For behold, I have prepared a great endowment and blessing to be poured out upon them, inasmuch as they are faithful and continue in humility before me. (D. & C. 105:12)

Since their own Wedding Blessing in 1960, True Parents have been sharing the precious opportunity of being "engrafted" into the sinless blood lineage of Christ through the Eternal Wedding Blessing Ceremony or "Blessing" performed in groups of ever-increasing size. Until 1992, the Blessing was only performed for Unification Church members who had fulfilled difficult and rigorous spiritual conditions such as fasting for seven days. The Blessing of 30,000 couples on August 25th, 1992 represented a new era for opening the "Blessing Gate" to any qualified person who would solemnly promise never to commit adultery and never to divorce. On August 25th, 1995, 360,000 couples from all over the world were Blessed, including thousands of married couples who wanted to renew their wedding vows in this unique and historic way. The Blessing of 3.6 million couples in November, 1997 represents a new era for the Blessing on the worldwide level. From this time forward, the Blessing will be recognized and desired by millions of people, the world over, as the best solution to overcoming fallen nature and establishing the bonds of eternal matrimony whereby True Life, True Love, and True Lineage can grow and prosper for all humanity of every race, creed, religion, and culture. Therefore everyone is meant to live together as one ideal global family here on earth, establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

For after much tribulation, as I have said unto you in a former commandment, cometh the blessing. Behold, this is the blessing which I have promised after your tribulations, and the tribulations of your brethren--your redemption, and the redemption of your brethren, even their restoration to the land of Zion, to be established, no more to be thrown down. Nevertheless, if they pollute their inheritances they shall be thrown down; for I will not spare them if they pollute their inheritances. (D. & C. 103:12-14)

As the central sacrament given by True Parents to people of every faith, the Blessing is the substantial means through which True Parents bequeath and channel salvific grace to fallen humanity, both spiritually and physically. True Parents explain the unique concept of the "change of blood lineage" through the metaphor known as "engrafting." When a farmer wants to multiply the produce from a certain fruit tree to other fruit trees, a process known as grafting is used. By taking a freshly cut branch or bud from a tree producing the desired produce, and freshly cutting a branch on another tree, the branch or bud can be grafted onto it. If the engrafting process is successful, then the branch will take hold and grow in the new tree and will eventually produce the desired fruit from the mother tree. Through this metaphor, we can come to understand the process by which True Parents, graft buds from the "Tree of Life" unto our lineage as fallen human beings. Fallen humankind, as "wild olive trees," seek to have branches of the "Tree of Life" engrafted unto to us that we may bear the fruit of God's True Love, True Life, and True Lineage. Prior to partaking in the Holy Blessing, one must stand in front of God, True Parents, and all humanity (past and present) and deeply repent for all of their sins. By the grace of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and True Parents, those who partake in the Blessing Ceremony with sincere motivation and righteousness will be forgiven and cleansed of all sin, personal and otherwise. For it is written:

Behold, the great day of the Lord is at hand; and who can abide the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them of gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished a book containing the record of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation. (D. & C. 128:24)

When we become engrafted into the sinless blood lineage we stand as sinless Adam and Eve before the fall. The redemption given through the Blessing is conditional, based upon us fulfilling our own responsibility by upholding heavenly law to maintain chastity and forever reserve the sexual relationship for the holy bonds of eternal matrimony. Deviation from such Heavenly Law would inevitably result in untold misery and suffering. By overcoming the stage where Adam and Eve fell and growing to perfection, restored couples and restored families will live again in absolute and eternal oneness with the living God. Let's briefly explore the real experience of True Parents' salvific grace.

Wherefore, he is possessor of all things except he be purified and cleansed from all sin. And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done. But know this, it shall be given what you shall ask; and as ye are appointed to the head, the spirits shall be subject unto you. (D. & C. 50:26-30)

Having himself gone the way of crucifixion in the footsteps of Jesus and triumphed over evil to stand as the true victor of God, True Father, together with True Mother offer atonement to all humankind who act conscientiously in accordance with the true principles, holy commandments, and so forth, of their own God-given faith. This also includes men and women of good conscience who, while professing no particular religion, are committed to the ideals of purity, morality, family ethics, interracial unity, world peace, etc. In the words of James Talmage:

The sacred writings of ancient times, the inspired utterances of latter-day prophets, the traditions of mankind, the rites of sacrifice, and even the sacrileges of heathen idolatries, all involve the idea of vicarious atonement. God has never refused to accept an offering made by one who is authorized on behalf of those who are in any way incapable of doing the required service themselves . . . It was Christ's right to become the Savior as the only sinless being on earth, and as the Only Begotten of the Father, and above all as the one ordained in the heavens to be the Redeemer of mankind; and through the exercise of this right involved a sacrifice, the extent of which man cannot comprehend, yet Christ made that sacrifice willingly and voluntarily.¹

The real experience of Christ's salvific grace is fully manifest by successfully accomplishing a three stage process of becoming a Lord of Creation, a Lord of Angels, and a Holy Son or Daughter of God in combination with the spiritual and physical liberation which occurs through the Holy Wedding Blessing. Let's briefly examine what this entails.

A Lord of Creation is a person who is no longer captive to evil temptations made manifest through material things such as money, alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, food, etc. The wisdom of Brigham Young prescribes a life of prayer to give the Latter-day Saint strength from above to overcome envy, one symptom which is always found in a materialistic culture and society:

Let all persons be fervent in prayer, until they know the things of God for themselves and become certain that they are walking in the path that leads to everlasting life; then will envy, the child of ignorance, vanish and there will be no disposition in any man to place himself above another; for such as feeling meets no countenance in the order of heaven. Jesus Christ never wanted to be different from his Father. They were and are one. If a people are led by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and they are cognizant of the fact that through their faithfulness, there is no fear but they will be one in Jesus Christ, and see eye to eye.2

Upon freeing oneself from fallen attachments to the material world, one may successful reach the status of "Lord of Creation." A Lord of Angels is a person who is no longer influenced by evil sexual desire or temptation which are a result of the human fall initiated by the fallen archangel, Lucifer, and repeated over and over again throughout the course of human history by fallen people in cooperation with the evil angelic world. Originally, before the fall, God intended for His children, Adam and Eve, to have dominion over the angelic world. In rebellion to the will of God, Lucifer dared through his arrogance to leave his proper position, reverse dominion, and multiply evil. As a result, Satan has lorded over humankind as our false father keeping humanity under the bondage of sin while we await the day of our redemption. Here again are echoed the words of Brigham Young:

There are no persons without evil passions to embitter their lives. Mankind are revengeful, passionate, hateful, and devilish in their dispositions. This we inherit through the fall, and the grace of God is designed to enable us to overcome it. The grace of God is bestowed upon all, and the Kingdom of God is planted on the earth expressly to enable mankind to overcome the evil that is in them, and to save all.3

This stage is for many, by leaps and bounds more challenging and difficult than the first and therefore all the more precious once it is accomplished. The heavenly standard for subjugating sexual temptation and illicit desire includes and goes beyond our physical relationships with others to include our thoughts and even our dreams. For "whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,

. . . think about these things. (Philippians 4:8) In this regard, the Blessing itself is a source of great spiritual assistance in overcoming evil temptation on a foundation of fulfilling one's own portion of responsibility to maintain a life of sound spiritual worship and practice in accordance with Heaven.

The third stage, Holy Son or Daughter of God, deals with loving our brothers and sisters who are all children of God by successfully making the necessary conditions to lead them back to God. In reality, it requires loving our enemy and walking the path of Jacob by offering all things to one's "enemy" elder brother (or sister) that he or she might experience love from us and want to follow our lead in living a righteous life. We know that Jesus and True Parents fulfilled this course for the sake of all humanity even in the face of having been betrayed and abandoned by God's representatives. While Jesus fulfilled it spiritually, True Parents fulfilled it substantially, embodying the True Love of True Parents for all people. In the words of James Talmage:

The motive inspiring and sustaining Him through all the scenes of His mission, from the time of His primeval ordination to the moment of victorious consummation on the cross, was twofold: first, the desire to do His Father's will in accomplishing the redemption of mankind; second, His love for humanity, of whose welfare and destiny He had assumed charge.4

When True Father embraced Mikhail Gorbachev and Kim-Il Sung, he fulfilled on the worldwide stage the heavenly mandate to love one's "enemy" elder brother and lead them back to God. Only by following in the path of True Parents to subjugate our elder brother and restore the birthright which was lost to Satan can we ever hope to fulfill our duty and privilege of becoming "Holy Sons or Daughters of God."

The crowning achievement of this process is the Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony which allows us to be transformed by the blood of Christ. Through True Parents' mercy and grace, we do not have to wait to fulfill each of these three stages before being permitted to partake in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Because of the real spiritual and physical transformation which occurs through the Blessing, we become better able to meet the challenges and demands of fulfilling the three stage process of restoration of our lordship in front of God, True Parents, and all humanity.

In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase. (D. & C. 131:1-4)

As more and more people come to recognize the spiritual authority and kingship of the True Parents as Lord of the Second Advent, the Wedding Blessing of True Parents will become greatly desired as the most essential qualification for salvation and eternal happiness. Mormons have been teaching about the significance of eternal marriage known as "sealings." Latter-day Saints are completely right in recognizing eternal marriage as the prerequisite for reaching divinity. True Parents themselves are the first human couple to fulfill the restoration course, culminating in their becoming absolutely one with the living God by reaching perfection. They are humanity's original True Parents for all eternity. Among religious peoples, Latter-day Saints are among the most prepared to recognize this substantial accomplishment of True Parent's, which is the true fulfillment of the Latter-day Saint teaching of reaching Godhood for the first time in history. Thus it is written,

And again verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed . . . Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them . . . and the angels are subject unto them. (D. & C. 132:19 & 20)

Latter-day Saints will be more solidly on the path to perfection when they have partaken of the Marriage Supper of True Parents. For this reason, one of the greatest spiritual tests which Latter-day Saints must pass in these Last Days is none other than the ability to identify the Lord of the Second Advent who is the True Parent of humanity and fulfill whatever conditions are necessary to partake in the Marriage Supper of True Parents. Let us now get a brief glimpse into the ceremony of all ceremonies, the Holy Wedding Blessing.

The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth. Yea, a voice crying--Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom. Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the people. (D. & C. 65:2-4)

By any measure, the history and growth of the Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony which began in 1960 is nothing short of miraculous and spectacular. From the first 36 couples in 1960 to the recent blessing of 360,000 couples in 1995 to the upcoming Blessing of 3.6 million couples in 1997, there has never before been any precedent for this scale of international wedding celebrations in human history. The arduous and strict conditions made by the early Blessed Couples and sacrificial Unification Church members since 1960 became the foundation for the global expansion of the Blessing and the eventual widening of the Blessing "gate" to welcome all qualified applicants regardless of religious affiliation or non-affiliation. The Blessing Ceremony consists of no less than four distinct ceremonies which together form the basis for becoming "engrafted" into the sinless blood lineage of Christ and cleaned of original sin as a married couple of husband and wife. The ceremonies which comprise the Blessing are 1) The Holy Wine Ceremony, 2) The Holy Wedding Ceremony, 3) The Chastening Ceremony, and 4) The Three-day Ceremony. Before describing each of these ceremonies, let's consider the process of betrothal for unmarried individuals and offering for already married couples.

In the Unification Church tradition, single, unmarried individuals desiring to be Blessed by True Parents have had the unique honor and privilege to be matched by True Parents either in person or by photograph. Accordingly, Unification Church members recognize that True Parents are the "hands of God" in choosing our eternal mates. True Father is truly the world's greatest matchmaker, having matched tens of thousands of happy couples. It is a well known matter of faith and belief among Unificationists that Reverend Moon can see our ancestors seven generations back when he looks at us either in person or by photograph. When he makes a matching selection, he is taking into consideration many factors, including future offspring, complementary character and personality combinations, the spiritual fortune of the new couple, and eternal compatibility. Also, as a peacemakers and unifiers, True Parents are looking for couples who can embody the principles of the unification of race and culture to become the forerunners of the ideal global family of true love. One of the great benefits of this age-old matching custom is that the social dangers and heartbreak often associated with dating are avoided altogether. Also, statistics show that arranged marriages in the Unification Church have a much higher success rate than marriages in society formed for the purpose of self-fulfillment and romantic love, which begins warm and later grows cold. Since the Blessing of 1995, True Parents have extended to religious leaders and ministers the privilege of matching unmarried individuals within their communities of faith who aspire to dedicate their marriage for the sake of world peace with the promise never to commit adultery and never to divorce. For already married couples, a condition of offering of temporary abstention from sexual intercourse is customary prior to the three-day ceremony as will be further explained shortly. Now for a brief description of the ceremonies which make up the Blessing.

The purpose of each of ceremonies of the Blessing is to restore (reverse) the illicit love relationship of our first human ancestors, Adam and Eve, who partook in the act of lovemaking without the blessing of God. The first ceremony of the Blessing is the "Holy Wine Ceremony" which is central to the sacrament of the Blessing. In this simple yet priceless ceremony, the process of becoming engrafted into the sinless blood lineage of Christ is initiated. This ceremony may be considered the substantial physical equivalent given by the Lord of the Second Advent of the spiritual Holy Communion offered by Jesus Christ. In other words, this ceremony is the first step to removing the claim of sin by which all fallen humankind are held in the physical bondage of Satan and establishing the lineage of God within the Blessed couple once and for all.

The Second Ceremony is the Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony, which resembles a traditional wedding ceremony but on a global scale. The Wedding Blessing Ceremony consists of several aspects, including the sprinkling of holy water, the recitation of the wedding vows, the invocation of the Blessing, the exchange of Blessing rings, and the officiator's proclamation. This is the gala event which is now usually conducted simultaneously via satellite to sites all over the globe. It includes inspirational addresses by prominent leaders, congratulatory song, and commemorative celebration. This is what makes the Blessing a great potential witness and inspiration to all people for the ideals of God-sanctioned marriages offered for the sake of world peace and the realization of an ideal world.

The third ceremony (which may be conducted before the Wedding Ceremony) is the Chastening Ceremony. This ceremony is symbolic. It serves to restore the historical resentments between men and women, particularly between husbands and wives. In this ceremony each spouse lovingly "swats" their spouse on the buttocks three times, symbolizing the payment of indemnity for the mistakes of our original ancestors Adam and Eve at the time of the Fall.

The final ceremony known as the "Three-Day Ceremony" signifies a new beginning in the husband/wife relationship whereby God may substantially dwell in the center of the marriage. This ceremony is conducted privately between husband and wife after offering a condition for purification, which involves a specified period of sexual abstinence. In the past, couples would live as brother and sister for 3 to 7 years. Now the period of separation usually varies from 40 days to seven months or longer for younger Unification Church members. In the case of newly matched couples, this separation period can serve a dual purpose as an "engagement period" for the couple to become better acquainted before consummating their wedding vows. The ritual which takes place during the Three-Day Ceremony involves a specified process to reverse the process of the human fall which was initiated by Eve, after having spiritually fallen with the archangel Lucifer. Therefore, the wife takes the leading role as the restored bride of Christ (True Adam) to restore her husband to the position of "True Adam" following the proscribed ritual of the Three-Day Ceremony. In this way, upon the completion of the Three-day Ceremony, the Blessed Couple may stand as "Restored Adam and Eve" before the Fall and proceed to fulfill their responsibility to become a perfected husband and wife. The completion of the Three-Day Ceremony is also the condition to bear sinless children who may mature to adulthood without ever having any claim of sin by Satan. Now let's turn our attention to life after the Blessing Ceremony.

The kingdom of heaven, including the Church, and comprising nations, will be set up with power and great glory when the triumphant King comes with His heavenly hosts to personally rule and reign on the earth, which He has redeemed at the sacrifice of His own life.5

For the natural man is an enemy of God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Mosiah 3:19)

Now that humanity has True Parents for the first time in history, God is looking for the True Children of True Parents. So far, the best examples of True Children are found among the physical children and grandchildren of True Parents, known fondly as the "True Family." The twelve physical children of True Parents bear the awesome responsibility of being the "twelve branches" of True Parents' direct lineage for all humanity.

The responsibility of God's chosen representatives (latter-day saints) to identify and attend the True Family for the sake of establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in Heaven will surely bring renewed value and meaning to the individual lives of Mormons all over the world. At the time of the Blessing, each Blessed Couple is given the honorable mission for attending the True Family known as "Tribal Messiahship." Tribal Messiahs are responsible to educate and prepare 160 couples for the Blessing. This condition of extending True Parent's Blessing to 160 families becomes the means for inheriting the national, world, and cosmic level victories of True Parents. The Tribal Messiah Couple stands in the position of the new "first" ancestor of their tribe, thus acting as a Messiah to those whom they lead to the salvation of True Parents which is bequeathed through the Holy Wedding Blessing. Leaders of religions and presidents of countries, for example, have the potential of leading great numbers of people to salvation through True Parents, becoming "National Messiahs." The Tribal Messiah providence is carried out centered upon one's hometown, (usually where the husband grew up) but can include people from anywhere on earth who have been saved by their Tribal Messiah. The work of the Tribal Messiah may be well characterized by the following verses from the Doctrine & Covenants:

How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints. Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson-- That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. (D. & C. 121:33-37)

With the True Family as the hope of all humanity, Tribal Messiahs endeavor to righteously shoulder the burden of humanity's ills on our shoulders. One of the crucial issues dividing humanity is the age-old problem of racism. Let's consider the True Parents' vision and work to eliminate unrighteous racial divides through God-centered interracial families.

In modern revelation, the expressions "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" are sometimes used with distinctive meanings--the former phrase signifying the Church, and the latter the literal kingdom which is to supersede and comprise all national or racial divisions.6

Many idealistic people throughout history have dreamed of a peaceful world where all people could live peacefully as brothers and sisters in one global family. Yet when we examine the literal condition of the world around us, we see conditions of racism which make such an ideal of universal brotherhood seem at best a pipe dream. Even Christians fail to love their brothers and sisters of different skin colors with the same affection and commitment with which they love and care for those of their own race. When we think of the social institutions of our time, we cannot find a single one which is offering the solution to the problem of racism the world over. In fact, the institution which is charged with instilling the moral and ethical values for people everywhere, the family, is the most racist of all. Who can deny that the overwhelming majority of all parents of a like skin color hope that their children will marry someone of the same skin color? How does society treat a couple of mixed races? How often are the offspring of interracial couples treated as outcasts by uncaring and thoughtless members on both sides of the racial divide? What True Parents are doing to solve these problems of racism among all the races at the level of family has never been attempted on a global scale at any time in human history. By being strong advocates of interracial marriage and by a significant percentage of couples who are matched by True Parents agreeing to interracial marriages, a new race of people are emerging all over the world, proudly known as the "love race." The words of Cleon Skousen point to the difficulties involved in carrying out such work on the global scale:

The task of unifying and preparing the human family for eternity will be a tremendous undertaking. Consider the chasms which separate nations and individuals whether living or dead. Since the days of Abel, the strong have robbed, ravaged and killed. They have plundered the poor and pillaged the weak. Think of the passion for vengeance which exists in the breasts of the wronged--those who have been cheated of happiness, of their earthly possessions, who have had their lives shortened or scarred by the indecencies of powerful, grasping fellow beings. These will have demands to make upon justice--pressing punishment to the uttermost farthing. Who will teach charity and forgiveness to such as these? Who will secure the balm of forgiveness from the wounded and the ravished to blend with the sorrow and repentance of the guilty? In these queries we behold the titanic task of Godhood--to bring to pass repentance and forgiveness among all nations, creeds and peoples, to ultimately achieve an actual, literal brotherhood of man and prepare the whole human race for the great final judgment. This is the work of the millennium.7

Even though many couples who are matched by True Parents are not interracial, I believe it is the desire of most Unification Church members to see some or even all of their children and their grandchildren matched to members of other races. While the United States is seen as the great melting pot for people from all over the world, True Parents' Holy Wedding Blessing Ceremony is the leading melting pot for families desiring to become the pioneers of the love race. When two people representing different races are brought together in holy matrimony, not only are the two individuals engaging in the process of unification, but indeed all the relatives on both sides are involved at one level or another. Included among such interracial unions, True Parents also specialize in bringing together representatives of former "enemy" nations, such as Japanese and Koreans, who have a long history of resentment after Japan occupied Korea for forty years. Among Americans, for example, True Parents are delighted to see happy couples of black and white. Another exciting and popular combination is an Easterner matched to a Westerner. When one has the chance to see the beautiful interracial unions brought together by True Parents, one cannot help but be moved and inspired by the handiwork of God who Himself is colorblind. Let's now conclude this chapter by looking into our final topic, "World Peace and One Ideal Global Family."

A reign of righteousness throughout the earth has never yet been known to the fallen race of man. So marked has been the universal curse, so great the power of the tempter, so bitter the selfish strife betwixt man and man and between nation and nation; so general has been the enmity of the animal creation, amongst its own members and toward the being who, though in a degraded state, yet holds the divine commission to the authority of the dominion; so prolific has been the soil in bringing forth thorns, thistles, and noxious weeds--that the description of Eden is to us as the story of another world, an orb of a higher order of existence, wholly unlike this dreary sphere.8

Throughout the Millenium, the process of regeneration will continue. Society shall be purified; nations shall exist in peace; wars shall cease; the ferocity of beasts shall be subdued; the earth, relieved in great measure from the curse of the fall, shall yield bounteously to the husbandman; and the planet shall be redeemed.9

Today, mostly behind the scenes, True Parents are carrying out great and wondrous deeds for the accomplishment of World Peace and the realization of "One Ideal Global Family." Through numerous organizations for world peace such as the Women's Federation for World Peace and the newly inaugurated Family Federation for World Peace, True Parents are bringing together former presidents, civic, business, artistic and religious leaders among many others, as well as ordinary men and women from all walks of life to begin to forge a new future of peace and reconciliation wide enough and deep enough to envelop all humankind of every race, creed and religion. Now as people everywhere begin to experience the devastation of the breakdown of the two-parent family in societies all over the world, people are yearning for a renewal of family values which can mend and restore the cultural fabric so badly torn by divorce, teenage pregnancy, infidelity, and homosexuality. This is why it is so crucial for people everywhere to discover the root cause and origin of evil as revealed by Reverend Moon's revelation about the fall of Adam and Eve. Only by overcoming the sin of adultery, which is now possible through the Holy Wedding Blessing, can humanity hope to overcome the scourge of immorality which is sweeping the globe. This scourge is characterized by promiscuity, single mothers, AIDS, homosexuality, and the deterioration of respect for human life on all levels.

In order to become one ideal God-centered global family, each individual must become a person who lives according to the mandates of his or her conscience. In order to free the conscience from the bondage of Satan, our young people must be protected from the illicit ideology of the Sexual Revolution which has resulted in moral chaos, hopelessness and despair for people the world over. In addition to the Blessing Ceremony itself, True Parents are offering education for all people to become True Sons and Daughters of God by instilling the values of the four proper love relationships in each family: that of children's love for parents, brother-sister love, conjugal love between husband and wife, and parent's love for children. Ideally, true love should be practiced unselfishly for the sake of others. Also central to stable families is a recognition, respect, and appreciation for the three generations which make up a healthy family: grandparents, parents, and children.

Reverend Moon's teaching is best appreciated by studying the entire contents of the Divine Principle in conjunction with the volumes of sermons and speeches he has delivered for over forty years. The truth taught by True Parents is indeed a mighty sword which comes as judgement to the unrighteousness of the wicked and a soothing balm to humanity held captive to sin. As it is written:

When will they be civilized? When the Lord shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither learn war any more. When the world is in a state of civilization, man will have ceased to contend against his fellow-man, either as individuals, parties, communities, sects, or nations. This state of civilization will be brought about by the holy Priesthood of the Son of God; and men, with full purpose of heart, will seek unto him who is pure and holy, even our great Creator--our Father and God; and he will give them a law that is pure--a government and plan of society possessed by holy beings in heaven. Then there will be no more war, no more bloodshed, no more evil-speaking and evil-doing; but all will be contented to follow the path of truth, which alone is calculated to exalt and dignify the whole man, mentally, physically, in all his operations, labors, and purposes. Short of this, mankind cannot be said to be truly civilized.10

While it may be difficult for us to imagine ourselves living beyond the artificial barriers imposed by nationality, race, class, religion, etcetera, it nevertheless behooves each of us as men and women of faith to pioneer the way for all humankind to follow. Those who have been given the lamp of light must bear the responsibility to trod the path of difficulty and sacrifice for all humanity to follow. This is the course led by such great spiritual leaders and pioneers as Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Lao-Tzu, the Apostles, the Christian Martyrs, the Saints, Martin Luther, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, the great Popes, and True Parents. Let us work together for the establishment of God's ideal Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in Heaven.