The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1985
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1985 |
On August 21, members gathered from 9 a.m. at Belvedere to commemorate the Day of Total Victory of True Parents. The day was spent in a spirit of celebration, with group and individual singing, relaxing, sharing lunch on the lawn, reflection, prayer, and preparing to receive Father, who arrived in the late afternoon. Father's speech was light, uplifting, and victorious in tone:
To fulfill the dispensational will of God I have walked the path of restoration through indemnity step by step. But there had to be a moment of ultimate victory, a grand finale for God's whole dispensation for the United States.
Because Jesus Christ was physically crucified on the cross, even though he was resurrected, his foundation was only a spiritual one. But the resurrection of Rev. Moon's was not only spiritual, but physical. For this reason, the new victorious path we are beginning shall be not only spiritual but physical. Because of this I will conquer all persecution and truly bring in a new era of welcome to our movement.
I was able to bring together established Christian leaders who had formerly opposed us, not only because you worked hard -- although I know you did work very hard -- but because of the timetable of God. The trend of history has come to this particular point. When you push this trend forward and go toward victory with a bold and strong attitude, you shall win. You can push the wall over now, without persecution.
All people today are desperately searching for some ray of hope, for a leader who can bring salvation to America, but they can't find any. Young people are confused and lacking in direction. Many ministers of traditional churches have become spiritually burned out. Many prominent scholars, politicians and businessmen have also lost hope. But when they study Rev. Moon's teaching, they find new hope.
God is sponsoring a gigantic banquet in the Western world and everybody is invited. Rev. Moon is controversial everywhere and has been persecuted, but in God's eyes, who is the most important person at that banquet? At the God and Freedom Banquet last night, what kind of an affair would it have been if there had been no Rev. and Mrs. Moon? Even though God has been investing Himself and you have all been investing yourselves, in order to make everybody come alive there must be a central figure. The True Parents have to be in that central position. So then, who did it? The True Parents.
Within the communist world is a group that really hates communism -- the children of the communist bosses. They know the failure of communism, which their parents have been following. Those of the second generation of the communist world will come to a moment when they will have no other way to turn except to the True Parents. There will be no other direction to take. The end of communism has already been declared; further- more, secular humanism cannot be the answer, and the United States cannot survive as it is. Godism, which is neither democracy nor communism nor secular humanism, is the wave of the future.
Central Americans, South Americans, Africans, and Asians are all saying the same thing: Rev. Moon, please save our country! So what should I do? It's as if there were one rice cake and hundreds of people asking for a piece of it. I cannot let anybody down, so I guess I have to go away and hide! But God is thinking differently. He is beaming from ear to ear, saying, "Finally, my day has come! I know my son can take care of everybody, so now I can go and take a nap!" So in that case, I cannot say, "God, I'm running away! You're giving me too much to do! I can't bear it!" If I did that, the whole world would suffer. What can I do then? I will ask God, "You know, Heavenly Father, I have been working tirelessly for forty years to create the fruits of this movement. You know that it takes time to transform and create true soldiers of Heaven. So, God, how much more time do You have to give me?"
I know God so well; He has quite a short temper -- far shorter than mine! What God wants to see is one moment in which everything can be transformed into Heaven in a flash. But I don't have a large enough foundation to do that yet. I cannot ask Him for another forty years; all this first generation by then would be gone. I would have to start out with new babies to be trained as soldiers within the next forty years. This means that I've got to find some people now who are ready to be armed with the truth and go out and proclaim it. I need that kind of soldier. Think of it: There are four billion people in the world. Imagine what is required to feed all of those mouths, all four billion of them! Just feeding three spoonfuls into each mouth requires 12 billion movements.
Those who are the so-called elders of the Unification Church, I must push them down to the ground. When the elder members are pushed like that, what about you? What is your position? You may think, "Boy, Father told us that good times are ahead of us, and I've been waiting for that. But now, Father, what are you saying? More indemnity?" I did tell you that good times were coming; what I meant was that there would be a time of no more persecution. That does not mean you are going to be idle. I never promised that. The time has come for you Moonies to have pride in yourselves.
I feel that my worldwide indemnity path is over and God knows it. So I am sure that God is ready to give Rev. Moon a vacation. Not only that, but He wants to give me a bonus ticket to go anywhere and have anything I want. But then I would have to say to God, "I have a problem. I can't take a vacation. Look at my children, the Moonies; they all want to come with me, wherever I go!" Isn't that true? An infant needs his bottle and a diaper change and always wants to go with his mommy and daddy wherever they go. But you are all grown up now -- you don't need a bottle or a diaper. So if you try to come with me, I will push you away, saying, "Are you trying to follow me around and make me suffer more? Don't you know I have already suffered enough?" Well, that day is now.
The Unification Church has come to a critical moment because we are on the threshold of a gigantic liftoff. If we make the wrong judgment here, we will crash. Mt. McKinley is the highest mountain in the United States, correct? In order to have such a tall mountain, there has to be a foundation beneath it which is at least as vast.
You Moonies say, "Rev. Moon always sends us out to fundraise and witness!' But it is precisely because you did those things that such a phenomenon is occurring today. Aren't you proud of what you are? After all my persecution, I have no bitterness. Now I want you too to be vindicated, and to be in the position to forgive others. I would like to proudly present you to the world as Rev. Moon's "product" or fruit. While you were resting, I knew that if I didn't do certain things this nation would go down the drain. I could not expect somebody else to do it; I had to do it myself. So I poured out my energy, and likewise tens of thou- sands of our members elsewhere made incredible sacrifices.
At the God and Freedom Banquet last night there were about forty people at the head table -- scholars, politicians, ministers, and many other types of people. Most of them I had just met for the first time, but they felt they had known me for ten years. That's because they knew what I had been doing in many different fields. Do you think I can actually run away and hide some- where? With only one person bearing this burden, it is a huge one. But there is one simple solution. If we chop the burden into pieces and each one of you picks up one piece, we can do it, right? Are you thinking, "Father, let me have the smallest piece!" or are you saying, "Give me the biggest piece"?
It is a pleasure to stand back and watch you fulfill the frontline work; then I can be in a sort of retired position. I am in vacation attire today. (Father takes off one of his socks.) If taking off my socks were the way to save the world, it would be easy to accomplish. If I could save the world by giving this sermon in my swimming trunks, I would do it.
I have earned my inheritance over the past forty years. There are now less than three-and-a-half years left until 1988. In this short time, I would like to be able to bestow this inheritance upon you. On the universal scale, we are entering into the Land of Canaan. Therefore, this is the crucial time. We must not look back to the time of Egypt but establish and look forward to our new tradition of Canaan. This shall be done by 1988.
The foundation of the family, the heavenly four position foundation, must be firmly established in the Land of Canaan because two strands alone are not sufficient to make a strong rope. You need at least three strands; then multitudes can be added and the rope will become stronger each time you twist it. When this rope of the heavenly four position foundation is turning, you can put anything into it and it can be digested; societies, nations, and races can all be melted together through the family. So far, we have been living in the era of the mobilization of the individual. But upon my return from Danbury the time has come to mobilize the family. Many of you have said negative things about the idea of mobilizing the entire family -- but you will see the incredible results in a few years. Once we win the victory of Canaan as family units, then the international settlement will truly come. We will be able to turn this world into a heavenly world.
The time has come. It used to be that witnessing was your daily cross -- you experienced constant rejection. But not anymore. People are hungry and waiting for your message. From now on you will be welcomed. The name of Sun Myung Moon has been resurrected. This is the final stage of the dispensation; therefore, if you can fulfill it successfully, there will no longer be a history of paying indemnity. Restoration will be consummated.
I always take the initiative. I think, "I will use my own hands to work and save this situation -- this community, society, nation, and world!" You should feel the same and make the same determination. You are now on your own two feet.
Shall we make a resolution within our hearts that we are going to be mobilizing totally for this final march toward the Land of Canaan? Those who say, "Yes, Father, we want to mobilize in this march toward Canaan," stand up, please. Now we have stood up. Those who say, "Father, we are absolutely sure we can do it," raise your hands. Thank you.
After he spoke, Father sat down next to Mother and listened humbly and intently to several hours of glowing reports by leaders on the success of the God and Freedom Banquet in Washington DC.
Dr. Bo Hi Pak read surprisingly positive excerpts from newspaper articles on the banquet, displayed the magnificent trophy and the Indian drum that Father received there, and brought out a huge poster of Father as "Moonbo" carrying the missile of true love. [see photo above]
Rev. Tom McDevitt, Rev. Chong Young Ryu, Rev. Michael Beard, Rev. Ken Sudo, Rev. Patrick Hickey, and Rev. Matthew Morrison each gave moving testimonies of the ministers' embracing response to Father at the banquet. They spoke of their own gratitude to True Parents and to each other for the victory of this event, and shared their excitement about the future of Christianity's commitment to Father's goals.
"Moonbo" is derived from the movie character of Rambo, a brave anti-communist hero.
