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 |
Filial attendance is maintaining a heart and lifestyle of being dedicated, devoted and loyal. To attend someone is to live for someone from the position of an object partner. The object partner lives for the sake of the subject partner with unchanging, absolute and eternal dedication, devotion, and loyalty. These qualities arise from the heart of true love. God is absolutely dedicated, devoted and loyal to His children. Had Adam and Eve obeyed God's commandment and not eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would have matured and become one with the heart of God. They would have lived their lives absolutely attending God. They would have been completely dedicated, and loyal to God. The Heavenly Parent and child relationship would have been established. They would have become filial sons and daughters of God living a life of attendance.
After fulfilling the first blessing and securing their positions as a filial son and daughter of God, Adam and Eve would have been blessed in holy matrimony. They would have lived totally dedicated and devoted to attending God and each other. As such they would have become a representative and central family of the cosmos. Their children, upon seeing their parents' loyalty, dedication and devotion to God, to each other, and to them and would have quite naturally learned to live their lives totally loyal, dedicated and devoted to God, their grandparents, their parents, and to their brothers and sisters.
Had Adam and Eve developed their heart of dedication, and loyalty to God they would have had expressed that heart towards each other and their children. We should live with such a heart toward God and toward each other. We scurry about here and there frantically, impatiently carrying out our own agenda and disregarding others. We don't have time for each other. Our lives are meant to be lived totally dedicated and devoted to each other with loyalty. There is a call today for parents to spend quality time with their children. The reality is that every moment of our lives should be totally dedicated to God and True Parents, and to all members of one's family, one's tribe, one's community, nation, world, cosmos and God. This is true life. We should live our lives for the sake of others. This is the way of life of the Shim Jung Culture. Living such a life would keep us happy, peaceful and intoxicated in the love of God.
In the original homeland the Garden of Eden, there was no such impulse as self-centeredness, disloyalty and betrayal. Satan introduced a new principle. This is the principle of sin and includes selfishness, unfaithfulness, self-centeredness, self-assertiveness and disloyalty. This principle has led to the misery of us all. Adam and Eve did not center their lives upon God, they became unfaithful, disloyal, and centered on themselves. They did not become filial sons and daughters attending their Father in Heaven. The lack of attendance to God leads to the lack of attendance in all relationships. Selfishness and self-centeredness, unfaithfulness, disloyalty and betrayal are the opposite of the heart of attendance. Adam and Eve united with the archangel Lucifer and inherited the heart and the principle of living their lives centered on themselves. Lucifer's actions were the actions of a being totally centered on himself, disloyalty and lacking the virtues of the heart of true love.
Historically and presently, people go about their daily lives centered on themselves. They do not dedicate and devote their lives with loyalty to attending God. They are not loyal, and do not dedicate and devote their lives living totally for the sake of their spouses and their children. These fallen ideals in the family have expanded to the world level where nations all live for their own sake and their actions are centered on that which is good for their nation, even at the expense of others. Political persuasiveness within one's nation often means that what one is doing internationally is really for the sake of one's own nation. The United Nations makes noble efforts toward creating world peace. They cannot. All nations are centered upon themselves.
No individual, no family, tribe or nation has been completely loyal, dedicating and devoting themselves towards attending God. Therefore, none can completely dedicate and devote their lives for the sake of others. True Parents have now established absolute dedication, devotion and loyalty in attending God. Filial sons and daughters of God are those who live their lives completely loyal, devoted and dedicated to God and to all the members of their family. The patriot dedicates his whole life for the sake of his sovereign and nation; the saint dedicates his whole life to teaching universal principles to all people in the world. Holy sons and daughters living their lives in true filial attendance dedicate their whole lives to attending God and living for the sake of the cosmos.
Filial sons and daughters who live their lives in attendance to God and True Parents with loyalty, dedication and devotion restore their hearts of attendance and establish the tradition of attendance in the Parent and child relationship, and in their family, and establish the traditions of the culture of love of the Kingdom of God.
Filial children resolved to fulfill their duties of loyalty and filial piety with utmost devotion must appear and bear all responsibility for His anguish associated with the cross. Such sons and daughters must appear. (101-255, 1978.11.1)
Love requires one hundred percent devotion. (189-202, 1989.4.6)
You must first be absolutely dedicated to God's will in order to convey it to others. (23-249, 1969.5)
All we have done is destroy God's sovereignty, citizenry and territory. Now is the time that you must change your heart to one which understands the heart of loyalty and filial piety; to the heart which understands how much you have violated God's sovereignty, territory and citizenry. You must return to the right way -- you who have betrayed heaven. You must have the clear conviction that, even in sadness and hardship, you will recover God's sovereignty, citizenry and territory for Him. You must eat, live and even die for this purpose alone.
Then what must you live for? You must be loyal and fulfill your filial duty toward the earth, your people, all humankind, and God's sovereignty. When you realize your failures, this is the time God can forget your disloyalty, filial impiety and betrayal. So you have to repent on behalf of the people, the nation and the sovereignty. The time when you repent before the Father is passing. (11-150, 1961.5.13)
How much have you empathized with God's situation? God comes into our sphere of life in these ways. Moreover, He comes speaking from His heart, "Although you betrayed me, I have searched for you for six thousand years with the heart of your Father." (9-231, 1960.5.29)
Heaven is with us when we stand in a position of absolute dedication. (60-348, 1972.8.18)
How can the path of true love be paved? It can be paved through dedication, service, and sacrifice. (146-294, 1986.7.20)
Dedicating, serving and living for the sake of others are all contained in the word moshinda. God is our vertical parents and True Parents are our horizontal parents from which I am born. That means without serving and dedicating to God and True Parents we have no beginning. When we dedicate and serve True Parents then each family represents the whole cosmos before the fall. It means to become representative families before the entire cosmos, to become the central families-from the individual level throughout the eight steps and becoming the very center of the family.
By achieving this then we pledge again to become filial sons and daughters within the family, a patriot at the national level, a saint at the world level and a holy son centering upon the whole cosmos. This is the content of pledge number two in which we pledge, centering upon True Love, serving and dedicating to God and True Parents I will make my family a representative family of the whole world and the center family of the whole world, thereby becoming filial sons and daughters. This means at the national level I will educate all the people of my nation who are patriots of that nation. (1994.5.8 unofficial)
Since Adam had betrayed God, in accordance with the laws of restoration through indemnity, the person representing perfected Adam had to face a situation of betrayal, even by God Himself. Only then could the walls that were raised in God's heart be brought down. In this way, everyone was against me, and even God was standing on the other side, leaving me totally alone.
True love is sacrificial love, such as that of a devoted son who finds his greatest satisfaction in dedicating himself with all of his body and mind to helping his parents. (Peace Messages 9-125, 2006.10.22)
There has been no place for God to stand, because He did not have a devoted son or a system of love through which people could uphold the heavenly kingdom by fulfilling the way of a loyal subject, saint and divine son or daughter. The heavenly kingdom became an empty ruin. God has carried this sorrow in His heart. (302-226, 1999.6.14)
Parents behold their devoted children with tears in their eyes and wish them eternal blessings. Such a background exists in the realm of the heart. It is fearful. In this world, there are many types of people who compare themselves with others; they may pray with those others, but in the end become isolated and finally leave. But when the true filial children become the center, then tears will flow in their home between them and their parents. They will become the devoted children of parents who wish that the blessing of the future nation will be with their family. (247-32, 1993.4.21)
God created all things in the Garden of Eden and then created the first ancestors as their masters. When He created human beings, He did not do so for His amusement, or as a hobby. It is impossible to express with words how hard God worked and the efforts He devoted to creating human beings and establishing them as the center of all things in the creation.
In creating human beings, God utterly devoted Himself in His many efforts, giving all His heart and soul and the essence of His life. He totally poured out all His love and affection. He created human beings to exist in a relationship with Him that no force could ever undo or sever. Because God created people in such a way, He can feel peaceful as He beholds them. All affection and happiness can dwell within God only through them. (20-205, 1968.6.9)
What is the first? [Devotion] You must exert yourself in great devotion. You must take the place of my devotional heart, which has always been deeply concerned about the future of this nation night and day, and since I am not in this nation, you should inherit this Principle and exert yourself to the utmost. Next, you must realize that the time for you to exert yourself and cry out on the street has come, because this people that is asleep is headed toward its doom and you must wake them up. You should realize that this is my plea as I am about to leave on a long journey soon. I would like to ask you to center yourself on this and, grabbing on to the people and heading toward the future, try your very best to leave behind the will of the heavenly laws until I come back. Do you understand? [Yes] Those who pledge that they will do so, please raise your hand. (50-183, 1971.11.6)
When parents believe in their beloved children but are betrayed by them, there is no describing the shock, distress, and misery those parents experience based on that trust. When people betray, reject and mistrust those who have loved them with their lives, it causes unspeakable misery. You cannot understand unless you experience that struggle and suffering yourself. It cannot be understood merely by words. This is evident in the affairs of the world. Then how did God become as miserable as He is? God is not a nebulous God but a tangible God. Human beings should enjoy the highest relationship with God. God's joy was to begin by finding a starting point from which He could begin a journey in happiness with human beings, heading toward infinity and eternity. But God lost the basis upon which to begin, due to the Fall. (20-205, 1968.6.9)
Even if we face ruin together, do not go the way of a betrayer. Even if that befalls us, we will stand in a good position in the spirit world. If you have not been a traitor, you can always prosper within the group of people that have not been traitors. On the other hand, traitors cannot prosper. There would always be something blocking you. (144-254, 1986.4.25)
We are fallen descendants who betrayed God's heart. Do you know what it was that our ancestors betrayed? Do you think that they just ate the fruit of good and evil that God had forbidden them to eat? No. They betrayed God's heart. That is the problem. What kind of heart did they betray? It was the heart of the ideal of creation, the heart filled with hope. (9-112, 1960.4.24)
In the past, I saw right through those people who came to the Unification Church with the motivation to use it for their own purposes; those people did all sorts of things. I knew who they were, yet I let them deceive me. Why did I do so? It is because God has been doing so to this day. When people betrayed me and turned their backs, I could have exploded in indignation and resentment saying, "Those reprobates should be struck by lightning." Yet when I thought about the heart of God who longs for their return, I could not do that. Each time I grasped that suffering heart of God, and had the heart to forgive, a new segment, like that of a bamboo shoot, was created. Do you understand? A segment of the Unification Church was made. That is how we are making family segments, tribal segments and national segments. (197-312, 1990.1.20)
If I were to die right now, my concern would be to know who on this earth could love God as I have done, and love humanity as I have done. In that sense, I have to live for a long time. You must know that I am watching all of you, hoping desperately that such a person will quickly appear from amongst you. If God were to bless Rev. Moon, the best present and blessing God could give me would be such a person. If a person were to appear now, who could love God, who has been betrayed and suffered until today, more than I have done, and could work harder than I have done in order to liberate humankind, today would be a day of glory. (92-293, 1977.4.18)
God and human beings are in a parent-child relationship. The relationship between parent and child is our inherited destiny. All sorrows and problems of parents can only be resolved by their children. Such is the path of children. There can never be disbelief or betrayal in a registered family. (295-167, 1998.8.28)
I have proclaimed the era of tribal messiahship. Do you know why I had to do this? It is because Korea betrayed me. Therefore, it must be restored through indemnity. I have restored America's betrayal through indemnity, but I must do it again here. Isn't that right? (188-59, 1989.2.16)
All the loyalty that someone may have previously demonstrated is undone by a single moment of betrayal. (64-75, 1972.10.24)
What is the purpose in devoting oneself to creating one's partner? After both have given all they have, what we gain is love. As long as we have love, we are happy, no matter how much we have invested. Since this is the love principle, God started the creation based on love. God would not invest in anything that would not produce a benefit. Giving all one has creates a minus, so why do you think He did it? Because love has the power to more than fill up any void, after expending and investing Himself, God gained love in return. (237-124, 1992.11.13)
God created the world through love to be His partner, and He devoted Himself to fulfilling this will. (60-85, 1972.8.6)
God devoted all His heart and energy, totally investing Himself, to create the object partners of His love. What does God want to achieve by giving Himself out completely? He wants to establish the core of love in the universe. This is the ideal of creation. (166-147, 1987.6.5)
You should be able to sing praises for the beauty of the original world of creation, where everything devotes its entire life to establish a world where each lives for the sake of the other. Then, even baby birds will want to come and live in your home. Birds will want to have their young there. (175-186, 1988.4.16)
Why should we attach importance to the law of indemnity when we walk the course of restoration? From the viewpoint of God's providence, since human beings destroyed everything God created, each person must re-create everything. Since God invested His sincere devotion during the creation, for the sake of re-creation you must also re-create that condition of sincere devotion. While creating the universe, God was not playing around or dancing. He invested His utmost devotion, 100 percent of it, when He was creating. The way of restoration means re-creating; this time is the same as the time when God was creating, and so can you play around while going this path? (96-114, 1978.1.2)
People of the past devoted themselves to freedom and liberation based upon earthly standards. They might have become the object partner of God's concern, but they were not able to give Him comfort and joy. As yet there has been no loyal subject, filial child, or virtuous woman of whom God could be proud.
Becoming God's patriots, filial children, and virtuous women is the right path for all people to follow; yet such people have never existed. Although people may have lived in this way for their king or their parents, none has done so for God. As God looked upon these people, how much He must have longed for them to become His patriots, filial children, and virtuous women! (11-77, 1961.1.29)
God wants all people to become filial sons and daughters and patriots; and, from among them, He wants those who maintain the highest standard. God wants people who will only go the way of loyalty and filial piety…
"When did I ever show concern for God's affairs as if they were mine? When did I ever feel the threat to Father's life? When did I ever agonize and strive to try to bring about peace and unification within Father's family?" You may have attempted to do that, but from God's point of view, instead of being loyal and filial, you have been disloyal and unfilial. (18-341, 1967.10.1)
If Adam and Eve had become God's truly filial son and daughter and had served and attended Him as their True Father, then the loyalty and filial piety they showed to God would have become the tradition. (9-105, 1960.4.24)
The first couple of God's ideal should have returned glory to Him; yet through the Fall they brought sorrow instead of glory. This was not just the responsibility of Adam and Eve; it was also due to the archangel's disloyalty. The archangel should first have fulfilled his duty of loyalty and filial piety toward God. The Fall came about because he failed to do so. Consequently, the providence of restoration is to establish loyalty, filial piety, and virtue. (14-209, 1964.11.4)
When you determine to attend me, and fulfill your duty of loyalty and filial piety to Heaven, you should not think that this loyalty and filial piety that you are practicing is for you alone. You should pray to God, "Father, I am offering my loyalty and filial piety first for this race, first for the world, first for heaven and earth. Please let it remain as belonging to heaven, and belonging to earth."
Then even after your death your loyalty and filial piety will remain as that which belongs to heaven and to earth. Humankind will pass this tradition down as that which belongs to earth. That is how it is. (155-235, 1965.10.31)
The time for us to become God's filial children will not always be there. It will not exist in the spirit world after our death. In our earthly lifetime -- which, when viewed against the backdrop of eternity, is as brief as the tick of a clock -- we must establish the condition of having loved God and of having fulfilled our filial duty to Him. Furthermore, we have to confirm our status as the children whom God absolutely needs, and we must accomplish this within our lifetime on earth. (26-114, 1969.10.19)
We are the people that seek to live for the sake of God's nation with loyalty, filial piety, and virtue. (47-81, 1971.8.19)
"My loyal, filial, and virtuous child whom I have long awaited for six thousand years!" (9-122, 1960.4.24)
Noah could overcome intense persecution amidst troubled circumstances by pouring every ounce of energy into his work. He went forth with a humble heart merely to obey God's laws as His faithful and filial child. The more Noah went before God, the more sorrow he felt from his heartless environment, and he would go to God shedding tears of repentance with a sorry heart. No one could block his path.
Just think about Noah who endured for 120 years. The satanic world set all sorts of schemes in motion to attack that one person, Noah, opposing him in every way possible; but he did not deviate in the slightest from the standard God had set. That standard established the absolute center of the cosmos, the man of righteousness of the universe, and the victor of truth. As such, God wanted to eliminate all elements of His enemies who opposed this standard. (18-159, 1967.6.4)
Walk the way of loyalty unswervingly all the days of your lives. As much as the people around you criticize you, to that degree our sphere of activity will expand toward the global level. Today we have to grapple with our local state of affairs, but as our situation eases, we will start to take on global issues. Let us therefore hasten the day on which God can proudly welcome and bless His sons and daughters who exemplify loyalty to the world. (155-263, 1965.10.31)
You have to wonder about whether there is someone else who is being more loyal to Heaven than you are. Would he be from the East or from the West? You have to wonder about this. If there is a loyal person, then what kind of person is he? What kind of work does he do? You have to evaluate this very carefully. (155-248, 1965.10.31)
On your path of loyalty to God, you should have the conviction that you will not yield even an inch. Determine that you will go even one extra step more than any other person or loyal subject. Work harder than any person who ever lived on earth. You must live up to a higher standard than those who were loyal to their country and toiled assiduously for the public good. Go even the extra mile. This is an iron rule. (102-98, 1978.11.26)
In the age of the servant, you must fulfill absolute loyalty. In the age of the adopted child, you have to practice absolute loyalty in your life. If you do not go through these two stages, you cannot reach the standard to become one with God's begotten children. 45-82, 1971.6.13)
When you stumble in the cause of loyalty and devotion while yet alive, He will raise you up and open the way for you to at least pray, and He will show you the direction how to live from then on. Then He will send you people who can help you. (153-255, 1964.1.7)
Relatively speaking, is a truly devoted son one who fulfills his filial duty when he is well-off or one who truly fulfills his filial duty even though he is poor? If you are brought up in a family in which you are only able to eat one meal a day, but you sell even your flesh and blood in order to let your mother and father eat three meals a day, is this being filial? Or is it being filial when you eat three meals a day, and there is so much left that you cannot finish it all, so that you give your parents the leftovers? Truly devoted children do not come from wealthy families. You must know this.
People who live only for themselves will be kicked out. From this point of view, a life of filial piety is a life lived for others. The way to become a truly devoted child requires that you have to live your life for others. Yet this does not mean that you live for others only under favorable circumstances. (286-282, 1997.8.13)
If your mother and father are disloyal to God's will, then you should counsel them. "Mother, Father, why are you acting in this way? The way of God's will is such and such, and God's will is like this, so why are you acting the way you are? You should be going out like this -- what are you up to? What are you doing fighting every day?" You have to try to persuade them. This is the right thing to do. It's a big problem if your mother and father go the wrong way. (100-153, 1978.10.9)
From God's point of view, you have to become a person who can make the internal heart of your people cry. You should also be a person who can realize the internal heart of the cosmos. The filial sons and daughters who can lovingly relate to God even in the position of great misfortune must comfort the heart of the unfortunate head of the household, whether it is the king or the parents. Then such a son and daughter should single-handedly tackle all the problems surrounding the situation and solve them. Those having such a mind of loyalty and filial piety will go to the Kingdom of Heaven. People who think that they can enter Heaven just by believing in Jesus shall in no way do so. (19-300, 1968.3.10)
There is no other way to possess God than the way of loyalty, and no other way to possess your parents than that of filial piety. Accordingly, you have to fulfill your duty of loyalty and filial piety. (14-90, 1964.6.12)
We are overwhelmed by the grace of having been told by Heaven that God predestined us to be His children, and yet we need to ask ourselves, "How much have I attended my Father? To what extent have I become a filial child?" We are to relate to God individually as filial children and manifest the spirit of a loyal subject toward the nation and its people. The Eastern teachings of the three basic relationships and the five cardinal virtues are true and instructive. They are akin to loyalty and filial piety toward God. Someone who is disloyal to his parents cannot become God's filial child. By the same token, people who do not have the integrity of being a loyal subject to their country can never, by any means, become Heaven's loyal subjects. It is the same for heaven and this world. It is the same for the world of the heart, only the content differs. (7-66, 1959.7.12)
Have you shown filial piety to me as you would to your Heavenly Parents? When have you loved me in the true sense of the word? When have you loved my family in the true sense of the word? According to the principle of restoration through indemnity, do you not have to be better than any other filial child or patriot? Isn't that what the Principle teaches you? Have you attained that standard? You must know this. (68-268, 1973.8.5)
Move with the awareness that when it comes to attending the True Parents on behalf of heaven and earth, you will become people of even greater loyalty and filial piety than any of your ancestors in history or anyone from any other time in history. Then Heaven and all the people around you will be influenced and unite with you. (275-187, 1995.12.8)
Among the Unification members, if you mock someone who is working hard and exhibiting great devotion for the sake of the church, saying, "Why does he act so special?" then you become Cain. You must understand this. This is how Cain and Abel set themselves apart from each other. The one who is being criticized and being harmed without having committed any sin is always Abel, while the one who criticizes and strikes others always becomes Cain. (56-85, 1972.5.14)
Everyone wants to have a great son. They may ask how they should educate a child to be great. However, education continues throughout the parents' entire lifetime. They should offer sincere devotion. When the parents pass on their household to the children whom they have raised with utmost devotion or appoint them as their representatives, they have a common desire to have their children be like-minded and follow their ways. (24-257, 1969.8.24)
Within a couple, if one side were to waver, the other should supplement with heart and devotion. (21-87, 1968.11.3)
Let us display our loyalty and heart of love before You after connecting to the Unification (Tongil) Candle, with a heart burning with a flame that will last for eternity. Let this be a time of committing ourselves and promising our unchanging heart of love until all humankind is purified by these flames. Father, please encourage us and protect us so that we may all live our life in this way. Once more we ask for Your blessings so that we may become great people who can pledge to offer our lives to fulfill our loyalty to You. We pray this in True Parents' name. Amen.
Why should we attach importance to the law of indemnity when we walk the course of restoration? From the viewpoint of God's providence, since human beings destroyed everything God created, each person must re-create everything. Since God invested His sincere devotion during the creation, for the sake of re-creation you must also re-create that condition of sincere devotion. While creating the universe, God was not playing around or dancing. He invested His utmost devotion, 100 percent of it, when He was creating. The way of restoration means re-creating; this time is the same as the time when God was creating, and so can you play around while going this path? (96-114, 1978.1.2)
To become God's children, our first responsibility is to resemble Him. We need to embody true love. The way to embody true love begins with living as a devoted child, then a patriot, a saint, and finally a divine son or daughter of God. At that stage we can experience the innermost emotions of God's heart and resolve the grief that He has experienced for tens of thousands of years since the Fall of Adam and Eve. (Messages of Peace 1-15, 2005.9.12)
In receiving the Blessing one must fulfill certain conditions that are neither simple nor easy. I continuously exerted myself and devoted my whole life in fulfilling the necessary foundations for these Blessings. (19-172, 1968.1.1)
Everything was ruined in the Garden of Eden by the wrongdoing of a woman; if the women in our church today were to devote themselves to the cause of righteousness, the outside world would have to keep in step with us. Then the men would have no choice but to follow. If they did not follow, they would have nowhere to go. (44-302, 1971.5.24)
Do you think the title "tribal messiah" comes cheaply? Though such an intelligent True Father devoted his whole life to fulfilling the mission of the messiah, he still feels shameful because he has not done nearly enough. (219-150, 1991.8.29)
It may be important to live in affluence and to do something in life; however, before anything else, you need to fulfill your duties of filial piety and loyalty to the vertical Heavenly Parent and surpass living saints in your devotion to Him. Such is the original purpose for humankind's birth. He created us in order to meet such people. Such is our underlying purpose. (58-231, 1972.6.11)
You need to devote yourself to experiencing the deep spirit world from all aspects of life on earth. You need to do that to tap into a driving force that will fuel you throughout your lifetime. (120-308, 1982.10.20)
Those who truly love their families are called devoted sons and daughters, and if those who love their nation devotedly are called patriots, then what are people who love humanity sacrificially called? They can only be called saints. (Blessed Family -- 924, Korean Edition)
You should exert yourself with devotion and fulfill your responsibility (289-193, 1988.1.2)
You need to devote yourself sincerely. From now on, you should work and shed more tears in this mission than you have shed in the church. It is that simple. (166-183, 1987.6.5)
If you work with absolute devotion to the altar of Home Church while on earth, spirits from various backgrounds and levels will return to earth and assist the earthly believers. Within the altar of 360 Home Church homes, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and other people of conscience are living a variety of lifestyles. Spiritual phenomena will occur in which the spirit world transcends the denominations and religions to return to earth and lead their followers to the central figure of the providence. Home Church serves as a conditional altar through which the spirits can resurrect by returning to the earth. (210-197)
You should know this hard and fast rule that you must work with greater devotion than that shown by loyal subjects, patriots, children of filial piety, and former church ministers who were born in your hometown. If you work with more intensity, they will all help you from the spirit world. This is the condition you need to make. If this is done, you will stand above the realm of satanic accusation; Satan will not accuse you, and the ancestors of your hometown will spiritually cooperate with you, guiding their descendants to join the Unification Church. (179-17, 1988.6.15)
It is a joy to have parents to whom you can devote yourselves. (223-174, 1991.11.10)
The world's saints are its children of filial piety. Who is a holy child of heaven and earth? Such a person is a devoted child of heaven and earth. Apart from this context, the concepts of a filial child or son have no value. (280-107, 1996.11.11)
In the lives of people centering on love, the devoted child forms the innermost circle, the loyal patriot is the next bigger circle, and the circles get bigger and bigger. They start off small and become larger and larger. The circle of the saint is larger and the circle of the holy child is even bigger than that. That is why the central point of the circle is the devoted child. Children of filial piety are the first stage. The stages of loyal patriots, saints, and holy children follow. They constitute a total of four stages.
The center of these four is the vertical. They are centered on the vertical and the central point of all four circles is one, not two. The center of love is only one. That is why children who are devoted to their parents will not go to hell. People who are loyal to their nation will not go to hell. Even if they do not believe in the Messiah, everything will naturally be solved when they pass on. That is why saints will not go to hell.
I am saying that people who are not filial toward their parents cannot become loyal patriots. What happens with someone who wants to be filial, but has no parents? They would say, "I really want to be a devoted child, but I don't have parents. What should I do?" They have a serious problem. They can plead, "Heavenly Father, please give me parents!" but of course that cannot happen, because the laws of the universe do not work that way. Their parents may have died, or something else might have happened.
Even though you may wish to become a devoted child, if you cannot, then what should you do? You must become a loyal patriot or saint. The position of a saint is higher than that of a devoted child or loyal patriot. (197-44, 1990.01.07)
In front of God what must you long to become? First, you must become devoted children. Second, you must become loyal subjects and patriots. Is there any-one above loyal subjects and patriots? Saints are higher. Devoted children in the family are absolutely loyal to their parents. Patriots are absolutely loyal to their nation. Then, what kind of people are saints? They are people like Jesus, Buddha and Confucius -- people who assert God's existence, not people who assert themselves. They lead God-centered lives and do not cause any harm, but instead try to benefit humankind. Moreover, they are not nationalists, but rather globalists. (54-214, 1972.3.24)
All of you have many sons and daughters, but who is the best of them all? The one who has the deepest bond of love with you is the filial child. Centering on the most devoted of filial children, parents decide the direction that they will go. (136-205, 1985.12.29)
In my viewpoint, the person who is the most devoted and loyal will become the leader. Only that person is qualified to become the leader. A person with a doctorate is not automatically qualified to become the boss. Even if he joins the company and fits in, he cannot just be promoted over the heads of the rank and file workers. The ultimate deciding factors are not knowledge, erudition or competence, but rather devotion and loyalty. (156-12, 1965.11.2)
Filial piety wants to follow filial sons and daughters. Although those devoted sons and daughters become old, they follow their heart for their parents, and even their descendants in the future and all their brothers and sisters want to entrust matters to them. (263-170, 1994.8.23)
Because God wants his partner in love to be better than Himself, that partner can go up to the position where he can tell God what to do. If a devoted son asks his mother and father to come, will they go to the son or not? They will. It is the path of devoted filial sons and daughters, patriots, saints, and divine sons and daughters to have to do new things, whatever they may be. (263-183, 1994.8.23)
God had great hope for Adam and Eve's future. He had been investing a great deal in them and was looking forward to the future. Nevertheless, because Adam and Eve fell, God was unable to feel from them the heart of filial piety as children or the heart filial piety as bridegroom and bride, that is to say, as husband and wife. God expected that Adam and Eve would establish the position of loyalty and filial piety, and thus become the ancestors of a hopeful future and the king and queen of all humankind. However, you must know that Adam and Eve did not become the object partners who would offer filial piety to God. (Blessing Pt. 1 -- 32-33)
Don't you want to go to the person who thinks about you? It is the same for God. The way to capture God is to think about Him more than anyone else. God seeks out those who are thinking of dedicating themselves to Him. (128-172, 1983.6.12)
When you can say, "I have done all that I could have done as a human being. Day and night I have offered my entire heart and extreme dedication," and God can see you are leaving after having done everything you could, even though you could not complete your mission, then God will return to you in excess of your effort. You should know these things. (56-33, 1972.5.10)
By being registered in the nation and the world and becoming one with True Parents, then, with them as the subject and Blessed Families as the object partners, you need to dedicate your families to attend God. Only then can the cosmic ideal of Blessed Families be formed. Such is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in spirit world! Amen! (269-65, 1995.4.7)
Fight for the day of glory, when we can put our whole heart into dedicating everything in our life of attendance to God, who is the sovereign of the nation of which we are the citizens. (164-216, 1987.5.16)
The historical records show that it is in the times of difficulty that the great names appear. These loyal, filial and virtuous people are remembered forever. (151-219, 1962.12.15)
Once I came back in the evening tired. I slept for awhile and woke up, washed my face and shaved. Mother looked at me and said, laughing, "Washing and shaving is what you do when you get up in the morning. Why are you doing it now?" That is how I live. My heart goes in one direction. My devoted effort goes in one direction. (221-163, 1991.10.23)
If you are standing in such a cutting-edge position, you should take each step and do each deed with discernment while gaining strong inspiration from more than a thousand years' worth of devoted effort. (65-276, 1973.1.1)
The mother has devoted herself more than anyone else, and has suffered more than anyone else; hence, we can say that she is more loving than anyone else. In this sense, women have an elevated and precious position in the arena of emotions. No matter how much a father loves his baby, he does not know that love to the degree the mother does. For this reason, if anyone goes to heaven, women will go to the heavenly kingdom of heart. From this standpoint, it is not bad to be born as a woman. You will come to see that God is fair. (85-166, 1976.3.3)
You should think that although there are many men and women in the world, there are only the two of you. You should devote yourself completely to this one woman, with the thought that she is devoted to you. This is the Principle. (Blessed Family -- 887, Korean Edition)
If teachers devote themselves and dedicate their whole life for their students, and if parents devote themselves for their children, cherishing the value of the nation and the world higher than their own, the students of those teachers and the children of those parents will become the pillars of the world. (25-97, 1969.9.30)
What will you be proud of in the spirit world? You will be proud of the number of lives you have saved. This is your pride. Going beyond the ordinary people and your tribe, the number of lives you have saved among the numerous races by linking them to new life will form your assets. Those will be your only assets. There will be nothing you will miss in the spirit world since it has everything. Still, if there is anything you might miss, it would be true people.
Thus, those devoted subjects who sacrificed to raise true people will naturally be able to become the glorious sons and daughters of heaven. Therefore, that will be the only thing in which you can take pride. (30-147, 1970.3.21)
In order to realize the hope of tomorrow you should devote yourselves while shedding tears. You should exert your entire effort and mind, passion and devotion. (49-303, 1971.10.17)
There is no need for a verbally established parent-child relationship or a parent-child relationship that was created through written agreements. When you exert your mind, express your devotion, and live for the sake of the Father's will, you can even endure pain that melts the flesh and bone. When you do this in order to win victory, you can restore the parent-child relationship with God. (2-234, 1957.6.2)
The extent to which you devoted yourself to meeting the Father and creating bonds with Him will become your asset. (50-288, 1971.11.8)
When I would pray kneeling on the floor, my tears never dried. I even had calluses on my knees. In Korea there is a saying, "A tower that is made with lots of care will never collapse." We have to be devoted to God. We have to enter into the state of mind where we feel pain in our heart to such an extent that we crazily love and long for God. If God could dwell somewhere on earth, His heart would visit that place a thousand times a day. But because there is no such place, God had no choice but to send me. Since this is the situation, you cannot help but love me. Can you simply love me so easily? In my case, when I prayed shedding tears during the three months of winter, sometimes my entire clothing would be completely soaked. Think about how desperate I was. On many occasions I prayed to God so seriously to demand a response, as if burying the blade of a dagger in the table. (60-212, 1972.8.17)
Will you still attend with all your heart, with your entire mind, and with all your devotion? You must. (37-25, 1970.12.22)
In the history of the providence of resurrection, many of those who were entrusted with a mission exerted themselves with utmost sincerity and faith to realize the Will of Heaven. Even though they may not have fully carried out their responsibilities, based on their devotion, they broadened the foundation upon which subsequent generations can form a relationship of heart with God. We call this foundation the merit of the age in the providence of restoration. The merit of the age has increased in proportion to the foundation of heart laid by the prophets, sages and righteous people who came before us. (Exposition -- 138)
God loves all humankind, if you dedicate yourself with utmost sincerity for the sake of God you will feel God's love from the very first moment, and then you can say you love God. Due to the fall we have been without an ambassador who could love God. You should think, "I must dedicate myself to God with utmost sincerity because God's love has been searching for me." Through that love we can know God, and we will be able to love God. (78-31)
Let us give our full devotion to the way that God has prepared in order to realize that homeland. How can we establish the individual who can offer filial piety, and the family which can offer filial piety, and the tribe which can offer filial piety and the people which can offer filial piety? This is the present-time Unification Church's mission. (155-215)
I know your suffering only too well. But where is the parent who will ask his child to serve him with 50% filial piety? A parent wants his child to serve with as much filial piety as possible. You must understand that since I have served God with 100% filial piety I cannot be proud before God of the child who has served with only 99%. (The Way -- 139)
Pray that before your young blood is gone you may stir up this nation and dedicate it to God. Become a soldier of loyalty and filial piety while you are still young, rather than when you are old. (The Way -- 87)
Father, we pray and wish that You allow us to be unchanging, loyal and filial sons and daughters with passionate devotion toward You. (Sermons Vol. 6-47, 1959.3.29)
This age requires a prince of the age who is consumed with a public anger that hates and resents the present circumstances. He must embark upon a great adventure, if such a way exists, with a determination to be more loyal and filial than anyone who has dedicated himself to expelling sinful history and the world. Only when there are many like this will the day of hope come for this nation. The moment of hope we have desired will open for the world.
Heaven does not do such work. This is not a job for Heaven, but for us. Thus, you cannot be satisfied in your present place. You should look for the one who is crying out to awaken humankind, possessing the eager Shim Jung of Heaven, concerned about their being in the realm of death. You should be able to hear that crying out. After hearing the sound of it, you should be able to see the one who is crying out and then initiate action. (Sermons Vol. 6-110, 1959.4.19)
The best way to stimulate the heart of God is to dedicate your sincere heart. If three generations of a family continue the same dedication of heart, God will work in that family and their descendants will never perish. (The Way -- 232)
A patriot is someone who lives for the sake of his people and their nation more than anyone else is. It is an unchangeable conclusion from the universal law of the world and life that a patriot is adored as a historical and much remembered person because he dedicated his whole lifetime at the risk of his life for the sake of his country. (133-16)
If only Mary had accomplished her mission, things would have been different. She should have dedicated herself to Jesus totally, even just for three years from the time of his conception, and not worried about Joseph, even if he should die. Thus, first, woman could not accomplish her responsibility as a mother; second, as a bride; and third, as a servant. Woman could not accomplish these three responsibilities. (38-67)
God selected His champions from the most miserable situations. Tamar was a righteous woman, and though she was placed in a sinful position, she completely dedicated herself to God's mission, risking her life, honor, and prestige. (God's Warning II- 59)
Korea has the tradition of loyalty and filial piety. I felt happy to see the dignified appearance of the Korean military when I was invited to see the military parade on Armed Forces Day, May 16. It was very impressive that the soldiers shouted "Loyalty and Filial Devotion" when passing before the reviewing stand. It is a slogan that a nation chosen by God would have. No military in the world has such a slogan. Korea is the first people to make the spirit of loyalty and filial devotion into the central thought of the country: Shim Chung's filial devotion for her poor father, Chun Hyang's fidelity toward her husband, Ryu Kwan Soon's patriotism. The Korean spirit embodies an integrity of loyalty and filial piety unparalleled throughout the ages and nations of the world.
The spirit of loyalty, filial piety and integrity, which stands as straight as the pine or bamboo, will be the central thought and spirit of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth that is to be established. We must be loyal to heaven because heaven is God's country. We must offer eternal filial devotion to God because He is the Father of humankind. No matter what tests from God the many peoples of the world may have faced, none has borne greater fruits of loyalty, filial piety and integrity than Korea. That is why God has chosen Korea. (Unification Pt. 1 -- 134-135)
Have you thought about the nation that Father loves and is going to find? When one is willing to go to prison, some path will be found on that way. No one knows that pioneering this path of life and death means finding a path of hope that leads people beyond the abyss of darkness. No one knows the circumstances under which I have toiled in order to dig a tunnel to liberate the people of the world. In walking the path of loyalty to God, I have attended God as the center, served Him with great care, and treasured His love. I live in faith that this is the only path that never changes, even though time and tide may change. (163-304, 1987.5.1)
In conclusion, God wants absolute families who have absolute loyalty and filial piety. Until now, absolute loyalty and filial piety have never existed. Without a global foundation of absolutely divine children, namely God's children, God cannot descend upon the earth. Alone, God cannot do anything providential on the earth. This is why we refer to Him as a sorrowful God deserving of pity. Everyone without exception desires loyalty and filial piety. (297-202, 1998.11.20)