Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon

Book Seven - Etiquette And Ceremonies
Chapter Four - Tradition and Daily Etiquette of Blessed Families
Section 12. Rituals in the Life of Blessed Families

12.1. Pledge service

On the first day of each month, the husband and wife in each family should offer a full bow together at five o'clock in the morning, facing church headquarters. This should be done in a joyful atmosphere. You should also do this at five o'clock in the morning on Sundays. You should report about everything in your daily life during the week. Sunday should be a joyful day that you long to have come quickly. (13-104, 1963.11 1)

Pledge service should not be done only on Sunday mornings. Basically, we should do it every day. When you rise in the morning, you should first do Pledge service facing headquarters. It is an official ceremony. However, if we do Pledge service like that every day, there can be adverse effects. In order to avoid these side effects, as a condition, we do pledge only on Sunday mornings and on the mornings of the first day of each month. Ideally, we should be doing it every day. (31-174, 1970.6.4)

You should stand in a straight line with God at least during morning Pledge service. It is a truly serious hour. You should repent if you are even one second late. You should also prepare some candy as holy food, like you would for Holy Communion, and share it with your children. (27-85, 1969.11.26)

You cannot expect your children to grow well when you do not even strictly observe morning Pledge service, devotion, and Sunday service. You should establish a four-position foundation centering upon True Parents. In order to raise good descendants, the parents should do well. (23-87, 1968.10.27)

12.2. Family service

Parents should set a good example in their life of faith. In their family, they should show their children, in their prayer life or family worship, a life of faith that is exemplary in every way. They should help children realize the importance of Pledge time. It is not enough just to hold Pledge service during that hour. As parents, they should teach their children about God's will. (31-266, 1970.6.4)

You should continue to expand the environment that will enable your entire tribe to attend family service in any place. (236 72, 1992.11.2)

Whether or not you participate in church gatherings will become an issue; whether or not you fulfill your responsibility in church activities will become an issue; and whether or not you become a good example as a parent in front of your children in family life will become an issue. (31-268, 1970.6.4)

12.3. Hoon Dok Hae

Hoon Dok Hae should be done at least by the husband and wife of all Blessed Families. They should do it for an hour every morning. If they are unable to do it in the morning, they should do it in the evening before they sleep, even if it is twelve or one o'clock. I am doing this. When I went on the tour to South America this time, I did it after midnight even though I was exhausted. I cannot skip it for even one day. Do you understand? You should read Blessed Family and the Ideal Kingdom. This book teaches everything about the Blessed Family and about the ideal kingdom in heaven. I have laid a highway, a victorious foundation through my battles, for this content. By building a highway like this, you should all become the cars and the gasoline. You should drive that car at full speed. (288-41, 1997.10.31)

You should do Hoon Dok Hae whenever you have time; when you are alone or even when you are in the restroom. You should make a record of how many hours you read and of where you read. You should keep a book in your pocket and always do Hoon Dok Hae.

Write the word hoondok again. It has the character con meaning "word," and what is this? It is the character fur "river." What happens when the "word" stands next to the "river"? God's word meets a straight stream. When you look at this character "river," it is formation, growth, and completion.

The character Dok consists of the character eon meaning "word" and mac meaning "to sell." In other words, the word must be sold. It would be a disaster to keep it to yourself. If you are not selling it, you should give it away. If you store up goods and let them spoil, you will be punished. (289-295, 1998.2.1)

Not only should you read The Way of God's Will and Divine Principle, but you should also read other books, such as Blessed Family and the Ideal Kingdom. The important words in my speeches until this time are a record of the victories of my confrontations and battles against the satanic world. Therefore, you should read all of them. Since they contain all the details of the battles of the past and present they are True Parents historical record. So in order for the Unification family to unite with True Parents, you should unite with these records and develop a deep relationship with these words. You, your family, and your tribe to the seventh generation should unite with this; horizontally the 160 and 180 families should be completely united to make the foundation to bring these words substantially down to the earth.

The words I say are not my own. They are not my words but the words of God who has spoken through me. Wherever and whenever you hear these words, your heart will begin to move. When your heart is profoundly moved, a great revolutionary change will occur in your body. They have that kind of power. (288-16, 1997.10.31)

You should study wherever you gather and whenever you have time, night or day. You should read it a hundred or even a thousand times until it becomes your own, and you become the substantial object to that book. From now on, you should practice such things.

Unification Church members will get sick if they just sit around. In order to avoid becoming ill, you should be diligent in reading, taking exams, and working hard. (288-41, 1997.10.31)

Hoon Dok Hae is my way of passing along all the treasure boxes I accumulated in my life under the indescribable hardships undertaken for the nation. I am giving it to everyone without exception. I have even said that it should not be translated. You should not translate it, not until you proclaim it to this nation. Keep this in mind. Do you understand? (290-29, 1998.2.2)

12.4. Family Pledge

Human beings were originally born with a bond tying them to the contents of My Pledge. Therefore, they should live and die within this pledge. You should be able to read the text of this pledge without feeling any shame. (11-164, 1961.7.20)

You should all do Pledge service on Sundays with your family. It is a declaration ceremony by those who were blessed. Satan cannot invade this family. That is why we recite the pledge. The Pledge is a proclamation announcing that you have no relation to the Satan's world. It is a proclamation ceremony that lets you clear away all the things you did during the week. That is why it is a problem if you miss it. (210-280, 1990.12.25) 

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