Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman
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Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman |
God and True Parents are one. God is the vertical True Parents dwelling in True Parents who are the horizontal True Parents. By attending True Parents who embody God, we attend God. Filial sons and daughters of God attend God and True Parents first. Their dedication and devotion is first to God and True Parents. God is first attended above any person, angel, place or thing. He is to be attended before any president, before any leader, before one's husband, one's wife, one's children, any personal desire, and before any situation. God is first above all. From the moment we wake up in the morning until we close our eyes and go to sleep at night, God should be at the forefront of our heart, mind and actions.
Do we not exist? Are we not alive? Did not God create us? Is God not our True Parents who love us so dearly? Is God not our God of true love, true life and true lineage? If these are so, then the heart of filial sons and daughters who are holy sons and daughters of God in the cosmos is to attend God and True Parents first.
Filial sons and daughters have completed their duties and responsibilities centered on true love live absolutely for the sake of God and True Parents. By attending God and True Parents first, filial sons and daughters establish the tradition for children to attend their parents in their families first. By establishing the tradition of living for God first, they establish the foundation of attendance in the vertical organization of the culture of true love. The order of attendance originated within God's heart and mind before the beginning of creation.
The cosmos is to be organized under absolute laws designed by their Originator, God. These absolute heavenly laws determine the absolute standards of value that determine the traditions of true love and establish the culture of love. Adam and Eve should have attended God first. By attending God first, the vertical tradition of attendance would have been established in accord with the heavenly laws. God would have become the Vertical True Parents, the first center and first to be attended. Adam and Eve would have become the horizontal True Parents as the second center and second to be attended. Next, True Children and their descendents are to be attended. True Parents Family is the original family of God and God's central and direct lineage. They are the Royal Family and Lineage of God onto which we have been engrafted
The vertical tradition of attendance is extended to attending others, thus forming a hierarchical organization of attendance in society. Within the family the order of vertical attendance is extended vertically to the Three Great Kingships, that is, from children (princes and princesses), the parents (king and queen), to the grandparents and ancestors (tribal king and queen).
The tradition of vertical attendance of elders first would be established in the extended family and tribe. In the family tradition all elders in the family are to be attended (i.e., aunts, uncles), then elders in the tribe and all elders in the society. A seniority system, that is, a tradition of attendance and serving all the senior citizens of the society will be established on the way towards forming a one world family under God and True Parents. Vertical attendance would be applied also to all holding a position as a subject partner in society. These include those holding public positions such as teachers, doctors, police, traffic directors, community leaders, administrators, business leaders, government officials, national leaders, etc.).
The ideal family also establishes the foundation for horizontal attendance between the subject partners and the object partners. In the Korean language the word for attendance is moshinda. It refers only to vertical attendance. In the teachings of True Parents, in the establishment of the Three Objects Purpose there is also a horizontal form of attendance. Wives learn to attend husbands and husbands learn to attend their wives. Younger children learn to attend older children but also older children should learn to attend the younger children. Husband and wife relationships, as well as relationships between brothers and sisters are horizontal relationships. As true love is perfected in the family system, vertical and horizontal order becomes more level, until vertical and horizontal order virtually disappears in family relationships of true love.
Sons and daughters of filial piety in the family should grow and become patriots in the nation, saints in the world and holy sons and daughters of God in the cosmos. In the family, filial sons and daughters should know who they would attend and serve first. Patriots in the nation would know their positions of attendance and who to first serve in the nation, saints would know their positions of attendance and who to serve first in the world and teach the principles of the organization of the Shim Jung Culture, and holy sons and daughters in the cosmos would of course attend and live first for God.
Satan, Adam and Eve established a new tradition on earth. Instead of attending God first as the foundation to establish the vertical order of attendance, they established a new principle of attending themselves first. The "me first" culture was established. A culture of selfishness and egoism was established, lacking the absolute standard of the absolute laws of love of the Creator, God.
In the course of restoration God is our vertical True Parents and True Parents are our horizontal true parents from which we are born. We need to attend God and True Parents and the True Children first. This is the correct order. Without attending God and True Parents' Family first we have no real beginning. By attending True Parents, each family becomes a representative family of the cosmos and a central family of the cosmos as originally intended by God.
The very first order for the establishment of the vertical Shim Jung organization, that is the organization of heart and love, is to attend God and True Parents first. Holy sons and daughter of God live their lives in attendance to God and True Parents first. In the ideal family the grandparents, the father, the mother, and elder siblings re attended first.
True love is the ultimate value. Therefore we feel that more than spouse, children or anyone, God comes first. You must practice that attitude in your daily life… " God first " is the absolute credo of our movement. (God's Will -- 649, 1983.6.5))
Offer your first words to Heaven after rising from your bed in the morning. When you step outside your home, you should step with your right foot first, dedicating your first step to Heaven. If you develop such habits, your life will become a life of attendance. From this viewpoint, you should maintain the standard of a principled attitude in daily life. (17-296, 1967.2.15)
When God gives people a gift, would He give them a bad gift? He gives the best of the best. Where is that? It is something that exists in a deep place. God would want to take it out from His deep, inner place and give it to the one He loves. This is why love is good. (194-175, 1989.10.22)
A world must come in which people respect God, making Him the first priority. In other words, the world of hope which our hearts hunger for beyond the realm of death must appear on earth. This is the very time for the kingdom of peace which we have longed for and what we Unification Church members call the era of heaven on earth. We must go out to the world to resurrect the realm of death (20-181, 1968.6.9)
You should live a life of attendance. So then, why should we live a life of attendance? To receive God's love. For this reason you should serve God first. You should attend Him. (78-30, 1975.5.1)
Let us consider the name True Parents. We find that history is guided by them. They are the starting point of a new world. Through the True Parents, an internal relationship is formed by which Satan can be subjugated and God can be liberated from Satan who possesses the external world. Therefore, you should be grateful first and foremost for this amazing grace of being able to live together with True Parents and move according to True Parents' directions. (43-144, 1971.4.29)
You have to determine to demonstrate loyalty to the place of God before you show loyalty to your country. Before serving your society, you must first enter into God's presence and then serve that place and finally receive its recognition. If not, then your internal connection with God cannot bear fruit in the external world. This is the essence of a life of faith. You say "I'll serve the world and be loyal to my country," do you not? Then where is the starting point of that loyalty? It is surely in the family. It has to start from within the heart and body of your parents. (22-42, 1969.1.19)
The Bible states, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind! This is the first commandment." Those who do not abide by this commandment cannot enter heaven. What is the second commandment? It is, "Love your neighbor as yourself!" The one who loves God first and loves his neighbor second can be a filial child. (198-259, 1990.2.4)
Before desiring heaven, we must desire to know God's heart; and before desiring to know God's heart, we must think about how we should conduct our lives. First, have a heart of attendance. Our original nature reveres and yearns for that which is sublime and precious. In spite of the Fall, our original heart wants to attend the sublime and precious heart of God. Therefore, those who have never been able to lead a heart-centered life of attendance have nothing to do with heaven.
To live a life of attendance we need preparation. After passing through a process of preparation, we need to then practice the life of attendance. Our destination, after preparing and practicing a life of attendance, is heaven. The destination of people who have attended with their hearts is heaven. Heaven is the world where we can be proud of our preparation for attendance and the life of attendance, and where we can actually demonstrate our accomplishments. It is our destiny to follow the course that advances toward the world of heavenly purpose.
From the day we were born with fallen lineage until the present day, there has not been even one day when all humankind attended God with a full heart. Before Adam and Eve fell, they grew according to the ideal of creation, but they never attended God based on a relationship of heart.
What is God's regret? It is that we, who were created to attend Him with our heart, fell into a position where we could not do so, and that God, who should have received heart-centered attendance, was left unattended. God was not anguished because there was nobody who believed in or knew Him. The grief of heaven and earth is that there was nobody who could attend or relate to God in heart. (8-290, 1960.2.14)
Where is the highest place a father and son can meet? It is in the center, where their love, lives and ideals intersect. Then, love, life, and ideals are in one place. At that place, God is love, and so are we; God is life, and so are we; God is ideal, and so are we. The first bond and first place of unity that can determine this must be where the parent-child relationship is established. This is an undeniable fact. (69-78, 1973.10.20)
First, you should genuinely yearn for the Parents with all your heart. You will not receive salvation unless you attend the Parents with the attitude that they are the source of your life, the entirety of your hope, and the origin of all your ideals and happiness.
Have you ever offered attendance like that? You should clearly understand this. Therefore, you should have the firm conviction that you are the sons and daughters who can eternally unite with True Parents, to the extent that it surpasses the awareness of your very existence. You must have that kind of conviction. (30-237, 1970.3.23)
You should offer the first of anything to God. Pure things should be offered in front of God. God will not be with you unless you offer something pure. Your daily habits should be carried out in this way. (30-133, 1970.3.21)
From the historical viewpoint, people who desired to attend God first had to fight an invisible Satan and next a visible Satan. Then they engaged in a battle with poverty due to a lack of material. Consequently, Jesus was given a temptation through bread on the personal level; next he was given a temptation through the temple on the environmental level; thirdly, he was given a symbolic temptation on the world level while standing on the top of the mountain. Such events took place based upon the principle of the struggles between good and evil.
Then what kind of heart did Moses keep in the attendance of God? He had the heart to attend God, to fight the enemy Amalek tribe in the wilderness, to fight starvation, and the courage to step forward fearlessly at the risk of his death. Moses fought Satan by himself and fought hunger for a total of eighty years, during the first forty years of his life in the palace of the Pharaoh, and during the second forty years in the Midian wilderness. When he won the fights, God called him. (Sermons Vol. 2-227, 1957.6.23)
For man, loving God is the first commandment. So should you love God with your life or just for the time being? Will you love God with your life or not? You should love God even if a thunderbolt hits you and you die. You must love God with your life. If you must love Him with your life, there is nothing you cannot do till your death. (37-25, 1970.12.22)
What comes first? Standing on God's side comes first. Next is the family standing on God's side. Once that is achieved, the global foundation will all be connected to the Parents. (201-130, 1990.3.27)
How can we pull God's love? The only way to move God is to devote yourself with absolute seriousness. You must think of True Parents first, whatever you encounter.
When something good happens, a person of filial piety thinks of his parents first. To think of husband or wife first is a fallen custom. Without buying something precious for parents, you cannot buy anything for your wife. Many of the 36 Couples should feel guilty. Before buying new clothes for your wife, you should buy clothes for your parents. A wife cannot ask her husband to buy certain clothes that she likes without buying for the parents first. Before buying himself clothes, a husband should buy for his parents first and then for his wife. The same rule applies to eating. You are to prepare a meal first to eat together with your parents. (Blessing Pt. 2 -- 257)
Even before you eat, you should think, "Father, after you!" (11-218, 1961.8.26)
You cannot just eat good food and wear good clothes. First, you have to offer the best to God. When you walk, think that you are walking together with Father on your right and Mother on your left. (24-181, 1969.8.4)
If you live the life of attendance who should you serve first? You first must serve God. What is the purpose in serving God? Ultimately it is so that you grow well. If you are healthy what must you then do? You must receive God's love. If you don't. It won't matter how much you try to develop yourself externally. You won't be able to become a person who can keep God's love and your life will not go well…
Even though a being does not know it, God's love is leading them on, closer and closer to His love. God's love pulls people and all created things towards Him. Of course this is true of this physical world and of the spiritual world. The more and more you receive God's love, the more an individual will automatically develop one center. From that center an organization can develop. Then through such individual citizens and groups, where you nurture a foundation to receive love, you form a nation which can move the world. \When we look at the question of why I should live a life of attendance. You should know it is for the purpose of receiving God's love. This is the reason why you should serve God first. (78-30)
The one who loves God first and loves his neighbor second can be a filial son. Do you understand? (198-259)
Since I first began my mission I never slept restfully. How could I enjoy a peaceful rest without accomplishing my mission? I have also been desperately struggling with Satan in order to prevent him from taking away the standard of heart I set up to love God first. (The Way -- 121)
You must love God first, then love your husband or wife and your children. (World Peace -- 174)
Your good descendants born in the unfallen original Garden are expanded to the world. Centering on this vertical line, and centering on the tribe of Father, all of you are connected. You must love the vertical line more than your own tribe. Since the vertical is first, you must love it first; then you can love your own line. If you do so, Satan cannot invade you. By establishing all these things, now it is possible to restore the kingship. (201-130)
When I marry people, they will be able to live together in the spirit world. When a filial woman makes rice cakes and her grandfather-in-law and her father-in-law are living in the house, the first person she should think of giving the rice cakes to is her grandfather-in-law. In this way, she thinks of God first. If she loves one more step higher, then she can go beyond the earthly life and into the heavenly world. That is why the grandfather-in-law is in a higher position than the father-in-law. The grandfather-in-law is closer to the spirit world than the father-in-law. She has to serve him as she serves God.
The vertical standard is inherited through love. Through love, we also have to engraft our own sons and daughters in order to make them vertical. In this way they can inherit the tradition. (194-41)
Ladies and gentlemen, do you think at the time of the Fall, Eve said, "Oh, great! I have eaten the fruit and it is so delicious?" How do you think Eve felt when she was being raped by the archangel? She fell into the archangel's seduction while experiencing the pangs of conscience and hating it. She should have loved as a flower enjoys spring, with all of her cells filled with joy, but instead she experienced love frowning, with her cells shrinking and her heart dying.
If she had not fallen, whom would she have loved as her first love? She would have had her first love with God. The first love Adam and Eve were to have had with God would have contained all the forms of first love. The parental love as the first love, the conjugal love as the first love, and the children's love as the first love -- all these would have attached firmly to God at the root.
These loves would not have had to go through various stages of restoration, such as individual and family restoration, over a long historical course as in your case; they are loves that would have all bonded simultaneously. Within the first love of God, all other loves -- parental, conjugal, and children's love -- would have bonded together all at once. (Blessed Family -- 373, Korean Edition)
A long time ago, when the families of loyal subjects received something good, they first offered it to the king of the nation. That was the rule of the life of loyalty in Korea. From that perspective, Korean courtesy reflects something central to heaven that cannot be found in any other nation. (31-292, 1970.6.4)
What would be our ideal, desire and hope? The conclusion should be as follows: first, attending God as our Father is our greatest hope; second, we are to become His beloved sons and daughters; and third, we are to inherit everything He owns. There cannot be a human hope greater than this. (Blessed Family -- 480, Korean Edition)
Then what is the center of the hierarchy in the spirit world? First it is God, second True Parents, third true sons and daughters, and fourth the true nation. True children are children who have inherited the direct lineage from True Parents. They all branch out centering on the nation to become its citizens.
Who should be the first to live in the heavenly palace? Who will govern the heavenly kingdom sitting on the throne of the heavenly palace? Adam and Eve should have become the true parents centering on God and were supposed to be in that position of governing the kingship of that heavenly nation. It would have been realized if they had not fallen, but because of the Fall it did not materialize. Thus, true parents have to emerge and move into that position.
The spirit world operates under this kind of principle. So how long do you think it would take for such phenomena to appear in the physical world? Centered on God, true parents have to emerge, then the true children, and finally a true nation with true citizens. (161-222, 1987.2.15)
The one who wants to liberate God first and then go to the Kingdom of Heaven is a person like Jesus. That is the Messiah's responsibility.
The Messiah does not think, "Oh, I must quickly enter the Kingdom of Heaven." The Messiah is responsible for sending individuals, families, tribes, races, nations and the world to the Kingdom of Heaven. He is also responsible for liberating all people from hell and sending them to the Kingdom of Heaven, because he is the one who is determined to carry all the sadness of God on his shoulders. (188-315, 1989.3.1)
For us to become the ideal people envisioned by God, that is, people of ideal character, and to create ideal families, we first need to be linked to His lineage. (Messages of Peace 1 -- 16, 2005.9.12)
For people to perfect themselves in resemblance of God and obtain the stature of people of character who can be called sons and daughters of the absolute being, they must follow the path based on the absolute standard God has determined. The essence of this path is the standard of absolute sexual purity. The first stage is maintaining absolute sexual purity prior to getting married. (Messages of Peace 10 -- 144, 2006.11.21)
Ladies and gentlemen, the conscience comes first and precedes your parents, your teachers and even God. Many people do not realize its value because the body has been dominating the conscience. (Messages of Peace 14 -- 223, 2007.6.13)
If you go into a sanctified spiritual realm, you will feel that you should pray for God first. Then afterwards, you must also pray for Jesus; only after that will you understand the historical heart. Then you must pray on behalf of the multitude of people who fought for the great dispensational will in Christendom since the creation of heaven and earth. Following the footsteps of the innumerable prophets since the Fall of Adam and Eve, you must pray, "Please allow me to become an offering that can resolve all their sorrows." After that is all fulfilled, you can pray for your loving children and then pray for yourself. That is the way of heavenly law. (7-328, 1959.10.18)
Well, if God exists and I exist, and if we think of God and ourselves being in an equal position, would you think of God first or yourself first? [God first.] Well, what about you? [God.] If it is God, do you think that we should become people whom God is pleased with or that God should become the one whom we are pleased with? [The former.] I am not talking about others. What about you? [The former.] (145-330)
The age of feudalism was the period of putting God first in importance. Then the Reformation came into being. Owing to that, man stopped thinking of putting God first in importance and instead came to think of the possibility of uniting with God. Mankind has passed through this kind of course; now it has come to the age of restoring the holy temple of the substantial entity. (Sermons Vol. 3 -- (257, 1958.2.9)
You must not shed tears because of missing your husband and children. Your tears should solely be shed for God and the world. God's sorrow was that men and women could not become the true fathers and mothers who could truly love the world. That is the sorrow caused by the Fall. If your husbands tell you that they love you, then you should tell them that they must love the country, the world and God first, and only after that are they allowed to love you. You should not demand of your husband that he should love you and not care about God or the nation. Men should never love such wives. Aren't there many such wives thus far? They may say, "Why must you care so much about God's Will? My will is the only one you should care about!" Men must never love such women. You men, do you understand? That is my belief. That is the very thing I have been teaching Mother. (38-293, 1971.1.08)
We should belong to God, not to Satan. Then, ladies and gentlemen, whose is the Unification Church? Is this mine (Rev. Moon's)? No, it is not, but it is God's. Therefore, if anyone claims this is his or hers, they shall be a thief. Since according to the Principle of Restoration, things should belong to God first and next to Adam. Such a process should take place. In the Bible, when Jesus was questioned by Pharisees who brought a donation: "To whom does this donation belong?" Jesus answered: "What belongs to Caesar as taxes should be returned to him, and what belongs to God should be returned to God."(Spiritual Leader Pt. 1 -- 132, 1975.1.1)
Children can notice immediately whether their parents are good or not. If you move forward steadily for the Will, the day the world recognizes them will come. Even though a couple dies they should leave the way of heaven. What does the family exist for? Although it is for the children, it should exist for the country and God first. It is the way to benefit your children in the end. It is the only course in which your children can be together with the fortune of God, the world and the nation. Therefore, although the children have trouble in some way you should not assist them but help God, the world and the nation. (21-88)
How many people put God first? (God's Will -- 199, Korean Edition)
When the man is mature and red with the ripeness of his love, he will plead for God to come to him. At that point he thinks about God first and the woman second. The woman as well asks for God first -- not because she doesn't like the man but because God takes precedence over any other person. God looks at such a man and woman with intense care. They are about to be drawn to one another in love, but their desire is to invite God in first, because without Him they cannot have a genuine relationship. Of course, God recognizes and endorses such an attitude. Once God approves of them, will He leave them alone, or will He zero in on them? The ideal position for both the man and the woman is that of equilibrium; when husband and wife are balanced, God comes to both at the same time, so they no longer need to compete to receive God's love first. (True Love -- 171, 1983.6.11)
Here we say that everything belongs to God. Only God owns everything. What we have belongs to God. We feel that we have to return everything first to God and then be given what we need by Him. In that way, we exchange what we have with God's love. We want to return to God everything we have, and in return we want to receive God's love, which is greater than anything else. Then we want to share that love with others. (New Hope -- 92, 1973.2.16)
The kingdom of heaven is not a rare event. The ideal is to live your life serving parents and serving God, and receiving love. Is there anything more? Attend God, and attend parents, is there something in addition to that? What's next? It is that you are then able to love each other. That is the kingdom of heaven. That is it. There is nothing else that you can call the kingdom of heaven. (78-41)
Then, how did we resolve our financial difficulties? It was by the support of the church members, who offered part of their own living expenses.
Making an offering for the maintenance of the church after dealing with your own expenses first sounds extremely good, but it is bad. Making an offering to God should be the first priority in life, before thinking of your own life. Thinking that you are offering a percentage of your income can easily lead to a habit of putting your life first, before God. If God is placed as a second priority, He will later end up being in the last place. Do you think it will become like that or not? (96-101, 1978.1.2)
The disciples following Jesus thought that he would dominate the Roman Empire instantly and become the king of Israel, and that they would come to hold high positions. Such things are not an issue. First of all, we have to make the foundation for God's Kingdom within our mind. And then, centering on that mind, we should make the foundation for unity between our body and God. This is the foremost issue. The Kingdom begins from us. Hence, our mind is its stronghold. (47-272, 1971.8.29)
Where does God exist in the spirit world? He exists at the absolute center, the center of love. That love is the true love which takes the shortest perpendicular path. First of all, you have to know God. Second, you have to know eternal life, and third, you must know true love. This is an investment of more than one hundred percent. Eternal life exists where there is an investment of more than one hundred percent. Eternal life cannot exist without true love. Those who do not attain eternal life cannot meet God. (205-128, 1990.7.29)
What is the way of unification? Let us consider the first human family. First of all, there is God. Second, there is Adam and Eve. Adam is masculine, and Eve is feminine. They compete with one another to secure the love of God first. If they are selfishly motivated, there will be no unity. However, if they are unselfishly motivated, Adam will say, "I want to reach God first solely for you, Eve." The woman will be overjoyed. She, in turn, will say, "I only want to reach God for your sake, Adam." Then the husband will be fully satisfied. There is no struggle; there is unity even in their competition.
This is not only the way husband and wife can be happily united; it is more than that. It is the very key to the unification of all people. (World Peace -- 201, 1990.4.10)
Your conduct, the way you sit -- everything must conform to heavenly law. Even the manner in which you greet me should be codified. Shouldn't there be a protocol for greeting when you meet me? Shouldn't that be created? There are even such rules in society -- shouldn't we have such rules? (66-267, 1973.5.16)
Shouldn't there be new laws to rectify our fallen habits? You must understand that there are numerous legal procedures waiting for us in the future. You must pass through these. (66-299, 1973.5.16)
According to Oriental thought, when people walk along the road, the elder person walks in front. Why? It is because the elder person was born first into the world. That is how we try to create order in the environment. The person born later should stand back. Upper and lower, front and back, above and below, these should all be in their positions. These perspectives should not be changeable. These are eternal and unchanging. (168-252, 1987.9.27)
There are morning meetings everyday between the king of a nation and his subjects. In a Korean family, the children first greet their parents when the parents rise in the morning. Isn't this part of Korean tradition? In order to indemnify fallen history, you should establish the finest set of laws among all laws, including the laws of filial duty to one's parents. Even for a nation, you should establish laws superior to the highest existing standard. (31-275, 1970.6.4)
There is an old saying in the Orient that "once peace is dwelling in the family, everything goes right." A happy and harmonious family is a family of peace and the foundation of the heavenly kingdom.
The dynamic of the family is true love. You must love God first, then love your husband or wife and your children with truly pure and sacrificial love. This is the manifestation of true love. God created love as the supreme force in the universe. He has created nothing greater in this universe. True love is supreme. (World Peace -- 174, 1991.10.28)
My path has been nothing but a way of misery, many tears and much hardship. Do you think I am insensitive or dumb? Any time I take a beating or see some sorrow, I must shed tears for God. When those situations come to me I always think of God first, that I am the person to liberate Him. Then I cannot help but comfort Him and tell Him I am fine. I know also that God has shed many tears because of me, and that is why He cannot forget the Unification Church. (God's Warning II -- 128)
The mere number of the Christian population in America is not impressive. You cannot impress God with numbers, but only with fervent faith. The standard is the quality of Abraham's faith. How many Christians in America are really crying out with fervor for God ? How many American Christians feel that God's work is their own work? How many people put God first? How many are ready to die for God?
Somebody must begin, and begin now. Even under persecution somebody must begin. Someone must give him or herself up for the purpose of God and bring God back home. (God's Warning -- 101, 1973.10.1)
If there were a true being in heaven and earth, who would it be? It would be the absolute being. In modern Korean, when we refer to the Absolute Being, we say, "There is only One." We shorten that to Hana-nim (God), where Hana means "One."
Then, what kind of being is God? God likes both the good people and the bad people on earth. Even a condemned criminal going to his place of execution says, "God, have mercy on me" before he dies. In front of God, even those who are facing the death penalty for their crimes resolve to become good again and to make a new start with hope. Why is it that, in so doing, they want to offer their best service to God, depend on Him, and be with Him? Why, in their innermost heart, do people willingly leave their parents, and brothers and sisters, wanting to be closest to God in order to share their personal concerns with Him? This is because God is true. (39-302, 1971.1.16)
Some religious people think, "I alone must go to the Kingdom of Heaven." Those people are in deep trouble. A wife must think to send her husband to the Kingdom of Heaven first and then she must think to follow him there. It is wrong to think that she alone must go to the Kingdom of Heaven, abandoning her husband. The Unification Church is a group of people who want to send a family, nations and the whole world to the Kingdom of Heaven first. The one who wants to liberate God first and then go to the Kingdom of Heaven is a person like Jesus. That is the Messiah's responsibility. (Tribal Messiah -- 27, 1989.3. 1)
In saving the world, we should first liberate God. The world can be liberated only after God is liberated. (162-221, 1987.4.12)
Humankind needs liberation, but first we need to liberate God. Only then will the liberation of humankind follow. Nobody thinks about this. Christian ministers think of God exercising judgment surrounded by glory. But this is a mistake. The God I know is not like that. We must liberate God from the realm of death. (166-150, 1987.6.5)
The spirit world is organized on the basis of certain principles. How long will it take for something like this to appear in the physical world? First, God is the central existence. Second, the True Parents must appear; third, true children must appear, and fourth, a true nation must appear through its true citizens. How long do you think they have been waiting for this! (166-222, 1987.2.15)
The first love occupies everything. Who is the subject partner of love? It is God. Since the subject partner of love is God, there is no one you can love but God. Originally, you were supposed to have your first love with God. But the failure to do so is the Fall. Whom did Eve love? She loved the archangel. She was supposed to love with joy, but she loved while frowning and weeping. (Blessed Family -- 361, Korean Edition)
Until now you have not been able to attend True Parents, but you should attend them. You should put True Parents' pictures in the best place, a better place than for the pictures of your mother, father, or ancestors. It is good to value the pictures of your grandfather and mother, but you should not put up your parents' pictures first and then put True Parents' pictures next to them. True Parents are the ancestors. You establish the ancestors through this and you will be able to turn from the two-dimensional family foundation to the foundation of God's tradition. There, you will have no relationship with Satan. This is how the Principle is. (220-90, 1991.10.15)
First, you should earnestly long for the Parents. You cannot receive salvation without attending the Parents based on their being the motivation for your life. (30-237, 1970.3.23)
The first commandment is, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." And the second commandment is, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If you love God and love humanity, everything will be accomplished. If you cannot do it, your spiritual training will have been in vain. No matter how great a religion's spiritual discipline may be, if it does not know how to love God, humankind and the whole universe it will fail the test. (143-285, 1986.3.20)
The person who is willing to love his brother even more than he does his parents will live eternally in heaven. Those who cannot love their brother as they would their parents are not included in this place. The source of this principle, when understood, is simple. Members were incapable of loving one another because they did not know this until now. The question is whether our members can unite among themselves. If you stand in a position where you cannot fulfill your filial duty to True Parents, you should offer those things that you wanted to devote to them to the members instead. Then Heaven can accept this offering as something greater than your filial devotion to True Parents. Such a person will surely be blessed. (78-41, 1975.5.1)
It is stated in the Bible, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first commandment." Those who do not abide by this commandment cannot enter heaven. (198-258, 1990.2.4)
For humankind, loving God is the first commandment. So, should you love God your whole life or temporarily? Will you love God your entire life or not? You should love God even if a thunderbolt hits you and you die. You must love God with your life. If you love Him with your life, then, until your death, you can do anything. (37-25, 1970.12.22)
There are morning meetings everyday between the king of a nation and his subjects. In a Korean family, the children first greet their parents when the parents rise in the morning. Isn't this part of Korean tradition? In order to indemnify fallen history, you should establish the finest set of laws among all laws, including the laws of filial duty to one's parents. Even for a nation, you should establish laws superior to the highest existing standard. (31-275, 1970.6.4)
You must first be absolutely dedicated to God's will in order to convey it to others. (23-249, 1969.5)
You should offer something pure in which you have invested your utmost devotion as a tithe. That is a sacrificial offering. Sacrificial offerings should be something pure. If you are to offer your son, what kind of son should he be to you? Should he be a son you hate? A hopeless child? Such sons should not be offered as a sacrifice to God's purpose. You must offer your most beloved son. Why is this so? It is because an offering is something that takes your place. (48-85, 1971.9.5)
From the principled standard of the course of restoration, we can see that the things of creation should have first belonged to the first human ancestors. They belong to God, of course, but when we consider the standard of the blessing God gave to humankind, we can see that they should have belonged to the first human ancestors. They should have belonged to parents of goodness untainted by the Fall. (23-330, 1969.6.15)
On the first day of each month, the husband and wife in each family should offer a full bow together at five o'clock in the morning, facing church headquarters. This should be done in a joyful atmosphere. You should also do this at five o'clock in the morning on Sundays. You should report about everything in your daily life during the week. Sunday should be a joyful day that you long to have come quickly. (13-104, 1963.11.1)
Pledge service should not be done only on Sunday mornings. Basically, we should do it every day. When you rise in the morning, you should first do Pledge service facing headquarters. It is an official ceremony. However, if we do Pledge service like that every day, there can be adverse effects. In order to avoid these side effects, as a condition, we do pledge only on Sunday mornings and on the mornings of the first day of each month. Ideally, we should be doing it every day. (31-274, 1970.6.4)
What does the perfection of man and woman mean? It means that they only know the perfect God in the Garden of Eden. They must love God first. (165-105, 1987.5.20)
The citizens of a nation without sovereignty are in a pitiful plight. That is why Jesus preached, out of concern: "Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the gentiles seek all these things; and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matt. 6:31-33) (34-337, 1970.9.20)
Since God is the central being of heaven and earth, the more you are dominated by Him, the more you will want to be dominated by Him for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Since the principles of attendance centering on God work in that way, no one can be happier than the one who is being dominated by God. Until now, we have never even thought about this fact. (77-328, 1975.3.30)
You must live lives of service. Why do you have to serve? It is the way to be loved by God. Therefore, you must serve God first. You must serve God. (78-30, 1975.5.1)
In your twenty-four hours of daily life, you must see, hear and feel for the sake of God. Although you live on earth, you must always connect your lives to the life in the heavenly world. (35-284, 1970.10.25)
When you are undergoing suffering, don't cry out. The living God knows your situation all too well, even though you don't tell Him about it. If you weep and pray sorrowfully for yourself, God will become more sorrowful and bear a double burden. Up to today God had not a single person who could understand His great sorrow and pain in history. He has endured them by Himself. Comfort God first. If you do so, He will embrace you and shed tears of joy. (The Way -- 138)
What did the Puritan fathers of America do first? It is not long ago. We can trace back the history. When they came here, they put God first. They invited God into their everyday lives. The built the church and schools before they built their own homes. The school belongs to the national foundation, not the family foundation. God blessed this country because of them. They took God's viewpoint, therefore, God was able to bless this country abundantly.
The Puritans were happy while they were laboring hard at building the churches. They were very happy while they were building the schools because they were full of hope. God gave unlimited support to them. America was the only God centered nation built by Protestantism. There were many independent Catholic countries in the world, but there was only one independent Protestant country and that was America. God gave unlimited blessing to this country because of that. This country was able to attract treasure from all around the world because the founding principle was correct.
What does Father center on? Father centers upon God. It is the same thing. (Father's Nation Is My Nation, 1990.9.2, Unofficial)
I never taught you to love me instead of others. Always I taught you to love God first, and to love the members more than you love me. As long as I do that, I can never be wrong. Then even though the world opposes me, I will not perish. If anyone tries to cut off such a person, the universe will never leave the attacker alone for very long, for his act would threaten the order of the universe. I don't have to deal with my enemies because they will be taken care of by the universe. (Prayer, 1981.3.29, Unofficial)
The first center is God, and every level from the cosmic to the individual is connected there. God can come up and down freely. True Parents can go up and down freely. Brotherhood, being horizontal, cannot do that. Those are the branches, but the root and trunk are the straight bud, the center, through which everything comes down. (Heavenly Fatherism, 1990.9.1, Unofficial)
The pattern in this world of hell on earth may look the same, but it springs from a different lineage. The one element that drastically changes everything is this element of love. Giving up everything to love God does not mean you will not love anything else; only after loving God first can you love others as well. When you work according to Principle in home church. the people there will treat you just like you treat me. If you have loved me very much, your home church members will feel the same toward you. (Life of Experience in the Realm of Heart, 1981.3.15, Unofficial)
Human emotion should not be first; God's heart should be first. When God cries, one has to be able to console God's heart by saying, "God, please do not cry." Whoever cries with such a heart instead of God will be forgiven. Do you understand? If one sheds personal tears, the offering cannot be a sacrificial one. We are going to the position where God cries. These are not just words but reality. (1997.1.2, Unofficial)
Because of the fall of man, all levels of love were lost and need to be restored. You must love God first, before your husband or wife and children. Home Church represents God to you, so you must love Home Church first. Then you should love the True Parents and finally you can love your spouse and children. Four types of love were lost: love for God, love for true parents, true love between husband and wife, and true love for children. These must be restored in the proper order. (Home Church Is Our Land Of Settlement, 1983.1.1, Unofficial)
If mankind had followed God and His command as his absolute subject, man could not have fallen. Man was not obedient to God and went against Him. We know that Adam and Eve and the Archangel did not act centered on God, but acted centered on themselves and that caused the fall. They started not at the point, of loving God and being obedient to God, but they started from the point of going against and being disobedient to God centered on themselves. This is the question and problem. The true God would have meant to reverse the way and go backward in search of the lost value of man. So, God does not want men to love each other centered on themselves. They ought to love God first and then love between men is possible. We must first exalt God and then we can love ourselves.
To repeat, the human fall was caused by man's loving himself and exalting himself. But in order to restore ourselves to the original position, we must be loving God first and exalting God first. That's why in the Bible you read that you should love God with "all your heart, all your soul and all your mind." And then next you must love the will of God. What is God's will? God's will is to have men to go to the point where God and man can meet in divine love. When we are told to love God with all our might, our sincerity and everything, we are apt to feel that God is a dictator.
But we must recognize that love is reciprocal, so when He tells us to do that, it means that He will love us on the base that we love Him. He is in the subjective position, so in that case He will love us more than we do Him. Would you be happy to receive such love from God? (Yes!) How happy you would be! That's the place of ultimate happiness which fallen men cannot even imagine. Would you like to have that kind of love? (Yes!) Would you want to go to meet God? (Yes!) Would you like to live with that kind of God? (Yes!) If there is anyone who would answer negatively, he must die. (The True Path of Restoration, 1972.1.11, unofficial)
You can feel that God is just tickled to death inside and does not know how to contain Himself. You are happy by knowing that God is happy; always God comes first. Has your life been molded as a " God first " way of life? Would you prefer a life of putting yourself first or God first? (How to Witness: To State Leaders, 1977.4.1, Unofficial)