The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1981
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1981 |
Only those of us in the Unification Church use the terminology "True Parents." If we did not have this terminology, we would probably not experience so much persecution. Society rejects the unity you have with True Parents. Of course, if True Parents were not here, there would be no Unification Church and you would not be here either.
If the Unification Church originates with True Parents, where do the True Parents come from? Today we must clearly understand the origin of the term "True Parents." Who is Reverend Moon? An ordinary definition would be that Reverend Moon is simply a Korean leading a religious movement. Many Westerners reject the notion of a religious leader coming here from the Orient; they feel they don't need such a thing. This subconscious rejection is truly a problem.
The center of Western civilization is basically Judeo-Christian. Where did Christianity originate? It began with Jesus Christ, who came from the Middle East. Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire wanted nothing to do with Jesus Christ. He was described as an Asian and a Jew, and the Romans certainly didn't feel any need for such a religious leader. They could not understand that he was sent by God.
Looking back further, let us consider Moses, who began the Jewish religion. The Jewish faith originated in the Middle East. Jacob's descendants, the Israelites, were the race upon which the Jewish religion was founded. People seldom realize that God was the true origin of Judaism and Christianity. They usually look at the superficial aspects of religion, without investigating the core. When we compare Judaism, Christianity, and the Unification Church, we find many resemblances. In fact, those who look at them externally may wonder what the differences are.
People seldom realize that God's dispensation develops step by step. A religion begins on a small base and expands to the largest scale, the universal scale. The religion, which Jacob began, was comparable to a family-level religion. Moses founded a tribal religion. Jesus was the originator of a national-level religion. Now the Unification Church has come as a religion on the worldwide level. God has been building upon the same foundation, but always expanding His work through the birth of each of these religions. Sometimes people say we are boasting by calling the Unification Church the highest level religion. However, the truth is that no matter what we claim, unless God is actively participating in our religion, it will never succeed.
There are several levels of schooling in the American educational system: elementary, middle school, high school, and university. Some students might claim that their elementary school is the best in the country and later, when they go to middle or high school, also feel they are attending the best one. Such students, however, have no frame of reference beyond their own school; they are confined within it. Someone observing the overall scheme of education realizes that no level of schooling is complete in itself, but is merely one step in the process of education.
No one can say that the knowledge he gained in elementary school was unnecessary. Without the training you received there, you would never have learned the alphabet! No matter how far you go in the educational system, you rely upon the learning you gained from all previous levels of schooling. When people begin their education, they embark upon a long process, which for some will culminate in advanced degrees. By the same token, when God began His process of religion for mankind, His desire was to carry that process to the ultimate goal.
Some people might think they don't need the educational system. They want to enjoy "freedom" on all levels and still reach the university level someday, all on their own terms. But the only point at which a person can enjoy true freedom from the educational process is when he completes the highest level for his field and is ready to embark upon his career. He cannot indulge in random "freedom" in order to reach that highest level of learning; he must work at it.
What is freedom? The Western world today is intoxicated by the concept of freedom, but in reality, freedom is abused everywhere. People don't want to be bothered with the process of gaining true freedom; they want total freedom now. If a nation or society wishes to enjoy true freedom it must be guided by a certain order and rules. A student must obey the regulations of his school in order to enjoy freedom within that school. The freedom of a society must be sacred and it must be guarded by authority.
If a school principal wished to be exempt from all the rules and regulations of the school, he would not be a true representative of authority. If he were to go out and get drunk, forgetting his school responsibilities, the students and teachers under him would never respect him. When freedom is abused and misused, its dignity is lost and disaster is the inevitable result.
Since I am the leader of the Unification Church, can I follow my whims and do anything I wish? Not at all. I must be the first to observe the principles and laws of the Unification Church and God. Only based on such observance can I be a truly free person and maintain authority as a leader. God Himself is guided by the same principle; God created all the laws of the universe, so He must be the first to uphold them. Why do we have rules and laws within the Unification Church? It is because we need a foundation of law and principle in order to consummate freedom.
What figures in history truly fulfilled the meaning of freedom? Only those who lived up to every iota of the law and principle. By laying that kind of groundwork, they could experience true freedom. This applies to the past, present, and future. More than any other being God longs to experience total freedom. With such a desire, He would have to be the first one to observe the laws and principles which He created-in the past, present, and future.
You must be liberated from any conditions or hooks, which can restrict your freedom. Your life should be clear of any limitations upon your freedom, not only in the present but in the future as well if you are to be a truly free person.
After I have gone to the spirit world, many scholars and authorities will discuss the pros and cons of the philosophy I have taught. Such discussions, however, originate from the limited viewpoints of human beings. The important perspective is God's. As long as God guides me and sees that my actions conform to universal law, no one will ever be able to accuse or destroy anything I have done.
As one's level of understanding rises, the regulations, which guided him at an earlier stage, become less important. For example, in a university, the rules, which restrict elementary students, are sometimes disregarded or even totally reversed. As one step in the process is completed, focus shifts to the next one; each level is the foundation for the following one. A student who completes middle school does not return to kindergarten rules; he looks forward to the realm of high school and its rules.
The kindergarten student might protest the actions of a high school student, but that high school student has already fulfilled the requirements of the lower level and is now bound by a higher law. Once you have graduated from a lower level, you are no longer bound by its hooks. The person who has risen to the top has already fulfilled all the laws of the lower levels; he is on a higher plateau.
Smoking is forbidden in elementary school, for instance, but when a student goes to the university, there is no prohibition against smoking. Neither is he discouraged from dating; he is invited to proms, parties, and the like. At each level, the laws and regulations vary, and higher levels have the power to embrace lower ones. As you grow, you need each level of rules and regulations in turn, but once you have gone beyond a certain stage, living by the rules of an earlier stage would actually inhibit your growth. Every step along the way is important; you must observe every step.
You may sometimes think, "I want to have total freedom. In fact, I want Father and the Church to follow my desires and my way of life." Do you think your way is above the Church's way, or should you follow the Unification Church's ways and regulations? One of those regulations is to attend 6:00 a.m. Sunday service at Belvedere. You may wonder why we have such a peculiar law. Perhaps you wish we could be a little more "civilized." This is Christmas weekend; everybody else in the world is resting and enjoying themselves, so you probably want to do the same. We must understand clearly why we observe these rules and regulations.
Freedom prospers only upon the strict observance of certain laws. The purpose of freedom is not to destroy order. Young people in America today commonly feel that their parents are old fashioned. They talk a lot about the generation gap. They feel that their parents cannot understand them, so they just push them aside. They also tend to disregard the laws of society. "I am free," they say, "So I want to do whatever I feel like doing." However, these are words, which Satan whispers into their ears. Such an attitude is most destructive not only to society and the nation, but also to the person himself.
Some women teachers in the United States have actually been raped by their students. Is this freedom? All kinds of vandalism and destruction to school property have been done in the name of "freedom." This is most ridiculous and totally offensive to God's laws and human decency. No one in the Unification Church would ever live like that.
With such abuse of freedom by its citizens, no society or nation can long endure. That is not freedom at all. Anyone who claims such freedom is ignorant of the nature of eternity and the spirit world. The spirit world is a realm of order, discipline, and regulations. That world will reject such a person. Hell in the spirit world is the container for such abusers. There are spaces in hell reserved for those who indulge in such so-called freedom here on earth. This world has many more candidates for hell than for heaven. Is this just my opinion or do you think it is the truth?
The universe, which God created, is characterized by distinct law and order, both vertical and horizontal. There is always upper and lower, right and left, front and rear. If someone's position is to stand in the rear, he cannot simply say, "I don't like to stand back here; I want to stand in front." Somebody has to be in the front and somebody has to be in the rear. There is a certain prescribed order. If someone is designated to stand in front, it is because he has certain qualifications to be there. Likewise, the person in the rear was assigned there for a logical reason, not out of whim. Everybody must strive to gain the highest position possible within the law.
In an elementary school classroom, the shorter children are supposed to sit in front. What if one of the taller boys demanded a front seat, since he is "free"? The only way he could qualify to sit in front would be if he somehow made himself shorter. He must observe this law or regulation because it brings harmony to the whole group. If he sits up front, the smaller boys and girls won't be able to see the blackboard. Of course, this is simply common sense and most people would see the obvious reason for such a regulation.
Let's say a certain girl is totally free, running around and disturbing everybody else. She would have to be contained somehow in order to protect the welfare and peace of all the other people around her. If she were allowed to run wild she would destroy the peace of others. This is simple logic. Any society which accepts the abuse of freedom in its midst promotes disorder and will eventually decline. Do you want American society to fall into chaos? Certainly not. Then you must contain the destructive elements that are ruining the health of society. Young people who indulge themselves freely in wild activities are creating their own destiny in the cages of hell.
One day in Washington, D.C., I saw a girl walking around on the street wearing only the bottom of her bikini. She had nothing on top. I'm sure she was thinking, "I'm perfectly free; I'm at liberty to expose myself wherever I desire. So I will wear my topless bikini on the street in broad daylight." Nobody said anything to her; people were walking by her, trying not to stare. Amazingly, one Oriental man who happened to be Reverend Moon was so disgusted by this that I scolded her and made her feel ashamed. There are two ways to react to such an incident: one person would feel apathetic and say, "I don't care." The other person will feel deeply concerned and want to do something to stop it. Which kind of reaction is needed for a healthy society? Certainly the second one. I don't think that girl will go around in her topless bikini again.
I would like to see all Unification Church members reacting to their surroundings with a strong conscience not being apathetic at all. You must be people who care and who will work to build a healthy society. If a society continues to reject such efforts, it will eventually decline.
The Bible says, "Know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Knowledge and understanding surely result in true freedom. You become a new person when you understand the Principle. You must throw off your old shackles. To become a new person is the true meaning of resurrection. The men and women who observe the divine laws here on earth will enjoy eternal freedom in the spirit world. The person who has observed the law with only 80 percent seriousness will go to a spirit world that is only 80 percent Heaven; 60 percent seriousness will result in 60 percent Heaven. But the person who observes 100 percent of the law will enjoy 100 percent of Heaven's freedom.
Living the Principle here on earth is not easy, but the more a person strives to live by the Principle, the greater and more abundant the freedom he will enjoy in spirit world. The person, who leads an easy, lazy life here on earth will go to the lower realms in spirit world, or even down to hell. Hell is a necessity because there must be some receptacle for human trash. The law of cause and effect always operates. In the spirit world you reap the effect of whatever you have done here on earth. I would very much like to talk with you about the spirit world, but we are on a different subject today.
Any group, organization, or society has its own laws or creeds. The person who is the most serious about observing those laws will always be elevated to the leadership of his group. However, the one who merely follows his whims and emotions will never be elevated or revered by any society. There are so many elements within American society that tempt and entice people to abuse their freedoms. Giving in to these temptations will ultimately send people to hell. It is heartbreaking to see an environment, which encourages people to go only to hell, not to Heaven. It is a society, which sells tickets to hell.
The United States can only decline if such abuse of freedom continues. The entire world will contribute to America's destruction. From the standpoint of God, this is a crisis situation. God's emergency measure was to send Reverend Moon to America to turn around its moral climate in the other direction. When I first came here ten years ago, I declared that the United States would decline if it continued the way it was going. Everybody here concluded that I was ignorant of America; they considered the United States a great place and thought it would never decline.
U.S.A. is a God-given name. It begins with U, meaning "you" first, instead of "me"; S sounds like "yes"; and A is the first letter of the alphabet. The American people are first-class citizens of the world; they are number-one people. This is not bad, but because they have twisted their position to believe that they can do whatever they feel like, the effect is bad. God wants the American people to be number one in terms of living up to His expectation, in terms of obeying the laws of the Bible and adhering to God's principles. This is the standard to be number one. If you can say yes to this way, that is great.
The laws of cause and effect states that you will harvest whatever you sow. If you read the speeches I gave ten years ago, you realize that my predictions were correct.
The members of the Unification Church have been commissioned to clean up this American society-using spiritual cleaning powder! When young people enter the Unification Church, they encounter a disciplined training program that allows them to turn their way of life around. Do you want to embrace this training and take on a tougher course than even the Japanese and Koreans-or do you want me to give you an easier way since this is the United States?
I have been criticized many times, even among our members, for doing things the "Korean way." I tell you, the Korean way is not the heavenly way; therefore, what I am teaching is not the Korean way. I am not even promoting the Oriental way. The heavenly way is much harder and far more difficult than any Korean or Oriental way. Because our way is more difficult, even Korean and Japanese members fall away from the path. Of course, the ratios vary somewhat in the different countries. More people have fallen away in the United States than in Japan, and even fewer have fallen away in Korea. However, the same principle applies. The Korean people have experienced a history of suffering, so they have a built-in enduring power. Thus they are better able to persevere in this course.
In the Last Days, the winners will be those who can persevere and endure. Certainly Korea's long history of suffering has enabled its people to endure this time better. My entire life has been one of persecution by societies and nations. There is one word that could be used to describe me: tough. Also, I have the power of endurance and perseverance. Even though I face a mountain of opposition day after day, I never dodge it; I always confront it head on. Right now we are facing a mountain of opposition from the U.S. government and from international communism. I will stand firm and fight until we make the breakthrough.
I am sure that whether they accept me or not, the world will eventually realize that Reverend Moon is a man who suffered for God and His cause. I will certainly be known as a man who was never timid about speaking out for God. Regardless of his race, every person will eventually recognize that I am extraordinary in that respect. My determination is to rise from hell into heaven. I may live and fight in hell throughout my entire life on this earth, but I will never give up. This is one reason why the Unification Church and Reverend Moon are controversial. I accept that.
I came to stir up debate and ignite a fire. I certainly did not come to pat people on the back. I am a controversy in both worlds. Satan certainly is in an uproar because of me. Even God feels I am quite a controversy at times!
Why has God declared such an emergency? Because I have been fighting so hard and have stirred up Satan and his forces so much, God has to help me out! Do you think God knows me well? Does Satan know me well too? I am well known both in Heaven and hell!
Who is encouraging my actions? Certainly not Satan. God and heavenly people are inspiring me. I have been living in hell, but my supporters are God and heavenly people. When a society gives its greatest opposition to godly people is it closer to Heaven or to hell? By this criterion, American society is closer to a hellish standard.
It is only logical for us to resolve to turn American society around and save it. Do you agree with this? The United States has strongly opposed me, so what do you feel you should do in response? You know that you should turn this negativity into positivity. How many people are in this room today? You are a tiny number compared to the 240 million people in this country and the vast majority of them oppose the things we say and do. So is our course an easy one?
You are receiving training in your daily life to enable you to avoid danger. You women especially must be able to protect yourselves in case someone tries to attack you. You must be able to sense the atmosphere around you and judge when danger is near. Of course, you should not walk alone but have a partner. It would be good to learn karate, too.
This is the final Sunday of 1981. We should prepare to meet 1982.
As a result of God sending the True Parents, you are members of the Unification Church. How do you know that True Parents did not come from Satan? In the Principle you have a dependable yardstick to measure good and evil; understanding it thoroughly will enable you to distinguish clearly whether a person is good or evil.
I have certainly given you many hardships to endure. My only intention in doing so, however, was to enable you to go anywhere and not only survive but be victorious. I want to make each of you part of God's elite corps of champions, the top one percent. Would you be satisfied somewhere at the bottom of the list?
There are two different attitudes towards life among the members of the Unification Church. Some say: "I want to excel in everything I do and apply my utmost effort to achieve the goal." But others say, "I'll do whatever I can, as long as it doesn't take too much effort." Which attitude is yours'? The leaders of the future will come from those who give their utmost effort and take the Church's burdens upon themselves.
Let me give you a simple example of the qualifications for leadership. Recently I invited many Church leaders to eat with me at a Chinese restaurant. Some of the groups were very greedy to start eating while others waited until everyone else had been served. Which do you think is more qualified to be a leader? Oriental custom provides built-in training in this area: young people are taught to wait until their elders are served. The Western way is the opposite: young people assert their right to eat first and are not taught much respect for their elders. From Heaven's standpoint, those who have learned the Oriental standard in such a situation are more qualified to be leaders.
You say that you want to become leaders in the Unification Church. Therefore you should be willing to receive discipline and training, particularly in learning to serve older people. You should be able to gain universal acceptance from people of all societies and races. Those who adopt the standards of Heaven will achieve such universal acceptance. White people must be able to win the acceptance of the black community; likewise, black people must be able to gain the acceptance of the white community. You must be able to live and work with people from different races without harboring any secret resentment in your heart.
It is very possible that when white people go to the spirit world and try to enter the door to Heaven, they will be met by a black security guard. Black people will have to be accepted by a white security guard. Under those circumstances, would anybody say, "I don't really need Heaven"? If you were criticized by the security guard for not loving his race, wouldn't you ask him for forgiveness so that you could enter? You would be willing to do anything in order to gain admittance into Heaven.
Suppose you found Satan standing by the door to Heaven, holding a sharp spear. If you were soft, he could pierce you and take you to hell, but if you were strong like a rock he could not touch you. The best way to gain entry into God's kingdom in Heaven is to obtain a certificate of recognition signed by Satan while you are still living on earth.
I have received many such certificates from Satan. One of the most dramatic was during the Blessing of the 36 couples. Incredible controversy erupted at that time; people were praying to God, "Please don't let Reverend Moon take my son away. Let him die tonight instead." Now many of those same people are completely transformed and have become dedicated members.
At the time of the 36 couple Blessing, the entire nation of Korea opposed me. I was a villain in the eyes of the country. However, the situation has greatly changed. Now many Koreans are saying that Reverend Moon's ideology offers the only hope for the future of Korea and the world.
Japan is another good example. Several years ago in Japan, I was commonly thought of as a terrible person, a supreme monster. However, the general opinion today is that Reverend Moon's teachings hold the only hope for stopping communism in Japan. Don't you think the United States will follow the same pattern?
Satan has written me off as a hopeless case. I have been enduring his attacks and persevering in spite of them for such a long time, he has signed my certificate with no reservations.
One the various categories of people is that of true men and women. Do you wish to become true men and women only within the society of the Unification Church, or on a universal scale? You aim to become true people on the universal scale not because you are Moonies but because you understand the truth and can appreciate the greatest value.
You can measure me by the yardstick of the Principle and tell if I am a true man or not. As a religious leader, I have done many unique things. No other religious leader of the past or present has been interested in assembling intellectuals of various faiths in order to help them direct their energies toward a more harmonious, peaceful world. Right now a conference is taking place in Hawaii with the unique title, "God: The Contemporary Discussion." Top level theologians and thinkers are discussing various attitudes and beliefs about God. This is the first time such a conference has been organized and it was founded by Reverend Moon.
Christianity has been the source of the greatest opposition to me, but I have invested great amounts of energy and resources to help bring about a revival of Christianity. Jewish people as well have opposed me, but I teach that Judaism is the elder brother of the Unification Church. The Bible directs people to love those who persecute them. This has been my way of life.
What is the highest level to which someone could aspire: true man, true leader, true king, or true parent? Mankind is not hungry for a king or leader, but all people long for the love of a true parent. Don't you, too? What kind of a title did God want to give to me? Do you reply "True Parent" just because you are Moonies? God wants to give the title True Parent to the person who has brought the deepest understanding of the universe and the aching heart of God, to the one who has shed the most tears and sweat for His sake.
During Jesus' ministry there was no time when Judaism was truly close to embracing his teachings. However, at this time much dialogue has been occurring between representatives of Judaism, Christianity and the Unification Church. Two thousand years ago, Israel was a tiny country under the rule of the mighty Roman Empire. Similarly, the United States today is the Rome of the 20th century and Korea is under its dominion in almost every respect.
I have come to the mighty Rome of this era and have waged a war, in a way, against the social conditions here. Who do you think will surrender in defeat? Even though the government of the United States is bringing me into the courtroom, I will not be defeated. Instead, I shall declare a victory in that very place. Once that victory is proclaimed, it will prevent all possibility of our members ever having to shed their blood or die for the sake of God.
Suppose Jesus had been able to travel to Rome and wage a moral and spiritual crusade against that nation's evils. Certainly the Roman authorities would have opposed him, but if he had been victorious over them, there would have been no need for the 400 years of terrible bloodshed and martyrdom which gave birth and power to the Christian religion. This is exactly what I am trying to accomplish today.
Communism is God's worst enemy in His quest to build an ideal world. Who else but Reverend Moon is waging a worldwide battle against communism? Do you think God and His providence are headed in a direction opposite from me, or is God embracing me? The knowledge that God and history are embracing me gives me great confidence in our eventual victory. In the face of such support, no other power can defeat me. It doesn't even matter if I am put into prison. Once I am liberated, the entire world will enjoy the same kind of liberation.
I know you feel that following me is a very difficult task. Sometimes you consider abandoning it. But even if you gave up, God would never give up, history would never give up, and I would never give up. Therefore, who would be left alone? The one who pulls away from God's direction and guidance is actually withdrawing from the ultimate trend of history; he cuts himself off from the universe. Therefore, the consequences of joining this movement extend far beyond just the individual and his sphere. The individual who unites with God's dispensation is joining with all of history-past, present, and future.
Everyone will inevitably go to the spirit world. How terrible it would be if someone couldn't lift his face before God in the spirit world! Even in hell such a person would be an outcast. Those there would criticize him for being a real fool. "We came to hell out of ignorance of God and His principles," they would say, "but you knew the truth and threw it away." That would be the worst situation one could imagine. I would not want even one single person to find himself in such a horrible place in the spirit world.
My responsibility has been to pass on to you an understanding of truth. Once the student has learned from the teacher, the relationship between them is fulfilled and finished. Beyond the role of teacher, however, lies the role of true parent. A parent can never be finished with his children. God does not want the relationship between you and me to be just a student teacher relationship. God wants you to be able to stay with me forever. Therefore, God gave me the title of True Parent, and that position means we can never be separated. If I were no more than a judge or teacher, perhaps I could send you to hell. However, I cannot do it. As your parent, I would have to go down to hell with you and raise you out of it.
You must realize that God has been suffering throughout history to establish the title and position of True Parent on the earth. The True Parents are the expression of God's great love for mankind. God's intention is to save all people, including those who are now in hell. The words "True Parents" are precious, and the bond between mankind and True Parents is one of love. Brother, sister, president-no other title is greater, no other relationship more intimate. Only True Parents can bring the true relationship of love to mankind. Love and forgiveness are God's way.
Someone sentenced to prison would want above everything else to be comforted and given hope for the future. He would welcome the love of an ordinary, secular person, but think how much more precious and comforting the presence of True Parents would be. They would bring with them the love of God and all the strength of history. You must realize the true meaning and origin of the title True Parents. I never invented this title; I never even sought to gain such a title. No one else has ever been capable of fulfilling this role or even willing to try. But because it was God's wish, it was also my wish.
Our topic today is "The True Parents and Our Responsibility." We have discussed the True Parents, so now we must understand our responsibility.
The True Parents' task of finding and restoring true children is not easy. As each of you begins to follow the True Parents, you are opposed by the entire world-your family, your society, the news media. Yet even under such adverse circumstances, the True Parents must keep calling and trying to restore true children, one by one. Do I gain commercial benefit by doing this? Why do I do it? I must fulfill my role of True Parent. Behind those words lies the real significance of my life. At the core of those words is true love.
No person of sinful lineage is truly worthy of being called a true child of God; even if he came knocking on the door of Heaven hundreds of times, he could not be considered worthy of entering. But in reality, I am coming and knocking on the door of each one of you and reaching out to you. How can I bring you back into your proper position as true children of God? Only by taking on your burdens of sin myself, by claiming your sins as mine before God. Whatever mistakes you make within the Unification Church ultimately come upon my shoulders.
I came to the United States 10 years ago, and I have done nothing bad or wrong here. However, because my followers have made so many mistakes, the blame comes straight to me. The typical worldly standard would be to dismiss people who bring one suffering. However, the True Parent cannot do such a thing. Right now, the U.S. government is pressing a case against me in court. Legally speaking, I did not have to return to the United States and face this trial; it was only for the sake of you American members and your posterity that I am facing this. If I had tried to protect myself, then you would be open to attack. I could not let that happen. I will be your shield. I would rather be torn apart myself than for that to happen to you. I want you to understand that.
We cannot abandon the great accomplishments and foundation we have laid. We must build on these victories. Think about human history. This is the first time the term True Parents has ever existed. In order to achieve the level of true parent, how many other levels have to be achieved'? You must begin with the level of true servant of servants and true beggar-even true martyr. No one can leap into the position of true parent if he does not go through all the levels beneath.
To get to the top of a staircase you must climb step by step from the lowest level. From the worst, most miserable position of human society, a person must climb up to the level of true parent. The power to climb all the way up is that of sacrificial love; it is the road of the cross. One must overcome such suffering in order to achieve the title of true parent. Each step must be mastered as you move up the path.
When you were introduced to the Principle, you also encountered various new terms: servant of servant, adopted son, and so forth. These words are more than just intellectual concepts. They represent the actual life I have lived and the actual steps I have climbed. Whenever you observe people in miserable situations in life, such as beggars and hungry people, think of the times when I was in their position. I was once a laborer, a dock worker, and a beggar.
When I was persecuted by the communist regime in North Korea, the police arrested me and tortured me until they thought I was dead. Don't you realize that I could have felt resentment toward my situation at such times? I could have demanded of God, "Why are You allowing me to suffer like this? Why can't You do something to protect me, since You are so great and powerful?" This would have been the common reaction. But even though my hands were bruised and bleeding, I clasped them in prayer for those who tortured me. I know that those who beat me were only acting on orders; they could not reject me completely. I longed to embrace them and forgive them. I refused to write them off. You also should not give up when you encounter opposition or difficulties.
When God looks at mankind, whom can He trust? To whom do the saints in the spirit world look for inspiration? Because God gave me the title of True Parent, I must fulfill my responsibility. With a parental heart, I look at each of you, at America, and at the world. The true parental heart is to love and forgive the child. Even if the child is being led to his execution for crimes he committed, the parent will keep trying until the very last minute to get his child's sentence commuted. This has been my heart ever since coming to the United States. Without such a heart I could not have persevered here; I would have left long ago.
What is the true relationship between you and the True Parents? Is it a real, honest-to-goodness relationship or is it merely on the level of intellect? The concept of True Parents is logical, so perhaps you relate to us only as a concept. But what about your emotions, your heart in your day-to-day life? Do you feel the reality of the True Parents in your daily life?
When I look at you, I know that you are real children of God. As soon as you joined the Unification Church, you walked into eternity. I consider you eternal beings, and I care about your eternal life, not just this moment or next month or next year.
At the least, Unification Church members should feel some closeness and intimacy with the True Parents. Many people cannot have a real feeling about God since He is invisible; but the True Parents are right here, visible and tangible. You can talk with us, weep with us, and work with us. You should feel a heart- to-heart closeness with us.
Most of you had to give up your old lifestyles and former friends; you have even sacrificed your time with your families and relatives. To side with me, you have even had to disregard your nation, since public opinion has been against me. Why have you done all this? Because you know that ultimately you will be able to return to the mainstream of your nation, your society, and your family and restore them to God's side. Since you understand this, you have determined to disregard such things temporarily. Even though you have had to sacrifice so much, you still love me. You made up your mind that the relationship you most need right now is the one with the True Parents. You have sacrificed the temporal things for the eternal things; once you gain eternal values you can easily claim temporal things.
Up to the present, spirit world has not been organized by families, societies, or nations but from now on, these shall be formed in the spirit world. Who will be the pioneers of the heavenly nation in the spirit world'? You and the True Parents. You may think you have lost everything in this world, but you are actually pioneering your greatest inheritance. You have gained eternal relationships based upon the condition of temporarily disregarding your physical and temporal relations.
The Washington Monument Rally was the culminating point of all your sacrifices, from the individual, to the family, society, national, and worldwide levels. What was the significance of that rally? Until then there was no heavenly world physically represented on the earth-only the realm of Satan. But at that point, the Unification movement achieved a worldwide level and formed a unity between the physical and spiritual worlds.
The beginning of the new age was declared on February 23, 1978 Year One of the Heavenly Kingdom. A new world and a new nation on Heaven's side were formed. From then on we could truly wage a substantial battle against Satan's realm. From that point forward you have been granted the position of judges and lawyers of the Heavenly Kingdom. Each one of you will have a certain position on the heavenly side.
In order to carry out that responsibility, however, you have to know the law. Therefore, you Unification Church members need to receive more heavenly reeducation so you can be truly good judges. You have to be able to receive an order from the True Parents, obey it and put it into practice. That is how you will be qualified to guide the world. There will be no true freedom until you fulfill yourselves by following the laws of Heaven.
I could proclaim my freedom and right to enjoy myself since I have consummated my responsibilities regarding the laws of Heaven, but I did not want to take that route. Even now I am living as a servant, because I desire only the ultimate heavenly freedom. Such a freedom can extend all the way into hell and not be diminished; hell itself can be transformed into Heaven.
I have been talking about myself today. Externally, I have lived as a servant of servants, but my heart has been that of a parent. This is how God has acted throughout history. He has gone forth in the shoes of a servant, but with the heart of a Father. You have True Parents in this physical world, but God Himself is the internal True Parents. Since God has taken the suffering course of the loving parent, the True Parents had to walk the same path. For whom did they do it'? Not for themselves, but for the children.
When you grasp the spirit and ideology of the True Parents, you will be truly able to understand and accept them. These are things you should actually feel and experience.
It is pleasant to rise higher and higher in this world and gain greater and greater position, but to climb down is very painful. Nobody wants to do it; virtually nobody does it without complaining. It is only with a parental heart that one can become humble and willingly accept the lowly tasks of a servant.
It is amazing that God, who is the highest being, has come down to the lowest realms of humanity in order to save His children. God doesn't care about how weak or pale He may appear; He has forgotten all personal matters. For a prominent white leader of society to go into the home of a poor black slum- dweller and clean his kitchen is still nothing compared with the way God has been humbling Himself and serving mankind throughout history.
When you think about it, every person has committed crimes in the realm of the heart. Climbing up to God could take hundreds, even thousands, of years. No one could live long enough to do it. Someone had to come to build the bridge and set the condition so that mankind could leap forward and achieve salvation. My work, especially during the past 20 years, has been to lay that bridge. The parents walked the course of restoration, so when their children follow them, Satan cannot invade. The family bonds between us give you a free pass and guarantee protection against Satan. The worst, most odious words for Satan are True Parents and true children, because this is precisely what renders Satan powerless. The universe has to turn over everything to the True Parents and the true children; even Satan is bound by that law.
God and history endorse the True Parents. I am trying to turn over this inheritance from God and history to you. How can you deserve such an extraordinary blessing? Only in the capacity of True Parents' children and in a relationship of love with them. There is no other way to qualify for the blessing of True Parents. When you declare yourselves to be the flesh and blood of the True Parents, you are qualified to receive their inheritance.
Only in a parent-child relationship can such an inheritance be passed on. If a teacher were to bequeath all his wealth to a student, the teacher's children could take it away. Only when an inheritance is passed on to you by your own parent can you be sure to keep it.
Why do you need the inheritance of the True Parents? You were born from the tree of sin; you are the fallen children of a sinful lineage. Therefore you have no way to enjoy the true freedom of sinlessness. No matter how large your family tree may be, it is still a tree of sin. You must cut yourself off from that tree and graft yourself onto the tree of sinlessness. The Bible speaks of the true olive tree onto which the wild olive branches must be grafted.
The process of grafting an entire nation, such as the United States, which is 200 years old, cannot occur overnight. Many Americans believe that their tradition is superior to others in the world. They do not want to be severed from their former ways in order to achieve something better.
You must become totally new: a new sprout on the true olive tree. Only then can you become a true olive tree. The good foundation of the United States can be valuable only when it is grafted onto the true olive tree. Only within the new tradition of heaven can the good foundation within America truly come alive. As an individual, each of you is like a tiny shoot, which has been grafted into the tree of the True Parents. Only within the relationship of parents and children can life be grafted.
Have you come to the realization that you need the True Parents? How much do you need them? Can you buy that relationship with all the money in the United States or all the wealth in the world? Even if you had a diamond the size of the planet earth, you could not exchange it for a relationship with the True Parents. Such a bond can never be purchased. Only because of the amazing grace of God have you been blessed with a relationship with the True Parents. This can be a source of joy for your entire life. Even if you had to remain celibate your entire life, you could be happy as long as you had that relationship with the True Parents.
After you are married, if your spouse became an obstacle to your faith to the point of pushing you away from the True Parents, you would have to choose which is more valuable-your relationship with your spouse or your relationship with the True Parents. Even at the sacrifice of your family life, you should be willing to follow the True Parents. It is a very precious thing to have a family and it is ordained as the purpose of your life, but if you had to sacrifice either the True Parents or your spouse, you should cling to the True Parents.
The truth is that once you have that relationship with the True Parents, you can build every other true relationship. You can gain your spouse and children. The entire world becomes your brothers and sisters. Ultimately, you can lose nothing by choosing the True Parents first and foremost.
This is a significant sermon since it is the last Sunday of 1981. I have been speaking about certain core truths of the Principle and the Unification Church. Which should be deeper and stronger: your love for your fiancé or your love for the True Parents? There have been virtuous husbands and wives who have given their life for the sake of their spouse or children. Even in the secular world there is a power that allows people to sacrifice themselves for their family. How much greater power must exist within the heavenly world!
When you can dedicate your life to advancing the cause of God and the True Parents, the joy you experience is greater than any other joy. Have you come to such a realization? Your standard must be to love God and your True Parents unto your life. You must not focus on the limits of family, race, culture, or nationality. Through the love of the True Parents you can transcend them all. In the eternal realm of God and the spirit world such boundaries simply do not exist. In the spirit world there is certainly no language barrier. The worst barrier is the one between you and the True Parents. If you do not overcome that barrier while you are on the earth, you will not be able to remove it in the spirit world.
When I was a young man, my greatest friends were old people, grandparents. Now that I am getting old, young people are my best friends. I served old people by carrying them piggyback where they needed to go. I have also served middle-aged people and young people. Do you want to inherit only the blessings I have gained on earth, or do you want to inherit my tradition as well? Is this tradition too harsh for you?
One of the first places we must liberate here in the United States are those senior citizens' institutions. The elderly people in those homes represent all the ancestors of their lineage. By serving and taking care of the senior citizens on the earth, you can serve all their ancestors in the spirit world-all the way back to the beginning of history. Then everywhere you go, you will receive the greatest welcome.
Who is the eldest senior citizen in the universe? It is none other than Heavenly Father Himself. As you tend to the needs of old people, do it with the attitude of caring for the needs of God Himself. God's desire is for us to take care of all His children. You must understand this heart of God.
Each of you has become a new person after having met the Principle and Reverend Moon. What do you first-class citizens of the United States have in common with me? We are very different and we met as strangers. But with the shared understanding of the Principle of Restoration and the terminology of True Parents, we can become connected and overcome all distances. We become one family-parents and children.
What kind of children do parents desire? The ambition of all parents is for their children to achieve the greatest possible success in the world. By the same token, the true parent would not want to see his child go to spirit world and not be welcomed into the Heavenly Kingdom. He would want to see the entire spirit world embrace and welcome his sons and daughters.
Social and economic inequities have produced terrible conflicts throughout human history. Some people are rich and others are poor; some are successful and others are not. There has never been a true solution to this problem. Only as people learn to love others with the heart of a true parent can this fundamental problem be eliminated.
The principle of parent-child love can be applied to every relationship. Within a business, the employer must have the heart of a parent toward the employees, who are in the position of children. As long as the employer makes money for the benefit of the entire company, the employees do not mind it and they willingly contribute their efforts. Those employees will inherit all the wealth of their employer. This kind of philosophy can eliminate the resentments that have occurred between the rich and the poor.
When you receive the inheritance from True Parents, you will be elevated to the level of true parents yourselves. By starting out at the level of true child, you eventually become a true parent yourself. Is the relationship between yourself and the True Parents more clear now? This is very important for you to understand.
Between God and me, how many generations have there been? Therefore, the physical distance or vertical times span between God and me is quite great. Between you and me as well, there is a great horizontal distance: that of culture. Only the power of the parent-child relationship can close those great gaps.
Is it easier for me to call God Father or for you to call me Father? So many people have tried to call God Father, but because they could not fulfill the incredible conditions necessary to bridge the gap between them, they could not truly live up to their position as child of God. But it is easier for you, since all the preparations have been made. You can come to the Unification Church and digest the truth of the Principle; then you can easily call the True Parents your own parents.
Who has the greatest cause for rejoicing: me when I call God my Father or you when you can call us your True Parents on earth? I had to suffer so much in order to be accepted as God's true son, but you have been granted such an easy course. All you have to do is learn the Principle, change your attitudes, and come to a new realization of the existence of the True Parents. But since it was so easy for you, some of you cannot appreciate the value of knowing the True Parents. You should rejoice the most, since you paid the least price for the greatest blessing. You have obtained a priceless treasure for a tremendous bargain!
Maybe the price you paid to understand the message and the existence of True Parents was only a seven- day workshop. However, I had to pay with gallons of blood and sweat to give you that message. Everything you read in the Principle is the record of the struggles and pains I have endured.
You must realize the preciousness of the Principle. Now you can understand why the world is going the way it is and what God's dispensation is all about. You have been given more knowledge than any other people-more than any philosopher, past or present. You know more than any great scholar does because you understand all the secrets of history. You are not actually, qualified to receive such an understanding; so many people have dedicated their entire lives to pursuing the truth, but they died without ever knowing what you have been handed so freely.
You have been given this great understanding, so you are qualified to hold up your head without shame before the world. If I had been ashamed of what I am, God could not have been proud of me either. Jesus himself declared that his disciples should go out and bear witness to him. "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven," Jesus said, "but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."
The same is true with the Unification Church. Are you afraid and ashamed before the world to be a member of the Unification Church? The Principle represents the entire truth of the universe, including the highest realm of the spirit world, so whenever you deny your association or behave in a shameful way, you are denying your connection with all those realms.
I want you to understand clearly the meaning of the True Parents and their relationship with you. Are you indebted to the True Parents or not? To what extent? It is impossible to repay such a debt with material goods; only one small thing can repay it: your love. You have been given great love, and you can repay it only with your own love. In the past, you knew True Parents only abstractly. Now through this sermon, you can come to know us in reality. Certainly there is a difference between the abstract and the real. God desires real people; He needs to deal with the realities of life, not concepts or abstractions.
When you come to Belvedere and I do not give the sermon, you feel slightly unfulfilled, don't you? A man may return home after a long day's work and his children jump up to greet him, but if his wife is absent he feels that nobody is home. Likewise, no matter how many loved ones come to greet a woman, if her husband is not among them she feels unfulfilled. From the viewpoint of the language of love, if the central object and focus of your love is missing. It's as if no one was there. When I am not here, you Unification Church members feel as if no one is home, don't you?
In the whole universe, the most important word is parents." There have been many wonderful sons and daughters of great loyalty and devotion in secular society. For the sake of True Parents, shouldn't there be even greater sons and daughters of filial piety? The title "True Parents" means universal parents, parents whose concern is universal. Therefore, the sons and daughters of true filial piety must adopt the same concern. You must not be content to live just for yourself and your family if you are truly the sons and daughters of True Parents, whose concerns encompass the whole universe. The True Parents need sons and daughters who can put their love for the world and all mankind before personal needs. This is logical as well.
What is the attitude of the True Parents toward their sons and daughters? Do they want their children to love only them and not be concerned about the rest of the world'? No, even after the children have gone to the entire world and returned home, the parents will humbly ask, "If you have any energy remaining, can you please go out and give more for the sake of the world? That is our desire." The True Parents want the child to love others as much as he loves them; that is how the joy of the parents is increased. Unfortunately, the attitude of many parents is very selfish. They only want to receive their children's love and hope they will disregard the world.
You know that True Parents are always pushing you out to give more and work harder for the sake of the world. Do you like it'? I know that you would really prefer to enjoy a relationship with me rather than being sent out into the world. However, when you do those things, you are building the Kingdom of Heaven for your own children and all your future descendants. If I passed away, how would you behave? The only thing you will retain is the tradition, which you are learning now. That is the tradition of loving the people of the world as much as you love your own parents. Such a tradition of love will be the means of transforming this world of hell into Heaven. Even after I have passed away, such a tradition will live on.
The entire spirit world will be able to welcome you when you arrive there; people of all ages will greet you. By the same token, I want your own children to take pride in you because you belonged to the True Parents while they were on earth. In order to gain such a position before the world and your own children, you must practice today the teachings of the True Parents. By imitating our actions, you can incorporate our parental qualities in your life and then pass them on to your children. It may be very difficult for you to swallow so much difficulty, but doing so will give great benefit to your children, your nation, and the entire world. Now do you clearly understand these points?
Don't expect many words of praise from me. I seldom say you have done wonderful things. To hear me praise and honor your work while on earth is already to receive your reward. When you go before God, He will note that you were already rewarded. However, if you did not receive many prizes and honors on earth from the True Parents, Heavenly Father will want to give you eternal blessing in Heaven. So is my attitude loving or cruel'? Which kind of reward would you prefer: a temporal one on earth, or the eternal one in Heaven?
When top Unification Church leaders come to East Garden, I usually criticize them so much that some of them can't bear it. They should be grateful for such treatment, however. I feel that anyone who can endure my criticism and scolding and remain humble and obedient is really special. Certainly God too notices such a person. Once you understand this profound truth you can go beyond such trivial concerns as who got the best Christmas present from True Parents.
In the Unification Church we always dwell in two worlds -- this physical realm and the spirit world-and we have to deal with both. Therefore, we cannot just think about the requirements of the physical realm; in fact, we must learn to consider eternal spiritual values first. Sometimes the eternal values conflict with those of this physical world and we experience difficulties and persecution as a result. But because we understand that we are winning on the eternal level, we can rise above the problems presented by this physical world.
When I entered prison in North Korea, I arrived as a humble newcomer. I never demanded respect from the others as the founder of a world-level religion. Since the other prisoners present were my elders, I acted like a private in front of superior officers. After eating our evening meal, there was nothing to do except talk. Prisoners talked about their lives and their various experiences. Everybody wanted to talk about his mistakes or crimes and how he had been caught and imprisoned. They also wanted to discuss their families. But after a few months those topics ran out, so the others had nothing more to speak about.
I had been the only person who had not spoken very much, so everybody else was very curious to hear what I had to say about myself. "Shall I talk about anything I feel like?" I asked them. They all said yes, they were interested in whatever I had to say. So I started to tell them a story that was a fictionalized version of the Principle. Every day I explained to them various contents of Principle, but in the form of a long narrative tale. This continued for about a week. After seven days of sharing, I suddenly stopped and said, "Well, I am finished. I don't feel like saying any more." But the leader of the group demanded that I continue because everyone wanted to hear more.
When I entered prison, I looked for the worst position in the cell. There was one corner where the terrible toilet bucket was kept, and I chose that spot as my place. However, the head of the cell ultimately demanded that I take a better place, away from the toilet. Even though those men were criminals, they still possessed an original mind and were able to respond out of the goodness in their hearts.
Do you think that I am an extraordinary person? You say yes, but my way of relating with other people in society is very ordinary and down-to-earth. I can make friends with anyone; I can laugh and joke with anyone, anywhere. When people meet me they are attracted by this quality.
There were many young girls who wanted to be my girlfriend when I was young. I was never rude to them, but I always tried to educate them. One by one, they came to understand what I was saying. Many girls had a very strong purpose: to win my heart and marry me. Some of them did some very crazy things. Obviously, none of them succeeded. Even now, as old grandmothers, each of those girls can remember how I treated her. They all have good memories of me, even though they were frustrated in their original desires. If I had been born in the West, do you think the same thing would have happened here'? Probably so. God's heart and God's love are like true magnets, pulling all people toward the one who possesses them.
As a rule, I never discuss my personal experiences. Each of you must attend the 2 1 -day and 40-day workshops to learn more details about my life. I don't want to talk about myself before you and reveal all the difficulties I suffered for your sake. Your elder brothers and sisters should educate you about your parents. They should teach the younger brothers and sisters about the parents' heart, and help them appreciate the hardships the parents endured. This is more valuable than hearing it from the parents themselves. In order to understand the heart of the Unification Church, you must attend these workshops. Most of you have already completed a seven-day workshop.
What kind of course are we treading in the Unification Church? Where are we now'? Our course is one of paying indemnity to accomplish restoration. Without the payment of indemnity, no restoration is possible. Unification Church members do not want to pay indemnity, but to dislike indemnity means to dislike restoration. Most of you are clever, however, and you realize that restoration is valuable. You don't want indemnity, but which comes first: restoration or indemnity? The answer is indemnity. Still you don't like it, do you'?
God has a certain point of view. Whose side are you standing on, God's or Satan's? You must be certain that you are standing on God's side. You know that you want to be restored and fulfilled under God's dominion, but from God's point of view, there is no way He can receive you and restore you unless you fulfill the necessary indemnity. Therefore, those who like restoration but don't appreciate indemnity are still standing on the side of Satan and not God. Which side appreciates indemnity? Only God's side.
Within the Unification Church itself there are two sides: God's and Satan's. Analyze yourself clearly and ask yourself which side you are on. After this sermon, you should realize that only by embracing and accepting the course of indemnity can you truly align yourself with God's side. According to God, the person who embraces the road of indemnity and fulfills the conditions, which come to him, will be the leader in the future.
Some of you might wonder why I don't speak more tactfully and behave more diplomatically to avoid causing so much controversy. The answer is that I need to go a difficult way if I am going to champion the cause of God and pay the most indemnity. I cannot pay indemnity by placating everyone. Instead, I have had to stir up the world. I even had to invite suffering in order to endure for God's sake. After all these years, however, the world is running out of ways to abuse me; my indemnity is running out. The world has nothing more to give me except recognition.
Once the world starts to welcome me, it will welcome each of you as well. What if there were no way for you to pay indemnity even though you still needed to do it? If no one in secular society persecutes you, I will persecute you in order to allow you to make the proper conditions of indemnity. Perhaps I will mobilize the leaders to help me in this task. I will send black leaders to give the white members a hard time. Maybe I will send you out to sea or down into the mines or I might even send you out on a boat when a typhoon is coming. In such ways you could get a good dose of indemnity!
Many of you wonder how many more Korean leaders you will have to receive! You think you cannot stand another short guy from Japan either! But you must welcome such people and the difficulties you encounter in your relationships with them. That is a way of paying indemnity.
When you come to a matching, many of you ask for an international marriage, a Japanese or Korean spouse, for instance. Some of you had to use interpreters to converse with your fiancé. What indemnity! A handsome man engaged to a small, potato-shaped Korean girl with a nose so flat he can't even see it might wonder what is happening to him! The answer is simple: indemnity.
I have continuous peace of mind, regardless of the fact that the U.S. government is trying to convict me of criminal charges and send me to jail. I accept it as just one more form of indemnity. Since I am still paying indemnity after all these years, how can you think you can avoid it? Are you going to ask for the good part of my inheritance without also expecting to receive the indemnity course I went through'? When you accept indemnity willingly and without complaint, your inheritance and blessing automatically become greater. This is logical.
However, many members have conditional faith. They praise all the good aspects of our faith: the Principle, the love of brothers and sisters, True Parents, unity, but they cannot accept such things as fundraising. Then what does that indicate about your attitude toward indemnity?
Those of you, who welcome indemnity, show me your hands. Actually, I don't want it either! But I must welcome it because it is the only road we can follow to free ourselves from Satan's accusations. Because of where it takes us, we can welcome the road of indemnity.
Everyone wants to graduate from the course of indemnity. It is natural to want to graduate as quickly as possible, so that means you should seek out the toughest tasks. If you have a fine, outstanding fiancé, you should feel: "I don't deserve such a person. Somebody else must have paid the indemnity for me so I could receive him (or her). Thank you, Heavenly Father."
We have a unique, dramatic way of life. We have learned to overcome all fears. Even prison should not be feared. I know that I can transform the worst prison cell Into Heaven. With such confidence, nothing can really bother or disturb you.
This sermon is an example of what I have been talking about. A preacher will normally speak for only 40 minutes or so, but I have already been speaking four hours. Can you welcome this? Before you meet the New Year, I want you to be cleansed and prepared. You must reorganize yourself before the New Year.
From this time forward, will you willingly accept the course of indemnity? If your leader doesn't push you enough, you can go and pull him forward! The opposite attitude is to say, "My leader isn't really following the true course of indemnity Father talks about. If he doesn't do it, I won't either." Are you going to choose that route'? From this understanding, you can clearly judge the truth about your own situation.
Among 10 people, if nine rise at 8:00 a.m. and one at 7:50, who is the winner in the indemnity contest'? Why shouldn't lie get up at 6:50-or 1:50? Those who come to Belvedere first are paying the most indemnity in this situation.
Harlem is known as one of the most dangerous, rundown areas in New York City. The person who goes to work there for that reason understands the principle of indemnity. Hardly anyone wants to go to work in Africa because it is less developed, but the person who seeks out such work also understands indemnity.
All you Korean fiancées please raise your hand. I made up my mind to give you a special course of hardship as a group. All the Japanese fiancées of Americans are included in this category as well. You are going to be pushed into some special indemnity course. When the Pilgrim Fathers first came to this land, they endured terrible suffering in order to survive and establish this country. Therefore, those foreigners now coming to this nation as wives of American young men should endure even worse suffering. You are becoming the true ancestors of the ideal nation and world. You are the bridges being built between the East and West. You Koreans and Japanese should be exemplary in serving your parents-in-law. This will start a great movement in America-parents pushing their children to marry Orientals.
What about you American women? Will you be able to compete successfully with these hard-working Oriental sisters'? You will have to work even harder in order to win back the best American brothers who currently want Oriental fiancées. American women should pay indemnity to restore this country. Unless the women of the United States become a new breed, this country has no hope. Two thirds of the homes that break up do so because of the woman. Some women marry a man only in order to get his fortune; once they have been married for a while, they divorce so they can get half of the husband's wealth. This is the strategy of some women.
If the American men are wary of marrying an American woman, you should simply work hard, pay lots of indemnity, and I will bring many Oriental men over here as your husbands. By marrying an Oriental man, you bridge the gap between East and West. Like the Oriental women who came to America and worked hard and suffered to pioneer the heavenly tradition, perhaps you will go to the Orient and duplicate their work. Since you understand the necessity of the indemnity course, you cannot run away from it. Where could you go? The indemnity course is good and necessary.
At this very moment, someone somewhere is killing himself. The suicide rate has skyrocketed in recent years. Tens of thousands of people kill themselves each year in the United States. But if they understood the meaning of indemnity, they could never kill themselves. We can save all those lives by explaining the Principle and the reality of indemnity. Then they could have hope and new vision, knowing their lives could be invested for a great purpose.
When I selected the foreign missionaries, I sent an impossible combination to each country: one American, one German and one Japanese. My direction to them was to unite; that was their indemnity course. If they were able to unite in their mission, they were able to bring great accomplishments; but if they could not unite, nothing good could happen in their country.
It is ridiculous for someone who is walking the course of indemnity to state, "I have been in the Unification Church for a long time, so others should serve me." How can you say such a thing'? I am still walking the course of indemnity, and I have been in the Unification Church longer than anybody! Don't you think this church is a dramatic and exciting place? What makes it so? Actually, indemnity itself is what makes it dramatic.
Even though you say you agree with me, in your heart you don't want indemnity. But from now on, the most clever and bright people in the Unification Church will be the ones who seek out indemnity. Before now, the clever people have usually discovered ways to avoid indemnity, and only the not-so-clever ones willingly entered into indemnity. But from 1982 on, we must turn that around and see the opposite thing happen. The smartest and most capable members of the Unification Church must become the first to go the way of indemnity, on their own initiative.
Of all the different aspects of our movement -- the newspaper companies, the fishing businesses, etc. Which do you think will bring you the most indemnity? During the past five years, The News World has been persecuted and the people who worked there have suffered immensely.
Do you think those who travel the indemnity course should expect a nice, large monthly salary? If you really want to pay indemnity, you will turn your good salary over to some greater purpose. You must receive your salary from God. You can't take it from your mission work. Once God is able to receive the entire world as an offering to Him, each person in the world will be entitled to receive a salary from God.
When you have restored a nation, transforming it into a God-centered country, that nation will reward you with a salary you can receive. However, whenever you receive a salary now, you should use only the bare minimum you need and give the rest for the purpose of world restoration. This is the will of God. Then God will want to give you a huge salary. Your attitude as children should be to say, "I will receive a salary only after the True Parents receive one." Do you think I receive a salary?
The most important, primary purpose of our life is to bring this world back to God's side. Even when you are married and have many children, if you are unable to dwell in a nation that is owned by God and under His domain, you are just like the Jewish community in the wilderness; you cannot truly settle down. In order to achieve our settlement, we must tighten our belts and overcome the obstacles.
Whenever the movement obtains some money, we invest it for the sake of world restoration, beginning with the restoration of the nation. Between the world and the family, which has the highest priority? Can we sacrifice the world for the sake of our family? Certainly the family must walk the indemnity course for the sake of the world. This is how I have lived my life. God Himself has lived this way. You must realize this truth.
You must take the initiative to be a positive element, which adds to the benefit of the Unification Church, and never become a burden to it. Without such determination, you cannot fulfill the course of indemnity. I feel responsible to educate each of you while you are still young about how to support yourselves and contribute to the Church. You experience terrible persecution from the outside world, but go ahead and take it; accept all the curses and abuses. These are the experiences that will make you strong for the future.
Some Korean women came here and started asking their hardworking American fiancés for financial help; they complained about their situations. This is totally against my desire. I wanted those Korean fiancées to come here and give comfort and encouragement to their future husbands who have been working so hard in their public missions. Instead, they became burdens to their husbands! This is terrible.
Some Korean girls have even been telling their fiancés that they are wasting their time in their public missions and that they should return to school and get a degree so they can support them in their marriage. There is absolutely no way I will accept this attitude. If you Korean women feel so strongly about your husband going to school, then you should go out and work to make enough money to send him to school once he has fulfilled his public mission. Do some of you Korean women now regret having chosen a Western husband? I would like to see you use whatever money you have been spending for makeup to buy things for your future in-laws. You should give, not expect to receive. The standard of the fallen world is for the new bride to receive all kinds of benefits from her in-laws and to spend all her money on herself. We should be just the opposite: spending our money on our in-laws and others. All of you, who aspire to be universal women, tell me: did you come to the United States in order to enjoy the good life'? In choosing Korean brides for Americans, my standard was to look for women who are healthy, both spiritually and physically. I want you to become exemplary.
You international couples are like test cases for the future; what you do will set the standard for the future. The most important task of these international marriages is to give birth to great sons and daughters. In order to do so, you must be spiritually pure. If you are corrupted, you can never have wonderful children. I would like you to become the true ancestors of the new America.
Those of you who worry about getting older and becoming incapable of having children, my advice to you is to go out, work harder and let God Himself hasten the day of your marriage. Your self-centered desire for a family will never shorten the wait. To reach the greatest level of accomplishment and pay the greatest amount of indemnity and have only one child is far better than having ten children but achieving only a mediocre standard.
God Himself is a God of indemnity. Whatever I have achieved today is the result of going the way of indemnity my entire life. My ears want to hear nice sounds; my mouth wants to taste good food; my eyes want to see beautiful things-the same as you. Why then do I constantly push myself and you into experiences contrary to the desires of our five senses? Because we must go that way in order to reach God.
There is no easy short cut to Heaven. Even if your hair falls out from working so hard and paying so much indemnity, your bald head will become your badge and your source of pride. If there were some other way to go, I would have already found it. If complaint were permissible, I would have more reason to protest than anyone. But complaint has no place in this life, so we must silently go this path. The meaning of the indemnity course is to take the road of pain voluntarily, willingly, and without complaint. The act of taking responsibility requires the absence of complaint.
I know that there is much complaint in the Unification Church. Yet the indemnity course has value only when it is taken willingly. You cannot be forced. As an example, suppose I had returned reluctantly to face this court trial, only at the urging of other people. Then I could never count it as a victory. In fact, everybody else tried to stop me from coming back but I determined to return without the slightest delay. This is the victory: willing, voluntary participation in the difficult course.
Lately I have had to stay at East Garden a lot. It has been quite tedious at times. I have been learning how to play Ping-Pong and pool. In order to test myself, I have been playing these games even though I continue to lose over and over. Many people believe I have a custom-made, ironclad body, but your body and mine have the same composition. The only way I have been able to achieve so much in overcoming my physical body is because I have the spirit of indemnity.
I am sure the people on the East Garden security staff are taking note of this explanation. They probably never understood why I spent so much time at the pool table. Now they know it was my way of paying indemnity. Whether I won or lost, I could savor the experience; by persevering through dozens of lost games, I could taste losing over and over!
Some of you have had a poor understanding of the word indemnity. Do you want an easy life or a life of indemnity'? By choosing the life of indemnity, you can gain the ultimate reward: achieving the level and standard of a true parent and a total relationship with God. Since indemnity is the only means of accomplishing that, indemnity is a blessing. If you spend 10 years fundraising on MFT, God Himself will bow down to you.
Take whatever may happen to you and give it meaning by accepting it as indemnity. Even common head cold or aching legs can have great significance. When you realize you are paying indemnity, you can sense a new burst of energy and determine to overcome all the obstacles such as colds, aches and pains.
If indemnity were a commodity to be sold on the market, how much would it cost? It is so precious it can never be sold; it is priceless. Now you can understand why you must willingly take on indemnity, why you cannot merely jump forward to your ideals. No matter what you are doing, apply the law of indemnity to it. Then whether you are studying, climbing mountains, or whatever, your life will be highly productive. Whatever you touch, you will be putting the law of indemnity into action. You must be successful in reaching up to God.
Let's recap today's sermon. First, I spoke about freedom and then about indemnity. One of the greatest problems in American life today is a misunderstanding of the meaning of freedom. Also, no one understands what parental love is supposed to be. The American standard is to take things as easy as possible; people seek ways to work less and enjoy life more. When you join the Unification Church, however, you learn a totally new concept: indemnity. The American way of life really hates such a concept. Do you think you need this Unification Church "medicine"? What about the future of the United States? All Americans need this same medicine.
Many people think their purpose is to live day by day in the pursuit of more and more fun; this is what freedom means to them. This has given rise to promiscuity, drug abuse, and all those evils. Now you should have the complete understanding that will enable you to help these people and lead them toward God.
Another prevalent attitude among Americans today is a lack of regard for the needs and feelings of their in-laws and even their parents. The younger generation considers all older people virtually worthless. That is why there are so many senior citizens' homes. After listening to this sermon, each of you should resolve never to send your parents away to an institution, but to welcome them into your own home and care for them. You must also be willing to sacrifice your own desires for the sake of your elderly parents when they need you. This is what true love means.
Parents may sometimes visit their child unannounced. This should be fine with the child. They should not have to make an appointment to visit their children. Younger people should consider older people closer to God. Each of you wants to create an ideal home and an ideal family. Certainly you don't want to continue the tradition of mistreating old people. Once you commit yourself to that standard of serving older people, you will find that those who opposed your membership in Reverend Moon's church will change their attitude.
Why do you think such a strong anti-American sentiment prevails in the world today? It is because the American people have sought to avoid anything related with the indemnity course. They have tried to avoid suffering themselves, caring nothing about the suffering of others. Even when the U.S. government sends money as foreign aid, many people cannot appreciate it because there is no heart in it, only selfishness. The salvation of America can only come from the course of indemnity and America must accept it.
This is why I have been training you young Americans and teaching you to be models of indemnity. While the current standard among young people is to touch and embrace in public, you Unification Church members do not even hold your fiancé's hand! Why? Only because of indemnity. We do not want mediocre indemnity; we must fulfill the greatest amount of indemnity.
I have instructed you not to call your fiancé very much, so perhaps you try to get around that by writing to each other every day. After you are married, suppose you could meet only once a year. Such a reunion could have more value than seeing each other every day if you had the right attitude. You could long for each other for a whole year, and then when you finally meet in intense, passionate love, you could produce a beautiful child. That would certainly be a great accomplishment.
When we live according to the indemnity way, we have already won the victory in life. Sometimes when outside men look at women in the Unification Church, they get ideas such as, "That girl is so cute and naive; I'm sure I could seduce her very easily." Such a man might think that with just a little conversation he could win her over. But even after five hours, he sees that she is unmoved! If he tried to talk with her for five days, or even five years, still she would never be seduced by his words. This is the quality of our women: they are tough.
Recently one Korean girl who is matched with a brother in Washington, D.C. gave a testimony of how she barely escaped being raped while fundraising. She had been constantly warned not to go out after 9:00 p.m. because the United States is much more dangerous than Korea. But she was so eager to get a better result that one night she went by herself to a certain area and was grabbed by three strong men who forced her into a car. They tried to rape her there, but she made a desperate effort to get free. She had no weapon at all, but she fought back fiercely and almost tore their faces off!
Those three men were overpowered and beaten off by that feeble-looking little Korean girl. They became so upset and angry that they almost tried to kill her. Still she never gave up; she kept fighting them. She managed to get out of the car and run away desperately. The men ran after her. She ran to the door of one home and they wouldn't even open it. She went to another door and then another. Still nobody would open their door to her, so she hid in some bushes. Although the people in the third home wouldn't open their door-this is the American mentality-at least they called the police. This was how she narrowly escaped.
When I heard her testimony, I felt very proud of this little Korean girl who fought so bravely. Would you American women fight like that? Perhaps you would give in, thinking, "Why should I endanger my life to fight off these men?" That would be a pragmatic approach, but it would not be the right one. You are different from all other American women.
People in the outside world have no understanding of the Unification Church way of life, particularly our method of being matched and married. You are engaged for three years and keep yourselves absolutely pure. Such things are impossible for the world to understand. They assume you must be brainwashed by Rev. Moon, otherwise why would you live such a way? But you know the value of purity and that Satan would make you his victim if you let him.
When you study the Principle, you learn about such terms as "foundation of faith..... foundation of substance," and "foundation to receive the Messiah." Advancing to these various levels can never be easy. Unless you completely understand what I have said today, you cannot attain those levels. You must understand the true meaning of freedom, why you need parents, and why you need indemnity.
What is the foundation of faith and why do we need it? We need to make some offering and condition on the material level. You are the central figure in that offering. The requirements are a material offering, a central figure in the role of Adam, and a conditional time period, which you must pass through. You may have learned the Principle, but you have not yet laid the foundation of faith. This, then, is your task.
When can you lay that foundation? By fundraising you can set the foundation of faith. Three and a half years is the time period and each of you, in the position of central figure, offers to God the material wealth of the world. As a consequence of the fall, the material things of creation were separated from God's dominion. We lay the foundation of faith in order to restore creation.
We are speaking here about the authentic way of life which Unification Church members walk. The number seven represents perfection. All numbers have a Principled meaning.
You are a historic individual. Your lineage goes all the way back to the beginning point of history. In order to restore the history of this sinful world, you must jump outside it, in a way, and go in a direction opposite from it-even if all the powers of Satan try to pull you back. It is inevitable that you will be persecuted. The fact that the Unification Church has received unprecedented rejection by the world is, in a way, proof of its truth and value. This is the first and last time that the entire world can oppose you for having rejected its ways.
When the entire world comes against a religion it becomes anointed as a world-level religion. Without receiving persecution by the world, a religion cannot elevate itself to a world-level. In my course, the original goal should have been reached in seven years, but it had to be extended to 21 years. When you become a member of the Unification Church, you leave the secular world and join an entirely new process: the march toward the establishment of a new world. Two thousand years ago, the Jewish people marched out of Egypt toward Canaan. Now we are marching into Canaan on the worldwide level.
The Israelites wandered through a literal wilderness and desert; today we must walk through a different kind of wilderness, a symbolic wilderness of the heart and mind. This is the world we are traveling through right now. Your families have criticized your way of life. This is similar to the Egyptians trying to hold back Moses and the Israelites, refusing to let them go.
Only those Jewish people who truly loved their traditions and society had the courage to follow such a difficult course. Likewise, we must go this way for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom, the establishment of the sovereignty of God. We march with true patriotism toward the heavenly nation. A wilderness is a rugged place. I have been traveling through that wilderness for the past 21 years, pioneering a path. I can now lead you along the way and keep you from getting lost.
While Moses was on the top of Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God, he was gone from the community for 40 days and nights. During that time, the faith of the Israelites was shaken to such an extent that they created a golden calf to worship. The 40 years from 1945 to 1985 is the equivalent to the 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai, with the established Christian churches in the position of the chosen people. A similar confusion has seized worldwide Christianity: they are embracing all kinds of secular practices the way the Israelites turned toward idol worship.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, the people defied him, and he was overcome with anger and shattered the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. Similarly, when I came bringing the Principle and the understanding that can save the world, people laughed and rejected me.
Young people are being corrupted by such satanic influences as drugs and sexual promiscuity. Satan is using such things to lead them to their death. This is exactly the kind of thing that occurred when the Israelites disobeyed Moses. In the midst of all the degradation of the world, the Unification Church is emerging with a message and banner of hope. We are carrying the standard of God's truth and we are practicing His principles.
God's plan is for the Korean people to lead this crusade followed by the Japanese; these two nationalities together can lead the American people. There has been enmity among these three nations in the past, but now they are coming together under God's direction. Because this unity is occurring, there is hope for unity throughout the world.
We are living here in the United States but we are a new breed of people; our goal and purpose are different. Once we reach Canaan, we must restore the nation, tribe, clan and family.
Now we are doing economic activities; this is a time to make a 100% offering to God. You should tell God, "Everything that belongs to me is Yours." When you go fundraising with such an attitude, you are making a condition to restore the entire world and all things of creation.
To make a perfect offering, you go out and raise funds, add something of your own, and then offer it to God. Instead of taking a percentage of the results for yourself, you can add a percentage from your own possessions. Perhaps you can take off your coat and offer it, or offer a schoolbook or a piece of jewelry. You need to set the condition of offering something from your personal resources.
The Bible tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira, a rich couple who sold their resources and told Peter they had given everything to the community of Christians, although they actually kept part of it for themselves. The moment they lied to Peter, they were punished by God and fell down dead. This is a dramatic expression of how God expects people to make an offering.
I am teaching you how to make an offering by giving you fundraising experiences. When you are given pocket money for personal expenses, you can return it and ask that it be spent for God's purpose.
Recently, one of the MFT commanders came to me asking for some awards for the most successful members on the MFT I asked him what they would like and he told me that all they wanted was a signed picture of Mother and me. They weren't interested in material things, even though they dedicate their daily lives to raising funds. They only wanted some memento of True Parents.
This world is a vicious place, a "dog-eat-dog" society. How different is the Unification Church society! The United States is the front line of our campaign for world salvation. We have brought to this country large sums of money over the past four years, but no newspapers have reported these facts. On the contrary, they promote the idea that I am draining this country's resources, using young people like slaves, and piling up money somewhere else. This kind of treatment I simply accept as good indemnity. Eventually, the American people and the world will know the truth. Never before has someone invested so much effort and resources for the sake of America, trying to revive the American spirit.
U.S. politicians themselves are often not very dedicated to the welfare of this country. When representatives of other governments come here, they usually ask for something for their country. I came here, however, under all kinds of persecution, and have been investing everything to aid this country. Once the American people realize this, they will support my activities.
Now we are in the process of creating The Washington Times, which can disseminate the truthful viewpoint. Lies can be very believable; truth, on the other hand, may sometimes be hard to accept. But ultimately, truth will stand up after all the lies have fallen away. Then people will understand what Reverend Moon is all about. Every penny our movement spends is carefully evaluated in terms of achieving God's will.
In order to erect a foundation of faith, each person must make some material offering. After setting a foundation of faith, a foundation of substance must follow. This means physical restoration on the human level-Cain and Abel must be restored. Abel must reach out to Cain and together they must come to God as united, loving brothers. Why is this necessary?
The Old Testament era was the era of offerings, of laying the foundation of faith. The New Testament era was the era of the foundation of substance; Jesus came in the position of Abel in relation to the world, which was Cain. Once the foundations of faith and substance have been successfully laid, we can make the foundation to receive the Messiah. What is the Messiah? True Parents.
The order of restoration, then, is all things of creation first, next relationships among brothers and sisters, and finally the position of parents. This is how the process of creation originally took place: God created all things first and then Adam and Eve. Finally they were supposed to become the true parents of all mankind. The ultimate goal was the complete unity of Adam and Eve's family with God's love.
The family is the building block of the Kingdom of Heaven. The family is the boundary line that separates the heavenly world from the satanic world. God's plan is to hold husband and wife in His arms, within His domain. If God rules the husband-wife relationship, He has all other relationships and all things of creation as well.
When husband and wife come together, there should be no room for Satan to accuse them. If Satan can say, "That person is not worthy; he didn't set a proper foundation of faith and he didn't do any witnessing," that would be unfortunate. In order to be completely free of accusation, you should go through this course before you get married.
The foundation of faith is necessary before restoring the relationship between Cain and Abel. Because of the human fall, all things of creation fell into the hands of Satan through Cain; Cain has everything and uses them for satanic purposes. But you must be different from previous people. As Abel, you must be different from Cain. Unless you restore the position of all things and the relationship between brothers- Cain and Abel-you are not worthy to receive the position of parent.
Until the brothers are united, they cannot come to their parents. Why'? The elder brother's position was supposed to be the one closest to God but Satan stole that position. Therefore, God assigned to the younger brother the restoration of the elder brother. Only upon the foundation of their unity could the Messiah be received. Cain must go to meet the Messiah through Abel, his mediator. Eve is supposed to help Abel successfully restore Cain. Holding her two sons Cain and Abel in her arms, Eve can then go to her husband and restore family unity.
In the last days, the world is divided into two basic sides: the communist and the free world. They are in the position of the Cain world and Abel world. Both must meet the Messiah and both must find unity. Christianity should stand in the position of Eve, but since Christianity's influence in the world is so weak, the Unification Church has come forward to take that position and embrace the two worlds of Cain and Abel. Although Christianity was supposed to fulfill that role, the Unification Church is now in the position of Eve.
In order to receive the Messiah, you must become an Abel and restore your Cain. Then you can unite with Eve and meet the Messiah. Centering upon the parents, you can then enter into a union with God as a family unit. This is the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and the end of Satan's rule. Because of the human fall, mankind's lineage became stained by sin. Through the Blessing, the blood lineage is changed and purified.
Since this is the culmination of human history, confusion is rampant, especially among young people. Teenagers are being led into all kinds of immoral and impure activities. As teenagers in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. Now the original human fall is being reenacted on the worldwide level among teenagers through such phenomena as "streaking," free sex, homosexuality, and sexual abuse of children by their own parents and grandparents. Incredible perversions are occurring all over the world; the human fall is being multiplied on a worldwide scale.
But we are in the position to set a new tradition. We are creating historic family foundations. We must not fall victim to the world's temptations because we are in a position to begin God's realm. You engaged couples must be completely free from lust for some other man or woman. Even to think of sexual relationships with someone other than your fiancé is a sin. You should remain completely pure, liquidate the past, and become new men and women. You must nurture your relationship with your heavenly counterpart, your fiancé.
In the Garden of Eden, God created only one man and one woman, not two men and two women. What if Adam had been deformed or had a hunchback? Still he was the only man and Eve could not have rejected him. Eve was supposed to marry Adam and they were supposed to become the parents of all mankind. They were to marry primarily for the sake of God, not for themselves.
This should be the motivation for your marriage as well. Whenever you think, I don't want to marry my fiancé," you should remember these points. Adam and Eve were completely at the mercy of God; they had no choice of a mate. In the true tradition, therefore, parents should decide whom their children ought to marry. You are marrying for the sake of your parents, in a way. Until you marry, you live in your parents' home and have no real claims of your own. From the Principle point of view, do you think that what I am saying is correct or not'?
Even after Eve fell, if Adam had been stronger and had not fallen, God could have restored Eve much more easily. The great tragedy was that they defiled each other. According to the same principle, women who fall away from the truth today must not defile their fiancé. If you men cut off from such a woman, God will provide you with a better bride. God selected Mother for me; I didn't do it myself. If either fiancé commits sin and becomes defiled, there is still room for restoration as long as the other remains pure.
Fallen love is the trap, which Satan has been employing for 6,000 biblical years. In a split second, you can make the gravest mistake. You are like sticks of dynamite; but for a couple's love to explode in beautiful joy, the fuses of two dynamite sticks must not be lit until the right moment. Otherwise, their explosion will shatter them. For the consummation of your love to be constructive, the order must come from God, through the True Parents, and then on to you. If it happens at the wrong time, the love will be directed by Satan. Your love should focus outward for the sake of God and True Parents, and not inward on yourselves.
You will meet some day, after each of you has been cleansed as an individual. On that promised day when you come together as husband and wife, you will become one body and one family, with the approval and blessing of God and True Parents. After that you can live happily together. If you touch your fiancée in an intimate way while you are engaged, you are defiling her. Even though she is your fiancée, you are not authorized to take her love in that way. You must first cleanse your past.
When you walk down the aisle at your wedding, you must have no thoughts of the girls you dated in the past; you must never criticize your heavenly bride according to the standards of the fallen world, wishing she were prettier, or taller, or whatever. You must regard your wife as God's gift to you; your blessed spouse is the best one possible for you, much better than a king or queen. You are a son of God marrying a daughter of God; you are marrying a princess! There is no greater position in the world than that.
Don't defile your mind and think about your past fallen sexual experiences. You should consider your previous loves your worst enemies. You must cut off from that past; you must become clean men and women when you enter the Blessing. Cut off all the strings attaching you to the satanic world and free yourself; then you can cross over into the heavenly realm.
Once you enter the family-level dispensation, a higher standard of accomplishment is required. When you receive the Blessing and start your family, it is like you are given an automobile for driving along the highway to the Heavenly Kingdom. You must be able to drive the car; if the car starts to break down, you will be in trouble. When you no longer live as just an individual but as a family, your problems will be magnified.
Restoration through indemnity is your medicine. Even though the medicine tastes bitter, you must swallow it in order to be cured. You certainly don't enjoy the taste of the medicine, but you realize it is your only means to be healed.
You must realize that behind you lies a long history of ancestral sin. To liquidate that history as an individual requires a great amount of indemnity. If you are a fine, handsome man, a good way to do it would be to marry and love an unattractive woman. By doing so you can completely liberate your sinful ancestry.
I resolved to accept as my bride an elderly, very fat woman if God so desired. Since my attitude was to accept absolutely anyone God chose, God gave me a beautiful, young woman Mother-as my bride. No one can accuse that match, either, because it was not of my own initiative; it was completely from God and the spirit world. That is the law of indemnity.
Some of you may spend all your time worrying about your fiancé and your future marriage. But remember that until now the highest religious teachings have demanded a celibate life of their devotees. Each of you should regard it a great privilege to be allowed to live together as man and wife in order to accomplish God's will. I have come to give you this great Blessing; you should be totally humble and appreciate how precious it is.
Now we are embarking on the second 21-year course; you are now going to walk the path as children. It is not too late for you to resolve to follow the mainstream of the Unification Church tradition. Those of you who have not done fundraising must go through it; those of you who do not have spiritual children must gain some. Then you can meet the parents.
You have a Home Church, which represents the entire world; it is your small world. Whatever you accomplish in Home Church God will recognize as having been accomplished for the entire world. Your 360 homes are your microcosm of the world; within them you will find everything you would encounter in the world.
I cannot teach you about the foundation of faith unless you do fundraising. The same with the foundation of substance. What is the foundation to receive the Messiah? Jesus wanted to find his bride, but he could not; therefore, he predicted that he would return for his bride. The Old Testament era was the foundation of faith, the New Testament era the foundation of substance, and the Completed Testament era the foundation to receive the Messiah.
We must indemnify the entire world. For this reason, I started my mission from a lowly position. I had to indemnify all of history, beginning with the Old Testament era, going through the New Testament era, and finally reaching the Completed Testament era. During the past 20 years, these three eras have been restored. All the chaos of human history has been put into proper order.
Nothing comes easy. You must wage your battle and win it. Restoration through indemnity requires an enormous effort. Once my court battle is over in this country, Korea will welcome me. But if I do not win the victory here, Korea will be unable to welcome me. Once I go to the communist world and win a victory, I can return to the United States and be welcomed here.
I am waging my battles against the evils of this country. I have battled against the communist world as well. By now the communists realize that they cannot surpass the philosophy and commitment of the Unification movement and they are taking a defensive posture. In Bonn, West Germany, the leftists organized a huge demonstration of about 280,000 people. We mobilized only about 300 people for a counter-demonstration and we actually made the news before the larger demonstration. When Mr. Brezhnev visited West Germany, no one else did anything to challenge him. We were the only ones with enough guts and commitment to demonstrate against him.
Our goal is not to kill the Russians; we must educate and liberate them. We do not want to destroy Red China, either. Our international highway system will be a concrete example of a worldwide peace movement.
If you have not yet accomplished enough for the foundations of faith, substance, and receiving the Messiah, you should do it now in your Home Church. Raise money, bring people, and organize all kinds of activities in your Home Church area. You will be married in a heavenly wedding when you accomplish these foundations of faith, substance and receiving the Messiah. Only then will you qualify to be married.
Have you fulfilled your Home Church foundation? Since 1977 1 have been speaking and pushing you toward the Home Church providence. Through Home Church you can inherit everything from the past, present, and future. Times are changing. Public opinion is more open now, so your job is infinitely easier than mine has been. You can be accepted much more easily than I ever was.
In less than three percent of your 360 homes will you encounter outright rejection. Has anyone ever tried to kill you for coming to his home and trying to serve him? No such thing will happen. So far in history, Cain killed Abel, Esau wanted to kill Jacob, and Egypt tried to kill all the Jews. Murder of one's enemies has been the world's method. Even now, people want to have me killed.
I know Satan's tactics very clearly. The first attempt is character assassination. If that doesn't work, they will try to convict me through legal means and send me to jail. If that doesn't work, they will resort to violence. It is simply the satanic method nothing new. Certainly it is the method of communism. What if you walked down the streets of New York shouting, "I'm a Moonie. Shoot me if you want to"? Nobody would do it. However, I am being stalked by people who wish to kill me. There are many people who want to stop me.
Ronald Reagan is an example of someone who was protected by God. Even those who were critically wounded during the attempt on his life survived because God intervened on their behalf. Pope John Paul, as well, was saved directly by God. I know that God is protecting me, too, in a special way.
Would you like to have me come with you when you fundraise and do Home Church? You would like it, but you know my dangerous position in this world. Your attitude, then, should be to carry on the fight and work for the cause on your own. You should begin now, at the outset of this new year.
We are living during an incredible dispensation. Over the past 2,000 years, multitudes of saints and martyrs have shed their blood and tears for God's purposes. Even with all that sacrifice, however, they could not see the day of glory and witness the return of the Lord, the marriage of the Lamb. Who are you? Each of you has been handed a better position than even Jesus Christ himself. He was not given the heavenly Blessing, but you are going to receive it. How great and amazing is your Blessing!
Think of it: your children will be in God's direct lineage, born without original sin. They will be entered in Heaven's register as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. What qualifications do you have to bring your children to that level? What good things have you done? Can you expect to be given such an incredible Blessing, which God's people paid for by thousands of years of suffering, without making some kind of condition? In order to receive it, you absolutely must do something. The opportunity to make that condition is by doing Home Church; that is your mandate.
In order to restore Cain, you must win on all levels: individual, family, clan, and so on. Can you try to grab them all at once? Is seven years too long? Human history extends back at least 700,000 or 800,000 years. Can you grab all historical blessings in six or seven years? Such an attitude is that of a thief! In order to become a member of an ideal heavenly family, you must do Home Church.
Home Church is the realm of the tribal messiah. Even Jesus could not establish his own tribe. The unity of Zechariah's family as Cain with the family of Joseph and Jesus as Abel would have achieved tribal-level restoration. Once you successfully restore your Home Church, your tribe and clan will automatically be restored. The two Home Churches will become one. After that, you will go to the national level Home Church. Your value to your nation will be proportionate to the number of people you can draw from your Home Church area to serve their nation. Home Church is the criterion by which you will be entitled to receive reward from Heaven.
Within the Unification Church we are bringing together the Cain and Abel tribes of Judaism and Christianity. After that unity is truly achieved, I must bring unity between the communist and democratic worlds. After the mission is completed here in the United States, I will go to Russia. Once unity is achieved between the United States and Russia, I will go into the spirit world.
The United States is a melting pot for all the world's races and nationalities. Your 360 homes represent the whole world. A circle contains 360 degrees and one lunar year has 360 days. You will discover every conceivable condition in Home Church, which is a microcosm of the world. The various races there might represent the various eras of the dispensation: blacks might represent the Old Testament era, Hispanics the New Testament era, whites the Completed Testament era. There is a certain logic to the development of history, and Home Church is the best place to bring everything together.
Yellow people are the most numerous race, followed by whites and finally blacks. Even whites and blacks combined do not equal the numbers of Oriental people. Realizing the vast power and numbers of people there, communism has sought out Asia. The United States has tried to retreat from Asia and it feels it has no need for Africa. I am concentrating on the yellow race as the key to world unity; there are now 3.1 billion Oriental people.
You go to your Home Church area under the direction of Reverend Moon, an Oriental. There you find all races, including blacks, whites, Hispanics, and American Indians. American Indians are a yellow race that the white people conquered with violence in this country. The extermination of the Indians in this country was an act of evil. It is appropriate to the law of indemnity that a yellow person, Reverend Moon, should come to the United States and send out you white people to conquer the nation, not by force but by love and truth. However, you are under my dominion only in an external sense; God, Himself is directing you through the love and truth which I bring.
Many Western nations are currently suffering from widespread drug addiction. In the past, the Anglo- Saxon people, primarily Great Britain, imported opium into China and encouraged drug addiction there in order to obtain money and riches from China. The Opium War was a famous conflict in history. Now Red China is a major cultivator of opium poppies and is exporting great amounts of heroin and opium, causing the corruption of Western youth and gaining great amounts of money as well. This is evidence of the law of cause and effect.
For this reason I came to sow truth and love in this country. Nothing can stop me; no power on earth is strong enough to withstand the power of God, which is marching with me.
We must fulfill the mission, which was left incomplete by Jesus Christ. If you white Americans do not do it, God will shift to the black people. Then how ashamed you whites will be! Now Japan is overtaking the West in practically every area of technology. In this new age, Asia is playing an ever more prominent role.
I may appear stubborn and people may think I am blind to the world's reality, but I am not. I am very aware of God and how He is leading the world. It is truly God who turns the pages of history. No one before has spoken of history in this sense.
Are you happy people? Do you say yes because you are just passively listening to me, or are you happy because you have a great purpose in life and have found many fulfillment through it?
In Latin America people take siestas in the afternoon; in Europe summer vacations are a tradition. But for Moonies there is no time for such things. Some people accuse the black people of being lazy, but the fact is that once black people join the Unification movement, they become the most diligent and hardworking members, especially in Africa. They work so hard because they long to save the entire African continent. They are motivated by God's ideology.
When you come to Belvedere, you often wish that I would not speak more than two hours or so. The members in Africa, however, are praying for me to come to speak to them; they are willing to sit for 24 hours and listen to me. They think you are all spoiled!
Why do you suppose I speak for such a long time and insist on certain things? I never know what God's plan for me might be. I could be called to the spirit world today. If that happened, I wouldn't want to regret withholding some teaching you needed. There is no guarantee that I will live a certain length of time. When you come to Belvedere, you represent the people of the entire world. I can trust only you people. Therefore, I am teaching you everything. This is the parent's heart. You are a special, trusted breed; therefore, I am going to unload everything on you!
Our relationship will not end with this earthly plane but will continue in the spirit world, where we will see each other every day. When we all enter the spirit world, I do not want you to have any regrets. I don't want you to look back and realize that you did not take my sermons seriously. If that happened, you would not feel very comfortable and you would not be well accepted there. I would rather hear you say, "Father, thanks to your seven hour sermon on December 27, 1981, 1 was completely changed and my commitment to Home Church was doubled. Thank you so much." In that light, this seven hour "ordeal" is nothing; it is actually a joy.
It is with a parental heart that I speak to you for such a long time. It is up to you whether you take it seriously or not. I know that scholars and thinkers will take it seriously in the future. I am speaking not only to you but to history and all your posterity. This particular sermon is making a footprint in history.
There is no way you can bypass Home Church work and still come to the True Parents. Of all the gifts I can give you, Home Church is the greatest; receive it with all sincerity, integrity and seriousness. Through Home Church we will transcend all boundaries, whether national, racial, or cultural. The heavenly nation is blossoming and we are bringing hope to Christianity and to the United States through Home Church.
Even if I were to pass away now, you would be capable of saving this nation. Each of you has been taught your responsibilities. You must know that I have brought the historical victory. You know the True Parents well. Now your duty and mission is to fulfill your responsibilities. This will be your joy and blessing. Amen!
If you have been living by a lukewarm standard so far, change it beginning with 1982. From now on, have absolute confidence in what you are doing. You should regulate yourself according to the Principle.
Since I have completed my duties here, perhaps I should take a nap now and then, or go on a vacation. God is encouraging me to do that. Maybe in this coming year I will sleep for one month without stopping! If you come to Belvedere and don't see me, you might ask where I am and hear the answer, "He's sleeping." The following week, when you come again, the answer might be, "He's still sleeping." What would you say to that? Would you be indignant?
What if I started to wear a suit made of golden fabric? God wants to indemnify all the deprivation and suffering poor people have undergone in the past, and maybe He could do so by giving me a suit of gold. But wearing a gold-plated suit would not be easy; since it would be awkward and uncomfortable, it would still be indemnity! Would you point your finger at me and call me crazy?
Sometimes when I go to sea, I kill fish with my hands and eat them raw. Maybe by doing so I can vindicate all the thousands of people who died at the mercy of the sea!
The new year is coming, and I might do some unusual things. Would you have trust in me, no matter what I do, that I will not deviate from the Principle? Can you maintain confidence that there is a meaning and purpose behind everything I do?
I want to prepare you for the coming year so that you can be invincible champions for God. God bless you.