The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1982
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1982 |
The topic this morning is "Our Pledge." The literal meaning of the title in Korean is to promise a certain kind of thing before God, or to make a promise in front of an altar. It can also mean a promise of future things.
As you know, we say a Pledge on Sunday mornings at 5:00. The fifth paragraph is the conclusion of the entire Pledge; in it we project what we are going to create -- one sovereignty, one nation, one people, one language and culture centered upon God, etc.
From this standpoint, we must look at ourselves and ask where we are now. We are positioned between good and evil, between God and Satan, between heaven and earth. Heaven is above, earth is below. Satan has dominion over earth, and God is the central figure in heaven. God created the good world and heaven. Satan created the evil world of earthly hell. So heaven includes all the good spirits, and hell includes all the evil spirits.
Heaven is organized with God at the center, with the super-good spirits immediately surrounding Him, and all the other good spirits around them. Satan has organized his realm in a similar way: surrounding him are the worst evil spirits, and further away the lesser evil spirits. Between these two worlds are distinct boundaries, something like the line between heaven and earth. This is a reality. Each of us belongs somewhere; we are positioned in one of these two areas.
There are approximately four billion people on the face of the earth. What percentage of these people could be classified as genuinely good? Would you estimate one percent? One percent of four billion is 40 million. Do you think there are that many good people out there?
In the time of Abraham, God pronounced judgment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. When Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy those cities, God finally promised to spare them if Abraham could find five righteous inhabitants. However, Abraham could not come up with five, and the cities were destroyed. Is New York City today any better than Sodom and Gomorrah?
You Moonies are in a honeymoon mood. You are thinking about setting up a sweet home now. Suppose all of a sudden God orders you, "Get out. Leave your wife behind; leave your husband behind." Would you protest?
In the perspective of history, now is an emergency time for God. Just look at the world, how vicious and evil people are! Looking down on this world, God sees the condition of His children. What has Christianity been doing for two thousand years? God is a sad God, a suffering God. When we look at our world, we can see how much God has been suffering.
In the morning when you set out to do your tasks, you have to really pray, in order to prepare yourselves to go out, do your mission, and return safely at night. When you come back home, look in the mirror; study your face, nose, mouth, eyes, ears, hands. Those are your most susceptible elements, the ones most ready to commit sin. Ask each of those features what they did during the day, whether they were righteous or not. The environment is always wooing you, always trying to divert your mind from the central righteous position. You should guide and discipline circumstances, instead of becoming a victim of them.
Righteous religions always prosper during times of persecution. Persecution gives people protection and spurs them to greater discipline and greater devotion to their mission. To the degree that you are persecuted, God will support you. As persecution intensifies, God's support also intensifies. When persecution becomes greater and greater, reaching the point of life and death, God can distinguish the true believers, those who are truly faithful.
So, shall we avoid the way of persecution, or shall we confront it? Shall we look for the easiest way, or shall we choose the toughest possible way? For this reason, the most timeless teaching of the Bible has been that of sacrifice and service, willingness to die for the sake of others. We forgive, those who oppose us, we embrace the enemy.
Now God and Satan are engaged in battle. We must understand that Satan abhors most of all those who can love their enemy. He cannot deal with that kind of situation and becomes helpless in face of it. Satan is always trying to wage war, but God is always trying to break up wars.
Suppose we draw a line. Everything above that line is heavenly, and everything below satanic. When you draw the line through your life, do you think more of your time and activities are above the line, or below it? If you live below the line more of the time, do you think you deserve heaven? You don't like hell, so why do you permit yourself to exist below the line? To stay above the line requires constant effort; you cannot relax up there. It requires great concentration of all your faculties to stay above the line.
What kind of person would you like to follow: an easy God and an easy Rev. Moon, or a suffering God and fighting Rev. Moon? It is easy to answer yes, but difficult to fulfill it.
I have endured incredible suffering throughout my entire life; I have not had even one good day. Every day brings suffering, battle, persecution. Under those situations, I am persevering every minute of the day. Compared to what I am going through, the martyrdom of the early Christians was much easier. The first-century martyrs died hoping to get to heaven that way. But I am different. I am not doing this for myself. I am working to bring the world back to God, to bring salvation to the world.
I want you to understand that what Satan hates most is love. Our determination this morning should be to pledge to God to do the things in which God will take the utmost delight and the things which Satan will hate most. Remember, though, if you promise to God what Satan most hates, then wherever you go, Satan will kick you and persecute you.
The Korean nation where I came from initially opposed me the most. They called me traitor, betrayer, and all kinds of shameful, ugly names. Now what do they call me? Rev. Moon: the beacon of hope for Korea; Rev. Moon: the only patriot since our founding father Tangun, five thousand years ago. As Koreans, they feel proud to present Rev. Moon to the world.
I want you to be aware of what is happening in the Orient. By that, you can measure what will happen in America. I began at the worst possible level and have risen to the highest possible fame, goodness and favor. That is the measure of the success of our movement. In New York, people know about me. Who are Rev. Moon's friends? Jesus, Moses, Buddha. I am known to keep good company!
The dispensation of God is moving up to a pinnacle, or treetop, and I have reached the highest point. The world is trying hard to shake me off. The wind is blowing strong from all directions, trying to dislodge me. But I am holding on tight. As soon as they admit they cannot shake me off, the whole tree will be conquered. You are clinging to my back, aren't you? There are people close to me, but the line doesn't yet extend down very far. When it touches the ground, the line will become an anchor, and no matter how hard the wind blows, nothing will be able to shake me loose. Also, if there are several lines holding tight to me, reaching down in all directions, I will be secured. Such lines can serve as a ladder, and people can climb them up to me. So if someone is trying to walk up your back to reach me, you will welcome them and urge them on up, won't you?
What Satan hates most is one sovereignty. He is allergic to that word when it is used centering on God. Satan's tactic is to divide and conquer, to incite people to oppose each other and fight among themselves. But God's message is to bring everyone in, unite them and let them become one. Therefore, my emphasis is on uniting, bringing all denominations and all religions together, bringing all races together. Satan wants to incite racial war, and I am working for racial harmony.
Satan uses the motivation of self-indulgence; as a result of his effort, people drink, smoke, etc., for their own glory, honor and achievement. Knowing that, we take the opposite course, denying the individual. I make myself a nobody and dedicate myself for my family; the family dedicates itself for the nation; the nation for the world. Deny yourself and go up step by step, to the family, society, nation, world and cosmos. Then when you reach the center, the individual is no longer just yourself, but the universe. And the universe is the individual. You become directly connected to the universe, you are a public man.
Satan started out in the center and fell down and down, to the dungeons of hell. When you live on an individualistic, selfish plane, you are in hell; the size of your hell is determined by the size of your selfishness. The person who sacrifices the whole world for his own sake goes to the worst hell. Still, even such a person can bring himself up, if he begins denying himself for the sake of his family, for the sake of his society, for the sake of his nation, for the sake of the world. Unselfish, public acts elevate people.
The twentieth-century way of life is characterized by selfishness. Do young people on the streets care about the world? Are they patriotic? Do they care for their fellowman? Do they care for society? No, they just think about fun. You can understand what level they are on. When people reach a certain level, they become a Moonie. Still, as Moonies we falter, we go up and down, up and down. Some Moonies may never make it to the highest level. It is natural for life to go through cycles of ups and downs, and if the peaks and troughs are not too extreme, it's okay. But even as Moonies, if you step below a certain line, you re-enter hell.
If you go to Africa, Asia, the Middle East, or South America and serve for the sake of the world, you transcend the stage of ups and downs; you jump right to the center! Although you may not like it, you will then have to be a central figure, because you are with God. God is the central figure. If Satan steps in and tries to claim you because of a selfish attitude, God will intervene and protest, "This is My child; I am with him." God may, however, allow Satan to test you to see whether you are truly with Him. But regardless of the tests which Satan can invent, the truly unselfish man or woman will never be shaken.
The time has come for us to cross the hill, cross the boundary. However, you may discover that you have a clumsy "tail" of selfishness and fallen nature which holds you back. You will not be able to go over the boundary if you try to preserve your fallen nature. If your tail gets stuck in the crossing, can you cut it off? If you resolve to avoid anything which Satan likes, decision-making becomes simpler.
We live for the sake of one sovereignty, one kingdom, one heavenly citizenship. God has been longing for this from the day of creation. You pledged this morning, "I am proud of the one sovereignty." I am not talking about this as an empty dream, but as a reality. If it doesn't happen, I will make it happen with my own hands. The time has come.
We must have pride and authority as the unique, historical independence army, fighting for the independence of the kingdom of heaven. We have been chosen for that role.
Historically, the American independence movement was similar to our mission today, but on a different level. People assembled in George Washington's army, believing in the cause and entrusting their lives to him. Today in America, two hundred years after that independence, God is assembling another army for the independence of the kingdom of heaven. I am like another George Washington, asking people to come and join me, to restore a nation under God. When we move forward, Satan accuses us of being traitors. But from the heavenly point of view, this is the most sacred war which God has ever waged. Rather than rifles and swords, your weapons are truth and love -- weapons given to you by God so you can save the people of the world. Truth is like the sword, and love is like the atom bomb, creating chain reactions, expanding and multiplying.
I settled in the worst possible place in America: New York. I established my headquarters here and launched the home church crusade. This tactic is like an Inchon landing, attacking the middle of an enemy camp. So do you want to fight an intense battle, or a mediocre battle? As the commanding general of home church, I have to be the most tireless and courageous soldier, pushing everybody forward.
The Unification Church is truly a magnificent movement; it is unique in the sight of God. It is a beacon of hope for God. Having been the first nation to aspire to "one nation under God," America was to spearhead one world under God.
American Moonies have the greatest commission, to redirect this nation from its atheistic concept to a God-accepting concept, from a nationalistic perspective to a universal perspective.
Until this point in history, independence armies have worked for the independence of only a nation. However, this independence army is working for no one nation, but for God. Therefore, we are assembling all five races, as one family of man. Yellow, white and black -- the three major races of the world -- are marching forward. When the American people truly awaken to my ideology, they will be the first to be truly appreciative. They will bow their heads in apology. They will try to compensate for past evils by serving others. "Father, let us go out to the world; let us do more," they will plead. American people will not be saved by arrogance, but by humility, through service.
Look at your body, look at your hands. Remind them that they were born to participate in the volunteer army fighting for the kingdom of heaven; they are warriors of the independence. "The time has come now; we have to fight this battle," tell your body. "Be strong, you arms and legs; work together. Everything must click this time." You have to activate all your cells for one purpose. All your five senses must help preserve you from satanic influence. Even though you may have no children yet, you have to work to create the kingdom of heaven first, so they can be registered as citizens of that kingdom.
You yourselves are not yet registered as citizens of the kingdom of heaven; you are candidates, a reservation is being held in your name. The spirit world is waiting for the opening of the kingdom of heaven there. By the same token, we have not yet reached the goal of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. However, we are moving to that threshold now. We are commissioned to serve in this one last battle.
I still have another level of court battle to fight, but I will never lose the dignity of heaven. The desire of God, of all mankind, of all spirit world is focused on this time. We should feel privileged to participate in this most glorious adventure, this glorious battle, this glorious crusade.
It makes no difference what specific activities you are doing -- selling flowers, fundraising, sweeping floors in home church. Remember that you are there to bring the independence of the heavenly kingdom on earth. "I am a volunteer soldier," you can think; "I am selling flowers to support the independence army." You have no need to be ashamed. If you feel ashamed to sell flowers for the sake of the independence army of heaven, then what is dignity? You are doing a most sacred duty, fulfilling a most holy purpose -- supporting the independence army.
In our army there is no rank. We each have one sole purpose to achieve: God's independence. It doesn't matter whether your husband has a degree or not; wives must not worry about that. You wives, worry about whether your husband is truly an independence soldier.
God has declared an emergency. I want you to understand that. Have you seen the movie, "The Guns of Navarone"? Remember how determined the task force was to achieve its one goal? We should be more disciplined than the characters in that movie.
If you fail this mission here on earth, when you are taken upstairs, to the second floor (spirit world), you will have nothing to say, nothing to report; you will be unable to lift up your faces. For that reason, I am so serious, every moment of the day. Be bold and strong.
We have to help the poor people, the suffering people. The United States has to help the whole world. American people should love America, but not because you are Americans, but because you are independence soldiers, heavenly people. Wherever you are, our members should love that nation as heavenly people -- love it more than even its own citizens do.
America is more than one nation; it is a microcosm of the world. I know very well that Korea is a poor country and needs a lot of help. If I had brought to Korea the resources I have brought to America, that whole nation could have been instantly uplifted; people could immediately live better; they would immediately accept me better. But instead of helping that country, all this help has come to America, because America represents the world.
If America can give true love to the world, will America decline? When America acts selfishly, people all around the world raise the cry, "Yankee, go home." That is the response to selfishness. But when people see America acting for the sake of the world, they will welcome Americans. I have come here to educate you and to raise you up to be great people, and to raise this country up to be a great country.
America's hope lies in serving the world.
We don't recognize boundaries. Boundaries were made by Satan. American immigration policy is one of the toughest, setting limits on immigrants coming from other countries. But suppose another kind of requirement were made of prospective immigrants: completion of a 120-day Divine Principle workshop. I'm sure many people would be willing to fulfill this requirement. Think what result this would have! Any world citizen would be welcomed.
If the United states proclaimed the abolishment of national boundaries, would the free world welcome the news? The eventual result would be one world under God.
If all the Moonies were to move out of America, the United States would become such a boring place! There would be nothing of interest. People would long to have some Moonies back. "Please send us a Moonie," they would plead. "This place is too barren, too boring without them; I don't want to live in such a place." So they might pass a law allowing any Moonie to freely enter the United States!
"Proud of the one land." I long for that one land. I will invest myself for the sake of the world, wherever the people will come to God first. I am taking the shortest route, choosing whatever will bring the world back to God most quickly.
Wherever I am, I feel at home. What about you? If I go to South America, where would you go? A clever person would reason this way, "Well, Father went to South America, so I will go to Africa, because he will eventually have to go there as well. There I will wait for him." Suppose I announce that I am leaving for Africa and that tomorrow everybody else should set out for Africa as well. Would you say, "Yes, Father"? Which restoration would be easier: to restore America without my presence, or to go to Africa and work to restore a nation there?
As a national citizen alone, you can never enter the kingdom of heaven. You must be a world citizen, always embracing the world and thinking about the four billion people of the world and their well-being. By living and breathing for the world, you shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
If you live in a random way and act out of expediency, when the time comes for you to go to the spirit world, you will find no place in heaven where you can settle down. Be a Moonie. Love the world.
If you are dressed like a beggar and eat a beggar's food, still you can live for heaven. I always felt like I was going to heaven, even on my way to prison. In North Korea, when I was being escorted to prison, with handcuffs around my wrists, I lifted up my arms and waved my hands to my followers. In my mind, I still hear that sound of two handcuffs clanging against each other as I waved to the members.
You American people think this would be virtually impossible to achieve. The entire world is trying to learn English, so you might think the Pledge should be changed to read, "We are proud of the one English language and culture centered upon God"! Is English the heavenly mother tongue? The mother tongue should be the True Parents' language.
A baby listens to its parents and becomes aware of who its mother and father are by the language they talk. Are there many True Parents in the world today? Shouldn't the branches be similar to the trunk, and the leaves similar to the branches? When the wind blows, all the leaves on a tree lean in the same direction. Culture is like the direction of the wind blowing in a given country.
God's kingdom is our motherland; but God happens to be working through Korea, so Korea became the originating point of the fatherland of faith.
During its five thousand years of history, Korea was invaded 931 times; still, Korea never collapsed; it was never totally destroyed. It continued as a distinct entity, with its own sovereignty. Originally, Korea included parts of mainland China; it was gigantic! But why has Korea been shrinking? Because the Korean people never invaded any other country. Korea was attacked many times, and it always defended itself, but inevitably it lost land and had to keep retreating farther east. As their gigantic territory was taken away bit by bit, by the enemy, the Korean people suffered incredible heartbreak, shed much blood, and made many kinds of sacrifices. The Korean people have shed more blood because of foreign powers than any other people. Still, Korean people never took revenge; instead, they forgave the invaders.
When Korea was attacked, its people became bold and strong. The Mongolian hero Genghis Khan built up a gigantic empire. According to history, he was never defeated, except on one occasion -- when he attacked the Korean people.
Korea was conceived primarily for a special dispensational role. For that reason, Koreans are peace loving. At the same time, they are brave and have a strong sense of independence. This spirit is evident in the Korean leaders of the Unification Church of America! The Korean leaders have a very stubborn spirit; they will never give in. Ten Korean leaders have ten different opinions. There is only one way they can be coordinated -- and that is by me! Because the Korean leaders have the virtues of loyalty and obedience, when I make a decision, they have no qualms about following it.
From the beginning of their history, Korean people have worshipped God. Reverence for God is very strong. The Jewish people are similar, but their standard doesn't quite match that of the Koreans.
Wherever Koreans go, they become a center of controversy. There are many Korean fruit and vegetable stands in New York City. But according to U.S. government welfare statistics, Koreans have the smallest proportion of welfare recipients of all ethnic groups. The basic nature of Koreans is to want to help others, rather than to be helped. To receive welfare, to become a burden, is a shame to Korean people. They would rather be in a position to help others than to need help. To help the country is part of the Korean spirit.
Another quality of the Korean people is their absolute messianic fervor. There is a prevailing messianic concept among Koreans. Many revelations have heralded the coming of the messiah to Korea. Korean people have shed more blood at enemy hands than people of any other country. Its history is filled with stories of evil men plotting against good and innocent men. From the. external point of view, Korea has been an Abel-type nation tormented by Cain-type countries; within the country as well, Cain-type people have always tormented Abel-type people. In either case, however, people always called on the name of God; they trusted in God.
Thus, from the law of indemnity, Korea was the most appropriate nation to further the providence, playing a major and central role in human history. That is the historical background I came from. This is not my individual ideology, but God's revelation.
When you say, "One language and culture centered upon God," do you put in parentheses afterwards "impossible!" You have been thinking that way, haven't you? But people come together and get married, without even having a language in common! Unification is occurring; learning a language is a technical matter.
If you want to become an authority on Divine Principle, on Unificationism, you have to learn Korean. Suppose you have been studying Principle for 20 years and another person for only five. When he inquires what language you studied in, you reply that you used the English translation. If he responds that he studied the original book, you lose your dignity in front of him.
You are learning my words through an interpreter [Col. Pak, on this occasion]. When I listen to his translation, I hear him leaving out many things; some things he doesn't have time to say, some things he doesn't remember -- all kinds of mistakes occur. So do you want to hear from me directly in my own tongue, or through an interpreter? You are children who need an interpreter to understand your own father, so you have no pride. After all these years, you still need an interpreter; shame on you!
One language and culture centered on God -- you have not fulfilled it. Compared to our tradition of international marriages, such as at Madison Square Garden or in Korea, creating one language and culture is nothing. I came and have been trying to learn English, in order to communicate with the children. If the parents learn for the sake of the children, how much greater effort you should be putting into learning your parents' language! You have no good excuse. Am I younger than you? I am over 60 years old, but I am still learning. You young people try to make excuses and complain that it is too difficult. [In English:] Are you learning Korean now?
When you go to the kingdom of heaven upstairs, you will discover that its language is Korean. English is spoken only in the colonies of the kingdom of heaven! What will you do? You will be in deep trouble. A little further down the road, when the Unification Church movement becomes more advanced, the international and official language of the Unification Church shall be Korean; the official conferences will be conducted in Korean, similar to the Catholic conferences, which are conducted in Latin.
There are incredible difficulties in the world because of the differences of languages. Incredible harm is done, incredible sacrifices are made, because we speak different languages.
When the permanent museum of the kingdom of heaven is built, displays will be made about me and my life and about the accomplishments of you, the members of the Unification Church. The latter displays will be more precious in the heavenly kingdom museum. These Moonie faces of yours are museum pieces. Do you want to become priceless museum pieces, or cheap, junky ones? To be considered priceless, you have to work at it. When the elders of the spirit world meet to decide what language to write the museum guide in, they will use the True Parents' language.
In the spirit world, not knowing Korean would be your eternal shame. God will say, "My son, My daughter, you were on earth when Rev. Moon was there, and you didn't learn the mother tongue? Shame on you!" Will your ancestors praise you for not having learned Korean? No, they will lament, "Shame on you; you had a chance, a once-in-million chance, to learn Korean, and you didn't do it."
Suppose you did nothing of value on earth but learn Korean; you end up in hell, since you did little heavenly work, but you are fluent in Korean. Then when your ancestors go to conferences and need an interpreter to understand me, they will recall you. "Well, my great-great-great grandchild is in hell, but he knows Korean; bring him out!"
You never heard this kind of thing before, did you? I have been reserving this information for a long time! Everyone will come and bow down to you, especially if you say, "The fifth paragraph of the Pledge reminded me to learn Korean, so I did it. Whenever you need an interpreter, let me know."
That's one way of going to heaven! There are many ways of going to heaven! [much laughter by everybody].
We are proud of the one father-son relationship. Therefore, all the people of the world are our brothers.
Centered on the True Parents, we have the True Family tradition. The purpose of creation is to fulfill the heavenly four-position foundation. That is nothing more than the creation of the family foundation. Adam and Eve were the parents and God the grandparents. Three generations are necessary to make up the heavenly four-position foundation.
This creates one living truth-body, a sort of love-workshop. We have to practice that love-workshop. Without it, we cannot turn the world around.
Then when you say, "me, myself, I," you will immediately think of your spouse, your parents, and your children. Father, husband, son -- all are one body, one entity. Mother, wife, daughter -- all are one body, one entity. They are one body because all heaven and earth are united in that one body. When you love, you love your parents first, then your children, before you love your spouse. That is heavenly law. Even in the secular world, when a couple separates or gets divorced, they go back to their parents and they want to keep their children. That is a universal, natural law, operating in your mind, guiding your actions.
Tradition means tradition centered on love: love for parents, love for children, and low between husband and wife. That is the True Parents' tradition, True Family tradition. The family is like a textbook of love. You are trying to apply that textbook to different levels -- society, nation, world -- based on what you learned in the training center, the family. Most people think only about their family, ignoring the society, nation and world. But we are different: we look at the family as the microcosm of the universe, so that whatever we do in the family we regard as training and discipline for our role in the society, nation and world.
So look at old people as your grandparents, people your age as your brothers and sisters, young people as your children. Regard all people as expansions of your family. By practicing this theory, you can reach everywhere. The center is the family. Starting from this center, you can reach out in any direction, to the maximum extent. If you are in the center, everybody is at the same distance from you. The extension of your circle is heaven, so if you fulfill all this, you are entitled to heaven. In this framework, there is no need for boundaries or racial, religious, cultural separations.
Because of the satanic element, we have not yet fulfilled this family tradition. But we are going out and fighting for it, through sacrificial service. We will continue until we bring the whole world under God.
One heart. By heart we shall fulfill the heavenly ideal. Anything that goes against it, we shall fight and prevail over. Not with weapons such as swords and rifles, but with these last three points of the Pledge -- the father-son relationship, tradition, and heavenly heart. We will devote our whole life for this purpose.
Have you ever thought about such exciting meanings in the Pledge? When Sunday cones around, do you get bored by the thought of saying Pledge? Or do you wish Sunday would come every other day? Or maybe every day? Even every hour? Shall we decide to say Pledge every hour? [lots of laughter] I know you little rascals! You are always thinking that Sundays come around too quickly!
God loves Moonies. He doesn't just look at your faces but at your heart and mind. Can you pledge before Him, "I will never let You down; You know me. I will pick myself up and go on. I shall make it." If you recite this Pledge seriously and put these contents into practice, God will stay close to you. So be bold and strong.
These seven points are what Satan hates most; he doesn't want to see any of them accomplished. But God likes these most of all. Thus, these seven points are the battleground upon which good and evil are fighting. Good and evil, God. and Satan, heaven and earth, are determined here. You are the center of the battle. You must go beyond the family, to the society, nation, world and cosmos -- until you reach the heart of God.
Starting from the heart of God, we inherit the true tradition and enter the true father-son relationship. Ultimately, then, we will fulfill the one nation, one sovereignty, one people, and one language and culture centered upon God. That is our course. That is our Pledge, every Sunday morning. When we make this Pledge, we promise something to God. So we have to deliver on that promise.
Today you have come to realize fully that this is not just a ritual of our movement, but words we live by and a promise we determine to fulfill as champions of God. Those who • make this Pledge raise your hands and say Amen.
God bless you.