Toast to True Parents

Kook Jin Moon
January 23, 2012
Chung Pyung, Korea

Tongil Chairman Kook Jin Moon gave the following speech before a toast to True Parents' health:

As we approach the next year, 2013, which our True Father has declared to be a year of spiritual significance, we are seeing many of the things that our True Parents have declared start to make sense. Think about how the world has changed in the last few short years. Even three years ago, the world was confident about the direction it was taking. We felt certain about the strength of America, the strength of democracy as we knew it, the march of civilization and the progress and economic development which was spreading around the world.

But today that confidence has been replaced by a deep concern. We are very much concerned about possible collapse of the economic system and we are concerned about the contagion that may spread throughout the economies of America, which is still going through a very weak recovery. And we see political instability around the world. We see the hope that the Arabs bring, but then we see that hope quickly replaced by the reality of the rise of fundamentalist Islam and radicalism. And we have seen the conflict in the state of Israel, and this year we see even more trouble in the belligerence surrounding the state of Iraq.

And not only that, our confidence in our civilization and the security that we once had has been shaken by acts of God. Last year we saw the unprecedented natural disasters in Japan, with earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear disaster. We saw floods in Thailand. And amidst these very troubling events in these troubling times, we are now seeing the rise of a new power in the east, the rise of China. We're seeing an exponential growth in the military power of this nation, which is not a democracy, a nation that does not abide by the codes and the ethics and the values that we free people hold. We are faced with a situation in which somehow we are watching the emergence of this great new superpower.

In times like this, more than in any time, we need the messiah. We need somebody to lead us and show us what we must do to find a solution to the very troubling and complex problems we are facing. Our True Parents have fought for God's will and fought for freedom and fought to bring God's blessing to the world. Even today our True Mother and True Father fight for this very purpose. Today they're proclaiming to the free nations of the world, those nations that love God, love freedom and believe that God blessed humankind and that humankind is God's children, and if they want to receive God's blessing and to inherit His grace, then the free people need to understand and value all the gifts God gave them. And that in understanding and valuing those gifts, the free people must stand strong and must be courageous and be willing to defend their God-given rights and freedom, at any cost.

In the first family of God, we see the story of Cain and Abel and how God loved Abel. And Cain felt great jealousy and killed Abel. Because of this tragedy, humanity took a very dangerous and treacherous course. But if we think about it, it is not just the fault of Cain. We must understand that if Abel had the strength to defend himself, he would not have died. He should not have been the victim, and if he had been strong, he would not have been the victim. And through his strength he would have preserved peace in his family, and created a situation where God's family could see God's blessing at that time.

Friends, colleagues and brothers and sisters, in much the same way as that original family, the world is divided between two great realms. One that loves God, loves freedom and respects humanity and human dignity, and one which knows nothing but its own power and denies God. It is for those who love God and love freedom to make no excuse for themselves, it is for those who love God and those who love freedom to always be vigilant and to be strong and to stand up against tyranny.

So I would like to propose a toast to our True Father and our True Mother, who have given us this teaching to strive to become strong people in front of God, who will stand to defend our God-given freedom throughout the world. Thank you very much.