The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1981
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1981 |
Dear loving Father, please forgive us that we could not end Your suffering. Mankind is still ignorant of Your great will, and no country on earth has ever been able to follow or understand You. I am very grateful from the bottom of my heart that this small Unification group, which has nothing to display externally, could become the ones who could understand and feel Your holy will, which is to establish Your victory in this universe by ushering in the day of victory for all people.
I know we need to transcend any individual or national position and represent all people of the earth. At the same time, we have to realize that we shoulder Your great providential will to establish the realm of perfection as representatives of the whole earth.
Heavenly Father, today is May 1, 1981. Today the Unification Church welcomes the 27th anniversary of its founding on earth. We want to offer all our gratitude for the privilege of welcoming this day as a new anniversary day. When we reflect on our past, a panorama of events passes through our minds.
As we reflect upon what has happened, we want this to become a time of historical import, a time to make a determination for tomorrow's victory as well as a time to celebrate our joy. Also, please guide us so we can become deeply aware of our calling to be truly great and dutiful sons and daughters who can return eternal joy to You. Heavenly Father, please be with us during this time.
We are so grateful that You have been guiding this church with Your deep, precious love and protection. This church was nearly wiped out, but was not destroyed. This church swayed, but did not collapse. This church could never have been born without the chance You gave us. We really ask that You continue to guide our future path.
Father, we thank You for everything. Please bless us with Your joy to represent the future victory. We ask that Your abundant blessing be given at this time.
All members of the Unification Church in the world are celebrating this day and are longing for the True Parents who are here in Korea at this moment. We pray that Your deep love and life energy will be given to each of Your children throughout the world. Bless all of them that they will not feel depressed in the face of tomorrow's battle but will confront the enemy as heavenly soldiers. Let them embody Your love and resurrection of life. And bless them so they can practice Your will in reality.
Let all Your blessing and love be upon Your children.
I pray these things in the name of True Parents. Amen.
Today we welcomed the 27th anniversary of the Unification Church. I could speak so much about the situations of the past years. Needless to say, our organization was founded not to accomplish certain personal goals, but to fulfill God's will.
Then, what is the whole content of God's will? First, to restore Adam through the process of the history of recreation. Next, to restore Eve on the victorious foundation of Adam. Then, to create a perfect family and perfect children on the foundation of the perfected Adam and Eve. To help children to attain perfection, a people or tribe should be formed.
Numerous saints and sages have worked as representatives of God. What have they accomplished? They gave rise to various religions. Chronologically, there are four types: religion of servant, adopted son, son, and parents. Geographically, religions have moved in different directions: North, South, East and West. Furthermore, the various stages of religion have geographic variations: there are East, West, North, and South types of religions of son, for instance. To accommodate local needs, religions of servant, adopted-son, and son appeared in various regions. Also, the essence of even a religion of servant corresponds to the content of religions of adopted son, son and parents. Whatever the religion may be, its goal is to fulfill God's will, and it follows a path toward the perfection of God's ideal of creation. That is the case even with a religion of servant. The religion of adopted son appears on the foundation of the religion of servant, but in a higher dimension. The same applies to the religions of son and parents.
This development is the center of the providence of salvation, and the main current of history flowing toward the completion of the providence of salvation.
What is an adopted son? He is not in the direct lineage of God, but he can substitute for the true son. A true son can inherit and understand all of God's situations and His heart; an adopted son can become a successor in the case of the parents' absence. The adopted son is higher than a servant and prepares for the true son.
A true-son religion enables people to know their parents clearly. "To know" means not only recognizing the title, but also creating the realm of heartistic unity. Neither the servant period nor the adopted son period could set the standard of heart of the true son.
A qualified son who can represent the parent (God) stands in the parental position for mankind. As a son, he can also represent the whole of mankind before God. The appearance of the true son establishes for the first time God's center on earth. There can be only one center. The delivery of His son is the great moment of fulfillment for God. What a joy to embrace him for the first time! That was God's ideal and longing from the start of the creation.
There have been numerous historical courses. The Jewish religion and then Christianity have been the mainstream of religion. The period through Jacob's family established the moral responsibility of servant. Then the Old Testament period built the foundation for the adopted-son position. Jesus came as the Messiah, the son who can receive God's love. The Bible says that Jesus is the only son of God, meaning that he is the first son to be born centered on God's love. With such a background, Christianity became the central thread of world history, eventually forming the democratic world which is preeminent in the civilization of the 20th century.
Now people say these are the "Last Days." Jesus was to go on to the mission of parents after fulfilling that of messianic son. Christianity promises the bridegroom and bride as the fulfillment of the Last Days. Bridegroom and bride symbolize the religion of parents.
Then what are the Last Days? The end of the period of sons and daughters and the dawn of a new era of parents. What is the desire of sons and daughters? To see the parents whom they had never met and to receive parental love from them. In the Last Days their deepest desire is fulfilled.
The Last Days is not the time for almighty God literally to set the world on fire and to condemn people to destruction, as today's Christians believe. It is the time to fulfill the purpose of children, that is to complete salvation on the earth through the appearance of the True Parents. It is the time to build the society, nation and world centered on God's heart, God's family and heavenly moral virtue. It is the time to be completely educated in all these points by the parents and to manifest the ideal horizontally, so the world can be united around God's love and parents' love. With such an education, society can progress toward that goal. The Last Days is the cosmic turning point.
What is the Unification Church? The Unification Church emphasizes True Father and Mother, and True Children. This is the most distinctive aspect of our church. Religions have had one person as a central core of faith. The Unification Church promotes the religion of both father and mother. The significant aspect of religious history today is that parents became the central core of religion for the first time.
What kind of parents are they? They stand in the position of historical ancestors who embody the fundamental parental tradition of God-centered people. These parents represent not only today's generation; they recreate this world by transforming impure children into God's true children. They teach unqualified children and guide them to become true children by engrafting them upon True Parents, persevering in this task until the fallen world completely passes away. This is the teaching of the Unification Church.
What will happen to other religions? The religions of servant, adopted son and son will link up with the religion of parents to create a new world: the unified world of providence.
The Unification religion is the religion of son, in a sense. It has the responsibility to march forward, united with all traditional Christianity, to a new world level, the new realm which human history has longed for. Therefore, the ideology of the Unification Church must unite world Christianity.
So why the term, "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity"? Someone once asked me, "Reverend Moon, why. did you use the term 'Unification of World Christianity?' Because of so much persecution, why don't you remove that term?" If I removed that term, who would be opposed to the Unification Church? Christian ministers and elders have said, "The Unification of World Christianity? I don't believe it." It might be acceptable if Reverend Moon were like the pope, who has a foundation in many nations of the world. But when a marginal man such as Reverend Moon is attempting to unite world Christianity, everybody always feels uncomfortable. They cannot even sleep well.
Christianity has been fragmented into hundreds of denominations in the process of its 2,000 years of struggle and development. Then I attempt to unite them! People wonder what means I will use to unite them. Bayonets? Force? Dictatorial methods? All kinds of rumors have spread.
By what means can I unite Christianity throughout the world? By the Holy Spirit. Hence the name Holy Spirit Association. Do you understand? Not by fists or bayonets, but by the Holy Spirit. We cannot unite by human power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the mobilization of the spirit world. It is more difficult to mobilize the spirit world than to mobilize human beings.
You can unite Christianity if you set aside the elements that cause disunity and preserve the core around which all Christians can unite. It sounds simple, doesn't it? Thus, we need to form a new system of truth, namely, a new view of the central truth of the Bible as it developed through the Old and New Testaments and points to the future. Such a view should be God's view and the view of the spirit world. Christianity has not been able to discover this central core. Before the spirit world can cooperate with man, God must give a hand and offer His cooperation, for God is the king of the spirit world. If the king rejects something, no matter how anxious His soldiers in the spirit world may be to cooperate with it, they may not. Only when God the king becomes excited and approves something may His soldiers, the people in the spirit world, help us out. Therefore, when the Unification Church selects the central points from the Old and New Testaments, they must impress God enough for Him to say, "That is true! The Unification Church is quite good."
In order to move the spirit world, our teaching must not only be endorsed by God but also accord with the desires and hopes of the many saints and religious leaders who lived and worked on earth. It must explain the core of what Gautama Buddha wanted to propose, what Confucius wanted to carry out, what Jesus wanted to preach -- and even the content of things yet unknown. All these people must give their seal of approval.
The problem is how to connect the religions of servant and adopted son to the religion of son, which is their center and vehicle for reaching the religion of parents. Only then can a system endorsed by the heavenly spirit world and God emerge.
So, do you think we can naturally unite Christianity throughout the world? [Yes!] You may still prefer the name "Unification Association," but it remains the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. We are confident that we can make it a reality. Unification Church members are funny, crazy people, but not crazy in a bad way. They are crazy for the attainment of a purpose. What is the purpose? To fulfill the contents of the Old and New Testaments and, with all the spirit men in the spirit world, to build a world centered upon God's purpose. The goal of our movement is to attain the will of God. In the Unification Church, therefore, we are continuing the work of the Holy Spirit. Not that Jesus appears from the spirit world, and teaches, but that the True Parents do the teaching.
True Parents mean not only the Lord, the bridegroom, but the bridegroom and bride together, in a horizontal, reciprocal relationship. The father-son relationship is a vertical realm of heart, different from the horizontal, reciprocal relationship. Therefore, someone in the position of parent, with a substantial, physical body on earth, can teach you through spiritual phenomena, just as Jesus did. Do you understand?
I can channel into the physical world the work of people in the spirit world. Many Unification Church members have gone abroad as missionaries. Some were imprisoned; others were expelled from their countries, but returned again and again, undaunted. They did so because I appeared to them spiritually and directed them. They returned eagerly because I asked them to.
In Japan and the United States, members work more than 18 hours a day, not because they are forced to, but because they see spiritually True Parents working on the forefront, leading them. That is possible in the Unification Church.
Saints and sages of the past had to spend more than 40 years working with the utmost sincerity, in order to connect with the spirit world. In the Unification Church, members can attain that through working just 40 days with utmost sincerity.
Today is the age of the space shuttle. A marathon race is about 26 miles, but if a satellite were to run a marathon race, how long would the course have to be? It would need the whole cosmos. In today's space age, religion should have the capacity to measure the cosmos!
Since nothing special seems to have happened today, Christians are still praying, "Lord, please come." But wouldn't it be more wonderful to go and visit the Lord yourself? How about making something like a space shuttle and flying it to the Lord?
So instead of asking him to come, go to his gate and wait for him. Shine his shoes, get everything ready for him. Prepare his bed when he is ready to sleep, prepare his meal when he is ready to eat. Do everything to make him comfortable. Then he will think you are a useful person and may even place you in charge of his house. Become a better manager than he is, then when he goes out, he will naturally tell you, "Please take care of my house while I am away."
Then when he is ready to eat, do you think he will keep you standing in attendance? No, he will welcome you to his table. At first you sit at the corner of the table saying, "This place is good enough for me; I don't have to eat." When you see your Lord eating delicious food, your mouth will move unconsciously, as if you were eating also.
When he sees your mouth moving, do you think he will be able to eat alone? No, he will invite you to eat with him.
"No, I don't need to," you will reply. But you might taste a bit and discover that the food is very delicious.
When the Lord sees you eating the delicious food with joy, would he feel uncomfortable? No, he will feel better than if he were eating alone.
Then he will tell you, "Eat more," and maybe even pick up some food and offer it to you.
The next time, even before the Lord offers you food, you can ask him,
"May I eat this?"
"Yes, Yes," he will reply.
Then you can even eat up everything before he starts!
This is not just an idea. You could really do this kind of thing.
A man feels lonely if he lives all alone. Therefore, God created woman. So it is not surprising that women like men. What aspect of men do they like? Their handsome features, their rough skin and beard. Women's faces are smooth and beardless. Women blink their eyes. It's not good if men blink their eyes all the time, but women who do often have a deep heart.
Who was Jesus? He was the bridegroom prepared to love his bride. And his intended bride was ready to love him. Ministers of the established churches will be surprised to hear this, but I am talking in accordance with the principle of heaven and earth.
Jesus came as the Lord, and everywhere people pray to him with respect. But if we listen carefully, we often hear men praying to possess the world, and women praying for good husbands. Men pray like thieves: "God, make me the president of this country; God, make me the president of this world; God, give me Your position." Women without courage to pray like that ask God to give them a beloved husband. Which of these prayers interests Jesus most? Men pray to fulfill their own purposes, but women pray for a bridegroom to serve with the greatest devotion. The answer is obvious.
Men should pray, "Lord, after I make You the president of heaven and earth, please let me become the president of the world. After You have become the president of the world, please let me become the president of one nation. As Jesus' younger brother, I will serve him. I will respect and serve Jesus as my great teacher, esteeming him above everyone else." If you pray that way, then Jesus will respond to you.
The name of our movement is the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. Therefore, by what means shall we unite? By the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the love which can harmonize the spirit world and the physical world. The Holy Spirit could open the eyes of the blind and make the deaf hear, but that is not important. These days, Christianity seems to think that since nothing is impossible for the omniscient and omnipotent God, the best thing for God to do is to make the lame walk. But this is wrong. The Holy Spirit is love. To unite by means of the Holy Spirit means to unite by the Holy Spirit of love.
The Bible says that we must worship God in spirit and in truth. But what is the truth? It is not the Pythagorean theorem or the Newtonian principle. It is the truth of love. What is the greatest aspect of the principle of love? It is the love between parent and child. What God wants is not money or power or knowledge. He wants love. Why? Because He wants to rejoice, having an object of love. We were created to be an object of love, giving God joy. Therefore, our value, even though we are a created being, is equal to the value of God when our relationship is centered upon love. Christian theologians would object that creatures can never be equal to their creator. But why else did God create all things?
The Holy Spirit, which we see in the name The Holy Spirit Association, produces harmony centering upon the love between parent and child. If we establish harmony on this earth, no matter how small its base may be, it can spread to the entire cosmos. When a broadcasting station sends electromagnetic waves to the cosmos, it doesn't matter how small they may be; they are still heading for the cosmos. In the same way, regardless of how small the realm of harmonious love may be, it can connect to the mighty cosmos. As the base of harmonizing love spreads, it becomes infinite, and nothing will escape its touch. Everything in the world will resound to its frequency of love. Therefore, God, who is the center of the cosmos, cannot help tingling with its vibration.
When we are in harmony God will say, "I love you." Then what do you think He would do? He would kiss you. Does He know how to kiss? His kiss is not like a worldly smack. Does God have hands? If He does, they must be more wonderful than hands filled with gold or diamonds. If you love someone, don't you want to touch him or her? When you make contact, harmony and unity are established. When two people rotate, the cosmos also revolves, heaven and earth and all things above and below become one. Everything becomes part of that oneness; the head can become a leg and the leg a head; the stomach can become a back and the back a stomach. God would find such a harmony interesting, wouldn't He?
Men and women laugh in different ways. Laughter has a rhythm of its own that can become singing. When you sing, you move your body, so singing leads to dancing. Embracing His beloved sons and daughters, God would laugh and sing and dance. Those who love God love laughing, singing and dancing.
If God is a real father and you cut His hair, will He sue you? Since you are His beloved child, even though He might say, "You rascal! How could you cut your father's hair?" He will not get angry at you but rather embrace you. I am saying these things to you because you need to develop this heartfelt relationship with God. I want you to have an unforgettable image of it in your mind.
Twenty-seven years ago, an unknown man tacked up a sign which read, "The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity." My name has become big recently, but at that time it was unknown. When I started I did not realize how big the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity really was. But once I displayed that sign, I had to fulfill it as a matter of principle. Can I quit because of the opposition? Wherever I have gone, that sign was disliked, and even kicked and destroyed. So many things happened.
At the beginning of today's speech, I said that God's will was the perfection of Adam, Eve, children and clan. The perfect clan should be established in one nation. Jesus sought to build his clan on the foundation of Judaism and the Jewish people, on the foundation of the clans of Joseph and Zechariah, including John the Baptist. God had prepared these two clans to be related and to be Jesus' extended family. If the high priest and other Jewish leaders had united, centered upon these clans, Jesus would not have had to do anything more. Witnessing would have been unnecessary. People could have lived with Jesus in their daily life, and heaven would have automatically cooperated. The Jewish people would have been united and could have won the Roman Empire over peacefully. Everything could have been restored, and Jesus could have become the king of kings. This was God's original plan for the Messiah.
However, Jesus lost the country, which was supposed to have protected him. He lost the clans of Joseph and Zechariah and, as a result, Judaism as well. Then he had to leave his home and seek new followers. Those who joined him were uneducated people, beggars and lowly fishermen. I saw the place where Peter lived. It was a miserable cave. Could such people comprehend God's will and think of all humanity? No. Eventually, all they could do was desert their teacher, Jesus. He was betrayed and killed.
Jesus' life was such a miserable one. Christians affirm that Jesus gave his life for the sake of our sin. But if God is such a capable God, why couldn't He find another way to save man? Ask that question to theologians and Christian ministers and leaders. Since God is omniscient and omnipotent, why couldn't He find another way of salvation than to let His son's blood be shed? They cannot answer that question.
By reading our Principle, all these questions are solved. When you read it your eyes change, your ears change, your mind and body change. All problems are solved. But because they do not want to be defeated by Reverend Moon, religious leaders oppose me. If I were a Westerner, there would be no problem. But I am an Oriental and they think they are better.
In the case of Jesus as well, his parents and brothers and sister did not work with him. The Bible tells how his younger brothers ridiculed him. Therefore, Jesus had no foundation of nation, religion, clan, brothers and parents. He had no choice but to start his three years of public ministry.
I am telling stories that traditional Christians never heard before. That is why they call me a heretic. But whether I am a heretic or not cannot be determined until the end of my course -- whether I end up in heaven or hell. Our church's ladder reaches up to heaven. Christians are trying to visit the home of God's servant, but we are seeking the home of God's son. In this sense, we may be heretical.
After the unification of Christianity, how can God's will be perfected? Abel-like people have to take responsibility to complete God's will. There are many people in the spirit world who were saints and sages, but they could not meet the standard of ideal character which God desires. They are still classed as servants or adopted children of God. Even Jesus, who is in the realm of sonship, did not complete the entire mission. The mission of sonship includes governing your nation, church, clan and family and offering yourself to God on the basis of a nation. Since Jesus did not do all this, he must come again.
We have gone beyond the national level to the world level. Therefore, when the Lord returns, his responsibility includes dedicating the entire world to God. Christianity has the responsibility to unify the democratic world and prepare it for the Second Coming, connecting the entire world to God and dedicating it to Him. But Christianity has not yet fulfilled its critical responsibility as a mediator. When it does, its mission will be consummated. If Christianity is united, communism will no longer be much of a problem. Therefore, I cannot abandon those Christians who oppose me. Rather, I must stand firmly for Christian unity. This is the purpose of our movement. The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity means an association, not a church. You must understand this clearly. Without the unity of Christianity, it is impossible to create one world.
So far, I have taught Unification Church members to be exemplary patriots. This is the first article of education in the Unification Church. The next article is to become a true believer, more faithful than the best Buddhist, Christian, Confucianist, Jew, Hindu or Muslim.
However, to become such a patriot and believer is not sufficient. You must become qualified as a servant of God. When somebody calls for a servant, you should be the first to respond. Therefore, when you begin your life of faith in the Unification Church, you do so from the servant's position. The Unification Church teaches, "Take responsibility for the most difficult problem in your nation. Take responsibility for the most difficult problem of the Unification Church, and take responsibility for the most difficult problem of the world." If you don't go this way willingly, you remain as a servant and cannot reach the realm of adopted sonship.
You have to be willing to digest all the problems of the world today with joy. Then you can rise from the position of servant to adopted son. When you stand in the position of adopted son, you should be better than any adopted son in the world, taking responsibility for the problems other adopted sons cannot solve. Such a path will lead you to the realm of true son. As a true son of direct lineage, if you do what no other person can or will do, you will become the central successor among all the other sons. Everything is systematic.
As you become older, can you urge all patriots to follow your example? Can you ask all believers in other religions to follow your example? Can you say it with confidence? Even if the Unification Church members are unable to go this difficult course, I must do it.
Recently I have heard Koreans say Reverend Moon is a patriot. I received tremendous persecution in the past, but I persevered. Do you know why? To go the path of a servant. If you become the best servant, you can become an adopted son. When Christian ministers say they are God's servants in their prayers, do they really want to become a servant? They call God Heavenly Father, but if you are a servant, you cannot call someone Heavenly Father. Only a son may do so.
You must know that you become a servant among servants in order to inherit the position of adopted son. After you go through the path of obedience, you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first commandment. Therefore, you must devote not only your mind but all your love. As a member of the Unification Church, there is nothing more fearful than not to be able to do God's work. It has been my path ever since I came to know God's will to take responsibility for restoration. Therefore, members of the Unification Church should not avoid hard work and sacrifice. A person who does not like this path cannot fulfill it.
Those who suffer most for their nation become patriots. One patriot may be killed by a single bullet and another may be tortured, with his eyes gouged out and ears and nose cut off. Which of the two is at the head of the line of patriots?
Become a servant of servants first. That will qualify you to be an adopted son. If you become the best adopted son, when there is no other son, you will be chosen as the son. Through this process you will be restored to God's side and receive God as your parent. Unless you go this path you cannot restore the position of God's ideal son or daughter. This has been my course ever since I was born. This is the path every human being must go. I have pioneered this path and established the tradition for all humanity to follow.
Some of you may think this path is suitable for me but not for you. Does what I say apply to you? You may think that I can suffer for you and you can just follow. That cannot be so. Prominent scholars will join the Unification Church. They may complain, "I am such an eminent scholar, but the members of the Unification Church do not understand who I am. They talk badly about me." That person must understand that everyone must follow the path of restoration. If a president joins the Unification Church, even he cannot claim he is special. He must go the course of restoration. When a scholar visits me, I will not see him as a scholar until he has gone the path of hardship and sacrifice. Those who do not want to suffer cannot open their mouths.
The adopted sons who suffer the most can inherit the responsibility as true sons. If you get blessed without going through hardship, your Blessing is not a true one. In a way, I am the most foolish person on earth, taking a foolish path. Whether people speak bad of me or not, I go my own way.
I am working now to revive our nation. North and South Korea are confronting each other. Satan is trying to agitate the masses and bring about a confrontation. Who is taking responsibility for that? The established churches are finding all possible faults with me, accusing me of trying to turn the nation upside down. They can say whatever they want. I am working for the survival of the nation. No matter how much evil they may say about me, what I want is for this to become a nation which can survive and receive God's love. Such a nation can shelter our families. Our church needs such a nation in order to live in peace, centering upon God's will.
I could cross the Pacific Ocean and live quietly in the United States. Why do I come back to Korea and try to cope with its problems? So the nation can survive. I have to do things no one else has done in all 4,300 years of Korea's history. How can we find a way to subjugate communism without confronting it? It would be so wonderful if we could do it. God's greatest headaches are the problem of communism, which -- denies His existence, the decline of religion, and the immorality of the young people. I have declared that I will take responsibility for these. As the son of God, I will solve communism, God's most difficult problem. By my own hands I will revive the Christian churches and raise up fallen youth.
Without going the path of hardship as an adopted son, you cannot inherit the position of true son. You must understand this clearly. The role of True Parents includes governing heaven and earth. True Parents have to prepare the worldwide foundation on the basis of the church and tribal foundations. True Parents have to prepare the environment on a higher dimension. If they do not do it, their descendants will perish.
Therefore, in order for the Unification Church to survive, it needs a national environment. The nation needs the proper world environment in order to survive, and the world needs the spiritual environment. Therefore, I am influencing even the spirit world. I have the cooperation of the spirit world, so no one on earth can compete with me. Those who believe in this are in the Holy Spirit Association. If people do not believe in the Unification Church, they cannot understand these things.
The Korean Unification Church members have to go the way; of hardship, at the risk of their lives. When many of the 36 Couples go to America and speak to the brothers and sisters there, what are you going to talk about? If the members there are working hard, you have to be able to tell them stories about doing much harder work. In order for Korea to lead the world, you must work harder than anyone else. Representing the nation, you have to live for the sake of all people, the whole world and God. This formula applies anywhere. It must always be centered on love. It is not a mere method. The one in the position of elder brother has to sacrifice himself, as a representative of the parents, and care for his younger brothers and sisters centering upon the love of True Parents. This is the tradition and order of love. Do you understand what I am saying?
Parents should represent the children and suffer more than the children, centering on love for the children. Then even if the family is in a tearful situation, they will not feel like leaving each other. Even though they weep, they continue on the path. When you have children, you should educate them in this tradition.
As a true son, you must become the one who suffers more than anyone else. For what? For the whole, for the family, for the nation, for the church. If you sacrifice yourself for everything, you can become the center, inheriting the tradition of the True Parents.
So far, I have done everything for the nation and the world. Is there anyone who has not spoken ill of me? But because I have been following the heavenly principle, I have been able to advance steadily. God has been using religion to untangle problems throughout history. He has to develop one mainstream of thought so one primary ideology could emerge.
In celebrating today's anniversary, you must remember your position. In the position of a servant I walked the path of a servant of servants. Even as an adopted son and later a real son, I worked as a servant of servants. As a True Parent, I have suffered more than any parent in the world. But heaven gathered all kinds of love -- the love of servant, adopted son, real son, and True Parents, and connected them with the love of heaven. Heavenly love has always existed and tries to connect all the other loves. Love is what makes the spirit world and the human world rejoice. Therefore, the Holy Spirit Association was founded centered upon love.
To see things with the mind of love means to deny yourself and go the way of sacrifice. You must become a perfect minus in front of a perfect plus. When a perfect minus appears in front of a perfect plus, another plus is attracted to it. For example, if I am a perfect minus before a nation, the ultimate plus, God, will be attracted. This is the principle of heaven. Therefore, the tradition of patriots is one of blood, sweat and tears. The tradition of filial piety is one of blood, sweat and tears. The tradition of saints is one of blood, sweat and tears.
There is one axis in history: the axis that links the hearts of the heavenly child, the saint, the patriot, and the filial child. This axis is the standard of sacrifice for the whole, set on all levels -- filial child, patriot, saint and heavenly child. No matter how ambitious you are, you cannot reach the goal unless you go through these stages.
I am a man of strong desire. My eyes are small, like the aperture of a camera stopped down to focus on the distant scene. People with small eyes have more wisdom and understanding of the truth. People with large eyes tend to be fragile and unstable. (But don't feel bad if your eyes are big!)
I pray to God: "If Your will includes the worlds of servant, adopted son, real son, and parent, then I will go the path to obtain these worlds. Along that path I will take more responsibility and be more sacrificial. I am here because I chose this way. If You let me be a servant, no one will be more sacrificial than I; I will work 24 hours a day."
Without eating, without sleeping, without playing, we must go such a path. We are different from ministers and elders in the established churches. Our prayer, witnessing and study is different. The Unification Church began from the position of a beggar. A beggar has no clothes, a beggar sleeps under a bridge. There is no job which I have not done: laborer, fisherman, farmer, dock worker. I know more about the world than anyone else. I can do God's will anywhere. If the predestined people do not follow, I will continue the path by educating laborers and farmers. I have the capacity to do all that. That is why I can be the teacher of the Unification Church. If an ordinary person were to try it, he would leave the church within less than a week. You cannot become the teachers of the Unification Church without knowing anything about this suffering path.
The teacher must guide all the work and take care of organizational details. That is why the people of the Unification Church like me. Men, women, grandfathers, grandmothers and children all like me. The day before yesterday, an 80 year old grandmother came up and grasped my hand, rejoicing like a child. Why do people like me that way? Not because I have money, but because I have love. Love, however, does not refer to secular love. How wonderful love is! If you could express it in art work, what a masterpiece it would be!
Now you can definitely understand the tradition. The servants who go through the most miserable hardships become the primary force and center of the mainstream. The adopted son whose course was the most difficult becomes the center of the tradition. The son who works hardest for the parents becomes the center of the tradition of love. The most sacrificial and uncomplaining parents can set the main tradition and go to the Kingdom of Heaven first.
When did you cry in the position of a servant? Representing the most miserable laborers and farmers, you should tremble in sympathy for their suffering lives.
Have you suffered as an adopted son? Handicapped people often lead miserable lives without anyone to whom they can appeal when they are humiliated. They may feel like failures before their parents or nation. Standing in front of them, you should be able to cry. Next is the position of son or daughter. Today families in the democratic world are being destroyed; their young people are becoming immoral. If you can cry with them, you can become the greatest among the children.
For whom do you do this? For God and mankind, for your nation, clan and family. All are connected. Finally, you do this for yourselves. But Western people do all things first for themselves. If that is the way you want to live, go ahead. But you will be lonely and die in desperation.
Nations have opposed me. North Korea, Japan, the United States, the whole world has opposed me. Everyone opposed the Unification Church and Reverend Moon. Judaism, established Christianity and especially communism have opposed me. Most people would want revenge. But I do not. I have no thought of revenge. I am willing to forget everything, as soon as possible. I am willing to forget even though I have been kicked and maligned. When people oppose me I take the attitude that they do so because I could not carry out what I wanted to do and give them more love. Because I could not achieve what I had pledged -- to love people before God -- and because I could not prepare the right position for them, they persecute me so loudly. But I love them even though I am persecuted. When I do this the world changes.
What kind of promise can inspire God? "Oh my God, I have power and talent and great scholarship. I became a great doctor and I can wield authority. I am a capable president; through my orders I can control everything." Such words cannot inspire God. You can boast of none of those things.
If you say, "I have raised many sons and daughters," you still cannot be proud of yourself or inspire God. Only one promise can inspire God: "I have decided to be a sacrifice in order to establish the tradition of Your love. I have been trying to live for others. All I want to do is continue living this way." Then God will reply, "Oh, I understand you well. You have accomplished the principles of loyalty, filial piety and fidelity." Otherwise, you have no true pride before God, even though you work hard witnessing and fund raising, trying to do something for the world.
What can God be proud of before us? He can say, "I have done everything for you. While you were sleeping and playing, I have been protecting you, even though you had fallen." We can see everything God has done, like a videotape, if only we press the switch. It was not with His power or knowledge that God has done things, but because of His wonderful, loving heart.
Today Western people are eager to visit Korea because I came from there. Western men want Korean wives, and Western women want Korean husbands. Is there anything handsome about Korean men? Their noses are so low! There are many handsome men in America. In the blue eyes of Western people, you can see everything as clearly as if you were looking into water. They are very fascinating.
I have done something nobody else could do. Women want to be married to a man like me, and men want a wife like True Mother. At the matching of 843 couples, all the woman said they wanted to be matched with a Korean. The men likewise.
The world which I envision is something that should have been established at the time of the liberation of Korea. Christianity should have united at that time. What would have happened if other Christians had associated with the Unification Church? Instead of a prison course, the way of new truth would have opened.
If established Christianity had opened its gates, it could have been won over within seven years. Look at what is happening recently. Ministers and church elders are so surprised when they hear three days of lectures on the Principle. If the church leaders like it, won't the established churches eventually change?
If such things had happened at the liberation of Korea, the country would not have been divided into North and South. If established Christianity and the Unification Church had united on a worldwide level centering upon the United States, communist domination would have disappeared.
I know communism very well. I have greater ability to digest communism than anybody else. Established Christianity is largely responsible for the situation today. If officials at key Christian universities had not opposed the Unification Church, restoration could have been quickly accomplished. However, they attacked us in every possible way.
I knew well what kind of person Kim Il Sung was. It was so clear that he would appear as the head of Satan's side and do all the things he has done. I knew that a coalition of resentment, centering on the sovereignty of Satan, would rise up and penetrate into half to two-thirds of the world. It was like losing again the foundation of Jesus' 33 years of life.
Because of the opposition in South Korea, I went to the satanic realm of North Korea. There I labored and suffered in prison. After paying that indemnity, I was released from prison. At the risk of my life, I visited several church members in Pyongyang before escaping to the South in 1951. Then I wrote the original manuscript of the Principle and worked to rebuild the Unification movement.
Reunification of North and South Korea is possible only on the basis of our worldwide activity. They cannot unite as they are. Korea cannot survive and unite without the support of a worldwide foundation. This is the view of the Principle.
The division between North and South Korea was not accidental but was related to the heavenly principle and the failure of Korea and the United States to fulfill their responsibilities. Because of that failure, the United States, England and the rest of the democratic world began to decay. The blessings they had gained during World War II were claimed by the communist world. If we belong to heaven, we can stand on the worldwide level. If not, tragedies such as the division of Korea result.
Regions which Germany had occupied became satellites of the Soviet Union. Even China fell under the Soviet sphere. A military administration was set up in Korea centering upon General Hodge. However the historical tragedy which I. mentioned prolonged the suffering and resulted in a 40 year wilderness course.
Then what nation can solve this problem? Neither the United States or any other democratic nation can. No church can deal with it. The United States and established Christianity have failed their responsibilities. Therefore True Parents have to resolve the destiny of the world. The dispensation of True Parents is to restore the entire history of Christianity centering on me, based in Korea.
The Unification Church has received world-level opposition. As a result, the world will be driven into circumstances more painful than those which the Unification Church has been experiencing for the past 10 years. According to the principle of indemnity, such painful situations will occur in families, societies and nations. Members of the Unification Church have endured much pain in their minds as they have sought to do God's will when the satanic world hit the heavenly side with growing power and authority. The Unification Church was persecuted because of God's will. There is a principle that the side which attacks another can be hit by heaven. Members of the Unification Church have been bearing countless difficulties in order to return the world to heaven. Now the Unification Church will rise, while the world will experience collapses of the family, society and nation.
But I cannot allow the world to collapse. That is why I made a base in Korea and am reaching out to the world. Christianity stands in the position of elder brother in Western society. I cannot allow my elder brother to collapse. God's love is to reawaken him. You must understand that this is why I have been struggling so hard.
Korean Christians are very aware of my activities. If they hear the name Reverend Moon even in their sleep, they cry out! I have a worldwide foundation of programs and activities. Recently I created a strong educational organization to make coalitions with other groups and hold rallies on the state, city and village levels. In spite of my efforts to save them, I am still the object of enmity by the established churches and the nation. I have spent more money in ecumenical work than for the sake of the Unification Church. From a worldly point of view, I should consider them an unforgivable enemy, but I forgive them, because they kept the position of son of God before I came and because I need their foundation as a bridge for going further. If I can succeed, God will consider them successful as
Because God thinks that way, I do too. This is the law of Cain and Abel. Established churches have gradually become sites of dancing and horizontal love. Many have allowed things in which Satan can rejoice, such as disco dancing. It is common for ministers and church leaders to tell lies about the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. I foresaw all these things before I started, and they have happened. Because the United States opposed the Unification Church, rapid damage has come to the world.
People opposing the Unification Church have kept us from finding a solid position, driving us into miserable circumstances and causing sorrow to heaven. And we were the ones who had been worrying about the world! As the situations of the individuals, families and nations who opposed us become more miserable, we will rise.
This follows the principle of restoration by indemnity. I became famous because of the Communist Party, which attacked me. From a Principle viewpoint, they emerged to promote my success, which would have been difficult without them. Lacking the Christian foundation, how could I have become famous without the communists? Christianity, communism and the free world all tried to attack and kill me, but I remain uninjured and unshaken. That is why I could become famous.
Now in the United States, scholars are lining up to study my thought. They take the initiative to study it, even if I tell them not to. They talk about me, even if I ask them not to.
People in the democratic world do not understand the true meaning of society or the nation. They have no idea about parents, history, and tradition. Their concept of men and women is animal like. They see the relationship between men and women in carnal terms. If a man and a woman like each other, they have a relationship. People see nothing wrong in it. That is why the democratic world will decline.
To teach the ideal of the nation, we have to teach the ideal of the state. To do that we have to teach the ideal of the society, and before that the ideal of the family. To teach the ideal of the family we have to form the ethical order of the family, by following the proper path and principle of love. My heavenly ideology is based on this principle of love.
Then what is the Unification Church and its mission? Did you come as participants, or mere onlookers? If we are an active organization, why are you standing still? The Unification Church is a group of soldiers who take action. Because now is the time when we need young people, I am rallying them around religion and forming a worldwide movement. Who but Reverent Moon can be their hero at this time of history? Those of you who consider yourselves young people raise your hands. Who considers yourself old? There are no old people here! You cannot say you are old, since I also consider myself young. You know, I have become pretty old. I am 62 years old, but if I read backwards, my age is 26! So I consider myself only 26.
In order to make a new start in Korea, the course I was pursuing with Christian universities such as Youn Se and Ehwa women's universities was the path God wished. However, they not only treated me coldly but tried to destroy all my foundation, as the Korean saying goes: "The man not only rejected the beggar, but also destroyed the beggar's cup." They even tried to catch me and kill me.
These are the last days of the human race, and the last days of the human race are the last days of the nation. People today are valueless human beings, having no religion or nation. People have said that the worst enemy of society is the man called Moon or Sun, the one who is standing and speaking here! Among those of you who came tens of years ago, some of you must have said bad things about me. This is the time for repentance. Who of you once thought that either I or the Unification Church was no good? Raise your hands honestly. If so, I raise my hand, too! If you didn't raise your hand, you were not truthful. If I can say bad things about what I myself did, I think it is natural for people to say bad things about me.
There is a difference between the strategies of God and Satan. Satan's strategy is to rob by force, while heaven's strategy is to succeed by being beaten. By being beaten, we get victory. Treacherous leaders perish after they gain power, but loyal leaders become powerful after they endure the path of hardship. You must understand the difference between God's strategy and Satan's strategy. God's strategy claims compensation for damages after being beaten; that is how God restores things. But Satan's world tries to claim the right of ownership by force.
Because I learned God's strategy I trained myself to go that way. I wanted to become a true patriot, better than any patriots in a righteous country, race or church. I tried to be better than the most faithful Christian.
This is the kind of attitude God wants to see in His champion. In the satanic world, however, people persecute me by calling me the worst kind of person. But those who do so have to pay for it, making compensation for the damage they cause. You have to know this is God's strategy. Check and see if people who oppose the Unification Church and me prosper in the long run. Investigate it through three or four generations of descendants. Certainly you will find some disabled, insane or criminal people. That is what happens when people betray and oppose God.
As a person who stands in the position of ancestor to a Unification family, you must fulfill the responsibility of parents to your sons and daughters. Your responsibility includes pioneering and preparing this path before you can concentrate on loving and living with your wife and children. This is the not the same as the worldly way. Your wife will surely oppose you and your children will complain. But the time will come when the nation and world will officially recognize that your actions as parent were not wrong. Then you will be able to stand in the position of parents, inheriting the tradition of the true family under heaven. This has been the motto of my family.
My sons and daughters say that their parents think only of the Unification Church members, especially the 36 Couples. I eat breakfast with the 36 Couples, even chasing my own sons and daughters away. The children naturally wonder, "Why do our parents do this? Even when our parents meet us some place, they don't really seem to care for us."
It is undeniable that I have loved our church members more than anybody else, neglecting even my wife and children. This is something that heaven knows.
If we live this way, following this course in spite of our children's opposition and neglecting our family, eventually the nation and the world will come to understand. Our wives and children will understand as well. This is the kind of path you have to follow.
The family foundation must rest on the basis of the nation and church. But the foundations of the nation and church were lost. Without them it was impossible to lay the foundation for the family. Because of the opposition of the Korean government and established churches, my family was shattered. Because I knew that my family was destined to be broken, I did not do anything to help them. I did not care for my family for seven or eight years. I heard all kinds of rumors, but I didn't even write any letters to tell them what kind of activity I was involved in or how I was living. Why? Because I knew the heavenly principle, that if you cannot fulfill your responsibility, your sons and daughters will have to assume the burden. Until I fulfilled that responsibility, I dedicated myself to the public mission by staying away from my family until a condition was set for heaven to support them.
The same principle can be applied to the members of the Unification Church today. That is why, when I sent members of the church to do pioneer witnessing in the 60s, I let them go without extra clothes and carrying only their train fare. Is there any other teacher like this? There is no other path for the Unification Church than this miserable one. When the democratic world and Asia decline, when the nation and the church decline, we are affected by that downward spiral. Under such circumstances, the only way to survive is to go to the bottom and make a new start, erecting the pillars of tradition one more time.
Korea and the established churches tried their best to crush me, but they could not. I set the foundation anew and moved up from the individual to the family, the tribe, the society, and the nation. Now I am creating the chance to establish the world level foundation.
In Korea no one can speak about patriots without including our church members. They cannot mention a patriotic organization without including the Unification Church. Our church members set the true standard of filial piety, showing more sincere loyalty to me than others have for their parents. Their devotion was so great that even their own parents were jealous. People who were formerly strangers have united to form a new family. Families with no blood connection form a new clan and prefer their new relatives to their old ones. And when different races assemble to create God's new nation, they can love their country and bring more renewal than a single race. This is the path which the Unification Church is supposed to go. Do you understand?
Therefore, we have to love the Japanese and American people. The Japanese are our traditional enemies, from the common sense point of view. The Japanese and the Germans were recent enemies of America, but I took Japanese and Germans to America and told them, "Love America more than you love your own country." I was the one who did such a thing. That is why I got opposition. I inspired people from formerly enemy countries to love each other. That is why we are opposed. But if we plan this way, we can restore the situation by being persecuted.
From this point of view, the seven-year course that started this very day in 1954 was the age for all the established churches and social organizations, and even the nation, to attack one person: Reverend Moon. Even the babies attacked me! You know this very well. What kind of period was this seven-year course? I had to devote myself completely to the heavenly will as a very lonely individual. Everybody was trying to capture me and kill me. Wherever I traveled in the nation, north or south, I walked this kind of path. When I held the Holy Wedding in 1960, I was being investigated by the court. Just as Jesus' 12 disciples deserted him, with Judas even betraying him, members leaving the Unification Church conspired with our opponents and appealed to the court to stop our church. I conducted the Blessing during this time of judicial investigation. Nobody knows that fact.
The government at that time had enlisted the aid of five top administration officials in order to eradicate the Unification Church. They tried to have me arrested and killed. And what happened to those families?
In the course of history, who would ever have imagined that a man called Mr. Moon -- who at one time was presumed dead and his body thrown out with the trash -- would accomplish what he has! Who enabled me to do so? God and the principle of restoration by indemnity. Using this very strategy of gaining the victory by being beaten, I have accomplished God's will.
You shouldn't feel downcast and humiliated when you are beaten for standing on the side of goodness. Know that the time of blessing will come, from all possible directions, because of the indemnity you paid. That is my standard of life. In the past, when I was in prison I was confronted with all possible persecution and opposition. But the more I was beaten the stronger I became. When the nation and the church oppose you, be stronger than they. I fought against the satanic world, and being this kind of person, I overcame it.
Then the time came for Mother's seven-year course. Every woman has to go this path. Women of the early Unification Church wanted to love me at the risk of their lives, coming to see me even late at night. So people gossiped about us. These women didn't even know why they made such visits to a man who they knew remained centered on God.
And when the Holy Wedding came, every woman, even the elderly widows, wanted to be able to stand in the position of Mother. Some women even claimed to be the True Mother, their eyes shining with confidence. An old lady of 70 years said she would become my wife and bear 10 children! Of course, she didn't know why she was saying such things. Women with daughters prayed to God with deep sincerity and said they received revelations that their daughters would become the True Mother. They were excited, as if it were a matter of life and death.
But the woman who would become True Mother appeared unexpectedly. She was a person whom few of them had met. Probably no more than a third of the members even knew her. Yet this unforeseen person was chosen.
I was 40 and about to marry a 17 year old girl. If this were not God's will, who could be crazier than I? Just imagine, from that time on Mother's great responsibility was to carry all the burdens of the Unification Church. Many wonderful college educated women were lining up and listing their qualifications, but I shook off all of them and chose an innocent, 17 year old girl as Mother What a surprise it was! Old ladies and mothers exclaimed and rolled their eyes. I had no choice but to live separately from her for three years. The task of restoration proceeds from outside to inside. Many female members of the church, even old ladies, were jealous of Mother in the beginning, but when they saw her situation they thought, "Isn't Father being too severe? He should live with Mother since he married her, but what is he doing?" Because I put Mother away from me, living a separated life, old ladies sympathized with Mother and restored the things they had complained about. Women of all ages sided with her. Then Mother could take her position. This is an example of Mother's course of restoration by indemnity.
During this period, how anguished Mother's heart was! One woman received a revelation from the spirit world telling her she should be the Mother. She wanted me to give up Mother and take her instead. There were many other incidents. Spirit world taught strange things, and Mother had to undergo all sorts of trials like this. Mother is very patient, and all this was merely training for her to become much stronger and greater. It continued for seven years. But the most admirable point about Mother was that she believed in me more than in her own father, grandfather or elder brother. She believed in me 100 percent. Thus she overcame all the obstacles and established a firm position.
Since a man got the victory, a woman also had to gain the victory. Mother confronted the society and nation which opposed her and overcame everything during that seven-year period. During this period I set up Parents' Day, Children's Day, World Day and God's Day. What does God's Day mean in reference to Mother's course? Mother's mission was to have unshakable confidence in her husband, regardless of the circumstance and in spite of all opposition. Whatever happened, even if she should die, she had to keep an unchangeable attitude toward her husband. That must be her commitment even if the nation opposes her. Eve fell into a position
Heaven could not trust, and because Eve mad Adam fall, Adam could not believe 100 percent in a woman. Therefore, Mother had to maintain a firm position in which heaven, God and her husband could have 100 percent confidence.
For the first time in history, when God and man could believe in a woman 100 percent, God's Day could be established. Do you understand? That was Jan. 1, 1968. In order to restore the standard of restoration by indemnity for both men and women, Eve had to go through the completion stage from the top of the growth stage. Upon entering the eighth year, after completing her seven-year course, Mother and I could obtain God's seal as a true, perfected family, and we could take our position on the earth. Then we could set forth to the world, leading our family and nation. Upon this foundation I could come to the United States with Mother.
There has been so much persecution in the United States against the Unification Church, centered upon my own family. Not only my wife and I but also my sons and daughters have been mistreated. My children are ridiculed as Moonies in school. They are also quite famous in school. Teachers watch them with special concern. They have a lot of talent in art and music. They study well.
Centering on the United States government and people, established Christianity and Judaism and all religions have opposed us. The communists oppose us, the U.S. Congress and even the White House have taken a stand against us. We had to overcome a seven-year course of tribulation. The fiercest battle was in 1976, but even though the world opposed us, we did not go backward. We overcame, and the Day of Heavenly Victory was set on Oct. 4, 1976. There will not be any worse antagonism than at that time.
By being beaten, we can regain everything. If a man is beaten as an individual he may recover things even on the national level. A woman cannot claim the victory that a man gets; she has to gain one herself. Children also have their own course of indemnity to overcome. That is the course of restoration through indemnity. Because the True Parents have won the victory on all three stages, our family, who represents the Abel core of the democratic world, received the total attack of the Cain side. We have survived this situation and can now raise the flag of the new world of Unification.
In order to broaden that position to the people of the entire world, I sent out missionaries to 75 nations in 1975. Throughout the world the Unification Church, centering upon the blessed families, has been battered but never defeated. We have now finished the 21-year course.
The period since 1977 has been the era of taking the offensive. That means we have to go to the people and teach them the truth. We can do this on campuses and in society. From now on, conditions will change. After 1977 I have done many things to change our position from the defensive to the offensive.
Originally, if President Nixon had listened to me, our situation would have been different. But because he did not, his position was passed down to Ford, Carter and Reagan. Four generations had to be restored because God's will, which was supposed to start centering upon the president of the United States, went the wrong way. Our members supported Reagan, who is the fourth president from Nixon, and gave great spiritual help for his election. If I had not prayed for him, giving my support from behind the scenes, he might have already died. In any normal circumstance, he would not have survived the assassination attempt.
No American president had previously recovered from a gunshot wound. A 70 year old president received a bullet wound seven centimeters deep on his 70th day in office. Everything revolved around the number seven. We can see it as formation, growth and completion. Everything fits into the principle -- 40th president, 444 days until the liberation of the American hostages in Iran -- all are principled numbers. People have not realized it, but God has planned everything with certain mathematical conditions, and we are going over this historical turning point based on such conditions. Now the American president has to listen to me.
The president of Korea cannot guarantee Korean survival by himself. Japan and the United States have to be mobilized. I am teaching and paving the way for South and North to unite. I do this. not for my own sake. I do it to revive the world. I am responsible to give life to the world and educate the present world.
Koreans should not think of themselves as a miserable race. Korea has been invaded from the outside and has fought wars with Japan, the Soviet Union and Red China. Korea underwent all these trials as training. Its history has been a history of training.
Why did the Korean people have to pass through such a course? Because they have the capacity to assimilate the different traditions of four major civilizations and four different ideologies. Do you understand? South Korea should be able to digest North Korea, Japan, the United States, and even the communist world. We should not regard anyone as our enemies. Therefore, your accomplishments as members of the Unification Church have to exceed those of anybody in the Communist Party, the Soviet Union or the United States. You have to pass through such training.
Why do we have to become a people able to absorb four major civilizations: North, South, East and West? In order for the East to go to the center, it must spiral around to the South, West, North and, finally, the center. Nothing can reach the center by centrifugal force, only by centripetal force. Do you understand?
The Unification Church is the nucleus for all four directions and can control them by taking the subject position.
I find the figure 8 really interesting. When we write it we use both clockwise and counter clockwise movements. The number 8 is the number of a new beginning, but it is always drawn in opposite directions. That is how the course of restoration, the way of Principle, the way of recreation, operates. A paradoxical course is in the end the most reasonable. You have to understand this very well.
Therefore, my life does not follow the normal, reasonable way. It began as a figure 8 on an individual level. My wife went through the course of a figure 8, and my sons and daughters followed the same course on the family level.
The next level is the clan level. The 777 Couple Blessing of 1970 began to form the clan era, including various races and centering upon all the families of world history. There are many clans throughout the satanic world, but we created one new clan. When it exceeds the 60 million people in Korea, Korea will begin to follow us. From a principled view, if the Unification Church gains 70 million people, helping them centering upon Korea, don't you think Korea will follow us?
Therefore, we will advance to the worldwide level in many aspects, and the Unification Church will take the ruling seat. In the past 27 years, I have become quite famous. My fame has gone beyond the imagination of most Koreans. They had thought that the man called Moon would float off somewhere and disappear. But what happened?
Centered on Mother, the Unification Church restored through indemnity the individual and family. Then the work of restoring the world through indemnity was taken up by sons and daughters. Now the Unification Church has spread throughout 127 nations, in the position of a clan. In some nations there are so many members that people have become worried.
The time has come when you can be truly proud of yourselves. In your place, I have been passing through the indemnity course by receiving persecution, opening the tribal level for you. Furthermore, the foundation has been laid for the world to welcome you.
If you do your best, with utmost sincerity in this course of tradition, I will give you my endorsement. With that endorsement, you can go anywhere you want. In the United States and in church centers throughout the world, there are rooms set aside for me and my wife. In England and Germany, every center has these special rooms. If I give you my endorsement and tell them to let you sleep in my room and eat the food prepared for me, they will do it. That is true around the world. Don't you want to be treated like that?
The other day I took 12 Japanese members who had achieved certain things to the United States and let them travel around. The American members looked at them and understood them. They came to me and reported that the Japanese members are working above the secular standards. From the Principle point of view it is natural for the spirit world to assist those who transcend their limits rather than those who stay within them.
Members of the Unification Church who work by their own power cannot witness very well. Do you know why? How many woman are there who invest everything they have in their children, excel in serving their husbands, or do their best to prepare for the coming of the Lord? When the Unification Church members witness, they have to surpass the standards of the secular world. If you do so, heaven will always help you.
You may think God is not very united with you. But when you say "Heavenly Father," He doesn't answer from far away but from right behind you. That is the kind of Heavenly Father you have. God has been protecting you; heaven embraces you and gives you sweet sleep when you fall down in fatigue; when you raise your hand, light comes from it. These surprising facts are the truth.
Today, on our 27th anniversary, what should we do? I have accomplished everything and set the standard of tradition for all peoples of the world. You should do the same. Not only you, but your sons and daughters and thousands of generations of descendants must inherit this Unification Church tradition. Therefore, even if the leaders walk out, even if I go away, as long as our descendants remain, the Unification Church will never perish. The tradition of the Unification Church will shine throughout thousands and thousands of years.
Suppose two factions appear in the Unification Church. You don't have to give yourself a headache trying to choose the right one. The criterion is who works the hardest for God's will. The person who sacrifices himself for the sake of God's will and tries to give himself for the sake of the world more than others is the one to follow. The most valuable person is the one who works for the sake of the unity of the world, even at the sacrifice of his parents, spouse and children. He is the one who is closest to the tradition of heart. Thus, denominationalism will never arise in the Unification Church.
If the president of the church is self-centered, he is not a true person. But if he labors day and night for the sake of God and for the nation and world, laying a foundation of blood, sweat and tears, heaven will work through him. Any such members of the Unification movement, either man or woman, who can love others with tears is the example for everyone. Heaven will create a new history of goodness through that kind of person.
In this way, the heavenly tradition has already been established in the Unification Church. My successor among my sons and daughters will be determined in the same way: the one who sacrifices himself the most for the sake of God's will, the one who best exemplifies the principle of loyalty and filial piety. Everything is measured against that tradition -- in the family or in the church. We cannot appoint a person to a position simply because he has money or power. He must be able to give deep inspiration and heartistic love to other people, even though he might not be a university professor or hold a doctoral degree. He may be humble and unknown, but when he prays, his words come from his inmost self and create explosions in people's hearts. Wherever such a person is found, church activities will center upon him or her. The Unification movement will follow that person's standard.
From this point of view, you can clearly understand whether you are on the correct course of tradition. You know what kind of standard you have, don't you? You don't need explanations. Your mind is trying to follow the heavenly side, but your body inclines to the satanic side. Taking the easy way leads to internal struggle between your mind and body. To end that conflict, you must reach God's love by going the way of hardship. Once you set out with strong determination, all the battles between mind and body will eventually come to an end.
You women may be thinking, "I am the right age for getting married. I am good looking and I have a very attractive body. Any man will like me. Therefore, my husband will have to be a very handsome man." Instead, you should think this way: "I was born such a beautiful person because of the grace of God's love, which is focused on solving all the resentment of humanity. So I don't mind even if my husband is ugly or a cripple. Please let me be able to live my whole life in loyalty to him. It would be so wonderful if I could become that kind of woman." If you think like that, heaven will come to you.
I have striven for this kind of attitude. I have confidence that I am a better than average Korean man, but I did not expect to marry such a beautiful person as Mother. I looked for a woman who could be loyal to God's will and who could sacrifice herself for the sake of her husband. There are many careless women, so I asked God not to give me a wife who would destroy the Unification family. I knew my marriage should be for the sake of the Unification Church, the nation, and the world. I found many promising women, but none who could sacrifice themselves with a pure heart and bring the seed of love horizontally to their husband. Such women leave God sooner or later. Finally I found beautiful Mother and educated her.
These days Mother has a higher reputation than I do. They say she has not only Oriental beauty but Western beauty. Therefore, I have learned many things from her I received a great deal of Oriental training, but not so much Western training. For example, when I eat, I stuff a lot of food into my mouth at once. I don't eat gracefully, I just think of enjoying the food. But Mother wipes my mouth each time I make a mess.
People say we are a very loving couple. Mother never stands on my right side, always on my left. Wherever we go, she walks beside me holding my hand. She takes my hand first. We do that in America, but it is not so natural to hold hands in Korea. The culture is different here.
Have you ever walked hand in hand with your wife? Probably you were shy. It is not evil to hold your wife's hand. If you want to walk hand in hand with her, go ahead! If you want to carry her on your back, you can do that too! It is the same East or West. If you ask God, "Father, do You want to see Your beloved sons and daughters kissing their wife or husband?" of course He will say yes. So even if you kiss until heaven and earth tremble with excitement, it is not a sin. You can do that with your beloved wife or husband, of course, but not with another man or woman.
Even if I die, the tradition of the Unification movement will never be destroyed. A different tradition cannot appear in the movement; even if it did, it would soon rejoin the mainstream. It is easy to tell who is true and who is false. Someone who speaks only for himself is false; if he speaks for others and the world, he is true. A son of filial piety will serve the whole family. A loyal man will serve the whole nation. A saint will serve all people. Someday the angels and all people in heaven and earth should be able to welcome you as a son or daughter of God, based on your standard of love.
Which Unification Church member is going the more traditional way, the one who is out witnessing at a local center or the one resting at headquarters? Members who are working hard don't put on makeup and they may smell sweaty. If you compare this person to someone perfumed and well dressed, who is more beautiful to God? It is the sweating person, ridiculed by hostile people, but still faithfully loving the nation. It is the person who says he will go on, even when told to rest.
When I speak at night, almost everybody dozes off. By midnight eight out of 10 people drop off, but I continue to talk. Even though I become sleepy, I fight the urge to stop, and I continue to speak -- all for your benefit. So who is serving the most, you or I? It appears that I am serving you even more than you are serving yourselves. When you see me overcoming the desire to sleep, preaching on and on, you probably think I am a man of steel. I am not like that naturally; only because I know the Principle did I become like a man of steel.
Because I know the Principle and pursue the fallen world with all the yearning love of God, I don't like to take the winding path of restoration. I want to build a straight highway, like a bridge of love. Therefore, people from all over the world will seek me out. Even if I build my house on the summit of a mountain, they will search me out, perhaps even with the aid of professional mountaineers. Someone who thinks this way must be crazy! However, by going the way of hardships, we can unite the world into one.
Very few relatives of church members have welcomed the idea of a mass wedding. Before the Blessing of the 36 Couples, for example, I sent invitations to our members' parents inviting them to their child's wedding ceremony. But I told them they needed white ceremonial garments in order to attend. People thought this was a reckless violation of the time honored tradition of parents arranging their children's marriages and wedding ceremonies. Therefore, everyone spoke ill of me. However, many of those same parents have recently come to me and thanked me for having given them such a wonderful son-in-law or daughter-in-law.
Soon we will no longer need to witness for the Unification Church. Then what will we do? Perhaps I will buy an airplane and take all the members who worked so hard for rides! From now on, we will not witness in the old style but through videotapes. Already there are videotape sets for seven-day and 21-day workshops, and a 40-day Victory Over Communism (VOC) lecture series. All you have to do is push the button. You can educate people while you relax. Then if I go on national television and speak for 40 days, the world will completely change. If that happens, why should we need to witness?
People under Satan's dominion act based on their personal desires. We, on the other hand, live for the family, clan, race, nation, world and God; We love God first, and then the world, nation, race, clan and family, in that order. Then we can understand the power and value of love and be able to love ourselves. In this world, people have usually thought first about themselves. This tendency will be reversed.
Your hard course will be shortened from now on. If it took me 60 years to fulfill something, you will be able to do it in six months. So elderly people need not be discouraged. The Unification Church is not for young people alone. Older people can work together with young members.
I encourage you to work hard in the Unification Church so you can work on a worldwide level in the future. Therefore, toil hard and go the suffering way. Go out to society at large. Do good deeds and be sacrificial. You must understand that this is ultimately the only reasonable way to go.
Today is May 1. From today, the second 21-year course will start. So how about becoming more responsible? Until now, you lived depending upon me. What will you do if I die? I want to have some free time now. Will you allow me to have it? I have fulfilled all my responsibility over the past seven years, and the time is coming for me to visit members around the world as I wish.
Up until the present, because I was guiding the restoration providence, it seemed that the whole history of restoration would fail if I died. However, I have fulfilled everything that was required. I have no. regrets. Even if I am killed, I can die joyfully. Now you also have to learn how to conduct the restoration providence. That is why I am urging you to improve yourselves in every way.
Who cleans the glass doors of this headquarters building? Do you assign somebody to the task, or do people clean them on their own? You should never use somebody who does not want to do the job. If there is nobody to clean them, do it yourself. The person who lovingly, joyfully, humbly cleans the glass doors will be the victor in the spirit world. Don't force someone to clean the building's doors. I would rather not work with people who don't want to work. I work only with those who are willing to give their lives for the world because they understand the situation of history.
In the years leading up to this 27th anniversary, my own course of restoration through indemnity was fulfilled, as well as those of Mother and True Children. Upon this foundation I built the family and clan indemnity foundation of the Unification movement. Therefore, in order to inherit this, you have to accomplish your five percent responsibility. So if you understand this and determine to work vigorously for the next seven years, the world will be transformed.
We must have a successful rally in Moscow. I want to do this before I die. The Soviet leaders, however, are quick to mock me when they hear this. But who believed me 21 years ago when I described what our church would be like after my 21-year course? I said there would be cars and houses everywhere in the Unification Church and that members would have spread throughout the world. Before beginning my 21-year course, I promised this to the Unification Church members in Korea. Many must have thought I was crazy, but I was not.
Now you have gotten a glimpse of what will soon happen. Some key Americans will declare that only Reverend Moon can bring a significant change in the world. Patriotic people will rush to help us with their economic, academic and social foundations. But because I am so busy, I cannot yet handle all the work that would entail. Therefore, if there are people in the Unification Church who can do my job, I will let them.
We must fly like an eagle, becoming God's right and left wings, God's right and left eyes, God's hands and legs.
Well, do you want to follow this way? Then work hard at the risk of your life. The Japanese and American church members are working 18 hours a day. But when I come to Korea, you seem to be taking it easy in this spring season! Please work hard and tirelessly for the next seven years and establish a good tradition in Korea. I deeply hope you will build with dignity and tradition, as the subject and fatherland of faith, and as an example to Japan, America and the whole world. Thank you very much. Let us pray.
Beloved Heavenly Father,
We know very well how painful our history has been for You throughout the course of restoration. You persisted through thousands of years to build foundations of indemnity on the individual, family, clan, and racial levels, always acting on the principle that servant-of-servant humility brings success. Finally, You were able to lay the national foundation in Israel, making possible the appearance of the Messiah on the worldwide stage. Yet when he finally came, he was not accepted and thus could not complete the restoration.
The result was that during the next 2,000 years, You had to witness a history of terrible suffering. America was born on the foundation of the heartbreaking tradition of martyrdom and constant bloodshed, and has become the center of the free world in the Last Days of the worldwide level of the dispensation. You expected America to assume the task of protecting the victorious worldwide godly foundation and offering it to You by fulfilling Your will, especially during and after World War II. But again this did not take place.
I also know how anguished and heartbroken You are when You see people turning away from accomplishing their responsibility. Today, America cannot lose her link with South Korea. The destined age for the spiritual leaders and the providential nations to unite has come. Reverend Moon, who was born in Korea and who represents the internal subjective position, and the Reagan Administration, which represents the external position, must be so united.
Even at this moment, worldwide communism with all its tremendous power is making maneuvers designed to overthrow the Reagan Administration. The time has come for the administration to be strong and bold. The time has also come for Korea to be strong and bold. Also, now is the time when even the Korean people must be strong and bold.
Heavenly Father, we have learned that Your will is for the free world to help the communist world, both spiritually and physically, upon the complete foundation of unity between Korean Christianity and the Unification Church, and between American Christianity and the Unification Church. I sincerely ask You to provide Unification members, who are striving to accomplish Your will, with a strong and bold determination, so that they can strengthen the free world and give it the boldness to take the subject position over the communist world both spiritually and physically.
This is the road toward immortality, and Unification members have learned that this is the road to Your presence. Therefore, I humbly pray that You can bless them to be lights in the world of darkness, shining like the brightest suns, brave and strong like victorious generals. Even though the arrow of persecution may be strong, Heavenly Father, please let them be stronger still, so they can never be penetrated and brought to surrender. I humbly pray and wish to give them the Blessing, so that they can become the ones who can stand in the position to inherit the foundation of True Parents' family and represent the heavenly family -- by practicing and mastering the principle of servant, adopted son, and son. Also, I pray that they can be protected on all sides by the shield of love, and learn to walk the path of tradition as they march toward the Kingdom of Heaven and become the representatives of heavenly love.
I thank You that we can have such a time and day as today. Now we have understood what the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity is and the role religions played in the development of tradition. The path I have trodden until now has been to gather the different races from all over the world. They are not even from the same lineages. The success of this has been due to Your love. When this foundation develops from the national to the world level, then naturally we can embrace the world and absorb all cultures and historical traditions. We know such a day is at hand. I pray for the Unification members to be strong and bold so they can march forward, overcoming all things through love.
I respectfully pray and wish for them to have great confidence that victory is waiting for them, and that failure can be banished. I thank You for allowing me to return to Korea for this anniversary day.
I sincerely pray for unity among the leaders and all the members. I pray that they all will defend heavenly tradition to the death and live in accordance with this way of love. A unity of all races, with its blazing fire of love, is being offered to You, Father. With this love and unity, centering on the nation of South Korea, we can gain the power to master North Korea. I pray that members will make effort day and night without rest to achieve this goal.
I hope that one day soon we can establish far and wide this tradition of unity and love, and that all mankind can soon measure up to it. We know this is Your desire and will. I pray we can be determined to be the ever victorious heavenly army. By making such a determination, I respectfully pray and desire for members to become better sons and daughters, who can come closer to You each day. Centering on love, they can become the group that prepares the way for the restored nation and family.
I pray all these things in the name of the True Parents. Amen.