The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1981
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1981 |
Centered around God's heart, we are gathered here. Are you happy to see your Father, even though he is an oriental man? It does not make any difference, because we love each other, with a heart of love that comes from God.
All of you gathered here want to save the world and save your country France; you are heavenly soldiers gathered together here. If your Father is a great general, then you must be great soldiers, right? But traditionally, the French people have more of a feminine nature; they don't like things which are too big or too strong, they seek beauty. What about you? Do you like big things or small things?
Actually, we are living in an age of great and violent struggles. If you are a heavenly army, you should know whether this is the time for training or the time for fighting; also, you should know whether your enemy is strong or weak.
If you want to understand the history of the Unification Church, you should first understand the history of our Father. We call him our Master, but what kind of person is he and what has he done? He is working to save the world and create the Kingdom of Heaven. The simplest thing that can be said is that he is the one who is accomplishing the will of God.
God had an ideal for the family and for the world. But we are imperfect, tainted by sin and surrounded by fallen mankind. Let's make an analogy to someone in danger of drowning; some people are still desperately trying to stay on the surface of the water; others have swallowed much water and are at the point of death. There are many different situations. We in the Unification Church have to throw the lifeline out to these people; the water, however, is not always calm, sometimes it flows very rapidly.
You want to be saved and go to heaven. So God has many lines tied to you and is going to pull you up to heaven. If He pulls all the lines simultaneously, you will have perfect equilibrium, but if He yanks the one tied to your feet, you may be pulled to heaven upside down!
There are just two ways of reaching heaven. One is to climb to heaven by your own power and the other is to hang on the line God throws down and beg Him to pull you up. You may be very heavy, but you would cling desperately to the cord, hoping to be pulled up. But when you beg God to pull you up, He will ask who you are. "I'm Your son (or daughter)," you will cry out, but He will reply, "I don't know you; I'm just searching for Adam and Eve. There are a lot of people down there suffering in the fallen zone, go and save them!" You are still tied up, but you reach out and try to save people, even though you are bruised and bleeding. Maybe you don't like that kind of life; you want to be free. But our Father tells us, "This is the only way I can save you."
Then your parents come and say you are crazy; they try to slash the lines connected to you. When they find out Reverend Moon got you to do this, they become angry at him and say he is a dictator.
But the Unification Church has many lines by which you can be saved. One of these is fundraising, another witnessing, another is the standard of purity before marriage, etc.
Not all the members of the Unification Church will be pulled to heaven together, but rather one after another. Furthermore, the longer we throw out the lines, the more people we can connect to us. As long as you are connected to a line, you will not drown.
Father is a good swimmer, swimming in the sea of the fallen world to save countless people. He insists that God hold his arm and not let him go. That is why he came to France, to throw out more lines to save fallen man. Do you think our Father can literally save every fallen human being in the world? He is really busy, so you are going to do it for him. The line must be strong enough to pull those wrapped in skins of the serpent, and those who are drawn by it will discover that it is the Tree of Life.
Now Henri Blanchard has returned from the 120-day training in the United States, and our Father is visiting France for the first time in a long while. So should you throw out a lot of lines or just a few? Father has observed that you don't like it when someone opposes you, but if you just sit around calmly, you cannot be saved. This is the time to put forth all your efforts.
In the time of battle, even the weakest sister may be stronger than satanic men. You are familiar with Joan of Arc; she was a woman. Will Unification Church members be weaker than Joan of Arc? During the period of restoration, women should work harder; they must establish the tradition of the Divine Principle, and men should follow Eve. The women are daughters of God and the men are in the position of the archangel, or the son of Cain. Who then is closer to the Kingdom -- men or women? Men must work still harder in order to come near to the kingdom.
Do you want to save France first and then get married, or do you want to get married first? Until now you have probably thought a lot about loving your ideal fiance. But without your country, you cannot approach your fiance. The true fiance is the one who devotes himself or herself for the country. Those who will devote yourselves to saving France, please lift your hands. Father sees you.
Our goal is to save France, not to work for the Unification Church. We will sacrifice ourselves for this goal; it is your privilege to save France all by yourselves. Once you have saved your country, you can work for the salvation of Europe, and after that the whole world. Do you like sacrificing yourself? Afterwards, you will be in a central position; you will be sons and daughters of filial piety towards your parents, because you have sacrificed yourselves for them. You will be patriots who have sacrificed themselves for their country. You will be the saints who sacrificed themselves for the salvation of the world. Until we become the children of God, we must work for heaven and for God, forgetting ourselves. God wants an individual to sacrifice himself for his country more than for his family, and to sacrifice himself more for the world for than his country. These are different levels, like kindergarten, high school and university.
If you work hard, one thing is sure; you will become the center of the environment.
Father has not come to give you gold and diamonds, but if you listen to his words, you will find them far more precious treasures. Father is telling you to go out and suffer and sacrifice yourself for the salvation of the world. If you cherish him and really do that, Father knows that you will become the center of the world of the future, without the slightest doubt.
Father matched many French and Germans together; he knows that these will be good matches because from the children you give birth to will raise a new Europe. The children born from such couples will have no enemies; just as they study the history of Germany, they will also study the history of France. As the children grow up, they will think, "Even if my mother and my father do not speak the same language, they were married for the sake of God. My parents are truly extraordinary parents."
If your son decides to work for France and for Germany, with the hope of uniting them, you can truly be proud of him. When Orientals marry Europeans or Americans, regardless of the differences of language and culture, their children will truly be ties uniting the world. You can teach your children that despite the differences of language and culture, you agreed to marry your spouse for the sake of God and for humanity and the world. You must transmit this tradition, never forget it. If you educate your children, they will be exemplary children, and we will accomplish unity in Europe without fighting, just with love.
Unity among men is what history hoped to achieve and is the goal of all religions. Napoleon wanted to bring about European unity, but he tried to do it by force and bloodshed. Hitler attempted the same thing. But these two failed because they used force and did not hesitate to shed blood. But by love and centered on love, Europe should come into unity; this is what God has hoped to accomplish centered on Reverend Moon.
In our work, we have to restore what Jesus lost. This is the heritage our Father is giving us through Home Church; before this, no one could do Home Church. If Jesus had been able to gather 120 disciples, representing the world, he would not have had to die. So we should work to fulfill what was left unaccomplished at the time of Jesus.
We have worked hard while the whole world has persecuted us. But the day will come when people will say, "Even though they are members of the Unification Church, they are not different from others." Later they will confess, "They are better Frenchmen than we are." Eventually, people will admit that they cannot find anything to reproach in Reverend Moon.
You will experience a time of persecution and a time of welcome, but in which time would you prefer to work to bring about God's goal?
According to the Principle, the one who works under persecution becomes the center. Reverend Moon is actually the most persecuted person in the Unification Church, and therefore he is the center.
The worst punishment which people could inflict on you would be to tell you to lead an easy life. If Father decided to hold a great banquet but told you to go out and suffer, would you rather go out and suffer or stay and enjoy the banquet? There are always two kinds of people, those who want to go outside and work and those who would rather stay inside where it is warm. Our spirit tells us to go outside and work, but our body doesn't want to. Which would you choose?
Our Father wants you to be pure sons and daughters of God, nothing less. In time of suffering, even if your body has not had a bath for a long time, God will search you out and come and caress you. When our Father was in the most miserable circumstances, God would come in his sleep to console and embrace him. God would tell him, "If no one wants to be your friend, I will be your friend; I will be your father." What greater happiness could one find? When God comes to visit you, you will be so happy, for He will tell you, "I will be your friend, I will be your father." If you obey our Father now, you will experience the same things he has. And if you work hard, our Father will give you blessing after blessing. Even if this is the first time you have heard Father speak, you love him because he is the center of love for all mankind, especially for our members.
Throughout history, those who have suffered have become the central figures for mankind. The only means of subjugating Satan is by suffering. If you are arrogant, you are offering Satan a condition to use, but if you are kind and humble, God will recognize you. Do you then want to become an offering for God or for Satan?
It took 6,000 years for God to accomplish just the perfection of Adam and Eve, but our Father, during the course of his own life, laid the conditions of indemnity in 21 years; he achieved the perfection of the individual, the family, the tribe, the country and the world. Of course, not everything is completely fulfilled, but the conditions have already been set, and now it is just a question of time.
The ideal of God is not just individual salvation. Someone must lay the foundation to save the family. In this world, there are millions and millions of families, just waiting to be saved by someone. But Father has set not only the foundation for restoring the family, but also for the clan; this is Home Church. Once Home Church is accomplished, there will be no more problems; even if the country is large, it will follow the example of Home Church.
In our Pledge, we say we are proud of the one sovereignty, proud of the one land, proud of the one people, proud of the one language and culture centered on God, proud of becoming the child of the one True Parent, etc. In other words, we are proud of this ideal and we will fight throughout our whole life in order to accomplish it. Isn't that our Pledge? We want to see God's country and God's world. Satan will try to impede you, but you have a hydrogen bomb of love which is more powerful than whatever weapon anyone may try to oppose you with. With the weapon of love, we can change the world forever.
Beginning July 1, you will go out as pioneers, throughout 120 towns in France, for 40 days. During this time, each member should bring three or more spiritual children who can attend the 21-day workshop. If you bring more than three people during that time Father will invite you to New York. Those of you who are working in businesses will go out to witness after 5:00 p.m. Also, you should witness to your parents and brothers and sisters; they can join after attending two and seven-day workshops.
This 40-day pioneer witnessing applies not just to the French family, but also to Korea, Japan and all the other countries in which we are working. For many years now, Father has been asking the Korean members to do the same thing, set out for a pioneer mission, taking no money other than enough to buy a bus ticket. Members find some kind of work or get some support from the people they meet. The summer season is the warmest time of the year, so you can sleep anywhere. If you are hungry, you can invite yourself into someone's house to eat. If you have a fishing rod, you can catch some fish and cook them. You should learn how to do everything while you are young. Learn to identify the different plants in the woods, recognize edible mushrooms, etc. Never stop learning.
When Father used to go out witnessing, he would look for middle-aged women and think of some way to make a good impression on them, by speaking well, singing, etc. You should be capable of fascinating people to the point where they will invite you to eat every time you need a place to eat. This is a good way to learn to know people.
This kind of training is similar to what you gain by fundraising. By fundraising you eventually learn to know people; you know in advance who will buy and who will not buy. You can determine, for instance, that you will sell your product to eight out of ten people, and if they persecute you, you will follow them until in the end they buy your product.
Father can adapt to whatever situation he is in and wants you to be the same; nothing should embarrass you while you are young; you should be able to make friends wherever you go. Father has never seen so many French people before, but during this trip he feels completely at ease. Even if Father appears to be a stranger to other people, he considers every person like a member of his family.
To aid you in your pioneer witnessing, you will need some itinerary workers, seven older members who can give advice and guide activities. Focus on those who oppose you; go to see them and demand why they are against you. Don't hide the fact that you are a Moonie, but let it be known from the beginning that you are members of the Unification Church. There is no reason why the people should think we are bad. We are working for the good of France, so why should people constantly oppose us?
Our Father himself is very proud of being Reverend Moon and the leader of our church; so why should you be ashamed of being a Moonie? Have confidence in yourselves and what you are doing.