Looking at human history, there has never, since the fall, been a time free of suffering and conflict. Spirituality is what differentiates us from beasts. It is also the foundation of ethics and morality. That very foundation is being destroyed. Spiritual problems are worse these days. Social problems have resulted in endless conflict.

In history, there have been two ways of attempting to cure these ills. First, religions have tried to cure spiritual ills. Second, we have seen ideologies that have the intention of curing social ills- - communism being one major example. Communists sought to create a utopian world without God. It was a false doctor trying to cure the problems of the world in the wrong way.

As a religion, Christianity has typically tried to cure spiritual problems. However, can Christianity really solve the problems of ethical and moral decline and of family breakdown in society? Can any of today's religions cure spiritual and social problems? It is evident that none has been able to. When we look at the situation in Korea, the endless problems of juvenile delinquency, family breakdown and the moral decline of society keep getting worse. This means that religions in Korea have not yet found the right answers to Korea's problems.

North Korea is the last remaining country in the world that is pursuing the communist ideal. Can the North Korean ideology of Juche [self reliance] solve the problems of the world? The answer is no.

Now True Parents have brought the cure for both internal and external problems. Their providential position can be distinguished from that of others. We can say that the blessing is the most important aspect of True Parents' work: It is the essential path to concretely cure spiritual and social problems. Through the blessing, we can inherit the blood lineage of original goodness. We can establish the tradition of pure love. We can set a moral and ethical standard. We can create families that are the realization of the purpose of God's creation. The blessing is the ultimate way to realize peace on all levels.

The healing providence is being actualized by the current movement of truth, and the blessing. The question is how well we are carrying out our mission of healing and liberating the world commensurate with how True Parents have healed and liberated us. We must think about this seriously.

I have had the opportunity to introduce True Parents' achievements to Korean leaders from various circles--to explain True Parents' international achievements in front of people from high social standing in Korean society, including a former chairman of the Congress and the Prime Minister. At one such occasion recently, I met and talked to Mr. Min Byung-Chun, the former president of Dongguk University [sponsored by a Buddhist foundation]. He told me, "I think I might not be too wrong in saying that Buddhists are more severely persecuted by Christians than Rev. Moon was in the past." And then he told me a story:

One day a monk happened to sit next to a young mother holding a baby. The baby was adorable, so the monk looked at the baby and smiled. In response to the gentle eye contact, the baby pulled slightly on the monk's clothes. The mother drew the baby tightly to herself and quickly stood up, shouting at the baby, "Why are you holding onto the clothes of Satan, the devil?" and quickly walked away. We cannot imagine someone expressing their faith in that way. It does illustrate, though, how intense some Christians are about their faith. Although one could say it would be better if such Christians were more open to other religions, looking at it in a more clement light, there is something positive in their seriousness about maintaining the integrity of their faith.

In light of this, let us consider North Korean society today. I went to North Korea in April, which was a special blessing from True Parents. I went there for the opening of the Pyonghwa Motors plant in Nampo, and was able to visit various other places in North Korea as well. I was very impressed with the International Goodwill Museum on Myo Hyang Mountain. At the gate of the museum, all you can see is a traditional Korean tile-roofed house, but once you are inside, you can see the grand scale of the place. There are six stories under the ground floor, where the gifts that have been given to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are displayed. I saw a gift that had been given to Kim Il-Sung by True Parents.

The gift that most impressed me was a stick that was supposed to be used to do finger pressure massage, which was worth about 200 won [about 15 cents in U.S. money] and had been given by a woman living in Kangwon Province. It seems that there, what is just a little stick takes on irreplaceable value once it is owned by Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il. They also displayed a basketball sent by then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. A common basketball, which can be found just about anywhere, is displayed as if it is priceless because it now belongs to the Kims.

I also visited the Grand Peoples' Study Hall, the biggest library in North Korea. The guide there explained to our group about the desks that young children use to study. They looked like other ordinary desks but were specially made so that the height could be adjusted. Taller people can raise the desks and shorter people can lower them. They had constructed the desks after a visit by Kim Il-Sung. He had sat in one of the desks and had not been satisfied. He had ordered them to make the desks adjustable for young children.

The people take so much pride in Kim Il-sung. They shamelessly exaggerate his achievements. In other words, anything that has something to do with him or his son is changed into something of limitless value to be worshipped.

Brothers and sisters, some Christians devote their entire lives to Jesus. North Koreans worship the Kims with all their hearts and souls. They put the highest possible value in them. How about us? We were reborn through the blessing, thanks to True Parents who are the ultimate healers of the world. But how much do we center our lives on them?

True Parents have had to restore mankind, all things and the spirit world to their original states. On the foundation of restoring all these things, God's kingship had to be established. That is the fulfillment of God's will. The restoration of mankind, all things and the spirit world, and the full realization of God's kingship, were all concluded in the amazing year of 2000. Then a new age began in 2001. A matter for concern will be to know in exactly which year God's kingdom was established. I assume that 1920, the year of Father's birth might have been a possibility, or 1945, the year Father started his public mission. 1960 might be more likely because it was the year of True Parents' Holy Wedding. The end of the wilderness period, 1985, might also be a possibility, as would the first year of the Completed Testament Age, 1993. But it is most likely the first year of Cheon Il Guk, 2001. The year 2001 was when the ideal of creation, as described in the Principle, began.

The Principle teaches us that in that era there will be no need for us to go through anyone to talk to God -- that we can communicate with God directly. People can meet God face to face. Once the ideal world of creation is realized, prayer in the sense of asking God for something will be unnecessary; rather we should simply report to Him about what we've done. The ideal world began in 2001. Through the registration blessing, the ideal could be concretely realized. Since the registration blessing, in 2001, we stopped praying to God to ask things for ourselves, and began reporting to Him what we've accomplished for His will.

We do not depend upon True Parents any more. Having inherited their hearts and integrity, we have come to be responsible for ourselves. We can now directly communicate with God in our own names. Although the ideal world of creation has not been fully realized all over the world, within the community of blessed families, centering on True Parents, it was actualized in 2001.

The old era has ended and now we are in the second year of Cheon Il Guk; next year will be the third year of Cheon Il Guk.... All people throughout the world will calculate the year based on the beginning of Cheon Il Guk. We are creating a new age. 2001 was the beginning of a new age. 2002 is the beginning of the settlement age for Cheon Il Guk. We must reassess our participation in what True Parents are doing, therefore, and be determined anew to walk the course of God's original children.

On January 1st this year, True Father told us that we can realize the settlement of the Cheon Il Guk by blessing our tribes. Just as True Parents have done, we must bless our tribes and organize them into 36-couple, 72-couple, 124-couple and 430-couple blessed families. That is the hope we must pursue. How can we perfect our lives on this earth? How can we make this world into God's kingdom at last? Father has answered those questions with the new direction He has given us.

Divine Principle covers the period from the beginning of history until Christ's Second Advent. True Father is the only one who can teach how the Second Advent is to realize God's nation on earth. The concrete path is achieving the ideal of the blessing. Only through the blessing can spiritual--and therefore social--problems be solved.

How can we expand the blessing to the world level so that we can solve the most fundamental problems entrenched on earth? That is possible only when blessed families bless their tribes, creating the 36 through 430 couple groups. This is the way we can settle God's nation on earth.

[Originally published in Today's World, April 2002]

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