The way has various meanings -- the road we tread on in actuality, and the road we tread on in a spiritual sense, or the way of life, the way of so many things. There are many actual ways on which you tread, and when you think of the way you think of the way to go back home, the way to the school, or the way to your office. But most of all, you must be thinking of the way of life.

We search for ways of higher dimension, and more than anything else, we are looking for the way of a teacher, whose example we want to follow. If you are looking for someone to follow, you must have the way to meet him. In our everyday circumstances, we must have ways to be connected with other people. The way we speak of in the abstract sense means the way we tread upon in our life.

I must again say that there are ways through which we can be connected with each other. There is the way of filial piety, way of loyalty, and the way of following any person above you. This kind of way is the path through which we approach someone. Also, we cannot but think about the way of the United States towards the end of the world. There is the way for all mankind to tread upon. So, we have the starting point and the goal, and the way is in between. There are circular ways, too. For instance, when the heavenly bodies move, they move in their orbits.

There are many such ways, but roughly divided, there are true ways and false ways. We must be able to choose true ways, and without going through those ways, we cannot go anywhere. Within the religious world there are many ways -- Christian ways, Buddhist ways, and Moslem ways, all of which are different from each other. Then what must be the true way of life? On the way we must use our five senses in their truest way. There are many such ways of using our senses. Our way of life does not last only during our lifetime, but through all eternity.

If there are many ways, would you choose the short cuts, or the longer ways? In the abstract sense, when you choose to go the way of life, you want to find the shortest possible way. But in a nation -- you can call a nation rich if it has its long ways paved. We can call that nation a powerful nation. When you have your way of life ahead of you, would you want to have your life short? (No) If you must go an actual distance, you want to find the shortest way possible, but if there are richness and abundance in the way of life, you sometimes prefer to go the roundabout way to enjoy yourself.

What I want to teach you, the Unification members, is to choose the right way out of the many possible ways. In our movement we advocate our going along the way headed for the goal, which is a long way away from us. We must go through the individual level of things, family level of things, national level of things, and worldwide level of things in order to reach God. So we have a long way to go until we reach the cosmic level of things, and then we reach God. Then if you are going to meet God, would your way end there? No, from then on you must probe into the heart of God.

When you go to meet God, you want to go the shortest possible way, in order to meet Him in the nearest possible future. But after having met God, if there is any way you should tread together with Him, you would choose a long way. When you are headed for some goal or when you are going to meet a certain person at some point, you want to find the shortest possible way, but when you have met him, then you want to live the longest possible number of days with him.

When you want to go a certain way, would you prefer to have your goal something bad, or something good? There is no question to that. You are looking for something good as your goal. There are evil ways and good ways. When you tread on a certain pathway, if there is a promise that you can meet God earlier, you can define it to be a good way. Otherwise, it's a bad way.

As I said before, if your goal is fixed and you want to meet a certain person there, the shortest possible way is the best way. Before you joined this movement, the ways you had been treading were different from each other. Some have gone through the way which is short, and some have trodden longer ways, in which you had to run or dash along the way when time was up. For instance, in order to come to this meeting today, some of you woke up early in the morning at dawn, began to prepare your mind at that time, and then you came here in time for the meeting. But some others, even though they also came in time for the meeting, got up late so that they had to rush to the meeting. Those who woke up late and just had to rush here are not really prepared for the meeting. Which of the two would you prefer to become?

When you are prepared for a longer period of time than other people, it means you have already been with the goal. Even though these two kinds of people came to the meeting on time, those who have long been preparing for the meeting have already been with Father. So, those people have been with Father, even before coming to the meeting, which is very important. But those who had to rush to the meeting without any preparation are the ones who have been with him for less time than the others. In covering a certain distance, it is your attitude of mind which will define whether it is a good or bad way. Your attitude, or your spiritual posture, is what counts.

If you have something good ahead of you, if you have some person whom you respect or admire somewhere ahead of you, your mind rushes ahead and you want to dash to him or to that place. If you come here reluctantly, your harvest, or what you gain here, will be less than that of those whose minds were already prepared and who came with willingness. If you are reluctant to go the way, even though you take a short cut, after reaching the goal you feel that you have trodden a long, long way. But if your mind is prepared and you are anxious to see the person, reach goal, then you feel as though you have gone the shortest possible way. Isn't that true? (Yes)

Our goal in the Unification movement is to go to the Heavenly Kingdom. Those who are going the way willingly, however long the distance be, feel as though it is just nothing. But to others it looks as though it were thousands of miles. If you were in the position of the way, what type of people would you prefer to have treaded on you -- reluctant people or willing people? If you hate to go on the way, the way or the road itself wouldn't like you, would hate you. But even though the road is bumpy, if when you tread on it, you feel stimulated or challenged, singing along the way, and even feeling like consoling the way itself, then the way will welcome you and will love you.

Anything or any persons love those who love them. If you hate them and are unwilling to have them, they will feel the same towards you. Then we can safely draw the conclusion that if you tread upon a way willingly, it turns out to be a good way, but if you are reluctant to go the way, however good a way it might have been, it turns out to be an evil way. So your attitude and posture of mind are what matter.

If you are a student who just hates to go to school, hates to leave home in the morning, and complains all the way to school, then the school itself, if it had a spirit, would hate you. You will be repelled by the school and you will flunk. But suppose there is a student who early in the morning when he wakes up thinks of school, and when he has his breakfast he is so eager to finish it and dash off to school. He eagerly prepares his lessons for that day, and is just so anxious to go to school. Then even the school itself will welcome him.

Both male members and female members are present. There is also the way of matrimony, and if you are looking for your mate, would you do that reluctantly, or willingly? Suppose you go most willingly on the way to look for your mate, but after you are married if you just mistreat each other and neglect each other, then would that do? (No) In their married life, if a couple is happy together, loving each other in harmony and unity, then their garden, the creation around them, and all their surroundings would rejoice with them. That is the very place which we call the Kingdom of God. But suppose there is a couple who fights every morning, frowns at each other, nags at each other, then however beautiful a garden they have, all the creation and their surroundings will frown upon them.

Then what must be the best way of life, one which will be eternally happy? That is the way headed for the Kingdom of God. What must the way to the Kingdom of Heaven look like-long or short, wide or narrow, rough or smooth? It is long, narrow, rough, and steep. In describing the way to the Kingdom of Heaven, we can apply every adjective possible which can describe bad or disagreeable things. That's why the Bible verse says that the way to the Kingdom is narrow: "...the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many...," but "...the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

I must also say that those who are going the way of death go on the way smilingly, while those who are headed for the Kingdom of Heaven, finding the way to be narrow and bumpy, frown and complain. But I would prefer to have you go the way smilingly, too. My description is that the way to death begins as a wide and well paved road, and you go along gaily, rejoicing as you go. But it becomes progressively narrower, steeper and bumpier. On the other hand, the road to heaven, when you start, seems bumpy and narrow, but it becomes wider and more smoothly paved towards the end. Do you understand the way of the Kingdom of Heaven?

If you have the clear picture of what the way towards the Kingdom of God is like, all should be settled in your mind. If you find the way which is rough and bumpy, it is safe for you to choose that way, and you can be reassured that as you go along the way will become wider and more paved. The promise is there, and we cannot but believe that the way will be wider and smoother. So if you choose the rough way or the narrow way, you are a wise person.

If you choose the narrow, bumpy way, you will want to get over the bumpiness as soon as possible. Then you can dash along the way, taking the rebuffs as a challenge. On the way to destruction, you go along the way lazily, singing as you go, but as you get to the goal, it becomes bumpy, and you can neither give it up nor turn away from it. Certain difficulties will inevitably come to you, so why not overcome them at the soonest possible date? So you must be prepared to welcome the difficulties and hardships.

When we look for a religion to follow, we must search the entire religious world to find the most difficult way. Every religion, in fact, teaches you to go a narrow way. Out of all the scriptures of the various religions, the Christian Bible points to the narrowest way, I think, because it teaches you to deny yourself, to be prepared to lose your life. If that most difficult religion also teaches you to unite the whole world, then that makes it an even more difficult way.

You are members of the Unification Church. Out of all Christian churches, we are not a denomination, but are advocating that all denominations should come into oneness -- unity. Therefore, you can define our movement to be the most difficult way. Then would you think this is the best way, or the worst one? (Best) But is our way smooth or bumpy? (Bumpy) Here you have no time to sleep, no time to rest, no time to relax, no time even to eat, no time to play. Knowing this, will you go along the way unwillingly, crying on the way? (No) If you are going at all, why not go smilingly? If you go reluctantly, complaining along the way, then the way itself, however high a dimension it is in, will hate you and frown upon you. I suppose there are many here who just go the way complaining, saying to yourself, "Oh, what have I done in joining this movement? Since I found that it is the best way or the ultimate way, I cannot give it up, but the way is so difficult. I could have joined later on when the way is more paved."

If you can dodge past the way, avoid the way, or escape from it, so much the better. But in the long run you must come back. This is the ultimate way upon which everyone must tread. Once again, it is your attitude which matters. You are branded as Unification members. On your foreheads I see the signs of your membership. Your attitude in going the way is the question. Would you prefer to sing along the way or just go crying and complaining? (Singing) I want you to be good workers on the path.

This is a historical moment, and you must go beyond your predecessors, go beyond those saints and sages who have trod the same difficult ways. You can fancy yourself being more than those saints and feel proud of yourself. For instance, if you are faced with difficulties, in your imagination you can say, "What must have Confucius done at this point? He must have failed, but I can go on and overcome these difficulties." You can compare yourself with Jesus Christ, and feel you can be greater than Jesus himself. You can even compare yourself with your Father in heaven, God, and you can be like Him, at least. When you think of how God would go over an obstacle, you must be ready to follow Him in your imagination, and in actuality you can carry it out.

For the early morning pledge service, even my smallest son must get up. This morning after the ceremony, the children went to bed again and I had to wake up Hyo-Jin. He just complained and frowned and finally crawled out of bed reluctantly. Then I whispered in his ear, "Are you proud of being my son, or not?" He frowned and laughed at the same time. It is because he's far too immature to realize what this means.

What about you? If you complain that the meeting is too early -- "Oh, well, it could be seven o'clock," thinking the next moment, "Oh, it would be better to have the meeting at eight. On Sundays, we could have it at nine. Why not ten? Why not eleven? Well, on Sundays we could have all morning free. Why not have it at twelve o'clock?'' And in that way, you would just idle away the time.

With complaint, you cannot digest all the difficulties; you cannot embrace them. There are many ways of thinking, and if you think of things the other way around, you can say, "Oh, if we have the meeting at six o'clock, then we can save more hours, making a longer day." If you expect to have the meeting at six o'clock and you are told to come at seven o'clock instead, you feel relaxed and joyful. When you are told to come at eight o'clock, so much the better; nine o'clock-you are happier; ten o'clock-you are still happier; and eleven o'clock-you will rejoice happily.

I know that each one of you is destined to be here. Your destiny can either be a good one or a bad one. But by now you know you have chosen the best way. Isn't that true? (Yes) Without your being aware of the fact, you have been looking for the way, seeking the way, and you have now reached the goal to meet our Father. Now that you have met him, if you are reluctant to go the way and live the way with him, what would God think of you? After meeting him, would you just sit around idly with folded hands, without doing anything? (No) Real happiness begins when you go the way with him, instructed by him, following him.

As I said before, your goal is to meet God, and after meeting God you are apt to think that that's the end of the road. But to live with Him, to follow His instructions, to go the way of His providence, are things of higher dimension and of greater difficulty. If you abide in Him and He in you, whenever you are faced with difficulties you are consoled by Him. You can go along the way consoling His heart, too, and by encouraging each other you can happily go the way and live with Him.

You are connected with God through Master, and with God, Master, and yourself, united into one you can easily go along the way, being encouraged by him. You can be zealous and full of energy, and on the way you can be consoled. If you see anything bad happening to him, you will feel some pain in your heart and you will dash to him. And from his part, being in the parent's position, if you are in difficulties, would he not dash to help you and come to your rescue? If you are really in the relationship of parents and children with him and his family, when they are in difficulties or when his heart is in sorrow, would you be hilarious and gay? Or when he is happy, would you prefer to be sunk in grief and depression? You must feel the same way as he does. You must have a common feeling with him.

When our church has problems or difficulties and you look just at it like bystanders, then you are in the position of neighbors or onlookers, but not in the position of a member. Our way must be trod in the collective way, however difficult and bumpy the road be. Unless you are like that, you cannot call yourselves members, or brothers and sisters.

Nowadays, couples want to live all by themselves, without their parents or other members of the family. But our ideology is different. If you are really a harmonized, loving couple, and if you want to be in the central point with bearings in all directions, you must have your parents, relatives, and friends, neighbors all around you, as the fence protecting you. But it's complicated, and I think the women members wouldn't like the idea, and would want simpler ways. Which would you prefer simpler ways, or a more complicated way, like what Father described? Wouldn't the women folks choose to have a simple home with their husband alone, without any relatives around? (No) But before joining the movement, haven't you been that way? (Yes) Then I'm sure the Unification Church has changed your attitude.

Then if your husband, for instance, would just drag you this way and that way because it is God's providence, and drive you hard, would you still like it? (Yes) I wonder what Mother's answer to that question would be? I am always having her do this and that. She has no time to rest. When you think that male members are in the subjective position, and especially after you have married your husbands are in the subjective position and I will have them to push you hard, would you like that idea? (Yes)

The women members must be prepared to follow your husbands in that way, and the male members, whatever sweet things your wife want you to do for her, you must be able to drag her along the way. Very often on the way of the providence your husbands even seem cruel to you to demand so many difficult things of you. In that case, I will be sympathetic with you, so be courageous and go along the way. In a way, you will be pitiful and miserable, but your descendants will tread on the way which has been paved by you.

Strangely enough, whenever we expect a new baby, I can almost see his face and describe his character and disposition, I fancy this baby to be better than the ones I already have. It proves to be true, and after his birth I find every characteristic of that kind in the baby. It happens that way when I not only pray for that, but accept anything difficult for the providence of God in place of the blessedness coming to me. Then without doubt that blessedness comes. So in proportion to what you go through, and in proportion to the difficulties you overcome, the blessedness coming to you will be greater.

In trying to become one with each other, if you keep putting more stress on yourselves, can unity come about? No cooperation will be there; no harmony and unity will be there. But you must first of all deny yourselves and compromise, and then come into oneness. You must dissolve yourself away, and you must melt into one. You must become like water in order to really become one. In this movement, if you draw a line in which to confine yourself, then you cannot open the door of your heart to reach other people, to associate with them, and to become one with them. In order to become one with others, you must first of all be dissolved into watery form.

In Christianity, we advocate repentance. To repent means to dissolve yourself. You must not keep yourself solid. When you are dissolved into water, there must be nothing which will characterize you from others. Even though you are as hard as steel when you are melted away in the melting pot you must be dissolved into watery form, liquid form. Unless you do that, God cannot forge you into a new shape. If you are like water, if you are like liquid, then you are not confined to a certain form characteristic of your old self, and you can be newly created.

Water can permeate, can infiltrate, and can adhere to you easily. We have members from many nations, from many races, from many cultural and family backgrounds. But unless you become like water, how can we become one? Can a certain pool of water say, "I don't want the other water," or say, "I don't want black people," "I don't want white people, yellow ones" -- can you say that if you are in the position of the water? (No) So first of all, I want you to dissolve yourself into the form of water. Then you must leave yourself in God's hands and in the hands of the True Parents, and they will reshape or remodel you.

If you are melted steel, for instance, could you ask to have a certain form? When the pattern is set, would you want the forger to press hard, or just at random? (Hard) He must hammer upon you, like a blacksmith would. What makes the Japanese sword famous is that the manufacturer will beat upon it so many times, even for many years. He will put it back into the fire to make it fiery red, put it into cold water and beat upon it, then put it back into the fire again, and thus the same procedure is repeated many times. So in proportion to how many times the sword is beaten upon, its quality is enhanced.

You are to become a flaming sword, so would you want to become an inferior sword or a good one which is sharp and cuts well? (Sharp) It sounds simple, but it is not as simple as it sound, and the procedure is more complicated than you would imagine. I am the blacksmith who will beat you as hard as possible and as many times as possible. No one else can do the job but me. Do you understand me? (Yes) Would you want it that way? (Yes)

If you really want it, I will do it to you. I am only the blacksmith who is doing that for you, and you will profit from my toil. The same thing is true with God. When He wants to make you into new persons, He will forge you, beat upon you, and make you strong enough so that no Satan can invade you or deform you. You must first of all melt down into liquid form, and as it is cooled and the blacksmith beats upon you, you must not repel Him. You must be soft enough to be beaten and to be formed into whatever shape He would want to have you.

God owns a treasure of untold value, for which He has labored and toiled. But He wants someone to inherit it, and that someone must work harder than He has. Unless you feel that you must work harder, He is not ready to give it to you. Suppose you have done almost everything possible and just one thing is left, but you say," Well, that is the only thing I can't afford to do," and you give it up. Then God will never give you His treasure. People are apt to give up right at the threshold of being given the treasure.

What about you? Can you do just anything and everything without leaving any one thing which you cannot tackle? (Yes) Suppose one of the girls is told to remain an old maid, never marrying but just going on the way of providence. What would you do? (Go) But when your eyes see other people being blessed and leading happy married lives, would you still not complain? (Yes) If you are left all by yourself, prepared to remain single all through your life, even though all other people are married and not a single one is there beside you, God's creative power can even create a husband for you, an ideal one. If you are far above other people in following God's way, then even by going beyond the principle of creation, God can create a new husband for you. It's possible. If your faith in God is that strong, there's nothing impossible for Him to do for you.

There are many tests ahead of you, and the tests are difficult, without exception. I have gone through a lot of suffering and tribulation in my life to build this tradition, and if I am going to will it to you, I am looking for someone who is like me. If you were in my position, would you not choose one who is ready to go through difficulties? I would like to choose one who would love the providence, love the will of God more than I have. Can you understand me? (Yes) When we will have won vast membership, I even imagine, or plan in my mind to choose ten out of each nation and have them go through a difficulty contest. I will put them together and give them difficult tests, through which I at last will choose three. Then I will finally choose one out of the three by testing them with problems of utmost difficulty. Wouldn't I do that in order to choose the best one out of so many?

If there is anyone at all in our movement who I can love through eternity, that one must be the person who is ready to deny himself and even be willing to be killed for the sake of God's will. Then would you object to God, saying, "Oh, no, your will cannot be killing people. I don't want to die." -- Can you say that? (No) Put yourself in the position of Isaac. If his father, Abraham, saw disobedience in the child, would he have been able to offer him as an acceptable sacrifice? If he had complained and said, "Oh, no, father, you cannot kill me; I hate you,'' then could he have been acceptable, a good sacrifice? (No) In the face of the crucifixion, if Jesus had complained, saying, "You cannot leave me like this. I don't want to die," and if he had fought against the situation in disobedience, then could God have given him the way of spiritual salvation? (No)

I have explained this in order for you to realize the situation we are in, and on what road we are traveling. If our way is bumpy, with many ups and downs, what kind of a way must it be? It is the way to the kingdom of heaven, which I must again tell you, is the most difficult way. Did Jesus go to the heavenly kingdom? No, he is waiting in paradise for the heavenly kingdom to open. He is in the waiting lounge. With His only son living in paradise, or the waiting lounge, do you think God is living in the Kingdom of Heaven? (No) Then it means there has never been one who really entered the Kingdom of Heaven. The road to the kingdom of heaven was not traveled until now, and has remained a bumpy, difficult way. You have stepped out onto the road, and are now somewhere on the way.

Which is easier, the way to become the President of the United States, or the way to the kingdom of heaven? (President) There are many ways for you to become the President of the United States. It's not so difficult compared to the way to the kingdom of heaven. You must have the clear picture of how difficult the way to the kingdom of heaven is. Then it is safe for you to choose that way. It is the most difficult way, and the longest one. Are you confident to attain the goal? (Yes) Then go ahead.

You must go beyond the level of the individual, family, tribe, and nation. You must go beyond your nation of the United States, go through the world, and then reach God, the last point. You must even go through the spirit world to reach God. Are you confident to win over myriad of spirit men, and evil power in the spirit world? (Yes) How can you do that without knowing what they are like? Without understanding spiritual phenomena you cannot go there.

This is the most difficult way, yet you have no other way to choose. If you don't travel on this way now, the way will still be left before you even in the spirit world. It's a great problem for you, and even for God. In order to make the way straight, God has been sending His prophets, and in order to make the way shorter or to pave the way, He sends the Messiah. Those passed-away sages and saints have trodden the way, filling up the valleys in order to make the way easier for you. Human history has seen the rise and fall of sovereignties, and the righteous people who have come into the world repeatedly have been martyred. They have trodden difficult ways, and by doing that they have been burying the bumpy road in order to smooth it out.

In the Korean language "pyong dong" means equality, and "pyong hwa" means peace. "Pyong" by itself means level ground, or a certain horizontal surface. So we must straighten out the way and make it smooth and level. Then who can do that? Only with God and man in cooperation with each other can such a thing be accomplished. Satan can never do that.

Behind human history God's power has been working, and nothing has been accomplished outside of His will. Sometimes, as civilizations developed, He has had to cut out some portion and discard it, or to tear down some pinnacle in order to make level ground. There has also been the rise and fall of nations. That is the way human history has been woven, and it has all been done under God's will. Through this process, the way to the Kingdom of Heaven was being paved, and then we must go on to open the gate to the Kingdom. Let us finish paving the highway to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Who will make the blueprint for building the highway, and who will actually work on the building of the highway? God will make the blueprint, and the Messiah will bring it into reality, building the road by finding people with whom to work. In doing this job, we must realize that we are paving the way for the whole world.

In this world we can find mountains, plains, valleys, rivers, and lakes. But as we are building the highway to the Kingdom of Heaven together with the Messiah, he will sometimes ask us to tear down mountains, bury valleys, and things like that. When those things take place, we must not complain, but just leave everything in his hands. For example, if Master will say that our house must be torn down, we must agree to that. Also, suppose there is a beautiful lake which you have been treasuring. If Master comes and wants to bury it, you must again be willing to obey him.

Suppose this highway is to be built through the United States. If the people of the United States obey him and cooperate with him and the project is carried to completion, then the other nations will be touched by this example and will concede to let him do the same thing in their countries, building the way to the kingdom of heaven. It is a difficult job to build this highway, but once it is built, then our way will be smooth and we can dash along the way by car. Most of us must play the role of the car, and we will dash along, letting people ride in us. God or the Messiah will be the driver. Are you ready to play this role? If you are in the position of a car, can you say, "I cannot go," when you are driven by the driver? If the driver steps on the accelerator, can you not but go?

The Kingdom of Heaven is the place you enter together with God and the Messiah. You play the role of the cars, and the Messiah, in place of God, will come and drive you, so that other people can ride in you. But before doing that we must pave the way. What are we doing now? We are building the highway right at this moment. In paving the road, we must bury the deep places and valleys. If there is no soil to bury these places, we must sacrifice ourselves in place of the soil. By doing that we are paving the way in this nation, and other people will come and join us, because they want to go on the smooth, paved way.

Just as you pay the toll whenever you pass a turnpike's toll gate, later on, we can collect a toll from other people. But until then, our way is a most difficult one. Are you ready to go that way? (Yes) You must realize that we are not the persons who are going to walk on the way, but we are the persons who are building the way. The road will be smoother and stronger in proportion to the energy we put into it. Our hope is that in our lifetime we can finish our job of building the way and dashing on the way with other people riding in us, and attaining the goal of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Before anyone else, the heroes, or the first inhabitants of that Kingdom of Heaven will be our Parents. Then will come their children. Only by our completing all these jobs can we really call them our True Parents. Just as Adam and Eve, without having fallen in the Garden of Eden could have called God their parent, only when we will have perfected our personality by building the way in ourselves and on every level of things, and even by reaching the end of the world, are we qualified enough to call them our True Parents. So you must again realize that the Parents are not in the position to be called the True Parents in the real sense as it now stands. Our utmost desire is to have them be called the True Parents in the truest sense, and we must exalt their dignity and their position, and have them accomplish their mission by our accomplishing our own responsibility.

At the time Adam and Eve were created, there was no such thing as an evil power or an enemy of mankind. If it had not been for the human fall, Adam and Eve could have been acceptable, wholesome human ancestors, and they could have become the True Parents to their own children. After creating a family, theirs could have been the true family to other families, their tribe to other tribes, their nation to other nations, and the whole world would have been theirs. With their names exalted, they could stand in a central position on any level -- as chief of the tribe, king of the nation, or savior of the world. But was such a thing ever realized?

We are in the vanguard of all other people, paving this way, and we are pioneering a new world with our own hands. So you must have the dignity and pride of being workers under God. After we have finished our work, paving the way for other people, then all together we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven and bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

You must realize that we are building and paving the highway towards the kingdom of heaven on earth, and we can expect many difficulties, sufferings, and tribulations on the way. If you are ready to get over those things with gratefulness and with a sense of mission, then the glory will be for you and for your descendants, and all the people in human history will remember you and praise you. I want you to have this kind of awareness in fulfilling your mission. In order for us to build the way, we sometimes have to bury lakes, tear down mountains and even build canals through the mountains. We need technology and engineering skill -- all those things are needed, so we must have people who are gifted, talented, and skilled in many ways, in many fields.

I have heard that in America people think that one must do things one at a time, and that when you are concentrating on one thing you cannot do other things. But we are so pressed for time and are such busy people that we must sometimes do two, three, or more things at a time. I have done things in that way. This is not an easy way of doing things, but in order for us to create level ground, you must do that. When you think of accomplishing things beyond what you are going through, then you must expect that some sacrifice will be needed. If you are only prepared to receive good things, then can you accomplish the goal? (No) It is safe for you to choose more difficult things which other people will abhor. We cannot expect the people in the outside world to do the job, because they don't know the way to reach the goal. Would you hate to choose the more difficult things, or can you go the way with gratefulness?

If you have that attitude, we will surely be able to build the way, which will go in every direction and cover the whole world. We must build the way so that it crosses through every nation around the world, so that people situated in every corner of the earth will be able to reach the highway and go the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. After highways are built, would you still prefer to use the narrower, bumpier roads? Then even though those smaller, narrower, bumpier roads still exist, they wouldn't be utilized, but will be discarded. In those days, even though we will warn people not to come to the highway, or even though you try to stop them from coming to our way, they will still do so. But before that ever happens, there must be pioneers who will go through the difficulties to build the highway. Do you feel that would be true? (Yes)

There have been many ways tried by other people. For example, in the Communist world they have tried their best to build a good world in which to live. In the democratic world too, and especially in the Christian nations they have gone through many ways to build a better world to live in. But they have failed to do so, and who can do the job except us? There is no other way possible, and this way is fool-proof on the individual level, family level, tribal level, national level, and worldwide level. This is the only way, the ultimate way for us to go.

Then how much work in building the road do you think we have accomplished? Where are we situated now, and how much ground have we covered? We have only covered a certain amount of territory, and have not quite placed ourselves in the central position in which to turn the axis of the world. When we will have restored a whole nation, then our way towards the world will be paved. If one nation is restored, then through the government we can reach out to other nations by sending our ambassadors. We are given the mission from heaven to restore a nation as God's nation. With so great a mission, can any one church do the job? (No)

If any one nation would receive our movement, welcome our movement, and be restored, then they are entitled to possess the whole world, and even God will come under their possession. This is how God prepared His chosen nation. This is how He has prepared the Christian world as the second Israel, but even within Christendom corruption came about. Since God can no longer place His hope in the Christian world, there must spring out a movement which will be able to carry out His will. That is the mission of the Unification Church, and as I have explained, the only way for our members to go is to pave the way to the Kingdom of God on earth.

We must build our beautiful nation which is more beautiful than the United States, more beautiful, of course, than any Communist nation. This will truly be God's nation, which can exalt God and carry out His will. Then that nation will lead other nations through the power of God's love, all other nations will willingly follow the example of that nation. For this purpose, we are now concentrating our efforts on restoring the nation of America.

Until the year 1981 we must wage an all-out battle against the evil power in this nation in order to build this nation into a God-loving and restored nation. At that time, if this nation will not receive us, then our mission must shift to another nation. You must realize the fact that this time in history will not always be with us. Therefore, you must do your very best, concentrating your efforts on building the road to the Kingdom of God on earth.

This morning my topic was "the way". We are the builders of the way, and we must expect many obstacles and difficulties on the way. We must smooth out the way by filling up the valleys, tearing down the high mountains, and paving the way in such a manner that other people can tread upon the way and reach the Kingdom of Heaven. We must do the job, and we must be doing it with gratitude. Every moment of my life I feel responsible for this mission and I want you to feel the same.

Many times, without your even knowing the fact, I am preparing things far ahead of you, planning even for a ten-year period of time. So I sometimes order you to do things all of a sudden, unexpectedly, and without your understanding the meaning behind it. But I want you to follow my instructions, and I can safely lead you to the goal. The Kingdom of Heaven is the place where we will meet God after having gone through and overcome all the difficulties and hardships. We will have paved the way for all mankind to return to God and to unite with Him in love. I want you to be resolved to dash forward on the way until this goal is accomplished. Shall we pray?

Scanned by Hans-Juergen Hutzfeld, 09.01.2008-Duesseldorf.