Raising Children in God's Will

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Section 1. Parents Exist For Their Children

What are parents born for? They are born for their children! This is exactly the right thing to say. (128-298)


We have to establish the family even if it means sacrificing the individual. The sons and daughters have to live even if it means sacrificing the parents. Parents are willing to risk their lives in order to let their children live. It is a heavenly law that parents sacrifice themselves for their children more than children sacrifice themselves for their parents. The parents have to make their children live. If they don't make their children live then their way as parents is blocked. Also children need relatives. You must sacrifice yourselves for your relatives, too. A family who lives like that will be respected as a good family by the people living in that neighborhood. (27-352)


So why do a mother and father exist? Who do they exist for? Is the father for the mother and the mother for the father? If you have the name of father and mother it means that you already have children. If you don't that is against the order of the universe. Do you understand? This is an absolute principle. So who do the father and mother exist for? [For their children] What are children? They are the number one object of love. There is nothing other than that. That is how love is. There is no love in the individual alone.

So in the search for love, no matter how great the subject is, if he doesn't meet an object, love cannot exist. Isn't that right? [Yes] If you get married, no matter how old you are, even if you are past 70, if you don't have children you cannot know parental love for children. You will die never knowing parental love for children. Do you think you will know it or not know it? [Not know it] Is this an absolute not knowing, or a relative not knowing? [It is an absolute not knowing] Yes, it is an absolute not knowing.

Will you know parental love if somebody tries to explain it to you for a thousand or tens of thousand years? [No!] You could try to learn about this for a thousand or ten thousand years but you still can't know it. Even when the baby is in the womb you still do not know properly, but the instant the baby is born you start to learn about parental love. Do you understand? When the cow has a calf even if it tries to kick it away, the calf will always come to its mother. The umbilical cord is hanging out behind it like this. (Shows with actions) Then the mother turns around and does this and then it does this. Have you seen that? (Laughter) Have you seen it or haven't you? [We've seen it]

If you witness this kind of scene while you are eating do you think that you can pick your spoon up or not? You don't feel so good. In the beginning after the calf is born the cow starts eating the stuff that is stuck to its behind. "Agh!" You don't feel like you want to pick up your spoon and start eating at all. Why is that? That kind of thing looks revolting to the person who is standing nearby watching, but to the cow do you think it is a happy time or a sad time? [Happy time] What's there to be happy about? (Laughter)

So why is the cow happy? Because it has just had a baby and it can be the owner of love towards its new-born baby calf. That's why it is happy. If it doesn't have any young then it can't experience that kind of feeling. If you visit a poor district you can often see mothers trying to sell some fruit by the roadside. If their babies who are lying next to them say, "Mom, I'm hungry. I want some milk!" They take out a breast as big as this and start feeding their baby (Laughter) Even if she has to sell her fruit to live and do all the housework, when she sees her child she doesn't feel unhappy. Do you understand what I am saying? [Yes]

In the same way it is natural for people who have the name of parents to live for their children. Who do parents exist for? [For their children] Does it go without saying that parents live for themselves or for their children? [For their children] If there is a person who says parents live for themselves then that person is not a parent. In the future a proper code of ethics will be established. It will be a code of ethics based on the principle.

So how should the parents be? They should try their best to live for their children. This will be the number one code of ethics. Why does this have to be so? I don't need to explain! Because that is what will bring them joy. Do you understand? Not because it will bring them unhappiness. No matter how big you are or how great you are, no matter if you have a doctoral degree or have won several Noble prizes, you will forget everything when you have children. Is this situation in which you want to live for your child because it brings you joy, an unhappy situation? [It's a happy situation] Yes, it's a happy situation. (62-215)

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