I am truly honored to be here today as the recipient of this Doctorate of Sacred Theology, honoris causa. I am aware that the only other recipients of this degree are the Founders, our True Parents, Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon. I am also aware of the significance of UTS for the providence of restoration. It is especially gratifying to me to receive this honor from an institution from which several of my own children, as well as sons-in-law and daughters-in-law graduated.

Let me express my deep appreciation and gratitude to the Founders and to the members of the Board of Trustees.

On this occasion I would like to share my reflections on the mission of UTS in light of the current providence, and especially in light of the significance of the Coronation of God’s Kingship.

As the center of leadership training for the members of our movement, UTS is a place of immense historical and spiritual significance. True Father founded this seminary in 1975 with a clear vision centering on the true love of God, and linked to the most urgent and noble task of restoring America and the world, by renewing and fulfilling the spirit and mission of Christianity and the world’s religions. At the center of his vision is the ideal of the family that is centered on God’s true love, life and lineage. In fact, the restoration of the family is the ultimate goal of Christianity and all religions. Furthermore, it is the foundation of the renewal of the nation, and world.

Our movement, and the seminary, stand on the foundation of the Founder’s direct, heartistic experience and knowledge of the living God. As Father came to understand the reality of God’s situation, he never once -- not even for one second -- lost sight of God’s original heart and purpose of creation. He fully and completely internalized God’s will for a world of true love and world peace, and, since he was 16 years old, he has dedicated himself absolutely to the realization of this goal.

Furthermore, he has always thought about communicating this vision to others who could join in the task of liberating God’s heart and restoring the world. In particular, he has been concerned about educating core leaders for this task. That is why he established UTS.

Our Founder established a movement consistent with God’s heart and will to transcend racial, religious and national boundaries. UTS trains its students in that tradition in order to advance God’s providence of restoration. UTS should be in the vanguard of history, educating the leaders of the future in the way of God’s will. For this reason, you should be so proud of UTS and its mission, and fully aware of your responsibility.

Because the ideal of the true family is the core of God’s providence of restoration through the Blessing, it is essential that UTS graduates live an exemplary family life. Each of you should imitate and substantiate the life of True Parents. Do not simply speak about this ideal, but practice it and become a living example of the ideal.

While there must be an intellectual dimension to understanding and communicating the experience and knowledge of God, the foundation in direct, personal experience is always primary. If the experiential dimension is lost or weakened, then seminary education becomes external. Moreover, as we teach others, keep in mind that the transmission of intellectual knowledge or information is only part of the educational process. It is more fundamental to teach through example.

The uniqueness of our movement lies in the living relationship between God and True Parents. The revolution that is needed in our world is primarily a revolution of heart and true love. If we lose our connection to God’s original love, then we lose our spirit.

Therefore, our first responsibility is always to connect with God’s true love, and to practice the principle of living for the sake of others in our daily lives. Based on my own 44 years of experience following True Parents, I have seen that he has never given guidance on any point, without his first having practiced and fulfilled the direction himself.

The theologian must connect to God directly, heart to heart, life to life, love to love -- living with God, breathing together with God, in love with God.

Fortunately, we are living at an incredible time in history. On January 13, 2001, True Father declared the Coronation of God’s Kingship. For the first time since the Fall of Adam and Eve, a complete vertical line of true love was established, and God’s position as the invisible True Parents was realized. Prior to the Coronation and since the time of the Fall, God’s power of God’s true love had been limited. Of course God’s nature is eternal, unchanging and absolute. However, in His original purpose of creation God never had any intention to rule or direct humanity and history by external power or force. God only intended to rule by true love’s power.

Therefore, according to God’s original principle, if there is no object of true love, then God cannot emerge as the subject of true love. In this sense it is almost as if God had not existed. God could not love the descendants of fallen Adam and Eve, and therefore He only related indirectly to historical events, through the principle. In other words, whenever the right indemnity conditions were set, God would act in history. Without an indemnity condition, God did not exercise special authority or power. Until True Father’s teaching, no one understood this point.

Instead, up until now, Satan has ruled as the false subject and owner of love. Humanity has been Satan’s object partner. Satan, through false love, has dominated at the individual, family, tribal, national, global and cosmic levels of reality.

True Parents, in turn, have worked continuously to restore the proper dominion of God and true love on each level, from individual level to the family, all the way to the cosmic level. As each stage is accomplished, Father has had to go back down to the very bottom in order to restore the next stage. At each stage, therefore, he has faced incredible obstacles and endured unspeakable difficulty and suffering. In this way he has been able to restore the correct dominion of true love.

God’s power and influence over humanity was only during the youth of Adam and Eve, prior to their Fall, when they were still at an immature stage in their development. Even Satanic love’s domination throughout all history, could not eliminate the effect of God’s love of Adam and Eve prior to their Fall. In particular, we can see this in the power of the human conscience, which had been cultivated in Adam and Eve prior to their Fall. Despite so many generations of fallen history since the time of Adam and Eve, the conscience remains active and ever-present in human beings. This gives some evidence of the power of God’s love.

With the Coronation Ceremony, God’s authority has been re-established. And, although Satanic power and the practices of evil persist in many ways, ultimately goodness is gaining the upper hand and God’s ideal is soon to be realized.

The global Blessing movement is cutting the root of Satanic power, both on earth and in heaven. As such, more and more, you will see that those who resist or obstruct God’s providence, will be weakened and judged. Since the Coronation I have seen this repeatedly. Meanwhile, those who build a righteous and pure foundation are blessed and prosper.

Since the Coronation, each of us, and especially leaders, such as UTS graduates, need to develop oneness with True Parents. This means that each one of us as individuals, and each Blessed family, must become an object of true love.

Here at UTS we need to teach the absolute value system centering on God that will transform this world. It is the mission of UTS to take the lead in fulfilling this goal. For this reason, each faculty member, each member of the staff and administration, each student, and each graduate must renew their heartistic standard and perfect their relationship with the living God. Unless we establish this relationship with the living God, we cannot transform the world by providing a new vision and moral standard.

Those graduating today must have confidence as you go out from this place that God’s power will go with you, just so long as you remain principled in living for the sake of others. You graduate today, not as scholars and theologians only, but as the object partners of the living God, leaders of a true love revolution that will transform the world, as the power of God’s true love increases daily.

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