1854 lines
711 KiB
HTML
1854 lines
711 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
||
<html lang="en-US">
|
||
<head>
|
||
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, user-scalable=no, initial-scale=1.0, minimum-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0">
|
||
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
|
||
<title>Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978 – Page 5 – FFWPU Ireland</title>
|
||
<meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' />
|
||
<link rel='stylesheet' id="content-blocks-css" href='/css/block-library.css?ver=6.6.5' type='text/css' media='all' />
|
||
<link rel='stylesheet' id='pdfprnt_frontend-css' href='/assets/vendor/pdf/css/frontend.css?ver=2.4.0' type='text/css' media='all' />
|
||
<link rel='stylesheet' id='parabola-fonts-css' href='/assets/theme/parabola/fonts/fontfaces.css?ver=2.4.1' type='text/css' media='all' />
|
||
<link rel='stylesheet' id='parabola-style-css' href='/assets/theme/parabola/style.css?ver=2.4.1' type='text/css' media='all' />
|
||
<link rel='stylesheet' id='familyfedie-theme-css' href='/css/theme.css' type='text/css' media='all' />
|
||
<link rel='stylesheet' id='familyfedie-site-css' href='/css/site.css' type='text/css' media='all' />
|
||
<link rel='stylesheet' id='parabola-mobile-css' href='/assets/theme/parabola/styles/style-mobile.css?ver=2.4.1' type='text/css' media='all' />
|
||
<script type="text/javascript" src="/js/jquery.min.js?ver=2.0.2" id="jquery-js"></script>
|
||
<script type="text/javascript" id="parabola-frontend-js-extra">
|
||
/* <![CDATA[ */
|
||
var parabola_settings = {"masonry":"0","magazine":"0","mobile":"1","fitvids":"1"};
|
||
/* ]]> */
|
||
</script>
|
||
<script type="text/javascript" src="/assets/theme/parabola/js/frontend.js?ver=2.4.1" id="parabola-frontend-js"></script>
|
||
<!--[if lt IE 9]>
|
||
<script>
|
||
document.createElement('header');
|
||
document.createElement('nav');
|
||
document.createElement('section');
|
||
document.createElement('article');
|
||
document.createElement('aside');
|
||
document.createElement('footer');
|
||
</script>
|
||
<![endif]-->
|
||
|
||
</head>
|
||
<body class="archive paged category category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978 category-45 custom-background paged-5 category-paged-5 tribe-no-js metaslider-plugin parabola-image-three caption-light meta-light parabola_triagles parabola-menu-left">
|
||
|
||
<div id="toTop"> </div>
|
||
<div id="wrapper" class="hfeed">
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div id="header-full">
|
||
|
||
<header id="header">
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div id="masthead">
|
||
|
||
<div id="branding" role="banner" >
|
||
|
||
<img id="bg_image" alt="FFWPU Ireland" title="FFWPU Ireland" src="/assets/uploads/2013/10/BannerFamilyFed_23_10c1.jpg" /><div id="header-container">
|
||
<a href="/index.html" id="linky"></a></div> <div style="clear:both;"></div>
|
||
|
||
</div><!-- #branding -->
|
||
<a id="nav-toggle"><span> </span></a>
|
||
|
||
<nav id="access" class="jssafe" role="navigation">
|
||
|
||
<div class="skip-link screen-reader-text"><a href="#content" title="Skip to content">Skip to content</a></div>
|
||
<div class="menu"><ul id="prime_nav" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-1"><a href="/index.html"><span>Home</span></a></li>
|
||
<li class="menu-item menu-item-has-children menu-item-2"><a href="/about.html"><span>About Us</span></a>
|
||
<ul class="sub-menu">
|
||
<li class="menu-item menu-item-2-1"><a href="/the-founders.html"><span>The Founders</span></a></li>
|
||
<li class="menu-item menu-item-2-2"><a href="/about-us-organizations.html"><span>Organizations</span></a></li>
|
||
</ul></li>
|
||
<li class="menu-item menu-item-3"><a href="/videos.html"><span>Videos</span></a></li>
|
||
<li class="menu-item menu-item-has-children menu-item-4"><a href="/events.html"><span>Events</span></a>
|
||
<ul class="sub-menu">
|
||
<li class="menu-item menu-item-4-1"><a href="/services.html"><span>Sunday Services</span></a></li>
|
||
</ul></li>
|
||
<li class="menu-item current-menu-item current_page_item menu-item-5"><a href="/speeches/" aria-current="page"><span>Speeches</span></a></li>
|
||
<li class="menu-item menu-item-6"><a href="/contact.html"><span>Contact</span></a></li></ul></div>
|
||
</nav><!-- #access -->
|
||
|
||
</div><!-- #masthead -->
|
||
|
||
<div style="clear:both;height:1px;width:1px;"> </div>
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- #header -->
|
||
</div><!-- #header-full -->
|
||
<div id="main">
|
||
<div id="forbottom" >
|
||
|
||
<div style="clear:both;"> </div>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<section id="container" class="two-columns-right">
|
||
<div id="content" role="main">
|
||
|
||
|
||
<header class="page-header">
|
||
<h1 class="page-title">Category: <span>Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</span></h1> </header>
|
||
|
||
<div class="content-masonry">
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1256" class="post-1256 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/16/i-proclaim-that-i-know.html" title="Permalink to I PROCLAIM THAT I KNOW" rel="bookmark">I PROCLAIM THAT I KNOW</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-16T14:14:48+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/16/i-proclaim-that-i-know.html" rel="bookmark">June 16, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-16T14:14:48+01:00">June 16, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">April 1, 1978<br />
|
||
World Mission Center<br />
|
||
Translator – Sang Kil Han</h3>
|
||
<p>Those who want to be faithfully religious find it difficult to overcome themselves because, like everyone else, they originally grew up feeling that everything centers on themselves. We are all surrounded by many circumstances which strongly influence us, and those who are not religious just take it for granted; they do not know about the fall, so they believe that it is only natural to be dominated by both the good and evil in their environment and they don’t question it. Religious people, however, know that something went wrong early in history, and that as a result they face internal conflict about good and evil every day. As their spirits grow higher and higher, they realize how far man fell-from the same position as God down through the world level, family level, past the level of God’s child to being a servant of Satan, where mankind could go no further down.</p>
|
||
<p>No one now finds himself in the place where God is, but in the realm which Satan controls. Satan is in control of the “self,,, the family and society, and even the world. We realize that right now God and His world are way beyond our reach and that to get there we have to thrust ourselves beyond the gravity of the fall. We realize that this world where we stay is the realm of the fall, and that it is surrounded by the spiritual realm which Satan dominates. Satan controls not only this physical world but even the lower part of spirit world. It is only in going beyond that realm that we can reach the spirit world which God dominates. God has control only in the highest realms.</p>
|
||
<p>To correct ourselves we have to be conscious that we are the offspring of the fall; only then can we one day conquer it. Every day is a process of overcoming ourselves and even overcoming the spirit world so that one day we can reach the realms of goodness in the spirit world. It is very difficult to be religious and observe all the necessary disciplines to some day reach that level.</p>
|
||
<p>We have to realize why we are doing many things which ordinary people would never imagine doing, like sacrificing ourselves to an extreme degree. We always have to be conscious not only of this world that happens to have fallen into Satan’s dominion, but also of the fact that our job is always to overcome it. There are many layers oppressing theindividual who tries to get out, layers which prevent his easy escape. Since God is on our side we can eventually overcome, of course, but once we do that, the evil spirit world will also try to come and oppress us. When we go beyond even that and overcome, then for the first time we can be connected with heaven, which is controlled by God.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Each person must vividly<br />
|
||
realize his need to change</h3>
|
||
<p>It’s a fact of history that to truly live the religious life is very, very difficult. Each person finds himself in the fallen realm with the blood of Satan flowing through his veins. Everyone has to be conscious of that, continually aware that Satan’s influence touches everything we do and that we apt to do everything centering around our baser self. Just shrugging and admitting, “Maybe that is so,” is not good enough. We have to clearly understand how this is the reality surrounding us. How we can change this bad blood into good is the problem facing us.</p>
|
||
<p>Let us see in further detail what the characteristics are of a man with fallen blood lineage. The one characteristic most easily discerned is that of ignoring the whole and trying to elevate oneself instead. This is not difficult to do because it was this very self-centeredness that motivated the fall. Thus we find that this is the most noticeable characteristic of a fallen man.</p>
|
||
<p>How deeply rooted is this self-centered nature? It is very deep because all the world surrounding us is composed that way and compels us in this direction. We can easily imagine how difficult it was under these circumstances to establish religion, through which mankind could continue advancing toward heaven. The satanic lineage has extended throughout history and there is nothing around us that is not connected to Satan. This is not a concept but the reality, and is the reason why many religious leaders appeared on earth to teach people and try to lead them away from this bad realm.</p>
|
||
<p>Putting aside the world for a moment, let’s think about the self. Has anyone been successful at any time in history in overcoming himself, even just one small individual? We know there was no one like that except Jesus. God has never seen one individual reach perfection, although through 6,000 years He has invested all His energy into restoring one man into the original position of Adam. Just restoring one person has taken all this time, and at the same time he has been the only one thinking about saving the bigger things, or even just improving the world. So far most individuals have been struggling just to get themselves out of the fallen realm and haven’t really had concern for what happens to others.</p>
|
||
<p>God realized that it would be impossibly difficult for each individual in a population, no matter how small, to overcome the fall in his own way. God thought that instead He would establish one model, and through becoming completely one with that model everyone could overcome himself and go beyond the realm of the fall.</p>
|
||
<p>When can we say that we are totally rid of satanic blood and call ourselves good? Which level do we have to reach before we can say that? We can say we are rid of the fallen blood when without exception we never think about ourselves and we live for the whole of mankind. We have to have a clear concept of what this is. It’s very much like the situation of a man who would travel in space; he has to get beyond the earth’s gravity just to get started. As long as he is still influenced by gravity, he will always come down again, no matter how high he goes. Once we get beyond the pull of fallen nature, there will be no force pulling us one way or the other and we can travel in the direction we know is right, eventually to be pulled by the gravity of goodness.</p>
|
||
<p>Why are we religious? We want to know how the man in the position of evil can come to the position of goodness. Many people have taught different ways to make a life of goodness and to completely change, but in essence they are all rather simple-to change from self-centeredness to always thinking first about God and others. That’s the essential teaching of many religions, and even though we may not yet be in that selfless position, we can be called truly religious when we at least know the direction in which to go.</p>
|
||
<p>It is human desire to meet the one man who will save us and give us new birth. This one man is the Messiah. Because he is completely different from all others, we can be absolutely sure that every hour and 365 days a year he does not live for himself but for the sake of God, the whole world and all things. If he is confident to live that way then we may say that he qualifies as the Messiah. How can you distinguish Jesus from anyone else and say with confidence that he is the Messiah who came to save the world? By knowing this standard, we are sure from what he taught and from what he did in his life that he was the Messiah.</p>
|
||
<p>Jesus sometimes taught in a seemingly contradictory way. At one time he said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” What kind of statement is that? It’s not just 90 degrees different from all others, but 180 degrees different. We have come to understand that in order to change our satanic blood we must change completely, not just a little. In order to do that there is no other way except for our fallen selves to die; then our original selves will live. Changing 179 degrees is not good enough because in moving at that angle we will eventually arrive back at the same place we started from. If we go away 180 degrees from the starting point, however, there is no way to go but in the opposite direction.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes temptations and trials are difficult, but what is the best way to overcome them? Immediately to say, “I have to forget about myself.” That is a very effective way to go directly to God. It may be easy to say, but how impossible it is to do! When Jesus was crucified, even the people who opposed him knew it was totally wrong, but still he prayed that they would be forgiven since they didn’t understand. How is it possible to feel that way? What do you suppose Jesus was thinking when he was crucified? Did he feel sorry for himself because he was dying? Certainly not. Even as the blood was dripping out of his body, he thought about how the blood he shed represented all mankind who would have to shed their satanic blood. Many people before and since Jesus have shed blood, but how different those deaths were in this crucial point. Jesus shed his blood for the sake of mankind, as the representative of mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>If one man is this good, is there any compatible place for him to live on earth? Can he find even a small area to live in? Certainly there was not such a place for Jesus; even religious people at the time were thinking about how they would prosper one day and have great influence on the world. They were centered on their own religion and never thought about the entire world, so there was no place that was adequate for someone like Jesus.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The truly religious person has<br />
|
||
more pride in God than in his religion</h3>
|
||
<p>Jesus was indignant and used strong language, calling the Jewish leaders a brood of vipers. He was justified in saying that because they were just thinking about themselves and their own denominations. It was the same kind of thinking as Satan’s, for they shared the same blood. To be truly religious, the Jews should have been thinking about the world and God and not so much about their own religion; they should have had a stronger love for God and mankind and all things. If all of you are not that way but think about yourself and your own denomination more than the world, then certainly you are a brood of vipers. That’s why Jesus spoke to the Jews the way he did.</p>
|
||
<p>At that time the religious person had more pride in himself and his religion than in God and all people and things. The Jewish people of 2,000 years ago could not get rid of this way of thinking. As long as anyone continues to think in this way, they are not religious in the true sense, and furthermore, as long as this continues their nation and people will never improve beyond where they are now. This is a historic fact. This is true not just for one faith but of every faith; any who think selfishly are not qualified to be called religious people.</p>
|
||
<p>What about the Unification Church? Are we truly a religious entity, or just another social group? You may think we are religious, but do other people agree? We have to have a clear idea of the difference between a true religion and a false religion. The simple criterion is the fact that the true religion exists for God and His love and for all mankind, whereas all religions that do not are false. It’s as simple as that. Truly religious people are willing to sacrifice even their own denomination for the love of God and mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>The Unification Church is willing to sacrifice itself for the sake of God and His love. When I think that the Unification Church is the highest level of religion, then I think of how to throw even that away for the sake of all mankind and God and His love. You can imagine that Reverend Moon, the same man who is trying to sacrifice not only the individual but the whole Church, does not lead an easy life. If one of our members is involved in an accident and dies, then the blame all comes back to me. The thinking is that if I had not come and started the Unification Church then maybe that person wouldn’t have died. Do you realize that this is what goes on?</p>
|
||
<p>No other church has its congregation get up at 4 a.m., and actually none of you likes that, but we are trying to subdue our physical bodies because great improvement results. We do all these things in order to pull ourselves away from satanic dominion. Do you think God likes most the man with the comfortable, dignified way of life? No, instead He likes the man who wears himself out running here and there to pull himself out of the evil dominion because that is the way Satan can be eliminated from the world.</p>
|
||
<p>You know the kinds of traits that Satan relates to. The person who tries to avoid working hard, who tries to get the best food and who praises himself has traits that are very common in the satanic world. Can you say you have completely freed yourself from satanic bonds, or are you still struggling with them?</p>
|
||
<p>When you marry, you actually marry for the sake of your spouse, and for that reason you don’t care much about what he looks like. Self-centeredness demands many things of marriage. In one of our marriages the husband may be outstanding but the wife be very plain, and people may denounce me for suggesting such a match. But even though the couple may seem imbalanced, with one seeming to be inferior to the other, if they are happy and respect each other then it will be a principled marriage. Maybe some of you think I am trying to indoctrinate you, but what I have said is true and it is in accord with God’s principle.</p>
|
||
<p>A man must be capable of marrying with the idea that he exists for his wife, no matter how difficult the circumstances become. This is the only way that he will he able to make his marriage successful and thus be able to enter heaven. How can you as an individual truly love another person in the original way unless you can totally give up yourself for him? And without doing this, how can you love God and mankind? Ideals will just be wishful thinking until I you can do this. Doesn’t that stand to reason? I have always challenged myself in this way: Can I love that person on behalf of God and mankind?</p>
|
||
<p>Are we going to pursue the way of happiness or of sacrifice? Realizing we are in the fallen world, we can safely say it is better to go the way of struggle and sacrifice than of happiness. This is not to be our thinking for just a short while; if you adopt this thinking 24 hours a day for as long as you live, then without question you have become truly worthy of international marriage.</p>
|
||
<p>There is no discrimination in this way of thinking; there is only absolute equality, no matter what color you are. Whoever discriminates will perish, and if God exists then He will see to it that such thinking will never shape the rest of the world. Proof of this is not difficult. Many civilizations have reached great heights, yet finally declined, because once they became self-centered and tried to dominate other civilizations, God helped them decline. How can America be an exception? It has struggled for goodness, and because it was close to God’s ideal God helped it to prosper. Now it has reached the peak of civilization, but if it becomes arrogant and indifferent and ceases to improve itself or to be truly religious, how can it continue to survive? God will help it to decline just as He helped it to prosper.</p>
|
||
<p>How can we say that God wants to help a nation or to warn or to strike a nation? One sure sign is when its children, the most precious possession of any society, begin to be degraded; then it is obvious that God is warning the nation. In America, the young people who were just starting to blossom like flowers have turned to drugs and free sex, causing much pain to their parents.</p>
|
||
<p>Look at the young people in the Unification Church. They are different from the prevailing standard in America and lead exemplary lives. I do not teach you to live for my sake or even for the Unification Church, but rather for the sake of this nation and God’s love and the world. Why do I do that? Even if you lose yourself and the Unification Church is destroyed as indemnity, still the love of God will remain. This is the basic formula. If the Church fits into this formula, it will continue to prosper. If it goes against this principle, however, then even the Unification Church will have to decline.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Your credo is to overcome yourself</h3>
|
||
<p>This is how I evaluate our leaders: Is a certain person going to be arrogant or indifferent to other people and think of his own position more than anything else? Centering on anything except God has no place. A leader may be unyielding and uncompromising, but if he is centered only on God then it may be permissible. In this way I am very much down to earth and democratic. To eliminate the satanic blood in our bodies we must go in the opposite direction, the non-self-centered way.</p>
|
||
<p>If you compromise even one degree out of the 180 then eventually your path will deviate from the correct direction and the further you go the further from God you will be. While working and also while resting we must think about the final target of love, which is the world. If you are in a community then when your family rests you must be conscious of the community you are working for before you sleep. Satan will claim whatever you develop self-centeredly and take it away. Even if externally you are successful, nothing will remain.</p>
|
||
<p>What can you say at this moment; are you the kind of person whom Satan can claim or God? Your credo is to overcome yourself. As long as you still have satanic blood you have some relationship with Satan and whatever you do will eventually go to him. All religions teach one thing in common: “Whatever I especially like, I shouldn’t do.” Up until now no one has had a clear idea of why this should be so, even though they believed it. To become liberated from satanic blood each person must start with himself. Is everyone sitting here liberated from Satan? You have to keep striving all the time, every moment, because it is very difficult to maintain a straight line. Typically, everyone goes first one way and then another. That is permissible, but at least keep on going forward. As long as you keep going in one general direction you will be able to walk relatively straight. Man’s actions are largely an accumulation of habit, so be in the habit of going in the right direction. If you really try your best to live like that then one day you will find yourself completely changed. The more you do it the happier you will become because God will be with you more and more. You may think I am different from you but that is not so. I have experienced even more intensely than you the very things you feel now.</p>
|
||
<p>I keep very late hours, staying up until 2 or 3 o’clock conferring with Church leaders, and then I go upstairs. Do I just take off my clothes and go to bed? No, I sit in a chair, thinking about the people who left, praying. Sometimes Mother comes to shake me, saying, “Why don’t you get undressed and go to bed?” You may wonder how I can live like that, but I feel better that way than if I have all the sleep I want. When I sleep longer than usual, after waking up I feel sorry that I slept. You may think I am unbeatable and invincible, someone whom no one can compete with, but that is not so. I am the same as each of you.</p>
|
||
<p>I am a strong, unyielding man. I am so sensitive about right or wrong, justice or injustice, that it’s almost like uncontrollable fire. When I see many unjust things directed at me or at someone else, I want to just wipe it all out. But I control myself because God, who is the same way, is controlling Himself.</p>
|
||
<p>If you are in a desperate situation then God can help, but unless you reach this point He cannot help. You must remember this. When I see the leaders of our Church come to conferences wearing nice clothes I sometimes worry, “What if God plunged you down to the bottom to see how you would respond. Would you make it?” God does that, sometimes lifting you up high and dropping you down to the deepest valley. If you are still grateful and keep going straight then He will lift you up again and He will never drop you down any more.</p>
|
||
<p>The same standard applies to the blessing. Many people assume that when a man and woman reach a certain age they are entitled to marry, but as a matter of principle I ask in my mind, “Have you already loved the world more than yourself that you can sit in front of me asking to be blessed?” Have you loved the world completely? Or have you not thought so</p>
|
||
<p>much about the world, but come anyway, thinking only about yourself and your family? In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve should have loved the world and all things first and then been blessed. That’s the point of view of the Principle; it’s not something you can rationalize or compromise.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">In this world no one questions<br />
|
||
whether their habits are approved by God</h3>
|
||
<p>The title of my message is, “I Proclaim That I Know.” The first thing you must proclaim to the world that you know is that you must be liberated from the blood of Satan. Secondly, you have to be liberated from the satanic world. How? By doing the reverse of what the world does.</p>
|
||
<p>In America most everyone is trying to make money for himself alone, and then at best, for America. No one wants to make money first for the country and then for themselves. Are all the couples in the world thinking first about the world, the nation, and then about their own families, or don’t they care so much about anything except themselves and their children? I really work hard to raise funds, but even after that I don’t own anything personally. You also work hard; if you worked that hard in society you would be given almost a million-dollar salary, but you don’t own anything either.</p>
|
||
<p>I owe money, but probably you don’t. As if it were not enough to work hard and raise funds, I even owe money for the sake of the goals of the world. That’s the way it has always been. God cannot help but assist in this situation. One thing I am sure of is the matter of principle, and it is one rule which never fails. Worldly people think I proceed in an unplanned way and they don’t understand how I can accomplish what I do. But if I always act in harmony with the Principle then God always helps. Many people were dubious in the beginning about everything I undertook, but every time it proved successful. God intervenes and helps.</p>
|
||
<p>Many religions and denominations don’t understand this principle, and they are pained to find that we are always successful. Because they find themselves slipping backward they really hope that the Unification Church will fail, but their hope is all in vain. Another thing the world doesn’t understand is E how all you young people can stay in the Unification really You work hard but instead of receiving comfort you only get driven out to do more. People may try to commiserate with you by saying that I am really bad, but then you turn around like a wounded lion and defend me, saying that I am not a cruel man. They think you suffer because of me, but I you defend me.</p>
|
||
<p>Recently the mass transit workers and newspaper workers have been talking about going out on strike. Actually I do not support striking, but if they are mostly interested in demanding increased wages, then let them go ahead. We know what it is like to be loved by God or to be in the love of God. It is the ultimate happiness. We must really know the value of this experience. It’s not good enough to just feel good; we must know the full value of the love we are being given.</p>
|
||
<p>Our university students have twice as much difficulty as other students. It is difficult enough for regular students to keep up with their school work, and our members also have to study hard to get good grades, but then at home they can’t even rest because they have to go out and witness. Even so, the more difficult life is, the more valuable it is.</p>
|
||
<p>We have to be liberated from the world of Satan, and to do that we should not be conscious only of our own nationality. We must belong to God first and then to America, not the other way around. If someone abruptly asks you your nationality then you have to automatically be able to answer that you belong to God’s country. It is not Korea or Japan or any other country that we are proud of. First we have to know that we belong to God, and expel from our minds any feeling of favor or bias toward a particular country. Be liberated from that and belong to God’s country, and after that you may belong to something else.</p>
|
||
<p>God has always been leading history, and if a good civilization reaches the peak, it is because God was helping it. Do not be proud of how many languages you speak unless you are able to speak the language of God’s country. You have to think that you need to learn the language which God uses. From now on we must be able to recognize and learn the mother tongue. How could we be proud of speaking English if it isn’t the language God uses? The possibility is great that He won’t use English.</p>
|
||
<p>No matter how good the clothes you wear are, you are only wearing Western clothes temporarily unless God ultimately approves them. Historically, the people wearing Western clothes have done more evil than anyone else. You are not certain if you can be proud of wearing them because you don’t yet know what God thinks about them. You can’t yet be proud of a good suit or shoes; maybe it will be better to go barefoot.</p>
|
||
<p>I was astounded at how many lines of cosmetics for women there are in this country, especially how there are over 100 kinds of lipstick. How would God view lipstick? It is highly questionable. There are many things that men are so conditioned to accepting that they take it all for granted as being natural, but all these things are connected with Satan, who brought the fall</p>
|
||
<p>What is the main diet of the heavenly country? No one questions it now, but eventually they will get around to it. This applies to schools as well; schools are doing good things sometimes, but Satan’s lineage is still connected to them. Can we confidently say that all the strange songs and dances nowadays belong to God? It is not likely. Do you want anything to do with them? In the future maybe the expression of highest happiness will be sitting perfectly still!</p>
|
||
<p>We must always be conscious of both the big things and little things we have been doing. Could you ruthlessly cut all of them away? This applies to daily things. You are in the habit of going home to be with your family at Christmas time, but that is a habit you must think about also. What does God think about Christmas at this time? Many people commit unbearable sins at Christmas; it is an insult to someone born on that day, so what is the meaning of the day? You must surmount history and circumstances and customs; the old ways no longer make any sense and we cannot approve of them. We cannot do something unless we make sure that God approves it.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">I have felt your struggles<br />
|
||
myself one hundred times over</h3>
|
||
<p>Everyone who wants to live a truly religious life to reach heaven must be liberated from all these environmental snags. Can you be uncompromising when you find yourself lonesome and isolated? This is why you find laments in the Bible concerning loneliness and being without friends. It’s a complex situation, though, for even if you are isolated and feeling alone in the world, you know that everyone in the world must follow you rather than you following them. The multitude will have to follow you, even though you are completely isolated and alone at the present.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you going to expand your territory to preserve yourself, or are you going to retreat and be pushed around? Do you feel that the world’s ways are so insurmountable that all you can do is sit down and do nothing? Please understand that if you feel that way then I have felt it a hundred times stronger than you or anyone else. I have been met by opposition on the national scale, even without good reason. You have to experience that. People don’t understand why you should be different from them and so they oppose you.</p>
|
||
<p>The peak of opposition on the worldwide scale came in 1976; in other words, two years ago there was more opposition than now. Did I retreat then, or stand firmly? Opposition came first from individuals, then families, and then even the nation. All over the world I confronted everything at the same time. The communists and Christian churches got together to oppose me, along with families who formed their own negative groups. Was there any category which didn’t participate in denouncing me?</p>
|
||
<p>I never wavered and thought that they were right. At the peak of this all-out opposition I stood firm and told them that they would decline if they continued. I told Americans that I came here as a doctor and a firefighter. They have been living nicely for the last 200 years, but now an Oriental man is here telling them that they need a doctor. It is understandable that they don’t feel good about me. Americans don’t think Orientals have anything to say to them worth hearing. If the doctor knows that his patient has cancer but the patient says, “Don’t tell me,” then what good will it do? The patient should be asking instead “Is there any way I can overcome it?” Let the people try to help themselves if they want.</p>
|
||
<p>Would America prosper or further deteriorate if everyone in America did the same as Unification Church members? How can any great change happen in America if only 10,000 people know God’s will clearly but the rest don’t? Are we going to stop here because we are few out of many, or now that we are clear on the matter of Principle are we going to push forward and influence the rest of the nation in a good way? We must know that the pattern we establish here will eventually pull up the root of evil. We really have to let the nation know that its way of thinking, which has been acceptable for so long, is wrong.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you recognized by society? You started at the rock bottom and gradually God has been raising your standards, but you do not yet stand completely above the present level of society. You can’t keep a distance from people with a critical attitude; you have to meet everyone so that they can evaluate for themselves who is right and who is wrong. Go along and bother them and show them what is wrong and right by your personal example. In thirty minutes of talking seriously to them you will be able to convince them that the strange stories they have been hearing about the Unification Church are wrong.</p>
|
||
<p>All over the world people are following the same pattern of saying that the Unification Church is bad but Moonies are good. They are not convinced of our values by me personally, but as you go around and teach them they are convinced that Moonies are good. You should go unceasingly to every corner of Manhattan and teach them, in order to save the city and themselves. Later you are going to be proud of how much persecution you received as a Unification Church member. In the future our opponents will be interrogated about why they persecuted the Moonies, on what grounds and with what right.</p>
|
||
<p>Is God a God of love or ruthlessness? To a person who knows Principle God is surely all love, but to the person who does not know Principle the same happenings that we see as an act of love may seem merciless. It would be very difficult for everyone to go separately through the individual, family and national levels of restoration, all the way up to spirit world, so God has chosen one unfaltering example who is standing upright through all opposition; everything belongs to him if he wins. Centering c on him, God is collecting everyone else and is pushing them forward mercilessly. This has been c God’s strategy.</p>
|
||
<p>The reason why God mercilessly drives us out is to ensure that everything is completed at the same time, so that once the problem is solved He can win over everything at one time. Once a religion comes which is opposed, not just locally, but by the whole world and even the spirit world, it should be regarded as a sign of the last days, the time when everyone can overcome all levels of problems at one time. The secret of easily liberating mankind on the world level lies here.</p>
|
||
<p>Whether or not there is much opposition, you have to have the confidence to not let that opposition bother you. When Satan opposes you and you are undecided, then he will attack more and more, but if you don’t even bat an eye, he won’t bother you any more because he knows you can’t be moved. Satan is wise in this respect. After Satan makes efforts for a long time but still meets with opposition from you, he will realize that you are getting stronger and stronger because of his opposition instead of weaker.</p>
|
||
<p>If people had not opposed me so much I would never have become as famous as I am now. When the blacks and Spanish people see that all the white people oppose me they will come to my side. Even the children of the white people who oppose me will come to my side, saying that their parents are wrong; they will think that if so many people are criticizing me then I must be right. That is God’s way of judging people.</p>
|
||
<p>Is this just my thinking, or is it the way things have actually been going? Is the Unification Church expanding or on the decline? Even though the expansion is not visible, we know that the Unification Church must be growing much faster than we think. Now you people can walk right into the Christian churches and demand to know why they oppose Reverend Moon. The older people oppose the young people of the Unification Church but the youth are leaving those very churches and many of them are coming to our side. The young people who used to belong to other churches see the older people still there criticizing the Unification Church, and they clearly distinguish who is right and who is wrong. We will walk into established churches and ask the congregations to compare us with our critics and determine who is right. One thing that we are thankful for is that they themselves are tired and don’t have so much power any more to oppose us.</p>
|
||
<p>Did you know that the Barrytown students are visiting 120 different churches in the area? You will do the same thing; first you will visit people in their homes and then go to their churches and explain to the congregations what we are. Why should we do that? We must be liberated from persecution from the churches before we can go out to the world level. No matter how long this takes, it is still the shortest way. We will strengthen the churches and once they become healthy they can grow to the world level of doing God’s work. By saving the Christian churches, we are saving God’s tedious, inch-by-inch buildup of Christianity over the last 2,000 years. We are not going to lose it but recover it, and by doing so save God’s dignity. Then God will be recognized as a God of success in Christianity.</p>
|
||
<p>Now we are liberated from the family level of persecution because kidnapping has been ruled to be wrong. Soon the Christian church will come to realize that Moonies are not bad after all, but are only doing successfully the same thing they have been trying to do all these centuries.</p>
|
||
<p>When we can win the understanding of Christianity we will be liberated on the world level because Christianity is that powerful. If all Christians could unite, communism would not stand a chance and world liberation would take place all at once. The Christian church has the key for us to be liberated, and in order to win that recognition we have to approach the Christians and teach them what their beliefs are all about.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">New York is the best battleground<br />
|
||
for the Unification Church</h3>
|
||
<p>You might wonder what I have been doing, but now you understand why I have been reaching out to the academic world. Theologians are being enlightened by what I have shown them through Barrytown, and now they know who is right and what we are all about. There is no room for misjudgment intellectually, but in practice we have to prove this in one city, namely New York. This is why I proclaimed New York as the front line. Once we succeed in New York, no other city, no matter how big, will be any problem; they will just follow the pattern here.</p>
|
||
<p>What does the sound “yoke” mean in English? Oak tree. New York is an old oak now and we are going to make a New Oak out of it. Oak wood is very hard and a club made of oak is very strong. If you hit the world with it the world will just be flung up high like a baseball. No matter how big a ship is, if enough people go over to one side of it will start to lean. When there are many problems and many people to rock it, the old oak will sink and new oak will float up. You have to think in that way.</p>
|
||
<p>When we try to get on the boat, others will try to get off. Since everywhere they go they meet Unification Church members and feel they don’t want to see you anymore, they pack up and go somewhere else. As the less privileged classes move into the inner city the wealthy people move to the suburbs; likewise, when the Unification Church is seen everywhere working so hard around New York City, the white people will want to leave. A new New York will be born when the old one moves away. Wherever you go you meet Moonies speaking on the streets, and on color TVs that are playing the Divine Principle cassettes. If New Yorkers leave because they don’t like it, the city will come alive anyway. There will be many vacancies and people from Europe will move into New York.</p>
|
||
<p>Don’t think that by doing this you are going to liberate the world. Instead, you must realize that you are the one who will be liberated. If you think you are saving them and they oppose you, then you won’t find so much meaning in doing this. But if when everyone is opposing you, you say, “I have to meet all this opposition because I need to be liberated,” then you won’t mind it so much because it is for your own benefit. In the future Unification Church members will be striving to win this recognition and liberation from the churches and the world.</p>
|
||
<p>Not only are people on earth fighting this war, but also those in the spirit world. They must join in all around us; you must have confidence in that. People from every country live in this city and as we go home-by-home and church-by-church to liberate the world, we are going to be liberated ourselves. There’s no city like New York in the world where in one limited area all the people of the world are represented. Clearly God has saved this city for the last days so that the Unification Church members could fight in this arena to liberate and to be liberated. New York holds the key to that.</p>
|
||
<p>What does “Hudson River” remind you of? “Hot sun” river. “River” rhymes with “revival”; “hot sun revival”. Once you come into contact with the hot sun you immediately feel it. Are you a hot sun? Of Satan or God? New York is now “old yoke”, so by three stages it has to become New new new York york york. Since this building’s name was “New Yorker,” which means one who belongs to New York, I feel good about the name. We will lead all the New Yorkers, and those who live in New York will lead all their neighbors.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you live in the New Yorker because there are convenient bathrooms? No, you live there so that you can become hot suns and restore all New Yorkers. Why do we eat every day? We are not like those who eat because they are accustomed to it, and we don’t sleep like those who assume they must have a certain amount of rest. All is for the sake of New Yorkers. The country needs me for this reason-to recover New York.</p>
|
||
<p>Out of all America, I chose to settle down in New York because all the elements of the world are here in a small area. When New York is convinced and sees the light, the entire world will see it at the same time. Of course, it has to be difficult; the whole world cannot be influenced easily. All the complications of the world center here, but once you straighten them out here, the impact will go around the entire world in no time at all.</p>
|
||
<p>You are going to receive recognition from this city and be liberated, and on that foundation will begin the liberation of the entire world. After this accomplishment is achieved in New York no more fighting will be needed because of the influence the world will receive. I believe that this is the last and best battleground of the Unification Church, and once liberation takes place here it will easily spread out to the world. Are you going to work with your own hands and win victory for yourself here?</p>
|
||
<p>Because of you, New York will be liberated and God will win and all the world will obtain victory thereafter. New York has an old financial problem which no one has any solution for, but if New York adopted the Unification Church way of living it would be solved in no time at all. Since New York employees got a raise in pay, other people will also claim they need a pay raise. How can the city ever manage? Radio City Music Hall could close very soon because its owners have run out of money. When I heard the news I sighed and thought, “Go ahead and close.” If Radio City Music Hall has to close, then very soon City Hall will follow.</p>
|
||
<p>“Koch” in Korean has the same pronunciation as “magpie,” while “Carter” means “pro and con.” Some say Carter is right and others say he is wrong, and he even-says both himself. Who can become the host or master of New York? You as the masters of religion are the masters of New York, and as such you have to work around the clock to make sure that New York will live.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">By liberating the world, you also can be liberated</h3>
|
||
<p>All human affairs can be reduced to simple terms: You come and go and eat and sleep and are happy or unhappy. Is anything left out? We come and go to do God’s work. We eat and sleep in order to do God’s work. How can we be happy and unhappy? When we do God’s work well we feel happy, and when things don’t go so well we feel unhappy. There are six kinds of human affairs then-come and go, eat and sleep, being happy and unhappy. All phases of man’s living are included in these. After you eat you go out and then you come back and sleep. While you are out you are either happy or unhappy. If you find a good person when you go out then you are fruitful and are happy; if you meet opposition and your work is not so fruitful that day then you are unhappy. Man’s affairs are not complicated really. We sleep and eat here in the New Yorker, and come and go from the New Yorker. If you are happy and unhappy you all bring it back here. For whom? For God.</p>
|
||
<p>If Unification Church members were asked, “Do you want to be liberated by New York?” what would the answer be? New York represents all countries, and being liberated on the level of this city is the same as being liberated by the world. This is the crux of what we are doing. All of mankind needs to be liberated, including ourselves.</p>
|
||
<p>If we have 3,000 members playing in brass bands all over the city, people will be curious and want to know what the noise is. They will be told that it is the Moonies parading, calling New Yorkers out to listen to them. Will they hide, or look and listen just out of curiosity? When they open the door and a nice parade goes by, would the people cheer or toss the paraders out? The number of band members is small compared to the world, but they are doing a world-sized job. What will happen to the world in the next 1,000 or even 10,000 years if we leave it alone to turn by itself?</p>
|
||
<p>Today is April 1, and that means that one quarter of this year is gone. I told you in January that 1978 is a very important year, and now that one fourth of it has passed, do you also want the remaining three fourths to pass as quickly? Do you feel that you have less and less time in this year? Soon there will be much rain, so when are we going to work hard? March, April and May are the best months for fighting and working hard.</p>
|
||
<p>The media has been doing senseless things in the past, but now the newspaper staffs may strike and the News World will be the only paper still in operation. News World will go on no matter what. The News World staff works the hardest and longest for the least amount of pay, and they should be the first ones to demonstrate. Why don’t they? Because it is not money that they are after. Everyone else lives for themselves, and the more money they have, the more they want. You are different. Everyone else is proud of themselves on ordinary days, but we are proud on emergency days.</p>
|
||
<p>Most people experience a false sense of peace here in this nation and are not even afraid of the communists because they don’t know what they are all about, but Unification Church members feel jittery about stopping communism before it develops too far. We are different. In the months of April and May, are we going to our best? For whom? For God, and for you to win your condition to be liberated. Wherever you go and work, restoration of the world takes place. If you are liberated in an individual way and if you live contrary to your past habits then you are liberated from the world and New York. Now the lower realms of spirit world will also let go of you rather easily, even though in the past it was impossible to shake loose from the spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>New York is the key to the liberation of everything, including yourself, God and the world. Each person should be intensely aware that he is in the arena of an unprecedented historic fight, and that no time in the future will be like this one. This is the time to restore the foundation of four positions and April is the fourth month. The media workers are planning to start their demonstration in April, and that is a sign that in the same month we must enlarge our advance on the world.</p>
|
||
<p>We are making a new resolution, representing the past, the present and the future, that we are going to fight this one war and win the victory. God will be right behind us as soon as we practice our new way of living. Let us pledge to heaven with both hands.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Home churches</h3>
|
||
<p>We will undertake home churches in numerous homes in each of your areas. Centering around the home churches we will branch out after June 1. For one person to start a home church is too difficult, so three people will get together for two months and after that each individual will have his own home church if he has worked hard in preparation. Beginning in August and September of this year I will let you go to your own areas and stay there. You are making the foundation now to live in your own home church after this year.</p>
|
||
<p>If you go out, you have to bring back at least one member as your replacement to live in the New Yorker as you have been doing. Here in the New Yorker we will train them in witnessing and in every good way. We can certainly accommodate more than 5,000 members at the New Yorker. If you work hard with dedication all throughout this year, then by June of next Year we will have 5,000 home churches and New York will come into the realm of liberation. We are going to carry this out and make sure the plan is fulfilled.</p>
|
||
<p>From September 1 on, you must try very hard to establish your own church, your own base where you will live. Shall we do this or forget about it? It is best that we do it. There is no way we can not do it. Whoever feels that they can’t or won’t do it, raise your hands and be dismissed from the beginning. Is everyone going to do this? If you carry this out with all of your might, good results will definitely come.</p>
|
||
<p>In the meantime I will be busy preparing a 20-hour video tape which you can use to give workshops by yourself. Every day you will be listening to the tape with the people and no matter how dull you think you may be, like a beancurd head, once you listen to it five or ten times you will be inspired yourself. After hearing Mr. Salonen giving the lectures you will know them by heart and you will be able to speak in unison with him and even anticipate his gestures. You don’t have to lecture yourself at first, but after awhile you won’t even have to play the video tape; after awhile you will be able to give the lectures on your own.</p>
|
||
<p>Because we were not strong, the many bad things the <i>New York Times</i> has said about us had a strong effect in the public mind, but once this plan is effectively put into action the <i>New York Times</i> will have nothing to say that will be effective. You all have trinities in your areas, don’t you? Three of you must get together after this and talk about plans. You will start out together initially and then spread out.</p>
|
||
<p>You can send a cassette tape to your parents and they will surely listen to it because they are always anxious to know what you are doing. Once they know that what their sons and daughters stand for is absolutely good and better than what other people are doing, then they will begin to defend you and have other people listen to the cassette as well, to evaluate it for themselves.</p>
|
||
<p>I will outfit vans and make mobile teams, assigning one team to five states. This team will visit your parents and give them lectures. You would do well to write your parents about what will be coming so that they can prepare. When that van comes to your neighborhood then all your relatives and neighbors will come in order to evaluate what you are doing. They will be especially interested in the movie about the 1800 couples. That was the world’s greatest mass wedding. Not only parents but brothers and sisters of marrying age want to know about that wedding. All this will certainly bring a good response and then your own home can become a home church.</p>
|
||
<p>If your parents are sensitive to religious understanding then they will start a home church themselves, and if they are interested you can send more materials to them. You can show regular movies of good quality as well as Church movies. We will get permission to tape the performances of famous artists-piano concerts, ballets and orchestras- which contribute to the public interest and we can show that along with our Church tapes.</p>
|
||
<p>When your parents become interested in having their own home church you will be able to show them how to do it because by then you will have experience. I always told you that you must restore your own clan. Everything grows in three stages. The formation stage will be your staying here in the World Mission Center. The growth stage will be your own home church, and then perfection stage will be going back to your homes to start home churches there. This is how your home church work is directly connected to yourself personally.</p>
|
||
<p>This is not just talk; it will definitely happen and it is not far away. On the first of June next year I will chase you back to your homes, with your tape recorders and video tape machines. If your parents are interested in having a home church before then, I will send an itinerary worker to help them out. Your family will not only have something to show the neighbors about what you are doing, but also films of the mass wedding and the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument Rallies, as well as regular movies and films of great performances. You may ask what will happen if all of you leave New York, but by then you will have brought strong members who will replace you. Our ultimate goal is to restore our own homes. So far, your parents have been hiding the fact that you are Moonies from their friends, but now they will begin to boast about how you stood up against opposition. In no time at all they will be boasting about you.</p>
|
||
<p>I think that if you are going back home you may as well not go by yourselves but as brides and grooms, so I will give a blessing at that time. If you are not going to your home then you don’t have to make effort, but if you want to go then you must do a good job here. If you don’t listen to me then people from Europe will be brought to do the job in your place. Without doubt someone will do it, so don’t think that it won’t happen if you don’t do it. Whoever wins the victory can then return to their homeland like a victorious Jacob. You want to go back home, but only victoriously, right?</p>
|
||
<p>This morning’s title is, “I Proclaim That I Know.” First you will be in New York Church, then you will establish a home church, and then you will go to your home town. You have two months to prepare, and then plan to go to your home churches and not stay any longer in the New Yorker. You must quickly send back a person to replace you. We will have much activity after that, parading through the city, holding rallies, even doing night activities to oppose evil things. New York will become the city of the Unification Church. Shall we do it or not?</p>
|
||
<p>So far what you have been doing is laying a general foundation. Now the people know about us and know that we are going to stay in one place for some time. You will prepare in the next year and two months to go back to your own homes, but each person must have a clear plan and carry it out. Heaven will help us. If for special reasons you cannot go to your own homes then bring your brothers and sisters here for a visit and send them back home in your place. There are no exceptions, not even for <i>News World</i> staff or Headquarters staff members. You must make a plan. By the time you accomplish all of that, America will probably not need you any more and then you will go out to the world. Who will support you financially when you do that? Your family and relatives will have confidence enough in what you are doing that they will help you. Then the people of the world will know which family supports its missionaries the best, and it will become a tradition handed down in world history.</p>
|
||
<p>By the time you go out to the world there will be nothing in your way, and you will harvest as much and as fast as you work. Eventually you will have to teach everyone, and how can that be done if not by you? You have to know exactly what is necessary and go through each step. Then you will know how I went and you can teach the same things to your followers. This is why you must do this mission now. There is no way to avoid it. Set a good example now and work your hardest. Once you establish a pattern here, your followers will pick it up later and carry on themselves, probably doing better than you!</p>
|
||
<p>This is a day of real hope. This is the first day of April and you will make a new resolution. Mobilize all of your faculties and your four major sense organs and become hot suns bringing revival. When you are physically tired and disheartened you can go watch the hot sun and talk to it, declaring, “I am going to learn from you.”</p>
|
||
<p>We will do that, not lingering, but swiftly moving. Are your five senses really open now? If you cannot even do as little as this then you will have to give up your religious life, and it won’t be necessary for me to trust you or New York. I will chase you out even if you can’t do it. Whether you are handsome or beautiful, capable or not simply doesn’t matter. If you clearly understand the objective and God’s situation then you can do it because it is to help you as well. You don’t have to have special knowledge or great accomplishments. If you can’t dedicate your heart to the task, what else can you do?</p>
|
||
<p>Let us stand up and make one resolution, pledging to God that we will do it. “We are now launching an all-out attack on New York starting April 1.” Let us pray.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1256 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1254" class="post-1254 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/16/resurrected-kingdom-of-god.html" title="Permalink to RESURRECTED KINGDOM OF GOD" rel="bookmark">RESURRECTED KINGDOM OF GOD</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-16T14:13:48+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/16/resurrected-kingdom-of-god.html" rel="bookmark">June 16, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-16T14:13:48+01:00">June 16, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">March 26, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>We all know that the people of the world are looking forward to a day of happiness and the ideal. I’m sure also that the world looks to America as some kind of heaven and many people dream of coming here to live an ideal life. But you know clearly that America is not yet heaven, that the American people also need a resurrected heaven and the achievement of the ideal.</p>
|
||
<p>When heaven is truly accomplished and fulfilled we surely won’t need any form of religion, but the Kingdom of Heaven remains as a goal for the future, and men find themselves still striving toward that goal every day. Then where can we find the Kingdom of Heaven? That is the real question. To make a long story short, it is religion that has been striving toward that one goal to fulfill the kingdom of God.</p>
|
||
<p>Three elements are essential in order to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven. There must be a sovereignty, a territory, and a people. Who is going to be the sovereign of that Kingdom of Heaven? God is the sovereign. It is common sense, then, that the people who will truly inherit God’s kingdom are the children of God, and that from generation to generation they are entitled to be the citizens of heaven. The eldest son of God’s family shall succeed to the kingship and receive the inheritance. Then all people together shall constitute the sovereign heavenly nation. Therefore, this sovereignty belongs not only to the eldest son but to everyone. It belongs to one family, which is all people. That kingdom is organized with the eldest son at the head of the rest of the children, making one harmonious family of man. That is the kingdom of God on earth.</p>
|
||
<p>Where is the territory of the kingdom of God? It is the entire globe, for God created the earth as His territory. The three essential elements, sovereignty, people and territory are all united together by one love centered upon God. When love unites them together they create the ideal kingdom of God on earth. The love we are talking about for that kingdom is not the love we talk about in the fallen world; it is true love with God as the center. Everywhere that love is extended will be under God’s umbrella and everything will blossom together. That love is absolute and will not be infiltrated by the fall; it is so pure and genuine that it has nothing to do with any fallen action.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Shim jung unites all elements of the universe</h3>
|
||
<p>The message today is “Resurrected Kingdom of God”. We need resurrection because we have not yet entered the ultimate Kingdom of Heaven. Why not? Because the fall of man prevented man from going there. The fall came to the family of Adam and Eve, who were the very basis and origin of human history; as a result they not only fell themselves but brought the fall to the tribe, nation, world and the entire ideal of the kingdom of God. Because of the fall of these two individuals the entire ideal of God has remained unfulfilled.</p>
|
||
<p>This world which was supposed to be the kingdom of God on earth fell into the dungeons of hell. How can we reach up to heaven from that position? What is the most essential problem? We have the earth and we have people, but what we lack is the love of God. The problem is actually very simple: how can we restore the love of God to this territory and to this people? This is the historical question which has been the focal point of restoration.</p>
|
||
<p>The heart of God represents not only God but all of mankind, as well as creation and the entire universe. Why does everything depend upon that one centralized point? Through the fall Adam and Eve not only destroyed their own hearts of love and the heart of all the creation, but also the very heart of God. Their link with the heart of God was severed and destroyed, and all of creation was affected by their fallen action as well. When Adam and Eve fell the creation was brought down with them. Further, because Adam and Eve were the forefathers of mankind, all mankind has been brought down by the fall. Because God lost man and all things, He also lost the ideal and lost perfection.</p>
|
||
<p>There is one heart, one mind, and one love that unites all three. When heart and mind are united together, we have what is described by the most significant word in our movement, “shim jung”. The literal translation of this word is “heart of God, heart of man”. When you say “heart”, love is always involved, so when we say shim jung, it means far more than just simply “heart”.</p>
|
||
<p>In this heart the three major elements of the universe join together–all of creation, all men and God. We commonly say that man must love all creation because there is a common heart between man and creation. People must love people, of course, and man must love God. When you love someone you move your heart toward that person, bringing your heart out toward that object of love. Even if the fall hadn’t taken place, the heart would need to be in the forefront, so in the fallen world how much more must we resurrect our hearts?</p>
|
||
<p>Do you think the mind or heart of God is always changeable, wavering several times during the day? If the mind of God is shifting, that means the love of God is also changeable. Do you have a wandering or a stable mind? In Korea we have an old saying: “The heart of man changes from morning till night, but the green of the mountains remains the same.” This illustrates how changeable man’s mind can be. Do you think that saying applies to Oriental people and not to Westerners? Truthfully, I find that the Western mind fluctuates even more often than the Oriental.</p>
|
||
<p>Marriage should be the unity of heart and mind, but in the Western world you marry in the morning and separate in the evening. This illustrates how changeable the Western mind is. A man and woman trying to join their minds and love together for eternity is what we call marriage. A marriage is the unity of two minds and two loves. Do you have confidence you can permanently unite your heart and love with your mate’s?</p>
|
||
<p>What is the purpose of marriage? Is it for men and women to live together? The purpose of marriage is the perfection of their minds and heart, the perfection of their love. Through marriage they can achieve that goal. When you declare to the world that you are married, you are actually declaring the initiation of your venture to perfect your mind and heart and love. When you die, you are supposed to have accomplished all that in your married life and be qualified to go to heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>A father and mother should be regarded by their children as representatives of God because through their parents children should see unchanging unity of mind, heart and love. Children should live in that atmosphere from morning till night, day after day, year after year. This unchanging quality is symbolized by parents; that’s why children think their parents are like God. In the ideal family, therefore, children always think, “I want to be like my daddy; I want to be like my mommy. I want to unite with my parents.” If that kind of spirit surrounds the family, it denotes the perfection of the home.</p>
|
||
<p>When men and women are growing up their most serious goal is to find their subject and object of love. They are pushing themselves together in that unity of heart, mind and love. Their ultimate goal, the goal of marriage, is to find the ideal object and unite in love and heart. That love, however, must represent or correspond to the love of God. When we talk about love, we are automatically talking about the love of God. Parents represent the total love of God and through them children see the total representation of the love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>This is the first time people have heard of such a goal. You know that what you are now listening to is historic. No one in history has ever heard this. Is it convincing? Would you like to have that as the goal of your life? Where is joy and happiness? When you enter into the realm of true love you enjoy total freedom, which means that you possess the world. In love, the world and universe are at your disposal.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Love is the bolt which can unite anything</h3>
|
||
<p>Every one of us has a certain nature which wants to enjoy total freedom. We want to have our own world where we can do anything. Once you become totally immersed in that perfected love, you will be able to enjoy total freedom. You can dance in joy, hit your head against the wall or fight with someone and still love will be there. Everything you do will automatically be a manifestation of that love. That is total freedom and we must seek that total perfection of love.</p>
|
||
<p>In today’s world people only think about having freedom while disregarding God and love, the most fundamental and important elements of freedom. That’s a crazy idea that will lead to disaster. Only based on true love can we enjoy freedom; without the love of God true freedom cannot exist. It’s an utterly impossible task to find freedom without having first attained the love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>What is the taste of love? Bitter or sweet or sour? Sometimes love is the most bitter, but when love is sweet, no other sweet things in the world can compete with it. Love can bring the utmost happiness and joy, but if it is misused it will bring disaster and the worst kind of tragedy. Do you think love changes form? Are the love of ancient peoples and the love of modern people different in content? If love were to change with each generation then there could be no perfection of love. I am using elementary school concepts to teach you of love and if we spend too much time on this level we will never get very far, but understanding love takes time.</p>
|
||
<p>The Kingdom of Heaven is very desirable because there we can have the unchanging love of God. Why is the unchanging love of God precious? Because once you own it you have total freedom. A bolt of the love of God can unite everything-God and man, man and woman, east and west. Whatever things you have, one bolt of the love of God will unite them. Whoever can be individuals of this love shall have the ideal. Even just thinking of it is exciting. It is not just a dream, however, but is actually achievable. When you achieve that goal, you can truly be intoxicated.</p>
|
||
<p>Love is unchangeable; that is its primary quality. The love that unites men and women into marriage cannot be changed. When love unites a family it becomes the focal point and that family can never be separated. It’s like glue. A superglue is being advertised now that is so strong that even a giant muscleman can’t unfasten it. The love of God is just like that, but even far stronger. Once God’s love is applied and two things are stuck together, it’s final. Those two things cannot be pulled apart by any temptation to fallen action.</p>
|
||
<p>Had the creation been united by the true love of God, it could never have been fragmented. Once you go into that world of love you simply cannot separate yourself from it. When you wear yellowtinted glasses, everything you see through them seems yellow until you remove your glasses. Love is the same. Once you come into the world of love, everything is love and you cannot help but see everything that way. If you looked at an Oriental man you would see his love before you would see that he was Oriental. Whether a man was Western or not wouldn’t matter. When you look through the glasses of love, you see only in love.</p>
|
||
<p>Today’s America has lost its dream. We talk about a dream but most young people don’t have a dream and they hardly ever talk about ideals. Those things seem to be all gone; the world has become tasteless. But we are going to initiate the movement which will unite the minds of men. The human mind operates the same whether one is white, yellow or black. The minds of people of each race are the same because they came from one origin. Even though the one origin manifests through five races, the mind is internal and is one mind.</p>
|
||
<p>How many minds do you have, one or two? There’s supposed to be only one mind, but nowadays people are so changeable that sometimes they have 1,000 minds. Nevertheless, men are looking forward to one unified world. Do you think it can be accomplished by 1,000 different minds? The American mind is one, the Mexican mind is another, and the Canadian mind is something else. Even a man’s mind wants one thing and a woman’s mind something else. How can they become one? It’s impossible. We have to research how to make a world of one mind, one thought, and one direction.</p>
|
||
<p>No matter how big the universe may be, all lines will go through the central point and be united there. The present world, however, is like a world without a center, with everyone blowing around all over the place without an anchor. This universe has no anchor. People aren’t that bad, but what they need is a coordinating center so that they can unite with and anchor themselves to something permanent, which is the love of God. Then everything can relate to the center. Everyone has all the necessary qualities and ingredients within themselves, but those qualities will never become fruitful or manifest in perfection until they are anchored to the center.</p>
|
||
<p>Then what is the purpose of religion and what is the Unification Church trying to do? The purpose of religion is to build the Kingdom of God on earth, and to do that we must unite heart and love. That unity of mind and love corresponds to the unity of all things of creation, mankind and God. God is the center, of course, so we must find that heart and unity as the common joining point.</p>
|
||
<p>Love doesn’t just automatically emerge; it needs a warm-up period. First of all we must put our minds together and then a united love will follow. The mind is like an antenna that will feel out and create the proper atmosphere. The mind goes first. The mind is the meeting point of the eyes, nose, and mouth, the “advance party” of love. The mind goes first and then sends back a communication to love, saying, “Everything is all clear. Now you can come.” Then love, like a king or queen, regally responds, “Yes, I’ll come now.” That’s the way it should be.</p>
|
||
<p>Whenever a head of state travels, an advance party is sent ahead to ensure security. Then they send a message back, “Now you can come.” Love is a far greater sovereign than the United States’ president. Love is the true sovereign of the universe, so when love travels some advance party should check ahead. Wherever the mind goes, love can follow</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">We are trying to join our minds in a MIND world</h3>
|
||
<p>If you visit a home where there are united minds and united loves then you have seen the Kingdom of Heaven in that home. In the true heaven white and black are joined together. In today’s world that might seem to be an impossible family, but if they are united somehow with perfected mind and love, they will create a most beautiful home. In that beauty you will find the Kingdom of Heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>In another home a white couple might be united in one mind, but when you compare the two, which one is more exciting, more stimulating? Black people alone might have heaven on the family level, but when you have black and white together making up the ideal home, they not only create heaven on the home level but also on the worldwide level. They see the vision on the universal level and can thrust themselves into it.</p>
|
||
<p>We come to the conclusion that the more exciting and stimulating heaven can be found where there are more interracial marriages. That is the key. Then let me ask the ladies: do you want an interracial marriage? Most Americans cannot abide a marriage between black and white, so how can you claim to want an interracial marriage?</p>
|
||
<p>I say harsh things to you, but you must realize that many American women are the cause of the destruction of the American family. Some older women may not like to hear that, but it’s the truth. Two thirds of the divorces here in America are instigated by women. A woman made the trouble in the garden of Eden and now you make more trouble! But we men need this creature. Without women we cannot get by.</p>
|
||
<p>What can we do? There is only one solution. Women are like patients who need treatment. Religious leaders are like doctors, but is there one who can treat American women? What about scholars and professors, can they take care of American women? God will say, “Well, I tried this doctor and that educated man and it didn’t work. Reverend Moon, will you take care of it?”</p>
|
||
<p>Is it shocking to you when I say a white girl might have a black husband? Indeed I am causing controversy in one way or another. Americans have never seen a man like me because what I am trying to do is very unusual. It is not America’s way but God’s way. I am a very fearful person because I have a very decisive way of life.</p>
|
||
<p>The Unification Church courses are not going to be easy; they are going to be difficult, painful and very harsh ordeals. Would you protest to your teacher like the average student, “You give tests that are too hard. Can’t you make the problems a little easier?” You have to go the tough road because you have not overcome indemnity and sacrifice yet.</p>
|
||
<p>This road will be so tough that even Satan can’t follow and will give up. For 6,000 years Satan has been scheming to destroy God’s kingdom, and now he must say, “This is the first time I ever had to surrender. I just cannot go any further. These Unification Church members are tough. If I say 1 will give them a good husband or wife, they will say, ‘No, God will give one to me. Don’t bother me.’ I cannot deal with these young people any more.” We are going this tough way because we would like to invite Satan to go this way. But he will protest, “Oh no! Leave me alone!” It’s all logical. We have to be logical.</p>
|
||
<p>The important thing is this: get tough. This body will get tough under hardship, but the further you go, the more your mind will feel free and exhilarated. Your mind will just burst with laughter. As your body becomes tougher, your mind becomes freer. The more your body goes down, the more your mind goes up.</p>
|
||
<p>Does God contain some contradiction? Is it because God made a mistake that the mind can’t be happy? Is there something wrong with God? No, this body became a prison because of the fall. Without knowing this fundamental cause of human difficulty, man has tried to somehow justify human struggle by saying that struggle is essential to development. Only religion has declared the truth, that all the evils of the world came from the fall of man. The world was not supposed to live in hardship and struggle. Mind and body together were supposed to rejoice over one love. Only because of the fall of man did this situation occur. Religion gives a clear explanation.</p>
|
||
<p>When the mind of a child travels in a straight path toward his parents, we call it filial piety. A true husband and wife each have a straight mind toward each other. A straight mind toward the nation is what we call patriotism. A straight mind toward God is what we call sainthood. Even though events may force you to give up your life, nothing can change such a mind.</p>
|
||
<p>Life in the Unification Church is the training session in which we are trying to bring all minds to one parallel level, where being an American or Oriental makes no difference. We are trying to join our minds into a one-mind world. When we have the same mind, then there is no struggle or conflict, even between Western and Oriental. When you see everything through my mind, Orientals and Westerners don’t look different; they are the same. You look at me with the same point of view and don’t think of me as Oriental. There is no different understanding here because being Korean, American or Japanese makes no difference.</p>
|
||
<p>Because I am Korean and Oriental, do I want to shield just the Japanese members and push the American members? Is that my way of life? You see the opposite instead. Because I come from the Orient I will say to the Koreans, “You set the example. You Japanese set the example,” and will push them out further. That’s my philosophy because God works in that fashion. God always makes those closer to Him the sacrifices for the satanic world.</p>
|
||
<p>Regardless of nationality or race, Unification Church members are pursuing the goal of one race and one mind. We are not talking about this way and that way, mulling it over in confusion and chaos.</p>
|
||
<p>No, we have one direction, one mind. In the rest of the world people live differently every day, today like this, tomorrow like that, but when you become a Moonie you look at one goal and one direction. People say we are brainwashed because we go in only one direction toward one goal, but if this is making you into an ideal man, is it a good thing or a bad thing? There is no hope for this achievement in the rest of the world, but we have hope and a clear direction and goal.</p>
|
||
<p>Even though Americans criticize me, I know I have succeeded here in America since every day your minds are becoming more like God’s. Then why is there so much opposition and persecution? It is because of jealousy. Suddenly a man from Korea has come and extraordinary things are happening. If I were a white man, I’m sure that already we would have a larger following and people would be trying to make me a hero. Even if I had an ugly face, if I were white then Americans would look upon me as one of them and accept me. That doesn’t make sense, however. Is true gold only that which is dug up in American soil? Is the gold dug up in Africa or Asia somehow different? Gold is gold everywhere. America doesn’t produce diamonds and America knows that the diamonds from black Africa are best. Then why can’t heavenly diamonds come from Asia, from Korea?</p>
|
||
<p>Mother and I have a covenant. Mother’s delivery date is getting nearer and she is getting heavier every day. I said, “Mother, come with me and be with the members for one hour and then you can go.” Today Mother has already stayed one hour and a half. Shall we go too? Should I stop? You say no; by the democratic principle I have to follow the majority rule, don’t 1?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Heartle</h3>
|
||
<p>You must know this concept very clearly-we must make the mind unite into oneness. The mind is like an advance party of love. Wherever the mind is united the love of God is always dwelling. I would like to create a new English word that represents shim jung because the American language doesn’t have shim jung yet. I want to create a new word representing heart and love so I borrowed one from love.</p>
|
||
<p>In Korean the “tul” sound means some mode of transportation; for instance, in Korean we call an airplane “nul tul”. I have been experimenting and I have decided upon “heartle” When we say “heartle”, people outside our Church will say, “What are you talking about?” They understand heart, but among us we understand something deeper that means heart and love together. The adjective form should be heartlistic. We’ve been using the word heartistic in Unification Church terminology, such as a heartistic relationship, but now I am inventing a new word, so it’s going to be heartlistic.</p>
|
||
<p>God’s mind and God’s heart are God’s heartle. Fallen man has a fallen mind and fallen heartle. The fallen mind has no anchor and just drifts anywhere it wants, and fallen love also lacks an anchor or center. In this fallen mind and love I would like to plant true love, true heartle, starting from a small base and getting larger and larger. In order to achieve this new revolution in the fallen world heavenly martial law must be instituted in which everyone must obey his mind and subjugate his body. It is because the world of mind is God’s front line while the world of the flesh is Satan’s front line. There you can see the boundary of heaven and hell.</p>
|
||
<p>Under the heavenly revolution the mandate for the mind is to occupy the physical territory of the flesh absolutely. The mind must penetrate the physical world and never let go. Even if someone cuts your head off, your mind will say, “I will never change.” This is the kind of discipline God wants to establish and that is the entire focus of the religious world.</p>
|
||
<p>There is always betrayal in the physical world of politics, economics and so forth. The religious world suffers betrayals too, but in that world there have been a greater number of martyrs, more people who have gone forward with a straight mind even when it meant losing their lives. That has been the tradition. If a great disaster came to the Unification Church and people threatened you with death unless you recanted your faith, what would you say? Would you quickly pack, saying, “Give me a few minutes and let me run away”? Your report card has not been given to you yet. You will never know what kind of grades you have until after you go to spirit world, so how do you know whether you are better than someone like Peter?</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes you don’t like the word “Moonie”, do you? Some day fate may put you in a position to give up your life in order to keep your faith. What would you do? Your answer comes very easily, but can you really do it? What would you do if the ultimate moment came even before your blessing? Would you say, “Leave me alone; I need to get blessed”? You would not? This is really a funny, amazing group gathered together here. Do I force you to be like that, or is your answer voluntary? You can voluntarily become strong men and women of faith because the truth has made you free. We have freedom because the truth really liberated us.</p>
|
||
<p>We know the true man, family, society, nation and world all through the truth. Through the truth we rediscovered all of these things. All men are destined to be searchers for the truth. Although you searched, you couldn’t find any better truth. Some Unification Church members become so tired that they leave and try to find something greater, but they can’t find it so they have to come back again. You have to come to the truth.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The sacrifices of each era in restoration</h3>
|
||
<p>There are three stages to reach heaven. The first stage is the period of the Old Testament era, then the New Testament era, then the Completed Testament era. Of course, the entire dispensation has but one common goal, one heart and one love: All things of creation, man and God must be united into one love.</p>
|
||
<p>What is the dispensation of the Old Testament era? In the Old Testament era man had to unite with the offering of a sacrifice. The reason for this is that the realm of all creation is under the domination of Satan. Originally all things of creation were supposed to belong to perfected true man and through man belong to God. Man was to dominate all things, but because of the fall all things went into the hands of Satan. Therefore, good and evil must be separated and for this reason an offering was cut in two. This meant that making the sacrifice necessitated bloodshed. Satan’s false blood has been flowing within men’s bodies. Strictly speaking, man should be divided as the offering, but that cannot be done. Therefore, animals were offered as a sacrifice and shed blood in the place of men.</p>
|
||
<p>For an animal to give up its life for the sake of men demonstrates total obedience. Which animal is most obedient and loyal? The first one which comes to mind is the lamb. When the lamb’s wool is taken it submits with no resistance, and when the master comes with a knife to cut the lamb’s throat, it will not frantically run away but receive the knife, cry out once and die. The lamb is symbolic of obedience.</p>
|
||
<p>The cow, or heifer, is the symbol of giving and sacrifice. The cow gives its skin, meat and bones- everything-to the service of man. The cow is born to give itself in service. Another significant animal is the dove. One symbolic feature of doves is that they always move in pairs. The dove is the harbinger of spring and is very sensitive to love. It represents the new season more than any other bird.</p>
|
||
<p>These animals represent three essential things: the lamb, total obedience; the cow or heifer, tote] sacrifice; and the dove, total love. Because of the fall, the position of man and all things has been reversed. Man sank lower than all things of creation and in order to reach God man has to go through all things of creation. By offering these three animals to God man is symbolically pledging to God that just like the lamb he wants to be totally obedient; just like the heifer he will be a total sacrifice for God, and like a dove he will have total love for Him. Man’s pledge and covenant with God is the meaning of the offering. An offering from the mineral world should be a mineral like gold, that will last a long, long time and will not tarnish or change. We would like to show ourselves as having the same unchanging quality.</p>
|
||
<p>Most of today’s religious leaders and scholars don’t know why God asked the people in the Old Testament era to make such offerings. The Unification Church has a clear explanation, however; the offering is a showdown between Satan and God, so that when man in the central position makes the proper offering, the ownership of all things returns to God. When man makes an impure offering, the ownership remains with Satan. In other words, if an offering is given in an improper frame of mind, all things remain in the satanic world, for Satan would not acknowledge that offering as a heavenly one. The external act of separation means dividing the offering into two parts representing good and evil.</p>
|
||
<p>The ultimate purpose in offering the things of creation is to restore man. After man is restored we can restore heartle, heart and love. The offerings of the Old Testament era were intended to restore man, but after man is restored then God is looking forward to restoring heartle. I want you to understand that the resurrected kingdom of God is the same as the restored kingdom of God. Resurrection is synonymous with restoration. Erection of the resurrected realm from the family level, national level, worldwide level and then heaven all are steps toward the one simple goal-that is, the heartlistic world, the world of heart and love.</p>
|
||
<p>From this most intricate method of restoration God wants to advance into a newer, more simplistic form of restoration, the dawn of the new age. The age has come when the offering of animals does not matter; what matters is man himself. In the new method God would be sending a heavenly example or prototype of God-centered man. All the world is occupied by Satan-centered men and God wants to send a God-centered individual as an example whom everyone can imitate. This world is controlled by Satan but within this world God is nurturing an orchard which He controls. That is the calling of the chosen people.</p>
|
||
<p>The word “Israel” means “he who is victorious”, referring to those who are victorious in faith over Satan. The chosen people of Israel were the orchard God tended for two thousand years. Then among them God sent one pure example of a true man, the Messiah. That was Jesus.</p>
|
||
<p>Jesus drew an analogy about men, using wild olive trees and the true olive tree. God created the orchard of His own wild olive trees and then sent the true olive tree, which is Jesus. From that time on all people, as wild olive trees, should have grafted themselves into the true olive tree, becoming true olive trees themselves. That is the dispensation.</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose the branches of a new, heavenly olive tree are grafted onto a wild olive tree which is 1,000 years old. Because the root is 1,000 years old, the new olive tree will grow from a l,000-year-old foundation. The foundation will remain but with new life grafted onto it. That new life will quickly grow but still enjoy the l,000-year-old tradition.</p>
|
||
<p>The Old Testament is the era of offering animals, but the New Testament era, when the Messiah comes, is the era of offering man himself. By the crucifixion, God Himself as the priest offered His only son, Jesus, on the universal altar for the sake of mankind. That was the meaning of the crucifixion. All individuals who unite with the priest and the sacrifice shall be claimed in the heavenly position and become heavenly people. Those who do not recognize it will remain in the satanic realm</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Total obedience, total sacrifice, total love</h3>
|
||
<p>Sacrifice is needed on the individual level, family level, tribal level, national level and worldwide level. For 2,000 years after the crucifixion Israel was a sacrifice as a nation for the sake of the world. This is why Israel lost its nationhood and why Jewish people all over the world have suffered. They are the sacrifice. Furthermore, Christianity has also been a sacrifice for the sake of the world and the ultimate restoration. Christianity has seen much martyrdom and bloodshed, which was an offering on the universal level, a continuing symbol of the crucifixion.</p>
|
||
<p>The same principle that persisted in the Old Testament era was elevated and perfected in the New Testament era. That formula of total obedience, total sacrifice and total love applies to Jesus also. Was Jesus totally obedient to God? Yes. Was Jesus a total sacrifice? Jesus died for all mankind and even his enemies. On the cross he prayed to God to forgive them because they didn’t know what they were doing. Jesus prayed even for the sake of the Roman soldier who pierced his side and let him die. We see that Jesus truly died for the sake of all mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>Jesus was lacking only in that he could not leave descendants who also exemplified perfected love. He did not have a chance to fulfill the level of love that God wanted, which is that of a husband and wife and a family. Like the doves, love is always seen in pairs, the bridegroom and bride. Christianity is looking forward to communion with the Lord in mid-air, almost like a flying dove, which is a fantastic thing. What God wants is a realistic world and realistic love fulfilled in pairs here on earth. In order to do that do you think that Jesus should return on the clouds of heaven? That would be an absolutely impossible achievement. Still, Christians are looking up at the blue sky and awaiting that day. They will never see it.</p>
|
||
<p>God wants to say to them, “You don’t have to look up at the blue sky. Nothing will happen there. Look around you.” This unrealistic belief is the reason Christianity has no power. That’s why the resounding word of the new truth of God is only found here on earth, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” For what shall we repent? We shall repent to receive total obedience, total sacrifice and the total love for God. We shall “kill,’ ourselves or deny ourselves and bring ourselves down to repentance to receive these qualities.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you in a position of total obedience? Total sacrifice? Do you ever complain? I must live the same principle as well. Do I ask one thing of you and do something else myself? No, there is one criterion by which we must all live. There must be one universal, unchanging formula or rule by which God will judge each individual. This standard is what sends one person to hell and another to heaven. This is not my device or theology; this is the formula of heaven and it will solve the crisis of the universe.</p>
|
||
<p>Today’s religious leaders preach without knowing anything about this. They are in pitch darkness yet they still have the guts to say that the Unification Church is heretical! No matter what they say or how much they want to destroy me, they will not succeed. When truth and falsehood clash, the genuine part and that which is untruthful will become clearly discernible, and the falseness will burn away while the genuine will remain. Our critics think that the Unification Church should be put in a great furnace. What shall the remnant be? The tough, genuine, pure element of the Unification Church shall remain. Do you think you have that something which will remain forever, no matter how much heat burns you? Should I make you an element that will burn away in the furnace or a shining, surviving element? You shall become a heavenly remnant.</p>
|
||
<p>Our outstanding characteristic is toughness. Nothing can tarnish us, regardless of what the New York Times says. They portray the Unification Church as the trash of the universe, but God looks at the Unification Church as a jewel, the diamond of the universe. Because everyone tends to steal diamonds, God wraps His diamonds up in rags so He won’t lose them. The Moonies are disguised by a poor image, but inside are shining diamonds. The egoistic, self-centered people who come to this Church cannot remain. Can self-righteous people survive here? No, only God’s fools will survive, those who have total obedience, total sacrifice and total love. Those who are the fools shall become the remnant.</p>
|
||
<p>Is receiving persecution a good or bad thing? Unless we are hardened by persecution, when the day of rejoicing comes to heaven we will not be part of it. All the great people will take their seats but we will never be involved. However, since God wants us to be there, He devised a special eliminating process by which all the self-righteous persons will be weeded out</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Ours is the cross of heartle, the test of love</h3>
|
||
<p>What is our asset; what is our power? Our asset and power are hope and the guarantee of the future. No matter what the U.S. Congress says about me, I have hope and a vision of the future. The antagonism from the U.S. Congress is just another one of many instances of persecution that have happened throughout my entire life.</p>
|
||
<p>The history of Christianity is a history of sacrifice and chastisement of the body. In this manner Christianity laid the foundation that Satan cannot overtake. Satan has been hounding Christians but their true tradition is so high that Satan could never quite dominate them. Christianity has one more step to go, however, the realm of heartle. The heartlistic tic world, the world of God’s original hope, shall remain. The Unification Church has gone beyond the level of Christianity. We graduated from Christianity a long time ago and are in a new era, the Completed Testament era.</p>
|
||
<p>In the Unification Church our cross is the cross of heartle, the test of love, and we know that we must love that which is impossible for us to love. Some might think they simply could not love a black man. Then God will require them to love a black man. Another might say, “I could never live with the Oriental people. They are impossible.” Then God will say, “That’s the cross you must bear. Go ahead and love Oriental people.” That’s the kind of test the Unification Church is going through, the test of love, far the creation of the world of heart and love.</p>
|
||
<p>I came to America to bear the heartle cross. Why have I been here? I don’t have to deal with these impossible white people and impossible black people who have an entirely different cultural background and language from my own. It’s an impossible world I have come to, trying to make harmony. It’s an impossible cross I am bearing. I could go the easier course and return to Korea where I know the culture and can speak the language, but that is not the way God asked me to live. I came to a strange world and live with strange people. I shed tears to bear this heartle cross. I organized many international marriages as a foundation for that ideal, and when problems inevitably arise everyone points an accusing finger at me. All the problems and responsibility come to me.</p>
|
||
<p>Conquering the world by force and creating one unified empire at gunpoint is not easy, but what I am trying to do is to harmoniously bind the five colors of skin together with love. Is that easier? Do you believe in the possibility that we will win? Why should we do it? You might say, “I must do it because I pity God. He is a poor fellow. I want to comfort Father and God so I will do it.” Do you have that sympathy? God prepared and hand-picked you of the Unification Church to make a tightly knit family. When you pray, God says, “You must listen to your Father,” for trying to unite you and me is God’s work.</p>
|
||
<p>The archangel brought Eve to hell, and now there are countless physical archangels trying to bring you down to hell. No matter what appearance a person might have, if you know that he is trying to bring you into heaven rather than letting you go down into hell, that person is far greater and more precious than the archangel. He is more precious than anything else in the sight of God.</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose you have a choice between an archangel-type white man trying to bring you down to hell and an ugly black man who can lead you into heaven. What is your choice going to be? Who am I then? I am bearing the cross, the heartlistic cross for the sake of the world. I sometimes think I would like to have some white man take my place, but then I think that no white man could take my place because no one would last more than one week in this difficult life. Particularly no individualistically trained American could last even one week.</p>
|
||
<p>When I hear the word “American”, it sounds like “empty can”. That’s the impression 1 get. Empty, no substance. Sometimes it sounds like “merry can”. It is all right to be happy cans, but don’t overdo it. No one prefers canned food to fresh, genuine food. American people don’t like to hear me speak like this, but you are patients, and your doctor must make the correct diagnosis. When you have cancer the doctor should tell you. The doctor must be very honest and tell the truth.</p>
|
||
<p>Our way of life is the cross of heartle, and heartle is nothing but obedience like a lamb and sacrifice like a cow and total love like a dove. Even though there are many married couples in Korea, Japan and America, when I declare an emergency and the martial law of heaven then it’s good-bye wife, good-bye husband, and each must run to the front line. The people in the every day world can’t conceive of such a thing happening. We bear the cross of love. My wife’s love is important, but for the sake of God it is secondary. First 1 am the front line soldier of heaven. That’s the way I live my life.</p>
|
||
<p>I bore many different crosses for the sake of the family, the nation and for the sake of God. Some people have tried to use that as a point to attack me, but nothing comes ahead of God. There is nothing I cannot give up for the sake of God. Many people regard me as a crazy man. At first glimpse it seems that I am doing all kinds of destructive things, dividing families, societies, nations and the world, but we cannot just reuse the old things over and over. We have to rebuild by breaking the old ways down and reshaping them with new concrete and heavenly steel beams. At first it may look like destruction, but in order to make a new structure you first have to level the old site.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Do you know why I picked Mother as my bride?</h3>
|
||
<p>You may say, “Father, you married a Korean lady, didn’t you?” Is Mother an ugly woman or a beautiful woman? One thing is sure. Mother is probably the loneliest person under the sun. Her history has been an incredibly lonely path, but that was her destiny. She had to be like that. Now she has become</p>
|
||
<p>a mother and has a respected position and she looks like a tremendously fortunate person, but until she reached that point she was a most miserable, lonely person.</p>
|
||
<p>When I was looking for my dispensational bride in Korea, all the members of the Church felt I must be looking for some well-educated college graduate, a good-looking woman with social standing, and they never imagined that Mother would be chosen. Do you know how old Mother was when she became a bride? By the American way of calculating she was 17, and by the Korean way she was 18. That was an impossible age for anyone to get married in Korea.</p>
|
||
<p>Mother was like a little girl and didn’t know anything about the world of men or about love. I was forty at that time and planning for the universal mission, the worldwide mission. Common sense would say that there must be some person more qualified than Mother, but I chose a young innocent girl.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you think I picked Mother because she was the only candidate? No, there were numerous candidates who were well-qualified and they were all competing with each other to become my bride. They had all learned the Principle and knew what my position was and what my wife’s position would be, so you can imagine the competition. Some families thought their daughter would be the candidate because they had good social standing and she was well-educated, with beautiful social training and charm. But I said to one after another, “No, no, no.” Then all of a sudden I picked Mother.</p>
|
||
<p>The entire Korean Church was shocked. I was destined to make many unusual matches in the future so I wanted one for myself too. Mother was the only daughter of her mother and she had no brothers and no father at that time. With something lacking in her family situation she was a lonely person. It was a combination similar to a Harvard Ph.D. marrying a humble black girl. Do you think I did the right thing?</p>
|
||
<p>I wanted to dramatize my own marriage, showing the example for the future. Mother was put in that difficult position at such a young age, being trained to be totally obedient and to totally sacrifice for the sake of her husband. The condition was that she be totally obedient and sacrificial for her husband, giving total love. If she had had everything in life and a big family, she could very easily have become arrogant. But she could not say that her father or her elder brother were better than her husband. She could not even consider any comparison. She could not think that any man, whether her grandfather or any teacher or professor, was better than her husband. In the garden of Eden Eve had only one choice. There were no other men around and she was to focus on just one man, Adam. This is why I picked an innocent young lady like Mother.</p>
|
||
<p>Before I was a husband to her I was a father to her and also an elder brother to her. That was for restoration. Eve should be restored in that sequence. She lost God, her Father, so she must first be restored to God and her father. Adam was supposed to be her elder brother when they were growing up, so next she must be restored to her brother, then to her husband.</p>
|
||
<p>I wasn’t looking for a worldly woman. In order to accomplish the perfect pattern and God’s formula I picked an innocent young lady, aged 17, to be father, elder brother and then husband to her. I taught her the tradition of total obedience, total sacrifice and total love. I walked that road myself and she was to walk it as well. I educated Mother on three levels: as a father, as an elder brother and ultimately as a husband. By restoring what Eve lost in the garden of Eden I could restore everything at once through one person.</p>
|
||
<p>There are many crosses of love. The Mother you see today has experienced a lot of pain. She met many tests and tribulations and had to overcome each step of the way. I was sometimes very ruthless and cruel in testing Mother. One day I would be kind and loving but the next day be ice cold and like a tyrant to her. She would cry for many hours. After the blessing we lived like separate persons for almost three years, not even in the same house. She couldn’t even come to me freely.</p>
|
||
<p>Not only did I treat her harshly but I gave similar treatment to Mother’s mother. She was given strict orders not to enter through the front door for three years. I said, “As the mother of the bride, you must not tell your daughter that she is to be pitied and that you wish she never had this position. Don’t ever speak like that. If you do that you are committing a tremendous crime, not only to yourself but to all women on the same level in spirit world.” I was so severe all throughout those years that even now Grandmother Hong is very reserved and hesitant about coming before me.</p>
|
||
<p>You can imagine how for the first three years there were all kinds of jealousies among the Church women over Mother. Many candidates were suddenly eliminated, and they felt that the one chosen was not capable and had no qualification for her role. Everyone talked about Mother having this deficiency and that deficiency, and how her first child was a girl and not a boy. During the first three years there was all kinds of gossip. Some even said that Mother was only in the John the Baptist position and that a real bride was yet to come. Can you imagine the intense jealousy of love there? All of that was within the strategy I mapped out for those three years. When people felt intensely jealous, I was strict with Mother and Mother’s mother about giving total obedience, total sacrifice and total love, and they did that for three years. After those three years everyone bowed down to Mother, “Yes, Father’s choice was right and Mother and Mother’s mother must be respected. They are genuinely the heavenly central family.” They were given open recognition after three years.</p>
|
||
<p>I bore invisible crosses of love, the heartle cross. After I came to the United States for the world dispensation, I felt that if I had come to America at the age of forty, I would have selected a black girl for my bride. That would have been my thinking. If I had some hesitation about receiving a black bride, God would not have permitted me to marry. Restoration would have had to start out again from the bottom.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">International couples are the flag-bearers<br />
|
||
on the family level</h3>
|
||
<p>Do you know what kind of cross we have to bear in the Unification Church? The cross of heart and love. You can see that I have a tremendous burden upon my shoulders. I have to take care of all of the members of all different nationalities and colors of skin. There will be more blessings and there should be more international and interracial matches. All kinds of headaches are bound to occur which will boomerang back to me. People don’t praise me for the good things, but if something unfavorable happens they are ready to accuse me. Do you want me to retire and not bother you anymore? Or would you want to cooperate with and obey me? If you wholeheartedly respond and cooperate with me, my job will get easier.</p>
|
||
<p>Why do you marry? This is an important thing for you to understand. Marry for the sake of God and humanity, not for yourself. Mother is now a mature Mother, disciplined and trained in every way, but it was different when I was forty and thinking about the universal problems, discussing them with a 17-year-old girl. What a mismatched team that was! But I persevered and was patient and now it is all fulfilled. God created Adam first and Eve after Adam. In the same pattern, God hand-picked me for the mission as His instrument and then I recreated Eve. It was the same process as the first creation. Is it the Principle?</p>
|
||
<p>You are no exception. We all live the Principle. Can you pledge to God and True Parents that you can bear any kind of cross of heart and love? If you want to love the impossible person for God and humanity and go that way of life, raise your hands please. Thank you. That is our destiny. You cannot avoid that destiny.</p>
|
||
<p>Those couples now and in the future who will marry internationally will have done one thing I didn’t do. Those couples are in a special privileged class. I always think that when I go to another country I want to be the guest of some blessed couple in a heavenly home and will always look for the international couples first. Wherever I go in the world I will knock on the doors of international couples so those marriages will have some added blessing from heaven. Good sons and daughters will be born to them, but of course they have to pass heaven’s test; it’s not good if they fight from morning to night. They may not even speak the same language, but if they truly unite in love then God will nod twice, more than usual.</p>
|
||
<p>Those who are already married internationally are the flag-bearers for the heartle cross on the family level. They are bearing an additional burden. It’s not easy to live with someone strange and foreign. They are bearing the extra burden for God and humanity. They are committing themselves to an extraordinary cause. The time will come when those international couples will be given extra admiration and love. The sooner that time comes. the sooner we will fulfill the Kingdom of God here on earth.</p>
|
||
<p>Trying to create one mind between two people is not easy, but trying to make one love between two strangers is really difficult. For two extremes to come together is a virtually impossible task, but I am asking for that to be fulfilled. Such people are truly heroes and heroines. In my lifetime here on earth I must fulfill that unity of love from two extremes. Otherwise, I will not be able to raise my head before God in the spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>Here in New York City when you go out knocking on doors you receive all kinds of persecution and scorn. Primarily white people are nasty to you, yet take it regardless. The greater the white persecution that comes, the greater your love will be toward black brothers and sisters. White members should know that this is the heavenly strategy. It is God’s strategy to have more white people come against me because by doing so it generates a universal feeling, enabling us to quickly go beyond race and not even feel any national boundaries between us.</p>
|
||
<p>It’s quite evident that more black people and other minorities like the Spanish and Puerto Ricans are supporting me. The white support is far less. This is not because God is taking any revenge against the white people. It is merely heavenly strategy. If white people supported me fully, the Unification Church would become a white-oriented group and slow us down in our goal of racial unity. I don’t want that. Having white people on the lower level will inspire unity on a greater level more quickly. We should be an international. integrated movement. You white members should prepare yourselves for that.</p>
|
||
<p>When you go out fund raising, which people are more nasty and negative to you? You must be thankful to the Unification Church for that experience of being persecuted by your own race. Some time you might think, “God, why can’t You bring down fire and brimstone and burn all the white people up? Why can’t You show some of Your wrath?” The answer is that because of you God will not do that. You need those negative white people to make you a saint. As white people become smarter they will recognize the heavenly strategy and perhaps decide they should not persecute Reverend Moon because it will only help him. That will be all right too. I don’t mind being accepted by the white People.</p>
|
||
<p>The persecution of the established white society coming against me is heavenly strategy in another way, too. The children of negative parents will say, “We must study Reverend Moon; he must really be some guy!” The children will be stimulated by their parents negativity and think, “If Reverend Moon is really that bad he must be knocked out, but if he is good then we must find out.” The intensity of young people’s interest in me is mounting and that is good. The time will come when these young people will all line up at the door of the Unification Church and knock, saying, “Please accept me.”</p>
|
||
<p>More attention will be generated by persecution and negativity, particularly among the young people. One way or the other, we cannot lose. Isn’t it great? The children will be attracted by the parent’s negativity, but the parents cannot be too negative once their children join. Then the children will invite their parents to come. There is no way to lose.</p>
|
||
<p>Satan is listening to this sermon this morning as well as you. Inside he feels “I wish Reverend Moon wouldn’t talk like that. He reveals all of our weaknesses and vulnerability and we just cannot cope with him.” Satan must think, “Let’s not persecute Reverend Moon any more.” Then I will say, “That’s all right too. I don’t mind. Persecution is fine and no persecution is fine too.” Either way we will smile. No one can make us mad. Are you like that? Logically we understand why the persecution comes and how it will help, so we aren’t irritated by persecution. It is our daily diet. Wonderful.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">We are going to be the personification<br />
|
||
of the living love of God</h3>
|
||
<p>The heartle cross is the ultimate cross, worse than the cross of Calvary, worse than the sacrifices of the Old Testament era. We are bearing the worst kind of cross. The Old Testament era is the era of the physical body. The New Testament era is the era of mind or heart, and the Completed Testament era is the era of heartle. These are the three levels. In our own lifetime we will indemnify all three eras.</p>
|
||
<p>Then what is our ultimate goal? The first thing that should go is the body. If I sacrifice my body, I will keep my mind, but if I sacrifice even my mind, then my heart will remain. We are going to be the personification of the living love of God, the completely heartlistic person.</p>
|
||
<p>Once for a special dispensation in Korea I told several members to come forward to be spanked by me with a stick. Each person who was hit said, “Thank you very much, Father.” Then everyone got up and said, “Let me be hit too.” There were too many volunteers so I gave up. Why would people volunteer? Because that event made a deeper relationship with God in love. People want to have that relationship. Nothing done in love can be harmful, even giving a spanking.</p>
|
||
<p>Even if you are living together with your husband or wife and your services are needed in Africa, you just leave your wife or your husband and go. That’s life in the Unification Church. Is such a thing cruel and tragic or is it something we can be proud of? Could anyone else give you a directive like that, the President or the leader of the Communist Party? Already people say that I am the worst kind of tyrant or dictator, but in the Unification Church the person who is leaving his family behind and going to Africa will say, “Father, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I want to live up to your expectations. I will do my utmost.”</p>
|
||
<p>Do you know what a wonderful place you are in? Is it right for me to rush you out? What will I gain by it? I do it to let you experience the true love of God. Whenever you suffer for the purpose of God and humanity, God will appear at night to comfort you, revealing a new message to you. Have you experienced this?</p>
|
||
<p>Unification Church members have a secret source of power, but it’s not the clandestine organization our critics accuse us of having. The world has not yet realized that we have inner spiritual power. As long as you have that heartle power you will be strong. What makes me strong? If I did not know the love of God, I would be the first one to have run away a long time ago.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you wise or foolish? We all look like fools and in a way we are, but internally, spiritually, we are real wise men. When I go to the New Yorker and the members see me walking by, they all come close. I never told them to do that, but on their own they want to come near and pay some respect; they want to come closer to the love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>Many times I don’t return your bows but just walk past. Do not feel that you were disregarded. When passing by I was sending your greeting to God. Inside I think, “God, please reward them.” Please understand that I want you to receive your reward from God. It is God’s recognition that counts, so if you bow to me and I seem to be arrogant and unresponsive, remember that inside I am taking it and passing it to God, asking Him to remember you.</p>
|
||
<p>Many people are trying to fathom the Unification Church but they will never get down to the bottom of the matter until they become members. You cannot know the true value of this life from the outside. You must come and live it. There are hidden, silent heroes in the Unification Church. Such people may never show it so much or talk about it, but inside they are really living up to God’s principles. Many people gossip in our world too. There hi always lots of talk among the women, but apart from all the gossip and complaining are the silent ones who just apply themselves and do what needs to be done. These are the real heroes of the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>I am living this silent life while the entire world is talking about me. I am like a foolish person who doesn’t hear or respond, but just concentrates on my own duty. That’s the truly deep way of life. Your clothes might become rags, very old and worn out, but inside you are becoming like a shining diamond of heartle. Even your body may be worn out but inside lives the most shining, heartlistic relationship.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">We must bear the heartle cross for Christianity</h3>
|
||
<p>This is the first time in history this kind of truth has been revealed to mankind. Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden never imagined that such a heartlistic world existed because they never grew into it. They never learned of that world.</p>
|
||
<p>The first person who could talk about this heartlistic world was Jesus but he could not achieve it. The destruction and breakdown of the heartlistic world originated when Adam and Eve joined together. Therefore, restoration must also come jointly through Adam and Eve. Jesus could not achieve that goal and so the Bible promised the Second Coming in order to achieve the relationship of heartle.</p>
|
||
<p>Christianity struggled for 2,000 years, but this realm of heartle resurrection wasn’t even discussed because no example or prototype had been given. In order to restore the realm of heartle, God needs not just one standard, but the two aspects of a couple. Never has such a couple appeared, but in the last days of history God will fulfill that image, that ideal of the bride and bridegroom together. This is the promise of the Second Advent.</p>
|
||
<p>When the Lord comes again to fulfill the Second Advent he cannot just suddenly achieve that heartle level; he must lay the foundation and pay the debt of history, the debt that humanity has accumulated for 6,000 biblical years. To lay the foundation upon which he can start his journey, the Lord must first pay that debt. Christianity was supposed to lay the foundation of faith and then when Christians accepted the Lord of the Second Advent, the dispensation would be instantly fulfilled. When Christians rejected him, however, he then had to rebuild the foundation from the ground up, going a most tedious and arduous road. Without this foundation being laid there can be no resurrection of the heartlistic world.</p>
|
||
<p>If Christianity had accepted him, however, the worldwide dispensation would have been completed in seven years. Because that didn’t happen, the 2,000 years of indemnity paid throughout Christian history was lost and now Christianity is no longer the mainstream of God’s dispensation. Just as the nation of Israel was scattered all over the world after the crucifixion, Christianity, if it continues to fail to accept the Lord, will also be scattered, especially by the communist world. Presently many Christian leaders advocate making some accommodation with the communists.</p>
|
||
<p>In light of this, what is our mission in the Unification Church? By reviving true Christianity we have to defend ourselves against communism and at the same time stop its spread. The Christian world is Cain to the Unification Church. Therefore, I am trying to work with other churches even though they are often antagonistic toward us. Through the Interfaith movement I want to nourish them somehow because I know how God thinks. We cannot resent or curse them. Abel needs Cain.</p>
|
||
<p>Eventually Christianity has to come to the Unification Church because in the end they will have only one of two choices: either they must surrender to communism or come to the Unification Church. There is no middle ground. When they see the reality of communism maybe they will come to the conclusion that it’s better to embrace the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>We have been going through a 21-year dispensation which is equivalent to the 2,000 years of Christian history. During these 21 years the world situation has been moving like a whirlwind. At the end of World War II, America’s prestige and dignity were at the highest possible level, but after 20 years America’s prestige has sunk to the bottom. America was proud of never being defeated in war but finally America was defeated in Vietnam. No matter how much Americans poured their resources into Vietnam, two hundred billion dollars was ultimately wasted. 56,000 men were lost and 300,000 more were wounded. All of that was in vain and America tasted its first defeat.</p>
|
||
<p>That is not the end. Tragedy after tragedy has come to America because God is pushing Americans to awaken and realize their true situation. God is beginning to vent His wrath on America, but the Unification Church is petitioning God to allow more time for us to take care of this nation. We are saying, “God, look at us and be comforted. We will suffer and pay any kind of indemnity to relieve Your wrath over America.” We will take this for the sake of America.</p>
|
||
<p>We have confronted tremendous threats but we are resisting and soon we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. That day will come by the end of this year. The years of 1976, 1977 and 1978 are years of internal turmoil, including even confrontation between the Unification Church and the American government, but soon there will come a time of true resurrection in which the Unification Church and America shall be resurrected together. There is much meaning surrounding this Easter Sunday.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The heartle formula</h3>
|
||
<p>We are headed toward the ultimate goal of the resurrection of the Kingdom of God. Our goal is clear and absolute. Do you remember the slogan for this year that I announced on God’s Day? It is “The basic formula for the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth.” The parent-child heartle relationship is the formula of the kingdom, of the whole dispensation. We are boldly marching forward toward that goal. Boldness and strength are our key words. When Bo Hi Pak went before the Fraser Committee I instructed him to blow everything wide open and he really gave it to them. That’s the pattern of our struggle.</p>
|
||
<p>In the early days of our movement there was a showdown between the Korean government and our Church, and in Japan too our Church had a showdown with the government. Now here in America our Church has come to the level of making a showdown with the government. What will be the deciding factor in all of this? Whoever loves America most will be the winner. Who loves Korea most? Who loves Japan most? Who ultimately loves America most? That is the deciding factor. We are marching forward in this realm of heartle resurrection, in total obedience, total sacrifice and total love.</p>
|
||
<p>Even after a millennium mankind has not come to this feeling, but you have reached it after just two or three hours! This is the most precious truth because it is revealed by God and given to you. It is so valuable that even if America were sold, the price paid could never buy this truth. 240 million people live in America and if they were all given away as a ransom to win this truth it would still be worthwhile because 4 billion people could be restored. It would be a bargain sale.</p>
|
||
<p>It has taken 6,000 years for the fallen world to begin to reach this heartle world. Now God has picked the Unification Church to finish the task. Someone must come to the altar, giving his heart, body and soul in saying to God, “I am now ready to bear the heartle cross.” That’s the role of the Unification Church today. Adam and Eve fell at the top of the growth stage. In restoration at the end of the world God must restore one couple, the perfected Adam and Eve, who can say, “God, leave the job to us. We shall inherit Your spirit and Your love and Your heartistic relationship with man, not only spiritually but also physically. We shall fulfill Your ideal here on earth.” Such a man and woman must appear and that will be the beginning of the new world.</p>
|
||
<p>The heartlistic world of God must be inherited on the human level. Adam and Eve were human and were supposed to fulfill the ideal of God on the human level, but so far the ideal and love of God have remained only on God’s level. In order for them to come down to the human level there must be one son and daughter who can inherit the task, the mission of love. They are the beginning point of the resurrection of the Kingdom of God on earth. Then God will be liberated, His burden lightened. It shall be given to His son and daughter, the perfected Adam and Eve, and they shall bear His heartlistic cross here on earth for the sake of mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>United together they inherit the mission of God and His cross for the sake of humanity. “God, as You loved the world, we too shall love the world. As You grieved over the fall of man, we shall bear Your sorrow. We shall bear Your hope and destiny in order to liberate You; and we shall bring their fulfillment by inheriting Your position, by being Your representatives here on earth.” That is the one day all history and the world of creation have been waiting for.</p>
|
||
<p>The day that history has been waiting for has arrived. That day was April 17, 1960, when the True Parents were installed here on earth. That was the day I declared the world of heartle resurrection, and on that day I inherited the entire mission from God. God delegated His entire will to me, saying, “It is now for you to take care of.” From then on the Kingdom of God depended totally upon me. I took up the heartle cross and gathered people such as yourselves together, thrusting forward to the worldwide level.</p>
|
||
<p>The heartle realm is the totally new realm that Adam and Eve never fulfilled and that Jesus never achieved. I am pioneering this entirely new realm and trying to perfect it. You can imagine how the satanic world has gone crazy and is desperate to stop it, mobilizing the power of nations all over the world to that end. It was inevitable that international turmoil should follow whoever carries this cross, trying to knock him down and kill him. A culminating point was destined to come in which the entire world would try to kill me. Once I declare the victory, however, Satan will no longer have any base and he will gradually dwindle away.</p>
|
||
<p>After April 17, 1960, I declared the start of three seven-year courses to indemnify the 2,000 years of Christian history. Now we are in the middle of the third seven-year course. We can see the end of the free world and the end of the communist world coming but no one can see the end of the Unification Church because we are just beginning.</p>
|
||
<p>Spiritually speaking the realm of heartle resurrection was declared a long time ago, but that’s not enough. What we need is physical resurrection which includes physical children. In 1961 I declared the beginning of physical resurrection after Ye Jin was born, the first child of the True Parents. At that time we had a most weird celebration in the Church where all the members, including the elderly people, had a feeding bottle and drank milk and special soup just like a baby, celebrating physical rebirth. With the birth of a child a family was created and together that family needed to go through the three seven-year courses as a team. Everything must be accomplished as a family.</p>
|
||
<p>Next, I laid the victorious foundation in Japan and in 1971 came to America and wrestled with world restoration. Through the victory of the Washington Monument Rally in 1976 we triumphantly set the universal indemnity condition. That was the highest heavenly victory ever declared. Now we are engaged in a battle on the highest possible level, in confrontation with the United States Congress.</p>
|
||
<p>Restoration in the three years of 1976, 1977 and 1978 has been a most heated battle, but we are winning. Go ahead and work hard, suffering and dying every day to give yourself. Become a heartle person by giving your heart and body for the hope of God. God will be successful; that is certain. The best attitude you can have is, “Father, just do anything You wish to me. If You want to kick me or even grill me, go ahead.” Then you don’t have to worry about anything. By being obedient in that manner you are robbing me of all my love.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Nothing can withstand the power of resurrection</h3>
|
||
<p>There is not much time left before 1981. There are people who have been working for the entire 21 years, but you just joined, six months or a year or two ago. These next three years will be the only time you can really suffer. After this opportunity, your suffering will not have the same value at all. In this time your suffering will reap great value. Even though you may not have the qualification to suffer, your desire will be justified because you say, ” You are my Father. No matter how ugly I am, I am still your child. As your child my duty is to obey you, and therefore, I cannot take it easy. I want to suffer.”</p>
|
||
<p>Why do you think parents let their children suffer? No parents want to see their children suffer. They permit it only because they know that suffering will bring more benefit to their children and that through it they can inherit all the blessing that their parents have. That blessing cannot be bought. You have to become one with it by total obedience.</p>
|
||
<p>There is one simple way to conquer the universe. If you can say that you worked harder and suffered more than the True Parents, more than Jesus, even more than God, then even God will bow down to you, and the True Parents and Jesus will not be able to lift up their faces to you. You will be nothing less than the king of the universe. Are you interested and ambitious enough to reach that goal? Persecution will be your proud point if you have the attitude, “I have a capacity for pain, and if you curse me I will become like a locomotive.” Envision carrying a big bag where you can store persecution when it comes. In the end this is the bag that will be filled with blessings. The people who get the most persecution will have the most bulging bags.</p>
|
||
<p>When you are fund raising you usually accumulate many coins and your pockets sag with their weight; when you take them out it is as if they are diamonds. This is the kind of value you are receiving from your work. This is the secret reason why I push you so much. In this way I can help you to receive more blessings and deserve even more in the Kingdom of Heaven. When you apply, you will have to be accepted there. Do you know I am telling you the truth, or am I really only trying to make you work?</p>
|
||
<p>To whom would you like to give responsibility for New York? Your spouse or elder brother or sister? It is yours to keep, not to give away. We have the key to resurrection and we are like locomotives, having the power of resurrection; we are ready to take this power all over the world. Any power trying to hamper or stop resurrection shall be struck by God. No other power can withstand the overwhelming power of resurrection. Even though I always pray for my enemies, those who curse or oppose me have always somehow diminished and failed.</p>
|
||
<p>I have never consciously cursed anyone, but sometimes in the midst of walking along I would hear myself saying, “Woe to that person,” and then within 7 months that person’s situation became very miserable. It is truly amazing. Therefore, I learned to be very, very careful about how I speak. I know I cannot speak freely, particularly about another person. Once I make some utterance about a person, certain consequences will definitely come to him.</p>
|
||
<p>I know you have felt that things do not proceed just according to your will, and that you must submit your personal will to the larger power that always surrounds you. But you also know that when you have worked hard and suffered, you feel uplifted spiritually. When you are just taking it easy then your body may be rested but your spirit suffers.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes I get so tired that my legs don’t obey my mind-they have walked so many miles or stood so many hours that they give up. Then I look at them and inwardly shout, “You legs! Keep going!” When I push myself all the way like that then my spirit is free. If I subjugated myself to my legs then my spirit would suffer.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you bored after listening now for four hours? There is a spiritual wave of energy surrounding us here. It is our Unification Church tradition to burn the midnight oil. If you polled all the people in the world who are my age, I am sure that I have slept less than any of them. For whom? All my suffering is for the sake of God and humanity.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You must have children<br />
|
||
who are better than yourselves</h3>
|
||
<p>When I visited Barrytown I asked the seminarians if they would use birth control after they got married. If Jacob and his wife had not wanted too many babies then Joseph, one of the youngest, would never have been born, and if he had not been born there would have been no chance for the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. I have many older brothers and sisters. If my parents had used birth control and only wanted one or two children, would there have been any chance for me to be born? That would have been great for you because then no one would push you out! In my own family, the farther you look down the line of children, the brighter and more capable the children are.</p>
|
||
<p>How do you know what kind of son or daughter you may have in the future? God may want to give a special kind of son or daughter to my family a few years from now who may have the power to govern the world or who may discover some invention to speed the work of God. Who knows! But if Mother and I stop having children then when I go to spirit world God will accuse me of messing up His dispensation. Now you know whether or not birth control is best, right?</p>
|
||
<p>In His dispensation God may want to work through you to have a child of important ability. How do you know? No matter how much suffering or inconvenience it means, it is best to think, “God, if You desire to use my body to bear a child who will change the world, then no matter how difficult it may be or how ugly a mate You may give me, I want to do that.”</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose your family has a tradition of having beautiful white girls. If God wants to give you a black husband and through the two of you He wants to send a child who will be a special leader, you must give up your family’s tradition of white beauty. Will you be more than happy to integrate with the black race? Perhaps it will not be until the third generation that God will send such a child. Can you be patient with God’s will? Then God will be in trouble because He will have to respond to your most intense desire and find a way to fulfill it. Do you think He will accuse you of being greedy and only give you weak children, or will He commend your desire and work in faith through your generations?</p>
|
||
<p>You must have children who are better than yourselves. lf they are inferior to you then that will be another reason for you to repent when you get to spirit world. You will have to apologize to God. You must think that you should give better than you were given. “My parents loved me this much, so I am going to love my own children this much more and educate them this much more.” Then your children will feel they want to give more to their own children and then their world will boom and prosper.</p>
|
||
<p>Until Ye Jin and Hyo Jin were twelve, no matter how late I came in at night I would always go to their bedrooms and pray for them. I feel rather sorry for the younger children now because they don’t get that kind of attention. It is not easy to be a true father. Even so, my children feel that their parents are number one in the world and your children should feel the same about you.</p>
|
||
<p>Heartle resurrection starts with perfected Adam and Eve. They set out on the journey to fulfill that ideal on a physical level and we have come this far now. We can restore a physical heaven, literally establishing God’s own kingdom here on earth. This is our job. The Unification Church has received many accusations and much physical persecution because we are dealing with physical Satan as we work to win physical people and establish a physical kingdom in the free world. After we restore the free world we will go to the communist world and later even worry about the spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>You should become a physical body in which spirit and heartle are resurrected, becoming truly a temple of God. Once you go over that hill there will be no more suffering. You may even volunteer for suffering but there won’t be much suffering left to take. God will even give the Unification Church much material blessing in the future.</p>
|
||
<p>So many wonderful young people will compete with each other to join the Unification Church that I will tell them to come later. Older people are always worrying about how they are going to take care of their children and send them to college and so forth, but single men and women are beautifully prepared for God’s work and ready to plunge into this life. Why should the members of the Unification Church be young people? It is because in the garden of Eden God designed the ideal world to be made by unstained, pure young people.</p>
|
||
<p>There are two kinds of hippies in this world- one on the satanic side and the other on the heavenly side. The satanic hippies have thrown everything away, even the good virtues and traditions, and they live like wandering gypsies, leading carnal lives. That’s how the garden of Eden was destroyed; the fall came with that kind of sexual sin and brought the entire world down to the dungeons of hell. But heavenly hippies have a strict moral code. Sometimes when we have a shortage of space men and women even have to sleep in the same room, but because of this tradition I don’t have to worry. If there is some concern, then while everyone is asleep one person should stay up all night and pray.</p>
|
||
<p>In Korea, when married couples came to the Church and learned the truth, even husbands and wives with children would separate, sleeping in the same bed but never touching each other until their marriage was blessed. If they did have some sexual relationship before that time then much suffering came to them. After a couple joined the Church they couldn’t even think of married life until God allowed it. People just cannot deny the fall of man; this is a fearful thing. Many Americans in particular scoff at our teaching, but the world will be restored by the very Principle they reject.</p>
|
||
<p>I have already gone over many hills but still I have to finish the job. Even if I were to die now, however, I would not be a failure. After I go to spirit world my work will continue here on earth. Regardless of whether you are white, black or yellow, if you have wanted to be a good disciple of mine then even when you die you will want to be buried near me. That is natural. In the garden of Eden parents and children would live close together in physical life, and when they died the children would still want to stay near their parents.</p>
|
||
<p>If you come to Belvedere on Sunday but I am away, how do you feel? Empty? It feels cool. Mr. Pak is taller than I am and speaks English so he can give a good sermon in the morning, but it still doesn’t feel the same. You don’t know why, but that is true, isn’t it? This is a mysterious aspect of our way of life.</p>
|
||
<p>If I finished my work in America and went back to Korea to live for the rest of my life, where would you like to live? The State Department would like to get me out of the country, but they don’t know what will happen after that. From that time on all the Unification Church members would want to sell everything and go to Korea to live. There would be a great exodus.</p>
|
||
<p>One tradition shall remain from this time: total obedience, total sacrifice and total love. For whom? For God. But where would you start with this obedience and sacrifice and love? With your own husband, wife, brothers and sisters and parents. That is the starting point. You must practice this totally. I want to see that tradition established in our Church so that when you grow to the worldwide level the entire world will eventually live like that. This is the road we are walking with our physical bodies. We aren’t talking just about spirit or theory but about the physical road we will walk.</p>
|
||
<p>I want to see this tradition emerging in my own lifetime on earth. Then after I go to spirit world it will live on and on and bring generations of perfected men and women who will be welcomed in the highest possible heaven of spirit world. Unless you can demonstrate that total obedience, total sacrifice and total love to one individual here on earth, don’t talk about loving the almighty, invisible God.</p>
|
||
<p>Jesus said that one of the two most important commandments was, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Who are your neighbors? They are your brothers and sisters. Christians think of loving people who are in dire circumstances but then they turn around and accuse their fellow Christians of being heretics. That’s not loving your neighbor. Your first neighbor is right next to you.</p>
|
||
<p>Do the Americans love only the American members, and the Japanese only the Japanese members? We demonstrate this tradition of love given as one husband to one wife, one brother to one sister, one senior to one junior. If you can do this to your nearest neighbor all the way around then you are indeed doing that to God. That is the Kingdom of God on earth. If you become that kind of man and that kind of woman then resurrection starts from you and from there the resurrection of your family, society, nation and world shall happen around you.</p>
|
||
<p>The Kingdom of God shall start right here with you; you are the starting point. Who shall become the most pure, genuine living sacrifice upon the altar? We need both resurrected spirit and resurrected body, and with that we shall go on and fulfill God’s ideal on a wider level, ultimately bringing the tribe, nation and world to the altar of God as a living sacrifice. The intensity of this dispensation shall hasten the day of the Kingdom of God here on earth. That will be the determining factor.</p>
|
||
<p>Shall we do it and live it? Whoever will do it, raise your hands. Let us pray</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1254 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1252" class="post-1252 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/16/where-god-resides-and-his-course.html" title="Permalink to WHERE GOD RESIDES AND HIS COURSE" rel="bookmark">WHERE GOD RESIDES AND HIS COURSE</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-16T14:13:09+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/16/where-god-resides-and-his-course.html" rel="bookmark">June 16, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-16T14:13:09+01:00">June 16, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">March 19, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Sang Kil Han</h3>
|
||
<p>All men want to be happy, and every day they live in pursuit of joy; nevertheless, one can never be happy alone. Happiness comes from a reciprocal relationship rather than from living all by oneself. No one can ever feel good if he is alone all the time. We all know that God is a good being, but can we say that God is good all by Himself? Can He be happy all by Himself? God is no exception; He needs to have someone as an object for His happiness just as we do.</p>
|
||
<p>When we say we are happy, we mean that somehow we are stimulated; there is no happiness which does not stimulate us. Men and women are no different in this respect. Whether a person is Oriental or Occidental, young or old, and regardless of what historical age he is living in, in this everyone is the same. When you can understand this in a larger perspective, you know that it is not good for Orientals to be happy all by themselves or for Occidentals to be happy all by themselves.</p>
|
||
<p>For all of us to be happy it is logical that there should be no wars and conflicts and antagonism between men. Certainly we can say that war is not good unless the fighting can be for the benefit of the whole. In war it is unlikely that one victor will completely annihilate the enemy. There are bound to be some men left alive on the opposing side and it is predictable that, until they dissipate the antagonism in their hearts, they will stick together and somehow try to get revenge. If the victorious country becomes weak, the people who lost the war will look for some opportunity to retaliate. The result is a vicious cycle in which the losing side from one war concentrates on becoming strong enough to dominate its former conquerors, and so on. In the long run, only one of the two will remain.</p>
|
||
<p>Today the democratic world and the communist world are both seeking global dominion, but which side is putting more effort into conquering the world? It’s very simple to say that the stronger will win over the weaker, and in this case it means that the communist world must be victorious for it is making the greater effort. The world is facing a very dangerous age, and if there existed no God and no spirit world then the fate of the world would already be decided. If God did not exist then the only way to prevent this obvious outcome would be for something subversive to happen from within the communist world, but there is no possibility of that.</p>
|
||
<p>In every segment of history there have been Cain and Abel relations in each level of society, and it is not surprising to see the same thing happening now at the end of history. When it seems that nothing can prevent the communist world from reaching its total objective, an Abel group, which will begin very small, will gradually come to invade more and more of the communist realm.</p>
|
||
<p>The communist theory contends that there are always two elements in conflict with each other. If we apply this to the communists themselves, then once no other element outside their ideology exists in the world, what kind of conflict would result? Marxism predicts that history will go beyond the socialistic age and after that the communistic age will surely come, but we are forced to ask the communists what the objective of their struggle would be then.</p>
|
||
<p>Since dialectical materialism maintains that progress results only from struggle and that without struggle nothing will grow, we can ask what would happen when the whole world comes under communism. How would the communists go on living? Will they fight among themselves to maintain progress in their own world, or will they sit still and do nothing? Can there ever be a peaceful communist world? According to their own theory that cannot be. When everything reaches a climax and there is no more growth they will have to start fighting among themselves.</p>
|
||
<p>This is all hypothetical of course, but if communism were to gain total dominion would the spirit world just sit still and do nothing? In the world that the communists are building there is no such thing as religion, no acceptance of God by man. They are not only fighting against the capitalistic countries but also rebelling against God, proclaiming that God does not exist and that religion is only an undesirable state of mind. If these people prevail in the world then does that mean that God, who has worked throughout all of history to promote religion and teach people about Himself, will only sit still and do nothing?</p>
|
||
<p>Inevitably the communists will clash with those on God’s side; even after the communists are victorious over capitalism they will continue to fight against God. Who will God work with at that time? Throughout history God has always worked with a chosen segment of humanity. Naturally God and the spirit world will take sides and work through another human element to oppose communism. God is working to secure a better future while the communists and Satan are fighting to annihilate the future</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Religious people can live for the future,<br />
|
||
not just the present</h3>
|
||
<p>One simple way to distinguish good people from bad is to notice that those on the satanic side do not care so much about their own future or that of others; they just want so-called enjoyment in the present. Good people, however, will sacrifice their own pleasure for the sake of the future. Certainly God will support this Abel-type group, and will visit their second generation and work through their descendants. Some communists have an idea that God does exist while others emphatically deny this and say that God never existed. Naturally God will tend to work through the first kind. Who will inherit God’s working with them? Those who think about humanity, about goodness and the future and their next generation are the ones whom God will work with.</p>
|
||
<p>Religion is not so happily accepted by people. Although religion offers the only true way of life, most people have never cared much about it. This is true in the present time as much as it v as in the past. Furthermore, there have always been people who have opposed religion, yet nevertheless, religion has prospered and advanced. Religion is developed by people who feel that even though they may be opposed in the present things will improve in the future.</p>
|
||
<p>The relationship of man and spirit world is just like the mind-body relationship in an individual. People act with their minds and bodies in concert; to be more precise, when there is unity between mind and body, action results which follows the mind’s direction. This is true of everyone, whether he is good or bad-a person always acts when his mind and body come into oneness. Activity on earth also takes place when spirit world and people on earth unite. God and spirit world are most attracted to goodness. We define goodness as that which is good and true throughout the past and present and even the future.</p>
|
||
<p>Men generally live according to their bodily demands, yet there are people who recognize that the body is evil in some way and that it often drags one in the wrong direction. Rather than just following physical impulse, they try to live the way the mind directs. When you divide mankind according to these two categories, the first group can be called the non-religious people and the second group called the religious people. There has always been much conflict between the two, but which side most commonly has attacked the other? Those who deny religion have always initiated conflict with those who believe, and as a result religious people have suffered much throughout history.</p>
|
||
<p>Because non-religious people believe there is no future, they don’t care much about anything except the present. They usually die in despair for they have nothing to look forward to, but truly religious people always have hope when they die; that is a major difference between religious and non-religious people. The reason a person may voluntarily choose a way of death and martyrdom for his religion is because he seeks a better future life. He is sure that even though he may die alone for this cause, future generations will be with him.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you that way too? Everyday we go through much struggle, but we know that the Unification Church and the world will prosper in the future. We can continue because we have that hope. Even if this hope doesn’t materialize while we are still on earth, we will be on God’s side when we get to the spirit world. Truly religious people are willing to give up everything they have and place all importance and hope in that world of God.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Religious people usually worry only about heaven</h3>
|
||
<p>Have truly devoted religious people ever ruled the world in the past? They were trying very hard and they might have had some success, but they have never completed the job. In the medieval ages Christians tried their best to realize what they thought was a godly world, but they didn’t care much about non-Christians. They only pursued their own goal and that was wrong. We now know that they should have promoted Christianity for the betterment of the whole world, not just for their own sake.</p>
|
||
<p>Today we find ourselves persecuted by many kinds of people, especially by the communists. They know that I am more zealous and that I work harder than they do and they are worried. The Russian and North Korean communists all heard the news that I am making a movie about General McArthur, and they were upset enough to denounce our project to the world, calling me a “vicious anti-Communist.”</p>
|
||
<p>Not only the communists oppose me but all kinds of people who have established themselves in the worldly sense and who have some sort of name and territory. Simply because we are different from them they are worried about us. There is a third kind of people, however, with whom we are going to make the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>Religions stress being more concerned about the future world and about heaven than about this world. The Unification Church, however, teaches that we cannot throw this world away but that we must embrace it as well. We have a different kind of religion. On the other hand, the communists insist that there is no such thing as a spirit world and that when someone dies here he no longer exists in any form. We say that indeed the spirit world is an eternal and everlasting world which exists just as realistically as this world does.</p>
|
||
<p>The communists think they will save the world, but their vision centers only around the present time. We want to save the world with a long idea of the future in mind; in fact, the future is more important to us than the present. In that way alone we are irreconcilably different from the communists, and even from other religious people. Because people usually hate something different from themselves, they readily oppose us. Established churches are on the decline, becoming almost indistinguishable in their activities from the lives of non-religious people. Now that the Unification Church has appeared, would God like to work with us instead?</p>
|
||
<p>You may think God would naturally prefer working with members of the Unification Church, but wouldn’t He also want to contact all those who are opposing the Unification Church? God would like to recruit not only people whose beliefs are already close to His-for instance, anyone who opposes communism-but also the communists. God is interested in people in the democratic world who realize that the world needs something really new to transcend its present corruption. God is recruiting people from both sides for the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>The communists are very severe and purge those who disagree with their activities. Conscientious people in the communist world don’t like them at all, and sensitive people in the free world hate the indifference of people in their own nations toward such things. Those who don’t think about the future so much, living only day by day, are like President Carter, who always takes a quiet position when the communists say something strong, and yet is not reluctant to speak strongly to smaller, weaker countries and accuse them of violating human rights.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">We are worried about the future in this world</h3>
|
||
<p>President Carter’s way of doing things makes no sense, and because you abhor that kind of thing you are drawn to the Unification Church. I have no country or even a sizeable group of people to back me up, but I am determined to fight fearlessly against communism, even by myself if necessary. All by myself and with little visible support I proclaimed that America is going the wrong way and that I came as a doctor to heal this nation. Many Americans might have agreed with me, but still most of them don’t like to hear such things from an outsider. It would be a different story if I were not aware of their hostility; then I would only be a foolish man. But I know better than anyone else that Americans resent what I told them.</p>
|
||
<p>God will never take the side of people who make trouble when they resent hearing the truth. On the contrary, God likes Unification Church thinking very much because He, too, is trying to harmonize even the communist world and the democratic world-an enormously difficult task. At one time, when all the advantages were on its side, the democratic world was pursuing this same goal, but has now given up. The communists have also tried very hard to accomplish this, but so far they too have failed. Now the Unification Church comes for the same purpose, and is becoming more and more successful; God likes this very much.</p>
|
||
<p>After all attempts to unite the world had failed, people became disheartened, lost hope and everything became corrupt. When a man tries with all his heart and soul to do something but fails, he usually lowers his standards in resignation and so it is in the democratic and communist worlds. But now a third group has appeared which is making much more effort than anyone else and God is giving His wholehearted support to make that group successful.</p>
|
||
<p>Who are you and why are you here? What do you do? Did all you young men come into the Unification Church looking for good brides? Does the Church feed you good food every day? In most other churches the congregation sits on comfortable chairs and listens to a short sermon, but you sit for hours on a cold concrete floor. Not only that, I don’t even pat you on the back and encourage you to go just a little further. Usually I kick you around and scold you all the time! I never see you without criticizing Americans, particularly the white people. I know very well that you don’t like that, but I do it on purpose. If you just say. “Oh, there he goes again,” you will never pass. What would I gain by criticizing you or the President of this big nation? The only reason that I must say such things is for the betterment of the world and the rest of mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>In the eyes of the rest of the world perhaps I am more famous than President Carter. In a few years President Carter will be just another ordinary man, but my stature will increase. If I were to meet the President, do you think he would tell me how to lead the Unification Church or would I tell him how he ought to lead America? You have to understand how much the rest of America hates to hear that. I know this better than anyone else.</p>
|
||
<p>The next generation in the communist world will oppose their own parents’ strong faith in communism and look for something else. That something else is the Unification Church, and the same will be true in the democratic world. Even though the democratic world is certainly better than the communist world, the corruption, indifference and insensitivity about God are not good. Some new world is needed and that new world is the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>People are ready to try something new, and the young people are rejecting their own homes, be coming disgusted with society and even their nations. They tried going back to nature and becoming hippies to see if they could find what they were looking for. They even tried streaking but they got nothing out of it. Now they hear a message on the wind about how the Unification Church is something different and they are starting to say, “Let’s take a look.” Isn’t that how many of you came to be here?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The ambition of each person is to live with God</h3>
|
||
<p>The topic of my message today is “Where God Resides and His Course.” The question is where God would want to stay. God would answer that He is the master of history and also the master of the present and the future. If the same voice would ask the son of God, “Who are you and what do you do?” then he would certainly answer, “I am the one who will inherit everything God has been doing in the past and the present. Therefore, I am also the master of history, the master of the present and of the future.”</p>
|
||
<p>Nevertheless, the son of God would be opposed by the communistic and the democratic world and his life wouldn’t look too inviting. He would probably have to flee from one place to another because of the opposition. Persecution will be the inevitable course. God is the only one who will reside with him and help him for there is no other avenue for God, no hope, no other workable way except this one.</p>
|
||
<p>Would God choose instead to follow and help the deacons and ministers of the established Christian churches? Those who would inherit the words of God as His children will be opposed by the communistic world and the democratic world as well, and will have to move from one place to another for safety. Would you find more of such people in the Unification Church or in the established churches?</p>
|
||
<p>How can you be so happy when other people oppose you so much that you can’t do whatever you want, even though it is right? Everywhere I go people demonstrate against me. “There is nothing you can do about that,” you might say; “that’s the course of history.” Those who oppose us call us Moonies but we call ourselves Sunnies and the spirit world will tell you that you are Kingies. You will confirm this when you to go spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>Why do I want to establish a third kind of world, which is totally different from the other two already existing? Most people would insist that it’s certainly not likely to work. If I wasn’t aware of what the problems are then all my efforts would be meaningless, but I know exactly what difficulties lie ahead and still I am determined to continue. Am I only trying to destroy us all? If the only reason I am doing this is in order to survive on earth, then what will I do when I survive? I want to succeed, but do you see the possibility of that? You have to really think hard here.</p>
|
||
<p>If I were to convince you that there is no chance of success for the new world and you packed up and left, then I would remain here all by myself. If you didn’t come to Belvedere then I would sleep until 7 or 8 o’clock, but since you arrive by 5 a.m. I cannot sleep late. Why do you come every Sunday morning? Your own parents believe that I enslave American young people out of greed, and if people are going to talk like that then I don’t want you around. You can go away now. I am accused of brainwashing you, and if I only get all this criticism for my efforts, why should I bother talking to you like this all the time? The whole thing will be solved if you would go back home, so why don’t you just leave?</p>
|
||
<p>If you return to your parents and they can’t bring you up, yet when you come to the Church I turn you away, you are really in a pitiful situation. Where would you go instead? You are dissatisfied with the democratic world and you cannot go to the communist world because you know it’s the worst possible place, so you came here, but even here I am trying to chase you out. You just have to hang on to God and stay here. You say, “Certainly God will not chase me away,” and you stay. Now you at least have someone to lean on.</p>
|
||
<p>Why, in spite of all this opposition, do you believe in the Unification Church? If God exists, then you want to live with God for even one day. If you are a normal, ambitious woman born in the United States, you would probably like to be the wife of the president one day, right? But now you find out that Moonies are actually better than First Ladies, so no matter how harsh the circumstances you have a reason to remain. If someone promises you something beautiful, like living with God, in return for your work, you would do it. The same is true in a man’s case. He would do anything to somehow become President of America.</p>
|
||
<p>More than anyone else we all know the significance of the number forty in the history of the dispensation. The term in office of the 39th President is a most crucial point in America’s history because during this time America can easily be either crucially weakened or elevated once again and looked up to with hope and admiration in the eyes of the world.</p>
|
||
<p>Going back to our topic, what are Unification Church people here for? What are your ambitions? We would like to live with God if He exists, and at the same time work together with God. Through the course of history billions and billions of people have lived on earth and are now in spirit world. Without exception every one of them wanted to live with God if he could. You are just the same as all of those many billions of people, but has anyone ever been successful and lived with God? Are you any better than they? Specifically women, who are usually more troublesome, do you regard yourselves as better than all the women who lived on earth in the past? Actually you find yourselves in a much better situation than they did.</p>
|
||
<p>Look at a person like Billy Graham. Why does he make his life’s work out of exhorting congregations and having crusades? It is very difficult. His only ambition is to live with God and work with God. In your opinion is Billy Graham living with God and working with God? What about you? Why do I work so hard and try to do such impossible things all the time? I have exactly the same motive: to be with God. Billy Graham is respected by many people and wherever he goes people ask him to speak, but I am persecuted and misunderstood even though I have the same motive and pursue it with more vigor. Even the people who follow Billy Graham will readily acknowledge that fact, but when you are asked by some people who oppose me many of you don’t answer straight out that you are followers of Reverend Moon.</p>
|
||
<p>When God looks back through history as far as He can remember, the only one who lived along with Him was a man from a very small country who lived a very humble life-Jesus. All Christians think of death as the necessary price of going to heaven, but Jesus died in the effort to make heaven out the world. There is a difference between the two. Do you want to go to heaven or make heaven out of the world? How about Billy Graham? In one respect you and Billy Graham are essentially the same, but there are also some very big differences. One has a big name on earth but only wants to go to heaven, whereas all of you are unknown and from humble circumstances, yet you are trying to make heaven out of the world. That’s the difference.</p>
|
||
<p>God is omnipotent and there is nothing He cannot do. However, when this humble group with no credentials is pointed out to God as being the only one who wants to make heaven out of this world, just like He has always dreamed of doing throughout history, even this powerful God is cornered and has to recognize the Unification Church. When people go to spirit world God will ask them, “Did you believe in me so that you could come to heaven?” Each person will shout out “Yes!” But when God asks, “Did you believe in me so that you could make heaven out of this world?” then everyone will be flattened like a deflated balloon. But way down in a valley a small voice will answer, “Yes,” and God will be rather surprised. When He has that person come forward everyone will be amazed to see that he is a Moonie.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you think that those who put all their effort into making heaven out of the world are qualified to go to heaven in spirit world” Will God say, “You didn’t concentrate on coming to heaven, so you can’t be admitted”? Certainly God will send them to the very top of heaven. We may not be so certain of other things, but this is one thing we are sure of.</p>
|
||
<p>Virtually everyone wonders who I am and what I do. Sometimes just for the sake of looking conscientious public officials will choose one person to investigate and persist even if after months and years they find nothing wrong. This one man has turned the country upside down and caused extraordinary controversy! Has any one person in the history of mankind made that much controversy, especially any religious leader” Why do I do this” Simply because, like everyone else, I want to live with God and do God’s work.</p>
|
||
<p>How can it be possible to live with God? Is love something that everyone can see with their eyes?</p>
|
||
<p>Who will believe you if you say you have seen love? A swindler can talk very nicely and leave a good impression too, so how can you believe anyone?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Where would God want to dwell?</h3>
|
||
<p>Almost two hours have passed now, but do you want me to explain the proof of love to you? If someone taught a course on this subject, how much tuition would you be willing to pay? A million dollars” Actually a million dollars is a very cheap price for learning such a lesson. If someone teaches you this for free then you should feel like a billionaire.</p>
|
||
<p>The Unification Church has the Divine Principle, and naturally people ask how we know it is true. Their question can be compared to trying to find out where God lives. If we ask God where He resides and God answers, “I live here,” then that answer would only get a grade of 30%. If someone asks where God is and a voice answers, “I am here,” and the person persists and asks, “Where is here?” and God replies, “Just here,” then He gets a flunking grade again. If you ask Him where His love is and He says, ‘Love is with me. 1 and love are one. Love lives where I am,” that answer will get a 50% mark.</p>
|
||
<p>I struggled very hard to find an answer which could receive a passing mark, and I found that God is a living God, and in order for Him to live, there must be motion. God will dwell where there is the most activity of give and take. This answer gets a passing mark. We can imagine that God’s will is moving with great speed, like light, and that eventually it looks like one point. That point is where God will reside, a point which is moving so fast that the universe stands still. When children play with a top they sometimes spin it slowly and then it wobbles, but when it is spinning quickly it stands straight up and looks almost stationary. It is lovely to see that top spinning so fast that it looks like it is standing still.</p>
|
||
<p>It is reasonable to think that God would prefer being right in the center where the action is the fastest and we conclude that God will reside there permanently. In God’s world action cannot occur without give and take. We can imagine how dizzy God could be if He is in the middle of all this action, and we can imagine then that God must have all the necessary nature to withstand the fast action without getting dizzy. How is this possible? In the world of existence even the smallest thing has its positive and negative elements, Sung Sang and Hyung Sang living in give and take action. Since God must live in everything that is created, God Himself must have these two separate elements. God must have the same nature as the rest of His creation, for without having such characteristics, He would eventually be destroyed by trying to exist in such a world.</p>
|
||
<p>God can dwell wherever there is the right interaction of give and take, adding His dynamic interaction. Everything that is in motion has an internal heart, a nucleus, like an atom. Whenever we have activity, the purpose forms its nucleus, and everything is interconnected centering on this nucleus. This is the principle of action in the whole structure of the cosmos and world of development. It is our objective to bring all the creation into harmony around the one central nucleus of God.</p>
|
||
<p>God would reside in give and take action wherever an object is so perfect that their relationship would be everlastingly unchanging and stable. Let’s reason this out. Why does an entity like man last a long, long time instead of existing temporarily and then disappearing? It is because man has inherited all the qualities of God, and therefore, he lasts eternally. The very nucleus of activity is where God resides, and with Him, His love.</p>
|
||
<p>How do you know where God lives and where His love lives? Are your mind and body in complete harmony now, so that you can detect God? You must be composed of subject and object like everything else in creation, but the problem is whether they are united. Every area-eyes, ears, everything, including the emotions-has problems to be solved. In this situation would God want to stay with you or escape from you? It is almost certain that God would like to escape from you.</p>
|
||
<p>God is really at a loss because He desires to stay with man, but instead He is driven to escape. Thus, God is trying to remake man so He can stay with him. Looking at religion we can truly know that God exists. Looking down at man, God sees that man’s mind is not perfect or good and neither is his body.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">To resemble God,<br />
|
||
your mind must be straight, like His</h3>
|
||
<p>The problem in question is how to find the road along which we can think exactly as God thinks. Since God has a mind and an ideal, we can understand the road when we understand God’s mind and ideal. Therefore, to accompany God we need to know what His purpose in creating this world was. In the Unification Church you can have the all-time clearest answer-God’s intention was to accomplish the heavenly four position foundation. This is a very simple, yet perfect answer.</p>
|
||
<p>Was God indecisive, thinking one way and then changing His mind, or was it more likely that once His mind was set, His ideal remained unchanged? Has God’s love and ideal for man changed since the fall? If God had changed, He would not be understandable by man. Even imperfect man likes the unchanging. God will never change, no matter what happens in the interim.</p>
|
||
<p>Let’s think of God from a different perspective; would God prefer to look at something from a positive point of view or a negative point of view? Since God always anticipates something positive, what would God have thought to make out of His creation? He would have wanted it to live in harmony with His love, creating everything to instantly harmonize with His love wherever it was. Why do you like to hear a choir more than a solo singer? When harmony is realized it instantly becomes one with God and He will immediately be there in full force and stay there.</p>
|
||
<p>In everything, big or small, total or partial, this relationship is always there. When someone lovingly calls to you and you respond with the same tenderness and attention, the whole relationship will gradually develop and become happy. But if someone calls you and you do not respond or you respond in a different mood, how can harmony and happiness grow there?</p>
|
||
<p>When you are angry and fight with someone, your anger is a waste of energy. The law of the universe does not welcome such waste and will expel such an act because it does not harmonize with the whole. What happens to your vision if one eye sees but the other does not? Why did God create two eyes instead of elevating just one eye like a periscope above the head? Why did He put an ear on each side of your head instead of one big ear on the forehead? Why did He make two nostrils instead of one? Why did he make two hands instead of one with ten fingers? Why didn’t He make one foot instead of two, which could take big hops like a kangaroo?</p>
|
||
<p>A man can be divided into two identical halves. Because God is like that He made man the same so He could interact with him. God created everything to resemble Himself, especially man. In order to fully resemble God, however, you have to have a straight mind like His, never changing or wobbling this way and that. Once you are launched like a rocket, you should land on the bull’s eye of God’s heart, only resting when you arrive there. When you land on the bull’s eye, the whole universe will tremble at the impact and rejoice.</p>
|
||
<p>Is your mind straight and far-reaching? If not, how are you going to make it so? Are you going to make your mind straight before you get married or only afterward? Now you can understand that it’s wrong to even think about getting married when your mind is not straight enough. I am going to make you into people with unchanging minds. First, I would like to make your minds straight; that’s the cornerstone.</p>
|
||
<p>In the Orient we say that a person has a straight mind, meaning that he is righteous and honest. An honest man has a straight mind: If he judges something to be right then he pursues it unswervingly, never changing his mind. Once we decide to take action we should not change because we made the decision when the situation was clear.</p>
|
||
<p>Your mind should be straight only in order to form a parallel line with God. If you can do this then you can live with God. If God is straight like that but you are wobbling back and forth, how can you ever go forward together with God? Hasn’t God changed over a long, long period of time? No, and it is your purpose and goal to live with God, work along with Him and resemble Him. For this reason you have to make your minds straight.</p>
|
||
<p>We have to know what God’s mind is heading for. If it is true that He goes straight towards the heaven of love then so should we. There should be no difference, right? If God is going straight but He comes to a wall, would He go around the wall or keep</p>
|
||
<p>going straight toward His objective? I, too, lack the quality of compromising, preferring to continue going straight. This is why many people wonder why I insist on going straight instead of going around, even when it can only result in much suffering. Why don’t I keep silent instead of aggravating people so much? It’s only because I have to go straight that I must say unpopular things.</p>
|
||
<p>Many people have gone sideways because otherwise life would become too difficult, but you must speak out even when people don’t want to listen. Otherwise, their errors will go on and on uncorrected. I know that many times you have wanted to stop walking on the treadmill and leave the Church. After joining you may have thought for a time that you had finally found love, but now you realize that actually being here involves much more suffering than before, and now perhaps you are wanting to go back to your old sweetheart. Are you thinking that way even now?</p>
|
||
<p>That old relationship was the only form of love you knew, but why did you discontinue it instead of keeping it and adding something new? The reason you cut it off is that it was going in a different direction from God’s love. Each person has to cut off all his old relationships and establish brand-new ties with those of God. That’s what our life is all about. We try to make our minds straight because God’s mind is going straight; we are taking after His pattern so that we can reach love with Him.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Because you don’t want to lose God,<br />
|
||
you want to sacrifice for the whole</h3>
|
||
<p>When your mind parallels God’s then love is waiting to cross your path. One force is trying to give and another trying to receive, and when the combination becomes ideal, the exchange will go faster and faster and become even more successful. Then will we weep because we lost our old relationships, or because we are willing to give and receive the harmony and we feel compelled to give and enjoy? If you don’t understand this now, you will understand when you get married.</p>
|
||
<p>Love is always going around, but it spins so fast that it’s no longer visible. It becomes stationary and the features of each person involved in that love he come indistinguishable. This is why God is going straight toward love, and we are going straight too.</p>
|
||
<p>If we assume that the mind is very straight but the body wobbles around, then the body is like a poisonous snake; the Bible says that the generations of fallen men are like a brood of vipers. Because of the fall, what was supposed to be straight tends to zig zag. I see that in order to go straight you must be occupied with all different activities, like selling newspapers. But people don’t want to do such things all the time. When I tell you to do something your mind is very willing but you have a struggle about actually doing it and sometimes you think that you have a better idea. In order to straighten out everything that is going zig zag, you have to pull it first one way and then another. If your desire is to go one way then you really ought to go the other.</p>
|
||
<p>Hell exists because people are going in all different directions, but what you must remember is that it is much easier to straighten things out on earth than in spirit world. If you shoot a bullet, a slight deviation in its course has greater effect the farther it goes, but if you adjust the gun just a little bit and then fire, it makes a big difference in hitting the target. Our bodies are just like the gun and we must shoot very straight because a small deviation here makes a big difference in spirit world. No matter how difficult it is or how many times we must try, we must get things straight while we are on earth.</p>
|
||
<p>Where does God reside? God resides in a straight mind which hits the bulls-eye of love and has harmonious give and take right in the center. God Himself goes straight towards love. Happiness is only temporary and small unless God resides within it. But what’s so good about living with God? When you get to God you can breathe love, everything you eat is the food of love, and everything you hear is the music of love. There is nothing which is distasteful to touch in love. Even if a husband and wife are enemies and never want to look at each other again but go their different ways, once God sneaks in on them and resides with them, their love suddenly becomes so great that they cannot bear to be separated even for a second.</p>
|
||
<p>If you find a man or woman in whom God resides, you want to be with him always. No matter how beautiful a woman or handsome a man, if you don’t find God in them they are actually very ugly. Without love there is no beauty. On the other hand, no matter how ugly others may be, when they have love they are more beautiful than any other, and even when they are unhappy you can experience more love with them than anywhere else.</p>
|
||
<p>Love cures all disease and makes all things possible. There is nothing impossible with love. That’s why love is good and why everyone wants it. Those who are in misery and on the verge of dying will revive and become totally different when love touches them. Because of that, God likes love as much as man. If you want to live with God then your mind and body must become one instead of fighting each other. Yet becoming one is never enough; they must always become one in a way that is directed straight towards the love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>Is God a big or small being? Since He is big He likes the family more than the individual, and the society more than the family. He likes the nation, world and universe most of all. The nucleus of the whole universe is love. When an individual goes around like a spinning top, God is happy, but when God goes spinning onto the family level He is even happier, and when He reaches the national level He will start laughing. At the world and universal levels He will start dancing.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you the same because you care for the world more than the individual or family? When someone demands that you sacrifice yourself for your family, is it good or bad to answer, “I can’t do that”? It is good to sacrifice yourself for your family because that is what God does. For the same reason it is good to sacrifice your family for the sake of society. We should want to do that, for by doing so we can be together with God and that society.</p>
|
||
<p>When God eventually becomes the center of society then you and your family can hold the same position as He. All Unification Church members should be successful on all levels, sacrificing the Unification Church and themselves for the sake of the nation. By refusing to sacrifice for the sake of the nation we may gain whatever we want but we will lose God because He has already moved ahead and is with the nation. When we lose God we cannot realize happiness and love anymore.</p>
|
||
<p>Since God is always going ahead, we have to catch up with Him. Even if it is nighttime or some impossible hour, we will have to continue going along with Him because otherwise we will lose Him and then love cannot be realized. Even after this nation is saved and is remade, for the sake of the rest of the world and mankind it will have to sacrifice itself in order to become one with God as the center of the universe.</p>
|
||
<p>Sacrifice must be made not only for the men living on earth but to liberate the millions and billions of spirit men. Finally, even if the entire world and the spirit world combined must be given up, we still must achieve the love of God so that God can be liberated. Then we will all be liberated.</p>
|
||
<p>A few weeks ago I asked some blessed wives to pack up their belongings and leave their children and husbands back home and come forward for a certain mission. Within 24 hours they had left their nursing babies and their husbands and come to New York. The husbands didn’t question why their wives should leave their small babies for them to take care of. Instead they said, ” Yes, you must go. Make haste so you won’t be late.” Is that good or bad? How can you say that that is good if the family is separated?</p>
|
||
<p>The only reason it can be good is that God’s love can stay in that home when the family sacrifices for the nation. It’s better that they do that because then they are together with God. Strictly speaking, we would be happier if we didn’t do that, but since God’s love is with us then we can be even happier.</p>
|
||
<p>Let your body surrender to your mind as soon as possible and follow a straight path like your mind does. Especially the women nearing the time of blessing must be conscientious in this way. Otherwise, they will ruin their husbands’ lives.</p>
|
||
<p>When you marry, the possibility of death is always nearby. You have to always be alert and keep your mind and body straight so that even after you go to the eternal spirit world you and your husband can continue living with God for eternity, receiving His love together. All of you women would certainly like to have that kind of eternal relationship with your husbands, wouldn’t you? American women now find themselves in a rather contused and miserable state, looking for that kind of love.</p>
|
||
<p>Your first love is very important and precious. The ideal is to meet your first love in a God-approved husband or wife. For the man or woman who possesses God’s love, the ideal is to be married to his first love. On the spiritual level, the present system of dating is animalistic. This is why we must completely wipe from our memory all love which was not God-centered, all love which God was escaping from. The one thing God cannot tolerate is a love which is not centered around Him.</p>
|
||
<p>When a woman is about to marry she is at a crossroads; if she goes along one road she can destroy her husband, but if she takes the other path she can help him prosper, and not only him but his family and the society and nation, which are also hers. You stand at a very important dividing point when you get married and you have to set your purpose straight. By going the right way you are going straight towards God with a family and eventually a society and nation. This is why you are marrying to begin with. You have to clearly understand these things when you are on the verge of marrying someone.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">As long as we participate in God’s path,<br />
|
||
the fallen world has no power against us</h3>
|
||
<p>This is why no individual can save himself or set his course straight by himself. Like the Bible says, we need a mediator to go between ourselves and God because of the fall. Naturally there will be a struggle, but by fighting and overcoming we can eventually reach God. Sacrifices are needed on the altar at such times, much like the example shown by Isaac. Even when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son, he did not fight against God but completely obeyed, as did his son. Likewise, our bodies, no matter how outraged they feel, have to submit completely to our minds in order to be victorious and be accepted into God’s realm. That is why we find our bodies offered on the altar to God just as Isaac was.</p>
|
||
<p>At that time Isaac did not complain to his father, and our bodies should not complain to our minds. It is very difficult to do. Your minds understand that and don’t mind, but your bodies are not obeying. That is when you say, “I cannot do everything. I cannot give up the person I loved many years ago. I will keep that one thing for myself.” You have to realize that this struggle is your biggest enemy.</p>
|
||
<p>Fund raising is difficult to do, and you are sort of ashamed if you meet old classmates or relatives when you go newspaper selling. If you feel that, remember that it is only your body complaining to your mind. Your body has to submit to the mind, but once you win over that situation you won’t have to go through that trial any more.</p>
|
||
<p>You haven’t been through this stage yet, but many years ago I lived as a lowly beggar. When you live in such a state and you scratch your hands, a white streak is left where you scratched the dirt off. At that time I felt that my situation should be a sacrifice for the cause of God.</p>
|
||
<p>I think of everything in relation to the glory of God and the future. Even under the worst torture and on the verge of death in prison, I said that I must do this, that it is the most sacred thing a man can do. Before having dominion over the world you must first take control over your own body. If you eat something good or if you are caressed on the cheek or taken to a good movie then you are happy, aren’t you? But your lives are the other way around; we don’t eat good food and we sometimes even fast for many days. If you live in such a way that you don’t hear nice words or feel a gentle touch or go to movies then you will be going straight. Finding God with a life such as this will take much less time than if you just do what you like.</p>
|
||
<p>If only I can reach the one highest goal I will never complain, even though my body may die and be discarded. If you, too, feel that way then you are winning your individual victory. Even though you may have to sacrifice your entire family, you have to go the way God goes. You must have more regard for the will of God than for the love of your wife or children, or even for their physical well-being. When you are told to leave your family to do God’s will you should not fuss but step out with a loud yes and with no backward looks. God tells me to gather all the Unification Church members and let them bear all the burdens of the world, driving them out towards this one grand goal. It is a very difficult and unpleasant task, but I cannot tell Him no. No one can say anything except, “Yes, I will do that,’ and we do that so we won’t perish or be destroyed.</p>
|
||
<p>If there is one country God desires to establish to save the rest of the world then even though all Unification Church members might be sacrificed to do it, we would not hesitate but go straight through. For that matter, if all the people living on earth need to be sacrificed to save the much larger realm of spirit world. we must willingly do so. Our ultimate goal is to liberate God and realize His love, even if all mankind in spirit world and all mankind on earth have to be sacrificed.</p>
|
||
<p>God will sacrifice even Himself for love. That’s our path as well, period. This is no man-made objective; since God has been going this way throughout history we have no other choice but to go the same way. Here we find individual opportunity to become one with God, paralleling His love. We join here and then have a family and go on with God’s dispensation, and after embracing that family level we advance to the national level centered on the family unit, and so on.</p>
|
||
<p>Since we are always participating in God’s path we can always ignore the realm of the fall; the fallen world then has no power against us. As long as man stays on this path there is nothing Satan can claim. Actually God has to work through many stages. If an individual is fighting to solve man’s problems then God has to go along with him. Once man is fighting to go over the family-level hill God has to go along with man there. God has seven stages to fight through together with man as he moves toward the world of love-individual, family, clan, society, nation, world and cosmos.</p>
|
||
<p>First you have to go as an individual and after that bring your family to the tribal and national level. That’s not the end of it, however. Even though America may solve its problems, it has to plunge headlong into the world’s problems. When we stand before God we must be able to report to Him, ” I have sacrificed myself and my family and my nation and now I am here, Father.”</p>
|
||
<p>If you have not quite reached that goal then God would tell you. “You must go back where you left off, fulfill that level and then come back to me once more. You already know how difficult it is for every individual to go forward, but how can you possibly advance onto the family and national levels? This is what the Unification Church is all about. The solution is to set the condition of believing and obeying the one central individual while you are alive and then God will give you the same credit for accomplishing on the national level.</p>
|
||
<p>For 33 years I have been sacrificing myself to open this way. When all the Unification Church members unite with me they will inherit everything I have done. This is why, when you are told to undertake a certain responsibility, you should be willing to go, without objection or complaint, even to every corner of the world. When you go to spirit world, continue the work there. Then we will have done our share of responsibility. According to your degree of responsiveness I can bequeath everything to you in the name of love. Centering around love, I can give you the most precious things.</p>
|
||
<p>You follow me for the love of mankind and for the love of God, and this love is all we have. It is all we should care about. Even if we cared about other things, we couldn’t have them without love. What is the qualification to inherit anything from the True Parents? It is to follow centering around love. Your love of God should be your motivation for thinking anything or performing any activity. You have to set your objectives clearly all the time, making whatever you do for the love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>Only because of love was I able to reach this level and I will reach an even greater level; therefore, I can bequeath true love to you. You can’t explain exactly why, but you like me and like to follow and be connected to me. No matter how great the sin you have committed, when I say to you, “Don’t worry about that,” you feel that the whole thing is dismissed. That’s because my words were spoken centered upon God’s love. With this love you have the authority to give orders to all other people including the spirit world, and people everywhere will be only too happy to comply with you. This is true for anyone in the present, past, and even the future.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God is master of the past, present and future<br />
|
||
because He has true love</h3>
|
||
<p>I said earlier that when we ask God, “What are you,” God will say, “I am the master of the past, the master of the present, and the master of the future.” How is it that God can be the master of all three? He is the master because He has true love. Because God is the subject of this love, anyone who also works and sacrifices for God’s ultimate goal can eventually participate in God’s love and receive the recognition of the entire cosmos. Whatever I did I did because of true love. With love, each step of life is the starting point and the center of heaven. Love will start from there and will spread from there to every point.</p>
|
||
<p>Heaven is where God’s love resides. Now you know exactly where God’s love resides. When the mind and body become completely one in love, working on the highest levels of the world, that’s where God will reside.</p>
|
||
<p>Is God’s course straight? He moves slowly forward, step by step, sacrificing Himself to indemnify each position completely. It is God’s desire that the future generations of mankind should not suffer, so God goes straight, paying full indemnity at each step of His dispensation. You must know clearly that God is paying indemnity Himself by assuming the entire burden so that mankind can cross over each hill with less difficulty. It would be impossible for man to do everything alone, so God must assist. When mankind is going over the family level, God will assume the indemnity Himself; God will also help on the national level, enabling the nation to live in His love.</p>
|
||
<p>We are assembled here to follow exactly the same path that God Himself is going, to find God’s love, reclaim it and give it out. God is doing exactly the same thing, wanting to give His love away to the world. Since knowing how God lives I have been trying to live the same way; when you know how God lives, you will live the same way as well. Then you can have the qualification to be a son or daughter of God and a master of the past, present and future.</p>
|
||
<p>Debating whether God exists is the pre-kindergarten stage. We know what God is and what He does and this is why we can do God’s work. Without this knowledge the course that we have chosen would be too difficult. It is possible for us to do whatever God does. Why were we born? Not for God Himself but for the love of God. God gave birth to all creation and to man for the same objective: love.</p>
|
||
<p>We are born for the love of God and we are living for the love of God. Because of God’s love I can live as an individual: because of (lord’s love the family can exist, and together with God’s love the society and nation can be formed. Every moment we are here we have to remember that together with God’s love we are reaching toward the highest level. We live our lives centering on the nation that God loves and the family and each individual; “I” am living in the country of His love, and together we are the center of that country.</p>
|
||
<p>Since God and His love are the highest, will He say, “You have to obey me and do everything to serve me”? You all want to be raised higher and higher, don’t you? Everyone thinks that way, and if you center on God’s love everything is possible. When everyone lives up to the highest level of God’s love, everyone finds himself equal and wants no more.</p>
|
||
<p>Without exception everyone can live as the child of God in His kingdom where no one will want for anything as long as he is on that same level of the ultimate love of God. God is the Father and all mankind are His children. The love between each person and God is all the same, and each person will find it quite abundant and be satisfied. Every person wants to live in an environment where no one is inferior or superior to the others. Is there any way there can be equality for all? This equality can be found only in the love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>Can you live in the love of God without paying indemnity on earth? If someone bothered you and pushed you out to do many different things in order to cleanse you so that God could come near you and engulf you in His love, would that person’s actions be right or wrong? Even if this pressure made you unhappy would it be right? Have you been thinking so far that you are always being pushed so that God could be with you?</p>
|
||
<p>Now you know why we have to suffer? Without suffering it is almost impossible to set straight what is crooked. If I told you to forget all the hard work you have been doing and to just go to the theater or do whatever you liked, would you protest because you are not straight yet, or would you agree with me?</p>
|
||
<p>What matters is that we have to prepare ourselves to qualify for the realm of God’s love. This is why I have endured much suffering and why I have no complaints. You cannot even imagine the difficulties I have had. Many times I would have liked to turn my back on this wicked world and not had anything more to do with it. But I could never do that because I knew that God’s love was right there and that there was nowhere else to go. Is the problem becoming somewhat clearer to you now?</p>
|
||
<p>Do you know yourselves even better than God knows you? You don’t like indemnity, but since you are aware of the situation then you should start to sample it. Do you know how to do this? If you are not a really good dancer now, try to imitate other people when you go to parties instead of standing there like a stick. Soon you will be able to dance, and you might even become a great dancer. If you cannot sing, then you should hum; soon you may learn to sing. There is bound to be a great feast ahead of us, and if we at least follow along no matter how tired our legs are, once we get there we will participate in the feast.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you just tag along with someone else or are you going to try to become the center? Those who now understand and want to act as a leader rather than a follower, raise your hands. I am thinking very seriously that each of you should become the center of your own home church. So far you have worked very hard and found one thing: even when we work hard the fruit of our witnessing is often dispersed and leaves little benefit in the center. We have done all kinds of pioneering work and witnessing on the streets, but somehow the people who come into the Church do not understand clearly and soon leave again. Then we get some more people and then they leave. The results do not remain here for good.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Home churches</h3>
|
||
<p>Early last year, you were each given an area of 360 homes. If you really visited your area at least once a day then by this time you should know where everyone in the neighborhood lives and what kind of persons they are. If you go for ten days then all your effort remains there and doesn’t go away somewhere else. If you visit there for one hundred days then one hundred days of effort remains there. It does not disappear, like the people you meet street witnessing.</p>
|
||
<p>When you visit your area, the old ladies there will watch you, and when you come back often they will want to know who you are. After many frequent visits they will say, “They are really persistent. They keep coming quite regularly. Actually they are more devoted than my own grandchildren.” Many older people are now disillusioned and disheartened by their own offspring, but if you keep visiting you will attract their attention and you are certain to leave a lasting impression on them. The young people would say you are better than their own brothers and sisters, and the parents will say you are better than their own children.</p>
|
||
<p>As time wears on people are sure to have a deep, positive impression of you. The old folks will talk with each other about you and say, “These Moonies are wonderful people. We want to help them.” They are bound to be curious and ask what you are doing this for, and when they know you are a Moonie they will ask you what Reverend Moon is like and what he does. But if you only go once or twice to your areas you won’t arouse any interest.</p>
|
||
<p>I gave you each 360 homes in order to distribute God’s love to you. As you distribute more love to the people then you in turn will become bigger and bigger. If you do not distribute love to the other people, however, then you will stay as gaunt as you are. If a tree wants to live then it must grow many branches and be healthy. If a tree grows no branches then it will simply wither away and die. I have never met one sensible person who asked me why I assigned him only 360 homes to distribute love to instead of three times as many.</p>
|
||
<p>Is it better to establish large indemnity conditions or only little ones? You didn’t know about that until this morning, did you? If you are now going to do that as if you were crazy then that’s very encouraging and God will be happy. I told you almost a year and a half ago to visit all your homes, and now I am assigning you to establish a church in those homes. You will soon learn exactly how to do it through your own personal experience in establishing a center. You may not know the Divine Principle well enough to lecture to other people so I had a video tape film made of the lectures. All you have to do is push a button and two or three hours of lectures will come through in clear, natural color.</p>
|
||
<p>Can you say, “Father, I have no one that I know in my area? If the average family in your area has three members then there are more than 1,000 people in your area and there is bound to be someone you know who likes what you are doing and who wants to work with you. When you go to your area you can tell the people that there is a movie of 1800 couples getting married in one ceremony and invite them to see it. Maybe the grandparents won’t be so interested, but the young people of marrying age would certainly like to see what happens in such a ceremony. Now that you are a Unification Church member yourself you can judge what the people will be interested in seeing. When they like something and are excited, you can tell them that there is an even more interesting movie to see and soon they will come a second time.</p>
|
||
<p>The home churches may be small to begin with, but after awhile many folks in the area will drop in for awhile and visit and see the films. When you know many young people who play instruments they can get together and form a band, and whenever an older member of the family has a birthday they can all have an enjoyable hour entertaining them. Record all the birthday dates in a notebook and on those dates go there to play for them. If you keep track of all the birthdays of the members of the households in your area, you will be going to three birthdays a day!</p>
|
||
<p>As you get acquainted with them, they will be fascinated with you as a young person who is completely different from what they usually see. They will invite you to visit often, and even invite you to stay overnight. When they see you often during the year they will invariably know your value too. They heard about Moonies a long time ago, but now that you are visiting them in person all year round they will realize that you are jewels of young people. When you have a place with games like ping pony and a pool table, it will become the club for young people in the neighborhood. If the circumstances are fitting then you can go horseback riding, and when there is a wedding then people can celebrate there in a fantastic way.</p>
|
||
<p>There is great room for developing this home church idea. Are you interested? You have heard about indemnity but so far I have paid all the indemnity on your behalf. Why don’t you just follow along and live the easy way of life now? Or now that I have paid so much, will you pay enough to lift mine away? Am I going to buy you the equipment for your home church or will you buy it yourselves? Then it will become your property and you can start your own church.</p>
|
||
<p>At a pre-arranged time everyone can come to listen to the videotape. You can go through the neighborhood ringing a bell or blowing a bugle and the neighborhood will know that you are playing a movie at the center; then they can come and listen. Once we are successful in home churches papers like the New York Times will have a hard time selling in that area.</p>
|
||
<p>We have many News World delivery trucks which are only used early in the morning for a few hours and then sit idle the rest of the day. We will use them to deliver all kinds of necessary high quality home items like food and consumer goods at incredibly low prices. Then people won’t even have to go shopping and Macy’s and other stores will have hard competition because we will sell many daily necessities at much cheaper prices than they.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you think I just dream about these things or do I plan and put all of them into practice, one thing at a time? Like I told you a year ago, when you are successful in this operation you will have enough income to support yourself and your church and your area of activity. This is exactly the kind of thing the communists want to do although they don’t know how.</p>
|
||
<p>Children today are turning against their parents’ beliefs but in each home the children will be interested. Even where some patients may be communist and reject you, their children will be interested. Like all of us, every American needs to be enlightened and learn what life is about. They should know why Jesus came and know the purpose of all religion. When they understand the truth then America will begin to live once again.</p>
|
||
<p>Now that we have been persecuted so much yet continued to work with total dedication, we are finally going to succeed in this country. People are bound to come to the Church and listen and understand the Divine Principle and become members. You have experienced how every person has ups and downs and how people drift away because they are confused or tired. So far in witnessing you might pour five or six months into one person and then when he leaves he is impossible to find. But when you have a home church you can go to his home and talk with him for a few minutes and he will come back.</p>
|
||
<p>Other people may not come to the Church right away hut they will observe your work 365 days a year, even for three years. Then they will be convinced that you are here to stay and that what you do is absolutely right. None of your effort will be wasted. You are guaranteed that everything you invest will bear fruit in your area. Even if it is difficult at first, people will understand later. In the meantime God will reside in each home when you visit.</p>
|
||
<p>The Divine Principle videotape is very clear and by listening to it often you will become a great lecturer. Everyone who listens to it is amazed at what they did not know before. There is no question that you can bring a person to lecture every day. We will start this on June l. We still have two months to go and during that time please renew your enthusiasm. Go to your area and contact the people and plan where the best place for a home church will be. Once you become successful with one home in your area you can branch out and there can be as many home churches in your area as is practical.</p>
|
||
<p>There are 240 million American people who have never seen me and most of them automatically oppose us because of the impact of the media. But many of them will change their minds when they come into contact with regular people like you; after all, they are regular people also, not evil. Then no matter what the New York Times says, those who come into daily contact with you will not believe any evil stories. Once we have an impact on New York, knowledge of us will spread like wildfire around America. This is exactly why I told you that New York is our front line.</p>
|
||
<p>Whether you continue is the main thing. If you do then in one city on the first of June we will have 1,000 home churches. We must prepare to begin on June l, having the vision and the objective in mind. Now we are decided to do this. Let me see again who will do it. Let us pray.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1252 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1250" class="post-1250 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/16/my-life.html" title="Permalink to MY LIFE" rel="bookmark">MY LIFE</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-16T14:12:26+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/16/my-life.html" rel="bookmark">June 16, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-16T14:12:26+01:00">June 16, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">March 12, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>All of you have your own “selves.” Could you say whether that “self” is precious or trivial, good or bad? I’m sure each of you will answer that your “self” is precious and good. There are many who might even say that though they do all kinds of evil, they still consider themselves good. There are also many who are trying to establish themselves as a central figure, wanting people to follow them as the example instead of their following somebody else. People are inclined to want to own anything nice and good and precious for themselves. How about you?</p>
|
||
<p>For a moment let us consider “myself”, this piece of material which contains life. If someone were to take some dough and shape it to look like you, using two olives as the eyes, and you stood sideby-side with your replica, would there really be any difference between you? The dough actually has more usefulness because we can make bread out of it. What is the use of this body?</p>
|
||
<p>This body is easily irritated and it complains a lot. If something tiny blows into your eye it begins to complain and tears start to run and you have to remove whatever it is. When you have a slight cold and stuffy nose, you also feel discomfort. What is this body trying to do? A hammer has a specific use for pounding in nails, and with an axe you chop wood, but what purpose does the body serve? What kind of tool is it? When you really consider it, this chunk of flesh has many problems.</p>
|
||
<p>As we live our lives are we giving service to others, or are we becoming indebted to others? Do we always take advantage of things, or do we bring advantage to our surroundings and to nature? Do you create a debt to the world, or do you make a loan to the world? Are we indebted to the sun’s rays and to the air? Have you ever thanked the sun for giving such abundant sunlight, or thanked the air every morning for sustaining your life? If someone hands you a tissue when you need it to blow your nose, you say thank you, but you never thank the sun. Compared to the value of a tissue, we would have to say thank you to the sun 24 hours a day. That is how much we are indebted to the sun and air.</p>
|
||
<p>Three-fourths of our bodies consists of water. If you are thirsty, you just go to the kitchen and get ice cold water to drink, and you never even think to thank the water. Are you indebted to the water, or are you giving something to the water? What about the ground? You run on it and you have no fear that the ground will sink beneath your feet or swallow you up. You kick the ground, spit at it, relieve yourselves on it and litter the ground with all kinds of waste, but does the ground complain to you?</p>
|
||
<p>When we look at the history of all the creation, we see that this earth is completely uncomplaining. Throughout history this earth has witnessed the formidable misery of man-his evil actions, his great bloodshed and sin-but the amazing thing is that the earth always continues to absorb all the dirt and fifth. The earth not only absorbs it but digests it and gives it back to nature as nourishment. When man walked on the earth, he never even thought of expressing gratitude to it. Have you ever thought, “If I really stamp on the earth then it might cave in and the other side of the earth will be shaken”? You know that the earth will quietly absorb that shock as it has all other disturbances.</p>
|
||
<p>Let me ask you another question: Who owns your body? Many people resent that type of question and say, “How can you ask such a question? You know it’s my body.” In human relationships, when some person commits a crime and causes harm to others, those people always demand that the person restore the damage done. It is considered natural to expect him to indemnify the damage, but in the relationship of nature and man, man has always invaded nature and damaged it. If nature had a lawyer to bring a damage suit against man, how many billions of dollars would nature be justified in demanding? Man has no way to reimburse nature. You would have to be auctioned off and declared bankrupt, but who would buy a clumsy man or woman? What use are they? Do you think God will buy you? Why would He need such smelly men and women? Man hates man, and even dogs don’t always like humans.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The earth is our first parent</h3>
|
||
<p>When you look at your hand you know it consists of molecules and atoms, and that the original material actually comes from nature. Each person borrows certain substances from nature to use in his body; therefore, nature can claim that everything you have in your body is a loan. Nature would say, “I invested that much material in you to get some benefit, not to be damaged by you.” It is logical when you loan someone some money that you intend to benefit by it; you want to be enriched by it, not lose from it. Can you say that you don’t owe nature anything?</p>
|
||
<p>We have three owners or masters. You never thought of this, did you? Your first owner is the earth. The earth is your first parent because it produced you. When you think of it logically, you will come to the conclusion that everything you have is originally from the earth. The earth is completely justified in saying one day, “Since I gave you so much, you must now return everything to me.” We all know that it is our destiny some day to return everything to the earth again.</p>
|
||
<p>The day of death is the day we return everything to the earth and liquidate our indebtedness. In that case are you bringing benefit or harm to the earth? When the moment of your death comes, will you have been a son of filial piety, or a son of disobedience to the earth? This is something to think about. You have never heard this kind of concept of being a very faithful, loyal son to the earth, have you? People never knew that the earth was their first master.</p>
|
||
<p>The earth willingly loans much to man because it is anticipating something very precious-eternal, permanent love. It does not yearn for love that exists temporarily and then disappears, but it yearns for the love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>A covenant has been made between the earth and God. Sometime ago God said to the earth, “Earth, let’s create man. You can invest something into man which will help create a love that will permanently remain.” The earth replied, “Yes, God, I want to invest in that.” Then God said to the earth, “I want to give my love to you, but I need a mediator to be the bridge of love between myself and you, and that’s man. If you want to receive my love, you need to create man and invest some of your most precious things in him.” The earth responded, “Yes, God, I really want to be loved by You. I’ll obey and do whatever You want me to do.” The earth’s ingredients were transformed into a man’s body, and that body became the temple of God and the recipient of His love, but in reality it is the earth, not man, who is receiving God’s love. The earth was excited about becoming the recipient of God’s love.</p>
|
||
<p>Man contains the essence of earth, and he is the microcosm of this entire earth. When the earth sees men and women happily walking together, it feels joy and thinks, “That’s me; that’s my essence walking on top of me.” The earth is interested in watching you because you are the earth’s image and representative. When men and women meet and are happy and converse in love, the earth joins in the conversation and feels the same joy and happiness.</p>
|
||
<p>We are not only the essence of the earth, we are the essence of God because we have been made in the image of God. Once we truly center upon God, the happiness of men and women will cause God to come down and dwell. After all, God created men and women for that purpose. Furthermore, all men and women will rejoice over the happiness of their fellow man because we are all part of one life. It is our destiny because each one of us is the essence of all mankind. The entire universe and God are looking for their representative, their essence, the microcosm through which they can express their joy.</p>
|
||
<p>How can man respond to all this expectation? By giving the ground some money? If I have the power of the United States President and I have the knowledge of a Harvard professor, do you think that power and knowledge could link everything together to the maximum satisfaction? How can you relate everything? Some may say they will donate their lives to the earth, or to God, or whatever. If God and the earth and mankind owned your life, would they feel happy? No. What is it, then, that everything will rejoice over having? Love. Do you like love? Did you see love? Do you know love? Yes? I have not seen love.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you love better than your food, better even than your life? Where is the origin of that love? If God is the originator of love then how can you participate in it with Him so far away? How can you channel that love down to you? By calling every day for love to come down, or by fasting for forty-days? No, that will not make love come. The first step to becoming the recipient of love is to be loyal and faithful to that first parent, which is the earth. God’s covenant with the earth anticipated that first of all you would be faithful and loyal to your first parent.</p>
|
||
<p>The response to this universal contract, the first action that resulted from it, was your very birth into a life here on earth. Because of your birth, you can relate to the earth; every component of this earth is your relative. You and the flowers are cousins, for instance. This is a very realistic expression. When the world hears you call the flowers your cousins, I’m sure the world will say you are crazy. This is true, however, and it also makes logical sense. Go ahead and even greet the blackboard as your cousin and kiss it! Do you think it would be a crazy act once you know how you are related to creation?</p>
|
||
<p>The truth will make you free. Put yourself in the position of the trees and rocks and mountains and all the things of nature. Would they reject having people like you as their cousins or would they feel joyful? If the universe could show facial expressions would all things smile, cry, or be angry at you when you called them your cousin?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Our second parent</h3>
|
||
<p>Then who is your second parent? The second parent is, of course, your own natural parents. Your bone structure, facial expressions, your height and the color of your skin comes from your natural parents. Would your natural parents only want to look at their children for five minutes and then forget about them the rest of the day? Perhaps it would be adequate to meet their own children in the morning, just greeting them at the breakfast table.</p>
|
||
<p>When a father and mother are occupied and very busy during the day, then during those busy hours they certainly shouldn’t even think about their children, right? If somehow your parents are trapped by some kind of tragedy and they are about to die, will they only think about themselves at that very moment, or would their minds think back to their children? How do you know this without having your own children? You can know these things through the action of your own parents and how they treat you. Is it true that parents normally forget their children when they are really happy or when they are really sorrowful?</p>
|
||
<p>Parents always think of their children, no matter how extreme their state of mind might be. For example, when the parents are really rejoicing over some happening then they wish that their sons and daughters could be there to enjoy the thing together with them. When they are facing utmost tragedy and their children want to try to save them, the parents say, “Get out of here; we’re all right. We don’t want you to be endangered by it.” In each situation they are still thinking about their children. It is parental love that whenever there is some joy parents want to give that joy and increase that joy for the children, and when there is sorrow and hardship and tragedy, they want to bear that hardship and lighten the burden for their children. That’s the way parents think, and at the same time that’s the way the earth also thinks.</p>
|
||
<p>Many newborn babies are nursed at their mother’s breasts, sometimes even longer than one year. Nature was made in such a way that babies were suppose to grow with breast feeding. Why does a baby search after his mother’s milk? The milk not only sustains life, but love is also conveyed in the act of feeding. At the grocery store you can get a bottle of milk to feed the baby. Whether you pay for the milk or not doesn’t make any difference, because actually man steals the milk from the cow; when you think about it, that milk was there for some other baby! When you marry and have your own children, which milk would you rather feed your baby cow’s milk or mother’s milk? American women need to be educated in this. If 100% of American babies had been fed their mother’s milk, I don’t think there would be so much of a problem with juvenile delinquency and the generation gap between parents and children.</p>
|
||
<p>The world has the impression that American young people are rebellious, particularly toward their own parents. Because American babies generally weren’t breast-fed, they didn’t receive that most beautiful love coming from the bosom of the mother nor the life that flows through the mother’s milk. Even if an apple is rotten and deformed, a farmer still cares about it because he produced that apple, but would you pick up a good apple that was floating down the Hudson River? You wouldn’t pay attention to it because someone else discarded it. Feeding a child cow’s milk is similar to feeding him the apples you found in the river from a boat that lost its cargo. There is no real love relationship and life relationship between parents and children in that case. Such parents are only worried about getting their baby something to eat so he won’t die. That’s all there is to it.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you very faithful, pious children to your parents? There is not too much confidence in your answer; you don’t really know what to say. Here in America the basic problem is that the parents and the young people have departed from their respective positions. What is the most precious thing linking parents and children? Food? Love? Suppose a mother is a very ugly woman, while her son and daughter are very attractive. Could love still connect them? If a child loves his parents then even if they look very ugly, maybe being even crippled and disabled, that child still is excited to invite them to school, proudly taking them to the principal’s office to be introduced and then taking them around to meet all the teachers. But if there is no love then a child is embarrassed to have them visit his school.</p>
|
||
<p>True love doesn’t really care about external appearances; it doesn’t make any difference how ugly or small your parents might be. If there is a warmth and flow of love between a child and his parents, he is proud of them because of that love. If parents have no real overflowing sense of love, they are governed by external things instead and a child doesn’t want to show off his mother and father. Which way of life is the true expression of love? Which kind of man or woman are you?</p>
|
||
<p>Even if you say you are the most loving kind of son or daughter, your parents might say, “No, I don’t think my son is like that.” You estimate an answer by yourself, saying, “Well, I think I am.” If your yes is approved by your parents, then America has hope after all. Are there many pious sons and daughters among you, or are there more rebellious sons and daughters? Unification Church members gathered here are those who uphold genuine love toward their natural parents, right? You only say yes because I asked you.</p>
|
||
<p>I am convinced that if your yes is a true one, it is because you would not otherwise have been hand-picked by God to be a member of the Unification Church. If you were really rebellious and a bad apple, you wouldn’t be here. You have the ability to show your love. If you had actually shown love to your parents, however, then you wouldn’t need a sermon this morning; we would be wasting our energy here. You already know the answer, and now all you have to do is go and put it into practice.</p>
|
||
<p>Those of you who feel that you have a good mother and a good father, raise your hands please. Now I have another question, a very tricky one this time. Now you are convinced you have good parents, but what about during your high school days you always think you had wonderful parents? We see that the Unification Church has improved your opinion of your parents, but then why should your parents be trying to kidnap you?</p>
|
||
<p>It’s amazing to see how people particularly white people, outside our Church are incredibly brainwashed by the media. They think you become a robot when you become a Unification Church member and you don’t even have freedom to laugh. Yesterday I heard a report from a leader about his center, and he said that when the members went outside to have fellowship and they started a snowball fight, all the neighbors watched in astonishment, saying, “They are normal after all! They do the same things that ordinary kids do.” They just couldn’t understand that the Moonies would do the same things that they themselves do. If those same people saw us singing and dancing in joy, I’m sure they would go into shock. People think that the Moonies are a totally different kind of animal. Are we robots, or are we genuine human beings?</p>
|
||
<p>People think I am a terrible monster and that I live in luxury while you work hard. Many white people want to get rid of me. You have met me at least once a week, listened to me and received instructions from me. Do you know me better than those people who have only read about me in the newspapers? The world is very deceitful and we should be very firm about not allowing its wickedness to encroach upon us.</p>
|
||
<p>Every Sunday morning there are always some people who come, not as dedicated members of the Unification Church, but to see the Reverend Moon who is supposed to be a monster, a person who is destroying America.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you that kind of spectator? Why not? Go right ahead and think in that fashion. Why do you protest against being told to do that? For that one thing you refuse to compromise and you cannot yield; you are ready to defend my name and honor because righteousness is as strong as God. Even God cannot rule out the Principle or rule out righteousness.</p>
|
||
<p>When you are speaking of the truth and of righteousness, even God has to bow down. When you speak of righteousness, I too, must bow down. You cannot compromise with righteousness. It is our understanding that we’ve been chosen by God as champions to bring righteousness to the wickedness of the world. No matter what the world might say, I am standing on the side of righteousness and there is no compromise. The world is proud of itself, but you know that it is crumbling and declining fast. We have hope, and we are determined to show the righteousness of what we are doing. That’s why I want to get up at 5:00 in the morning. Other Americans only tackle one profession at a time, but we do five or six things at the same time. I want to do everything to the fullest degree.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">To be considered a capable person in our Church,<br />
|
||
you must be good at many different things</h3>
|
||
<p>Your eyes are shining and you are looking in all directions, with your arms busy doing things and your legs taking you to many duties. Those who think that the Unification Church does too many things and they just cannot keep up, please raise your hands. I noticed a new fashion for women; usually they wear only one necklace, but nowadays they are wearing two and three necklaces at one time. Why are the women trying to wear so many when one at a time is enough? It is like the Unification Church, which is wearing many, many occupations.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you sisters want husbands who are single-minded and can only do one thing at a time, or would you rather have men who can tackle ten things at the same time? What about you men? I have created training for husbands and wives here in the Unification Church, and the first qualification to be considered the most capable candidate is the ability to do ten different things simultaneously.</p>
|
||
<p>You haven’t thought this was so wonderful before now and you have been complaining, haven’t you? Get it out and you will be forgiven; don’t keep it bottled up inside. Even our Church leaders sometimes are saying yes to me, but inside they are really complaining. Even I myself sometimes say to God, “You ask too much of me. You ask me to do impossible things.” Then God answers, “My son, I want you to understand me. I’m in an awkward position, having to create men and women who are liked by the whole universe, so what can I do? I have to push you hard in every area.” God made me into a very versatile man, not a single-minded man who can do only one thing.</p>
|
||
<p>Young people like me because they are looking for someone with that kind of adventurous character, someone who likes sports, music, wild things, quiet things, art, business and religion. This is why I have more to offer to young people. Those who feel that religious leaders shouldn’t be like that, raise your hands please. Why didn’t you raise your hands?</p>
|
||
<p>Why did you come here so early? There are many great leaders waiting for you to come follow them, people like Billy Graham or Norman Vincent Peale, and they may treat you better than I do. But I think that within a week’s time you would get bored in those places. In the Unification Church there is no time to get bored even though you remain in it for many years. There is no time to relax and think empty thoughts. Even if I told you to pack up and go become hippies, some part of you would resist, that part of you which cannot regress.</p>
|
||
<p>What about the HSA-UWC Headquarters women-do you think that what we are doing is good or bad? A refreshing wind should blow through Headquarters and I would like to have a rotation plan there and send part of the staff away for MFT training. When they really show that they are enthusiastic about being on the front line then I will bring them back to Headquarters. It’s not good for Headquarters people to see things from only their own point of view. We cannot afford to have the Unification Church only follow the American style, or to fashion it into a pattern that American people will like. We must create the Unification Church that the world needs to solve its problems. You are going to be universal men and women.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you women like to have husbands who can only do one thing? Suppose your husband is a student in college, or a teacher, and all he has to do is to pack his books and get his lunch and go to school every day. If you need someone to hang a picture and pound a nail into the wall but he tells you to call the union because that’s not his job, would you be happy with him? If your shoe has a hole in it and you show it to your husband, a man for all seasons would say to take it off and let him mend it. He wouldn’t tell you to wait and take it to the shoe shop. Sometimes you might have a tear in your skirt and your husband might say, “Let me mend it.” Men don’t have to do that all the time, but they should be capable of doing anything without hesitation.</p>
|
||
<p>Of course, Mother is a very capable mother, but still I can sew shirts and knit hats and do needlework. When I was in prison I even had to improvise a needle because there were none. Even now I can make a needle. In the department stores I see many clothes and knitted materials, but I don’t think they are particularly good; I think I can knit something better than those.</p>
|
||
<p>When I visited Washington a couple of days ago, I asked the New Hope Singers to sing a song, and afterward I gave them a critique. The conductor was trembling because he thought the New Hope Singers were pretty good, but I gave him suggestions about what to do better, and how to correct certain points. Even a music professor could not have given that kind of critique. I also gave artistic appraisals to the dancing groups in the Performing Arts, both Western ballet and Korean dance.</p>
|
||
<p>We are going to make men and women who are multi-purposeful, and whoever really wants to become happy in their lives will want to have a husband or wife trained under my philosophy. With that training men and women can liberate themselves and actualize many talents. Parents will request a son-in-law or daughter-in-law from me. Why did you applaud? Something I said made you feel good, but applause and complaint don’t go together too well. Do you complain or not?</p>
|
||
<p>When a tough teacher is strict about his students doing a lot of homework, the students may complain about him to each other, and if one day he is sick and can’t come to class they will rejoice. Those people who complain and try to avoid taking responsibility and try to avoid learning will eventually end up being servants to someone. They will never become a master. But I am determined to create qualities of leadership in you.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You have the toughest coach</h3>
|
||
<p>The Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl this year, and I’m sure they didn’t get up at ten in the morning and take naps when they didn’t feel like practicing. I’m sure their coach really pushed them and made them suffer hardship. The Dallas Cowboys probably complained about him many times and criticized him, but once they won the Super Bowl how would they feel toward him? The Unification Church is like a heavenly Dallas Cowboys, and you have the toughest coach. You don’t appreciate me now, but ten or twenty years from now when we win the world championship you will appreciate me.</p>
|
||
<p>Our battle is going to be a long-range one and by the time we have won I might be long gone and you won’t be able to come thank me. Then you will have to go to my tomb and say, “Father, I repent for complaining against you in my heart. You are truly the greatest coach and I am indebted to you.” I feel that you think you love me very much, but in most cases it is only lip service. In most of your hearts there is a certain resentment, not real evil intent, but some genuinely uncomfortable feeling because I am very tough on you. When I am looking at you, however, you have to deny it, don’t you?</p>
|
||
<p>We have been talking about your second parent and we still have another parent to go, but time is running out. What I have been teaching this morning in essence is what America needs, what the young people need. Looking down here on earth, God is nodding, and all of nature and the universe would also nod and say, “Reverend Moon, we need you to recreate these young people of America and the world.” American people do not like me, however. Will the universal power eventually be victorious, or will the negative American people overrule the cosmic trend?</p>
|
||
<p>I know that even though the American people come against me, the universal, cosmic welcome is already prepared for me. The American people only come against me because they do not understand this. Our job is to instruct and educate the public, and if they still do not understand then I will leave the U. S. and say to God, “I have done my best. You must send someone who can do better than I. Now 1 will leave.” But until a certain kind of education is made available on the nationwide scale, I will not retreat. If the American people come to know the real Reverend Moon then certainly there is no way they can come against me. Do you really feel this in your hearts?</p>
|
||
<p>I have the solutions to the toughest problems in America, such as juvenile delinquency, labor problems, communist agitation, moral problems and the problem of reviving the Christian churches. I want to enable you to convince the rest of America, not because our ultimate concern is the American people, but because God’s concern is for the world. The American people are closer to the world level, and by renewing and resurrecting the American people we can affect the rest of the world.</p>
|
||
<p>We can consider America in the position of Abel and the rest of the world as Cain; America is God’s special champion and that is the reason I came here. There are many other countries I could more freely visit instead of America and be welcomed in, like Great Britain, for example. In many European countries I don’t need a visa, but America treats foreigners in a most high-handed way. For that reason I have no appetite to stay in America. America has never given me a decent welcome, even though I have brought so much to this country.</p>
|
||
<p>Outside our Church people think that I am using you to get rich and buy property for myself, but you at least should know the truth. The Korean and Japanese members are suffering much more than any Americans; that is the genuine truth. The American people have deeply misunderstood me. The money that I have poured into this country could have lasted for many, many years if I hadn’t spent it here; in my entire lifetime I couldn’t personally spend all the money that I have used in the U.S. Nevertheless, the American people have mistreated me. This is not right and justice has to be done.</p>
|
||
<p>If I died today then the rest of the world would probably be glad. Would you share their feeling, or would you continue on to revolutionize America and the world in my memory? If you did that then the world would ask, “Why are you Unification Church members coming out now and saying these things? Why didn’t you say them while Reverend Moon was alive?” You don’t have to wait for me to die; you are going to do it now because the truth is the same, nothing would change. This is the time to go out and educate the people, not because I want it, but because this is what you are dedicated to. How can you falter? The American people are committing unforgivable crimes and we must liberate them</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The three sins which<br />
|
||
receive the harshest judgment</h3>
|
||
<p>When you go to the spirit world you will see that the harshest judgment is given for three things: First is the misuse of public funds; second is the slander of a public or righteous person; third is violation of the Principle. That’s the order in which judgment is given, and you will find that this is so when you get there. Public funds, particularly Church funds, are a fearsome thing. Because I know this is true, I would much rather use my own money instead. Whatever money the Unification Church has, whether it is in Korea, Japan or here in the United States, I do not claim ownership for even one penny of it. Everything belongs to the Korean, Japanese and American churches. I do not want to violate public funds.</p>
|
||
<p>Public people are precious people. I love the leaders of our Church from the various countries all over the world; I treat them well and buy them clothes and so forth, but I never spend that kind of money on myself. I spend all kinds of money for them because they are public people. There is no forgiveness for slandering public people or for violating the Principle.</p>
|
||
<p>These are public rules and there is no compromise for people who violate them. I don’t know how to compromise in that case. For example, some couples who were married before coming to our movement have received the blessing, but they are required to keep a seven-month period of purification before starting married life again. Some people only maintained this period for three months, and now according to the Principle they are not qualified to have the blessing. Furthermore, those people who joined the Unification Church and then left and rejoined again because they could find no hope outside may have repented and become very devout workers, but I will tell them to wait for seven years before they are blessed. That’s the Principle and I cannot compromise the Principle.</p>
|
||
<p>These are the major three rules of spirit world. When you go out on MFT training, all the money you make is for the public fund and for that reason you should return every penny you make. But at the same time your doing that makes you a public person, and anyone who is nasty to you and slanders you is violating this law and they will be chastised. Because you are a public person, because every bit of what you are doing is for the sake of God, fund raising is not stealing, not at all. Some people try to criticize us by saying that Unification Church members lie and justify it by calling it heavenly deception; I never taught you to do that and I was very angry at hearing such a thing. We don’t have to lie. We must be totally honest.</p>
|
||
<p>Some members try to hide the fact that they are members of the Unification Church, and that is absolutely no good. Wear your ID and show to the world that you are a member of the Unification Church and that you follow Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Go forward proudly in that capacity and let people contribute to this cause. If someone slanders you when you are a public person then it is the other person who is violating this law and who will be cursed. Therefore, you have to have mercy upon them and tell them to wait and see during the next three or five years. Go out with my dignity.</p>
|
||
<p>A public person should act as a public person. You cannot lie or be late for appointments. You must keep time because that is a public thing. If you announce that something will happen at a certain hour then it must happen because that has a public purpose. I have totally organized the pattern of our Church management according to spiritual law. During my whole ministry I have been trying to raise all of our members into the kinds of people who can be faithful members to the Principle; how much you can stick to the Principle is what I am paying attention to.</p>
|
||
<p>The worst judgment comes to those who misuse public funds. When you go to spirit world, this is the first thing you will find. The second most severe judgment is for criticism of a public figure or public mission. You should not have a private love or go dating or any of those silly things because you are a public person. We have our public titles and we have a public mission. No matter how trivial you look, in the sight of God you are the most important public figures here in America. No matter how much love you have had in the world outside, once you are drafted by God to be a public person, you must cut your other relationships off. That’s the way I have lived my entire life. No public person can do things arbitrarily and at whim.</p>
|
||
<p>I know that many of our women here are over the age of thirty, and you know that you cannot marry at your whim in our Church. If you want to do it then go ahead, but see how you feel. You won’t feel heavenly happiness. Marriage is supposed to be a very wonderful thing, and in order to have no sting of conscience you must just faithfully fulfill your mission until your time comes. You are not a private person. The public person always sacrifices himself for the purpose of the greater cause and God. I give you orders because you are public people, and I also am a public person.</p>
|
||
<p>There seems to be no direct relationship between Koreans and Americans in today’s world, but because we are one body under one God I can instruct you on what to do as a public person. You volunteered to be a public person in the sight of God. Do you need to know how to sell the paper when you get married and have a home? Not necessarily. You do it because you feel it is your public responsibility. Before you knew the truth and before you joined the movement you were a private person, but now you are not just an individual.</p>
|
||
<p>All of us are in a heavenly army and there is a channel of command through which higher authority has the right to tell you what to do. I want you to know very clearly this morning that I am a public figure whom God has ordained. Even just a few months ago you were people without a great purpose, people whom no one bothered and who could do all kinds of things at any time. Now you are not free to do just anything; you have to be ruled by heavenly law. Your conscience is always the judge of whether you are obeying the law or not. You are always the one who judges yourself.</p>
|
||
<p>When you go to spirit world you will know that the words I have spoken are not given on my behalf but on heaven’s behalf. Any violation you commit against me will exact a certain price in spirit world. No matter how great a responsibility you had on earth or how good a job you did here on earth, when you violate certain principles you are stuck and have to be retrained. That retraining in spirit world is a hundred, a million times more difficult than what we do here on earth.</p>
|
||
<p>Once you get to spirit world you will know how foolish you were to complain and will regret the golden opportunity you had but missed while you were on earth to comply fully with my instructions. That’s why I make myself a sacrifice. I am living under the same law so I make myself suffer. I cannot go to bed until I am utterly tired. You are a public figure, and you actually don’t even have the liberty to go to the bathroom freely. Finally, we must walk the Principle way. Unless you live this Principle, you cannot cross the bridge between the physical world and spirit world.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Our third parent</h3>
|
||
<p>Everything has three stages, even the human body. Heavenly structure always has three stages according to Principle, and ultimately God is the parent of your eternal life. The earth is your first parent and it produced you in order to keep love permanently. When your own parents gave you love it was to inherit love, not money or power or anything else. They gave you life for the sake of love. Did you leave love to your parents? Did your parents leave love to you? No matter how educated your parents were, if they loved you, were they better than you or less than you?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">No matter how bad your parents were,<br />
|
||
there was some genuine love<br />
|
||
in their hearts for their children</h3>
|
||
<p>Even if parents separate and go different ways, no matter what happens to them, their feeling toward their children will remain the same. Suppose you are the elder son or daughter and the tragedy of your parents’ separation splits your home. It might have been possible for you as the eldest to save them from separating. If you were truly a pious child, you would have greeted them in the morning and brought them together in joyful conversation, pleading with them when they felt divided. Then even if they felt terrible conflict as husband and wife, for your sake they simply could not separate but would have to be reconciled. Do you agree that this is a possibility?</p>
|
||
<p>American young people usually look at the situation only from their own side and accuse their parents of not giving much love; if the parents want to separate, the children make no objection. This should not be so. The marriage of the parents is always the son’s or daughter’s responsibility as well; it is a joint responsibility between children and parents, not just between parents. No matter what, you as their children have a debt of love to them. When you become a Unification Church member and your father and mother are living apart, you can feel the power and energy to bring them together again and have hope for them. If you are truly a pious child but your parents disregard you, they will receive grave punishment from heaven. If a son is faithful and loyal, a parent can’t possibly turn against him.</p>
|
||
<p>Did you leave love in your family or did you inherit love from them, or did you do both? Nowadays people are mostly trying to claim love for themselves, feeling entitled to be recipients of their family’s love. In the meantime, however, they don’t care about giving love. That is a fearful situation because receiving love places a tremendous obligation upon your shoulders. Love is a tremendous responsibility. Receiving love means not only inheriting love, but responsibility as well. After a loved one dies, you are in a position to fulfill his responsibility.</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose a husband really loves his wife; if he dies then his responsibility is laid upon his wife’s shoulders, in addition to her own. When a wife who loved her husband dies, he will inherit her entire responsibility. When husband and wife are separated by death, the survivor should normally live singly and take up the responsibility of the dead person. He cannot desire to have another love until his additional responsibility is fulfilled. When the husband, for instance, has fulfilled entirely, the wife might consent to her husband having another wife on earth. With that consent alone can the bereaved husband marry again. That is the law of love in the spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>Since you love your parents and they love you, when they die you take over their responsibility and mission. Love never comes alone; it comes with responsibility and it remains on a permanent basis. It cannot just disappear. When your parents die they leave some will or desire behind, and you as their child should fulfill it. When one half of a couple dies, the surviving partner should fulfill their desire. That is the law of the land and the law of heaven as well. It is the common promise in the law of love. If you obey the law of love on earth then in heaven you can go anywhere, even into the bosom of God. There will be no boundary in all the universe.</p>
|
||
<p>By being a recipient of love you establish yourself as an inheritor of God’s fortune and God’s world, and wherever God is and whatever He has you can freely claim as your own. For that reason God is supreme. Suppose there is a special palace which only the President can enter. No matter how many Secret Service guards are watching the door, as soon as you show your credential of love you will have free passage inside. If you have fulfilled the supreme love then it doesn’t make any difference who lives inside; they will have to bow down to you without complaint. With love you can communicate anywhere, in heaven or on earth or even down in hell.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Life emerges from love<br />
|
||
and life can be sacrificed for love</h3>
|
||
<p>Isn’t it natural that God created some covenant like this? If we remove love from this world, only complaint will remain here, but when you have love as your credential, even the grass will want to be of to tall service. All the plants and trees and roots have life, but they know that love is greater than life and for the sake of love’s fulfillment they will ask you to eat them. They would rather be part of your love than cling to their own lives. In love the beauty of sacrifice can be seen, and you can voluntarily give yourself up for its sake.</p>
|
||
<p>Unless a wife can sacrifice herself for her husband’s purpose for the sake of love, she cannot qualify to be loved by him. Life can be sacrificed for love, and the true husband will determine himself to sacrifice for his wife. That’s how love works. When you women get married, do you want to love your husband so much that you can sacrifice even your life for him, or do you want a husband so that you can have a servant? Are you men looking forward to having a wife for whom you are willing to sacrifice your life, or someone who can cook your breakfast? In many cases men and women have a thief’s mind, being very arrogant and greedy to be served.</p>
|
||
<p>Love is precious because it gathers all things into harmony. Love has the power to unite, and therefore, the power to make the world into one. No other power can fulfill this, and so for the fulfillment of love the creation is willing to sacrifice itself for the sake of the well-being of mankind. That spirit alone can have the power to unite the world. If you are united by power, then if for some reason that power is dissipated that unity is also gone. But when you unite in the spirit of sacrifice, even if the binding power is gone, unity will remain.</p>
|
||
<p>God is wise, and when He saw our long-range struggle in the Unification Church He gave us the most powerful and clever and beautiful truth, that we should live in service to others and sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the world and God. When you adopt that way of life as your own, love automatically blossoms, and furthermore, world unity will come automatically. In that love you will progress into that central position, automatically inheriting God’s authority.</p>
|
||
<p>If you try to amass things by force or at gunpoint then when that binding force is gone, all the unity and harmony will be dissipated. When we know this universal truth, we come to the realization that the best way of life is that of service to others, of giving ourselves for the highest cause, for mankind and God. You may think at first that this is a defeated way of life; what could remain after you give yourself to the utmost degree? You might think you are losing everything, but the supreme thing survives and the power of love will follow you always and you will never die.</p>
|
||
<p>A wave of love will follow you. Your permanent life will be like a wave of water which has the power to cover the entire world and more. Love is the key. Not only mankind, but all things of creation as well, are pursuing that love. Life emerges out of that love and will prosper. Love is the ultimate goal. With this understanding, can we say that nature is fulfilling the law of love, or violating it? Nature is actually sacrificing itself for love.</p>
|
||
<p>When you look at nature with this realization, everything becomes intimate and close. The white snow outside is cold, but even the snow will bring you the warmth of love and you will feel some communication with it. Did your parents fulfill all their responsibility toward you? You will not know how much they loved you until you have your own children. Even little insects protect their young. Why do animals instinctively act like that? Whether they realize it or not, they all abide in the law of love. The public law is such that even an insect has to obey it.</p>
|
||
<p>It is not good to mutilate or purposely harm nature. You can see that the universal existence is there only to fulfill the law of love and that it participates in one great move to enhance the law of love. Everything is our friend; nature is our teacher. When you see the birds singing back and forth to each other in springtime, think about you and your wife or husband, about whether you are really as good as the birds are. When birds bring food for their young all day long, you are seeing the law of love in action.</p>
|
||
<p>Does a mother bird have so much food in her stomach that she wants to give some to her baby to unburden herself, or does her concern for the baby bird come first? Unconsciously the birds are reacting to the universal law of the love of God. In the human world, however, this law of love is weak, particularly nowadays when people are indifferent to love. There is not much love between teacher and pupil, brother and sister, but at least one thing remains as genuine and that is the love between parents and children. Why should this be so? God as the Father loves mankind as His children, and that love never ceases. For that reason this parental love shall survive the longest.</p>
|
||
<p>Can we teach the American youth this universal law that they must be faithful and loyal to their parents? When they know that this is natural law, I think they will be convinced to be loyal to their parents. Otherwise, we cannot tell them not to be rebellious and to obey their parents. Does America need me or not?</p>
|
||
<p>This law will remain forever, long after we die. We are going to inherit love and give it to our posterity, but if you look back in your lives at this time, can you have the qualification to leave that love to them? Any children who are trying their utmost to be loyal and give love to their parents will be admired by the universe, which will be overwhelmed at that scene. Adam and Eve failed to be absolutely loyal to their parent, God, and anyone who restores that lost loyalty shall amaze the universe. If you do that then the law and order of the universe shall remain. This is the one basic pillar which supports the universe, and if it is demolished then there will be total chaos and we will not be able to reorganize this world.</p>
|
||
<p>If you think that is the case then you know we need God, someone to be in that original parent’s position. When we talk about the law of God, we come to the logical conclusion that there must be a God, but religious people today do not know this one secret. When you are fully intoxicated by this law of love, you really don’t need any other education because you already know the most important truth of the universe. Even if you are a murderer, if you meet a man of love, you feel warmth from him and you want to give that warmth back in return.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Why do old people go<br />
|
||
through a second childhood?</h3>
|
||
<p>This principle shall ensure the world’s survival. Should you love your natural parents? You should love your parents as much as you love God because the father and mother are the center of the family. If there is love in the home then they are really the central point and there will be oneness, but if there is no love then that family will be merely a biological unit. Without love the members of a family will become enemies.</p>
|
||
<p>American women usually don’t like having a mother-in-law come into the picture. Most of them wish they could have a husband without having a mother-in-law, but once you know this universal law of love, do you think you need one or not? Grandparents may be so old that they cannot even take care of themselves, but still you should love them more than you love your own children. Why did God organize human life in such a way that older people go through a second childhood? It was to make each generation realize or practice how it should love the older generations. Through loving them in this period you can know how they loved you when you were a child. Now that you are grown-up you treat them like children, which will dramatize your service to them.</p>
|
||
<p>There are two kinds of children you are taking care of then your own children and your grandparents-and you must feel the same toward them both. Furthermore, you feel naturally dedicated to taking care of them. In that case you will have unlimited love toward your grandparents, and then you will deserve to inherit whatever they have without exception. You must go beyond that level, becoming sons and daughters of piety even to that extreme level.</p>
|
||
<p>Having your seniors go through second childhood is God’s plan for giving you an express ticket all the way to heaven by serving your parents and grandparents. You will have a first-class seat to heaven on the train of love. When I investigated this law of love I discovered this point. God is a God of wisdom, so He allows old folks to go through a second childhood, not so they would be ridiculed by their children, but in order to give your children an express ticket to heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>God will give heavenly children to the home that respects this law, and raise up great leaders. This is logical because that particular home is fulfilling the supreme law of the universe. God wants to bring future leaders for the nation and world out of such a home. In today’s American society, old people who go through a second childhood are sent to a nursing home to be gotten rid of as nuisances. In the Unification Church tradition, however, you are not ever going to do that. You cannot just throw your parents out. Would any grandparents want to be taken care of by nurses and orderlies in a senior citizens’ home?</p>
|
||
<p>Am I crazy for teaching you in this manner, or am I a man of truth and righteousness? You have to become another Reverend Moon. I am waiting for some news of a blessed couple in Korea who have been taking care of their old parents; they are so child-like they even have to be taken to the bathroom. I am testing this couple, watching to see how they treat their parents.</p>
|
||
<p>It is really a beautiful thing for children and grandchildren to take care of grandparents that are like little children themselves, to bring them treats and make them laugh by sharing jokes. Is there any harsh exchange of words in that case? Is the second childhood a blessing or a curse? Any young couple naturally changes their baby’s diapers and bathes it. The mother in particular likes to take care of the baby and doesn’t feel any suffering for it. It is an enjoyable chore because it is a loving action. In the same way you should extend that heart to the grandparents, who are like children, only older. If you do that then you are really men and women of God. Nothing is filthy or dirty in love.</p>
|
||
<p>When you cover both extremes, loving your children on the one hand and your old, dying parents on the other, you can receive a graduation certificate from the school of love. The most important lesson is learned from the opportunity there in your own home. You don’t have to search the world for someone to serve. Wherever you go, you want to return to your home; God made you to feel that way, and everything you need is already there.</p>
|
||
<p>When you love God as much as you love your children and your parents, you will pass the test. On the other hand, when you love mankind as much as you love your own children and parents and God, you are really a Ph. D. in the school of love. Why are parents so precious then? By loving them you receive a genuine inheritance from the universe. Your parents are the channel to give you blessing. Would you be willing to do it?</p>
|
||
<p>Why do we need the True Parents? The Unification Church is a training center for the practice of love, teaching the world the way to love parents, children and God. We need some central figure, like a principal, so I am the superintendent. Mother and I are material for you to practice heavenly love upon, and then you can get a license to love the world. There are tremendous differences in thinking between the Orient and the West, and sometimes I feel my patience is running out over certain things, but still I have to continue on as principal of the training center of love. First as children, then as adults, as husband and wife and by having children and your own home, you are going through more and more advanced courses and qualifying to receive God’s diploma. How could you ask for a vacation during this period?</p>
|
||
<p>When your parents come to join the Unification Church, I will say, “You are their own parents so you should love them more than I do. Would you please do that?” And I will tell you, “You have loved me as your True Parents. Now you must love your natural parents even more.” Actually I am doing a great favor to your parents, even though they don’t know it yet. They should wait for you to graduate from the school of love, but they are so impatient that before the fruit is ripened they are trying to kidnap you.</p>
|
||
<p>In this school we have a tough program, full of do’s and don’ts. Do you think you need this coaching? Will you volunteer to faithfully comply with whatever your coach says, or will you run away? No, you have a dream and hope, and you know there is a way to inherit the world and cosmos, heaven and earth. If this is a lie or false teaching then there is definitely no God. You know there is a God, however, so this must be the truth. When you meet senior citizens on the streets, I want you to look at them as your own parents and grandparents. Those who can love older people can love God, because after all, God is the most senior of senior citizens. The oldest person in heaven and earth is God.</p>
|
||
<p>I have spoken for three and a half hours now, and my East Garden team is getting restless! Also, Mother is advanced in her pregnancy. I promised her that I understood her situation, and if she would come and stay one hour then she could go back and rest. That’s why she is not here now. In the last months of pregnancy a mother has to go to the bathroom often because the baby is taking up all the room inside. Soon you will find out.</p>
|
||
<p>When you see the depths of the law of love then you can realize how the wisdom of God functions in the universe. You see that the world is not running at random whim but under law and order. You must really want to fulfill that law. Your desire must be to serve well, and I want you to excel in this Unification Church class. It may be a tough class and even without your knowing it tears may just roll down your cheeks because of the hardship, but would you still go on? You can think that your tears taste different from any other kind because they are there for a greater purpose-God-and they taste sweet instead of bitter.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes instead of analyzing everything, just try it blindly; you will not be ruined by it. Don’t try to chew the truth; just swallow it whole. True love sometimes means swallowing the whole thing without chewing. If you have been swallowed by love then you are the luckiest person; even if you drown and die in love, you are the happiest person.</p>
|
||
<p>When I speak about love I don’t see anyone dozing, but only shining eyes. I could go on about this topic of love for many months because the love story is a long, long story, but I have to come to a conclusion now. The conclusion is that we shall leave a tomb of love behind us. A tomb is an awful thing, but if you dwell in love then it is not a tomb at all You must prepare a tomb of love to leave behind. If you are most successful in life, finishing with great honor and love, then you can leave behind a tomb of love and you will be welcomed throughout heaven and earth. God Himself will come out to meet you.</p>
|
||
<p>You may happen to die without being married and without having a beautiful wedding ring and clothes, but if you leave behind a tomb of love then you will be wearing the most expensive of all rings and clothes. All people of the world, long after you are gone, will want to go to your tomb to have a taste of love. It seems like a tragedy externally when a person struggles to live that life, but it actually turns out to be a tremendous fortune. I know this secret, and I don’t care what happens to me. I know that God has a way to turn the worst tragedy into the greatest honor and blessing.</p>
|
||
<p>Don’t forget about this tomb of love. Can you say, “I want to live that law and leave behind a tomb of love”? Then the blessing of God will never depart from you. Let us pray.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1250 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1248" class="post-1248 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/14/sorrow-and-tears.html" title="Permalink to SORROW AND TEARS" rel="bookmark">SORROW AND TEARS</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-14T05:41:17+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/14/sorrow-and-tears.html" rel="bookmark">June 14, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-14T05:41:17+01:00">June 14, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">March 1, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>No one really likes sorrow and no one really likes tears, but no man nor all of history can avoid these two elements. We can ask whether God wanted to see a day of sorrow or day of happiness when He created heaven and earth, and the answer obviously is that God wanted to see a day of joy. As you read Genesis you will see that God finished each day’s creation by saying it was good. On the final day God created man, and then He said it was very good. God’s saying it was good means that it was in a realm beyond the realm of sorrow.</p>
|
||
<p>Creation was initiated in joy, and God created in joy. Indeed, God has been looking forward to the day of His fulfillment in joy, eager to see His creation grow in joy and be consummated in joy. If man as the center of all creation had been perfected, that truly would have happened. God wanted man to be the center and to initiate joy and prosperity in His creation, and when God created Adam and Eve they were the symbol or consummation of His joy. By perfecting themselves, they should have been in a position to return the ultimate joy God was looking forward to. However, man brought the day of sadness instead. God was in the position to be the first one in the universe to taste joy, and once it came to Him, that joy would have lasted for eternity without change because God is eternal. God was supposed to be the master of joy, but because man brought the fall to earth, God was transformed into the master of sorrow.</p>
|
||
<p>Who in this entire universe shed tears first? The very people who brought the fall, Adam and Eve? Or God, the creator, who was seeing the failure of His own creation? The God of joy was transformed into the God of sadness. He tasted the first sadness and was the first one in the universe to shed tears. Adam and Eve first felt pain and sorrow when they were chased out of the garden of Eden and that day began the history of sadness.</p>
|
||
<p>This nation of America has a short history compared to other nations, but much sorrow and many tears are mixed within that brief history. History cannot be woven without them, and even a short history always records sadness and tears. They naturally come when a distressing event occurs instead of an anticipated situation. Then what can we call the “normal’ way of life? First of all, each person grows as a child , then a young adult, an adult and finally a senior citizen Perhaps under normal circumstances we would grow through these phases without having a major sickness, distress or accident, and that could be c-ailed the normal life that everyone looks forward to’ .</p>
|
||
<p>People always hope to enjoy good spiritual and physical health and attain some status as citizens of their nations but in reality not many people actually follow the course in life. Most deviate from it. There are two kinds of deviation, however; one person leaves that course to pursue a selfish goal, and the other not for a selfish reason, but for the overall benefit of mankind. For this reason the taste of sorrow is also of two kinds.</p>
|
||
<p>We remember certain great individuals in history, and when we examine their ways of life we see that the lose who are respected and admired did not necessarily live normally but departed from the ordinary. Furthermore, the lives of great men contain a great deal of sorrow and tears. Though some people shed tears for selfish purposes, there is no value in them for the people who come afterward. If we know, however, that the heroes who suffered great pain also shed tears for the sake of the nation or even for great numbers of people, then we want to remember and respect those persons.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you think that everyone in jail is a rascal who deserves to be there? Can you make a blanket judgment like that? No, there are two kinds of people in jail. The ere are those who ought to be in jail for committing crimes for their own benefit, but there are also prisoners who stood up for righteousness and ended up in jail when they suffered judgment falsely. Both people suffered pain and might have shed tears of sorrow. But in value the two are absolutely different.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">History gives a mandate to each generation</h3>
|
||
<p>It is generally known in the world that Americans shy away from tears and sorrow and that they prefer to live in laughter and humor. The great speaker here is generally considered to be the one who can amuse people. Does that mean that Americans have no respect for the person who serves his country in an extraordinary way, with tears and sorrow? Not necessarily. In history museums in America you can see depicted the many historic moments remembered by the nation; many of these are of bloodshed and killing and heroic death. It seems a contradiction that even while Americans are avoiding tears and sorrow, they build museums to enshrine the people who suffered a great deal in pain and sorrow. But this shows that Americans still have the innate human nature to admire tears shed for the sake of others, for the nation or for all of mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>History and the nation don’t want the people of the nation to live superficially, just laughing and joking every day without touching any depth. History and the nation give a people the mandate that in righteousness they must shed tears and taste sorrow. This is the historic mandate given to each generation, and it is telling Americans that when the time comes they must feel sorrow and risk bloodshed for the well-being of others.</p>
|
||
<p>All 240 million Americans are pursing lives of laughter, but imagine one man in their midst who, instead of joining the crowd, is worrying about the grim future of America and the generations to come, toiling in tears and sorrow to bring the nation back to its righteous path. Who is more historical in your opinion? Is that one man living a good life who is enduring such torment and sorrow, mourning the corruption and injustice?</p>
|
||
<p>This is something that American young people, particularly you, should be thinking about. If you approached Americans and told them that there is something to be sorrowful about in the world, would you find many to join together with you and shed tears? How many comrades would you find out there? If you started a “Club for Tears”, and even fed the members well at the meetings with steaks and so forth, but afterward the program included crying, how many American young people would join? We laugh at the idea, but it’s something for you to think about.</p>
|
||
<p>There is self-centered sorrow and there is sorrow for the sake of others. Why does one have no value, while shedding tears for others has value? Did you hear God spell that rule out, saying specifically that one is more valuable? If Adam and Eve had not fallen but on so me days there was sorrow in the garden of Eden, it would never be self-centered sorrow. There would be sorrow only over something which the entire universe would be sorrowful over. There would only be deep unity of feeling between them, not two d different motives of feeling. Only because of the falls of man are there two kinds of sorrow.</p>
|
||
<p>The sorrow of Adam and Eve became self centered, but God’s is public sorrow; Adam and Eve were sad for themselves, but God was sorrowful for His children en. You must know why unselfish tears are precious–those are the tears and sorrow God feels, and His so sorrow is always public. Anything in God’s image or of His own doing should be remembered and respected and admired. For this reason we come to the conclusion that in the fallen world those who remain shall ill be the ones who are trying to live in the image of (God who shed tears and suffer His kind of sorrow. They will automatically reflect God’s type of existence, and be given His protection, and therefore, they shall not perish. The formula which says that anything which is like God will remain applies in any walk of life -in the family, nation and world.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Should life be lived only for the present?</h3>
|
||
<p>Today there are many people who are ambitious to become famous in our world. Are you one of them? Those se who model themselves after someone in the past have one kind of ambition, but there are some who want to create a new history and become a hero of it. Another kind will say, “I may not be known now, but I will lay the cornerstone of future tradition and be remembered by history.” There are three kinds of people and they are each good in their own way.</p>
|
||
<p>The person who wants to be remembered by the past standard of history or by the present standard, or the one who wants to be remembered by future history are; all good, but what is your choice? You are smart to car e about the future, but are you saying that you don’t care about the past and present? The hippies in America don’t have a concept of the past, present and future like this; they don’t care about anything but being happy today.</p>
|
||
<p>Perfection and happiness cannot be derived only in the present moment. Does the present constitute cause and effect? Suppose you are a painter and you are working on a portrait which consists only of the face of a beautiful woman; she represents only the present, the contemporary world, and there is no background or futuristic mystery to her portrait. Could that one flat face be a masterpiece? If we add a background of sky and clouds, it will add depth to the picture and portray a three-dimensional world.</p>
|
||
<p>A group of clouds can contain all kinds of abstract images, and when the blue sky is in the background it can express all kinds of ideas about the future. If the lady is holding a baby bird in her hand which the mother bird is trying to feed, the picture tells a story of a certain relationship of heart. In order to truly make this picture a masterpiece there must be depth, a past, a present and a future. It must depict three different generations.</p>
|
||
<p>Women are particularly conscious of what they wear, especially their accessories. Some women even wear clumsy things like big bug pins, trying to add to their beauty perhaps. Mother always likes to wear turtle pins, for instance. Faces are flat, but these little ornaments represent ideals and aspirations and lend depth and mystery.</p>
|
||
<p>When I first came to America in 1965 I did not know anything about the hippie movement, and when I came to San Francisco I saw funny kinds of men and women leaning against street lights in awkward ways. Perhaps they were meditating; I don’t know because I didn’t look so closely. I thought of one person in the perspective of a work of art, and thought that if he were holding a flower he would look entirely different and that the scene would impart a different feeling. If he were holding an open bloom together with a bud and a flower about to open, it would represent very much and tell a story. It would represent past, present and future, for example, and even with that little touch, the scene would contain a great deal of depth and mystery.</p>
|
||
<p>Parental discipline is given for the benefit of the nation and the world living the happiest life? Should life be like that? Young people today have a great deal of energy, and with it they defy the past, rejecting it as having nothing of value. Particularly American young people categorize their parents as belonging to another general ion and talk about the generation gap; they won’t listen to their parents because they think their parents don’t know anything. They think the present is every thing and they complain, “Why do I have to torture myself studying? All I want is happiness in the here an’ I now while I have a body to enjoy it with.” How m any parents would encourage this attitude? Parents worry instead, and wish their children would be more e thoughtful and deep; they would prefer that they suffer some hardship and discipline in the present so that they could become more purpose-oriented in their adult years.</p>
|
||
<p>If I people should only be content with the present, why would we bother with school? Why is it necessary to study history and geography if we only live in the present? Dancing and drinking and fun of all kinds would be fine in that case. How would hippies teach their own children, however? Would their legacy be only that they lived day by day and enjoyed their own bodies? Would they tell their children to follow that example and enjoy carnal pleasure? Would they discourage their children from going to school, saying that it only teaches silly things anyway, and that children don’t have to be smart? look at the animals; they don’t have to study and they are happy.”</p>
|
||
<p>Whether they are hippies or just average people, parents would think differently about their children’s lives than their own and worry about their futures. A parental heart for children is the same both in hippies and average parents. Parents will always be concerned for their children’s well-being and want the m to be better than they themselves are. “Even though I lived my life this way, I don’t want you to copy me. I want you to be purposeful and to prepare 1 for the future.”</p>
|
||
<p>Imagine that a hippie parent has committed some crime me and has been arrested and sentenced to death. Would he tell his children, “I am a hero; we are here to revolutionize the world and cut away everything that is old, so go ahead; copy me and do whatever you like.” Would hippie mothers think that because they themselves are different from the society-at-large that they can be selfish and tell their children to follow their example? I don’t think so; the parental heart is a universal one.</p>
|
||
<p>If the worst criminal takes his children to the movies and they watch a scene of a robbery, exactly like what the father has been doing all his life, would he tell his children they must be just like that? Wouldn’t he say, “That is an evil man, my son. He shouldn’t be like that and you mustn’t pay attention to him.” Even if he is a robber, a father will forget himself as far as his children are concerned and want his children to be good somehow. That’s the natural expression of human conscience and parental heart.</p>
|
||
<p>Would this nation welcome those who have paid no attention to future, but only live in the present? No nation can afford to have people only living for today. National leaders must always have vision and clarify it for the people so that they will willingly endure suffering for the sake of the future. It is a good leader who will preach to the people about exercising restraint for the sake of tomorrow. Does this make sense to American young people, though?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Sizing up the merits of a philosophy<br />
|
||
is like evaluating a person</h3>
|
||
<p>What is the most ideal philosophy for leadership? The ideal way of life should be welcomed by people of the past and the present and future. That one way of life should be embraced by all, not rejected by some. Why shouldn’t we be unconcerned about the past, since it will never return, and worry only about the present and future? If someone wanted to investigate Bo Hi Pak, for instance, they would look into what he did in the past. When you apply for something here in America, people want to know the record of your past, how you lived and what you did, more than what you look like at the present time and whether you make it to work at 8 a.m. every day. A person may look all right at the present time, but no company can necessarily have confidence that he won’t betray them tomorrow. Would a company use an unknown person right away in a high-salaried position?</p>
|
||
<p>Nothing can be accomplished instantly; everything goes through a process of growth through time. Suppose a person is well-known, but when you look into his past it is dirty and corrupted; you wouldn’t pay much attention to him because you would know he would I neither be trustworthy in the present nor worthy of respect in the future.</p>
|
||
<p>In c conclusion man does not live for today. Man lives for history, and history has three parts past, present and future. Now is the present, but one hour from now is already the future. Here I am in the middle o’ history, past, present and future; I am walking in the present, but behind me is the past and in front of me is the future.</p>
|
||
<p>You can live your life in one of three ways-you can go straight ahead, you can go crookedly down, or go straight and go up. Is it easier to drive a car on the highway ray, or to pilot a plane straight up into the air” taking g off into the air in a straight line is more difficult because you have to support yourself somehow; otherwise you will fall down. It is difficult to go straight up, but once you do it you can find a new level where not many people have been. You can establish yourself as a master in that new world.</p>
|
||
<p>It is . America’s pride that she sent a man to the moon before anyone else, but it was very difficult to do. Have you ever thought about how much money was spent to send that man to the moon? Billions of dollars were used which might have brought a better name for America if they had been spent for helping people around the world, but America wanted to send a man to the moon instead because no one else had done it. If that goal was achieved solely for the selfish purpose of America then no one would pay much attention, particularly if it was for military purposes, perhaps to help destroy Russia or take over other nations for selfish gain. No one could respect America in that case. If America sent that man in the name of mankind, people would welcome her achievement and rejoice over it. When anything is done with a conviction that is for the sake of mankind, all the world’s people will rejoice over it.</p>
|
||
<p>Why should we have to abide by such a rigid ethic? Why not live at random with instant gratification instead ? A goal of accomplishing something for the whole should be supported because history is not moving at random: it has a certain will and destination, and every event is moving in that direction, whether large or small. Everything longs to exist parallel with that vertical will.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Each person desires to be like<br />
|
||
the one who brings the solution<br />
|
||
to the past, present and future</h3>
|
||
<p>Human history runs in one direction, no matter where you go in the world. It progresses according to the will of Principle, and as it progresses it forms a sphere. That is the shape of history. The outer surface is large and it contains ever smaller concentric spheres, concluding with a small dot in the center. In essence, that tiny dot represents the entire universe because it is the center, the pivot point. When you stand in that center, you are connected to all events and you are the center of the whole arena of human history.</p>
|
||
<p>Everyone has the desire to excel in some way and become well-known, whether or not they are capable of achieving it. Do even you poor Moonies want that? Men as well as women? That desire to be in the center of things is a basic formula in man’s life. Life was molded to be lived in that fashion and everyone has that quality. There are five colors of skin on earth, and out of those, which people would be more disposed to become the central dot? The white race would naturally assume they would, and if they accept making the necessary conditions, then fine; let them do so.</p>
|
||
<p>The most important stipulation is that no one can stand in the central role when he looks at the providence of history from a self-centered point of view. The center does not exist for its own sake; it exists to relate to others. In order to stand there you must forget about yourself and worry about others. The center is a perfect location for give and take in 360 degrees because there is no one degree that is hidden or unseen. That center includes all the nations, all the peoples and all the world, going beyond nationality and race; most of all, that particular position transcends past, present and future.</p>
|
||
<p>Who is eligible to become the center? White or yellow or black, the color of your skin doesn’t make any difference. The person who has the internal qualifications ions is the one to take that position. There is no rule which says a diamond must be there; wood is OK, or stone, as long as it meets God’s qualifications. That position is in the role of the Messiah because the one who takes it will complete the recreation of the universe. The Messiah is coming for the universal purpose and he will consummate it.</p>
|
||
<p>When we divide this sphere in half vertically, the central dot will be right where a horizontal line cuts through the center. Even if this particular horizontal line is positioned correctly, if the vertical line does not tome straight down the angle is off. There must be 90 degrees between the lines; it is not good enough if you have 87 degrees and are satisfied. In that case the sphere would not be perfectly round.</p>
|
||
<p>Human desire is to be like this one central person who will bring the solution to the past, the solution to the present, and the solution to the future. In English we call this person a panacea, a cure-all person, and everyone who goes toward the goal of being like him will have hope. Having some hope always connotes having a goal and the goal is that ideal position.</p>
|
||
<p>In human history there have been many ideologies and philosophies, but what kind of belief should we profess? What would be the central way of life? Most importantly, that ideology must be agreeable to all mankind in the past. Also, not only Americans, but even the communists must be able to agree with it in the present. Furthermore, that one way of life must also be upheld as the ideal by all future generations.</p>
|
||
<p>The world is so big that the consequences of even a small deviation from this ideology would be very great on the worldwide scale. If I were not a religious leader but a scientist I still would have studied this subject, computing all these relationships and explaining them scientifically. You have all been random thinkers, but now since hearing me you know you have to focus your thinking on that one dot.</p>
|
||
<p>If there is a God, what does He maintain about this? You might tell Him, “I’m sure You are an almighty thinker, and therefore, You probably think differently from the rest of us.” Then God would reply, “No my son, you are wrong. I was already thinking this way long before you ever speculated about it.” That’s why you can indeed say He is God; If there is a God, He must certainly be thinking of this cure-all for all mankind, past, present and future, and of how to make that dot into a sphere and roll it anywhere in the universe without disturbance.</p>
|
||
<p>This role as the definitive central point to the world has always been taken by a religious person. Such people may have failed again and again, but they always had hope. They have always said, “When the Messiah comes, then we will solve everything.” No matter how great a philosopher or scientist you might be today, mankind long ago reached the conclusion that there was no way to get the world under control without fulfilling the role of this one dot. Every ideology has been tried, and there is nothing left to be tested. Even when the academic world is in despair, however, one kind of people still claim to have hope; they are religious people, and they teach that hope can still be fulfilled one day.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The more we are opposed, the greater we will become</h3>
|
||
<p>Even nowadays when the fanatically religious people are drooping and discouraged, there is one super-crazy group which persists in believing that there is still hope. This one group is fearlessly going everywhere, and even when people resent them and try to push them aside they come right back regardless; there is no place they don’t go. Even when people try to chop you down and leave you as a stump, you still say there is hope. You are super-crazy!</p>
|
||
<p>Imagine one super-crazy man, as unyielding as a rock, who refuses to be dissuaded from proclaiming hope, even though the entire world hates him. Why will he be the winner eventually? If this one supercrazy man who is shedding tears at knowing the situation of mankind is confident that what he says is the truth, it is possible that the spirit world and even God will respond to his tears. The four billion people here on earth might not respond to him, but still with the spirit world and God he has the majority on his side.</p>
|
||
<p>He would look very miserable and very crazy here on earth, and the whole world would applaud if his parents kidnapped him. All the Christian churches and all the nations would be glad to see someone get rid of him After awhile his parents might think that they have e successfully deprogrammed him, but how would they feel if a week later that person were found to be back in the same place? Even if his arms and legs had been chopped off, a new arm would grow out! Then they would realize that the more they attack him , the greater this man will grow. When the churches came against him he would grow another arm, and when one nation came against him one more leg would grow out. The more they oppose him, the greater he becomes! Would all that external attack be beneficial or harmful to him?</p>
|
||
<p>If such a law is in action in this universe, would you like to be welcomed or opposed by everyone? If we are the religious group that grows with persecution then the more persecution we get, the greater we will become. Is there any power under the sun which can stop us? By persecuting us the world thinks that they are getting rid of us, but in reality they are only making us more perfect. Once perfection is achieved, we will look so attractive that everyone will forget themselves in admiration and will create a museum to put us on display.</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose one of our members appeared one day in a village where people had always been very negative toward the Unification Church. When those people discovered how outstanding this person was and how inferior they were to him, they would give anything just to see him. If a champion Olympic runner came and challenged us, even he could not begin to compete. A great artist would not be able to surpass one of us in talent. If I were in that position, would I be better than an Olympic champion or an artist? There is a way to defeat even a world champion: I don’t think of training for just one certain race; instead, I have been running my entire life and still I have not come to the end. As far as painting is concerned, I have hardly even started to paint. I have just been selecting colors and brushes, and I might paint a portrait that will take many generations to complete.</p>
|
||
<p>Do we have a university? I have one in my heart and mind. I have been preparing and some day it will grow into the creates” of all universities That is how I think. The main thing is that I never stop. I just march continuously toward the goal. Has that march been only fun? NO, there have been all kinds of hurricanes and bad weather along the way.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you prefer living a life of fun, or spend ing your whole life striving to reach the ultimate target? Ours is not a road of laughter and smiles, but such a bitter, serious road that others would not even want to look at you twice. Furthermore, you must shed many tears and even risk your life. Would you still choose this way? Even the people closest to you and your professors with their wisdom would say you were crazy, but would you still go? People might hate you so much they would steal your clothes and attack you personally, but would you still go?</p>
|
||
<p>No matter how many tears you might shed and how much you might suffer, you must just persevere and ultimately hit the target. Once you did that, the whole world would push you into the central position, whether you accept it or not. This position is like the narrow neck of the balloon, and once God blows air through the hole the balloon will instantly start to expand. That’s what I envision happening. In order to achieve such an unchanging goal you will suffer more than anyone, shed more tears and blood and work harder. Then ultimately, if this universe has a museum, all the generations will want to go there to study God’s masterpiece of discipline.</p>
|
||
<p>You will be the greatest of all masterpieces because more sweat and labor and tears will be found in your life then in any other life. Once you achieve that one goal, nothing better could be displayed in the heavenly museum. It wouldn’t matter whether you were a man or woman, black or yellow. Whoever perseveres so extraordinarily for the sake of God’s dream will be the showpiece of the museum of heaven.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God gave the responsibility<br />
|
||
for educating children to their parents</h3>
|
||
<p>Even if what I am saying is an illusion, mankind needs such an illusion. It is God’s mandate that somehow mankind learn to live together, and there is no possible way to achieve this without a doctrine like this coming to the central Position. Even if this were</p>
|
||
<p>not spiritual al reality, it is human necessity. Otherwise, we are de destined to crumble and nothing will remain. God is a reality however, and the spirit world is a reality. God has already made this goal clear and all we have to do is live it. A man has to be chosen as God’s champion who discovers the incredible truth of heaven and spirit world and who proclaims it to the world ,trying to bring mankind toward that goal. God has no choice but to choose him as champion.</p>
|
||
<p>Why must God choose that kind of man? The reason is very simple-that man is just like God Himself. as a member of the Unification Church you are on a road of suffering, but ask yourself how much you have suffered You have joined this great journey to the ultimate goal, but you are still in the kindergarten stage of suffering. You are not even old enough for that actually; you are like a baby in the cradle who has many dirty diapers of all kinds and who doesn’t even realize how smelly he is. Still I smile on you because I have hope. Everyone has to start out from the crib, even the future President of United States and I have to patiently nurture you and let you grow.</p>
|
||
<p>You have to go from kindergarten all the way through graduate school and get a Ph.D.; then you will become somebody. This morning one of my children was excited because there is no school tomorrow, but as a parent I think differently and I think that American schools give too many holidays. If a little child going to kindergarten hears about how hard Harvard University is, he won’t want to go to school, but as long as children have the attitude of obedience and listening to their teachers and parents, they can go one step at a time all the way through college and ultimately they will become responsible adults.</p>
|
||
<p>No society or government can be responsible for the education of children; God gave the role of educating children to their parents. Your relationship with your parents is the determining factor in your relationships with all levels of society. Whoever is disobedient to his parents is normally disrespectful to his teachers and is a troublemaker in society. When a child is rebellious to his own parents, he is rebellious toward his own nation. The parents’ role is the key.</p>
|
||
<p>The parent is the ultimate teacher of the child, the final authority to control and discipline him and give him a purpose in life. Parents might purposely let their child suffer in his younger days for the sake of his future, but every such deed is done for the sake of the child, not for themselves. When parents are firm, it is automatically an action of service to the society and nation.</p>
|
||
<p>Children’s basic attitudes are always inclined toward playing and being rebellious; they are born with a free spirit and their parents must always be alert to train them, even sometimes spanking and pushing them to study. Parents might sternly say, “This is not for our own sake. You must become a person who can make a contribution to society and the nation.” Even if parents must use force to discipline their children, the children will realize later it was the best thing for them.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes parents think very selfishly, however, informing a child, “You have to study so that when we get old you will be able to feed us. You can’t put us in an old age home. You have to get us a car and take care of us.” That is not right. But parents are not normally motivated in that fashion; they say instead, “Don’t worry about us. You must become someone to serve the society and nation and world. You must benefit the world before you die.”</p>
|
||
<p>In many cases you didn’t have that kind of close supervision by your natural parents, and that’s why you went looking for other parents. You came to the wrong one because I am greedy; I don’t want you to be a museum piece just for America, but for all of heaven and eternity. You members resemble me in that you are also greedy about going out to win the world. Sometimes it is extremely painful to go this road and receive the discipline and you cry, but you still want to go. If we are really that kind of group then our being here is an extraordinary event in heaven and earth and everyone has to pay attention to us. White people are not normally inclined to embrace the other races and many people warn you, “You might end up with an Oriental or black husband!” You say, “So what? I still want to go.”</p>
|
||
<p>I speak very candidly and don’t use flowery sentences, but there is no point to bearing around the bush. This is the bitter truth that I am telling you. Is it needed by America, by Africa or South America? It is universal . I made up my mind a long time ago that I would grab all kinds of people and push them ruthlessly down the road of suffering and tears. I want to make them almost crippled from going this way because I know that it is not easy to come up with a masterpiece. You have to have something which ordinary people cannot compete with and that is why I am determined to push you all the way down.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Swallow pain for the sake of the world</h3>
|
||
<p>You may wish you didn’t have to live this life, but you know row in your innermost hearts that what I am saying is right and that you cannot avoid it. Then you say, “Father, you might as well give me a big dose.” Mirrors play an important role for women. Look in one and evaluate yourself; has your face shed enough tears? Consume every ounce of energy to shed more tears and go toward the ultimate goal, and tell the rest of your body-your breasts and hips-that their time has not come yet. That’s what women should be like. Do you like that idea?</p>
|
||
<p>Why is March I such an important day? 3 plus I makes 47 the heavenly four positions; 3 is the past, I is the present, and 4 is the future. It is all present here on March 1. We can also say that 1 represents God, the future and looking up. Who shattered the heavenly 4 positions in the garden of Eden? Because Eve committed sin, evening and darkness represent the fall. Why did women get the name Eve, and why does ”evening” mean what it does in English? Even in its language the Western culture is foretelling that women are more likely to bring degradation. The night of culture or darkness of culture, comes from women. The worst kind of cunning evil originates with women because a woman planted the seed of sin.</p>
|
||
<p>I am thinking of a new word for evening because our women are different. “Morning” is not the best word either because it has the same pronunciation as “mourning.” You never knew the connotations of all this, so an Oriental man came to each you. ‘ Noon” is a cold word; in Korean “noon” means “snow.” Noontime is normally hot, but the word noon sounds cold. I don’t think you feel Good to hear all these observations, but this is how I interpret it. There is much moral degradation in America, but it would take a tremendous amount of time to re-educate both men and women. I decided to emphasize educating one sex, and my choice is the women. Women have the quality of tangibility from morning to night, and this is good for heaven because you need to change. Stubborn men don’t change too quickly, but because women are more flexible, I chose to concentrate on them.</p>
|
||
<p>It would be a beautiful strategy to bring all the women of the world into the Unification Church because then all the men would climb over the fence to get in! Do you clumsy guys agree? So far the most elite of fighters have been women, and they have had more commitment to God than the bungling men. That’s the truth. You men may think you are stronger, but you don’t know Unification Church history. People are reluctant to go on the MFT, and even I don’t like the MFT. You don’t welcome bitter medicine, but you know the necessity and benefit of it and that benefit is why I push you.</p>
|
||
<p>I pushed men and women equally to the MFT, but the women always became the champions. You women are really my allies. What you look like doesn’t matter; you might have prominent lips or beady eyes or a sharp nose, but that doesn’t make any difference. I look at your heart, and as long as you are obedient, you pass. I will not decide by external appearance who should be in the heavenly museum; it is decided by your spiritual qualities.</p>
|
||
<p>Which nationality will send more people to the heavenly museum, American or Japanese? I don’t feel good to think that only Japanese women would end up in the heavenly museum because they are so small and have slanted eyes and bad teeth. But I cannot bend the Principle; I pronounced that those chosen would not be designated by external looks but by heartistic qualities. If the Japanese women have won more victories then they should be chosen.</p>
|
||
<p>Be honest; don’t you American women feel defeated by them sometimes? Have you made up your minds that you and also your generations to come will be ahead of the Japanese? Are you preparing? In order to achieve that goal, you should be absolutely obedient since you are the first generation to meet me. o you want me to encourage you to meet me. o you want me to encourage you to take it easy and have fun, or should I just push you out ruthlessly, having you chased out in tears? Your yes sounds like a no! The sound of “U.S.” sounds like, “I didn’t say yes; you said yes!” That’s the American mentality; “I didn’t say that! You said that!” God certainly knew Americans very well when He gave their country that name. Instead you should say, “I.S.” “I said yes.”</p>
|
||
<p>American women are terrible material and I want to turn them into heavenly material. You American men are like thieves and robbers, so don’t worry about the women; worry about yourselves. Aren’t men supposed to be the leaders? Did you relinquish leadership to women? I will push you out three times harder because you are men.</p>
|
||
<p>I would like to share one episode from the Hung Nam prison camp in North Korea. Men were given the hardest forced labor and weren’t even given breaks to go the bathroom. There weren’t even any bathrooms around, so the men just went to the bathroom as they worked. They would improvise by digging a hole in the pile of lime fertilizer they were working with, but even then they could only spend a few seconds; otherwise, a beating would come. When they had a bowel movement they had to push it out fast, like cannon fire, and be finished. I might push you harder than those soldiers who guarded the prisoners in North Korea, and you men might not even have time to go to the bathroom. Do you still agree to go this way? If your yes is a sincere one then the consummation of human history will be finished quickly.</p>
|
||
<p>Swallow pain for the sake of America. Ruthlessly move forward for the sake of the world. Will that bring the degradation and fall of America? No, America will survive and prosper because of you. Because America will be transformed, it will automatically correspond to the heavenly museum. Since you are already destined to die sometime anyway, why not give your tears and sweat that will leave some benefit for mankind? How deep and wide a decision that is. Each drop of your sweat will shine with eternal glory.</p>
|
||
<p>If you die giving your entire life for the world, then even if your grave is at the top of the Himalayas, people will make pilgrimages to memorialize your spirit. Jews and Christians go to Israel and Jerusalem, and Moslems go to Mecca to worship at their religious origins. The residents might want to discourage people from coming because it is already so crowded, but no one can stop people from coming. Jesus’ dramatic death on Calvary only lasted one day, and without having authoritative evidence from 2,000 years ago, how does anyone know that it actually took place? Nevertheless, people still go.</p>
|
||
<p>Many people died in even more miserable circumstances than Jesus, so why should people want to see his place of death? Jesus’ death was different because he was totally committed to God and humanity and he knew he was dying for that purpose alone. In the Unification Church title and external appearance don’t matter; a church leader who is not totally devoted to the cause of the people would be far less important than a factory worker who knew nothing about the Bible but who served the people.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Unless God’s tears of sorrow can become<br />
|
||
tears of joy, restoration<br />
|
||
will not be possible</h3>
|
||
<p>Why am I giving you this message on March 1? Do you like sadness and tears? You have always thought tears and sadness were to be avoided, but is that the right concept? Sorrow and tears can be the most valuable things when you suffer for the sake of God and mankind. They are the two tools you can use to win God. You can’t win Him with money, knowledge or power, but with dedicated sorrow for others.</p>
|
||
<p>The highest mountain in North America is Mt. McKinley in Alaska. Even if you were a diamond the size of Mt. McKinley, you still could not buy God. God is not that cheap. But sorrow on behalf of God and humanity will win God and He will become yours. God is defenseless before tears and sorrow because He Himself has always been harboring those tears, and anyone who experiences the same thing will move His heart. Only those who understand that sorrow can truly understand God.</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose one area represents heaven and another represents hell. God’s heart is in between. To reach heaven you have to voyage through God’s heart, through God’s position, and God’s territory is filled with tears and sorrow. Nevertheless, unless you go that way, you will not reach heaven. Since God is almighty, He is also most sensitive to pain and sorrow. No parent here on earth can suffer more than God because He is almighty, and He suffered the deepest sorrow of all when He lost His children. God is most sensitive to tears and sorrow because He is almighty in every area and He has the capacity to know tears and sorrow more than anyone.</p>
|
||
<p>How can that suffering God be comforted? No one is capable of offering Him comfort; however, God will listen if you shed tears and then grab Him and say, “Let me suffer Your sorrow. Now I understand You fully.” That is the only way God will listen, and He will not only listen, He will embrace you. God has the single desire of shedding different kinds of tears, tears of gratitude for the serving sons and daughters who shed tears on His behalf.</p>
|
||
<p>The fulfillment of restoration would not be feasible unless someone comes to shed more tears and go through more suffering than Adam and Eve, someone who can truly touch the heart and nature of God. That’s the only way Adam and Eve, who brought sorrow and tears to God, can be restored and total world restoration be made possible. Unless we can turn God’s tragic tears into joyful tears, there is absolutely no way the restoration of mankind is possible. That is most logical.</p>
|
||
<p>Who is the Messiah and what are his qualifications? The Messiah is the man who comes to the earth destined to suffer more than God, shed more tears than God and do more work than God. By totally bringing himself down to the most hellish suffering and from that point coming forward to comfort God, he can make God’s tears joyful tears. The person who is candidate to become Messiah will suffer not for himself but for God. He cannot be the center himself; God will be the center of everything.</p>
|
||
<p>The Messiah would not pray for God’s help. He would plead for God’s trust and tell Him that he is here to liberate God and save Him. This is not my own concept; when I opened the door to the universal truth, this is what I found. My thinking is that the Unification Church is not here to take advantage of the Messiah, but to join him and take over his position for the sake of God and humanity. That’s how I see your mission.</p>
|
||
<p>If God is filled with tears and suffering, do you think He will feel vindicated listening to this sermon, or will He say, “That’s wrong. I am enjoying my life and having lots of fun”? I want you to know that because God is eternal, He sheds a day’s tears and a year’s tears and eternal tears; He has become a prisoner of tears. Who is going to liberate God from His tears? God cannot liberate Himself. Only mankind can bring that salvation to God, mankind as individuals, a society, nation and world. That way of life alone can liberate God’s tears.</p>
|
||
<p>There are more tears to be shed by the Unification Church and by you. I shed many tears in my life, and still I feel I will shed more. That is the kind of teacher and leader you are following. Do you just want to play and take life easy? Under this principle I will give you greater and greater missions with heavier burdens. Only those who make up their minds to make this their destiny, even before I give it to them, shall become the remnant of the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>To restore one home takes lots of energy-even a lifetime of devotion is needed to bring one family back to restoration-but we are not talking about only one family. In one generation we want to accomplish the universal restoration which has been lingering unfulfilled for many thousands of years. I have been talking about it for many decades and pursuing it in Korea, being rejected there, then in the rest of Asia and now in America, and I have upset the entire world with that idea. Whoever does that must indeed be a crazy person.</p>
|
||
<p>This path is nothing but a way of misery, many tears and much hardship. Do you think I am insensitive or dumb? Any time I take a beating or see some sorrow, I must shed tears. When those situations come to me I always think of God first, that I am the person to liberate Him. Then I cannot help but comfort Him and tell Him I am fine. I know also that God has shed many tears because of me. and that is why He cannot forget the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>People who communicate with the spirit world sometimes ask to know about me, and the answer comes to them in the form of desperate crying for days and nights. I cannot be described without tears.</p>
|
||
<p>If you are without tears in the Unification Church, you cannot successfully go this way. I cannot feel close to people who do not know the taste of tears. Only those people who know tears can understand me. Because that is the one shortcut to God, there must be people like that here.</p>
|
||
<p>I am living in the present, but my tears communicate with all the saints in history. Now people come against me because they do not know me, but once they know then the world will respond in tears. Among those who don’t know me there are many striving for goodness, many who are more dedicated to unselfish causes than you are. Among the many Jews who oppose me there are many who are more dedicated to God and humanity than you. Among Christians there are many who are more dedicated to God and mankind than you.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Because of you, your children will go to heaven<br />
|
||
with tears of gratitude</h3>
|
||
<p>Many Christians today have given up on God and a theology has appeared about the death of God. It is like children telling each other that their father is dead while he sits in the room with them. How incredible that situation is! It is even worse now than after the fall of Adam and Eve. Sometimes I think about why Almighty God allowed this situation to happen and how He could tolerate hearing such a pronouncement, but I arrived at the answer that the “God is dead” theology would make the “God is alive” theology more attention-getting. Eventually we will have the attention of the world.</p>
|
||
<p>Going through the sea of God’s tears and sorrow is the way you reach heaven. There is a stone wall there, but the Unification Church has finally been successful in drilling a hole through it with this ideology. You are trying to climb up the wall to reach the hole, but you can’t see the hole until you get there. Since you can’t climb easily, I am giving you a lift. That’s how you are growing every day.</p>
|
||
<p>The entire world will look at you as crazy, but finally you will see the hole and plunge into it. The first person will go through a small hole, but as more and more people go through, it will get wider and the last person won’t even have to climb up all the way!</p>
|
||
<p>Then the entire world has to recognize it. Even nonreligious people will eventually wake up and the whole world will see the way into heaven. Until they see the hole they cannot go through, so they will have to come to our way of life as the only way to find it.</p>
|
||
<p>Everyone pays tolls on the New Jersey turnpike, so why not make a big heavenly turnpike and have everyone pay tolls? What a way to fund raise! The time will come when you won’t have toe go out fund raising because people will come and pay. But there won’t be any challenge or joy in that, right?</p>
|
||
<p>In the midst of tears, can you harbor hope for heaven? Jesus bore the cross at the age of 33. Our determination is to bear the cross before the age of 30, but to bear a living cross instead, to bear something worse than Jesus did. You know you can do it by following my instructions. For whom will you do it though? For God and humanity. Your descendants will put up your picture and remember you with tears. Adam and Eve brought the fall and brought the tears and tragedy which mankind has suffered for many thousands of years, but your descendants will say that their ancestors transformed that sorrow into tears of joy and tears of gratitude.</p>
|
||
<p>In tears of sorrow Adam and Eve went to hell, but because of you your children will go to heaven with tears of gratitude. Tears with a selfish motivation will bring you down to hell, but tears for God and humanity will not only bring you up to heaven, they will also liberate God.</p>
|
||
<p>There are two kinds of yes, one which leads to hell and the other to heaven, and which road you take now is up to you. We have a responsibility to erect the heavenly kingship upon the foundation of tears and sorrow. Only by being kings of sorrow and tears can we truly erect the Kingdom of God. God is grieving more than any king or emperor who ever lost his kingdom. The heart of such a king must be most sorrowful upon seeing his kingdom destroyed and his children and wife taken away by the enemy, but God’s heart is even more sorrowful. How can He forget? When God looks at anything in the universe it only stimulates His sorrow and brings back the memory of that tragedy.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Now one champion has emerged to say,<br />
|
||
“Let me take over. I will bear<br />
|
||
the responsibility. You rest.”</h3>
|
||
<p>The Unification Church is truly one family, one home under one Parent, and our prime mission is to educate parents who can raise true children of the kingdom, children who will serve the society, nation and world. I want to make you the people who shed tears for the public purpose. This is different from the ordinary thinking of the world.</p>
|
||
<p>Is this philosophy necessary for your home, nation and the generations to come? Even if you don’t accept it now, those who adhere to it will conquer the world, and when that happens you will still have to follow them. I know this is the unavoidable destiny of all men. We just happen to be the first crops. If my family comes against me, I will cut them off. If my society comes against me, I will cut it off and go on. If my nation comes against me, I will cut it off and go this path, because when you find God you can restore everything you ever had.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">My grandfather</h3>
|
||
<p>March 1 is a special day for Korea; it is the anniversary of the independence movement which began in 1919, one year prior to my birth. At that time Korea was under Japanese occupation, and on March 1 all Korean people rose up in protest, trying to secure their freedom and national independence. On that particular day patriots were shot by the thousands, sacrificed for the national purpose. As long as Korea remains a nation, those who died in the March I independence movement shall be enshrined by the generations to come.</p>
|
||
<p>One of my grandfathers participated in that movement. He was the pastor of a church, and he secretly gave up not only his own fortune but those of his brothers and sons. He secretly sold everything and took all the money and gave it for national independence. It amounted to $70,000, which was a great fortune at that time. No one knew that he was doing something righteous with that money, and everyone blamed him for being crazy and selfish and for taking everyone else’s money. Even when I was a child I was told that my grandfather was a crazy person who lost the family’s money in gambling. After his death, however, he was vindicated.</p>
|
||
<p>He was chased by the Japanese police for the rest of his life and sometimes tortured, and there was not even one good day for him after that uprising. He lived like a beggar. All the small children in the family were taught that he was a villain who brought the family’s bankruptcy and downfall. After the liberation, which came in 1945, my grandfather returned to his home town, but everyone there treated him so badly that he left again without a word of explanation. If at that time he had said that he had spent the money for the sake of the independence movement, then undoubtedly he would have been admired and had a statue erected in his memory, but he wouldn’t say a word. The Western mind can’t understand this, but it makes sense in the Oriental way of thinking. He didn’t want to reveal anything until national recognition came. For the rest of his life he was like a beggar, living like a gypsy.</p>
|
||
<p>Syngman Rhee was president of the temporary government in Shanghai where the money was taken, and he knew what a patriot my grandfather was. He tried to convince my grandfather to take an important position in the new government, but my grandfather refused, saying that securing a government office was not his intention, and later he died. If he had accepted a government post, the dispensation might have been different because President Rhee persecuted our movement in its early years. If the President had known my mission, he would have laid out a red carpet on the national scale.</p>
|
||
<p>Even my grandfather’s children didn’t know where he died or was buried, but recently he appeared in a dream to my cousin in Korea, telling him that he had been teaching school in a certain village when he died. He gave precise directions to the place where he had lived and where his body was buried. My cousin was amazed at the clarity of the revelation, so he woke up and wrote it all down and sent a letter to that address. One month later a reply came from the owner of the house, who confirmed that what my cousin had seen in his dream was true.</p>
|
||
<p>I sent someone to bring the coffin from its humble tomb in the mountainside to be reburied with a ceremony of great honor. No one except God knew that my grandfather had certainly lived his life in tears and heartbreak. His value cannot be diminished, even after his death, so God allowed him the power</p>
|
||
<p>to appear to his own descendant. Now he is nationally recognized. We found his diary, which described how he had lived in his last days, and once and for all the misunderstanding has been cleared away and his entire history has been revealed. Those in the Moon family who misunderstood him had to repent. Now he has become a monumental pride to the Moon family.</p>
|
||
<p>Just as he did, I do not want to say to the world what I have done while no one understood me. In time, future generations will know the truth. Recently in Japan there was an attempt to chronicle my life story, and with good intent the Japanese wanted to show my deeds to the world. But I don’t like that idea too much. I don’t want that kind of book written while I am alive. I want to hide everything behind the scenes, and if it is worthy then God will reveal it after my death. That is much more valuable.</p>
|
||
<p>Because today is such a special day in the light of the history of Korea I chose the topic, Sorrow and Tears. That particular formula is working on every level, whether in a society, nation or world, but here in America few are trying to live up to it. This is what we need here, however. Unless there is an “abnormal” group of people who really worry about the nation and humanity and God, this nation will have no hope for the future.</p>
|
||
<p>There will be a conference of international leaders here today. If national leaders really harbor this mission in their hearts and go back to their nations to willingly shed tears for the sake of God and humanity, they will be messiahs to their nations. National leaders who suffer now in the worst way of living shall be immortalized by the people of their nations in the days to come. Those who live today in nice homes, without doing too much work, shall be buried in sandy ground and the worst shame will come after their deaths.</p>
|
||
<p>Because Jesus’ death was miserable and tragic, God provided the power of resurrection for him. If you can work in tears and sorrow and die in a tragic manner, God will resurrect you. Don’t worry about it. If the leaders live that credo themselves and die in that fashion, they shall be resurrected. The Unification Church as a whole will suffer now and go forward in tears and sorrow. You may think it is miserable, but I want you to know that it is the only way we can secure the power of resurrection for our Church. Do you welcome it? Would you live that credo? God bless you all for eternity. Let us pray.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1248 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1246" class="post-1246 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-course-of-life-and-restoration-by-indemnification.html" title="Permalink to THE COURSE OF LIFE AND RESTORATION BY INDEMNIFICATION" rel="bookmark">THE COURSE OF LIFE AND RESTORATION BY INDEMNIFICATION</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-14T05:40:31+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-course-of-life-and-restoration-by-indemnification.html" rel="bookmark">June 14, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-14T05:40:31+01:00">June 14, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">February 26, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>Each day of life accumulates to make up a lifetime. Through the days of our lives we progress from childhood to young adulthood to old age, and at the same time a pattern of happiness or sadness is created. In the course of life there is love and laughter, sorrow and tragedy, birth and death. We all experience how there cannot be only joy in the course of life. Our mouths have the ability to speak, but can they only speak about joyful, happy things twenty-four hours a day, every day of our lives? Your ears also hear a wide range of things, both joyful and sorrowful.</p>
|
||
<p>Let’s illustrate one life by drawing a straight line; along this line the course of a person’s life and thoughts are always going up and down. If we can see this much complexity even in one life how much more complex will the lives of many people be? You cannot live alone; you need to associate and communicate with others, and when you take all this into consideration, how complex can your life be? The Unification Church contains a wide variety of elements from the cultures of the East and West, which we are trying to blend to create one way of life. You can imagine how complex a job it is. Life in our Church alone has many convolutions and ups and downs, and our question is how we are to harmonize them into one integrated pattern.</p>
|
||
<p>If even the course of one man’s life presents so much complexity, how much more intricate God’s way of life must be. God’s pattern of life threads along one vertical line. His pattern of life must be different from man’s, with the basic difference being that man is on the side of evil and God is on the side of good. Then what is good and evil? One simple definition says that evil tends to go down while good tends to go up. Also, the tendency of good is to travel in a straight line while evil tends to travel in a crooked line. Furthermore, goodness produces occurrences which people can rejoice over.</p>
|
||
<p>Rejoicing does not burst forth of its own accord; it cannot be present without some motivation or cause. Do you make yourself joyful or does joy come from somewhere else? People often wish something would happen that would make them happy, but the important thing is that joy cannot be generated solely by events or by yourself alone; it is a reciprocal thing. No matter how many happy events occur, unless you are ready to receive that joy you will not be happy. The law of thermodynamics says that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. In the same way, joy is also created by action and reaction.</p>
|
||
<p>Even when there is a subject which can constantly supply you with joy, you must be able to be a recipient in order for joy to materialize. You must also be capable of returning that joy to the sender. Both aspects should be present for we cannot be only in the position of recipients; we each must be generators of joy for others as well. Have you ever thought about having one eye instead of two, or only one ear? One eye could stick up in the air like a periscope and see everywhere, but God had a reason for not making you that way; a pair is always necessary for there to be a reciprocal relationship.</p>
|
||
<p>If your left arm tells the right arm to be its object, but the right arm refuses, what will happen to you? Do both arms normally move when you want to clasp your hands together, or does one travel all the way over to the other? You can also see a mutual relationship between the eyes and ears and other organs. Your hands not only travel to meet in the center, they both harmonize with the central point of the universe. Even though your body might harmonize with the universe when your arms are askew, your whole self does not fit in.</p>
|
||
<p>You can see some people walking who lean to one side, and it doesn’t look right or natural. We always seek balance, so that even lifting one arm up high and holding the other down low is in balance. If you see someone walking along with just one finger moving, then even though the other arm is swinging normally, you think, “Why is only his little finger twitching like that?” These illustrations show us that there is an invisible yet definite principle and standard that we are always trying to harmonize with.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The basic form in the universe<br />
|
||
is reciprocal give and take</h3>
|
||
<p>Now we come to the final question-where does goodness start? Is goodness automatic, or did someone create it? Imagine a husband and wife who think of themselves as good people; if they are just sitting still however, they don’t create an atmosphere of goodness. Even worse, nowadays American women have the tendency to boss their husbands around as though they were employees. Be honest; are American women generally trying to exploit and use their husbands, or genuinely trying to serve them? And what do you men think when you get married? That you have a servant who will lift and carry for you, or that now you have someone to serve?</p>
|
||
<p>Even though you are traveling in one direction, you still go up and down in a balanced, symmetrical way. You can understand that sometimes you should serve and sometimes be served, but a problem comes when an imbalance sets in, when one side of the curve is stretched way up but the other is almost flat. Listening to me on Sunday morning is just the same; you are proceeding to a certain goal when you have balance both up and down, but when you start to sleep you are derailed because you have become lopsided.</p>
|
||
<p>This is a principle we can see in action daily in every part of our lives. The give and take of a reciprocal relationship is the basic form in the universe. When you laugh, I want to laugh back. Furthermore, when you ask a question I feel obliged to answer it. Do you remain serious when someone else is laughing? If you do then immediately the relationship is disrupted. If someone is crying and very sad but you laugh, then total disruption sets in again. Beauty is always created by the harmony of a reciprocal relationship. When looking at black and white and color pictures, we all feel more joy from the color photos because they have more variety of color and a mysterious harmony. A vibrant beauty is created by the harmony of color.</p>
|
||
<p>In some of the national parks you can see beautiful mountains and the most attractive of them always have odd shapes, with promontories here and there, with woods in one place and rocks in another. Looking at just one portion of the mountain, it might seem ugly, but seeing the beauty of the whole creates an incredibly ecstatic feeling. When seen from a, distance, the average mountain doesn’t have any contours to overcome, but the rugged mountains which are difficult to climb are the most beautiful. I Have you ever thought about whether men and women could be balanced in a different way? Imagine all women being tall while men were short; what kind of balance would that create? If God created them that way then He would take men’s beards away because a short man with a full beard looks funny. A tall, rugged-looking man fits well with a beard, but a small man with a small face covered by a beard doesn’t look too good. The fact that in most cases a beard hides the mouth seems to mean that God’s mandate for men was to conceal their mouths and be silent. On the other hand, women always expose their mouths and even emphasize them with lipstick. Again, this is universal balance. God gave different characteristics to each which harmonize together.</p>
|
||
<p>Whenever I have observed men and women coming in to sit down in a room, the women’s palms are usually turned up while the men’s are down. Even though this typical behavior is unconscious on your part, it all harmonizes. Men laugh heartily, shaking up and down, while women laugh with little giggles. When seen from the point of view of the Principle, all these little things create the balance and harmony and reciprocal beauty which the universe seeks.</p>
|
||
<p>The personal qualities of a husband and wife may seem to be imbalanced, but together they create a harmonized beauty which is far better than their independent beauty. This is why man’s attention tends toward harmony rather than independence. A husband and wife may not be so beautiful individually, but if together they create a happy family then they will attract people’s attention. Even ugliness creates beauty when it is harmonized</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The contrast between black and white, Westerner and Oriental</h3>
|
||
<p>By bringing the black and white races together in America, God gave this nation a beautiful chance to create harmonized beauty. instead of fighting with each other, black and white have to find mutual accord. The top of a mountain is usually covered with snow, while the valley below is covered with green foliage and elements that come down from the mountainside. The valley usually has more of an odor because the decaying leaves of plants create fertilizer for the living plants. Would it be possible for those leaves to serve as fertilizer if they did not rot?</p>
|
||
<p>That dirty fertilizer is precious and important because it contains life-giving elements which can give power and energy to the plants. The top of the mountain is covered with very pure and beautiful snow, but it has no fertile soil, only bare rock. Fertile soil is found only in the valley. White people can be compared to the snow covering the top of the mountain and black people to the rich soil in the valley.</p>
|
||
<p>Boulders and gravel are the prominent features of the mountain top, but the lush foliage and rich soil where all kinds of things can grow are the outstanding features of the valley. The white race in general displays a sharpness of character, just like the bare rock, but black people have more of a nature to embrace everything, like the rich black soil where anything can germinate. Compared to white people, black people commonly impart greater passion, and they also have a deep sense of justice which white people sometimes lack.</p>
|
||
<p>When I examine the ways of doing things of the two races, these characteristics are readily apparent. Again, my purpose is not to blame any one particular people. God made white people with their unique characteristics and black people with their unique characteristics, and meant for both peoples to create a greater beauty through” their harmonious relationship.</p>
|
||
<p>The history of the white culture began with the cave men who would dig holes and analyze the different minerals. The tendency to break something down into its parts and analyze it belongs to the white people. Oriental culture, on the other hand, tends to favor abstraction, not distinguishing so much between parts or segments of the whole. It is like a conglomerate of sand, gravel, rocks and mud where you can’t distinguish one from the other. However, to build something you always need more than one kind of material, so again there must be give and take between the two cultures.</p>
|
||
<p>Another point of contrast lies in how Western women try to attract attention to themselves, often even walking like men, while Oriental women are traditionally more retiring and shy. Who invented the high heel and what woman began to wear it? Probably it began with a woman who wanted to be as tall as her husband so that she could be his equal.</p>
|
||
<p>The beauty of nature results from God’s creations interacting in such a way that both extremes unite around a center in a reciprocal relationship. Some women use makeup to create an artificial kind of beauty, but the women who don’t use makeup often have greater beauty in their smiles. Which of the two is more beautiful?</p>
|
||
<p>Have you ever seen an ugly baby? A baby is beautiful because he is genuine and pure, not artificial. Can you imagine a baby wearing lipstick and eye shadow? You wouldn’t be drawn to look at such a baby because he would look so unnatural. Look at your situation from God’s point of view, though. From the vantage point of His great age you are even younger than a new baby, and looking at you covered with makeup would be like seeing a made-up baby lying in a crib. God would much rather see your natural beauty. When you look at it from God’s point of view, you will have a different concept of makeup.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You know now why our way of life<br />
|
||
should have depth, flexibility and variety</h3>
|
||
<p>Let’s examine ourselves as Unification Church members. What is our main characteristic and what are we doing here? An electric current flows in a straight line in a certain direction, but it moves in pulses. It can’t be observed with the human eye, but electricity actually flows in bursts and an electric light is actually flicking on and off all the time at great speed. Electricity travels in waves along the surface of its conductor, forming a shape like a tube along the wire. This is similar to how man stands on the surface of the earth with a certain space between himself and the incredible energy surrounding the universe. Between man and that source of energy is great space, and all man’s interaction with it is across that distance.</p>
|
||
<p>The eyes of Westerners, particularly blue eyes, are very stark in the contrast between the white area around the blue eye. The beauty of blue eyes comes from having the black dot right in the center, which makes the whole thing come alive. The white and blue surfaces only create an impression of flatness, but the black dot adds a new dimension of depth. When I look at Bo Hi Pak, I don’t see the black dot so clearly because his eyes are dark brown. Luckily he has a complexion that harmonizes with those dark eyes.</p>
|
||
<p>Can you imagine Bo Hi Pak having blond hair? It wouldn’t suit him at all, but a fair complexion and black hair and black eyes all harmonize together and fit a certain pattern. The key word is harmony. Even when you look at a printed page where there is only black and white, a job of printing well-done produces a balance of black and white which will create beauty. Even when I look at an everyday newspaper I can see a certain beauty in a paper that is well done. When you men want to buy a tie, the first thing you think about is what tie will go with a particular suit. You are automatically looking at the selection from the point of view of harmony.</p>
|
||
<p>I am giving all these illustrations this morning to show you how our lives are like giant pictures. We can view our lives as paintings with harmony of color and shape. There are many walks of life in our world- laborer, merchant, businessman, clerk, politician -and whether you can harmonize with all of them depends on your character. Would you like to fit into only one set area, or would you like to be flexible and fit in all different ways of life?</p>
|
||
<p>You and your lives are like beautiful mountains with many different features that make up the beauty of the whole. What kind of personality should we develop in the Unification Church? You know why our ways of life should have depth and flexibility and variety. Running out to sell the new paper right after breakfast lends variety to your life, and after you come back you are evangelists on the streets or in the neighborhoods. Later you might go out fund raising. Such variety of life! Next thing you know, I ask you to drop everything and come to Belvedere. All that variety doesn’t give you time to eat or sleep or do anything else.</p>
|
||
<p>Sleeping and playing are only one facet of your life, the way one single color is only part of a large painting. I have a peculiar way of enjoying things; when everyone else drops away and I am the only one left to go on, I am happy that I defeated everyone else. I want to sleep only after everyone else is asleep, then get up before anyone else, even before the birds and the sun. I get joy from this.</p>
|
||
<p>I have the pride to tell the sun that I am its best friend because no one else on earth has looked at it more than me. I get up before the sun does and watch it go down at night. Looking at the stars and moon, I think I am their best friend because I stay with them more than anyone else. At night I have conversations with the stars and moon, climbing up a hill to feel closer to them. When I was younger I had many experiences of walking at night in the valleys and climbing the hills. The way I memorialize a special day is by staying up all night to remember it. On the other hand, there are people who take joy in sleeping and think that it is the best part of life. People like me must be needed to balance them!</p>
|
||
<p>Usually I am up all the time, but a few times I have gone to bed for long periods. Once I slept three days and nights and I told people not to wake me up. Everyone thinks that they would like to sleep a long, long time, but in my experience sleeping three days and nights was hell! People like to play and fool around, but unless you also have a job to do, playing day in and day out will become tedious instead of joyful. Why should the course of our lives be varied, not just simple and monotonous? We can only talk about harmony when there are many elements present; then there is more beauty. Many senior citizens want to use their life savings to travel around the world because they want to see a variety of things.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Indemnity means doing abnormal things</h3>
|
||
<p>We Unification Church members are peculiar people because we are concerned with restoration by indemnity. Indemnity is like climbing all the way up to the top of a mountain to hang from a pole. That is a vivid picture of indemnity. If you want to pay greater indemnity, you can not only hang from the pole, but hang upside down and swing back and forth! When the mountain is a certain height you cannot consider indemnity as being anything equal or even lower than that height, and just going to the top of the mountain will not be paying indemnity; instead, you must do something unusual once you get there.</p>
|
||
<p>If you are in the valley instead of on the mountaintop and you want to pay indemnity, you must do something really crazy, like submerging yourself in water or pushing yourself into the earth like a stake. What I am saying is that indemnity means doing abnormal things. We have been talking about the course of life and the beauty of reciprocal relationships and the beauty of coming together in harmony. That is the normal course of events, but when we talk about indemnity and restoration, we are talking about something abnormal.</p>
|
||
<p>Why do we have to go the reverse way? Knowing we were committed to doing abnormal things all throughout life would absolutely be hell and no good for God or man. Instead, we do it for a certain period for the purpose of re-creation. Have you ever mixed flour and water to make dough? Bread dough must be kneaded and shaped before it can become manageable. Initially there is flour all over the kitchen, but with work the dough will become good bread. Re-creation is almost like making dough because it come in all kinds of shapes; one time it looks like hell, another time like heaven. One time it looks long, another time short, but by going through this process it becomes manageable.</p>
|
||
<p>When you are the dough, you suffer through the up-and-down process, but in the meantime you are developing a capacity to appreciate both extremes of happiness and sadness. When the world thinks of something as normal, we do the opposite on purpose. They think we are crazy, but that is precisely what we are waiting for. The Unification Church is like a bakery where we make the dough into all kinds of shapes. Individually, each one of us has certain characteristics, but as a lump of dough we all look alike.</p>
|
||
<p>As we go through all kinds of pressure and acquire certain shapes, all the good elements of men and women are concentrated in the dough and the ungodly elements are kneaded out. If there is some small foreign element present then it will be detected as the dough is rolled out, but ultimately God has planned a certain shape for this dough and will mold it into that form after it has become pure. You cannot retain foreign elements in the Unification Church. There are many ex-Moonies who couldn’t harmonize ; with the dough or stand the rolling out process.</p>
|
||
<p>If there is one lump of dough which has been an entire e lifetime in the making, it must be superior to dough h which was hastily made. Using religion as the flow r, God has been trying to make the finest possible dough for the ultimate re-creation of man. Would you want to be part of that dough which was seasoned through time or some part of batter thrown together like pancake mix in the morning?</p>
|
||
<p>God’s goal is re-creation, and certainly He wants the finest basic materials. Among religions, the one which is most seasoned by suffering and pain, but which becomes victorious and pure, is the kind of dough God is looking forward to having. Have you been molded into the Unification Church pattern, or molded the Unification Church into your pattern? In the final re-creation, God will use the Unification Church I pattern, and when this pattern expands into a nation, He will have more material to work with. Eventually God wants to see a re-created world.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God is planning how to mold each one of you</h3>
|
||
<p>God has a big notebook with a record of all your names and He is planning how to mold each one of you into the best shape; He has a plan for each one of you. In order to make yourself completely pure, you must deal with the most self-centered element- -greed. The person with more greed will have to overcome overcome more pain, and the general pattern in the Unification Church is that the greedy, stubborn, arrogant character is the one who suffers most because it is hardest for him to give himself up.</p>
|
||
<p>When God wants to re-create you, He does not consider Only what you think you should become; what God thinks is more important. The person who will be most successful in the Unification Church is the one who will give himself up and leave himself open for God to take over. The person who wants to be humble and obedient and serving is flexible. Would you rather be oil or water? Oil always adheres to itself, but water can go anywhere. Water has the power of resurrection, and wherever it goes it is always in the central role of giver of life. When water soaks into dry land, all the plants and trees come alive. You can become a person who can not only go anywhere, but who can go as a source of life and stand in the central position.</p>
|
||
<p>When we possess that kind of personality, we can bring new life and resurrection anywhere. Can a white person have the power to melt a black person? When we become the dough ready to be molded into any shape God wants, all He has to do is roll the dough around the world; everything will stick to it and the water will dissolve it all.</p>
|
||
<p>We always hear about restoration by indemnification and what we gain is re-creation. Restored elements don’t need indemnity paid anymore, and we must become elements of God that no longer require indemnification. You must become so totally flexible that God can use you any way He wants, like bubble gum which God can blow up as big as He likes. One kind of gum might blow up into a big bubble but then cry out, “God, stop! I’m about to burst!” Another kind will say, “God, go ahead and blow as much as You like, even if I pop.” That kind of person has no opinion and whatever God wants is OK with him.</p>
|
||
<p>What would you do if you popped? Just gather everything together and be chewed up again. Blowing bubbles in gum is analogous to pushing you; if you pop, then God simply chews you over again and gives you the acclaim of having met His standard. Interestingly enough, after it sees your experience, the other kind of bubble gum will want to be popped too, so it can receive the same reward.</p>
|
||
<p>Can the dough tell God what shape it wants to be? Can a muscle complain about being in the bottom of your foot and petition to be in your head instead? There is no room for complaint, even if a millennium passes. People admire such a person, but how much more would God appreciate him? Many people grumble about coming to Belvedere at 6 o’clock, but what if I insisted that you come at 5 a.m., or even midnight? Would you respond, “If that is your desire then I’ll definitely be there”? Or, “Why does he have to do this to us?”</p>
|
||
<p>Are you a person who owes no debt to God, who has no more indemnity to pay? The best gold is what we call 24 karat gold, which has had all foreign elements removed. Once the gold is completely purified, there is no more purpose for putting it into the fire again. Our goal is to be 24 karat gold, right?</p>
|
||
<p>Can you say, “For the rest of my life I will not complain. I will sit there like the dough, ready to be used in any manner God desires”?</p>
|
||
<p>This morning I am emphasizing indemnification throughout the course of an entire lifetime, not just one day or a few years. Can any of you say you don’t need to pay any indemnity? Indemnity is miserable, and restoration by indemnification is not easy. You have to be victorious over it. When we understand how difficult it is, we can readily see why even God all mighty needed so many thousands of years for restoration.</p>
|
||
<p>How could there be so many failures by God’s chosen central figures? Often they had plenty of room for complaint if they could not totally give themselves up for the sake of God. After traveling over a long a and difficult course they still failed. You are full of foreign material to begin with, but God picked you up from the fallen world and is trying to make you into genuine gold. How long do you think it will take? Just by looking at yourself you know how changeable and deceitful the human heart is. One day you are joyful and inspired by being a Moonie, but the next day you think differently and wonder why you should do such crazy things. If you are not changeable already, isn’t there always a possibility that you will be the next day or next year?</p>
|
||
<p>God’s work with this changeable man has put Him in a pitiful, miserable position. God gives all His effort an d heart to working with the dough, but He always wonders how He can guarantee the outcome. That is the sad part of God’s situation. Because of his deceitfulness, no man can proudly walk in the sight of God. You must understand what a traitor each person h, as been and how impossible it is for God to trust you completely.</p>
|
||
<p>When I see someone who expects to be blessed just because he has been in the Unification Church for a number of years, I am totally amazed and can’t even look at that person’s face. Many couples have been blessed but some of them decided that they needed a nice home and that for them the dispensation would be secondary. Sometimes I send them far apart from each other to separate missions but even though they go they may grumble; that complaint is what God sees, not the external obedience. Suppose the world one day accepts me and sees the possibility of making the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. If at that time God sends couples off separately to the deserts of Africa, but they feel that they should finally be able to enjoy being married and they say, “How could You ask me to do that,” then they are utter failures.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God puts you through trials because He<br />
|
||
wants you to be superior to anyone in history</h3>
|
||
<p>I am always waiting and ready for that kind of extraordinary order from God. No matter how sweet the victory I have won, I am always ready to pack up and go. My luggage is always ready. Once God gives me a mandate, I will go anywhere regardless of whether Mother or our children follow me. That is the way I have always lived and I have frequently received such mandates.</p>
|
||
<p>Many times I have just taken off at the spur of the moment-for example, when I went to North Korea and faced prison. In that prison with its incredible torture I really bit my tongue to not speak even one word of complaint to God. All my energy was concentrated on not speaking one such word. It seemed to me that God liked it because He had never found such a person before. God is looking for a genuine, unchangeable man from each race.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes I criticize a leader publicly without much reason, in such a way that I know he will later hear about it. Then I look to see how he reacts. I myself was tested many times in this fashion. God is really a strategist and this is one of His techniques. One moment I felt like I was on top of the mountain, but the next day I found myself way down in the valley, even upside down!</p>
|
||
<p>God is putting you through such trials because He wants you to be superior to any other individual in history. The entire world is trying to chase me away but I don’t even think of taking cover. I might go to jail but that thought never bothers me either. Actually, American prisons are so good that going there is more like rest and relaxation than suffering. In prison I wouldn’t have to work as hard as I do now, and I might get more sleep!</p>
|
||
<p>I recently asked the Japanese brothers and sisters to undertake a special forty-day fund raising campaign and they gave every ounce of their energy during this period. Sometimes members would be so tired that after they knocked on someone’s door they would lean up against the wall and be asleep when the person came to the door. How would you react to see such a person at your front door? The police were called several times, and they brought one young man to I he station. When the officer asked him for informal ion, he was already asleep before they finished interrogating him. Only the Unification Church creates such events.</p>
|
||
<p>Even though he couldn’t stay awake in front of the police of officers this brother never said an unkind thing about my being cruel or unreasonable. He never allowed an unkind word to be spoken by anyone else there either When the police finally put him in jail, he felt like he had arrived in heaven and his conscience never bothered him when he went to sleep. He had a real vacation! Meals were sent in to the prisoners and everything tasted good to him; he ate and then slept again and his conscience never hurt. His cell mates asked him how many times he had been in I prison, and when he said it was his first experience e they were astounded! They said he acted like an old-timer, being so nonchalant about the whole thing. Most newcomers can’t eat anything and are so Up! ,et that they can’t ever sleep at night. When this one b brother just ate well and slept well, the other prisoners assumed he was a professional jailbird!</p>
|
||
<p>The police realized that his intentions were pure, even though he had acted strangely, and just let him go after he had rested. There was genuine communication I between them, even in the prison. Even when our members are arrested by the police, the police e can perceive our members’ unselfish motivation n and they become more and more friendly toward us ,. They tell us, “We wish you could have millions of members here in Japan because that would eliminate the youth problem and the problem of communism</p>
|
||
<p>Unification Church members are increasingly respected in Japan. The heads of big corporations have been asking our Church leaders if they could have some of our members as personal secretaries with whom n they could entrust money and confidential document s. They see that we are trustworthy and also that there is no place our members can’t eventually make themselves welcome. They make friends everywhere. Do you recognize that only Reverend Moon can mold young people like this? Many other people are trying to promote their own selfish interests, but I am transforming you into totally unselfish people.</p>
|
||
<p>More and more people are realizing that only this movement offers hope for the world. The time will come when the outside world will be so chaotic that you will be able to move everywhere without resistance. If you practice this way of life, you cannot be in the wrong; even though since joining you seem to have been separated from everything you cherished, eventually it will all come back. None of your work will be wasted.</p>
|
||
<p>Have you ever thought that you were the yeast which would make things happen in the dough, and that you could willingly continue for your entire life without one word of complaint? Whoever lives his entire life like that will have God with him for eternity; God will permeate every part of his body and will take responsibility to restore him into His own. If someone knocks him flat, then God will gather him together and stand him up again.</p>
|
||
<p>If you become godly men and women in that fashion, then anyone who comes against you is not persecuting you, but persecuting God. Therefore, they will eventually be punished. Of course, you will not encourage their persecution in order to see them be crushed by God. You must pray for them with tears; it is our heart as godly men and women that no one be punished for doing evil toward us and we will pray for them, but it is a universal law that anyone who comes against the power of God will be punished.</p>
|
||
<p>When I get to the spirit world I will meet the many people who criticized me here on earth and tried to destroy me. They have ended up in hell, but when they see me will they say, “Because of you I ended up in hell!”? No, they will be totally ashamed and say, “Reverend Moon, I was totally dumb. I didn’t understand your heart.” I will never ask God to cast my opponents down into hell. I have always had compassion for my own enemies and prayed for their well-being because I know that they are the ones who will be ashamed, even when they are in hell. No one can claim that I am responsible for their situation and that I should have worked harder to bring them up to heaven. I don’t want that kind of blame in spirit world, and by working hard my entire life I h have left no stone unturned to save the people, including my own enemies.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Our sister is a glorious<br />
|
||
martyr in God’s providence</h3>
|
||
<p>Last night I heard the sad news that one of our members was beaten to death. I regard her as a martyr. I immediately saw two things first that God and the Unification Church will not be hurt by it, and furthermore, that the very person who became a martyr for her faith and was sacrificed while doing her duty will not be harmed either. She had a very high standard for herself in our Church and she was always, sacrificing for God. She shall be treated well in the spirit world. Furthermore, when I go to the spirit world I will call all people like her first of all and give them a special feast. They are the glorious martyr s of God’s providence.</p>
|
||
<p>The Unification Church is not doing anything wrong and Satan is working such evil against us without any basis. Our sister was not trying to harm anyone or take anything from them; she was just doing her duty with compassion when Satan attacked and killed her. If events like this accumulate, God has more power and reason to bring down chastisement against the satanic world. Events like this will stimulate the consciences of good people and ultimately there will be an outburst of indignation and people will speak out. No water comes out of a well dug in the desert, and digging deeper and deeper looks like a foolish project. However, eventually rain will come even to the desert, and that well will be filled and the desert can be changed. We have no fear . Be bold and strong and go forward without hesitating.</p>
|
||
<p>When our sister was ruthlessly attacked, she was praying at the moment of her death, “God, I cannot fulfill everything here, but I know You will take over and that the Unification Church will go beyond me to be successful and win the victory.” Instead of discouraging you, her death should spur you on to heightened determination and commitment. We have a power that other people do not; we have an inner fire that people do not even realize exists. I feel happy that I can cry out for such a martyr, no matter whether she was white, black or yellow. Any such person would strike my heart the same way and I can shed tears for him. Perhaps her parents have resentment toward the Church, thinking, “I told her she should have come home to live with us. Now she has gotten what she never counted on and it’s too late.” I don’t think like that; I am grieved over this event more than her own family.</p>
|
||
<p>This kind of event can be like an atomic bomb to explode each one of us into a greater height of spiritual power. We will all see this wonderful sister in heaven one day, and when we meet again we must have many stories to tell of how her martyrdom inspired us to greater efforts. She is our martyr and is the Unification Church’s unique pride and inspiration. In order to pay indemnity as a Church, sacrifices have to be made; it is necessary to the process of growth.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">When you go to spirit world,<br />
|
||
it is you who decides whether<br />
|
||
you go to heaven or hell</h3>
|
||
<p>Why do we need indemnity? It is needed for more than restoration; it is for re-creation. Our key thought for every day is how can we invest our entire lives more valuable to pay greater indemnity for mankind. Some pragmatic thinker, particularly here in America, would have another solution for enjoying not only heaven but also enjoying life here on earth: “I’ll do all kinds of sensual things, but after I get old I will start going to church and praying in Jesus’ name and then I will have insurance for heaven.” That is totally wrong. An old, decayed tree cannot be recreated; it can only rot and become fertilizer. Genuine re-creation must start in one’s youth, but it would be best for you to be born into the Unification Church and grow up in re-creation.</p>
|
||
<p>If you are lighter than air then you can float or fly, but when you are heavier, you sink to the earth. The person who has totally purified himself is bouyant, and the only reason that he is still on earth is because his physical body is holding him down.</p>
|
||
<p>Just like a balloon that floats away when you let it go, this most purified person will float all the way up to the highest place where God is. God will grab him and hold him close, saying, “Come to me. You and I are one; let’s be joyful together.” If you are that close to God. then no matter what you do, there is no limitation to your movement because it will perfectly accentuate your joy. When you burst into laughter, the entire universe will laugh too. When God moves in one direction, you do also, for whatever God does, you do.</p>
|
||
<p>When you see the Hudson River after a flood or big storm , you see all kinds of debris floating past, but perhaps internally you are even dirtier than that water. You know how pure you are. Each person in the fallen world was born impure, no matter how elevated I his lineage, and a purification process is needed. V water must be put through a very fine filter if it is to I be purified. You will have to pass through a very narrow passage to become pure, and if your “self” is still there, you will not fit. If you are rotten and corrupted than you will never give yourself the chance to become pure water.</p>
|
||
<p>If a giant camera photographed your entire life, what would you see? No one dictates whether you must go to hell or heaven; you yourself will determine your destination because you will be able to tell just by looking at yourself. This is the absolute truth. Is there room for any questionable element in God’s heaven? God wants everyone to be purified and clear enough to enter heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>Is the Unification Church an easy-going church? We just ruthlessly push ourselves through the purification process. Do you realize how much you have changed since joining the Unification Church? Once your new self creates a big enough container, your old self will automatically be swallowed up. Even if someone kidnapped you and took you a to a big palace with every imaginable luxury, your spiritual compass ~ would automatically direct you toward the door. You eat simple meals and work hard all day, but this new self says that this is where you belong. No one can’ take your new self away from you.</p>
|
||
<p>I’m sure that among you there are some who are already packed and ready to take off once the signal comes. Now I am giving you the signal to go; find out how you feel out there. If an easy way were available, I wouldn’t need you to tell me because I would have gone long ago. I am smart and I would have found refuge before this. Walking the way of indemnification is the destiny of each person’s entire life course. No one born on earth can avoid this destiny. Realizing this, I would rather stay here and work.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">If I were to get tired and refuse to go on,<br />
|
||
I would not be qualified to be here</h3>
|
||
<p>All men have to look at me and realize that to be successful a man should adopt my way of life and yours. It is a clever person who will demolish his “self.” Do you like me because I give interesting talks on Sunday? How do you know God likes me? Your mind is somehow drawn to me and here you feel comfortable, but if you try to disregard me you feel ill at ease. You are like the plants which automatically grow toward the sun, whose leaves and branches go in one direction without anyone teaching them. All living things know the source of life and understand that by going in that direction they can receive life. Would the same situation occur if I went to Africa? I can’t speak English, but if I could then you would all be so uplifted you would be flying. Sometimes you think you deliberately want to ignore me, but your heart is drawn to me anyway, just like due north pulls a compass needle. A motor generates a certain magnetic force with energy from a gigantic power source and I am the same; the more I turn, the more I pull. I have caused uproar in America because no one can see the power plant which is sending me the electric current.</p>
|
||
<p>Famous religious leaders here in America- Norman Vincent Peale, Oral Roberts, Billy Graham -thought there was already enough leadership here, but all of a sudden some heretic has come from Korea and they cannot figure him out. They will soon see that our way of life is much more free and meaningful and productive, and eventually they will follow our way. When a little stream of crystal-pure water flows down the dirty Hudson River people cannot see it, even when if floats right on top. We are like that stream which begins as drops of water but later becomes a river, and even though all kinds of resistance confront it, this water will continue to pour down in greater and greater volume and will eventually be seen by the world.</p>
|
||
<p>Fish are like men; if they live in dirty water they almost die from drinking it, but when they swim into pure water they feel new life and want to stay. Wherever the pure water goes, the fish want to go with it. Unification Church members just don’t want to go anywhere else except where I go, and the rest of the world will soon want to follow you. Time is on our side, but it is ticking by for the fallen world. This pure water will eventually cleanse the entire world.</p>
|
||
<p>In the course of your life, restoration can be acquired on a worldwide scale. The work we do will eventual! y compel the satanic world to yield and let the pure water come in. Are you members who live in the World Mission Center restoring your rooms? You might feel resentment and think, “Father, how can I do all this at once? You know there just isn’t time,” but at I know that you just made up your mind that you couldn’t do it; you are blocking your own mind i.</p>
|
||
<p>You know how you should live your life. Right now most of you are single, but the time will come when you will marry and have your own children. Should you continue to live under the same principle as when you were single? Is your responsibility first to your family and then to God? You must make up your mine I now about the entire course of your life. Someday you will be a Church leader and have responsibility for your family as well. Will you complain when you are overburdened, or will you accept it as a are at honor and do your absolute best?</p>
|
||
<p>Whenever the Japanese or American Churches have a big problem, they come to me. They take care of the good things themselves, but when a problem arises they come to me. Naturally it means more anxiety and mental torture for me, but I don’t complain to them and tell them to take care of it themselves. If I did that then I would not be worthy to be leader. I must have the capacity to accept the problem, and in the meantime I accept the equivalent indemnity, giving them a boost. That’s why the Church needs me. I want to take up America’s worst problems, and when Americans realize this they will see that they need me. I want to take the worst problems of the world upon my shoulders and I feel the same way about God, who has many problems He cannot solve by Himself. I have always told Him I would take His worst problems.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you the kind of person who is needed by me, or do you need me? Right now you mostly need me. I must struggle to mold you and take out all kinds of foreign elements, but if I were to get tired of the work and refuse to do it, I would not be worthy to be here Then there would be no real connection between you and me, or between me and God. Will you make a decision about committing your entire life to living a public life of service to God, with enthusiasm and no complaint? Or will you do it for only a few years?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">It has become my habit to hold nothing back</h3>
|
||
<p>God does not want the kind of man who can be only half-heatedly committed. God is determined that you commit not only your entire life, but those of your children and grandchildren as well. He would want you to pledge that He will not be betrayed by your people because God wants to stay with that kind of family. If someone really wants to serve and love you then your heart is automatically committed to that person. God’s heart moves in the same way</p>
|
||
<p>You recently ended a forty-day condition, but how many of you really participated in it and did your utmost? What did the rest of you do? Did you think that only the real fanatics would do it, but not you? If you felt that way, then you had nothing to do with the law of indemnity or with restoration or re-creation.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you want to just start a building and leave it unfinished, or do you want to finish it and enjoy living in it? You each know yourselves better than anyone else. Are you below or above the level of failure? You never know precisely at what moment you will die, and not making preparation for your final moment will have serious consequences. From the first day of my journey into this dispensation I thought of the day of my death, and even now it concerns me because I want to prepare myself.</p>
|
||
<p>Many of my antagonists back in Korea and Japan wished that I would die, but now ten years later, I find that those who prayed for my death are dying while I am still going strong. When I look at the children of those people I see all kinds of disasters in their lives and I pity them. The Church they prayed to see d destroyed is prospering all over the world. God has bee n with us and He is the determining factor.</p>
|
||
<p>I am the kind of person who feels great pain when I break an appointment or commitment. If a person cannot keep human appointments, how can he keep vertical appointments? Sometimes I would like to just lie down and forget all my cares, but thinking that way makes me feel guilty. At that moment I think about the many Unification Church members around the world who are making a showdown prayer to God. It I, as the leader, am going to sleep idle my conscience really hurts. Even when our members far away from America are praying for extraordinary events, I can feel it to my bones.</p>
|
||
<p>Many times conferences last very late at East Garden and as the people leave they ask me to rest. I may g o upstairs and sit on a chair, but I cannot go to bed. Sometimes I sit there all night dozing just a little bit, and if Mother wakes up in the night and finds me sitting there she is alarmed and says, “Is something wrong? Why do you sit there?” I think sometimes that I may not be a very “tasty” husband because there have been many times like that. There is no such thing as total relaxation in my life, however; I always feel the burden on my shoulders.</p>
|
||
<p>I am destined to go a certain distance and reach the goal with this burden. That’s the kind of man I am. If there were no God in the universe then I would be the m lost tragic figure and you would be the most miserable people under the sun. But God is there and He is working harder than I am. If any of you were working harder than me then you might be entitled to comp lain to me, but none of you can ever complain to God. You must never do that.</p>
|
||
<p>Can you pledge that for your entire life you will not utter one word of complaint, but just bear the burden every day? I cannot be arrogant or boastful, no matte r where I am. Instead, I always think about what I c, an do for the people and what they need. Foremost t in my mind is how I can help them, wherever I go. I can speak to the members all night long and comfort them or give out all the money I have or give away my clothes. It has become the habit of my life to hold nothing back.</p>
|
||
<p>When all the Korean leaders come, I have no concept of time in my mind; I never feel pressure to go to bed even if it is late. I just go on as long as there is a response from the people. God sometimes wants to discuss things with me and have close, intimate fellowship. Each one of those leaders also has that feeling and I simply cannot disappoint them, but it is not easy to satisfy each one. My life can be described as that of the person who carries a burden or debt</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">A new cycle of history is beginning,<br />
|
||
in which the West must pay indemnity</h3>
|
||
<p>In January I told you to do a forty-day condition here in America, and starting February 1, I asked the Japanese to do a special witnessing condition. I am now waiting to see what they will do compared to what you have done. Before you are aware of it, God is always mapping out a certain plan of action. America has an opulent way of life, and because you have much food and wealth you have no genuine desire to struggle or suffer in order to gather things. If you don’t use your wealth in the right way, it will ultimately be an unfortunate thing instead of a blessing.</p>
|
||
<p>It is apparent that God would never send the Messiah to the white race first because white people are not willing to tackle indemnity head on. Instead they avoid it and try to find another way. Asian people, however, have a deep capacity to absorb pain and suffering. No one likes indemnity, but Asians are ready to accept it again and again without words. The Divine Principle explains that the solutions to world problems will come from the Orient. Seeing the current situation here in the Western world as compared to the Orient, it is clear that God’s ultimate religious doctrine and new truth will not come from the Western hemisphere, but from Oriental soil.</p>
|
||
<p>I wanted to have our movement around the world sacrifice for the sake of America. That has been my policy so far, but no more. I have come to the conclusion that it is not a wise policy. You must be repentful about this, but also be able to analyze yourself. When I think in that fashion then God thinks in that way. I am looking at the whole situation analytically now instead of just accepting it. There is only one way to correct the situation, which is by giving you the revolutionary concept of committing your entire life for the way of restoration through indemnity. Have you been thinking in that fashion?</p>
|
||
<p>When analyzed historically, Asians have suffered an d paid indemnity while the Western world has been reaping the result. You have prospered greatly. Basically, religion teaches self-denial and rejection of material possessions, but in the meantime Western civilization has reaped material prosperity; instead of self-denial, it has lived a life of self-glorification. The end result of such a life is emptiness of spirit.</p>
|
||
<p>History is now completing one full cycle. Asians have been paying indemnity for spiritual benefit, and once it is all paid it will be their turn to reap material well-being. The Western world is at the peak of its materialistic culture, and now a trend toward g going back to nature is emerging. The hippie movement is an expression of the desire to get rid of the burden of civilization and go back to the simple life. The New Age is dawning now in Asia, but the people there ere should not accept material benefit from a self-centered point of view. They must use it instead for the well-being of the entire world. Their spiritual maturity should direct them to use material from the heavenly standpoint.</p>
|
||
<p>A country like Korea, which suffered so much in history: y, is booming economically right now. After World war II Germany and Japan became prosperous by exporting many goods, reaching the $10 billion level. Korea reached that level in seven years. Because of Korea’s thrust into the export market, Japan is now suffering somewhat; the industrial market is increasingly being influenced by Korean merchants.</p>
|
||
<p>Hope will come next to India, and when that nation booms like Korea, the whole world picture will change India has been poverty stricken primarily because of the religious teachings there, which emphasized rejection of material goods in favor of isolation and meditation. I want to give India a new concept of religion and bring the right kind of physical revival there.</p>
|
||
<p>The age of materialism centered upon the individual is over. The new age of material well being coupled with the concept of the whole is now dawning and the Unification Church is going to be the bridge between the two. After 200 years of prosperity, America is at a standstill and doesn’t know where to turn. Someone must bridge the Pacific so that America’s future can unite with the Oriental aspect. I came for that purpose.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">I want to bridge the gap between the races</h3>
|
||
<p>I would like to bridge the gap between all five races, and therefore, the Unification Church is bringing its members from all the races. When you have a contract to build a bridge, would you like to make it strong or weak? You might think you are Japanese or American-made gravel and you can only be mixed with cement from your nation, but no-everyone will be mixed together. We are mixing gravel and cement from all over the world, and once we finish the bridge it must be the strongest of all.</p>
|
||
<p>My contribution cannot be ignored by the history books. It is already done. America is still opposing me, even trying to find ways to get rid of me and our international members, but in the meantime the rest of the world will be looking to me for hope. Some Westerners say that they can accept me, but they wish I could be a white man. That’s the wrong concept. If I were a Westerner, there would be no one to take care of Asia. The bridge can only be built by my coming from Asia and having the Westerners unite with me. I am one individual, but I want you to know that you are not united just with me but with Asia as well. Even the way you are sitting on the floor listening to me here reflects Asian influence. Already you are adopting some Oriental ways.</p>
|
||
<p>The longest sermon a Western minister might give would be thirty minutes, but I have already spoken 3½ hours. The Asian concept is that when you are doing something good, forget about time. When Asian people see something good coming, they don’t care about anything else; they just want to be there and do that one thing. The Western mind is very analytical and stresses organization; for example, even if something good is happening, they feel compelled to be at their office at a certain time.</p>
|
||
<p>The East and West are like twins and now they are fighting like Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob and Perez and Zerah did. Who is going to blend them together? Some movement must come in between and harmonize them both with an ideology that is totally acceptable to Asia, but which the Western world is also eager to have. Christianity is basically a Western religion, but I have harmonized it with all the Oriental philosophies. In it you can find both an Asian aspect and Western aspect. Asians will see it as being the religion and philosophy they have lived for many years, but the West will say it belongs to them!</p>
|
||
<p>The glue that will hold the East and West together has to be very strong. There have been many ideologies in both worlds, such as communism and democracy, but the ideology which will bring the two worlds together should be the strongest of all. Many people say that Reverend Moon’s ideology is excellent, having both spirituality and logic, but they find it too hard to live up to. I like to hear comment s like that. If everyone could accept this ideology but still wanted to go the easy way, then the Unification Church would be diluted into nothing and would disappear.</p>
|
||
<p>A diamond is precious because of its hardness, because nothing can force it apart. The value of the Unification Church is such that nothing can be found wrong with it, but its standard is also hard to live up to. Good things don’t come easily; you have to survive hard ship. Asian philosophy describes how there are five colors of skin in the human race. They should stick together to make a new race which can be victorious , over any difficulties, and then the two cultures a f East and West will be able to blend. I am thinking of having a great international marriage.</p>
|
||
<p>We come to the conclusion that it is worthwhile for anyone to commit his life to this cause. Many people have given up their lives for the sake of just one nation’ For instance, in the Arlington National Cemetery near Washington D.C. there are the graves of many dead heroes who gave their lives for America. How ~ much greater is our cause? It is not just the cause of one nation, but a matter of the universal cause in v which East and West will join together and create God’s world here on earth. The nation for which we are becoming the heroes is the ultimate nation which God has been longing for. Is it worthwhile investing your life for it?</p>
|
||
<p>This life is particularly exciting for men because they are more adventurous and here we have an adventurous cause. I have been doing research on billiards, but everything is dispensational. I like to see the balls flying around the pool table, with the white ball bumping into all the others and finally knocking one into the hole. When that happens, I just have to shout out with joy.</p>
|
||
<p>I have discovered great beauty in this life of ours. Why is the law of indemnity so difficult to live? It is because God really wants to find the genuine heroes and ordinary people cannot pass His test; only the really good ones can go beyond it. When you study do you just sit down and relax, or do you wrap your head up with a towel like the Japanese do and really commit yourself? When you study to pass an exam you cannot afford to sleep, so maybe you hold yourself upright with a rope connected to the ceiling. Would you like to pass the test even if you had to do that, or would you rather sleep and fail the test? If you do abnormal things but pass the test, all other people will bow down and commend your courage.</p>
|
||
<p>This is why I really like restoration by indemnity. I love it. How about you? Your yes has a hollow ring! If you really hang onto that law for five, ten, twenty years, when you look around you will find no one else with you. All of a sudden you will see God in front of you and He will declare you the winner. If no one else is there, He will give the entire world to you and no one else will complain. Those people who flunked the course won’t deserve any blessing and God will give all of theirs to you.</p>
|
||
<p>I am the champion at living the life of indemnity, and for fifty years I have been running, running, running, without even looking left or right. I have found myself all alone and God is saying to me, “Yes, my son, you are the first.” I accidentally found myself in that position! All I did was ruthlessly live the Principle and I turned out to be number one. In the meantime, however, my entire life has gone by-I don’t have my youth now and I didn’t have any romance. I was just a crazy, single-minded person. Many people think I am greedy, but absolutely not. I only held on to that one principle of restoration by indemnity. Do you think I will be more well-known in the future? Today-and even more so in the future-I am a mystery and a puzzle. People won’t be able to figure me out, so they will organize research centers and fund them to find who I am! They will investigate in all areas, like sociology, theology, politics, everywhere.</p>
|
||
<p>I have spoken four hours now. That is enough time to take a transcontinental flight; we could have been in San Francisco by now. Are you bored? Once I spoke for fourteen hours, but amazingly enough, those listening forgot how time was passing. When you feel joy and happiness, time is insignificant. Heaven is wonderful because it is the place where only joyful hearts can go. There is no sense of time there; it is a timeless world.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Knowing the law of indemnity<br />
|
||
can make you invincible</h3>
|
||
<p>If you commit your life to restoration by indemnity, can you expect that you will accomplish ten and a hundred times what you have done in the past? In January I simply told you to do your best in the forty-day condition, but still many of you didn’t even participate. Now what you are saying to me this morning is, “Father, you don’t even have to speak to us. Just point out the direction and we will run.” You aren’t lying to me? I have been deceived many times, but is this different? Indemnity comes in handy; if you lie to me again I will take it as indemnity. However, I will trust you this time. You said yes, and I will take it at face value. When you go back, write your resolution down on paper and put it up in your room. Write down whether you will commit the entire course of your life, not just part, for restoration and re-creation by paying indemnity.</p>
|
||
<p>You married couples should commit yourselves together holding each other’s hands, to the task of re-creation through paying indemnity. Sometimes I think about taking one blessed couple as an example and giving them an extraordinary task in order to show the world how they can fulfill. The word indemnity comes in handy in marriage too. When you look at your wife she might be the ugliest possible creature, but then you say, “Yes Father, I want to pay indemnity!” The person who can really make up his mind like that when he faces pain will have a free pass to heaven for the rest of his life.</p>
|
||
<p>All kinds of things will happen when you have children, but they all have meaning in the sight of God. Any sacrifice you pay has meaning and gives joy to God, and the word indemnity will make you invincible. Suppose you bear the national burden upon your shoulders and feel that you simply can’t continue with the incredible pain. You might die for the nation, but then you will say, “Yes, it’s indemnity; I am becoming a sacrifice for the sake of the country. I can do it.” In the Unification Church the word indemnity is a chunk of gold. When you look at the situation of indemnity there is no hardship you cannot bear.</p>
|
||
<p>The Unification Church uses indemnity to endure bad things, but actually it is a glorious word. It corresponds to sacrifice because you have a purpose for paying indemnity, but you are willing to do it because it is a most honorable, heroic thing. You must welcome the word indemnity; your eyes must want to see it, your ears hear it, your heart want to accept indemnity and your whole body want to do it willingly instead of avoiding it. How can you complain if you welcome indemnity?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">If you in the Church complain then<br />
|
||
you are more of an enemy than anyone else</h3>
|
||
<p>Can anyone say he has never spoken one word of complaint in the Unification Church? The people outside our Church criticize me, and if you criticize me inside the Church, what’s the difference between you and them? You are then a worse enemy because you know the Principle. Since you are not yet perfect inside, how can you even say to God, “If You are on our side, why don’t You demolish all the evil people outside?”</p>
|
||
<p>From this year on you must be different. Do you pledge that? The forty-day condition is over, and that’s why I am honestly asking such a question now. Since you pledged something you did not fulfill, I want you to make a new start. Restoration by indemnity is welcome. We must pay the price. True happiness only comes through indemnity, and if that is not true then the Unification Church has no more room to exist and God has no power.</p>
|
||
<p>When you get married, determine yourselves to be ready to go any road of indemnity, no matter what is laid opt for you. Then your family will be given abundant blessing, not only for yourselves but for posterity. I have watched how blessed couples live, with what concept and what goodness they ultimately bring. All these have been test cases, and what I told you is true in their lives. God is there and His law is always working.</p>
|
||
<p>Is Mother beautiful or not? If I had been expecting a beautiful bride when the time came for my marriage, then God never would have given Mother to me. Instead I told God, “I don’t care about beauty. Even if my wife is a cripple, that’s OK. I want to do Your will, whatever it is. Whatever woman will do Your will is the one I want.” Then God picked a most beautiful woman for me. If that had not happened, I would still have no regret because the blessing would be given to the generations to come. Don’t try to harvest all the goodness of your actions in one generation. You have eternity to live and the fruits will go to many generations.</p>
|
||
<p>So far we have looked at indemnity as ugly or tragic, but we must look at it in the light of happiness, as happy indemnity. Am I unfortunate or happy? God’s blessings to me are so abundant that I don’t have to worry about a place to stay anywhere in the world. There are always people who want to give me food or clothes or a car, and all these things come because I sought to live without them. I am always thinking that I can sacrifice my clothes, my food and my car, and that there is nothing I cannot give up; that’s why God gives all those things to me. It’s an amazing law of heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>This law of indemnity will revive the person who is in hell and give him opportunity for resurrection. Whoever wants to go the most difficult way and be given the heaviest task and pay more indemnity than anyone else will ultimately be the winner. I’ your family continues living the law of indemnity for three generations and still God does not seem to recognize it, then you have proven that God doesn’t exist! But it does work. Live it yourself and find out.</p>
|
||
<p>God dwells wherever indemnity is being paid because that is the only way He can be present. You can do things passively because you have to, or willingly because you want to. If you do them voluntarily then of course you cannot complain.</p>
|
||
<p>If your suit complains, then take it off. If your arm complains, chop it off. When you complain you are actually chasing God away, and the Unification Church will go away and I will also go away from complaint. Perhaps you might lose all your fingers one by one because of complaint, but even so, if you uphold the law of indemnity you are still the winner. This is a serious matter. We can’t emphasize indemnity enough. You will pay all kinds as we progress through the worldwide dispensation, but one way or another we are going to go that road. Who wants to bear the biggest load?</p>
|
||
<p>From this time on there is nothing to worry about and nothing that is impossible. God has heard your pledge and this earth has heard your testimony, along with the air, your mind and your limbs. Do you want to live up to that testimony? Then you won’t even mind being pushed?</p>
|
||
<p>Anyone who is here listening to me for the first time might think I am a dictator who is torturing you with mental pressure, but I have a word for that man: Go ahead and die and you will see whether I am right and what the consequences are. The strictest person for living up to that law of indemnity is me. When you fail the law of indemnity, your whole being will become your judge. Even though you have heard the word indemnity before, you must really know its true meaning. Look at Jesus Christ, who put himself through the most incredible ordeal his whole life long. He knew he could lose nothing by going through indemnity; he fasted for forty days because he knew he would gain tremendous victory.</p>
|
||
<p>Christianity paid much indemnity when many were martyred during its first 400 years under the Roman Empire. Millions of Jews have been killed in history, but that was historical indemnity. Many lives were sacrificed all over the world, but that also is part of historical indemnity. Unless we fulfill it now, indemnity will go on and on for thousands of years more becoming an even more severe burden. We have to stop it somehow by paying it off. Indemnity can be condensed in my lifetime, allowing us to pay the historical debt all at once and leaving none for future generations. That is the meaning of the three seven-year courses.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Receiving rejection is not a losing game</h3>
|
||
<p>These 21 years are the most horrendous part of human history, with social upheavals and the worst kind of conditions. The gigantic democratic world will be shaken from the bottom up, even America, which his prospered for so many decades. The communists thought they could take over the world, but their world too will be shattered. Even Christianity, which has prospered for 2,000 years, has been weakened from the ground up in the last twenty years. Conflicts between the races and all conceivable human problems have occurred in these 21 years.</p>
|
||
<p>During this period, therefore, we have to pay indemnity and I know precisely how much we must pay. This is the reason I sent missionaries out to 120 nations to have them suffer. As far as these nations are concerned, sending these missionaries out is equivalent to the advent of the Messiah. They were opposed in one nation after another, which means that God has a condition already laid to withdraw the blessing from that nation and give it to the people who deserve it. God has prepared much blessing for the world and He wants to disseminate it through the missionaries. By opposing them, however, those countries have lost the privilege of receiving it and God will put it in storage until someone is entitled to receive it. The only group of people which is ready is the Unification Church, because we are being opposed by the world.</p>
|
||
<p>Receiving rejection is not necessarily a losing game because it will give God the opportunity to withdraw His blessing and give it to the people who deserve it. Opposition will never daunt us or deter our advance. The Washington Monument Rally was held in order to receive worldwide rejection so that the providence would proceed faster. Unless I had let the entire world know about me, everyone in spirit world would have protested to me that I didn’t let them know about what I was doing on earth, and would have held me responsible. But now I have done my best. Since they did not listen it becomes their responsibility, not mine.</p>
|
||
<p>Is there any American, even in the most remote backwoods, who can say that he hasn’t heard of me? Any Koreans? Any Japanese? All the world has heard. We have done the initial job at least. The scale of government harassment has been incredible; the Koreagate scandal in particular has ballooned, and I am sure the government investigators will probe and poke to see whether I am involved in any way. The deeper they go, the less they will find because there is absolutely no evidence. This is God’s heavenly strategy.</p>
|
||
<p>Our adversaries have tried hundreds of things against us, but we not only survived, we turned out to be innocent. This is really a testimony to history. I laugh at how they tried to brand me as a CIA agent. Look at the budget figures. The Korean embassy budget can be no more than $200,000, but in our world movement I spent many times that in 1976. Their entire embassy could not provide one month’s budget for the Unification Church. How could the Korean government control me then? Could anyone be so crazy as to believe that? Even common sense could not tie me to the KCIA. Now the allegation is changing to speculation that maybe I am a rich American CIA agent instead.</p>
|
||
<p>The American CIA knows very well what the truth is and they are smiling to themselves about these ridiculous allegations. They know how I have been attacked in the United States by people trying to destroy the Unification Church. This is all heavenly strategy. God is using every possible tactic to make me known, and because I am a controversial figure I am more and more susceptible to opposition. I enjoy the taste of indemnity.</p>
|
||
<p>Our opponents, like the deprogrammers, thought they were winning, that I was at the end of my rope, but now they are being attacked! We take all this as indemnity; we are paying the price so we can claim the merchandise. This is a secret heavenly strategy for you to use; when people spit at you for being Moonies, say to yourself, “I like the taste of indemnity.” Then nothing under the sun can stop you. On that day you can feel that you have done more for God than ever before, and then even spirit world will open up and comfort you. What a good bargain! Avoiding the law of indemnity is no advantage. When you go into a quiet village, you can approach the people with the idea of stirring up controversy and paying indemnity that way. There are enough bad problems in the world, so you can raise good problems instead.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes I wonder why the Western culture allows people to keep their shoes on indoors after wearing them all day long. I figured that the white race came from the colder regions where hunting was the way of life. People had to keep their shoes on because they never knew when an animal would appear and they always had to be ready at every moment. I assume that was the case, but why do you continue that habit even now? Probably you do that because you want to be ready to jump up whenever any good news comes, whether is comes from Asia, Africa, North or South America. You want to be the first. That’s how America became rich.</p>
|
||
<p>The “shoe civilization” accumulated a great deal of material wealth, for sure, but now in the age of the Unification Church we will change all that. You are learning to take your shoes off. In the Old Testament when Moses saw the burning bush and heard the voice of God, he was told to take off his shoes far he was standing on sacred ground. Moses obeyed and talked with God. This room here in Belvedere was originally a garage, but is it a holy place now or not? The first thing you do in a holy place is take off your shoes and meditate, thinking about the past and repenting and getting rid of all evil thoughts. Renew your energy, and then go out as a new creature when you put shoes on again.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You did not tell me the truth before this time,<br />
|
||
but can you now become different people?</h3>
|
||
<p>You are not running now out of greediness, but for the sake of others. Now for the first time the Western culture is seeing the beauty of taking off shoes; once you put them on for the sake of others, don’t take them off again but run until there are holes in the soles. So far you have been hunting and gathering material wealth all around the world with shoes on, but now you should do more than before since you are doing things for God. That will bring a new type of prosperity to the West.</p>
|
||
<p>Can you become the person who is inspired, re-created and committed to bringing the new prosperity for God and humanity? Can you be totally different from the rest of Western culture ? Even wearing high heels will make sense in that case. Women have misused them so far, but with your heels high you can run faster for the heavenly purpose. 1 speculated why Western women have long legs and Orientals have short legs, and I thought that God must have had a specific purpose; God wanted to use Western women for all kinds of running. American women are more subjective and take more the role of the initiator, and I thought that God must have some purpose for that. I would like to mobilize American women to go around the world to bring the men into line. They are the best for the mission. One thing you American women need to develop is total conviction about the truth so that you have the heart of God and True Parents. Once that is planted in you, you will be invincible champions for God all over the world.</p>
|
||
<p>Can each of you commit your entire life to restoration by indemnity? Since most of you did not participate in the forty-day condition, a new 43-day period will begin on March 1, continuing until April 12. The Japanese members are doing a forty-day condition which started on February 1. Do you want to be behind them? We will see. Can you determine, “I will commit my entire life to it. I have been disciplining myself until now and this is the period for me to prove it.” Go ahead and receive harsh treatment; let the people hit you. Go to the worst suffering.</p>
|
||
<p>If someone hits your left cheek, turn your right cheek to them. When you know the value of indemnity you can certainly do that. This is also what the Bible teaches, but you must do it willingly, not with complaint. When you can tell God that you have lived His credo, He in turn will tell you amazing things. The Bible teaches that you must give your life for your neighbor as the highest form of love. With the law of indemnity there is nothing you cannot do. Can you volunteer for service in any manner possible? What would the end result be? You will win friends and people will respect you, not condemn you.</p>
|
||
<p>You have an open forum out there. Boldly live what the Bible has described. Once you understand indemnity, have the boldness and courage to live it. In this particular period, I especially want the Japanese who have come to America to demonstrate the highest form of sacrifice. Right now the entire Japanese movement is doing it, so the Japanese champions here in America should be ahead instead of behind them. You might feel you could fast the whole 43 days and still go on. Some fast is good during this period. Would you prefer fasting or gaining the result?</p>
|
||
<p>This is the last Sunday in February. I did not want to spend it meeting with a group of failures.</p>
|
||
<p>I cannot just accept you when you say that you have not fulfilled. February 23 ended the first 43 days and on that day I wanted to go to the World Mission Center to see you, but I didn’t because I didn’t feel too good about it. You really didn’t respond to the call during the 43 days. There was no heroic action for me to praise. I am particularly looking to people at Headquarters who are doing desk jobs; I will really check this time and see how seriously you are taking this condition. Otherwise, you will start over again at the very beginning with MFT training and then work your way back.</p>
|
||
<p>This is not a vindictive statement. It is made for the sake of America, the life or death of this nation. In order to lift this nation up, you have to become more sacrificial and bear the burden more than I have done. How can you hold up your faces without doing that? I came from Asia to suffer for this country, and you as Americans should do more.</p>
|
||
<p>I gave the Japanese the responsibility of winning three spiritual children in these 43 days. I did not set that here in America for the first condition. I just told you to go out and that’s why the results were poor. But now you have a definite goal and purpose; three spiritual children is your individual goal.</p>
|
||
<p>Let us pray.</p>
|
||
<hr />
|
||
<blockquote><p>(Following the sermon, Col. Pak spoke briefly)</p>
|
||
<p>In his sermon Father mentioned the heroic death of our sister, Christiane Coste, two days ago. She was from France and was in our movement for six years. She worked at many, many tasks in our Church, most recently with the public relations team, and she demonstrated beautiful faith and determination to serve our True Parents.</p>
|
||
<p>I knew her personally. She was slim and wore glasses and spoke very charmingly. Her parents once tried to kidnap her and bring her back to France. Her father, a high government official, approached the French Embassy to try to get government assistance in separating their daughter from the Unification Church. Christiane went to the French Embassy and testified, from the Ambassador down to the lowest of official about how happy and committed she was to the Unification Church, how the Church saved her and how she found purpose and meaning in following Reverend Moon. She not only asked them to not do anything about sending her back to France, but asked them to discover for themselves who Reverend Moon is. “It is your salvation. Not only I must serve this way, but all of you need new life,” she told them. After listening to her, the Embassy people truly admired her courage.</p>
|
||
<p>She had been an exemplary member during her entire time in America, through all the rallies and campaigns, being especially dynamic and eloquent in her duties for the Fast for the Repatriation of the Japanese Wives. She worked hard in many missions recently, including newspaper-selling. Every morning she had a rule to sell the paper first, deliver her subscriptions, then go to work and return to the center in the evening. Two days ago she went out as usual to deliver the paper. Her area was Harlem but she always went there without fear. When she didn’t return two mornings ago, her brothers and sisters from her center became worried and went to Harlem to find her. They discovered that she had been to three apartments, but the people in the fourth had not seen her that day.</p>
|
||
<p>When a neighbor called our brothers and sisters later that day and they found her body behind an apartment building, she had been badly beaten and a police autopsy is being conducted today. The most striking fact was the peaceful smile on her face, even though, there were many cuts and bruises on her face.</p>
|
||
<p>Knowing her testimony through her deed at the French Embassy and also knowing what she did in her public relations mission, we can see that she is like Stephen of the Christian church in the first century. Stephen was the first Christian martyr, who fearlessly sly preached about Christ to the mob and prayed for the forgiveness of those who were stoning him. When our sister was attacked she could have been a coward, but she stood up, just like she did at the French Embassy. When Stephen spoke to the mob they could not hear the truth, so they closed their ears and picked up stones to cast at him. Very likely our sister faced a similar situation.</p>
|
||
<p>She is a glorious martyr. Last night when Father heard about her death the first thing he said was that she was our glorious martyr. We must honor her in that way. Each of you may not have a chance to participate in a memorial service for her, but each one of you can offer your own memorial prayer. It can become a spirit of inspiration for all of us, so that in the next43 days we will work just like Christiane did. Even in her final struggle her final words were for our True Parents. If we go out in this spirit then we can open up all of heaven and bring a miracle to New York.</p>
|
||
<p>That is the reason Father spoke about indemnity this morning It is a most fitting, beautiful eulogy to Christiane. He gave this sermon not only to you, but to this wonderful sister who is now in heaven. I know that more than anyone else Christiane heard Father’s sermon, in a way it was directly spoken to her. We all heard it, but she was the most appreciative of all this morning. We must share the same feeling as our sister.</p>
|
||
<p>He, death will never weaken us. I feel, “Christiane, you have done a great job. We will all do the same.” Don’t you feel the same? We will go out and wage the same battle and win the same victory, and if necessary we will become the next martyrs without fear. That should be our way of thinking.</p>
|
||
<p>On the way out I want you each to say a word of prayer. This morning is like a memorial service because Father has honored her death and showed her spirit to be like a spiritual atomic bomb. She would want to be used like that so that each one of us will be inspired an explode like another atomic bomb in the city of New York and all over the country. Let that young lady truly be our heroine and let all of us truly be inspired by her so we can fulfill Father’s goal.</p>
|
||
<p>I want you to deeply share this inspiration and fire yourselves like a bullet out to the world. Christiane heard Father’s sermon about indemnity, and she does not regret her death. She gave her life in a heroic and magnificent manner, and we should also be able to do that. Then this group of people will turn the United States upside down and rightside up again.</p>
|
||
<p>Father is not just giving a sermon; he is deeply anxious that each one of you truly understand him so that you can become like him. With this commitment we can win a great victory.</p>
|
||
<p>Let us have a moment together in silent prayer to make this pledge internally, really committing ourselves to) what Father said this morning.</p></blockquote>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1246 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1244" class="post-1244 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-burden-of-destiny.html" title="Permalink to THE BURDEN OF DESTINY" rel="bookmark">THE BURDEN OF DESTINY</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-14T05:39:41+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-burden-of-destiny.html" rel="bookmark">June 14, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-14T05:39:41+01:00">June 14, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">February 19, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>No one really likes to bear a burden. Animals are used for transportation and carrying burdens. Here in the West it isn’t a common sight, but in the Orient farmers frequently use cows or oxen to plow their fields. Here people ride horses, but even a horse will get tired if he is ridden too long. It is a universally true statement that no one really wants to bear a heavy burden, but the burdens are there to be carried and someone has to bear them. If you don’t do it yourself then animals or machines must do it.</p>
|
||
<p>Our lifelong journey to our ultimate destiny is also one of carrying a burden. There are three types of people. First, there is the person who carries the heavy burden all throughout his life. Next there is the kind of person who carries no burden; he just wants to walk and live very simply. Finally there is the type of person who carries the burden but who sometimes stops to lay it down. All Unification Church members fit into one of those three categories, and the United States as a nation also fits into one of those categories. Who is going to bear the heavy burden?</p>
|
||
<p>Perhaps a family has a certain burden to carry at home. The father of the house will carry the heaviest burden, but the mother will also carry a portion, as well as all the other members of the family. Everybody has a responsibility to share in carrying the burden; however, many different situations might arise in this. For instance, certain members of the family might refuse to carry anything. If one person out of five members refuses to carry his share then the other four will complain because they have to carry more.</p>
|
||
<p>In another situation, suppose the members of the family gather together and decide that one member has no power or ability to carry the burden, even though he has not complained, and that they will give him a special dispensation, taking his burden upon themselves. When they notify him that they will bear his burden, however, he refuses their offer, saying, “No, I want to do my share.” Perhaps that person is exempted from carrying his burden because he is weak from illness. But if in spite of all illness he says, “I will willingly bear my burden,” he is trying to do something extraordinary and beyond his capacity. Then the whole family will look at that weak member with merciful eyes, and will pay more attention to him than to themselves.</p>
|
||
<p>This one member who is determined to fulfill his responsibility will give great inspiration to the other members of the family. They will be deeply touched by him, and they will always remember that particular episode. The mother and father will always think of that son or daughter as very special, and the other brothers and sisters will also give special recognition to him for fulfilling something impossible. When the weakest person carries his own share, he will command deep sympathy, but what would happen if he not only carried his own burden but someone else’s as well? The person whose load is carried by the weakest member will be far more indebted to him than to his own parents or other brothers and sisters.</p>
|
||
<p>In another situation there might be a strong, 250-pound son whom everyone feels should carry a heavier burden than the others. If he just carries a regular amount though, he won’t receive any sympathy. People might look up to him and respect him but he will not evoke their heartistic sympathy because he has the ability to carry much more.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Shall we move the burden in one day?</h3>
|
||
<p>It is inevitable reality that we all bear burdens in our lives. I have classified three kinds of load carriers. What kind of person should we become? Do you want to carry a heavy burden, no burden at all, or sometimes carry a burden? Do you really like to carry a heavy burden? Let’s answer very honestly. If you have a very heavy bundle as well as smaller ones to carry to a particular place, which one would you pick up first? Normally, people don’t pick up the big ones first. Also, when men and women are working together, women assume that the men will carry the bigger loads because they are stronger. It is natural for men to carry the big loads and women to carry the smaller ones. If the women are standing in front of the bit ones and when the men arrive they just go ahead and take the smaller ones, then everyone will wonder what kind of men these are. We naturally react that way.</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose an unusual situation occurs in which the man is disabled and simply cannot carry the heavier load. Then people understand why the woman takes the heavier burden. This is how we commonly react in our everyday life, and the heavenly way of life is just the same.</p>
|
||
<p>How would God react to the situation? God reacts precisely the same as men do. When you look at a person who is trying to shirk his own responsibility, you don’t feel good and neither does God. There is one absolute difference between God and man, however; God is the eternal being who is always in spirit world, while men remain on earth for a given period of time. God has many different kinds of loads to carry and responsibilities to fulfill God has a definite purpose for carrying these loads to a certain destination, and not only that, He also has a deadline in which to move them. Which load would God tackle first, the biggest, smallest or the medium load? The problem is one of priority.</p>
|
||
<p>If God had to move some burden before a certain deadline, would He act just in time to reach it, or would He not care about meeting the deadline, or would He want to act in such a way as to have lots of time to spare? God definitely wants to reach the goal far in advance of the deadline. If the contract period is one year, God would say, “I want to do it far in advance and reserve some time at the end.” With one year to work, in what amount of time do you think God would want to fulfill the entire responsibility? If possible, God would certainly like to do it in one day or even one hour. If it can be done, why not do it in one hour? You might think that God is almighty, so why doesn’t He just take one hour and presto, make it happen? He is God, so He should be able to do that, no matter how difficult a task it may be. You may even think that God could do it in one split second.</p>
|
||
<p>When men put themselves to a task, some of them inevitably think, “We have 365 days to work. It’s only February 19, so we have ten more months to go. Let’s take it easy for a little while.” Man commonly thinks that if he does his best today and it can’t be accomplished he still has tomorrow, and if it’s not done this month then maybe next month. If things are not done this year, 1979 is still coming. How would you tackle this task and how many days would you take to do it?</p>
|
||
<p>Is that the Unification Church way of thinking or would you think that even though there are ten more months to go, you still want to finish it today? Perhaps you still have the work mentality of American labor unions and you plan to work precisely eight hours and not a minute more. If you wake up early and it’s still dark outside, would you think you still have a couple more hours to relax? When sundown comes, would you quit because it’s dark? Does it bother you to get up before it’s light and work after it’s dark, or doesn’t it matter to you?</p>
|
||
<p>You can carry the load in one of three ways. You can run with bubbling enthusiasm, or carry it even though you really don’t want to, or finally, you might carry it while not even realizing what you’re doing. Do you know you are carrying the load right now? Your faces have three expressions also; some of you are eager to hear me and your eyes are shining. Others think, “Why do I have to come here so early?” Others are happily sleeping. You laugh because you understand!</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Only the extraordinary person<br />
|
||
can conquer himself</h3>
|
||
<p>People know what it takes to succeed and even gain the big success, so why don’t they do it? To succeed, a person needs the necessary willpower and internal direction to command himself, coupled with a particular know-how. People know the method but still they can’t succeed. The problem is only that people cannot handle or take command of themselves. It is a deficiency common to people throughout the world.</p>
|
||
<p>It’s very difficult for most people to handle themselves, and only the unusual, extraordinary person can command and conquer himself. That’s why most people need leadership, someone to inspire and supervise them. However, many people feel that they would rather not have a leader because they want to live in their own way and have freedom. But what happens? Soon they cannot handle themselves and their life goes downhill, becoming dull and promiscuous and without purpose.</p>
|
||
<p>I’m sure many of you think about Sunday being the Sabbath, the day of rest, and wonder why we have to get up so early in the morning to come here. You set your alarm clocks, but when they go off, you think you can sleep another fifteen minutes. Everyone knows it’s rather difficult to get up in the morning. Would you rather have us gather together at 10 a.m. instead? Why do you say no, but laugh and smile? Your expression carries a double meaning. We have a job to do, and whether or not you have food or the proper clothing, it is our job to carry a particular load to a certain place by a prescribed time. There is no compromise.</p>
|
||
<p>One person carries our heavy load day and night, while another person thinks he has the day to work and the night to rest, so he only works during the day. One has all the food he needs and carries the load, while the other has no full meal but still fulfills the task. Some people wear the proper clothing in cold weather and do the task. Others carry the load although they are practically naked. Which type would command more respect, the person who does the ordinary thing or the one who does the extraordinary thing?</p>
|
||
<p>People are drawn to the unusual and the extraordinary. The person who tackles the task with absolute determination, whether or not he has proper meals, clothing or shelter, commands the most attention. When night comes one person carrying a heavy weight might just sit where he finds himself and rest with the mission. Another would say, “I must get back because I need a comfortable bed to rest in overnight.” Which attitude commands more attention?</p>
|
||
<p>All of mankind has a burden to be carried. If one person comes forward and volunteers to carry that entire burden, the entire world will look at him with gratitude as the real champion. But later if that champion begins complaining that everyone just lets him do the work even when they can see he is exhausted, the world will exclaim indignantly, “We didn’t ask you to do it. You volunteered, and now you are complaining. Get out of here!” People will feel more and more gratitude toward the champion who takes up the task without complaint.</p>
|
||
<p>Imagine that the task was finally consummated by that one hero and a big celebration is now being held. There are two types of speeches that the champion can make. He can say, “Since none of you wanted to do this work, I did it for you. It’s only right that you gather together like this to praise me, so go ahead and glorify me. Why are there only this many people? The entire world should come to praise me. Didn’t you bring a gift? Why are you empty-handed? What kind of celebration is this?” What would the audience say? “He’s a real character, isn’t he?” And they would just walk out. No matter how attractive he is, if the hero makes such an arrogant statement, people will become disgusted with him.</p>
|
||
<p>On the other hand, the champion might be just a shabby country boy who says, “I appreciate your coming hut I want to thank you for giving me such an opportunity to do this. I thank you for entrusting me with the mission and for the support which enabled me to complete this task. I want to give you my heartfelt gratitude.” Then there will be a great response from heaven and earth.</p>
|
||
<p>Now we come back to our original topic. We each have a specific burden to carry in life, and there is also a burden for mankind to carry. For the individual, tribe and nation there are respective burdens to carry and definite destinies to fulfill. However, there have always been some people who say they just don’t care. They stand aside and say, “If you want to carry it, go ahead and do it. If you don’t want to, then don’t. “God is looking at human beings and distributing the work load, having a certain burden in mind for each individual, tribe and nation. Some people fulfill their entire task at once and then try to help others. How is that reflected in the eyes of God? Will He say, “Why are you so foolish?” Or will He say, “My son, you are a great man. Go ahead and help the others as much as you can.”</p>
|
||
<p>America has a certain weight to carry to a certain destination but she might shrug and say, “I don’t care, God; I don’t want that contract.” But a small nation like Korea might carry her own burden and then come to the U.S. asking, “Why does this big burden still remain untouched? Let me do it,” and carry that burden to its destination as well. If this situation ever arose, how would God react? Do you think God would say, “Hands off, Korea. That’s America’s burden. Don’t touch it”? Or would God say, “Little son, go ahead and help this big guy.”</p>
|
||
<p>Korea is a sovereign nation of 35 million people and it is too big for this example. Let’s say there is a group of miserably poor black people in the U.S. who know what the national burden is, and even though they are weak, they are trying to tackle it. God’s eyes will open wide and He will marvel, “You people want to do it? Are you really willing?” These people will reply, “Yes, God, even though we are weak and miserable and poor, we want to take this national burden because no one else is touching it.” Then God will say, “You go right ahead, my children.’</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Do we have a champion here?</h3>
|
||
<p>One group of people which has been abused and persecuted by every kind of person is the Unification Church. It is a privilege and a great opportunity for us to volunteer because there are so many God-given responsibilities that everyone ignores and so many loads to carry that are yet untouched. Our small group of people has turned out to be the champion, the group which is saying, “God, let us carry Your entire burden upon our shoulders. Give it to us and we will do it.” Will God say, “No, you can’t do it, it’s impossible”? Or will He exclaim, with His mouth gaping and His eyes wide open, “Do we have a champion here? Go ahead and I’ll watch.” In order to test you God might say, “I cannot trust you. There are black and yellow, red and brown people here, and I don’t know if you can unite. You look like a refugee group and I don’t like that; I can’t trust you.” But the reply will come back, “God, don’t create one race. Aren’t all these people in living color beautiful? We’ll do it, God. You just watch us.” Finally we’ll get the contract from God and He will say, “OK, go ahead and sign on the dotted line.”</p>
|
||
<p>What would you do once we finally have the big load? Would you just watch it, or as soon as you get the contract from God, would you carry the load and walk to your destination? Would you do that for many hours or years? It’s easy to say, “Yes, Father, as long as the work needs to be done, I will go on. I’ll commit my life to it.” That’s quite a statement. But you might say instead, “I have my own life to live first. I want to have food and clothes, get married and have children. When I have some time left over, then I will do that job.” Or would you say, “Because this is the destiny of mankind, there is nothing I will not spare to commit my life to it. Whatever the sacrifices may be, I will do it.” Which of these two types would you choose?</p>
|
||
<p>Some of our sisters are near or over the age of thirty. Ate you thinking about your marriage? Everyone knows how you feel. You might justify your feelings by protesting, “Yes, Father, I want to get married, and you yourself said the blessing is important. It’s very logical and much better to work together with a husband to carry a heavier burden.” A husband and wife might work together to carry the burden for God, but wouldn’t it be nobler for a single sister to sacrifice even her love life and pour all her energy into the heavenly task? It’s like comparing the person who carries his load with a full stomach and the person who carries it on an empty stomach. Which one is nobler? Is the person who sleeps all night nobler than the one who works day and night to tackle the task? You know the correct answer.</p>
|
||
<p>Among us there is one very greedy man who is none other than Reverend Moon. He talks to God, saying, “I know there is a task for all mankind, but let me carry the entire world burden upon my shoulders.” I don’t think God hears that kind of conversation every day-maybe only once in His entire lifetime and even God will jump and say, “I heard something very strange that I never heard before! Who is speaking down there?” That greedy person here on earth is Reverend Moon.</p>
|
||
<p>Will God refuse my offer, or will He say, “Reverend Moon, are you really serious? If you are really serious then go right ahead. I’m going to watch over you.” There is no doubt that God will tell me to go right ahead.</p>
|
||
<p>Even under normal conditions it’s not that easy a task to fulfill, but what if you have to work under adverse conditions with everyone coming against you? Would you still go on if even the entire spirit world came down and tried to tear you apart? God would actually give you that kind of test to see how serious your promise was. The greedy champion is never daunted by adverse conditions, however, but forges ahead inch by inch to win the victory. Looking down and seeing him inching ahead, God will pay close attention, watching with wide open eyes. God tested me time after time. I was brutally tortured, but I won over it. The nation of Korea came against me, but I just pressed on ahead. All of Asia came against me but I still continued and came out ahead.</p>
|
||
<p>Even when all of America opposed me I never gave in, but just kept on. Seeing how this man just keeps plowing ahead even under adverse conditions, will God be more and more amazed, or just nonchalant? In the end God will say, “You are certainly a greedy man, but I like your greediness.” My greediness is not for myself, but for the sake of God and the sake of humanity, and if I fulfill that unselfish greediness, it will become my victory and mankind’s victory.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you admire a greedy champion like me and be sympathetic, or would you say, “Well, he took on this tough job on his own. He didn’t have to volunteer.” Some people might say that Reverend Moon volunteered for too big a task from God: “It not only makes his life miserable, it makes my life miserable, too! He is insisting that I work hard. I don’t like that. Let’s take it easy.” Are you that type of champion or will you go right ahead with me? I don’t believe you.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Are you doing your maximum best?</h3>
|
||
<p>Be very frank and honest. After becoming a member of the Unification Church, you sometimes think, “I wish that I had not heard the Divine Principle. I wish I didn’t know anything about it. I wish I had never heard of Reverend Moon but it’s too late. I can’t wipe the Divine Principle out of my mind; it stays there and tortures me.” Haven’t you thought about that at one time or another? Are you really saying that you like Reverend Moon then? I am the one who brought that misery to you. When you go out for your activities people say, “You are a Moonie, aren’t you?” You always have the nickname “Moonie”. When people call you a Moonie, do you say, “Yes, I’m a Moonie” or, “This guy is trying to make fun of me,” and give him a dirty look?</p>
|
||
<p>Let’s face it. It’s human nature to not really want to get down to work, but there is a big load here and if you leave it alone no one will move it to its destination. Each of you is human and what you need is a leader with an iron will who will push you toward that goal. You want to take a rest, but then you see me coming and you try to look busy! You know what your ultimate goal is and you know that you are on the right track, but someone has to manage you and keep you from becoming derailed.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you like a manager who always invites you to a party, or a manager who says, “You must finish this mission. This is the deadline.” You know which manager would make you work and fulfill your responsibility. That is the way of life and destiny of the Unification Church members. You cannot get out of it because whether you like it or not, you are already involved in that destiny.</p>
|
||
<p>Speak out only after you fulfill your responsibility. Before sleeping or eating or anything else, fulfill your responsibility and then you have the right to steak. Do you respond to direction with enthusiasm and a real desire to accomplish something, or do you just respond to this mandate because you have to. Do you respond and not realize what you are doing?</p>
|
||
<p>You are doing your best right now, but are you doing your maximum best or is there room for additional responsibility? Can you only fulfill one instruction a day, or does it matter if two or three come to you? Those who want three, raise your hands please. Those who don’t want any instructions, raise your hands please. Your mind is saying, “Raise your hand!” You know nothing is hidden; you know how your mind works and how my mind works and what I will do.</p>
|
||
<p>Since you have already joined the Unification Church you are pledged to do the task. Even in a democratic society this is the majority rule. All of you are gathered to do a certain task, so should we do it with great vitality and alacrity, or should we not do it? Then how could there be any type of complaint? Why do people sometimes say, “I am too tired to go any farther. I have to get back to my room, pack my things and go”? At one time or another, members of the Unification Church feel that they cannot stay any longer and want to leave. I know that feeling better than anybody else. Some of you probably have even packed your things, but then thought, “Where can I go?” You realized that there was no place to go.</p>
|
||
<p>Perhaps you felt you wanted to go to someplace where you would never again hear of the Unification Church, but I’m sorry to say that there is no place where you will never hear of the Unification Church. One Japanese member felt precisely that way. He packed his bags and went to England, thinking he could escape from the Church and no one would bother him, but he saw our members all over England with the IOWC and all kinds of other activities. Within a year he felt that he might as well go back to the Unification Church because he could not escape any more, and he joined again in England!</p>
|
||
<p>I’ll tell you one thing very clearly-if there is a place to escape to and hide from this life, one clever person would have already done it, and that is me. I packed many times and tried to find a place to go and hide, but I found no place to go so I unpacked again. You and I have a common destiny. Do not think you are in one group and I in another. No, we are in the same boat. However you think is precisely the way I have been thinking. I have done everything you are doing. I was once a beggar and I have tasted the misery of human life. I know the bottom line of human life, even the world of gangsters. From these experiences I can deal with people in any walk of life and converse with them; I know and understand the other side. This is why I can do things that the average person normally cannot do. No matter what type of person I meet, I know how his mind works. That’s why I am in a position to lead you slippery people; American youth are like eels trying to make their way out. I know your thinking.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">We must consummate completely<br />
|
||
the burden that we carry</h3>
|
||
<p>We have a common destiny and a common purpose, so do we want to continue to the end or get tired halfway through and rest? Sometimes I have a hard time working with the American young people because they don’t feel a serious commitment to see something through. Furthermore, freedom-minded Americans don’t want to be governed or dominated by anyone; you don’t want any type of supervision.</p>
|
||
<p>You come to Belvedere to hear me on Sunday mornings and by the time you leave here you’re bursting with great energy, saying, “Yes, Father, we’ll do it.” But by the time you get to the World Mission center and eat, you have forgotten everything! I know your weaknesses. As you arrive at the World Mission Center you are already weakening. Maybe I will put someone at the World Mission Center da or to grab you as soon as you arrive and say, “AII right, you said yes to Father. Now deliver.” It’s not easy to come under such discipline, but you know you need it. Since you’ve already joined the Unification Church, you might as well see it through all the way, right?</p>
|
||
<p>My critics say all kinds of things about me; for instance, that I am a hypnotist creating a new Nazi party in America. It doesn’t matter what the people outside our Church say; people who don’t ever really do anything productive will always gossip, but we have a job to do and a load to carry. We don’t have time to gossip because our job is waiting to be done. We have a contract from God and we must get His job done first. Then when we lay down on a big bed and sleep, the entire universe will move up and down as we breathe. When our job is done and the Kingdom of God is finally on the earth, when we sleep at the World Mission Center the entire hotel will shake with our snoring.</p>
|
||
<p>After that long sleep we will want to get up and celebrate, and once that celebration begins the entire city of New York will wonder what’s happening because the entire World Mission Center will be throbbing. We will march down Broadway and down Fifth Avenue and everyone will look out of their windows, unable to do their work. Yes, we will really celebrate. I know how to celebrate.</p>
|
||
<p>Before anything else, however, the job must be done. We must consummate completely the responsibility given us. The manner in which we tackle the task must evoke the sympathy of the people of the world and command their respect. Naturally, the heavier the burden and the greater the difficulty and pain, the more the people will respect and admire us. We want to set the new record and not just do things halfway or even in a normal way. Would you rather go up or down? Would you like to go in a straight line or zig-zag? You can say you want to go in a straight line, but you ask, “Father, how can anyone do that? We need a meal time and we need to relax a little bit and go to bed, so how can we go straight? It’s impossible.” When you are eating, however, you are eating for God. Your body needs to rest for a few hours, but you do it for the mission, only in order to get up and go all the way to the end. Then you will not go down. Do you daydream sometimes, empty dreams? Daydream about the mission instead. There’s no room for nostalgic thinking about your past romances and vague memories. There’s no room for that type of thing.</p>
|
||
<p>Because of God’s will, your eyesight becomes straight and you look at the goal, nothing else. Your ears, nose, arms and mind all become straight because you cannot direct them anywhere except toward the one common goal. Do you ever think, “I wish I could fly. Then I could just shoot myself straight to the goal”? Whether consciously or unconsciously, keep moving toward that goal.</p>
|
||
<p>When you go the bathroom, do it for the mission. Sometimes it takes time to go to the bathroom; then you can say to your body, “Hurry up body. I need to get going.” Yell at your own system. Are you that eager? When God hears you yelling at yourself in the bathroom, will He say, “Boy, aren’t you unreasonable!” or will He say, “You are even complaining at the system I created, but I’ll take the blame and hurry things up.”</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes a person has to go to the bathroom every two hours. “Why do I have to go to the bathroom all the time? I’m going to wait four hours or six hours instead.” It is very painful to hold things inside yourself, but it will make God think, and He will say, “You are really crazy about the mission, crazy about me. I admire you; I’m for you 100%.”</p>
|
||
<p>Personally I don’t care about praise or recognition; my appetite is for doing the mission and nothing else. When you are crazy about the mission and you pursue the goal in that fashion, you will automatically end up a success and be showered with praise and recognition. Seeking success will not bring it to you, but when you go after the mission as a crazy person, you will definitely end up as a success.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you women like having a person like me as a husband? If you have a husband like me, he will really drive you crazy and you might not be too happy. Would you mind? I am always in the forefront. In the morning I get up and say, “Come on! Why are you wasting time in the bathroom? Why are you wasting time in front of the mirror? Come out here.” Ask Mother whether I am a good husband or not! Sometimes I don’t give Mother enough time to dress, so she is pulling on her blouse with one hand and her coat with another hand, running out of the room to follow me. The American husband usually holds hid wife’s coat for her, but I’m so busy doing the mission that I don’t do that. When Mother gets slow, I say, “Hurry up! We’ve got to go.”</p>
|
||
<p>Our children don’t know so much about the mission, but they know that Mother and I are always busy, and always on the run. Do you imagine they are unhappy children, however? They think they have the most wonderful mother and most wonderful father in the world.</p>
|
||
<p>When you are really crazy and enthused about the mission in that fashion, will you become the trash of mankind or become the savior and champion of mankind? The more you do and the crazier you are about the mission, the more attention people will pay to you and the more praise and recognition you will receive.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">It is our common destiny to carry<br />
|
||
this historical burden for mankind and God</h3>
|
||
<p>The burden we carry is very heavy. It is the same burden that Judaism could not fulfill in four thousand years. It is the burden which Christianity could not consummate in 2,000 years. Even beyond mankind, it is the burden God wanted to fulfill for millions of years, yet still that burden has not been consummated. Could that burden ever be easy for us to carry? Knowing its magnitude and size, the people who really tackle this enormous burden must be crazy because normally everyone runs away from it. People would rather volunteer to die for the mission than confront the mission and try to fulfill it because it’s an impossible job. That’s the scope of the burden you are looking at.</p>
|
||
<p>We come to the conclusion that the only people who can carry out this mission are the ones who are willing to attempt an all-consuming struggle on earth. We now accept it as the common destiny of the Unification Church to carry this historical burden for the sake of mankind and God. This is an enormous burden, but are you ready to tackle it?</p>
|
||
<p>Some people will look at this burden and say, “I just can’t do it. It is too overwhelming. Let me leave the Unification Church and come back in ten years.” Those who want to come back in ten years, raise your hands. I’m trying to give you a special dispensation; you want to have some kind of discount, don’t you? I know that inside your heart is saying yes, yes, yes, but if you really don’t like this idea of a discount you are very wise and clever people, because right now your investment of one year is like a thousand year investment in history.</p>
|
||
<p>Your journey is taking you across a plain and over the pinnacle of the hill. This crossing over the hilltop takes only a short time compared to the entire journey, and by successfully passing over the hilltop you can set the standard at a new height. Just one critical leap over the top of the hill is necessary for you to be regarded as the champion at a new level.</p>
|
||
<p>Did you see the heavyweight championship recently where Leon Spinks knocked Mohammed Ali down? Leon Spinks didn’t look so special or gigantic before the fight began, but during those fifteen rounds in the ring he was passing over this high hill, and when he knocked Mohammed Ali down the entire world thought of him as the new champion. With one jump he brought himself up to an entirely new level, and wherever he goes now, people will want to get his autograph and be near him because he is the world champion.</p>
|
||
<p>What I am doing in the religious arena is like boxing with the champions of the world. I was unknown, but I boxed with the giant figures of history. I kept pushing myself to be ready for that one most momentous battle. At one time in Korea I was looked upon as an outcast, but now Koreans, including many government people, look at me as a hero and a giant in history. Here in America I will also emerge as the hero. Even in colleges and universities a kind of fad has begun, with young people collecting my pictures.</p>
|
||
<p>Why? Because they recognize that I am a fighter. I have been the target of government and religious harassment from all sides, but I am winning one victory after another.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">I am a champion in the arena of suffering</h3>
|
||
<p>People who don’t like me think that the answer is to put me in prison, but their idea is all wrong. I have been in prison many times, including the worst communist prison in North Korea, but I never lost; I always gained something out of those experiences. If I am put in prison here then that place will become a church and finally the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. If I am ever sent to prison, the entire spins world will be mobilized and will bombard that prison. The inmates will receive revelations, dreams and visions telling them that they must follow me. That phenomenon has already happened once. I will have people organized and ready to undertake any task I might start.</p>
|
||
<p>You are looking at a very mysterious person, someone upon whom the entire spirit world and God are concentrated. The entire spirit world and God are also concentrated on the Unification Church so that we can go into the ring and win the biggest historical victory. What all the religious saints in history did in their own times has no comparison with what I am doing in my life and time. I am determined to fulfill everything in my own lifetime. There is no comparison in the magnitude and strategy of the work, or in the accomplishment; no other religious leader can compete with what I have already done. Compared to all the religious founders in history, I am a much more versatile personality, a man for all seasons and all arenas. I am interested in all areas and I can lead young people and inspire and organize them; I can earn money in business, deal with scholars and theologians, and organize science conferences and endeavors in all cultural areas.</p>
|
||
<p>Most of all, I am the champion in the area of suffering. I can take more pain and suffering than anybody. I have suffered more than anyone else in history, but I don’t look beaten or miserable. Instead I look dignified, with shining eyes and enthusiasm for the future. Sometimes young members think I am some kind of man of iron because of my tremendous energy; they can’t keep up with me.</p>
|
||
<p>Are you looking at a great leader? You may not like our Church’s way of doing things and the burden you are carrying every day, but at least you must recognize that I have a God-given capacity to lead this movement. When I tell you to go out and do this or do that, you must accept my word at its full value because I have a foundation and a purpose for saying each thing.</p>
|
||
<p>If you recognize my ability as a leader then when I try to translate my will into reality, will you support and follow me? You don’t like that particular part, do you? You are probably thinking, “Father, I praise you as a great leader, but don’t bother me. Leave me alone.” You and I, however, are the same, because we know our goal and we share a common destiny. It’s not “your” job and “my” job, it’s our job. You might feel that I live a different life because East Garden is my home and I have someone to drive me around. You might think that this is the only difference, but I have a greater burden than yours. When I look at you, I think how I can some day have each of you live in a home like East Garden and ride in the best car in the world. That is part of the burden which I carry every day. If I lived in a log cabin, I would want to have everyone live in a log cabin. If I rode in a buggy, I would want to someday give everyone a buggy.</p>
|
||
<p>I bought the New Yorker Hotel because it’s probably 1,000 time bigger than East Garden and I want you to stay in a big house. Members in the Unification Church movement usually lack two things-sleeping space and bathrooms. But now since we have the New Yorker Hotel you have too many rooms and too many bathrooms. East Garden is overcrowded and has very little extra room, but in the World Mission Center there are too many rooms. If I moved to the World Mission Center then people would write articles saying that I didn’t think East Garden was big enough so I made the entire World Mission Center my mansion. Because I want the World Mission Center to be better than East Garden in every respect, I asked you to remodel it with your own hands. Even if you only clean up one corner of one room, you can say that you yourself refurbished the world Mission Center.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">We have a job to do</h3>
|
||
<p>The other day I had a conference with accountants in New York and I said that on Saturdays anyone living in the World Mission Center should fund raise. Some of the leaders said they were overburdened with the jobs I have already given and didn’t have time. I understand your burden but still I push you even further. The Unification Church must handle hundreds of different areas. If you just wait for someone to come and do our job, it would never get done so you must start doing it. If later someone comes who can do a better job then he can take over, but in the meantime you must at least begin. God will recognize that you are doing your absolute best, not wasting a moment but really tackling all areas. That’s what I want to see. When instructions are given, just get down to work.</p>
|
||
<p>Some people are totally overwhelmed with the mission. I give instructions to a gathering of people in the morning to do something, then in the afternoon to do something entirely different. Then in the evening I have the same people gather and tell them to do something else. Those people think I am completely unreasonable, but in that situation what you should do is in the morning do the mission you are given to do, then in the afternoon do the mission you are given and then in the evening do that mission. It is truly a battle to do everything but you are bound to win the victory, and then I feel good for God.</p>
|
||
<p>You know that recently my interest is in shipbuilding and that much land in Alabama was purchased. When people there came against me and said I couldn’t start a business in their town, I responded by buying another big shipyard instead. There are a dozen of our own ships already being built there, and our first boat is about ready to be launched. We have encountered incredible prejudice and religious persecution in Alabama, so we hired a lawyer and brought the matter to court. Yesterday the court announced that the city of Bayou La Batre was wrong and that it must give Reverend Moon the right to build a shipyard. When people say no, I go double time, and if they still say no, I go triple time. Even when people think we have already been defeated, I simply keep moving.</p>
|
||
<p>Yesterday I went to Philadelphia to look at three big buildings and consider buying one of them for our Church. What do we need to buy a church? Would people accept a handful of sand or the hearing of a sermon? We want to earn money because we have a job to do.</p>
|
||
<p>Jews have a reputation for being frugal and stingy, but I admire them. I heard a story about a man who had three friends-one American, one British and one Jewish. He told his three friends that even when he died he would need money and told them not to bring flowers but money, and put it in the coffin at his funeral. When he died his friends came to the ceremony, and the Briton wrote a bank check for $10 and put it in the coffin. The American took a $10 bill out of his wallet and put it in the coffin, saying, “My friend, I’m sorry you are dead. Here’s my gift.” The Jew wrote a personal check for $30 and put it in the coffin, but he thought, “I need to have some cash too,” so he took out the bank check and the $10 bill and left. The Jew was very smart; he knew that his personal check could never be cashed, but he certainly could spend the other $20!</p>
|
||
<p>On Fifth Avenue you can see many people proudly displaying their wealth, but that pride will not last. With the money we earn we are going to produce something that will last for a long time. You may not wear makeup, and sometimes you have very rough lips because you work hard, but that is your pride and your nobility. Now people treat us scornfully because we are Moonies, but ten years from now we will have a showdown. Have you thought how we will have changed in ten years from now and how much we can accomplish?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God will give to us material blessing</h3>
|
||
<p>We have made God our prisoner and He has to come with us because no one else can volunteer to carry His burden as we do. At the same time, we are not asking God to give us anything; we are creating ourselves instead. Ultimately God will have to bless the Unification Church, but it is not our way of life to just wait for some blessing to come. When God’s blessing comes, we will add our own sweat and fortune to make it bigger for the sake of the world. When you put money in the bank it earns interest, and in the game way, once God gives the blessing to us we will at lead add to it and pay interest.</p>
|
||
<p>I am like a big landlord who has given out contracts add premiums. Some recipients have wasted the entire premium by decreasing it, while others leave the premium there and add interest to enlarge it. Which would God favor? We are not going to decrease God’s blessing by taking from it; we are going to enrich the premium by adding interest to it. In Japan our members sometimes sell handkerchiefs and there is a big controversy about it because when we sell handkerchiefs in the street, no department store has any handkerchiefs left; we have bought them all. The same thing happens when we sell flowers. When locusts pass through an area they eat every leaf in sight and they leave disaster behind. We will not create disaster but we will be like heavenly locusts when we take on a project.</p>
|
||
<p>In Korea I am known as a heretic in business. We own two titanium factories in Korea, which our movement bought ten years ago when no one else could make a profit from them. When we started in that business people thought I was completely crazy to try and enter the chemical industry, but now those factories are the most advanced of their kind in the nation. Not only did I revive those two bankrupt factories, I even created a more efficient way to manufacture titanium. Because we succeeded, this business is now a leading industry in Korea, and yesterday I sent a special telegram to congratulate all our factory workers.</p>
|
||
<p>The world has not yet discovered our kind of manufacturing process, and if we duplicate that process here in America, it will become a “heretic” in the chemical industry and companies like DuPont and Union Carbide will criticize me. You are already called heretics by the religious world; do you want to be heretics in the business world as well? I sometimes feel sorry that you are always being called Moonies, but whom do you resemble? You resemble God. God will give much material blessing to us because He knows we need it and will use it in the right way.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">I am indebted to none</h3>
|
||
<p>As a member of the Unification Church, you shouldn’t be indebted to the Church but should make the Church indebted to you, becoming a productive person rather than a burden. I feel that desire myself. As an individual I don’t want to be indebted to the Church at all. All the Korean leaders know very well that I am never indebted to the Church, but that the Church is indebted to me. I am not indebted to the United States at all. As a world citizen I am not going to be indebted either. Even to heaven I am not indebted. I will never pray to God for His assistance; instead, I pray, “Father I do not want to be indebted to You. I want to be productive for You instead. Go ahead and invest in me and You will receive a return. Other than this I’m not asking You to come down and help me.”</p>
|
||
<p>That’s the way I live and work, and that is the reason I have survived and prospered in this adverse and hostile world. I am now nearing the age of 60, but what would have happened if I had not been able to continue and had collapsed at the age of 30? Could we have seen this day of truth and had hope for the Kingdom of Heaven now? I was at the center of a really crucial situation, for the entire destiny of the world was hinged upon one man. What if I had given up at the age of 40 and sighed, “I have done my best, but it didn’t work out too well. I give up”?</p>
|
||
<p>The world is truly crumbling and has lost hope, but at least the Unification Church can offer hope to the world. Suppose America comes against me so viciously that I decide to forget about America and relocate all our Church work somewhere else. What would happen to the future of America? Are you grateful that I am very patient and withstand all types of persecution?</p>
|
||
<p>As far as our destiny is concerned, I have been far more serious than you and have suffered more pain than you. You can’t imagine the painful and thorny road I have walked, but the world thinks that I take advantage of young people and that they suffer for my selfish benefit, while I live in ease and luxury. Because you know that what they say is unfair, it makes you stronger and in the end it is a stimulus to draw us more tightly together as the Unification Church. Because I have taken the suffering path, you also follow that course and are willing to take pain. Because of this the Unification Church will never be weakened or perish.</p>
|
||
<p>Now government leaders are harassing me, but the day will come when the truth will be known once and for ill. Those who have called me a heretic and have mistreated me will have to bow down. We will create our own heavenly society and eventually our influence on the world will be such that these people have to come to us. That is my goal, but at the same time it is the common destiny of all of us together.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You are creating history</h3>
|
||
<p>Shall we leap forward? I sometimes look at your behavior and activities and feel that this is not the kind of tradition I want to set. People think that Unification Church members are really live wires, but I don’t see you that way because my standard is different. Each person has to straighten up while he is young, because once he is settled in a certain way of life it’s difficult to change. Because you are young, your bones are flexible and can be straightened. Clod knows very well that it’s difficult to change the ways of older people, and that’s why God is sending many, many young people to the Unification Church. Can you imagine people 55 or 60 years old all sitting here listening to me? They would grumble. God is clever and knows our situation, and so He sends young people rather than old people.</p>
|
||
<p>Young people like the adventurous way of life and are eager to do the unusual; that’s why you come. You want to do something revolutionary, like eating with chopsticks or with your fingers. American cooking is usually seasoned with sugar, but you want to have hot pepper and soy sauce. I am sometimes amazed to see you eating hot kimchi with chopsticks! Once you learn the real taste of kimchi, you miss not having it at meals. The literal translation of kimchi is “golden value.” Kimchi has a mysterious taste because it is a mixture of many things-spiciness, hotness, saltiness and some bitterness. Once you acquire a taste for it, you will become a kimchi addict.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You think you are Americans, but you are not.</h3>
|
||
<p>You look like Americans but you act differently and think differently, and therefore, you must work differently. What you are trying to do is actually what America has been dreaming of for a long time, but America gave up and decided that fulfillment was impossible. Americans have been searching for the ideal but haven’t been able to find it. When they look at the Moonies, however, they find that Moonies are actually living it. Right now they don’t know the value of the Moonies, but after they search all over the world for a better solution and can’t find it, they will really see our value. They will be like ants or flies who are drawn to honey.</p>
|
||
<p>Right now your families aren’t proud of you, but the time will come when all your relatives and even your hometowns will be proud to have one Moonie who grew up in their city. They will put up the flag of the Unification Church and towns everywhere will want to have one too. It will be an honor instead of a shame. I will see to it that this happens.</p>
|
||
<p>Most people think that the Moonies will go away in a short time, but we have all kinds of permanent dreams and hopes and we are still excited. There is the difference of heaven and earth between their point of view and ours. You are creating history and you are the controversy. Even though you got on the bandwagon of the Unification Church only a few months or a few years ago, the Unification Church itself has been forming for millions of years. God has developed all of history to come up with the Unification Church, but at the right time you happened to find this bandwagon and join it.</p>
|
||
<p>If you really know the value of the Unification Church then even losing a leg would be a small price to pay. Even if you lost an arm, you would still not regret having joined. This is the type of movement you are in. Of course, no one asks you to pay such a price, but why not use your two arms and two legs productively from early in the morning until late into the night? If you really understand the Unification Church, you can’t help but be jubilant 24 hours a day.</p>
|
||
<p>There are many Japanese members here who have been here for a few years. Are you all tired or just beginning to work? Everything so far has been preparation. How will you get ahead of the Americans if your legs are so short? How about you Americans would you fall behind the Japanese? You are already quite a bit behind the Japanese. Are you Americans running. when the Japanese are sleeping? Are you Americans being influenced by the Japanese who are here, or are you giving them something?</p>
|
||
<p>I brought the Japanese here to increase our productivity, and in the future I would like to send Western members to Asia for pioneering. When you go to Asia, you will probably say, “You Asians must live like we Americans,” but that won’t work. You will be worse than the Japanese or Koreans in your commitment and productivity. Do you know how to kneel on the floor for hours and hours? When you go to Asia as a missionary you will probably insist that everyone sit on chairs Western-style so you can be comfortable’ When I tell Americans to sit down, they end up practically lying down! There are many ways to sit down.</p>
|
||
<p>Without realizing it you have been well-trained by sitting and listening for hours and hours here at Belvedere. You have one arm for Western civilization and the other arm for Eastern civilization. You have to grab both and then make a turn. Will America make a turn and be the moving force to unite East and West? The Unification Church will make the world move and bring it together. That’s why we are doing this. Do not ever think that your way of life is what everyone should follow. That kind of concept should be given up and we must all think how we can unite together in some new place entirely. In that respect, the Japanese are most suited for adaptability; they are very good at moving into another culture and adapting to it. Americans have a very difficult time, and Koreans are very stubborn and difficult too, so God needs a bridge and He has chosen the Japanese. God needs them very much and He loves them very much for that reason.</p>
|
||
<p>As you know, Japan is an island country which has a very small amount of territory. The Japanese government is always thinking about how to export about 50 million Japanese abroad to make more room. Imagine 130 million people in a small country like Japan! From the far north of Japan, to the southern tip, houses are all lined up together. No wonder the Japanese are so small! Who will educate the Japanese and make them worthy to go away from their country to the world? The Unification Church will educate them. The Japanese government recognizes that the Unification Church ideology perfectly fits the need of Japanese national policy.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you like to see me kicked out of America and welcomed by Japan? If that ever happened you would say, “Father, now I will go to Japan.” You know that our Japanese members are essential here in America. They are all working very hard to learn English, but why aren’t you learning Japanese?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">We carry a common destiny<br />
|
||
and burden of the world</h3>
|
||
<p>We are all concerned with one thing: the fulfillment of our mission. We carry the common destiny and burden of the world and for this reason we need everyone. I sent out missionaries to over 100 nations, assigning one Japanese, one American and one German to each country. These three countries are really arrogant and have stiff national pride and different cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, thirty years ago they were enemies to each other. This is why I put the three representatives together and told them, “I will give you three years time to unite into one.” It is an incredibly difficult thing I am asking of them.</p>
|
||
<p>Is it easy to make your mind and body unite into one? That alone is very difficult, and uniting a Japanese, German and American into one is incredibly difficult. The Japanese, American and German members fight, but then they get together in tears; then they fight again and then repent. I put them in an impossible situation, but no one can walk out because they want to stay in the Church. There is a hostile world pushing against all of them and in order to survive they have to stick together. I asked them to do this impossible task because if it is fulfilled well, then they can offer a model or prototype for the unity of all of mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>Witnessing is important, but more important is the training and discipline and especially the unity of the three missionaries. One college professor heard about my strategy and wondered why I sent out the three nationalities as one team to each nation. When he understood he was really inspired by my idea. When your brothers and sisters can unite, there’s no excuse for you not to unite into one. Japan was America’s enemy until 1945, but now Japanese have come to America and are giving of themselves in a sacrificial way to save this country. The reality of what we are actually doing here has far-reaching impact.</p>
|
||
<p>I want to ask the Japanese one question. Did you come here to wait and see the United States decline and be destroyed? The Japanese members don’t cling to their concept of Japanese citizenship; they have forgotten they are Japanese and just think of themselves as heavenly citizens. They don’t feel any different from United States’ citizens. They feel at home in this country. They are not acting like the Soviet KGB agents who are looking for every opportunity to crush America. The significant thing is that the American government allows the KGB to carry on all kinds of activities freely while it scrutinizes every move of the Unification Church. It doesn’t matter whether they understand or misunderstand, though, we will concentrate all our efforts on the fulfillment of our common destiny.</p>
|
||
<p>When you die and are elevated into the spirit world, the first question you will be asked is, “As a member of the Unification Church, have you done your task well? Have you fulfilled your mission and reached that common goal?” How much we each strive and toil over our goal while here on earth shall determine what kind of answer we can give in the spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>Have you ever thought of yourself as a locomotive, pulling many people’s lives which are dependent upon your success? When the load is heavy and you are struggling to pull it, you may sometimes slip on the rails. In that case you put sand on the rails to increase the friction, but even then you have to pull. After you pull the train up the hill it will start down, and if it goes too fast brakes will be needed. Do you have both pulling power and braking power as well? It’s not easy. In order to become the kind of person who can respond quickly, you need to be disciplined and trained.</p>
|
||
<p>We need lots of money to invest and much manpower to invest, but above all, you have to invest all your effort and heart and soul. Money and man power alone will not do. This load is heavy and our burden is great and we have to give everything for the task. This group will expand to include a million people here in America, and when someday the entire American population has become Moonies like you, do you think that then communism will be a problem? You will be able to blow it away. There is nothing we cannot solve in our world, and that gigantic revolution is spreading out from here.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes I will test you, but will you ever release the handle you are clinging to? Sometimes the handle might crack, but that’s OK. You never know; sometime when you are sleeping at night and have let go of the handle, I will grab it. In order to safeguard yourself you have to chain the handle onto yourself so that no one can pull you away. Are you that cautious and serious? Or are you just wishy-washy and halfway committed?</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes I see a freight train with three or even five locomotives pulling more than 100 freight cars. I worry about the connection in the middle because even though the engines have enough power, a connection might be loose somewhere. Each one of you is like an engine, with hundreds of thousands of people lined up behind you, and each link has to be strong so that you can pull everybody. You have to take care that in the middle of the line no link will break. Have you thought about it? As the engine, you should take care of the whole train. Can you take care of yourself as well as the whole train?</p>
|
||
<p>You don’t necessarily have to have a giant body to have a concentration of power. Even if you have a small body, your total concentration is what can make you strong. One strong man can change 1,000 people, but it is very difficult to get 1,000 people behind you so that you can pull them. The best thing you can do is to make each one of them a separate engine and once each one of them is vibrating, you won’t have to pull them because they will do it themselves. You know I am already a locomotive, but are each one of you engines, at least halfway? You are engines under construction, right? I want to make you into engines, but there is much trimming to be done and corners to be straightened out.</p>
|
||
<p>The ultimate goal is liberation of the world and of God. From that point the love of God will begin flowing to mankind. God is perspiring heavily, working so hard day and night in His concentration on the mission, that He has no time to give out love. Under those circumstances, God cannot relax. God’s mission has to be consummated; He has to be liberated so that He can freely give out love. When God can say that His mission is finally done, with whom would He like to share His love? Would God chase you Unification Church members away because you are a mixture of all different colors and languages? If God invites the Unification Church to His celebration, we will say, “No. Let everyone else have a good time. We just want to sit down.” God will exclaim, what are you talking about? You are the masters of the celebration!” That’s our goal.</p>
|
||
<p>The ultimate goal is the love of God. We are forging ahead toward the world of the love of God, but first we have to liberate the world and liberate God’s sorrow. This is not just theory or logic; this is reality and we are doing it now, but it’s not going to be easy. Since you are already here and the die is cast, would you want to finish it? Don’t ever think that you just happened to join the Unification Church. You were born for this destiny and ultimately you have no other choice. Your parents were the instruments God used to give you birth, while He was anticipating the time when you could join this destiny. Since you were born to be Unification Church members to begin with, what is there to complain about? Being born in the white race was this person’s destiny, and this black brother was destined to be born black. You cannot change these things. In exactly the same way, all of you were born to be Moonies. It’s your destiny.</p>
|
||
<p>Once you can accept that destiny, nothing else matters. You don’t have to worry or think about changing it because you know it won’t work. You are already here so all you have to do is go forward. You have a burden to carry; are you willing and happy to carry it? If you cannot fulfill that burden while living then you must bear it even after your death because it is your destiny and you cannot evade it. But fulfilling the same amount of work after death takes thousands of times more energy than while in the flesh.</p>
|
||
<p>While you are young I want you to be proud of being a member of the Unification Church. You can be glad to have more time to invest in fulfilling this mission and creating the tradition for the future rather than if you were to join at the age of 50 or 60. You are laying the foundation of tradition for the young people to come. At the age of thirty, in the prime of life, you are burning with zeal for the mission. In the Unification Church we normally start our family life after the age of thirty because young people must lay the cornerstone and tradition.</p>
|
||
<p>No matter what the people say or how hard the nation comes against us, we will never stop. We know what direction to take and what tradition we are going to lay. We will create a national tradition and a world tradition. Our champion for the tradition on the individual, tribal, national, worldwide, universal and cosmic levels is you, and no one can change your position. In order to lay a firm foundation you have to pour concrete deep and solid. For the same reason, we work under adverse conditions and suffer pain. Under those conditions you can lay a foundation which no one can alter. That will be the best tradition and you are born for that.</p>
|
||
<p>When I look back at my entire life, one word describes it very well: tragic. I lived a tragic, miserable life. Yet because of that, I laid the best possible tradition for God. That suffering made me strive forward harder and dig a deeper foundation. Because of that background, I have a lot to say; there is a lot to weep over and talk about and it has all become an asset for me. When I die, no matter how small or vague their connection, people will be proud to say they are connected to me because I gave my entire life to build the tradition for the resurrection of the future. Man’s hope rests completely upon my tradition, and all mankind will have to acknowledge my tradition in the future.</p>
|
||
<p>You say “True Parents,” but you must do it with a true heart and with a sense of high honor. When I give my burden to you, I want you to tackle it with greater stamina than I, making greater effort than I did. That’s the kind of men and women I want to create now. If I cannot achieve this task, the whole foundation will be shaken. The important thing is how we can transform all you young people into such champions in the shortest possible time.</p>
|
||
<p>Whether you like it or not we have to do it because this is our destiny. If you have the capacity to take it, I will do anything, even force you to do it. The most important thing is the end result. I have a feeling of urgency and emergency which people have no way to understand. In order to make them understand, the entire spirit world must be mobilized. If I really push you out ruthlessly then all kinds of opposition will come. I am not yet pressing you so hard, but still people are saying all kinds of things to me. If I push you harder then what kind of criticism will come.</p>
|
||
<p>God knows this situation and He mobilized the entire spirit world to come down and make the world ready. The spirit world will come in contact with you through your dreams and prayers because those in spirit world want to help you. It is a precious thing that the entire spirit world is supporting you in your three-year campaign. This is a most critical three years. If you mobilize the entire spirit world for your earthly task but you fail, it will have far greater consequences than just trouble on earth. That is the serious position in which you are standing.</p>
|
||
<p>For seven years don’t look any place else, but just be crazy about your mission, giving single-minded devotion. Do you want to do it? If you go, you will become victorious, but if you just give up, you will become a miserable failure. Those who want to pledge to follow this destiny and succeed in the task, no matter how difficult, raise your hands please. Thank you. God bless you.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1244 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1242" class="post-1242 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-will-of-god-and-thanksgiving.html" title="Permalink to THE WILL OF GOD AND THANKSGIVING" rel="bookmark">THE WILL OF GOD AND THANKSGIVING</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-14T05:38:54+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-will-of-god-and-thanksgiving.html" rel="bookmark">June 14, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-14T05:38:54+01:00">June 14, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">February 12, 1978<br />
|
||
Manhattan Center<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>I would like to thank all of you for coming and celebrating this True Parents’ birthday. All of us assembled in this auditorium have various, different backgrounds. We have had different ways of life in the past and come from various cultural backgrounds, and furthermore, in your ancestral lines there are combined a variety of situations, traditions and cultures. Even now our way of life is varied because of our different cultural backgrounds.</p>
|
||
<p>Even though our histories are different and our ways of life and traditions are different, our goal is the same. We have one common goal around which we gather together. The most important thing to determine is whether or not that goal is self-centered or world-centered. Indeed, our common goal is the benefit and well-being of the entire world. That common goal is truly the aspiration of all mankind, and some day when we reach that goal everyone on this earth will be happy. That ideal goal cannot happen by money alone, and no matter how much knowledge or power you might possess, they will not make that goal possible either. That goal must be everyone’s aspiration, something which makes everyone on this earth happy and protects their well-being.</p>
|
||
<p>What is that common goal; how can we define it? We commonly call it love. We are talking about love here, and must decide whether that love is man’s standard of love or whether it transcends man, whether that love should be changing and tarnished by time, or eternal and unchanging in character. Our common goal must be love, a love which must be eternal and absolute and unchanging in quality. If that kind of love is our goal and if there is a God, then it must be linked to Him.</p>
|
||
<p>The question is whether we as men can obtain that kind of love. If that permanent and eternal love is an obtainable goal, then we must consider first that the prerequisite to that love is the existence of God. Why couldn’t an almighty and eternal God make that love prevail with men? Why hasn’t it been fulfilled already? That is the fundamental question which all religious men of history have struggled with. The Unification Church is no exception; however, unlike the rest we know that mankind could not obtain this permanent and absolute love of God because of the fall of man.</p>
|
||
<p>Then what is the fall? In one word, the fall is departure-not departure from power or position or a certain understanding, but departure from the very love of God that we have been talking about. The perfection of men hinges upon that particular love, and once there is a way to obtain that love for man there will be perfection. If there is a God then He must be almighty, eternal and omnipresent, and then God’s love must also be eternal and unchanging. Therefore, once we obtain that love then we obtain everything, including God and the universe.</p>
|
||
<p>Obtaining that love of God leads to perfection for everything. As you know, there are different parts in our physical bodies, but once that goal of love is obtained, every part of the body will respond to that love and give thanks. That particular love will also fulfill our spirit man. The spirit man and physical body are supposed to echo each other so that they can act as one in harmony. Actually, soundless, perfect harmony should be established between the two.</p>
|
||
<p>At what point can our spirit men and physical bodies be united? True music is the love of God. When the love of God resounds through the spirit man and physical body, they both respond to it in harmony together. Striking one object will create sound waves, and when they hit another object it will respond and create the same sound. In the same way, when God’s love hits something it will resound throughout the universe, the spiritual and physical worlds together. When God’s love reaches man, his entire body must unanimously respond to that vibration of love.</p>
|
||
<p>How would it feel to reverberate to the sound of love? When that wave of love hits you it will create absolute fullness in your spiritual and physical bodies, leaving no extra room available. That should be the feeling you get when the love of God hits you. It not only fills your entire body, however; it will remain forever, never disappearing. As a result you will become a dynamo, a central energy source for everything surrounding you, and in that atmosphere the whole environment will echo you.</p>
|
||
<p>Once that love of God fills you and you live in that love for ten, twenty or thirty years, you always know that the original source is God, who is constant, almighty and eternal. As long as He is supplying you with that energy of love, you are really pulled in His direction and are always moving closer to Him. We are guided by the direction of God’s love. We are not like a ship without a compass; we have a compass which clearly shows due north. That is the direction of God, and is to set the direction of everyone’s life. Every man is supposed to be perfected by going in that direction closer to God’s love, and every woman is supposed to be perfected by going in that direction. Then along the way they can meet, together creating unity and perfecting their love, growing closer to and ultimately uniting with God. That is the ideal of creation.</p>
|
||
<p>If mankind were living in this natural pattern that God designed, would there normally be pain and suffering involved, or would life develop in a natural way? There would have been no haziness in life before the fall, only a clear-cut goal and direction ensuring that no one would live in chaos or confusion. In that world each person would know what kind of life he should live here on earth, and would clearly know that the end of life on earth is but the beginning of an eternal life. Happy men were supposed to be born of love, grow up and become perfect in love and totally unite with the source of love, which is God. Whoever lives such a life can be called a happy man. In that world, love is given equally to all and there each person has equal privilege. There each person can go in the same direction, dwell together in the same world and end up at the same goal. If that kind of world is available, there is no better ideal.</p>
|
||
<p>This means that money is not the ultimate goal, nor power or knowledge. Neither the democratic ideology nor communistic ideology is the ultimate goal. The realm of love transcends all these manmade ideologies and that is the world in which we are supposed to dwell. If we can grasp this much even in our limited brains, then how much bigger would the ideal be in the mind of God? God is much more knowledgeable and wise, and in His wisdom He is thinking of an even more beautiful realm of love.</p>
|
||
<p>Putting ourselves in the position of God for a moment, what would be the most ideal world we could construct? God has to come to the same conclusion that we have drawn: Unity in the world of love is the most ideal world God could design. If God is truly almighty then He would not design men to be born into suffering and grow up in pain, only to attain love at the very end. If that were the only happiness God could design, then He certainly could not be almighty. Then why is our world like this? Because of the fall, man departed from the position God originally designed for him in His ideal.</p>
|
||
<p>God and man were supposed to echo each other, but presently there is no connection between the two and each is going in a separate direction. That is a consequence of the fall. Furthermore, man’s mind and body were supposed to parallel and echo each other, but they are separated as well. If this is the external result, then mustn’t something be wrong with God? No, God has not changed; the error occurred in man, never in God. Therefore, we must remake and reassemble man. That is God’s mandate.</p>
|
||
<p>The repair work cannot be done all at once, however. There must first be some step-by-step master plan which sets out principles for beginning restoration work. Then where can we start this work of restoration? It must begin with what is closest to God, something which God made first. Of the mind and body, which is closest to God? Of course the mind is closest, so naturally God started to straighten out the mind of man first.</p>
|
||
<p>Even though you are all looking in one direction, your minds are thinking about many things right at this moment. God’s first mandate, therefore, is to straighten out the direction of the mind and bring all mankind’s diverse thinking together into one common direction: the love of God. God must declare one ultimate destiny to all men, showing them what they need in order to become one with Him. All the minds of men should be brought to this one principle. In his mind, each man should understand the individual goal, tribal goal, national goal and world goal, and also how the same goal ultimately penetrates all of these. That’s the way God started to work, giving instruction about what the mind should head toward.</p>
|
||
<p>This world is certainly chaotic and confused, but at least here in the Unification Church we have a goal and direction. We are not hazy or confused in our minds about our goal. Is our common goal to come to the Manhattan Center on February 12 and celebrate True Parents’ birthday? If this celebration today is not the goal then why is it needed? We need it to stimulate our minds and thus expedite our journey to the ultimate goal. Some people may wonder why we don’t have a simple celebration and a day of rest, instead of getting up early and having a full day of activities. Would you like an easier celebration? Some of your mouths are saying no, but your minds are saying yes!</p>
|
||
<p>Our common goal is the attainment of the love of God, and in order to fulfill it we must make a long journey. Naturally you need stimulation to spur yourselves on to attain that goal faster. The person who is really making efforts toward that goal is truly a happy person. Once you have found the ultimate goal, then the more you suffer, the more experience and stamina you will have to spur yourself on. Your struggle then becomes your asset.</p>
|
||
<p>For people like us who truly live with a high-minded goal, are suffering and pain necessarily evil things? Can the person who never suffered or felt pain appreciate the true value of happiness? If truth is obtained too easily then you will never appreciate it, but the person who pursues that truth, and finally obtains it one day, will be so appreciative that he will understand every bit of its value. If a great big blessing is bestowed upon a person who never experienced any suffering or hardship, he will just take it for granted and never know whether it is a diamond or a rock. Someone who really experiences suffering first hand, however, will understand the value of that love and will rejoice at obtaining that love and truth. The more you suffer, the more you will rejoice.</p>
|
||
<p>When you go to movies you don’t want to watch the monotonous life of some common person; you want to see a dramatic life instead. What makes it dramatic? The high hills and low valleys of suffering, the narrow escapes from getting killed in the hero’s search for love and truth all leave your blood boiling, and when he finds that love and truth you feel wonderful.</p>
|
||
<p>We are creating our own epic as we go toward the goal. First of all, we must ask whether there were people like us in history who tried to obtain high minded goals not only for themselves, but for the world. Even though there were many saints who lived noble lives, there was so much confusion about eternal life that they did not have the crystal-clear goal that we have. No one ever had the clear-cut goal we do. Since the value of our goal is so high, there is nothing we can reserve for anything else; we can truly commit everything we have for its accomplishment.</p>
|
||
<p>There are two kinds of Moonies, however. One kind is true and honest, while the other is false. Which one would you like to be? Maybe some pragmatic American mind might think, “I don’t want to go to extremes. I don’t want to be far-out like the true Moonie, or be a fraud either. I’ll just be an in-between Moonie.” There are hot, cold and lukewarm Moonies; which would you be?</p>
|
||
<p>Do you like white people or black people better? They are both extremes in color, but yellow is in between. You are really confused now, aren’t you? If you like white men that’s OK. White, black or whatever is determined by the color of your heart, not your skin. Even if a person is black, the color of his skin is irrelevant, for if his heart is truly burning with the original love of God then that person is whiter than white. When you wear eyeglasses of love you don’t see just white skin or black skin. True love is what counts and nothing else matters.</p>
|
||
<p>When you look at the biological makeup of your body you see all different functions, but is there anything which is trying to bring all these activities into one harmonious standard? The eyes move as they please, the ears listen and all the limbs move in different directions. There seems to be no harmony. Imagine that both hands are trying to go in different directions but one hand says to the other, “I will take you in the right direction. Here is the source of love.” Will the other hand draw back when it feels the warmth of love? No, it would want to stay. Once it is attached to the source of love, nothing can separate it. That’s the power of love.</p>
|
||
<p>Love is the one power which will draw every bit of energy into one direction. The hands want to stay there, and the eyes want to move in that direction along with the nose and mouth and ears and the whole body. Love acts like a magnet. What about the mind; is it also pulled by the power of love? The mind is very greedy and has no barriers to disturb it, so it seeks to penetrate all the way into the core of the love of God. The mind wants to be close and it has a way of getting in. Only one power will activate your every organ toward one direction. Neither threats at gunpoint nor money will do it; only through the power of love can all the actions of your organs be focused in the same direction.</p>
|
||
<p>Why do men universally like women? The amazing thing is that no matter how ugly a man is, he always looks for a beautiful woman. The uglier he is, the more beautiful is the woman he looks or. When you spot a beautiful woman then your eyes start to move, your hands and feet and everything start to move. Do women respond the same way to men or not? If that urge or pull were activated only in men but not in women, then what would happen? Do you think that would be very interesting? This is one example of the activation of love’s power; we are automatically pulled to the source of love.</p>
|
||
<p>What about the love of God? Is it weaker or more vulnerable than the love of a beautiful woman or an ugly man? The power of God’s love is supreme, beyond any human love, and the desire to attain that love of God is the strongest in the world. No power can stop the urge to go toward the love of God. Lesser love can be sacrificed for greater love. In searching for the love of God, which is ultimate and supreme, you can sacrifice your love of women, love of family or nation, and even your own life.</p>
|
||
<p>The one man who really discovered that love and proclaimed its existence to the world was Jesus Christ. He was the embodiment of that love of God and he made the revolutionary proclamation, “If anyone loves mother or father more than me, he is not worthy of me.” Jesus also said, “I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me.” Actually Jesus left out one important word. He should have said, “I am the way and the truth and the life and I am the love. Therefore, no one comes to the Father but by me.”</p>
|
||
<p>Even the Bible did not give a clear definition of the ultimate goal, which is love. We must be born of love, grow in love and be perfected in love. Ultimately we will fulfill ourselves in love. Naturally when there is a resurrection of truth, way and life there will certainly be a resurrection of love, for love comes automatically. The ultimate thing is not the truth or the way, but love.</p>
|
||
<p>Suppose you attain that most intensive love of God. How much would you be grateful? Perhaps you would shout out so loud that the entire universe is torn apart. Even then you would not have exhausted your entire thanksgiving, for no shout can truly express enough thanks. Instead, you become so lost in that love that you forget about shouting, and without thinking you just murmur, “Thank you Father, thank you Father.” Which is more dramatic?</p>
|
||
<p>When two lovers meet are they very formal, announcing, “My love, I am going to reach out and kiss you now”? Wouldn’t you rather forget being there in the intoxication of the moment, with love beautifully expressing itself even without your knowing it? Love can be expressed with great volume, or in total silence. Sometimes even your mouth might not move but your mind keeps talking. Which is much deeper? One person might always be talking about love, while another never says, “I love you,” but in his heart he is totally intoxicated in love. There is dramatic contrast in the Western and Oriental expressions of love. Westerners always say, “I love you,” and kiss in public, but seldom do Korean husbands say, “I love you.” There is a way to express deeper love by letting the mind talk.</p>
|
||
<p>Is a wave bigger in the deep or shallow part of the ocean? A shallow stream always makes noise because it is so active, but when you dive deeper and deeper into the ocean it becomes quite calm. We can conclude that the standard of measure should not be just in what you see. Can the invisible things be thought of as more precious? Suppose that love were visible, like a ball rolling around. Would you like that kind of love? God is precious, so imagine God being visible and walking the streets talking to everyone. If God limited Himself to one body so that everybody could know He is God, then a great nation like America could mobilize 240 million people and make Him a prisoner.</p>
|
||
<p>The most precious things of infinite value were made invisible, like love and like God. Your mind is precious; would you like to be able to see your mind and carry it around in your pocket like a handkerchief? The mind is precious because in that container alone can God be enclosed. Only an invisible container could contain the invisible God. This is the most precious thing of all, and nobody can take it away because no one knows where it is.</p>
|
||
<p>Imagine someone trying to carry a 100-carat diamond because he has nowhere to hide it. No matter how clever he is, someone is bound to discover his secret. If he hides it inside his leg then during the night his whole leg will disappear! You can be glad that God made love invisible and that no one can take it away. If love were visible then there would be no real taste to it and you would easily tire of it. Being invisible, however, love can be infinite. It can be round or sharp or long or wide.</p>
|
||
<p>When asked how love looks, one person will describe love as being round like the moon or wide like the ocean. Some harsh person might say love is like a wild desert. A romantic person might say it is like a beautiful, rocky mountain, while yet another person might say it is powerful like Niagara Falls. All these would be correct answers because they all describe certain aspects of love. Someone might say love is like a beggar, and that is a correct answer too. Someone might say love is smoother than glass and that would be correct, or that love is like bubble gum because it can be stretched out as much as anyone likes. This is why love is intriguing. If everyone knew that love was red with a little spot on it, then it would be limited so much that it would no longer be romantic.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you like to thank God for making love invisible? Are you glad that your mind is invisible? Are you glad God made Himself invisible? God is limitless and mysterious, like the ocean depths and the height of the sky. I want you to know that the most precious thing of all is always invisible. Therefore, God can say He is everywhere at the same time. Instead of walking around America and being seen here and there, it’s much better that God remain hidden behind a shroud of mystery; with infinite understanding and knowledge, He lets men assume their respective ways of knowing God.</p>
|
||
<p>After you talk with a person for one or two hours you can usually know the depth of a shallow man, and there is no more savor to knowing him. The genuine person, however, no matter how much you try to understand him, always has realms that you can never get down to, and he becomes more and more attractive to you. The most precious thing is invisible. The most precious thing about your body is your mind, and it is invisible.</p>
|
||
<p>Even though the mind is invisible it doesn’t exist independently, hut in response to some origin; therefore, it is a resultant being and is always linked to the source. There is a subject Being out there somewhere, and the original mind always has a tendency to move toward it because the mind is object. Even though invisible, your mind guides you, knowing the direction and goal. The religious way of life is nothing other than being led by the mind toward a certain way of life.</p>
|
||
<p>Are we living a religious life in the Unification Church? The mind always denies the body’s desires. Your body may be trying to eat breakfast in the morning but your mind is saying, “Hurry up! Each moment is precious. Go out and do something.” The mind is always running ahead of the body. In the morning the mind has a big battle with the body, which wants to rest a little longer. The mind is always ahead, listening to the body complaining. The mind looks back at the body following with closed eyes, saying, “You poor sleepy body. You still have to go on.” The mind will lead your body toward one big hill, and once they both go over it then even your body will not turn hack to its original position. That’s what we call forming new habits. We push our bodies into certain new habits, and once it is totally disciplined it will not revert back again.</p>
|
||
<p>You all like bread, don’t you? You like bread and I like rice because of habit. No one built your bodies like that. If there is fresh hot bread next to a bowl of three-day old rice, I would still choose the rice. After many years you form certain habits, and in the Unification Church our minds are trying to discipline our bodies into certain heavenly habits. The MFT is almost intolerable at first, but after certain habits are formed a person doesn’t want to leave. Even when such a person has a holiday, he automatically finds himself going out to fund raise after breakfast is over. You must put yourself through discipline in order to cross over that one important hill and then there is no more problem, for your body will never go back. Each day’s journey takes you over higher and higher hills, and at the same time you attain higher and higher goals.</p>
|
||
<p>I am like the engineer of a cable car and you are all passengers. You don’t actually have to move the train; you just sit inside and watch as you go up the mountains and reach the top. Because you already have a locomotive pulling you the trip is not necessarily all that difficult. I have declared that while this Unification Church cable car is moving toward the ultimate goal, you must be moving around inside doing some job like witnessing, fund raising and evangelizing. Because of this, many people feel fatigued and tired in the Unification Church and after a while they leave because they want to live differently. They go some place where they think they will have all kinds of freedom and fun, but soon they come back and say, “Please accept me.” This has happened to many. When you leave, you realize how precious your way of life has been in the Unification Church and how precious a goal we have. You long for it and you have to come back to it. There is real joy and real happiness in striving for that goal.</p>
|
||
<p>The three most precious things are the mind, love and God. All these are precious, eternal and absolute, yet invisible. What power will unite them all into one? Invisible love will unite them. In the Unification Church we emphasize knowing that the mind is easily controlled by the invisible God, and that the mind must then control the body. That’s the first order of business.</p>
|
||
<p>Once your body is totally united with your mind then you instantly have access to the highest truth in the universe. Even using only the limited minds of men, the radio, radar and the computer have been invented. God is much wiser, so how much more can your mind communicate with the invisible origin, God? The mind is invisible so it can take various shapes. The mind might originally be round, but to communicate with God it becomes shaped like a long, slender antenna.</p>
|
||
<p>How big is your mind? It is big enough that infinite God can dwell there and still have elbowroom. Did you know that you own a mind that vast?</p>
|
||
<p>Did you know there is space enough in your mind to grasp the entire world and still have room left over? A big-minded man is like the vast ocean, even if his body is like a little finger. We must talk big and think big. Have you ever thought that your body could be big as well, big enough to embrace the universe?</p>
|
||
<p>How big is America, not in its geographical size, but in its thinking? Americans have not had minds big enough to contain black people, so would you say this is a big country or a small country? America is a small-minded country, without room enough to accommodate black people, but America doesn’t like to hear that. Suppose we ask how big Unification Church members are. Do ordinary Americans or Unification Church members have bigger minds? Giving an answer is easy, but actually living up to that answer is not that easy.</p>
|
||
<p>Many people ask who Reverend Moon is. To many people I am incomprehensible and this upsets them. I don’t want them to figure me out, though. I look like a businessman to some and to others like a religious leader or a cultural promoter or a scholar. To some I am a fisherman. So who am I? People can’t figure me out because their scale of thinking is so small that they can’t measure me; there isn’t a scale big enough to measure me.</p>
|
||
<p>American politicians and government people tremble at the power of the media’s opinion, but it doesn’t bother me. Most people think I must be stretched out in a hospital after being bombarded by so much negative public opinion, but instead I am everywhere. Some people are trying to become champions by waging war against me. They want to fight me so they can become heroes, but that doesn’t bother me either. I just turn their challenges around and throw them away, never even giving them a chance to fight. Those who thought that by hitting me they would get some response have found instead that their own power pushed them down. My entire life has been one of incredible opposition, but it doesn’t affect me. I just keep striving upward, transcending all the noisy crowds.</p>
|
||
<p>What do I have to be proud of? There is one thing that no one else can duplicate: I am the champion of the love of God. God needs one champion who can truly manifest His love and carry it to every corner of the earth, and unless he finds a man like Reverend Moon then certainly that mission cannot be accomplished. God loves the person who loves his own enemy, who tries to save the person who is trying to destroy him. That person is truly qualified to be a champion of God, not the kind of person who fights back.</p>
|
||
<p>I never fought back; I came to a hostile country to save it, trying to forgive and educate and nurture it into salvation. People think that I must be so feeble that I cannot last another round, but instead of being knocked out I am moving forward and becoming more prosperous. What is that mysterious power? I am assigned to be champion of the love of God and I have invisible backing. The public only sees the visible things, but this morning we are talking about invisible power. That is what upholds me.</p>
|
||
<p>In a pre-commemoration of this True Parents’ birthday, fifteen married couples were hand-picked, couples who have been in our movement in Japan for many years. They were invited to Belvedere and yesterday they received the blessing. They are older couples, some of them fifty and sixty years old. Until 1945 they were enemies of Korea, and thus indirectly were enemies of Reverend Moon, but this year I brought them to this country and blessed them as citizens of heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>It is truly amazing that now these older Japanese citizens can give up anything for the cause of God and True Parents, including their own nation. Many people who wanted to be blessed were sad because they were not selected, but these couples were chosen because at one time they were in the enemy position. Now their position is completely changed and they wept in joy yesterday, knowing that they could be blessed in heavenly matrimony.</p>
|
||
<p>At one time they were subjects of the Japanese emperor, but now they want to receive heavenly instruction and carry it out with their lives. What power made them happy? What principle changed them around like that? Not any power or technique of mine could do that; only the invisible power of God behind me could do it. In love there is not much formality or face-saving. If someone like the President of the United States truly loves one woman, then even he must take his hat off and plead his loving heart to her.</p>
|
||
<p>To many American minds Korea is almost nonexistent, like a trashcan in the corner of a beautiful rose garden. Trashcans are needed inside the home and sometimes they are beautifully decorated, but a trashcan beside a rose garden has no attention paid to it. People enjoy the fragrance of the roses in the garden, but ask why that dirty trashcan is there. That has been Korea’s position. I came out of that country to America, where people are proud to be citizens. I proclaimed that I came to be a doctor to this sick nation, to be a firefighter for this burning house. What American would like to hear that? Naturally Americans don’t feel good about it, but I made that proclamation on purpose, knowing that the response would be hostile. I wanted to provoke America so that by trying to retaliate against me, Americans would realize the power of God.</p>
|
||
<p>America was truly a first-class nation until the end of World War II, but in the thirty years since then America’s prestige has crumbled. At one time Americans were regarded with awe in Asia, and on the street Orientals looked at Americans with openmouthed admiration. Today everything is changed and American citizens, particularly hippie types, are hardly even regarded as human beings.</p>
|
||
<p>Americans needed someone with guts to come to this country and let them rediscover themselves. The judgment of God doesn’t come in a beautiful courtroom, but through the humble person God lifts up by His power. That’s the way God’s power has been manifested throughout history and there is no exception today. I absolutely did not come to destroy America. Not at all. The true purpose of my coming is to awaken this country for greater salvation and bring it back to its true heritage.</p>
|
||
<p>You are proof of my intentions because you were part of that crumbling civilization at one time, but today you are America’s only hope. You are people of vision. People will see that you were gathered together by the power of God to save this country, not destroy it. Right now they are afraid and feel threatened, but soon Americans will have to welcome you because they will see that there is no other alternative remaining to revive this nation.</p>
|
||
<p>People will eventually realize who it is that made you so. I did not do it; it was the invisible God working through me that made you into America’s new hope. The power of God is here. The love of God is the power of us all. Even if America perishes and the government is destroyed, the power of God’s love will never be tarnished. Americans need more than their government and nation; they need the very love of God.</p>
|
||
<p>A miracle is happening in this room right now. To celebrate True Parents’ birthday people from five races are gathered together here, but who made this possible? Not I. Cod’s will and providence, and above all, the love of God brought you together. Nobody knows your mind except you and you know this is the truth. Maybe no one in New York or in all of America knows, but you and I know where our hearts are. You and 1 know God is dwelling here, working side by side with us.</p>
|
||
<p>Once you have God dwelling in your heart, you realize that it is more precious than anything under the sun, more than the nation and the whole world. No matter if a whole nation comes against you, it will not stop you. Even the entire world will not stop you. You have no hesitation because you have something of greater value. In our hearts we pursue the highest value and nothing will take it away. I am armed and toughened by the love of God and whatever difficulty comes doesn’t bother me; I can move forward and go beyond it.</p>
|
||
<p>If anything is trying to prevent the ultimate fulfillment of the love of God and the hope of mankind, I know I can give my life to defend this cause. That is our credo. We each proudly proclaim, ‘`I am a champion and defender of the love of God; I am here to stimulate and promote the love of God. Nothing will stop me.”</p>
|
||
<p>This celebration of Mother’s and my birthday is beautiful and precious and I thank you, but as I already mentioned, this is merely one occasion that will spur us on to the fulfillment of the ultimate goal, to defend the love of God for the sake of the world. Today is a day of unity, a day to unite people of all races with the True Parents and march toward the ultimate goal of the love of God. Today we celebrate more than the True Parents’ birthday; we celebrate the victory of God. We praise His name and glorify His presence. That is the real meaning of this day.</p>
|
||
<p>The Koreans have been very pitiful people for many centuries. That feeble nation has been given tremendous hardship by surrounding powers in its 5,000 year history, but it shall be the eternal pride of Korea that such a nation gave birth to the Unification Church. The history of Korea parallels the 6,000 year history of God’s work, and Unification Church history parallels the history of Judaism and Christianity; it is all the continuation of one history. God worked through the Jews as His chosen people 4,000 years ago for the same goal, moving step-by-step toward the fulfillment of His love here on earth. He was working toward the day of Jesus’ birth as the day of fulfillment so that ultimately all people could be united with Jesus, celebrating his birthday and at the same time celebrating the glory of God. At that time God was locking for all races from all parts of the world to unite in one common goal, to celebrate that one day and return the glory to God.</p>
|
||
<p>Christian history continued for 2,000 years after Judaism and was given ultimate fulfillment by the birth of one nation, America. America is the symbolic Christian nation of the world, in which all races come together in a melting pot. Ultimately America is going to be proud of being God’s chosen nation, just as Jews and Christians were supposed to be proud to be God’s chosen people. Those ideals of God were not fulfilled, however. Today the danger to America is this: If this nation, conceived in the will of God, fails to fulfill His will, then America shall be ruined and God shall punish this nation. Her destiny is abundantly clear. If the love of God departs from this nation then America has no hope, and then Christianity will also be ruined because it will no longer have a purpose.</p>
|
||
<p>In the last days God has chosen one champion, the Unification Church. For thirty years the Unification Church has been the one power chosen by God to stop America from crumbling, and to restore this nation to His original ideal. We have that ideology and faith and truth backing us up. It is our mandate to uphold God’s will and His love. We are the champions who must propagate the love of God and His truth. Christianity and the United States are edging closer to utmost ruin and despair, and the time will come when they will desperately look for hope and grab the Unification Church as the only hope remaining. That is the destiny of the world.</p>
|
||
<p>The Unification Church is emerging as a tower of strength. The American establishment feels threatened by us and is trying to bury the Unification Church, but instead of the Unification Church being dragged down, it is our opposition which will collapse. That is the phenomenon developing today in America. Last year when we celebrated the True Parents’ birthday we finally came back to the zero point between plus and minus. Ever since last year we have been rising, and everything we do will accumulate and become a visible pillar of strength.</p>
|
||
<p>All through 1976 and 1977 different people tried to create a false image of Reverend Moon as a Korean government agent. One politically-motivated Congressional committee in particular has been trying to label me as a KCIA operative. All kinds of investigative bodies have been probing, but one by one they are giving up because they have found nothing. First of all, how could Reverend Moon be so small as to be an agent of the Korean government? It’s laughable! I wouldn’t even think of being an agent of the American CIA. How could they treat me like such a peanut?</p>
|
||
<p>All through 1976 and 1977 people were convinced that I brainwash you members. Maybe they thought I have a special gadget, and in order to be converted you go into a dark room and a switch is turned on and your brain is washed. If they ever looked for such a gadget they wouldn’t find anything even if they looked for eternity. I see all these charges as a great joke, just like an inflated balloon which pops if a pin makes a tiny hole; nothing is there. Do you think you are my slaves? You have been grabbed by the love of God. You never even saw me when you first joined the Church.</p>
|
||
<p>One thing is true; if you are truly a slave of the love of God then you are the happiest person under the sun. That has been my own goal. Whether you are a laborer, merchant or dock worker doesn’t make any difference. Ultimately men’s hearts crave being slaves of God’s love. I am pursuing the same goal,</p>
|
||
<p>and I want to be the number one slave of God’s love. Even though your hands are raising funds with flowers, they are working for the noble purpose of God’s love, to save this world. Your arm is God’s arm, and God is using it to recreate this world. There is no value in paying attention to my antagonists, and thus there is no fight. I want you to take pride in that position. It is our joy to be champions and stand for this cause, fighting every day against resistance.</p>
|
||
<p>We have already reached for the highest possible value. Are you happy? Do you think I am unhappy? No, I am proud. I am a fighter who has no reservations about his job. I am a tough man because I have the strongest power under the sun: the love of God. What should I fear?</p>
|
||
<p>Now you can see why I am giving this particular sermon. We are becoming possessors of God’s love and thanksgiving is overflowing in our hearts. Without love no thanksgiving can be complete, and without love the will of God cannot be consummated. Love is almighty and we have ultimate truth in the love of God. That power can unite our minds and bodies together into one, and together with the love of God and God Himself we can truly fulfill His ideal world, No celebration in history equals this one because we stand on a new plateau of awareness of the whole truth.</p>
|
||
<p>When you cry and feel sad, God’s sadness dwells with you. Every mood you have is always paralleled by God’s. When I feel infinitely happy, in that moment God will feel infinitely happy. We are moving forward to create our joyful victory, knowing that God will feel joy in that event. With the love of God we can march forward, and I want you to know that we have hope and joy ahead.</p>
|
||
<p>This year of 1978 is truly the year of marching and leaping toward the goal of God’s victory. Through this celebration let us unite and become tougher soldiers. Let us ignite the fire of revolution so that truly we can revolutionize this world and create a new one. Let us be harbingers of that world. Can you do it? Those who pledge to God that they can do it, it is your hands. Thank you very much. Let us pray.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1242 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1240" class="post-1240 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/14/new-morning-of-glory.html" title="Permalink to NEW MORNING OF GLORY" rel="bookmark">NEW MORNING OF GLORY</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-14T05:38:06+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/14/new-morning-of-glory.html" rel="bookmark">June 14, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-14T05:38:06+01:00">June 14, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">January 22, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>When we speak of glory let us think for a moment; can glory come by itself, or does it imply two or more parts? Each one of us wants to have a day of glory. The literal translation of the title of this message means “prosperity,” and “light or beam,” or the light of prosperity which is continually shining. An individual can have joy, but using the word glory gives a much more collective feeling and a broader image.</p>
|
||
<p>Happiness doesn’t dwell in just one place but shines out to all people. Glory implies prosperity and happiness for everyone, like a light shining out on a new morning where all nature is in harmony and rejoicing together. When the birds on the trees and the animals have been shivering all night, how do they feel when they finally see the dawn breaking? Even though there was heavy snow, as soon as they see the morning light their joy is abundant. All of nature awakes from the darkness and rejoices over that shining light, celebrating the greatness of the morning.</p>
|
||
<p>Which day can be called a day of glory for the United States? Certainly the day when this nation was finally born would be the most momentous. If a patient lying in a hospital heard the news on that morning, how would he feel? At that moment he might forget his own sickness and welcome the glory. Even though people suffering in jail might have some miserable past, when the morning of great glory finally dawns they will try to forget their own past and rejoice. From the palace down to the grass roots, each person would celebrate the moment of glory.</p>
|
||
<p>For the individual, the day of glory is his birthday. Do you remember what you did at the moment of your birth? You cried first. If it was a day of joy then why did you cry? We interpret that to mean that because you were so ecstatic your joy could not be contained. Birth is really the moment of liberation for a baby after being imprisoned inside his mother’s womb, not seeing anything or interacting with the rest of the world for nine months.</p>
|
||
<p>In the womb you were fed through an umbilical cord, but as soon as you came out you began to eat through your mouth. A drastic change took place at the-moment of your birth, opening up a new world and new hope. Since that revolution is so shocking and gigantic, you cannot welcome it quietly; you have to cry out and let the world hear. When you meet someone you have been missing for a long time, your ecstatic joy may be shown by your tears. At the moment of meeting that person you may cry more than you cried at your birth, and certainly at that dramatic moment of joy you have that new morning of glory. At the moment their new baby cries out do the father and mother also cry together? No, the baby’s crying is a sign of joy to the parents and instead of crying in sadness they really rejoice over their child.</p>
|
||
<p>If a prince is born to a kingdom then the whole nation wants to hear the news of that one birth. When the prince cries out as he is born, the news spreads throughout the entire kingdom and all the people shout with joy. Do you think that when the first children were born, first Adam and then Eve, that all heaven and earth responded or not? All things knew that their masters were finally born. The entire universe focused its attention on the new masters, not only the physical world but God and the entire spirit world as well. Their creation was actually the birth of one prince and princess of the entire universe, and that day was truly a day of celebration.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The growth of man is the growth of God as well</h3>
|
||
<p>What change came to the life of God with that event? At that particular moment, God experienced parental love because for the first time He had a child. Even though He already had the concept of parental love, God had no way to experience it until Adam and Eve were born. Does a mother with a baby still inside her womb experience stimulating joy and love for her child? The difference in experience between the few moments prior to the birth and then afterward is miles apart. God created all things with the ability to perceive His joy, but man was the first thing which God created to receive joy from by a response to His love. God wanted to manifest His love in creation, but response to that love can come only from man.</p>
|
||
<p>We conclude that God created all things as His objects to stimulate His joy. Joy was the purpose of God’s creation. Just like any parent prepares beforehand for the birth of a child, God prepared for Adam and Eve. He created all nature merely as preparation for the sake of His child. Once those children were born and could appreciate all things, God could also appreciate them. In other words, by seeing His own children really appreciating the things He made, God could receive added joy. Have you ever thought about who fed Adam and Eve and how they grew? Were they strong enough to pick fruit and feed themselves as soon as they were born? There must have been someone to nurse them. Today the great question in the religious world concerns the role of angels. In the chapter on the fall of man we teach that there was a realistic relationship between angels and human beings. God need not remain invisible; He can manifest Himself in a father and mother’s role to nurture His children.</p>
|
||
<p>Even when you go to spirit world you cannot see God so how can God show Himself? God can manifest Himself in any manner if He wishes because He is almighty. God was thinking about how to show Himself to the world and He finally made the decision with the birth of Adam. God is the father of Adam, and when He shows Himself He must have some resemblance to Adam. It was a moment of great revolution for God Himself when He finally made up His mind what He should look like. Naturally it was a romantic, exciting moment when God saw Adam!</p>
|
||
<p>The morning of glory for God in the creation of the entire universe was the moment of Adam’s birth. When you ask what God looks like, the answer is that God is like Adam and Eve. Before Adam and Eve fell they were the walking, physical God here on earth. As the visible form of God, Adam and Eve were to take over kingship of the physical world, whereas God remained the invisible king of the entire spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>You may ask an important question: Why did God create man? God wanted to assume tangible form and the day man was born was almost like the day of God’s own birth. As Adam and Eve grew to perfection, God spiritually grew into perfection together with them. That’s very logical too. God and Adam were one and the same person actually, and therefore when Adam laughed, God laughed. When Adam was moody then God was also moody. When Adam worked, God worked.</p>
|
||
<p>Why should it be like that? Everything is geared toward perfection, both here on earth and in heaven, with God and man growing together. The growth of man is the growth of God Himself as well. In religion we talk about perfection, but what is it? If a person who always walked can now run, has he reached perfection? Perfection means the perfection of love, with no lack of any kind, a perfectly round love. Do you know there is love because you have seen it? We do not see love but we know it is there, even though we don’t know where it comes from.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You are not loved because you are great;<br />
|
||
it is the power of love which is great</h3>
|
||
<p>Everyone actually knows little about love. How could love be yours unless you know its source? Do you handle love or does it handle and embrace you? Love can say, “You are mine,” but you cannot say, “Love is mine,” because you have not quite understood everything about love. Love doesn’t belong to anyone; love belongs to all. Suppose there were a terrible dictator who wanted to conquer love all for himself. No matter what that dictator might say, love would laugh at him because it will never come under the control of one person.</p>
|
||
<p>Love is universal and ubiquitous. What is love’s power? A distant thing can be made either farther away or closer by the power of love. Love is important because there is no distance in love. Could Eastern and Western people be brought into unity by military power, or the power of culture and religion? One unique power can unite them-love. Nothing like diamonds or gold could bring everybody into oneness; they would just dash toward an extraordinary diamond and each try to grab it so someone else wouldn’t have it. Things bring people to destruction, not togetherness. However, when you dash together in the power of love, no matter what kind of prior relationship you might have had, love melts you all together. Love is precious because through it all things can be brought into oneness.</p>
|
||
<p>Men and women are extremely different. Two women can certainly have fellowship, but can they become totally one in love? Two women holding hands and declaring their passionate love is rather ugly, isn’t it? In the Orient, women who have reached the age of marriage meet men through formal introduction, unlike the Western world, where you meet to go out on dates. At this introduction the woman is usually shy and can only lift her eyes up a little bit and peek slowly at the gentleman. I overheard one woman telling about one such introduction. As she looked up, the first thing she saw was the man’s hands. She was a beautiful woman with beautiful hands, but when she discovered that the masculine man she was expecting in her dreams had hands like another woman, her disappointment at that moment was overwhelming. She couldn’t imagine a man having hands like a woman’s and she didn’t even want to see his face.</p>
|
||
<p>Love brings both extremes into one, and the greater the extremes the greater the joy of love. Women are looking for masculine men and men are looking for feminine women. There the miracle and the power of love can be manifest. Could high level people and common people possibly be united in love or not? When you are really loved by someone, do not ever think it is because you are great; the power of love is great and because of it you can be loved.</p>
|
||
<p>What other power besides love could possibly unite Almighty God in heaven and man down here on earth? Can you say, “God, You must like me because my eyes are beautiful”? Are you the one pulling God? How beautiful you are doesn’t make too much difference to God because He can make someone even more beautiful. It doesn’t make sense to be proud or to show off in front of God. Many women are arrogant about their beauty, but parading around and expecting that everyone is admiring you doesn’t work with God. The person who is seeking real love doesn’t pay attention to external appearances.</p>
|
||
<p>What does God pay attention to then? You say He is interested in heart, but “heart” is another chunk of material; without love even heart is nothing. God pays attention only to love and the answer to why God created man is obvious. Unless you have the loving heart of God you all look peculiar, and no matter how much makeup you put on, none of you could be beautiful in front of God. When love is dwelling within, everything becomes beautiful, even a tearful face. Your laughing face and crying face are actually quite similar, and in love both are beautiful.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Because love is always in circular motion,<br />
|
||
eternity is also manifested in circular motion</h3>
|
||
<p>It is not important to say these things for my sake, but for you. Love can bring any extremes together into one and there is no problem with anything in between. Tall and short can become one and from the ends of the earth two can become one. Love is even faster than the famous Concorde. If one Concorde leaves from New York and one leaves from London and two hours later they crash in the middle of the Atlantic then the world is shocked, isn’t it? When God created the world and man, He wanted to see love travel so fast that when two crashed into one, the world would be shocked, but happily so. God designed love such that even He would receive this shock.</p>
|
||
<p>Why is there no destruction in a collision of love? Instead of coming to a standstill love turns around. Therefore, love is round and two loves turn together in perfect circular motion. There is nothing rounder than love. Since this is the concept of love, eternity is also manifested in circular motion. Look at the creation where the sun is burning but is not stationary; the sun also turns.</p>
|
||
<p>From this logic we can learn that our way of life is meant to be a turning way of life. Men and women are not supposed to live together standing back to back. When your face is turned outward you are showing resistance and you cannot turn so well. However, when two people face each other God can turn them and everything moves. God put all your important organs in front so you can face each other but turn without resistance in the meantime. The important things are united in the center and then the external things will naturally be united into one.</p>
|
||
<p>Love starts from the eyes, and next smell becomes one, followed by words and hearing. If you have parallel unity of sight, smell, speaking and hearing, then everything else is already one. When you look at a new person or your future spouse, what would you look at first? His hip or foot? No, you look first at the eyes of the other person. When you want to analyze a person you look at his eyes and then his nose. Why do you look at the mouth first instead of the ears? This derives from the heavenly principle of creation, in which the vertical things come first.</p>
|
||
<p>The whole creation has one vertical axis and then everything else harmonizes with that. All the plants grow up toward a higher position because they are ultimately heading toward the sun but if the sun were always on the horizon then all things would lean sideways. All creatures use four legs to walk except man, who has two legs. Man is the only example of a vertical creature; all the rest are horizontal creatures. God made only man to be able to understand God and the spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>Human beings are part of the animal kingdom of course, but you must not lose the dignity of being human, of being the only creature that God made vertically. All of the plants head toward the sun as their source of light and life and in the same way we stand upright because we are heading toward the source of love, which is God. Everybody wants to be taller in order to be closer to God.</p>
|
||
<p>Pride in knowledge is not permanent, and while many people have pride in their money, can one billionaire really be proud that no one is richer and more important than he is? President Carter has great power, but how long will that last? For four or eight years. The Presidency is only a passing thing in the sight of God and all ambition without love is temporal. More than power or knowledge or money, the most precious thing to achieve is love, which is the only permanent thing. If people really knew the principle of love then how could black and white fight each other? Their conflict indicates that they really do not know the true love which brings all these into one.</p>
|
||
<p>Reverend Moon seems to be a very greedy man, but the important thing is, greedy for what? Can you love someone who doesn’t want love? That person doesn’t deserve love. Don’t you want to see a person appreciate the gift you give them? Without receiving appreciation, a giver hasn’t much joy in giving. God wants to distribute love, but He wants to see that man is eager to win His love because it is so permanent and precious. When two lovers are expressing their love to each other then their feeling truly sparkles, but when one isn’t paying attention, it is just a lukewarm experience. Are you more enchanted when the intensity of love is such that the other person is trembling and his eyes even roll upside down, or would you rather talk to someone who is lukewarm, who doesn’t even care?</p>
|
||
<p>In English you have the word “electrifying.” Would you prefer love that electrifies a person when you touch them, or do you like love that has no feeling at all? When electricity touches your body it doesn’t take two seconds for your body to be totally shocked. God wants love to stimulate the whole body the same way. The only difference is that an electric shock comes and goes, but the shock of love remains and the person is so drunk in love that he is in a dream world. Even just hearing about it feels good.</p>
|
||
<p>What is the greatest, most precious thing? The power of love is always turning instead of going in a straight line and this circling motion includes both vertical and horizontal, but which one should come first? When you split a man up and down the middle you have two identical halves, with even his hair being evenly distributed. A person’s central vertical reference point is his nose. The photographer who recently took pictures at East Garden would ask me to move my head in certain directions, and all the time he was using my nose as a point of reference. If bodily shapes and contours are abruptly different or just scattered then they don’t produce beauty. Clearly the vertical must come first.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The West and the Orient are complementary in every way</h3>
|
||
<p>Western people write left to right horizontally, and if Oriental people also wrote horizontally, it would be a catastrophic situation for the universe. I don’t know who started these things, but it turned out to be in perfect harmony. An Oriental writes from top to bottom. If the Orientals write vertically and the vertical alignment of the creation is primary, then you should be able to figure out where solutions for the world will come from. The time will come when the Oriental philosophy and way of life will give certain answers to universal problems. The answers will come from the East first. not the West.</p>
|
||
<p>It is a logical deduction that the man who will unite all the five races into one will come from the Orient, not the West. This is the first such occurrence in history. The Western cultures have been abundantly blessed and thought they could stay that way forever, but now you can see that the sundown must be coming. You need that sundown. The West must make one grand turn and taste the night while the Orient experiences the sensations of daytime.</p>
|
||
<p>In a beautiful painting there must be harmony of black and white and color. That harmony is the basis of art. When you deny either the black or white then you can no longer appreciate beauty. God is designing one masterpiece, one world culture, but would He want to have blacks and whites isolating themselves and killing each other? You white people are like the white space on the paper and you cannot become great art all by yourselves. You need black, yellow and red together. In most masterpieces the white background doesn’t show; it should be mostly a mixture of colors.</p>
|
||
<p>Put yourself in God’s position. After matching two high-nosed Westerners, He sees that their noses will interfere when they kiss each other. What about having one nose high and one nose low then? Even in a movie scene, when two white people kiss each other they have to turn their faces. God feels there is a great deal of inconvenience there! God must be wise because He gave Oriental people a low profile so their noses don’t bother them too much in that situation. Wouldn’t you encourage international marriage, therefore? The power of love can bring the two extremes together and that is most dramatic, no question about it. No other power except love can bring East and West together with their extremely different cultural backgrounds and ways of life.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you like flat, plain ground the most or mountains the most? The plains can get boring day after day, but in the mountains there are always new views and activity. Western culture is equivalent to the plains because it is based on the horizontal. Americans treasure antique things, and even when they make brand-new furniture they make it to imitate antiques. On the other hand, Oriental culture embraces the peaks and the valleys, and no matter how much you study it you will never know all of it fully.</p>
|
||
<p>Even in action the cultures differ-for example, when two Westerners meet and disagree they decide to duel or joust. Orientals don’t do that, however. They meditate for years and years and just wait and see. Modern war has occurred primarily in the Western culture. Western culture is short-tempered in a sense, always resorting to showdowns with weapons. It originated in the cold North with hunters who killed to eat and then moved on. The tradition of Vikings and pirates is strong in Western culture, and when Western culture moves into a new territory it is accompanied by rifles and guns. You don’t like to hear this because you are Westerners, but someone must wake you up.</p>
|
||
<p>America would rather hear praise instead of criticism. Westerners have a deep-seated feeling of supremacy, and when an Oriental man like Reverend Moon comes in to say that white people have been wrong, they don’t like it. The feeling in America today is that Americans have a cure-all for everything; they have a scale to measure everything in other countries, but all of a sudden they find that their scale can’t measure Reverend Moon! You too are trying to size me up, and some areas seem understandable, but some are still a mystery. That’s why no one else can take over my job.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">When the highest and lowest things unite in the center,<br />
|
||
a circling motion will begin</h3>
|
||
<p>To make a long story short, the vertical line is the skeleton on which everything is built. A navigator always has a compass, which measures every other direction by comparing it to due north, and from there it measures 90 degrees, 180 degrees, etc. There is no actual object at due north, but it is the indisputable beginning point; it is both zero degrees and 360 degrees at the same time. One full circle begins and ends at the same point. The same point is both void and full. Due north is the center of everything and at the same time it is the center of nothing. That is God’s position. God is like zero because He exists in a void, but He wants everything to fill Him. “G” is like zero with an opening for everything to come in. Even the letters G-o-d are all round. The entire universe is turning and turning but unless that motion comes back to this zero point it will not be perfected. The lowest and highest will become united as one point. From due north we can draw a central, vertical line, and once it is drawn then a true horizontal line is easily drawn because all you have to do is measure a 90 degree angle.</p>
|
||
<p>This also illustrates the principle that wherever there is a perfect plus, a perfect minus automatically comes into being; if this vertical line is not perfect to begin with, however, then you cannot have a perfect horizontal. When you have a perfect vertical and perfect horizontal then you can have a perfect circle. The Unification principle, therefore, teaches that wherever the highest possible thing is united with the lowest possible thing, the presence of God is always there. When the highest and lowest things come together into the center then a circling motion will begin, surrounding the central axis. Then all kinds of circles can come into being.</p>
|
||
<p>Once you are dwelling in the highest possible position, therefore, you can cover the widest possible horizontal positions. Those who are self-centered look like one single, skinny line that doesn’t have any horizontal broadness, which is very dangerous. In contrast, the unselfish person of total giving has a sturdy vertical line as well as unlimited width. That person can encompass the whole area of the universe, and wherever he goes he makes himself the focal point. That person will not be limited in his activity. When you shoot a ball on a pool table it bounces around everywhere, and even though it hits another ball it doesn’t disappear, but stays and makes things happen. Normally when an object strikes something it breaks or falls down, but the person with roundness always has another way to go because circular motion has no end.</p>
|
||
<p>There is always a certain circular motion to every action in the universe. Even a bullet, which you may think is flying in a straight line, is actually on a curving path. Nothing really moves in a straight line in the universe. Do you want to be a vertical or horizontal person? The vertical person communicates with God, while the horizontal person communicates with the world; however, the horizontal person has nothing to do with God. When you link yourself with the vertical line coming from God then you automatically have horizontal communication. Why is that? The center of God is love and therefore, love is round. When you are united vertically with God you already are turning with God and there is nothing to stop you.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God anticipated seeing greater beauty<br />
|
||
once the extremes He created were united</h3>
|
||
<p>The day of glory for God was the day He, wanting to put Himself into physical form, created man. Why would God want to give Himself physical form? Since God had already created the world of physical form He wanted to put Himself into it so He could be the center of everything. God incarnated Himself in Adam and Eve, who were supposed to be the visible form of God. The theological world will call me a heretic because I am saying that each one of you is supposed to be the visible form of God. For that, some people call us blasphemers. God needs a physical form so that He can have His object for give and take of love. In that way God can perfect His love.</p>
|
||
<p>The day God created man here on earth was the morning of glory, but that was on the horizontal level. The real morning of glory is the day God will manifest that love and perfect it. The real new morning of glory dawns with the fulfillment of God’s love in perfection and roundness. You should think deeply about this, for it is most profound.</p>
|
||
<p>When God sees that day of fulfillment of glory in love, He will start dancing in His delight. When God starts to dance I think all of Belvedere will shake and maybe even disappear, and the entire world will be electrified! The sun will respond and dance along with God. When the wind blows, the trees shake back and forth, but this is only dress rehearsal for the day of the fulfillment of God’s love. Trees don’t just blow in one direction; they blow back and forth, like every manifestation of God’s joy and universal truth. The air currents make rhythms too, with high peaks and low peaks.</p>
|
||
<p>Dancing also follows some rhythm. Just holding your hands up high wouldn’t constitute a dance; in a beautiful dance there should be graceful movement, both high and low. I analyzed the dances of the East and West and saw that Western dance usually concentrates on the lower part of the body or on the legs. Oriental dance, however, normally utilizes movement of the upper body, with the legs merely used to move the body from place to place. Westerners were fascinated by the Little Angels, and in ten years they rose to the top of the cultural world. Why? There was some Oriental mystery in their dance and their art was in total contrast to beauty in the West. They didn’t represent just Korean dance, but all Oriental culture.</p>
|
||
<p>I urge you to study Korean so that you can write vertically as well as horizontally. In Oriental tradition we always use the right hand and practically never the left, and if someone finds that the person he married is left-handed, a certain reservation comes with it. Nobody knows who decided this age-old philosophy. The Orient represents the right, while the West represents the left. You left-handed people shouldn’t worry because both are destined to come together and meet in the center. Among the acclaimed scholars in the Western world there are many left handed people because they represent the Western world. Orientals sleep on their backs because they are looking up to heaven and welcoming God coming into them, but Westerners sleep mostly on their stomachs because they want to receive the blessing coming from the Orient, which is on the other side of the earth!</p>
|
||
<p>When you know the central truth about the universe then all these characteristics of East and West are beautifully complementary. Another difference is that in the Orient children usually are taught to be silent at meals, and much talking in general doesn’t agree with the Oriental culture. But in the West mealtime is a time for socializing. In the Western world everything is exposed, particularly the women, who are half-naked at functions like formal parties. The Orientals hide everything with long clothes, however.</p>
|
||
<p>I am not saying that one is superior to the other. God’s desire is to create two extremes so that some day the power of love would unite them together to create an even greater beauty. God is looking for one harmony between the two some day. At Sunday morning service the Western habit is to provide chairs or pews to sit on, but the Oriental way is to sit on the floor after taking the shoes off before entering the room. When God looks at these differences He would like to swap and see things the other way around. That is what you are doing right now.</p>
|
||
<p>I imagine the ideal of beauty in women to be black hair, white skin and blue eyes, but the nose shouldn’t be too high and the eyes should not be too deep. Sometimes when I look at a Westerner it takes awhile to find his eyes, they are so deep.</p>
|
||
<p>Orientals have deficiencies too, however; they are not all perfect either. God put too much distance between their eyebrows and eyes. My nose is relatively high, as Oriental noses go, and this indicates a religious tendency. Many Jewish people have similar noses. A high, sharp nose represents intelligence, but an artistic person might have that kind of nose also. Some people have one eyebrow higher than the other and their noses are not truly vertical and their mouths slant in another direction. I prefer to see thickness in the bridge of the nose because a person with a sharp upper portion will struggle in life.</p>
|
||
<p>The eyes represent God and the nose represents man, while the mouth represents all things. In the limited space of your face the most territory is occupied by the eyes, making God’s area the widest. The center of the universe is man, so the nose was placed below the eyes and above the mouth. The forehead represents heaven. When you draw vertical and horizontal lines, representing the cosmos, man then comes in the center, and when a circle is drawn forming a round face, that will be an ideal person.</p>
|
||
<p>I am speaking off the subject like this because everything, including the human face, is all linked to the universal principle. A high forehead is good and indicates good ancestors. The eyes have three different contour lines and the nose can also be divided into three. The mouth has a top line, middle line and bottom line, paralleling formation, growth and perfection. Also internally our organs are divided into three parts. It is universal law that three stages represent perfection.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Everyone should feel the dignity of being<br />
|
||
like God and walking with God</h3>
|
||
<p>You are actually a microcosm of the universe, and sharing with another person in fellowship is far better than mingling with nature because in that person you can find all of nature and God and the universe. Therefore, we are each ultimately looking for another person; a man is looking for a woman and a woman for one ultimate man. Once you find him or her you think, “I need nothing else. I have found the universe.” Man is a microcosm of the universe and one person can represent the characteristics of the entire cosmos, including God. If one man finds one woman and loves her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, that person is loving the entire universe, and vice versa.</p>
|
||
<p>When you look at the eyes of the person you love, you see the bloom of universal flowers, and when you look at that person’s nose you think it is an award-winning nose. To other people a certain mouth may look very ugly, but for the person who loves its owner, that mouth is a masterpiece of the universe. Ultimately everyone is looking forward to the one love in which he can be totally intoxicated, and no other power can do that except the power of love.</p>
|
||
<p>I said that the new morning of glory for God was the birth of Adam and Eve, and that the ultimate morning of glory is the fulfillment of love. Then what is next? Ultimately God is looking forward to loving His grandchildren. God felt ecstatic joy with the creation of Adam and Eve and He wanted to teach them how to have the same experience. Only by being in God’s position to feel the same parental love toward their own children could they learn this lesson. I feel parental love toward Hyo Jin, for example, but how can I teach him parental love? By letting him get married and have his own children. It brings joy to parents when their own children become parents. That is a day of glory.</p>
|
||
<p>Does your whole face laugh when you are happy, or just a certain portion of your face? A person may laugh sometimes with his eyes and nose, but if his mouth doesn’t move, that person lacks food. When a person’s eyes and mouth are wide open in laughter but his nose is not moving, that person lacks children, because the nose represents man. If everything else laughs but the eyes, that person doesn’t have heart. Everything should move when you laugh.</p>
|
||
<p>This represents the entire relationship of God and man and the whole universe. Therefore, for all things to link their joy to God they have to go through man. In order to relay His joy to all things of the earth, God has to go through man. Man is like a bridge in the middle, needed by all things and also by God. Man is the center of the universe so when man moves, God moves. When man sits, God will sit. When men get up, God will get up.</p>
|
||
<p>When you walk you can feel that God is walking with you and the entire universe is walking with you. When you turn around you can feel the entire world turning with you. That means you will become due north as far as the universe is concerned. Wherever you are will be the beginning point of movement in the universe, and wherever you are you can relate with the rest of the universe. You will never be separated. Everyone can have the dignity somewhere in his heart to feel on top of the world. Those who think they are just trash should be rebuked because there is no such person. Everyone should feel the dignity of being like God and walking with God.</p>
|
||
<p>How would you satisfy such an ambition? Love is the only power which can fill it. Love alone has the power of unity to conquer the breadth and height and depth of the universe and bring all extremes into oneness. Regardless of your race, you are controlled by this law. If I become a servant I don’t want to be a servant to money or power or knowledge; I want to be a servant of love. If you want to be a son to someone, then you don’t want to be a son of power or money or knowledge; you want to become a son of love. If you want to become a king then what kind of empire would you like to rule?</p>
|
||
<p>Throughout history the one person who lived this philosophy was Jesus. He was known as the king of kings, but what did he rule? He never won a political battle and he didn’t do much fund raising and he never went after a Ph.D. However, he was king of kings in the kingdom of love. Jesus is indeed a hero and he has the dignity of being the first one to discover this philosophy, but somehow circumstances were such that he could not fulfill it 2,000 years ago. Now I will do it. That is my dignity.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Love reaches fulfillment in three generations</h3>
|
||
<p>To come back to this morning’s sermon, the first morning of glory for God was when He created Adam and manifested Himself in visible form. The second morning of glory was to have been fulfilled with the blessing of Adam and Eve, and the third morning of glory was the day God would enjoy His grandchildren. Then what is your morning of glory? First is the day you make yourself into the visible form of God. Then God will be in you and your body will become God’s temple. God will become manifest in you and you become manifest in God in complete oneness.</p>
|
||
<p>Jesus said in John 14, “In that day you will know that I am in the Father and you are in me and I in you.” How could Jesus say he was in the Father? By making an empty announcement? Only by love. Love reaches fulfillment in three generations. In the Unification Church we explain this theory in the heavenly four positions, with God, Adam and Eve and their children. The day of glory will be seen when the parents are perfected in the image of God and the children are in the image of their parents, making everyone in one image. That’s the morning that God will start to dance and sing to the world.</p>
|
||
<p>The partners in that dance will be His sons and daughters and their children, all embracing God and dancing around. That’s the morning of glory. That image was broken by the fall, however. Adam and Eve were never perfected in God’s image and their children never even knew God’s image. God’s love flows wherever He sees a resemblance and today the Unification Church is trying to restore this image, meaning that you must restore yourself in the image of God. Then you will be like unfallen Adam and Eve, resembling their perfection. That’s why there is true parenthood in our Church, fulfilling that position of true Adam and Eve.</p>
|
||
<p>Again, three generations are needed to perfect love. God and Adam and Eve alone cannot be perfected, but God, and Adam and Eve with their children will make one big circle. God constructed man’s span of life in such a way that he could enjoy his children and grandchildren during his earthly life, and the person who can see his grandchildren has seen his morning of glory.</p>
|
||
<p>While you are living here on earth you can experience being in the children’s position to God and then His position as parent, and ultimately God’s position before you die. God and Adam form the vertical line and the horizontal line will be children. Man should experience all three levels before ending his physical life on earth. Consummating the three levels of love will be your asset in heaven. When you look at this ideal and compare it to American families today it is clear that many homes are breaking down. Would the ideal family naturally put all its senior citizens in nursing homes? Would you like to stay in such a place when you get old, or stay with your own sons and daughters and grandchildren? Naturally you want to live with your own children and grandchildren, and so would your grandparents.</p>
|
||
<p>Many senior citizens in this country live by themselves or in institutions, waiting day after day to see their grandchildren. That is real torture. America has lost a God-centered way of life and become so horizontal that there is no vertical line at all. One good may come out of it, however. All the senior citizens will truly have a chance to feel the agony of God, who has been waiting 6,000 years for the coming of His own children. That is exactly God’s position, and perhaps feeling that deep sorrow will expedite their own repentance.</p>
|
||
<p>Is society in despair, or looking forward to the morning of glory? How can you turn this tragic situation into a hopeful situation? That can only be done by manifesting the love of God. Each of you must feel the pain of those lonely senior citizens, the pain of a devoted father and mother missing their children. Without really experiencing that pain you will have no way to comfort them. The only person who really knows this loneliness and painful agony is God and He is the real teacher.</p>
|
||
<p>Only God’s experience in history can comfort the universe and show people the way to restore themselves into wholesome unity. The Unification Church, therefore, is here to truly champion God and His agonized heart and after truly understanding this heart we will have the power to comfort the world. We are here to experience the pain and brokenheartedness of God when He saw Adam and Eve depart from Him. When we feel that pain of seeing Adam and Eve unite with Satan and fall, of Adam losing his bride when she united with Satan, the pain of God seeing only satanic children here on earth, then we can have hope for restoration.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Marriage is a day of inheritance of love from God</h3>
|
||
<p>Let me ask, did you change by joining the Unification Church? Did you find a new you? Your values of life have become different since joining. In the everyday world parents worry if their teenagers don’t go out on dates, but the Unification Church is different. We are not worried about that at all because we are busy dating God instead. The entire world is inclined more and more toward free sex and sensual desire, but here in the Church we are absolutely living up to a God-centered moral standard.</p>
|
||
<p>When you heard the Divine Principle did you find new vision, new hope and new value? At that moment you experience repentance and think, “I wish I could have been a much cleaner person, more genuine, and now have more offering to make to God.” Many people have lots of regrets. We are going to fulfill the heavenly four positions and to do that we need three generations. You have found God and you also must find children, and until then each of you must preserve yourselves in genuine purity and loyalty. I do not think only of my family when I talk about my own children; I am seeing you. God is the first generation and True Parents the second generation, and you are the third generation, but here we find all races and all kinds of people. Because I see all of you as my children I bless you in marriage.</p>
|
||
<p>In the garden of Eden God created Adam and Eve and would have blessed them as a couple but when they had children, who would have blessed them? Adam and Eve in the position of God would have given them the blessing. The marriage ceremony is absolutely for the giving or inheritance of love, and in it love is flowing from God through the parents to you. In the world outside our Church, people go to a pastor or minister to get married, or sometimes in the Orient they look for some celebrity. That’s what they feel is a great honor, but that is wrong. Marriage is a day of inheritance of love from God, and in the Unification Church marriage is truly the coming of love from God to parents and from parents to their own children.</p>
|
||
<p>Unification Church members are primarily young, mostly in their twenties and thirties. Many of you left some other church a long time ago and wandered around seeking some other solution, but you couldn’t find any until you found the Unification Church. When you settled here it became controversial in both the satanic world as well as the heavenly world. To Satan it was an event of despair because he lost, but on God’s side it was an event of joy because God won you to His side.</p>
|
||
<p>Restoration starts with grandchildren, who assist in the restoration of their parents and then go up toward God. The mainstream of the Unification Church is you young people, and out of everyone, whom do we need most? Eves. Adam was first in the garden of Eden, but in restoration Eve must go first. Adam was not able to fulfill his responsibility in the garden of Eden and permitted the fall of man, and in the restoration process, therefore, we start out with Eve. When you make a mistake at home, you must make some reconciliation with your parents, but which side would you go to, your father or your mother? It’s easy for women to fall and easy for them to be restored; women cannot uphold the permanent responsibility, but they are handy for temporary responsibility. I’m sorry ladies!</p>
|
||
<p>Women are easy talkers and they accent their mouths with lipstick, but men are silent and reserved, even growing beards which hide their mouths. Man should be more dignified. A man who chirps like a sparrow doesn’t measure up to the dignity of men.</p>
|
||
<p>In Japan two thirds of the Unification Church members are women, but in America there are more Adams. God had to get busy because when I ask what kind of bride the American men want, they all answer, “I want an Oriental wife.” God hears the answer and so He has to get to work and find lots of Oriental women! Oriental women have the virtue of absolute loyalty, just like Mother. Women must preserve the feminine character which God gave. In Korea we have an old saying that when a hen has a claw like the rooster does, it is a bad omen for the household.</p>
|
||
<p>Women today are really the ruining factor of American culture. I am warning American women that they should be more feminine and learn from the pattern of the Oriental way of life. Precious things are usually hidden away, and if your body is precious then you have to cover it. The fall of man resulted from sensual desire and the fallen act is going on everywhere. In order to reverse the fall we have to go in the opposite direction.</p>
|
||
<p>I would never like to see anyone, particularly the women, exposing themselves. What would you men say? If you are married and your wife is dressed so that other men laugh at her or tease her, would you feel good? Your wife is precious so her body is precious. A precious diamond is usually wrapped up with a humble cloth and hidden away. Displaying it in a spectacular manner only invites temptation.</p>
|
||
<p>In the Unification Church you must win the heart of God in order to get the best husband. Putting on humble clothes and working hard is the best way to get God’s attention and get the best husband, not wearing make-up.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God’s new morning of glory</h3>
|
||
<p>What is the day God celebrates as the new morning of glory and the day we celebrate our new morning of glory? When will God proclaim it to the world? The day of glory for God, which is the morning of glory for you, is the day of the fulfillment of the heavenly four positions. Then God will say, “Indeed I have fulfilled my love, and I have no more aspiration. My job now is to enjoy it.”</p>
|
||
<p>God wants to see families which He can freely visit, so that wherever He goes He can feel completely at home and without any hesitation embrace all the members of the family. When the father is riding on the back of the grandfather and the children riding on the father, that’s their expression of love. Then on the grandmother’s back there is the mother, and on her back is her daughter, with all three rejoicing and dancing around together. Then they could swap horses and the daughter ride on the grandfather, and so forth. This is the kind of ecstatic expression that might happen in a heavenly home. In such a home there is loneliness if one person is missing for</p>
|
||
<p>one evening. This family always hopes to be united every night and truly enjoy their oneness and harmony and love. Has God seen the fulfillment of His dream in your home? How about in the home of Jesus?</p>
|
||
<p>God’s dream still remains unfulfilled. It was not fulfilled 2,000 years ago, or in the home of any religious leader or any American home, and today the Unification Church is here to pledge to fulfill that dream. We don’t want to confine that fulfillment to our Church, but to expand it all over the world. Wouldn’t that be the Kingdom of God on earth?</p>
|
||
<p>Here on earth there will be cries of joy resounding all over the world, and when that sound reaches the spirit world would everyone there say, “Why are you so noisy?” or would they rejoice together? The Unification Church is making a prototype of love so we can expand it into your home with your parents and grandparents. You can learn about loving your own children from seeing how True Parents love their children.</p>
|
||
<p>Teaching that kind of love is my mission. Are there people from all races here in this room because they came for money or new knowledge? You are here for love; here we find love which historically we could not find before. Most importantly it exists vertically, not just horizontally. Not only can you rationalize it logically, but you can make it a way of life. True love starts out vertically, but ends up together with the horizontal. This is why we have both spiritual and physical phenomena in the Unification Church. You not only hear me physically, but those who are spiritually strong can hear me in dreams and revelations.</p>
|
||
<p>Where true love moves there is no day or night, and no physical world or spirit world. It can travel all day and all night because there is no barrier. When a person comes to the Unification Church and experiences this love then no matter what kind of power tries to take him out, nothing can do it. There is such a strong tie that he is pulled right back in.</p>
|
||
<p>People normally go back home on two occasions, when they are successful and they want to show off, or when they have failed miserably and have no place else to go. This life is your home, whether you succeed or fail. If there were an easier way to reach heaven then I would be the first one to escape, but whether you like it or not, this is home. Here we can have the love which embraces and cleanses and forgives. Wherever you go you’ll find only one place like this.</p>
|
||
<p>We are not just talking about love; we are showing love and learning love and living love, and this love is connected to God and the universe. If you remove yourself from this place then you are trying to separate yourself from the universe. That is impossible and therefore, it is impossible to separate yourself from the dwelling place of this love. God not only wants blessed couples to make homes which He can visit, but God wants to go on to your parents’ homes as well. Furthermore, He wants to go to your grandparents’ homes. God wants to create three generations of homes in which He can pay a visit without any hesitation.</p>
|
||
<p>When God comes to visit your home He will say, “I don’t want to go back to heaven. This is better.” God is smart! When you go up in heaven there is no one else to communicate with, but in your home He can see you and your children and He will want to stay. Our ultimate goal is to have heavenly families where children and parents and grandparents are all together, rejoicing over the love of God and really praising the glory of God. That is the morning which was longed for not only by God, your own parents and grandparents and all generations, but all things of creation as well. Not just one generation but three will complete it. When God sees that family realized here on earth then He will declare the morning of glory. There is no greater morning of glory.</p>
|
||
<p>The young people are responsible to bring perfection to the world today, and if the old generation remains wicked then God might strike them. The new generation is the hope of the world, to become the remnant which will eventually fulfill God’s will here on earth. When you look at the spirit of today’s young people it is more wicked than constructive. The only hope is the youth in the Unification Church, because you are moving in a direction 180 degrees opposite theirs. We don’t have much money or power or knowledge, but we do have love and that will prevail. That is the almighty power, the greatest of all you could wish for. You don’t need anything else because with this love you can unite all the continents and all races. There is nothing you cannot unite with it.</p>
|
||
<p>Anyone who would only marry within their race has a satanic idea. I never thought of myself as a Korean man but as a citizen of the world. You too must become color-blind in that respect. Imagine a black grandmother and white grandfather, with brown children who then marry Orientals or Indians. In that one family God could see all different colors.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Soon I want to send you to your homes as missionaries</h3>
|
||
<p>My own parents and grandparents are in spirit world and in this respect you are superior to me. Because your parents and possibly your grandparents are here on earth, you have a chance to go back and restore them. If for some reason your father and mother were separated, I hope you will become a moving force to bring them together so you can bring them into heaven in spirit world. You must also bring your own brothers and sisters and your grandparents into the Kingdom of Heaven. You are messiah to your clan.</p>
|
||
<p>Jacob moved with three generations of his family from one place to another and you must bring three generations with you to the Kingdom of God. By doing it you can certainly look forward to the day of glory, and invite the morning of glory for God. We have now come to the age for doing these things. By writing letters to your own parents and by visiting or calling you can bring them closer to God. God sees you as the messiah to your own family. When you have the power to unite three generations then you have encompassed all mankind. The Kingdom of God must blossom here on earth, expanding from you to your clan so that both you and God can declare the morning of glory.</p>
|
||
<p>Who has written their parents like I asked? Letters are important, the next best thing to being there yourself. Write your testimony, showing your love for them and telling about what you found here. You have a lot to write about. ” I am becoming a very righteous person. My parents, you look at me as your child, but I have matured and become different. You know that I troubled you so much, but now after receiving the Divine Principle I have a new vision. Reverend Moon is criticized by people who never even heard him, but it is what Reverend Moon is teaching that brought me to new life.” In time your parents’ opposition will subside.</p>
|
||
<p>At first America opposed me, but the time will come when America’s heart will change because the spiritual atmosphere has changed. Until now Unification Church members feared their own parents and worried about kidnapping, but now I am telling you to approach your parents because in time they will welcome and embrace you instead of criticizing. Before your blessing you must be able to receive the support of your parents and grandparents, so that you have three generations ready to speak for you.</p>
|
||
<p>Vertically speaking, God, True Parents and all of you are three generations, while horizontally speaking, you, your parents and grandparents make three generations. When 1980 comes I would like to let you go to your own homes as missionaries instead of going out to work on the street corners to evangelize. Public opinion will change by then and people will see hope in the Unification Church. The rest of the world is crumbling so quickly that soon it will have only this way of life to rest upon. When you go back home you can quickly restore hundreds of people surrounding your clan, but you must prepare now, by writing letters for example.</p>
|
||
<p>I sacrificed myself for your sake and for America. Can you also demonstrate sacrificial spirit on behalf of your own parents and clan? Even though I have come to the moment of restoring my own family, they have already gone to spirit world and there is not much for me to do. But for you that day is here. The fulfillment of my mission is complete but I cannot go back to my own home. I could not go back before I achieved universal victory, and while I was struggling to be victorious my family all went to spirit world. It is different for you; instead of returning that glory to my own clan, I want to return it to all mankind.</p>
|
||
<p>After the fall of man took place in the garden of Eden, Cain slew Abel, his own brother. That really consummated the fallen act. Now you are in the Abel position and Cain will be your own brothers and physical father. Your father could be in the position of the most difficult Cain, but if you unite with him then your brothers will come in very easily. Having your father in that position is far better than Abel’s situation in the garden of Eden. A brother may kill his own brother, but normally a father will not kill his child.</p>
|
||
<p>Because of the new spiritual trend there will be no more bloodshed in religious history in the future, even though we are undertaking a religious revolution. When I came to this unfamiliar country of America there were all kinds of threats to my life, and I was prepared to die. You don’t have that same danger, however, particularly when you go back to your own clan.</p>
|
||
<p>The time will come when you can go back to your own father and brothers to resolve everything, saying, “Here I am and here is my record of accomplishment. What did I do wrong? What is selfish?” If they recognize that your record is a God-centered one then you can say, “Won’t you follow me then and respect my judgment?” In your home you can be straightforward, unlike with strangers. Once you sway your physical father then your brothers will also follow. It won’t be that difficult.</p>
|
||
<p>I have done the ultimate task. Since I cannot go back home to disseminate the blessing I would rather give it to you so you can expand that blessing to your own clan. I regret that it took so much time for worldwide restoration that I cannot return home for that time of glory. If my grandparents and father and mother were waiting to see me again, would they be grateful and bursting with joy? I can imagine that scene and I feel empty inside because I will not see it here on earth. By loving you more and disseminating that blessing more to you I want to vindicate and heal that feeling.</p>
|
||
<p>Since we started restoration from far away, shedding tears and working to restore perfect strangers, the time has now come when we can shed tears and sweat for our own clans. God always sacrificed His own son and gave him up to restore sinners, but now the time has changed and God can love His own children and enjoy them. At the same time God will tell the Cain world that it must pay indemnity by toiling, that Abel has done his job.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">This is the year to be bold and strong</h3>
|
||
<p>As we go in this direction you will see that the rest of the world will fall into more confusion and uncontrollable chaos. Soon the Unification Church way of life will shine like a tower of strength, and even though they don’t want to, everyone will have to see it. When there is unity between God, Adam and Eve and children, three generations united in the Unification Church, then all the angelic world will defend and preserve it. The closing battle of good versus evil will begin but the angelic world will do the fighting, not us.</p>
|
||
<p>With that shield around us God can dwell inside and enjoy peace and tranquility with us. You won’t even have to make an effort to feel God inside that kingdom because you will already be in God. Adam and Eve before the fall did not have to make conscious effort to understand God because He was already real to them. In ancient times the Cain world forcibly brought the Abel world down to hell, but now the time is reversed and Abel can bring Cain out of hell into heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>I have done my job and even if I died today it would not upset the dispensation; I will be accepted in spirit world as the person who fulfilled the mission. However, I want to make sure that you will be in that position and fulfill the mission in your own homes, that your home can stand with God. Restoration involves your ancestors and parents, and when you fulfill the external conditions you can go home to restore your family. God cannot use Adam and Eve to restore history because they brought the fall to this earth, so God uses you, the children, for the providence of restoration.</p>
|
||
<p>Abel is always the central figure and always Abel was the sacrificial offering on the altar of God. Sacrifice is the road to heaven and today that Cain and Abel pattern is expanded all the way from the individual to the world. The communist world represents Cain’s world, whereas the free world represents the Abel world. In the free world the Unification Church is in the position of Abel, opposed by the rest. We have been beaten and persecuted and we were silent about it, but now the time has come for good to go forward with the offensive.</p>
|
||
<p>Restoration is done and upon that conditional victory the elder brother has the restored birthright, meaning that the elder brother has become the younger brother and the younger brother has become the elder brother. We have been in the younger brother’s position all this time but now the time has come for us to act like the elder brother to the world.</p>
|
||
<p>With God and restored Abel united totally into one, there is no other power which can dominate us. When God and Adam become totally one then certainly the archangel must come down to his respective place. I proclaim that this year we must be bold and strong. If anyone speaks ill of Reverend Moon without any reason, you just stand up, saying, “I am a follower of Reverend Moon. What did he do wrong? This is what he taught and this is what I am. Without hearing him how can you say these things?”</p>
|
||
<p>This testimony will become the greatest of all: “I used to be like you and I opposed him when I didn’t know him too well, but after knowing him I changed. I used to have no vision and only pursued carnal pleasure, but today I’m working for God and the world. 11 you say that this is wrong then you are indeed an enemy of God and mankind.” When you talk to your own parents you can speak very openly. “This is what I am. More than anyone you know what I used to be like, so which one would you take? If you approve my goals and way of life now, then you must be sympathetic and supportive.” Be bold and strong. Don’t hesitate.</p>
|
||
<p>I am intensely anticipating 1980. You will be like someone with wings. You won’t have to have seven years to restore eighty-four people when you truly go and fulfill the role of messiah to your own clan. After restoring the clan we talk about the nation, then the world. This will parallel the three stages formed by Jesus, his twelve disciples and seventy-two disciples.</p>
|
||
<p>Don’t talk about the Kingdom of Heaven without doing this. When you actually fulfill this then you qualify to receive the blessing. Eighty-four seems to be a gigantic figure because you know how difficult it is to bring in one person, but when you are taking care of your three generations at home-you, your parents and brothers and sisters, and grandparents-there will definitely be more than eighty-four fulfilled. If you can restore your own parents then the impact will go deep into spirit world and all your ancestors will be able to come and assist you. You will never be alone.</p>
|
||
<p>The day of victory of religion has come and this is the day of victory in the spirit world. As you know, after the victory at Washington Monument in 1976 I declared October 4 to be the Day of the Victory of Heaven. Last year on True Parents’ birthday I declared the year one of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. On January 10, 1978 I declared a special 40-day condition, which will end February 20, and three days later will be the first anniversary of that New Age. Those forty-three days are very meaningful. The sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt was over after 430 years, and the year 4300 on the Korean</p>
|
||
<p>calendar coincided with the consummation of dispensational history in 1968. This is why I blessed 430 couples in that year. After these forty-three days we will celebrate the one year anniversary and start year two, so if you have made any mistakes, don’t worry. If you fulfill this condition well in these forty-three days then you will restore 1977 and be given great hope.</p>
|
||
<p>Your day of glory has not come yet, but you are going to fight for it and obtain it. You are looking forward to celebrating your own day of glory, and these forty-three days are going to be crucial in that. You are pledged to do it and you are now renewing that pledge. Those who will do it, raise your hands and pledge again. Thank you. Let us pray.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1240 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<article id="post-1238" class="post-1238 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-speeches-of-rev-sun-myung-moon-1978">
|
||
<header class="entry-header">
|
||
<h2 class="entry-title">
|
||
<a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-dividing-peak-of-restoration.html" title="Permalink to THE DIVIDING PEAK OF RESTORATION" rel="bookmark">THE DIVIDING PEAK OF RESTORATION</a>
|
||
</h2>
|
||
<div class="entry-meta">
|
||
<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="2018-06-14T05:37:15+01:00"> <a href="/blog/2018/06/14/the-dividing-peak-of-restoration.html" rel="bookmark">June 14, 2018</a> </time></span><time class="updated" datetime="2018-06-14T05:37:15+01:00">June 14, 2018</time> <span class="bl_categ"> <a href="/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html" rel="tag">Speeches of Rev Sun Myung Moon 1978</a> </span> </div><!-- .entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
</header><!-- .entry-header -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<div class="entry-content">
|
||
<h2 align="center">REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON</h2>
|
||
<h3 align="center">January 15, 1978<br />
|
||
Belvedere, New York<br />
|
||
Translator – Bo Hi Pak</h3>
|
||
<p>The dividing peak of restoration is analogous to the mountain down which water flows; which side the water flows down will determine which of two totally different worlds it will enter.</p>
|
||
<p>Today all men are looking for some hope for the world, which reveals that the world in which we live is not yet the world in which hope has been realized. It is still necessary to eliminate all the negative forces which are blocking the fulfillment of that hope. This principle is true not only in human life but also with God. Saying that God created the world implies that He did more than just start physical life forms; He bequeathed His hope and vision to His creation and started it on a journey to the realization of that hope. Our beginning a certain task signifies the start of a journey toward a goal and purpose, and completing the task necessitates our going over a certain pinnacle.</p>
|
||
<p>Many people talk about a goal that they want to accomplish, but they are reluctant to make any diligent effort. In that case their hope will never be realized. Would you want to have a small, medium sized, or an extra large goal? We want big things that transcend nationality, culture, and the color of a man’s skin; we are the people who want to reach the highest, most noble goal possible. Did people of the past think differently? What about those of the future? Whether past, present or future, all mankind has been pursuing one great goal.</p>
|
||
<p>Why do people want big things? After all, having just enough money to take care of yourself is fine, but having too much money becomes a burden. Presently, you are living simple lives, but if all of sudden you owned enough gold to fill an entire room, it would be only a worry and a burden. You hope for big things, but if all of a sudden those big things were substantiated, what would you do? Could you take care of them adequately? This is a serious consideration.</p>
|
||
<p>Many of our Church members dream about having one intimate meeting with me, which is a pleasant thought for you, but it would be an enormous task for me! I would have to continue 24 hours a day with no moment’s rest in order to accommodate everybody. It is good to look forward to a wonderful goal, but once that gigantic hope is realized you must know how to take care of it.</p>
|
||
<p>Knowing that I could not possibly meet privately with every member of our Church, you actually redirect that particular desire onto the horizontal level in your dealings with others. When you meet with others or with nature, you act and feel as though you were meeting with me, putting yourself in my position to comfort and counsel and give lots of love. Suddenly you will find that not only is your heart filled, but you feel more joy than if you had met privately with me. Such men and women will be greater than those who actually meet me.</p>
|
||
<p>Let us expand this theory. You want to meet God, but putting yourself in God’s position for a moment, what kind of time would you need to meet with each of four billion people just one time? If they all wanted to see God more than once it would be completely impossible! God could not do it. Have you ever wondered what God’s main occupation is in this respect?</p>
|
||
<p>When you love someone, do you need to have them nearby all the time or doesn’t distance matter? There is a principle in this universe which says that the greater the distance between two lovers, the greater the intensity of their love. Have you ever felt a longing for your loved one? Normally when two lovers are with each other all the time they don’t feel an intense yearning for one another, but when they are separated their longing for each other becomes intense. Is this true of the animal world? Do monkeys have high hopes? No, this is the privilege of man alone.</p>
|
||
<p>Because we are fully aware of the rest of the world, we want to have a relationship with it instead of being separated. Therefore, man’s hope is big enough to embrace the whole world. Is a white person’s hope limited to white people, or does it include everyone no matter what color their skin is? Hope proceeds from outer to inner, and your pursuit of a big hope means that it hasn’t been realized yet. Historically the hope of oppressed people was realized first, and in the next generation they became the conquerors. Just as your body hunches up when it is cold, people normally gather together very tightly when persecution comes. When they clash with their oppressors which group will break first, the loosely organized group or the solidly united one? The Jewish people have provoked controversy all over the world. Many people say that Jews are especially brilliant, but actually all people are the same; the world’s persecution simply spurred the Jews to a greater extent than usual. The significant thing is this: when Jews were a persecuted minority they could not be destroyed or ruined, but when they became respectable and established themselves, they in turn tried to oppress others. This is the most dangerous time for them.</p>
|
||
<p>Being oppressed and persecuted is not necessarily a regrettable position to be in. Under those circumstances you can spur yourself on and manifest your brilliant ability. Is the Unification Church in a position to oppress others or to be oppressed? Persecution is coming from all sides, with people around the world united together to undo us. Instead of being defeated by them, we interpret their actions as showing hope that all five races can be united by the Unification Church.</p>
|
||
<p>It is a good sign that the Unification Church has become controversial and that people all over the world are trying to persecute us. It will all be over very quickly, but as long as it lasts you will be totally united because of this external pressure and you will form a solid core. You cannot prevent a high-pressure air mass from rushing into a low-pressure area, and once they meet they will create a happy medium. Your hard-core unity creates one which influences the whole area of these extremes and from that moment on motion automatically begins.</p>
|
||
<p>When you white people see a black person walking down the street toward you, do you see a black person or a brother? How do you black people feel; are you conscious of color? What is your instant evaluation in that situation? Even God has to see a person’s color, but God loves all men equally. The difference between you and God is that after learning the Divine Principle you reason, “Why do I love him even though he is white? Why is he my brother even though he is black?” Once you are convinced in logic, you start to love people of different races. That’s not God’s way, though. God looks at a person and thinks “He is my creation,” and instantly falls in love with him. God’s instant reaction is joy at seeing His child, and that is the strongest feeling of all.</p>
|
||
<p>America is really a multi-colored country, and sometimes you see two parents who both have blond hair but whose child has black hair. Sometimes I wonder if that is really their child, but if you put yourself in the position of those parents, would you ever think that the child was not yours? The fact that a child is theirs is more important to the parents than anything else. Everything about him is beautiful. Do brothers and sisters automatically ostracize one of their family if his skin or hair is different from theirs? No, before they think of their brother’s skin they think that he is their brother. That is the most important thing.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">In all creation you will find three points,<br />
|
||
a central line, and roundness</h3>
|
||
<p>The fact that the number three is mentioned so often in the Bible indicates that it must be significant. When three points are connected, an enormous variety of creations is possible and the infinite mystery of the universe unfolds. When you look at your own face, you see a combination of three points beautifully harmonized; your eyes, for example, have two corners and a center, as well as a top, bottom and middle. In the world of mathematics there is a zero point in the center and positive and negative numbers on either side. No matter which direction you move in, there is always an opposite direction.</p>
|
||
<p>The dividing peak is actually triangular in shape, forming three angles and three points. When love unites a man and a woman into one, they move to a neutral position where whether one is a man or woman is disregarded. The eyes function in a similar way. Each eye sees a different image, but the brain focuses these images into one picture. God placed the eyes so that they would focus without forming a double image.</p>
|
||
<p>Can you explain why you like to see a person laughing instead of crying? When you are silent or moody your mouth is closed and there is only one line, which doesn’t offer variety. When you laugh, however, your mouth is open and forms a circle which contains three major areas. A round shape evokes a good feeling because it can harmonize with anything without too much resistance. On a pool table the round balls can quickly move around and make everyone happy.</p>
|
||
<p>In the human body the rounder shapes are more precious. The important elements in our face, for example, are round, and the heart has a round shape as well. A person who is very healthy is not thin but built like a tree trunk, like me. This is important for you women to remember when you are selecting a husband. Don’t look at a man from only a front view; look at the side and check whether or not he is thin like a piece of paper.</p>
|
||
<p>All creation is essentially round; all the heavenly bodies are round and they move in orbits. It is the basis of creation that the more perfect the circle, the more perfectly something will harmonize with the universe. Laughter rounds out everything in the face. It is not natural to be serious for too long because God created us to laugh and smile.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you use just your mouth when you laugh, or does everything get involved, including your limbs? The face of a person who is really laughing without any reservation blooms like a flower. That person has a beautiful mind and cannot be a completely evil person. You can accurately evaluate a person by his smile and his laugh. Some people have very sneaky, uncomfortable smiles; their mouths are trying to laugh but the rest of their faces are stern.</p>
|
||
<p>When you really laugh your whole body responds. That is how it is supposed to act, but because there is a lack of harmony between your body and mind the whole body often doesn’t listen. An uncomfortable laugh reveals a great deal about a person’s mind. If there were many things to smile and laugh about together, it would mean that many happy things were happening. One laugh after another leads to happiness, and that is where art and dancing and music begin. Does anyone dance and sing when a tragedy occurs?</p>
|
||
<p>We are integrated with the rest of the universe and we have to move according to universal principles. Everything in the universe has reciprocal relationships and give and take usually results in three lines, both horizontally and vertically. Are your arms both the same or different? If several things are identical then you can stack them one on top of another, but your arms can’t be stacked like that. God didn’t make them to be identical.</p>
|
||
<p>It is natural that your two hands always join in a circle when trying to lift something. Trying to move your hands in a straight line is unnatural because we were not made to move in straight lines. You lift up your legs when you walk in order to cover three points with each step. Your fingers have three joints and there are three major joints in your arms. The eyes, nose and mouth outline three levels on your face. How ugly you would be if you had no nose, leaving you with only two levels on your face!</p>
|
||
<p>A person’s face reveals much about him. A person whose face dips in at the center will have some suffering during middle age. Why is the egg shape more suitable for the human face, with the wider end on top? Have you ever thought about having your two eyes located down near the chin? The eyes are way up top in order to oversee everything from the highest position. The eyes represent God and the nose represents Adam and Eve, being one organ but having two holes which join together inside. Should Adam and Eve be represent by two separate organs instead?</p>
|
||
<p>The mouth is wide horizontally, representing the horizontal or physical world where food comes from. In eating a meal, all three levels of your face work together; the eyes look at the food’s beauty, the nose smells its odor and the mouth actually eats it. Why did God give the nose the function of smell? The nose represents man, who conquers or controls the airy environment. The eyes and ears link us to nature and to our surroundings. You not only like to eat Western food, you sometimes like Oriental food, which shows that your mouth links you to the whole horizontal world.</p>
|
||
<p>The arms are placed on opposite sides of the body, but the two hands join together to make beautiful harmony. Do you write with your left hand or your right hand? The right hand never accuses the left hand of being idle and useless; instead they meet in the center and work together. A balanced person does not clap his hands to one side because everything should meet in the center and be straight.</p>
|
||
<p>When your two hands join together they form one central line which starts from between the eyes, and continues down the nose and the center of the mouth. You should be able to walk straight, not slanted to one side. A soccer champion who always kicks the ball with his right leg doesn’t walk down the street leaning to his right side; even though one leg is stronger than the other, the left and right work together. With both legs working in harmony there is greater strength than the two working separately.</p>
|
||
<p>How does this principle apply to men and women? Which unity is more powerful, unity between two women, or unity between one very masculine man and one feminine woman? Women’s basic nature is such that three women will never unite. When three or more women gather together there is always a squabble and the whole village erupts in noise. This is true in the Orient; is it true in America too? Putting together three of the Chinese character which represents a woman creates the character meaning “The worst possible consequences.” That is the Chinese philosophy.</p>
|
||
<p>A man is needed because women by themselves find it impossible to cooperate. The man should be the subject, standing like a tower in the center. This is the beauty of God’s plan in which one is feminine and weak and the other is masculine and strong, but joined together they make an invincible combination. Electricity works on the same principle. Keeping all this in mind, do you think that God would have created the Orient and the Western world to be the same? Naturally they should be different. When the East and West are finally united together the ultimate unity of the universe will be seen.</p>
|
||
<p>Love will be the binding force to unite East and West. The binding force of culture or of ecumenism will not hold, but when you bind East and West together with a chain of love, it will not break. Today the trend is for Westerners to be intrigued by the mysterious East, while Easterners are drawn toward the scientific West. America is an entirely foreign world to the Japanese people, but when they come to the West they want to stay. The same thing happens when Westerners marry Orientals; they want to go to the East to live because they find more stimulation there. When cold water hits a hot surface there is a big explosion; in the same way the ideal marriage will be a universal marriage of East and West. I am the flag-bearer in the quest for unity of the East and West with a chain of love.</p>
|
||
<p>I could go on like this for hours and hours, but in summary, I have been talking about three points. There is a central boundary line to everything. You must become men and women who can freely travel across the central boundary in each direction, because that action will be more in harmony with the universe and the closest to the Principle of God’s creation.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The American welfare system vs.<br />
|
||
heavenly welfare</h3>
|
||
<p>You say that America has a democratic form of government, but some aspects of American life are even more dictatorial and severe than life under communism. I am speaking of segregation, which is not so blatant in communist countries. When discussions about human rights take place in the United Nations, the communist ambassadors point out to the United States ambassador that in spite of the Bill of Rights, certain people, like Reverend Moon, are exceptions to the rule. Why are the American ambassadors embarrassed by such questions? There is definitely a deeply embedded attitude of segregation in America that cannot reconcile the differences between the races.</p>
|
||
<p>The American system of taxation illustrates how different chains bind people here than in the communist countries. In the communist countries the state is the landlord and farmers give one third of a crop to the government and keep two thirds to sell. According to the sliding scale of taxation in America, however, well-to-do people may pay as much as 80% or 90% of their incomes to the government. lt is a different kind of chain which controls the individual’s life here in America. On the surface people here are free, but actually there is not so much room for maneuver. America’s virtue lies in the fact that here the law is supreme, but when this nation faces a large-scale emergency it is totally incapable of dealing with it.</p>
|
||
<p>Should the authority of the law be the ultimate point of reference? Or is decency of human life and human rights more important? Democracy is supposed to be the government of the people, for the people, and on the surface American society seems to be open and free, but when you look more deeply you will find that it is very inflexible. The point is that harmony is essential; emphasizing only one element such as human rights or the law is inadequate to guarantee peace and prosperity.</p>
|
||
<p>The theory behind the welfare system is very fine, but in practice it has often degraded human life. New York is a victim of its welfare system. Norway and other Scandinavian countries are trying to perfect a social welfare system, or what they call “cradle-to-grave” welfare. That kind of system sounds good but it has killed human creativity and incentive. Why should you work hard to become a Ph. D. if everyone is going to be taken care of by the state anyway?</p>
|
||
<p>Young people must be motivated to live purposeful lives instead of spending their time in leisure activity, pursuing carnal desires and pleasure. God created man to live creative, active, full lives, and a welfare system only discourages that. The present system is so well-established and regulated that it is very difficult to bring about changes, but we must introduce God’s way of life regardless.</p>
|
||
<p>The so-called advanced nations, such as America, Japan and Germany, are all running into stone walls and it’s very difficult for them to change. Hope lies instead in the underdeveloped countries where people are willing labor and sweat to advance themselves. If they are motivated by the ideal and purpose of God, they will be much freer to invest themselves in building a God-centered world. I am not saying that the welfare system is wrong or that the American system is wrong. No, the original goal and ideal is right, but it has become distorted and gone to extremes. The original purpose has disappeared, and instead of providing incentives for people to really better themselves, it encourages them to sit at home and wait for their welfare checks.</p>
|
||
<p>There must always be give and take. The person who receives a welfare check must think that it was made possible by someone sweating to make those dollars. In appreciation, that person should want to do something productive to reciprocate, returning some benefit to society. That’s the only way a welfare system can be workable. One of the reasons New York is virtually bankrupt is that many New Yorkers wait for their money to come to them instead of contributing to the whole.</p>
|
||
<p>This attitude is becoming a world trend. Poor people from South America think that in America all you have to do is declare unemployment and sit in an armchair and wait for your check to come. From a heavenly point of view, the welfare system needs to be brought back to the original concept of God and made to encourage human creativity, giving dignity to man. We are certainly a different kind of people because we feel that it is a crime to become a burden to someone.</p>
|
||
<p>If I were a billionaire, would you like to sit idle and receive welfare checks from me, or would you want to be creative and make money, knowing I would use it for the purpose of God? The American government is puzzling over the Unification Church because other organizations pay their people to work, but here you work hard to contribute money instead. It is totally opposite the present world trend. The two systems must be harmonized because both are too extreme. We will eventually settle into the happy medium.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">In the last days the old world<br />
|
||
will be divided from the new</h3>
|
||
<p>How is restoration related to the dividing peak? We call the origin of sin the fall of man. Man originated at a certain point but fell below that level; restoration means that he must return to his original position. Since the fall actually initiated human history, where would you begin the history of restoration? Of course it would start at the extreme opposite of the fallen position, and the extreme end of history is what we call the end of the world. Restoration starts at the end of the world, or the last days, which the Bible says is when the Messiah or Savior will appear and save the world.</p>
|
||
<p>What does the Bible mean by the end of the world? At that time everything in the world will end. Whether the ideologies of communism and democracy disappear will not matter because they will not be serving any purpose. The entire national system will be based on the family as the building block of our heavenly society. When the end of the world comes, will the old family system crumble or not?</p>
|
||
<p>If we say that the area above this line represents heaven and below the line represents the fallen world, then everything we now have is below the line. All the systems, the organizations and the ways of life man now has all belong to the fallen world, and in one way or another they must end and start anew. God’s world should be the extreme opposite of the satanic world and use an entirely different system. Without doubt this present system has to end. This explains why a movement must begin which will lead people to deny the present ways of governing societies as well as man’s present habits and attitudes, and make a new, heavenly system instead. That heavenly way is what all men are hoping for. Such a movement will begin at the end of the world and signify the coming of the Lord. It will mark the transformation point from the old world to the new world.</p>
|
||
<p>Is the Messiah coming as one individual here on earth, or will he bring his entire government and cabinet with him? He will come as one person, and God will not automatically give him a family, society and nation. Initially he will restore himself into perfection and then he will restore his family, society, nation, world and cosmos.</p>
|
||
<p>When the cosmos is restored, the kingdom of hell on earth will disappear. This particular point is the dividing peak of history, the beginning point of a new history which will progress upward all the way into heaven. There is a dividing peak at every level of the dispensation, and in order to continue advancing every person must pass through judgment at each one. The Messiah cannot come and just declare that as of a certain day all America is in heaven. Each person has to grow into it.</p>
|
||
<p>This entire sequence will be covered within twenty years, which is the shortened period of the 2,000 years of New Testament restoration. The Messiah could not live for 2,000 years on earth, so restoration must be condensed into his lifetime. Through studying the Divine Principle, you will see that the Messiah’s work will be consummated within twenty years and if everything goes well it could even be done in seven years. That is the time period in which the Unification Church has been working, fulfilling those twenty years in three seven-year courses.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">The Messiah’s mission is vastly<br />
|
||
more complex than Adam’s</h3>
|
||
<p>What is the Messiah going to do when he comes? He will cross over the hills of perfection on each level of the individual, family, nation and world. Each one forms a mountain, and therefore each one has a dividing peak. At each level there is judgment and as a person continues advancing to the pinnacle of each hill, he creates one straight line. Finally he will reach the ultimate hill of universal perfection. When God looks at the work of His dispensation, He sees that this is the logical way to do it.</p>
|
||
<p>Did Adam and Eve need a Messiah before the fall? There was only one man, Adam, and his reaching perfection would have established the perfection of all mankind. Once Adam’s family was perfected, the entire human race would automatically reach perfection as it expanded into a tribe, nation and world. Because of the fall of man, however, the whole structure was demolished and everyone must help remake it. In order to repattern the garden of Eden in our day, the central person must be a man because God created Adam first. The person God promised to send in the last days is known as the Messiah, who is coming in the position of Adam in order fulfill Adam’s role which was left unperfected in the garden of Eden.</p>
|
||
<p>Many thousands of years elapsed as God strove to establish another Adam on earth. God has not changed His idea even one iota; this is why the Messiah will come with an ideology identical to God’s original ideal. He must perfect himself and set up his family, which will then expand into a tribe, nation and world. During Adam’s time the job was rather simple because Adam and Eve only had to be concerned with themselves. Once they were perfected, everything else would have been perfected. The restoration era is different now because there is already a world of people which needs to be restored, as well as many thousands of years of history.</p>
|
||
<p>Originally the perfection of Adam and Eve would have guaranteed the perfection of a society, a nation and the world, but they fell before they reached that level and everything else that came after the fall became the fallen world. When the Messiah comes to this earth, he will face an unprincipled world which is totally occupied by the fallen generation, while Adam and Eve had before them a vacant, unoccupied world. Unlike Adam in the garden of Eden, the Messiah comes with the additional mission of embracing the existing world and restoring it into the heavenly world. How difficult that mission must be!</p>
|
||
<p>Adam and Eve had an easy job to do, but they fell and brought the entire world down with them. Now the Messiah not only has to fulfill Adam’s mission of perfecting himself as well as his family, society, nation and world, but he must restore each fallen man and woman one by one, lifting them up to the original position. To make his job even more difficult, this world is divided up to an incredible degree by differences of language, culture and race. There are many barriers the Messiah has to break through when he comes, but nevertheless it is his job to bring the entire world together.</p>
|
||
<p>Now you can understand why the dispensation starts from denial of the existing system of living and of the old loyalties. Each person must first leave the old world and start anew. Unless there is a movement that teaches this, the world has no hope to return to God’s ideal. Just blindly denying things is not what is called for; you must know beforehand the precise way to recreate yourself. First you must see a new vision and hope centering on the Messiah. As soon as you unite with him you can become a new creation and give hope to mankind. Then all people will have a goal and can find the courage to deny themselves and unite with him.</p>
|
||
<p>Self-denial is necessary to get out of the shackles of the fallen world, but if you are blindly groping then you are like a ship without a captain and you don’t know where you are going. In the fallen world you have been buried under your family, your nation and the world, but now you have to cut the shackles away and unite with the coming Messiah.</p>
|
||
<p>When you deny yourself, you will find a new family; when you deny your family, you become the member of a new family which has the value of the world because it is equivalent to Adam’s family. This is why we have the term “True Parents.” They are the center of the new home and by joining with them you will create a new race. You can disregard anything you had in the past because your new value is greatly increased.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God is shaking everything<br />
|
||
loose in the sinful world</h3>
|
||
<p>Ultimately the new society and new race will expand into a nation and then the world, and from then on the fallen world will be rebuilt according to its original pattern without compromising anything. As the Messiah increases that success step-by-step onto the worldwide scale, he is not only building his own family, clan and race, but also restoring all the world’s human beings into his own race.</p>
|
||
<p>Everything in the garden of Eden remained as an unfulfilled ideal after the fall, but here in this new world the ideal will become a visible, tangible reality. You are becoming citizens of what country? God’s nation and the Kingdom of God. When the Roman governor, Pilate, asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.” In our time we will say that we are citizens of God’s kingdom on earth.</p>
|
||
<p>The Kingdom of God on earth is no longer just a concept, but a kingdom that we can make. Can the Kingdom of God on earth accommodate all the human races on earth? The kingdom, which you joined as a pioneer, embraces all races, all languages and all nations. You can cross all human barriers. Even God has had a hard time breaking through the racial, cultural and nationalistic barriers, but you have already crossed them. God has been struggling for 6,000 years trying to break down the barriers, but have you gone through such a bitter struggle? Some higher ideology has enabled you to cross those barriers.</p>
|
||
<p>Put yourself in the position of God, who has been doing His best for many thousands of years to eliminate the barriers, but who now sees the Unification Church members cross the barriers after going to a 7-day workshop. Would God be excited or not? There are no barriers for us; they have been broken down. In the world at large, barriers are only bent through force, and the battered human race can only see a world without any hope. People don’t know why families crumble, why society is corrupt or why one nation after another is falling.</p>
|
||
<p>The situation is America today is beyond the control of any human government. The extensive moral degradation has spawned trends toward free sex, streaking and drug addiction. Do American young people have any love for their parents or nation? Do they worry about the world of tomorrow?</p>
|
||
<p>God is helping us and preparing for the harvest by shaking everything loose in the world of sin. When the new ideology of unselfishness is installed, the evil ways of the old world can easily be pulled aside. No matter how proud Americans may be of their democratic system, the heavenly dispensation will replace democracy. On the worldwide scale the democratic era is over, but the communist era is also over. The communists think they will take over the world, but they will be defeated. America has been preaching democracy to the world as the supreme ideology, but America has found that democracy doesn’t always work everywhere. The entire world is answering that democracy is fine for America, but that each country prefers its own system.</p>
|
||
<p>Initially the communists talked about world brotherhood, but today they have become nationalistic, fighting with each other over their own national goals. The communists have proven that they do not have a universal ideology and that they cannot embrace the world. Democracy didn’t work everywhere and even here in America it is having a hard time. Money talks, and democracy functions according to money and favors. Is that true democracy?</p>
|
||
<p>All these things will come to an end. Democracy has always been manipulated largely by selfish interests; white people use democracy only to benefit themselves, while black people have not participated fully and have not been given their share. There has never been a black candidate for the American presidency, and even if a black candidate entered the race, no matter how great he might be, the white majority would think, “We cannot afford to have a black president.”</p>
|
||
<p>Democracy in the truest sense is not working; communism is only materialistic, emphasizing industry and productivity, as though human beings were machines. Of course, democracy is superior to communism because at least democracy recognizes human rights and dignity, but democracy is not the ultimate ideology. What will that ultimate ideology be? Does having constitutional rights make a person perfectly happy? Suppose everyone all over the world had the human rights that President Carter has been advocating. If a personal tragedy were to strike a person’s family then he would be unhappy, regardless of his rights.</p>
|
||
<p>Human rights should be based on the fulfillment of love. Love must be fulfilled and then having human rights will bring happiness. If husband and wife are fighting at home over their human rights, would they feel the fulfillment of happiness? Can claiming one’s own rights and disregarding the other person’s rights bring happiness?</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">God pays the most attention to love</h3>
|
||
<p>Love is the ultimate ideology. Centering upon love, the privileges and dignities of human rights can be given and the survival of such a democracy can be guaranteed. If individuals are concerned with giving sacrificial love then democracy can prosper, but otherwise it will wither. If communism was based upon a God-centered, unselfish love, then that ideology would be great, but since the basic premise is that God does not exist and that the material world is supreme, that could never happen. Millions can be purged overnight in the communist world, but that could never occur when love is central.</p>
|
||
<p>We can safely say that a new ideology centered upon love and advocating the universality of human brotherhood would definitely prosper. Is there anyone who would oppose it? As soon as people see that such a thing is possible they will welcome it as being superior to democracy. Even the communists will welcome it. Imagine God meeting with three VIPs here on earth-President Carter representing democracy, Secretary Brezhnev representing communism, and Reverend Moon representing the absolute universality of humanism based on love. Whom do you think God would pay most attention to? “President Carter, your human rights program is very nice, and Mr. Brezhnev, the communists have taken over two-thirds of the world already. Not bad. But Reverend Moon, you really have something unique there. ” We’ve described this in a very humorous way, but think about it.</p>
|
||
<p>I am unique because I endorse lovism, or Godism. I did not blindly reach that conclusion, but found it only after digging down to find the very core of the human fall, and even further, down to God’s ideal of creation. I have discovered what God’s ideology is, and I am proclaiming that now is the time to restore everything to God. I not only teach that ideology, I am actually living it and millions of young people around the world are responding to it. The entire world is literally shaking. Is there any other person in history who has done that? I can truthfully say that I am the first pioneer out of all humanity to go this way.</p>
|
||
<p>I am proclaiming today that the Kingdom of God on earth shall be a way of life, not just a concept or ideology. Many people say that I am really crazy for talking about the Kingdom of God on earth, but I am serious. You recognized my seriousness and you echoed that seriousness in your hearts, packing up everything to come along.</p>
|
||
<p>If you really know the Divine Principle then you know your true situation, and when people ask whether you would rather be President of the United States or remain a pitiful Moonie, what would you say? I’m sorry that you have been given so much hardship by people outside our Church. God likes it, however, and God is really smiling to see you.</p>
|
||
<p>In Korean language the word “moonie” has two meanings. First of all it describes a cloth with a beautiful pattern, like silk or brocade. Second, it refers to discussing or consulting with one another. Because we are Moonies we are great counselors, and we are making a beautiful spiritual embroidery to give to the world. I think God must have designed that word a long time ago. We discuss the Kingdom of God on earth and the Divine Principle. Just as the moon directly reflects the sun’s light, we reflect God’s light. God is shining upon the Moonies so that we can shine brightly to the world.</p>
|
||
<p>The amazing thing is that whatever we start in Belvedere becomes history, not only registering here in this horizontal world but also in the spirit world. You say amen, and the entire spirit world has already said amen.</p>
|
||
<p>Shall I continue speaking? Aren’t you hungry? No wonder people are afraid of me; when they come to Belvedere and see you bright young Americans sitting on the floor for so many hours and still smiling, they think that I must have some kind of magic power.</p>
|
||
<p>Now that you understand about restoration, is individual perfection your goal even though you may die? Family perfection is the next step and then the perfection of God. We are such important components of God’s way of life that without us God cannot be perfected. This is a beautiful ideology. People are flabbergasted and might call us blasphemers for thinking this. How do you perfect God? With love. God cannot have give and take of love by Himself; He needs someone with whom to have give and take of love.</p>
|
||
<p>This ideology will pursue perfection based upon love from the individual level to the entire cosmos, including God Himself. If God can be won over and even be perfected by us, there is nothing we could not do. Love is a miraculous thing because it is universal and there is nothing it cannot penetrate. Even a little puppy dog understands your love and wags his tail when you pay attention to him. No language is needed. If you really love nature then everything can understand you.</p>
|
||
<p>What is God’s hobby? Is it collecting masterpieces of painting and music? God’s hobby is love and He is a very romantic person. Because you resemble God, you can be centered upon His love and be His son or daughter. In the beginning of this sermon we talked about hope and happiness, but they cannot exist without love. When you have ample love then you actually have everything else automatically. When you young women anticipate marriage, do you expect love or hope or happiness? If I were to say, “I don’t like love,” you would know I didn’t mean it. Sometimes when you are especially happy your emotion is expressed in tears instead of laughter. When a hungry man is given delicious food, he may eat it too quickly and choke on it in his eagerness. Sometimes love moves you so much that love chokes you up.</p>
|
||
<p>When children run home with dirty hands and faces from playing outside, would their loving parents push them away and say, “Go wash yourself first from playing outside, then I will hug you”? No, a loving heart doesn’t see things like stains and dirt. With love alone can we transform the kingdom of hell into heaven.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">My occupation is that of a communicator of love</h3>
|
||
<p>You Westerners have lovely blue eyes; why did you come to see brown-eyed Reverend Moon? Forget you are here with me in this room and put yourselves back ten years before you knew anything about me. You have blue eyes, brown hair and lovely white skin, but the man you would follow one day has brown eyes, yellow skin and black hair. Before you knew me or my ideology, wouldn’t you have felt that the idea of being my disciple was strange and exotic? Without knowing the Divine Principle, if someone said to you that in ten years you would be following an Oriental man who would put you to work from morning to night, you would have felt that it would never happen.</p>
|
||
<p>Today it has become a reality. You are here smiling at an Oriental man whom you call Father, not even friend. That point really disturbs many parents outside. Nevertheless, this man who caused you to be here does not force you to stay either by keeping you in chains or buying you out with money. You have absolute freedom both today and tomorrow, but your own aspirations and hope and desire make you stay, and more than that, you have an iron will to go on. Heavenly love is the only force that could do that.</p>
|
||
<p>Sometimes I am away on trips and on Sunday you know that I won’t be speaking at Belvedere, that maybe Bo Hi Pak will speak. You may want to sleep on that day because without me you feel a certain emptiness. That’s our way of life. It is clumsier when I am here because I need an interpreter and you have to sit for three hours instead of only one and a half hours. The pragmatic American mind would think of things like this, but in our Unification Church</p>
|
||
<p>it is different. Your energy is not ignited when you know that I am not here. When you hear me speak, some power ignites you and you feel good just looking at me.</p>
|
||
<p>Several days ago two eminent scholars from Korea were here visiting me. They came to East Garden and we had a nice conversation and fellowship, and then one of the professors said, “Reverend Moon, I normally don’t stay too long at one place when I go to visit because I am not interested in listening to someone else. I am the one who usually does the talking and so I just extend a few courtesies and then leave. But you have just held me captivated and I don’t want to go! What power do you have?”</p>
|
||
<p>This man is a very strong Christian and he recalled what happened at the Transfiguration, when Peter, James and John saw Jesus in a dazzling white garment talking with Moses and Elijah. The three disciples were so uplifted that they didn’t want to leave. This professor said that was exactly how he felt when he came to East Garden.</p>
|
||
<p>What was the basic element that this professor was so moved by? Love. Who am I then? My occupation is that of a communicator or disseminator of love, not carnal, worldly love, but permanent, sacred love that will remain for eternity. That love can even make God a prisoner. That’s why you are here and no chains are needed. There are truly mysterious things happening in the Unification Church! If I were not a God-centered man but an evil man like a communist boss, then with this kind of power I could do all kinds of evil around the world.</p>
|
||
<p>One of our members who is now working behind the Iron Curtain wrote me one final letter before he left on his mission and said, “Father, now I want to turn my life into yours. I am going to a communist country and I want to cash my life in for victory. I may not be able to write any more letters to you and you may not see me until we all gather in the spirit world, but I will go to these people and give my entire life in taking care of them and being concerned for them.” I never ordered him to go; this man volunteered on his own.</p>
|
||
<p>Even though the communists talk about heaven, they actually govern by force. Mao said that power comes from the barrel of a gun. Chains and guns enforce communist regimes, but in the Unification Church people know what needs to be done and I get letters from people like this one brother. After the communists are restored and the glory of God is celebrated, this kind of person shall be given heavenly decoration and reward.</p>
|
||
<p>I feel that you are even greater than 1; 1 often think, “Go my son, and God will be with you.” We are united in that love of God which no one can sever. Even though your own parents may kidnap you and try to deprogram you, it will not work. I never admonished you to come back at any cost from your deprogrammers. Amazingly enough, many people who have been kidnapped and escaped to come back have never even seen me, only my picture.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Do you feel that without you<br />
|
||
God and the world cannot be perfected?</h3>
|
||
<p>Do you feel that the entire world moves when you move with this God-centered ideology? Your every step represents the world, and everything you accomplish on behalf of the world places it even more securely upon your shoulders. Do you physically feel that every step and every move you make is for the sake of God and the world? I am going toward world perfection, even the perfection of God. Without me God cannot be perfected and so I cannot fail. God says that without me this world cannot survive. Why then can’t you feel that without you God cannot be perfected? You are indispensable to God, and if you feel that way then you are always one with me and can communicate perfectly with me.</p>
|
||
<p>Most people look at me as one small man who came to America from Korea, but this is not what I thought. When I moved from Korea to the United States I brought the universal mission with me. I feel the movement of the universe, and if I push I feel that the nation has been pushed. Unless you have a motivation of that magnitude, you can’t expect any great result. When you have great conviction and internal unity in that spirit, a great result will come.</p>
|
||
<p>What is the timetable God is unfolding at this particular time in human history? Why is the Unification Church here, even in the face of persecution? We are going over each hill, one after the other, ultimately moving forward to the pinnacle. When the entire world comes against you and you have won over its persecution, then you have gone over the , hill of your individual victory. You are in only one small segment of our movement, maybe at Belvedere or the World Mission Center, and you may wonder how you could have perfection on the worldwide level.</p>
|
||
<p>You could say that you are resisting worldwide persecution. The important thing is that we become worldwide champions. The world championship fight might be held in Madison Square Garden, but that does not mean that Madison Square Garden is the limit. The world championship fight is being fought whether you are at Belvedere, World Mission Center or another country. You are engaged in the universal championship, and you can win on both the worldwide and universal levels.</p>
|
||
<p>Who is the worldwide champion then? God is the spiritual champion on the side of good and Satan is the champion on the evil side, but God cannot come down and box with a physical Satan. Someone has to evaluate which side wins and also regulate the game. In order to win a definite victory here on earth, God must have His physical champion. A champion comes from every land to fight the battle physically on every level, from the individual to the family, tribe, society, nation and world.</p>
|
||
<p>There are physical satans confronting me here on earth. When I wrestled with Satan, I won and then restored individual perfection. Anyone who participates in that fight can celebrate the same victory and reap the same result. Upon that foundation you will engage in another battle, the family-level confrontation with Satan. All those who participate in that battle will win the same victory, and then upon that victorious foundation they will build another level and progress upward again to the national level, worldwide level and universal level.</p>
|
||
<p>Actually one champion is laying the foundation and making a path. The entire world is not being demolished at once; instead one person is laying one highway from the individual level all the way to the cosmic level, and anyone who can be benefitted by that highway and move up to the cosmic level will not be taken away be Satan. He has no power over any one who is running on that highway. The highest peak was finally reached in the year 1976, with the victory of the Washington Monument Rally.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">My victory on each level</h3>
|
||
<p>The key year was 1960, in which the victory over the family level of perfection was won. In 1960 many people received revelations that a New Age had begun. The level of individual perfection was being won in the years 1953- 1960, when not even one ally could be found in the entire Republic of Korea; the government, churches and society were all trying to crush me and the victory of 1960 came amidst such persecution. In that incredible atmosphere I won the victory over the family level, and from that year on the blessings began. People were brought from the south, north, east and west of Korea and later the world, all being joined into one harmonious family.</p>
|
||
<p>Korea has five provinces and many smaller local areas. The local feeling is very strong and often people from one province despise those from another, but I mixed them all up in the blessed marriages. Initially they didn’t want to see each other, even when they were matched. Even though they were husband and wife they were reluctant to unite. The parents were incredibly difficult at this time, complaining bitterly about having their child marry someone from another province. “We are a noble and aristocratic family and they are low-class. How could my child marry such a person?” Nevertheless, I purposely matched these various extremes together.</p>
|
||
<p>After the marriage, if the husband’s hometown was way up north then I sent him on a mission in his wife’s area way down south, and gave his wife a different mission up north. Out of incredible disharmony I organized a heavenly tribe in the blessing of 36 families, then 72 couples, then 120 couples and then 430 couples. Up to that point everything helped to lay the foundation for Korea. In order to install the universal foundation after that, I gathered together another 43 couples from other nations to be the leaders of world and they were blessed in marriage.</p>
|
||
<p>History has never known the meaning of such mass weddings on a mammoth scale and all of Korea was turned upside down. Japan was even more upset, however. “Who is going to take my child away from Japan?! Who is going to marry him without his parents’ consent?” Well, you know who did it. In the 1800 couples blessing, white, black and yellow all came together in one blessing. Here in America parents heard all sorts of shocking news. Some parents thought that because they had been supportive of their children as members that Reverend Moon would be good to them by giving their sons beautiful white brides, but when I put some of them together with little Japanese girls instead, some parents were outraged.</p>
|
||
<p>Those parents who once were very negative about their son marrying an Oriental girl now say that they are absolutely amazed at how I could find such a beautiful daughter-in-law for them. Now they write, “Reverend Moon, I hope you understand me. I was upset only because I was worried about what kind of grandchildren I was going to have.”</p>
|
||
<p>Upon the foundation of these victorious conditions, I initiated the Washington Monument Rally as a showdown with the world and won the final victory. Was America visibly shaken by Reverend Moon or not? Ever since the Washington Monument Rally the entire United States has felt allergic to me. On April 3, 1973, I was given the status of permanent resident in America, and then I won this cosmic victory on September 18, 1976, after only 3½ years. If I had not been given the legal right to stay here permanently then I could not have fulfilled all these dispensations.</p>
|
||
<p>After the 1976 victory, Americans really woke up and thought they had to do something about Reverend Moon. All kinds of government harassment began after that particular victory, but the government is finding me too big to bite. The three most history-making years began with the 1976 victory. 1978 is the year of action, victory and assault.</p>
|
||
<p>This year there will be no more harassment in the form of investigations by government agencies like the IRS, Congress and Justice Department. They have been giving us the hardest possible time but now we are going over. These periods are actually necessary because Satan must be given a full chance to strike God’s side; he must not be deprived of the opportunity. A highway has been laid from the heavenly world to the bottom of hell, and the momentum of transformation is gathering. Portions of the hellish world are crumbling away piece by piece, and we will take those pieces and create the heavenly world. Construction is going on now.</p>
|
||
<p>From this time on it will be expanded to cover the entire world. We will make it a totally free world in which people can travel as far as they want in any direction. If we had not had the Washington Monument Rally then no matter what else we did well, the spiritual barrier would still be unbroken and no one could penetrate it. If it were still there and then I died for some reason, it would have meant that my mission was left undone. Then, just like Christianity endured much martyrdom when Jesus left the earth, the Unification Church would have passed through the same course of suffering. If the Washington Monument victory had not been won, there would have been no way for the spirit world to come down permanently and help this fallen world; it could have only come down sporadically. But everything was all done and no barriers are left. I fulfilled the mission, period. Therefore, on the True Parents’ birthday in 1977 I declared a new calendar and a new history.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Because the highway between<br />
|
||
hell and heaven is finished,<br />
|
||
the side of good can now prevail</h3>
|
||
<p>This highway is laid all the way from heaven to the dungeons of hell and the entire spirit world can come down all the way to the bottom of this world. Those in spirit world have been given total freedom to go anywhere they want in the fallen world. A new maneuver has begun because spiritually Satan has to confront these good spirits on earth. Spirit world has to be cleansed, and in order to do that they have to harvest goodness. The final separation of good and evil has begun, which is why everything here on earth is being polarized. Schisms are automatically seen wherever our movement is active, as Cain and Abel divide in the churches, academic world, everywhere.</p>
|
||
<p>When we confronted the satanic power before 1976, the Cain side always prevailed because of overpowering satanic strength, and because of the spiritual barrier there was no way good could prevail. Since the victory of 1976. however, this barrier has been removed and spirit world can freely come down. The good side is inevitably going to win and increase and not take any more beatings. This is why I told you that this is a year to be bold and strong, a year of marching and leaping forward. Don’t be a coward.</p>
|
||
<p>I may be small in stature, but when I take off all of New York will shake. Each of you can wage a war in goodness. You may be a tiny girl who is humbly dressed, but you can be a giant from now on. Let’s go to the world and be troublemakers for goodness.</p>
|
||
<p>People are pursuing all kinds of degraded life styles. You can really confront them and demand, “What are you doing with your life?” You know God’s timetable, and after 1978 is over your opportunity will be limited. Our publicity crusade team went to Albany, New York and had huge impact on the state government. They protested to the government officials about the delay in accrediting our seminary, even after it met all their criteria, and bluntly told them, “If you continue treating people in this prejudiced manner, you will be criticized by the world.”</p>
|
||
<p>Theologians at Harvard Divinity School are studying Divine Principle more than you are, and soon they will come forward and say that it is the most refreshing, logical and revolutionary theology they have ever seen. All this potential is there, all the dynamite, and all you have to do is ignite it. If I were to die now, I would not be a failure or leave my mission behind undone. I have consummated it.</p>
|
||
<p>Even now the communist media criticizes me harshly because they recognize my power. Their scheme is to set the United States government against me and then reap the benefit, but it will not work. Because communist youth hear about me through adverse publicity, they are inspired and think, “He must really be somebody if even the communist government cannot stand him and they fire their biggest ammunition at him.” The youth are very interested. Because of all the media and government harassment in America, American youth are also intrigued. Students have many hobbies and many non-members are collecting my pictures! They have even written to me, “Can I have your autographed picture for my collection?”</p>
|
||
<p>American youth have lots of curiosity and want to do new things, but even after they tried being hippies, tried streaking, drugs and sex, they are still not satisfied. There is one more thing to try out-the Unification Church. The time has come that no matter what I say people will accept it. Even if the Divine Principle were conjured up by man it would still work but because it is a God-given revelation, how much more will it work? The time to set the heavenly tradition is here. We are going in a completely opposite direction from the rest of the world, heading for the challenge of a tough life while they are trying to get an even easier life with a four-day work week and higher salary. If their world is crumbling, then indeed our world is going to prosper.</p>
|
||
<p>Once I spoke 14½ hours in one day in America, but since I used an interpreter it was actually only seven hours of speaking. In Korea, however, I once spoke for twelve hours without an interpreter. Whoever talks in this fashion has to be crazy, but then so are his listeners! If you invite people to Belvedere but tell them that I will speak four hours, they will decline your invitation. In four hours you can fly to the west coast on a 747.</p>
|
||
<p>Spirit world is coming down so much that this year you will see extraordinary phenomena. I divided the Performing Arts groups and sent three teams to different cities, telling them to set a special prayer condition. Once the members met George Washington in their prayer, and he told them, “Every moment of the day I am working with you.” John Kennedy came to ask them to holy salt his grave and Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt also appeared. Our members went to different historic locations for special prayer and each time they saw a vision of one famous person.</p>
|
||
<p>So far the activity of spirit world has been channeled through Judaism and Christianity on earth, but we are different, being assisted not only by central religions like Judaism and Christianity, but by all of your ancestors. They are also Adam’s children, and when Adam is restored they can be a part of it. You here on earth are subject over all of those spirit men; we are the Abel group, and by accepting their assistance we are liberating the Cain spirit world. Then they in turn can make themselves into Abel. This year the New York Times printed the opinion that a new religious movement or upsurge is coming shortly. This doesn’t indicate the coming of a new movement, but the blossoming of something which is already here. Because they never saw it before it appears new to them, but spirit world is not inspiring any type of crusade like Billy Graham’s; they are witnessing to Reverend Moon.</p>
|
||
<p>You are responsible to talk to people so that they can know the truth about me, and the best way to inspire them is to give your own testimony. “My parents are like this, and I tried different things. Initially I was self-centered and only worried about myself, but now I am hopeful and I am here to give my life to God. Now I want to be purely unselfish and love humanity and save this country. The thing that changed my life is the revelation which Reverend Moon brought.” This is a most beautiful way of moving people. Something moved you to be here and now you can tell your own story. In front of your parents, brothers and sister, classmates and the world, you must be proud of yourselves now and of what you are becoming.</p>
|
||
<p>Your opportunity to bear such dramatic witness will disappear in a few years. Like a swallow gathering insects, you must catch your opportunity up in the air. In a few years your efforts will not be appreciated because all the witnessing will be done through the media. Another thing you must realize is that restoration is firmly anchored here on earth and nothing will shake it now. The third seven-year course will end in 1980, and after September, 1979 the hardest battle will be over and the harvest will start.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">If you really try to live up to my words,<br />
|
||
you will be on the correct side of the peak</h3>
|
||
<p>Which side of the dividing peak are you standing on? You must go over the hill and be on the other side of the peak. The entire world will soon be flooding in our door and unless you really anchor yourself here you will be washed away. You must record your name in the spirit world’s book of life and then no one can push you away. My mission is completed and now you have your opportunity. The entire spirit world is telling me to take a vacation and enjoy nature because my mission is over. They promise me they will take care of everything now.</p>
|
||
<p>This is the three-year period in which you will establish your own qualifications and you should not lag behind spirit world. Is only your mind affected by spirit world? No, your physical body must also be moving together with spirit world. Spirit world will help push you over the hill, meaning that this time will be governed by the spirit world and physical world together.</p>
|
||
<p>At this time there is not much space to stand at the pinnacle, but you can make it accessible to all mankind, including spirit world. The spirit world and the physical world will be parallel in the future and then it will be utterly impossible to doubt the living reality of God. The time will come when saying that there is no God will be similar to creating a low pressure area; automatically it will be filled by the high pressure of God’s presence. You won’t even have to preach about God because everyone will already believe.</p>
|
||
<p>There are many possessed people in America today. Spiritually low people in particular will be affected by low spirits very quickly, but when you are spiritually high you will attract higher-level assistance. Even though their intentions are good, the lower-level spirits usually cause only possession; they come to help people but they influence them in the wrong direction. Because spirit world is so active at this time, mental illness seems to be increasing in America. When more good spirits come down later and the overall spiritual atmosphere is elevated, the spiritually affected people will get well.</p>
|
||
<p>Anyone who accepts what I say and wants to live it every day will have a clear mind and sense of direction and he will be given much greater spiritual assistance. Such a person will be benefited by following the spiritual guidance he receives. Right now your spiritual antenna is pointed toward the ground; you have to push it upward instead. If you are always looking down then you can’t see any hope and vision and you think, “What do I gain by doing this? Where is my food; where is my money?” That is earthly thinking. But when you look up and your spiritual antenna is raised, an entirely different message is received.</p>
|
||
<p>Our ideology is the highest and noblest and even God looks up to it. It is so noble that it can reach up to the throne of God and way inside His heart. That is why you can pray like this: “Heavenly Father, I heard Father speak today and I have a clear vision in my heart. I am ready to obey You completely and want You to give me direction. I want to make one more request, Heavenly Father. Don’t let my relatives in spirit world remain idle. Send them down to assist me, but please tell them when they come that I am the boss. They are not in charge.”</p>
|
||
<p>Because the course of restoration proceeds opposite the direction of the fallen world, you who are on earth are in the higher position. Adam is actually the first ancestor of mankind, but since the world is fallen and going opposite the heavenly direction, Adam is way down on the bottom in the last position. Your ancestors will be happy to listen to you, their descendants. If your great-great-great grandfather comes down, he will not expect you to bow down to him because spirit world knows the rules of restoration. He will say instead, “My champion, here I am at your service. What should I do?” He will cordially greet you and wait for your instructions.</p>
|
||
<p>You are in the position of champion who has won the greatest victory and all the thousands of your relatives in spirit world are directly connected to you. When you go to spirit world, they will give you a hero’s welcome. When you are defeated, your ancestors will not give you a hero’s welcome but will ask why you gave up when you could have won if you had only taken a few more steps. They will say, “We’re ashamed of having you as our descendant.”</p>
|
||
<p>The age has come when being inactive doesn’t accomplish anything, when nothing but fear will come to you if you are inactive. You just cannot be idle. It is much better spiritually for you to go out and be hit as a target of Satan, and even take being treated scornfully or physically struck. You must work harder than the angelic world and let them help by pushing from behind instead of pulling you along. The correct order is for you to stand in front and let the angelic world push you from behind. Then Satan cannot hurt you. This is why I ordered a special forty-day condition starting January 10, to start you on an all-out offensive physically and spiritually. This is a period of assault. I have explained everything to you, and what you do about it is up to you but I want you to know that you must be on the correct side of the dividing peak.</p>
|
||
<p>You must set a brand new record which no one from the past can match, so that no one in history can come forward and say that they have done a little bit more than you have. No one in history should be able to defeat you. Because this is the third Sunday in the month of January, I picked this particular topic, “The Dividing Peak of Restoration. ” No matter what work you do, unless you have a clear understanding and a clear goal your efforts will be worthless.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">I push you so that you can<br />
|
||
assure the salvation of your parents</h3>
|
||
<p>Is there nighttime in the spirit world? Does God rest? Does Satan stop working? How much rest do you take at night? For seven years I slept only two hours a night, because unless I did that I could not have overcome the incredible spiritual assault in those days. Even when my eyes were open wide I could feel and see the black pressure and power pressing on me; I could almost touch it physically. That is how much evil, negative power surrounded me. But I never gave up. I endured it all the way and finally broke through and pushed it aside. I was always sweating from the spiritual and physical effort it took; even in winter my clothes were always wet with sweat. You will never know how much I sweated and how many tears I shed.</p>
|
||
<p>Now I have fulfilled the whole mission and wherever I go I have heaven. Nothing bothers me. Even if I go to bed without praying, heaven is still with me. There is no trace of the satanic power to oppress me now. Unless you do your utmost to fulfill your duty while you are here on earth, don’t ever think you will be dwelling in the same heaven with me.</p>
|
||
<p>Unification Church members are the toughest, most impossible breed. There is no way to conquer them, but still they are good people. Parents are often frustrated at how stubbornly their children cling to this Church, but even though they say negative shines with their mouths, their hearts are saying, “What a wonderful child I have.” In their hearts they actually want you to continue. There are many parents who won’t soon change on the surface, but inside their feelings are changing.</p>
|
||
<p>They will feel drawn to you somehow and want to follow you to see what you are doing. Soon they will openly take delight and joy in your actions, and when they scold your younger brothers and sisters they will say, “I wish you could at least be a Moonie like your elder brother. At least he has the guts to follow some vision for his life. I don’t know what he is following, but at least I can admire his conviction. I wish you could have that kind of conviction.”</p>
|
||
<p>When their deaths are nearing your parents will say, “My son, I admire your conviction and your service to God and humanity. Your goal is just marvelous and 1 want the rest of my children to be like you.” Every parent wants his children to have conviction and goodness in their hearts and to follow a goal that is greater than themselves. When you do some noble deed, they will repent inside. If parents pray even a simple prayer of repentance for opposing your efforts to follow God, then their destiny in the spirit world will be completely changed.</p>
|
||
<p>It is your responsibility to influence your parents like this. After all, it is you who impress your parents. If you stick to your guns and follow without any wavering, you will impress your parents so much that they can pray in repentance later. It is my responsibility to make you that kind of person. The responsibility ultimately comes back to me, and for this reason I will push you out strongly without any reservation.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">If you hesitate to say<br />
|
||
you are a Unification Church member,<br />
|
||
you are no good to God</h3>
|
||
<p>Go beyond the dividing peak. Whatever you have done in the past, I forgive you. Don’t bear a grudge in your heart or take offense and have a sinful attitude. Get rid of such feelings because I am forgiving you. If in this forty-day condition you set a new record, then all your past errors can be forgiven. Shout out on the street until your voice is hoarse and until your eyes automatically close at night with weariness. It is cold outside, but even let your face become frozen. When you are cold and shivering, pray for the people who died in the cold even without food, saying, “I’m taking this suffering in the cold and paying indemnity for those who died under these circumstances.”</p>
|
||
<p>This year we are organizing a publicity offensive to let people know who we really are. The media has given the public a false impression of us, but we have nothing to fear and nothing to be ashamed about. Because we are Moonies we are connected to God and the True Parents. Because we are Moonies we are heading toward the perfection of every level, even pushing toward the ultimate perfection of God. Let it be known to the world and proclaim yourself as a Unification Church member wherever you go.</p>
|
||
<p>From this year on there will be no forgiveness for those who hesitate to say that they are members of the Unification Church. God and the entire spirit world will punish you so you must have heavenly dignity. Some people may have a very scornful attitude, but just confront them and demand, “I’m a Moonie; so what? What’s wrong with me? What are you doing for God and the world?” Don’t hesitate even for one moment. The most important question you can ask someone who is saying unkind things about me is, “Have you ever seen him? How could you say such a thing without meeting this person even once? I have listened to his message and I’m proud of the tears and sweat he shed to make me a righteous man in the sight of God. You are absolutely mistaken if you think he is a brainwasher or a front for the KCIA. It is a terrible crime to hurt someone’s honor without even knowing the truth.”</p>
|
||
<p>So far we have tolerated being beaten and criticized and persecuted, but the time has come to counterattack and educate people. We have to show them right and wrong, good and bad. What’s wrong with fund raising? You are clearly not doing it to buy your own meals. You are doing it for the work of God. If you are a college graduate, show them your diploma. If you have a good family history, show the people that you are not just an outcast of society. You are decent, righteous, goal-oriented young men and women.</p>
|
||
<p>You are in the habit of eating three meals everyday, but have you ever thought much about how this nation is declining or about the destiny of America? You must determine to fight it out with the people who make the world miserable and show them what is right and wrong. You must be bold and strong. People may think that we are the crooks, but what happened to all the people who criticized me in the past? One by one they have been taken away to spirit world while I remain and our Church flourishes. If God is truly the world’s judge then why did He keep me strong physically and spiritually?</p>
|
||
<p>The other day a fund raising member came to my car and asked for a donation. He had a big ID card on his coat that said “Unification Church” and I liked that very much. You have guts when you wear your ID. Open up and show what you are. God has written our ID cards, and if you are trying to hide anything, it actually means that you are trying to hide from God and the spirit world. That is impossible! From whom are you going to hide then? Nobody.</p>
|
||
<p>Go out and say, “I’m from the Unification Church, a follower of the Reverend Moon. ” If you cannot say that with conviction then you are no good to God or me, no matter how many Ph.D.’s you have. There are already many Ph.D.’s who want to help. No one can compete with what I have done for the world and you can be proud of that.</p>
|
||
<p>All you beautiful American girls have been cleaned up since coming to the Unification Church. I get a headache when I am around women wearing lots of perfume, but you women wear heavenly perfume, the smell of sweat. When you fund raise, are you earning money for your own marriage? How do you know your money will go to God? How do you know that I am not going to spend that money for all kinds of foolish things? People say you are brainwashed because of your faith in me!</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">I have already become<br />
|
||
the central figure in your heart</h3>
|
||
<p>The most clear-cut answer to your questions about me comes when you really pray, and the answer comes through direct intuition or spiritual communication. That is more than an explanation. The amazing thing is that when you pray and ask for the answer, I appear to answer you. There has never been such a thing before in history as a living person appearing in your prayers to give you guidance and answers.</p>
|
||
<p>If your faith is as strong as my faith then I can teach you any secrets. Without your faith and sincere desire, however, you would be real swindlers if you received heavenly truth. I cannot teach you cheaply, because if you receive truth but cannot accommodate it then I am responsible to God. If you are very sensitive and simply look at me and my attitude toward you, then you can analyze everything about me and about yourself.</p>
|
||
<p>No matter what, I have already become the central figure in your heart. Who did that? Did I put a computer program in your heart? No, God did it. Many of the missionaries to 120 countries are suffering and some of them are in jail, but I gave them instructions that no one should return before the three years are up. There is some mysterious power working which enables them to endure even jail during those three years.</p>
|
||
<p>Our organization is not a paper organization; it is the first such spiritual organization in history. Such an organization has only existed in the spirit world until now, and that is why I can boldly proclaim that the Kingdom of God here on earth is possible. That is our asset, without which we cannot win even one battle. The asset you are going to accumulate before you go to the spirit world is your relationship to me, and its value will derive from how close and alive it is.</p>
|
||
<p>I tell you to do things that look impossible, but take my instructions at face value and plunge into the task. When I say that you should do something, it means that I am already promising you support. If you really commit yourself, then my support is automatically with you. Heavenly responsibility is 95% of the task, and your responsibility is only 5%. That applies to everything. From a business point of view this is a most profitable enterprise!</p>
|
||
<p>Even though you may have come to the end of your rope physically, you will not say it is because I pushed you down into this misery. None of you will feel that you want to get revenge and kill me. Even the ax-members who are speaking against us are saying good things about me. They will say that they just couldn’t stand the leaders of the Unification Church or their previous central figures, but they still respect me.</p>
|
||
<p>Even the members who marry after they leave cannot forget the Unification Church or forget me. I am teaching the heavenly way of life and assisting you in your work, and even though some people think they can’t stay in the Church and then leave, they try to live for one, two, or three years outside but their agony is very great. They can’t forget me. In some cases they get a divorce and come back to the center, repenting for what they did. It is most tragic, and when they return tears run down their faces if they even just glance at me.</p>
|
||
<p>I have never betrayed anyone or cursed anyone who left the Unification Church. Instead I go after them spiritually to help guide them and comfort them. That’s why they can’t lift up their faces when they come back. If you want to try this, go ahead and get married. What kind of life can you lead? It would be impossible to have peace of mind. Perhaps some of our beautiful sisters think that the Unification Church is not the place for them to be fully appreciated and that they could do much better elsewhere. In the Church they can’t be sure what kind of husbands they will have and they finally decide to leave. If anyone thinks she can do better on her own, then go ahead and do it. Find the most handsome man in the world and get married and try to forget your life here. Do you think you can do it? The situation is serious.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">So far I have borne mankind’s<br />
|
||
responsibility on my own shoulders</h3>
|
||
<p>The Japanese were enemies of Korea for 36 years when they occupied the entire nation, and at that time the imperialistic Japanese forced me into jail. The Japanese here today are the descendants of those people who caused my suffering, but I suspect that if I asked if they could die for Japan, they would refuse. But if I asked, “Can you die for me?” they would all answer, ” Yes, Father.” I had an awful time with some of the Japanese here in America when I had to send them back to Japan. They all cried and petitioned me to let them stay in America because I am here. But if I went back to Korea, then all the Japanese would ask to go back to Japan.</p>
|
||
<p>Can a person be paid to act like that? Only God can make a person feel like that. I have a special covenant with God, and because I did a special service to God which no one else in history could do, God gave me a special power. I have an intimate relationship with God. Do you know what the spirit world is all about through logic and theory? How much does President Carter know about human history? He is having difficulty because he only tries to deal with problems one by one instead of seeing the overall picture from God’s point of view.</p>
|
||
<p>What I am doing on the worldwide level in the face of opposition is far more difficult than the problems President Carter and his administration are trying to solve in governing this country. I will never seek to have an audience with the President of the United States, but in the future many Presidents will want to come and meet me after they leave office. The person they will want to see is the man you meet here every Sunday morning. When I enter the spirit world my dignity there will be overwhelming to see. Do you think I am worth living for?</p>
|
||
<p>As a human, I am a very dramatic person. No opponent could stand if I really pushed him. If I had not chosen to be a religious leader then l would have been a crime buster. I could break up any fight and demolish both of the fighters, and I would not be the one to apologize; they would apologize to me for causing any trouble.</p>
|
||
<p>I was a wrestling champion when I was in high school and no one could beat me because I was like a rock. There is no sport I cannot do. I can do exercises on the bar very well and I can box. I don’t do that any more though, since I am almost sixty. I have a special exercise for my health, and when I have a bad cold or if I am getting the flu, I can get rid of it without taking any medicine. When my nose is stuffed up I don’t need any kind of spray like so many people use. Instead I developed a special kind of massage which opens up the nasal passages. I slept less than three hours last night, but that’s the way I always live.</p>
|
||
<p>I want you to be the kind of men and women who do things that are impossible for others. Do all of you women want to become captains of our fishing boats? No matter what, you are still women and your voices don’t sound like captains’ voices! Life on a boat is not easy; fishermen usually have beards and look very rugged, and it would not be easy to get those men to listen to you. Your voices don’t boom like a captain’s, but I accept your determination. If you want to become a captain but somehow you can’t do it, then at least you can be the wife of a captain.</p>
|
||
<p>Yesterday I went to Norfolk and took care of many months’ worth of problems in one day. I have to visit another place today, but already it is after 11 a.m. The only reason I am spending so much time here this morning is that it is slippery and snowy out and I can’t travel too well today.</p>
|
||
<p>Would you like to hear one nice story? The most intriguing and interesting story under the sun is the story about the blessing, right? Do you just want to receive the blessing after making the smallest possible condition, or do you want to make the strongest possible foundation ahead of time? That means you might wait ten years for the blessing.</p>
|
||
<p>So far I have borne the sole responsibility, lessening the burden of all the people of the world by bearing their burden upon my own shoulders. In order to receive the blessing each person needed to have three spiritual children, but from this point on you need twelve, and later on 72 and then 120. Twelve is the formation stage, 72 the growth stage and 120 the perfection stage. Why has the rule changed in one years’ time? The reason is that 1976 was the ultimate turning point of heavenly history, the year in which the highway was laid from the bottom of hell all the way up to heaven. Bringing 12, 72, or 120 spiritual children now is much easier than bringing three people in the past.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You must love the world<br />
|
||
before you can love your own family</h3>
|
||
<p>Your witnessing so far has not been concentrated on your own family because God’s principle is always to sacrifice His own son to save others. In following that principle we have reached out to others before witnessing to our own families, which is like witnessing to Jesus and God; they are the last priority.</p>
|
||
<p>Jesus had to go out to save his country and continue on to win the entire world represented by Rome at that time, winning a certain condition of victory before coming back to settle in his original home. By doing so, the entire territory would have been totally restored.</p>
|
||
<p>The 20th century dispensation is developing in Korea as it did in Israel of 2,000 years ago, and in the United States as it did in the Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago. Judaism came to oppose Jesus and today Christianity takes that position in coming to oppose the Unification Church. Judaism and Christianity together are trying to cooperate with the United States government to somehow crush the Unification Church, but they are not succeeding.</p>
|
||
<p>Imagine Jesus going to Rome and proclaiming a Day of Hope rally at the Roman Coliseum. Suppose Jesus had said that the Romans must change themselves and follow God’s principle instead of the ugly gods they worshipped. That did not happen 2,000 years ago, but that parallels what I did here in America. Jesus was meant to leave his homeland, or nation, for the sake of the world because the greater Cain should be given first priority in restoration.</p>
|
||
<p>Opposition in the Western world represents a wider level of opposition than in Japan or Korea. If the United States opposes me, that means the entire world is coming against me together with America. There is still an enormous amount of work to be done in Korea, and the only reason for me to come to America would be as part of God’s strategy or overall plan. Abel goes out to restore the greater enemy and give the blessing to the greater Cain first. Then automatically all lesser degrees will be covered. When you examine God’s history in the Bible, you can see that God always uses the ones closest to Him as a sacrifice to save the greater Cain.</p>
|
||
<p>That’s why Jesus had to give up his home. When his own mother and family scorned him he reached out to the world, and after finishing that mission could have come back to the original starting point, his own home. God has not finished that providence yet. For the first time in history, God’s representative has taken the providence of God upon his shoulders and has come out of his homeland to consummate the worldwide level of victory. Now he is ready to go back to his beginning point.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you know why your parents oppose your being here? Through their negativity God is assisting you to automatically obey God’s law, which is to give up your own clan first and go out for the sake of the world, returning later to your home. First you must love the world more than your own parents. Your parents’ opposition automatically sets that condition. I’m sure many of you have experienced how totally unlike their former behavior their unreasoning opposition is.</p>
|
||
<p>That is not the end of it, however. Once you love the world first and God can claim you as His son, you will then participate in the universal dispensation. Afterward God will let you go back to your own family and restore them. I came to the world and established myself individually, then my own family, tribe and national and worldwide foundations. In doing this I gave up everything I conceivably could and gave it all to the American providence. I love the American providence to a foolish degree, without any reservations.</p>
|
||
<p>That providence was finished victoriously in 1976 and now the time has come that I can leave America at any time and go back to my homeland. I would not go back to Korea with a complaining heart, however. I would glorify God, and I can leave this country without regret because I have done my job. When Jesus left this world he said, “I will return,” but when I leave this country, my final words will not be “I must return”; I will say, “I have done my mission. lt is now yours to take over.”</p>
|
||
<p>The physical environment in Korea is hell compared to America, but your heaven is half occupied by Satan. If I had been defeated in this country then everything would have been taken over by satanic power, but by my proclaiming this victory, the physical heaven will be returned to God’s side. Because I finished my job here in America in 3½ years, I can leave freely without any regrets and I will leave the mission to you.</p>
|
||
<p>There is no physical danger for you now, but throughout my entire life I have been in danger. The Yankee Stadium rally was a most critical campaign and I knew there would be danger, but God sent a storm that day. It seemed like a tragedy, but it was not; it was a blessing. By sending that storm, God prevented the worst kind of tragedy. The evil people who plotted certain things felt the meeting had been called off and they didn’t come. Many people with guns came to Yankee Stadium and several were apprehended. No matter how difficult it may be for you, no one will kill you for being Moonies. Since Cain slew Abel in the garden of Eden, the Cain side on the worldwide level is trying to repeat that. Threats follow me wherever I go, but that particular providence will be indemnified by my winning over the negative plots.</p>
|
||
<p>I have many brothers and sisters but I never spoke about the Divine Principle with anyone in my family, even though I had the opportunity. I knew that in God’s principle I had to reach out to the world first, to the people on Satan’s side. I am giving you this historical background because you are connected to my own destiny, and the universal dispensation has come to the point of returning home. Soon you can do the same.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">After 1980 you can be ambassadors<br />
|
||
of God to your own homes</h3>
|
||
<p>You have been away from your homes because you went out to love the world. Now the time has come for you to teach your own clan the Divine Principle and restore them. When you go home, you should be welcomed because by now your family should recognize your true value and true future. We should create the kind of atmosphere for them to understand and respect you. From 1980 on, I will send you to be ambassadors of God and the True Parents in your own homes and bring your families into the movement.</p>
|
||
<p>After you have lived an official, public life for more than seven years, I will send you back for a home ministry. Giving your testimony and witnessing to your own clan is ten times easier than dealing with strangers. They would not kill you because they are your brothers and sisters. It takes incredible energy to win one spiritual child outside your family, but one-fifth of that energy would be enough to win your own family. Your parents will remark at how you have changed and how your ideas make sense.</p>
|
||
<p>I Then your parents will have a family banquet and gather all your relatives and tell them to listen to you. Teach them with dignity the power of the Divine Principle, and al] of them will be turned around in less than seven hours.</p>
|
||
<p>Until now, having three spiritual children was condition enough for you to receive the blessing because so far we have been going only in one direction, pioneering the first highway up to heaven. Once you emerge from this hellish area up on top, however, you are free to deal with all four directions. You need only one door to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but after you get in you must deal with four directions and with all kinds of people. That is the meaning of the twelve pearl gates; each gate represents a certain human character.</p>
|
||
<p>Jacob had twelve sons and Israel had twelve tribes, and now each of you is forming a new tribe, a new Israel, and you are in the center. Each one of your twelve spiritual children represents one tribe of Israel. From this time on, it is not Reverend Moon who is on the front line, but you; you are Reverend Moon. You are going to create your own heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>My work thus far has been to set the condition for the entire world, but it has been like sprinkling seeds all over the world. I have been the sower thus far, and now you must sow. You are going to create your own visible, tangible kingdom surrounding you. If you go back as Jacob or as Reverend Moon in your own home, then you will be surrounded by twelve disciples or spiritual children and in time that will expand to 72 and then 120. That will be your kingdom eventually. In this way you should be better than Jesus.</p>
|
||
<p>Was Jesus able to unite his twelve disciples in harmony? Can you unite your twelve spiritual children into oneness? In my own lifetime I am bringing 120 nations into one family. That is really a universal age. If I had not gone to all those countries, or had not sent my representatives to those countries, then all the people there would come to me in spirit world and demand, “Why did you ignore my country? We wanted to participate in the spiritual New Age, but you didn’t even send a representative to us.” I prevented their complaint by setting the necessary condition. We even have members behind the Iron Curtain. There are many people who are risking their lives daily in order to spread the message of God, but since you have far better conditions here in New York, shouldn’t you be more productive than they are? This is a new age and a different time. In 1978 we are really swinging into a new era on the foundation of the 1976 victory and the 1977 preparation. You can reach out to your own parents and really cry out your love for them because you need them to be restored into heaven. They will listen to you.</p>
|
||
<p>Fallen Adam and Eve could not restore themselves, but should have been assisted by their children. Children must come back and help their parents to be restored. The important thing before you go back to your own parents, however, is that first you set the condition for Cain and Abel to become one. Then together they can go back to the parents and help them to be restored. This providence means that the elder brother must take the position of younger brother, and the younger brother become the elder.</p>
|
||
<p>Originally the elder son was to be the master of the house, but because of the fall of man Satan claimed the first born to be on his side, with the second born on the side of God. In restoration the birthright should be restored to God’s side through the younger son. Right now America is in Cain’s position, really opposing me, but the positions will be reversed soon.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">Once parents and children unite on the side of heaven,<br />
|
||
Satan will be immobilized</h3>
|
||
<p>By setting the universal condition, I can restore and resurrect my entire ancestral line at one stroke. The son can save the parents and then the parents can save their own parents, and so forth, right back to the beginning. Then the entire spirit world has a right to descend to earth where true parenthood has been established and can be restored at once. For those in spirit world this is a revolutionary event. The necessary conditions for restoration have been made spiritually and reach to the highest heaven, and anything of a lesser degree is automatically included. Furthermore, under this condition Unification Church members can easily restore their parents. The children here have made possible the restoration of their spiritual forefathers, and now as physical sons and daughters you can restore your physical parents.</p>
|
||
<p>As the children and parents become united into one, the rest of the world will automatically be restored. We can command Satan. Once the world and the spirit world are on our side, Satan will have no right to move anywhere. There will not even be room for Satan to stand and he will have to leave the world entirely alone. This is perfectly logical. The condition of indemnity is being set step-by-step, yet in the end it will accomplish a formidable thing.</p>
|
||
<p>Now God can see children physically restoring their own parents, and rejoicing together over the one true parenthood. This will literally be the Kingdom of God here on earth. Certainly God will take delight in looking down and seeing all this. A brand new family system will be established and the registration of heavenly citizens will begin.</p>
|
||
<p>Spiritually speaking a formidable condition has been fulfilled and an astonishing revolution is developing, but you don’t happen to see it yet. Most of these things are happening spiritually and are invisible to human eyes, but you will see it all in the spirit world.</p>
|
||
<p>At one time we departed in sorrow, but the time of joyful reunion is at hand. When you meet God and meet the spirit world, you will be entitled to return to your families and restore them. After 1980 all the missionaries will be withdrawn from their countries, and they will go home to build their own kingdom with their own clans. Until 1980, however, we have a formidable mission to be finished-we have to take care of communism.</p>
|
||
<p>In the next three years we are going to lay a solid foundation to really tackle and digest the communist power, and as we do so internal squabbles and difficulties will be weakening them. All sorts of tragedies will hit the communist world, like a great famine in China and another in Russia. Already there has been a great earthquake in China.</p>
|
||
<p>The second generation in Abel’s position is on my side, which is why mostly young people have come to the Unification Church in America. Our history is equivalent to the forty years of wandering in the wilderness during the Exodus. During that time the first generation passed away without seeing the promised land; this is what is happening on the worldwide scale as well. Because you now have hope and have found the heavenly solution, any parents who have a child in the Unification Church will not perish. They will be deeply grateful to you. You can finish the worldwide dispensation and then go back to your home in time to restore your family.</p>
|
||
<p>You are going to lay that foundation here in America and in the next three years you must show America and the world how you can love God and humanity. You are actually like hippies, but on the Abel side. The Cain-type hippies are morally degraded and corrupted by free sex and drugs. They are spiritual anarchists, but the Abel-type hippies are moral and God-centered, trying to bring back a family tradition and to live unselfishly. You are the ones who will take care of communism. There are similarities in the life styles of Cain and Abel hippies -you both live communally, for instance, but here we have a strict moral discipline. Instead of living for personal happiness, you get up in the morning and are busy all day. You are creating an environment for your blessing by restoring the society, nation and world.</p>
|
||
<p>Let’s fulfill the Cain and Abel dispensation in these three years, uniting Cain and Abel hippies together, cleaning them up and bringing them back to the heavenly restoration. After that you will go back to your own families and take care of them. The Divine Principle is not just a theory, but a timetable through which you can know precisely where you are standing.</p>
|
||
<h3 align="center">You must inherit my responsibility as well as my blessing</h3>
|
||
<p>I have already laid the cornerstone. The people who think they don’t have to do anything except hang around are thieves and robbers. They are trying to steal everything I have accumulated, and inherit it for free. If you really want to inherit my blessing then you must inherit my responsibility as well. I am willing to give you the most difficult responsibility.</p>
|
||
<p>Can you take care of it? You can’t take a little bit of each for the time being and come back for more later. I will only give you the total package, once and for all. The forty-day condition which began on January 10 is one condition you can set to deserve that gift. My condition of indemnity is already paid.</p>
|
||
<p>So far I have provided all the resources for the sake of America, but the time has come for you as mature children to say, “Father, you sit back. We want to bring everything you need for the rest of the world.” You are going out to be front-line soldiers just like I have been doing all this time. The time has come for a change of command.</p>
|
||
<p>Since I have paid all the indemnity of the past, whenever you engage in battle and gain your result, it shall remain as your credit and your accomplishment. I really want to ruthlessly push you down to the scene of the battle so that by being strong and bold you will be entitled to the blessing. Remember that the accomplishments you must have now can be obtained much more easily than in the past.</p>
|
||
<p>You fund raisers have to write letters to the people you meet, and in that way you can win spiritual children. It won’t take three years to bring twelve people because now the spiritual atmosphere is right. You are creating your own heaven and to do that you have to cover four directions, bringing spiritual children of twelve different characters. That is the foundation of your own tribe, your own heaven.</p>
|
||
<p>When you bring those twelve people from among your own clan there won’t be a Judas Iscariot to sell you out. In that respect you can be better than Jesus. You don’t have to pay all the necessary indemnity because I have already paid most of it for you. Now anything you build will remain to your credit, and with much less effort you can do these infinitely more than Jesus.</p>
|
||
<p>Bringing twelve spiritual children will complete the formation stage, 72 the growth stage, and 120 the perfection stage. This is exactly what I did. The first blessing of 36 couples became my own tribe, with twelve couples each representing the formation, growth, and perfection levels, as well as the Old Testament, New Testament, and Completed Testament eras and Adam’s family, Noah’s family and Jacob’s family. On that foundation I blessed 72. 120, 430, 777 and 1800 couples.</p>
|
||
<p>Whether you receive the blessing or not is really secondary. Don’t you want to have your spiritual children here and in spirit world? You have an advantage over me in that I did all this through strangers, but you can do it through your own family because the dispensational time is right. I envy you in that respect. I was not able to teach my own family and restore them first, as I already explained. There was always danger around when I had to deal with strangers, and many people tried to kill me. It is different in your case because you can return to your families, which provides a far better atmosphere for you to work.</p>
|
||
<p>Do you understand the time in which we are living? Even if I were now taken away you could go on because you now have the guidelines, direction and power to do it. Your 3½ years from this time on is your golden opportunity. These principles will be followed by the entire Unification Church membership around the world, and if your responsibility is fulfilled then I can have total freedom.</p>
|
||
<p>I want to buy a walking stick and go around the world to visit one blessed couple after another. All kinds of invitations will come for me to visit everyone, and I want to distribute the plane tickets, money and invitations one-by-one so that you can come together with me. There are so many houses to visit that it would be physically impossible to go everywhere, so I will pick out several homes where there is an international marriage and go there. The international couples will have the privilege of receiving me in their home, because that is where the greatest revolution of love is being undertaken. Do I hear any protests?</p>
|
||
<p>Once you go over the dividing peak you are free to come and go anytime. January 15 is a special day, and that is why I have kept you here so long this morning. Go out and be proud to be Moonies. You are the princes and princesses of the New Age. The time will come for you to shout out to the entire world that you are Moonies, and people will respond with love and admiration. We’ll make the time come. I want you to go into the year 1978 with no regrets, and this is why I set up the forty-day condition. I actually did everything in forty years, but I want you to do it in forty days. You cannot beat this kind of discount. The forty-day condition will end on February 23, which is the anniversary of the True Parents’ birthday last year, the day I declared the Year One of the Kingdom of God on earth. In the future all heaven and earth shall use this calendar. This forty-day condition is linked to that anniversary. Shall we do it? Let us pray.</p>
|
||
</div><!-- .entry-content -->
|
||
|
||
<footer class="entry-meta">
|
||
</footer><!-- #entry-meta -->
|
||
|
||
</article><!-- #post-1238 -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
</div> <!--content-masonry-->
|
||
|
||
<div class='pagination_container'><nav class='pagination'><a href='/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978.html'>«</a><a href='/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978-page-4.html'>‹</a><a href='/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978-page-3.html' class='inactive' >3</a><a href='/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978-page-4.html' class='inactive' >4</a><span class='current'>5</span><a href='/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978-page-6.html' class='inactive' >6</a><a href='/speeches/categories/rev-sun-myung-moon-1978-page-6.html'>›</a></nav></div>
|
||
|
||
|
||
</div><!-- #content -->
|
||
<div id="secondary" class="widget-area sidey" role="complementary">
|
||
|
||
<ul class="xoxo">
|
||
<li id="nav_menu-2" class="widget-container widget_nav_menu"><div class="menu-menu-3-side-bar-menu-container"><ul id="menu-menu-3-side-bar-menu" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-84" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-84"><a href="/the-founders.html">The Founders</a></li>
|
||
<li id="menu-item-87" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-87"><a href="/services.html">Sunday Services</a></li>
|
||
<li id="menu-item-85" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-85"><a href="/contact.html">Contact</a></li>
|
||
<li id="menu-item-2566" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-2566"><a href="/speeches/index.html">Speeches</a></li>
|
||
</ul></div></li> </ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
</section><!-- #primary -->
|
||
|
||
<div style="clear:both;"></div>
|
||
</div> <!-- #forbottom -->
|
||
</div><!-- #main -->
|
||
|
||
|
||
<footer id="footer" role="contentinfo">
|
||
<div id="colophon">
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
</div><!-- #colophon -->
|
||
|
||
<div id="footer2">
|
||
<div id="footer2-inner">
|
||
<div id="site-copyright"><b>Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) Ireland</b>
|
||
<br>Charity no. CHY 6071 All Rights Reserved 2013</b> <br>
|
||
<a href="/speeches/" target="_blank">Speeches</a></div> <div style="text-align:center;padding:5px 0 2px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;margin:1em auto 0;">
|
||
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification Ireland
|
||
</div><!-- #site-info -->
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div><!-- #footer2 -->
|
||
|
||
</footer><!-- #footer -->
|
||
|
||
</div><!-- #wrapper -->
|
||
|
||
<script>
|
||
( function ( body ) {
|
||
'use strict';
|
||
body.className = body.className.replace( /\btribe-no-js\b/, 'tribe-js' );
|
||
} )( document.body );
|
||
</script>
|
||
<script> /* <![CDATA[ */var tribe_l10n_datatables = {"aria":{"sort_ascending":": activate to sort column ascending","sort_descending":": activate to sort column descending"},"length_menu":"Show _MENU_ entries","empty_table":"No data available in table","info":"Showing _START_ to _END_ of _TOTAL_ entries","info_empty":"Showing 0 to 0 of 0 entries","info_filtered":"(filtered from _MAX_ total entries)","zero_records":"No matching records found","search":"Search:","all_selected_text":"All items on this page were selected. ","select_all_link":"Select all pages","clear_selection":"Clear Selection.","pagination":{"all":"All","next":"Next","previous":"Previous"},"select":{"rows":{"0":"","_":": Selected %d rows","1":": Selected 1 row"}},"datepicker":{"dayNames":["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"],"dayNamesShort":["Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"],"dayNamesMin":["S","M","T","W","T","F","S"],"monthNames":["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"monthNamesShort":["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"monthNamesMin":["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],"nextText":"Next","prevText":"Prev","currentText":"Today","closeText":"Done","today":"Today","clear":"Clear"}};/* ]]> */ </script><script type="text/javascript">var cryout_global_content_width = 800;</script>
|
||
<!-- Shortcodes Ultimate custom CSS - start -->
|
||
<!-- Shortcodes Ultimate custom CSS - end -->
|
||
|
||
</body>
|
||
</html>
|