April is the month of new life. In Christianity, it is also the month containing Easter. It's the season when soft buds penetrate the hard soil, emerging from ground that had been frozen in winter. Without fail, magnolia blossoms, forsythia, azalea and other spring flowers are in brilliantly beautiful blossom. However, we can't fail to think about the indemnity we must pay to make this brilliant spring a victorious one in the third year of Cheon Il Guk.

Why on earth does opening Cheon Il Guk have to be so hard? Although establishing a new world centered on God feels like quite suffocating work, it's naturally not going to be easy.

How can we understand our situation? What's Korea's situation as the central country of the providence? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that on the whole Korea is in a state of crisis.

Everything is always changing in politics, society, culture, the economy and other areas in life. There have been so many changes in history. What did we discover in the 20th century? In the 20th century, we discovered an unknown land which is bigger than an American continent, that is, cyberspace. Who dominates cyberspace? In Korea, at least, it is not dominated by those on the Abel side; the Cain side dominates cyberspace.

Secularism, preoccupation with the sensual, and decadence have held real power over cyberspace in Korea. What's more worrisome is that the Leftists have made deeper and deeper inroads into cyberspace.

North Koreans call cyberspace, "a way out." In a weekly magazine last week, it was reported that there were 2168 pro-North Korean Internet sites. Let me read it for you here: "This article deals with Internet sites that are proponents of or friendly toward the North Korean regime, and which have provoked adverse reactions. The results of a search of the Internet done by the South Korean military found there were eight Internet sites run by North Korea, nine pro-North Korean sites run by residents abroad, ninety eight pro-North Korean sites run by South Koreans and 2,053 online clubs that are fans of the North Korean ideology-a total of 2,168 sites at the end 2002. They appear to convey North Korea's unfiltered message." About 30,000 people visit those sites everyday. That's the reality of our country.

The present era is very chaotic. Invisible battles over leadership are being fought on a grand scale. We must clearly understand that we live in a time of great providential change and, as the era of Cheon Il Guk is beginning, we must fight decisive battles.

Last week, I came across a surprising report. It explained that in the 20th century, there was amazing technological development, but at the same time, spiritual values such as morality and ethics collapsed. The last and essential place to maintain ethics and morality is, no doubt, a family.

When these collapse in a family, the society and the nation breaks apart. So, how many Korean families have broken up in the past year? Korea's divorce rate now ranks second among the OECD nations. In a year, Korea's divorce rate went from third to second highest.

In 2001, 4.3 people out of every thousand got divorced in America. The countries tied with the second highest divorce rate were Australia and the UK, with 2.8 people out of every thousand having gotten divorced. In 2002, the American divorce rate went down to 4.0 and those of Australia and the UK went down to 2.5 for every thousand.

Against this apparent trend, Korea's divorce rate went up. Some people estimate that in five years' time, Korea may have the highest divorce rate in the world. What does this phenomenon mean to us? No one is looking for a solution to this problem. We, who should be the owners of Cheon Il Guk, have to deal with domestic and international changes in a multi-dimensional way. From a certain viewpoint, things seem depressing; the situation is confusing and the future appears bleak. But this suffering and confusion can be understood as the labor pains of a new age and of its new owners. Now is the time to establish God's kingship and the kingship of the king of the blessed families in this new age. True Parents set this year's goal as "building Cheon Il Guk." They blessed all of us as owners of Cheon Il Guk. Both in name and reality, we should become princes and princesses of peace and unity, owners of this dark and confused world.

Surely, flowers will blossom and birds will sing as they were created to do. However, what is clear is that spring in the third year of Cheon Il Guk is different from those of the past. This month, we must create a new Eden of unity and harmony. Who can find solutions to today's problems in this chaotic world? True Parents can. History must be set in order by providential laws and the course True Parents have established. The courses of True Parents have been different than those of central figures in history.

The goal of Moses' course was to enter the land of Canaan, but Moses couldn't accomplish that completely. Jesus' course was also to enter Canaan, but he only succeeded spiritually. The course of True Parents was to enter Canaan substantially and, eventually, they were successful. What was different between the course of True Parents and those of Moses and Jesus? Moses and Jesus depended upon miracles to complete their missions to restore Canaan. They didn't do it themselves but depended upon the power of God to complete the providence of restoration. What about True Parents? They have been victorious on their own through paying indemnity. Here lies a big difference between True Parents and the central figures prior to them. The fruit of True Parents' providence was not the result of miracles or the help of others, but was gained through paying indemnity by offering their own lives.

Because this is the springtime of providential and heavenly fortune, we are experiencing the rebirth that Christians talk about. At this time, we must bear in mind the course of indemnity True Parents have walked for restoration that brought the benefit of true rebirth. The resurrection was achieved through the sacrifice of Jesus' crucifixion. The crux is that without that sacrifice on the cross, the victory of rebirth could never have come.

In the secular world, those who win fights are winners, but in the religious world, those who lose fights are true winners. Dying is losing in the world, but dying is winning in the world of faith. Father taught us to win by being hit first. Those who are hit can claim the victory. This is the way the Divine Principle shows us to be owners of this world.

Today, Christians focus their faith on resurrection, disregarding how much had to be sacrificed through the crucifixion for that resurrection. I believe that we can find solutions to the world's problems right there. How can we solve conflicts between Christians and Muslims? True Parents have taught us how to overcome such differences before they lead to problems.

After the U.S. was attacked by Muslim terrorists, Father asked America to forgive on a grand scale. If America had followed Father's advice, there would have been no tragedy such as war. Instead, all of humanity would have put those terrorists on trial. They would have testified for America, "In spite of such a great sacrifice they have had to endure, Americans didn't punish their enemies with power but won the true victory over the Islamic world with a Christian spirit and love based upon Jesus' spirit of sacrifice on the cross."

Nevertheless, America strongly attacked Afghanistan and Iraq after the terrorist attack. This is an endless vicious circle. There can be no solutions for individuals and the whole as long as this kind of vicious cycle continues. The principle of losing is winning, shows that only when the law that makes the resurrection possible from the sacrifice of Jesus is kept, can ultimate peace and freedom be achieved.

The world's problems can be solved in the same manner. Why do married couples struggle and break up? What is the cause of people's struggles against each other in their communities? How can we resolve conflicts between nations and in the world as a whole and achieve God-centered peace? The only solution to all the difficult problems is the principle of paying indemnity that True Parents have been teaching us throughout their lives. It is also the law that permitted the resurrection through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.

Now is the time for us to be owners of the world. The question is "how?" The Family Party has been set up, and True Parents are developing a new dimension of the providence. How can we build God's Kingdom of Cheon Il Guk in all areas of life including politics, economy, society, and culture with not only spiritual but also physical power and influence? What kind of mindset should we have and how are we to solve problems? It is the spirit of paying indemnity for restoration that has been the way True Parents brought Satan to surrender. That's the only way. By following in the footsteps of True Parents, we can establish ourselves as owners of this land.

At the True Parents' Day celebration, Father said, "Cheon Il Guk can be realized by bringing our own tribes to our side." So how can we win over our own tribes? The time is ripe for the spirit world and the physical world to be united. Changes have started in the spirit world. If we can connect those changes developing in the spirit world with this world, we will be able to build Cheon Il Guk. To realize that goal, we should continuously give, sacrifice and be hit. Only on such a foundation, can we gain true authority as owners. In order for us to be owners of our tribes and owners of this nation, we must not hesitate to be servants for our tribes and the nation. The fact is that we can be served as owners only by serving others first. That's the way. This is the spirit of the cross and also the spirit of True Parents, who have paid indemnity for restoration. Having lost this, the world today has fallen into crises of various kinds. By giving endlessly, by serving endlessly, by losing ourselves endlessly, we can find ourselves and have the authority of true owners.

My beloved brothers and sisters, let's all become servants in our families, church communities, society and the world in order to establish ourselves as owners of Cheon Il Guk. In that way, we can also inherit the tradition True Parents have taught us through their lifelong examples. If we keep silent, the rocks will cry out instead of us. We're living beings but rocks aren't. Yet, if we, living beings keep as silent as rocks, the Bible warns that those rocks will cry out on our behalf. This is the time for us to testify to the truth in our tribes. It's not enough to have our faces reflect our good deeds. Our goodness must be reborn in the hearts of the members of our tribes. For that, we must continuously carry our crosses. That is true beauty. This world has fallen into crisis because it lacks the spirit of sacrifice to pay indemnity. Our faith is based upon the very spirit of paying indemnity for restoration. We should remind ourselves once again that we can establish Cheon Il Guk only when we follow the principles of restoration through indemnity.

Brothers and sisters, magnolia blossoms have come out. Flowers can blossom because the trees or the seeds of those flowers endured a long winter. You must plant seeds of indemnity to see beautiful flowers bloom. I earnestly hope that all of you will be able to have brilliant, blossoming flowers by winning the heart of your tribes.

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