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<h1 class="page-title">Category: <span>Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</span></h1> </header>
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<article id="post-1210" class="post-1210 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h2 class="entry-title">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-ones-who-can-receive-gods-love.html" title="Permalink to THE ONES WHO CAN RECEIVE GOD’S LOVE" rel="bookmark">THE ONES WHO CAN RECEIVE GOD’S LOVE</a>
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</h2>
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<div class="entry-meta">
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:17:52+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-ones-who-can-receive-gods-love.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:17:52+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<div class="entry-content">
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">October 1, 1977<br />
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Pasadena, California<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>Los Angeles is a very lovely city, a wonderland for living, with many things here to attract the attention of young people in particular. California’s intriguing qualities draw people from all over the country and many young people who come to California join the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>Why is California so attractive? You could say the reason is mostly historical, since California has always been a meeting ground between the cultures of the East and West, but the simplest answer is the wonderful weather here. The open spaces and a clear blue sky match the spirit of young people. The state of California radiates a beautifully free and optimistic feeling, with the sun out and smiling back at you all the time. Young people have enthusiasm and hopeful vision, and would like to become as the sun beaming on all the world. They want to freely interact with the whole world.</p>
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<p>A thunder storm is a vivid demonstration of the power of heaven, seeming to reveal an angry god. Lightning and thunder have a fearful, threatening quality that makes the world tremble. No one looks forward to it, but on the other hand, everyone welcomes the sun each morning. The sun shining in the blue and endless sky symbolizes hope, giving out warmth and light. Young people are poetically minded, thinking in dramatic and romantic ways, and when they see the sun in the blue sky shining on a green world their inspiration is stimulated. The singing of birds and the harmony of animals and nature all inspire the feeling that they are involved with the entire universe, echoing its heartbeat.</p>
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<p>I didn’t come to lecture about literature or poetry this morning, but I can’t help it today. I love the weather and the sun. Usually older people are so entangled with worldly affairs that they don’t have time to appreciate the sun and the sky, but I am like you young people, with a mind of admiration and appreciation for nature.</p>
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<p>Usually when people hear my name they associate it with government investigations and think I must be miserable after becoming so controversial. On the contrary, I am the happiest person, enjoying nature and beauty, warmth and love and light. I can understand why young people come to visit here and I love to visit California just like you do. You want to look up at the sky and embrace the beauty of nature, singing out your renewed sense of hope and vision. That’s the way I see myself and this must be the reason why so many young people around the world come to follow me.</p>
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<p>Some of you may think I love California only because I don’t live here; you may be bored to death with blue skies and dry weather and think you like the rainy weather and seasons up north. If that is the case, you don’t know all my different sides.</p>
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<p>I would like to dwell on this thought a little more before I start my main topic. I spent many, many hours at sea this summer. When I went to sea I saw nothing but blue all around-the blue sea, the blue sky and the dark blue of land on the horizon. I speculated about why everything is so blue and who it all resembles. I wondered whether the sea was blue because it was looking at the sky, or the sky was trying to be blue like the sea. Which one carne first?</p>
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<p>I came to the conclusion that because the sky is blue, everything dwelling on the earth wants to be like the sky. The sky, or heaven, is the subject and everything else wants to take after it. When I say this, some Western young ladies should smile broadly because their eyes are blue too, but I don’t see any of you smiling. Your lack of response must mean your poetic or romantic capacity is near zero!</p>
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<p>Anyone with blue eyes can think, “My eyes are blue because the sky is blue; the dwelling place of God is blue.” Everything seems very poetic when you think that your eyes are all blue, but solid eyes would be monotonous. At the center of your eyes are black dots that break up the monotony. How awful it would be to have an eyeball that was nothing but blue with no center. Because that black dot lends depth and mystery, blue eyes never become tiresome to look at.</p>
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<p>I have analyzed the eyes of white people very much. After looking at you once I would never be stimulated to look at you again, but the black dot in the center gives you such mysterious depth and profound feeling that I never get bored. It’s just like the sun which contrasts with the blue sky. The sun shines on all things, giving light, and your eye is the center which can perceive and analyze and understand your surroundings.</p>
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<p>Why am I speaking like this today? Every time you come to a conference you hear basically the same things and afterwards you go back and forget them all, but now at least you’ll remember this new thing-the meaning behind having blue eyes.</p>
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<p>Now I have spoken with you for a short time and the ice is already broken. We have harmonized our hearts and have become one. That shows the beauty and goodness of the word, but at the same time it is fearfully powerful. After years of meeting people I can spot the newcomers when I look around because they are completely stiff and frozen! I gave you a relaxing message at the beginning because when you are at ease you can experience a flow of emotion; you can go up and be inspired and go down and be determined. When you are stiff, nothing can take place! Envision how the ocean waves always move up and down, up and down, and how a big log in the water can be a disturbing factor by interfering with their free flowing motion. In the same way, the free flow of emotion will disappear when you are nervous. Just be natural.</p>
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<h3 align="center">If your roots are deep<br />
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then you will be invincible</h3>
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<p>Let’s go to the main subject now. Some of you have come here with questions on your minds that you really want answered, but please put them aside and get ready to listen.</p>
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<p>Do you like sweetness or bitterness? Most people would prefer sweetness, but if you experience only sweet things then you easily become bored, forgetting and never understanding the sweetness. The person who understands bitterness can truly appreciate sweetness. The truth has both extremes, which harmonize together to compose meaning.</p>
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<p>American young people are not receptive to much besides good things, preferring only to go up and pursue sweetness. They have no balance and don’t understand where they are. Americans forget to be grateful for a full stomach and they take food for granted. Most of you have become totally insensitive to the beauty of having a place to dwell and you never even appreciate having parents. American young people have become nomads who are numb to beauty, numb to sweetness. You need the discipline of suffering.</p>
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<p>If God really loves this nation of America then He must prepare some way to balance your lives. The Unification Church, therefore, has been given a mandate by God to train American young people to appreciate beauty and sweetness by bringing them back to suffering and hard work, back to the taste of labor and sweat. By doing so they can become people of depth and appreciation, people who can understand experiences from one extreme to another.</p>
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<p>Many people come to America trying to find the ideal world but instead they find that everything here is floating because there are no roots. Nothing is settled and unchanging. When a big tree becomes taller and taller it needs deeper and deeper roots underground. When I carne to America I thought that if I could help Americans understand the necessity of roots which grow deeply into the soil, then I could give them the power to help the world.</p>
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<p>Many of my critics think that I have some really good ideas and they accept the ideology of the Unification Church, but at the same time they think that I enslave you young people. They see that I am pushing you in a direction completely opposite to your previous way of life, compelling you to dig your roots deep into the ground. The important thing is not to break, but to drive your roots deep into the ground and firmly secure yourself. If your roots are deep in the soil then you will be invincible. I myself live this life and I will be second to none in pursuing the highest ideals. My goals are the highest and I pursue the highest state of goodness, yet at the same time I am not floating around in the air; I am realistically rooted in the ground, working and sweating to help society. This is my way of life.</p>
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<p>If you are sending your roots down in rocky soil, are you going to have shallow roots with many small branches or are you going to penetrate down deep, like a drill? How much have I suffered in my life? If I revealed the extent of my suffering, every one of you would break down in tears. If you heard the full testimony of my life you could not stay still. But do I seem tired out or helpless, or am I fresh with love and humor and fighting spirit?</p>
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<p>I am the one who has really suffered. The nation of Korea tried to crush me but my deep root was not cut. Later Japan tried, and now America is trying, but this will not bother me. Even the President of the United States left office after just 1½ years of opposition. The world has been trying to uproot me and the Unification Church, but it has failed and now is realizing that this root is giving out leaves and flowers and life. Soon they will find hope in us. Even while America opposed me I have been putting down roots in American society.</p>
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<p>The whole world is trying to force you into changing, but instead of being crushed, send your roots down deeper and deeper. As long as you survive to come back strong then nothing can curtail you. Americans have vehemently opposed me and tried to get me out of the country, but what they have done instead is to make me very famous. No one can deny that I have had impact on American society. The more people try to push me away, the stronger I will become and the more they will be amazed.</p>
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<p>I have been driving during my whole trip around the continental United States but next time I will need a new mode of transportation. Maybe I will buy helicopters and airplanes. Undoubtedly the media will accuse me of using you to buy airplanes for myself but the important thing is the purpose behind it. If there is a genuine need and purpose then it doesn’t matter what the public says.</p>
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<p>The 747s can carry 360 people. If I were going to Europe and 20 people were going with me I would tell the public that anyone who wanted to could fly with me to Europe free. What do you think would happen? There would be a long, long waiting list. What would we do for seven hours on the flight over? There would be a good meal and then we would have good entertainment. Sunburst and the New Hope Singers would perform, one of our films would be shown and a Divine Principle lecture given! The waiting list to accompany us would be so long that if we took everyone it would take ten years to get them all to Europe.</p>
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<p>What I need is a big plane so that more people can come and I will be the pilot myself. Think of what tough competition that would be for the other airlines. Certainly no one else can afford to fly people to Europe for free. The airlines will demonstrate against me, but what about the people who want to go? Do you think this is a good idea? I have decided that we really need to buy a jumbo jet.</p>
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<h3 align="center">You must be able to harmonize your ideas,<br />
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bitter experiences and the suffering ahead</h3>
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<p>I will drive you into the earth like stakes. You may hit rock farther down but still I must drive you in. Will you complain? No? Then the meeting is over now. Let me go. If you are so determined to do everything, then what else would I need to tell you? My power comes from the fact that no matter what I start to do, I just hang on tenaciously until the end. Nothing can stop me, not even the curses and persecution of the whole world. I want to take the worst and the best. Having only the in-between is not good enough for me. If I hang on long enough I will be victorious.</p>
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<p>The task that I face from now on is a rugged one. Are you willing to follow such a leader? To be candid, let me say that following me is not easy. You must be born for your mission because otherwise it’s too difficult. You should pack up quickly and leave if you’re not ready to go all the way because the person who will be merely halfhearted and mediocre is better off not even starting. Why do you persist in following me? Your own parents are trying to crush me and if you weren’t here they would stop. Do you still want to come? Will you totally give yourself up for three years? What if you don’t even get the chance to be married?</p>
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<p>I want to ask a question of the newcomers here who have never seen me before. Have you made up your minds that you are determined to follow with all your heart and soul, no matter what happens? We are going to lead history and to do that we must be capable of enduring any kind of hardship. I am tough and flexible and strong and I can withstand anything; even though I often seem to be at the breaking point I never break. Sometimes people think they have pushed me to the brink but then when they let go I bounce back. On one side I am very human and warm, but then sometimes you see me get a little angry. You haven’t really seen me angry yet, though. When I really stand up to fight then nothing can stop me. I am a born fighter, period.</p>
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<p>I want you to be like me and become real fighters. Would you women like being married to men like me? Could you be wives who would support and follow husbands like that? It is not easy to give encouragement and support to such a man. Mother is very tired after traveling several thousand miles in a car. This morning she asked to stay in the room to say a little prayer for me while I came down to speak, but I told her to come down because everyone would want to see her.</p>
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<p>If you really want to have an ideal husband you must be able to carry burdens and suffering yourself. First become a person of high caliber yourself, because otherwise you are not worthy to marry a man of high caliber.</p>
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<p>Do you think that everything is guaranteed now and that our way will be easier from now on? Now more than ever we need strong determination to give our whole selves and voluntarily take any amount of suffering. There is suffering ahead of such degree that it cannot be described in words but only understood heart to heart. You must go in and out of that level of suffering many times in order to be perfected. Don’t be naive and think only about your ideals. You must be able to harmonize your ideals with the bitter experiences and the incredible suffering that lie ahead. In this way you will become a true man or woman.</p>
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<p>People are drawn to see the awesome power of Niagara Falls more than they are to see the smoothly flowing Amazon or Mississippi Rivers. Niagara Falls is much smaller but people are fascinated by the incredible activity of the water there. God is just the same. He is like a tourist looking down at the earth, seeing many rivers of men which resemble the Amazon or Mississippi, but being drawn to the person who is like Niagara Falls. I don’t want to be like a smooth river. In order to attract God I want my activity and power and gusto to be even greater than Niagara Falls.</p>
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<p>A normal river doesn’t have a Niagara Falls. Should the Unification Church be like other churches? The fact that we are not is the greatness of our Church and the greatness of our challenge. Things happen to us that never happen to other churches, with your own parents even trying to kidnap you and persecution coming on all sides. Do you still want to go ahead under those circumstances? If you do then you will create something even greater than Niagara Falls in the sight of God. In living that way of life you are writing the greatest poem and creating the greatest masterpiece of art. We are becoming the creators of great things.</p>
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<p>Expensive trees are the ones which have developed unusual shapes or symmetry in the course of their rugged lives. The human race can be evaluated according to the same principle. For example, the Korean people have gone through all kinds of suffering and struggle throughout their history and in the sight of God they have something to be appreciated. My own life has been a focal point of such suffering. I am not controversial only in Korea, however; we are seeing the same pattern emerge in Japan and America. People who closely analyze our Church think that it is fragile and insist that it cannot last more than six months, yet we will not only endure but continually prosper. The source of our strength is the secret beauty that gives the Unification Church true value.</p>
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<p>If you never lose sight of your ultimate goal when you are falsely slandered and criticized then that will become your ultimate value. When you do not lose sight of your own king then you are a loyal subject, and when you do not lose sight of God then you are a saint. Outside of such devotion there is no real value and nothing really precious existing in the world. Having such a heart gives us the most precious value we can possess.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Did you ever think that you<br />
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are the bone of this country?</h3>
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<p>If you were asked if you would rather be flesh or bone, what would you answer? Maybe some of the women would want to be flesh in order to be seen and appreciated. A bone is ugly looking and very tough and if it is struck it makes a sound, but thinking people who appreciate value would want to be bone, not flesh. Bone forms the framework, the structure. Bone is like the principle out of which everything starts. Without a frame nothing else can stand.</p>
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<p>What actually makes a man handsome? Bone is subject and flesh is object, yet no one thinks of that essential bone. When people say you are handsome they are noticing your face and body. No one says that your bones are very handsome. American culture centers on the physical things instead of pursuing the foundation or framework of things. The bones of American culture are rotting; its bones of love and morals, of social behavior and ethics are crumbling into dust. However, the “good life” of fleshly gratification will not last long. It is like morning dew and will vanish tomorrow.</p>
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<p>We recently experienced a 24-hour blackout in New York City and the jungle-like turmoil that resulted clearly demonstrated that America is dangerously close to crumbling. Who is going to save New York? No amount of flesh can save New York. Only bone is adequate and we are intent on becoming the bones of society. I am going to create one bone after another and link them to every facet of society, After we have put new bones in American society we are going to create a whole new America.</p>
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<p>Are you becoming solid bone? The life of a bone is very different from the life of the flesh and you must know very clearly what the difference is. You could live a luxurious life on earth for less than a hundred years and be a dictator who can command anything to be done, but in the end your flesh will decay and what will remain? Nothing. In educating people about dais, the Unification Church is fulfilling a most critical role.</p>
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<p>Some of you have been in the Unification Church for many years. Did you ever think that you are the bone of this country, a bone which nothing will tarnish or bend? Have you ever thought that you would be the Rocky Mountains of this country which would stand firm? Have you state leaders ever thought that you are the solid bone of your state’? If a bone becomes soft and rots then everything else will die. Your bones must be tough yet flexible so that they cannot be broken. You must not allow yourself to be broken.</p>
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<p>I did not come to compliment the American culture or to make money. No, I came to train some people to be extensions of the heavenly movement, to put the missing bones into Western culture. The situation of Christianity today is something like a new baby, which after nine months in its mother’s womb is trying to be born, but which is having difficulty in the delivery. It is supposed to come forth as a newborn baby, but who is going to safely deliver it? I have come to make that delivery possible in America. This movement shall take the role of delivering the princes of the New Age in America.</p>
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<h3 align="center">You have truth, but do you have conviction?</h3>
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<p>There is one word that is very critical in our movement: the truth. Everything is true and everything is real. That is why we have True Parents, true sons, true daughters. How do we become different from others? We don’t just react emotionally; when something happens we analyze and appreciate it.</p>
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<p>What I have been teaching you this morning shall remain at the center of your heart, even if you come to think it’s too difficult to follow and you pack up and leave. No one can erase this teaching from your heart because it is true. If you leave the Unification Church and go out to live your own life then still you will teach your children what I have taught you this morning. Even though you may not mention the name of the Unification Church, no one can remove this teaching from you because it is like the bone.</p>
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<p>I have left my footprint in America’s culture and no one can remove it. Modem religious history will be changed by it. My body can be destroyed but I shall live on in your hearts in the form of this teaching and no one can take me away. Do I teach you this way because I want you to follow me? I have told you it is not easy to have roots that can never be pulled up. Are you ready to follow anyway? If you are a tree you must be the root. If you are a man you must be the bone. You must become an essential part of the human being.</p>
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<p>America is a proud country and is trying to prove all over the world that it is the greatest country on earth, but where are its roots? In free sex and the hippie movement? It will all be destroyed by the first hurricane that blows because those things are ephemeral. Thinking people must see that there is no root here in America.</p>
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<p>God has a purpose for this nation but this country is floating now. It is imperative that we send down a strong root into the good earth. That’s the philosophy behind all the work I am doing. Modem people are just floating and have decided to go wherever the wind blows. There is no strong sense of justice and righteousness in this country.</p>
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<p>I have been working for thirty years and during that time many people met me but passed by. All kinds of people may come and go but this one person will never change his course. Every day I keep going. Many people have thought that following me meant losing because I would surely be defeated, but what has happened in the meantime? All those who opposed me in the past in one way or another have become miserable, but I have survived all kinds of storms, I will become even more well-known than now. Looking at me today everyone must concede that I am a successful man and there is no question about the fact that I am having an impact on history. Do you want to become that kind of man and woman? Do you want to become like the bone, or like a tree with deep roots? Who here has determined to become a root so deep that you are inseparably entwined with my roots?</p>
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<p>For the sake of human history this movement is indispensable but the task we face is a difficult one. I must make you into fighters. You should not be people who are resigned to being here or who reluctantly, passively approach your responsibilities. I must transform you into people who just can’t help but live this way of life. You must be born champions, born revolutionaries.</p>
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<p>After the crucifixion of Jesus, Christians suffered for 400 years, demonstrating their devotion even at the cost of their lives, and ultimately Christianity became the bone of the Roman Empire. The remarkable thing is that though they had great power, their understanding of truth was shallow. If those Christians with all their determination had had the enlightenment of our truth, they could have conquered the whole world.</p>
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<p>Let us ask ourselves a question. Today the basic truth of heaven and earth has been revealed. If the Unification Church has determination that surpasses the determination of Christians 2,000 years ago plus having the ultimate truth, then can we become the bone of the world? That is the movement I have ignited. Each one of you must be tough, equipped with both truth and conviction. While I was fishing in Boston my pattern was to get up at 3:30 a.m. and be out at sea by 4:00, not because I wanted to make lots of money in tuna fishing but to show this revolutionary zeal. Americans really hate getting up early in the morning, particularly to go out to sea. I want to conquer something Americans don’t want to do. The sea is the best place to train men and women to be tough.</p>
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<p>When the first class graduated from the Unification Theological Seminary the students thought of themselves as the intellectual elite of the Unification Church, but I told them that they didn’t need any more lofty ideas, that instead they needed to conquer reality, to conquer the deep valleys and dirty ditches. If they can do that, they will be the kind of leaders we need. That is my purpose in sending them out for six months on the MFT.</p>
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<p>I’m sure most of them were flabbergasted at being given such a menial assignment. Those who cannot be successful on the MFT will not be given special missions. Each of them must emerge from the valley and demonstrate Ws capability. I want the Seminary students to conquer the extreme of the high pinnacle where the sweet wind blows as well as the deep valley.</p>
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<p>I am a man for all seasons. I can be the best farmer, or go to a fishing village and be the best fisherman, or at a factory be the best worker. There is nothing I cannot do and there is nothing I hesitate to do. I am at home in any surroundings and will always come out being the best at anything. I want to be a triumphant person in the struggle of living a God-centered way of life and I want you to strive to be triumphant in that way of life also.</p>
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<p>I want you to think of everything in reverse. I see that everyone else’s nose faces downward, but I think of my nose as being upside down and my eyes as seeing backwards. I even train myself in the reverse process of things happening. I want to be a person who receives abuse instead of praise, not for doing evil things but for doing good things. I have trained myself to endure hunger and go without sleep I even forget to eat sometimes. Who said you must sleep eight hours a night? One hour is good enough sometimes, and if you don’t have to sleep that one hour then that is even better. Who said it is abnormal to go three nights without rest and then just sleep a little the third night?</p>
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<p>My body has been tortured to an incredible degree, more than anyone else can imagine. I am almost sixty but people twenty and thirty years old have given up trying to keep up with me. I feel that they avoid being with me sometimes because they are exhausted, but what’s the difference between us? We all have the same kind of physical body. When Mother and I were driving from the East to the West coast Mother was very concerned about my health and would say, “Father, you need a little rest, even in the car. I brought a pillow, so would you lie down and take a little nap?” At such moments I thought about how our trip was an historical event and I didn’t want to leave the record that I just slept while driving. So I threw the pillow aside and told Mother, “No, I want to took after you.”</p>
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<p>I always feel like I’m a marksman on the front line, always aiming at the enemy. I am always intent and take a great interest in everything.</p>
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<p>Do you women here feel that you could keep up with me? I asked Ye Jin whether she would like someone like me who pushed her all the time, or an easygoing husband who would let her sleep and enjoy life a little more. She answered she wanted a husband like me because there would be more excitement to life. I don’t have even one minute of private time because my life is public, but this time I gave instructions that no one should try to keep track of where Mother and I were going. Are you confident that you can be like me? Remember, our struggle is an eternal one. The foundation that you lay today will have eternal value, so it is worthwhile pursuing. I want to make sure whether you really want to follow me or not. If at the moment you are dying you can think that you will never give up, then regardless of what people say about you, you are the greatest.</p>
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<p>So far we have had a pretty good talk, so shall we stop here? What more do you need to hear? You will become the bone of America and the world. What else do you need? You should answer that since you will become the bone you need the flesh, right?</p>
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<h3 align="center">I want you to reap a wealth<br />
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of experience so you can harmonize the world</h3>
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<p>MFT members, have you been grumbling at me in your hearts or have you been thankful for your mission? Have you been taking an easy course and always goofing off? If I were fund raising I would never settle for reaching a certain minimum goal every day but think about how to get higher and higher goals. I want to work until my arms and legs give up. I don’t want to take the time to sleep lying down but instead sleep and walk at the same time. That’s the kind of life I enjoy. Sometimes at night I go to the bedroom to sleep for a few hours but I only get halfway there, and in the morning I wake up and find I have been sitting in a chair for those few hours. On some days my legs ache and throb with pain, but I just lean against the wall to take a little rest.</p>
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<p>When I have exhausted my physical body, my mind is peaceful and my conscience is clear and I feel the deep love of God flowing through me. Sometimes I just half lie down on the bed, but when I’m half asleep I feel someone come and lift me up onto the bed, even though no one is there. I don’t want to talk about this kind of thing too much because you will think I am superstitious, but I know that there is always spiritual power around to support me and encourage me. One day I was very fatigued and my legs were very sore but as I was walking my legs suddenly felt feather light. That kind of power is always available for you too.</p>
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<p>Since you are going to go to spirit world eventually, do you want to come to the part of spirit world where I will be? I will lay the highway and provide the car for you, but you must do two things: you must learn how to drive the car and provide the gas. Since I cannot do everything, at least that part is your responsibility. You must learn how to drive the entire length and breadth of society without an accident or collision. Everyone is looking at you because you are Unification Church drivers. They must recognize that you really know how to navigate your way through all parts of society. You never know when a collision will occur if you doze, either spiritually or physically.</p>
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<p>I want you to know that in MFT training the money you gather is not the major goal. You are training yourselves to be the people who can be self-sufficient, who can create the gas for your car, so to speak. Once you are trained on the MFT then you have basic training for supporting yourselves and after that you will have witnessing training and learn how to win people. I am looking forward to meeting the ideal people that you will become. When you really fulfill your mission on the MFT and in witnessing, then not only can you be blessed and have a home and a family but you will become the champions who will save the world. If you want to become a citizen of the world then you must raise people of at least ten other nationalities in your own home, making it one family.</p>
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<p>I want to make the world one world and your families will be a focal point of that unification. Because the family will play the major role in bringing together all kinds of nationalities, you should be able to create harmony in your home. You have to be self-sufficient so that you can help other children and educate them in your own home. If the husband goes on some other mission then the wife can carry on that work and if the wife must be gone then the husband can carry on. The Unification home shall always be autonomous. I want you to become the kind of men and women who can maintain your own homes.</p>
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<p>Now when you are young you will visit a great variety of homes and have the precious experience of learning about human beings and human affairs. By associating with many different types of families you can experience many different things which you will then call your own. If you are with a beggar you will be able to relate to him because you have learned what it is to be a beggar. You will treat rich people in certain ways because you understand them. You will understand the working people and the uneducated people because you have associated with them. By going through every kind of experience you can become a harmonizer, bringing people together from every part of life.</p>
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<p>Only someone with a wealth of experience can harmonize the nations, the poor and the rich, the learned and the uneducated. I have experienced all these things so I see into your hearts. I was the number one worker in the communist prison camp. I have worked as a miner and even experienced being a beggar. Why should I do all that? Not to fill my own stomach or receive some kind of glory but to offer my whole life for the sake of God and humanity. My unselfish purpose has been clear from the very beginning.</p>
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<p>The world may come against me and even put me in jail but I am only worried about God and the salvation of humanity. Even under the adverse conditions inside the North Korean prison, working with an impossible kind of people, I never gave up. How much more should I do when I can move freely about, when all the necessary materials are available? How could I rest even a minute?</p>
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<h3 align="center">What is the suffering here in America?</h3>
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<p>Whatever I do I will be second to none. I even have experience in all kinds of sports and I know how to harmonize sports people because I know their world and their psychology. That’s why I was already in action the minute I landed in this unfamiliar country of America. I didn’t start cautiously or pause to learn about this country before taking action. America is called a melting pot and it is said that anyone who stays here five years will be absorbed by America. However, I have not seen America to be a genuine melting pot but instead a nation that is decaying. How could I become a part of that?</p>
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<p>I must make it God’s melting pot instead, and once I grab that mission I will never leave it until I am finished. Thinking Americans predict that if America continues like it is that it will not survive very long. Have you heard your own people predict the decline of America? America was once a respected name all over the world but today Americans are looked at with suspicion in other countries. If this continues, then in ten years Americans will be ashamed to be Americans when they travel overseas. People will want to spit at them. We want to be people who are welcomed wherever we go. Even in the African jungle people should say, “Are you Unification Church members? Welcome! Come with me.” Only if we set up that kind of tradition will America survive.</p>
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<p>I know you fund raisers are going through persecution every day but do not ever think that you must endure just because God needs money. There is a much more important purpose behind what you are doing, which is for you to become a man or woman who is so tempered and polished that you can become a catalyst of world unity, a person who can be self-sufficient in any life.</p>
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<p>When I was teaching in Korea twenty years ago I was pushing the members, telling them to go out and suffer, to fast and work hard. The Korean way of life has always been one of suffering and our members were already tired, but I pushed them even more until they were totally exhausted. Now twenty years later they come to me and say they are grateful for my pushing them so hard in those days.</p>
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<p>The worst suffering can be described as having no shelter, no warmth and no food, but what is the suffering here in America? No one suffers from hunger here or has to worry about where to live or what to wear. This is really heaven as far as physical needs are concerned. You live in the kind of country in which you can actually survive for fifteen days on one day’s earnings. If you earn the minimum wage and work for ten hours then you have $30 in one day. With $30 worth of groceries you can survive for one month. One hamburger can sustain you for one day with no problem. It’s hard to truly suffer in this country.</p>
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<p>You don’t understand that in other countries people are starving. America has many restaurants and tons of food are thrown out every day. You can go to such places and find food to survive on with no problem. Don’t think lightly of hunger; it is the worst kind of suffering.</p>
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<p>How much do you appreciate your clothing? Without adequate clothes a person is miserable but in this land of abundance you have never suffered for lack of clothing, have you? The worst kind of situation you have faced is not having the right kind of clothes for some special event like a wedding. There is no shortage of housing either; often a large house has only one lonely couple living in it. If you were to help them a little bit they would love you and be more than happy to have you stay with them. Many grandfathers in the city are so lonely that when you talk to them for thirty minutes they will ask you to stay with them for a few days. There are literally thousands of people who yearn for someone to stay with them.</p>
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<p>Life in Korea is entirely different. If you have no house then there is absolutely no place to rest, even in a farmer’s barn. What is so difficult about life in America? Many years ago in Korea when members went out pioneering, the Korean economy was so poor that one day of hard work would not buy one day’s food for them. Here bread is nothing special, but over there they could not afford bread to eat so they would crumble what they had into water and drink it. They were always hungry and the young people were so undernourished that their legs would sometimes buckle as they were walking.</p>
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<p>In those days our missionaries were assigned to work in certain cities, and in order to survive they would walk miles outside the city to work and then come back to teach in the evenings. They never had one night’s sleep free from hunger at that time. Many people were taught the Divine Principle back then who never knew how their teacher was suffering. After six months or one year they learned what kind of suffering those people had gone through and they embraced them in tears. From that time on people who were being taught would sometimes bring their lunch to the missionary and themselves go hungry all day at school or work. Our pioneer would eat that lunch for the sake of his mission, thinking, “I am eating this in order to go on. I’ve got to accomplish.”</p>
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<p>Eventually the schoolmates of those young members noticed that they didn’t bring a nice lunch to school any more. In order to not have this reported to their parents, those students would walk around outside at lunch time in order to be inconspicuous, but the news got back to the parents anyway. People would ask, “What happened to your son or daughter since they joined the Unification Church? Why don’t you give them lunch any more?” Can you imagine how shocked the parents were? They asked their children, “What happened to the lunch I gave you?” and the students would have to confess that they gave it to our missionary so that he wouldn’t starve. The parents would not believe their children and became angry at our missionary, accusing him of stealing from their sons and daughters and calling him a bloodsucker.</p>
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<p>There are too many such stories to tell you all of them. Sometimes communities would organize to evict the missionaries and stop them from working. Sometimes our members were severely beaten. Our missionaries were called wolves and accused of coming to steal the lambs, the children of the town. At the same time there was another level of persecution coming from Christians who spread all kinds of dirty rumors and slander about the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>I was leading those suffering missionaries and my heart was aching every day. I told God, “I have only one hope. I want to go on for ten years and then You will be vindicated.” I was determined that we would make the money to buy our own food and I gave all my energy to creating our factory, devoting myself to it 24 hours a day, giving instructions and ideas. In this way I laid the foundation ten years ago while our members were suffering.</p>
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<p>America is really a sanctuary for missionary work. There is persecution here, but how many of our members have been beaten to the point that they have to go to the hospital? The Korean Christian churches created an image of me as a bloodsucker and told parents they must defend their children from me. Then those parents tried to create incredible barriers so that their children wouldn’t join the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>Knowing that this situation existed in Korea, the Japanese members determined that it must be vindicated by their blood and sweat in Japan. Japan is totally different from Korea but they wanted to suffer as much as the Koreans and work as hard as they could, feeling serious about not being indebted to me and to the Korean members. Our Japanese members worked very hard and earned much money, the money that I spend in America for you and for this country. I bring hardly anything to Korea but instead use it all for America. I am looking forward to the day when you will be ignited, the day you will seriously say to me, “Father, we Americans will never fall behind the Japanese or Koreans. You wait and see; we shall never let you down.”</p>
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<p>You should know, however, that even if you make a great deal of money here in America I will never use it back in Korea and Japan. I will spend it for the sake of the world. Just as the Japanese determined that they would never be behind the Koreans in suffering and then gained a tremendous result, I look forward to having you say, “America will never be behind Japan or Korea. America shall be the champion of champions.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">My consuming concern is for unity among the races</h3>
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<p>I would like to see the black members saving their lunch money to help support the white leaders and I would like to see the white members leaving their lunch for their black leader and being scolded for helping a black man. If that kind of historical situation occurred in American schools, America would be revolutionized overnight. Unfortunately, that kind of situation is practically impossible in this wealthy country.</p>
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<p>I am thinking about how to form a spiritual link between black and white so that they cannot be separated by anything. Should the link be as teacher and student or as brother and sister? That problem has been a consuming concern for me, that black and white can truly live as one family, eat as one family and dwell as one family, with no selfish motive.</p>
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<p>Have you ever thought about saving a bit of money every day to feed me with in case I don’t have the right things to eat, and even if I do have enough food, to want the privilege of feeding me anyway? Have you ever thought about buying me clothes or getting a house to welcome me one night? There is only one way you can create that spiritual link and that is to devote yourself to total unity with your leader and to work 24 hours a day without any complaint. By doing this all other things shall be forgiven. In that case our spiritual link will not be broken.</p>
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<p>The important thing is whether you leaders in particular have the kind of conviction to work 24 hours a day, being absolutely crazy about God’s work morning, noon and evening. Are you that dedicated, that single-minded? If you become that kind of leader then you will raise up that kind of follower. Even though I have spoken at some length on this, your faces are blank and you don’t really understand. Why do you follow? Do you have a poignant, painful realization about the situation down to your bones? We must create that kind of profound spiritual link among us.</p>
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<p>I have come to one conclusion: In an atmosphere of persecution you will do your absolute, unselfish best and then you will win unselfish followers and become one with them. It is the only way you can create that important spiritual link. You must feel that you are born for this mission and that you will leave this tradition behind. I went through the five provinces of Korea many times, but I have poured out more soul-searching energy into this country of America. I have traveled this path many times, visiting each state with a heavenly heart.</p>
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<p>When I first came in 1965 1 had no nights of rest because I spent them in the car. I am still willing to go at that pace, but out of concern for Mother I must slow down a little bit, though I still maintain a hectic schedule. I must be sympathetic with Mother because she has had ten children and her energy has been drained. Her body has been absolutely given to God. Sometimes people think Mother must be made of iron but that’s not so. In the Korean custom the wife usually massages her husband, but he never massages his wife. That kind of thing is unheard of in Korea, but sometimes I must ignore that custom and massage Mother’s legs because she is so tired she just can’t go on.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Suffering creates the<br />
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strongest spiritual link among us</h3>
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<p>Our war is fought everywhere, even in the home. How can we overcome the present difficulties and achieve the next goal? Suffering creates the strongest spiritual link among us and without it we have no deep emotion at being together. If we have been pushed down together and have been hungry together and tried to take care of each other, then a deep heart-to-heart relationship can be formed, regardless of whether we are Korean or Japanese or American. The way you can find a heartistic relationship with the True Parents is to accept suffering. There is no other way. Because you follow the True Parents you have been persecuted and kidnapped and deprogrammed, going the same course your leaders have already gone. That faith will forge an unbreakable link between leaders and members and the True Parents.</p>
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<p>When you go through incredible suffering you can pray, “God, You have been suffering more than anyone else. Our True Parents have gone ahead of us to pave the way and they have faced many times more suffering than anything I face, so let me go on. I shall be triumphant and bring glory to You.” If your heart is that willing to give your total self for the sake of God, the True Parents and humanity, then even before you cry out your ancestors and the spirit world will cry out on your behalf. You will become an indispensable person for the spirit world. There is no other way to find a heartistic link with God and with each other.</p>
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<p>What can bind together the spectrum of the world’s races here in America? Certainly knowledge and organization are inadequate for that. Money cannot help and words are cheap. Only one thing can unite you-heart. Unless you feel this sense of unity to the bone, nothing will work. Your stomach, your dwelling place and your sleep are most critical, but you rise above them by loving your town, your mission and this way of life more than you love to eat or sleep.</p>
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<p>How can God set up His world of heart here in America? Think of it. You are used to sleeping eight hours every day and having three meals; you can get anything you need to wear and you can go out and get cheap love anywhere, even for $5. How can God set up the blueprint for His kingdom here in America without instituting some drastic changes?</p>
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<p>You leaders must not become complacent. You dank that if you have a few members, that they can go out and do the witnessing and fund raising and come home and do the cleaning and cooking at the center. If you give orders in that way, you will bring to yourself the worst kind of curse you can receive as a leader! A leader should be crying out at night with more tears than anyone else.</p>
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<p>I am determined to buy up land and houses for your future security, but not now. Eventually I will have all the best schools and homes for you, but until you show that I can call you my children I will not do those things. I will not speak to you until you are qualified to listen, and until then my words will be judgment to you. The people who were with me on the New Hope wished many times that they could sleep a little more and get some better food. Out on the boat they would sneak out to take a little nap, but I want to demonstrate to you the kind of person who is always in the forefront. I am never standing on the sidelines. That standard is exactly what I am asking of you today.</p>
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<p>I am only one man but none of you love this country more than I do. In that respect I am asking you to compete with me. All the buildings I have bought and put to use, like Barrytown, the Manhattan Center, the World Mission Center, are for the American people. I will take nothing away for Korea. My life would be much easier if we didn’t need to buy such buildings.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Anyone who takes my words seriously<br />
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cannot help but become a leader in society</h3>
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<p>You young men and women must truly realize what I am saying and stand up from today on. You must love America and you cannot complain. I am praying for you when you do not know it. The New York winters are cold and windy but I many times go out in such weather to cry out, hiding my tears from Mother. I sometimes feel pity for you because if you hadn’t met me you wouldn’t have to suffer this much. If you were only suffering for my sake then I would be the worst kind of criminal, the worst devil under the sun, but my conscience is absolutely clear that this is the right thing. No matter how much you suffer, it is more than necessary for the sake of this country, your own people, your own relatives and eventually God and humanity.</p>
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<p>If you precisely follow my instructions, then I predict that in ten years we will be so superior in economy and manpower, in prestige and every possible way that we shall easily surpass our opponents. A man who takes my words seriously cannot help but become a leader in society. The women will lead women’s groups and you men will lead your town or society. You cannot help but become number one because nothing is superior to this teaching. Society will have to admire you because your way of life is unselfish and your attitude is humble and your character is correct. How could anyone deny you if you are dedicated and hardworking?</p>
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<p>Your MFT work is not just to pay bills. You are leaving an important tradition behind for everyone who works hard and serves God and humanity. Don’t ever think that you are working for the sake of the Church; the Church is only providing you with training. Those who will ultimately benefit will be humanity and God and that is why I came to work in America. Without reservation I am pouring out every ounce of energy into the mission, using all the money and knowledge I can muster in this showdown in America. I even want to borrow money and become a debtor for the sake of God and humanity. If I died one day and left billions of dollars in debts behind, when people discovered the truth about why I borrowed that money everyone would want to pay off the debts and do still more.</p>
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<p>What kind of leaders are you going to be? If you are going to be with me then you are also going to be liable for my bankruptcy if it comes to that. Would you run away? Or would you say, “Father, never mind. Let me take care of it. My shoulders are big enough to bear this burden. ” If we take up the burden together then we can satisfy our creditors. With whatever money we have we will buy land and build many universities. Our real future lies in our posterity, our own children. We want them to become true God-centered champions, and in order to train them well we need schools and universities.</p>
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<p>Mr. Kamiyama is now responsible for the finances of our Church. All kinds of bills come to him and people complain about how he handles money, but he barely gets rid of one debt when a bigger one comes along. Sometimes he is discouraged and seems to lose heart, but then I tell him that he and I are just guests in this country, that we are going to help the American people to stand on their own feet and to pick up the world. After all, we are not the masters of this country. Let the American people do that. We can leave them the tradition by giving our sweat, our blood and all our energy for the sake of this country. Some day the American people will understand, and even though they do not appreciate anything now, history will understand.</p>
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<h3 align="center">You have been crying, but<br />
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for whom did you shed tears?</h3>
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<p>You have the same nose, two eyes and strong body that I do. You must not be defeated by my standard but do more than I do. I know you are treated in all kinds of abnormal ways, being spit at and cursed, but take this as a privilege. Think of it as a joy and honor that you are beaten, not for your own sake, but for God and His sake.</p>
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<p>Your goal is not me but God. You must become a champion who will move the heart of God and also touch the hearts of mankind. Let me cry out for you because of your deeds. Let the members who have heard about you cry out for you. Then the rest of mankind will indeed cry for you.</p>
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<p>The link of tears should transcend the level of God so that your tears can mix with His. It is then that the world will be moved. I know it is true that when God’s tears are shed for you then you are really a godly man. I am a man of tears. I have shed many tears in the past and I know there are more to shed in the future for the sake of mankind. I am looking for the place where I can shed my tears. I want you to know that if God is moved by your deeds then His blessing and assistance will be with you.</p>
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<p>In prison I never taught one word of Divine Principle but I did things that moved the heart of God and then the spirit world came down on my behalf, preaching the Divine Principle and bringing disciples to me. The people who don’t know this kind of history from their own experience and who don’t know the deep meaning of this path I have gone are not ready to be known as Unification Church members.</p>
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<p>If someone asked me what I would say to my children on my deathbed I would answer, “This is my will, that you children take over my mission for God and humanity. You must know the taste of tears and work with tears. I haven’t accomplished it all. This is my will.”</p>
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<p>Don’t complain or talk about trivial things because there are much more worthwhile things to do. Has God ever made an excuse for Himself?. God never wants to make an excuse; He merely wants to consummate the work of restoration and let the world see it.</p>
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<p>I trust you MFT members and want you to do well. When you are persecuted and mistreated I want you to feel that you are mistreated on behalf of God and Jesus and the True Parents, and that you should bear the beating for your own children in the future. It is a glorious challenge. You can take delight when people curse you for being a Moonie and you can thank God for the opportunity to experience what He has experienced. There is a profound, mysterious kind of joy you can feel which establishes you as a true member.</p>
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<p>I want you to know that there is no way you can come close to me or be a true leader of the Unification Church without going this path of tears and suffering. You have been crying, but for whom did you shed tears? For whom has your tongue spoken? Have you pitied yourself or had some anger you could not contain? Your tears should be for God and humanity and your tongue should be speaking for God and humanity. Then you are truly Unification Church members.</p>
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<p>For whom has your body been living? You have been living for yourself but now you must give your body for something else. There is a way now for God and mankind to live and you should invest your body for that purpose. When you shout it out from a position of struggle, God will answer. Then mankind will respond to you because you have had common experiences; you also are good and bad and you have had success and failure. The destiny of mankind and God is hinged upon whether God and mankind can respond to you.</p>
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<p>This is the third seven-year course. We have now completed almost seventeen out of twenty-one years. Continue until we enter the twentieth year and you will see how much you can withstand of the threats and frustration which should not even have been yours. These are God’s frustrations. You must withstand God’s frustrations and anger and always try to vindicate God, not yourself. I have had to withstand beatings and character assassination for thirty years and I want you to be patient also.</p>
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<p>When my eyes see something awful I tell them to forget it. When my ears hear something ungodly I tell them to forget it. Try not to see or hear those things. You have a heart full of pain but be patient. For the sake of God and humanity you can do it and finally the day will come when you will vindicate God and humanity. We can do far better than to sit and wait for God’s comfort to come down; because we are in a position to consummate our mission, we are going to comfort God. Unless you live this way you really have no right to even pray. If you just pray with your mouth you are a hypocrite, but when you have some deed to show you will have matching words to say. This is the path the Unification Church must take because this is the only shortcut to the heart of God. There is no other way to become close to Him, no magic way to go this route.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The life you are living<br />
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now is my workshop for you</h3>
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<p>A husband and wife should be united heartistically and then they can unite in a common struggle, becoming one body. The Church is not trying to exploit you but is training you through your hard work. What you are doing now in training is what you will be doing for the world for the rest of your life. The life you are living now is my workshop for you, training you to transform the world. After this training you can turn around and do the same thing for the world. ‘Ibis is a privilege because by doing so you are participating in the work and tradition of the True Parents, and above all the work and tradition of God. You are literally inheriting His Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.</p>
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<p>We want to be victorious in love because that is the ultimate victory, nothing else. You may not conquer a nation or conquer the world by force but when you become a victor of love you can conquer and unite the world. Everything else becomes small. Eventually everything will come under this one love.</p>
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<p>Jesus was crucified on the cross and externally speaking he was a failure; however, he dramatically demonstrated his love for humanity by forgiving and loving his own enemies. That deed made him a victor of love. Love conquers all and nothing can displace or overthrow it. Once you occupy this highest pinnacle of love no one can topple you. If you love me then we do not necessarily need to be together physically; when you pursue the same goal and follow the same way of life and tradition then you are actually living together with me. We discuss, live and push forward together in the same way of life.</p>
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<p>When you have a hard day and return to the center in the evening you might say, “God, I had a rough day but I won. I never gave up and I never did a shameful thing. I love You and I want You to be proud of me.” Many times you murmur to yourself, don’t you? When you are driving and talking to yourself you are actually talking to God and when you become more and more involved in this, the living God will actually answer you and say, “My son, I heard you. I understand and am glad that you won the battle. You are indeed my son.” You will actually hear His voice. The key to this relationship is how much of your heartistic energy you pour out to God. There are no technicalities. You know the credo of the Unification Church, to shed tears for earth, sweat for man and blood for heaven. Those are not empty words but living words.</p>
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<p>When the hot weather comes most people try to get away somewhere to be cool, like the seashore, but you Unification Church members simply sweat even more when the hot weather comes. Under those circumstances would you think about how miserable you are, or would you thank God that you sweated for Him that day? One person might curse the heat but the other would thank God.</p>
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<p>Your spiritual growth will eventually become a straight line, just as the existence of God is like a straight line. Often God comes and goes-you experience God and then He disappears and then comes again later-but that indicates that you too must become like a straight line. I am merely one Oriental man, but there is something mysterious about me that makes you want to see me again. When you see me you are awed by some kind of power and at the same time you feel a loving warmth. Sometimes I come to you in dreams to give you guidance. What kind of man am I?</p>
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<p>Tears often come when you think of me and in the next moment you realize you are entirely open to the spirit world. All the important spiritual areas have been blocked because of the fall of man, but when the blockage is removed you can purify yourself in heavenly love. There must be a movement creating such exciting and explosive energy that every individual in the universe can break through that spiritual blockage. The spiritual world and the physical world are actually one, so that the power needed to break down the barriers is really simple; it all depends on one thing: how much more you love God than you love worldly things. How pure and genuine is your love? Ultimately we must become victorious in love, where there is no boundary.</p>
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<p>Who sees me frequently in their dreams? Sometimes you may find yourself crying when you are missing me. If you are out fund raising and all of a sudden you are struck with such love for me that you start crying and missing me, then a few steps ahead of you I will be standing there, even carrying the same kind of fund raising product you have and going ahead of you fund raising. This is happening all over, particularly in Japan. There are many mysterious spiritual things happening to our Japanese members, especially to those selling the marble vases door-to-door. All kinds of spiritual assistance are coming to them and other members themselves are completely flabbergasted at how much money they are earning. The secret is that God comes down and helps them.</p>
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<p>Many times their underwear is so ragged that they would not want it to be seen by their friends, but they have no regrets about it. Day after day they have been shedding the genuine tears I have been speaking of this morning, God’s tears. The agony of mankind is real to them and the tears of God are real to them. Of course they are given money to buy underwear and so forth, but they are thinking about how they can spend this money for the sake of God. Instead of spending it for themselves they want to give it back as an additional contribution. These little things move God. God is infinite but He takes delight in those little things and that’s the way I live too. I want every bit of my life to be that dramatic. Many times in the past God literally cried out for the True Parents because of this attitude.</p>
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<p>I have many hidden secrets known only to God. God knows how easily I break down in tears but I don’t want to act that way in public. I really want to live a deed before I talk about it and then I can teach this way of life with authority. I’m not just a philosopher. There is nowhere else under the sun that you can find someone who is like me. There is no one who can replace me or replace Mother. This position is absolutely precious and irreplaceable and unique. In order to accomplish this position and relationship, a great foundation has been laid at tremendous sacrifice. Many nations have crumbled and many billions of people have suffered to lay the foundation without seeing its glory, You are like the flowers which have seen the ultimate day of blooming, but there are many people who fertilized the seeds who have never seen the flowers’ glory, people who were the trunk, soil and water to lay the foundation: You must always remember and appreciate this.</p>
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<h3 align="center">I want you to take the initiative<br />
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out of your own desire</h3>
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<p>For whom do you work on the MFT? The clearest answer is that you do it for yourselves in order to become people who love God and humanity. Without that you can never have a relationship with the True Parents. No matter how much we say we love God, as long as we do not fulfill our responsibilities towards God and humanity, we have nothing to do with God and humanity. All the work you do is ultimately to make you the kind of person who loves God and humanity so you can have a relationship with True Parents. Each moment on the MFT is absolutely priceless. How can you be tired and to whom can you complain if your labor is for your own benefit?</p>
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<p>I want you to become subject and take the initiative out of your own desire, with no one forcing you to do anything. If you want to push yourself and discipline yourself and really give 100% for God and humanity, you will become God’s pride. I never want to feel that you are just following my instructions but rather that you have really perfected yourself in the image of God on your initiative. You may not know your value, but the Unification Church members will know how perfected and precious you are.</p>
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<p>I’m sure many of you complained in your hearts before coming to this meeting, wondering why certain things have to be done or figuring out shortcuts for doing things you don’t like. Have you thought in that way before? Those who say they have never complained aren’t telling the truth. I myself have sometimes complained to God but then God gave me a real spanking! Then I knew that complaining doesn’t work and it’s better not to do it! If you have never complained then you are better than I am.</p>
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<p>Internal discipline is such that you can force yourself to do something even when you don’t want to. Particularly in the beginning of your spiritual growth that is necessary. Sometimes I am super stubborn and don’t want to listen to anyone. God knew that if He sent me out in that condition that I would run into lots of trouble, not just getting fines for speeding, but something serious. God trained me every day giving me all kinds of discipline, and after He finished, the whole direction of my life was different. In this way God has opened up new opportunities, giving me instructions Himself and telling me what to do. I have conquered myself and become God’s pride. This is the way a son of God should behave.</p>
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<p>What kind of person will you become? There are two ways to go. All of us will go to the spirit world, but if you can live the way I have been describing then God Himself will prepare a dwelling place to welcome you. Otherwise you can live a dirty and untruthful life on earth and end up in a trashcan in heaven. There are two ways to live, and it is obvious which destiny you would rather have.</p>
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<p>I want to give you two pieces of advice. First, under any circumstances do not complain. Second, do not give up. How about you Seminarians, do you complain? Your faces look a little bit tired. You studied for two years and you thought that you were graduating from the Unification Church. I want you to know that instead you are just entering it. What you need is not just thoughts about heaven but the working heaven, the deeds of heaven. Christianity has only been thinking about heaven so it has declined, but we are making a new Christianity which shall be different.</p>
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<p>I have been thinking very much about how we can clean up a city like Las Vegas. Maybe we could set up a gigantic casino with all the gambling machines and games and then set fire to them and bum it all up in one night. That would be dramatic! Then I would explain why we have to do this, why gambling is no good and why so many things in Las Vegas are wrong. People would certainly listen. If I were an ordinary man who was in business to get rich then I could make billions of dollars in Las Vegas and buy up the city.</p>
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<p>Another place I want to clean up is New York. There is a tremendous amount of prostitution, not only in New York but also in Japan and Korea, and I have been thinking very much about that dark side of society. Religious leaders must look at reality and try to find solutions instead of avoiding the problems. One of my main motivations for buying the New Yorker was that it was located at 34th St. and 8th Avenue, right in the middle of the prostitution district. We don’t need an empty heaven, but a realistic one.</p>
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<h3 align="center">What is the value of our time together here?</h3>
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<p>I really regret that I cannot train you state leaders directly, in totally different circumstances than in your states. Particularly the first graduates of the Seminary have great responsibility. Did you keep a diary when you were fund raising after graduation? You could have written a beautiful book. The ideal heaven is up there but reality is right down here, the top and the bottom of heaven. You can write a beautiful masterpiece about how to bring it together.</p>
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<p>There are all kinds of human lives and all different levels of living. I must be able to link each of them with heaven and take them all there. It is your responsibility to learn how to lead those who refuse to go into heaven. It is easy to lead those who are willing to go to heaven; the people who want to join the Unification Church are no problem, but fuming the adversaries of the Unification Church around and convincing them of the truth is your duty.</p>
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<p>What you feel about your state is more important than what you know about it. Do you want all the people in your state to listen to you obediently, or are you unconcerned even if the opposition fires machine guns at you? If they don’t “shoot” at you then you ,’shoot” at them. When I carne to America no one ,’shot” at me so I “shot” at America.</p>
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<p>Even without speaking I am opening up tremendous new horizons in the hearts of the American people, changing their understanding of the Oriental culture and people. Indirectly I am contributing toward welding the two cultures together. Orientals have always been a minority in this country, being unrecognized and unknown, but since my arrival America’s entire concept of Koreans has changed.</p>
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<p>Like Americans, there are all kinds of Koreans, tough ones, unbeatable ones and controversial ones. Look at me-I am a mystery to the American people who don’t understand how I can influence their sons and daughters, inspiring them to change their lives and do extraordinary things. But let me ask you, do I threaten to shoot you if you don’t obey? All I do is talk to you. I don’t even want to talk too much but you asked me to talk so I must. You are the cause for this long speech!</p>
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<p>While we talk we develop some rapport, a meeting of heart. Conviction, power, truth, righteousness and light are shining upon us; the darkness is disappearing and you are automatically becoming new people without even knowing it. You have met an incredible person, one who not only gives inspiration but who also appears in your dreams and visions. Your hearts are pulled towards me and when you unite with my direction your conscience is clear, but when you disunite you suffer in your heart.</p>
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<p>Are you some kind of prisoner? Are you held captive by invisible bars and chains? No, you are embroiled in one event that has never happened in the past and will never happen again in the future. This work will continue on for thousands of years, but you are the only ones who can be with me as a living person and hear directly what I have to say. Future generations will understand about me through spiritual revelations, but you have both physical and spiritual experiences with me. That is your honor and your pride.</p>
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<p>When you know me and I embrace you spiritually then that spiritual oneness intermingles with the physical world. No one in the past and no one in the coming generations will have this experience. only you. This experience could never be bought even with billions of dollars; it is that precious. You are unaware of its value now, but when you go to spirit world you will see our movement and its origins, and you will know what a priceless treasure it is to have lived at this time, face to face with me.</p>
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<p>Are you happy or unhappy people? I don’t see any realistic happiness yet. Let me illustrate. Suppose you have a wonderful husband and you love him with all your heart but suddenly he dies; then you become totally despondent and your deepest desire is for him to be revived. If all of a sudden you find your husband walking toward you to embrace you, you are filled with the greatest ecstasy and excitement. What I am trying to describe is the same thing that is happening to you here. Your happiness today shall be greater than that, if you really understand the value of this moment. Unfortunately, its value cannot be described and I don’t blame you for not understanding because you know so little about spirit world and the origins and future of this movement.</p>
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<p>All you worry about is your own part of the world and your own individual mission of fund raising or witnessing. Your worries center around making good public relations or being good salesmen, but I tell you that once you really realize the true value of sitting right here facing me, nothing in the world will matter to you.</p>
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<h3 align="center">If you are full of contradictions,<br />
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it is a joke to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven</h3>
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<p>The key to the Kingdom of Heaven is right here on earth. The Kingdom of Heaven is not the hazy realm that Christians describe but a real kingdom of love and perfection. Do you want to hear about it? I wanted to cover several subjects but I have hardly covered any ground at all yet. You are sitting and listening but my legs are getting sore standing up all the time.</p>
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<p>You know me, you know the direction and you know the goal. The new members here have discovered that I am just a man, not a superman. I have humor and I am a genuine person, but at the same time I am other things. You can understand the external, visible Reverend Moon, but what about the internal, invisible me? Do you want to know him too? Do you think you would like Reverend Moon better at this stage in life or as a young man? Actually we are tailing about external differences. There are two types of Reverend Moon externally, but internally speaking there is no difference.</p>
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<p>If you ask a grandmother if her mind is as old as her physical appearance, with gray hair and wrinkled skin, what would her answer be? She would smile because the question is amusing and the answer is obvious. She will never hesitate to say, “No, young man; even though I’m seventy years old my mind is just as young as yours.” Could that be the case? It certainly is. In the physical world there is difference in age but in the world of mind there is no age. There is only the prime of life.</p>
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<p>What would you want other people to notice about you, your physical appearance or your mind and appearance together? Especially the young people who are looking forward to marriage should be serious about this question. What are you looking for in a husband or wife, just physical appearance or the invisible character as well? What kind of love would you like to receive? What kind of person could you love? Would you prefer a husband or wife who can give only physical love or would you want one who would give you his internal self also? What kind of love is more genuine? How about yourselves? Are you living only on the physical level or the internal level as well?</p>
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<p>The religious world has been pursuing the internal man, but since it couldn’t find the ultimate answers it has been declining. The Western world has been following after the external or physical man and has been declining. What remains? Increasingly men are asking, “What is the essence of man? What is the essence of the nation? What is the meaning of existence?” All these questions are being pursued more and more intensely but no answers are emerging.</p>
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<p>When you observe one man he is full of contradictions between his mind and body, right? Those of you who have no contradictions between your mind and body, raise your hands. Is there anyone? You know the truth. If individuals of contradiction marry and have children then that contradiction is multiplied. Hegel theorized that the universe started in contradiction and he developed dialectical materialism to describe it, but only a fictitious God would create man in this condition. Such a God should be cursed for making man in this way. No one in history has toiled more with this question than I have. Unless contradiction is resolved there is no use talking about world peace or a brotherhood of man because there are no means of obtaining them. When your body and mind unite into one temple of God then you can dwell in a happy society, nation and world, but if you are full of contradictions within yourself then trying to dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven is a big joke. Actually the nation and world are not the subject; you are the subject. You are more significant than the society and the nation, and the most precious thing for you is subjugating yourself.</p>
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<p>This explains why you cannot solve your parents’ problems; only they can solve them. Your problems must be solved by you; no one else can solve them for you. You can be an object and lend support to someone who is struggling, but you cannot take the subjective position over their problem. Even if the rest of the world has become the Kingdom of Heaven, is this kind of heaven any good for you, or anyone, if the heart and mind are suffering?</p>
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<h3 align="center">I toiled more than anyone to find<br />
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the solution of man’s internal contradiction</h3>
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<p>You find two people fighting within yourself and the difficulty is to unite them into one. If God is all-powerful and can solve this question, why hasn’t He done it already? Since He hasn’t, He either is incapable of doing it, or doesn’t exist. Have you thought about that? This has been a fundamental question for mankind. The great religious leaders like Buddha, Socrates, Mohammed and Confucius all encountered the same questions, but where is the obvious answer? All mankind has been waiting for the answer and even God Himself has been waiting for the answer, but it has not been found before now. How can the answer be found?</p>
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<p>If all love starts from contradiction, how can you find anything genuine? If we are drilling a hole in a wall you need a sharp drill with a sharp center, but history is like a drill with two points. With such a drill you can make all kinds of nicks in the wall but you can’t make a hole. If God could have solved this quandary He would have done it a long time ago, but it is a man who must do the job. I determined that I would find the answer and explain how the contradiction could be resolved.</p>
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<p>I am only a resultant being so I must know my origin. Do you have some awareness of how you spent the nine months in your mother’s womb? After you were born you gradually became aware of having a mother and father who gave you birth, but did you actually become aware of where you came from? We have to deal with our ultimate origin.</p>
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<p>I am here myself and that is reality, but is God a reality? There is no guarantee. I am dealing with all kinds of contradictions outside, but there is no guarantee that I can ever find God. Communists and atheists are insisting that there is no God. To find the origin, I started by making a hypothesis: “If there is a God, He should be like this. If there is no God then the world should be like this.” The world should be a world of peace, stability and tranquillity, but if two people are fighting constantly then there can be no world of peace. How can you have a peaceful home if the husband and wife are constantly fighting? In our hearts we desire to see one united world of peace and harmony. That is surely man’s most far-reaching desire and ambition, and it hasn’t changed at all throughout history.</p>
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<p>If man’s original desire did not change, what did change? Our bodies always betray us, moving in all different directions because they are not stable. The person who vacillates and goes off in too many directions at one time, or who frequently alters his basic position, is more evil than the person who is stable. History reflects man’s constant effort to harmonize the two contradicting forces. There is a constant and unchanging will to bring this about.</p>
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<p>The universe is far more precise than a computer, moving according to law. No heavenly body can deviate from the laws of nature. What would happen if the sun and earth moved at random? There would be incredible chaos and catastrophe in that case, but in reality the planets have stayed on course every minute for millions of years. They will not deviate from cosmic law. How could the universe be that precise? The communists and other atheists explain it as being a natural phenomenon, but there is a loophole in their argument. Can randomness create the precision of law and nature? Can a random mind project regularity? Even the slightest deviation in a rocket’s plotted course to the moon can create a catastrophe.</p>
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<p>Our solar system alone has many satellites but this solar system is just one of many systems. There are billions of systems like ours moving in the universe, so can you say that it just happened without someone’s planning it? There are billions of cells in the human body, all of them differentiated. They are all specific for one function or another but they are harmonized together to make one man; they all have the same purpose.</p>
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<p>Could man make chunks of gold appear at his command? Even if be prayed for years and years or produced sophisticated machinery, man could not create gold. Helpless man is trying to evaluate the universe but it is impossible. Man is incapable of judging the universal law and the universal system, because man is merely a small part of it and not capable of knowing everything.</p>
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<p>Why do you have eyelashes and eyebrows and what would you do without them? Did your eyes just happen to appear as they are? Did they know ahead of time what conditions in the atmosphere they would encounter, and prepare to be protected by blinking eyelids? Did your eyes make themselves, knowing ahead of time about drying winds and dust and hot weather so that they could provide for eyebrows and blinking? Of course not.</p>
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<p>The eyes didn’t know ahead of time, but the important thing is that someone did know! Someone knew and planned and provided for the eyes to encounter dry weather and dust. Is the eye the result of some random action or whim? Who planned ahead? When we pursue this more deeply we come to the question of whether matter or spirit came first. If you ask a communist whether the eye knew ahead of time that it should be equipped with eyelids, he will have no answer. He cannot deny the logic that a universal intelligence must have existed before the eye. Before the eye could be created the concept was already in someone’s mind, someone who knew the necessity for eyes and knew exactly which design would be best.</p>
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<p>I do not possess universal intelligence because I am a result. I didn’t know where I came from and it was not my will that brought me here to earth. There must be a great wisdom which preceded any existence here on earth. We call him God. Ask the communists about how to revolutionize eyes and how to change the law so that eyes are upside down or so that one is in front and one in the rear. Can you revolutionize how your nose perceives smells or how your mouth detects taste? What the communists are trying to revolutionize is the economic system, but the economy is not one of man’s higher-level activities. The communists proclaim that a person’s occupation is what determines his personality and his value, but should something that insignificant be man’s master?</p>
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<h3 align="center">There will never be peace<br />
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until man knows his origin</h3>
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<p>Unless we can find the one ultimate source of the universe there is no way that man can find peace on earth. If there is no real God then even if we conjure up a fake or conceptual deity we will have no solution. Is God real or not-this is a fundamental question. You must align yourself with a particular solution, but in any case, you are part of the problem. If there is a God then you are the cause of the world’s problem and if there is no God you are still the cause of the problem. However, the solution is different depending on how you answer the question of God’s existence. The communists propose one extreme solution and either they are correct and there is no God, or there is a God. The two situations cannot coexist.</p>
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<p>If God does exist then the next question is why He is so helpless as to leave the world in this condition. It could be that a relevant, working relationship with man was severed and since then the living God has not been able to re-establish it. God could be an honest and true God who wants to make a relationship with a true man, but since there has been no true man it has been impossible for there to be a true relationship. Our logical conclusion is that God exists and He is a God of true love, but He has not yet found a deserving object of His love upon this earth. Since He cannot have a relationship with an evil man, He is seeking some solution for the future. This has been His situation throughout history.</p>
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<p>If there is a God, He must be true, pure and perfect. If that God created man, but man came to be dominated by conflict both internally and externally, then there is a contradiction, for perfect God would not produce that kind of man. Only one explanation could account for this situation-simply that man is the one who is out of order. God has been waiting for the day when mankind will elevate themselves into being His genuine objects. Then God will be free to establish a real working relationship with man. All of human history has been the process of striving toward that goal.</p>
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<p>There are two solutions that can be proposed; First, an individual might think, “I know that I am a deviated man and I am striving to somehow win the ideal world.” Or he might think, “Because I am out of order I need to perfect myself first and then seek the original relationship with God.” God will intervene in the second situation. If you think of yourselves as being legitimate and perfect then this world is full of contradiction, but when you look at yourselves as radios that are out of order and need to be repaired then a logical conclusion emerges; “Yes, I must change because my present self is not the original one. I must revolutionize myself to fit the original concept of God and then not only can I be restored, but the relationship between God and man can be restored, and the relationship between man and the universe can be restored.” For this purpose the religious world has come into being and all throughout history it has grappled with the task of restoring man.</p>
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<p>If there is a true God, His solution for the problem of history must be the road of restoration. God looks at this world as one which is out of order and needs to be mended. God must plan for man to be restored back to his original state, making possible His original relationship to man. By accomplishing this the society, nation and world will be mended. Religion has been creating a cultural sphere which is moving toward God’s ultimate goal for the universe. It was small in scope in the beginning, but through history it has enlarged to the level of tribe, nation and world.</p>
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<p>The modem world is divided into four basic cultural spheres-the Oriental or Confucian cultural sphere, the Buddhist cultural sphere, the Islamic sphere of Asia Minor and the Judeo-Christian sphere of the Western world. If there is a God, He must be striving towards one world. He has one love which will govern the entire world and one culture which He would like to see throughout the world. God doesn’t want to see America clinging to its one way of living, separate from other countries. God wants one concept of love to make a cultural sphere which will permeate one nation and then spread to all nations of the world.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Knowledge of the fall<br />
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offers man his greatest hope</h3>
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<p>How would God achieve this? With money or some business venture? By power or knowledge? You all talk about love but what is your concept of love? You all know the love of a divided mind and body going in all different directions but what is the origin of that kind of love? Where does love dwell? Does love start in your physical body and then flow into your mind, or does it start from your mind and flow into your physical body? Most people think physical love comes first, but what kind of trashy love is that? The communists say they can revolutionize even your mind and love, saying that love is just a physical sensation to be gratified and your mind a product of economic environment.</p>
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<p>Should love be changeable? When love is based on physical sensation a person can go after all kinds of love, just like animals, and by having relationships with many people he feels more stimulation. A husband and wife usually fight over lack of love or miscommunication of love, but are they fighting because of their bodies’ or their minds’ miscommunication of love? Normally the wife protests to the husband that he is just loving her body but not really giving his real heart to her. She insists she doesn’t want to be treated like an animal and reminds him that he pledged to love her with all his heart and soul and mind instead. One partner may say something but his mind can actually be somewhere else. A couple will fight when they see something fake about their love which reveals that their minds and bodies are separated. Nobody loves a changing love.</p>
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<p>Where is the origin of love? Does love come from a changing source or an unchanging source? Can you find physical love that is unchanging, eternal and unique? Everyone is looking for the kind of love that originates in an unchanging source. The mind will never get old and infirm, but always stay as fresh as in a person’s prime once he makes up his mind that he wants to always pursue unchanging love. We usually ask someone who is being untruthful if their conscience doesn’t bother them because we know that the mind is supposed to have unchanging qualities.</p>
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<p>There are body-oriented men and mind-oriented men and they are not necessarily friends. If one goes first and the other follows, then at least we have hope that the other will catch up some day, but this is never the case. The mind always pulls in one direction and the body in another. If God made man this way then He is man’s worst enemy, but we have shown that instead some man-related event imposed this situation. It is not of God’s own doing at all. When an unprincipled power pulls the body in one direction then you are its prey or victim. These things can be explained in one sentence: this is the result of the fall of man.</p>
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<p>Knowledge of the fall offers the greatest hope to fallen man because with this understanding we can find the road of restoration. Not only that, God’s existence and the contradiction of man’s existence can now be understood. Mankind must know that man was broken by the fall and must be repaired. God’s mandate is for man to become whole again and return to Him.</p>
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<p>Why can’t God deal with man as he is? The Bible says to forgive your enemies seventy times seven, and if that is the virtue of a loving God then why can’t He come down here and embrace fallen man? Why can’t He intervene?</p>
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<h3 align="center">The real battle is being<br />
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fought in you, not in the nation or world</h3>
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<p>We must understand the essence of the fall of man. Another power named Satan was involved in the fall of man. Consequently, there is a good god which is God and there is an evil “god” which is Satan. That does not mean that originally there were two gods, two origins of the universe. How can man ever find harmony within himself unless some reconciliation is made between the two gods? God is not God unless He can deal with this evil “god” and the evil fallen body of man. If God cannot bring man’s evil body to the side of good then Satan will bring man’s good mind to the side of evil. God must be capable of liquidating this evil world that has come under the subjugation of Satan.</p>
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<p>What is the domain and base of the evil god? Satan’s working base is not America or your family but your physical body, while God’s working base is your mind. Expanding this pattern onto the world scale, there are two worlds: the God-denying world and the God-accepting world. The two must be divided and a final solution found. Desiring to create the world which represents Him and His ideology, God is inspiring religious leaders and champions and letting them expand their influence all over the satanic world on the social, national and worldwide levels. The external appearance of that world at this time in restoration is known as the democratic society, or free world, and the representative of that free world is America. The other world is the communist world, which claims that there is no God and also claims that the end justifies any means. Communists don’t care how many people they kill but only want to control the world. In the process they treat men like animals because for them human life has no value.</p>
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<p>In the democratic world we enjoy freedom to grow spiritually, but the communist world only grants the freedom to glorify the communist state. Freedom does not mean giving license to your body to do anything. Freedom means liberty within the law of God; God is giving us the freedom to actualize goodness. Instead, America today considers freedom the right to pursue individual gratification, particularly when it has to do with the body. True freedom, however, gives man the right to live for the dispensation and purpose of God. Misuse of freedom brings destruction to the eternal nation and world and is not part of the true freedom of God. Freedom should result in constructiveness and be an asset to the Kingdom of God. The concept of equality is also important and means that everyone is equally valuable in the sight of God and for the purpose and will of God. In that respect we are all equal. This is not blind equality where you can claim you are equal to everyone and have a right to do anything anyone else does.</p>
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<p>We have been talking about the free world and communist world, but don’t concern yourselves too much with them. The thing to worry about is yourself as a base for Satan or God. The real battle is fought in you and you will determine its outcome. Would everyone be happy if the communists took over the world? The very people who claim to be communist also experience struggle between their minds and bodies, the same contradiction you fight against every day. You are the problem area.</p>
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<p>If you want to become a godly man, then in subjugating your physical body with your mind you should not want to become only a citizen of one nation but a world citizen or universal citizen. Did God create national boundaries? They are obstacles created by man, not by God. God is thinking of how to eliminate boundaries without seeing wars erupt all over the world. What would be God’s most effective tool-power and threats? Definitely love is God’s way, but why couldn’t God have done it a long time ago? This question presents a very grave problem. God seems very foolish to have allowed all kinds of problems to emerge without intervening. Love is not a new word, but God sees very clearly that until He can find one man who is truly victorious in His sight and who can be a living example of His love, He has no base upon which to work on earth. God is looking for one man, not one nation.</p>
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<p>When God gives His love, does He want to give it with just His body at one time and His mind at another, or all together? In the sight of God we must become an acceptable base by being united in mind and body as one central point, No power or money exists which can unite mind and body into one; the only possible way is through the love of God Himself. The power of the Almighty God should be pure and perfected enough that it can cleanse all iniquity and unite mind and body into one. Perfect unity should be caused by the perfect love of God. It’s logical that if you are to become a reflection of God you must empty yourself and become a new man, causing your mind and body to resemble God’s mind and body. Then God will come down to you and dwell in you in love.</p>
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<p>What kind of love does God need, and if God has everything, why does He even need our love? Although God is the origin of love, His love cannot be activated until a circuit is formed and to do that there must be an object to which energy can flow. Without an object God’s love and energy will remain dormant. Do you men have love? How about you women, do you have love? Does your love manifest when you are all alone as an individual? It is a universal truth that love is activated when there is a circuit formed by having an object. No matter how almighty God is, unless He can find an object of give and take, He is lonely and very poor. Those who want to live a bachelor life for eternity, raise your hands, If there is such a person, he has some problem. God would be really angry at you if you ever suggested that with His loving heart He should forget about all His headaches with fallen man and remain a bachelor.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Through your hard work your body<br />
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is being conditioned to lead a heavenly life</h3>
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<p>Man has two desires: He wants to love and he wants to receive love. Many times women, especially American women, think about how to be loved but they forget about giving love when they get married. If a person just wants to receive love then he is the worst kind of robber. God’s love is the only unchanging and unique love, and without having that kind of love as a cure we will never have any hope for humanity.</p>
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<p>You must empty yourselves completely and receive the love of God; then you have hope for your mind and body to become one. When they are united in the love of God there is nothing that can separate them. Even in the fallen world men and women sometimes think they love each other so much that they would rather die than be separated, but how much would they be intoxicated by the love of God? The love of God can totally consume you because it is incredibly pure, genuine and unchanging.</p>
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<p>There is no solution in the human world that can cure the division between the mind and body of fallen man. The only solution is the love of God and if it comes into you, you must totally open yourself up. Let the love of God dwell in the temple of your body and let it become master of your mind and heart. That is the only possible hope for this fallen world. The body always opposes the will of God but your mind does not need so much nurturing or education. It knows what is best while the body always blocks the will of God. The fall of man created this entanglement of love and now the mind and body go in two different directions. Because it was illicit love that brought the fall of man, man has since emphasized body-oriented love and resisted the coming of heavenly love.</p>
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<p>Throughout history God’s constant effort has been to suppress the influence of the body. This emphasis is the principal teaching of religion, with religious life always stressing denial of the bodily desires. God’s mandate is that your body should obey your mind and if the body wants something else, don’t listen to it. This teaching has been God’s tool and is always the beginning point of good religious teaching. You cannot fulfill the period of restoration instantly but must nurture your mind with the word and power of God, making it God’s ally in your body. In time the body will be conditioned into obeying the mind. Through your hard work you are conditioning your body into accepting a certain way of life.</p>
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<p>Satan broke the law of the love of God and when he did that he destroyed virtually everything in the universe. If God were to forgive Satan, He must then destroy everything else because then there would be no hope for restoration left in the universe. That’s why God cannot forgive Satan. Jesus taught that you must forgive your enemy seventy times seven and more. That means you should love the pitiful person who is victimized by Satan, but not that you should forgive Satan who caused the sin. If God had forgiven Satan then there would be nothing left to restore because God would be compromising His own love. That would threaten the very existence of God Himself.</p>
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<p>When you look at Satan you must know that he is the enemy of the love of God because he did the unforgivable: he broke the law of the love of God. When the end of this fallen world comes close, Satan will go on a rampage out of desperation. That is why there is so much free sex and abnormal satanic love in today’s society. It has even become common for married couples to exchange partners for a night and think it’s fun!</p>
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<p>Satan has always been trying to absolutely control the world, but when the complete revelation of God’s truth is given and the Messiah comes, then Satan knows he has no hope of success. Then he will shout defiantly, “I can’t have the world but I’ll never let you get it either.” Satan is using the communists as a tool to undermine this nation internally; they demand acceptance of the lowest kind of social behavior because they know that it’s the way they can eventually make this nation crumble so they can easily take it over.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church will stand up, expose and thwart this activity and liberate the world. We will expose to the world what Satan has been doing and who he is. Satan has been winning for 6,000 years but at this time I am pushing Satan into a corner and telling him to stop! The love of God is the only way we can bring a solution to the world. We have the total truth revealed by God, and Satan is on the defensive now. If you can win the love of God then nothing else matters; you may lose your country, the world, even your own life, but even so you are winning a greater life. Once you possess the love of God, nothing else matters.</p>
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<p>This movement is pursuing two goals: We are searching for the way to make God real and also searching to find the God-like man who can act on behalf of God here on earth. Once we become the embodiment of God’s truth we cannot go in any direction except God’s, and once we find the solution then this world will begin to shake.</p>
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<p>The Principle describes the past and present, explaining not just one topic, but all of history from man’s origin to the present time, including a vision for the future. When you engage the love of God you become a universal man because God does not belong to one country or race. Unity of all races, nations and the world becomes possible in the love of God because it transcends all those levels.</p>
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<p>Our ambition is the greatest of all, being not only to win God but to penetrate the love of God and possess it completely. Then we have won the world. Man’s value becomes limitless and without price when he is united with God. You are to make yourselves into people who are the embodiment of God, who are no longer bound by human weakness. God will become a real subject to you and govern your daily life, and even though you dwell on earth you will then live in two worlds because the spirit world will be so close to you.</p>
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<p>Anyone dwelling in God’s love is like a magnet, pulling others to him</p>
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<p>This principle is a real one. My life has been dedicated to verifying this truth over and over by living it in all situations. When we all manifest it, God will be visible to everyone. Once you become a prisoner of God’s love you want to become one with the person who is the center of that love on earth. Such a person is like a magnet which has pulling power over anything nearby.</p>
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<p>God is one magnetic pole in heaven and I am another magnetic pole here on earth and together we have formed an electric field. Everyone in that magnetic field can be activated. You may feel as though you are being pulled towards me, but then when we are one you will realize that you have become a magnet also. Then you can pull many others, so great is the supreme power of love. You are not drawn to me personally, but to the love of God which is being transmitted through me. That love belongs to God and not to any individual.</p>
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<p>God never created a power greater than love, and when you are truly intoxicated in the love of God then all the mundane needs like eating and sleeping and worldly love become secondary. You can transcend their influence once you are caught by the love of God. At that point your longing and love for me will become so strong that you cannot forget me for a moment, even in the midst of any activity. It is then that the world of impure love will no longer be of interest to you and a big door will open wide to a pure, genuine, spiritual love. That should be real to you in experience, but also clear to you by logic.</p>
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<p>The problem is whether the Unification Church is actually living this way. Do you really love me that much? Am I more important to you than eating and sleeping? When you experience this, that love will become real right here in the Unification Church, and even more amazing, anyone around you will feel the same magnetic power and be pulled to you. They will want to love and respect you and do anything to support you.</p>
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<p>God has been longing for 6,000 years to see the day when that would come about. Actually the number 6,000 is just symbolic; God has been longing and waiting for millions of years for that day of fulfillment. That day is happening now in this junction of your lives and mine. You believe this is the truth but because of your lukewarm attitude you do not live it. Later when you go to spirit world you will see the most realistic and incredible truth unfolding before you and you will feel ashamed.</p>
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<p>How much do these pounds of flesh mean to you? A wise man will invest his body to attain external value at this key time in history. That is why Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is in the midst of you, that no one should seek the Kingdom of Heaven anywhere else. The Kingdom of God is composed of the love of God, which is very logical. Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me and you are in me and I am in you.” All of this makes sense once this principle becomes real to you. Your day of perfection comes when you are inseparably linked to the powerful, explosive love of God.</p>
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<p>Throughout the thousands of years since your first ancestors were on earth the physical body has been serving Satan, but when you revolutionize your body as a base for God instead, those thousands of years of stains will be wiped out. Something that dramatic is possible and will throw Satan into despair and bring the day of glory and vindication for you and for God. Can you declare your day of victory? Have you ever thought about the love of God and do you feel that you are becoming the embodiment of His love? I know you have tried and that you are beginning to sense it, but the day will come when it will be real and you will feel ecstatic joy. If you taste that love even once then you won’t want to go anywhere else. If you are lying down at that moment then you’ll say, “God, don’t disturb me. I want to lie in this position for eternity.” I won’t explain these experiences too much for your minds won’t grasp it.</p>
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<p>I have examined these things from the historical point of view, the religious point of view and the dispensational point of view, and from every angle I have come to the same conclusion. The most important verification of it is my own tears. I have cried out for Heavenly Father’s heart for many years, shedding tears which are testimony that this is the truth. Alone I discovered this precious jewel that no one could possibly buy with money. Since I am the one who discovered it, I am the front-line soldier who must show the way so that no one else will be mistaken.</p>
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<p>I am crazy and impatient to lay the highway so that everyone else might arrive at the same conclusion. I have been walking the path from the individual level, to the family, tribal, national and worldwide levels. I came to the pinnacle at the Washington Monument Rally, the symbolic victory representing the universal level of God’s victory.</p>
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<p>When spiritual people ask God who I am, God’s voice reveals to them that they must know clearly that I have done greater things than they. God has done much more than I have, working for millions of years, but I have fulfilled His providence on the physical level in several decades. Logically you understand how religion has been the tool of God. I want you to know that what I have explained is very scientific, confirmed by theory and logic.</p>
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<p>Since confirming the truth, I can come to America and proclaim that I can unite the world. Without such a background no one could boldly announce such a thing, but you have met the very man who can make such a declaration. I started out with nothing, without one handle to grasp in this vast universe. I didn’t know where to start because there was no teacher, no comforter, no friend. Now I have many friends in you, but I was the one who re-created you.</p>
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<p>Are Americans indebted to me or not? Those parents who kidnap their own children will later repent and regret how foolish they were. It seems unreal now, but in the future their lineage will have a black mark if they cause their children to leave this movement.</p>
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<p>What kind of person do you want to become, a possessor of God’s love or of a Ph.D. from Harvard? Is it more precious to be President or a child of God? It is quite clear to you now, but coming to that conclusion was not so easy for me. You have no idea how I prayed for hours and hours, and how even now I sit on the floor in prayer every night. I am a serious man. Unless I had the real answer to all the world’s questions I could not tackle this mission. No other religious leader had the answers that I now know.</p>
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<p>Even if what I say is a lie, you could never lose by following this way of life. Suppose I had created a whole new theory for uniting the world that God never thought about; God would come down and bargain to buy it from me.</p>
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<h3 align="center">What method will bring you to the love of God?</h3>
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<p>Now we come to a matter of more reflection. You want to be taught the method which will bring you to the love of God, but you are all greedy to get such a precious thing without paying for it. How much tuition would you be willing to pay? All the people in the spirit world and the physical world put together couldn’t pay for it. Many people think that I came to America for selfish reasons, but I laugh at that because possessing America is far too small a goal. My goal is much bigger: I wanted to know how to have the love of God, and I found the answer to be very simple. Do you want to know what it is?</p>
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<p>Let’s start by saying that there are three undeniable urges in man. If you are hungry enough you will do anything to get food. When you are tired you have the urge to sleep, and when you have the urge to make love it can be overwhelming. If these three elements are denied man there cannot be any happiness.</p>
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<p>Who here has fasted seven days? On the seventh day you may count the minutes until you can eat, but that final moment will determine whether you pass or fail your entire fast. If you run to the kitchen and grab your food then you have failed, but if you can think of God at that moment and say, “Heavenly Father, I love You more than food. I can sustain far greater hunger than this for You” then you have succeeded. If you can fulfill your responsibility with a hungry stomach then you are an even more precious child to God. If you even forget about mealtime you are more precious. Women are generally weaker in this area than men. You must be victorious in overcoming hunger. Your love for God must make you strong enough to overcome the love of food.</p>
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<p>You must be able to endure lack of sleep for love of God. Sometimes I am busy at night and just forget the time to sleep. For seven years in the early days in Korea I didn’t have any bed to lie on and be comfortable in so I just lay on a table and slept a couple of hours. You can go out walking at night and say, “God, I’m here. While the world is sleeping I came out to meet You.” Even now I love nature because it reminds me of the past when I went out in nature asking God to meet me.</p>
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<p>Can you overcome the urge for physical love out of love of God? In the old days in Korea, many women chased after me but I was victorious. How could I withstand the temptation presented by having many women following me? Only through the power of the love of God. You will also face these temptations.</p>
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<p>My first wife wanted to divorce me because she thought that I didn’t love her and was only intoxicated with God. She just couldn’t stand it and protested and protested, trying to win my attention, but it wasn’t possible. She always said she could never find another husband like me and always complained that I should pay attention to being with her for just thirty minutes. Knowing the Principle, I really tested myself to show God and humanity that the power of God is so strong that nothing could hamper it. Could you interrupt loving your mate out of love for God? The ultimate test is whether you love God more than anyone else.</p>
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<p>Even if you made a hole in yourself with a drill it would not equal the pain of liberating yourself and loving God most of all. How much are you fulfilling the qualifications to be a son or daughter of God? You must feel ashamed when you cannot win over all the temptations in perfection. What would you say when you pray? “God, help me. I want You to love me”? Ask yourself if you are really ready to receive the love of God. Have you made yourself qualified? An imperfect person should say, “For my sake, for Your sake, don’t come too close to me. I’m not worthy. Let me make myself ready for You first.” Why can’t you become sons and daughters of God more easily? Do you want to eat anything you like and sleep all the hours you feel like? Do you want to live the way you like and still claim to be God’s son? God has told me, “You are my loving son,” and you certainly want to hear the same thing from God.</p>
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<p>Do not try to get God’s blessing of marriage too quickly. Blessing is fearful in a way. I am sure some of you are wondering why you haven’t been blessed yet, but instead you should think that you are not ready to receive a member who is really loving God, and that you can’t lift up your face before God. When you know the standard then you know how unworthy you are and you can honestly think that this person is too good for you. That person is God’s representative and you in turn should be able to love him as God’s representative.</p>
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<p>The Americans who have had free sex come to me and think that they are ready to be blessed. How can they think that? I compared their lives to my own standard and then I reasoned that everyone has a past to be forgiven and decided that they could be accepted with repentance. The important thing is your attitude and you should use every second of the day to elevate yourself to the higher goal. In many cases I don’t see that urgency in American Church members. Complacency and apathy are a big problem. In any case I am not the one who will judge you; the Principle will judge you instead of me.</p>
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<p>You state leaders are important to our Church but you don’t know me too well. It is a serious situation. It is providential that we have met but how can we succeed together? “True Parents” is an awesome word but you say it without thinking. Sometimes I don’t like to hear it spoken because it is too cheaply said.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Instead of complaining, put meaning<br />
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into your difficulty</h3>
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<p>There is indemnity for you to pay and you must do your 5% by taking your hunger or sleepiness as a condition of indemnity. Put meaning into these things instead of complaining; show that your love of God is greater than all of your desires. By doing that you can fulfill your 5% very quickly. I have become victorious in overcoming hunger. I have become victorious in overcoming lack of sleep and I have become victorious in overcoming the urge for love.</p>
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<p>Up to now you have been eating for your own comfort and satisfaction and you have slept for yourself and made love for yourself. Instead of fasting all year in restitution, you must revolutionize the concept of eating and sleeping and loving. When you have your meal in front of you, think that you are going to consume the meal as God’s representative. Let God eat the meal instead of yourself. For the sake of God and humanity you need that meal and as God’s representative you will take the meal for your body. After you eat go out and use it for God’s work instead of your own entertainment. God gave you a full stomach and now you can go and work for humanity. That’s how your concept should become different.</p>
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<p>Don’t sleep for yourself. Sleep for God and humanity so you can be a better fighter tomorrow. The physical body does indeed have some limitations but don’t stop there. Go to your maximum and when you reach your limitation don’t stop. Cross that limitation and then come back and rest. Then your concept will become different.</p>
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<p>It is the same in making love. As a blessed couple your love is for the sake of all humanity and for the sake of posterity. You are doing a favor for God in creating your family, but husbands must look at their wives as the symbolic total of all women of the world and of all future women of the world. By loving your wife you can love all the women of the world. Remember the greater love that you can pursue-love of God, of the Church, of the True Parents. You can transcend your personal love and become an offering for the greater purpose of love. Always be ready to go beyond yourself.</p>
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<p>How could you not expect persecution and suffering for following such a high goal? Being a man of God, you are not persecuted as one man but as a son of God, as the representative of God. By receiving persecution and suffering, you are paying indemnity for all those in the past who suffered here on earth. Had you ever thought that you were doing them that favor? God is giving you the chance to win over all facets of human relationships-political, religious, physical, economic, sexual-and clear them in the spirit world. Actually you are setting a condition to liberate yourself in all those areas and then no one can accuse you because there will be nothing left for Satan to manipulate.</p>
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<p>No one can do your 5% except yourself and you must search after it and liquidate it. When you make yourself God’s representative then everything you do becomes God’s act. When you pick up peanuts or gum for fund raising, it is God’s act. God has given you a mandate to fund raise and even though you may look like a beggar you are actually God’s ambassador. If you fund raise under much persecution then you will feel lonely, but if you win the result with the conviction that you are God’s ambassador then it is even more precious. People may not like to give you money but you have a right to receive it because it will be used to restore the ungodly world. Everything depends on how your mind works. That creates value.</p>
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<p>Life on the MFT is valuable indemnity. There you meet all kinds of people, circumstances and suffering and the only way you can sustain yourself is by making yourself an ambassador of God. It is excellent training. Perhaps you have been in the Unification Church for three years but still you are humbly dressed and externally you have gained nothing. You might even look more pale and humbly dressed than you did three years ago but now you have some precious luggage, a package of indemnity. If you did anything wrong while you were sincerely trying to do God’s will then that becomes my responsibility, not yours.</p>
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<p>If you have a big package of indemnity then you can go to God and pay indemnity for your family, your race, your country and even the spirit world, all out of your own spiritual bank account. It parallels the love you can give in the spirit world. My thinking is different from yours; I am looking for the next problem because I want more criticism and controversy so I can fill a bag of indemnity big enough to liberate everyone, including the spirit world.</p>
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<p>Is going on the MFT a blessing or curse? On the MFT you can meet God. When you go out to the streets with a sincere and earnest heart then God will speak to you. Do you think that you are a wise guy to avoid hard work? No, you are foolish, wasting your energy and time. Whether people recognize your work or not, jump into it and bite into the mainstream of the movement. The Bible says that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free, and now you know why the Unification Church must go this way.</p>
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<p>Money manipulates everything in this world, but our money is entirely different because it has nothing to do with our own power. I am winning money for God’s purpose and spending it for humanity, not for myself. You have to go beyond loving your own race and nationality and make yourself a person who loves God. Then you are a world citizen, a universal man.</p>
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<p>At first you were frightened, but now you are confident to do the job</p>
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<p>Ours is a dream-like task but we are seriously tackling it as reality. After being on the MFT you will go witnessing, sweating and shedding tears for the restoration of man. Later you will sweat and labor for the construction of your family and home. MFT duty or witnessing is a light burden compared to harmonizing one heavenly home here on earth. Perfecting your love in your home is not easy! When you are husband and wife, you may quarrel about trivial things and then you will look back on your days on the MFT and witnessing, remembering how you were really patient to win one person. When you think of that then you know that winning your husband or wife is more difficult.</p>
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<p>At the outset of human history Satan plundered the heavenly creation and Adam and Eve, and ultimately took away the love between God and man. Now we are restoring all things by restoring love and creating heavenly homes. I know very well that we have to pay the historical debt and I know how difficult it is. When you set the condition of absolute obedience then whether your result is good or poor doesn’t make any difference. You can grab me and say, “At least I did one thing; I obeyed you unconditionally,” Then I have no excuse and God has no excuse. If you love me then how could I send you away?</p>
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<p>Originally God wanted man to become physically and spiritually mature at the same time, having one man and woman create the heavenly garden of Eden. When man and woman, mind and body, East and West become one and are ignited by the love of God, then the true garden of Eden will exist. Can you imagine the time when all indemnity is paid and you are lifted up by the fire of love? You would blast off and zoom all the way through the cosmos.</p>
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<p>This world is trying to evaluate the depth of such knowledge and truth but it can’t be captured by only watching me or by using special lenses or a microscope. When I went to sea, people in nearby boats were studying me with binoculars but all they saw was an ordinary Oriental man sitting there. The depth of someone’s heart cannot be seen. You can hide a beautiful love in your own heart and no one can see it. Each one of you should have a powerhouse inside that is not visible to the human eye. When you become a powerhouse of the love of God you can communicate with the spirit world and with God Himself.</p>
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<p>In the beginning when I would push you out you were almost frightened, but now the truth has filtered down to the depths of your heart and you feel that this job needs to be done, and you also feel confident that you can do it. I am not just blindly pushing you. I never ask anything that I have not already experienced, so don’t think I am just a cruel man. Once you know the truth then you can joyfully respond and push yourself out. You will become a self-disciplined man.</p>
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<p>Shall we continue to search after the love of God? If the rest of the world were competing to do more for the love of God, what kind of world would we have? If America is restored, then its young people will ask where they can go to suffer and put on the shoes of a servant in order to help the people. You have learned that already so you want to practice it here in America, and if all American young people were mobilized in that fashion, then with the love of God the world could be conquered as though it were a small peanut.</p>
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<p>Usually I do not speak this openly. Do you know why I am in such a jubilant mood? I drove westward for several thousand miles and now I feel as though I have arrived home in Korea.</p>
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<p>When I see immature, uncommitted people I feel almost sorry for them. Will you determine to live up to my expectation? This is your country, so you should want to restore it more than I do. Would you like to do it in place of me? Your yes is not a committed yes. Since we were searching for the love of God and we found it, that’s all I have to say. Is there anything further? You have the highest goal and you know it clearly now. Don’t worry about whether God comes down to help you in your state. You can tell God to go help the weaker people in another state. You can tell me to go take a trip and really appreciate America or to take a year or two and visit other continents instead of coming to visit you. Can you do it? I don’t even need to worry about ten or twenty years from now? I heard your answer. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1208" class="post-1208 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-heart-of-reunion.html" title="Permalink to THE HEART OF REUNION" rel="bookmark">THE HEART OF REUNION</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:16:40+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-heart-of-reunion.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:16:40+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">September 11, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>I am very happy to see all of you again after being away for 70 days. When you are separated from someone, you long for them the most if there is a common purpose or goal between you. Then you both yearn to see each other and look forward to the day of reunion. I am Korean and you are Americans and we come from the opposite ends of the world. There must be a providential purpose linking the two extremes of East and West; otherwise, you would not miss me and I would not miss you and we would not look forward to meeting each other again.</p>
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<p>To the ordinary person it may seem as if the vast ocean is one stationary body of water. Actually the ocean is continually in motion, with cold currents and warm currents running their separate courses and colliding at certain points. All kinds of movement can be found in the ocean. The tides come in and go out twice a day and tidal flows all over the globe are linked together.</p>
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<p>Beneath the ocean’s surface are a great variety of fish, which are influenced by the currents and the tidal waters. Very often many fish gather where the warm and cold currents collide, creating certain areas famous for fishing such as the northern part of the US. near Boston and northern Europe. Different types of fish live in fresh or salt water, but at spawning time certain species go to an estuary, where the fresh water and salt water flow together, to lay their eggs.</p>
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<p>It is very intriguing and even mystical to see how the places and times of meeting and coming together are very important to all forms of life. For instance, the ancient cultures such as developed in Greece and Rome without exception began to grow at places where land and water meet. No early human civilization could prosper apart from a river or the sea.</p>
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<h3 align="center">It is universal power that pushes<br />
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two extremes together for a greater purpose</h3>
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<p>When the distance between two parts is extreme there is always greater joy, emotion and drama involved in their reunion than if they had not experienced such extreme separation. I came from a land on the other side of the globe, a land that many Americans drink of as being a remote country. In their minds they still envision Korea as being ravaged by war. It is as if the U.S. was on the pinnacle of a mountain while Korea was in the depths of a valley. That is why many people cannot understand how a man from Korea can attract such attention in a nation which stands at the pinnacle of modern-day culture.</p>
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<p>In the vast ocean a tremendous variety of things happen when the warm and cold currents meet. When we gather together we are like five kinds of ocean currents flowing into the same area and extraordinary things can happen as a result. It is not my will or your will but some providential will that makes this so. There must be a universal power that pushes two extremes to unite for a greater purpose.</p>
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<p>Exciting music is not made with just one or two tones, but with tones which range from high to low and with a variety of instruments. That blending of extremes makes exciting music. At the same time, one instrument alone cannot create excitement. In order to make the drums exciting the drummer has to combine many motions and gestures as well as rhythms. The violin combines different extremes, using thin strings to create very feminine, beautiful sounds. The beauty of the violin is that even though it has only a few strings, it is possible to produce extreme variation in sound.</p>
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<p>The union of people from the East and West can be compared to playing the violin; Westerners are like the low notes of a violin while Asians are like the high notes. Americans walk with a long, swinging stride, like King Kong, but the Japanese walk lightly, taking small steps. More excitement is created when the two extremes unite to make one harmonized picture. We do not use the word harmony to describe primarily the unity of similar things. The most moving, beautiful harmony is created when extremes come together. The value of harmony lies in this unity.</p>
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<p>What color flowers do you like? Everyone has a different preference. If everyone liked only the color yellow, however, then everything in the entire world would soon be yellow, with yellow clothes and even yellow lipstick. The result would be a mad, mad world of yellow! The blending together of all kinds of colors can be interpreted and understood in many different ways; it is a universal mystery. When you can see your feelings reflected in different ways you never tire of such beauty.</p>
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<p>In just one person you can see many different colors; Bo Hi Pak, for instance, has black hair and a tanned forehead and a gray suit. Women always wear ornaments to enhance their appearance, but they don’t wear everything of the same color. When they wear red they want to wear some jewelry that matches, something of a different color that harmonizes.</p>
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<p>Would everyone without exception like to have blue eyes? How about having a blue tongue or blue skin and teeth? Why did God give blue eyes to some people? The people who have white skin, high noses and blonde hair need some contrast, so God gave them blue eyes, like two little ponds. Because American noses are so high their eyes are very deep; you have to peer in several miles to see their eyes! If they had black eyes at the bottom of such deep wells they would look fearful, almost evil in a way. Having lighter color eyes creates beauty and harmony in a much more dramatic way.</p>
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<p>Imagine a person laughing whose teeth were all black. He would look like a monster ! When you examine the creation you know that God is really an artist, and that no better harmony could have been created. Everything is interestingly blended, with people having precisely the features which would harmonize with a certain color face.</p>
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<p>One action may have two entirely different meanings. Imagine a person whose mouth was always open. You would usually think that something was wrong with that person, that he was out of his mind. But that person might be intoxicated by some magnificent emotion or some tremendous shock. Laughing and crying change your features in similar ways, but one expresses joy and the other sorrow.</p>
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<p>Light is always created at the boundary when two things meet in harmony. Why should people from one culture follow someone from an extremely different culture? Why have you Americans come to the Unification Church, which was founded by a man from Asia? You are here to unite the universal beauty of the two extremes of East and West together into one harmonized culture. When two great cultures meet to form harmony, turmoil is inevitable at first. When a flowing stream hits the rocks in its path disturbances are created. It goes through many convolutions, splashing over rocks and churning at the bottom of a waterfall, but that does not alter its destiny. All streams eventually join the mainstream which flows to the oceans. All water is connected to the same source and flows to the same destination. In the same way many parents are currently opposing the Unification Church, but the day will come when they will join the mainstream, just as all running water eventually does.</p>
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<p>There is tremendous variety and purity of creation in the mountains, and the water from mountain streams is also very healthy. Mountain water absorbs essences from the varieties of creation found there, but rivers which run through the plains and flat lands, like the Mississippi or Nile, have no clean taste or special characteristics. Every pebble on the bottom of a mountain creek, every weed and every leaf play an important part in harmonizing the entire environment. When looked at from this viewpoint everything becomes more beautiful. The running streams which start in the depths of the mountains will never make you sick, no matter how much you drink. Mountain animals drink the pure water and breathe clean air all the time so they are strong and healthy.</p>
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<p>Everything that I am speaking of comes down to one simple word: harmony. The ideal world is not a world of uniformity and regimentation but a world of harmony in which each person plays a distinctive role. It is not one species alone which creates the grandeur of the mountains. They are made beautiful in part by the infinite variety of the trees, some gigantic, some crooked, and of all different shades and hues.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Cultures must partake of both<br />
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the pinnacle and the valley</h3>
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<p>Why do we meet here? Why do we need to create harmony? I have a reason for selecting the topic of today’s sermon as “The Heart of Reunion.” External unity itself has shallow meaning, and I want you to appreciate the fact that there must be deep meaning and love in our gathering together. There are all kinds of subjects to study in our world, but I think the study of harmony is the most important. After being educated in the “Department of Harmony” would you want to marry within your own cultural and racial background?</p>
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<p>White and black people live together here in America but have they created perfect harmony in this land? Who is responsible for that lack of harmony, white people or black people? Be honest and frank. I agree with your answer that basically white people have been responsible for that. Even though God meant for harmony to exist when he put two extremes together, there is little harmony among the races here in America. The white people must take primary responsibility for the lack of harmony in this country,</p>
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<p>At high noon the sun is bright but even at that moment the sun is moving towards the opposite extreme of midnight. In living you must be willing to go through the darkness of midnight to arrive at the high noon of the next day. The Western culture is primarily a white culture, and in general white people think of themselves as superior to the black and yellow people. Westerners think of their culture as being self-sufficient, but that is comparable to refusing to go through midnight; the sun cannot always remain at high noon. The Western culture will never see broad daylight again unless there is unity. When Westerners can be broadened by absorbing elements from other cultures, a new day will dawn and there will be the glorious prosperity of another high noon.</p>
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<p>The cultures which can go from the pinnacle to the valley and vice versa are closer to perfect harmony than those which never change their positions. The Greek and Roman empires thought they could stay on the pinnacle forever. They had no intuition that they would be destroyed, but now their civilizations are gone. Today the Western culture is enjoying being on the pinnacle, but this civilization will also terminate unless it seeks the valley. This is a universal law and no one can escape it.</p>
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<p>The key to the continuing prosperity of the cultures is harmony but a harmonizer is needed, someone who can bring unity between two extremes. That unity cannot be accomplished all at once, but will require time. It is logical that a yellow man would be the mediator between black and white. Because God needed such a mediator He asked me to come to America to heal the rift between white and black. It is the white people who have been rejecting me while the black people have embraced me. That does not mean that God is showing special favor to the blacks alone, however. That phenomenon will help to save the white people by giving them another chance to transcend the barrier of race.</p>
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<p>White people feel threatened by two things primarily: the power of communism and the increasing power of the yellow race. When Western leaders look at me and at our movement they wonder whether I am a communist or the leader of some yellow menace and they easily feel suspicious. But an even more formidable enemy would be the yellow race mobilized by the communist influence. America is obviously fearful of Red China, and the American government policy makers are in effect trying to charm the Chinese leaders.</p>
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<p>Why should America, only 200 years old but the mightiest nation on earth, be so intimidated by Red China, whose present form of government is less than 30 years old? Anyone who is aware of world affairs can sense a threat to the Western world from the Asian communist powers.</p>
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<p>I may be from Asia but the position I take is opposite the communist stand. The Asian communists say that there is no God, but I proclaim that there is a God and that He is our Father. Instead of supporting communism I have come to the West to educate the young people about God. The communist Chinese declare that the yellow race has unjustly suffered because of the white race and that the oppressed people of the world should now unite under communism to conquer the world. I declare that we cannot allow that to happen and that our solution instead is to unite all the races together under one common parent, God; that will be the governing power of the world.</p>
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<p>Two powers within the yellow race are confronting each other in a fierce battle. One, the Asian communists, wants to swallow up the West, while the other, our Unification Church forces, wants to defend the West from that menace. I have come to this country for a purpose which is like filling a container with everything necessary to accomplish that mission. Once everything necessary is gathered, that container will overflow and then nothing will be able to stop us from defending the West. The power that is gathered will certainly not be for yellow people alone but for the salvation of the Western culture and all races of mankind, coming together as one gigantic river more powerful than Niagara Falls. We are building up that stream, starting out like a small creek and building into a big river.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The seasons of history</h3>
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<p>In what direction should the Unification Church go? We must move to the extremes. If we are in a high place we must head toward the lowest place and work there. If we are in the lowest position we must head toward the highest position. In America, the Unification Church is in the lowest position. We should be ready to aim as high as possible and move America back to God. It is realistically beginning to happen this year. Eventually we will not be on the bottom but will find ourselves way on top.</p>
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<p>Where should we go after that? To Moscow! The tropical waters of the earth are slowly fuming toward the North Pole, while at the same time the waters of the northern areas are heading toward the warm areas. The ancient cultures were found in semi-tropical climates-for instance, Egypt by the Nile River and Greece by the Mediterranean. The present nations leading the free world are found in the temperate climates, however. The trend of history is inclining toward the cold weather zone, with a northern power like. the Soviet Union determined to dominate the world and cover it like a blizzard.</p>
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<p>The garden of Eden was located in the tropical zone, which can be compared to spring. Human civilization eventually spread to cooler climates comparable to autumn, and now has penetrated the coldest, most winter-like areas. History has entered the autumn, and just as winter’s winds blow the last leaves from the trees, the cold wind of communism is being felt in this autumn culture. But at the same time, autumn represents the harvest when new seeds enfold the promise of a new generation. Now the leaves of the old culture are falling, but at the same time we are harvesting the seeds of a new culture.</p>
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<p>I want you to know that this trend of human civilization precisely parallels the patterns of restoration. The seed is protected by its hull and cannot be destroyed by weather. It is protected until the new day arrives. Who will greet spring when it arrives? The seed is the only element that can go through the hard cold winter to start new life in the spring. This is not my theory at all but an historical principle.</p>
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<p>The new way of life will not be contaminated by either the communist ideology or democracy. In other words, the seed will not be affected by any of the four seasons. Where can we find the ideology which can be that seed? The Unification Church has the ideology, and you will be the seeds that shall survive the severest weather to meet the spring. Have you ever before thought about yourself as being a seed?</p>
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<p>You are just starting to dank that way. If you are absolutely convinced that you can cultivate that seed then this is an historical event. This concept is so gigantic and the reality is so soaring that once you deeply realize your position, you would feel as if you have been struck by lightening. I know you have never imagined that such gigantic things are happening.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Like seeds forming, you must absorb<br />
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elements from all races and cultures</h3>
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<p>Today’s Western culture is equivalent to the autumn season. No matter how much you may want to delay winter’s arrival, its coming is inevitable. Even now winter is knocking at the door and in order to be a fruitful seed, the Unification Church needs a shell of discipline and training that will enable it to survive under any circumstances. In the summertime people go to cool places on their vacation and in the wintertime they go to warm places like Miami Beach, trying to escape the cold weather. But Unification Church members do the opposite; we meet the seasons head on and conquer them. That is our way of life. Your living that way is a manifestation of formidable spiritual power. The degree to which the American people say you are brainwashed is a measure of your conviction.</p>
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<p>You know you will go through winter but you must also envision spring’s coming. Your job is to make yourself a solid seed so that when the spring comes God will cast you on very fertile ground and you will be fruitful. Are you ready to be tested by the cold weather of communism? Could you withstand torture by people who want you to recant your faith? If you are that strong, the fallen world will call you a problem child because no one will be able to bend you; but in studying the trends of history it is obvious that people like us must inevitably appear. The existence of the Unification Church is not an accident but the fruit of history.</p>
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<p>We are thankful to be chosen for this job because we have the hope that after the cold weather of communism passes a new world will be born and spring will come. That is the day our hope shall be realized. The winter is never permanent. By gathering together people from all races and cultures we are trying to exchange each other’s indestructible elements in order to arm ourselves to overcome any circumstance. We can never be destroyed if we are trained for survival.</p>
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<p>In order to become one solid seed, you must draw energy and nutrients from all elements: the soil, water and sun’s rays. All year round a seed is gathering the elements it needs. Do you white people still have some feeling of separateness from black or yellow people? Do you black people feel resentment towards whites, even after learning the Principle? Unless each of you can draw good elements from the others you cannot survive to grow in the springtime. The whole point is how to create one indestructible seed. When the spring culture of the ideal world comes I would like to name it “choon wha,” which means “one central harmony” or “central peace.” Are you ready to become the essence of the central harmony?</p>
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<p>Our contribution is to knit all mankind together with the love of God</p>
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<p>History is advancing toward one spring culture of the Kingdom of God on earth. That is the ultimate goal of human history. You are supposed to be the seed that will grow in that springtime, but where does a seed come from? God is the ultimate origin or root from which each seed grows. You are the seeds of God, created through the process of love, and two gigantic loves are essential for your life and must be harmonized within you-love of humanity and the love of God.</p>
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<p>Love must always freely move into the center and then back out to the world. Love is not stationary but flowing all the time. The center of that circling movement is the Messiah; in occupying that position he channels the heavenly love so that you can transmit it on a horizontal level.</p>
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<p>Throughout history man has thought that the ideal society with perfect love between man and God and man and man was only a dream, but the Messiah shall make the dream a reality. The Unification Church is born for that purpose and we can attain that goal. The greatest contribution we can make to the world is to knit all of mankind together with the love of God. Throughout history there has always been conflict between North and South, East and West, not just between nations but within families and on every level of society. Historically unity has proved to be an impossible task but I am striving for that today.</p>
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<p>Even on the small peninsula of Korea the Southerners and Northerners have a sense of different identity and have had animosity toward each other throughout their history. Even in our church, when a southern man and a northern woman were blessed together they were like two knights ready for battle. When they initially confronted each other with animosity their families were also hostile, but as their relationship became happier their joy naturally influenced their surroundings and their relatives. Now their hearts have been melted and they are united as one family.</p>
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<p>Initially there was a great deal of criticism of our mass weddings in Korea, but now many Korean young people anticipate becoming part of one such wedding. Even non-members feel a great deal of excitement. There was also violent opposition in Japan when our members were married apart from the usual traditions, but now the parents have seen how happy their sons and daughters are and how beautiful they are together. Parents have even said there must some magic to those mass weddings to make those people so happy.</p>
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<p>Americans think you are just foolish young people but wider acceptance of our movement will come when people see the fruit of the Principle. The quickest way to unite mankind into one family is by intermarriage of the different races. The movement which can elevate such marriages will inevitably bring harmony and unity to the world, without war or conflict. In the future more and more Americans will seek international marriages uniting the different nations and races; these will bring honor not shame.</p>
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<p>To accomplish this gigantic historical task, you must discover the extraordinary power of love, love that does not become the circumstantial victim of society. Supreme love transcends every national, racial and cultural barrier. People have always talked about love but human love alone will never accomplish the task of universal unity. Therefore, the Unification Church rallies around one love, the love and heart of God. We are the first group in history to talk about the heart of God.</p>
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<p>If it is really true that we know the heart of God then we are like the sun rising in the morning and no one can ever stop us. Furthermore, the brightness of that morning sun shall brighten the entire world. There will be one center of heart here on earth, linking all mankind to the heart of God, spreading all over the world and constantly pulsing through the action of give and take, unable to stay in just one place.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Love is the best of everything<br />
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in all the universe</h3>
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<p>Your whole purpose for reaching the center is to meet the heart of God. That experience is so overwhelming and exciting that you cannot disappear there forever, but must emerge again to embrace your family, society, nation and world. As you touch each of those areas you will always leave a bit of the Kingdom of Heaven.</p>
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<p>This is the joy in the heart of reunion. The East and West are meeting here today, not merely because we want to see each other for personal reasons but because the heart of God is linking us together into one. Words cannot describe that heart too well for it is beyond words. Intuitively you can understand; that something is what warmed your hearts and brought you here today.</p>
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<p>If the heart of God is not moving within your heart then you feel empty, even though you may be a member of the Unification Church. Once the invisible but powerful axis of the heart of God is moved out of you, everything becomes empty. Once the heart of God dwells within you, no matter how lonely you may be you will be filled and the universe will be filled. A person who is completely filled is a joyful person because he lacks nothing.</p>
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<p>Once you have felt the heart of God you feel that you cannot survive if it should ever leave you, and until you are reunited with God’s heart you feel lifeless. Often a child will dearly love his mother and want to be home just to be with her. If he runs home one day and finds all his brothers and sisters home but his mother gone, then he will grumble and say, “Nobody is home.” Everyone else may be there, but if his mother is gone then to him it seems that nobody is home.</p>
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<p>If there is a center of love then you can give love unselfishly and without limit and you can become a subject of love. When you give out of the fullness of this love, you multiply love and can realize the ideal. Love transcends distance and time.</p>
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<p>The speed of light is nothing compared to the speed of love; you have no idea how fast love travels. Love is fastest, brightest, fullest and sweetest. Love is the best of everything in all the universe. Only through the power of love can this miracle occur, not through bullets or threats. The Unification Church’s philosophy and conviction are connected to the center of the universe &-the heart of God. We shall become the shining examples of that love and heart. I want you to realize that each of you can possess the highest thing, the brightest thing, the sweetest thing and the fullest thing.</p>
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<p>What kind of mood were you in when you carne here this morning? Did you want to get here quickly or did you grumble that you needed more sleep? Why did you miss my ugly face? I didn’t bring you any gifts from Boston.</p>
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<p>You came because you can feel a special power of love when you are around me and you want to receive it. But you can manifest and give that love too, right? Love cannot be seen but it can be felt. When the True Parents are not present it feels as if nobody is home, doesn’t it? As soon as I walk into a room, the room is filled. Although I am the same kind of person as you, this is true because I devote my entire life to receiving the heart of God.</p>
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<p>Anyone who is strongly connected to God can become a life-giving object, even though that life is not visible to the human eye. You may not become a sun, but you can at least become a lighthouse in the dark. When you first started selling newspapers I’m sure you were scoffed at, but now if you don’t appear in your area each day there are people who miss you. You have become a lighthouse already.</p>
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<p>You must have the faith and conviction that you are a lighthouse lighting a dark world. The lighthouse will shine forth even in the worst kind of weather because that is the time ships need the lighthouse most. When you are surrounded by the thickest fog you must shine forth all the more. The more adversity, the greater must be your light.</p>
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<h3 align="center">I have now set the fishing tradition</h3>
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<p>I have become a legend in the Gloucester area; the newspaper there wrote several articles about our fishing and we were a topic of conversation for the whole town. Hundreds of boats come every year from all over to fish in that particular area; when the New Hope put out to sea and dropped anchor then often many other boats would follow and anchor in the vicinity. When we had a tuna strike then other fishermen would bring out their binoculars to watch what I was doing. At first the negative people would want the tuna to break loose and escape, but after a few days of successful catches they began to change their thinking and the rumor began that I have something good working for me.</p>
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<p>I was always the first one out to sea. Some of the seasoned professional fishermen would go out early to outdo me but no matter how early they got out the New Hope was already there. The fishermen were not only inspired by this but when they tried to compete with me they had to work so hard that they had no time for their usual drinking or laziness. By the end of the summer a rumor was going around that declining town that I am the only one who can save Gloucester.</p>
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<p>Without any exception I got up every day at 3 a.m. The New Hope went out in the moonlight and in many cases returned home with the stars and moon shining. Do you like to get up early in the morning? The staff members working on the boat were never told what time to get up but since I arose at 3 they followed me, no matter how sleepy they were.</p>
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<p>This has been my tradition for four years in America. It is not easy to follow me because no one can outwork me. My crew knows what I would do, and if I tell them to be out by 1: 30 on the Atlantic they get up and go out with no grumbling. I have even set the tradition of staying out and working all night. all night.</p>
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<p>This summer I did not earn much in terms of money, but in terms of tradition, I earned billions of dollars worth. By following that tradition, the fishing industry in our movement will blossom and contribute much to America’s entire fishing industry in days to come. Because I have now set the fishing tradition, no one will hesitate to go out to sea, even the women. If I were a coward then no one would go seriously but now people will be eager to go. There is a record of when and where I caught each fish and how big it was. In the future fishermen will be trying to challenge that record.</p>
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<p>Even though fishing is incredibly hard work, I wanted to give myself without any reservation to set the tradition for the posterity of the Unification Church. That has been my work for the last 70 days. What would you do if I were to go out selling the News World 24 hours a day? Would you be selling 24 hours a day also? I might bring the victory if you do not.</p>
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<p>You don’t know how hard I worked in witnessing. For seven years in the early days in Korea I slept only two hours a night and day after day I spent preaching the word of God and teaching the Principle myself. Sometimes members would become drowsy and sleepy and then all of a sudden be chastised by an angel saying, “How can you sleep like this when he is working so hard day in and day out?”</p>
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<p>I’m sure this is the first time you have heard these things. The things I ask you to do I have already done many times in the past. Now I am asking you to do the same. You have no cause to complain.</p>
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<p>Throughout my entire life I have accumulated a wealth of experience and spiritual power and now I am bringing it all to America. When visitors come to America they usually try to take something back to their home country, but I am doing the opposite. Everything I have accumulated I want to freely give to the American people, but instead of welcoming me, America is rejecting me.</p>
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<p>If you were not here giving me love and listening to me then I would have no more interest in America and I would leave this country. You are the ones holding me in America and you represent 240 million people. You are the hope of this country; without you America will be lost. While you are alive and strong you must let 240 million American people know that the Unification Church is a movement of reunion centering upon the word of God. Once you harness the power of the heart of God, you will have the energy to be a lightning bolt, lighting up all of America. The important thing is whether you have that explosive power in your hearts. You are now like living bombs, just waiting to be ignited and then explode, not for destruction but for salvation.</p>
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<p>Today is a new day of reunion and this is the reunion place for the East and West and heaven and earth. The implications of this unity are vast; with this kind of heart New York is much too small to be our stage. When you reach out you must feel that New York is not large enough to hold you. Have you felt, “I am the harmonizer of heavenly culture and earthly culture. I am the focal point of love. I am a messenger of the love of God, having the infinite energy that will bring springtime to this nation.”</p>
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<p>When you live with the heart of reunion, with the heart of God and the heart of parents, constructive and creative power is generated. By having this nation as our center and all coming together as one we can truly become dynamos to create a new world culture.</p>
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<p>There must be purpose for having reunion because otherwise no one would want to meet a second time. We must be ready to meet again after creating some achievement. This morning you should be different, making a new beginning with your heart of reunion and marching forward to the ultimate fulfillment of your goal. Those who can be different this morning, raise your hands. God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1206" class="post-1206 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/good-day.html" title="Permalink to GOOD DAY" rel="bookmark">GOOD DAY</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:15:42+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/good-day.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:15:42+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">July 3, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>Merely hearing about a good day makes us feel good. Without exception all men are looking forward to living good lives, but who is going to decide what is a good day? No matter how many good things are going on around you, unless you are feeling good yourself you do not think it is a good day. Our conclusion is that you are the one who decides what is a good day.</p>
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<p>A good feeling is correspondent, needing to be reciprocated. No matter how good you are, you don’t really feel good unless the environment responds to you. Upon waking up in the morning the surrounding atmosphere gives you a certain feeling or mood. Something may uplift you and then you feel good, or nature may communicate with you and you feel happy.</p>
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<p>The beauty of nature is not just horizontal, however, but is also vertical. Sunshine beams down upon the earth and creates vertical beauty. When you look at a broad river stretching away before you, you feel absolutely expansive and want to breathe the universe. Yet all these factors alone cannot make one really happy.</p>
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<p>Joy cannot be stimulated only by seeing objects. Viewing the river and the sunshine cannot fully stimulate your joy. If at the same time your ears perceive beautiful music or sounds of nature then the visual beauty will be greatly enhanced. If you are gazing at beautiful sights and ‘ all of a sudden you hear beautiful music then your eyes are pulled in the direction of the music, right?</p>
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<p>Which of the two is more stimulating? Why music? Music is another expression of visible nature, capturing the essence of human joy and sorrow. Human passion can be conveyed by music and generate a certain mysterious feeling of inspiration in the listener. People drive three or four hours to get out of the city for a picnic on the 4th of July, looking for a beautiful, natural setting. Yet even then they carry a radio or Sony TV. Why? It is human nature not only to seek the beauty of nature but to pursue stimulating sounds of music as well. Without it we are not complete. Smell is another stimulus to reach one more level of awakening.</p>
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<p>However, even if your vision is satisfied by beauty and your ears by beautiful music and your nose by beautiful fragrance, what happens when all of a sudden someone appears with whom you can share your joy? That stimulating relationship comes first; when you have someone you really want to talk with then everything else becomes secondary.</p>
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<p>When you have someone you can relate to with love then it is not only your mouth which is speaking. Your entire body is involved in your conversation. When you communicate with a passionate heart, your entire body and soul are totally mobilized to express yourself. You cannot just talk, but want to gesture with your arms and move around and look at everything. That is what makes your expression more genuine.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Your senses are for perceiving and communicating joy</h3>
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<p>Why did God give man his five senses? They are God’s gift for perceiving joy and relating ourselves to everything around us. By looking at someone’s eyes you can tell whether that person is joyful or sorrowful. Your eyes tell everything about you. But even more amazing is the fact that all five senses work together. There is no such thing as your eyes laughing and your mouth crying. When your eyes laugh then your whole face harmonizes together to express one feeling. Often people erroneously think they laugh only with their mouths. It is the same as if a single individual in a group would stand up and start laughing; you would say he was a crazy person. No, your entire body laughs, including your limbs.</p>
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<p>Sometimes I speculate about who invented make-up. Women try to re-create themselves by using cosmetics, but they invest the most time and creativity in making their eyes beautiful. Your eyes are a very critical part of your face, carrying great weight in your expression. If your eyes look bad then your whole appearance is bad.</p>
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<p>To draw attention to their ears women wear earrings. Nowadays even men sometimes wear an earring, or go one step further and wear a nose ring. The nose is also an important area. You want your nose to stand out in a beautiful way, but with the wrong kind of make-up your entire face looks flat. Western women with bigger noses want to make their noses look a little smaller, while Oriental women have flat noses which they want to make stand out a little more. After fixing their eyes, nose, and ears women also fix their mouths.</p>
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<p>This emphasis on make-up illustrates my point this morning. Your senses are such an important medium of communication that you want to improve them to carry greater weight. In addition to wearing make-up, Western women like to decorate their necks. Unlike Oriental women, Western women expose the upper parts of their bodies, particularly when they go to parties. Then they need to wear necklaces with ornaments in the center. Western women are tall and have long necks and to balance their long necks they wear necklaces to create a focal point of attention.</p>
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<p>In an effort to look shorter, Western women wear short skirts. A tall woman in a long dress looks like a crane or a stork! However, women’s behavior in the West does not suit the shorter Oriental women. If little Oriental women were to expose the upper portion of their bodies and wear short skirts and necklaces then they would look ridiculous.</p>
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<p>Whether you realize it or not you make efforts to harmonize with nature, wanting to present yourself in the best way possible. All existence in the universe is relative to something else. You want to wear good clothes in order to present yourselves well to other people. If you don’t care about your surroundings then you do not have to pay any attention to how you dress and act.</p>
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<h3 align="center">We relate our love to everything in the universe</h3>
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<p>The topic is “Good Day.” On which good day would I share the greatest joy? Which day is the best day for your ears? Is this a good day because you are hearing a good message? What is a good day? When your eyes perceive beauty and your ears hear beautiful things then you might say you had a good day. Every sense must be in harmony. It is a good day when all five senses and everything in your body can rejoice together.</p>
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<p>Then what is the essential factor? There must be one event which can evoke the joy of all five senses. Only one word expresses that essential factor: love. Who in this universe will recognize the precious value of love? Man values love the most. Have you ever heard of art in the animal world? A literary masterpiece or a great painting expresses love. It is as simple as that. True and profound writings about the interactions of love in the past, present and future are always part of great literature.</p>
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<p>The art of expressing beauty is essential in literature. An author doesn’t just talk about “eyes,” but about “eyes which sparkle like stars.” There are all kinds of expressions of character, like, “your nose stands up like a craggy mountain,” or “your nose is the symbol of strength.” The fundamental purpose for using such adjectives and images is the expression of love. In comparing something to nature, you are not just expressing a feeling about nature but expressing love. You always relate the beauties of the trees, flowers, flowing rivers and waterfalls to love.</p>
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<p>Why do men do this? To begin with, beauty and nature were created to stimulate our sense of love. That is one purpose of their existence. A masterpiece of literature has as its central theme a love which connects all of the beauty and wonder of nature–the heavenly bodies, the beauty of rivers, mountains, trees and flowers–all of which come together to stimulate the expression of human love. Unless a work expresses the feelings of everlasting love then no matter how well it is written, the reader easily loses interest. The central theme of true art is always how to manifest the human passion of love. Poetry is no exception; poems just use fewer words. Young people in particular are idealistic and most sensitive to all these feelings, being easily intoxicated by the emotions in art and literature. Science and other areas of teaming are very monotonous and dry in comparison.</p>
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<p>What about religion, is it a dry subject? Religion is not a dry subject because a religious way of life is centered upon love. Religion has also stimulated a great quantity of art. The major portion of art is the horizontal expression of human passion, but a religious expression of passion describes vertical love. That is the only difference between secular and religious art. An expression of vertical love is not found in jumping around as in classical or folk dancing; you don’t pray by square dancing, for example. The passionate love is the same, but the expression is different.</p>
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<p>The religious experience engenders a deeper awakening of love which inspires something even greater than the horizontal form of art and literature. For this reason, a religious philosophy and life serves as the basis for art in every culture. In European museums the masterpieces are those which are related to religious philosophy or a religious expression of love. The foundation of all art, whether it is sculpture, painting or literature, is always a religious passion or inspired divine love.</p>
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<p>In looking at a painting of a man and woman in love, seeing that they are in love does not give the viewer inspiration. If their surroundings in the picture suggest an atmosphere of love and the composition itself suggests some quality of heavenly, eternal love, then the painting becomes profound, conveying an essential depth of feeling in that one finite frame. That painting is realistic because it depicts a man and a woman, but it is also profound because it is as deep as the universe and God Himself. In viewing such a painting you can be greatly moved by the substantial connection between human reality and such profound depth.</p>
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<p>It is also human nature to express the consummation of human passion in different ways. In addition to pictures of your family you may have a picture of some religious personage whose philosophy describes a certain kind of love. Normally your family pictures are displayed underneath the image of some religious personage, which shows that you want to be embraced by some greater universal awakening or environment. That environment is the setting in which you want to show your love. That is vastly more meaningful than offering your love in a setting as barren as the desert.</p>
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<p>Yet that is not all. In addition to those pictures you decorate with beautiful pictures of nature and with plants. In doing all this you imprint your personality within your room and create a microcosm of the universe there. When you go into someone’s room you can quickly know that person’s personality.</p>
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<p>Why does your mind work like that? Somehow it pleases you to do that; some inner feeling pushes you toward surrounding yourself with greater beauty. It is our constant effort to harmonize ourselves with the universal existence. Even those who have no religious concept at all and who do not know about the saints and religious leaders at least have a secular person they respect, like a hero in history or a national leader or even their own ancestors.</p>
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<p>This particular human behavior is universal, whether in the past or in the present, whether Western or Oriental. Do you agree? It expresses your basic original nature of not wanting to be isolated, of wanting to be with people you look up to or love, and with nature. You want to be a part of your surroundings and you constantly look forward to both horizontal and vertical relationships of love.</p>
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<p>In your loving relationships you always want to be embraced by the entire universe, having your cosmos around and within you. You just cannot bear to be outside of it. The good day is the day you acquire that horizontal love and vertical love harmonized together in the universe, so that you are living in an atmosphere intoxicated with love. The conclusion I come to is that this is the good day you are looking for.</p>
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<p>Everyone has to agree with this conclusion, whether the President of the United States, an Oriental or Westerner, a high-ranking or a humble person. Even in the spirit world everyone will agree with this conclusion. Furthermore, if you go to God and ask Him whether that is His conclusion, He will say, “Yes, that is my conclusion also.” Why do you applaud? Something in this message made you laugh and feel happy. Words of truth stimulate your feelings of joy.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Each one of your features expresses<br />
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the heavenly four positions</h3>
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<p>The forehead is an expression of God’s world and is wide in order to depict the wide heavenly world. The eyebrows placed as they are symbolically represent the boundary between heaven and the physical world. So the features below your eyebrows are an expression of the physical world. Your eyes symbolize a man and a woman standing side-by-side on the same level. Wide eyes are horizontally long instead of vertically long. Can you imagine your eyes being vertically long? The eyes move horizontally more than vertically. When you look up, your whole face moves up instead of just your eyes. However, when you look from side-to-side you don’t have to move your face too much; your eyes can move instead.</p>
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<p>Just like the eyes, men and women are supposed to move more horizontally than vertically, covering the entire horizontal universe. You can find three parts in your eyes, representing formation, growth and perfection. In addition, the eyeball represents the universe, symbolized by its roundness. Unless wheels are round they will not move smoothly. For the same reason men and women should be round, not square or angular.</p>
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<p>Your ultimate goal is to become a man or woman with the same qualities as the eye. Below the eyebrows everything exists in duality, while above the eyebrows there is only one. Again there is a contour, with your forehead, nose, and mouth representing formation, growth and perfection. There are three lines in your mouth-the upper lip, the lower lip and the line where they meet.</p>
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<p>Have you ever thought about who sets the direction for your body? Your nose is always forward of your body, going in front of you and guiding the way. There is a little valley between your nose and mouth. There are vertical and horizontal lines in your face, with the mouth and eyes creating horizontal lines and the nose forming a vertical line.</p>
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<p>Another analogy can be made about your face. The eyes represent God, the nose represents mankind, and the mouth represents the entire creation. This is very logical because you absorb the things of nature through your mouth. The central point of the universe is Adam and Eve, the nose, and overall the entire universe is always watched by God, the two eyes.</p>
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<p>God existed in the beginning, and later when men were created with physical bodies the eyeballs developed first. Do you know that? This is not only true with humans but also with the entire animal world. The nose develops last. This is especially true of Orientals. Westerners are born with bigger noses so you do not notice this too much, but when an Oriental baby is born it usually has a very flat nose. In Jin is a good example because she has a flat nose, but later as she reaches the age of 20 her nose will be more prominent. This parallels the course of creation, in which man was created last. The nose is the last to be perfected in the human body.</p>
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<p>Why do you have 32 teeth? 4 times 8 makes 32; the number 32 is composed of 8 groups of 4. The teeth are the first parts of your body to deal with nature, continuing their work every day.</p>
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<p>When you have 32 beautiful teeth you will never get hungry because your teeth will always be ready to deal with the universe. The appearance of your teeth is very important, particularly for women. It is logical that the things of nature, knowing they were created for the purpose of men, would want to be taken care of by beautiful teeth instead of ugly teeth. Did you know that nature appreciates beauty? Our appearance is not just random; it corresponds with the universal creation.</p>
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<p>The respiratory system has four units, and the same is true of vision. Inside the brain there is one focal point for reception of nerve impulses from your two eyes, which explains why you see one image instead of two. You have two ears and can hear sounds coming from all four directions.</p>
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<p>The overall structure of your body is also an expression of the heavenly four positions. Your mouth and nose both have a shape which is a modification of the four positions. On your hand the thumb represents God and the two thumbs represent the dual essentialities. A baby growing in its mother’s womb frequently holds its thumb inside its fist. It is symbolic of God remaining in the center of the universe, surrounded by time, the seasons and all existence. Each finger has three segments corresponding to the three stages of growth, and all together your four fingers have twelve segments, paralleling the four seasons and twelve months.</p>
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<p>You have three essential organs-the lungs, heart and stomach. When you look at the human face you see three major areas and by analyzing their proportions you can analyze someone’s personality and destiny. The universe is round and the entire human body is also basically round. Don’t look at someone just from the front because he should have beautifully round and solid features in the back also. Athletic champions tend to have thicker bodies, meaning that they are rounder.</p>
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<p>Perhaps you think my head is an average size, but actually it is an extraordinary size. I can never find ready-made hats that are big enough. My head is wide both sideways as well as front to back. The individual is indeed a microcosm of the universe, so by knowing universal truth one can analyze any individual. Without even one word of conversation I can know a lot about a person.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Harmony is needed because all<br />
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of man’s characteristics are essential</h3>
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<p>The differences between Oriental and Occidental people are noticeable. Westerners have large eyes and immediately perceive anything that is close by. On the other hand, Oriental eyes are smaller but they illustrate a tendency to penetrate more deeply and look further away. This difference already reveals who it is that will have greater vision of the future and a deeper philosophy of human life; Westerners are more pragmatic and reality-oriented than Orientals.</p>
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<p>My eyes are narrow but long. Because physically I am very similar to this universal structure I can perceive and penetrate many situations and understand people from many different cultures. This is very meaningful.</p>
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<p>Just being a Westerner should not become your pride. A Westerner has a longer but also narrower nose because God has a special purpose for the white people. That particular feature of Westerners is related to the fact that the Western culture developed primarily in the northern areas. A longer nose is a benefit when living in a cold weather climate because winter air has to travel a longer distance and will warm up more before entering the lungs. In addition, the nostrils are narrower in order that too much cold air should not enter the nostrils at the same time. The black people have different characteristics, with shorter, wider noses. The culture of black people developed in the warmer regions. Hot air should move in and out of the body more quickly than cold air, and with shorter noses the air travels a shorter distance. The beauty of the creation stems in part from its adaptability.</p>
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<p>Would nature be as beautiful if each species had only one color? Would bears be as beautiful if they were only white, or are bears of many colors more interesting? Among human beings, those who live in the northern areas have whiter skin, while those nearer to the tropical zones are darker skinned. Those in the middle areas have yellow or brown skin.</p>
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<p>Westerners whose ancestors are from the far north often have blue eyes, representing a longing for the blue color of clear skies and fair weather, and for the clear blue water of the warm seas. When you are living in an area covered by icy whiteness you grow up longing for green areas and blue water.</p>
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<p>People in the valleys should not scorn those on the peaks or vice versa. Both features are needed, so harmony is the key word. There are seven major colors of the universe and one color alone cannot fully express beauty. The harmony of these colors brings out the fullest beauty. White is created when every other color is reflected away and also when the seven colors of the rainbow all blend together. White is the color of perfection and nobility so the highest places on earth are covered by white snow. God’s beauty is harmonized beauty.</p>
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<p>The hand expresses many things about a person. When his hand is very thick, that person is richly blessed. Having a deep palm indicates something similar; when you have a deeper container then things remain in it. Each of our features has some meaning.</p>
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<p>Oriental culture analyzes the universe by first examining basic principles. On the other hand, Western culture examines the external creation first, trying to then deduce basic principles. Which way is more direct?</p>
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<p>It can be said that the Western culture is a meat eating culture, while Eastern peoples primarily eat vegetables and fish. The white culture originated in the northern areas of the globe and the most available food came from animals. Having its origins in the necessity of killing animals, Western culture developed the practice of medicine that emphasized treating symptoms of illness primarily by introducing foreign substances or by surgery.</p>
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<p>Did you know that Westerners have shorter intestines than Orientals? The explanation is that the main food was traditionally meat, a substance which should not remain in the body too long because harmful substances may otherwise be produced. Paralleling this fact, Westerners generally lack the spirit of perseverance and patience to hang on until the last.</p>
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<p>Among the animals, tigers and lions also have very short intestines because their main food is meat. Animals like the cow and ox have very long intestines because their primary food is grass. In the Bible it is recorded that the animals which were offered as sacrifices were vegetable-eating animals, like sheep and oxen and doves, which eat insects. Animals like the cow, sheep and ox have infinite patience; no matter how hot the day, they keep chewing and keep plowing.</p>
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<p>Oriental people have longer intestines because vegetable substances are more beneficial when they remain in the body longer. By having to pass through a longer digestive tract food remains in the body longer. Throughout history the people who needed greater fortitude and patience to endure more suffering and to be a pioneering force were the Asian peoples. The Western culture needs an alternative to its present way of life; Western culture will decline if it continues along one extreme.</p>
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<p>It is also time for white people to love the darker colors and to appreciate the hot weather as well as the cold. It is providential that America has been entangled with Asian affairs and involved in assisting Korea. It is not just because the American people have merciful hearts. It would not bring good fortune to this country if President Carter ever disengaged this nation from Korea. If America were to retreat from Asia at this time then because of the law of indemnity America would suffer a great deal to overcome the effects of her failure. I have a clear responsibility from God to stop America from abandoning her providential responsibility. Asia and America must maintain their connection.</p>
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<h3 align="center">We are the kind of people who<br />
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breathe the universe every day</h3>
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<p>How do I know you white members love me? Simply by the fact that you are here, in many cases against the opposition of your own parents. Why are you doing it? I did not make you do it. The universal destiny is pushing American young people to come to the Unification Church. Providential destiny is not a man-made destiny; it is heaven’s work that the Unification Church is plowing forward, and anyone who is trying to stop it by human power will be shattered. The destiny of God shall not be affected.</p>
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<p>If we were only engaged in selfish, human affairs we would have been destroyed a long time ago. If an individual without a heavenly purpose had received such accusation and slander as I have he would have collapsed a long time ago. But I am different; the more persecution and pressure I receive, the tighter and stronger I get. No one can turn me back because I am not waging a man-made campaign; I am following a universal destiny. That is why you are extraordinary, even fearful people. No one can figure you out. Only a small portion of the moon shows before the full moon appears, but each day more is seen. Opposition never makes you Moonies small; it only makes you grow. Through the month of June we have been hard-pressed, even seeming to decrease in the eyes of the world. But from the month of June on we are going to gradually show more and more until the full moon is seen. The day of the full moon is a good day.</p>
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<h3 align="center">I am really enjoying talking to you<br />
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this morning. I don’t know where the time flies!</h3>
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<p>When you look at a seed you think of the universe. When you look at the stars you think of the universe. When you look at a bird flying you think of the universe. When the butterfly flutters by you look at the universe. When a tiny little ant is crawling on the ground you think of the universe. We are the kind of people who breathe the universe, who live and harmonize with the universe every day. The universe is our stage.</p>
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<p>In the morning you pick up 50 copies of the News World and go to a dirty comer of New York City, yet even then you are breathing the air of the universe, running out to embrace the universe. Even the negative reaction of the people never deters you when you have a universal frame of mind. The sweat you wipe off is universal sweat, not your own. In the same way, when I speak to a congregation I do not think I am just speaking to you but to the whole universe.</p>
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<p>I am convinced that when I speak not only you get excited but also nature and spirit world and even God become joyful. Even negative people who come find themselves forgetting their criticism. I have seen instances when people have come to listen to me, not for spiritual inspiration, but to find fault. After one hour they totally forget their purpose for coming and after the speech they think, “Oh, I came for some other reason. I was brainwashed!” That is how the stories of brainwashing got started.</p>
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<p>Certainly they were not brainwashed; without realizing it they were momentarily intoxicated at being absorbed into the universal harmony. This is the kind of experience which all of humanity will eventually enjoy. That is certainly not brainwashing. Instead it is washing all the dust off the human spirit so that each person can experience the universal harmony.</p>
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<h3 align="center">By itself, human love can only create a flat surface</h3>
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<p>I know very well that my critics think amazingly bad things about me. They even think I am not human, but some kind of iron man who doesn’t need food or rest and who cannot be controlled. What they imagine is my mysterious quality is nothing else but my being in harmony with the universal destiny. That is what influences my surroundings. It is there like an invisible magnetic force which can attract any metal located in its electric field. Metal is pulled to it because there is a certain rapport. That is exactly what happens when we are together like this. Universal force and strength enable people to feet some kind of affinity with me, whether they like it or not.</p>
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<p>Your mind responds to that magnet because the power of love is activated. One person cannot pull another human being unless that love is practiced. I am not talking about horizontal love; this mysterious, powerful love is vertical. Our greatest pride and treasure in the Unification Church is that we bring the living God into the realm of human affairs. God is not a concept to us but a living God with whom all our lives can be connected and harmonized. Our philosophy and theology is uncomplicated, stemming from the heavenly four positions.</p>
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<p>This philosophy can unify up and down, front and rear and left and right, all directions. This harmony will create one grand circle, the ultimate expression of perfection. Everything can be absorbed within that circle; there is nothing it cannot contain. Human power and love can be horizontal and therefore unite left and right, front and rear. But human love alone cannot unite up and down. Without the vertical element, human love can only create a flat surface.</p>
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<p>How can we add the vertical element? Which comes first, horizontal or vertical? Why the vertical? Look at the tree as one natural expression of universal truth. The trunk has to be correctly aligned in order for the tree to be aligned. If the trunk dies or is cut down then no tree remains. If you ask a tree what it resembles the tree will answer, “I live in the image of the universe.”</p>
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<p>Trees grow into a rounded shape, particularly those trees which bear fruit; a tree trunk and branches together create one big ball. The vertical line is the trunk itself, growing like a solid pillar. When that trunk is alive the whole tree is alive and reaches up to the heavens. Even vines which spread on the ground like the sweet potato, always turn their leaves and sprouting tips up. All nature is directed toward the source of life. In nature that life source is the sun so everything in nature looks at the sun.</p>
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<p>Do you think about what takes the role of the sun in human life? Can we say that the source of love is here on earth and that together men and women can ultimately perfect their love here? That is not true. Only illicit love looks down to the ground. True love is always looking up for some greater source of love, like plants looking for the sun’s rays. Such people are proud of their love and have nothing to hide.</p>
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<p>Like the sun, the position of love is the universal center. Being higher than man’s love, that center is vertical not down on the ground. That center is God. It is His vertical love which supplies the richness and resources of life. It is important to understand whether that life source exists beneath or above man. The higher love represents parental love, while the lower love represents children’s love. Love always flows from upper to lower. Throughout Biblical history there was an emphasis on having sons because having an heir was very important. An heir ensures that there will be a channel for vertical love to continue on for another generation and bring prosperity.</p>
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<p>Even though the American divorce rate is increasing, most separated parents each want custody of their children. Because the life source of universal love is a vertical one, parents either consciously or intuitively want to become closer to the trunk-line of love through a relationship with their children. If the vertical line is not straight then you cannot expect the horizontal love to be straight. Without vertical and horizontal lines which are at 90 degrees, the ideal of four positions cannot exist.</p>
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<p>Throughout history those seeking a devout life of faith have abhorred married life. Each major religion recognizes the value of celibacy. Marriage is the horizontal expression of basic human nature, while man is supposed to obtain the vertical expression first. After the perfection of vertical love man is supposed to expand that love onto the horizontal level. This is why religious life stresses the vertical, spiritual life, discouraging horizontal love.</p>
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<p>The fall of man began at this very point. Adam and Eve, the ancestors of mankind, engaged in horizontal love before obtaining the vertical love between God and man as parent and children. That was the fall. We have to rectify this wrong beginning. Because human history started with illicit horizontal love, vertical love must be upheld and horizontal love must be denied. Now you can understand why throughout history the religious life has been one of denial, of leaving your spouse and children and parents. In attempting to deny everything in the human world, religious people led ascetic, isolated lives, searching for the lost vertical love. Until recently that way of life was stressed by religion.</p>
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<p>Do we need religion then? Human history actually started out with a loving relationship with God and it will be consummated by religion, nothing else. The way of life that denies the necessity of religion, like communism, cannot remain any longer. No matter what people may say or try, there is no other ultimate solution to human affairs. Religion is the only way we can solve human problems. Every culture throughout human history had a religious origin. Those peoples and nations in history which could not advance to a higher religious philosophy were always destroyed. Today’s America is a proud nation, but it is the power of Christianity which made this nation’s greatness possible.</p>
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<h3 align="center">You must love the world as much as you love God</h3>
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<p>The religion which will provide a solution for world problems will be the one which can put everyone in touch with the core universal truth and force. The Unification Church exists just for that purpose. There is a proud German man sitting here and he has so much pride in his own country that he thinks the German people are a super race. Why did he come here? Simply because he is a Moonie no one will treat him with respect.</p>
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<p>This proud German came to America and was given instructions to sell the newspaper every day and to go witnessing. He was told to do incredible things and yet he does not have to do any of them. He is free to go back to his own country. What power could have kept him here? All of us are here only because we know the ultimate solution for the problems of the universe.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church has one special, extraordinary feature, and that is the concept of “True Parents.” Never before in all of history has that been heard of. Such a name as True Parents is logical, however, once you really know the fundamental truth. Now you are looking forward to becoming a true brother and sister and a true husband and wife, but how could you do that without first installing True Parents? You need a model or prototype, and the True Parents must provide that standard of human behavior. Thus in the Unification Church we have two of the most important words under the sun: True Parents. That is why people from all over the world and with all different colors of skin are disregarding their old surroundings and relationships and opportunities and following this one goal.</p>
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<p>Why is this goal so valuable? Do you need the True Parents? You say so, but how will your parents feel when they hear such words? They quickly feel some implication that they are false parents. For this reason I am sympathetic with them when they want somehow to get rid of me or kidnap their own children. Of course they want to keep you as their children. Have you ever read about parents kidnapping their own children before? Why don’t you just go home on your own? Your parents are waiting, ready to do anything for you.</p>
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<p>When you come to the Unification Church you gain nothing tangible that you can get hold of. In one way of thinking you are in miserable shape. Yet there is something here you cannot disregard, something formidable and mysterious yet very real. It makes your heart full of joy and inspires you to give your total self and even then still not feel adequate.</p>
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<p>I have never said that you must not worry about anything else except loving me. Instead I say that you will only deserve my attention by totally loving the world and the universe. I am actually pushing you out, not pulling you in. My central teaching is this: as much as you love me you must equally love the world, mankind and the universe. If you see something valuable in me then live the same way for the universe.</p>
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<p>Other people will say that you are crazy for living this way, but as long as you are sure of yourself in loving God and mankind then you will be totally intoxicated in this way of life and in this love. Then you really won’t care about criticism and will find fulfillment. Once you stand on that ground, then no matter what the world says you will have a spiritual strength and power that nothing under the sun can resist or obstruct. When your love and faith are that real then life truly becomes intoxicating.</p>
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<p>Do you white people think this is true? What about you black people, do you feel the same? Did I convince you of this? It was not 1; only God could do that. You must realize that we are living in the most incredible time, witnessing unprecedented events. We are being carried along by the universal destiny. This movement is not made by man and I am not just pushing my own ideology.</p>
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<p>My life is only like one little seed, dropped in the ground of this dark world and beginning to show signs of life. All of a sudden the world is seeing signs of life, noticing little leaves appearing. Now a tree is forming, growing both vertically and horizontally. As my efforts have an effect on a larger scale then my influence on the environment also grows larger.</p>
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<p>When I say you should love the world as much as you love God I mean that your vertical love should be practiced on the horizontal level. In order to create the heavenly four positions you must live both the vertical and the horizontal together. You may want to stay with me, but when you come to me I will only kick you out and tell you to love the world. Then as you come back from the world I will accept you.</p>
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<p>We want to create here the total perfection of the heavenly four positions, but to do that you must practice your vertical love in a horizontal world. The person who says he loves the Unification Church and the Unification ideology but does not want to live and practice it is only a swindler. I must love the world as much as I love God; otherwise I am not worthy to stand in the sight of God.</p>
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<p>I know that God still loves America and the world, so regardless of how I am mistreated I will still love America and the world. I cannot return to God until I love the children of my fiercest enemy. Then my responsibility will be accomplished. We have to subjugate our opponents, not by force but by love, the natural process of the universe. That is our ideology. This is the most profound ideology anywhere, the perfection of religion. There is no better philosophy than that one.</p>
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<p>We are talking about the heart of God, not just die concept of God’s existence. Our ideology is simple. I want to love my spouse as much as I love God. I want to love my children as much as I love God. I want to love my neighbors as much as I love God. I want to love the world and mankind as much as I love God. Since I know that this is the only way of life that God can approve and the only way we can reach God, I have been completely practicing this life. I want to leave this tradition and conviction with you also.</p>
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<p>The depth of your love for God is your standard for loving your husband, your children, your neighbors, your society, your world and even those in the dungeons of hell. That is your criteria. I want you to make this feeling passionately real, down to the marrow of your bones. You cannot just will this to happen one day; you must make daily efforts and struggle to overcome the limitations of your heart. That’s what we are here for. Critical adults may think you. are all immature and young-looking and accuse me of being some kind of fly-by-night charlatan. That is far from the truth; what we are doing is as permanent as a rock.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God wants restored children who can maintain heavenly dignity</h3>
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<p>No matter how much outsiders study us they cannot find the source of the power of the Unification Church. You have your own dignity and pride in doing even trivial, menial work and no matter how the world persecutes or criticizes me I am not bothered at all. I have my own pride and dignity and power source. Only God’s love could bring that power.</p>
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<p>Even though I often dress very humbly, I feel even better than a king on the throne of a nation. I have a deep understanding with God. You too can think of yourself as a prince or princess of God. Our Heavenly Father has asked you to go the way of a lowly person in order to come to His throne ultimately. This is what you are doing now. No matter how humble you look, you must not forget your dignity and pride as a prince and princess of God.</p>
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<p>That is precisely my way of thinking. I started out in a humble place in the small nation of Korea, yet I had the dignity and pride and awareness of being God’s prince and I precisely understood the direction I was walking. The first chapter of my mission included stirring up a great deal of controversy in Korea. In the next chapter I went to Japan and turned the entire nation upside down. Now in the third chapter I have come to America and the entire nation is agitated, wanting to get rid of me. This is not the end of it; America is only Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 the entire communist world will say, -We must completely eliminate him.”</p>
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<p>I want you to know that you have in your hand a special credential from God and True Parents which says that you are the princes and princesses of God. You are privileged people, but with that credential you must do things which other people cannot duplicate. That is your pride and dignity. I came from Korea with that Heavenly credential and I have done things that other people just cannot compete with.</p>
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<p>Because I am summoned by God I cannot degrade this credential or shame myself; I must maintain the dignity of a prince of God even though I may die a thousand times. If you call me Father then you are taking positions as sons and daughters. That means you inherit that credential from me. Can you live up to that credential? Do not bring shame and embarrassment to that position.</p>
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<p>Do you have the ambition to be the top notch people of the world? Why do people who do not know anything about God still have that ambition? God initially created man to become His sons and daughters and we have to prove our dignity as His princes and princesses. We have to live victoriously, becoming triumphant on every level, from the individual level all the way to the world level. By setting the standard of triumph and victory you will be recognized as truly being sons and daughters of God.</p>
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<p>Put yourself in the position of God who has lost His children and wants to restore them. He is our almighty Father so would He want to have children of dignity and pride or would He prefer children who are petty and weak? Why shouldn’t your marriage be arranged based on your whims and desires? Marriage is very important to God so as princes and princesses you should not be capricious and influenced by some handsome man or beautiful woman who is not God-centered. A prince and princess should only marry another prince and princess. Even though a member may be crippled and ugly, he still shines far brighter than anyone who is not God’s restored child. The members of our Church have that value.</p>
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<p>I want to trust that as strong men and women nothing will deter you. If people slap you and sneer, “Are you a prince or princess of God? Don’t be ridiculous”‘ could you seriously maintain your certainty? I am in the image of God. I may not be handsome like God, but you know that at least my heart absolutely resembles God’s.</p>
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<p>It is my pride that I have total unity with the love of God. God is my Father and no one can sever that relationship. Even if you behead me you will not separate me from God’s love? Are you like that? You must be dignified men and women, standing as the backbone of God’s love. You are a tower of strength, the visible form of God’s love. As you achieve this nothing can deter you.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Only by your practicing this standard can we have oneness</h3>
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<p>We will march on until we win the ultimate victory. If death stops me then even after death my march will go on. My worst fear is not that of death but the fear of what it would be like to lose God’s love. That is the one thing that we can never allow to happen. I want you to know clearly the position you hold in relation to God and the True Parents. That position is so valuable that millions of dollars of the world’s money cannot buy it.</p>
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<p>It is possible for us to be welded together so perfectly that nothing can separate us. Then if I push you out into a mission far away, what you are actually doing is not becoming separated but expanding your center of oneness, and your power will increase according to the degree of your unity. In other words, the further away you go, the more your power will increase. It is analogous to stretching a rubber band. The more you stretch it the greater will be its pressure and tendency to contract. In the same way, your desire to be close to the central point increases. The further you go away from the center, the stronger is the pull you feel.</p>
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<p>You are pushing yourself forward because you feel pulled to the center all the time. That’s what you are doing now in witnessing and fund raising. You go out because you know the significance of your mission, but actually you want to be in the center, and in order to get back there quickly you have to finish the mission. Then you can say, “Father, I am here.”</p>
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<p>That is why my pushing you out is not a merciless act but a loving act. By doing so you feel the greater attraction to the center and you become more energetic. When you have difficulty and hardship you think, “How much Father suffered in order to make me grow and raise me up. In order to let our people grow I must suffer like Father.” When you compare yourself to my position you will always gain strength.</p>
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<p>If you keep doing, thinking and acting like that you cannot help but keep growing; you cannot stand still and grow. Your gradient of influence and power is based on how much you are growing. Ultimately you will become like the original center, like a sun which generates energy rather than a moon which reflects energy. By practicing this you can come to fully understand my situation and God’s loving heart. Only then can we have oneness and a common pride between us. There is only one mainstream, and it is connected to this way of life. We want to liberate God from 6,000 years of sorrow in our lifetime. You are very ambitious if you want to do this quickly.</p>
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<p>The center of this world is God’s position. By disciplining yourself in this way you will become a living, walking God, a true son or daughter. With God in the center and each other at either end a new creation will be formed and the heavenly four positions created.</p>
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<p>The happiest day and the good day will be the day God feels delight because of you, the day when you people and all the universe can be harmonized in ecstatic joy and delight. Your perfection is the source of joy for the universe. That will truly be the ultimate good day. Jesus taught and lived this way, desiring most to have a true loving relationship with God.</p>
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<p>Jesus’ first goal, therefore, was to become an absolutely pure, perfected son, and his second goal was to become a true husband for one woman to whom he could pour out his entire love, a woman who loved God as much as he loved God. Jesus’ third goal was to be like God in loving his sons and daughters as God loves His own children. Jesus wanted to become a father himself so he could love his own children. Those were his three goals.</p>
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<p>After fulfilling this position as son, husband and father, Jesus wanted to fulfill God’s desire by expanding this harmonious love to the entire world, enabling the entire world to enjoy the same intensity of God’s love as Jesus did. As you know, Jesus was crucified on the cross. His great misery and heartbreak was that he then could not fulfill his goals of husband and father. Certainly he could not spread those three loves of God throughout the universe. The crucifixion totally blocked the fulfillment of Jesus’ desire.</p>
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<p>We must inherit Jesus’ heartbreak of his unfulfilled desires and take the responsibility to bring the good day when they can be achieved here on earth. Then we can expand our love throughout the world and embrace all the things of creation. The day we can make that a reality is truly the best day.</p>
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<p>Once we achieve all of Jesus’ desires in full then no other duty will ever be as heavy. We will rejoice over our accomplishment with dance, music and song. We may not see the total fulfillment of it in our lifetime yet we are not discouraged because this Principle will be fulfilled whether you are here on earth or not. That is our pioneer’s privilege, laying the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God.</p>
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<p>When you realize that this staggering dream could come this close to being reality in our lifetime, how can you sleep at night? How could you ever sit idle? It must become your hard-headed struggle to shorten the period of accomplishment. I want to completely give my blood and sweat for this goal in order to shorten the time. Your prayer should be, “God, don’t let this arduous task be passed on to my descendants. Let me do it. If there is any suffering to do, let me suffer so I can leave them the accomplished, fulfilled Kingdom of God.” If you live in that philosophy every day yet still are not able to fulfill this goal in your lifetime, then still you will be free from the accusation of your posterity. However, if you spend this time idly then you indeed will be accused.</p>
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<p>Every day we must give our absolute, maximum effort to see this good day. I don’t care which path I have to take in order to see that day. I may work like a beggar or be maimed, but no matter what happens to me, as long as it helps to advance this purpose I do not mind.</p>
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<p>I am close to the age of 60 and keenly aware that each moment is totally precious. In my heart I am constantly declaring an emergency. Mankind is sitting idle, waiting for your helping hand. You are not working so that I may see that day, but because God is waiting for that day and mankind is waiting for that day.</p>
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<p>This is the first Sunday of the month of July, 1977. You must become builders of the good nation and the good world. If you are committed soldiers then the good day will be realized. You must feel that if anything hampers that goal then you could toss aside your own ego and fate. Forget everything and become unswervingly fierce, dashing forward to restore everything. Shall we do it? Those who will do it raise your hands. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1204" class="post-1204 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<h2 class="entry-title">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-pinnacle-of-suffering.html" title="Permalink to THE PINNACLE OF SUFFERING" rel="bookmark">THE PINNACLE OF SUFFERING</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:15:06+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-pinnacle-of-suffering.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:15:06+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">June 26, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>Certainly no one enjoys suffering or tribulation because there is no happiness or joy in it. People want to avoid suffering because it is an abnormal state of being and it represents reversal instead of progress. Our individual minds reflect God, the center of the universe, who must also dislike suffering. If God, the center and master of the universe, is in a position to suffer then all the other elements of creation that belong to God have the same destiny.</p>
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<p>I represent the Unification Church, and if I am in a position of suffering then the members of our church cannot avoid the same fate. As the leader, my own suffering is for the public purpose and is inherited by everyone who belongs to the same organization. The same principle applies to a family, society, nation, and the world. Though the president of a country may not be in a position of suffering, there may people in his country who are deprived. The president of a nation is responsible for the individual or group that is suffering, whether he is directly or indirectly involved. He should work to eliminate the suffering of the people.</p>
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<p>Any organization, family, society, or nation is composed of a subject, or leader, and followers. Let us use the family as an example. A member of a family may be burdened with tribulation which does not directly involve the head of the home. Therefore, the head of the household is in a position to alleviate his relative’s suffering. Some of you in the church may be experiencing great struggle, yet I am not directly involved in your individual situation. That means that I can work to alleviate your suffering.</p>
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<p>We can extend this concept to the ultimate level; God may not be in a position of immediate suffering, but He is in a position to liberate the suffering of all people under Him. If God Himself is in a position of suffering, however, then the situation is entirely different. Who will lift away the suffering of God?</p>
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<h3 align="center">For God to liberate man,<br />
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God himself must be liberated</h3>
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<p>Unless someone has experienced God’s suffering in his own life, he cannot liberate God. God is in a position to have happiness, not suffering. If there are people who are suffering, there is always hope that their tribulation can be lifted, but only as long as God is in a position to exercise His power of liberation. The most important point I want to make this morning is that, at all cost, God must not be put in a position of suffering but must be freed from it.</p>
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<p>What is the pinnacle of God’s suffering? There is no question that the fall of God’s children, Adam and Eve, is the focal point of His difficulty. Their separation from God was a very pitiful and tearful situation. God is the Father of mankind and Adam and Eve are His first children, the ancestors of fallen mankind; when these children fell, the consequences had a direct impact on God and caused Him incredible suffering. Because the fall was a physical act, God lost His connection with the physical world, and in addition, He endured suffering of the mind and suffering of the soul. The seeds of man’s suffering throughout history were planted by Adam and Eve being corrupted at the beginning of human history, and from that time on suffering was handed down from generation to generation.</p>
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<p>The fall of man brought three consequences: God lost His children and He lost His temple, because man was to be the dwelling place of God. Furthermore, God lost the only home in which His love could be manifested; Adam and Eve were not only to be the children of God but to be the recipients of His love. With the fall of man God lost everything He had hoped for in the love of His own children, the love between husband and wife, and the love between parent and child.</p>
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<p>The ironic thing is that Adam and Eve did not deeply understand how much pain and suffering their actions were actually causing God, and since then no one has ever understood God’s heart of suffering at the moment of Adam and Eve’s fall. The fall was the pinnacle of the suffering of God. The destruction which occurred in the garden of Eden must be indemnified, and man must be restored to his original state by his going over the apex of God’s suffering.</p>
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<p>How can fallen man feel God’s heart if Adam and Eve could not feel it? In listening to a sermon like this you may feel sympathetic with God but you still do not feel His sorrow down to your bone. Let us bring this situation down to the personal level. Suppose a woman has lost her parents, husband, and children in a tragic accident. Even though she has been living in the fallen world all her life and therefore has seen and experienced many types of evil and sin, the tragedy of her loss still causes her unbearable suffering. How much more pain and shock God must feel, being completely pure and never having experienced any sin, suffering, or crime before the fall of Adam and Eve.</p>
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<p>Today many people commit suicide. Do you think God’s suffering at the moment of Adam and Eve’s fall was greater than the despair people feel when they commit suicide? God’s suffering is the only true suffering. No one but God is truly entitled to use the word “suffering.” We may experience some tragedy, yet as time passes the pain and grief will be eased. However, that is not true spiritually, and the passing of time will never ease God’s heart.</p>
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<p>One thousand years is just one moment to God,’ who has no concept of time, and the pain of man’s fall has never gone from God’s mind and heart. Could God ever decide, “I don’t want to suffer any more,” and just cast His suffering out of His heart? Even though He is almighty, could He ever change His situation? God’s love is absolute, unique, and unchanging, and it is impossible that He could alter His heart and decide not to suffer.</p>
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<p>If you lost your loved ones, you could never erase from your mind the memory of them or the pain of their departure. It is there to stay. It is the same with God. There is no way God can remove Himself from the tragedy of the fall unless the fundamental cause is eliminated. God cannot say, “I don’t want to be part of this suffering any more.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">God’s entire hope has been concentrated<br />
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on the momentous day of resurrection</h3>
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<p>God’s experience of the worst kind of suffering and tribulation was the beginning point of His restoration work, and He only finds hope in one exhilarating word: resurrection. Resurrection has the deepest meaning to God because through that path mankind is able to return to the original state when Adam and Eve were brand new and without sorrow, sin, and crime. Since the fall was the pinnacle of God’s suffering, the reunion of God and His children will certainly be the pinnacle of His joy.</p>
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<p>God’s heart will burst with emotion and His eyes fill with tears of joy at the moment that He is liberated from His suffering and sorrow. God’s hope and desire and entire restoration work have been concentrated on that one momentous day of resurrection.</p>
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<p>What must be man’s desire? To liberate God’s suffering we must experience greater pain than God’s own pain at the fall. Our desire and hope is only to go over the apex of suffering and meet a liberated God in the realm of resurrection. Religion is the road which will take you to the pinnacle of suffering and beyond to the realm of resurrection. Man’s first step is to conquer and liquidate the suffering of God.</p>
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<p>I am not talking about only your own individual resurrection but the resurrection of your brothers and sisters as well, because the fall occurred with more than one person. You must go over the pinnacle of suffering together because the conquest of suffering will occur in the same atmosphere as did the fall of man. Therefore, you will experience the same situation as Adam and Eve before the fall, and must go over the hill of suffering instead.</p>
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<p>Adam and Eve’s relationship was far more than that of brother and sister. They were in the position to become husband and wife with the blessing of God, but instead they became husband and wife in the satanic way after the fall. For this reason you have to go over the hill of the fallen world and into the realm of the resurrected love of a true husband and wife. First you must restore yourselves into a position of vertical love with God and upon that condition you will be brought together in the horizontal relationship of husband and wife. Together, centered upon God as husband and wife, you will create the trinity that will become the base of four positions as you give birth to children. This is the process of resurrection. There is no other way to surmount the pinnacle of suffering and liberate God.</p>
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<p>Men and women long for the day they will become husbands and wives, and for the rest of their lives they will remember it as a most momentous day. If they form a happy marriage, it is a rare couple that forgets their anniversary. Every cell and fiber of your body concentrates on that one goal: the day of the fulfillment of love as husband and wife. That is a day you can really experience truly ecstatic joy, and every inch of your body wants to be uplifted by the joy of that day. Nothing is more precious than the fulfillment of that love.</p>
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<p>Have you ever thought about how to concentrate your whole being to manifest love in a most dramatic way? When you put everything into crystallizing your love then your whole system works toward that one fulfillment. You can only be melted into the bosom of love when you find that day of becoming husband and wife. Nothing else in the world can be more precious than the true manifestation of love. God has given marriage as the apex and fulfillment of your love.</p>
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<p>That love is the purpose of life and you will definitely achieve it although there are negative forces which say that such joy and love are illusions. That kind of conviction shatters man’s entire hope and desire. However, no power can destroy that hope and desire in man, no matter how negative the atmosphere. Even in the fallen world you still have this power to love and be loved.</p>
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<p>I want you to understand that the pure, almighty God has been yearning for the day of reunion with His true children. There is no way to express or compare the excitement and joy God will experience on the day of that reunion. God’s whole being is love, and there is not one moment in which God can forget His children. His entire energy is moving in the one direction of meeting His true children and no power under the sun could ever eliminate this desire from His heart. When God concentrates upon His love, a millennium has no length and ten thousand years has no significance. The heart of God will not change with the passage of time but instead only intensifies in desiring the day which brings the fulfillment of His love.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God’s children will go beyond<br />
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the pinnacle of His suffering</h3>
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<p>The people who can become the children of God are the ones who can go beyond the pinnacle of suffering and understand God’s heart. The only man in all of history who understood God’s heart was Jesus. Jesus knew God’s suffering heart and discovered how to liberate Him. Even though a multitude of men had lived and worshipped God before him, Jesus could say, “I am the only begotten son of God.” Also we read in the Bible that Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me. I and the Father are one.” Jesus could utter such things because he was centered upon the love of God. He was saying that in love, he and God were one. It is a strange concept to consider that “you are in me and I am in you.” It is possible only when we speak of love. Jesus understood that, and he had the conviction that he was dwelling in the love of God.</p>
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<p>Jesus also said, “I am the bridegroom and you are the bride,” putting himself in the bridegroom’s position and all mankind in the bride’s position. The ultimate goal for a woman is to be a bride, and the ultimate goal for a man is to be a bridegroom. Love is the key word needed to speak of this relationship, which is the culmination of your life. In speaking of a bridegroom and bride Jesus was not referring to the fallen tradition begun by Adam and Eve. He knew that we must go over the pinnacle of suffering and become heavenly bridegrooms and brides.</p>
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<p>Until the time of Jesus God’s heart contained only suffering, but when Jesus proclaimed that he was one with God and was His only begotten son, God felt as though He had received an electric shock. Jesus’ words were the most revolutionary words ever spoken. Jesus was the one person in history who was able to give God this type of shock. Jesus had the key to solving the entire, fundamental human problem of the severed relationship of love between God and man. He was really the Messiah of love, who could conquer the apex of God’s suffering and go beyond to the realm of resurrection. If Jesus’ mission could have been fulfilled on earth then God certainly could have declared to the world, “My will is done.”</p>
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<p>Could God and Jesus ever have been separated? Jesus’ goal and the goal of history was to conquer God’s suffering and move into the realm of total resurrection. God saw the possibility of Jesus fulfilling that goal; however, God was never able to declare the fulfillment of His desire. That day did not occur because the rebellious people crucified Jesus, destroying the opportunity for the fulfillment of God’s will.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God’s only remaining hope</h3>
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<p>Christians think that Jesus came to die for their sake. How can God feel when He hears this kind of remark from man? Was the establishment of Christianity the fulfillment of God’s will? Could all the Christians of the world together be in a position to comfort the sorrow of God? Not at all. If Christians want to comfort God they must not only become like Jesus but also go over the pinnacle of the suffering of God. Then they would be able to say, “God, in me You see Your only begotten son.” There is not one who is like that, and many Christians are only trying to secure a place for themselves in heaven. That is not the way God can be comforted.</p>
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<p>God knew and Jesus knew that no one else could comfort God nor surpass the mission of Jesus. That is why Jesus said he would come again. What does that mean? It means that Jesus’ job was left undone and that he must come again in order to conquer the pinnacle of suffering. Jesus held the key to the fulfillment of God’s will, yet because of the faithlessness of the people that possibility was not fulfilled. This means that mankind must go over one more hill with the Lord of the Second Advent.</p>
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<p>Only three major events in history are of importance to God. The first was His creation, the garden of Eden. The second was the mission of Jesus and the possibility of his fulfillment. Since that was not accomplished, God has looked forward to the third event, which is the day of the Lord of the Second Advent, and the final consummation of His hope. That day will be the greatest day since the day of Adam and Eve and Jesus.</p>
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<p>The garden of Eden and Jesus’ mission on earth are in the past. Of the three events, God’s only remaining hope is the day of the Second Advent. Whether consciously or unconsciously, Christians are looking for the one day of the coming of the Lord. Will God be really angry at mankind for the first time and destroy the earth on that day, or will God be able to fulfill His love at that time?</p>
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<p>Even children who were pure and unstained, like Adam and Eve before the fall, were not easy for God to guide. But today, after the fall of man, the people God has had to work with are really trash. In the sight of God fallen man is so ugly and dirty and distorted that He does not even want to look at them. That is the fall of man. Women want to make themselves beautiful by wearing makeup and jewelry and flashy clothing. But God does not see any of that. He sees instead the true internal man and woman, which is ugly and distorted.</p>
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<p>What is the Unification Church trying to do? You may say, “Oh, we are working to restore America and bring resurrection to this nation.” But what you actually mean is, “Unless we restore the true love of God, then America and the world have no purpose.” The purpose of the Unification Church is to liberate God from His suffering. That is the ideology of both God and Jesus.</p>
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<p>We in the Unification Church follow a most difficult way of life because our goal is to place ourselves on the pinnacle of suffering and therefore be able to say before the world, “God, I am Your begotten son, Your begotten daughter.” You must have that dignity and that confidence as a child of God. Have you realized that this is our goal and that you must work at it?</p>
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<h3 align="center">If you say that God is your Father<br />
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then you must take responsibility for Him</h3>
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<p>Why is the Unification Church primarily a gathering place of single men and women? People who marry in the worldly way have made no condition for their marriage to be recognized by God. Each person must receive the blessing from God. For this reason God has hope in single men and women who can be trained and guided to become true sons and daughters of God before they marry.</p>
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<p>If someone demanded to hear whether you knew God, what would your answer be? Would you say, “Well, God seems to exist,” or, “What do you mean? I am His child! ” Even at the point of your death could you still testify that you are sons and daughters of God? Have you ever doubted that your natural parents were your own father and mother? In an immoral nation like America, how do you know who your father is?</p>
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<p>You have no doubt about who your parents are and God must become more real to you than your own natural parents. Then you can say, “I am His child,” Is God that real to you? Your answer must come from your entire being united together; otherwise your mind will be going in one direction, and your body in another, and your heart somewhere else. If your commitment and confidence are strong, then even if the sun rises in the west you can say, “I know that God is my Father.”</p>
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<p>Your heavenly Father is not mediocre, but is almighty and all perfect. When you say He is your God, you must take responsibility for that relationship. Why aren’t the sons and daughters of God afraid to be criticized, persecuted or even to die for God? The reason is very simple; it is because God, their Father, is supreme in the universe, and they know that dying for His sake is not to be feared but instead would be a most glorious expression of their love.</p>
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<p>Jesus had not one fear about dying on the cross. He thought of only one thing, that he was dying to conquer the suffering of God. His only concern was God’s mission, not his own life. At the moment of his death, the noble heart of Jesus was absolutely unselfish. That was the peak of unselfish dedication, and resurrection was possible because of his heart.</p>
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<p>We can conclude that as long as Christians emulate the unselfish heart of Jesus, Christianity can prosper. It is impossible to have a true relationship with God, even if you call yourself a Christian, unless you follow the example of Jesus’ heart. We can also conclude that the Lord of the Second Advent must come with the same heart and love for God. Upon that foundation of love the Lord can restore the individual, society, nation and world.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Following a doctrine does not<br />
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qualify anyone as a child of God</h3>
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<p>God will use the religion that inherits the heart of Jesus to build the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth in the final day. Regardless of their pride in their accomplishments, Christians today do not have the same concern that Jesus had for the heart of God. They do not talk about the consummation of God’s will or the Kingdom of God here on earth. Great churches with plush carpets do not impress God at all. If there is a man who is not recognized as being Christian but who has the same heart as God and Jesus that man will be used to fulfill God’s final dispensation.</p>
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<p>Suppose the worst communist dictator, Kim 11 Sung of North Korea, suddenly died one day. Even though millions of people would be relieved at his death one man would still shed tears. Even knowing his father was a vicious dictator, the son of Kim 11 Sung would grieve at his death. The relationship between father and son is a unique and special one, transcending all reason.</p>
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<p>Religions around the world are convinced that God is smiling and happy from morning to night, enjoying His power. I come from the humble nation of Korea and have proclaimed, “God, my Father, is suffering and His heart is broken. I must liberate Him from His suffering.” My prayer is that God will give me a chance to do this. That is my position now.</p>
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<p>The entire world may call me a heretic, but only the person who understands the heart of God is qualified to be His true child. The responsibility and purpose of the Unification Church is not the pursuit of glory or power but the complete liberation of God, which neither Adam and Eve nor Jesus were able to accomplish. You and I are gathered together to liberate the suffering heart of God.</p>
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<p>We may face more criticism and persecution than Jesus did, yet nothing will stop us. We expect opposition, but in spite of opposition we can go over the individual, family, society, national and world peaks of suffering. We will stand on the pinnacle of the suffering of God and go beyond, to the realm of resurrection.</p>
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<p>We are looking for the one momentous day when God can declare, “I am free of sorrow. My broken heart has been healed by my loving children.” You must have the confidence that you will be the begotten sons and daughters of God, who will inherit the heart of Jesus and go over the pinnacle of the suffering of God and liberate Him. You must feel, “God and I are one; I am in the Father and the Father in me and nothing can separate me from God. Even if the entire world rises against me I will not be stopped.”</p>
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<p>Our goal is so great that nothing can be compared to its value. Therefore, we shall overcome any power trying to block our way and still continue on. You must have the confidence that you were born solely for this purpose and are destined to live and die for this purpose. Have you ever thought, “If I cannot accomplish this mission in my own lifetime, I will leave a legacy for my children because with God there will be a day of resurrection”? Jesus died without fulfilling his mission in his own lifetime, but that does not mean that Jesus failed. He was resurrected and left a spiritual legacy which affected all mankind.</p>
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<p>Men and women look forward to becoming husbands and wives, the culmination of the horizontal level of life. Jesus, too, looked forward to meeting his own bride. God has been looking forward to meeting His children for the 2,000 years since Jesus was on earth. All of humanity as well has been looking forward to that one momentous day of hope. The Unification Church will celebrate that day. The color of your skin, be it white, yellow, or black, does not matter. Only one thing is important-your heart. This is the central point of our ideology, and if you would become a true member you must deeply understand this. Your goal is simply this, to become God’s begotten sons and daughters. After that you shall become God-centered husbands and wives and restore the garden of Eden, the ideal of God. You are in the position of Adam and Eve and you can begin the new heavenly history. You will create the first history of God.</p>
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<h3 align="center">You must not bargain with heaven,<br />
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or look for the easy way</h3>
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<p>The people who do not want to inherit the suffering heart of God but only want the blessing of the final day are like thieves. I know there are members who have thought, “I thought there would be a chance to be blessed after the Washington Monument Rally. I’ve already been in the Church for three years, so why shouldn’t I be blessed?” Are some of you thinking like that? Once you know the broken heart of God, could you ever think in this manner and still lift your face to Him? This is not the way to put yourselves in the position of sons and daughters to God.</p>
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<p>The first qualification for the blessing is to become a begotten son or daughter of God. You must realize and fulfill that. If your commitment is so steadfast that you feel it in your bones then our work will progress much faster. Many people try to find the easiest ways and dodge the difficult jobs. Some people even bargain with heaven, saying, “All right, God, I’ll do this if You will give me that.” Do not bargain. It never works. You owe an incredible debt to God yet you never speak about paying back all that you owe Him. If you do not quite have the heart to meet the standard of God but have a repentant heart, raise your hand. God will not criticize you but will be moved and sympathetic with you.</p>
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<p>Are you really a perfect member who meets God’s standard 100% of the time, or are you not yet perfect? Are you sincere, or are you phony? Some of you are impostors, but even impostors do not want to be treated like impostors. That in itself is dishonest. If you are an impostor you should be treated as one.</p>
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<p>The important thing is that the value of whatever job you do, even if it seems trivial and menial, depends on your heart. Do you sell the newspaper on the streets with the full realization that you are indeed the son of God? “God, I am Your begotten son and I am selling newspapers because I love You. The world may scorn me and criticize me but I don’t care. I am concerned with only one thing: to maintain the absolute tradition and spirit of being Your true son.”</p>
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<p>The only thing I have to be proud of is the full realization that I am God’s son. My only desire is to leave this tradition with you. When I look at Mother I do not see her as “my wife,” but as God’s loving daughter and I know I must treat her with respect. If my thinking is wrong then judge me; I welcome it. This is the ideology and position of God and no power can condemn me.</p>
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<p>When you realize that you are the sons and daughters of God, the resurrection of your hearts can take place and your union with God can be sealed. You will not be alone in this venture but will ultimately need a spouse. Together you shall appear with one heart and one tradition before God.</p>
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<p>You were all born into a satanic lineage, and Satan has every right to claim everything about you. But God can change you and you can be born again. If you do not realize that you must be reborn, however, then you cannot be in the position of true sons and daughters of God and you are certainly not entitled to be here. No matter what calamity may befall you, your body is the temple of God and no one can separate you from your love for God and God from His love for you. You are His begotten child and He is your Father. This is our religious way of life. We are seeking to transform ourselves from contaminated vessels into noble temples of God. I want you to know that you are a most happy and proud group of people in the sight of God.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Persecution is my opportunity<br />
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to love God more profoundly</h3>
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<p>After I came to America, all types of accusation and slander were directed at me. That does not matter because I have one single-minded concern-my right to love God as God loves me. No one can alter this privilege in the slightest degree. Furthermore, I am grateful for the opportunity to be persecuted, because I have a better opportunity to feel God’s broken and accused heart. “God, I thank You for this. Father, I thank You for the opposition 24 hours a day because then I have 24 hours a day to love You more. Because of this experience, my love for You is more profound.”</p>
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<p>We are constantly criticized, but God will use each occasion to produce greater results for our work. For example, “brainwashing” has been a point of attack. That issue has become stale, and the issue now in the forefront is the allegation that I am an agent of the KCIA. However, the man who was formerly chief of the KCIA for almost ten years testified before a House subcommittee that he did not even hear about me until he came to America in 1973! Even the Washington Post reported what he said. People were waiting for him to say, “Yes, Reverend Moon was my agent,” but his testimony only revealed the truth. I am not asking my. critics to apologize to me; I only want them to be humble in the sight of God.</p>
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<p>After the Washington Monument Rally last year I declared that until June of this year we would encounter great tribulation and turmoil. The month of June is almost over and I see the heavenly strategy changing. Now the time has come to declare the truth to the world. The world has been in darkness, but now the sun is rising. We can have the confidence and the dignity of God and march fearlessly forward. We cannot bend the dignity of the truth.</p>
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<p>A poor image of me has been created throughout the years, and people actually brainwashed themselves into thinking that I am a charlatan or fraud. The honest, innocent minds of America have been poisoned by the media. But now the time has come to let the world know the truth about me and what I represent here in America. The American people are righteous people, and eventually the tide of negativity will be reversed and a different opinion of me shall be created.</p>
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<p>This is heavenly strategy working. God wanted me to quickly become well-known, whether in a negative or positive light. Unfortunately, due to the media the negative accusations became known more quickly, but now all we have to do is reverse the tide and present our true image. The world is bored with bad news and criticism and is ready to hear about some hope.</p>
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<p>If you follow God’s basic principle of heart you will achieve victory. Your job is to become the begotten sons and daughters of God. You must say before God, “Father, I am Your child. I shall marry in Your name so that together with my mate I may become Your perfect temple, fulfill Your love, and liberate Your sorrow in heaven and on earth.”</p>
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<p>We will say to God, “For the first time in history You have sons and daughters who truly understand Your suffering. Heavenly Father, please be comforted by us, because we understand Your broken heart. God, take comfort and rest because Your sons and daughters are determined to gratefully go over greater suffering than You have.” That is our prayer,</p>
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<p>You can see how valuable and priceless an individual you are. Do not demean your own value; you are precious in the sight of God. No matter how miserable your way of life appears, your job is to uphold God’s dignity. Those who can say, “Now I have changed completely and am following the direction of God,” raise your hands. Now all you have to say is, “God, trust me. Eventually my spouse and myself together will go over the hill of suffering even greater than that of Jesus, who was Your begotten son 2,000 years ago.” If your faith is greater than Jesus’, then you will approach the Mount of Calvary and be in a position to be crucified. But you do not have to be crucified. You can conquer death and achieve resurrection as living sons and daughters.</p>
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<p>Have you ever prayed, “God, give me the burden of America. I will bear it alone now and later I will bear it with my spouse. Please give me the worst and heaviest possible burden. This is my privilege.” Please raise your hands if you can pledge to God that you will never do anything to harm or sever your heartistic relationship with Him.</p>
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<p>When you determine in your heart and mind to give up your life for God’s purpose, then the hill is no longer in front of you. Nothing is a deeper or heavier responsibility than that. You will never decline with that determination, but will gain increasing confidence and achieve ever greater victories in the days to come.</p>
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<p>You should end this month of June with the new realization, “We are Your begotten sons and daughters.” Then the new month of July will begin with new life and prosperity ahead of us. Those who are grateful to God for this opportunity, pledge to God your 100% loyalty by raising your hands. May God bless you. Thank you. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1202" class="post-1202 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-desire-of-god.html" title="Permalink to THE DESIRE OF GOD" rel="bookmark">THE DESIRE OF GOD</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:14:26+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-desire-of-god.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:14:26+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">June 19, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>All of mankind, men and women together, have desires they want to have fulfilled. There are many kinds of people with many different types of ambitions; some want to become judges, others to become scientists, and still others to become writers. Nations also have ambitions; certain countries pursue political ambitions, while others pursue economic goals, and others pursue religious goals. The same is true of the world; the democratic world has its ambitions, and the communist world has its ambitions. It is equally true that God has desires.</p>
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<p>There are many kinds of ambitions and many approaches to fulfilling them, whether on the individual, social, national, or world levels. None of these are necessarily parallel all the time, but everything is flowing in a certain direction. When I go out to sea I can see that even the vast ocean flows in a certain direction. Air is the same; all over the globe the currents of air and changing temperatures on the surface of the earth are influencing the weather.</p>
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<p>Just like the water and the air, mankind is also flowing in a certain direction. Every day of our lives we have some ambition we want to see fulfilled, and later when you set up your homes and have families you will have ambitions for their futures. Every day we look for something exciting and good to happen. In each of the four distinct seasons of the year–spring, summer, autumn, and winter-and in the seasons of our lifetimes we have certain desires we would like to fulfill.</p>
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<p>Our universe has a certain overpowering destiny which encompasses our smaller destinies. The most important problem is whether such a destiny moves at random, or whether there is a certain discipline and direction which guides the universe. That is the question. What do you think? Is everything moving at random, or is there a basic discipline and will? Does the universe itself make up its mind, “This is the direction to go”? There must be some guiding principle within the universe, but who is going to be its subject or center?</p>
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<h3 align="center">What cause and motivation<br />
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gives direction to the universe?</h3>
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<p>Certainly there was will before there was existence, and that will emerged according to the principles of the universe. Do you recall the moment you first came out of your mother’s womb into the universe? Did you inhale air first, or exhale first? You might have some opinion, but how do you know? Our question is, as a newborn baby, were you conscious of inhaling air? Does that sort of thing happen automatically according to universal law or principle, or does each baby make up his own mind?</p>
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<p>Did you decide whether to open or close your eyes when you first emerged? A child is fed many times at his mother’s breast, but is a baby educated before birth about how to suck its mother’s milk? How does a baby know about such things before he comes into the world?</p>
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<p>There is definitely some invisible, yet very strong force in the universe, which is pulling and controlling universal interaction. No matter how trivial or small it may be, nothing happens at random. There is a theory of evolution which concludes that the universe moves forward by its own will. How could evolution come about without having some cause, process, and result? Without some guiding will, how could this complex world ever emerge? There is definitely a cause and motivation which gives direction to the entire universe.</p>
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<p>Could that direction be determined by existence itself? For example, as soon as we were born we opened our eyes to look out. What were our eyes actually doing? There was direction in that action, and behind that direction was a purpose. The cause behind all existence determines the direction it takes in moving toward the goal; therefore, everything has a certain function to fulfill. Thus we can say that the universe is not evolving at random.</p>
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<p>Many people claim that there is a process of spontaneous evolution and that everything happens naturally. However, even behind this “natural” evolution there is a hidden cause, direction and purpose by which everything follows a certain disciplined direction and way of life. Everything in existence is moving in its respective direction, continuously striving to reach its perfection and to achieve some common goal.</p>
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<p>Evolutionists insist that the path of development in the world follows a straight line, and yet the entire universe moves in a circling motion. The seasons follow in the same sequence, and history itself moves in cycles. If everything in the universe advances in a circular pattern, why does evolution itself not follow the same pattern? Electricity flows through circular give and take of plus and minus. Even within matter as hard as a diamond, circular motion is seen between subject and object inside billions of atoms; when their give and take is tightly organized, those atoms create hard matter. By examining the universe we come to the conclusion that man’s life has to be included in this universal law; man does not just come out of the dirt to live one life and then vanish. Human life implies much more.</p>
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<p>There must be some basic universal energy from which ‘ our life springs. We talk about a governing principle, but can you see that principle with your own vision? The principle is invisible and can only be understood after explanation, but even so that invisible principle is always in the subject position and the entire visible world is nothing but the manifestation of it. Man did not evolve out of this earth, but from some invisible principle in the depths of God’s heart. God’s will and principle preceded you visible men and women, and an invisible idea of man existed which God manifested into the visible form of man. God’s will is for man to reach a certain perfection and then return with that perfection to the invisible world which cannot be seen with our physical eyes.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Circular motion allows perfect give and take</h3>
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<p>Let us think for a moment about why all life exists in circular motion and a circular shape. In give and take action energy is moving in two opposite directions, and unless the give and take action produces a circular motion the subject and object will only clash. In God’s law, therefore, the creation is based on circular motion. When perfect giving is responded to by perfect receiving, there is complete perfection of circular motion, meaning that no confrontation results and no energy is wasted. When energy is given in less than a perfectly circular motion the reception is also imperfect and the total energy is reduced. This is the law of movement. Why is this universe round? In order to have the perfect conditions for give and take.</p>
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<p>There is a very beautiful Oriental concept of “won mon.” “Won” means “round,” and “mon” means “complete fullness.” This concept means that in the state of perfection one must be perfectly round and also filled completely. Oriental philosophy reveres this state of roundness and fullness.</p>
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<p>Why are men and women so different? A man is like a piston, tending to push out and be aggressive in nature. Women are more internal and withdrawn in character, being the recipients of man’s aggressiveness. The act of pitching a baseball is an aggressive motion, while the act of catching is receiving and more passive. Does the ball itself just move in a straight line, or is it circling? Do you think a bullet moves in a simple straight line, or is it rapidly whirling? Every motion contains a circular element. All the forms of the human body are primarily round; look at your eyes and the shape of your fingers and limbs. You cannot find any portion of your body which is nearly square. Your teeth are the hardest portion of your body, but they too are rounded in shape.</p>
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<p>The solar system, the galaxies, and the heavenly bodies are all round and are moving in a circular motion. In the Unification Church our principle is the same. Because of circular motion we believe that if we can just continue our positive giving then we will receive positive things in the future. Whatever we give is never ultimately lost but will return.</p>
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<p>Every action follows a circular path. For example, when you kick a ball, will it fly up in the air and then fall down at a 90 degree angle? No ball moves like that, but instead follows a curving path. When a speeding automobile makes a turn it always tilts away from the direction of the turn. Making a turn is actually the most dangerous moment in driving anything, and at that moment you must stay close to the ground to avoid an accident. In the same way, when God is in motion He is closest to men when making a turn. Such a time is particularly dangerous and severe and accidents can easily happen; however, it is also the time when we can expect some revolutionary new happening.</p>
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<p>As you watch a thrilling movie, why do you get so excited when the action moves closer to the edge of life and death? When children at a playground ride a play horse they still bounce up and down. If the horse is not moving then why does its rider move? The rider just wants to get into the action. If you find yourself in the midst of a fearful situation or doing some adventurous thing then you inhale very deeply, and after the suspense is over you naturally exhale very deeply.</p>
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<p>Because everything occurs according to universal law and principle, our lives also flow in circular motion. One man and woman together make one life of circular motion. As we get older and become senior citizens our hair will turn gray and even white. Many children are born with light hair, which turns darker as they get older, then becomes light again when they are old.</p>
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<h3 align="center">God loves the harmony that embraces all extremes</h3>
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<p>In the northern countries people often have white complexions and very light hair, but toward the southern part of the earth people have darker complexions and hair. Why do you think black people are so successful in sports? White people basically have a well-developed upper body, but they tend to have long skinny legs and are unstable if they are attacked from below. On the other hand, black people are strongest in their middle part and legs, which is why they can run faster.</p>
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<p>The other day I watched a basketball game in which one team had a black champion who was about my height. The white players were very tall, but this shorter black man broke through their defense by jumping, almost up to the level of the basket. Black people have a stronger foundation in their legs, which gives them a great advantage in athletics. Many U.S. Olympic champions are black people, for example.</p>
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<p>Oriental people are balanced, h their upper and lower portions the same, like a log. Look at the Japanese people for example; they are short and straight, top to bottom. White people represent the northern part of the earth and black people represent the southern part, while yellow people represent the combination of the two. Even when compared according to body construction, we can see that yellow people are in a position to harmonize both extremes.</p>
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<p>From these examples we can learn that one cannot find perfection within oneself alone. God does not give total perfection to any one group of people because He is thinking in terms of creating harmony; He created both extremes to have them become perfectly harmonized. The most ideal and dramatic harmony is not seen in just bridging a short distance. Instead, God wanted to see breadth and depth of motion from one extreme to another in order to generate the most dramatic beauty.</p>
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<p>The race problem in America is very great at this particular time. Racial discrimination begins by looking at something different than yourself with scornful eyes. White is the color that reflects every wavelength in the spectrum. Just like white reflects away colors, white people have tended to separate from people of other colors, a tendency which has in many cases involved them in racial war. In comparison, black absorbs every wavelength of the spectrum. Since white and black have opposite characteristics they must have give and take. You cannot exist for only one race because to repel the other will bring only ruin. There must be total giving and total receiving between races.</p>
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<p>Is the earth itself more black than white? The peaks of mountains are white because they are covered by snow, while the valleys are black because topsoil from higher up is washed down by the rains. The black race characteristically absorbs the qualities of other people. Like snow on top of a mountain, the white race can be said to be cold in character; white people have always lived in the northern part of the world, and to protect themselves they had to resist their environment. Their kind of stubbornness, which could overcome the cold, is so strong that white people do not easily compromise or readily embrace anyone else. I am not being critical of white people, but analyzing their qualities in a geographical way; I have observed human nature all over the world.</p>
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<p>Paralleling the fact that weather in the valley is always warmer and all kinds of elements are being washed down from the mountains, black people have the capacity to embrace all kinds of human elements. They have a greater appreciation of many different kinds of human emotions. My conclusion is that the white culture must be harmonized with the black culture in order to make one culture of roundness and fullness. This is God’s purpose in sending an Oriental man to the Western world; I come as a mediator to merge the two cultures into one ideal, heavenly culture.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Beauty includes contrast</h3>
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<p>I haven’t even started on my main subject yet and already one hour has passed! The universe has a will which is translated into Principle, and all resulting existence moves in circular motion and is round. Why? Positive giving and positive receiving harmonized together can create an ideal shape and an ideal means of existence.</p>
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<p>I described how white people tend to live in the northern lands and on high ground covered by snow. Higher places are closer to God and symbolize God’s ideal. However, does the pinnacle of the mountain exist for its own sake, or for the sake of the valley? Whatever comes down from the top of the mountain always ends up in the valleys on either side; the mountain is in a position to link and harmonize the two valleys. In the 20th century, the valleys are represented by the cultures of the Orient, plus the cultures of the Middle East and Africa. As the embodiment of Western culture, America represents the mountain.</p>
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<p>In the last days, America is to serve as the link between the Eastern and Western valleys. Americans should willingly fulfill this role because as a Christian nation America is in the position closest to God and is God’s representative. Since America has not been fulfilling this role, I have come to the top of the mountain.</p>
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<p>God is looking for harmony between the races, which is similar to harmony between a mountain and a valley. These same principles work in every phase of our unification way of life, including marriage. The white, black and yellow races in the East and West can create a new kind of harmonized human race. God wants you to be dramatic. He would most enjoy couples who come from such different backgrounds that they have to travel around the world to visit their relatives. That kind of dramatic visit is more in God’s taste. God thinks it is most dramatic and exciting to see a white mother feeding her black baby, and vice versa.</p>
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<p>The characteristics of beauty include contrast, like the combination of blonde hair, blue eyes, and white teeth. At sea there is nothing but blue water for miles and miles, and after awhile the blue color becomes boring. If suddenly you see a black ship approaching from far away, that black dot attracts your entire attention. When the black ship raises its white sails it becomes more exciting and dramatic to watch. If the black ship raises a multi-colored flag, it becomes absolutely gorgeous. Since everything else around is blue, you become content to watch only the black ship with white sails and multi-colored flag. That is what I call dramatic.</p>
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<p>I am causing a lot of controversy because the white culture is like a vast ocean in which a yellow dot has suddenly appeared, and is attracting attention. Some Americans are not welcoming me. But God has been sailing vast oceans and is bored with man’s present culture. All of a sudden I have appeared like the black ship, and God is focusing His entire attention upon me. I will not only raise white sails, but also the multi-colored flags of all the nations. Put yourself in God’s position and look down on the little ship, raising white sails and waving multi-colored flags. It is a very dramatic sight to behold.</p>
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<p>You are the sailors on that ship which is attracting so much attention. White, black, yellow, red, and brown people are waving to the nations. There is a great deal of excitement and action on our boat! If you were to go to a world’s fair but only white or black people were there, you would say that it was not a good world’s fair. All the colors are needed to make a bustling and exciting place, right?</p>
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<p>I am wearing a gray suit. Why did I wear a tie with red dots? Simply because that is dramatic and attracts attention. Do you know why I wear this little tie tack in the middle? Because that is where my heart is located.</p>
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<p>Women wear necklaces and ornaments which usually hang down in the area of the heart. The necklace attracts attention to the place where your heart and love are. It is as if you are saying, “Come to my love.” It would be convenient to feed your babies if God had put women’s breasts on top of their arms, but instead He wanted to have mothers nurse their sons and daughters close to their hearts. It represents giving their love. When you analyze things from this point of view, the whole universe becomes intoxicating.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Those who were obedient to the<br />
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universal destiny have changed history</h3>
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<p>I have strayed from the main topic, which is the desire of God. I said at the beginning that there is a predestined will which produced the Principle, and that no matter what people may say or do they are destined to follow the rhythm or pulse of the Principle. No one has the power to stop or compromise the will of God, and wise people are obedient to that will; instead of fighting it, they sail with it. In the Western world, men of wisdom are those who are discontent with their present materialistic culture, and are searching for new vision and spiritual elements in the Oriental culture in order to harmonize with the universal destiny.</p>
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<p>There is no one who wants to destroy themselves or to be destroyed. Then why is everything declining today? The only explanation is that the universal destiny is moving in one direction, and those people who do not walk parallel with it are headed toward ruin.</p>
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<p>The people who change history are those who breathe the destiny of the universe and try to be obedient to its rhythm. There is not one type of person who does not desire to be a hero of mankind, but some people are ruining themselves while others are progressing. Why is that? As I said before, one group of people is moving with the direction of the universal destiny, while another group is rebelling against that destiny.</p>
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<p>Suppose you must jump across a river; first you measure and decide how high you must jump to get to the other side. The people who do not follow the universal destiny are like the people who fail to realize how far they must jump and fall into the water. We must harbor a noble vision and high ideal, but the fulfillment of such a goal will require the longest possible preparation time. God is the same way. He has been preparing for thousands of years for the one final leap. Because His dream is so great, it needs tremendous preparation.</p>
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<p>Apollo It’s actual performance took only a few days, but years of research, thousands of people and billions of dollars were involved. If you draw a picture of the earth and the moon, you can jump from the earth to the moon and back again on paper. It’s that simple. By the same token, if you picture the Unification Church and God’s ideal world, you can easily jump back and forth. You have done it both on the blackboard and also in your mind. The actual launching of the Apollo 11 ship was not that easy, however, and neither is our launching to the Kingdom of God.</p>
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<p>I often hear people say that they think the Divine Principle is superb but they do not want to be a part of the Unification Church. God does not need those people. Having their attitude is like saying that you like the idea of going to the moon and back again, but you do not want to do it. Your vision is broad because you have a blueprint; no matter how difficult each day may be, you must cover new territory and move toward the actual realization of that blueprint. That is our way of life.</p>
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<p>Last year, in 1976, the emphasis was on the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument rallies, but all of a sudden in 1977 1 am pushing everyone out to sell The News World. Who knows what the emphasis will be next year! I may say, “Eat and sleep for 24 hours a day or I’ll hit you.” Everybody is probably thinking, “Boy, I’m glad that day is coming. Father will have us eat as much as we want and sleep 24 hours a day.” But I tell you, such a life is real hell. After one week you will say, “Father, let’s go out and sell The News World a little bit.” In 1976 we had rallies according to our blueprint and we took one step forward. In 1977, selling The News World is another step forward. The important thing is that we have a masterplan, and every day we are advancing toward the ultimate goal. Do not be shortsighted.</p>
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<p>Yesterday I took a group of members fishing at Barrytown. They were ambitious and eager to beat the record of the New York Church and the IOWCs in Barrytown fishing, but they did not catch many fish at all. I think that was providential. They were doing a very good job fishing, and looking down at them God smiled and said, “I love you very much. But to love you more, I’ll teach you a little lesson. If you catch lots of fish you will be arrogant, and you should be humble.” So God gave them a small catch. The person who learned a lesson from that experience at Barrytown is a great man. He learned he should not take for granted that he can do everything well.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Difficulty should strengthen your determination</h3>
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<p>Everything has meaning and a reason, and there is no such thing as a total failure. Tears roll down your face when you cry, but if your mind falls down with your tears, there is no hope. However, if you are determined and your mind rises, then you can utilize every situation for the best.</p>
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<p>Persecution should not drag you down or discourage you but should make your determination rise. The Unification Church is in a position to be persecuted and misunderstood, so this is your opportunity to develop strong determination and become an invincible force. That is the way of the Principle. The person who is capable of going deep down into the valley is also capable of jumping to the pinnacle of the mountain. The pinnacle is never linked to another pinnacle but to the valley, and together they have a common destiny. This is a universal principle. Those in the valley can one day come to the pinnacle of the mountain.</p>
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<p>We in the Unification Church are receiving terrible treatment from the world, as though we were being pushed deep into the valley. The important thing to remember is that the valley is linked to the highest part of the pinnacle, and with determination we can climb up the mountain. It is not easy, however, and you need a champion who will be the first to reach the top of the mountain. He will plant a stake at the top and let down a rope by which other people can climb up; then they eventually will build a cable car. Scaling the mountain is not easy!</p>
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<p>You are living in both extremes, with the world trying to push you down into misery and your God-centered vision and ideal on the highest peaks. No one in history has ever accomplished what you envision, and your way of life is the most difficult way. Once we set up the cable car to the peak, its lines will stretch for miles and miles, and people will wait for days and years to obtain a ticket to get to the top.</p>
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<p>You are engineers who are setting up the cable car line from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley, and I am the foreman and chief engineer. God has been working for thousands of years to bring mankind up from the lowest point of human misery to the pinnacle of His ideal. Many have tried to follow God up the mountain. Women have tried to follow, but as the road got steeper and more rugged they decided to drop out. Men have not been any different. They were determined to follow, but halfway up they also dropped out. God brought provisions for the journey and He fed His followers along the way, but as time passed they saw that God had less and less. Being afraid for themselves, they said, “God, we thought we knew You, but You are not the almighty God we thought You were. We are going our own way.” This realistically describes how man has deserted God.</p>
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<p>The important thing to understand now is that because you are too close to the ground you do not see the pinnacle; instead you see nothing but trees. You cannot even see the other side of the forest. It may seem that you are not making any progress at all. Of course it would be much easier to feel inspired if you could see the pinnacle, but as you climb the steep, dark hill there is no destination in sight. When you turn around to gaze all the way down to the valley it is easy to become jittery and fearful. Many people change their minds, thinking, “I’m not going to be stupid! Some fools may still want to climb the mountain, but I will be wise and turn around.” Are you that type of person?</p>
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<p>Ever since Adam and Eve, all mankind has given up after gaining a certain distance. That is human history. You may say, “Today is a very hot day so let us take a day off and not climb.” Would you still want to go even though your body may ache? The closer you get to the pinnacle, the more exhausted you will become.</p>
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<p>As God is leading His children to the pinnacle, greedy people with hidden personal ambition will certainly give up and even Satan will eventually give up. But God wants His children to become victorious. Who will remain? The person will remain who says, “It’s not for my own personal glory that I go. This is my destiny, and nothing under the sun can stop me except my own death.” If even at the moment of death you still harbor hope then you will live spiritually, and God will pick someone to canny on your tradition.</p>
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<h3 align="center">We have reached the highest point<br />
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ever attained in history</h3>
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<p>We must be determined to go on until the moment God Himself gives up, insisting, “As long as God is alive, there is no way my hope will die.” Only a person with that conviction has the possibility of reaching the pinnacle. I did not say that he is guaranteed of reaching the top, but he does have the possibility of reaching the top. The person with determination and vision will find the shortest possible route and reach the top. What kind of person are you? Are you the type who can determine that even though you may die you will still leave behind a shining tradition and the tools and provisions posterity will need to reach the top? I am doing precisely that.</p>
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<p>We have traveled far from the starting point, and below us we can see the points where mankind before us has always turned around. Even though your path is not yet completed, you have reached the highest point ever attained in history, including by the spirit world. Keep climbing the mountain until 1981 and you will reach the pinnacle. Do you want to die after you reach the top, or do you want to prepare a banquet and invite God to, a victory celebration? You should be prepared for a celebration, and bring along what you will contribute.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church has started many endeavors, such as performing arts and businesses, which are all preparation for the banquet on the final day! When you reach the top, don’t you want to say, “These are the gifts for the banquet. I made them with my own hands, Heavenly Father.” That is the way I think. In order for you to do that, I am driving you relentlessly in order to reach the standard which will get you to the peak. Do you mind? The important thing is whether you welcome it with bubbling enthusiasm and such a sense of urgency that there is no time to even use the bathroom.</p>
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<p>The person who can completely forget his biological needs is truly crazy to fulfill God’s mission. In Korea it often happened in the early days of our church that members would not want to miss even one minute of my speech in order to go to the bathroom. Such people are hard to compete with because they have no concept of time passing, and no realization of their physical needs. God wants to have that kind of dramatic children. God wants dignified and loyal sons and daughters He can be proud of for eternity, children who are unique and unprecedented in all of history.</p>
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<p>When I ask who wants to follow me up the mountain the women always answer quickly, “We do!” But later they drop by the wayside. Women are champions for answering. The men do not always answer right away, but they go farther than the women. Is that right or wrong? That is true of Oriental women at least. Are American women different? You are not too much different in height, your voices sound the same, and your hands are tiny. American women are like Korean and Japanese women then, right?</p>
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<p>You women must make up your minds this morning that you will not be defeated by the men no matter what. As you climb the mountain behind some man, he may not be moving quickly. You should reach out and inspire him. For example, you could say, “The banquet will begin soon, and we must get to the pinnacle quickly. Perhaps there will be a blessing there.” That is more inspiring to a man than if you kicked him. When he hears that he will say, “Oh, oh, yes.” The best way to inspire men is through love, and the same is true of women.</p>
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<h3 align="center">We must be prepared to give God a banquet</h3>
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<p>History is the chronicle of man trying to reach the peak, and the Messiah is the one who starts from the very bottom of hell and climbs up to the top of the mountain first. When you also reach the top and come before God, He will call out to the world, “Look at these champions among men and women. I am proud of my sons and daughters and I will honor them. The entire universe must bow down to them.” This will be God’s order. The entire universe will answer, “Yes, Father,” and it will bow down.</p>
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<p>In the Unification Church the blessing is actually given out seven-tenths of the way up the mountain because individuals cannot finish the final portion alone. Therefore, the blessing is given at that point, and with the power of a loving relationship as couples, men and women will go forward together to the final banquet in the sight of God. That is our way of life in the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>What kind of person would you like to become? Do you want to be the one who arrives in time for the banquet after all the preparation has been made by others, or do you want to be the first to arrive and help build the palace at the banquet site? I am sure you want to be the builders.</p>
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<p>God is invisible and He cannot prepare the banquet ground. You not only need to witness and do spiritual work, but you must build the banquet hall. God would never go to Satan’s banquet. Instead, you must get to the pinnacle first to clear the wilderness and build the banquet site. This means you must carry many materials to the top of the mountain. All of our projects are needed as components of the banquet.</p>
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<p>Until you reach the goal you may look miserable to non-members of the Unification Church. No one will give you recognition on earth, and even God is waiting until the day you reach the pinnacle. Are you determined to reach the top? You must not blame anyone, or use anyone as an excuse if you do not make it. Do not complain, or else when you arrive at the banquet hall people will accuse you and say that you do not deserve your blessing. If you steal the materials you bring, you cannot present them as your own achievement. You must earn them with your sweat, blood, and tears.</p>
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<p>If you are not quite capable of playing a major role in building the banquet hall, at least be someone who can be a positive element and contribute to the banquet. Then you can say, “Father, this is my banquet. We did it together.” God does not desire thousands of family-level banquets; instead He desires one banquet on the national level, after having one whole nation restored. When God has one nation under his direct dominion as a foothold on earth, we will have a day of celebration.</p>
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<p>God’s desire is to reach the highest pinnacle where love is the supreme way of life. You blessed couples should not worry about your own surroundings, and whether you have a nice home and furniture at this time. Worry instead about how to achieve the national level quickly. Together we will give our total energy toward this achievement and then go on to the worldwide and cosmic levels.</p>
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<p>At the worldwide banquet we will offer all the treasures of the world to God. Satan has always ruled the land, which is one-third of this earth, but our goal is focused on the unstained area, the two-thirds of the world which is the sea. I keep saying that the women of the Unification Church should have an interest in the sea. Western women should already be more interested in the sea because their eyes are blue, like drops of water.</p>
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<p>The desire of God is to see the day of the banquet of heaven and earth. You must become the men and women who will make that banquet possible. I may not see that day here on earth. Even if I do not, my spirit will still live and you will ultimately reach the top. My physical body may falter, but my spirit will go on. As long as I have life here on earth, I will not spare one ounce of energy or one drop of blood to accomplish God’s will.</p>
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<p>I am almost 60 years old; my life is one of total emergency and urgency is my constant companion. Sometimes I wish I could be 30 years old again like you, so that I could quickly finish everything while on earth. This is the most urgent time of human history. Those of the white, black, and yellow races should exert their last ounce of energy to achieve this goal in their lifetimes. If I am not living on the earth then this mission will become hundreds of times more difficult.</p>
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<p>During the time I am living here on earth we must lay the major foundation of unification and harmony and tradition. You stand in a very fearful position because you are participating in the mission during my lifetime. You must be able to echo my heart. If you do not, you will not be able to lift up your face before God when you die. Your ancestors will ask, “What did you do?” and you will face their accusation.</p>
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<p>God desires that our church be God-centered and God-motivated. God wants to know that I did my absolute best and that there is no more ground to cover, and I want every member of the Unification Church to receive that praise from God as well. God will say, “You are my sons and daughters, and you did your absolute best. There is nothing more to be done.”</p>
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<p>Have you reached that level of dedication and service? God has declared that a super-emergency exists at this time in history. We can make the third Sunday of June in 1977 the turning point. Shall we do it? Then let’s go over the hill. Thank you. Let us pray.</p>
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-desire-of-all-things.html" title="Permalink to THE DESIRE OF ALL THINGS" rel="bookmark">THE DESIRE OF ALL THINGS</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:13:16+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/the-desire-of-all-things.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:13:16+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">June 17, 1977<br />
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Manhattan Center<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>Today is the fifteenth anniversary of the Day of All Things, or World Day. All of creation, including man, was made by God for a specific purpose. He did not create all things just to look at; His specific purpose was the fulfillment of His love. Even though God exists, without His love His very existence is meaningless. In order to be a true God He must be a God of love, and for this reason God wants to fulfill His love in His creation.</p>
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<p>What is a true man? He is a man who is able to receive God’s true love. The desire of all things surrounding mankind is to see the day when they can receive true love from the true men who are recipients of God’s true love. All things of creation exist to receive true love from man, while man exists to receive true love from God.</p>
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<p>Due to man’s fall this perfection never came about, and since fallen man was never able to fully receive God’s love, God could never fully give His love and thus fulfill perfection Himself. Man was never perfected, and as a result all nature has been unable to receive perfect love from man. God wanted to have a reciprocal relationship between Himself and all things and man, yet even though His creation was completed, no relationship of true love ever emerged. In that respect, neither God nor man has ever been perfected.</p>
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<p>People talk about love today, but is that a true God-centered love? No, the love in existence now is far distant from the true love of God. Today many parents love their children, but because God has no part in it that love cannot be acknowledged by Him. The same is true of relationships between brothers and between nations. All are still on the level of imperfection, as is man’s love for all things.</p>
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<p>Through the work of religion God has been striving to restore man; He began on the individual level and expanded to the worldwide level as man spread all over the world. The Divine Principle tells us that restoration starts with one man and God has been looking for one man of perfection through whom He can restore one woman of perfection. This is the concept of the Messiah and his mission.</p>
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<p>Why is the Messiah needed? The Messiah is needed in order to elevate man’s imperfect love to perfection. Since love was stolen by Satan, the Messiah comes to restore and sanctify that lost love into the holy love of God. Since man became the prisoner of Satan, the Messiah comes to give mankind the true love of God. To be eligible to stand in the sight of God, restored man must establish a standard of love higher than the highest standard of the satanic world. The mission of restored man is to demonstrate a higher quality of love than ever existed in the satanic world.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Restoration requires the highest standard of love</h3>
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<p>In the truest meaning of love, the Messiah cannot embrace the people of the satanic world as they are. God cannot say to the Messiah, “Let them stay where they are. We can love them as they are and they can easily be restored.” If that were the case, restoration could have been done instantly and such a long period for man’s restoration would not have been needed.</p>
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<p>The role of religion is to teach people to set their standard of love higher than the satanic world’s standard. The religious man is one who demonstrates higher love than anyone in the world claimed by Satan. For the sake of God he can then deny the value of anything in the satanic world and thus recreate the value of everything in relation to God. As religious people, we must be triumphant in this way of love.</p>
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<p>God’s love will begin after we demonstrate our love, which is the very reason that Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” This is the true heart of God’s Principle. We must become people who can demonstrate a greater love toward God and toward the Messiah than toward anybody else in the world, because at that point God’s love will begin. By loving the Messiah, men and women can surpass the point at which man fell and reach the level of perfection.</p>
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<p>For this reason, we in the Unification Church must fulfill a seven-year course of totally giving up everything to the love of God and the Messiah. Because I have already laid the foundation, however, you are eligible to be blessed only 3½ years after joining the church. The other 3½ years that were supposed to precede the blessing I freely give to you as a gift; after the blessing you and your mate will freely work 3½ years more to complete the seven year course. You and your spouse will walk the remaining 3½ years together as a couple.</p>
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<p>The fall of man came through Adam and Eve at the growth level, and thus you must finish the remainder of the path to perfection as a couple. The 36 couples, the 72 and 120 couples have all gone through this formula precisely, and because of the foundation they have laid shorter periods of purification can be granted to later couples. For example, the 74 couples have been given the right to have children after only seven months’ separation.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Your hard work now will benefit your family later</h3>
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<p>In the Unification Church our goal is simple and clear: To become a member of the church, to meet the Messiah, and then to go forward to fulfill and perfect the love of God. When you came here this morning your minds were already filled with your missions for the day. Why do your minds work that way? You think that way because your mission is for the unselfish work of God, and you feel that going out to sell the newspaper has the additional purpose of accumulating spiritual assets of your own.</p>
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<p>In looking forward to the day of your blessing, you want to make yourself eligible to meet your future husband or wife. You men must think that through your experience of selling you are actually seasoning yourselves to be independent husbands who can go out and do things for the sake of your wives. You women are also paving the way to really help support your husbands, so that one day you will be ready to become independent couples in the sight of God.</p>
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<p>How can we interpret this according to the Divine Principle? It is possible for one person to fulfill his role so well that his mate can freely receive his benefit and not have to strive as hard to reach the same level. When you men work hard you are actually paving the way to bring spiritual benefit to your own future wife and children. If you women work hard now, your accumulated achievement will go to your husband and children later on. What matters is whether your hard work is God-centered. Adam and Eve fell because they disregarded God. Fallen mankind has always worked hard, but due to their disregard for God their hard work has not gone to God’s side.</p>
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<p>As you strive to stand above Satan and advance in the direction of God you will have to confront Satan’s realm on all the different levels: the family, tribal, national and worldwide levels. On every level Satan will always attack and try to stop you. This confrontation with Satan cannot be avoided. This is the reason that religious work has always been persecuted, and why religious people must have the unshakable determination to overcome any difficulties and go on further and further toward God.</p>
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<p>We can conclude that if there is a totally unselfish group of people, its goal will be nothing but the service of God and humanity. The entire world will not understand or accept them, and that will be the sign that God and the Messiah can be met through that group. Furthermore, it is obvious that such a movement is already working on the worldwide level if it has aroused worldwide opposition.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church is in that position today. There have been many religions throughout history, but no religion ever rose to the worldwide level as quickly as this one. As leader of the Unification Church, I have the special distinction of having received worldwide persecution in my own lifetime. History has never seen such a thing. If our members are solidly united together in heart and can go beyond the level of persecution, then Satan can never defeat this group, and in the sight of God we can prove ourselves invincible to Satan’s power on the worldwide level.</p>
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<p>Why do we strive to become that kind of invincible group? We are seeking the love of God. To be eligible to receive the love of God we must go through the process of indemnity in which Cain and Abel must become one. Cain and Abel have been enemies, but they should be united in love instead. We must take the course opposite Satan’s way; if Cain and Abel had come to God’s side then they would have made true unity.</p>
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<p>Abel should teach Cain how to be obedient to and united with him. Unification Church members must clearly understand what that means. Often you mistakenly think that Cain was supposed to be subjugated by Abel from the very beginning, but that is wrong. Cain is a rebellious figure to begin with, and Abel must teach Cain how to be obedient by demonstrating Cain’s role himself. Abel must show Cain the way by example. Love is the central element and Abel is supposed to love Cain more than anyone else. When Cain recognizes that Abel truly loves him more than anyone else does, then Cain will give up his false ambitions and arrogance and become obedient to Abel. Abel can pull Cain to his side by the magnetic force of love.</p>
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<p>Answer me if I am wrong, but I feel that every one of you loves me. Is it true or not? It may not be 100% true of everyone here, but if the Principle is true then it must be largely true at least. If our Principle is God’s Principle then that kind of relationship must be here. Yesterday I met the Japanese sisters who are in the Korean Folk Ballet. When I asked whether they wanted to go back to Japan, their home country, everyone answered, “No, Father, because you are here. We want to stay here with you.” I wondered how sincere their answer was because Japanese people are very good at saying what people like to hear. What about you? Do you want me to believe that your love is genuine or false? If your love is not genuine then the Principle is not working.</p>
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<h3 align="center">My legacy to you</h3>
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<p>Sometimes Mother tries to get me to stay home and pay more attention to our family. She tells me, “As soon as you open your eyes you talk about going out to meet the members somewhere. Can’t you spend a little more time at home?” Why should I overwork myself by going out here and there to meet all of you? I could stay at home and relax with the children, but I am always looking at you instead of staying home. If I give my total attention to you and to the church then I am making your job instantly easier. Furthermore, in that way I can bring the spirit world and physical world together faster.</p>
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<p>How can that work in the Principle? I am in the parent’s position while you are in the position of children. Children inherit the foundation and tradition of their parents, and by working harder than anyone else I am leaving you even greater assets to inherit.</p>
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<p>Most of you are single men and women working toward the blessing, and when I was single I was in precisely the same position you are. When I was suffering in North Korea in the worst kind of prison, I still had hope because I knew that the wife God would give me for eternity could come on the foundation that I was laying. My hardship would make her way easier. By thinking this way I always had hope in the midst of any kind of suffering and hardship. “In being tortured by the satanic world I am paying indemnity for my future wife, and at the same time I am paying indemnity for the nation in which we will dwell as husband and wife.”</p>
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<p>Restoration of the individual and family levels is the most difficult part of the restoration. Your family will be the basic building block of the Kingdom of God, and once you can restore this foundation you will always have a shield around you. These two levels are most difficult to restore because after they are formed nothing can destroy you, no matter what the satanic world will do. You are still exposed and vulnerable before you create that nucleus, but after that your situation will not be as vulnerable or dangerous and you will be able to form the tribal and national levels.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Have you felt that you alone<br />
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would finish the restoration?</h3>
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<p>Why has God been sending mostly young people to our church? God wants individuals to come who can really suffer to lay their foundation of indemnity at a young age. While you are working as an individual for yourself and your future family, your family and society will come against you. God wants you to be strengthened under that kind of adversity.</p>
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<p>Whenever you are working hard and suffering you must feel deeply that in all of heaven and earth you alone are going to finish the restoration. “God, I am Your only remnant. There is no one else but me to accomplish Your will.” Sometimes God deliberately wants you to experience the feeling, “God, no one understands my way of life but You. Even Father and the church members are not sympathetic with me. I seem to be completely cut off from everyone.” Even in that situation you may feel comforted that at least God is on your side, but the day and moment will come when even God seems to be saying, “I don’t know you.” At that time you will feel that you are utterly alone in all the universe.</p>
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<p>If under those conditions you still do not give up, but insist, “No matter what God thinks or what True Parents say to me, no matter how unsympathetic the church members are, this is the right way, and I will go on anyway,” then at that moment you are elevating yourself to the highest level of faith. Once you reach that level you can be trusted unconditionally by God and by me, and eventually by the whole world. You will achieve that qualification by yourself, when everything seems to be denying you. If in that situation you still fight to uphold your faith, it will become your greatest asset, which neither God nor man can ever repudiate.</p>
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<p>I know that many times you feel very lonely. It is a lonely hour when no one seems to understand you, but at that moment do not think back to your natural parents or to the joys and romances of your past life. In that lonely moment think of God. “God, whatever the situation, I will never give You up. The world may deny me and even bury me, but I would rather die than turn away from You.”</p>
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<p>If you denied everything and were given up by your own family and nation because you lived for the sake of God, then when you die everything will be restored to you. This is the law of indemnity working. If you give up everything because of God, then God will lift you up and you will have everything again.</p>
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<p>That is the path I have walked. Strictly speaking you will never have to go the way I went because you will have me on your side under any circumstances. All you have to do is follow my course. You have someone to follow but I had no one to follow. If you want to go an easy way then you will never reach the goal. Ultimately you will have to come back and follow the path I have already gone. Many people are trying to go their own way, but that will not work.</p>
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<p>Now the entire world is saying, “Why are you Moonies so foolish as to follow that crazy man? Why do you have to follow him when he is so opposed everywhere?” Perhaps you cannot explain why, but something tells you that this is the best thing to be doing. Because I am not in your position I cannot be 100% sure, but I think that must be the case. I understand your experiences because I have lived the same pattern and way of life. The only difference between us is that I follow the invisible God, while you follow not only God, but myself, a visible man.</p>
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<p>Why should we live this life? The only explanation is that we are searching after this ultimate love of God. When we are going in the right direction we feel good and something inside tells us to keep going ahead.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The love desired by men and women</h3>
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<p>Today’s message is, “The Desire of All Things.” Let’s start with women; what is their desire? The desire of a woman is to have a husband who loves her with true love. A man’s love is true when his love represents the love of God, so a woman is actually looking for a man who represents God and gives her God’s love. Because God is eternal, unchanging and absolute, He created man only once, intending him to share in those same attributes. Therefore, God cannot destroy man even though he has fallen, but instead is working to restore him.</p>
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<p>True love must represent God’s characteristics, meaning that true love must be eternal, unique, and absolute. A woman wants a husband who will respect her as being his wife for eternity and who will love her with an absolute and unchanging love. All of you sisters want a husband who represents God and who can give you that kind of respect.</p>
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<p>I am not a woman, so I don’t know precisely how you feel, but knowing the Principle it should be the case that women are not looking for freedom, but actually want to become prisoners of love. When you and your husband have true love, you are helpless before that love and want to go anywhere your husband leads you. When your husband truly loves you as absolute, unique and eternal, the more you look at him the more he looks like God and acts like God. The time may even come when you say, “All I need is this one man because he is my God.”</p>
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<p>What is the desire of a man? A man wants the same love from a woman. Such love between men and women is really God’s desire, and once you are united in that fashion God will automatically dwell with you, and His love will be manifested in you and in your object. When you look at your mate you can be proud that he or she has the qualities of being absolute, eternal, unchanging and unique. You are going to equip yourselves to become men and women of God and of love. You are the ones who will lead the way toward that ultimate goal, which is God.</p>
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<p>The parents’ role is to educate the children and give them guidance. If the parents fight with each other, then they cannot teach their children by example. My own children sometimes fight, but Mother and I should be able to say, “You children should stop fighting. Look at your own father and mother.” The first step for parents to become one with their children and for children to have unity among themselves is for the father and mother to become one with each other. Then children grow to realize that fighting cannot bring any goodness. Sometimes I see my children fighting very severely, and one of them either gets knocked down or his nose starts bleeding. Then they automatically come to Mother and me, crying, “Daddy, Mommy, look what happened to me. I’m sorry we fought. We’ll never fight again.”</p>
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<p>It is a wise child who will say, “Father, my brother didn’t behave too well. Will you give me permission to fight?” If they want to get permission from me then I say, “My son, my daughter, let me tell you about something better than fighting. Go and love them instead.” I see in that child a greater capacity for love, and the future of that particular child is much more solid.</p>
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<p>The relationship between God and man is the same as this relationship between parents and children. The desire of all things is to receive the love of men who have that kind of ideal relationship with God. All things of creation are looking forward to the fulfillment of the three loves: the love of God, the parental love of Adam and Eve, and also the love of the children who are the recipients of this perfected love of God and their parents. Children are in the most ideal position to receive more of God’s love because everything is consummated in them. The children of Adam and Eve are in a greater position than Adam and Eve themselves because the children are in a position to receive the love of God and also the love of their parents.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The vertical line of love</h3>
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<p>The love of parents and children follows a vertical line, while the love of a husband and wife is horizontal. We can know that this is true by seeing that even though there are many divorces here in America, the separated parents still want to hold onto their children; even though they have separated horizontally, they want to hold onto the vertical line of love. Why is that? Children are the parents’ link to God’s parental love. Even in the fallen world, parents see that the only hope for their love to remain is their children. Thus a husband and wife may dissolve their relationship, but they continue to hold onto their relationship with their children.</p>
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<p>According to spiritual law, the worst kind of crime is that of parents who neglect their children and leave them or actually push them into the dungeons of hell. There is no forgiveness for such acts. There are certain things God can do, and if you repeat the same act there is still room for forgiveness; but there are things that even God cannot do, and if you commit that kind of crime then there is no forgiveness. The mistreatment of children is the most unforgivable thing in spirit world. On the other hand, God’s heart will be moved by parents who are willing and ready to die for their own children, saying, “You are like me. I have been living in that position.” God has been a living sacrifice for the sake of His children.</p>
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<p>When you Unification Church members get married and have children, will you just throw them away and seek your own happiness? Many people look at children as obstacles to enjoying their own lives and such people really deserve hell. You must be people who embrace your children even if they interrupt your most intimate moments. Even the basic instinct of animals is to love their children. Sometimes men behave even worse than animals, which means they are the lowest creatures under the sun. God’s criteria of beauty is heart and love, not how tall and masculine or how beautiful you are. That does not count.</p>
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<p>The desire of all things is to receive the love of God, the love of Adam and Eve, and the love of the children who receive Adam and Eve’s love and God’s love. Our greatest achievement and the greatest inheritance we can leave our children is the love of God and our perfected love as parents. That love is the greatest inheritance that children can ever receive.</p>
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<p>We have to introduce God’s love to our children. In their immaturity children do not automatically know God, so how will you teach them? You must demonstrate love of God yourself. If you commit some kind of sin toward your own children, you must consider it the worst kind of crime. Instead of apologizing or repenting to God, you must mend your relationship with your children. That is much more important. If the children can forgive their parents then God can automatically forgive you. On the other hand, when children commit some sin, the parents should take the position of their children and apologize or repent before God. Because of the parents God will then forgive the children.</p>
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<p>The one thing that God can never forgive is the destruction of His love. If anyone abandons God and pushes His love aside, that person cannot be forgiven. If God could just freely forgive that then He would never have needed to work for restoration these many thousands of years. If God could allow man to do anything at all then there would be nothing unique, absolute or eternal remaining. God has forgiven man much, but He cannot compromise on this point. God wants to create the eternal, absolute and unique love between Himself and man at any cost.</p>
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<p>In this world, particularly in America, there are many people who purposely break up loving relationships and healthy families. Anyone who hurts true love that way cannot be forgiven. We must establish the tradition that the beauty of a married couple living happily together and sacrificing for each other is applauded as the most precious jewel of all. Instead of feeling envy and jealousy or trying to deprive them of anything, everyone should praise them as museum pieces of the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>God will have a family museum of treasures from everywhere, but the beautiful God-centered love of a husband and wife will be the most shining museum piece of all. When God has festivities like World Day He will want to visit His museum, and there is one display that God will never miss, the beautiful love between husband and wife. God is looking for that kind of home.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Through love creation has a most<br />
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glorified and honored position</h3>
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<p>The desire of God is to see His love going down to Adam and Eve and their children and to all things of creation. Adam and Eve want to see the love of God poured out upon their children, to give their own love to their children, and to see their children loving all the things of creation. The children want to feel the love of God and of Adam and Eve, and then give it away to all things.</p>
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<p>In receiving all this love, the creation will exclaim, “We thought we were the lowest and most trivial things in God’s sight, but now we see that all the love of God is ultimately given to us!” Being in the position to receive the love of God, love of Adam and Eve, and love of children, all things are in a most glorified and honored position.</p>
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<p>In gratitude for the blessing of receiving all kinds of love, the creation will want to return glory to God by giving the very best in the universe to man. That is why all things provide you with food, themselves becoming your flesh and blood. The service of all things is to become the physical form of God’s love, and by becoming your flesh, blood and bone, letting you grow and develop a noble character so you can live in heaven for eternity. Everything in nature will take great pride in becoming the flesh and blood of men who are children of God. Through man’s spiritual quality, all things can influence the center of God’s love. That is the pride of all things.</p>
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<p>This is a most beautiful and holy world of creation. Can you men and women fulfill the kind of position as representatives of God and truly love all things? Many people in this world never try to appreciate creation but always complain instead about their food, clothes and houses.</p>
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<p>Have you ever had the experience of apologizing to the earth for having to step on it? If you have such a loving heart to want to step softly on the ground, the ground will eagerly respond to you and even push your feet up. When you go to the bathroom, you are just giving dirty things to nature, but if you feel sorry then nature will say, “Don’t worry. l will receive it and use it as fertilizer to grow many good things.”</p>
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<p>Great literary works have come from a mind of appreciation for nature. Man is not to be a robot, but to see all things with a loving heart and to express that love in a descriptive way. Do not ever have the attitude that we men are the lords of all things; it is God who has given man that supreme position.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Man should live in joy and happiness<br />
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for the sake of the universe</h3>
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<p>The structure of all things is condensed in our own bodies. For example, our bodies resemble trees: the heart corresponds to the trunk in its role of circulating the blood, while the stomach corresponds to roots and the lungs to leaves. All the earthly elements are contained within the human body, and in the same way we also possess all the elements of the spirit world. Thus, when one man moves a small universe moves, and this is why man’s actions are precious and supreme.</p>
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<p>Because you are a microcosm of the universe, when you are genuinely happy it is not just you who are happy, but the entire universe and spirit world as well. Therefore, man should live in joy and happiness for the sake of the universe. We have only one truly worthwhile way to live, acting for the sake of others and always feeling grateful. If you have that basic attitude then you are living in heaven here on earth. A farmer is dealing with nature for the sake of others, for instance. If you can praise nature as the masterpiece of God’s work, you can find many ways to show your gratitude. When you always feel grateful, you are truly living in heaven here on earth.</p>
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<p>You cannot avoid going the way of indemnity. You must willingly take the worst kind of indemnity while you are single men and women, and after you get married take the second worst. After you have your own children you can live much better. This is how you must go through the three levels of indemnity. God, too, has been suffering all these years for one single purpose, to find one true Adam here on earth.</p>
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<p>I want you to go through the worst kind VS experiences and receive all kinds of persecution before you are blessed. I want you to be willing to embrace all of that because when two individuals are married after going through these experiences, they will truly understand each other and be able to deeply share in love. You can be truly intoxicated in this love.</p>
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<p>When you become this kind of husband and wife, you can certainly devote your entire energy to loving your own children. There is a possibility that God’s ideal family can be created )y such parents. When you are truly practicing God’s way of life by giving yourself for the sake of others and when you are willing to go through suffering, then God will never forget you. He will not only give you the greatest of all blessings, but through you will definitely come the greatest of all blessings in the form of children.</p>
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<p>You must make up your mind while you are single to leave behind some achievement for the benefit of your mate and children. Do not become indebted to Satan, who will be trying to block you from receiving the blessing. Do not be the kind of men and women who have Satan waiting to collect more indemnity from them on their wedding day.</p>
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<p>If you become a wife who has great merit in heaven then you can come out and say, “Satan, here are my credentials. Don’t ever touch my husband! I have paid indemnity for both of us.” You and your mate can work together and finally say before God, “We are free of the accusation of Satan in all of heaven and earth.” When you are completely united in love and have paid all the necessary indemnity, no one can claim you. Together the two of you will be an invincible force, and wherever you go nothing will be able to stop you.</p>
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<p>You are not actually working for the benefit of the church at all, and you are not here to help me. At the same time I want you to know that you are the recipients of the foundation which I have laid, and by standing upon that foundation you are freely given an easier path to go. There is no doubt that you are indebted to me. But since you are here striving to build your own heaven, to whom would you complain when you get tired? In this church you are your own employer. The person who complains or tries to make excuses will never go over the mountain into heaven. After the fall, Adam and Eve each blamed each other in explaining to God what happened, and in this world everyone tries to escape taking responsibility for their mistakes. But that is not the tradition of heaven.</p>
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<p>You should not become persons of excuse or complaint, even though you are in a position to justifiably complain. God pushes you into positions where you want to complain and you could gripe about a thousand things a day, but it is your greatness to go over the difficulty with gratitude and not complain like everyone else in the world. There are innumerable things I could complain about to God. I could exclaim, “What kind of God are You? You’re the one who asked me to go to America, but all I get here is persecution, and Americans are even trying to kill me. God, do You really love me?” However, I have never complained to God, but have only accepted my situation in humble gratitude.</p>
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<p>I always pray, “God, wait. I want to do this myself. Just give me a little more time.” In the same way, your prayer should be, “God, just wait a little bit and I will deliver the result by myself. I don’t really need the help of the church. I want to prove how worthy I am in Your sight.”</p>
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<p>What would you gain through obedience? Simply this, your perfection in the love of God. In that perfection you can become a wife or a husband who is centered upon the love of God. As liberated men and women you will be given the power to liberate all things. That is the power God wants to give you and that is the reason we are going this way.</p>
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<p>Our ideology is to each become a central figure who with love can influence his mate, influence all things of creation, influence the Kingdom of God, and even influence God Himself. Shall we really go and live that way of life? Raise your hand and stand up if you really make that pledge. Thank you very much. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1198" class="post-1198 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/let-us-think-once-more.html" title="Permalink to LET US THINK ONCE MORE" rel="bookmark">LET US THINK ONCE MORE</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:12:38+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/let-us-think-once-more.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:12:38+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">June 12, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>In this world we frequently see people who are very unhappy, particularly in places like prison. During my imprisonment in North Korea I knew one prisoner who had been sentenced to death and worried about his day of execution all the time. Generally, the most hopeful moment for any prisoner is the time when his name is called; it could mean that his parole or release is coming up, or that his relatives have come to visit. But for the prisoner who has been sentenced to death, hearing his name called might mean that the time has come for his execution.</p>
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<p>A prisoner under the death sentence is obsessed with thinking about how he can avoid his execution. Moreover, he always feels tension and agony, regretting whatever he had done in the past to incriminate himself, thinking, “If I had not done that particular deed then I would not be in this position today.” The most painful thought is that some minor act brought this calamity down on him, an act which might easily have been done a little bit differently.</p>
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<p>The most unhappy memories are not born of gigantic events; most frequently it is a trivial matter that opens the door to great unhappiness. One’s life or death destiny can be changed by one little mistake, a failure to dank and evaluate one more time. Such a failure is always the result of self-centered thinking. In analyzing great mistakes or great crimes we always conclude that if the person had thought of the impact his actions would have on the well-being of others, he probably would not have committed such a blunder. It is always selfishness that results in crime. The worst crimes are committed by people who have become so self-centered that they dank only of themselves and want revenge for being hurt by something. The actions of one person who does not think properly can bring great misfortune.</p>
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<p>If any person can put himself in a position to think for the public good then he will hardly ever make great blunders. Unhappiness and crime are the results of a person’s exaggerating his own importance and being motivated by only his own welfare. This understanding can also be applied to our own lives.</p>
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<p>Whether we are at school, at home, or with friends, this principle is always in action. Whether we advance a great purpose, disgrace ourselves or retreat to the lowest possible realms, our progress upwards or downwards will be determined by this one fact. Particularly when we are faced with making decisions about an important commitment we must always think once more before we act. In making an important decision we must think deeply from the public point of view. Those who reason only from selfishness are truly their own worst enemy. But if a person is totally committed to the benefit of others and willing to give himself sacrificially then he will normally not make any serious blunders, even though he acts without thinking.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Only selfish people need laws</h3>
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<p>There are two kinds of people following our Unification Church way of life. One kind is always complaining while the other kind does not complain but concentrates all their energy on giving of themselves. If a person complains then who is at the center of his complaint? Is it complaining to say, “I am sick of the Unification Church. We have to get up so early every day”? Suppose a person shouted at the other members, “Let’s go out and work earlier and harder.” Is that complaining? No matter how much he may give people a hard time about selling more newspapers, that would not constitute complaint. Sometimes a person’s face and tone of voice are harsh and hostile and the person looks like he is complaining. However, that may not be a complaint but more like a warning or advice.</p>
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<p>What is the difference between making a complaint and giving a warning? When motivation comes from one’s own selfish point of view then a complaint results. However, if someone acts or speaks out for the sake of others, for the sake of the public or for the sake of God, then no matter how harsh it may be it is not considered a complaint but a warning. Sometimes I speak harshly and bluntly and sometimes I even scold you. But when you see that my anger is motivated by concern for others and for the cause of restoration, you know my purpose is an unselfish one. Then you can willingly accept it. On the other hand, if a leader speaks strongly to you and you can see that his motivation is selfish then you don’t want to follow his direction.</p>
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<p>If a soldier kills many of the enemy on the battlefield he may be given the Medal of Honor. However, if that same soldier even accidentally kills someone during peacetime then he is called a criminal. Both are acts of murder. Why do people applaud one act but punish the other? Only one thing makes his actions different: the soldier is not motivated by personal benefit to kill in combat. When his action is a public one for the defense of his nation then he is honored, but if he kills at home for his own selfish reasons then he is condemned.</p>
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<p>In light of this, how can we define what law is? Law is a regulation or criterion to control or contain the actions of selfish people. Laws are a necessity if selfish people are to live together. Whether for an individual, group or nation, the law sets limits and prohibits people from violating their minimal social responsibility. On the other hand, no laws are needed between people who naturally live their lives for the sake of others in a totally unselfish and devoted way. Have you ever heard of a law regulating people who are sincerely devoted to service? Man is supposed to be liberated from the law eventually. You must become people who do not require laws on the levels of the individual, group, nation and even the world.</p>
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<p>What kind of person can live above the law? Broadly speaking, such a person pursues a cause that is greater than himself, but there are different degrees of unselfishness. If there is a group of people living unselfishly for the sake of the nation and a group living unselfishly for the sake of the world, which one is working for the higher purpose? The person who is only devoting himself to the sake of the nation is not big enough to be above the law of the world. Sometimes the interests of the nation conflict with the interests of the world. People are finding out that worldwide standards are needed to regulate nations.</p>
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<h3 align="center">If you can totally live for God<br />
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then you are above judgment</h3>
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<p>America has its own national laws and is also involved with many other nations. Even so, many Americans feel that they only need to be concerned with the well-being and survival of their own nation and not of the rest of the world. From the viewpoint of the world, that attitude is not a righteous one because it conflicts with the well-being of the world. The era in which America is respected by the world is over.</p>
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<p>On every level good and evil is determined by one simple principle: whether a person is motivated by selfishness or unselfishness. For example, if the president of a nation works purely for the sake of his nation then he is on the side of goodness and shall be respected by his nation. But if he works solely for his personal political gain then he is recognized as being selfish and suspected of being corrupt.</p>
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<p>However, let’s say that the president goes one step further and works for the well-being of mankind and the world. Then he becomes a person who is respected by the world. If his attitude is limited to serving America’s best interests then his actions will frequently cause resentment and friction on the worldwide level.</p>
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<p>Wherever a law is needed judgment becomes necessary. Basically, judgment is always given according to the degree of selfishness of an act. Suppose you want to become a person who lives above the law, more than just a law-abiding citizen. To live above the law you must become an unselfish person; then your outlook is not limited by your own selfish purpose. When you become a person who is determined to live for the highest cause, the sake of the world, then you will be liberated from the need for all levels of law below that cause.</p>
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<p>When you become the type of person about whom people can say, “He does not live for himself. He lives for God,” then you are indeed a great and fearless person. In your language you frequently use the word “great,” but do you know its meaning? Greatness can only exist when you are unselfish. Who is a strong, bold person? The person who lives for a selfish purpose will never be great or bold or strong. Only those who live unselfishly for others will be strong, bold, great people.</p>
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<p>The entire complicated world of human affairs can be assessed by this simple principle. There are many schools that teach complicated subjects but few that teach the simple rules of human living.</p>
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<p>Our Unification Church school teaches those simple things. Religious people live under the law of the world and ultimately under the law of God instead of confining their point of view to just the family or the nation. Therefore, the people who limit their thinking to national laws, especially national leaders, need to be educated and enlightened by religious people. Today there is a lot of confusion as to what constitutes a religious person and a political person. If politics were needed to govern religion then religion would no longer be capable of serving the world. Religion would no longer function as religion but would function instead within the limitations of politics.</p>
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<p>What kind of religious leader is needed and what is the Unification Church? Do you need the constraints of law or are you already above the need for any laws? When you absolutely live for the sake of God you will not be hurt by the limitations of lesser laws because you are guided by the supreme law of God.</p>
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<p>This kind of situation can be seen in America today. I am trying to obey the supreme law of God. Even so government agencies are checking everything I do for signs of criminal selfishness, but no matter how diligently they look they will find only total unselfishness and dedication to the ultimate law of God. After they have checked everything they are responsible in the sight of God to proclaim our innocence to the world. I have never done a selfish thing in America, nor have I hurt or damaged America in any way.</p>
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<p>The most important concern is who will ultimately be victorious. The fact that we are in the minority does not matter; if I had to confront billions of people by myself it wouldn’t matter. Who the stronger group or person is will ultimately be determined by the law which they pursue. If you unswervingly follow the supreme law of God then in comparison the power of any lesser law will be just like dried grass.</p>
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<p>America and Soviet Russia both have different laws and are pursuing different goals. Which one is following the true ideology if both nations believe that they are right? Both cannot be true and you must know how to judge which is closer to the truth. The nation which is determined to sacrifice its own national goals for the benefit of the world is following the highest ideology. That is the criterion for determining the truth.</p>
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<p>Ultimately you are destined to stand before the judgment of God. If you have become a person who can live totally for the sake of God then you have already transcended any need for judgment. But if you live your life for your own selfish purpose then in the sight of God you need to be judged. The person who is above the law will he the one to pass judgment. Christians who pursue small selfish benefits, acting and working only for their own denomination, will be judged by Jesus, the very person they claim to follow.</p>
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<p>Even though Christians themselves have violated many of God’s laws they still judge others, calling them heretics or anti-Christs. Some Christians insist that the Unification Church is false and heretical, but are they qualified to pass judgment? Did God give them that authority? If Christians are only concerned about their own church denomination, they shall be judged by the people who live beyond the circumference of their own religion, the people who totally dedicate themselves for the sake of God.</p>
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<h3 align="center">An unselfish person can distinguish<br />
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good from evil in any situation</h3>
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<p>If you are a person who can live above the law then in any situation you can immediately determine the good and evil of a conflict. The accuracy of your insight will depend on how unselfish you are in your own life. The people who are judged for violating the laws of the state or nation and are put into prison are being chastised for living only for their own selfish purposes. Individuals, societies and nations will ultimately be evaluated according to this one simple criterion.</p>
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<p>Any leader must at some time choose individuals to fill responsible positions. What is my criterion for choosing leaders in the Unification Church? The one quality I most dislike in a person is the habit of being selfishly motivated. I will give the most responsibility to those who are unselfish. It is as simple as that. With this simple understanding you will be able to evaluate teachers, philosophers, societies, and nations.</p>
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<p>With this criterion you can even evaluate God Himself, determining whether He is a good and true God or an evil, false God. In our religious life there are many temptations, like feeling that you should be having more of a good time and wasting less energy on other people. By knowing the standard of good and evil you can clearly know why such desires are not good to act upon. If you become the kind of person who is absolutely 100% sure of living for God and humanity then the topic today, “Let Us Think Once More,” does not need to be discussed. When all your actions are automatically good then this topic is redundant.</p>
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<p>Whatever you do, if your motivation is to improve the work of God and His Kingdom then your actions are good, no matter how trivial or menial they may appear. Fund raising and selling the newspaper are menial jobs, but does that make them evil or worthless? Are you doing these things for the advancement of your own selfish purpose? The New York Times is a selfish paper so we are challenging it for the sake of God and America. Is our ultimate purpose in starting the News World just to put the New York Times out of business? Our purpose is much broader than simple competition on a business level.</p>
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<p>The American people often boast that America is a very righteous nation, but since I’ve come to this land I have not seen the righteousness of America. I am looking for an ideology and a righteousness that is pursuing a greater goal than my goal. But I have not found it. I am not here to praise America for its glorious history of 200 years or for its accomplishments. Will America despise me for that? Instead I came to America and judged this nation with my words at Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument, saying that this nation will be destroyed if it continues as it is going now. Americans probably resent those words because I am not an American, but even though I am from the small country of Korea I speak with authority.</p>
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<p>It is very humiliating for Americans to hear a foreigner declare that he has come to heal America, that America needs a physician from outside. I did not come to please Americans but to speak unsettling words to them. I came to ask Americans to become humble and unselfish for the sake of God, which is the opposite of what America would like to hear.</p>
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<p>I did not come to earn money for myself or my family. Instead of demanding things from you I have given you new life and new hope through the Divine Principle. America needs to be educated and you are the ones who can be the great teachers for this nation. For example, American women are frequently very demanding and insist that men serve them. Often their ideal is to be treated like queens by their husbands. Are you women sitting here different than the majority of American women? Because you know the Divine Principle you have changed and think instead that your husband will be the king of your home and you will serve him. Who changed your thinking-your college professors or President Carter?</p>
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<p>What will happen in America if the men and women are not re-educated about true marriage? Many men are now so afraid or resentful of women that they would rather live among themselves. The demand for gay rights has spread because more and more men would rather live with another man than a woman. From God’s point of view, however, this is a sign of the ruin and destruction of this country. This precisely parallels what happened to the Roman Empire and to Sodom and Gomorrah when lustful immorality brought those nations to ruin.</p>
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<p>Why are you American women listening to me? It is because you realize that this way of life is ultimately the most beneficial way of life for your family, nation and world. The other day in New York City I saw a man demonstrating for men’s rights and liberation from the tyranny of women. Only in America could this peculiar kind of demonstration occur. However, the era of women’s push for supremacy is an extraordinary but temporary period of God’s dispensation, stretching from 1918-1988. During that period the true relationship between men and women will be restored. American women may think I am advocating their humiliation, but what do you think? When the 74 couples were being matched for the blessing I asked the brothers what nationality they wanted their wives to be, and nine out of ten said they preferred Oriental women. You women here are in the position to pay indemnity for the sake of all American women.</p>
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<p>Let’s return to the original subject of today’s sermon, “Let Us Think Once More.” This topic is Himself, determining whether He is a good and true God or an evil, false God. In our religious life there – many temptations, like feeling that you should be having more of a good time and wasting less energy on other people. By knowing the standard of good and evil you can clearly know why such desires are not good to act upon. If you become the kind of person who is absolutely 100% sure of living for God and humanity then the topic today, “Let Us Think Once More,” does not need to be discussed. When all your actions are automatically good then this topic is redundant.</p>
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<p>Whatever you do, if your motivation is to improve the work of God and His Kingdom then your actions are good, no matter how trivial or menial they may appear. Fund raising and selling the newspaper are menial jobs, but does that make them evil or worthless? Are you doing these things for the advancement of your own selfish purpose? The New York Times is a selfish paper so we are challenging it for the sake of God and America. Is our ultimate purpose in starting the News World just to put the New York Times out of business? Our purpose is much broader than simple competition on a business level.</p>
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<p>The American people often boast that America is a very righteous nation, but since I’ve come to this land I have not seen the righteousness of America. I am looking for an ideology and a righteousness that is pursuing a greater goal than my goal. But I have not found it. I am not here to praise America for its glorious history of 200 years or for its accomplishments. Will America despise me for that? Instead I came to America and judged this nation with my words at Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument, saying that this nation will be destroyed if it continues as it is going now. Americans probably resent those words because I am not an American, but even though I am from the small country of Korea I speak with authority.</p>
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<p>It is very humiliating for Americans to hear a foreigner declare that he has come to heal America, that America needs a physician from outside. I did not come to please Americans but to speak unsettling words to them. I came to ask Americans to become humble and unselfish for the sake of God, which is the opposite of what America would like to hear.</p>
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<p>I did not come to earn money for myself or my family. Instead of demanding things from you I have given you new life and new hope through the Divine Principle. America needs to be educated and you are the ones who can be the great teachers for this nation. For example, American women are frequently very demanding and insist that men serve them. Often their ideal is to be treated like queens by their husbands. Are you women sitting here different than the majority of American women? Because you know the Divine Principle you have changed and think instead that your husband will be the king of your home and you will serve him. Who changed your thinking-your college professors or President Carter?</p>
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<p>What will happen in America if the men and women are not re-educated about true marriage? Many men are now so afraid or resentful of women that they would rather live among themselves. The demand for gay rights has spread because more and more men would rather live with another man than a woman. From God’s point of view, however, this is a sign of the ruin and destruction of this country. This precisely parallels what happened to the Roman Empire and to Sodom and Gomorrah when lustful immorality brought those nations to ruin.</p>
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<p>Why are you American women listening to me? It is because you realize that this way of life is ultimately the most beneficial way of life for your family, nation and world. The other day in New York City I saw a man demonstrating for men’s rights and liberation from the tyranny of women. Only in America could this peculiar kind of demonstration occur. However, the era of women’s push for supremacy is an extraordinary but temporary period of God’s dispensation, stretching from 1918-1988. During that period the true relationship between men and women will be restored. American women may think I am advocating their humiliation, but what do you think? When the 74 couples were being matched for the blessing I asked the brothers what nationality they wanted their wives to be, and nine out of ten said they preferred Oriental women. You women here are in the position to pay indemnity for the sake of all American women.</p>
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<p>Let’s return to the original subject of today’s sermon, “Let Us Think Once More.” This topic is significant because selfishness is always part of what motivates anyone who grew up in this world. if you truly dedicate yourself for the sake of God and humanity, there is nothing to be afraid of and no place that can confine you. God will never judge you and there will be no place you cannot go.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Selfishness is powerful enough to destroy even God</h3>
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<p>When you are a selfish person there are many layers of confinement because you are blocking yourself. You feel helplessly confined by the law. But as soon as you are determined to live not for yourself but for others, there will be no boundaries to confine you. Who then is the truly wise man?</p>
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<p>Personal struggles and battles always arise because of selfishness. You say, “Why are you bothering me,” or “Why did you say that to me?” “Me” is the center of problems and also the center of hell. “You” is the center of heaven and when you say, “I live for you; I help you; I love you,” that is heaven. Your greatness of heart on earth will determine your boundaries in heaven. If that “you” boundary is just big enough to encompass your own family then your heaven will encompass only your own family. But if that boundary is big enough to encircle the nation and the world then your heaven is going to be that big. If your boundary can include God then everything in His power is all yours, including all of heaven.</p>
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<p>Which boundary would you like to embrace? Can you really say to God, “I live for You”? The determination and qualification to live that way of life are not easy to acquire. You must shed more tears than the entire world has shed and you must bear the burden that the world’s people have not borne. That is the criterion of good and evil and the boundary of heaven and hell. Success and failure as well as happiness and unhappiness are also divided by this boundary.</p>
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<p>Let us examine this particular truth from the Biblical point of view. The fall of man occurred because of the self-centeredness of the archangel Lucifer, and his selfishness evoked selfishness from the heart of Eve. Destruction always comes from selfishness,.</p>
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<p>God was hurt. Even God is selfish sometimes and could destroy Himself. Selfishness is powerful enough to destroy even God. If God was truly angry at Adam and Eve for causing Him anguish then He could have obliterated them. But if He had done that then He also would have been destroyed because His purpose would have been destroyed. Mankind would have ceased to exist because God can create the world and man only once. Because of the nature of creation it is impossible for God to wipe out everything and start anew.</p>
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<p>After the fall of man God did not react out of personal anger. He thought about the unselfish way, suppressed His anger, and started on the road of restoration. God determined to forget Himself and think of man by giving man a chance to restore himself. The grace of salvation came into being when God decided to save man. God cannot reverse His decision once it is made and even if restoration takes 10,000 years God will pursue His goal.</p>
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<p>Today there are people who say that God is dead. If you were God, how would you feel listening to such an awful statement? Would you want to strike them dead? God suppresses His anger instead and sends people to tell the world, “God is not dead. God is living and strong.” The religions which claim that God is dead are weak and vulnerable, but because I claim that God is alive and that He is our Father our movement is strong.</p>
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<p>With what authority do I speak so boldly? An ordinary man may become ambassador to another country and speak with authority but what is his authority? Behind that man is a nation and sovereignty, and he speaks with the authority of representing them. Can the power of the sovereignty of this American nation be compared with the sovereignty of God? Our movement is strong and powerful because it represents the almighty sovereignty of God. That is the reason why I was able to come to this country fearlessly and proclaim the truth throughout the land with confidence.</p>
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<p>The evidence of God’s power attracts attention and the world is scrutinizing me very intently. President Nixon was the president of the most powerful nation on earth but even he resigned from office after a year and a half of public criticism. People thought that I might last for only six months, but after five years in the American public eye I am still going strong.</p>
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<p>It is amusing to see how obsessed some people are with investigating everything I do. If I were to hide a worthless rock somewhere I am sure some agent would go to extremes to get hold of it. At one time one of our members was approached by people who wanted to buy the trash from Belvedere. Were those people motivated by a desire to help us, or did they have some malicious intent?</p>
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<p>People who are giving me a hard time cannot sleep too well at night, but when the time comes to rest I rest very well and have no worries, Why? Most of the people who come to America have some selfish purposes but I did not come here to receive money, honor or fame. I knew even before I came to America that I would be persecuted and cursed, but I spent sweat, energy and money here anyway. I worked harder than anyone else, but with one difference: it was for a totally unselfish purpose.</p>
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<p>I am receiving all the scorn, suffering and persecution that I knew was inevitable, but still I forgive America. I am being ridiculed, but before God I defend America, saying, “Won’t You be patient with America a little longer and give me a chance to turn this nation to Your Will?”</p>
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<p>Day in and day out I visit, listen to and encourage you members. Even when I chastise you and urge you to work harder and harder, you still come to hear my sermons and meet with me. Why? If you did not come then I would have an excuse to give God, saying, “God, for 3½ years I did my absolute best here in America, but no people came to work with me. Therefore, I have to leave this country.” But since you keep coming, even after chastisement, I cannot say that to God. You are giving me a hard time by not packing up and leaving me alone!</p>
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<p>You know that ultimately you will be better off with me and that here you can be a winner. If I declared, “I’m leaving America. I’m fed up with this country,” your various government agencies would say, “Bravo! We succeeded in getting rid of him.” But how would you feel? You would want to follow me even if I went back to Korea. If we had one million members here and I suddenly decided to leave, then the State Department would be flooded with one million passport applications in one day.</p>
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<p>America is not acting wisely right now by mistreating and misunderstanding me. There are thousands of young people following me and that number will increase in the future. I will train you to become strong champions of God and of freedom and you shall become America’s strength everywhere. I have no attachment to places like Belvedere or East Garden; I am staying here at this particular time only because it is my mission to work in America. America is just one stopover point. I do not need anyone to support me or my family. My way is clear and I am not concerned about my livelihood because God will always take care of me.</p>
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<p>Do you want to follow me? People think you are crazy because you are willing to wait for the blessing, even though you may be getting old. That is why people say you are brainwashed. They don’t see that you are not foolish, that you have found something of priceless value and are gaining everything.</p>
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<h3 align="center">As a central figure, I am always<br />
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checking myself for selfish motives</h3>
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<p>Adam and Eve’s motivation for the fall was selfishness. Cain was jealous of Abel because Abel’s offering was accepted by God and Cain took a selfish point of view in his justification of why God only favored Abel. Cain did not know that Abel was playing a specific role in the sight of God, and Cain’s motivation in making his offering was to bargain for God’s favor. He did not realize that his offering had a historical purpose and would affect the past, present and future.</p>
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<p>If Cain had thought more deeply before killing his brother then history would have been different. If Adam and Eve had examined their motivation one more time before they fell, then history would have been different. Noah was careless in lying naked on his bed. If he had thought about it once more, for his children’s sake, he might not have committed that blunder.</p>
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<p>Ham was humiliated at seeing his father and he felt his dignity was hurt. “Me” was the center of his thoughts and actions and based on that motivation he covered his sleeping father. That action brought tragedy to the dispensation. Covering his father’s body was not wrong but Ham should have had unconditional respect for his father as a man of God. If he had approached his father without shame and with a loving heart covered his father’s body then that scene would have been beautiful to God.</p>
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<p>It was essential that Ham honor the fact that his father was accepted in the sight of God. Noah had persevered through 120 years of ridicule and persecution in order to build the ark, and because of his faith Noah’s family was the only group of people alive upon the face of the earth after the flood. Ham should have been humble after witnessing this and should have looked at his father from the public point of view.</p>
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<p>Abraham offered three sacrifices-two doves, a ram and a she-goat and a heifer-but he was careless and failed to cut the doves in two. If he had been more serious and thought once more that this was for the sake of the entire history of God then he would not have committed that blunder. The indemnity for Abraham’s failure brought 400 years of slavery in Egypt, a foreign land, to his descendants. The ultimate result of this and accumulated failures in Old Testament history was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The seeds of Jesus’ crucifixion were partly sown in Abraham’s failure.</p>
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<p>Moses struck the Rock of Horeb twice instead of once, laying a base for the Jewish people to fail and be destroyed in the wilderness. Moses was upset at that particular moment, but he translated his anger into action. In an earlier moment of anger he shattered the tablets upon which God had written the Commandments. His short-sighted actions were a contributing cause in the failure of the people in the wilderness.</p>
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<p>John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the son of God and at one time proclaimed that fact to the world. This was a very serious proclamation! If afterward John the Baptist had once again thought deeply about the implications, he would have acted differently. If all the men of God who played important roles throughout dispensational history had deeply pondered about their missions once again, they would not have committed such crucial blunders and history would have been different.</p>
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<p>I am in precisely the same position and I am always checking myself for any hidden selfish motives. For example, I did not want to show any animosity whatsoever toward the American people because of their persecution of me and the Unification Church. That would be the self-centered way of thinking. Instead I brought Asian people here to work and toil for the sake of America, despite the persecution.</p>
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<p>If the Asians unselfishly give of themselves for the sake of America, even if America rejects them and shows no appreciation, then Korea and Japan will not perish. It is the formula of history that even the greatest nations which oppose God’s will inevitably decline. Let us be public people who can live the principle.</p>
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<p>I have gone through my years of youth as you have and I felt the same emotions and anguish as you do at this time in your lives. What was I doing at your age? There was terrible persecution of our church during which I was tortured and often kept in prison. I experienced incredible abuse. My prison terms would have had a much different meaning if I had actually committed some crime. Then I would have deserved a jail sentence. But all I did was proclaim the word of God as I do now in America. In those days I warned Korea and Japan and even communist North Korea that the future was in peril and that we must follow the path of God in order to survive. At that time I was ridiculed and persecuted and put in jail, but my revelations have come true. Today many people realize that what I said in the past was true.</p>
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<p>If you were selfish-minded people then you would not have remained in the Unification Church but would have packed and left a long time ago. I am the same. We remain because we know that by sacrificing ourselves America and the world can be saved. Yet for doing this we have still been persecuted. I want you to know that God is sympathetic and on your side, regardless of how pathetic you may look. God sees that even though the majority of Americans have misunderstood and mistreated me, Americans like you here today honor and respect me. Your degree of loyalty has been demonstrated by very few people in American history. You have demonstrated that even through persecution you will follow me.</p>
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<p>What made you like this? Have I personally forced you to follow me? I have never even met each one of you, and with many of you I have never had a personal conversation. Why then do you want to follow me? Your parents are ready to give you everything you need-money, shelter, food, schooling but you gave up all these things and followed me. Why? It is not my power but the power of God that is manifested in this room. Nobody can provide such power except God, and that is why you are so precious and priceless to me. God molded each and every one of you and brought you to this level.</p>
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<p>One humble member is greater than tens of thousands of people who may oppose us. One million people means nothing; as one individual member, you are most precious. Looking at your faces I can dismiss what has been done to me. God is the same. You are so beautiful in the sight of God that when He looks at you He has hope and is able to forgive all the rebellious people, feeling that because of you He can save the rest of America. Your loyalty is a gift from Heavenly Father.</p>
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<p>Are you happy or unhappy? You are truly happy because you have God caring for and loving you, but most importantly, God will never betray you. You have found someone who truly pays the utmost attention to your future and is leading you into your eternal value. As long as God is paying attention to you, you have your own future. You and your family will not only be happy, but you will assure America of its future and be able to bring great happiness to the American people; because of you the nation will be forgiven and because of you the world will have hope. That is why you are happy people.</p>
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<p>You can experiment with prayers of gratitude and prayers of complaint</p>
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<p>Certainly your day-today life is a difficult one of sacrifice and hard work. Before you joined the Unification Church you may have worn beautiful clothing and jewelry and spent much time on yourself. But now there is no guarantee that there will even be hot water in the morning. You may think, “What have I gained? I’ve lost everything and I’m miserable now.” Well, there is a certain truth to this, but when you feel this way then think of today’s topic, “Let us Think Once More.”</p>
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<p>God knows you better than you know yourself, and if you want to air your grievances do so before God because no one else has the capacity to comfort you. Don’t complain among yourselves. God will listen to your complaints in your prayers.</p>
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<p>You should experiment with this on your own. One day come to God and offer a prayer of complaint; maybe you single sisters who are older could gripe, “God, what are you doing up there? Why don’t you come down and help me? I need to get married.” Then the next day you could pray, “God, You know how old I am and how people think I’m an old maid, but never mind Father. If my life can help You in Your work, if I can be like You and live for the sake of this world and humanity, then I am willing to become Your sacrifice. My life is Yours. You just tell me what You want.”</p>
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<p>At the end of two days compare how you felt on each day. I tried this myself. I had showdown prayers with God and sometimes I would just pray and jump wildly around and stamp on the ground. Then I discovered which is the best kind of prayer. You too can experiment with offering self-centered prayers of complaint and unselfish prayers. The results will be absolutely different. In the first prayer you make yourself miserable, but in the second you sanctify yourself.</p>
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<p>In the human way of life there is always self-centered thinking. That is why I gave this sermon this morning. Whenever you begin to feel this way, please remember “Let Us Think Once More.” Even selling the newspaper can be heaven or hell. One person may feel, “I hate this kind of job.” They force themselves to go out but they are miserable. Another may think, “This is menial work, but I’m doing it for the sake of God and humanity.” It is the power of your thought that makes the difference between heaven and hell.</p>
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<p>The most beautiful teaching of the Bible is to be humble and not arrogant. The people who live a selfish way of life will never get to the Kingdom of God in Heaven. I have been to all the different realms of the spirit world and never once did I meet one self-glorifying person who had arrived in paradise. I knew some famous and respected ministers whom many people thought would go to the highest part of heaven, but in spirit world I discovered that they were in hell. They were so misguided as to receive glory and honor for themselves, leaving no room for Jesus Christ or God. The Kingdom of God in Heaven is a public sanctuary and a private, selfish kind of person cannot get there.</p>
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<p>You elevate yourselves toward heaven through overcoming tribulation, but hell is also waiting at that moment. Whether you stand on the side of selfishness or unselfishness determines whether heaven or hell surrounds you. The choice is yours.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Do not decide anything until<br />
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considering it with patience</h3>
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<p>Today’s sermon is not abstract truth but a practical formula for your daily life. Because you must make decisions every day, you must stop and think once more and put yourself on the unselfish side. This sermon is not only given for you, but also for me. We all exist together under the same law. Therefore, every day is an internal battle within ourselves, an intense battle which people outside our church don’t encounter.</p>
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<p>You are the one who will stop you from reaching heaven and push you into hell, no one else. That is why you must be careful about the words you speak. Once you have spoken you are committed to action. First you must be careful about the words you speak, and secondly you must be cautious about the words you hear. If selfish remarks are being spoken, do not listen to them. The same applies to selfish deeds; do not look at them. The best defense is to not even talk to the person who lives selfishly. The way to improve yourself is to have give and take with persons who are spiritually more advanced. Then you can live in a higher love and a higher law.</p>
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<p>If you go to a good leader for advice he will tell you to eliminate your private self so that your public self will be free to act. If the person you consult says, “Go ahead and act on your own selfish desires and we will ignore them,” he is definitely not a true leader. The person who guides and inspires you to live an unselfish way of life is a good teacher, friend and parent.</p>
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<p>If you are facing an impossible situation and feel you just cannot go on then pray to Heavenly Father and He will advise you. The best answer God can give you is, “My child, I understand your heart, but you must be patient and withstand this trial. That is the best way to receive your blessing.” God will give you that answer every time.</p>
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<p>The Chinese character for “patience” is a combination of two characters, with the top portion symbolizing “sword” and the lower portion symbolizing “mind.” The idea conveyed is to keep the sword planted in your mind instead of rashly pulling it out to attack somebody or something. That is patience. Keeping the sword planted in your mind is most painful at times, but the person who can endure and be patient time after time is the person who will win one thousand battles.</p>
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<p>You had better dank once more at every decision-making occasion; even concerning little things do not decide anything until you have considered it with patience and perseverance. Let us be patient one more time. Let us endure one more time. Before you take action, think about it one more time.</p>
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<p>The essence of today’s sermon is patience. Usually we don’t like to hear that word but it is crucial. By being patient and by enduring suffering you inherit the blessing of those who attack you. America is attacking me in anger but I am patient because I will ultimately inherit the blessing under those circumstances. This is the formula of history. When you cause damage you must pay the penalty, but the reverse is equally true: The more you willingly suffer, the more you will ultimately be reimbursed. The greater the persecution you endure, the greater the blessing you will receive.</p>
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<p>It is not that we are waiting greedily to receive America’s blessing for ourselves. God’s intention is for us to receive the blessings but then to return them without any hesitation back to this nation. If they are refused then we will try again and again until they are either accepted or until God says, “You keep them.” Wherever God goes He carries blessing with Him, going to the places where He can find willing recipients. That is the mind of God.</p>
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<p>I know very well that you are sometimes discouraged and despondent, but I am absolutely certain that no matter how difficult a situation you may face, you will never face the same difficulties that I have passed through. I was tortured many times and threw up so much blood that I was more dead than alive. Even at that moment I practiced the Principle. I did not panic and pray to God to deliver me from my enemies and alleviate my suffering. Instead I prayed, “God, Your will shall be done. I shall never let suffering stop me; I will go on so don’t worry about me.” Because God knew my suffering so well I could pray in no other manner.</p>
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<p>God knows that your path is a difficult one, yet He has to put you in that position regardless. You must be sympathetic with God for having to ask such things of His children. I knew that there was a reason for someone having to go that route, and when God chose me to do it I responded, “God, I want to do this and I understand Your heart in allowing this suffering to come to me. I know You have a reason and therefore I will completely accept and bear everything.” That frame of mind opens up a whole new world where the most difficult and critical situation can be turned around 180 degrees. It is not God who will initiate that drastic change. You yourself must apply the formula.</p>
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<p>When I came to America I knew that inevitably some people would attack me, trying to force me to leave this country and trying to destroy the Unification Church. When critical moments are at hand, I do not feel fear but willingly, courageously, and enthusiastically face the difficulty.</p>
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<p>I know that my actions can change a nation’s destiny during critical times. Even when powerful people fabricate accusations against me, it is only another chance for me to turn the whole situation around. Once there is controversy, a nation will be divided into two camps of opinion. That is happening right now but I remain silent and make no public statement.</p>
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<p>There are many people who like you Moonies because you are clean-cut, dedicated and morally sound, but those people say they can’t stand Reverend Moon. That is all right; eventually they will discover that you Moonies are good because I am good. This is all God’s most profound strategy. If I quietly came to America and no controversy resulted then the media and consequently the public would have ignored me. Then the world would never have had a chance to hear of me.</p>
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<p>As we become controversial many people try to destroy us but that only makes us even more controversial. People get confused because they see us in person in a good way, but the media portrays us another way. Do not worry about the pros and cons of the world’s opinion. Let people fight among themselves. We will work for the sake of America and do extraordinary things.</p>
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<p>I have to use an interpreter to speak but you can speak for yourself when you witness. You are better off than I am! Because you are younger than I am you have more energy. This is your own country and you will be accepted by American citizens. In many ways you are in a superior position and there is no reason why you couldn’t do greater things than I can.</p>
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<p>Your slogan should be that you will do better than I could. Even if you are persecuted more than I am, you will be able to bear the burden and smile and laugh even where I would have cried. The secret is, “Let Us Think Once More.”</p>
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<p>Today is Sunday. Because it is set aside for God it is more public. There is more of God’s work to do and there is no retreat, only advancement. Those who want to go forward today, raise your hands. God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1196" class="post-1196 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/our-pride.html" title="Permalink to OUR PRIDE" rel="bookmark">OUR PRIDE</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:11:57+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/our-pride.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:11:57+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">June 5, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>It is human nature that everyone has the desire to be proud of something about themselves and about their families. This desire has no boundary and is the same in the East and the West, in the past and the present and affects everyday lives as well as famous people. After thinking about what kind of God exists, I concluded that God is the same. God would want to be proud of Himself and His creation as well as of His children. In other words, there are not a great many different things which God wants to be proud of, but rather only Himself and His family and what He created.</p>
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<p>Since human nature works in the same fashion, we are the image of God. Because God feels proud, we too experience that feeling. That same nature affects families and nations. For example, Americans want to be proud of America and of what it has accomplished in the world. Americans who love their nation feel proud and inspired when they look at their flag.</p>
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<p>When Americans explain the meaning of the flag they always say that the stripes represent the original thirteen colonies. If I were an American I would answer this way instead: “The stripes represent Jesus, the son of God, and his twelve disciples.” Which answer do you like better? Some day America is going to have a new God-centered tradition and explanation for its flag, in which God comes first plus Jesus and his disciples represented by the stripes, and the fifty stars representing the first fifty truly Christian nations of the world. The number fifty will increase to include more nations in the future, reflecting the ongoing development of God’s kingdom. At this time we in the Unification Church are working toward 50, 70, to 120-to all the nations. The internal meaning behind this can be derived from the Bible; Jesus had 12 apostles and 70 disciples, and next would have had 120 disciples in his own lifetime to spread the gospel all over the world. The stars on the American flag would represent all of Jesus’ disciples as well as each nation.</p>
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<p>If America became a nation of God, working toward the establishment of God’s kingdom, then the American people could have even more pride in their nation and flag. Americans are proud of this nation’s mighty economic power, its pioneering heritage and democratic tradition. If someone criticizes America then most Americans get upset. This is not bad or wrong because it is the human nature God endowed us with, and God Himself will feel the same way when His world comes. God wants to be proud of the things He has and proud of the people He has, and He wants the people in His kingdom to be proud of the ideal they have.</p>
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<p>Sometimes people do things just in order to boast about them and get attention. For example, some people wear fancy eyeglasses simply to show off. They don’t necessarily have bad sight, but they wear the most stylish glasses. Why do women wear earrings? I am sure that some woman in the past had very ugly ears and started that tradition of wearing earrings because she wanted to improve her ears.</p>
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<p>If you have very nice ears, you can be proud of them without wearing ornaments. If you are self-conscious about having ugly ears then you want to draw attention to an ornament and away from your ears. Necklaces were probably originated by women who had ugly necks. A woman who has a long neck has extra space which she wants to improve by putting something beautiful on it. People wear all these things to disguise certain deficiencies they may be conscious of, trying to enhance their feeling of value.</p>
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<p>Raise your hand if your nature is different. Not even a single hand. Were people in the past any different? What about the people to come in the future? This human nature is a cosmic thing; we are all in the image of God and God gave His own nature to us.</p>
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<p>One extraordinary aspect of Western culture is the effort made to make bathrooms ornate and beautiful. In most Western homes the bathroom is a very expensive area. Why? It is human nature to beautify even an area where we are not doing the prettiest thing. God is just the same, and we not only live in that fashion here on earth, but even after we go to the spirit world.</p>
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<h3 align="center">All nature delights in seeing its characteristics reflected</h3>
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<p>You want to be proud of yourself, but it is important to understand that you will suddenly realize how little you have to be proud of about yourself if you are far from being in God’s true image. What kind of person should you be in order to be proud of yourself in spirit world?</p>
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<p>You must be a true, eternal, and unchanging person, not an imitation. When your being reflects that standard, you are just that, true and eternal. If you compare yourselves to that standard then you can measure the degree of your genuineness. For example, there is a basic standard for judging diamonds and a diamond must meet that standard before it can be recognized as a good diamond. Genuine gold is soft and has the quality of not rusting, as well as having an unchanging color. All of these qualities are the standard of reference which determine the genuineness of a particular thing.</p>
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<p>There are many imitations today, but you don’t feel as proud of an imitation as you do of a real diamond or real gold. In the same way, in the spirit world you want to be proud of yourself for being close to the standard of perfection. God is the standard of perfection and you can be proud of yourself when you are closest to the image of God. Your original personality characteristics are molded after God’s, and in resembling Him you can be proud of yourself.</p>
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<p>What kind of eyes might God have? How do you know God has two eyes; have you seen Him? In order to love the nature God created and love Him more deeply, God gave you two eyes to enjoy the universe with. It is necessary to have two eyes to express your love, and since God wants to express His love He needs two eyes also. It works both ways: God reflects your image and you reflect His.</p>
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<p>Parents also take great delight in their children, who most resemble them in all the world, even though those children may be ugly. Suppose beauty queens from all over the world were gathered together for some pageant and among them was one ugly woman. If a group picture was taken and copies given out, whose face will the parents of the ugly woman look for when they get their copy? Inevitably they will look for their ugly daughter in the midst of all the beauty queens.</p>
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<p>Because their children most reflect their parents’ characteristics they will bring delight to the parents. Look at the elephant world. Elephants are an incongruous shape and a gloomy color. When I saw an elephant family one day they were all in the mud, playing and making themselves completely dirty. The baby elephants were imitating what their parents were doing and covering themselves with mud, but the parents were smiling upon them and nudging them with their trunks and enjoying them. Why should that be? Parents enjoy seeing their baby doing the same things they do.</p>
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<p>All of nature delights in seeing its own characteristics reflected. Is it true that love can be communicated only in a most glorious palace? Even in the mud there was an expression of love among the elephants. During a fishing expedition yesterday at Barrytown everyone was covered by the mud and sometimes you couldn’t even see their eyes, yet even under those circumstances there was much joy and excitement and laughter; I thought that even in those circumstances we can communicate more of trust and love.</p>
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<p>Why did we take so much delight among ourselves in such a situation? There was a common denominator of being covered with mud and each person took great delight in the likeness. That principle works precisely the same way in spirit world. No matter how handsome or beautiful you think you are nobody will agree with you; only when you resemble God will people recognize your true beauty. Then you have become someone you can be proud of. Everybody’s shape or form reflects God. Even though there are differences between Westerners and Orientals, all are a reflection of God.</p>
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<p>How will God laugh? Most people naturally look up at the sky when they laugh. Why? It is built-in human nature that when you have something to really laugh about you don’t want to laugh all by yourself but together with God. The same is true whether you are Western or Eastern. Then will God laugh up to the sky? I think that God must look down toward us when He laughs because He wants to be joyful with us. It is most logical. You will find out how true this is when you go to the spirit world.</p>
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<p>The subject today is “Our Pride.” What is the pride of the Unification Church? People have probably told you that you are brainwashed. Our critics use that word with a negative meaning but we take it as having a good meaning. You wash something to bring back its original beauty. Even animals wash. The person who always wants to wash himself, his clothes and his spirit is going to progress because that nature comes from God. God gave that nature to man so that he could come closer to God’s original nature.</p>
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<h3 align="center">It is our pride to greet God even before the sun and the birds</h3>
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<p>One basic difference between primitive and advanced civilizations is that most primitive peoples don’t care about their surroundings while more cultured people keep themselves and their environment clean. Because of the fall, man’s brain needs to be washed. God knows that man went wrong so He has been thinking about how to wash the human brain of impure thoughts. Therefore the original definition of “brainwashing” is not bad. People who do not want to change their way of life to resemble God are not on God’s side, while those who welcome God’s brainwashing are on the side of heaven.</p>
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<p>Another criticism we hear is that I am enslaving you young people. People say I make you get up early for worship and then push you out to work hard during the day. They say you come here early because you are forced to. I don’t think so. We feel spiritually uplifted by getting up before the sun rises; you don’t feel good when you sleep late and get up in the middle of the morning, as though you were defeated by the sun coming out first.</p>
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<p>When you get up in the early morning and are busy and then the sun rises with great dignity, it will say, “Did you arise first to welcome me in the morning?” If you are up first to greet the birds then you can feel that their singing is their praise of you. Most important of all, when you get up early in the morning first call the name of God, beginning the day with Him. How would God feel? He does not want to be welcomed first by the birds or the using sun. God wants to be praised first in the morning by His own children. You came up here early in the morning solely for the purpose of God, welcoming Him and praising Him and hearing His word. Is it hardship or joy and glory? This is a precious life you are living.</p>
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<p>Do you like to come to Belvedere? Some pragmatic people-and most Americans are-would wonder why I have this many people travel all the way to Belvedere each Sunday instead of having only one person travel from East Garden to New York. Why don’t I speak to you at the New Yorker instead of making you get up so early? I know that the time you spend traveling will awaken your enthusiasm to come in the right frame of mind. I am also working early in the morning, earlier than you; you are coming in anticipation of hearing me speak, and I have been concentrating my thoughts on what God’s message might be.</p>
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<p>If there is a receiving aspect which is eager to respond plus a giving aspect ready to give, then truly great inspiration will come. If you only had to walk downstairs in the New Yorker on Sunday morning you would sleep until five minutes before the speech, and even then get up reluctantly. You would not be ready in that case.</p>
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<p>Your preparation creates an atmosphere for the service, and your deep, spiritual preparation will enable you to receive great blessing. Many of you are still sleepy even after traveling all the way up here from New York. Nobody could even get you up if I were to meet you in New York. After three Sundays of such reluctant participation you would think, “I wish Father would eliminate all these Sunday visits. ”</p>
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<p>That is just another side of fallen nature. However, in order to come to Belvedere you have to make an effort, getting up several hours earlier. Coming such a long distance builds the expectation and you will get more out of my message. There are people sitting out on the lawn, but if their motive is only to be comfortable, rather than because there is no room up closer, then the spirit here is not correct.</p>
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<p>I think there must be a certain system for service here. Perhaps one Sunday all the men would sit inside and next week all the women, to give an equal chance to everyone. However, if on the Sunday the men were supposed to be inside there was one sister who insisted she had to be inside to hear me, then I would have something to remember her for. Her firm desire would be one more thing for her to be proud of before God.</p>
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<p>People outside the Unification Church are saying not only that you are brainwashed, but that you have been enslaved and your money taken away so that I can live in mansions and high fashion. I know very well what is being said about us. America enforced a slavery system only a century ago. Comparing your life here to that forced slavery, could we say that you are forced to be here? Have you heard that you are here only because I control your mind? What makes you come here? Are you here because I forced you, or is it your own desire and conviction to be here?</p>
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<h3 align="center">This is a heavenly school and we have high standards</h3>
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<p>Put in simple terms, the Unification Church is a school and you are the students who have come to learn. You are here to learn and school begins at a certain hour. Would you prefer to get here just ten seconds before class begins, or would you prefer to get here well in advance and be ready for the teacher?</p>
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<p>There are basically two kinds of teachers. There are many teachers today who tell their students that they can take it easy and not work so hard. Another kind of teacher gives his students a hard time and insists that they do their assignments. Which one is truer to you? The true teacher looks at your future and paints a dream and a vision for you. With that goal ahead of you he will then discipline and inspire you to do your best. If the teacher is pushing you and giving you a hard time it is not for the sake of the present, but for the future.</p>
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<p>There are also two kinds of parents. Some parents don’t want to bother either their children or themselves by giving discipline. The other kind of parents are serious about their children becoming true men and women and would ask their children’s teachers to give them strong guidance and strict standards. Which kind of parents are the most loving?</p>
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<p>The Unification Church fits into the pattern of the concerned school. I do not need you to serve me or to support me or my family. That is far from the truth. This is a school of heaven and we have high standards because we have a vision of the future. All through human history most people have tried to achieve selfish goals, and by working on a selfish level they ultimately faced destruction. They ruined not only themselves but their nations as well. Those who pursue selfish goals can never accomplish true good.</p>
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<p>Right now the entire world is continuing to pursue a selfish way and everything of value is being lost. This is the lesson of history. It is my observation that soon the world will hit a stone wall and find that there is nowhere left to turn. This is why there must be a new kind of education; the world must have a way to break through that stone wall. To do that we must revolutionize the thinking and way of life of the world, turning it around 180 degrees from the selfish way of life to the unselfish way of life. The world has been ruined by the selfish way of life, but there will again be hope for the future when people are inspired to follow an unselfish way. If this thinking is correct then certainly this ideology could change the world. We have hope, because when the people of the world revolutionize their thinking we will be able to go forward to great peace and prosperity.</p>
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<h3 align="center">What do we have that no one else has?</h3>
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<p>What is the greatness of our Unification Church? You may look like slaves to our critics, and you may work even harder than slaves, but unlike the slavery of the black people of the past, your hard work is freely given for the sake of God. In this new way of life a revolution of mankind will take place. This is why we have the gut conviction that what we do is different from anything else in history. This is our pride.</p>
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<p>If the locomotive pulling a train hits a stone wall then it cannot go forward any further. However, for the train to back up another locomotive must come from the rear and pull it in the other direction. So far the world is being pulled straight towards that stone wall, but you Moonies are the locomotive coming up from behind to pull the world back into the right direction. Some people are convinced that your eyes are glazed and that somehow you don’t look normal. Is that true, or are you looking at reality very clearly? There is so much adverse publicity on that point that sometimes people hold up their fingers like an optometrist to see where your eyes focus.</p>
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<p>An amazing amount of attention is given to you because you are Moonies. When you say you are a Moonie then everybody watches to see how you behave. Even the ordinary things you do may suddenly seem strange to them. Even though you dress normally, they think that somehow Moonies wear a different kind of clothes. The important thing is that these people are aware that we must have something that people outside our Church do not have. If that something is the right thing then we can really be proud of it. Our unique position is our pride also.</p>
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<p>What do we have that is different? Simply this: We Moonies get up earlier and work harder and go to bed later than anyone else, but not for ourselves. Every moment of our day will be completely filled with service to humanity and God. This is what we have and others don’t have.</p>
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<p>Mankind is one group of people; no matter how many billions of people there may be they are all part of one family. This family of man is going to be proud of people like the Moonies. At some point this family of man needs someone to pioneer a new direction; otherwise all will be ruined. The Unification Church is making that revolution a reality by demonstrating that it can be done. We are the first group to proclaim that an ideal world, the Kingdom of God on earth, is possible.</p>
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<p>Amazing things can become possible by applying a way of life different from the rest of the world. Because we are different, persecution has become our daily diet. Do you think that I am sick and tired of persecution, or am I in a position to be proud of being persecuted? In most cases people are ashamed and hurt by criticism and opposition, but I am proud of going to jail and of being persecuted. I have lived that kind of tribulation my entire life.</p>
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<p>I am absolutely convinced that going to jail has an entirely different purpose than people realize, and whether people realize this or not does not matter. God knows the difference so people’s opinions mean little. Most people are put in jail because their actions were selfishly motivated, but I am put in jail because the nation and world cannot digest the revolutionary way of life I teach, that of sacrificing myself for the sake of the world. Because today’s world has rarely seen such a man, people come to the point where they are afraid of me and they would rather put me in jail.</p>
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<p>At that moment jail is not a shameful place. All of America is upset, trying to solve the controversy and return to its old ways. I am proud to be the person who can do things that even the President of the United States cannot do and which this nation doesn’t know how to digest and accept.</p>
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<p>The Unification Seminary is a good example. When I created the seminary only a couple of years ago it had only fifty students in the first class. Externally speaking it is not an extraordinary place, but many of the scholars who have come to lecture there have been completely fascinated by our students and wanted to have some of them in their own school. Why is that? Those professors supposedly came to visit and to teach the students, but actually the professors themselves were the ones who were taught, not just the students. Instead of being influenced by the negativity, those professors started to speak out; they are very conscientious of truth and once they see the truth they will never back down.</p>
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<p>At Barrytown those scholars could learn what the Unification Church philosophy really is about and also see the fruits of it in the students. The experience was so moving for them that they have been setting off spiritual bombs when they speak in a positive way about our church. Most people have heard only that you members are brainwashed slaves, but these professors ask such people, “Have you seen them and talked to them? I have, and I know they are not brainwashed.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">Will the storm surrounding us blow over or intensify?</h3>
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<p>Already Americans are fighting among themselves over us in the business world, the academic community, in the government and every walk of life. This war will not end soon but will become more hectic in the days to come. The pragmatic politicians may think that the easiest way to end all the turmoil would be to simply ship me out of this country. This is why they are searching for any reason to accuse me of doing something illegal. The Immigration Department, the IRS, the Justice Department, even Congress is trying to find some violation.</p>
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<p>With all this government involvement, many more people have become interested in us and are looking more deeply into our movement. That is when conscientious people will discover that I am not so bad after all! Public opinion will begin to turn and condemn the deprogrammers as brainwashers, rather than me. When the judge in San Francisco made a questionable judgment in favor of the deprogrammers, the legal community became divided and there were many harsh criticisms of the decision.</p>
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<p>Where will all the controversy end? Will everything soon come to a climax and our work get easier, or is the storm going to build up and up even more? When people come to take a deeper look at me and the Unification Church they will discover the truth. Then they will become different people because truth has the power to change the human heart. After all, have I done anything wrong in, this country? Even non-members ask that question.</p>
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<p>Look at the organized crime in this country which thrives on prostitution, gambling, and drugs; the government has been helpless to deal with organized crime. Why then do they come to oppose me? In our Church they see good looking young people who used to be drug addicts or wanderers with no purpose, but who now completely have devoted themselves to a new relationship with God. Only after realizing that more than just a few young people are being changed do people fear that I will become powerful and try to dominate the world.</p>
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<p>One of the greatest miscalculations of those who oppose us is their firm belief that I am an agent of the Korean government. That kind of assumption begins with the thinking that nothing good can come out of Korea. When the media mentions that I am a Korean evangelist there is usually an undertone of scorn. Because Korea is a small country that Americans never knew too much about and because Korea is indebted to America, then a man from Korea is criticized for speaking out.</p>
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<p>They want me to be quiet because I speak out about what is wrong with America. I say unpopular things, that America will lose God’s favor and is destined to perish if it continues in its present direction. I am not here to praise America and to ask for money, but to warn America that it must return to a godly way of life.</p>
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<p>Because I am Korean, Americans are jealous when their young people listen to me. Do you think they would kidnap their own children if I were another white man, even if I taught the same principles and inspired the same conviction? No, they would not be as upset if I were a white man. The amazing thing is, however, that not too many Asian people follow me here in America. American young people are following me here, and we are writing a new chapter of American history. Future generations will think it was most extraordinary that no American inspired the American people, but that a man from Asia came and inspired the Americans to build a new America, making them realize the truth of their destiny.</p>
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<p>After this chapter is written there shall be no segregation or racial discrimination because an Asian, one of a minority group in this country, came and preached the gospel of love and equality of all men and races. Here we are creating the new hope and future of America. I am here to help this country get back on the right track, but if America does not heed my advice then this nation will be further entangled in difficulty. Racial unity is the key to the survival of America. America has been the melting pot of all the world’s people, but if Americans persist in thinking in terms of races, nationalities and religious groups, there will be tremendous difficulties ahead.</p>
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<p>In an unseen way I am contributing more to American history than any other individual. There has been no American leader for you who could give honest hope to the young people of America. My purpose is not to divide people; I want to be silent and keep doing my job, working to bring harmony and understanding instead of inciting more fights. My desire is to save America, to bring new hope to America through you. Through you the extremes of America are being brought into one harmonized center.</p>
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<p>The government is very powerful and I don’t want to have it turned against you. We are still a small minority in this country and we still need to lay the foundation here. I am building a movement to convert American youth into better God-centered American youth. Many people think that I am trying to convert you into Korean youth, but that is far, far from the truth!</p>
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<p>When the Jews came to America they were a persecuted minority, but now some prominent Jews are in turn denouncing me as being anti-Semitic. There are millions of young people in this country, and eventually this movement will spread because young people here have nowhere to turn. Why then are the Jews treating us as enemies? This is a universal movement and not confined to any race or religion; the time will come when we are so big that people will not want to oppose us. I don’t want anyone to have caught themselves in that position in the future. My attitude now is just to be patient.</p>
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<p>Why are some Christians opposing me now? Do you think the Unification Church will outgrow traditional Christianity or not? Many congregations have mostly senior citizens; what will these churches be like in another few decades? In contrast, many of you are young people and by the time you become senior citizens those other churches will all be gone.</p>
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<p>Christian churches have already done incredible things against me. You do not know the vicious and dirty things they did to slander the Unification Church in Korea and Japan. Plots to kill me and harm my family were made, and some Christians plotted to stop the weddings and our other activities in the early years. Even now, in America as well, some Christians are trying to disrupt our work. Can you find any worse enemy than that?</p>
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<p>How much more should we take? God has been patient with His rebellious children for 6,000 years, however, and therefore I have never lifted even one finger to take revenge for all that has been done against me. All I have done is to pray for them. It is significant that those negative forces have been themselves destroyed, one by one, even though I have never retaliated. We have never lifted up a finger against them but one after another they have destroyed themselves. When we are free ourselves from satanic accusation, we have nothing to fear from outside forces because those forces will eliminate themselves.</p>
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<p>Are you ashamed when people ridicule you on the street? Today’s world may scorn you, but your deeds will be recorded for all of history to read. God and all the spirit world, including all your ancestors, are with us. If the FBI arrested me and put me in jail I wouldn’t even blink. The Bard College incident last month shows how determined some people are to use trivial things to harass me. The whole world learned through the news media that I was arrested, but I only smiled at the whole thing and thought, “You foolish people. That’s not the way you can win over me.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">The person who has not been persecuted has not much to be proud of</h3>
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<p>I have never done one single thing that is shameful to America. If I have committed any crime it is that I raised up young people like you and re-made them into children of God. If that is a sin then I have definitely committed it. Since you are Americans too, you probably agree with all the professors, ministers, parents and everyone else who thinks I am evil. You don’t agree? That is why people say you are crazy! Amazingly enough, that is our pride.</p>
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<p>We have something that people don’t understand: our pride. The person who has not been persecuted has not much to be proud of. I have pioneered a new movement to receive persecution for the sake of good, and as members you also become pioneers. Am I the only one who feels good about doing this, or do you feel good about it also? Does America feel good about it, or Korea?</p>
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<p>Certainly this is for America’s benefit. Few patriots could ever have imagined doing for this nation what I have already done. Then how can America mistreat me? All of you are the true patriots of America, and the American people will some day be grateful enough to treat you kindly. I want to see the day come soon when the American people understand you.</p>
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<p>Because we are asking for donations for this work our fund raisers many times are thrown in jail. You go fund raising not because you are incapable of earning money or of holding a job-many of you could earn tens of thousands of dollars if you held a regular job-but because we chose this route for the sake of the movement. Are you asking for donations so you can get rich? Absolutely not.</p>
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<p>None of the real estate we purchased is for my sake. I will do things for the sake of America and then go back to Korea. All these things will remain here to be used for the sake of the world; I will not take them back with me. This is my pride.</p>
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<p>We bought 500 acres of land in Tarrytown and I announced that eventually we wanted to build an international, God-centered university there. The village of Tarrytown reacted by passing an ordinance against building more educational institutions. They would rather not have their peace disturbed. They are using other subtle ways to try to move the Moonies out of Tarrytown, for example, by deliberately designing a new zoning code for the purpose of keeping the Moonies out. We are actually thankful to them because these things will make American history more interesting, and as a result we have more to be proud of. I have become so controversial that everything I do gets a news article, but I am simply collecting more material for history.</p>
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<h3 align="center">We are going to harvest the blessings of the oceans</h3>
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<p>I have been going out to sea in a boat called New Hope. The public may think I just go yachting for pleasure, but every day I am collecting more material. God has hidden unlimited resources underneath the sea, and the oceans will be the key to future development in the world.</p>
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<p>I know very well that in the course of developing sea industries we may sometimes suffer some sacrifice. Eventually we will have hundreds of fishing boats, and some of them may be lost at sea. Even losing husbands and brothers will not deter our pioneering zeal because that business will be for the sake of humanity.</p>
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<p>We want to become masters of the sea. The ocean surface is twice as big as the surface of the land, and furthermore there are vast resources beneath the sea. Any nation which can overcome the difficulties will conquer the sea. We first teamed to have dominion on the land, and with the same pioneering spirit we can conquer the sea as well.</p>
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<p>Our battle is now being waged on the land, and we must be victorious here, being tested and seasoned by a hurricane of persecution. Then when real storms come at sea we can welcome them. The Pilgrims who came to America were pioneering people; otherwise they would not have crossed the Atlantic Ocean, especially during the stormy months. They realized that an uncertain destiny lay ahead of them, and that they had no guarantee for their lives; few had ever safely arrived in the New World, but they started anyway., They overcame by their hope and faith in God. Now in the 20th century we also are forging ahead, like a boat in a rough ocean, with faith in God. Whatever the persecution and blowing winds, we have faith in God.</p>
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<p>I look at the vast ocean resources as God’s blessing waiting for the Unification Church. I have promised to God, “Give me twenty years’ time and we will conquer the sea, taking dominion over it and returning the glory to You.” That is how I think everytime I go out. Later we will establish a great foundation, and even the Ford or Rockefeller Foundations will look like peanuts in comparison. That is the way we must realistically feel.</p>
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<p>Do you like going out to sea? You may like the sea but you don’t like riding in the boat do you? When the Unification Church women marry sailors and fishermen, America will have hope. American men are refusing to become sailors or fishermen because of women. Sailors are gone at sea sometimes three or six months, and often their wives don’t wait faithfully for them. When the husband comes home there is no wife there! After that he thinks, “No sir, I’m not going out to sea again. I’m watching my wife!”</p>
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<p>Women thus have the potential to destroy the opportunity for developing the blessings of the oceans. I will definitely match the most beautiful sisters with brothers who are sailors. By being loyal and faithful to their husbands they will set a new example. If the most outstanding women are hoping for husbands who are seamen, then all our brothers will want to become sailors! Don’t even think about marrying one of our very outstanding members before you become a seaman.</p>
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<p>One of the captains on my boat, the New Hope, is named Spiro. He is from Greece and he is a very outstanding and good-looking man. I love him very much, and when blessing time came I looked for a most outstanding woman. I recommended one sister who has helped care for Mother as a nurse-midwife. She is slender and beautiful and I never hesitated to suggest her to Spiro. That sister, Leslie, has another kind of blessing from God; as an inheritance from her grandparents she receives a certain amount of money every month. Their home is already guaranteed! Spiro couldn’t ask for any better wife than her! But he only got that blessing because he loves the ocean and above all he is absolutely loyal in his work for the Church.</p>
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<p>All these things are our pride in the Unification Church. The fisherman’s life is a hard, dirty, even crude life and fishermen have to be very rugged. Furthermore, fishermen have always been known as thieves and liars. Why should I have us get into the kind of business which is known as a living hell? I go down to the bottom of hell and by revolutionizing such a place and bringing heaven there then I can hasten the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.</p>
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<p>Col. Pak’s report:</p>
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<p>The other day I read a letter to Father from a captain down in Norfolk, Virginia. His name is Tony and he always told us, “You Moonies are in the wrong business. You will never make it in fishing because it is dirty and full of cheating and corruption.” The fishermen cannot bring their families to see their boats because there is so much swearing and ugliness at the docks. In the last six months, though, the atmosphere in Norfolk is changing; although the work on the docks is really cruel the men have changed and there is no more swearing and drinking going on. Now they love to bring their wives and children to the dock and do so more and more frequently because they want to have their children mingle with Reverend Moon’s members.</p>
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<p>Captain Tony has been fishing since he was 12 years old, for 30 years, and he is a rugged individual who knows the sea. He met Father and shook hands with him when Father first went down there. Our competitors tried to ruin our fishing industry in Norfolk by giving us a bad image, but Tony found that every time he took one of our members out in his boat he got a big catch. He told me about an incident at sea when his boat was sinking because of a sudden large leak. He asked our brother to pray, and for the first time in his entire life he prayed together with someone. The minute their prayer was over a Coast Guard cutter appeared and soon a helicopter came with extra pumps enabling the boat to be salvaged and safely escorted back to the dock. Tony told me, “Without Reverend Moon I would have been dead!”</p>
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<p>Last year brought the most severe winter Tony had experienced in his thirty years of fishing, but he took in more fish than he had ever caught in one season. His catch was the equivalent of ten boat loads. I told him, “Do you know why you got so many fish last winter? Reverend Moon is praying for you. He loves the sea and he deeply meditated about setting up our business in Norfolk. He shook hands with you and he knows your name. That’s why you had such a big year last winter.” Tony asked me, “Would you kindly ask Reverend Moon to keep praying for me?”</p>
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<p>You members are not the only ones witnessing about Father. At sea the captains talk by radio. I met another captain, named Oswald. He is completely impressed by Father and our members working in Norfolk. One day he came back and told one of our members, “I had a big fight today at sea. Some other captain criticized Reverend Moon on the radio and I had such a fight with him on the radio that I didn’t even have much chance to fish. But after the fight was over all of a sudden the scallops started coming and we got a whole boat load!” His family lives in North Carolina, but this summer he is bringing them to Norfolk to meet our people and experience the love our members have. He never thought that such love was possible.</p>
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<p>Most of the time fishermen become dried up emotionally, working like machines almost. But in Norfolk our members sometimes go out to wave as the boats put out to sea. The fishermen want to come back with a big load, not just because of the money, but because they don’t want to disappoint our members there.</p>
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<p>One captain told me that he and his crew have recently been seeing visions. He was awake on deck while going out to sea one night but the crew was asleep. All of a sudden he saw a pure white rainbow arching up from the ocean, something he had never seen in all his years at sea. Usually these things appear to only one person, but when he woke his crew up to look each one could see it! Another night he looked into the water and saw his own image, and suddenly he saw a halo around his head. He just couldn’t believe it! When Captain Tony said, “Tell Reverend Moon to pray for me,” this man said, “Tell him to pray for me too.”</p>
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<p>One time Father said that once a fisherman’s heart is melted, he is a person closest to God. Our members have seen how this is so true. Men like Oswald and Tony are now bringing more boats to do business at our dock. In the last two months they brought four new boats. One time Oswald’s boat had equipment trouble so he could not fish and he radioed back that he had to come in. On the way back he saw another boat with engine trouble; that ship had a tremendous catch of scallops, but it couldn’t move. Oswald volunteered to tow that boat into our dock and they unloaded their catch there. That boat has stayed with us ever since.</p>
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<p>Many other wonderful things are happening in Norfolk. Father picked a man named John Schmittke as our manager. He is just like our family member and calls Reverend Moon “Father.” He told his wife that for the first time in many years he could leave the business at night with the feeling that he doesn’t have to check every inventory, every door and every freezer. Previously there was so much theft by employees that unless he was a watchdog they would steal from him. He told me he knows one man with a fishing business in North Carolina, but that he is only successful because his twelve sons are also in the company and can keep checking everything. But John said he can trust our members.</p>
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<p>There is a freezing company next door, where many people bring merchandise. After our company rented space there the supervisor told the employees, “Don’t let anybody come in except the Unification Church members because they are trustworthy. They can come in and go anywhere they want, but not other people.”</p>
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<p>This morning Father has talked about a revolution among men, particularly in the most dirty and impossible place like the hell in the fishing industry. Tony kept saying that we would never make it because we were so naive, but this time he told me, “I have high hopes that Reverend Moon will revolutionize the entire fishing industry.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">Everything I do is to lay a cornerstone of tradition</h3>
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<p>When I created Tong Il Industry in Korea, our machine shop, there was never a day when I didn’t visit that industry, sometimes even three times. The entire time I was thinking that I was dealing with all the engineers and machine specialists in the spirit world and that our factory was a joint operation with them. In anything we do it is most important that the spirit world recognize and acknowledge that I am far ahead of what anyone else has ever done and that I certainly deserve their support. That recognition from spirit world is most important.</p>
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<p>In order to receive their cooperation I have to do things differently. First of all they must clearly know that I did not create that factory for my own sake but for the sake of the world. In setting up Tong Il, I always felt that I was laying a foundation and cornerstone of tradition for all future industry and for the world. Those concepts will move the hearts of those in spirit world. I love that factory more than anyone in history has ever loved that life, and in building it I was always intensely interested in how to develop everything. Once I touch something in the name of God I must create a powerhouse which will progress to the world level; I must do my best, with total sincerity.</p>
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<p>Always a time will come bringing adverse situations and stormy weather, and there have been many times when the factory was faced with peril and crisis. We lost much money and there were different kinds of setbacks, but each time I spurred myself on to a higher level. It was a tremendous investment for our Church, and at that time the leaders at headquarters did not like what I was doing; we invested much money into Tong Il only to have the money vanish.</p>
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<p>The more the people closest to me thought negatively, the more I gave my heart. I showed my complete determination by giving my whole heart and energy and soul under any circumstances and investing even more money. Today Tong Il is the leader in the Korean machine industry. We have a streamlined factory and have received government recognition for the quality of work done there. It is the time now to establish our industry all over the world.</p>
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<p>I am always conscious of those in spirit world and always in competition with them because I know that they must be in a position to approve my actions. I always felt that unless someone could devote himself with A his heart and soul and mind, more than I did to the Tong Il industry, that no other person would be capable of running that place. Even if government people took it over they could not make it more successful because in the name of God I gave everything to it.</p>
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<p>Sometimes even someone as close as Mother could not understand my motives; I would get home early in the morning from the factory and only wash and then turn around and go out again. At that time Hyo Jin was only a young baby, but even then I always took him on every tap I made, riding back and forth on the bumpy, rugged roads. Even Mother does not know my prayer for him at those times.</p>
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<p>Hyo Jin has a very adventurous character. When he rides a motorcycle he doesn’t do it in an ordinary way but rides on rugged roads and does difficult stunts. Even as a boy, once he was determined to do something he just hung on until it was done. He is just like I was in my younger days. When I was young I came home many times so completely tired out that I almost collapsed at the door. Hyo Jin is doing the same thing now.</p>
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<p>We bought much land at Chung Pyung, a beautiful mountain lakeside area, and some day there will be an international training center for the Unification Church. I went to that place often, sometimes two or three times a day, even though each trip took three or four hours. Once I set my mind on something then no one else can move it aside. I know that no one can touch that land until it is developed for God’s purpose; because I gave all my heart and prayer to that place, no one with a lesser motivation is worthy to claim it. Before we bought Barrytown I went there seventeen times to look around and pray and make a master plan, giving my whole heart to it. I wanted my heart for Barrytown to exceed the vision and dream of the person who originally built it.</p>
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<p>There are many possible businesses to start in this country, but I decided on the fishing industry. Therefore, rest assured that it will be done, because I gave my heart and soul and total energy to it. Now you can understand that I am giving my heart by going out to sea earlier in the morning than anyone else and coming later.</p>
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<p>Yesterday I was training the seminarians in net making and teaching them about different fish. I never went to bed the night before and last night I was also up very late. For the last three days I have had almost no sleep. Knowing the consciousness of spirit world, I want to exceed anyone who gave themselves for the fishing business. There are many in spirit world who set records, and I want to exceed them in giving all of my heart and soul. Once I lay the foundation, the spirit world can begin to totally and overwhelmingly support us.</p>
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<p>There are thousands of people who died at sea under miserable circumstances, and in 1975 1 had a special ceremony and prayer, calling all of them to forgive them, liberate them and send them into a higher spirit world. By my going through the kind of ordeals they experienced at sea, the value and dignity of the sea is elevated and restored. Because all the people who died at sea are now vindicated, the entire world has to help our efforts at sea.</p>
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<p>You cannot expect a result without a cause. The cause may be invisible but the result is physical. Sometimes I come back from the sea and only have one meal, and then without even changing or taking a shower I go out again. What matters is where my thought is.</p>
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<p>All the things that are happening in Norfolk may seem to be miracles, but all of them have a cause in spirit world. People have died in a situation like Tony’s, when his boat was sinking; the Coast Guard pilot doesn’t know why, but something pulled him to that area to pick Tony up. These are the mysterious things that happen wherever we go in the Unification Church. You must motivate the spirit world to help. It is our pride that we can do that.</p>
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<p>So far I have named three things the Unification Church can be proud of. First, we’re proud of the Unification Church; second, we are proud of our tradition; third, we are proud of our people. But our pride must not end there; it must go on. Elevating our pride to the level of the nation, we must have this same pride in America, and furthermore, in the world.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The time will come when the<br />
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public is proud of our establishments as their own</h3>
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<p>Eventually I would like to open all of our major facilities like Belvedere and Barrytown to the public and let the public be proud of our establishments as their own. I am still waiting for an opportune time though, because there are still so many people who intend to destroy our church and would set bombs. All kinds of things could happen. The time will come, however.</p>
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<p>I like the name “New Yorker,” the original name of the World Mission Center. The New Yorker belongs to New Yorkers. I would like that particular building to be known not as a Unification Church building, but as the New Yorker. The Tiffany Building is the News World Building now, but New Yorkers should feel an attachment to it and think of it as their own. The News World is a New York newspaper.</p>
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<p>We must first be proud of all our establishments, like Belvedere and East Garden, as American establishments. We are proud of them for the sake of America and eventually we will be proud of these things for the sake of the world. They do not belong just to the Moonies.</p>
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<p>In order to make Belvedere and East Garden the property of the world, the people who live there should be working day in and day out for the sake of the world. You in New York are working day in and day out for the sake of humanity, and I have the people at Belvedere and East Garden also working for the sake of the world and humanity. In that way they can become a world Belvedere, world East Garden and world New Yorker.</p>
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<p>We must make a Unification Church that belongs to the world, not just to the Moonies. That means we are going to live our lives for the sake of the world. Whether you are of the yellow, white or black race does not make a difference; if you truly give your life for the sake of the world you will say, “This is my church, my house.”</p>
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<p>If you are doing that then the Unification Church has a future, pride and hope. Our way of life may be very humble and our food very coarse, but that spark, that spirit is universal. You are universal men and women who are living to achieve some benefit for mankind.</p>
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<p>Those who lived rich lives before were not the people who were working for the sake of the world. It is far more dramatic and beautiful to God to bring yourself down to the humble way of life, having done nothing but truly give for the sake of the world and humanity. The more you suffer for the highest possible goal and bring yourself down to the lowest position, the greater will be your honor and the greater will be the divine purpose you accomplish. That is the pride of the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>So what do we have? What we have is not for us but for God and for the world. I do not think of Belvedere as my personal private property, or even the Unification Church’s private property. You must not think that way either. It all belongs to God and to humanity. Then you can be proud of it because it is God’s property. If our Unification Church members are living that way of life then we can truly be proud of one another. We are here to restore all the things of creation back to God, and in order to do that we restore money by using it for God.</p>
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<p>It is your pride to be restoring the creation for God and purifying yourself for God. When you feel that pride then a bag of peanuts or a stick of chewing gum comes to have an entirely different kind of value, becoming a priceless piece of God’s property. Every penny you collect goes to the Church to be sanctified for God and then used for the world. We can be proud of that. The more you suffer for this noble purpose, the greater will be your accomplishments. God recognizes you more because you do so many things under the most unusual circumstances.</p>
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<p>You are going out to harvest God’s own things and bring them to Him, where they belong. Then God will say, “Go ahead and spend it for the world.” Even when God wants to spend money He will not spend it by Himself but will ask you, “Do you think it should be spent for this purpose? For America and other countries?” God will ask your permission because you are the one who is actually harvesting it for Him. In that sense everyone is elevating himself to an equal level and participating in God’s decision-making body. Fundraising is a noble deed and through it we can share in God’s decisions.</p>
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<p>We will never perish as long as we go this route. We are the people God is dependent upon and restoration of the economy is an important task in this matter. I am looking forward to seeing who will be the champions among you, who will emerge to do more for the sake of God and His Kingdom. Because God loves the things He created, we too love all these things.</p>
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<p>God also wants to love the people, so we are the ones who love the people enough to bring them back to God. That is the reason for witnessing, and that is why witnessing is more intense than fundraising. After all, men have a greater value in the sight of God than the things of creation. It is not an easy task to pour out your heart and soul to a person and guide him to becoming God-like. Re-creating a man is a difficult task, but that is why it is our pride to do it on a 24-hour basis.</p>
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<h3 align="center">It is your pride to embrace in love the extremes of the world</h3>
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<p>Would it be easier for me to lead the Korean disciples or the Americans? It gives me greater pride to lead Americans because it is a more difficult task: we have a different language, cultural background, and even different faces. Actually the most difficult part is that the Western thinking process is completely different; compared to the age-old courtesies of the Orient, American customs are almost primitive.</p>
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<p>I must lift you up step by step, re-shaping you in both external and internal things. For one thing, you are sitting on the floor. It is impossible for Americans to think of sitting for long hours in a cramped room like this, but now you are ready to go anywhere with no problem. Many times American leaders come for a conference and sit with their legs sticking out in front of them toward me. In the Orient that practice is unheard of; even 2-year-old boys and girls would laugh, “That’s amazing, how can they do that?” However, it becomes your pride to start out that far down and then come up high. Then God will be proud of you as His own objects.</p>
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<p>You too, are proud of your loved ones, but you must try not to love only familiar, similar things. You must love from extreme to extreme. It is far more dramatic to see a black and a white or an Oriental and a Westerner as a couple living happily together. Americans generally don’t think that way but God thinks differently. Do you want to embrace such extremes? Because I pay more attention to an international marriage, that becomes the tradition of the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>Generally, international couples experience scorn from the world for being different, like a minority group, but the Unification Church will be the champion for international couples. Eventually I will fully establish this new tradition, and as people see God blessing those international marriages there will be more and more of them throughout the world. Through these marriages the national boundaries and racial differences will automatically be broken, and some day international marriages will be in the majority.</p>
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<p>The world basically thinks of America as a white people’s country. When a black American wins a gold medal at the Olympic games, and the national anthem is played as he receives his medal, many people react by thinking, “He doesn’t belong to America; he’s not American.” America has failed to give an impression of racial unity yet. It still conveys the sense of white people being supreme. Will that be the case when there is a Unification Church nation? Would you white members identify with one of our black brothers who won a gold medal? This kind of ideology must become this country’s ideology and the world’s ideology.</p>
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<p>When this very tall brother Gerhard goes with me as a guard, many people look at him and they wonder, “Could that German really be loyal to that Oriental man?” Whenever I travel in the Lincoln limousine, Americans automatically think that some dignitary is arriving, like the President or some official. First they look at the driver and when they see our good-looking brother they assume that there must be an even more good-looking man sitting behind him. When they look in the back seat and see me their expression completely changes. First they are smiling ear-to-ear and then suddenly they look shocked. After they recover from the initial shock they think I must be a foreign minister or ambassador from another country. I don’t like to travel in that car too much.</p>
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<p>Many times people are very sarcastic and ask the driver, “You are one of us. Why do you drive that man?” That kind of thinking shows that Americans are not really ready to embrace the rest of the world. Without some re-education America cannot become a world leader in the truest sense.</p>
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<p>We in the Unification Church are proud of our tradition, proud of our love of unity, our love for the world and our love for one another. I feel that the highest possible heaven will be reserved for the couples who demonstrate their pride in embracing the extremes of interracial marriage.</p>
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<p>We are truly transcending the national and racial barriers and God is proud of this organization. Simply because God is with us this organization cannot be destroyed. That is our pride. We are the only group which can gather people for mass weddings. Many nationalities are gathered together and joyfully participate in those weddings, with husbands and wives giving their common pledge to God.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Your greatest legacy win be your tradition</h3>
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<p>If someone were to list my contributions to America then one of them must be that I am the first one ever to come from Asia and introduce the depths of the Oriental spirit in terms of God, making possible the unity between East and West. I am the first to lay the foundation of this unity between East and West; it is not by knowledge or by anything else but love. This is a new tradition that America has never had. It can be seen in your willing desire to marry someone of another race, and together to serve God and humanity. Nobody forces you, but you want to be an example of a truly happy family embracing two extremes. A great deal of effort is needed to harmonize one extreme with another, and that is why it becomes our added pride to do it.</p>
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<p>A pious son is the one who overcomes the utmost difficulty for the benefit of his parents. It is a rare thing to see in America now, but loyal subjects or patriots are those who gave themselves totally, under utmost difficulty, for the benefit of their king or nation. The greatest of all saints are the sons and daughters of God who will strive under incredible difficulties to achieve the purpose of God. Indeed Jesus Christ did that.</p>
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<p>We have much to be proud of in the Unification Church. The very things that we are proud of are the very things that all mankind and also God Himself wants to be proud of. On behalf of mankind and God we are fund raising, witnessing and building revolutionary marriages. You can be proud of that in itself.</p>
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<p>Which kind of person will you be when you go to the spirit world? One person will proudly say, “God, look at how great I am and how greatly I lived, gathering knowledge and honors.” God will kick such a person out of heaven. The other person will say, “God, I am sorry. I have not much to be proud of. I didn’t bring many accomplishments, but at least I can assure you that every moment of the day I thought about You and mankind and did my best to serve. Everything I earned I wanted to spend for the sake of humanity and I wanted to guide the people I met to understand You. My effort is there.” God will say, “You are my child and you shall be with me for eternity.”</p>
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<p>If you live that way of life here on earth then you don’t have to go anywhere to see heaven; you will make this place heaven. Such a person is already living in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. You all must be proud that you are doing that. I am concentrating my entire life to accomplish certain goals; in the same way, when you concentrate all of yourself on your mission for the very purpose of God and humanity then you are becoming a man of heaven.</p>
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<p>That tradition will be the truest asset we can leave behind; money, knowledge, honor, even your own children–those are not your greatest legacy. We are launching an extraordinary once-in-history crusade, which is our greatest pride. Our pride is universal.</p>
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<p>What we are doing is far greater than what the President of the United States can pursue, and greater than anything the greatest American ever thought. Even without being perfect, we can at least be sure that this is the way to become a son of God or a daughter of God. And that is the noblest of all titles you could receive. You can be heirs of God and receive His entire inheritance and bequeath his Kingdom to posterity. That is the position you are occupying today.</p>
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<h3 align="center">It is your pride to persevere so mankind can be saved</h3>
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<p>So far you probably never thought of your tradition in that way and didn’t have that pride. Usually you think mostly about physical inconvenience, about how you get up early and work hard and whether you are hungry. When people ask, “What church do you belong to?” your answer just does not come out proudly. V,/hen people yell at you and give you a hard time you usually want to shy away from them and feel miserably defeated. You probably cry sometimes and blame me, “How come Reverend Moon brought me into this misery?”</p>
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<p>All my life I have thought about this, far more than you can imagine. My first reaction is not to stand for persecution but to crush it in an instant. My temper is so hot that I cannot stand such injustice, but I always think about how people have spit at God so many millions of times and how God endured it. By His enduring, God is giving people a chance to be revived, and in the same way your endurance will enable you to turn men and women from the satanic side to God’s side. It is your pride when you can exercise that kind of power.</p>
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<p>You have nothing to be ashamed of, even if you are begging for food. It is the person who would shame you who is the one that is shamed. Sometimes go deliberately into a situation and by your presence stir people up and let them give you a hard time. Though others around you may ride in the best car available and you may walk, inside yourself you must maintain the pride to think, “I am more precious in His sight than all those people and positions put together.” When you feel this way then you will never be alone and even the birds and animals can comfort you. Sometimes people just passing by will suddenly stop and offer you assistance, and other amazing things will begin to happen around you.</p>
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<p>Do you feel ashamed when you go out fund raising? Did you have this kind of logical understanding before, or somehow you just blindly gathered the courage to overcome your fear? Now you have both the courage and the reason to be proud. Those who accuse you and beat you are the people who will be shamed, while those who assist you are the people who will be elevated. You are helping to bring them blessing so they and their forefathers can some day share in heaven.</p>
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<p>When people spurn you, you can think, “All right, while you are sleeping I will work and because of me you shall be liberated. I am a mediator, and even though you misunderstand me today, I will pray for you and work harder to prove to you how truthful we are. Some day you will know.”</p>
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<p>When I was younger I could keep an intense schedule and go many nights without sleep. But now my body bothers me and has certain limits. Sometimes my legs suddenly get weak, but I curse them, “We have no time to be weak! We have still farther to go!” Mother sometimes thinks that I am made of iron, that God built my body in such a way that I do not feel fatigue. Her nickname for me is “The Brass General.”</p>
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<p>Mother takes a little longer to get ready than 1, and many times I have to wait for her. While waiting, many frustrations are going through my mind. Then when she appears she mentions something to slow us down more. But I calm my frustration, thinking, “Yes, in the name of God I have the power to endure this also. What else?”</p>
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<p>I know that the time will come when Mother will completely appreciate what I am, and at the same time I know that she will absolutely follow me. I know that without understanding the whole situation someone may unintentionally do the wrong thing. When you understand then you do the right thing because if you don’t then your conscience hurts. Nothing is driving me except my conscience. Unless I live up to my own conscience I feel guilt-ridden and unhappy.</p>
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<p>When I look in a mirror I see that I am no longer young. No one is happy to see himself aging, but amazingly enough you Unification Church members seem to take great delight at seeing this aging face. It is God who inspires you that way. You do not deliberately try to feel that way, but somehow God made you want to look at me and feel fondness for me. God can say the same thing about me, that I want to look at Him all the time and love Him. In order to be my God He had to first capture my heart, which is why He inspires you to feel close to me.</p>
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<p>In addition, God knows clearly that for me to fulfill the mission He gave to me that He must create some spiritual tie between us. That is why you are drawn to me without any conscious effort. Those who have my picture, raise your hands. Who told you to have such pictures? You robbers! Really, it is God who made you want a picture of me. Even married people have pictures of Mother and me instead of their own families. Did I ever enforce a regulation like that? That very love between us is what you can be proud of.</p>
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<p>God is a living God, so I am never alone or lonely. My relationship with God is a living witness to you; I feel the presence of God every day and if you live as I have lived then when you become old you too will be respected and will be loved by the people. I can assure you that in heaven you will be given absolute respect and admiration and love.</p>
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<h3 align="center">The tomb I will leave behind</h3>
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<p>When you pass by a cemetery you never see many people there visiting. Perhaps once a year one of the family might remember and put flowers on a grave, but that is probably all. I have thought about what will happen when I die. I think about whether only my wife and children will visit my grave or whether there will be line after line of people coming to pay respect.</p>
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<p>When you become a universal man of God then your impact and presence is not just with your family but is universal. Every day at your tomb there will be a new spiritual element present. Because you planted a universal tradition, every person who goes there will receive something different; one person who is despondent will be comforted, and people facing tremendous difficulty will come just to be inspired, remembering that in your life you had courage to overcome incredible hardship.</p>
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<p>The tomb of such a universal person can give all kinds of answers and comfort to people in despair and difficulty or in happiness and excitement. I have thought about whether I can leave that kind of tomb behind to this world. In order to leave that presence behind I must live that kind of life. When there is despair I must be a person to inspire, and when there are setbacks I must become a person to courageously advance.</p>
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<p>I have not lived that kind of life for myself but for the purpose of God and humanity. I have set that tradition yet that is not my footprint but God’s footprint. That living teaching will remain as long as God remains. After my death I want to witness, even at my grave. Tens of thousands of years in the future I will still be alive and witnessing.</p>
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<p>I decided that I do not want to have everything fulfilled in my own lifetime, but to have the ultimate fulfillment come in the future so that even after my death I can continue to witness. I am already preparing for that. The living God is our God, and until His goal is fulfilled this deep desire and anxiety will not be treated idly. It shall be reaped and fulfilled and God will definitely deliver His promise. Until then the Unification Church and I will continue and prosper. If this is a true church then we must embrace the will of God as our own.</p>
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<p>It is certainly your infinite pride to have Reverend Moon as your teacher. In turn I want to be proud of you who want to succeed my tradition and way of life. Having such people in my own lifetime in this room is my pride. You know what is the pride of the Unification Church and your own pride, what is God’s pride and what is my pride. What will you do now that you know? Do not give any excuses or complain. The only words you can speak are, “We will go and we will do it.”</p>
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<p>There is not much time. Even when people attack you there is no time to spend in arguing with them because you are too busy. No matter what persecution comes there is too much to do to spend time defending yourself. There is no time to fool around with these people. With that kind of attitude I have already established missions in 120 countries. No saint in history has ever done this.</p>
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<p>I will risk everything for the things we are proud of in the Unification Church. Are you already doing that or are you going to do it? Up to now you may not have been that way, but now you can become that kind of person. You may remember the shameful deeds you have done here and there and have many things you want to hide, but are you now going to be a different person? Without having done your utmost you can’t even talk about whether you deserve recognition from God or the True Parents.</p>
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<p>You must get down to work and achieve results. You do not even have to ask me to come help or ask God to help; when you become an indispensable person in the sight of God then He cannot afford to not help you. I do not think about how much I have already done and how I do not need to make any further effort. I am not dwelling on the past or even on the present; I am looking at the future and seeing how much work there is to do.</p>
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<p>You must eliminate the idea that I am a different person than you are, born for a different mission. Do not think that. You must feel that you can be just like me and even outdo me because you have so many other advantages. You are younger and Americans will accept you as being one of them. I want you to have that kind of conviction. I want to see members who think, “All right, Father and I are in competition. Father is older than I am so he will get tired first but I will keep going. Father, I will outlast you.”</p>
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<p>You should think, “I am young and I have a grand future. I will take the entire world as my ministry. What Reverend Moon did here in America I am going to do all over the world.” I have said that our next target is Moscow, which means Must Go. Do you really have the feeling, “I must go”?</p>
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<p>Even if I get hit by a communist bullet I do not want to be hit in my arm or leg but right in my chest or head. Then when I go to God I can say, “God, I have something to show. I never dodged the bullets.” If a bullet hits you somewhere else and you die, then when you go before God you could say, “God, I wanted to be hit right here, but they mis-aimed. Father, let me go down to earth once again and be hit again the way I want.” Almighty God will let you go again.</p>
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<p>Are you really young men and women of courage and commitment? I am not the only one watching you; God is looking down and the communists are watching too. Can you pledge to be like I have been and even outdo me? Those who can pledge that, raise your hands. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1194" class="post-1194 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/god-depends-on-us-alone.html" title="Permalink to GOD DEPENDS ON US ALONE" rel="bookmark">GOD DEPENDS ON US ALONE</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:11:15+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/god-depends-on-us-alone.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:11:15+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">June 1, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – David Kim</h3>
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<p>All of you know this is an historical day; many of you actually participated in our experience of one year ago today. In order to restore this world and humankind we must center on God’s will. God cannot accomplish His will by Himself alone, but must work with man. If man had not fallen, the will of God would have been absolutely completed at the beginning. Man and woman would have reached perfection and the fulfillment of God’s love would have been accomplished centering upon them. United in love, families of perfect husbands and wives, perfect parents and children would have spread to fill the universe. God’s original ideal is to become one with man and one with all things. This gigantic scheme of oneness would have been accomplished had there been no fall.</p>
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<p>Not only would God’s will have been accomplished on earth, it would have been consummated in spirit world as well. The consummate form of heaven and earth will be seen when an absolute unity between the two is accomplished. If this had been realized from the beginning then there would have been no earthly hell, and after life on earth people would have gone automatically to heaven in the spirit world.</p>
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<p>The culture created by perfected Adam and Eve would also automatically have become God’s culture and civilization, in spirit world as well as on earth. All mankind would have been offspring of the heavenly bloodline and all things would have been under God’s direct control and dominion. Under those circumstances God could have lived on earth among men. With His ideal of creation fulfilled God would dwell within each person as well as in the external culture and civilization created by Him through man. This is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, both internal and external, which God had originally planned. However, our world has expanded in a way utterly contrary to God’s ideal, and we feel grief at the chaos and tragedy that has resulted from the fall of man.</p>
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<p>Looking at this world we see many different cultures and a great diversity of living styles. Instead of one nation or family of mankind there are many nations which live in a state of separation and conflict. One world under God is the ideal, but this small planet is divided up by boundaries, which prevent people from traveling freely from one place to another.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Religious people have misunderstood the purpose of religion</h3>
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<p>This world is entirely contradictory to God’s will, and thus He is looking for someone to realize His ideal for mankind. He has been establishing religions in order to solve this problem of division. Indeed, the purpose of religion has been to guide all men toward that one final goal of the fulfillment of His will. However, the original founders of the various religions did not generally understand that their religions were not for the service of their nationalities or races but for God’s broader purpose.</p>
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<p>The life of faith of any great religion must transcend the individual and the nation and reach out to all mankind. No true religion is confined to one small state. Until now most researchers of religion have confined their study to the boundaries of a single theology, never considering the wider purpose which embraces all religions. Many religious people have only considered their own salvation and limited their thinking to one doctrine; they never thought about the salvation of the world and all of mankind.</p>
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<p>Because of the situation of the fallen world, God must pursue the course of restoration both externally through culture and internally through the religious aspect of man’s life. But always God is striving to establish the unity necessary to fulfill His will. At this time people are talking about actualizing one world of peace and order, yet at the same time many religious leaders all over the world are sheltering themselves in their own religions. This is entirely contradictory to God’s will; the continuation of many separate religions is not helping to fulfill His providence. God cannot easily work through the kind of religion which strictly centers on only its own doctrine. God’s desire is that religion go beyond that level and strive to eradicate evil throughout the earth.</p>
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<p>In the past, superior cultures have dominated and absorbed lesser cultures and in the same way superior religions have absorbed lesser religions. From now on this process of assimilation will not happen by force or violence but naturally as mankind matures spiritually. Since God is going to save mankind through religion, a religion must appear which will stimulate this maturity and assimilation and which can save all mankind. That religion must be able to embrace and direct not only one nation but the entire world; a heavenly ideology must be given by God which can connect the entire world to God.</p>
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<p>The role of God’s new religion is not to combat other religions but to be compatible with the truth in them all and thus link them all together, uniting them into one. This religion will not only influence the nation of its origin but will embrace all nations and cultures, having the power to unite not only the people from one homogenous culture but those from all cultures. This is the kind of religion God is ultimately seeking to establish.</p>
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<p>Jesus came 2,000 years ago to bring one religion which could unite all peoples with God; however, Christianity today has more than 400 denominations. If Christians had the spiritual power to uphold the idea of one world then there would not be 400 denominations at this time. Not only would Christianity have succeeded in bringing unity in the world at large, it would have united man’s internal and external worlds as well. Instead, Christians have expended much of their energy on petty denominationalism.</p>
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<p>What is God’s desire for religion? He would closely follow the religion which could embrace everything. Suppose Jesus Christ were to come on the clouds right now; what would he see when he came? Instead of having one body of Christianity on earth he would be faced with 400 denominations. Each group would be insisting that they alone had the one true faith and that everyone else was heretical. If Jesus Christ were to come right now he would have nothing to say to God, nothing to offer Him except confusion and division on earth. He could not pray to God, “My disciples have worked hard for 2,000 years but now I have 400 denominations. Will You please accept the fruit of their work regardless?” If Jesus were to come right now, could he admire and praise all these denominations and their attitudes towards each other?</p>
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<p>The fact that religious people are so divided demonstrates that they are not living the true faith; God cannot accept such division. He will embrace those who insist that all people must be united into one through God and Christ. We have been preaching that viewpoint and other religions recently are moving in that direction also.</p>
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<p>Even though you have nothing, you are convinced you can save the world</p>
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<p>As a new religion, we cannot save the world if we remain at the level of one nationality or race. To save the world we must transcend all past racial boundaries; Koreans alone cannot save the whole world nor can Japanese, Americans or Europeans. There is one God and one Christ and our motto is that mankind must be united into one. This is the natural course of history.</p>
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<p>God has long been planning to have one movement for unification centering upon the True Parents. Your mission is to unite the world. You have wonderful ideals, but there is a long way to go to accomplish this most complex mission.</p>
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<p>You speak English, but is that the language originally spoken by Adam and Eve? In what language did they converse with God? We don’t know what that language was, but their descendants should speak and live with one religion and culture and have one mind and one heart. This is the destiny of all mankind.</p>
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<p>I have visited many nations and find that they are all proud of their past. In their museums and archives they have preserved the artifacts of their history, items they consider wonderful and valuable. From God’s point of view those things are worthless. Those items in national museums represent the exploitation and suffering of many people. It cannot be said that they represent affection and service to the world. Basically no nation has that to be proud of.</p>
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<p>How would God feel when citizens feel proud of their royalty in all their splendor? America is a little closer to God’s heart in comparison with the European countries which are so attached to their past; Americans are still developing a sense of their heritage, trying to find something valuable about their nation to take pride in.</p>
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<p>In the Unification Church we do not even have museums, and compared to these nations we don’t have many historic artifacts. Even in your room you may have just enough space to lie down and get up. You are just like gypsies; even a snail has its tiny shell as a house, but you don’t even have a shell. In the worst circumstances your natural parents disown you for calling me Father. Sometimes they may kidnap you after getting a conservatorship and then try to deprogram you. Some of you have gone through this kind of strange experience. If you did research in a library you would find nothing to parallel the parents’ kidnapping of their own children, especially in this nation.</p>
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<p>What is causing all this? You Moonies must be very radical people and have some mysterious power to warrant being so persecuted. God certainly has to be sympathetic and pay attention to you. You are gathering here because your ideal is to save the whole world. Even though you look like a snail your thinking is, “I am going to save mankind and the whole world.” Do you really believe you can do it? Even though you have no car and few possessions, your whole aspiration is to save the world and all mankind. The world may not envy your diet and you labor at jobs which ordinary people would shun-no one else in this world wants to witness, fund raise or sell newspapers every day-but you are still doing it.</p>
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<p>In some peoples’ opinion you are crazy to sell the News World every day and go out fund raising and witnessing, all with the fervent belief that you are going to save the world. Even though some of you are over 30 you are still not worrying about getting married, but thinking constantly instead about saving the whole world. I am responsible for you crazy people. The same thing applies to me because I am always thinking in the same way. All my life I have been persecuted and harassed by my opponents. Maybe the opponents who follow us on earth will follow us all the way up to heaven! I only ignore much of what they do because I have no time to fight back. I am too busy doing my work. I am not here in this world to fight; instead I must go steadily toward the fulfillment of God’s will. Is it very hard to follow in my footsteps?</p>
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<p>Yesterday Mr. Kamiyama came to make plans for the anniversary celebration today. He expected me to decide that we should have this meeting at the New Yorker Hotel, but my feeling was that even though you may not sell as many newspapers, there is greater spiritual significance to your being here. Sometimes you feel that it would be much easier for me to meet you in New York than to have all of you come up here, right? By your laughing you are confessing what you are really thinking. Because of that feeling I must call you here.</p>
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<p>If I met you in New York you would stay in bed until 10 minutes before I arrived. There would be many spiritual hindrances in that case, so instead I am sacrificing your work by having you travel up here. From the spiritual point of view, which one of us should God accommodate? It would be very awkward spiritually if I were to get up first and travel for an hour while you remained in bed. God would not let me speak under those circumstances because you would not be ready to receive my message. If that attitude were to become a habit then a dangerous situation would develop. Can you understand this? It is wonderful for you to discipline yourselves to be here by 5:30. It brings you greater benefit than you realize. More effort always brings more result. That is spiritual law, and that is why I had you be here by 5:30 instead of 6 a.m.</p>
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<p>Do you think becoming a Moonie is a wonderful thing or a tragedy? Should you have more money in order to be happy? You have no money, but you do have ten fingers and two hands. Do you feel happy? We own nothing. Many of our critics say that I own mansions, but everything is owned by the Church. Mother and I own nothing and I am suffering because I don’t have enough money to fulfill God’s will. You are in the position to share with this suffering; I have a universal job to do but not enough money. Instead of my giving you money, you bring money through fund raising to be used for God’s purpose.</p>
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<p>Where has all the money gone? All the money you earned is used to bring tangible results for the restoration of the world. It will never be misused. I have more headaches because I want to match money you earn to the accomplishment of bigger things. You are not working to support me but for the world and for mankind. My livelihood does not depend upon what you earn. This must be clear. How do you feel when many people criticize you for being a Moonie?</p>
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<h3 align="center">Moonies and Sunnies</h3>
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<p>In Korean the sound “moonie” means dialogue or discussion between a superior and subordinate, as distinct from a conversation between equals. This is similar in meaning to a discussion between man and God, subject and object. A second meaning of the sound “moonie” is that of a fabric, like silk, but not just of one color, which would be dull. Fabric with some beautiful design and many colors is more meaningful and this we call “moonie.” All of this means two things. We are influencing the world the same way beautiful embroidery enhances clothing. We are consulting with Heavenly Father in order to enhance this fallen world with heavenly beauty.</p>
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<p>In another sense the significance of this is that people who need guidance will come to consult with you. You are then in the position of superior. Secondly, when the world is seeking to advance, people will have to come to receive the kind of inspiration that beautiful embroidery gives to silk cloth. You are called “Moonies” now, but very soon you will be “Sunnies.” When you are promoted to become Sunnies all the rest of the world will be called Moonies. Then Moonies will hold the subordinate position and Sunnies will be in the position of superior. As they consult back and forth they will unite and the world will become one.</p>
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<p>The nickname “Moonie” is excellent and dispensational. You are born as a Moonie but you die as a Sunnie; when your earthly life is over you Moonies on earth will go to heaven and occupy God’s throne and become Sunnies. My topic this morning is, “God Depends on Us Alone.” God’s hope and expectation is to see His ideal manifested on earth and in spirit world, having Moonies on earth and Sunnies in heaven. God is anticipating this kind of unity.</p>
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<p>In the Orient a person is described as moon-like or sun-like. A woman wants to be moon-like while a man is sun-like. Why? The moon is always changing but the sun never changes. Which one do you want to be? There are no others like Sunnies and Moonies on the earth. We have no boundaries or racial discrimination here in our Unification Church. God is colorblind and He recognizes no regional boundaries. If we become His real children then we cannot have those concepts either.</p>
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<p>Suppose later you were to become the president of one nation. When the time comes to eliminate the barriers of national boundaries you would lose your position as head of a nation and become a common subject instead. Are you ready to do that? You may say yes because you have not yet even become a president. The problem is that people usually do not like to resign from or yield power once they have it. In the Unification Church you are asked to totally dedicate your time and your substance, but some members are reluctant to completely let go. How are you going to resign your presidency if you have this kind of nature? Could you overcome your human nature? This is something to dank seriously about. Unless you are ready to give up all you have and dedicate all your spiritual and physical power, you are not qualified to be an eternal citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Why can’t God trust you?</h3>
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<p>Individually you have to think about whether God can depend upon you. Some of you are dozing off now and during the week you complain in your hearts about fund raising and hard work and about not having been blessed yet. Can you really say you have given everything to God? As an individual do you have confidence that God can depend upon you? Even though you say yes, I must disagree. God must look into each of your hearts and decide whether He can depend on you and in each situation whether you can bring some success or advancement. Please raise your hand if you truly have confidence that God can depend upon you.</p>
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<p>Why can’t God trust you? Here is the reason. God trusted Adam and Eve, the first human beings, but. they failed Him. God’s experience with man through the ages has been sad and bitter. How can He trust you now? Has the history of restoration been a failure or success when God trusted individual after individual? After so many bad experiences in His past, how can God trust you? Please think seriously about this. Are you really united? God found He could not even depend on Adam and Eve, who were born without original sin.</p>
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<p>God may trust your thinking and your ideals but not depend on your actions. It is very easy to talk about big things like restoration of the world and of perfected mankind, but the actual practice from day to day is very tough. God trusts that you are thinking of noble goals, but where did those big ideas originate?-from within you or from the True Parents? These are not even your ideas. To make these concepts a part of your life is a different matter altogether.</p>
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<p>Your word and deed must become one. Only when you can actualize your concept in deeds will God be able to depend on you. Have you reached that stage? In order to accomplish individual restoration you have to pay indemnity as an individual. You don’t even know how to pay indemnity for yourselves, yet you have to restore the family, tribe, nation and world. You cannot really even conceive of the task that lies before you.</p>
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<p>In your ignorance of this matter the best way for you to advance is to be grafted to the True Parents; you cannot do it by yourself. When you are grafted you will be connected to the root of God’s lineage. Do you really feel a need to have True Parents? Who knows, I may be an impostor; how do you know whether I am genuine? Have you ever grabbed God in your prayer and demanded to know the truth? Did you ever in your life desperately ask this question?</p>
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<p>On what basis can God depend upon us? This question has come down through history to us. God has been thinking about this for a long time, and the past saints and sages and Jesus Christ himself have always pondered this. The main question is how to translate this concept into action. The saints and sages of the past have been unable to completely resolve dais.</p>
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<p>To be totally trusted by God you must learn to have subjectivity over all things, overcoming all hindrances and opposition. The individual conviction to overcome all difficulties in fulfilling God’s will must be engraved in your heart and at the same time our entire church must be united in this determination. One person alone is not enough. Even God’s conviction alone is not enough. Each one of you and our whole organization must go forward in this conviction. God cannot trust you people because He has had such bitter experiences for 6,000 years. But if all of you make a joint effort by centering on the True Parents then God may dare to have hope.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Your response to difficulty is the problem, not opposition</h3>
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<p>God may admire you for believing in me and for the ideals you have learned from me, but the problem is how to put those ideas into action, regardless of the world’s opposition and hindrance. He will wait for that time to come because until then He cannot trust you. The problem is not the opposition of the world but your deeds in responding to it. You must gain a deep sense of confidence and be able to act on this confidence even while you meet opposition and persecution. Your spiritual power comes from being one with Heavenly Father. That means unity as a living reality, not just as a concept. Who would follow me if I were just a man of words and concepts? But I have another side; you follow me because I am a man of action and iron will. To most Americans I am not so important or distinguished. I am not just an ordinary person, however, but a man of action and I accomplish whatever I say I will do.</p>
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<p>The Yankee Stadium campaign and victory of one year ago is very vivid in my memory. One year ago Heavenly Father carne down from His throne to Yankee Stadium. Do you think God really depended on us at that time or not? Amidst the crisis of the storm many members and also observers were thinking, “If there is God and if He loves Reverend Moon, then why is such a violent storm happening at this hour?” At the moment when the storm began a huge poster with my picture fell to the ground in my waiting room. Right afterward Mr. Kamiyama came racing to my room and cried, “What can we do?” I thought at that time how important it is to remain calm and stable when we meet this kind of crisis. When there is confusion all around, you must humble yourself and calmly meditate. The war is far from over; we must not relax until the end.</p>
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<p>If any mistakes occur then the Unification Church must assimilate the outcome. If heavenly conditions are not met then we must receive the chastisement of heaven. We must do our best by all means, but we must also be ready to carry full responsibility in the event of failure. I was always thinking about the aftermath of Yankee Stadium. If God chastised us for the outcome then we would accept it; if the outcome passed God’s test then we would receive greater blessing.</p>
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<p>One year ago my total energy and thought and power were concentrated on the Yankee Stadium crusade. At that time I knew that my enemies had even hired assassins to kill or harm me, but the rainfall thwarted their plans. From the normal common-sense point of view the rally should have been canceled due to the storm; only Moonies would continue under such adverse conditions.</p>
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<p>You must remember and evaluate that scene during the storm. It is because you overcame and performed even under difficult circumstances that a more excellent result was established. Because of that zeal and power we were able to make Washington Monument a success in only 3½ months. I originally planned to have the Washington Monument Rally in 1977, but we had that history-making event early. From the dispensational point of view the Washington Monument Rally established the cornerstone of my work on earth.</p>
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<p>You Moonies have become controversial because you are taking action, not just thinking and talking. Everywhere you go your action is of a different dimension than that of the rest of the world. You are really trying to save the whole world.</p>
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<p>Suppose I were to get depressed and drop this work. Those of you who would really keep going, raise your hands. How can I depend on you? It is very easy to raise your hand. Are we talking about taking serious action 10 years from now, 5 years or one month from now, today, or what? Your volunteering means you will go out to the whole world, even at the risk of your lives. Because I have this determination I will even come down from spirit world after my death to continue my work on earth.</p>
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<p>When Mother and I landed in America in 1972, I made a covenant with God, saying, “In three years I shall do these things. You called me to come to America and now I am here. Everything I will do will be to save this nation and all mankind.” I have done everything I promised God at that time. You must make the same vow for the coming three years.</p>
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<p>One of my responsibilities was to become known and to spread God’s word to every household. Whether I am liked or disliked does not matter; my name should be known throughout the United States and the world. Even people who may not know about the Unification Church have heard of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon by now. I have been able to do this in a short period of time. I am not handsome to look at but I am different because I am a man of iron will, a man of action.</p>
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<p>You must be people of action; you can do more than I if you live this concept. It @ not ordinary thinking. America is a super-power in the world and a leader of the free nations. I came here to shake this gigantic nation in order to save it and the world. Few others have come to this country with such determination.</p>
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<p>Simply because I am becoming known here in the United States, people from all walks of life-scientists, politicians, religious leaders-are taking action against me. However, I am resilient like rubber, bouncing back again and again. By the time the attackers get tired I will still be strong and even more powerful than they. I will definitely be victorious over them. God will then come to me, saying, “I will lift you up now.” Recently the news media seems tired of attacking me, so I will revitalize their interest through the News World.</p>
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<p>What is the victorious element in all this? The more they attack the more I will overcome, using that power for a positive purpose. Even while we are attacked we automatically bounce back, gaining the victory even in the midst of what looks like defeat. The more we are attacked the more victories we gain. To ordinary eyes it looks like the Unification Church is declining, but inside we are increasingly strengthened.</p>
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<p>Who do you think is behind me through all of dais? I depend on God, and because of my complete conviction and dedicated action, God must back me up. Even though God supports me, however, I do not depend solely upon Him. If parents can depend upon their sons and daughters then they can be proud of their family. The same thing applies to me. I not only depend on God but upon my children.</p>
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<p>The whole world situation is tragically pessimistic. God must certainly be comforted when someone reassures Him, saying, “Heavenly Father, don’t be discouraged. I am here and I am going to correct this situation. Let me finish the job You are doing on earth.” Then God will delegate His authority and say, “Yes, you do it.” I have approached God this way, and after His endless defeats and failures He is now beginning to have hope for the future. God must certainly be proud to see what I have done in this country in a short period of time, stirring up this nation in His name. God can depend on me now.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Your responsibility is to take the initiative</h3>
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<p>Today’s theme is, “God Depends On Us Alone.” You are in that position. If you only follow after me and depend on me for instruction then you have not done your own work. You have to take the initiative. Before I give instructions about what to do you can anticipate what needs to be done and put your ideas into action. Your victories and accomplishments will inspire God to begin to trust and depend on you always.</p>
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<p>If you can inherit the attitude I had in coming to this country then you will accomplish even more. You can put the same strategy into action, determining, “I am going to save this nation and the world and mankind.” As you substantially move in that direction then God will say, “I depend upon you.”</p>
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<p>I have proclaimed to the world, “We must go to Moscow.” You know that I am thinking along this line so you can go ahead of me and have everything prepared, ready to march forward to Satan’s city of Moscow. You must think that way. In case I cannot go to Moscow you individuals must go. You must be responsible for all the different problems arising in this world and nation. God will depend upon the individual who can put this into practice; that person will become the leader of this movement.</p>
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<p>Making a pledge in words is very easy, but from now on when you look in your mirror ask yourself, “Am I qualified to be trusted by God?” Even Peter, the disciple who three times pledged his faithfulness to Jesus, later betrayed Jesus three times. Can you sisters feel this way? Is there a limit to the difficulties you will overcome? Always you must think about whether you are dedicated enough to risk your life for this cause; then you are ready. Gamblers risk money, but you have to be ready to risk your lives to fulfill God’s will.</p>
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<p>Some of you become a little gloomy when I ask serious questions like this. Have you ever risked your life when you were fund raising? When witnessing? In the midst of your fund raising or witnessing you might feel miserable even though you started out thinking, “I will save the whole nation, the whole world.” Then you have to connect with God, who sees how tragically this world contrasts with His ideal of creation.</p>
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<p>The lesson you have to learn is how to be constantly sensitive to God’s own feeling of misery. Think of God’s situation; when you are feeling miserable do you ever realize that God feels the same way? If you feel that same deep passion then God will be with you, and even though you may earn only a small amount of money it is of infinite value because it is connected to the heavenly heart.</p>
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<p>Your inheritance of the heavenly heart in witnessing and fund raising is an invaluable spiritual asset. In that way you have to re-determine that even though your offering is small, you will go beyond it; it is meaningful because it is connected to the salvation of mankind. This must be your concept.</p>
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<p>This is the aspect which God values most in your fund raising and witnessing. Before God we are only a small number of people, but even with a small number of people He is trying to fulfill His ideal on earth. There is still hope for the future, but only if that small number on earth can truly represent God’s ideal.</p>
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<p>In my prayer I comfort God; “Even if there is a small number of members, this is the foundation on which we will expand. In a few years we will have multiplied and spread all over the planet.” With this kind of hope I approach God to comfort Him. My pledge to Him is that even in the midst of persecution I have confidence in my point of view and in my action and I will overcome everything. We are responsible in this way and must be able to surpass persecution. We are the only people who are able to do this heavenly task. We have to give constant stimulus to heaven by our actions so that God can have hope for the future.</p>
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<p>The relation between you and me is the same; I want to be able to trust you and have hope for the future through you, your ideals and your actions. In that way you will become responsible men and women. Even now, who can Mother and I depend on? You are the ones we must depend upon to be responsible for the total restoration of the world.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Without persecution we will not advance</h3>
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<p>At this time there are armies on earth for individual nations but there is no heavenly army with a loyalty and spirit that transcends national boundaries. Even the United Nations troops do not fit this category. In the future a universal heavenly force will be formed with the spiritual power to eradicate the satanic forces throughout the world. That is the concept of the mobile units of the IOWC; the world will not be saved by guns and cannons. You cannot think the world will be saved by “our hands” but by “my hands.” You and I have the same destiny and in the event that we fail in our battle for the world we will die together. This is the spirit we have to have in our heavenly army.</p>
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<p>The different races have been fighting each other throughout the past, but this time all the races and nationalities will form a heavenly army together and will die together for one cause. We are of the same flesh and blood, and even though we are from races which used to be enemies, we are one army under God. Have you gained this conviction?</p>
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<p>In following me so far you have accumulated many experiences. You cannot imagine the experiences I have had. I will never forget the torture I received under the Japanese imperialists who dominated Korea, or the brutality of the communist prison guards. In South Korea our Church was formed in the midst of upheaval and we were persecuted for no valid reason.</p>
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<p>Through all this suffering I have always been aware that even though we may pay a great price of indemnity, all that we have paid will be nullified if we do not gain the final victory. The more persecution we receive, the more we have to accomplish. If there is no persecution then there is no chance for us to advance. Thus, if we are not persecuted from outside our Church then I will persecute you. By being tested through persecution you can bear more fruit, and then in the future your descendants will inherit the wealth of your accomplishments.</p>
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<p>Through persecution you will become perfect. If Satan attacks and you survive, or even if Heavenly Father or I persecute you and you survive, then everywhere you go you will be victorious in everything. From then on you can control Satan as you like. You will become the channel through whom the 6,000 year war between Satan and God is finally concluded. I always imagine that I will be the prosecutor of Satan in heaven’s court and I will testify against him.</p>
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<p>It will be easiest for me if I can finish everything while still on earth, however. It is my prayer that if my job is left unfinished that God will mobilize a hundred times more people to finish the task. I will organize forces from spirit world and with them descend to lead the worldly forces to accomplish the unfinished task. When it comes to my determination, God has no choice but to depend on such a person as me.</p>
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<p>If you are a solid person with convictions such as these, then if Satan or even God spins you around you will always come back to your original position. If you habitually act on your thinking then you will not be influenced by other forces, even if you have no food to eat. This is the kind of daily routine you have to adopt in order to become an unchangeable person. In your mind you have to be always mobile, ready at any time to pack up and leave. Our critics say that I live in luxury, but Mother and I have no attachment to anything. I must maintain a certain minimum standard of living in order to meet the standard of American culture, but I feel most comfortable when I have just a small pillow instead of king-size bedding. I prefer simple living and I am always ready to return to that. I am ready to go wherever God instructs me to be.</p>
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<p>You women might be very unhappy with such a husband, right? Women tend to want to possess their husbands and their surroundings. Even Mother may not like this attitude. You people do not know when or where you might need to go, but when the time comes you must be ready to go anywhere without complaint, even to Africa or to the communist world.</p>
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<p>This attitude is entirely different from most peoples’ thinking. I am curious to see what kind of people you will be in the future. Even though you look weak now, if you inherit this ideology and put it into action for five or ten years you will control all of America. You have great advantages over me because you are accepted in this culture and you speak the language.</p>
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<p>Yesterday I saw a member who has a Masters degree scrubbing the floors in the Manhattan Center. Do you hate to do such jobs or do you do any work with appreciation? I am never ashamed of anything I am doing. At Barrytown I taught the students how to make fishing nets. Even our professors were amazed. At that time a theologian’s conference was going on and the visiting scholars never expected to see me at Barrytown. They sneaked in to take a look at what I was doing with the students and were amazed and impressed to see me doing such humble, manual work. You have no excuses to make to me because I have done everything before you, even the most humble labor.</p>
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<p>The world is big, encompassing many civilizations and many religions, but from God’s point of view there is no one to trust except you Unification Church people. Can you realize that Heavenly Father is depending on each one of you? The Heavenly Kingdom on earth is your Kingdom of Heaven on earth if you create it with your own hands. What kind of mind are you going to take with you to spirit world after your 80 or so years on earth? You are going to spirit world with your children and with brothers and sisters of all different races. This is the attitude you must have.</p>
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<p>Because you are the only ones God may possibly trust you must be proud of yourselves. You are the only people who can give hope for the future to the whole world. You are the only ones on earth who can possibly fulfill the ideal of God’s kingdom. Through your individual hard work and initiative I can depend on you and God can depend on you. If you are going to become people of action, raise your hands. May God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
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<article id="post-1192" class="post-1192 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1977">
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<a href="/blog/2018/06/13/let-us-thank-god.html" title="Permalink to LET US THANK GOD" rel="bookmark">LET US THANK GOD</a>
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<span class="author vcard" >By <a class="url fn n" rel="author" href="#" title="View all posts by Fami1yfed">Fami1yfed</a></span> <span><time class="onDate date published" datetime="2018-06-13T05:10:37+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/13/let-us-thank-god.html" rel="bookmark">June 13, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-13T05:10:37+01:00">June 13, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1977.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1977</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
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<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
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<h3 align="center">May 29, 1977<br />
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Belvedere, New York<br />
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Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
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<p>Through the Divine Principle we learn that even though our actual stature is small compared to the entire universe, we indeed represent the entire universe. Man’s life derives from the life source of the universe; the universe exists because of man and man’s history is comparable to the history of the universe.</p>
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<p>God created the entire universe with man as the model. Even though men commonly believe in evolution, evolution is only a resultant observation of the creation. The universe is not a random, arbitrary result of undirected forces. God planned out His creation from the most primitive to the most supreme forms of life. He had a definite plan from the very beginning, and knowing what kind of man He wanted to create as the ultimate glory of His creation, God planned the rest of the universe accordingly.</p>
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<p>From the very beginning, a purpose preceded each creation. There are two kinds of purpose, internal and external, and subsequently man has one purpose for his physical body and another purpose for his internal man or mind. Together these two purposes pursue one common goal. God wanted His creation to have the two aspects of spiritual and physical, which would not contradict but harmonize with each other. This was God’s original plan, and His effort is reflected throughout all the different aspects of human nature. For instance, men and women have been constantly striving toward one common goal. Why should people as different as men and women try to unite around one central purpose?</p>
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<h3 align="center">All existence was preceded by one common purpose,<br />
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around which everything wants to unite</h3>
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<p>Without being preceded by a common purpose which could unite both physical and spiritual energies around a common goal, evolution could never operate. It is our understanding, therefore, that before progress can ever take place, two types of energy must already exist which seek to sustain one common purpose. Through this mutual attempt by each to harmonize with the other, the value of their common goal becomes much higher.</p>
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<p>The primitive levels of existence seem to have randomly evolved into higher, more complex beings, but some goal must have influenced them to go in that direction. Evolution itself cannot create a higher goal for the development of the world. Instead the direction of development must be derived from a certain goal or purpose which precedes existence itself. All of creation comes under this principle, and man is no exception. However, man differs from the rest of creation in that he has the built-in energy to progress by his own creative efforts. We are born to progress and to elevate our own value by pursuing higher and higher goals.</p>
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<p>No man or woman wants to be alone or to stand still. Instead, we try to involve ourselves in something in order to be part of a higher purpose and goal. All of man’s literature and art, for example, are expressions of man trying to harmonize himself with his external surroundings. Each of us has this basic desire to harmonize with those around us and to bring about something greater than our moment-to-moment existence. Through having a certain direction we want to harmonize with each other and to ultimately achieve a goal of higher value than ourselves. This principle affects all the created beings in this universe. The theory of evolution describes only one small aspect of interaction in a very complex universe.</p>
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<p>It is a fundamental principle that interaction can never occur when there is only one entity. There must be at least two elements in order for interaction to occur, and furthermore, the separate elements must seek some common benefit by their relationship. Otherwise, there will be no harmony in their give and take. Men and women strive to become one because they see that by doing so they each can derive some common benefit. If oneness is pursued for mutual benefit, then a mutual purpose must also exist. Everything has two basic features, existence and direction, and there is mutuality in every aspect of human activity.</p>
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<p>Communists do not acknowledge that an inherent direction and goal preceded the universe, and their theories do not touch upon the fundamental basics of interaction. Instead, communists use dialectical materialism to justify the actions of the Communist Party, applying a false theory of spontaneous change to explain how miraculous results can be expected from a communist state. There is actually no such thing as a miracle in this universe. There must be a cause and direction for everything. From man’s perspective a certain action may seem sudden or miraculous, but viewed from a larger perspective it is apparent that no such thing is possible.</p>
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<p>Has basic human nature evolved through history? Nowadays men and women love each other, but what about men and women who existed thousands of years ago? Would their love have been different from ours today, or was their impulse to seek harmony and the fulfillment of a goal as intense as ours?</p>
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<p>Why should creation stop at the level of man? Why haven’t sudden total changes in species occurred recently? More and more complex animals appeared throughout the ages, but no creature has appeared which is more highly developed than man. Creation seems to have stopped with man. Do you think that happened because man shouted out, “We are perfectly happy, God. You can stop right here”? Since creation developed up to the level of man and then stopped, then we must conclude that there is a universal will and consciousness which preexisted man, and which had already planned the entire creation to conclude at the level of man.</p>
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<p>Even if we select one small aspect of creation, such as man’s eyes, no scientist and none of man’s theories, such as dialectical materialism, can fully explain its functioning. We in the Unification Church are destined to fight against the false ideology of communism in the future, but in order to win over it we must clearly understand the true purpose and direction of creation. This is what will disprove dialectical materialism.</p>
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<p>The whole dispute boils down to one simple question: Which came about first, matter or consciousness? Communism states that matter came first, while most people in the free world think that consciousness preceded matter. Where did the matter to construct an eyeball come from? What influenced matter to form eyes? Why does the nose on your face remain still, while your eyes blink frequently? If there is no consciousness or reason behind that phenomenon then why do your eyes blink at all? Do they move at random?</p>
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<p>Your eyes move from left to right and up and down because they want to fulfill their purpose of providing vision. When you go out on a dusty, windy day much dust blows up your nose, but it still does not move. In the same situation, however, your eyes blink many times each minute. Why the difference? There is a reason and purpose behind it, namely that if your eyes became dry then they could not function. Your eyebrows are not on your face by accident but to help protect the eyes. Everything works out to have a certain purpose.</p>
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<p>Could eyes have known ahead of time that they would need protection from dust and wind when they came into the world? No eye could know in advance what kind of world it would have to cope with, and. thus prepare in advance. However, instead of understanding that each creation has an internal cause, dialectical materialism states that everything just happened to occur the way we see it.</p>
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<p>There must be some universal consciousness which existed before the eye, and which planned out how the eye would cope with the atmosphere and dust. Which came first then, matter or consciousness? Everything has a reason to exist which was planned out by some universal mind, and nothing under the sun exists on a whim or at random. This concept is the fundamental difference between our ideology and communism. My purpose is not to dwell on this subject this morning, but I want this point to be clear before going on to my main subject.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Only through love can man relate everything<br />
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to his desire for a higher purpose</h3>
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<p>Why was man born? Someone planned ahead of time that man would be the supreme creature in all creation, having the supreme purpose, direction and goal in all tie universe. In studying our own lives it becomes evident that everything we do is for the purpose of receiving some benefit. You did not come here this morning, for example, in order to lose something but to gain something, even though it is intangible.</p>
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<p>Are you now receiving something from me? Why isn’t it good to sleep when I am giving a sermon? The simple explanation is that by dozing instead of listening you are losing something. Sleeping at this time is a waste of your energy, of the universal energy, and of my energy. The position of leader is a very fearsome one. If I had no inspiration to give you then after two or three sermons you would see that there was nothing to gain by being here and you would not come. However, if you are benefited and inspired to a higher level after coming here, then you smile from ear to ear as you leave.</p>
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<p>Why is love good? It is only through love that we can relate everything to a higher purpose. Every one of you sitting here has the built-in nature to want to reach higher levels and higher value by pursuing higher goals. Each day you want to be more righteous than the day before. In addition, you feel, “T want to succeed and become a center of attention. I want to be respected for giving much benefit to the world.” Where did you get such an idea? If everyone happens to feel that way then the theory of evolution might be correct. However, that particular ideal will never “evolve” into something else.</p>
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<p>Nothing can change that constant ideal. If you received electric shocks, would it be possible to move that thought out of you? Would an atomic bomb change that human idea? Why not? No matter what happens to you, you will always return to that same direction and purpose. If you are whirled around until you are completely dizzy you will still resume that direction. Even if you are pushed down or beaten, some power within you will always bring you back to that certain posture.</p>
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<p>The magnetic forces of the North and South Poles form the standard for all navigation. If the electrical fields of the two poles changed at random every day, what would happen to men at sea and in the air? Can the world make orderly progress if everything happens at random? There are many forces trying to influence you toward a certain direction, but some internal power pulls you right back. In spite of this fact, communism denies all these basic human traits, saying, “Men must be re-made and totally revolutionized; they must be turned around once and for all.”</p>
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<p>Throughout this century communists have been “revolutionizing” men to live within communistic cultures, but if the Iron and Bamboo Curtains and the Berlin Wall suddenly did not exist, do you think any of the citizens in those countries would want to continue living under those systems? No matter how much people are indoctrinated, in the depths of their hearts they know that communism contradicts basic human nature as well as the basic nature of God. Any ideology that denies the basic, original nature of man will not last.</p>
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<h3 align="center">For what can we be thankful to God?</h3>
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<p>My topic is, “Let Us Thank God.” Why can we be thankful to God? First of all, we have been given the power to interact and become harmonized with the cosmos. Man’s universal desire to be harmonized with one another is not originally his own concept, but God’s. We are in the objective position, and God is the subject with a greater mind than ours, a mind which is interacting with our small minds and influencing us to interact with each other. Intuitively we want to engage in certain actions and achieve certain results.</p>
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<p>It is common for people to think, “Thank heaven,” when they receive some blessing or favor. Most people habitually think in terms of material rewards, but have you ever been grateful for the built-in, God-given nature which motivates you to seek happiness in a goal and purpose? Have you thought about this intangible gift from God? Men and women want to find happiness by uniting with each other, but are grateful for this desire only after meeting their mates.</p>
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<p>You have ample reason to be thankful to God far before your marriage, because you have the beautiful nature that seeks to make progress, and to unite in harmony with all else. Do not neglect being thankful until your marriage; this nature within your heart that seeks interaction is reason alone for thanksgiving. Have you been thankful for it?</p>
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<p>Older teen-agers automatically turn their heads when someone handsome or beautiful passes by; some power pulls their eyes in that direction. Did you ever realize the significance of that energy moving within you? At a certain age women start to feel some admiration for men and to pay more attention to them. Have you ever been thankful for that instinctive energy? You act in that fashion because it is your nature to parallel the rhythm and direction of the universe.</p>
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<p>At a certain age women have the desire to move toward men and men have the desire to move toward women, responding to the universal energy which gives them a higher purpose for being together. What are you going to fulfill by being united? As both parties move toward the point of harmony and unity by loving each other, a new power to create is released and new life is born. By thus fulfilling his position as a representative of God, man will elevate himself to be the lord of creation.</p>
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<p>In giving birth to their children, men and women are exercising their most precious power of creation. A woman’s most supreme role is that of bearing children. Bearing children is not just an ordinary, random thing; the power and energy of the universe is focused in your own body to bring about the greatest event in your life. When you women conceive your children you must realize that the universe is moving within your womb and making new life. In preparing for your children you will think vertically high and horizontally wide, linking the universe and your vision and dream for the future. Most of you have not had this experience but your time will come. Your age is the age of dreams.</p>
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<p>Through universal energy men and women come toward each other, and in having a child their dream will become reality. When men and women are united in their ideal then through their children their love can become deeper and wider. The love of young people before marriage is directed horizontally toward each other, but when they have children their love deepens to become vertical as well, uniting parent and child.</p>
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<p>It is the power of love that unites people both horizontally and vertically. A startling phenomenon in America is the increasing divorce rate. However, even parents who seek divorce from each other will fight over custody of their children. Why don’t they just abandon them instead? Horizontal love can be broken and terminated, but the vertical line of love is irreplaceable and parents do not want to lose it. No one wants to separate themselves from God, and through their vertical love with their children they want to keep themselves within God’s sight.</p>
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<p>A husband and wife may come to despise each other and decide to separate, but no parent can despise his child and want to end the relationship forever. The wife may become an evil woman and the husband may become an evil man, but no one wants to curse his own child. Why are people like that? There is a vertical relation between heaven and earth and ultimately no one can separate himself from God. Everyone, whether consciously or unconsciously, recognizes this vertical longing and wants to secure God’s love for themselves.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Without being devoted to your children,<br />
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you do not even deserve to be married</h3>
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<p>Many people deny the past and future, wanting only to live for the carnal pleasure of the present time. If you truly dwell in eternal love, however, then your love has the power to harmonize the past, present and future; in true love there is no such thing as dwelling only in the present. Love cannot be spoken only in the moment. There is no such thing as a husband and wife who enjoy life while their children cry out, or children who are happy while their parents grieve. The husband and wife of a broken family will cling to their vertical connection with their children because they know that ultimately that relationship will bring them life or salvation. Man’s inner nature tells him that he has some hope of salvation by clinging to the vertical love between God, parents and children.</p>
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<p>Have you women ever been thankful that as you reach a certain age your body developed to enable you to bear children? This is the expression of the power of God. If you are really thankful to God for His gift of your body as His temple, then you will never be involved in a tragedy like divorce. For whom does your body change? Ultimately that change comes so that you can give birth to children. Your body structure changes in two areas mainly. Why do you have wider hips than men? God gave you a large foundation so that when you deliver a child you will not suffer too much. You have large breasts so you can feed your child.</p>
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<p>Did God give you those features for you to indulge in your own carnal desires? Ultimately their purpose is for the creation of your children. The real gifts of God are your children, who are more important than your body. How many American women are thinking in that fashion? American women have failed God’s test. Shall we re-educate them?</p>
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<p>Do you always know who your real father and mother are? Your parents are your parents, period. It is impossible for some other person to become your parent. How many here have parents who are divorced? Even though you may address your stepmother or stepfather as mother or father, you know you are not their child and your heart is elsewhere. Is there anyone who joyfully accepts their stepparent as their real parent? In Jin told us about one of her classmates whose mother recently re-married. The girl said, “I never want to call him my father. I would rather just call him by his name.”</p>
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<p>The vertical love between parents and their children is closest to God’s love. I want you to realize that you have this mission and purpose. That is why God gave you the beauty of certain features as breasts and hips. Ultimately they are not even for your husband, and their misuse for carnal desire is utterly wrong. If you do not care about your own child and about his future but only live for your carnal desires, then God would want you to cut your breasts off because you would not deserve to have them. After that you might have the right to ignore your baby. Divorced people who hear these remarks might feel uncomfortable, but I must tell the truth.</p>
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<p>Unification Church members are very fortunate people because they know the truth. If you do not like your husband or wife then you should not have children. Your goal is to have good children for the future, and without that desire you have no right to get married or to live with your mate. If you use love only to take advantage of someone in satisfying your carnal desire then you are actually a violator of universal law.</p>
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<p>Keeping American women happy is an incredible job and American men have practically no time to think about anything else. After being divorced many men refuse to get married again, grumbling, “I’ll just have another messy situation. I’m sick and tired of it. No more.” There are many women in America who marry a man just to get his money; after a divorce the law is such that it favors women and they can become very rich after divorcing.</p>
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<p>Unification Church women, have you ever thought about divorce? You could certainly do it, couldn’t you? Why not? Now you know why; everything you have, including your own body, is not yours. Even your love is not for yourself but for the sake of the universe. When you have a universal mind to embrace a universal purpose and to embrace God, as you become an older teenager and are sensitive to surrounding nature you become very sentimental and emotional in your reaction to the universe. Why are you built that way? It is a sign that you are maturing in love. God gave you a certain sensitivity which enables you to relate to the world with love.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Your ultimate source of pride is your love</h3>
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<p>What can men and women be most proud of? Are diamonds and gold the things men and women can be proud of in this universe? A woman’s source of pride is her husband, and a man’s is his wife. Why is that? When you are growing up and reaching for maturity you do not appreciate the sacrificial love of parents. As children, none of us really appreciated our parent’s love. Hyo Jin, for example, is interested in so many things that sometimes he does not truly appreciate his parents’ tender love. He is showing signs of maturity though. Sometimes I see him standing in front of the mirror and studying his face. It is a natural law that he wants to be handsome and capture the attention of other girls. It shows that when he is mature and ready to be married that his wife can be proud of him because he has been making himself attractive.</p>
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<p>For eternity a man can be proud of his wife, and for eternity a woman can be proud of her husband. Nothing else matters in the universe except your love; ultimately things like knowledge or money do not matter. When you have someone you can truly be proud of and love with all your energy then you are a happy person.</p>
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<p>Even if you are poverty-stricken and have nothing to eat or drink but a cup of water, you can be one in flesh with your mate if you can truly understand and be proud of one another. You may have to sleep under trees at night, but if you have understanding and pride in each other then you will dwell in happiness. If you were to ask God what He would be most proud of in this universe, God would answer, “I am most proud of men and women who are totally in love and utterly proud of each other. Their love is the most beautiful possible thing to behold.” Love is the one thing which can make everyone laugh, even the entire universe.</p>
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<p>Each of you is working toward that day when you will be proud of your husband and wife and want to shout out to the universe in your joy. With love you can conquer your husband and with your love you can conquer your wife. Love creates horizontal unity and vertical unity, and through this love you can even make God your prisoner. Through love you can conquer and occupy everything. God will become helpless before your love.</p>
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<p>A dog or a tree, anything in the universe which you touch with a loving heart will appreciate your love. When you look at nature you should realize that everything is a God-given gift which you can use to express your love toward your mate. God already knew that you would have the mind which would want to express your love in the form of a gift, so He provided the entire universe to you as a gift item. If you see a little kitten with soft fur, you think, “My wife would like this kitten.”</p>
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<p>Have you ever heard anything like this before? Do you really feel to your bones, “Yes, the universe should work like that”? This is a simple, fundamental universal truth. It is a simple yet gigantic truth, but no one noticed it. I have brought this special truth as a tremendous gift from God, and without any reservations I am giving it to you. It is the pride of the Unification Church.</p>
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<p>There is nothing in this universe which is unrelated to you. When you are proud of your wife or husband then the entire universe becomes a gift item as the tangible expression of your love. That is why the universe exists. When a married man meets another woman he will notice how she is similar or different from his wife. He may glance at her, not because he is attracted to the woman, but because he loves his wife and is reminded of her. Women will notice a certain man in the same way.</p>
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<p>We relate the people we meet to the members of our family. When you look at an elderly woman you think, “Oh, she is like my grandmother,” and when you look at younger people you think of your own children or of your younger brothers and sisters. In that way you expand your immediate family to include all mankind. If there is a God who has an ideal then this must be it; this is the only way God could have His ideal of one family of man spread throughout the world.</p>
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<p>What can men and women be proud or. You women who do not yet have husbands are proud of the men. It is true. Whatever the time of day, women’s minds are occupied by men. Not being a woman, I cannot completely know your mind, but through the Principle I can see that your mind would probably be like that. Some women insist, “I don’t ever want to marry.” They are the greatest liars under the sun.</p>
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<h3 align="center">Through your mate, then your children and then<br />
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your parents you can fully know God’s love</h3>
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<p>Have all of you ever been thankful that you are able to love another as an expression of God and the universe? A husband and wife together represent the entire universe. When a wife enters the place where her husband is she enters not merely as a wife or as an individual, but as a representative of the universe. Of course, this kind of thinking has been non-existent in your lives so far because the rest of the world never thinks in this way.</p>
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<p>If a man and woman are dedicated to the universal purpose and recognize themselves as universal beings then what kind of child would they have? What can men and women be proud of after each other? Their sons and daughters. Men and women are proud of each other, but as soon as they have a family their focus will change from being proud of each other to being proud of their own children.</p>
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<p>Giving your own testimony or hearing someone else’s testimony about what a wonderful husband or wife you have is always uplifting and everyone around will walk on cloud nine. It never fails. Your pride centers next on your children. We have to be aware of this basic human nature when dealing with parents; in order to capture the faith and good will of a parent the best thing to do is to praise his children. Even if the parents know your praise is exaggerated they will smile from ear to ear anyway.</p>
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<p>Men and women are proud of each other first and next they are proud of their children. What comes after that? Thirdly, they are proud of their parents. After having your own children you will all of a sudden realize the value of your own parents and be proud of them. It is not good enough to think you love your parents; not until you have your own children will you begin to truly understand and appreciate your parents.</p>
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<p>This explains the reason that God created man’s life to be centered around the family. God knew that no matter how much we thought we appreciated and loved Him, we could never truly appreciate and love Him as our Father until we had our own children. Only by first growing up as children and then loving as husband and wife and giving birth to our children could we fully appreciate God as our parent.</p>
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<p>Do you think God, as the one true Parent, feels bad that the realization of the parents’ position comes third, with husband and wife first and children next? God does not mind that He is not fully understood until man reaches the level of perfection. God does not want to settle for anything immature or incomplete. Instead He wants us to grow through the formation and growth levels and then come together as mature personalities to stand before Him. From this point of view, no matter how much a husband and wife were in love they would still be immature and imperfect without having their children. Their love would be crippled and incomplete.</p>
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<p>After receiving love as children and experiencing the conjugal love of husband and wife you will ultimately come to the realization that the most wholesome, sacrificial and fundamental love is parental love. In an ideal life you would fully enjoy and experience all these three loves.</p>
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<p>Because the perfection of love is actualized as parental love the center of a home should be the older people. If grandparents live there then they should be the center because they are the parents of the parents. They are the host and hostess of the home and after they pass away your parents would become the center.</p>
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<p>Why should the oldest people be the central people of the universe? Who is the oldest person in the universe? God is the oldest, and since He is the center of everything we must follow that tradition. Following this understanding through, which tradition or culture is closer to the universal, God-centered culture? Do you American people feet good when you hear that the Oriental culture is closer? I did not come to America to import the Oriental culture. That is not my concern. Externally speaking there is much in the American culture to be appreciated. Speaking internally of God’s tradition and culture, however, what I am teaching is neither the Oriental tradition nor the Western tradition, but God’s tradition.</p>
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<p>It is sad to see American society today with its cruel disregard for its senior citizens. The other day in Central Park I saw a great many senior citizens who were sitting idle, watching passing cars and staring at the trees. I asked one of them, “Are you happy? Where do you live?” The person answered that he lives in a senior citizens home and that he is very unhappy. When I asked what would make him happy, he said he wanted to live and play with his children and grandchildren, but that they did not live in New York.</p>
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<p>How many Americans really care about the old people? When children reach a certain age they just declare, “I’m free now. Good-bye, it’s my life now.” Yet it is not only older people who are ignored in America. Often parents are so busy with something that they do not care about their children or pay attention to them. These children are entirely on their own, feeling lonesome and abandoned.</p>
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<p>In the Unification Church, however, we are going to change all of that. My concern is how to bring the heavenly culture into America’s way of life. I am not speaking only on behalf of senior citizens, but on behalf of all three levels of parents, husband and wife, and children. The whole of American culture needs to elevate its outlook. Externally this nation has already achieved much and made tremendous contributions to the world; once the heavenly way of life becomes an integral part of the American culture then America will be heaven.</p>
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<p>There are so many things to be thankful to God for. We are thankful for being men and women, and for being husbands and wives, and for the blessing of having children. We are thankful to be the instruments of the creative energy of the universe. If we have truly grateful hearts, will God be unhappy to look down at us? When you are thankful for being what you are, the universe and all nature will respond to you in happiness.</p>
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<h3 align="center">All of creation, including man, has a<br />
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perfected life if it is given for God’s purpose</h3>
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<p>In leading the fishing expeditions at Barrytown, where many hundreds of carp were caught, I thought very much about the universal principle of creation being killed to become food for man. Six big turtles lost their home as we dredged the Barrytown lake to accommodate more carp. I felt sorry for them and had them put in the Hudson River, thinking, “You turtles go and live in the wide world.”</p>
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<p>When I go fishing I send the first fish back to its home. I thought that even a lowly creature like a carp appreciates love, and when someone appreciates their purpose for being what they are they even want to die for that person. In that sense the carp are not a sacrifice as they give themselves for the person who loves them. This was God’s idea for creation. By being loved and appreciated by the Unification Church members, all these creatures shall be thankful and proud of living and dying for the purpose for which they were created.</p>
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<p>Love is supreme. Living for love and dying in love always brings happiness. V,/hen the moment of your death comes you will be smiling as you think about your love, and it will be your joy at that moment to be embraced by the one you love.</p>
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<p>Suppose someone said, “I understand that Reverend Moon caught a lot of carp in the Hudson River. I’m sure those fish just curse him as they die.” How would you answer? Before hearing my explanation I’m sure you would have been confused, but now you know how carp have a perfected life if they can die for the sake of God’s purpose, becoming the flesh and blood of God-centered people. Is there any more precious cause carp could pursue? There is the difference of heaven and earth in your actions depending on how you are motivated.</p>
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<p>How does this principle apply to you? If there were a place of death so honorable in the sight of God that there you could receive His love without limit, would you consider that to be a very unfortunate, tragic place, or would you revere it as an honorable place to be? If you could choose between living forever on earth or dying and finally receiving God’s love, which one would you take?</p>
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<p>This principle applies the same way both to a carp and to a man. The ultimate question we have to ask ourselves then is, “Am I ready to die for the love of God?” What is your answer? If your answer is yes then your death is not death. Your flesh and your spirit become the spirit and flesh of all mankind and of all the universe. When you center your life on the higher level you will live for eternity.</p>
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<p>We are in the midst of the greatest of all educational processes, with the greatest possible purpose of teaching mankind that each person must be able to give his life for the sake of love. This is a far more precious education than ten Ph.D. programs at Harvard.</p>
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<p>Why are we gathered together in the Unification Church? We want to give our lives for the supreme love of the universe, the love of God. There is no greater education than the education you are receiving this morning, hearing that everything started out from love, and that love is the goal and direction for all things. God gave everything in creation to be gifts of love. When you realize this and live your life in appreciation of God’s love, then you shall be glorious when you go before the throne of God.</p>
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<p>We must be thankful to be born as men and women. In a sense we are the curators of God’s own museum, the universe. Men have built their own museums, like the National Archives and the Museum of Natural History, but they are really trivial compared to God’s own museum. All museums of the entire world put together cannot compare to the mystery and beauty of one living leaf. God created a living, growing museum, not one which is stagnant and collects dust. But if we can create in our lives the beauty of the love of God then our museum is truly beautiful.</p>
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<p>When I walk through a museum I see many people who really ponder the things there and appreciate them, but I often wonder how people can pay more attention to rocks that are just gathering dust than to God’s museum, which has much more beauty and mystery. If you go to the riverside and pick up one small grain of sand, can you say how old it is or what its personal history has been? There is much mystery in a grain of sand; nobody understands the hidden history of God which it contains.</p>
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<p>An oak tree has a history of tens of thousands of years that reaches from acorn to acorn back to the very first tree. Have you ever asked a tree, “Where do your leaves come from? Where does your trunk come from?” What is the source of energy that is derived from the soil? Where does water come from? Here on the Belvedere grounds there is dirt from all over the world, from Europe, Asia, Africa. The universe is contained in even one grain of sand or one small particle of soil. When you look at yourself you are seeing a universal being, with your energy, flesh and blood gathered from the same source as the entire universe. You are truly a microcosm of the universe.</p>
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<p>My flesh and blood are formed from food, and since I have traveled to all six continents and forty different countries I have eaten Asian food, American food, European food, Indian food and African food. My physical body is literally universal. My body is a museum because it is a collection of ingredients from all over the earth.</p>
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<p>You can say to God, “I am Your museum piece. I am a microcosm of the universe and here I stand as a universal person. Are You proud of me?” God will definitely say, “I certainly am and I’m envious of you in a way. I’m invisible but you are physical and you can look at yourself as being universal. That’s exactly why I created you.”</p>
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<h3 align="center">As people who are indebted, we can only<br />
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show our gratitude by giving to others</h3>
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<p>Where did your life come from originally? Your own parents invested themselves in you, and nature also gave you the food to make your flesh and blood and bone. If you were to repay all those to whom you were indebted you would have nothing left. In addition, you are also indebted to God who originally gave you life. What do you have left then? God, your parents and nature invested themselves in you, and therefore you are a chunk of indebtedness.</p>
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<p>The important thing is, have you been grateful for that investment? An indebted person can be nothing but thankful. God, your parents and nature will say, “You don’t have to give anything back. You keep it for yourself.” What a wonderful gift your life is! Throughout your entire life you can be thankful. Have you ever thought about that?</p>
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<p>Jesus told a story that parallels this, about a cruel man who had been forgiven a debt he could not pay, but who then threw a man into jail who was indebted to him. His lord spoke angrily to him for being so cruel after he himself had received mercy. We have nothing that is inherently ours; God gave us life unconditionally, without requiring that any contract be signed or interest paid or any loan paid back within a certain number of years. The only way we can repay Him or show our gratitude is by giving to others.</p>
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<p>We can say we have parents on three levels; nature is one level of parent, as well as our physical parents who gave birth to us, and God is the ultimate parent. We are in the position to be thankful to all of these parents, and since everything we have does not really belong to us, we must be ready to give it out at any time, saying, “Nature, this is from you; my parents, this is yours; Heavenly Father, this is all Yours.”</p>
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<p>You may think it is you who walk around, but you are not the one who makes you walk God is not greedy or trying to take everything back from you, but God created you for a special purpose and all He wants is for you to want to live up to that ideal. Until now you were probably grateful for only the trivial things in your life, but never thankful for the greatest things for which you are indebted.</p>
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<p>How about sunlight? Without it you cannot survive, but how often are you thankful for it? At Barrytown we are enlarging the pond to accommodate more carp and the crew doing the work was very impatient at being hampered by the running water. I thought, “I know it is a hindrance, but don’t be upset because without water nothing could survive on this planet.” How many minutes could you survive without air? You do not feel any danger because you’re so secure, but what would happen if there was no air anywhere for five minutes?</p>
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<p>You may be thankful for trivial things like a can of coke when you are hot and thirsty, but what about this gift of the universe which God gave us-the sun’s rays, the air, the fresh water, the sea and the land? Are you thankful that you can be a man or a woman and a husband or wife, that you can be children and then parents?</p>
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<p>Instead of being thankful for all the universal gifts which God has provided people are many times impatient, cursing nature and cursing God’s work when something interferes with their desires. The wintertime brings cold weather and people complain about inconvenience, but nature needs both cold and hot weather. Different temperatures cause certain changes in the soil, and cause shrinking and expanding in nature. All things are harmonized and regulated by nature’s laws.</p>
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<p>By only complaining about the creation we not only offend God but all of these great gifts. First of all we must be thankful to God; that is the beginning point of our lives. Then we can talk about being thankful to our own husband or wife and children and parents. Without God we could not exist for even one second. This world has become devoid of thanksgiving to God. Once you broaden your life of thanksgiving and gratitude to God then you will find that a more loving relationship between God and yourself will develop.</p>
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<p>A wholesome God-centered personality begins with thanksgiving and deepens to embrace a relationship of love with God. You must think big! You must be able to embrace the universe and when you look at man you must see him as a universal being; when you look at nature you must feel that it is God’s masterpiece. That is the kind of personality God hopes to find in His children, and the Unification Church must become second to none in that way of life.</p>
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<p>When you live in thankfulness here on earth, you can go with love to God’s own dwelling and live there in infinite love for eternity. When you train yourself through nature to live in gratitude then the universe will help you grow into a wholesome personality of love so that you can eventually reach the level of God’s glory. This is God’s whole dream.</p>
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<p>In our lives we want to find the maximum benefit in the universe and to develop wholesome personalities, and to one day stand proudly in the sight of God and to enjoy His eternal love as His children. God knows when you suffer misfortune or are troubled, but when He sees that even at the bottom of misery and misfortune you still have room to be thankful to Him He will shed tears over you. When you overcome such a test with thanksgiving under any circumstances, you shall be blessed. You may feel that you are finished and are sinking down to the valley of death, but as long as you have this way of life you will never end your life at the bottom of the valley. Instead you will go over the mount of glory.</p>
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<p>The Unification Church is going through a valley of persecution but I will never grumble or complain to God. We are attracting world attention by our extraordinary way of life and the whole world is watching as we go down into this valley.</p>
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<p>We are like leading actors and actresses in an exciting movie spectacular. If the mountain we are crossing were just made of sand then the movie would not be very exciting, but because the mountain is rugged and steep, with sheer cliffs, forests and wild animals, it makes a much more exciting movie. If this were a calm relaxed movie it would not be memorable, but we are making the people strain forward in their chairs with the tension of the drama.</p>
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<p>The world is our audience and God is watching the stage from the royal box in the center. I want you to move and inspire God so deeply that He weeps helplessly. Eventually God will bow down to you saying, “My son, my daughter, I’m proud of you.” What will the rest of the audience do when God bows down in tears? They will be completely melted.</p>
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<p>This is our extraordinary way of life, living for the gigantic goal and purpose. There is no ending. There is no retirement waiting for us, only a life that is always more exciting. Are you thankful to be a member of this exciting team? Raise your hands if you are going to live in gratitude to God and be sons and daughters of appreciation. May God bless you. Let us pray.</p>
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