In 1946, when Father was 26 years old, he was called by God and went to North Korea to preach the word of God. As l think you are about the same age as Father was then, I'd like to tell you how he taught us. In a sense I think that you've heard from him more than what he told us at that time: that is because Father now talks about things he didn't talk about in those days. I can't help thinking how fortunate you are in your situation to be able to hear and understand so much of God's word.

The church where Father was preaching can be compared to a tiny Home Church where we are preaching God's word today. Those who came to the church were called by God long before and had led a religious life -- that is to say, they were totally different from us. At that time Father didn't take the trouble of standing on the street to witness to people: the members were introduced by the people who happened to get acquainted with Father. As soon as they heard some of God's word they began to pray and joined the church, following God's call. That was because they were already prepared long before. They were very quick to decide to join the church.

However, they had one difficult problem: they had families, and occupied central positions in the established churches. Although they were called by God, and although they understood the truth and joined the church, it was impossible for them to avoid experiencing opposition from their families and from the established churches. If they had been regarded as unimportant people, they would have been in an easier situation, but they were important people and were respected by their families. In addition, they were the people who brought and spiritually educated many people in the established churches. Some members even had their own churches. Consequently they couldn't avoid the tremendous persecution. Although they had decided to join our church, they worried a great deal as to whether they should cut off relations with their families and the established churches, or compromise with them since they were opposed and persecuted so severely.

I think you can understand the situation when you look back upon the days when you first heard the Divine Principle and decided to join. You are different from those people, as you are one of your family, a family member who is supported by parents and doesn't occupy a central position in your family. However, you also had to leave your friends with whom you had heartistic relations, you also had to quit your school with which you had a deep connection, you also had to quit your job. In this sense you have something in common with those people in spite of all the differences. You must have wondered whether you should leave your parents and friends, whether you should stay at school or not, and whether you should abandon your job or not. When they didn't know how to solve these problems, they asked Father. Even though they were very glad to hear God's word, they became very gloomy after they saw the response of their families and churches. They came back to Father with such dark faces. Therefore Father had to take care of these people. Their worries developed into serious problems. God couldn't give direct instructions to them all the time: if God were able to do this the Fall of Man would not have happened. Also, if Father couldn't have taken care of them, they wouldn't have had the strength to come to the church any more. If brothers and sisters were not able to take care of you when you came to the church at the beginning, you couldn't have continued to come to the church, either. Therefore, although it is important to preach God's word, we must know that it is more important to give proper internal guidance to brothers and sisters who are worrying about how to apply the Principle. You have to spend more time to give such internal guidance than to preach God's word.

When a member comes to talk about his problems with a leader, his problem is transmitted to the leader. Do you understand what I mean? When the member has a fear, the leader who listens to his problem comes to have a fear, too. Therefore the leader must have the stronger mind, strong enough to overcome the fear, in order to be able to solve the problem. If he doesn't have such a strong mind, he will be overwhelmed by the fear. Is this correct? Suppose you suffer from a certain question about the Divine Principle. For example, you hear the Divine Principle and tell it to others; then when someone has a different opinion about a certain subject of the Divine Principle and asks you a question, and you can't answer it well, you suffer very much. This means that you agree with the person who opposes you, that's why you are so troubled by the question. When his opinion seems to be very good, it's difficult to ask your leader about it. You come to worry more than before. However, when you have strong confidence that the Divine Principle is absolutely true, you will talk with your leader about your problem. Otherwise you can't open your mind to your leader, and become troubled, thinking whether the teaching of the Unification Church is true, or whether what the outside person said was right. You suffer in this way without telling your problem to others. When the leader hears the suffering of the member, if he can't give any proper answer for it, the leader himself can't help falling down spiritually. Isn't this right? As a leader you can't help feeling scared when your member comes to ask questions! You, as leaders, worry when your member comes to you with a question for which you can't give any proper answer. When you are asked to give an answer, some of you will get angry or mad, or you will encourage the member to have stronger faith, without making any effort to let him understand the essence of the problem in detail. Or you just insist that the outside person is wrong. The problem should not be solved in this way: it is very difficult for the member to accept it, and he can't help suffering from it. Even if he tries to believe what his leader told him, and concentrate on his work, the problem always remains at the bottom of his heart.

Although any serious problem concerning the Divine Principle is solved sooner or later, heartistic problems are usually difficult to solve.

The new members have to become full time members, cutting off relations with their families. It is more difficult to take care of the members who are totally at a loss to find the solution to their family problems. Father always gave proper internal guidance to them with a kind heart from morning till late at night, and they could overcome the difficult persecutions. When the brothers and sisters came to Father with such problems in their hearts, he also must have felt pain a great deal. The fact that Father could take care of the members who had serious problems means Father placed himself in the same position as those who were suffering. The first step in caring for people is to put yourself in the same position as those who are suffering. You should place yourself in the same circumstances and in the same situation of heart. How can it be possible to take care of people who are in a different position from yours? It is necessary to place yourself in the position of a student in order to take care of a student; it is necessary for a man to place himself in the position of a woman when he takes care of her; it is necessary to place yourself in the position of an old man when you take care of him. However, a man can't become a woman, and a young man can't become an old man; those who aren't students can't be students. Then what can we do? I've just told you that you must place yourself in the same position as that of your guest. Then what shall we do? Suppose there is an old man who needs proper internal guidance. In this case you shouldn't attempt it just with your knowledge. It proves to be difficult if you try to take care of him within your own world. It goes without saying that the standard, and the point of internal guidance and taking care of people lies in the Divine Principle. First and foremost the central point lies in the Divine Principle. However, even if you know the Principle, you can't be successful in giving proper internal guidance without understanding the guest's position and circumstances. Therefore the principle is to place yourself in the same position as the person who needs your help.

What should you do in order to place yourself in the same position? You have to hear all an old man wants to say, to begin with. By doing so it is possible to place yourself in the same position as the old man. After hearing the whole story you can tell him how to solve his problem, based on the Principle. The most important point in taking care of people is to hear all they want to say first, in order to place yourself in the same position as theirs, but we often don't do this. How is it possible to give proper advice to them without understanding their circumstances? It's absolutely not possible. However, there is only one way left for us: that is to perceive their problems and troubles with your spiritual senses, your so called intuition. The spiritual senses tell you beforehand what kind of problem a guest has, then you can give proper guidance to him. When you pray, you can perceive what kind of person he is with your spiritual senses; you can understand his situation through prayer. Of course, this can't cover one hundred percent, therefore Father made the utmost effort to take care of those members troubled with serious problems.

Download entire book in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Copyright Information