up with a less meaningful result.

I want you to know that greater good can be generated by loving more distant things m Why are you serving a greater good when you serve those far away from yourself? The road of restoration is designed that way by God because that is His way of life. God is thinking in this fashion: Give yourself for the benefit of your family, give your family for the benefit of society; give your society for the benefit of the nation and give your nation for the benefit of the world. Finally, give the world for the benefit of the entire cosmos.

When he knows this is God’s principle, the pious son will parallel the feeling and work of God. The attitude of the loyal citizen who dedicates himself to the purpose of his nation corresponds to God’s spirit, and on another level there are holy men, or saints, who give their lives for the sake of humanity. Good parents should teach their own children in this fashion: “My son, you must love your neighbors more than you love me. Love your country and the world more than you love me. Serve God and humanity.” If any parent teaches his children in that fashion then he is certainly a good parent. Children of such parents will become greater, more universal beings of eternal goodness and they will secure true prosperity. By using this one formula you can evaluate the goodness of parents.

In history there have been many kings, both good and evil. A good king was one who taught his subjects that they must serve other people, giving their energy and sacrificial devotion for the benefit of the country more than for their own king m Furthermore, the good king emphasized, “Even more than you love our people you must go and love the people of the world and God.” The king who thought to sacrifice his own country and kingdom for the sake of the entire world was a good king in the sight of God.

A saint lives for the ultimate purpose of God and humanity. No personal desire can distract him, for nothing else is of greater importance to him, and he can give up his family, his own country and even his own life in dedication to the purpose of God and humanity. The patriot is greater than the pious son and certainly the saint is greater than the patriot. Which would you like to become? Those saints who founded the great religions have one thing in common-they gave up everything for the sake of their service to God and humanity. Their unchanging teaching was to love God and love mankind. The saint is the one who can say, “I love God and humanity more than I love my own wife, my own children and my parents.”

Put yourself in the position of God looking down upon the earth at His own children. Would you like to see your son taking care of and loving only his family; or would you rather have a son who took care of only his society, his nation, and world; or a son who could serve the entire universe? God wants to have a son who will love God and humanity most of all. There is no greater son than that.

### America as the Abel nation

Frankly speaking, is today’s America a good or an evil country? America has been a great nation because many of its people sincerely wanted to serve the world m Americans have given love and assistance to other nations and American soldiers have died defending other countries m Recently, however, America has gradually become selfish, and now more than ever before America is emphasizing solving its problems before trying to help the rest of the world m This is exactly like the person who intends to serve his neighbor, but ends up serving only his parents, or worst of all, himself.

No matter what America says to me, my warning is this: “As long as this nation only intends to serve its own selfish purposes, it is standing against God’s prime principle and cannot flourish, but will only decline m America has been disturbed by my warning, saying all sorts of unkind things about me, but I am unconcerned m I care deeply about America because I know that once this nation declines the entire world will decline. Korea does not control the world’s destiny, but if America is ruined then the world will have no more hope.

With this concern in mind I came to America to kindle a spiritual revolution m Do you Americans want to be people whose foremost concern is just America, or would you like to become universal citizens, having your foremost concern focused upon God and humanity? Young people in America are dying spiritually, being corrupted by moral degradation of all kinds m I am trying to turn these young people around to become saints in the eyes of God, trying to bring a revolution to this degraded, dying generation.

Today America faces many troubles. For example, one reason the American steel industry is unable to compete with the prices of Japanese and Korean steel is the labor situation here. Workers want to work less and get paid more, but why are the workers acting this way? Many unions are influenced by a power that wants to see America decline. Because of their own selfishness in trying to look after themselves, they are putting formidable power into the hands of communism, being used themselves as tools to eventually bring this great nation down. To save the situation in just this one area a quiet revolution from selfishness to unselfishness is needed.

### Religious people must champion God’s cause

Even though Abel was killed by his brother Cain, Abel had made an offering to God and was holding his face up to God. As the Abel nation today America will be set upon by communist nations, but as long as America keeps trust in God and tries to serve God even while it is being attacked, no power can actually destroy it.

In the eyes of the world you Unification Church members are miserable and pitiable. I want to ask one question: Are you confident that with our own power and influence we can bring the free world and the communist world into unity? Can we ultimately liberate God and bring humanity together to the throne of God? In order to save Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel should come together. That same principle also works on the worldwide level. Jesus was Abel on the national level, and if Cain, which was Israel and Judaism, had responded to Jesus and become one with him then on the foundation of the nation Jesus could easily have emerged as the True Parent of mankind. Then he could have erected a permanent worldwide kingdom on a base that was Godcentered and guided by God’s principle.

Bringing the Kingdom of God here on earth on a national and then worldwide scale was Jesus’ only goal. With this in his heart, what would Jesus have preached? Would he have said, “Brethren, I am a son of God and I have many gifts and blessings for you m If you unite with me, I’ll give you good homes, good lives and abundant blessings. I will even make you powerful kings and queens in the world.” Wouldn’t he have said instead, “Brethren, even if you and I must be sacrificed, God wants to save the world. Let us become champions for the salvation of the world.”

The principle of restoration between Cain and Abel works on the individual, national and worldwide levels m The scope may be different but the principle remains the same. With the knowledge of this principle would you say that Jesus came to die or to achieve some other mission? What did he want to do? Jesus came to liberate God by taking the position of Abel to win Israel, which was Cain. Together with Jesus, Israel would have become the Abel nation and would have been able to win the rest of the Cain world. Then the Cain world could have presented itself before the throne of God and our Father in Heaven would have been liberated from His sorrow and grief and emerged as the Parent of mankind. That was the purpose of Jesus’ coming.

Today many Christian churches believe that a happy God is sitting up there on His throne. If this is so then what kind of parent is He? How could He be happy while His sons and daughters are being corrupted and thrown down into hell every day here on earth? God has been the prisoner of a broken heart and needs to be liberated. For that reason God is desperately longing for the emergence of one man as the Messiah who can liberate the world and bring Him ultimate Liberation.

Why did you come to the Unification Church? You are here to liberate the heart of God and to liberate mankind. The purpose of your being here is to take care of the world and make it the world God hoped form God is in trouble m Look at the world. Every day the communists proclaim that there is no God, and even some Christians have said that God is dead. Someone has to come out and say, “God, don’t worry about it. Let me take care of the world m Let me give them an answer and show them that You are not dead.”

Christians are supposed to be doing this and people of all other faiths as well, but they are not. Therefore, we are called to stand before God as His representatives. Once you are truly motivated to do this, no power under the sun can stop you because your authority comes from the highest, most supreme power. Your parents may be tugging at you, but even if your nation pulls at you there is still no power to stop you. You must be proud of having such commitment and perseverance. We are not ordinary, pious children to our parents nor ordinary patriots nor ordinary men of goodness. No, we are here to serve the ultimate purpose of God and humanity by giving ourselves to mend His broken heart and liberate Him from His sorrow. That’s the job we are here to do.

Do you have confidence you will finish the task? If you American members are maligned by the government or FBI, will you look around for some place to live an easy, relaxed life? Or will you look for a place that’s even tougher than America? Whether or not you are an American wouldn’t matter if the people in the government chased you out. What would be your final farewell message to America? When Jesus was pushed out of this world, he said, “I will come back.” I hope each one of you would leave America with the final words, “I will return m” Would you really do this? If you did so, I guarantee that you would become a son or daughter of God m Such a person would be bigger than the world and would have the power within himself to unite the communist world and the free world.

Some people say that I am a dangerous man because I say that I will conquer the world m But to those people I say, “Why not conquer the world in the name and love of God?” This is not just my personal ambition at all. This is God’s ambition and in this battle I will be on the front line. If America adopted this way of life it would not decline or be ruined but would become a savior nation to the world. America could liberate God’s sorrowing, broken heart, and liberate the spirit world as well. America would become a country that could even liberate hell.

We want to make America that kind of country. After living this way of life you will see history testify to the effect of your presence in this country. People might not know at this time, but history will know. If the Moonies don’t do it then Sunnies will do it. The third level belongs to Kingies. After becoming Kingies you won’t need a country, for anywhere you go in the world will be your country. There will be no more boundaries and no one will exclude you from their nation out of prejudice. The only people who are actually able to claim this country as theirs are the Indians because they came here first. The Indians are of Asiatic origin, and as such could be called my cousins.

I know very clearly what the communists’ strategy is. They are trying to promote racial war, one of the most effective strategies for the communist takeover of any continent. For example, they agitate among Indians by saying, “You know that the white people are your enemies.” With propaganda like this they try to divide the races and incite open conflict. A mediator is definitely needed in this struggle. I can say, “You Indians are my cousins. Don’t be hostile to white people, for they are your brothers.” To black people I can say, “I am a friend of yours, and white people are also our brothers m” As an Asian I can win the confidence of all races, and with the truth all humanity can be persuaded that racial hatred is not the true way of life.

I don’t think any white person could reconcile all races, coming on the foundation of the poor record white people have in dealing with other races. Black people might not do too good a job either, for no matter what blacks may attempt, too much distance exists between white and black. But I come from Asia, being neither white nor black. People may be suspicious of me now, but they will find out who I am and unite in friendship.

### The attackers in history were always defeated

Today we learned the definition of goodness. If you understand what goodness is and if you are a clever man or woman, then you know what our way of life should be. Whatever you eat, you consume for God and mankind, not for yourselves. As you go out and work, whatever you do is for the sake of God and humanity. In going out fund raising, you know that every penny is going for the purpose of God and humanity.

You know what your way of life should be, and even when you come up against obstacles, if you are doing your work with 100 percent effort for the sake of God and mankind then God will smile upon you. When you are absolutely dedicated to living the life of God 24 hours a day, day in and day out, there is no moment of your own. When all moments belong to God and humanity, you are heroes in God’s world.

Don’t be a small-minded person. Push out your chest and jump off your launching pad, like Apollo 11 going up into the vast universe. We are all destined to be launched, and our first objective is to reach the moon and become Moonies. Our next destination is the sun, and then we are Sunnies. Our third destination is the heart of God, and then we are Kingies. Jesus also proclaimed that in Christ each person should be king. Conventional ministers might think that I speak blasphemy, but you can find this in the Bible.

History has been nothing more than the struggle between Cain and Abel on different levels and in different arenas. History in its entirety all boils down to one thing: the struggle of Cain and Abel, of two powers confronting each other and trying to unite. In first joining the Unification Church you become small Abels, and later the center of Abel families, the Abel society, Abel nation, Abel world, Abel spirit world and Abel cosmos. We are the family that represents the entire world, but this family is not here to secure only its own prosperity; it has a mission to benefit the larger family, the nation and the world.

We shall not try to avoid being a sacrifice to save the world. Sacrifice is something with which to chasten oneself, and humbling yourself for the sake of others is the best condition you can make. Selfishness brought the fall of man and unless you have the courage to chastise and give yourself for the benefit of others, you cannot bridge the gap between the fallen world and the realm of sainthood. Through sacrifice you can most quickly achieve the goal of God.

Communists are always belligerent and warlike, but the tendency to invade and infiltrate is all a result of the fall. It is not God’s way, and as a result all invaders ultimately fail. In both World Wars the attackers were defeated. World War III is a global struggle between the communist ideology and the free world; the communists keep invading, but ultimately God’s law is going to apply here also.

Is the Unification Church attacking anyone? In reality the Unification Church is being attacked by America. America has already attacked me, and when I receive that kind of persecution the Church as a whole receives persecution. Who is better in the sight of God? The answer is simple. Our opponents are attacking us for the purpose of their own selfish benefit, yet even in this circumstance we are not resisting for our own sake, but for the sake of God and humanity. That’s why we are good.

The persecutors have done us much damage, but the day will come when they will have to try to indemnify their actions. However, since the evil they have done is against me and the Unification Church, they have incurred a debt they cannot fully pay, even if they were to use all this nation’s resources. They have done eternal evil.

We will tell them, “You cannot repay the debt or indemnify completely what you have done, but what you can do is bring Satan as your captive.” Once Satan is taken, we can control him and then our work is done. Then we can liberate mankind and God. The best strategy is to allow ourselves to be attacked, and I know that as individuals you have been beaten and as a Church we have been beaten. The whole nation has come against us and the whole world has spoken out against us. Because this is how the world will ultimately become indebted to us, receiving persecution is God’s best strategy.

At some point God will not be able to tolerate such evil behavior any longer and He will stand up in our defense. Then the spirit world will also say, “We cannot stand it. The world is doing too much against Reverend Moon and the Unification Church.” Later on some of the good people of this world will say, “What did Reverend Moon do wrong? Why do they do those evil things to him?” Perhaps even the Harvard Divinity School will have a kind of academic demonstration to support Reverend Moon.

Persecution is not necessarily bad for it stimulates and attracts all kinds of wonderful opportunities. One thing is certain: I will always move forward relentlessly, and even if the entire world tries to stop me I will pull the world along behind me. What I predict will come to pass. You will see that my words will become reality.

If we are able to save Russia by winning champions here in this nation, then America will automatically be saved. That’s why I clearly announced after the Washington Monument Rally that our next goal is to go to Moscow. At this moment our brothers and sisters are working underground in satellite countries, where many of them are suffering in prison. When you think of our brethren over there can you ever say, “My mission in New York is so hard”? For the sake of our brothers and sisters who are suffering we must liberate mankind from the yoke of communism.

### Most allegations against me are communist-inspired

We must also liberate Christianity and Judaism. We are called anti-Semitic and I have been called the anti-Christ, but these accusations are far from the truth. We have one concern, which is that God’s will be done. We want to raise up people who are so committed and dedicated that they can even liberate the USSR. In the name of God, you and I will oppose any policy that will give unlimited advantage to communist countries. Whether he is aware of it or not, President Carter has done many lenient and foolish things, which only aid the goals of the communist countries. I don’t like it. Is he naively trying to win the hearts of communists? This administration is on the wrong course and you will see that it will be oppressed by increasingly difficult problems.

The negotiations regarding the Panama Canal seem to be a goodwill gesture, but if America was caught in global conflict with the communists and the Panama Canal was in communist hands, our link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans would be gone. If I were to see President Carter I would confront him with several painful truths. When I met President Nixon I did not comfort him, but gave him painful advice which was difficult for him to take. If President Nixon had taken my advice, however, America would not be as it is today and Nixon himself would not be in his present situation.

Many times I was appalled by Nixon’s policies. The Nixon Doctrine did not bring benefit but only tragedy to America, as it withdrew American power from Asian territories. The proposed withdrawal of American armed forces from Korea was not suggested first by President Carter, but by President Nixon. America has become a sanctuary where the communist powers can freely organize to undermine this country.

Because of the communist threat I hoped that President Nixon would remain strong and stay in office as President. In the American presidency is vested vast power which can be utilized to contain the spread of communism. Therefore, the weakening of the United States presidency only enhances the strength of the communists and that cannot be allowed to happen. If the power of the presidency is weakened, FBI and CIA activities against communist infiltration are also weakened. That would only provide further sanctuary to communist power. Trade unions are becoming powerful organizations and will become an even greater danger to democracy in the days to come m Workers are increasingly motivated by self-concern and do not care too much about the destiny of the nation. What can the Administration do? It will be increasingly immobilized by one trouble after another.

I will not budge in my stand against the communists. I will not yield or compromise, but will continue to march on. I know that my name is constantly mentioned inside Russia and other communist countries because the government publicly criticizes me as a capitalist running dog of the United States and the South Korean governments. I can appreciate that because it shows that they know the strength of my spirit and commitment. The only people who do not know about me are the leaders in the free world. They don’t know or appreciate who I am; at least the communist leaders know about me.

Who started the rumor that I am an agent of the KCIA? The communists. Who started the rumor that I am brainwashing people? The communists. They deliberately spread this slander in order to destroy me. Whether they know it or not, it is clear that most people in the free world media are only tools for spreading the lies of the communists. They tried to characterize me as a political person, for instance, by saying that my Watergate campaign was political. Anyone who says that should read the Watergate statement. All I said was, “Forgive, love and unite,” and if that is political then all of Christianity is political because that is the fundamental teaching of Jesus Christ. When I visited President Nixon in the Oval Office at the White House, the first thing I did was ask the President to sit down and pray with me to Almighty God. I was trying to tell the President that he must be humble before God and kneel to ask His guidance. I told him that he would find the solutions to his problems in no other way. You can see that my visit truly was not political.

The media does not tell the truth about us because many people want to see me destroyed. What they are doing is really political, but they rationalize, “He disturbs our peace. We have a wonderful thing going and we don’t want him here.” They have their own political goals and in order to achieve them they write as they do. The idea that I am a KCIA agent is absurd. The KCIA is so small that whatever they might say to me would be so trivial that I would never respond. The truth about this will one day come out. I am telling you all this today because I want you to know how I feel so that you can become a part of me.

### Fulfillment of the Cain-Abel
providence on the family level

When Cain slew Abel, that particular dispensation collapsed and God had to wait until the time of Esau and Jacob before it was fulfilled on the family level. The restoration principle here is rather simple; the younger brother in Abel’s position should restore the birthright and win the right to hold the elder brother’s position. At the time of Esau and Jacob, Isaac was in Adam’s position and Rebecca in Eve’s position, while their children were in the positions of Cain and Abel. Because Eve was the source of evil, Rebekah’s position was to make restitution for Eve’s sin by assisting her own son, Jacob.

The Bible records some puzzling events regarding Jacob. In order to restore the birthright, Jacob did some cunning things and told outright lies. He was dishonest, lying to his father and tricking him into blessing him by saying that he was Esau. Such deeds are not honorable, but even so God permitted Isaac to bless Jacob. Why? The Bible just reports the actual events, and theologians cannot explain the apparent paradox. No one can resolve this question without knowing the principle of restoration, which originates in the basic elements of the fall of man and God’s will for restoration.

Eve fell by denying her Father, God. She also denied the role of the father which belonged to Adam, who was to be her husband, and then Eve united with Satan and fell. In restitution, the process has to be reversed. Rebecca was in Eve’s position, Isaac was in God’s position and Esau was in Adam’s position. To reverse the process of the fall, Rebecca deceived Isaac and Esau so that Jacob could obtain the birthright of the elder son and thus assume his rightful position in God’s sight. Jacob was in Abel’s position, and with Rebekah’s help he succeeded in making Esau, as Cain, surrender. In the sight of God this reversed the original act of Satan. Satan had to be subjugated in order to complete the process of restitution, and because goodness was reversed by the fall of man, we must reverse things in order to return to the right way. Jacob won the first victory in the dispensation of God; therefore, God gave him the title of Israel, which means “victorious.” Jacob restored for the first time the birthright of God’s son, meaning that Abel was victorious on the family level.

Jacob was victorious over the position of fallen Adam and Eve by staying on the side of God. We cannot go into detail because it would take too long, but for the first time in history the birthright of God’s son was restored. The younger brother was brought into the elder brother’s position and the elder brother was brought into the younger brother’s position. Cain and Abel were united for the first time, with Cain humbling himself before Abel. Jacob became the first man acceptable in the sight of God, and the forefather of God’s people.

It is significant that Esau and Jacob were twins because twins are closer than other brothers, being born at the same time. Cain and Abel were born at different times, and their positions were brought into closer unity through the twins, Esau and Jacob. Even after Jacob consummated his responsibility and was given the blessing of Israel, the dispensation still had to grow to maturity. There was a certain part of Jacob’s life which was not purified: the time from conception in his mother’s womb until the age of forty. This span of time still remained in Satan’s realm and thus God wanted to repeat and perfect Jacob’s dispensation.

This was done through Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah, Jacob’s fourth son. Judah was the heir of God’s direct lineage. Tamar sensed that her husband was supposed to be the direct heir of Israel’s lineage, but he died at an early age without leaving a son. According to custom, his brother was supposed to marry Tamar, but he also died and Tamar still did not have a son to carry on the lineage. She looked at the youngest brother of her husband, but he was not given to her as Judah had originally promised. When Tamar saw this, she disguised herself as a prostitute and deceived her father-in-law. Eve had deceived her husband to fulfill selfish purpose, but Tamar deceived her father-in-law for God’s purpose. This was the fundamental difference which enabled God to work His providence through her.

In the relationship with her father-in-law Tamar conceived twins, Perez and Zerahm Just as Rebecca had experienced her two children struggling inside her womb, so did Tamar. Rebecca had protested to God and He answered that she must endure it because two nations were in her womb, of which the younger would become greater. The same answer was given Tamar. When the time of delivery came, Zerah’s hand came out first from his mother’s womb. To distinguish the two children, the midwife tied a red string around the child’s wrist, foreshadowing the appearance of the communist ideology before the time of the Lord of the Second Advent. An amazing thing happened, however. After the first child put out his arm, a struggle began inside Tamar’s womb and as a result the younger brother was born first.

You can see how meticulously God worked to successfully complete His dispensation; finally the birthright of Abel was fully restored in the history of Israel. Through Tamar, restoration was completed to include even a child in his mother’s womb, which is as far as restoration can go before the Messiah comes. Since that time the tribe of Judah has always stood in the priest’s position, and when the people of Israel came out of Egypt it was Judah’s tribe which carried the tabernacle.

These events laid the foundation for the Christ to be born free of sin. Through Jacob and Tamar, God had restored the birthright up to the time of the mother’s womb, and as a result the Messiah could be conceived through a faithful woman who came out of that particular lineage. Many people want to know, if the preparation for the coming of the Messiah was finished at the time of Tamar, why Christ wasn’t born in the next generation. The answer is simple. The Messiah must come on the national level and Israel had not reached the national level in Tamar’s day. Time had to elapse to allow the nation of Israel to develop, and by the time of Jesus the nation of Israel had been established.

Rebecca and Tamar were courageous, unselfish women. Their motivation was not their own enjoyment but purely the service of God, and they gave up their lives for that purpose. One more woman was required to fulfill God’s extraordinary dispensation and that was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary was in the position of Eve and Rebecca and Tamar and she went through exactly the same process: Mary had a fiancée, but she was disloyal to him and to her father, and conceived a baby without their knowledge.

### Jesus as the second Adam

Mary was faithful to God. By the conditions already established and the indemnity already paid, Satan had no claim to the heavenly baby conceived in her womb. There was no room for Satan’s invasion. For many thousands of years God had prepared the foundation for Jesus so that he could be a Messiah from birth. Satan had no power over the baby Jesus because even his mother’s womb had already been sanctified. Jesus was born as the elder son, not just in respect to Israel, but to the world, past, present and future.

From the very beginning Jesus was different from anyone else, and was able to proclaim, “I am the only begotten son of God.” This is truly a formidable statement, and it meant that he was the first embodiment of the love of God, the first on earth to win the love of God. After a labor of many thousands of years, God could finally see His son born on earth. Did God want His son to be a champion, or to be killed? God’s real heart in regard to the birth of Jesus has never been known to the Christian world, which has thought that Jesus only came to die. That is total nonsense. Jesus was God’s only begotten son, and no father wants his son to be killed.

Since Jesus came as an Abel to the world, the nation of Israel and its people should have united with him without any reservations. Indeed, Jesus was supposed to have become the king of Israel, then the king of many nations and finally king of the world. Could he have accomplished that all alone?

From the beginning God intended to have His kingdom in the garden of Eden. The invisible God wanted his son, Adam, to be king and Eve to be queen, and to multiply children so that their offspring numbered like the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea. They were to be prosperous, and their children were to be kings and reign over all the world. If Jesus indeed came to restore the same position which God intended for Adam, do you think that he had to live alone all his life? God created Adam as a man and Eve as a woman to become a couple and form a family. Jesus came to restore Adam, and naturally his first responsibility was to restore Eve, his own bride.

What was in Jesus’ mind as he was crucified? His people, his nation, God? Why did he not want to die? Foremost in his mind was the thought that he must leave behind a bride, the mother of mankind. But, knowing his crucifixion was near, Jesus left a prophecy for the future that he would come again and take his bride at the Second Advent.

The true bridegroom and bride were to form the true family together with their children, and that family then multiply into a society, nation and world. However. since the time of Adam many children of the fallen lineage have been born, and God had to provide a way to restore the already-existing world. Each person was to be grafted onto Jesus, the tree of life; then all could share the true life and love of God. In this way God intended to restore the entire world, and all mankind would become one people, the race of Adam. God never intended to have many different nations or races. God sees only one race.

Today many Christians believe that the Lord is coming a second time, but they believe that he will come on the clouds of heaven. If Jesus’ goal was restoration of the physical family and the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, how could he ever achieve that goal by coming on the clouds with a spiritual body? That is nonsense. Christ will not come on the clouds of heaven. The role of the second Messiah is that of Adam, and since the first Adam failed and the second Adam, Jesus, was not given the chance to fulfill his mission, a third Adam is needed to fulfill that same goal on earth. This time God will do it.

The truth of God is logical. Do not ever think that I devised my own theory, or that what I am saying is my own idea. It is God speaking, and the entire spirit world speaking. In the spirit world you will see how this is the truth. I am merely the person through whom the new revelation has come m I am the first one to discover the true identity of Satan and the crime he committed, how evil he was and how he murdered Adam and Eve. I can now say to Satan, “You have been disguised all through history, but in front of me you can no longer hide m I know who you are and what kind of crime you committed m” For the first time in history someone has really confronted Satan.

No matter how terrible his crime, as long as a criminal is not detected, he can pretend that he hasn’t done anything wrong m Once his crime is detected, however, he must surrender. This applies to Satan as well. So far Satan has been an unknown criminal who could walk around in broad daylight, even parading in front of God and sneering, “Look at that guy. How dirty he is; he cannot be your son.” Satan has been accusing man over and over again before God. Now the son of God must prosecute Satan before God and present proof of Satan’s crime.

People say that I am a heretic because I claim that the Lord is not coming on the clouds of heaven. If you think I am a heretic, go yourself and ask Jesus how he wants to return. Today all mankind, and particularly the Christian world, are in darkness, knowing nothing about the will of God, nothing about the heart of God or the dispensation of Jesus’ time. They oppose us out of selfish motivations and this must be changed, for God cannot accept it. Ask God yourself. He cannot tolerate it any longer.

### Jesus as the tree of life

In the spirit world you will be able to see whether I am a true leader or a false prophet, but I am glad that the time will soon come when even without dying anyone will be able to see the truth. You will be able to meet God or Jesus Christ and ask them who I am. Ask Abraham, Jacob or anyone else in spirit world and they will tell you. The time is coming when they will testify here on earth.

We must be humble, never arrogant. We must feel the heart of God and all Christians should do the same. We must not be proud because of our Unification Church. We must be proud for God, however. Our label is not important and it is not our goal to create another denomination. Our goal is to unite all the denominations of Christianity, not to make another sect. Who is going to unite all those stubborn people? Not Reverend Moon and not you; God is going to do it.

Jesus was murdered. Why would anyone who came to this world to be killed want to come back? No one would come back under those circumstances, but Jesus must come again because he left his mission undone. Jesus is a man and as a man he is capable of marrying a woman. Christian ministers are shocked to hear this idea, but ask them, “You believe that you are a child of God, but would you be happy if everyone treated you as half a man? It is natural to you that people treat you as a whole man and that you marry and have children. Why wouldn’t those feelings also be natural to Jesus Christ?”

Christians say that we are heretics, but I tell you that this is not just ordinary heresy. I am a super-heretic in their eyes, and the amazing thing is that God likes this super-heretic. Children have been born all over the world since Jesus died. Even though they are sinful children, they are still children of God and need to be restored, but there has existed no tree of life for them to physically graft themselves onto.

If you want to know Jesus clearly and correctly, you must understand that he is not just the Messiah or savior; after his crucifixion Jesus had to come back as a spiritual parent. He is your spiritual father who is capable of giving you spiritual rebirth. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he brought down the Holy Spirit, which is the spiritual mother. Eve gave birth to sinful children, but the Holy Spirit comes to give man spiritual rebirth.

Through the power of love a father and mother create new life, and it is the same in the rebirth process. Each person must go back to the origin and be born again, beginning as flesh and blood and bone in our Father. You were created as a result of love, but sinful love. So you must go back to the body of Jesus in a sinless, sacrificial life. If you love Jesus and know that he is your spiritual father, then you must want to bring yourself inside his heart and be born again as his flesh and blood. That’s the desire you must have. Through sacrificial love you can go back to the origin, the very source of your life. Once you were flesh and bone of your father. If you love Jesus so much that nothing else in the world matters to you, you can absolutely give your heart and soul to trim m At that point the Holy Spirit can come to you and give you rebirth; then you are reborn as a spiritual son or daughter of Jesus m That is the whole process of rebirth in Christianity. It is the essence of Christianity. but it will elevate a person only to the level of adopted son.

Man was not created in spirit alone, but with a body. The ultimate step left to be taken is to be born again, not just in spirit, hut in spirit and body together. For that purpose Jesus’ body is needed and he must return as a living person in flesh. So far Christianity has offered only the possibility of rebirth in spirit. Now in the New Age, when Jesus comes back as the Second Messiah, we shall be given the power to be born again in the body as well. Each person needs this physical rebirth before going to spirit world. Furthermore, the requirement to enter the Kingdom of God in heaven is that you become elevated as sons and daughters of God, loving the world as God loves the world.

According to the Bible, Jesus is not coming by himself but is also bringing a myriad of spirit men. All spirit men need to be born again in spirit and body as well as men on earth. When the Lord appears here on earth, the spirit world will want to come and unite with the body of Christ so that they may be born again in spirit and body. Because that is their ultimate hope, even those in spirit world are eagerly waiting for the day when the Messiah comes. When Christ achieves his goal here on earth, they all can be resurrected to the ultimate heaven. Not only men and women on earth but also spirit world will love Christ and follow him and serve him with their hearts and souls.

All mankind wants to become part of the blood and flesh of Christ, the True Parents. How can that be done? You can become flesh and blood of the Messiah by giving your unselfish, sacrificial love to the world. Your actions in loving the world will lead you deep inside the flesh and bone of the Messiah. If what I am telling you is truth, then at the end of the world there will be a new religion centering on one man and all the citizens of the world will want

to love and serve him, disregarding everything else. Once that magnetic force of love appears on earth, the place where the messianic role is being fulfilled can be recognized and the opportunity to live Jesus’ prophecy will be at hand.

Jesus said that those who loved husband or wife or father and mother more than Jesus were not worthy of him. That idea can actually be lived in our lives. There will be one living person here on earth for whom we can give that kind of devotion and still want to give more. Even if you are killed for that dedication, you will not regret it. Certainly the love of God is more valuable than your life. You can forget eating and everything else in your desire to meet that person. Nothing else will matter to you, even if you die.

Become a seed in the physical body of the Father and obtain rebirth. When people become one with the Messiah to that extent then he will draw the attention of the world. The day will come when he will take his bride in what the Bible calls the marriage supper of the lamb. At that moment the entire spirit world and the entire earth will know their resurrection, for that is the gate through which they will all pass; they can be reborn through the first heavenly bride.

You might have everything under the sun, including a Ph. D. and a billion-dollar fortune and a wealth of knowledge. But if you cannot find the true gate to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, if you cannot find the True Parents here on earth, you are actually a poor person and have nothing at all. The Messiah comes on earth as a physical person in flesh and blood to meet his bride. Together they will celebrate and declare in heaven and earth the true sonship and true parenthood under God. That is the day of resurrection, the day of hope. The very purpose of the Messiah’s coming the second time is to declare to the world the true parenthood of mankind here on earth and forever in the spirit world.

The Old Testament and the New Testament will pass away. What the world needs is the True Parents as the true source of life. The true children of mankind will be grafted into that family of the true father, true mother and true children, and around them the world will be reorganized into God’s lineage. That day must come before you can truly have Children’s Day. Before you declare yourselves true children, you need the assent of three persons: God, True Father and True Mother. Today is Children’s Day, but before it is fully celebrated, the day of resurrection must come.

If you want to become true children of God then you must be different from people of the past. You must say to God that you are no longer pursuing ordinary, secular goals. “I am Your son, and day in and day out my goal will be to fulfill Your will and be Your representative and grow to be worthy of possessing Your love.” Those are the words of true children of God, and nothing will change them.

Children’s Day was declared in 1960, on October 1 by the lunar calendar. On that day, before God and with Satan observing, the True Parents declared Children’s Day to the world.

You must be the son who can transcend the level of family, nation and world and overcome all obstacles. You will be the single-minded champion of God. The day you make such a covenant with God is the real Children’s Day.

### Become a tree of life in your own right

We are upholders of the new ideology of “Godism,” which means the absolutely God-centered ideology and way of life. You will each become a tree of life in your own right, and people of the world will come to be grafted to you and find resurrection. If you achieve this perfection, you will have the power to resurrect others, and everything you do will be for the sake of God and humanity. You will marry for the sake of God and the fulfillment of His will. You will bear children, not for yourself, but for the sake of God and mankind. You will eat and earn money and build houses and teach others, all for the sake of God and humanity. Nothing is excepted from this standard.

Your heart should be the dwelling place of God and the True Parents, and the dwelling place of all men in the spirit world and here on earth. Your heart must be that wide. Your love will become so intense and strong that you can embrace God, the True Parents and mankind not only here on earth, but in heaven as well. Are you that kind of person?

The solution of history has been given, creating an explosion of all history, allowing everything to become solidified; there will be no more problems after this. In a few moments I have described the 6,000 years of biblical history, from Adam to the present time, and each of you must walk through this history as I have done. Put yourself in the position of Adam’s family, but be an Adam who will not fall. Relive the history of Cain and Abel, being the Cain who does not kill his brother and the Abel who is not killed by Cain. Walk down the path of Noah, having his faith, but not making the mistakes he did. At each step of history put yourself in the center of that historical event and become the person who can make restitution.

Finally you will come to the time of Jesus. Then you can declare to God and the world, “I shall stand even taller than Jesus, work harder than Jesus and achieve more than Jesus did in his own time.” That’s not arrogance because you have advantages that Jesus did not have. Jesus had only a small country, but you have the world and the universe available to you m You can say, “I can love this world and universe that Jesus was not able to love in his time.” Furthermore, Jesus could not marry and have his own physical children, but you will marry in the name of God and form a godly family. You can give God’s children to this world. Jesus never experienced being a grandfather, but you will each become grandparents for God. You may not know how and why you came to this point, but you know that this is the way you are going to love.

The world has given us the name Moonies, but we have ourselves the name Sunnies. We start out as Moonies, and when we become Sunnies other people will become Moonies. After becoming Sunnies we have one more rank to achieve, the rank of Kingies. Then you will be given your certificate as a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of God.

Even though I may be ugly, I am more ambitious in terms of the love of God than any other man who ever walked on earth. Every part of my body is directed to the realization of that goal. My eyes want to see that goal; my ears want to hear that goal; my mouth wants to speak of that goal; my nose wants to smell that goal. My brain is thinking of that goal, nothing else but that one goal. I know one thing will be obvious in the future-no man could be as crazy as I am in regard to God. Everyone has been longing for the true Children’s Day for a long, long time. You did not just arrive here at random. You have gone through every kind of hardship, difficulty and persecution, but you have broken through barriers and have won the victory stage by stage and now you are here.

It is wonderful to know we are here at the meeting of True Parents and true children. For that reason alone this is a historic day. Furthermore, Children’s Day 1977 is extraordinary because this is the first Children’s Day since the year one of the Kingdom of God on earth was declared. The year of 1977 is a gigantic turning point, and I want you to feel deeply honored to be a member of this group.

Even if I were to die now, I would not be a failure. I am not in Jesus’ situation facing crucifixion. The entire heavenly kingdom will open up and escort me down a red carpet to the very throne of God. I can lift up my head before God and say, “God, You know what I have done. I am entitled to the Kingdom of God in heaven. Let me open the door for the billions of people to come.” You also will be like that. You are going to be heirs of that philosophy and way of life.

Today’s sermon has been an extraordinary message. You know clearly now how fortunate you are to be sitting right here as members of the Unification Church, and how fortunate you are to be sitting right here on Children’s Day as true children, facing the True Parents. This is not accidental. No money can buy this treasure and glory. This is the meaning of the day which you are celebrating. You are now a representative of God, our Father.

I have been walking this path throughout my entire life. I have come under intense persecution, stood against the current and faced every kind of pain that you can name. You, however, are standing on the foundation that I am erecting and you can win an even more extraordinary victory than I have. You can be true representatives of God and your glory will be even greater than mine

If you are living this ideology, if you feel it to the bone, then everywhere you go God will be with you and the True Parents will be with you. They will guide you step by step and you will never be alone. When Joshua and Caleb succeeded Moses’ mission, God gave them one most important command: “Be strong and of good courage.” God wanted them to be bold for the chosen nation and for the remaining mission. I want to give you the same command: Be bold and strong. Be strong and courageous for your mission.

How about me, am I bold and strong? I am tough and courageous only because of God being there with me. For the sake of God there is nothing I cannot do, and no pain can stop me or hardship demolish me. When I was condemned to prison in North Korea, I did not pray, “God, I am going to prison. You must come and help me.” Instead I prayed, “God, thank you for this new opportunity. Through this ordeal I want to discover more of You. I want to become more like You. I will be bold and strong. Don’t worry about me.

Today we are free. We are not in a prison camp, so without any restriction we can give our utmost. What a precious opportunity we have! I gave up my life a long time ago. America is a dangerous place for me, like a jungle filled with savage civilization, but God is here and His will will be done.

Today is Children’s Day and you are celebrating this day as true children. Those who volunteer and pledge to God that you will become men and women just like the True Parents, raise your hands. May God bless you. Let us pray.

## OUR DESTINED RELATIONSHIP

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### November 6, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator-Bo Hi Pak

Good morning everyone. The topic of my talk this morning is “Our Destined Relationship.” The Korean word here means more than just “relationship”; it indicates being born or destined to meet.

When we look at rivers or lakes we know that they do not come into being all at once. Many drops of water from the tops of mountains or from plains and valleys all over the earth come together to make up a creek, river or lake. However, even water on top of a mountain is not at its point of origin. It begins as rain, which comes from clouds of vaporized water. When you look closely you will find that those drops have rich and varied backgrounds.

We must recognize the diverse history behind the drops of water which make up the creeks or streams that become giant rivers and lakes. You may say, “What a beautiful lake,” but your understanding should not be superficial. If those lakes and rivers could express themselves, they would have deep fellowship with man and would want to share their history. Those drops of water and those rivers and lakes must have a tremendous amount of pride in their own history. We men also want something to take pride in, but when we compare man with a body of water, which has more to be proud of? It’s very’ herd to decide between the two, but actually the latter has been the witness of history.

Have you ever thought about whether the water in the ground at Belvedere could visit Korea? The water of Belvedere can travel anywhere in the world because it has existed for millions of years. Water here can become a cloud and travel over the ocean, becoming rain in Korea and other parts of the world. Furthermore, the water of Belvedere could have been in a cup of water you drank long ago. Without your even realizing, it could have left here many years ago and arrived at your table. No one can say that this couldn’t be true.

### Everything prefers a life
of activity and adventure

Suppose water from Belvedere came to you some months or years ago, and right now is in your bloodstream, back here at Belvedere again. That water will exult, “Father, I’m here! You are talking about me.” That particular water originated in Belvedere and now has come back here, feeling very excited that it is being talked about.

One feature of a body of clean water is its blue color. All the different kinds of water, even filthy, smelly water or muddy water, have the characteristic of never repelling each other but flowing together in harmony until they become pure and blue again. There are all kinds of relationships in our universe which are mysteriously intertwined and beyond our understanding. Let us compare our relationship to that of the water. Many years ago did you think you would be meeting Reverend Moon? Did America ever think that one day Reverend Moon would come and stir up a storm, becoming a lightning rod of attention?

This morning, look at the relationships between you m There are black, white and yellow faces here which came from all over New York to gather together in the early morning and sit on the cold cement floor. The floor is very hard and your bottoms get sore and cold. Sometimes I see that it is most uncomfortable for you to sit here for long hours. There are other churches which would welcome you and provide fluffy cushions and warm chairs where you could relax and listen to the music and the sermon. With all kinds of luxurious, plush churches waiting for you, why do you come here and suffer?

Drops of water flow in all different configurations according to their destinies, trickling into rivers and lakes, constantly joining and coursing along together. The drops of water must have very interesting conversations, sympathizing with those who flowed along a monotonous course through the plains and thrilling to the stories of tumbling down mountains and roaring down Niagara Falls. Certainly the drops that have tasted more chaotic situations and surmounted more obstacles have more to tell.

How about man? America has a 200-year history in which this vast land was gradually settled with little resistance, later becoming the most prosperous nation in the world. That is one story, but maybe there is another race or country which has had a history of many thousands of years of suffering, hardships and reverses before arriving in the present. When the two nations meet, which country has more to tell? Any people or race which has a more colorful, rugged experience has more to tell. This principle holds true here on earth and also in the spirit world.

If we look at a race or nation having a distinctive history of hardship in trying to survive and prosper and compare it with another race or nation which has gone through an equally difficult course but for the sake of God and mankind, which can we say is more noble? Nobility and value can be determined by purpose, not by suffering alone. The purpose behind the suffering will determine its value.

Imagine two types of people gathered together. One type doesn’t know much about society and has had little experience, but the other is deeply experienced in life, having gone through suffering and tasted both sorrow and joy. Which would naturally become the center of attention? Whoever has had more and deeper experiences and hardships has more to tell. We know that in order to really shine in history a person must have some experience to be deeply proud of.

Water which traveled all around the world seven times has more of a story to tell. The more the distance traveled, the more events there are to share. Which life would be more colorful from God’s point of view? Do you think He would say that once around the world would be quite adequate as far as He is concerned? God is no different from men. Regardless of a man’s walk in life, whether he is young or old, a scientist or a religious person, the general tendency of human behavior is the same.

Where did you come from? Many scientists claim that there is no God and that everything has evolved from pure energy. You don’t know much about your origin except that you were in your mother’s womb for nine months. You have no memory even of that, so how can you say you are from God? There is no simple answer: In your family’s history alone there are all kinds of confusing entanglements, and how much more confusing it must be to understand about the ultimate origin, God.

### How can we say that God exists?

How can we answer the question of whether there is really a God? Energy tends to dissipate when it is not used, and activity always slows down when energy decreases. The energy output of any system must always be smaller than the energy input. You don’t spend more than you earn, and the same is true of energy. Then how do we develop and become prosperous? It doesn’t make sense to say that simply because the world exists it is automatically bound to become more prosperous; things cannot happen in random fashion. People cannot logically explain why this should be, and in an attempt to understand the universe they come up with the very convenient explanation, “Nature takes care of it through energy.” But what is nature itself? The energy in nature cannot be produced unless there is some interaction of two entities. When you just stand still there is no energy being produced or used, but as soon as you have an object or partner with whom to interact you can move anywhere. Even though you have energy, unless you interact with others that energy doesn’t serve any purpose.

If interaction is to take place, two entities are necessary, subject and object, and before we talk about energy we must confirm their existence. Where do subject and object come from? To answer this we may ask: When do you know you have love? When you are standing all by yourself can you say you have love? Love manifests when you have an object or a subject, a partner. When you exercise your energy through the power of give and take, you can recognize the existence and action of love. To get energy we need action, and to have action we need a subject and object. Thus, we cannot say that energy itself is the beginning or the source, because in order to get energy the interaction of subject and object is necessary. It is through the process of subject and object having give and take that you have energy to sustain your existence.

Is it true that everything in the universe resembles a circle? Matter in its smallest form exists in circular motion, as do the enormous heavenly bodies. Energy is derived through interaction which creates circular motion because that is the only motion which results in unending give and take. The various parts of our bodies are rounded. There appear to be many sharp points and angular parts of a tree, but if you look closely you will see that the overall shape is round, from the leaves to the trunk.

Is there a limit to your growth, or do you just grow unceasingly? Your internal mechanisms are designed in such a way that they grow to a certain point and then stop. If each organism is programmed to stop growing at a certain point, then how can larger or higher-level entities be made from lower life forms? This can only result from there being more and different kinds of interaction, a chain-reaction of give and take, so to speak, which can produce greater and greater productive energy. Through the interaction of a subject taking on object and then together becoming a higher subject which can take another object, energy can increase and become increasingly fruitful. From this point of view the theory of random evolution is certainly nonsense.

Once again we come to the question: How do we know there is a God? God is none other than a gigantic super-plus or super-subject, while you and I are a tiny plus and minus which together form one small minus m What is a minus and what is a plus? The body is minus and the soul or spirit is plus; together they make up one individual, which is a small minus. There are always plus and minus relationships in the life of our body and spirit. For example the body will say, “Spirit, don’t worry about God or spirit world. Just enjoy things while you are here on Earth m You will live a hundred years.” That’s what we call earthly life. On the other hand, plus is saying, “No, Body listen to me. There is a giant super-plus out there and we must unite with Him. That is what makes us free and eternal.’, Everyone lives through the struggles of the plus and minus as they strive for unity.

Within ourselves is a certain entity which recognizes the existence of the super-plus and which makes a constant effort to join together with it; This is why physical satisfactions cannot bring a person total fulfillment; even when one’s stomach is full, there is still some drive within him to be completely free and satisfied by searching after and finding some higher subject. Human beings all act in this fashion, even when they have abundant pleasure in seeing beautiful things, hearing beautiful sounds or having a full stomach m All of you have everything your bodies need, but you still search after some other kind of satisfaction.

Does that particular desire come from you or from somewhere else? Even though your parents gave you life, your real aspiration is to strive toward that ultimate individual, that ultimate super-plus. Should you always stay with your parents just because they raised you? No, because you were born with a distinct character of your own. As a result, each individual looks at the same goal but from a completely different angle, and therefore, the same topic looks different to each person.

You need an object because no matter how great you are, the most distance you can cover alone is 180 degrees; no man or woman alone can be 360 degrees perfect. The power of love causes two people to interact and allows them to unite. The power of love is the power which makes the two interact. Would you prefer love that is made of straight lines or contours of peaks and valleys? Love should go straight forward so that it can create a 90 degree angle between two people. When this angle is misshapen, the circular interaction between the two elements will not become completely round, but oval instead.

Would you want love to be permanent or temporal? Only permanent love resembles the love of God; permanence, absolute purity and absolute beauty are all elements which correspond to the elements of God. Because such a basic origin of beauty, love, perfection and purity exists in the universe, we feel constantly drawn to that source and have an innate desire to be like Him and instinctively we make efforts to be like Him. Because the object is the mirror of the subject, all objects connected somehow to that subject are trying to pursue the same goal. God, also, cannot exist all by Himself. He needs us, therefore, and has to reach out.

Why do your eyes constantly move and turn from side to side? Why can’t they stay still’? W~11 you answer, “My eyes are moving, because my parents said they should”? Since your parents or ancestors have nothing to do with the operation of your body, who could have ordered your eyes to move? Nature? Did a monkey tell your eyes to move? How do you know whether God ordered it? You haven’t seen Him, but there must be someone, some giant thinker somewhere in the past who decided that the human eye should move. Those who believe in evolution, however, say that the eye and all its processes just developed by chance over the eons.

An even more mysterious occurrence is the presence of moisture around the eye. Something inside your eye always provides a little bit of moisture all day long so that your eyeball doesn’t dry out. If you ask that moisture why it is there maybe it will answer, “Because I found it very comfortable here.” Perhaps some time ago the eye petitioned some force, explaining, “I need a little bit of moisture, and if I don’t get it I’ll go on strike.” In reality, the eyeball doesn’t realize who made it move or who gave it moisture.

Everyone has eyelashes, but wouldn’t the eyes be much neater without them? Sometimes eyelashes are bothersome, especially when one gets stuck in your eye. Why should everyone’s eyes have moisture and eyelashes? They seem to be awkward and unnecessary but someone put them there and there must be some will or purpose for them. Someone wanted to put hair on the human face, but why not on top of the nose? Why do there have to be lashes around the eye rather than on top of the nose? Awhile back some communists were discussing Divine Principle and they were asked why the universe functions as it does and why certain patterns are universal. They replied that it is all due to nature. We know that that answer provides no logical explanation and nature certainly does not function illogically.

We know that moisture, lashes and eye movements are necessary to the eye, and without them it cannot functionary Do you think your eye could function all day long without blinking? Even without your thinking about it, you blink your eyes to keep them clean and moist. When you are working hard and perspiring on some hot day, if you didn’t have eyebrows then all the perspiration would end up in your eyes.

Just by analyzing one small eye in this way, you can find tremendous mystery. In some unknown time the eye was designed with the understanding that most animals would need visionary The sun provides light so we can see around us, but without light there is no need to have eyes m Because heat and air evaporate moisture, some super-mind thought about

how to prevent the eye from being damaged by dryness. Finally, that mind knew that the air collects dust and that there should be some protection against it for the eye. These functions were all prerequisites to the design of the eye. Did the eye know all of this itself? Do you think this knowledge was there before the creation of the eye, or did it come into existence after the creation of the eye?

### Which came first, existence or thought?

The basic dilemma in the world today is this: Which came first, existence or thought? Ideologies today are divided over this basic predicament. The free world believes that thought came first, and therefore it recognizes God m Communists recognize no God and say that matter appeared first. Even from. a common-sense point of view, however, we can see that existence can’t come first, and this point alone proves the communist ideology wrong. When we reflect in this fashion, we come to the one indisputable conclusion that there is a superior intelligence, a first being or first cause, which existed prior to any other existence. You can call Him God or John Doe; it doesn’t make any difference as long as He is there.

The human body reflects the mystery of God m Even if you try for millions of years to analyze everything with your mind, you will not know all there is to know about your body. For instance, there are thousands of eye doctors, but there are more mysteries about the eye than they ever thought about. Do you think they know everything about the eye and that there is nothing more to know? Are they in the infancy stage of knowledge or the perfection stage? They think they know, but actually their knowledge is in the infancy stage compared to the knowledge of the eye which God possesses. How could these infants say there is no God? They have no right to say that.

The intelligent mind which we call God has a character and personality and we are reflections of Him. Because we are the objects and He is the subject we go together hand in hand. We each have a spirit or consciousness which provides an invisible channel for communication with that intelligent mind m For this reason, there is more to a human being besides carnal desire; we have spiritual desires and each person seeks some spiritual satisfaction and perfection without which no man can be truly happy.

Have you ever thought about why your nose has two holes facing down? Why don’t they -face up? Instead of two eyes facing front, what about having one eye in back and one on your fingertip? It would be very handy for looking behind! You can sit down at the drawing board and try to draw a better man than God has, but you will never come up with a better blueprint than yourself. Think about how you would like to make man and woman look. Where would you put the two eyes?

God has already described the purpose and function of woman. She was given breasts while man was not, because some intelligent mind thought that women instead of men would bear children and would need to feed them. Would the breasts have the realization that when the baby comes they will feed it and start it toward adulthood? Those breasts certainly didn’t realize their future purpose and didn’t plan in advance to develop. There was a blueprint ahead of time for them to follow.

In the morning when you get up and look in the mirror, do you appreciate your face and always praise God saying, “God, I’m looking at Your masterpiece. These eyes, ears and mouth are perfect. What a genius You are! God, You’re wonderful.” Can you buy these precious features with a Ph.D. from Harvard? You can’t, so you must thank God for your precious face and promise to take care of it.

There are two types of people. One looks in the mirror and says, “God, what a masterpiece I’m looking at. You are a genius. Praise the Lord.” The other person says, “What kind of God are You to make me so ugly? Why couldn’t You have made these eyes a little larger and this nose a little higher? God, what kind of poor artist are You?” Which conversation would make God feel better?

The most beautiful human face is a black person’s when he laughs-he has black lips, white teeth and a red tongue. How colorful! No white person’s beauty can compare to that. You have a treasure in your body and face which nobody can buy, not even for the entire earth. Do you have a real face

or an artificial one? You are unique in this universe; there is no second you and no money can replace you. You are priceless because no one can reproduce you m

Sometimes you are sleeping and snoring so loud that it bothers everybody, but that’s the unique you which no one can reproduce. The human body itself is a museum of all the beauty of God’s creation. You are the walking museum of God. who is happier — the person who realizes the super-intelligence of God and is proud of being His walking museum, or the person who without thinking is just groping for food like an animal? As God’s museum you can embrace the universe, and shout out that you are proud of God and of being a walking God. You can live this type of life or you can live like a little chum; of dirt.

I can never truly understand the communists because I’ve never been a communist myself, but I can imagine how miserable and sad they are because they have reduced themselves to being chunks of dirt. They are actually saying that matter is primary, that material things give their lives meaning. In their thinking they are always looking down and their activity is always underground, like a mole’s. God’s way of life is vastly more spiritual, however. We look up to God and embrace the entire universe, but even the universe is small compared to yourself; you are the walking God and nothing is bigger than God. This perception is the difference between the two worlds.

To the communists everything is clandestine, surreptitious and super-secretive, but the free world is more open because God lives in the broad daylight. With its openness the Carter administration reflects one symbol of democracy, but in fact, it is actually too open for today’s world. The other extreme is the communist world, which is too secretive. God’s life is open and public because He has nothing to hide. Only unrighteousness and injustice need to be hidden.

### God wants to have a
family of beautiful, living color

Today you have met Reverend Moon, but this is not an ordinary encounter. It’s not white to white, black to black, or even black to white, but an encounter that is super-special. Whatever the twists and turns in your past, our paths have crossed at this point. Particularly at this time of strife and racial conflict in America, it is significant that you have met me, an Oriental man.

Black and white are extremes on two different sides, with great distance between them and little hope that they can come together by themselves. A middle ground is needed in order to have white and black come together and that is the yellow race m Recently many yellow people have immigrated to America, providentially fulfilling a role given by God. Did God bring so many yellow people to America to wage war against white or black people? No, God brought Orientals to America to harmonize both extremes.

‘There is a difference between the white person, yellow person and black person standing here. If the white person is looking for a friend, the person who looks most like him is yellow. This black person is also looking for a friend and the one nearest him is also yellow. By the yellow man’s standing in-between, he can shorten the distance between the two extremes and easily harmonize them. God has been thinking about how to unite the races as one family because He wants to have a family of beautiful, living color. He thought it best to put the yellow man in the middle as a catalyst or as glue to bring black and white together and that is certainly a logical way to think. God is using the Unification Church as His instrument to fulfill this particular idea. Therefore, when I ask what kind of brides you want, both white and black brothers answer, “Father, we want Asian brides.”

We are not talking about an empty slogan or gesture. This has been our way of life all these years. Some people are antagonized by my work to unify the races m White people say that I am the enemy of the white race because I encourage interracial marriage, and for the same reason black militants say I am contaminating their race.

How do the majority of people in the world like to think? Which conviction is more noble, the American arrogance, or my stand that all people are the children of God and must become mixed together as one family of God? Anyone who opposes this is not opposing me, but opposing God’s ideal and intention, and centuries from now that person will be proven the adversary of God m God is moving in a definite direction and has a definite goal for mankind.

The time will come when history will be different. Now people think that blacks should stay together and whites should stay together, but the time will come when I will say, “Okay, you two whites get married,” or “You two blacks get married” and they will say, “Oh no, Father. You’re limiting me; that is the most awful thing you could ask.” The important thing is what God likes. Do you think God always wants to see polarization of the races or does He prefer my way of thinking? I have been given the most precious of missions, a mandate from God to bring the races together, and to do that I have developed an ideology whereby blacks and whites can easily and joyfully join together with other races.

Imagine an elegant party at which there are hundreds of white couples, hundreds of black couples and hundreds of yellow couples. Everyone thinks they are having fun, but all of a sudden an interracial couple appears m Wouldn’t that couple become the central attraction? In today’s prevailing social attitude such an interracial marriage is undesirable, but when that mood and way of life change such marriages will become beautiful and noble, and such couples will be not only the center of attention but respected heroes.

At this party one couple will be asked to give their testimony and tell about their way of life. There are hundreds of couples at that gathering and each one can’t talk, so which one should be chosen? Which story would be most exciting to hear? The interracial couple can tell a story just like the one told by the water that I talked about earlier, which went around the world and arrived back again at Belvedere. I can imagine that this one couple would have a very dramatic story indeed.

### Like the oceans and streams,
our destinies are intertwined

Even in the meeting of two Koreans like myself and Mr. Pak there is a lot of history, with many intertwinings and ancestral relationships which inevitably brought us together. It is destiny. If there are such relationships even among Koreans, how much more so in your case here in America? Your story is far more dramatic because you come from entirely different cultural backgrounds, but those twists and turns over thousands of years have brought you to where you could meet me at this particular juncture of human history.

The implications of this are astonishing. For example, Bo Hi Pak was like a little stream somewhere struggling to make his life better, but as soon as he met me this little stream hit the Mississippi River and an entirely new world unfolded for him, with a totally new outlook and visionary Suppose Mr. Pak is the Mississippi River, but all of a sudden that river hits the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. When we hit the ocean, we realize how small we have been.

We can apply this analogy to our ideology. The while the American way of life and thinking are like a stream. Even if the Americans were to compare themselves to a river, they are nothing next to the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. That’s why before joining the Unification Church you were the American versions of Bo Hi Pak. You were living like small streams, flowing along and trying to make your lives better by gaining glory and honor, but all of a sudden you met the ocean, Reverend Moon. Then your sense of value changed completely and now you don’t care about the small stream or even the Mississippi River any more m You want to become the center of the ocean. When you were the Mississippi River you were proud of your many kinds of fish, but after arriving at the ocean you can talk about whales and sharks. Which is more exciting?

Many times I say that you don’t have to stay here, that you can pack up and go home. You may even pack up and go away for a little while, but soon you come back and sneak in. What power is pulling you? Once you have discovered life in the new world you cannot be satisfied with anything else, even though you try and try. When you come here no one feeds you and you are pushed out to work hard, but still you have an excitement, vision and hope you cannot relinquish. That’s why people say you are crazy.

The destiny of your relationship with me is absolutely gigantic. When our destinies come together it is not just a horizontal coincidence; neither is it limited to what you see happening right now. Beyond us there is another vertical relationship. Whether you like it or not, you are like a person who is wearing a giant hat which is covering the entire world and the spirit world. The brim of your hat is so wide that even before you come into sight someone will say, “Be careful. feel a vibration. A Moonie is coming.

If you really know that truth about the Unification Church then the measure of your value is totally changed, even if you have been a member for only one month. Do you envy President Carter? If you were asked whether you wanted to be either the daughter of President Carter or a Moonie, what would you answer? Your present way of life, your goals, vision and hope have no comparison with the Unification Church goal and vision are like an ocean-: goals or way of thinking of any president, senator, king or queen here on earth today. It’s like comparing the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River.

It is a known fact that we face all kinds of harassment. The United States government is harassing me as much as it can in order to hamper our movement. They are even trying to throw us out of the country. But it has no effect on me, and I look upon them with forgiving eyes; it is very humorous watching earthly powers trying to trap me. Even though they sometimes thins; they have been successful by pushing me into prison, it is not the end of me and doesn’t bother me at all. We are living in a different world with different values. Our value is like the ocean and theirs like the river.

The Korean government was so fearful of our movement that it tried every oppression imaginable, but the Unification Church and Reverend Moon were bigger than the government could deal with and it gave up. The Japanese government and mass media tried to malign me to an incredible degree, but they also gave up and now are asking our members to be their advisors. Today in America there are many narrow-minded policy makers who think; that I am a threat and that they must do something about me before I become too big. They are attacking me all the time but they will soon discover that their persecution only makes me more of a giant.

### Americans have always
misunderstood my purpose

I want you to understand the pattern of religious history. We are not like any secular group which easily collapses under harassment Religious movements, and especially the Unification Church, grow faster when harshly treated. The worse others treat us, the faster we will grow. This can happen because our origin and source of energy are different from that of secular groups. When you receive persecution and negativity, your eyes shine more brightly, your muscles tense and you are ready to go straight forward.

Some government agencies which are trying to curtail my activities and push me out of the United States are searching for some point they can quibble about. Because they cannot criticize religion they say that my organization and activities are political. Because I supported President Nixon they contend that I’m political and should be kicked out. They should know what kind of meeting I conducted with President Nixon in the White House. I walked in, sat down with Nixon in the Oval Office and we prayed together. It wasn’t very political, was it?

Let them ask Nixon what I did when I met him in the Oval Office. I told him, “You must be a God-centered President and let God run your office. You must be responsible for curtailing the communist take-over in Southeast Asia. Your foremost responsibility is to save millions of lives in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.” I wanted him to be a strong President who would have the strength and power to conduct the war properly and conclude it the way God wanted. If this had taken place, the outcome would not have been the shameful debacle which followed.

The reason I wanted to have the presidency preserved in dignity was to speed the victory over communism for the sake of America and the world. When the presidency loses respect and dignity, it can only create an atmosphere in which the communists can become strong and active. America is crippling itself and becoming very ineffective in combating God’s formidable enemy, communism.

The United States will suffer grave consequences by crippling the watchdog activities of the CIA, which has monitored the activities of communist powers m America has no idea about the seriousness of communism. It should be strong and unyielding in dealing with the communists, but now even the CIA has become crippled and has lost its morale. Public opinion is such that Congress is even exposing the CIA’s necessarily secret activities in public investigations. You will soon see clashes between the Defense Department and the State Department, which are becoming so isolated from each other that they cannot cooperate. America is moving toward self-destruction; a governmental crisis is at hand and it may lead to bloodshed.

Today many people think I am an agent of the Korean government. On the contrary, if there were no God and no providence, I would probably be the first one to attack the Korean government for its outrageous persecution of me. Personally speaking, the government is my unforgivable enemy, but I am God’s agent, period; I am only concerned with one thing-that the will of God be done. For that reason I have come here to love America. I support Korea and Asia because I know my mission and God’s will so clearly.

As an individual I am a very hot-tempered person m I cannot abide certain injustices being done to me, and if there were no God I would have done all kinds of cruel things in revenge. But because of God there is nothing I cannot endure. If I had wanted to be popular then I could have said sweet things to the American public, but instead I came and declared that America is declining. I am sure Americans were shocked to hear that, but America is a sick patient who needs a doctor to write a prescription. America is a house on fire which needs a firefighter. I am sure many Americans were disturbed to hear that and felt that their dignity was hurt, raging, “Who is this fellow from that backward country of Korea? America is at the center of Western civilization and certainly a little Korean preacher cannot tell us what to do.”

Billy Graham is a popular evangelist who is supported by most Americans because he knows how to say things people want to hear. He gives no judgment or declaration of truth. I too now exactly what to say to America and I can be very diplomatic, suave and courteous. I know how to praise America and I could do that if there were no God and I was only working for my own honor and popularity. But when God is there and is seeing America differently, I cannot say such things. I can only say what God wants to say, whether people like it or not. You applaud and feel excited because you know that this is just, but at the same time most people look at you and say you are brainwashed. Even after listening for two hours and sitting on the hard floor, you are smiling from ear to ear and are still attentive.

People just can’t understand this, and can only accept the charge that you are brainwashed. Is my goal to destroy America or save America? On the other hand, is America’s object to destroy me or save me? Is it evil to want to save America? The important fact in this matter is that God is the judge. You are sitting here today because you are smart; if you were dumb you wouldn’t be here.

Was your commitment to this movement forced upon you, or did it develop from inside you? You have the clear vision and sensitivity to perceive the truth and you have evaluated and tested this in your own way before coming here. You compared the values you found here with what you saw outside our Church, and you found no similarity between the two ways of life. You are here because you saw with your own eyes and heard with your own ears; you thought about it in your own mind and then spoke out your commitment. In that action who is the subject, you or me, and who made the decision whether you should stay or go? If someone is about to chop your head off will your answer still be the same? If you are telling me the truth then America is already saved and whatever we do now is merely a postscript.

Even if you are brought down to the valley of death, you will die with proud commitment. “I died for the cause. My destiny is not empty, nor is my death in vain. My glory is thanks to God.” In that case you will never die or be destroyed because no power here on earth is stronger than that particular commitment and dedication. You have supreme power in God and that’s the greatness of the Unification Church.

Even under the most severe persecution we stand strongly committed. Our strength doesn’t come from the size of our membership but from the commitment in each-one of your hearts; that is the asset which assures God’s victory. You know that the destiny of your race, your nation and your world will follow wherever you wall;. Furthermore, as the central figures you are carrying the fate of the entire spirit world as well as your own restoration upon your shoulders.

When you are fund raising, whether on city streets or in the small towns of America, you must feel that you are laying the highway for the Kingdom of God on earth, and that after you are gone many people may come freely. Wherever you go, a spiritual highway is laid which God and the nation can enlarge. The more ground you cover, the greater the highway can become and the greater the number of people can help develop it. God will feel great as He watches you lay that beautiful highway, and even the angels will come and try to open the use of that highway for themselves.

### We will divide the worlds of good and evil

God knots the entire history of man, and while sitting on His throne in heaven He sees all the come motion and hears the racket down here on earth. He knows that this era is experiencing greater confusion and controversy than at the time of Jesus, with even spirit world becoming wild with commotion because everyone is excited about something. God doesn’t want to just sit on His throne anymore. He wants to get on the bandwagon and be a part of the action. God will say, “What are you so wild about? What’s going on there? Let me be the referee.”

When God comes down, the first place He visits is Belvedere. He looks around during Sunday service and sees you good-looking young people sitting on the hard floor at 6 o’clock in the morning and He thinks it’s great. He goes to the streets of New York, to the World Mission Center and the newspaper company, to the MFT teams and TMC, visiting all the offices and seeing that everyone is doing His job. Put yourself in the position of God going on a tour through all the commotion in the world. Will He decide to remain with Reverend Moon or not? Do you have the conviction that God is with me? am truly an unselfish person for God and humanity.

Picture one little sister going door to door, her body tired and aching, selling flowers to raise more funds. When God sees her, do you think He will bless her or not? Will God say to this young sister, “You poor, crazy girl, why do you do that? Go home and relax with your parents and eat and sleep a lot.” Or will He say, “My daughter, you are doing all of this for me. I must bow down to you. My daughter, leave it to me. Anything you want me to fulfill I will do. I have never had a daughter giving so totally of herself for my sake. You understand my heart and now I understand yours.”

The Unification Church is in the position of that daughter. Throughout history God’s heart has been pierced and broken again and again, and in one sense He is outraged at the incredible betrayal of humanity. But God has been waiting for the day when He could wholeheartedly support one group of people who genuinely represent His heart. We want to meet God, and not just meet Him but really cry out in His historical anger. He is truly comforted by that, and feels that for the first time in history He has met His true sons and daughters, exclaiming, “No matter how great my pain in history, in seeing you I have no regrets for you are a comfort to me.” We must become that kind of Church.

A new movement, a new religion which represents God’s sorrowful heart must emerge to totally change the world and completely unite it with the suffering God. While the world is turning away from God and speaking His name only as a curse word, one group of people is giving themselves totally and sacrificially to His service. They will divide the worlds of good and evil, and then the world of evil will end and the world of good will blossom.

I have been walking that path, being given the worst kind of treatment in Korea from my own people and even here in America. Wherever our missionaries go, wherever the name of Reverend Moon is mentioned, it is immediately slandered. While the world thinks that I’m worse than the Mafia and it treats me as the most evil man, God is looking down at me and has one worry: “Maybe Reverend Moon will become tired and say, ‘God, I cannot go any further. Forget me and I won’t worry about You anymore.’ ” But then God sees that no matter how severe the persecution of the world, each day I become harder and stronger like a rock. There is no sign of discouragement, and daily I become stronger and tougher.

That’s the Unification Church. We have totally won the heart of God. Our ideology inspires us to be representatives of that suffering God m He has a lot of resentment, so let Him take solace from us. We can become His comforters and move Him to say, “Because of you, I have no more anger and sorrow.” When He can say that then you will not meet the God of anger or wrath, but the God of love. He is far more miserable than any crucified person. We must become the champions to heal the wounds of God, who has been betrayed again and again. If you assume that supreme responsibility before God then there is nothing more that anyone can do for Him. Then God will bestow His supreme blessings upon you and no one will complain, because you will deserve them.

Becoming the instrument which can heal the broken heart of God is the highest goal of religion. That religious goal has to be fulfilled in history for there is no other way to open the Kingdom of God. Then true love will be seen and true judgment will be given.

We are going over the hill and beyond the boundary of what is humanly possible. You cannot complain because we are destined to be here and you can’t complain about your own destiny. No matter how loyal a subject has been, if he complains just once, his entire record of loyalty vanishes. One denial will nullify every great achievement from the past. Please cling to the mission without complaint.

No matter how fatigued I am, I never complain in prayer or ask God for anything for myself, but only seek to comfort Him. I want to go beyond human limits, and before I had set that goal for myself I knew there would be difficulty and impossible situations to overcome. I even asked God, “I know that You want us to leap beyond the goal and fulfill very quickly, and for that reason I ask You to give us more pressure and persecution. We want to bear even greater pain so that Your timetable can be shortened.” That’s the way I always think. Imagine a very glorious wrestling champion selected from among 240 million Americans to confront a small, unknown Korean opponent. The fight begins and in the second round the big giant is knocked down by the little champion. Because of that one battle, the entire United States will be humiliated. If God is the judge who is refereeing this impossible fight then He will say to the Korean, “You deserve the blessing, the trophy and the victory.” It would be only just that the little champion receive the blessing.

Is there any religious leader who has this concept of serving God by stirring up more controversy? Has anyone else said, “Come on and hit me. I want to rile you up because I want to make my battle dramatic and shorten the history of God’s restoration. I want to go over the hill quickly.,’ Have you ever seen a religious leader who talked like that?

You could say that I am ruthless. The communists are a formidable enemy and they dominate two-thirds of the world. Without thinking twice they will execute anyone, anytime. Because many people are afraid of the communists’ lack of mercy, they won’t say anything against them. But I’m not afraid and I stand up and declare the truth. Even if the United States becomes helpless in dealing with the communists, if the State Department gives up and the CIA loses hope, I will not give up. Even though everyone else retreats, I will spring forward, fighting in the front line and declaring that communism is the enemy of God. It’s ridiculous that the New York Times and Washington Post are trying to link me with the KCIA. In my sight, the Korean CIA doesn’t even come into the world picture.

Three years ago I looked at America and the world, and came here declaring that within three years I would stir up this country and shake the conscience of America. I said I would do it and I have done it. Where does my influence originate? I am just one simple individual who has nothing. I am not dumb, however. I know how formidable the power of American government harassment can be. I have only one ally-God. My other friends and allies are the citizens of the spirit world, the subjects of God, who is King in that world. When God is my ally, the spirit world has to be my friend and ally.

All Americans and world citizens together can never compete with the citizens of the spirit world m If someone comes against me, God will lead their children to me. The worst kind of revenge parents could receive is to see their children join with me. Right now that battle is in progress, and every day we can see children standing up against their parents.

### Our only weapon is the love of God

God is waging this war, and if anyone tries to harm me he will meet fearful retribution from heaven. I do nothing against such people; only the living God can avenge me. Knowing this I am unafraid, even though the entire world may come against me. God has been working so strongly here in America that young people have made themselves outcasts and revolutionaries, bucking the establishment and the patterns of the American way of life. God knew that the young people should have the courage to sever themselves from the establishment and respond to the new ideology from heaven. The hippie and yippie /movements parallel God’s plan for young people {to no longer trust the old ways. Now God has raised up heavenly hippies and yippies-you.

America is now on the verge of success or failure. If America moves just a little in the right direction, it will succeed greatly, but if it makes a slight mistake, it will plunge down into the dungeons of hell. It’s a tightrope America is walking, and there is only one way America can survive. The older people and established churches can’t understand this, but you young people have seen the vision of a new America. God is dwelling among us and we will be joined by other young people. Together we will ignite the spark of heavenly revolution.

:~ You are not being turned on by drugs but by the truth of God, and you have been going all over America to shake it awake. Hippies and yippies and the Unification Church have some things in common. Neither eat much or care about sleeping at night, and even late at night or early in the morning we are singing. The police are often called when the Unification Church gathers for assemblies, because someone complains that some crazy people are singing at late hours.

When the police come and see these crazy people who are so happy and jubilant, they must think that we are intoxicated or getting ready for an orgy. How else can they explain it? They don’t know that we are intoxicated in the love of God. They will never understand, so don’t try to explain it to them; tell them instead that the only way they can understand how we feel is to become Moonies themselves. We feel that to be a Moonie is to be given a giant medal by God and we wear that medal proudly as heavenly princes and princesses.

People think that Moonies are the trash of the world and the outcasts of society. Our understanding is entirely different. We have overcome the world already, not for ourselves, not for the United States, but for God. We are of a different world, living in a different kingdom. Because I am the center of this group, the world thinks I have political ambition and want to become President of the United States or conqueror of the word. In some ways they are right, but I am not interested in ruling this dirty world. America has a formidable arsenal of nuclear bombs, but we don’t even have one little needle. How could we possibly conquer anyone?

We have our own medicine-the love of God- and if someone swallows a big dose he will never be the same. Once you taste the love of God, you can’t forget it and you are only interested in repeating the experience. With God’s love anyone who happens to be near you can become your brother and whether they are black or white won’t make any difference to you. Once the love of God makes them one, there is no distance between black and white.

Do you think I am a totally blind, bumbling person, or an intelligent and logical person? I have not come to these conclusions at random or by whim, but after serious consideration. I knew spirit world was real and I wanted to check every corner of it to be sure that this was right. After you observe my personality, you will know that I investigate everything meticulously, leaving no stone unturned.

I am not like ordinary people who just speculate that maybe there is a spirit world, or who pragmatically think that it’s probably safer to believe in God than notary That’s not the way this religion was born.

If I had started out on such premises the Unification Church would never have survived to this point but would have vanished long ago. To receive spiritual guidance, I have an invisible antenna which no one can perceive. I am indeed a puzzle and a riddle to most people. I don’t have anything, but still you follow me. I’m sorry that I don’t have any money or clothes to give you. All I can give you are harsh words to push you with.

### When the races can shake hands,
heaven and earth can become one

Black eyes, brown eyes, green eyes, all colors of eyes are gathered together here. Why do you make a big commotion and problem? You tasted something sweet, not of earthly sweetness but of heavenly sweetness, that you cannot get any place else and naturally you have to come here. When you taste that truth, all of a sudden spirit world opens to you and you see visions and hear voices. Many people have seen me in visions and dreams. Even in a communist country like Soviet Russia there is spiritual activity revealing many wonderful things happening here in Belvedere and the United States. Many times I have received news of this. Do you think the communist atomic bombs, rifles or cannon can stop it? No one can stop the strategy of God.

This formidable event is unfolding here right now and you are the principal participants. You are not just Americans and Japanese; upon you rest the destiny of the country, the world and the cosmos. When white and black shake hands in this Church, it’s not just two individuals who are shaking hands but representatives of two races. Two races and two hearts are shaking hands.

Furthermore, heaven and earth, which have been separated for so long, are finally coming together. In a sense, white represents heaven and black represents earth, and by black and white shaking hands horizontally heaven and earth can become one. We can say that white people are symbolized by the tall mountains covered with white snow, and black people are symbolized by the deep valleys covered with water or rocks and soil and green growing things. When white and black shake hands, the two contrasting natures come together. If the snowcapped mountain said, “I don’t need any deep valley,” and the deep valley said, “I don’t need the snowcapped mountain,” then both would be ugly. Their beauty is only manifested in the harmonious blending of the peaks and the valleys together. It is necessary for them to come together and create one beauty.

You are white people; therefore, you probably like only the color white, right? How come you like only white people but you wear black suits? What a contradiction you are. If you like black suits more than black people, then does that mean that people are less important than clothes? That doesn’t make sense.

If a black dog is trotting over to a white dog, will he bark, “Stop right there; don’t cross that boundary. I don’t want you near me”? Will a white cow tell the black cow to keep its distance? What about birds? When men segregate themselves it indicates that they are relegating themselves to a position lower than the animals; their morality is lower than animals m This morning I haven’t spoken so kindly about white people, so probably all you white members will want to pack up and leave, right?

This Church is a most historic, glorious place and it is here that we are destined to meet. Our relationship is a special one because it doesn’t develop by whim or at random but in the providence of God, and God is at the center of our relationship when we meet each other here. I have the ability to unite all the races here in America and truly change all people into brothers and sisters. If that is possible by my ideology but I hide myself on top of a mountain, America will send a Boeing 747 to capture me and bring me back. America needs to welcome a VIP who can lead this country to a plateau of hope. You agree, but your parents, many arrogant Americans and successful people don’t think so. They look at me with scorn and castigate me severely.

### When I see you speaking out with God’s indignation,
my own aching heart is healed

Ordinarily I would have already left this country and the only reason I stay is because I know you are the hope of God. God is placing His trust in you and I cannot abandon you or that hope. You are so precious that there is nothing I cannot bear, no slander or mistreatment I cannot endure for you m Sometimes I want to get revenge because America has done too many dirty things to me, but because I find hope and comfort and see the future in you, there is nothing I cannot bear. If America finally gives you a royal welcome then I will gladly go somewhere else, because then you will be ready to take care of this country on your own.

The day will come when people will accept you and come to you with tears. They owe many times the number of tears that you and I have shed for this country. If the American people shed tears of repentance and regret for what has been done to me, there will be hope for this country. By your becoming my disciples and God’s children and direct heirs, it doesn’t make any difference whether I have an official position in this country or notary Wherever I go it will always be the same.

You must not forget your position, your relationship and your destiny. You represent the billions of people of this world and of the past. When I see pictures of you working hard, I am comforted and I want to forget my own past suffering. When I see that you feel anger and wrath for God, my own angry and aching heart is healed. An extraordinary relationship and bond has been made between you and me. Our reality may be a sad and painful one filled with tears, but it can be linked instantly to the great realm of joy; you will discover this when we come together in spirit world.

When God is ready to judge the world, I will say, “Father, I suffered for the people of this country. Please use my suffering, tears and pain as indemnity and forgive them. Could You save them and bless them?” That is my ideology, God’s ideology and the way of life that prevails in spirit world. Are you people heretics? Will anyone who thinks in that fashion destroy America? When America was declining and being destroyed, I came to light one beacon of hope. I have the truth and the spiritual power to revive this country and save it.

You know very well how much you have changed already. Before you knew the truth, your thinking was very narrow and centered only on yourself. Now you are thinking of God and humanity first, and of yourself last. What a revolutionary change! What power made you do that? The whole population of America together could not change you like that. Did I do it? No, God moved you and turned your heart around. God’s power is the only power that is greater than 240 million Americans, and the ereatest event that has happened to you is this internal revolution.

Would you like to be victorious or be defeated in this most astonishing relationship and position you have today? Those who want to become victorious, raise your hands. Thank you. God bless you.

## OUR NEWBORN SELVES

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### November 1, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator – Bo Hi Pak

The central thought and principle of Christianity is resurrection, which means rebirth. Jesus said, ”Unless one is born anew he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.,’ Rebirth was the central thought of Jesus’ teaching and, of course, the central principle of God. If that is the case then it should be the central thought of all mankind. That means that the entire universe and every human being is destined to go through this process of being born again, and in the Unification Church we have many conditions, such as the separation or purification period, which are all part of that process.

Parents are prerequisite for being born again; you cannot give yourself rebirth. Rebirth is needed because of the fall of man, but what was the fall? It was a false birth or a false beginning. Each person must clearly understand that everyone has been born of fallen, sinful parents before they can understand resurrection. Today there are billions of people here on earth, but how many really have realized that they are children of false parents? Even in the Unification Church, how many members feel they are born of fallen parents?

When looking in the mirror it is the simple human tendency to not worry about the past; you just want to be proud of your handsome features. How many of you look at your image in the mirror and think that you are the result of sinful parents, that every feature is the product of the fall? If women see a little scar or blemish when they look in the mirror then they may wish it was not there, but how many are concerned about the sin of their ancestors?

From God’s point of view each person is seeing a dead body when he looks in the mirror. There can be no life in that person because of the fall . The image you see in the mirror is an ugly one in the sight of God because all mankind is the product of sinful ancestors. If you would be a faithful and religious person then you must first recognize this fact. Without resurrection no one has life, and each person is born as an object that cannot be forgiven. If there is judgment in this world then you must feel that you are the one who deserves it first.

What kind of sin did man commit? In order to explain more realistically, it can be said that man’s sin was a betrayal of God; man also betrayed the

world for his own benefit. God had an ideal for man and the world but all of mankind has sold it out. Finally love, the most precious item that God gave us, has been betrayed. That is the real truth about each person. How can any fallen man even think about governing the world or being recognized and honored by the world? What a shallow, ridiculous idea that is when you really think about it. Furthermore, Adam betrayed Eve and Eve betrayed Adam. Because the first ancestors were unfaithful to God and each other, each of their descendants has committed the same crime. The original value has all been lost-God’s value, man’s value’ universal value and the value of the ideals and beauty that God prepared originally for mankind. We must restore them one by one.

### The fall submerged each person
in the realm of death

To whom were these things sold? To Satan’ the culprit who masterminded the crime of the fall in order to gain for himself everything that God created. By what method did Satan achieve that goal? He worked through the self and through love’ the two most vulnerable areas. After everyone sold themselves to Satan they became dead. In the sight of God no one has value, being like mere clods of dirt. Everything was swallowed up by the sinful world and the universe was totally submerged in the realm of death, which has Satan as its master. To reach the realm of life everyone must break through this realm of death and come out; otherwise no life can be obtained.

Each individual is down at the bottom of the realm of death, surrounded by the family, nation, world and cosmos, all of which are submerged under the sinful world. Your desire is for new birth and new life, but where shall you be born again? At the very bottom? No matter how much you struggle at that point, there is no resurrection and no new birth there. You must first come out of the realm of death and darkness. That situation is made even more difficult because each individual is being pressed down by many different layers of weight; the family system, social system, national system and world system are all combined to keep him down on the bottom. Did you know before now that there was so much to break through?

There are only two ways in which you can come out of that situation. Either all the weight must be lifted up so you can freely maneuver, which is unlikely, or you must break through each layer and emerge as a winner. If you have enough powerful thrust to break through the layers, then it is exciting to be pressed down because when the pressure is greater, the drama of breaking through is much greater. With that power you can turn this entire fallen world upside down and push the realm of death away, leaving you on the pinnacle from which you can easily launch yourself upward. Once you conquer the world you will have a final showdown with Satan. The ultimate act of a man of God is to knock Satan out.

The moment you confront Satan and subjugate him, God will appear. You haven’t seen God yet because He will not come into action until you are victorious; at that point He can intervene in your personal affairs and then you can be concerned with finding the parents who can give you new birth. This is really common sense, isn’t it?

### Once you are victorious over the world,
resurrection is your reward

What is the role of religion then? Religion starts at the level of the individual and expands to the family, tribe, nation and world, but no matter how much worldwide impact religion may have, the individual is ultimately the decisive factor. Each of you should become a person who can govern religion, not be controlled by it. Does man need religion, or does religion need man? Religion needs man, as it requires a true man to fulfill its purpose. Once the purpose of religion is fulfilled by finding true men, it is no longer necessary. Only because of the fall of man has mankind descended into a world of death and religion become necessary to raise him up. Once we achieve the original concept of creation, however, there will be no more religion because none will be needed.

The Unification Church is none other than a religion, so where does that mean we are today? Are you pulling the Unification Church or is it pulling you? Does the man who is already resurrected need further religion? If his resurrection is complete then he doesn’t need religion. Once you break through the realm of death you have fulfilled the purpose of religion, and as you come out of that realm for good you will find God and parents.

The purpose of the Unification Church is to find God, the one common Parent. This is only the medium or system in which we can truly find God. Even though a person may discover God, however, for a long time he will simply not understand who He is. For instance, a child knows that he has parents who gave him birth, but as an infant he has no concept of who they are. A baby goes through nine months in his mother’s womb, but after he is born could he tell about what it was like in there? A baby doesn’t know anything about what kind of world he is born into, and after he is born he just worries about how to survive, crying out when he needs help. Each person seeking rebirth is like a baby and in his new environment he must accept milk. Have you ever cried like a baby when you were spiritually hungry? At first you come to church just like a baby wanting milk, but as you grow you have a certain consciousness of your surroundings, and then later you recognize for the first time who is feeding you.

The important thing is that the parent’s role is not just that of feeding milk to the baby. Parents have to give milk first’ of course, but later also give discipline and guidance for molding their child’s character. Parents have a vision and concept of what their child will be like in the future. If he is to be a world citizen then he must be able to uphold certain standards, for which his parents must give all the necessary training. The good parent shapes his child’s character to fulfill certain roles.

The parent must have a concept of how his child needs to be educated to eventually become a world leader who can uplift the world instead of being dominated by it. True parents will let you grow as a baby initially, but when your awakening is sufficient they will teach you that this world has lost God’s concept, that this is a deviated world and that, therefore, we must restore the original value and goal of life. Everyone needs parents to lead them out of the realm of death, giving them the full realization and sufficient energy to break out of this muddy realm into a new world of life and resurrection. This is how God visualizes resurrection taking place in the fallen world.

God sees that in order to achieve the religious goal of breaking through the realm of death there is always a certain amount of pain and pressure to overcome. God deliberately adds His pressure to the pressure already on a man who is seeking new life, as part of the process of disciplining and toughening him. Already the family is pressing down, as well as the society, nation and world, and eventually God Himself will lean on you’ but out of all that He wants you to be a winner who can come out above it.

The qualification to be victorious and to be resurrected’ therefore, is to become victorious over the world. Once you meet that criterion you are victorious, and resurrection is your reward. Everyone lives in a world of temptation, particularly at your age, but no matter what kind of temptation comes, the good person will not be stained or affected by it. Once someone is victorious in the sight of God, He will trust that person. After you achieve the realm of resurrection you can be given everything you need -a family and physical necessities, as well as glory and honor-but until then all those things are obstacles. The more you possess, the more burdens you have in your climb toward resurrection.

The religious way of life initially demands sacrifice, requiring that you deny all your surroundings and ultimately deny yourself. This is not to destroy you but to save you and let you emerge later as a victorious person. You must become invincible so that nothing can deter you from moving forward to the ultimate goal of meeting God and becoming totally perfected. In that commitment you will have the will power to deny everything and to continue moving forward to become a victor.

### You can only meet God’s
standard by overcoming persecution

If you demonstrate the power to deny your surroundings then ultimately another, more difficult kind of temptation will come spiritually. Have you gone through such testing in the Unification Church? How can a man prove himself victorious? By knocking out several other men? The worst temptations for men always come through women. A most beautiful, charming woman can make a man feel totally intoxicated, but if you annihilate that temptation then you will prove yourself a victorious man. The worst temptation for a woman usually comes in the form of a most handsome man, and when you sisters see a handsome man approaching you might be almost totally melted without knowing it. If God asked you to show Him how victorious you are you couldn’t answer, ”In the boxing ring I knocked out several men.” That isn’t a real accomplishment in the sight of God. But you can say, ”I felt the worst kind of temptation from this man and I won. I went straight forward to You and I didn’t even hesitate.”

None of us are physically very beautiful or handsome because we work very hard. When you are out fund raising on the streets your faces are covered with lots of dust instead of makeup, for instance. When you were fund raising or witnessing were you momentarily intoxicated with a handsome man or beautiful woman, or did you think, ”Father, trust me. I will be victorious,,? While you were carrying out your daily responsibility and you met an outstanding man or woman, did you ever wish you could have such a person as your spouse? Your laughter is a very clear answer, ”Yes, Father, I admit that.”

This is the real test. This is God’s standard for recognizing anyone as a true man or woman. When you use this criterion to evaluate the many different religions, do you conclude that they merely oscillate back and forth within the realm of death, or are they really taking themselves out of that realm into resurrection? What about the Unification Church? Are we just the same? We are different. We are heading toward new life and resurrection.

This is the reason the teachings of the most prominent religions in history have always been similar. They emphasize an individual’s denial of his circumstances and his leading a celibate life in most cases, trying to conquer sexual temptation and stand on the side of God. Christianity in particular emphasizes this in the West, while in the Orient Buddhists isolate themselves from the secular world to make themselves divine’ trying to follow spiritual instead of carnal desires. A man of religion is always going to the mountain to isolate himself. Jesus, for example, went to many lonely places, fasting and taking time for prayer and secluded meditation. That is the kind of effort needed to pass God’s test and be recognized as a man of perfection.

Initially’ religion teaches you how to pass God’s test, and once you pass you go out to confront the satanic world and widen your own territory. When you become a victorious individual, persecution doesn’t matter because you are like a locomotive, having generating power within yourself. Clearly you can only meet God’s criterion through persecution because without it you would have no way to prove yourself. Good religions are destined to be persecuted because of this principle. A new religion has always begun in the life of an individual and then expanded at what we might call the grass roots level, ultimately confronting persecution from hostile governments which try to suppress it. Jesus was nailed to the cross by the Roman government’ for instance. Because religion does not ultimately recognize national boundaries and customs’ it poses a powerful threat.

Even if Jesus had overcome the persecution of the Roman Empire he still would have had to go to the world. The ultimate victory must be won on the worldwide level. Whoever would be victorious on the universal level can be hardened by the nation, the world, spirit world, Satan and God Himself, all together trying to defeat him. One religious leader must break through that supreme pressure because only by winning that kind of universal victory can man be restored into God’s original universal concept. God can only be God of a true universe without sin. Otherwise’ everything will always fall short of the level of perfection.

Throughout history God has been dealing with the fallen world’ but we must liberate Him to deal with the true world’ the pure world of original men. We have to elevate God to a new height. That is the ultimate duty of a religious leader’ and by doing it’ the satanic world will be isolated and a new world created where God and true men can live together.

Until a religious leader emerges who can set a standard high enough, it will not take place, however. Without total victory by one man, that will not take place.

### God loves you and is
allowing you the chance to be victorious

Obviously we are talking about the Messiah, or the Lord of the Second Advent. All kinds of mysterious predictions have been made about this man, but who is he and why does he need to come? The Messiah is the man here on earth who is victorious over every temptation in the universe, including persecution from the world, God, Satan and the spirit world. He will naturally draw their attention because that man is to be the universal champion, because the world’s destiny depends upon him. The religion which will welcome the Messiah will also draw the attention of the world and receive utmost persecution. It has to go through a most painful process, and we volunteer to take that position because without it this world has no hope.

Many of you here are Americans, but you are being persecuted by your fellow Americans. That is actually God’s scheme; God wants you to lose your attachment to America as it is now by having other Americans attack you. In other words’ God is asking you to give up the selfish America and to love this nation, not on the national level, but from the point of view of the world and God. God is asking you to discover a new America, to give up the things that are corrupted and to search after the things that can be resurrected and remain permanently.

You are Americans, but you are a different kind of American who lives for the America of tomorrow, not today. You want to become Americans who can be welcomed by God, the creation, spirit world and every man here on earth. Therefore, receiving persecution is actually good. Would you like subtle persecution which slides in sideways, or persecution which hits you head-on? We don’t want to go a sneaky way but to confront a head-on collision, starting with the whole United States government. I am doing precisely that.

The amazing thing is that the government can be ruined by its own power. It can mobilize all its resources for a confrontation with the Unification Church, but when all of a sudden the Unification Church jumps over it, the government will collapse in a heap from its own weight! That is precisely what is happening in the newspaper world too. Many publishers think it is just a matter of time until The News World collapses, but actually we will jump over them.

Do not be afraid of persecution; worry instead about being victorious over it. Without persecution you have no way to prove yourself. Today the Unification Church is going precisely that course, with not only governments but religions attacking us. There is no friendly quarter anywhere in sight. I am all by myself in the center of the upheaval and at least in this respect I am unique. Let the world decide whether I am the most handsome man; the main thing is that I have become controversial to such a degree that I am singled out for attack by the entire world. No other individual in history has caused more controversy.

One brother who is working underground in Eastern Europe wrote a letter some time ago and said, ”Even here everyone knows your name and over the radio I hear the government trying to slander you. I felt so good hearing about you over the radio.” I admire one thing about communist leaders: They know how formidable a person I am. They are watching my every move and at every opportunity they try to slander me in hopes of making me ineffective against them. On the other hand, the free world leaders are asleep, ignoring what I am doing. The only ones in the free world who know our true potential are other religious people. Eventually, however, the whole free world has to know.

This is a battle, no question about it. Generally you would think that if God loves me He shouldn’t be sitting idly by and permitting all the persecution; He should come down and knock some people around! The same kind of question was asked in the Bible when Jesus was crucified, but this question was not answered until now. If God had intervened to kill all the Roman soldiers and bring Jesus down from the cross, He would not have been acting out of love because that would have blocked Jesus’ way to

become victorious over the world. Do you understand why God cannot intervene in that way?

God loves me and is allowing me the chance to become victorious. I want to walk through the valley of death for my entire lifetime and become victorious. That’s the victory God is waiting for. If we become victorious with our own strength and commitment then the entire world has no condition to accuse and they will have to bow down once they are defeated. At that time will we try to retaliate for all the trouble they have caused? No, when we are victorious we will let them see who we really are and what the work of God is all about, and then we will even give them more blessing than the members who have gone through all kinds of suffering will receive. It might sound peculiar, but receiving that love will really be the worst kind of treatment they could expect. Their consciences will hurt and they will try to pay some indemnity by working a hundred times harder than Unification Church members.

Should we destroy the rest of the world just to send this little group here to heaven? The traditional Christians think that God loves only Christians, and that when the day of judgment comes they will be lifted up in the air to meet the Lord while the people remaining behind are destroyed in unquenchable fire. That belief is the worst treachery toward God. If God is really working to build the kingdom in that fashion then we donut need that kind of God.

### Everything I have done was to save you

Our Unification Church way of life is God’s way of life, and in our ideology we parallel God’s thinking. I want you to understand how close we are to zeroing in on that moment of fulfillment. This year saw a wave of harsh attacks coming from every corner of America, but 1977 is the year for us to jump way over all of that. There is nothing wrong with what I did here in America; everything was done to save you. Many of you have backgrounds of all kinds of suffering. Some of you were drug addicts and many led promiscuous lives but you were pulled out of that. Many of you might have committed suicide but I pulled you out of it. Most of you have experienced the hippie life, but now you are experiencing rebirth and you see a different purpose in life. Your eyes are shining and you are clean-cut. What’s wrong with that? Did I teach you to rob banks or kill people? I am always repeating one simple sentence every Sunday: Go out and give yourself for the sake of God and the sake of the world.

I am exposed to great danger here in America. I have heard how anyone can hire an assassin who will kill anybody for just $170′ and in a literal sense anyone who joins this movement has to be ready to give up his life just to begin with. Not only my own life’ but also Mother’s and all our children’s lives are committed to this spiritual revolution in full knowledge of the tremendous danger which accompanies it. No one has yet thanked me for coming under tremendous persecution to save this nation. No one’ that is’ except you.

I want to be at the forefront always, working harder than any of you, preaching and sweating more than any of you. In the last three years I have spent more money for the sake of America than at any other time in my entire ministry’ even in my own country’ but there have been no welcoming signs from the government or the White House and no national leaders have said one kind thing about me. The United States government has even given sanctuary to a group like the PLO’ who are the worst terrorists in the world’ trying to give them a voice in the Middle East negotiations and in the United Nations . That is ridiculous . On the other hand’ I came to this country trying to give it everything I have’ yet the government has never said one kind thing about me.

You know who I am and where we are’ so you must become tough and courageous. Your power far surpasses the evil and iniquity outside. Don’t be embarrassed to go anywhere’ and whatever your chore is’ do not be ashamed of it. You are doing the most noble task of all. Fund raising is not meant to feed ourselves but to keep this nation and world alive. Maybe Americans are the only kind of people who do not understand; the earth and sky know’ but the American people are blinded.

As persecution becomes more intense each day, should we hide out somewhere? Now that I have been talking to you, you say no, but weren’t you weak

soldiers one hour ago? I’m sure that many of you thought about how coming to Belvedere would take up hours you would rather spend sleeping, right? On the other hand, maybe you thought, ”Well, since I have to go to Belvedere I don’t have to get up to deliver newspapers.” Your laughter is giving you away! God is allowing you the opportunity to become supremely victorious, not just mediocre. That chance is reserved for you.

Once I break through all the way to the realm of resurrection and the world can see what I have done, then overnight the world will see the truth and become repentant. God is waiting to give me that kind of dramatic victory. God wants to expedite the work of salvation, and making me fight a one-man battle against the world is one of His strategies. By being victorious, I can shorten the time of restoration. The Unification Church cannot be in a half-way position. If it is bad then we are the worst kinds of gangsters, but if it is good then we are right next to God.

We have to decide whether we represent the worst evil or represent God Himself. The Mafia is one of the most feared groups in the fallen world, but we are at the top of the religious world. The entire religious world despises us as much as it hates the Mafia because we have brought ourselves to the pinnacle of the religious world. If our Church has that stature, can you as individuals just wander around in the middle ground? At the outset of 1977 I declared that New York is the front line. You are becoming front-line soldiers, going to every street corner and knocking on every door in New York. This is our battleground. You are using your head almost like a battering ram trying to penetrate the minds of the people.

### Marine industries and the Unification Church

Two weeks ago I was in Alabama, which is known as the ship-building capital of the United States, looking around to buy a shipyard so we can build our own vessels. Would you want our factory to be mediocre or number one? That is easy to say but not to fulfill. We have to work harder than anyone in order to be number one. It is going to be a tough job but I will push you. There were no women working the Alabama shipyards and I thought that this is one way we can make history. We will have women shipyard workers! If you women become welders then your fingers and faces will get marked up, but is that all right? Now at 7:42 a.m. on November 1, 1977, the women have pledged that they want to be welders at the shipyard in Alabama. All you men are out of jobs today! If the women are willing to do that much then you men have to work harder, even into the night.

I knew years ago that unless I intervened in the shipbuilding and fishing industries with my own resolve and determination, this nation could have no hope for those two industries to survive. I met two wonderful individuals in Alabama, a father and son who have spent their lifetimes in the business. They said that the boat-building business is in a boom period, with many people going out to sea. I answered, ”That may be true, but what about a few years in the future?” They replied thoughtfully, “Reverend Moon, we didn’t think about that but you are absolutely right. The men have no deep motivation and American women just cannot wait patiently for their husbands to come home from the sea.”

Usually the wives of fishermen have betrayed their husbands in the past. What shall we do in order to reverse the trend? I will make you welders and fishing captains, and our fishermen won’t have to worry about their wives running off! If the Moonies and Sunnies are doing that, the rest of America will not want to face being defeated and having to give everything up to us. Once they decide to compete with us, the marine industries will be revived. I am determined to give vision and hope to the American young people so they will be motivated to go out to sea. The oceans are a vast, untapped area waiting to be utilized by courageous men and women and we want to initiate that. There is a chance for America to become great by conquering the sea, but if your countrymen ignore the sea and only want to lead complacent lives then America has no hope to lead the world. America is blind to this.

I am leading the way in this field and the Unification Church will follow through. I would really like to see you beautiful sisters become fishing captains and go out to sea, being so knowledgeable and dedicated that men won’t mind taking orders from you. Then people will recognize Sunnie power and Moonie power. I want to make our women the presidents of many companies so that the employees who just graduated from Harvard and Yale will all have to listen to you. You may look tiny and weak but when the men on the ship are scared to death, you women will take command and give orders to rectify the situation. You might even take your own babies with you! I am very excited about this idea. I was planning to travel around and look at businesses in Alabama, for instance, but Mother was somewhat hesitant and said, ”Father, you know that’s a man’s job, so you go and I will stay home.,, But I told her she should come along anyway.

We are not seeking millions of dollars for ourselves by starting businesses; we are looking at the world and this nation and preparing to spearhead change. Imagine the time when we have thousands of vessels and I can say to the American government, ”[here are so many farmers sitting idle and receiving government subsidies for doing nothing. What kind of ridiculous system is that? You pay them for not growing crops, but in the meantime millions of people are starving in other parts of the world. Let the farmers grow their crops and let us transport that food all over the world to feed the poor. We have the boats to do it.”

Fishing has seasons and doesn’t last twelve months a year, so why shouldn’t we transport things all over the world in between seasons? How would you feel being the captain of a boat loaded with grain and headed for a nation where many people are starving? I would select the tiniest of all women to be the captain of such a boat and have her wear a special hat with official decorations. We must all have a dream to live for. I have more dreams than anyone else, but the difference is that my dreams become reality.

I will establish a system in which you women will be the captains and your husbands the first mates. You men will have to say, ”Yes, ma’am,” when the captain gives orders, even though she may be your wife. Do you men feel good or bad about that? If you are a seasoned captain then whether you are man or woman doesn’t make any difference; the crew has to obey. Will you men say. ”Father, we will never get behind the women in leadership and experience,,? Up until the blessing there are many things that the tiny women do better than men, but after marriage comes I don’t want to see you men falling behind the women because I am a man too!

### We are citizens of two worlds

Why do I keep stirring up so much controversy? I could be comfortable at home with Mother and our children and no one would criticize me. After knowing this truth, sitting still is impossible because I know that the ultimate victory is within reach. I want to guarantee the realm of resurrection on the worldwide level. Initially, I was all by myself in this realm of darkness, pioneering a one-man battle, but I will multiply and become two, ten, a hundred, then millions, and this pioneering work will become wider and eventually cover the entire world. I planted stakes in 120 nations by sending a group of Reverend Moons into those countries, knowing ahead of time that they would receive persecution initially.

I am centrally located here in America as an axis around which to raise all 120 nations up, step by step. In each nation our members are starting a highway, making it wider and wider, just like the central one I am making here in America. Eventually, each country will be turned around and each sovereignty will find new direction. Even America will eventually welcome me and know who I am. Once America starts to say, ”We need you, Reverend Moon,” the rest of the world will do the same because American citizens are the children of the world.

The Abel members of the world’s races came here to America, primarily for religious freedom. America is the Abel country in the sight of God, and Abel’s duty is always to save Cain, in this case the rest of the world. There is only one country under the sun where descendants of the world’s races are gathered, but you didn’t make this country, nor the American people; God raised this country up for the purpose of the world. Once we move America we can move the world, and I am thinking day and night about how we can have impact upon America. Are

you also thinking day and night about America? Day and night you need to make conscientious effort to become one with me; that’s the way of life in the Unification Church.

Do you really like me? Your being so devoted is how you bring me a lot of persecution! You love your Unification Church brothers and sisters more than your own natural brothers and sisters, which means that you white members think more of your black brothers and sisters than of your own family. I can’t understand that mentality because I have never been in a white man’s position. If what you are saying is true then you are doing something better than me.

Why do you love your brothers and sisters in this Church so much? You love them because God loves them. What is your justification for loving Reverend Moon? You know that God loves him.

I have an ideal nation in my mind, but in actuality I have nothing else. I have nothing to give you, therefore, but still you are trying to follow my ideology and way of life. Americans are always proud of being first-class citizens of the world, but by following me you have become tenth-class citizens! You are risking your American reputations, but do you still want to follow? That could only be possible because God loves my imaginary world more than God loves this physical world, and you want to belong to that world, not this one.

Actually, it doesn’t matter if this world comes against you because we are not of this world. We belong to the other, ideal world, God’s world. We are not only citizens of that world, however; we are trying to forge a link and bring the two worlds into one. We do things for the true world, and for that reason we are in a position to be loved more by God than ordinary people.

When you go to spirit world you will be higher than any saint or holy person who ever lived in history because you are being loved by God in two worlds. No one in spirit world has had that experience, even though God originally wanted to love man both on earth and in spirit world. All the saints, including Jesus, should respect you because even Jesus could not duplicate the work you are doing now. Today your dream is as great as Jesus, dream 2,000 years ago, but it is possible for you to make it reality while you are in this world. This commands Jesus’ respect and admiration. Once you deeply realize this, you will be front-line soldiers without any hesitation. We are at the front line of the historical battle’ not just in one nation but in the universe. You can definitely see our ideal and all you have to do is take one big step to reach it.

### The Japanese in America

Why were you Japanese so foolish as to come to America? America is the country that dropped the atomic bomb on your country and killed millions of your people. Did you come to make millions of dollars in America or to beg for food? Even the American Immigration Department is trying to kick you out but still you are hanging onto America. You Japanese are still here in America in order to hasten the day that God can bless America with both hands, and you want to be with Americans to see that day. You Japanese represent the Asian countries. You are from a nation which was once an enemy but you are here to forgive and bless America. You are giving your blessing along with God’s to hasten the day this former enemy country can be blessed more than anyone. By doing it, your own nation’s blessing is guaranteed.

You are setting a new tradition because your actions are loving actions. That is the supreme love, to love your enemy. You came here for one other reason’ however; you came because I am here on the front line and you want to be with me’ thinking’ ”I want to be your shield and protector and do your work.” You volunteered to become front-line soldiers for the cosmic battle. All we know is the role of the front-line soldier, and day and night nothing else comes to mind except winning the victory.

Would you Japanese members ask me for a little relaxation after working here for so many years? I will see to it that all the Japanese members will be pushed to an extreme, impossible degree. I want American people everywhere to see the Japanese members and say, ”I don’t want to be near them because I just cannot compete with them.,, I want you Japanese to set the toughest example to follow.

Don’t you Americans sometimes think that the Japanese members are foolish to come and work so hard when they don’t even speak the language? Don’t you think, ” That makes me uncomfortable. I want to rest, so why don’t you relax too?,, I know there are at least some who think that way. Americans do everything super king-size compared to the Japanese. You are tall and have long arms and even your eyes are bigger. You walk like cranes but the Japanese walk like sparrows. How can you let yourselves be defeated by the Japanese?

I don’t want you Americans to get behind the Japanese; if you are defeated by them then there is no way you can win the real blessing, because even if they decline in the future God still has to give them the blessing. Actually, I am on America’s side because God has been on the side of America. God wanted to prepare this nation so perfectly that it could fulfill its extraordinary task in the final day, and because God worked so hard I want to see America become superior in every way. In order to do that you Americans must suffer more for this country and the world. The person who takes more of a beating is the one who shall be rewarded with more blessing and love. If that is not the case then God is wrong. If I do not think in that fashion then somewhere along the line I am also wrong.

Japan was defeated in World War II but now that is all past and we are engaged in the most historically important battle. I am Korean and they are Japanese; have you Americans been defeated by us Orientals? If not’ then you shall be prosperous and I shall be prosperous because you and I are not enemies; we are one family, even though we are separated by nationality. My victory becomes yours and yours becomes mine.

### Because I have already opened the way,
you don’t have to go the entire distance by yourself

Even in the secular world parents want their children to be superior to themselves, so how much more true is this with heavenly parents.? They really want to see heavenly children become better than themselves. Do you welcome suffering more than your own parents? Would you do it for my sake or the sake of the world? Within several decades I will no longer be here on earth, but God and the world shall remain. You love God and the world, and therefore, your love shall be permanent. I want you to take over the duty that is more difficult than my own, and if you suffer more than me then you shall receive more of God’s love, which is the source of life.

The fall of man resulted from self-centeredness, but now in the opposite way we give ourselves for the sake of God and humanity; this ideology will totally annihilate the satanic way of life and bring this world into the realm of resurrection. Your struggle is actually a very short one because you are engaged in the final battle. By demonstrating your fortitude and loyalty and winning in that final battle, you will inherit all of my accumulated victory because it serves as your foundation.

Under normal circumstances you would have to go through every step, beginning with the individual level. I have already gone through the whole sequence, but by participating in this one universal battle you are actually indemnifying my every accomplishment on the horizontal level. You are acquiring the entire foundation of my victory and all of it will become your asset. I am standing at the top of the ladder after winning every level of victory, but if you start out from this point and follow me farther and farther through every step on the horizontal level , you will receive my entire foundation.

You can measure yourself by how I have lived. When you come to a difficult moment you should think, ”Father suffered more than I did and I want to surpass him.,’ If you always set your sights on me then you can overcome anything. Because I have already opened the entire way for you , you don’t have to worry about going the entire distance by yourself. By aiming to achieve my standard you can inherit my entire foundation. That is a demonstration of your love. By following this one man in the center and wanting to sacrifice yourself for him, even more than for your own family or country, you are giving your total love to him. In that way you are actually shortening your own dispensation.

With every step you are becoming victorious because you have this absolute standard to follow. When you look at me you cannot say you are tired, or that following me is too much to be expected.

There is no way you can exceed me but that is why you constantly make effort, and while you are doing it you are really becoming one with me. A vivid example is the Japanese members here. They have their own nation and their parents across the Pacific, but they gave everything up to come follow me in this country.

The Americans in spirit world can see and compare the Americans and the Japanese with me. Who is demonstrating more serious unity and commitment? Many of you Americans have probably experienced thinking that you cannot go on any further and that you want to leave this movement because you cannot keep up, but then your ancestors appear in a dream and chastise you, saying, ”My son, that’s not the way you should be. You must persevere.,’ Some people have told me that kind of story. Practically every one of you should have that kind of experience of being counseled and given direction spiritually.

Why should that phenomenon happen? That is the proof that spirit world is watching over you and taking care of you. They want to be proud of you, not ashamed. This country is at least a Christian nation while Japan is not, and if the Japanese are already working hard, how could you not do more? People outside have no concept of this kind of spiritual guidance, but in the Unification Church we are fully aware of this reality in our lives. Without knowing this vertical principle, the world and the United States government think they can remedy the situation simply by throwing me out of the country. But I tell you, if that ever happened then the activity of the entire spirit world would become so intense that you would be exhausted. Such a commotion would result that no one could restore order.

If white people never become fully awakened then the spirit world will mobilize the black people as soldiers to preserve America’s blessing. Better that black people should take over than to upset the providence; black people are American citizens too. If I lead the way then this will happen. From being on the street corners you realize that those who support us the most are minority groups; they have given me a warmer reception than anyone else. The spirit world is behind you because they cannot stand in the forefront’ and they are trying to use these minorities to steer America in case the white people fail.

The impact of one man is not limited just to him or his family; the whole nation and world will be affected. I am here to reconcile the differences and bring unity to America and all races. I am a welder of the human races, here to heal the rift between them. God knows very well that the blacks and whites cannot totally unite unless there is a mediator, and He is using me as that mediator. God has seen the future and is concerned about how to create one human race.

White people have to be humble and meek because otherwise they will be deprived of all blessing. Look at how black people are coming into prominence, particularly in sports. Most of the American champions in sports are black people. There’s a great potential among blacks, and once their future is opened up by the Unification Church ideology they will become even more motivated. Historically, blacks have been oppressed and they felt that suffering to the bone, seeking a way to make their race outstanding in the sight of God. Once they have the proper motivation they will do it.

The history of the world reveals that oppressed people always conquer their oppressors once they have a superior ideology. It is always the case in the history of God that the oppressed people have become the masters in the next generation. That is the inevitable consequence of Principle in this fallen world. We are following the same pattern.

Because of this principle God appears to be weak and powerless, even to the point of allowing the birth of an ideology like communism, which is an outright declaration against God. Today the worst kind of living hell on earth is New York, and when the blackout hit, New York became a literal hell overnight. The Unification Church must come to conquer living hell and revolutionize it. Are you going to influence New York or be influenced by New York?

New York has become gentler and is not persecuting you too much, so you should go out looking for persecution. You go once, twice, three times to visit your assigned homes, and no matter whether people point their fingers at you each time, their consciences will not allow them to keep it up. The first time you knock on the door they may be almost like lions trying to bite you, and the second time be almost the same. The third time they will stare at you, but the fourth time they will shake their heads, ”Boy, I just don’t understand these mysterious people. I’m sorry. I didn’t treat you right before.”

Their apology will be as deep as their wrongdoing and the more they persecute you, the deeper shall become their repentance. This is the strategy of God. Because I know heavenly strategy I never get tired or become hopeless. It is impossible. I proclaimed that we will have a rally in Moscow, and that is not an empty dream. Already your brothers and sisters are giving up their lives right now to prepare for that day. If they are working under such adverse conditions, how can you say that it is difficult to do the work of God in New York? You can’t say that. Whenever I receive a report from the underground movement in communist countries it makes me tremble. I see that you are too idle come pared to our members there who are risking their lives every day.

### Your rebirth can set the world right again

What is our ultimate goal? That is the topic of my message this morning. In one stroke we want to transform this entire world of death into a realm of light. It has absolutely become a possibility that we can erect the physical Kingdom of God on earth. If you didn’t have my victory to look at and you had to start out from scratch, you could try for millions of years and still not come out into the realm of rebirth. There are many people in history who tried to take every step but they always faltered after they achieved even a little goal. Never in all history has anyone reached the top.

I want you to feel to the bone that because you are serving as an axis, the entire world is turning upside down and right side up. Our work is progressing, with the spirit world as one hand and all of us here is the physical world as the other. Together we are turning and transforming the world. You must feel that God is using you as an axis and realize that if you make a mistake then the worst consequences will come about’ even worse than the fall of Adam and Eve. That is precisely the position of each one of you.

In order to be born again as a brand new baby of God, both Mother and Father and God will give you strength, but only if you become strong like a dynamo; otherwise you cannot have rebirth. When a child is born the head comes out first, and that indicates that we have to push ahead. The astonishing thing is that when you are born again your ancestors are born again, as well as your generations in the future. By knowing such a formidable truth I am not bothered by anything.

Your own birth is accompanied by the birth of the angelic world, spirit world and physical world; your own birth sets all this existence right again. Your ancestors represent the angelic world and your future generations represent spirit world, placing you in Adam’s position. Adam is the seed, and as a result of Adam being born in the right way, the future world and spirit world are all brought together. Adam is in a position to say, ”Because of me and because of my love you shall be blessed and your children shall be blessed.” Can you fulfill that position?

What qualification will enable you to be resurrected? As a son of God who receives His love you can be born again. Then shall you be better than or inferior to Jesus? Jesus is in the parent’s position and everyone else in the children’s position, and as I said before, it is the parents, utmost desire to have their children become better than themselves. In his own lifetime Jesus could not consummate his mission nor love his world or the angelic world. He could not love the entire universe and God in his own lifetime, but as a son and daughter of God, you would give him great joy by doing everything that he wanted to do but could not.

This kind of statement is the reason why conventional Christians sometimes call me a heretic. Because we want to work harder than God, will God say, ”How could you ever think of such an impossible thing?,, Will we be God’s adversaries for wanting to liberate Him? When God hears His children talking just like that, do you think He would be mad or happy? Any parent wants to hear that.

The time has come for the opportunity to liberate God and Jesus and the spirit world by your own hands and sweat. Is that wrong thinking? Jesus swatted blood in agony at the meaning of his own death, but we are sweating for our own rebirth and the rebirth of humanity. That is my ideology, the ideology of resurrection. Could you complain?

The mouth is supposed to eat food, not speak words to destroy you. Just like a baby drinks milk to live, you must grow under any circumstances, overcoming everything and continuing on. Are you growing at night when you are asleep? Wherever you are and whatever time of day it is doesn’t matter because every moment of the day you are growing. God is holding you in His arms like a baby, but you are growing so fast that God will tell you, ”You are growing bigger than I am! You go out now and be independent.” That’s resurrection.

### Rebirth begins in your struggle in a humble place

Initially in the Unification Church we embrace people and give them food and shelter and love, but when you become a real man of God He will say, ”Get out of here and go be independent. Be like me and make miracles happen in other countries.” Just like any country expects an adult to work and pay taxes, you will go out and become a productive, independent man’ and without doubt your productivity will become so great that the kingdom will flourish. Before the world even knows it, the world will become our territory; already we are embracing the universe, even without other people knowing it. Columbus came to America and claimed the continent, and in the same way we will soon discover a new continent within our arms.

Do you want to open your arms wider than God, or do you only want to embrace the world a little bit? You may say’ ”God, I want to embrace the world more than You. My arms are longer than Yours and I will do more than You do.” Then God will say, ”All right, you take over. I want to take a little nap.,’ God will gladly leave the mission to you. God is looking for men and women with arms longer than His and I am looking for that in our Church. If everyone comes to the Unification Church and only does less than I do’ then this house will fall to the ground.

When I was in Alabama going from town to town, we stopped at McDonald’s after a long afternoon. We were sitting outside in the open air, and a little black sister with a box in her lap was sitting nearby, just smiling and smiling at Mother and myself. We didn’t know her but Mother soon discovered that she was our MFT member. This girl just couldn’t believe that we were real! We asked her why she didn’t come over and say, ”Hello, Father and Mother. Welcome to Alabama.” She said, ”I just couldn’t imagine that Father and Mother were out in the country here, and I thought I was seeing some kind of vision. But now I see you are the real ones!” She was a little black sister, all shiny with sweat, but at that place there was such a beautiful meeting of father and daughter, and mother and daughter.

God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes you are the only one who knows that you are working in the back country where hardly any other Unification Church members come, but all of a sudden God sends the True Parents right there to embrace you. There the intense joy of meeting is more ecstatic than here where you expect to see me week after week. Always Mother and I express more unreserved love in such a situation. That’s the way God works, and even in a remote corner God’s love is more intense. You will not receive God’s love at the comfortable headquarters. God is way out on the front line, and there His love is manifested in a dramatic way.

Where can we have this rebirth and resurrection? In a very glamorous area, or sweating and struggling in a remote area? You are searching after God’s love and it is going to come to you after very hard but very dramatic experiences. You might think that IBM has the best computers, but no, the best computer is in spirit world, where your entire life is already mapped out on your own computer card. You are traveling in the fallen world and you go up and down and have struggles along the way. You sometimes go up very high, but sometimes you dump down low. Would you like to go up and down in this realm of death, or in the realm of resurrection? It’s not easy! You have to hang on and persevere through the fiercest suffering.

A big grandfather clock has rhythm. I like to hear that because it is like the rhythm of your life, in which you push yourself up with each stroke. You will never get into the realm of resurrection as a solitary individual. First you must cross the boundary and go to the world. Because he did not have the world with him, even Jesus could not go to the Kingdom of God in heaven. I am very intent in the midst of this emergency. Today there is a state leader’s conference, but tomorrow I might take off for somewhere else. There is a busy heavenly schedule and I am making my own computer card and mapping out my own life.

In the realm of resurrection you are going to see the day of new birth. Once you see that day then everything becomes yours-the spirit world, God and the physical world-and you can claim it. No matter what the cost or sacrifice, while we have this flesh on earth we must reach that realm of victory. I want you to know that as members of the Unification Church you are living in a golden time because you still have persecution coming to you. It is almost like the birth pains of a mother who is pushing her baby out to be born. The entire universe is focused upon you, and to the limit of your strength you can push yourself into the new world.

There are many babies who die during delivery. Do you want to be born dead, or be a victorious child? Here in New York you must look at the Empire State Building and think that if you throw yourself against it that even that huge building will fall. Yesterday in Alabama we made many plans, talking about buying 200 acres with waterfront, even though I had no money ready. I told the real estate broker, ”We have as much money as we need and we have an even more precious thing; we have as many dedicated people as we need.” I was thinking about you when I said that and this morning I wanted to make sure that you are here! Can you give me that confidence that we have as many good people as we need?

I came barehanded to this country and have been able to do this much. Therefore, I have no doubt that by following my example you can be equally successful, even if you have only bare hands. Do you just feel good or can you do it? Does that mean that when I buy a shipyard and send either men or women down to work that you can fulfill the mission? That means you can become either captains or welders or fishermen, whatever I assign you to do? I set the tradition already at Barrytown by teaching members for two nights straight how to make nets. I went fishing many nights with no sleep, and went out to sea at 3:30 in the morning every day. That’s the way I set the tradition. Can you match that record, not for my sake, but for the sake of your own country and humanity?

Do you think that I am so miserable that I need your help? Not at all. God and the world are more miserable than I am. They need help, so we must go. Will you pledge to conquer the realm of resurrection and plunge into the world with it?

Thank you very much. God bless you.

## HOST OF THE FUTURE

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### October 23, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator – Bo Hi Pak

The month of October is almost past. Winter is coming and on the way here I thought about how we should take care of all the members who sit outside in the open air on Sunday morning. Are you also concerned? All you are responsible for is getting here early enough to sit inside.

Those who are in leadership positions have to think about everything in advance, planning what to do in certain situations a month and a year from now. In a home the children have endless energy and lots of joy and they are concerned only about the present. As long as they are content in the present they are happy but that’s not good enough for the host or master of the household; he has to be thinking about everyone’s future well-being. Children welcome a severe winter because they love skiing and ice-skating and playing in the snow. To children winter means excitement, but responsible people should not think of the future only in terms of fun. Leaders should think about making preparations for the winter, for example.

The government of a nation is no different. In any country most people live in the present’ worrying only about whether their immediate needs are being taken care of’ but the leaders of the country should not think only about the present. They must plan for the nation’s well-being far into the future and we can say that the greatness of a leader parallels the breadth of his vision. If one leader thinks about 100 years in the future but another can envision the future 1,000 years away, who would be more of a host for that nation? Certainly the leader who has greater vision into the future has greater capacity for leadership. Would Americans prefer a leader who can offer a vision for 100 years ahead or someone who can see ahead through a millennium?

I want to ask whether you American young people cherish your nation’s traditions. Many people would say that they don’t care about tradition but only about freedom. They want to do anything they like. Do you freedom-loving people think you need a tradition? You members are a different brand of American and that’s why you say yes, but what about the millions of young people not in our Church?

Upon what kind of foundation can we uphold a tradition and what kind of tradition should be cherished? By definition a good tradition is the way of life which can lead people toward permanent prosperity in the future’ being like a rail for the people to travel along. In other words, tradition has value through all time. You don’t want the kind of tradition that is useful only for the past or present but not for the future. You want a tradition that is valuable yesterday, today and tomorrow. What would that kind of tradition be?

The universal tradition would guarantee prosperity for your home and nation and world on a permanent basis, ensuring its unchanging value. Why would that kind of tradition be desirable? I already mentioned that the true host is the king or national leader who can offer a vision not only for 100 years but for 1,000 years in the future, steering the nation toward that long-distant future prosperity. That leader is thinking about what kind of tradition to leave behind him to be like a railroad track along which his people can progress. The true leader is concerned about this tradition.

What kind of qualification would this kind of national leader have? Most of all, he should not be centered on himself. He would want not only to give himself for the betterment and prosperity of people in the future, but also be able to elaborate on the central core truth of an eternal, lasting tradition. Would a random way of life be adequate for his purpose?

What ideology could form the essential framework of the future? You are right in saying that love should be the core truth, but it cannot be a love whose scope is so narrow that it cannot go beyond the level of individual or nation to embrace the world or the universe. We need a tradition of love big enough to break the shackles of individualism and embrace the universe. If anyone could set up the tradition of that love it would remain on earth forever. Have you ever thought about this? Since you have become Unification Church members you have broadened your thinking but I’m sure that such ideas never occurred to you before.

### The tradition which will guarantee future prosperity

Our pattern of life today should be focused on the future, with our way of life of love and our concept of love extending to the world. That pattern of life should be established now. Undoubtedly I am an Oriental man while you are Westerners and together we must find the tradition that can work in the East and West alike. The external necessities like money and knowledge cannot link both worlds. America enjoys the greatest wealth in the world but I want you to know that America’s wealth will not continue indefinitely. Money comes and goes.

Because money is temporal and even knowledge changes, we need to find value that can always climb up. Where should we look? Some power is needed to make the family one solid unit for eternity. We must make society a solid unit which can continue for eternity, and the nation must be a solid unit which can continue for eternity.

These ideals can never be realized unless they are begun with love. Families which center upon parental love will remain united. In order for parental love to go on for eternity there must be someone to inherit that tradition; clearly, children should be the recipients. We need a way to educate children to become the heirs of that tradition and to expand it to have even greater value. Each generation will learn the importance of the tradition already established and not only inherit it but expand it for the future.

That tradition will begin in good homes, with parents always urging their children to be better than themselves. With this fervent desire, parents will constantly pay attention and give encouragement to their children. Such parents will give much thought to motivating their children in the best way possible, anticipating the day when they can become better than the parents.

There is nothing that these parents would not sacrifice for the betterment of their children and they would also be willing to even force their children in a direction which would make them better than their own parents. How should children react to that? Would it be reasonable for them to say, “You are dictators and I don’t like you. I don’t want to be bothered. Leave me alone”? Should that be their attitude, or should they say, “Father and mother, I understand your will and I cherish your tradition. I will do my best to receive it and expand it.” How can we educate American young people? Do you see the need for this tradition in your own lives?

It is certainly easy for parents to say, “All right, do anything you want. If you just want to sleep and eat, go ahead; I won’t bother you.” No real parents would like to do that though. They would teach their children to respect other people and show them something better than fighting with their brothers and sisters. Would any parents encourage their children to fight with each other? True parents are constantly working to pass on the tradition of love.

It doesn’t make any difference whether you are in the East or the West; there is a common tradition of love that most parents of all races are trying to establish. Everyone wants their family united together in perfect harmony so they can have happy, peaceful lives. Everyone hopes for that experience, whether in the East or West. Tradition is essential in this case because it is the only connection with the future. Realizing its significance, it is common sense that parents would want to leave the tradition behind, even if it required the utmost sacrifice.

Would children in the tradition of love be unconcerned if their parents wanted a divorce? Instead they would each say, “I am your child. I am the cement between the two of you and because of me you should come up with some kind of agreement and be the best parents for me. I need parents.” We must establish in young people an awareness of the responsibility of parents, letting them know that because of their children they have no right to be separated. Because of their children’s love a mother and father have no right to even think about separating. You young people can start a trend against divorce in this country.

### True patriotism reflects the family

The son of filial piety is the son who loves his father so much that his father cannot even imagine separating from his wife and going away from his son. Even not being able to get along with his wife could not push this father away. Any parents who have a child whose love they could not bear to push aside by separating certainly have a child of filial piety. The good son who truly loves his parents would never want to have them separate or be people who just live for themselves. That son is preserving the tradition of love which propels the family toward eternal prosperity.

We have reached the very critical moment here in America when each one of you Americans should create this basic tradition in the American home. If any country has this tradition of love in its families and expands it onto the level of society and nation then the beautiful relationship between the government and people can be compared to the relationship between parents and children. When that happens you know that the society and nation have established the true tradition.

The sad thing about America today is that “patriotism,’ is an empty word. American young people blink their eyes in perplexity if you talk to them about loving their country and ask, “Why should I love my country?” No one has properly educated the young people and the modern way of life has become tragically sensual and carnal, with love relationships being as casual as animals’. There is no depth or spirituality there’ only physical contact. Animals sometimes demonstrate greater fidelity than human beings. Where can you find love of country in such people? Many people think they love their country because they pay taxes and that their responsibility ends there.

True patriotism does not begin on the level of the nation; you must find it first in the family. In other words, the pattern of loving at the family level is the model for all relationships of love in every level of society. The relationships between parents and children, husband and wife and brothers and sisters are the basic patterns of love. If you have a deep understanding of unity and a spiritual love at home, all you have to do is expand it to the level of society and nation and you have patriotism.

If you create the right kind of atmosphere of family love then you won’t have to educate your children too much in terms of patriotism and love for humanity because they can easily extend their love and respect for their parents to the nation’s leaders. Loving the neighbors will be as natural as relating to their brothers and sisters. Those who have experienced the warmth of a loving home won’t be baffled by the concept of patriotism; it will immediately make sense to them. But to those whose home was devoid of love any talk of patriotism is an empty gesture.

What you need here in America is the right tradition of love, even if it means omitting the State Department or some other government function. The government is not what determines the prosperity of America. What you need to absolutely guarantee the prosperity of this nation is the right tradition of love. The president’s role in the country is like that of a father and the trust and love and respect of the people for their nation’s leader would move them to unite around his direction and policy. When citizens can look at their president as being like a father for the greater purpose of their nation and can respect him as they respect their own parents at home then the right kind of tradition is being passed on. Education in the home can be such that the tradition of the father’s position can be expanded onto the national level; for the purpose of the national goal and out of devotion to the national sovereignty individuals would even be willing to give their lives, as much as they would for their own parents.

The nation is a greater level than the family so when a priority must be decided the nation comes first. People must feel that they can even sacrifice their families in service to the people of the nation. The lesser can always be sacrificed for the greater. If war comes, the young people can give up their own lives and the older people give up their own children to participate in the national calling. That is love of country. Loving your country is an act of loving your own wife and children, not of deserting them.

If that kind of tradition is set in any country, that nation will flourish because the people will rally around any cause and be ready to make any sacrifice. This is the most ideal tradition of love on the family and national levels. When that kind of relationship is achieved between individual and family and individual and nation , that country will undoubtedly prosper. Once that happens, no power can threaten the prosperity of that country. If danger comes to that country, each individual will participate to protect his country and home; instead of fleeing from danger, the people will want to make sacrifices for the lasting prosperity of their nation.

Compare the two types of nation; one may have lots of money and power’ but lack fidelity, loyalty and tradition. The other type of country may not have much money or weaponry, but each citizen is motivated to follow the true tradition of love, to sacrifice himself and participate in the greater cause, even as far as giving his life. Which country shall prosper in the long run?

The tradition of a true family is the same for a patriot and a saint

Thinking people who are searching for long-lasting prosperity have to think about this tradition. No matter how much they have for the present’ the most important factor will always be what tradition of love they cherish. Many traditions have existed in history but they never extended beyond the level of the nation, and each nation has clung to its own sovereignty alone as its ultimate goal and purpose. That has been the extent of man’s thinking’ but what about God? Has He been thinking in the same way? If God favored one nation out of all the world, would He be a good God? Not only would He be a very poor God, but if that nation were to decline then God would be destroyed together with it.

We know that God is different and does not think only on the human level. God’s level is the world and in His view patriotism is not limited to the love of one country; His level of nationalism embraces the world as one nation, one unit, and He wants to promote the same tradition of love on that level. God certainly upholds patriotism on His level of nationalism, not man’s.

This brings us to the question of whether there is really a God or not. One way we can prove that there is a God is by observing the abundant evidence that God is trying to promote worldwide patriotism and a concept of the world as one nation. With much evidence of this you can automatically believe that there is one higher sovereign working toward that tradition.

What kind of movement would seek to link man and God? Let’s analyze religion. Can you find a certain patriotic ingredient in religion that encourages loyalty beyond the level of race or nation? That evidence alone is sufficient to recognize that God has been promoting unity throughout history. If no religious philosophy can be found which encourages patriotism or filial piety beyond the level of race or nation then you can come to the conclusion that there is no God, but if you do find such a thing in religious teaching then you must recognize that God exists. We can conclude that God must be insisting that everyone love something higher than their own family or nation. Regardless of the color of his skin or nationality, each person must love something above the level of his own family and nation. The true God must insist upon that.

Any religion which expressly teaches the ideal of a world brotherhood is closest to God, and whoever has tried to advance such an ideology or way of life is known as a saint or holy man. A holy man is defined as the man who can freely and openly move in and out of the love of God, without hindrance or reservation. A holy man is not necessarily a giant or a miracle worker. A holy man knows how to link himself to the King of the universe, God. Simply put, he is linked with the reality of God so completely that no one can sever their relationship. Our goal in life should not be limited to patriotism for just one nation but should be the goal of a holy man and saint.

Such a man thinks that even if he must sacrifice his own family and nation he will live for the prosperity of the world. Does this sound like I am only trying to justify our way of life in the Unification Church? Is this just a clever definition of a holy man, or is this the truth? What this world needs is only one book not the millions of volumes in the library of a famous university. We could lose them all and not miss them because we need only one book that depicts a holy man’s life in the tradition of love between God and man. If that one book exists then we need nothing else.

What is eternally worthwhile about volumes on American history or Japanese or Korean history? They are nothing but a burden. Unless we know the core truth which can somehow link us with God in heaven and set up the right tradition which can guarantee man’s eternal prosperity on earth and in heaven, we have nothing. How can you know how to love the world? How can you know the way of life of holy people or saints? It might seem impossible to follow but it is really very simple. The very tradition of love which you establish at home-how the children serve their parents and how the parents love their children-is the same basic formula of the life of a patriot and of a holy man. The only difference between them is their central subject’ but otherwise their way of life is just the same.

### One common road leads to happiness
for the family, nation, world and God

Ultimately we come to the conclusion that for the greater cause any smaller purpose shall be sacrificed. God might need to proclaim an emergency of the Kingdom of God and call all the nations of the world forward as crusaders, needing them to go beyond the level of their own nations. Then all the national leaders should be willing to respond and march out with banners to obey God’s orders.

In that situation the United States or any nation would naturally become only one division of the whole army’ but in reality how many national leaders think of themselves like that? The President of the United States might not want to cooperate because he envisions his role as being closer to President of the World than only a division commander. If he thinks so, he is wrong; if God were commander of that army it would be a great honor to be just a division commander.

Let’s seriously think about the relationship between religion, the true nation and God. First of all we must have one common reference point. God thinks, “1 am God of the world.’, If all nations and religions can accept God’s sovereignty then one embracing harmony can result. In that case God’s way of life, the nation’s way of life and the religious way of life would be parallel and unification would be automatically possible. Everyone could come to the same goal. Mankind has always been striving for knowledge, and ultimately his efforts lead to one thing: God. Mankind is actually trying to learn about God and His work. Ultimately whatever God wants for this world should become the overall national

goal and what God wants should become the overall goal of religion. What God wants should also be our individual goal.

What is God’s desire? God’s goal is the true tradition of love which will beautifully entwine the family, society and nation with the world. That same tradition is the direct short-cut for connecting mankind to God and creating one happy family of man. One common road will lead to happiness for the family, nation, world and ultimately God. That’s what God’s goal is all about. Much complicated philosophy has appeared and many books have been written on this subject, but the whole matter is very simple.

If someone asks you where you are headed you can say that you are trying to go beyond your society, nation and world to reach God as your ultimate goal. In order. to meet God you have to embrace your family, society, nation and world and then extend beyond to reach God. The nation must also go beyond itself individually and advance to the level of the world and God.

If God thinks at all, He must think in this fashion. If any national leader is a thinker then he also must think in this fashion. If any religious leader is a thinker then he should reason in this one direction, to this one simple goal. There is no truth beyond this. Can you accept this? I want you white people to look me in the eye and answer if this is true. You answer yes because you are members of the Unification Church, but would most American people be able to say yes? Regardless of whether anyone is a member of the Unification Church, anyone who will listen to logic must admit that this is true.

Who shall be remembered in the long run? Whoever adheres to God’s philosophy and way of life as their own will remain. The greatest possibility of becoming such a remnant can be found in religion because it already leans in this direction. The thrust of every religious philosophy points to a time when the world as it is will end, when mankind will consummate God’s goal and there will be no more pain or sorrow, but only joy and love. That is the goal of all religions.

We must be alert to recognize the many false kinds of religion which glorify self-centeredness and teach the attitude, “I don’t care about the world or even God Himself. I only care about ensuring my eternal happiness.” Are these the people who are entitled to the Kingdom of Heaven? What about the people who are not even worried about their own heaven because they are too busy building a kingdom for other people? If someone is too busy loving his parents and nation and world to think about his own kingdom, could he eventually end up in heaven?

If Jesus had set an example of selfishness as the best way of life then God would say, “Jesus, we don’t need you. Don’t bother coming back; just stay up there.” Jesus never taught a selfish way of life, however; he came to promote this tradition of love and to open up peoples’ minds to a worldwide way of life. That way of life represents the hope of God’ the hope of humanity and the hope of all people. That teaching alone brings hope for peace.

At the end of the world loyalties like nationalism or denominationalism will mean nothing. An immoral way of life and abuses like free sex will have no place at the end of the world because they are not the solution. The only possibility for the ultimate peace and tranquillity of the universe to be secured is through commitment to the tradition that I have described. It is the only way of life that can promise hope for this world.

Whether people accept this or understand me is immaterial. The important thing is what God wants, and God has been thinking throughout history about this one way of life. All the holy people and saints throughout history have been working for that one goal. Logically we can understand that this method offers the only hope for lasting peace here on earth. If that is the case then regardless of what people say it shall be done.

Do you think many people in spirit world regret missing the opportunity to live this truth while they had their physical bodies on earth to work with? You have a body now and the world’s past saints and mighty rulers alike all envy you people, wishing they could be in your place. Instead of yearning for his throne, a powerful king would long to be the most humble member of the Unification Church. Do you really feel pride in your position? When you take a big bundle of newspapers in your arm do you think,

“God, I am greater than the King of England. I can be proud and the entire spirit world envies me.,, Do you go out with that pride?

Let’s be serious for a moment and think about really going out with pride in your position here. Do you seriously think those people in spirit world laugh at you or truly envy you? I want you to know whether you are really committed members or not. A king or queen in spirit world envies even the half-hearted member who is still hesitating over whether they want to be in the Church or not, simply because that person still has a body. Amazingly enough, this is the truth.

### You can inherit the tradition of Jesus’ love

Let’s think for a moment about Jesus. Externally speaking Jesus had a miserable life on earth. He came to the small nation of Israel where everything is within walking distance and journeyed around the country talking to prostitutes, tax collectors and fishermen, proclaiming astounding, outrageous things. In many cases he was chased after and finally he was crucified at the age of 33 . Jesus lived a miserable life, far more miserable than yours, but he had heavenly pride to say to the country, “I am the son of God.” He made one unmistakably clear proclamation, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Jesus made no compromise about this proclamation and before his death he proclaimed himself as a bridegroom. He also made this stunning statement, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.”

Jesus announced that everyone must love him more than their own family or nation and understandably people thought he was a blasphemer. Finally people thought that they just couldn’t tolerate Jesus any more so they had him crucified. Jesus asked God to forgive the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him because they did not know what they were doing, and at the moment of his dying he murmured, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Then he died.

Jesus’ intention in saying these things was only directed at building the Kingdom of God here on earth, but practically speaking, what is the Kingdom of God? The Bible doesn’t say clearly, but the Kingdom of God Jesus was trying to build here on earth followed the blueprint that I have described this morning. It follows a simple teaching: As much as you love God your Father, that much you must love your country, your society and your own home. When that one tradition of love links every aspect of life, the Kingdom of God shall become a reality. When everyone worships one God as their common Father then no barriers will remain-no national boundaries or walls of language or denomination. Every barrier can be broken down.

If Jesus had just come to establish a new religion then he was not the messiah. In reality Jesus couldn’t care less about religion; what he cared about was a God-centered kingdom and that kingdom cannot be built by religion. That kingdom will be built by the family. Jesus came to build the first true family so that he could bring God down to a real home where He could dwell as the sovereign, as the true Father. There is no other way God’s will could be fulfilled. If Jesus wasn’t following this course then he could not be the Messiah. There is no other way to build the Kingdom of God here on earth. If Jesus could have succeeded in creating the first family and multiplying it not only in Israel but in Rome then certainly the cornerstone of God’s kingdom would have been laid at that time. Because Jesus was ultimately crucified, however, it has been impossible to build the Kingdom of God. Not even one God-centered family has been established.

Jesus said that he would come back and pick up the mission he had to leave undone, and announced that he would return as a bridegroom. If this is the truth, do you think Jesus can come on the clouds of heaven with a host of angels? Many sincere Christians are waiting for Jesus’ return on the clouds of heaven, but that manner of fulfillment is absolutely impossible. God cannot place His hope in those people and without doubt that doctrine will fade. The end of the world is marked by the decline of Christianity because Christians are looking in the wrong direction to meet the Messiah. Do you think Jesus is smiling to hear what I am saying or is he upset and mad?

The prototype of the Kingdom of God is the God-centered family, in which all families, societies and nations are heading toward one goal: the love of God. Since everything has a common purpose, the directions of every level correspond to each other.

No matter how you mix them up, the family goal, national goal and world goal all correspond. The same principles work on every level.

Your goal in life is to set up the standard on the family level and once you do that you can go ahead to higher levels and fulfill them. Our way of life is simple: we advance step by step until we reach the ultimate goal, with the cosmic love of God as our master on every level. As an individual your point of reference is God and a society’s governing factor is God. The same holds for the nation and world. As long as there is one host in heaven, there will be no contradiction here on earth. Nothing else is important.

When we talk about unification we are using a big word. I must be crazy to come up with such a big goal! No one else ever dreamed of trying it. It’s like an impossible dream, yet this principle will ultimately lead to unification.

Suppose you could live here on earth for 10,000 years. Would you want to just cling to your wife or husband, thinking that you don’t need anything else in this world? You and I must set the right tradition by giving our blood, sweat and tears to lay the foundation for posterity to become the true society, nation, world and universe. There is no other way for us to spend our time.

If you were able to live here for 10,000 years would you be happy because you could live longer, or because you would then have time to build not only your home but a society, nation and ultimately God’s kingdom here on earth? Have you been thinking all the time about building that kingdom or just now because you have heard me? You have no confidence, do you? I know that you really never thought about it before. If somehow all the goodness and value were taken out of life yet this one core truth and tradition remained, are you convinced that ultimately the unified heaven and earth would become reality?

With this tradition unification is not an empty word but a realistic goal. What do you think would happen if this tradition were passed down throughout the future? Without doubt prosperity would be ensured because this is precisely what is needed. If Belvedere is the humble birthplace of this new tradition, would kings and queens and presidents make pilgrimages here to worship together fifty or one hundred years from now? Do you think it will become a heavenly museum later on?

I want you to be really proud of your position today because this wonderful truth is available to you while you are still here in the flesh. This is the very goal Jesus wanted to accomplish. All the saints and holy men wanted to accomplish this but they couldn’t and now in spirit world they envy you. God has been trying to accomplish this goal but never in history has it been finished. Do you have pride in the fact that you can possibly finish it here on earth in your lifetime? In the sight of God you are actually spiritual giants, shining like the sun, and to Him and to all of spirit world-including Jesus and all the saints-anything you hear or see and anything you talk about is extraordinary. They are all paying attention to every move you make; that is how much they are interested in your actions. People outside our Church may scoff, “You Moonies are no good and you are only brainwashed nuts,” but all you have to answer is, “You just wait a little while. The only reason you say these things is that you don’t really understand.,, Just forgive them because they do not know what they do.

I have spoken for two hours now and you are all elated. If I had the opportunity to speak to the entire nation, especially the young people of America, using the same logic and talking about the wonderful revelation from God, do you think they would be moved? If I had a chance to talk to them I could inspire at least one fifth of them to change at once.

### It is my fervent concern
that you become better than me

It’s ironic that the world believes the worst things about me. I am called a rotten criminal, a brainwasher, a demagogue and a charlatan. Once our opponents go to spirit world and learn the truth will they feel ashamed or not? If it is true that I have brought the truth then we can only pity America.

Will you be just bystanders and watch them feel sorry later on, or will you teach them the truth now and show them how to change? This is an urgent situation, but even though the real truth is here they don’t understand and can’t change because they are in darkness. In order to awaken them would you just do small things for them or would you do your absolute best and give your utmost energy? Shall we do our best without any holding back? Shall we just be “reasonable” or shall we go all out? Why?

This is the one golden opportunity in history; this is the time when you can receive at once all the love of God and humanity, both past and present. You can consummate history at once and receive God’s love 100% if you are 100% committed. If you respond to God with 100% commitment then you can receive 100% of God’s love. I want you to become crazy about that. This is undoubtedly a dramatic and romantic time’ isn’t it?

To those of us in the Unification Church these words are not just an empty slogan. We are actually living them. Some couples were given the blessing seven years ago but they are still sacrificing their own lives or the sake of the world and humanity because they see something greater than themselves. At East Garden there is still one staff member from the 777 blessing, but when I told her to go and be with her husband and have a family she answered, “Father, I know that is important and I will fulfill it someday, but can you extend my mission here for a couple more years? I want to do this mission first.”

That sister is not having a grand time in East Garden, enjoying lots of leisure and peace and quiet. She works hard cleaning, serving and looking after the children and Mother and myself until early in the morning. It is a strenuous job, but she wants to continue a little bit longer. She finds the greatest value in serving God and humanity and knows that she won’t have this kind of opportunity in the future.

I was moved very much recently by one of the seminary graduates. The graduates could take a position of respect in society on an important level, but I sent them out on the MFT instead of giving them responsibility right away. Some of them complained but most of them did their best. One person did especially well and I wanted to appoint him as a state leader but he said, “Father, the MFT looks like menial work, but I have met God in these three months and I would like to stay longer. Would you give me special consideration? I cherish this experience of meeting God more than state leadership.” That person discovered the real God in the most humble level of activity. Do you want to do it too? Those of you who are willing to do that or anything else, raise your hands please.

Now I am almost sixty and I am not going to live here on earth permanently. My life here on earth shall come to an end within a decade but that does not bother me at all. What I want to do right now is form the right tradition and then I will go on my way. My most fervent concern is a simple one: I want to teach you to become better than me, so that even after I am gone you can carry on my tradition and steadily expand it. I am totally dedicated to creating that kind of person, just like a parent trying to mold the character of his children, guiding them to study and to be kind, courteous and loving, to become people who serve. A parent is responsible to mold the character of his children and by molding your characters I want to leave behind true leadership and a tradition of love.

I want to see love in you that is not self-centered, love that branches out to embrace your family, society, nation, world and God. In that tradition any leader will get rid of himself in trying to become totally public-minded, directing the focus of the peoples’ love toward God and humanity. As long as we have the right spirit of love it doesn’t make any difference whether the World Mission Center’ the News World building and Belvedere are all blown up and nothing remains. With the right tradition we have everything. This is the only thing we want to keep and hand down from generation to generation.

In this tradition we have the kingdom, we have victory and we have the liberation of God. In this tradition everything will come. It is a great thing for the Japanese and European members to come and give themselves up for the sake of America. They are demonstrating that they love America more than their own country or society or home. You may not have a chance to love your family or your own country but never mind; you are loving something greater than all those. When you consummate your love on the level of the world you will consummate every other level as well because they are all included in the greater level. Are you doing it willingly and joyfully or because you have to? Why?

### Once you are captured by God’s
love you will be the most diligent
servant of your community

Love is inevitable. It is not a choice. Love is a way of life and you have no choice whether to love or not love. That is the Principle and you are to live it. It doesn’t make any difference how much I am persecuted; I am doing gigantic, extraordinary things for America, the world and for God. I see my role here in America as one of educating the people and creating a revolution in their hearts. I want your deeds to become the yardstick to which I can point and say, `’Do it just like they did in New York.,’

We have to bring the light of hope to the lowest realm of this society and clean it up. You must see such places as the enemies of God, places where people are degraded and ruined every day. The pattern of sex and drugs and corruption has infected the American young people and is spreading all over the nation and the world. New York is a place of total darkness, not just the dusk of evening time, and the area where the World Mission Center stands is particularly bad. I want to be the one to clean up the entire city of New York. Once we resurrect the city, everyone who comes to New York will automatically feel it and they will be trained in our tradition. I would like to see New York become a godly city.

Do your eyes see straight or crooked? How about your ears and how about your thinking? We must have straight action also. This morning we must make a resolution that the year of 1977 will see the start of a new history. We cannot surrender this year into the hands of Satan. Let’s pledge to God that we will make this a victorious year for Him by our actions.

Whoever lives this tradition shall be the hosts of the future. In this particular way of life you will see the birth of your loving family, your loving society, your nation and world. Ultimately you will possess God. The darker things are now the better because light shines out brighter in darkness . The fact that the world is pitch dark is God’s blessing. All we have to do is lift up even a little lantern to break up the blackness.

God needs to see resurrection here on earth. This is a dying world and God needs a new brand of people-new champions and new pioneers. That’s why God needs me and called me here to America. When the blackout occurred recently New York revealed its true nature. New York is like a dead body. Dead people cannot resurrect other dead people; only a living person can bring resurrection. If everybody lived well in God’s sight then they wouldn’t need resurrection, but in reality they are dead and in pitch darkness. You are living people and that is why you are going door-to-door to witness. You must feel that you are the source of new life for New York and that wherever you speak, sweat and labor the life of resurrection will be felt.

Do not be selfish-minded when you do your witnessing or ever think “I may find my future spouse here. I may be very lucky.’, You are discovering more than your husband or wife because you are discovering the world right there. You should not be loving just the American people but all the people of the world. Because you love the world you are going out to expand your love to the people you meet as representatives of the world. The truth will talk and reveal everything eventually and when people see the power of life and resurrection in the Unification Church they won’t go anywhere else. It doesn’t exist in the churches because God Himself is following you. Universal power will come around you and all kinds of miracles will happen. You will see for yourselves. People will say, “I saw you last night in my dream. An angel told me that someone important would come and that I should welcome him and give him anything he needs. That’s you. I saw your face.,, Spirit world works around the clock and you can receive constant blessing if you are anxious to do God’s work even more than 24 hours a day.

It might happen some day that you are so tired that you sit down on a bench to sleep for just five minutes but you don’t wake up until the next morning. Do you think God would condemn you? God would wrap a spiritual blanket around you for protection. You can be so close to God that you feel His

presence continually and when you go to spirit world you can reminisce with Him about your experiences. God will say, “My son, did you know that one night when you accidentally slept all night on that bench I put a blanket around you? You didn’t know then but I did that.,, You are creating topics for conversation with God.

We can become the hosts of the future; there is no question about it. When you become the hosts of the love of God He will approve you and the entire spirit world from the past and everyone in the present and future will approve you. How handsome or beautiful you are doesn’t matter. If God says to you, “I don’t know you,” what good would it do to be handsome or beautiful? You might be disabled and crippled, but when God says, “I know you,” you are greatly honored. That’s the way I feel. You didn’t feel that way before now’ did you?

Become a total prisoner of the love of God. Once you are captured by the love of God you cannot go any other way. Not only that, you will actually live like a prisoner, chaining yourself to your responsibility and being the most diligent servant of your community. If you live in this fashion and still New York does not survive then I am wrong and you can throw me out. Only if you live this philosophy to the utmost and still it doesn’t work can you accuse me or complain. If God doesn’t cooperate with you then that means that there is no God.

By looking at me you can know that God is alive and completely involved in your actions. I have lived my life exactly as I described this morning and I have continued to become greater and more successful. Actually I am not trying to become a victorious person in all areas, not at all. I might fail miserably in business for instance, and even end up with nothing, but it doesn’t matter as long as I emerge at the end with one thing: being the most successful person in planting the tradition of the love of God. In proclaiming the love of God I have lived the love of God and I know that God is with me. Nothing else matters. Nothing else ever fails if you succeed in this one thing.

People see that I am connected to some mysterious source of power. They don’t realize that I have become successful by living in the love of God and that’s why many people in the world want to give up everything for my sake. You have been living like crazy people’ but do you regret it? Many people are trying to kill me but here are black’ white and yellow people gathered together who want to die for me. On the surface it may look like I don’t even love you because every day I keep pushing you out to even further suffering. Why do you love me? You know there is something about me that is more precious than anything else-the love of God-and you want to inherit that love.

### It is our honor, not our defeat,
to confront Calvary and Gethsemane

At times I react very strongly when someone says’ “Father, I love you very much.,, I don’t like to hear this; I would rather see this in their actions. I don’t like to have just lip service. Many people can speak flowery words of praise but I would rather not hear them. If you love me then show how you love me. Acquiring this particular position required untold suffering; in order to secure the love of God I invested absolutely everything, my total best. The value and stature of this position require that it not be treated cheaply or offhandedly.

I don’t like to see people assuming that they have the right to be blessed when they are not seriously taking responsibility for our work. I only like the person who even forgets the word “blessing,, and just keeps busy with the mission and the word of God. If it were possible to just wait for the love of God to come then I wouldn’t have worked so hard, but I know that’s not the way the love of God can be obtained.

If I really did come the easy way and only moved people’s hearts with smooth talk then I would be the worst kind of fraud. If that were the method by which the Unification Church was built then no one would truly love me, but the Unification Church was built with sweat’ blood, suffering and tears. Nobody has shed more tears than I. That’s why no matter how much you work you always feel insufficient. Our members tell many stories of their experiences with me but nobody can truly understand me because no one knows my whole background.

You could see the most suspenseful movie thriller ever made and still not sense the danger, suffering and suspense of my own life. It is worth enduring all of that for the love of God, and after death it is far more precious. To become heir to the love of God is not easy because it means following this pattern of my own way of life. There is no other way you can do it.

If you genuinely suffer for the sake of God and shed tears and sweat for the sake of God then you will assuredly become another Reverend Moon. All of mankind will come and bow down to you and in remembering your tradition they will cry. People will come to your tomb and seek to shed tears and taste your sorrow and pain. Millions and millions of people have gone year after year to Israel, trying to experience the heart of Jesus and walk where he walked. Even though Jesus could not fulfill the whole of his mission he did leave behind the true tradition of love. You can not only leave that tradition behind you, you can fulfill it in your earthly accomplishments .

Not only can you hear words, you can actually put them into action. That will be the greatness of your tradition. That is where resurrection will take place. Jesus was resurrected but in this age we are concerned about national resurrection and the world’s resurrection. We must live up to the extraordinary opportunity of this age. We must not let this opportunity pass by unfulfilled.

You should be able to pray with gratitude in any situation. In the worst kind of pouring rain you can be grateful for the chance to test and prove yourself. In the worst kind of cold you can thank God for the chance to taste the worst kind of historical weather. If you are hungry’ freezing, suffering or in pain you should go beyond that suffering and still think of God and be grateful. It is not for yourself individually that you go the path of the cross but for the sake of the world. Your suffering is linked to the garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Calvary. You will go over the pain of the garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Calvary, not dying, but as a living victor.

When you feel that you can die for the mission then the power of resurrection will come. Because Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane and ended his life on the Mount of Calvary we cannot avoid that course ourselves, but in our case it is a great honor, not the result of leaving our mission behind unfulfilled. By overcoming them victoriously and by giving ourselves as living sacrifices we shall win the world and the heart of God.

You must have the experience of praying for the city of New York and shedding tears for the resurrection of New York when the entire city is asleep. Your heart should be impatient for the night to pass quickly so you can knock on doors and meet the people again. Have you ever asked God to shorten the night and make the dawn come quickly so that you can go out and work?

If this is your way of life then you can definitely make a victorious garden of Gethsemane and Mount of Calvary out of New York. Instead of dying you can be victorious. If you are indeed successful then do you think my name will be resurrected or not? When people really learn the value of this tradition from you they will come and wait for hours outside East Garden just to get one glimpse of my face. Think of how many people will wait all night at Belvedere to hear me speak on Sunday morning. The Tarrytown and Irvington police will have to be mobilized to straighten out the traffic jams. We won’t even need our own security on watch at East Garden because the police will say, `’Won’t you let me sit there and take your place for one night?”

Once people truly know the meaning of what I have done those things will happen. That’s why I designated New York as the front line out of all the possible trouble spots in the world. You are the front line soldiers. Can you sleep or eat as you wish, at any time you want? The World Mission Center is like our fortress where you are trained and disciplined.

I want to ask a special question of the people who are complaining. Why is it good to be strict with you? You may have a little more hardship and you may be severely disciplined, but because of this New York will come to life quicker and this nation will be revived and the world will live. The philosophy of our tradition is that for the greater purpose the lesser shall sacrifice. Do you have any exception to that? If you think, “Well, I can think of a few exceptions,”

then you are still in a dream world, not the real world of the Unification Church. Discipline and hard work are the reality, the severe day-to-day battle we are engaged in.

The entire world is pointing at you for being Moonies. All right we will accept that. Unless we have a different kind of pride and hope we cannot go ahead of the rest of the world. If you only wanted to dress like the world does and eat and sleep as it does then you should have left a long time ago, but you have a different kind of goal and commitment. Our diet is hope for the future. If you sustain yourselves on it then I guarantee you that you shall become the hosts of the future.

Is there anybody who hasn’t heard about me? Whether people like me or not doesn’t make any difference. I am not the only person to be controversial; every one of you is a controversial figure, aren’t you? In the future students in every academic field will study me. Even my most adamant critic and most fanatic opponent will gradually hear about the truth and have to change his attitude, step by step. Because what he believes now is not the truth, he will have to change.

All of this fanatical opposition is God’s strategy. Because most people adamantly oppose me without knowing anything substantial about me, all of America will be deeply apologetic once they find out the truth. It is inevitable that they will change but until that day comes I will continue on.

Do you feel that this is inevitable? Maybe I’m lying to you. Are you more certain than I am? Uphold that faith and you will not be a loser. Furthermore, in order to hasten that day do not stand still but arouse controversy yourself. Be a troublemaker for God. You have the power. The time will come when people will seek out my disciples. You won’t have to go knocking on doors because people will seek after you.

### We are laying a multifaceted foundation for the future

This morning I spoke about the leader who worries about the future, making plans and preparations. If all of you are blessed and have children in the next five years, how will you feed and clothe them? Have you thought about the future? Did you assume that I would take care of everything for you? That is physically impossible. The American government couldn’t even do it. God cannot do that either. You should be able to do it and that means you have to earn your own livelihood. When you are blessed and have children should you just take care of making a living? Then who will remain in the Church? My plan is for everyone to come up with a source of income in the Church. One example is the newspaper.

We are not only doing spiritual work, we are actually laying the foundation for our grandchildren. Suppose you have a deep relationship with the people who buy the News World from you. If you can explain how good ginseng tea is for good health they will want to buy some. Once the people trust us they will rely on our services. We can start a mobile department store and a grocery delivery service and supply their daily needs with a loving heart. What we are doing today is laying a many-faceted foundation for the future. Your 360 homes will all become like your own home. If each family has five members then there will be birthday celebrations all around the year. You would be invited to every birthday and you simply couldn’t keep up with all the parties. Once you have won the hearts of the people it will be one thing after another.

Once we set up a model here in New York then we can duplicate it in other cities. Your own future well-being, the future prosperity of this nation and its defense against a communist take-over, and finally the well-being of the entire world can be assured by what we accomplish now. Suppose 1,000 people have to die in order to resurrect 10 million people. Those 1’000 would become historical heroes in the sight of God and we must be ready to be those people .

You want to have a family eventually’ don’t you? I want us to create an atmosphere and society of our own in which we can work three hours a day to support our families and then devote the remaining hours to activities for God. Would you rather work in a company where you will be singled out for being a Moonie or would you rather help create our own positive atmosphere in which you can not only support your families but also give most of your energy for the work of God?

We make ginseng tea now and once people appreciate its benefit for health it will become very popular. Now people drink all kinds of crazy stuff but we can give them a healthy drink. Ginseng cosmetics, perfume and soap are also good products. We could make a ginseng wine that is really like a ginseng tonic.

There are limitless resources which we can pioneer and the time will come when you can just call people on the phone instead of running around door to-door. There will be supporting organizations and people will want to give everything for the sake of New York, not just a weekly tithe. How about you; can you even do the tithing? We will be in a position to really lift up the life of the city and open the door to a much better future.

This is divine and holy work and those who hesitate to act upon it are like deserters. The neighborhood of 360 homes where you have your home will be your community and after you die the people will erect your statue there. My name has been crucified in this city but would your becoming the messiah to your 360 homes help to resurrect my name or would that dirty it even more? Opposition is welcome. It is a great thing after all because it gives us a much more dramatic background to work in. Do you feel lucky to work while there is opposition? Soon the opposition will go away and there won’t be another chance later on. This is the time for you to get down to work while persecution is still available.

After you sisters are blessed and you go to your husband’s territory, all you will have to say is, “I am so and so’s wife. ” You won’t even have to give your name. Will people say `’You’re one of those crazy people. Get out of here”‘ or “You are so and so’s wife! Please come in and make yourself at home. This is your community and your husband is our hero.” Would you and your husband feel proud or not? Soon you will have children and when they go to elementary school and meet people in the neighborhood the community will say, “You are their child! Come in. Your father and mother are great people and we love them dearly.” Your children will be proud and think, ” I thought my mother was rather ugly and I thought my father was a little short’ but here they are heroes!”

I see that New York can be transformed into a holy land by your deeds and your love. Once a new atmosphere is created then even if you are trying to starve and suffer no one will let you! No one will let you be destroyed.

Suppose you and your spouse both die suddenly and your children are left as orphans. You won’t have to worry about them because everyone will compete with each other to adopt them and take care of them like kings and queens. Is it logically possible? Then why don’t we go out and do it? Whatever the sacrifice, whatever the cost, we must do it. You must clearly organize your thoughts in this regard.

In looking at an issue of the News World you can visualize your own loving home, society and nation and the birth of the new world. Your hard work starting out early in the morning is the beginning of your new kingdom.

We need to establish one model here and to do that you have to just grit your teeth and persevere. Do you women want to do it? No matter how loud you say yes, you are still women and your answer doesn’t sound loud. What about you men, would you do it? Are you men happy when you are defeated by women? A man was defeated by a woman in the garden of Eden and that pattern persists today in American society.

Following the heavenly tradition is the one royal way to become the host of the future in the kingdom of God. By practicing this way of life and setting a tradition of the love of God in your life the future will be yours and you will hold the world in your arms. Today you are asking me to have hope. In about one month I would like to go and knock on some doors and ask whether any Moonies have come to visit. The answer should be yes.

Are you agreeing with me because you have to or are you really bubbling with enthusiasm because you know it is true in logic? Do you have the internal power of God’s love to willingly answer yes with conviction? You can chase out anyone who does not live up to that yes.

Jesus knew that the flesh needs stimulation and that’s why he said, “The mind is willing but the flesh is weak.” How can you make your flesh strong? You can harden it by pushing it past its limitations. Teachers in the schools no longer have the power to spank the children but this is not a good rule.

The flesh is lethargic to begin with and already American young people are not willing to be disciplined. I would like to see students telling their teachers, “If I am not moving in the right direction you just hit me and make me go the right way. I am willing to be disciplined and to listen to you.”

Being a Moonie is already hard enough and now I’m talking about clubbing you! Are you ready to give up? I would never really club anybody but if I ever did I would never forget him. When blessing time came I would give much closer attention to that person.

Once for a certain dispensational purpose I reprimanded one of the young Korean members who was very loyal and very faithful. Afterwards that person received spiritual blessing, seeing a vision and angels coming down. That person was on cloud nine every day and asked me for more reprimands but I said, “No, my chastisement is not that cheap.” But even if I resorted to clubbing and spanking, would you take it in order to have God’s will realized here on earth? You are real Moonies if you want me to push you hard so you can close the gap between you and God.

An old Korean proverb says that if you love your son then be hard on him and if you hate your son then give him lots of food and luxury. A beloved son sometimes needs to be whipped. He will forget the pain of the whip, but will really long for the love of his parents and for the love of God. A parent who will do that is truly noble and divine.

If you will be grateful and persevere to the end please raise your hands. You shall become the hosts of the love of God. Thank you very much.

## THE RETURN TO TEARS

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### October 16, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator-Bo Hi Pak

American young people probably do not know much about tears. Because America is basically an affluent country you never get really hungry or really cold, and under those circumstances real suffering is far removed from the American way of life. I want to ask those of you who never cried to raise your hands. You all say you know the taste of tears, so let us analyze for whom those tears were shed. For yourselves so far. How many of you have experienced shedding tears for others? Only after joining the Unification Church, right? Basically there are two kinds of tears, the tears you shed for yourselves and the tears you shed for others.

With whom did the history of tears begin? I’m sure that the first man and woman to shed tears were Adam and Eve and certainly God shed tears because of the fall of man. Adam and Eve cried for themselves as a result of the fall, but for whom did God shed tears? God is Father of mankind and after seeing the degradation of His children at the fall of man God shed tears not for Himself but in sorrow for Adam and Eve and their anguish. The tears shed by Adam and Eve were for their own misery but God shed the tears of goodness and the tears of mercy for the sake of His children.

Those tears themselves are tragic. Man’s history began in tears, with sorrow and tragedy, and for God also history was first marked by tears. Those tears meant tragedy for both man and God. Man really deserved to shed tears for his sin, but God did not deserve to shed tears. This history of tears originated with the ancestors of mankind and has expanded down through the generations to all mankind today.

Human history is a repetition of the suffering of tears, emerging again and again in suffering and struggle and broken-heartedness. Mankind has been oppressed as individuals, families, tribes and nations with the one suffering because of the other. No one has conquered the history of tears. We have to grieve for the world and suffer in sorrow for the consequences of history on all the different levels; then we may hope to return to the origin of goodness. The fall of man actually began with only two individuals, but because they were the ancestors of mankind their actions shaped the history of the world. Their transgressions brought the entire world down to tears.

Man has fallen down to the bottom and in order to raise ourselves up everyone must advance step by step and eventually go beyond the realm of tears. This is our mandate. The entire history of man’s tears and sorrow was all for the sake of himself. Man has been grieving over his own misery but in order to go beyond the realm of that suffering we have to change and reverse the purpose of tears. We still grieve but for a different purpose. We need a reorientation in this world of tears to the other kind of tears that God shed when He wept in grief for the sake of others.

### First a man must shed tears for man,
and then he must discover the realm of God’s tears

Where can man truly find happiness then? The ultimate happiness comes when he can conquer not only the tears of man but of God as well. We must restore the world to the realm where God no longer needs to shed tears. The history of tears began because of the fall of man. When we conquer the realm of man’s degradation then we can certainly find the realm where God and man no longer need to shed tears. This is precisely the point we are approaching today. It is our destiny as men to go over the two hills of tears. We must cross over these two hills in order to be totally happy. Those who are trying to pursue the road of truth must shed tears over the misery of humanity and taste the suffering of man. A thinking man could only be grieved by the problems of man’ the suffering and dying of men and all the misery that permeates our society.

Many young people think about what the real purpose of life is and they agonize over how and where they should direct their young energy. That is the beginning of the road along which you will conquer tears. Those people who never even think about those things-the meaning and purpose of life and death-do not even belong to the species of man. Thinking people wonder about their own lives and also about the society’ nation and world and they grapple with the problem of bringing a solution to those who are suffering and in misery. Man has to think in that direction.

Grief over the suffering and sorrow of man alone will not bring any lasting solution. Man has to go further, down to the bottom and origin of tears. We have to go beyond human tears and realize the tears of God. Tears that are shed for one’s own sake or the sake of one’s nation, for the human level alone, cannot ultimately contribute to the over-all solution of bringing back the ideal world here on earth. No matter what, all of that is still within the realm of selfishness, being merely the continuation of the tears that were shed by Adam and Eve for themselves.

Everyone must discover the new realm of tears that God has shed and deeply experience the taste of those tears; otherwise we will never solve human problems. This means learning how to shed tears beyond self-centered suffering and misery. First we must discover God and discover God’s tears and become people who shed tears to alleviate the suffering of God.

I want you to know that those people in history known as saints and holy men were people who learned about the tears of God. By centering upon the grief and sorrow of God they have been looking at mankind from God’s point of view and shedding the same kind of tears that God shed. That is a religious way of life and by shedding the same kind of tears that God shed you become a co-worker of God’s. What kind of religion stands as a co-worker on the side of God? The religion that not only teaches man to shed tears for humanity but to shed tears for God will undoubtedly receive God’s blessing and become the central religion of humanity. There is absolutely no question about it.

The chief question is for whom you weep. If a village realizes that a person is crying for the sake of the village then the entire village has to bow down to him. That act is noble because it is not for the person’s sake but for the sake of the village. If there is someone who sheds tears for the sake of the nation then the entire nation is benefited and the citizens should bow down and respect that person.

The son of filial piety is one who shed tears not for himself, but for the sake of his parents. Without exception the loyal subject is the one who sheds tears for his own king and queen. Patriots are those who shed tears for the sake of their own country and countrymen. A saint or holy man is a different kind of person altogether. The patriot is concerned for the

nation but a saint directs all his energy and tears for the sake of God and all of humanity. Under that condition alone can we say that a person has lived a saintly life.

Looking at the great saints in history, is there one who truly shed tears in order to bring God and humanity together, even at the moment of his death? Certainly we find one in the person of Jesus Christ. At the moment of his own death on the cross he was worrying about his own adversaries, the Roman soldiers who pierced him with their spears. He shed his tears and sweat for the sake of his own enemies. Because Jesus cried for his worst adversary he was actually crying for the sake of all types of people. By shedding his tears for the sake of his worst enemy Jesus not only won the hearts of all good men, but will also win the respect of the worst kind of sinful man in history.

Jesus considered his own well-being last of all, praying at the end that God accept his soul, for he had done his very best. Jesus directed his whole life toward shouldering all of God’s suffering here on earth and as his life ended on the cross he could say that he had done it. You can see how different were the selfish tears of Adam and Eve and the unselfish tears Jesus shed. Both were falling down to their deaths as they shed tears, Adam and Eve being the victims of their sin, and Jesus being crucified on the cross. As they approached their spiritual death Adam and Eve shed tears for themselves but Jesus shed tears for the sake of humanity and for God and for his own enemies.

### Christianity has forgotten that
its role is to share the tears of God

Christianity was supposed to inherit the tradition of Jesus Christ and share the tears of God, but in the course of 2,000 years of history that role has been forgotten. How can we distinguish the true Christianity from the false one? Christian churches which are wrapped up in their own sorrow or difficulties are churches of no life, but those which are shedding tears for the sake of God and humanity and their own enemies are the churches with life. For the first four centuries Christians endured the utmost persecution and certainly they must have wept very much. The problem is whether they cried for themselves alone.

Let’s examine Christian faith and prayer in the past. How much have Christians in the past cried for more than themselves or their own church or nation? At most they may have thought about their own country when it was in difficulty. Certainly God has answered that level of prayer a long time ago. Christian prayers in history have not been wide enough; their scope has only reached the level of their church or denomination and at most their nation. How many Christian people have been praying for the sake of all humanity, or for the heart of God and the cosmic dispensation?

Christian thinking has never extended that far because of the limit of biblical teaching. The Bible says that at the end of the world God will manifest His power of judgment and all evil people will be burned in fire, with only the righteous and God-fearing people being lifted up in the air to see the millennium. That’s the concept Christians live with so how could they pray for all of humanity? When you really know God you know that such a scene could never happen. That is not the true meaning of judgment.

History is looking forward to another epoch, the coming of the Lord of the Second Advent. That marks the time when mankind for the first time will learn to shed tears for all humanity, even including the spirit world. Because of the limitations of its teachings, conventional Christianity could not produce a man who could truly give himself for the sake of humanity here on earth and in heaven. A new breed must emerge to take responsibility for the entire cosmic dispensation, not only here on earth but also in heaven. The Unification Church is born for that mission.

The Unification Church has a declaration for the world: We must go beyond tears for our own selfish interests to the tears for humanity and plunge into the tears of God so that we can conquer and eliminate them. We must shed all of God’s tears so that He has no more left. That is the Unification Church’s task. That’s the realm that Adam and Eve never even imagined existed.

No matter how many tears were shed for the sake of humanity, those tears are meaningless unless you really know the love of God. Ultimately speaking, we are going to be shedding tears for the very heart and love of God. We must declare ourselves to be victorious not only individually in rectifying the sorrow of God and becoming a source of joy to Him, but also on the level of family, society, nation and world. Our ultimate goal is to remedy the pain in God’s heart, and starting from this base to become the center of the family, the tribe, a nation, the world and the cosmos. That’s the way we should live as individuals . No one has a guarantee that they will live on earth for very long. You may start out to do that but you can never know whether you will pass through every step that needs to be conquered.

When should you shed tears for God? Don, t wait until you reach the family level but start right now. We are teaching that from the very beginning of your commitment to this movement you must shed tears for the heart of God. You must put yourself in the position of God, with your eyes being God’s eyes and your tears God’s tears. You must look after humanity as God would look after His own children.

All men represent Adam and all women represent Eve. There are five colors of men and women; when you look at them as God looks at them and weep and suffer for them, you are putting yourself absolutely in the position of God. In that case can you be prejudiced about race and think that God loves only a certain race of people?

We must be color-blind in the Unification Church and not distinguish between races because God is color-blind. You are learning God’s point of view, seeing the world as God does. As we look at the world we grieve over the suffering situation of humanity and cry out for them as God has been doing. The amount of God’s own feeling you experience will determine the depth of God’s love that can reach you. How much you become a portion of God shall determine the quantity of God’s love that you can experience.

At night God looks over the city of New York, grieving at the misery there. The people do not even realize that God exists, that their own Father exists. Almighty God is waiting to help but they don’t even realize they are all the children of God. How lonely God must be! How much God’s heart must be grieving. Can you imagine how lonely and aching God’s heart is, looking at so many of His children enslaved in the communist world?

### The course of repentance

A true religion teaches the necessity of repentance but how many of you know how to repent so far? Repentance must be an act of tears, not for yourself, but for humanity and for the aching heart of God. Have you experienced that kind of repentance? A repentant heart can say, ‘ ‘Now I realize what a poor and miserable son I have been. I have pierced Your heart over and over, never even realizing that You existed’ my Father. I have broken Your heart and now I come to You and need Your forgiveness.” This is the first repentance.

How do you know that your repentance can be accepted by God? You can see proof in your own resurrection. When your heart has grown in such a way that you totally put yourself on the side of God and in looking at the world shed tears, you know that your tears are no longer for your selfish purpose. Then you know your heart is with God.

Regardless where the heart of God moves, no power under the sun can deter it. It moves straight forward, all the way to the end. As the father, God is ceaselessly going after His own children but He will never tire. When you put yourself totally on the side of God you are like a parent trying to save your dying children. How can you as a parent get tired or bored? You cannot help but go straight after hue inanity, until every soul here on earth is saved. If you feel as their parent, there is no way you can get tired. Our road may be getting tougher and tougher and our tears may come more frequently, but does that mean that we are retreating or giving up the mission? No, that will spur us on even further.

First of all, have you ever cried out before heaven and earth, “God, I have been a sinner, I have been the worst kind of criminal in Your sight. Please forgive me”? Have you shed such tears yet? Have you said to God’ “I have no more personal ambition. I only ask for Your mercy upon me”? Have you ever totally given yourself to do God’s will, feeling that

if you receive God’s mercy there is nothing you cannot do? This is the first step, the freshman course.

In many cases people look for a convenient God who will smilingly accept everything they are already attached to. Such people want God to come in a very narrow gate. How about you, right now, in your own heart? Have you ever thought about yourself as the worst kind of sinner, who would give up anything to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness? Have you experienced that? By sincerely feeling that repentance, you can liquidate your entire fallen past and disengage yourself from the consequences of the fall.

From your individual tears and misery you can make a gigantic leap from one world to the other, from the human level of tears to the level of God’s tears. You can do this because you can disengage yourself from the iniquity of the past, freeing yourself from all the attachments behind you.

That point is critically important. You have been crying your own tears, but at this point of repentance you can meet the tears of God and be embraced by the merciful, loving God. You are then experiencing the grief and agony of Adam and Eve, but at the same time you are experiencing the suffering heart of God. The two start at one point. You must pass through that experience. Unless you pass through that realm, you will never understand the love of God, no matter what.

Words alone are empty. What you need is to shed so many tears that your eyes swell shut and you cannot bear to open them in the sunlight. We need men who are able to shed the tears of God. Nothing can happen with dry eyes. It is in tears that most of the re-creation process takes place. In that atmosphere alone can the re-making of a new man, society, nation, world and new universe take place. That’s why the declaration is made in the Bible, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” By repentance you can come nearer to the kingdom and to union with God.

### Without your tears, your sweat
and blood have nothing to do with God

This is the way of life of the Unification Church. Nothing bothers us if we put ourselves in an unconditional position. 1n that we are different from ordinary, secular people who center the world around themselves.

I want you to know that without tears, no matter how much sweat you shed, it has nothing to do with God’s work. No matter how much blood you shed, without tears it has nothing to do with God. Tears are the link between you and God. Tears must come together with your sweat and blood because otherwise you are not walking the road of restoration. We must return to tears.

You have cried for yourself but in doing that you bring yourself down to the sinful world. In crying over your own ambitions and desires you are actually declaring to the world, “I am an ally of Satan.” Unselfish crying for the sake of God is a sacred and divine thing.

In order to shed tears for God you must first find the right environment. If you stay in a very comfortable place and try to cry for God, tears will never come to your eyes. Instead, you must go after the situation where you can be stimulated to shed tears for God.

What is that battleground? That is where you wage war against Satan and Satan comes against you. In other words, that is where you make yourself a champion of God and fight the battle against Satan. There are all kinds of places where you will inevitably be affected so that you can taste the tears of God. You have to go out to the world and disturb everyone. Take their children to the side of God; take their wealth and power to the side of God.

How can you do this? The fallen process began with words, but words which were lies. Satan took everything away from God, not with weapons and violence, but with words. By the same token you will give the word and love of God to bring back to God the things Satan took away. False love and lies brought about the fall and therefore the truth and true love of God will bring the satanic things back to God. It’s very logical restoration. The entire world is starving for truth and true love. If you really become a heavenly messenger and disseminate the truth and the love of God, then people will be gathered to you like small metal pieces pulled by a magnet. That is exactly what I have done. I came to America and have been

plundering the young people from the satanic world to God’s world. God has the power to pull everybody eventually. I am determined to shake up the world so the world is disturbed.

We shed tears for God and humanity and other people get upset with us over their children and their belongings. Actually this is a confrontation of two kinds of tears. We have to cross this bridge of tears. When you go to witness to the people and try to bring spiritual children you must shed tears for them; unless you are tearfully loving them and thinking of them you will lose them. You must be so moved as to speak about the truth with tears and convey the love of God with tears. When you meet the people in that fashion God will be with you. There is no other way.

If your heart is like that then no matter how deeply the world may bury you it cannot possess you. You just have to set your goal high and advance step by step through each level. Your companion on the journey will be tears and your job is to sow the seeds of love. You are longing for the true husband, wife, children, the true society and nation and in the meantime you will pave the way with tears. No foreign power can infiltrate this realm. You must volunteer for the most miserable place because there you have more chance to cry out for God. When you are in misery and holding on to God then you are very close to the realm of tears.

This is our salvation. You can search after misery and welcome it. You overcome it by holding onto God and shedding tears as God did Himself, looking at misery from God’s point of view. When you overcome those tears then you have indeed expanded God’s territory. It is the cosmic rule that whenever a true religion emerges it is always accompanied by persecution. Persecution is not a difficulty to be run away from but a blessing to plunge into. Persecution is a blessing because it will bring you to the realm of tears.

You have an empty container to fill with indemnity and when it overflows Satan will have no more power to touch you or our movement. That will be a real day of hope. That very day is at hand, with the entire nation pouring out a tidal wave of unreasonable slander and persecution. Those powers are now dissipating, however, and the time is ready for us to counter-attack. A new mood has been created. A one hour television special about the Washington Monument victory is being shown around the country. This is the first wave of our counter-attack. The truthful, in-depth testimony by a prominent scholar like Dr. Sontag will totally disarm our worst critics, and if they have one ounce of conscience they have to feel sorry for what has been done by our opponents.

The entire press corps and publishers all over the country will read this book out of curiosity. Their motivation will be to find something to quibble about, but the important thing is that this book will expose how untruthfully our movement has been written and spoken about. The time will come soon when the American people will know how I lived my life, how many tears and how much sweat I shed for the sake of this nation and the sake of the world and they will have to gratefully acknowledge what I have done. We have been patient and long-suffering, yet in turn we have never wanted revenge. We have never learned how to get revenge, but God will see that justice is done.

Every kind of persecution gives us the priceless opportunity to shed tears for the purpose of God. The day that God sheds no more tears is the day that we will no longer shed tears or mankind shed tears. We can completely conquer sorrow. Who shall truly cry out for God and truly agonize for humanity? We are chosen to be champions of tears and sorrow for the sake of God and humanity.

### How much have you shed tears in a serious moment?

This morning remember your lives in the past. What kind of past did you live as a member of the Unification Church? When you are selling the News World your tears must fall upon your papers. The New York Times is a very influential paper and if it became a tool of God it would hasten the accomplishment of His mission. Unfortunately, that paper is not God’s paper. We have a little paper, the News World’ and this is where God is placing His hope. When you think of how meager our paper is at this stage, don’t you feel some tears of sympathy for

God? Do you think, “I really want to make this a gigantic, powerful paper so that You can truly use it as Your tool. I am still young and I can definitely make the News World a success in the shortest possible time. God, give me the opportunity.”

Once we move the city of New York you know that we can certainly move the United States and the entire world. This is a key city. I declared that New York is the front line of our movement and I brought the best member here from around the world for that reason. What are you doing? Are you really going after the mission with tears?

Again, this is the day of your own repentance. The will of God and the dispensation is waiting out there. How can you worry about being hungry or about your clothes or tiredness in the sight of God and in the sight of the dispensation? If you really want to be in the mainstream of the Unification Church then you must go beyond all that and come to the point of tears. When you turn your tears into the tears of God then you will see miracles happen.

How many times have those of you working in offices shed tears on your own paperwork? All the leadership in our movement should be praying special night-long prayers in tears. You are most likely not going to lift your faces to look at God because there is some shame in your hearts. Are you just waiting for some great things to happen to the Unification Church without shedding tears? You can’t expect blessing to come to you without even shedding tears.

It is a serious matter. Regardless of the past we must return to tears. How much have you shed tears in a serious moment? You are basically followers but you have someone leading you in the right direction. You have an example to follow but I have no one to lead me. In this vast universe I am the one who has to steer the ship. It is a miracle that we have come this far and I am deeply grateful that it has been without having a major setback.

I may have shed many tears and endured much suffering but I know one thing: God has shed more tears and endured more suffering than we can ever even imagine. When you know that God is toiling and shedding tears, can you freely say that this life is too difficult and too tiring for you to continue? Some of you are so tired that you take a nap for just a few minutes but when you wake up you must feel ashamed and say to God, “It wasn’t my intention but I ended up spending a few hours for a nap. I’m sorry to do this in front of You, Father.,, Sometimes you must spend a little money for yourself but even then do you wish you didn’t need to spend it on yourself? Our path is definitely not an easy one.

I must spend money for my own children but it is not without reservation. When I spend money for them I think of them not as my own but as Unification Church members. Why should I live like that? Nobody would bother me for spending my own money and living my own way of life and loving my own children, but every time I spend money on my family or rest at night I feel apologetic before God. I live like that because God is like that.

### The requirement for defeating communism

My personal mission in the dispensation was completed by 1976 and I was triumphant in it. On the personal level I have fully accomplished my mission. However, from this time on the greatest task is still ahead: dealing with the power of communism. It is impossible to communicate with communists so no message and no amount of reasoning will work. In the free world we meet and talk with each other and because of religion we can live together, but in the communist world there is no religion and no religious message will influence the government.

What shall we do then? We have to tearfully pray and pay indemnity for them so that they can emerge out of the yoke of communism themselves, finding their own way to get rid of their shackles. That’s the only way. In addition, if we in the free world can build an ideal society on a religious foundation here on earth, we can show them that our way of life is far greater than anything their ideology predicts. You’ll see that the more we succeed in the free world the more there will be internal problems among the communists themselves. Internal revolution will break up their ranks and the spirit of God will be at work. More and more economic catastrophe will persist in the communist world and even famine will occur.

As Unification Church members we must shed tears for the sake of the communist world, tears that can represent the entire free world. We will pave their way spiritually. As long as there is communication in the free world it is only a matter of time until people come to the truth of God. There is no other alternative. Communism is the only barrier to world unification because no communication is possible.

I am speaking to the seminarians now. You are already destined to walk this path. You in particular must feel that you are indebted to every member of the Unification Church. You have an extra burden and in order to be recognized you truly have no right to complain, but only to show your merit in your deeds. Your conscience should not allow any other way. Making excuses for yourself doesn’t work in our movement. For your own benefit I would like to be extra hard on you, pushing you out to prove yourselves.

Another group of people who must take great responsibility are the early members of the Unification Church. When you come to Belvedere you must reflect on the path you are walking. Are you thinking mostly about yourself, your food and clothing or your own position? When you do things for your own purpose and to pursue your own goal then you are deeply in trouble. Your ancestors are watching you from spirit world and your descendants also are going to judge you. They will see the law of God and evaluate you in light of that. They will see where you stand and how imperfect and impure you are. I urge you leaders of our movement to shed tears first. Those who do not know the taste of tears will never become true leaders of our movement. You must pray hidden prayers and experience lonely meditation. There is corruption and destruction coming on all levels, both spiritually and physically. Right now you are preparing yourselves to work for the sake of humanity so how can you take it easy? When you look at the American school system and realize how the students are living, the promiscuous attitudes they have, how can you young people sleep comfortably and stand by idly? You must feel that you will be like spiritual bombs exploding on campus to eradicate all that.

Have you ever seen any professors cheerfully embracing the young people, trying to lead them in the right direction? Are any of the students truly loving the school and the professors , concerned about the well-being of the people and really praying for them? There are no students like this. How many government officials are really concerned for their own country regardless of what department they are in? How many of them are tearfully trying to serve their nation? The salvation of America will come when tears are shed on all levels’ particularly in the government. When people feel unselfish about this nation and the world, America’s salvation is near. However, no one is moving in that direction. The vast majority is totally nonchalant and unconcerned about the situation. They only care about their own salaries and well-being.

America has everything in abundance except tears. In that this nation is poor. God is searching after the people who have wet eyes but when He knocks on America’s doors and finds no one like that God certainly has no choice except to turn around and leave America. God has only one hope: the Unification Church, you members. Because God’s eyes are brimming over with tears, His only hope lies in anyone who can embrace Him with that same tearful heart.

You members have the public mission and you are becoming God’s objects, responding to His tears with your own tears. In that way we can mold the movement of salvation for America and the world. That’s the only way God can respond and work with mankind. The real members of the Unification Church are the members with tears. The true leaders of the Unification Church are those with tears. The fall of man came because of self-centered tears and in restoration we must shed selfless tears, public tears. When we shed tears for the public purpose, for God’s purpose we accumulate the genuine assets of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The tearful life starts from the individual and then tears and more tears will break through one barrier after another until the worldwide level is reached.

So far you have not been thinking in that fashion but this morning you are learning the value of tears. Please show me who of you are determined to walk this path in a tearful way, responding to God’s tears and shedding public tears for His purpose.

### The fastest advancement on the path of restoration

What is the fastest way to advance along the path of restoration? Put yourself in the position of Adam and Noah and shed tears for them and for the other central figures in history. Put yourself in the position of Jesus and cry for his sake. By doing this you link together the individual level, the tribal, national and worldwide levels.

Go one step further and put yourself in God’s position during the time of Noah and understand how He suffered waiting through the 120 years it took Noah to get ready, only to see that particular dispensation fail at the most critical moment. Then put yourself in the position of God looking down at Abraham wandering like a gypsy and meeting all kinds of persecution. How tense and anguished God was while He waited! Then go through the time of Moses and the suffering of the Israelites and later the time of Jesus. Put yourself in every level representing God and try to share His aching heart. Don’t you think God shed tears at each of those events?

By doing this you will be an individual upon which the entire providential history shall rest. Today we are witnessing the consummation of human history in which all the central people have suffered. You must realize that actually Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus suffered for you to see this day.

God shed tears at the time of Noah, particularly when Noah failed his mission, and God shed tears when Abraham made the mistake in his offering. God shed tears for Moses and again at the time of Jesus. Since God shed tears at every historical event, when you put yourself in God’s situation you can certainly shed tears for these people. When you link yourself with God you can cry out for them. All this probably seems very far removed from your own lives, but that is exactly why you need a champion going in front of you. The Unification Church is following my tradition because I have lived through the entire past in this way.

Someone has to pioneer the restitution of all the historic mistakes and I have been doing that starting at the individual level. Everything has been connected and all the entanglements straightened out. I want you to know that someone has shed tears for you. By putting myself totally in the position of Adam, Noah or Abraham I searched to find the mistakes they made and come up with the solution. I stood in the position of all of these historic people and cried out for their sorrow. I have shed two kinds of tears throughout my life, one being the vertical tears of discovering the truth and putting myself in the positions of history. The discovery process was accompanied by so many tears. At the same time I had to link those discoveries with actual indemnity in my deeds. That can be said to be horizontal tears.

I have been linking history together with the present on the horizontal level and restoring it by paying the debts of the past. There is a spiritual struggle and a spiritual discovery and on each level I would expand the territory of the individual, family, tribe, nation and the world. This vertical effort represented the spirit world. This is the real restoration now, the physical restoration on the horizontal level.

The vertical level of discovery in tears expands to the horizontal level through an individual, tribe, nation and world. The appearance of the Lord of the Second Advent is the final manifestation on the horizontal level of the vertical level of the dispensation. It sounds easy or simple but it certainly is not. I want you to at least know one thing: the Unification Church has the truth that has cleared up all the entanglements of the past. The misery of the past has all been sorted out. The diagnosis has been given and the treatment and prescription has been written, not just by logic but with the linkage of heart.

The foundation of logic and truth is there but the strongest binding force is the linkage of heart. One spiritualist wanted to know the truth about me so he prayed to God to really know who I am. When God answered, it was not with an explanation but with an overflowing of tears. That was His answer. I have shed universal tears for mankind. That’s who I am. Most individuals are not capable or equipped to discover these things. You can use the knowledge I have acquired and shed tears for the sake of God and for my mission. Then you can inherit my accomplishments and have them become your accomplishments.

### Confront your mission and do your absolute best

There are some older members who know how to take advantage of me but they don’t shed tears for me. They think they are wise but they are very foolish because they will not remain with me forever. Some of the blessed couples in Korea know how to take advantage of me and exploit me but they do not shed tears for me. In order to really save them I will put them to one more test once our mission is all accomplished. I will push them into the worst possible position and let them come out of it. They must repent for taking advantage of the Unification Church . When I see our leaders dressing in the best clothes or driving the most up-to-date cars I study them closely, asking whether they deserve to have those things.

Because I have reconciled and paid the debts of history you shall inherit all my accomplishments by uniting in tears with me. If you really live your love for me and for the sake of God and humanity then in turn you can certainly be loved that much by God. I shall never get behind anyone in fulfilling God’s will but be in the front line position, no matter what. No matter how many people get tired and retreat, I myself will never retreat. I am always giving more and more directions. If you fulfill one particular mission then I will give you more and more responsibility. Some people limit their sense of responsibility to just the area of their mission but that is wrong. The person in a high position should always be trying to do for others and for the entire past.

I have given many instructions but none of those plans has been carried out. Instead of tackling the mission wholeheartedly you are just beating around the bush. You must confront the mission and not try to evade it. Do your absolute best and if you still cannot fulfill it then don’t worry; God will take it over and link it to a higher level. Those people who are trying to evade the mission and go the easy way are very foolish.

When you come on Sunday morning to meet with me everyone is on an equal level externally, but it is not so internally and spiritually. There are all kinds of different levels existing among you. I am desperately trying to accomplish God’s mission here on earth but instead of being a part of that effort most of you are just standing by like observers. If that is the case, you will never become the owner of the gold mine you have stumbled across. Those who will actually become the hosts and hostesses will be those who come after you if you remain by-standers. Even though they may come later, if they really plunge into the mainstream of the mission they will get to the goal before you. The people who just wait for good things to happen will never make progress, whereas those who wholeheartedly commit themselves even though they may come later can certainly reach the goal.

Many, many early members just boast about being early members but in reality they are just blocking the way of the members who came later. To do that is to be the worst enemy of God. If you are not capable of accomplishing very much then you must humble yourself and shed tears for God. When a capable newcomer comes who really pursues the mainstream of God’s will, you as early members must at least praise him and be humble to him, realizing how much God needs him.

You all know very well what kind of men you are. Don’t try to cover up and hide yourselves but get out of the shadows; on the other hand, don’t come to the Unification Church just to be somebody. When a leadership position must be filled, don’t try to build your image up as a leader in the hope of being chosen. If your heart is not ready, you are certainly not a leader.

I do not speak too much to individuals about their shortcomings but I have a sharp eye and a sensitivity for these things . The early members should be the first group of people to repent and shed tears this morning. Why should it be like this? Simply because that is the only way we can remain in the love and grace of God. There is nothing else to be feared under the sun, not lack of money or lack of power or anything else. You need fear only one thing: the love of God leaving you. We want to remain in the grace of God. The return to tears is the only Principled way you can remain in God’s love.

I am exactly the same. I am afraid of nothing, not poverty or hunger or any kind of persecution, except the possibility that the love of God might leave me. That is my one fear. I must cling to it until

the completion of my earthly life. Nothing else will work except the straightforward fulfillment of the truth and the following of God’s law.

This morning let’s make a new beginning. If you haven’t done well in this respect, then resolve to follow the tearful path. From today on let’s make a different day and really desperately go that route, searching after God-centered tears. Who are the host and hostess of the World Mission Center in God’s eyes? All kinds of people are dwelling inside, but the person who sheds tears for the sake of New York City, for the sake of God and humanity, the person who sheds tears in his own room, for his own mission, this person is the true host or hostess.

No matter how much you shed tears in secret it won’t seem to be recognized, but it will become a life-stream that will not end, flowing from generation to generation. The children born to those people will be the heirs of the Kingdom of God. When you become an area of low pressure, then automatically an area of high pressure will be drawn to you. With tears you are making yourself into a low pressure system here on earth which the high pressure of God will naturally come to visit. When you meet, a hurricane will be created.

You must sometimes feel that in all of heaven and earth you are the only faithful one remaining, the only one whom God can depend upon. Then you can reassure God that you will be with Him all the way and ask Him to let you take up responsibility for the nation, this world and this cosmos. God will accept your offer. You can make a tearful declaration before heaven and earth, pledging, “I am all alone on earth so You and I are true partners, Heavenly Father. As You have been persistent in restoring the individual, family, nation, world and cosmos, I shall be just the same here on earth. As long as You will never give up, I will not give up.’, You must experience this heightened moment sometime, bursting into tears which are not for you but for the loneliness of God. If you never give up but persistently continue all the way to the end of your life here on earth, you will absolutely be sealed as the sons and daughters of God. God is looking for tearful sons and daughters. The true companions of God are the people with tears. Tears and tears must meet. You can pray to God’ “Please send me to the valley of tears so I can conquer them.’,

### Are you a person for whom God can shed tears?

Today is a day of resolution to live the life of tears . You have already raised your hands and pledged that to me. You know very well what level you are on and you don’t need an explanation. Since you also know the truth and what direction to go, can you allow yourself to be destroyed? You are public property; in the sight of God you are no longer a private person. If you don’t let yourself serve the public purpose then you are destroying yourself and you cannot let that happen.

If you become tearful over others then many others will become tearful over you. It is most important that not only other people shed tears for you, but that eventually God shed tears for you. This is the real challenge while we remain here on earth, how much our deeds and thoughts can make God cry. How can you do that? The only simple way is to be responsible for the job that even God finds difficult to fulfill. If you take it upon your shoulders and try your utmost then God’s heart shall be moved, and in that case who shall ultimately become the hosts and hostesses of this world? The people who are victorious in tears shall become the hosts and hostesses. If that is not the case, the teachings that I have given are all lies.

Does what I am saying feel like truth? Whoever sheds tears for you is your truest friend. The true members of your family are the ones who can cry out for you and shed tears for your pain. If you want to be in God’s family, you must be able to shed tears for God, don’t you think? God will cherish the person who can really cry for Him and give his heart for Him. This person will become a close member of God’s family.

Who shall be the closest friend of Jesus Christ? Whoever grabs the mission of Jesus and really cries out in sympathy with his position. By the same token, who is my closest friend in the Unification Church? The person who sheds more tears for me will indeed be my closest friend. Therefore, whoever sheds more tears for the sake of God and the True Parents will become the true owner of the Unification Church. The Unification Church is destined to penetrate the free world, the communist world and go beyond and I am the one leading the Unification Church on the rugged path. You could say that I am a very pitiful person, but God is above me, leading me. How much more difficult and miserable God’s position is! I still have to take time to rest but God even has no time to sleep.

I can think of something else for a while, but God doesn’t have the freedom to do that. There is only one thing in His mind 24 hours a day. You are following a God and a leader who are both miserable and if you look for relaxation and lots of fun in the Unification Church, you are mistaken. We are determined to do what no other organization or other group of people could duplicate. We have to go the path of tears as our way of life. Have you already made up your minds to go that route?

### All of your suffering can be
linked to God’s suffering

How many of you are going door-to-door, shedding tears for your people? Have you ever thought that God cannot come to those doorsteps physically and needs you to represent Him? You must feel that you are knocking on the door as a representative of God, gathering your heart and love and everything together, trying to penetrate that door and win the hearts of the people inside. You can feel that heart of God, who has come to this door after many thousands of years preparation. God has reached that door through you but only after many thousands of years of ordeal. He didn’t just come overnight.

When you open the door and the person looks at you, you may feel tears falling down your face, stopping your words. Have you ever visited your homes with that heart? Many of you may feel that you don’t want to do this but you must go with tears’ truth, love. You must knock on each door equipped with these three things. No matter how evil the person inside the house may be, Satan cannot claim those tears or your truth or your true heart of love. As long as Satan is incapable of doing that you will be a victor. Let those 360 homes be like your own children’s homes. Go out there and stay up all night talking and look at the rising morning sun together with them. You must have the conviction in your heart that you are God’s representative to them. You needn’t think of visiting only during the daytime but also at midnight. If you go out there and wait to meet a certain person, staying up all night and cheerfully praying under those circumstances, then as long as you are there America will never perish.

Have you physically visited all 360 of your homes? Everyone should be able to say yes. When God ordered the Hebrews to leave Egypt by a certain hour one night, messengers were sent to tell all the people. If the messengers missed any home those people would not be able to leave on time, but who would be held responsible? The messenger. Throughout posterity, that messenger who failed to tell a particular person to leave at such a moment would be accountable for his fate.

You are in a New Age Exodus. It is possible for you to bring the people in 360 homes out of suffering but if you fail to tell these people to come out of their yoke of misery and into salvation then you as a messenger are responsible. When your legs get sore and you are really tired, you have more chance to shed tears in thinking of God’s own legs hurting for many thousands of years. All of your suffering can be linked to God’s own suffering. That’s why suffering is precious.

Those 360 homes will almost be your resting place. They will be like your reservoir of tears. I want you to know absolutely that New York is the front line. You are like a savior to your 360 families. I am asking you to represent me and go door to door since I cannot go myself to each of those people. You have so much to talk about and so much to tell them. The media has spread all kinds of misunderstandings about me, particularly in New York City, so you have much to straighten out. You are not the only ones assigned to your particular area; God has assigned spiritual assistance there also. You have spiritual counterparts working together with you. Without fulfilling your responsibility, how can you come back and lie down and sleep at night? America is lying dead and the world is going downhill. You young people of America who have learned the truth, how

can you be so complacent? How can you say that you are members of the Unification Church and that you are the sons and daughters of God? God is not resting . You must repent today.

When your head gets tired, accuse your own head, “You have been working for Satan for so long and now for the first time you are exerting yourself for the sake of God!” That’s the determination to have. Go out today with the same feeling with which Jesus Christ prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. It was a most serious, heart-rending prayer that Jesus offered. From today on you are going to pray in the same seriousness for your 360 homes. You may falter at some point but because of your prayer those 360 homes will have a chance to see salvation.

If I were in your position and hadn’t fulfilled my responsibility to those 360 homes I couldn’t possibly lift up my face or eat and sleep. Have you done well or poorly? How can you lift up your face in the sight of God? Don’t you feel these words as reality? Why should you feel repentant? By living like that you are becoming the possessors of the love of God which is big enough to share with 360 homes and more. You are becoming the hosts of the love of God and that shall bring resurrection to your 360 homes. People accuse you but that’s all right. Let them persecute you. Persecution is your blessing in a way.

Somehow the Divine Principle message came to you first and you felt that you were a new person with new life. There are so many better qualified’ capable people out there who are waiting to have that message touch them. All you have to do is meet them with the truth. Without doing it, how can you say you want to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven? When you go to college you have to pass examinations before getting your diploma and the same thing is true in the Unification Church. New York is the front line and unless we can fulfill right here, whom do you think will do it? The entire world is upon your shoulders. The words you hear on Sunday mornings at Belvedere will be a curse instead of a blessing if you don’t live them.

This is not a joke at all . Did we make the Divine Principle tapes because we have lots of money? No, we had to borrow the money and we did it under great strain . In order to succeed right here I mobilized all the energy of the Unification Church elsewhere. In doing that I hoped for only one thing: that you should become exemplary and I could show you to the world and say’ “Look what New York did.”

### You must use the blessings you have been given

You American people know the truth and have been given the opportunity and materials to do the job but you haven’t used your blessings. If God had poured this much effort into Africa the whole continent might have been turned around by now. All kinds of miracles can happen right now if you lay the foundation. If you had laid the foundation of tears, the people in your 360 homes would be embracing you and saying that they hadn’t understood before what you were doing. If your responsibility had been fulfilled then the adversaries of our Church and the negative parents would have already started to learn the truth about what we are doing. Will you do the job or not? Even if you must give up eating and sleeping? Which is more precious for your life? You must make up for the failures of the past by keeping this high standard in the future.

Once again you have heard that we must do it with tears. I have trusted you but now you are shaking my confidence. Get up early in the morning to pray because you are the messiah to 360 homes. You must pray for those people and have mercy upon them in tears. You can become a close friend to them and if they have a problem they can come to you for help. Then New York shall become our home and be dominated by the truth and love of God and He can work a tremendous dispensation through this system. New York is the worst type of evil city but that is why we made the front line right here. If we can overcome this city and turn it around the impact will be gigantic. Your shoes may wear out and your clothes be worn and soaked with sweat; your eyes will be swollen with tears as you travel about but if you are to save this city you must be single-minded and not think about anything else. Before you eat and before you sleep, think about the mission. The News World will be a very important medium for you to contact the people. That’s why I asked you to sell the paper.

We will make a new beginning this morning. At least you know exactly what you are to do. How can you say it doesn’t work without even trying? The Unification Church itself will receive God’s judgment and punishment if New York perishes. We must tearfully go forward to fulfill the mission. God has been shedding tears and now you are participating in this glorious task of God and the True Parents. Become a co-worker with us. This is your greatest blessing. You can come up with all kinds of excuses, that you need a little bit more money or a car, but don’t say it. Actually God is helping us; because Manhattan is such a concentrated city, having a huge population, traveling from one place to another is very simple.

Who of you can say, “In the next three months I am going to do the things I have never done before. I will set a new record”? Once you do that, I know that New York City shall be conquered by God’s love. Do you think that can be done? If you can do it, and you know you can do it, how excited you can be to save America and save the world.

In these three months you will set the pattern for the next three years, until 1980. By then the entire world should come under the dominion of God. The destiny of the world is upon our shoulders. If we do this the world shall be revived. If we fail then the world will crumble. From God’s standpoint in the dispensation, this is the front line. All the leaders should be running ahead in the forefront. If doing this means you have a problem with your family, then could you give up that family? That family will not receive any benefit by hampering you in this mission. Totally free yourself from those hindrances. The life of New York is determined by your own actions.

You can see that 8th Avenue is the avenue of prostitution in New York City. We should do more than they do, working day and night for the sake of God. I would like to have all the Unification Church women clean up the area. Men exploit those women and victimize them. You may even learn karate or tae kwon do and even knock those men out. There a lot of things to do. Ultimately we would like to have the cooperation of New Yorkers. You know my true intention and desire. This is so serious that you should forget eating and sleeping to attend to the mission. That is my criterion.

We are going to sow the love of God with tears and by doing that New York and America will prosper and survive. Who is going to take up the responsibility? God alone? Myself alone? You are in a way sorrowful’ miserable people because you are following a sorrowful, miserable God and a sorrowful, miserable teacher. You are in good company, however.

The consequences of your failure will be catastrophic because the destiny of the world hinges upon it. I want you to know that in history no one has seen such a movement. Years ago we talked about a new age but when we launch an offensive there shall be a response to it. Today is a new day; repentance and a new record are coming. Those who pledge once again that this is the beginning of a new three years, raise your hands please.

### My plans for the worldwide IOWC

If we have enough core members in 1978 I will organize a global IOWC of 10,000 members. In order to transport them all we will need 30 jumbo jets. If landing each plane takes 10 minutes it would still take about five hours to accommodate all our jets , and just our coming to land will be a sensational event When the 700 member IOWC global team was in Korea we were able to bring 1.2 million people to the rally at Yoido Island. Think of how many millions of people could be awakened by 15 times those 700 members! Each country will compete to have the IOWC come to their own country because of the great benefit they will bring. When we move on the international IOWC level I really want to see each one of us going as an ambassador of God.

The young people of the world will want to join and be ambassadors of God. There will be worldwide clamor to join the IOWC. Applications will come from all the different continents and we will have to select the cream of the crop, organizing a brilliant performing arts program. When our movement is known to the world as a Peace Corps in the truest sense, it will be America’s pride. If 10,000 American citizens went together to Germany the United States Ambassador there would have to take an interest. The German Foreign Minister and the U.S. Ambassador would want to discuss on the national level how to best help our IOWC, right?

Having an impact in one nation will open up many doors around the world, and the time will come soon when nations will compete for a visit by our IOWC. Your IOWC I.D. card will become very prestigious. I would also like to have uniforms designed and have IOWC members known by the uniforms they wear. We will be known to the world truly as defenders of peace.

I can see that this will start to happen from June, 1979 on. You must revolutionize your thinking. All the airlines of the world will be competing among themselves to become our special chartered airline. The world will have to be interested in knowing about Reverend Moon and the Unification Church because we will be too big to overlook. Only one group will be really troubled: the communists. Already they know something is happening and they don’t know how to stop it. We will even volunteer to go to a communist country and if they don’t want us to preach the gospel, that’s all right. We have many other things we can do; we can help a humanitarian cause or solve a scientific problem or be cultural emissaries. If they still reject us then they will be very unpopular in world opinion. I am a Korean citizen here on earth, but you are Americans and with an American passport one is able to go easily to many countries throughout the world. You could fly even to Moscow and nobody would stop you.

This is what the Unification Church will be in just four years. Think about it. You are being persecuted on the streets of New York and while this period is necessary we want to get beyond it. Shall we do it? We can mobilize people outside the Unification Church to form an IOWC but they will need to take a test; perhaps they can choose whether it will be about English, history and so forth, but the Divine Principle will be a required topic. They will devote themselves to studying every page of the Divine Principle because they will see that the Unification Church is the means for jumping into worldwide activities. If they see some hope and vision then they will be glad to help. We have our own companies, cultural groups and seminary and once people see that we are succeeding they will want to become a part of it all. Thinking people will recognize that doing this work is the quickest way to worldwide leadership. Do you have regrets about being a member of the Unification Church? The seminary graduates in particular may feel that they wasted two years. No matter what you do outside and no matter how brilliant you are, you cannot compete with God. You must see that you will all become successful upon this foundation.

It may be easy for you to imagine all this now, but 10 or 20 years ago many people followed me without seeing any result. They just trusted me absolutely. Shall we give our every effort to achieve this goal? If you are really smart you will be excited about this, so much that even at night you are wide awake thinking about it. Some people have endured even 30 years in prison for their faith, but I am asking you to give yourself up for three years just out of your desire. Is it worth doing? Will you handsome men give up three years? How about the ugly men, can you do it too? If you think you are ugly then you should throw yourself even more into the front line work as revenge for your handicap.

What will we gain by doing so? America will live. God will live. I will be liberated too. When the whole world is totally free my concern will be how to make you the happiest bunch of people. We have to liberate Mother too. Mother is trying to keep up with me but it’s very difficult. Yet still she has one secret to make me surrender and slow down. When I want her to go even further she says, “You don’t understand women who have given birth to 10 children. Do you really know how difficult it is to give birth to even one child?,, Then I say, “Yes, I have never given birth to even one child. You must be right, I surrender.”

### I want to preserve America’s blessing

We are not talking about a dream or empty words; our vision is a realistic one and it is within our reach. I came as one individual and shook up this country and even New York is too small for you if your determination is as big as mine. Today is October 16. October is the month of liberation; on October 14 I was liberated from prison and October 4 is a day of heavenly liberation. We have a historic task weighing upon our shoulders.

So far you mostly notice the people who work less than you do, but don’t concentrate on them. Look at the fast runners in our movement and figure out how to run one step faster. That’s a cure-all for your own problems. Don’t worry about who will be your husband or wife. If you are really doing your best then the best possible mate is waiting for you. By doing this one thing all other things shall be solved.

Why do I want you to run forward and accomplish this task? Because I want to be able to say that the American people did it so that God can preserve the same blessing America has had for the last 200 years. I would like to see the American people so zealous and strong with inspiration and actual accomplishment that they will tell the European and Japanese members of our Church that they can return to help their own countries. That’s the way America will save face in the sight of God and the world. If America doesn’t do it then I will assemble the world membership to do it, but I would most like to have it done by Americans. We will see what happens in 1978.

The restoration of the world is there waiting to be finished. It is not that difficult now and it can be done. I would like to have everything accomplished by the time you become 30 or 40. It depends upon your own efforts. When you first started your door-to-door campaign you felt, “Why should we do this? I don’t think it will do any good,,, but now you realize more and more how important that campaign is. Our purpose is to educate the leadership of America, raising up God-centered people to become national leaders. Even if you wake up suddenly in the night you know where you are and what you should do. Have you ever had the experience of suddenly waking up at 3:00 a.m. and automatically springing up to go out to do your mission? If you become that kind of person then the entire spirit world will come with you. When people in the spirit world are mobilized they will worry about what you eat and wear. Your ancestors will come and alert certain people in advance that a young person will come to their house and that they should prepare a nice hot lunch or breakfast for him.

I have experienced this myself many times and if you live the same way I did, that same experience will happen to you. If that only happens to me then there is no hope for the restoration of the whole world, but that same principle works through you. That’s why even if I die you can continue on because the same principle will work in your life. If you work just like I do then spirit world has to come down.

Those who are not members of the Unification Church do not know what we mean by this. This is not a threat or a menace, but is actually the truth . Your earthly life is very short but when you live your life like that here on earth then when you go to the spirit world there will be a red carpet rolled out and a royal welcome waiting for you. The shrewdest businessman could never find any better deal than this one. So far you have only seen a small vision for yourself through your own eyes, but when you see through God’s eyes you take in the entire universe.

The Unification Church has a wonderful gospel and opportunity for black people’ who historically have been oppressed by white people. Since God does not see color this is your opportunity to lead America. No question about it. The oppressed people actually have a better chance to be accepted in the sight of God because they are always in a better environment to see God and cry God’s tears. The person who normally does not cry for a foreign country only sheds tears once his country is lost. That is not necessarily bad, but if you can cry not only for your own country but for God, then you are automatically linked to Him.

If America abandons Korea, Korea’s situation will not necessarily be hopeless. There is another kind of force that will come around to support the country of Korea. The free Asian peoples know they have to support Korea to ensure their own survival. Actually the destiny of the entire free world hinges upon that nation. Anyone who is sincerely concerned about a communist takeover must logically rally to the side of South Korea. God strategically positioned Korea and that country is very close to His heart. When anyone is really utilized as a tool for a higher purpose he is blessed because he is in a position to exercise a great deal of influence. The important thing is: make yourself a needed tool of God.

If you realize that if the Unification Church fails the world has no hope, that if the Unification Church fails God has no hope and you shed tears with that heart, then you will be brought right to the heart of God. We actually live the truth instead of just talking about it. Once we actualize the truth our victory will be worldwide. The more difficult the dimension and scale of your task, the more love and glory of God you can deserve.

Don’t think that someone who is running and working very hard is foolish. Think instead, “That person is depriving me of greater blessing. I cannot let all the blessing go to that person. I should run faster.” The wisest person runs for 24 hours a day without resting because that way no one can compete with or conquer him. Therefore, I have adopted the policy that I will run on a 24 hour basis. I am not dumb. In pursuing God’s love I am asking for the most precious thing in the world, and by going after me you will reach the same goal. Do you know what attracts people to me? I make myself very attractive by crying more, working harder and going after suffering more than anyone. I am not handsome yet people like you are drawn to me. Washington Monument is a very good example. The American people never believed that I would ever succeed, but once they saw that I meant business and that people came and actually listened to me, they changed their attitude.

I want you to be miserable for the sake of God. When you cry out all the time you may look pitiful and everyone may say you are a poor, foolish Moonie, but they won’t realize that 10 years from now you will become a hero in their country. Do you see that this is the case? Is it wrong? Are you going to make the 10,000 man IOWC possible? Let us promise that to God.

I want you to know that glory will come in a tearful way and in tears you will meet God. You will truly be united with God and He will never leave you. His love will stay with you forever. Today let us return to tears. Please repeat after me, “Let us return to tears. In tears we see the love of God.” God bless you. Let us pray.

## CORE OF UNIFICATION

By Fami1yfed June 13, 2018 June 13, 2018 Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977

## REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

### October 9, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator – Bo Hi Pak

When you analyze the basic principles of God’s method for restoration, you can see that the Unification Church is absolutely necessary for God’s dispensation. If there were no philosophy of unification we would have to conclude that there is no God. The Unification Church emerged to fulfill that goal of unification and we are proof that God exists. God wants to manifest His love through our movement. How can we manifest the love of God? What is the central point where that love can be manifested? Is it the world or a nation like America or Korea? True parents are a fulfillment on one level, but where should the most fundamental center of God’s love be?

Certainly God would dwell with an individual who has no contradiction between his mind and body, but what is the possibility that the mind and body can become one, and when and where will that happen? If man had not fallen then no contradiction would exist; man must return to that state of sinlessness before the fall and liquidate all the contradictions within himself.

If the mind and body can welcome each other and try to move toward each other then they can be in harmony, but if they move in opposite directions then they cannot have unity. Imagine the body trying to go in the same direction as the mind and even overtake it. That would be the most desirable situation.

lf God is all powerful, why doesn’t He make the body go ahead of the mind? I have experienced the harshest life in a prison labor camp and I found that actually the greatest suffering is not found in prison but in the conflict between mind and body. Sinful man always regrets the consequences of his body struggling against his mind.

I ultimately came to the conclusion that my enemy is not the world or even the communists but my own body. Your worst enemy is your body. Do you believe it? I established one very firm principle for myself, that I must conquer myself before having dominion over anything else. Each of you is also committed to a ruthless battle of subjugating your own body. Your job is to have your body surrender to your mind and then bring it in the same direction. That is why a religious life is the pursuit of conquering your body.

If you have not conquered your own body then you haven’t reached the standard yet. Religion teaches the importance of a life of penance; when your body wants to rest then you should wake up and pray. Your body wants to eat delicious meals but religion teaches the value of fasting. What the body wants the mind rejects.

What is gained by living that way? By giving up your body you can receive the entire universe, so it’s a very good deal in a way. By giving up a little bit of your flesh you can gain the entire universe. This is absolutely true.

Why is it that you cannot feel the love of God all the time? Your body is the barrier preventing the love of God from reaching you. God’s love is shining forth but your body is blocking it, so by sacrificing your body and liquidating the barrier the shining love of God can freely reach you. Once this happens nothing will be in your way and the total unity between God and man and mind and body can become a living reality. Once you can receive God’s love, God will certainly dwell with you. God needs true love and cannot leave it once He has found it. Do you really understand this now?

What you ultimately need the most is the love of God. Do you know how beautiful and how powerful the love of God is? In this world men and women have romances and say they could die for love of each other, but suppose they were to fall in love with God first. That’s the key. I searched and found how that love of God can be reached. I not only found the answer but have experienced how the love of God can reach man. With the love of God the mind and body can unite in total oneness.

The love of God needs an object in order to be manifest and man is that object. When will this become reality? Religions have been teaching that the end of the world will occur when one central figure comes, or in Christian terms the Lord of the Second Advent. The love of God will be seen where the Messiah and his bride meet for the heavenly wedding ceremony. Is that place a horrible scene of judgment or a scene of cosmic spring and the fulfillment of love? God works logically and through your own mind you know that the first heavenly family will bring the cosmic spring.

### How much do you need a Messiah?

Who is the Messiah? In what capacity is he coming? It is incredibly difficult to conquer the barrier and bring your separated mind and body into oneness so the Messiah comes as a model or example of how to go directly to God. He is not only a prototype of a true individual, but also of how to form a heavenly family. Eventually the Messiah will establish a tribe, nation and world which can be approved by heaven.

The Messiah sets the standard of perfection from the individual all the way up to the cosmic levels. In addition, the Messiah lifts himself above satanic accusation. As he starts his journey from the very bottom of hell straight up to God, Satan cannot accuse or destroy him.

The Messiah lays the highway from the highest possible heaven all the way down to the bottom of hell so that anyone who finds the highway can go directly to that goal. It is impossible for anyone else to lay that highway from the bottom of hell all the way up to the love of God. It could take you millions of years and still you would not get there.

The Messiah comes with shoulders so broad that the entire world can hang onto him and go the entire journey. If a trivial little fly hangs onto the tail of a galloping white horse, when the horse reaches the kingdom that little fly reaches the kingdom at the same time. God devised that method because He knows that everyone needs some help. No one is capable of coming to God all by themselves so throughout history God promised to send the ultimate one who will come to lead mankind into salvation. This is all within logic and reason. Is it convincing to you? Do you need a Messiah? What about everyone else in the world?

How much do you need a Messiah? As much as you need your own wife or husband? As much as your family, parents or country? This world is waiting for the ultimate one who can boldly announce, ”You must love me most of all.,, Only one man has ever done that and his name is Jesus Christ. Without having the authority to proclaim those words Jesus could not have been the Messiah.

Jesus also claimed to be the only begotten son of God, meaning that he was the recipient of the first love of God and the only one who could disseminate it to the world. Did Jesus have the qualification to be the Messiah if he were the only begotten son of God? In addition to all this Jesus called himself the bridegroom and mankind his bride. As the true son of God, Jesus intended to meet his bride and create the first heavenly family on earth.

### The Messiah will first reconcile the body and mind

The kingdom is seen first in the family’ not in the nation or the world. The family is the building block and it starts with a husband and wife. Our strong point is that we teach the ideal of the heavenly four positions: God, man and woman and heavenly children. This is the completion of God’s ideal’ the completion of the circuit for the expression of His love. By organizing this heavenly four units we create our relationship with the love of God. The heavenly four positions are the completion of the ideal of creation, meaning that there the perfection of love can be consummated. Once that is formed the expansion of the heavenly kingdom is only a matter of time. All that has to be done is to duplicate and expand these four positions.

When the Lord of the Second Advent comes what will he do? What is the mission and responsibility of the second Messiah? Jesus Christ came to realize that ideal but it was not physically consume mated in his own time. Will that mission be left undone a second time? Is it the Messiah’s mission to give food to the hungry? No, it is to reconcile your body and mind and ignite you with the fire of God’s love. That’s the job of the Messiah. If he can ignite the love of God in your heart so that your body and mind can become one then he has done his job. If he cannot do that then building the Kingdom of Heaven is impossible. The Messiah will reconcile the body and mind and liquidate all the contradictory elements by subjugating the body. After the mind and body are united you can follow his pattern and create a family’ tribe’ nation and world and ultimately the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. If that is indeed possible’ the world will see salvation. If God is really God and if His love is really burning then that must all take place here on earth.

What else does God really need from man? God has lots of love within Himself so why should He need more? Is He greedy? I am a man so I have love in my heart and in my body, but can I say that I don’t need any more love, that I have enough love to be happy? It is a profound truth that love will never become real love until it finds an object.

If we are like that then what about God? Does that principle work the same with God as with us? No matter how almighty God might be’ His prodigious love will never be activated until He finds an object for give and take. An object ignites love. Who can be the object of God’s love? A monkey? Is anything else besides man qualified or entitled to be an object of God? Since God is universal should He love just a trivial chunk of flesh, or is He longing to deal with the universal kind of mind? Is the mind or body God’s real object?

Your mind is so big that you can even trap God inside. Your mind always feels that it can swallow the entire world, right? We each have the qualification to be an object of God because we each have a mind so big that God can certainly deal with it. When God loves you will He exclaim at how dirty you are after living in the satanic world and then push you aside? Or will God fervently embrace you and burn away your iniquities in trying to give you total love? Is God’s love conditional and partial or total and unreserved?

When the total love of God reaches you, your every cell will be filled and you won’t want anything further. You will feel totally intoxicated in that state and want its goodness to never end. That is the real world in which we are to live and all of you are supposed to become hosts of that love. Don’t you want to sample that world now? I came to lead you into that world, but how do you know that I am not a swindler? Perhaps I am deluding you with this beautiful idea, trying to enslave you for my own purposes.

How do you know this is not so? Your answer could be simply that it doesn’t really matter whether I am a swindler because no better solution has been offered. I am like the plus pole and I am trying to ignite this cold and sleepy world as a minus. Plus and

minus should instantly spark when they are connected, but this world has become so numb that all conductivity has been lost. It is taking a lot of effort on my part to wake you up so that the spark will jump between us.

If what I am saying is the truth then there is no other way you can be. What we are demonstrating here is a tremendous power that has never been seen in history. In being here you are really denying your body and in a way denying your family. You don’t care what your family says or what society says; you have just given yourself up but without this great energy and power flowing between us you would not do it. You would not do it unless there was a great hope burning in your hearts. Isn’t that true?

A peculiar situation is emerging, with parents trying to kidnap their own children. Never in history has this happened. Sometimes parents feel that they were successful because they brought their children home, but those children are not really with their parents because their minds are not there. As soon as they can they come right back here. Think of the spiritual power and energy which could inspire that.

Once you experience the spring, you cannot long for the winter. Because the cosmic spring is dawning and the central point of it is the Unification Church, you cannot help but want to be part of it. The greatest event of all is happening right here in this place. Do you want to commit yourself to be part of it? Why? The love of God is our ultimate goal, the love which is powerful enough to encompass the past, present and future. Everything you can think of comes within the love of God. When you can possess God’s love you can possess the entire universe.

### How can we be so certain that God is good?

We can partake of the world with our five senses, and this is true in the spirit world as well. We are pursuing the world of goodness, trying to see good things, hear good things, and say good things. We are trying to leave the world of evil behind and completely live in the world of goodness. It is very true that the external world is divided into two worlds and we can witness one world of goodness and one world of evil side by side. That same phenomenon exists internally in the division between mind and body.

If man was originally created in this state of conflict then God must be an imperfect and evil God. People who are only looking at the reality of the world can easily come to the conclusion that no such thing as God exists, but if there is no God of goodness then the beautiful things we have been talking about are all meaningless.

Considering man’s imperfect and sinful state today, it is only academic to discuss how he can advance to the state of perfection and absolute goodness because it is virtually impossible. No such thing could come about. If there is no God then talking about the ideal world of love and unification is meaningless. There is no substance to it if there is no God. Even knowing this, however, our minds are ceaselessly pursuing the higher state of perfection, beauty and the ideal.

We cannot deny that our minds are searching after eternal value or eternal and permanent existence. The discussions of philosophers and religious people throughout history have focused upon the best method of fulfilling man’s innate desire for perfection.

Many philosophers started out studying perfection, trying to anticipate what the ideal world would be like. As a result, philosophers like Hegel came up with the dialectical theory. Basically this theory outlines how everything advances to a higher state through conflict and struggle with something else. That is fiction. It is impossible for two opposing sides to unite together and create the ideal. It is logically impossible to achieve the ideal state by the method of struggle and confrontation.

Even if we must create a substitute, man-made God, we definitely cannot find any kind of solution for this world without a God of goodness. Again, for expediency, let’s say we come up with a man-made God. If the God that we create is not a true one then certainly it will be impossible to reach the ultimate destination of perfection. We can finally conclude that there must be God because without Him nothing makes sense. If there is a real, true God then we can devise the right solution.

Now you know why philosophers have desperately searched to understand this one God. Religious people have also been searching after God, making all kinds of sacrifices for the purpose of finding Him, but they too have come to a point where they cannot be sure. Everything is hazy at the moment.

Let us think in another direction. Is it only man who needs God or does God need man also? If God does not need man then we should give up our search because we will never meet that God. Only through the mutual efforts of God and man can we hope to meet God. If God couldn’t care less about man then there is no hope, but in reality God also needs man. This is another important truth.

### The situation of both God and man is tragic
because their common purpose
has not been fulfilled

What kind of God is He, and why does He approach man? We definitely need God and God definitely needs man so there must be a common goal or purpose where we can meet; otherwise there would be no union. The question of God’s existence is one thing, but more important is knowing the purpose of the relationship between God and man. We use money and knowledge and experience to survive and improve our situation, but do you think God needs those things from man? No. There must be some common purpose for which God needs man and man needs God, but somehow this common purpose has not been fulfilled. That is why mankind’s situation and God’s situation are both tragic.

We cannot deny that there is a conflict between man’s body and mind which reveals that there must be something wrong in men’s hearts. Where can a remedy be found? What is that common goal between God and man through which we can solve this question? Originally there must have been a common dwelling place for man and God but somehow man has separated himself from it and lost his connection with God in the process.

Concluding that there is a perfect God and realizing the imperfect state of man today we must come to one logical conclusion: Man is the one who is out of order, not God. Man deviated from his original state and is thus prevented from reaching perfection.

This is how we can reconcile the perfection of God with the imperfection of man. This knowledge of the fall of man is very precious because not only can we realize the existence and perfection of God, but at the same time we can explain the imperfection and contradiction of man. The struggles you experience because of contradictions within yourselves are a result of the fall , yet at the same time God lives in a different state, the perfected state. We can logically justify the existence of perfected God and sinful man by knowing about the fall of man. It was from that point that two worlds came into being instead of one.

With this concept of the fall we can readily understand how there could be both a world of goodness and a world of evil struggling with each other. The world of goodness is governed by God and the world of evil is the result of the fall. We cannot accept the premise of atheists that there is no God due to the imperfection of man. We know the Principle. After knowing this we can recognize how the God of perfection has been making efforts throughout history to restore the corrupted world into goodness. Religion is one evidence of the effort of God.

What is the purpose of religion? Simply speaking, religion strives to bring this world closer to God; it is God’s tool to communicate with this imperfect world and raise up good men. What is goodness? Anything that attempts to bring God and man into unity is good. Is hard work goodness or is eloquent speech, fasting or sleeping on nails goodness? People are very much in the dark about the definition of goodness.

Good springs from love. At the bottom line of every religion love can be seen as the source because it is the common purpose shared by God and man. Love is the ultimate goal of God’s search for men of goodness. Man is searching after God for the same reason. Religion has been striving for unity between God and man by stressing the common purpose of love.

### Why should sacrifice be the highest form
of love’s fulfillment?

Christianity has been preaching the love of God for many years and the other prominent religions in

history also have their foundations in love. For example, Buddhism preaches a life of mercy and benevolence, which is actually love. Any legitimate religion has to be based on love.

All religions emphasize self-denial and sacrifice in order to achieve that love. Without exception sacrifice is necessary for you to form an intimate relationship with God. Why should sacrifice be the highest form of love’s fulfillment? There are many, many answers but let us analyze this ourselves.

You have a mind and body, and of the two which one is less evil? The body is a real rascal and doesn’t have any sense of self-giving or humility. We have to ruthlessly subjugate our bodies because in weakening the body there is a greater opportunity for the mind and body to become one. Then the body can listen to the mind.

Meekness, humility and sacrifice are the virtues emphasized by religion and by applying them the body will be forced to unite with the mind. Who is actually pursuing such a goal through religion, man or God? God has been leading mankind toward that way of life, but God’s effort will be in vain unless man responds to it. A mutual effort is necessary if we are to reach the ultimate goal.

Why do we all need religion in our lives? Without going through the path of religion there is no way to reconcile the mind and body, no hope that some day you will even get close to God. The contradictions in man cannot be resolved without the process of religion. We can say that religion is an absolute necessity for man, not an ornament to pick up on a whim. Religion will be needed until the contradiction within man is completely liquidated and he is united with God in their original common purpose. Then the purpose of religion will be consummated and it will no longer be needed.

All of this brings us to the logical conclusion that religion will not be needed by man for eternity, but will be consummated by the emergence of man in perfection. It is logical that on our journey we start out from the very bottom of the fallen state. The journey will lead us into the ultimate goal of total and perfected union with God.

Do you think man’s best thinking and best efforts could devise the way to finally build the ideal world? That is absolutely impossible. Man’s only alternative today is atheistic communism, which claims the ideal world can be built without God. Because communism has only material things as its objective it has no foundation and will be blown around like a leaf in a storm. That ideology places value only in the material world, but do you think that our bodies are more perfected than our minds? The body is limited by circumstances but the mind does not have limitations. We conclude that this world can find hope only through a search after God in religion, in the faith that some day the union of men and God can be accomplished. As one man I have probably given the most of myself in the search for the answer to this question, the one who suffered most in order to win a probable solution. This is a total concept.

Actually what you and I need most is not God Himself but God’s love. If there is a God then it is inevitable that a new religious movement will come forth which will transcend national and racial barriers, uniting all people together to pursue one common goal: unity with God’s love. Clearly such a religious movement is necessary. The love of God embraces all races equally. God doesn’t express love according to whether you are white, black or yellow. If God’s ideal and love were limited to only one or two races then He would truly be an imperfect God. The ultimate religion must transcend national and racial barriers so from this standpoint let’s analyze existing religions.

### Religions are God’s tools and
they should be universal

True salvation springs from union with the love of God, which manifests everywhere in a fair and justified manner. Which race you belong to makes no difference at all. It cannot be said that the love of God works only in the Western hemisphere; it shines throughout the earth. Any religion which proclaims the segregation of the races is a false religion. A new religion is needed which embraces all men equally. For instance, Jews and Christians should not feel that they are the only people who deserve the love of God. They must feel instead that they are merely servants who must bring the love of God to all humanity.

Do you think God wants the whole world to be Jewish, or should Judaism be simply a tool of God? Do you think that God could limit Himself to the stuffy world of today’s Christianity, or should Christianity become a tool of God? The love of God is supreme and encompasses the highest possible level. Everything is part of it and everything is surrounded by it. The love of God can encompass all human existence.

Religions are only meant to be tools of God and therefore they should be universal and intermingling. Any religion which rejects such principles cannot be called a true religion. Measured by this standard, are all today, s conventional Christians perfected? In their interpretation of the Bible only Christians will be lifted up in the air to meet the Lord when he comes on the day of judgment. Basically they are unconcerned about the rest of the world and believe that everyone else will go to hell. Is that attitude right? If what they believe is the case then God is really a cruel God with an imperfect ideal.

A religion which can clarify God’s intentions is absolutely necessary. A revolutionary concept must come to Christianity and enable it to meet the criteria of perfection that God originally intended. That religion is the Unification Church.

What is the Unification Church supposed to do? First of all, make one world and elevate it into a world of God. Encouraging self-centered individualism is Satan’s final strategy to demolish this world and this nation and we must destroy this satanic concept. What am I trying to contribute to you? You have never really tasted the true love of parents or of husband and wife and brothers and sisters. I am trying to ignite in you spiritually the ecstatic joy of God’s love so that it will not be just a concept to you but be a presence in your daily life.

One phenomenon sets the Unification Church apart. Our members often meet me in dreams or visions and in all kinds of spiritual circumstances. The power of spiritual experience already exists and embraces each one of you every day. Those of you who have such experiences, raise your hands. In the mundane world those things may seem abnormal and certainly they have never been seen in any other religion in the past. Physically I am very far from our missionaries all over the world but I am just as close to them as I am to you. This is a most vivid testimony to the significance of our movement.

I want you to know that tremendous sacrifice has been paid in order to come to this level today. Many nations have collapsed and many millions of people have died for this. Since it comes to you without too much effort you don’t realize its value and you think that this is common everywhere. It certainly is not.

We are a religion of experience and feeling because God is not a conceptual God to us. He is the master of our daily lives. As soon as you come into this atmosphere you immediately become a recipient of new spiritual power and presence, but for people outside our Church it is an unfamiliar and perplexing thing to grasp.

### Are you really thankful to God?

We must be thankful to God every day. Even if the world came against you and your life was abruptly ended, would you still be grateful to God? You can think of Satan as God’s tool in a way, a means of finding out whether your gratitude is real or not. I will never tell you to just be thankful to God and let me take care of Satan for you. Instead I will push you out into the corrupt and evil world. If you are really thankful then my mandate to you is to go liberate the world and come back. You will pass the test by remaining loyal, steadfast and thankful under any circumstances or experience. If you can do that then Satan has no power over you and eventually he must issue you a certificate saying that indeed you are a child of God. As an archangel, Satan must be the one to testify to God whether or not you are God’s child. You have to be superior to Satan to receive that testimony.

It is inevitable that all good religions in history receive persecution. Persecution is almost an indispensable ingredient in growing spiritually. Would you say I have received persecution or not? All of America has gotten up in arms over me. All that opposition is like a wave washing over me, with all kinds of beautiful titles being given to me, like ”brainwasher’, or ‘`demagogue,, and even ”Hitler.,, My response is just to smile at all of this because after

everything is settled, who will be the winner? I am the winner because the truth is our powerful ally. In the San Francisco legal case the lower courts issued conservatorships and the papers all wrote about the brainwashing charges. Then after the higher court examined the entire situation they said that the Unification Church hadn’t done anything wrong and that we had rights which were protected by the United States Constitution. The press did not report this decision too widely but the people who oppose us really received a setback. They will not be foolish enough to try this tactic against us again.

This is the right time for us to really show America who I am and what the Unification Church is all about; we are sending the one-hour ”Reverend Moon in America,, program to television stations in all fifty states and even throughout South America. Now the book written by Dr. Sontag has come out which will tell the world what we are honestly trying to do. When the truth comes out America should have the courage to apologize to me.

Our antagonists will know in their hearts that they were wrong and eventually they will have to respect me for the way in which I dealt with the negativity; I never sought revenge but simply smiled and let God take care of it. That’s how we will win because we are not fighting on their level. Since you too have that knowledge and commitment I willingly push ahead without any hesitation. Having this dignity and strength, there is nothing under the sun we cannot do.

### Do you want to know the secret for
meeting God in your daily life?

In order to reach the love of God in your daily life the most essential thing is knowing how to conquer your body. This was my foremost task in searching for the truth. The body has three fundamental desires. First, the body gets hungry and looks for food. How could I conquer that desire of my body? I had to establish that I love God more than my body loves food when it gets hungry. By doing that yourself you can set a superior standard and demonstrate how your love of God is stronger than your body’s love of food. Jesus also conquered that particular desire and went through a forty-day fast. Many prophets and saints in history emphasized fasting in their life of faith.

Hunger is the worst kind of suffering and if you can forget your desperate hunger in your search after God you have made a very precious statement. Who among you has done a seven-day fast? There are quite a few of you. Think back on your own experience; when the seventh day arrived were you watching the clock for the moment you could eat again, or did you think, ”God, I have tasted hunger now, but I love You more than I love food. I want to go after You instead of going after food.,, Have you prayed in such a way at that moment? Have you been longing for God more than for food? That is the real test and that is the way you should think when you fast. Until I was thirty there was no day that I was not hungry because I deliberately went without food in order to test myself. At that time I was so hungry that if someone was eating nearby my mouth hung open and saliva drooled out even without my being aware of it. When it gets hungry enough, the body just automatically reacts that way. You can’t say you have overcome your body until you have conquered desperate hunger by the power of your love of God.

The second fundamental urge is for sleep. Can you demonstrate that your love of God is stronger than your body’s desire for sleep? The second test is passed when in thinking of God He is so real and relevant that your intense love of God conquers your urgent desire to sleep. Throughout history all the people who seriously searched for God led ascetic lives and always had to fight their desire to sleep. They would do all kinds of things’ even stabbing themselves and cutting their own flesh just to keep awake. Have you ever heard about this? For seven years I never slept more than two hours a day. This morning I arrived at 5 a.m. after traveling all night. My whole life has been training for living like that.

You need the love of God don’t you? You have to win His love and show that your love is more intense than anything else. When you are sleepy, your passionate love of God should be stronger than your craving for sleep. You have experienced feeling ready to collapse from exhaustion, but your love of God must enable you to conquer such moments. It is

most difficult to go beyond the level of hunger and sleepiness for the love of God. Jesus had to conquer all those bodily desires. The Bible said that he fasted for forty days and furthermore, we can well imagine that his life was a struggle both day and night. Jesus asked his closest disciples to stay awake and watch with him while he prayed desperately in the garden of Gethsemane, but what happened to the disciples? They fell asleep. They could not win over sleep and Jesus told them that though their minds were willing their flesh was weak.

This is not some hazy spiritual concept. You must overcome precisely these things in your life. I would not speak this way to you unless I had tested out everything in my own life.

The third desire you must conquer is the urge for physical love. The worst kind of temptation for religious people always comes in the form of sex. When men pray, Satan creeps into their minds in the form of a beautiful woman. Men and women have instinctive sexual desire, but your intense love for God should be stronger than that desire for carnal love. In this respect American young people have a great deal to overcome. The permissiveness in America has left the moral life of Americans looking like a dirty rag.

Now you understand why the major religions throughout history have always emphasized the value of celibacy. Your body is your worst enemy and it has three formidable weapons: the desire for food, the desire for sleep and the desire for physical love. I have fought the same battle that you are engaged in but you have no idea how many tears I have shed to win over these temptations.

### Since no one could overcome the ordeals
I have endured, I found an alternative way

You know we all need the love of God, but how will you pay back your own debts in these three areas? If you spent dozens of years being tortured in prison you still could not repay God. When you were hearing about the beauty and sweetness of God’s love all of you were happy and gay’ but in hearing these things you have hit a stone wall. How will you break through? No one else can pay your debts. For many years I searched tor some alternative way for mankind to reach the ultimate goal without having to go through the ordeals I have endured. No one is capable of passing such impossible tests.

Without a doubt the lives you lived before joining the Unification Church were self-centered. Before you knew about God you were the central point of your lives, right? The quickest way to become qualified citizens of the Kingdom of God is to revolutionize yourselves totally, changing your concept of your purpose of life from selfish happiness to the happiness of God and humanity.

We can turn humanity’s concept of existing here on earth completely upside down. Do you deeply feel that you were not born for yourself but for the sake of God and humanity? If you do not eat food for your own contentment but for the sake of God and humanity then it can be justified. You should think of sleeping as preparation for you to do even more for God’s work the next day. Taking rest with that attitude cannot be called a sin because it is for the sake of God and humanity. Can you say that your desire to love God and humanity is as great as your desire to have love personally? This is the way your life can be turned totally upside down. Previously you did things to have fun and to become someone of distinction.

When you revolutionize your purpose of life then nothing is for yourself any more. If you have enough food for a good meal then you can think that you will do twice as much as you can when you are hungry. When you have new vitality after resting for a few hours at night then you can say, ”God, let me go out and work.,, Instead of pursuing the old physical gratifications you can use your energy for the sake of God and humanity. That’s the way we live.

That is the only alternative I could find. Otherwise you have no qualification to eat and sleep and love. When you are very hungry and find a good meal but your concept still focuses on God and humanity, your eating is not a sin. That’s the way man was to have lived if there had been no fall. Eating is not a sin in that case, right? Now you know the heavenly alternative and you know how you can be justified in eating, sleeping and loving.

In the world as it is now each person stands in the center as an individual, surrounded by his family,

nation, world and the cosmos. Each person has to break through every barrier which limits himself. This world is the realm of the fall and you must come out of it in order to make another world, not with yourself in the center but with God in the center, surrounded by His own children.

What actually happens in this process? After you conquer yourself you meet another barrier and must form a God-centered family in order to break through. Then you will meet another barrier on the national level and after breaking through on that level you must build another world. As much as you are able to break through in the satanic world is what you are actually building of your own new world. This world is the consequence of the fall so we have to separate ourselves from the ways of this world and create a new world, becoming new people in a new way of life.

You must have been thinking about these things but have you ever solemnly decided that you were going to break through and liberate yourself from this world and its ways? This is exactly what I had to do. My situation is no different. I decided to conquer myself and my surroundings. I had to win on the family level and also in my society and nation of Korea. Now I have reached the barrier of the world and cosmos. The Washington Monument Rally was the spectacular culmination of what I have done spiritually on the worldwide level. That is the way I have progressed through this way of life.

### The degree to which you can invest your utmost
is the degree you can receive God’s love

Our movement has emerged on the worldwide stage. There is always resistance each time we try to break through to a new level because Satan absolutely does not want to see the heavenly world come into being. Of course he wants to prevent that from happening because it means the destruction of his influence and personal dominion. Satan’s world has to come against you so naturally there will be persecution. Even though you are only an individual working on the individual level of restoration, the entire nation and the world will come against you. Nevertheless we must overcome this situation. When the entire world comes against us it gives us a better opportunity to win over the world at one stroke. The harsher the rejection and persecution on the worldwide level the faster our day will come.

Even as a member of the Unification Church you will not actually have to go through exactly what I went through. You don’t have to start from the very bottom. By joining my crusade in its final stage, by overcoming the final barrier together with me you have already won the entire world. You don’t have to go through the whole process. That is your advantage.

Your 5% is to go the road of persecution and you must welcome it. You will be persecuted by all kinds of people on all kinds of levels. You must face and conquer all of peoples, scornful attitudes, but your struggle with persecution is never in vain. We are citizens of a different world. Until you are given the blessing you should have no concept of personal ownership, thinking that you own this or that. Until you reach this state you are even wearing your clothes for the sake of mankind, clothes which belong to mankind and which you have borrowed. After the blessing God will bestow upon you the right of stewardship. You have the wrong idea if you think of having some special savings account for your own enjoyment. Your fund raising is not for the purpose of paying bills for the Church, but for the purpose of restoring your own dominion over creation. You can’t think that you personally deserve some of the money you earn. Compared to the rest of the people you are going to eat less, sleep less and work harder. If you want to give yourself totally then you understand the right attitude.

Are you losing by doing this? No, what you are actually doing is investing yourself to the utmost so that you can receive the love of God to an equal degree. You are gaining something far greater than anyone else can ever imagine and because of that you can be grateful and persevere, no matter what degree of suffering you encounter. Every member must take part in fund raising and witnessing. Unless you walk up the first and second floors you simply cannot go to the third floor. Without going this course you are not entitled to the blessing.

We know this through the Divine Principle.

Because of the fall of man we lost the love of God, love of man and all the things of creation. Man himself became the tool of Satan. That is all the result of the fall of man. We will restore all these one by one. First all things of creation must be restored to God. Then fallen man must become godly man. Finally the love of God can be consummated and man can receive the love of God in blessing. Unless you willingly go this route you can only be seen as a thief who is trying to sneak into the kingdom. You have to submit your ID card as you come into the palace. You cannot sneak over the fence. The road of restoration is the real indemnity. You must go this route and then the love of God will meet you at the stage of perfection.

Do you have confidence that you can be blessed? Have your mind and body become one, totally free from satanic accusation? Are you entitled to have a godly woman as your wife? Whether you are a man or a woman, no one is entitled to say he has done everything and paid everything back. No one is able to say they are perfect and worthy of the blessing. I want you to be humble. God will have mercy upon you when you realize your true situation and then in His love put you together in heavenly matrimony. Only then do you have the right to accept the blessing.

### I know how the love of God feels and
I want you to experience it too

All throughout history people were in darkness with no one to guide the way, but now everything has been made clear. This is a magnificent blessing in itself. Now we not only see clearly the broad daylight, we can live it every day and make our way step by step to this goal. I want you to realize how precious it is that you are sitting right here. Do you feel that?

Do you ever get frustrated and wonder how long you may be selling newspapers, every morning, rain or shine? You may think you have been reduced to being a paper boy in the Unification Church. Many boys make a living delivering papers. You are not doing it for your own survival, however, but for the sake of God and humanity. We should be working harder with the newspapers than anyone who is selling for themselves. Are you working on that level? Have you become desperate for the fulfillment of the mission? You may have a hole in your shoe and wear ragged clothes and you may be drenched with sweat, but even under those circumstances you should be thanking God. Both Satan and God can respect that kind of man.

No word of complaint can be spoken. To come plain is the fastest way to bring yourself down into hell; Satan’s most effective tool is seen in complaints. I have many reasons to complain if I choose to do so. This morning I could have complained to God that He was unreasonable to ask me to speak to you after I traveled all night without resting, but God would insist’ ”You go and speak to them. They would love to see you.” Under those circumstances should I feel justified in speaking only thirty minutes, and only come under those conditions? Complaint has never even entered my mind because I am too busy fulfilling my mission. No matter how long you live this is a short life. I have so much to finish in my short life and every second counts. No one else can do my job and I cannot waste any time.

You are committed to a formidable responsibility. Do you think this all sounds like a big lie, or is it really the truth? Then shall we live it or not? I chose the same route as you say you want to follow and I have come to that goal. Was I destroyed or am I succeeding? Now I have come to the point where I don’t have to worry about my own needs because I know God is concerned about me. God provides food and looks after me. I have seen such things happen.

I know precisely how the love of God feels and I want you to experience it too. Don’t fear death; it is nothing. I gave up my life a long time ago and for the sake of this mission I am ready to go anywhere at any time. I have no attachment to this world. The only reason I want to live a long time is because of my mission. Sometimes I think of what would happen to the work of God and to our movement if I suddenly disappeared, but that is my only real worry.

I want to leave just one tradition when everything is over, that I pursued the love of God and was

a man of the love of God. When you go to spins world that love is the only asset you will have. That’s the only thing you can take with you to the spins world. When you possess the love of God you can do all things, and on behalf of God you can be given ownership of all things. Only in the love of God could it be justified.

### If you can’t get to the goal on your own
then Satan will accuse

I have laid the highway and even created the automobile to drive to the goal, but it is up to you to get the fuel and drive there. You must fulfill your own responsibility because I can’t do everything. Once you get started can you drive just anywhere? You have to follow the highway I have set up, but you do have the freedom to go as fast as you like.

Do you need my supervision or will you do it on your own? If I have to supervise and inspect you then Satan will accuse you of not getting to the goal by yourself. When I was going through my mission I told God to not even supervise me but let me go on my own. You are witnessing and selling the paper without my supervision but can you really do it? I won’t supervise but I will wait and see the results.

If you really know the truth then I’m really not needed here in America. I want to get a walking stick and a big trunk and go all over the world. Do you think I need a little vacation and a chance to enjoy nature? Would you permit me to do that? Now I have done my job and you know precisely what you need to do.

The love of God is yours, not mine, but you must win that love from God. You must mature on your own. Once you receive the blessing and become husband and wife would you want me to supervise you? You don’t need me to help you do your mission either. Until you find that ultimate love you do need me, however, and once you have found that love you are on your own. Then you will pull yourself.

Until you come to that level the secret for you to meet me very intimately is to pursue your mission with a fervent longing for God and the True Parents. When you shed tears for your mission the entire spirit world will surround you and I will appear to you spiritually. You can take advantage of that principle of the universe. If you are longing for me so much that you forget to eat or sleep then our encounter will go beyond any kind of physical sensation. The spirit world will be opened up and you will find yourself there with me.

Adam and Eve were supposed to be the parents of all mankind but that position was lost; once the position of True Parents is restored it should embrace everybody. Therefore, in spirit world everyone logically should become one family under that one title. True Parents should become very intimate to everyone of you yet it doesn’t make any difference how many miles apart we are. You have the secret way to be close to me and I can be with you all the time once our hearts are united.

There can be real unity between you and me when my heart can become your heart. If you want to find out if this is true, just try it out. How can you find such heart? When you are suffering and given persecution and when you are treated most miserably. When your heart is really suffering then you will know the very heart of my own suffering. That’s the way our hearts can be linked and that’s the way you can instantly elevate yourself to a higher level spiritually.

. Do you think someone can be close to me if they go everywhere with me every day? No, the person who is closest to the True Parents is the one who sheds tears for his mission, passionately involving himself every day, regardless of how scornfully he is treated by the world. That person is closest to me in the real sense. You have to go to the bottom of the world to set the condition of victory there and then come back with the record of victory. You youth of America should not violate the heavenly law. Your precious youth should remain pure and clean and always be one of dedication.

Today’s message is Core of Unification. Where is the core of unification? It is found in the love of God. You must be proven victorious in the satanic world by setting the condition of uniting mind and body. Then you will go up to the other stages of family, tribe, nation and world. When you are victorious on all levels you can come to the final and complete union with God and you will find your ultimate home of peace, joy, satisfaction and tranquillity.

It is not easy to be victorious in love but shall we do it? Even though you may not have achieved that goal you know that the possibility of achieving it exists. You each may think of me in different ways but your heart toward the True Parents is the same. Go ahead and rub against each other; your friction will generate the heat which will melt all of you into oneness.

Suffering is a privilege when you are searching after the love of God. You must never think you suffer for my sake; it is all for yourself. How can you complain if you are working for yourself? If you want to complain you must complain about yourself. If you do more than the Unification Church and more than me then you might have the right to complain about a few things. I found out a long time ago that nothing can be gained by complaining so I have never complained, even when God was very cruel to me. I have always been thankful because if God was cruel it was actually a manifestation of His love. God tested me in an extraordinary way, wanting me to pass the test so He could give a special, extraordinary love.

This is the same reason that I push you out to hard work and suffering. You must win over hardship in order to become a recipient of the ultimate love of God. No one can complain about you because you will be entitled to that love.

Sometimes you may feel that your situation ten years ago and ten years from now won’t be any different, but I want you to know that even though physically speaking you may remain on the same level, spiritually speaking you will be living in an entirely new world. That’s our pride and heritage. Whether it is raining or storming outside doesn’t make any difference. You just cannot let yourself relax. You never know when you will die and before you die you must know the love of God. No one can guarantee that you will live a long life. Therefore, you must even live as though today were your final day. When you take a final examination in school what would you do the night before? You would concentrate all night long. You should be even more desperate than that for the heavenly purpose.

You cannot misuse this opportunity. This is an Can you commit yourselves to doing it? Thank you. unmistakable truth and we must take it seriously. Let us pray.