The Words The Kwak Family
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The Words The Kwak Family |
As we come together to celebrate this memorable day, let us reflect on how much we thank Heavenly Father for His efforts and His heart in helping us achieve this tremendous victory.
We want to give our gratitude to our True Parents also, who worked so diligently to create the foundation for us to be able to inherit the victory of Washington Monument. Even now, although I am sure they desire to be here with us, our True Parents are in Gloucester, still sacrificing and working hard on the front line. Let us not forget that they have done and will continue to do this out of love for us.
We should be grateful, too, for the hard work of all brothers and sisters who participated in this historical rally four years ago. I also want to thank our elder brothers who gave so much of themselves in assisting our The Parents in the responsibility for successful completion of the Washington Monument campaign -- Col. Pak, Mr. Kamiyama and Mr. Salonen.
God's dispensation is to restore the purpose of creation and fulfill the three blessings. Because of the fall, Heavenly Father lost man, who was His object of love and His child. Therefore, since that time, His purpose has been to recreate all people and the whole world back to His original ideal.
All fallen men became the enemies of God. Fallen man denies God and goes against Him and His will, yet God continued striving to find those who could go through the restorational course of becoming a servant of servants, a servant, an adopted son or daughter and eventually His own true son or daughter, finally accepting the role of a true parent.
At the time of the Second Coming, the Messiah must first restore and perfect himself as an individual. For example, all vertical conditions which in the past were never fulfilled must absolutely be restore horizontally within his own lifetime. Therefore, he needs to be victorious in passing through the course of being a servant of servants, servant, adopted son, true son and then true parent.
Actually, the position of the Messiah is that of a true parent, because he comes as the second or third Adam. We cannot see the actual path of his ancestry, which is as "invisible" to us as our own physical lineage. Neither can we see the condition of the True Parents' spiritual course. But we can imagine how his body was tortured; we can imagine the tremendous persecution which is so much a part of his history; we can imagine his tears and his prayers and how much he connected with the heart of God. He did all of this to lay the indemnity for restoration of the individual.
We can imagine, too, that the True Parents' foundation, which finally became visible in 1960, was the culmination of the Messiah's personal unchanging foundation which overcomes Satan's accusations.
The time from 1960 to January 1, 1968 comprised the first seven year course. During this time the True Parents laid indemnity conditions for the family level. The dedication of God's Day in 1968 actually meant that God found His true son and true daughter, in other words, perfected man and woman.
Before the True Parents made and fulfilled indemnity conditions on the individual level, they could not begin the family level dispensation. This is also true for the national level. After restoration of the individual and family, the central mission of restoring society, nation and world could begin. However, half way through any of these courses, Father can begin to lay the foundation for the next level.
For example, about three and a half years after his individual seven year course began, he started to prepare for the family level course. Furthermore, in 1960 the central dispensation for the family level began, but soon afterwards he sent members to pioneer each city of Korea, thus beginning to lay the foundation for the national level restoration. Following the same principle, during the restoration of the nation, in December of 1972 he arrived in America, which was the nation representing the world, and he began to lay conditions for worldwide restoration.
Father went back to Korea in December of 1974, and on January 16, 1975 he invited 550 representatives of the entire Korean society -- including the leaders of Congress, cabinet members, top religious leaders, scholars, businessmen, etc. -- to attend a gathering at which he spoke. At that meeting True Father shared with them his hope and vision for the country and the method of insuring Korea's salvation. It was an extremely significant meeting because they welcomed him so warmly and genuinely.
The June 1975 rally in Yoido Island was held with the support of the Korean government. It was a tremendous victory. The rally was a worldwide event, attended by 1.2 million people, including representatives from 60 nations. The people of Korea listened to Father speak and deeply desired to find the true path for their nation.
Before the meeting in 1975, Father never stood in front of the Korean people in any type of public meeting. There is a special reason for this. If he had given speeches to the Korean public before this time and the people had accused him, it would have made the process and timing of God's dispensation much more difficult. Of course it is true that our movement has received a lot of persecution and much negativity, not only from Koreans but from every nation; yet from Heavenly Father's viewpoint, it has not been directed at Reverend Moon. Instead, his disciples and followers actually received it in Reverend Moon's place.
Yet when Father did stand in front of the Korean people publicly, he did it with such seriousness -- he represented God. He knew that Heavenly Father needed to wait for the time when the people would obey and welcome True Father, before Father would be able to give such a speech. Without a condition of victory on the national level, God's dispensation could not start on the worldwide level. However, because of this foundation of the victory in Korea, God could begin activities for the restoration of the world.
From 1975 until 1981 is the period of the third seven year course. In this time we must lay indemnity conditions for restoration on the worldwide level. True Father started to prepare a certain foundation, based on the victory of the national level condition, when he conducted the Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium and the Washington Monument rallies.
How could the Washington Monument rally connect to the world wide level indemnity condition?
First of all, from the viewpoint of God's dispensation, America has been prepared by God as the country which represents the entire world at the time of the Second Coming. Secondly, the Bicentennial movement in America forgot to mention God's ideal and true purpose.
However, in the midst of such circumstances, our True Parents were able to organize and hold a meeting of worldwide representatives. Centering on God, our meeting had the theme "God Bless America"; therefore, it had special significance among all the bicentennial meetings. In 1976 America celebrated her 200th anniversary as a nation. These 200 years came symbolically at the end of the 2,000 years of Christian history.
The year 1976 is symbolically important in God's dispensation not only because it was a culminating point of the 2,000 years of Christian history and the 200 years of American history, but also because True Father was able to shorten his first 21 year course that same year. As we remember, True Father proclaimed Year One beginning in February of 1977 and was able to shorten the last seven year course. This is the meaning of this moment in God's providential history.
Such a huge gathering of 300,000 people in Washington, D.C. represented America and the world. In his speech, "God's Will for America," Father mentioned that America's mission is not only to save the nation of America but also to accept her responsibility to save the world.
As you know, Jacob was victorious in overcoming Esau with love. The detailed Biblical account tells us that Jacob kneeled and bowed before his brother and gave him many gifts. But the important thing is that with the agreement of God and Satan, Jacob had already received the blessing. Because Esau did not deny Jacob, a blessing was given him and restoration was accomplished.
Esau received God's blessing through Jacob. The external situation did not matter. Actually, it did not make that much difference if Esau completely and totally obeyed or even if Jacob kneeled. The important thing is God's blessing. In the same way, True Father told America and the world about salvation, about God's blessing; and all those in attendance, representing the entire world, listened, accepted and received his message. This has real significance because it is God's message to America and the world.
Yet even before either of these rallies were held, he sent foreign missionaries throughout the world; he needed to make a condition to announce God's message of truth to all nations throughout the world. Therefore, the Washington Monument rally actually connected America to all the nations. If True Father would not have sent out the missionaries before holding such an historical meeting, it could only have been an American rally. But it did have worldwide significance.
After such a condition of victory on the national and worldwide levels had been accomplished, members sometimes still have doubts, because, for example, some Korean Christians still oppose us. Even after the great success at Washington Monument there are still many Americans who are negative towards our movement. Why is this? Think about what happened after Esau met Jacob and welcomed him. Did Esau completely obey and follow Jacob in everything? Did Esau discuss every decision with Jacob? No! The important thing, however, is that he conditionally obeyed and accepted God's blessing through Jacob. From then on, it did not make any difference what kind of attitude Esau had, God's dispensation would be able to move forward centering on Jacob. This is what has meaning. The country of Korea has already conditionally accepted us through the representation at Yoido. Because of the Washington Monument rally, America and this world are in the same situation. By such a large representation coming, America and Americans accepted and received God's blessing; and this eternal foundation of victory is now going forward and developing for America and for the world, centering on the Unification Church.
What is the result of this victory? First, the True Parents have established a foundation of victory which Satan can never attack. Its importance lies in its being not only an individual, family, or national level foundation, but in that it is a foundation of victory for the whole world. After Jesus' resurrection, anyone who believed in him could begin to stand on his spiritual foundation and receive spiritual salvation. Likewise, after the victory of Washington Monument anyone who believes in True Parents -- no matter what his nationality -- is able to stand on the eternal foundation of victory.
Secondly, from that point, Satan's destiny declined and Heavenly Father's destiny increased. There is one thing I want to remind you of concerning Heavenly Father's destiny. In the viewpoint of the dispensation, God's power and influence may be increasing while Satan's may be decreasing, but don't wait and hope for miracles to happen at once, simply because we recognize that Heavenly Father's destiny is now on the increase. These kinds of miracles will not come quickly or easily. Even after such a victory, I want to impress upon you how important it is not to have false hopes. The point of change is not a small hill or a simple mountain. Think about the historical course. The important thing is that we have passed beyond the crossroads.
Since this change has happened, Satan's persecution and accusation may increase. Can you imagine how he feels? He feels as if something is being stolen from him. It is easy to understand that he would naturally try to desperately wield his power even more strongly than before. That is his determination, even though he knows he is declining.
Thirdly, True Parents want us to be able to inherit the foundation of victory. Actually, our destiny of Home Church is one of the most important results of the victory achieved at Washington Monument. Each of us as a leader of our Home Church is in the tribal messiah's position. Therefore, we need to recognize how fortunate it is to be able to stand on this victorious foundation.
Sons and daughters want to be like their parents when they are proud of them. I have recently been feeling strongly that each of us must think more deeply about Father's daily schedule and lifestyle. For several years now, I have had the opportunity and privilege of going ocean fishing with Father. Until last year, his normal schedule was to rise and leave the house around 4:00 a.m. every day. This year, however, almost every day he rose and left the house by 3:00 a.m. Even though he would get up in the middle of the night to go fishing, he would never sleep before midnight. We must realize that he is no longer a young man; this year he turned 60. Still, because he keeps on living at such a desperate pace, we can realize that Heavenly Father must feel so sympathetic and yet so tortured in His heart that He wants to give Father more and more blessings. Another thing we should keep in mind is that he was severely tortured for years. Surely, it must have had a terrible effect on his health, but it does not stop him or even slow him down. I have been feeling so strongly that we need to learn so many lessons from him and how he conducts his life.
One scholar who attended the Acapulco conference and listened to my speech about Father's lifestyle came up to me later and sincerely expressed his concern about Father's health. He asked me to tell Reverend Moon not to work so hard because the world needs him so desperately. I told Father this scholar's response. Father smiled and was thankful for the concern he showed, but still does not feel he can lessen his own work or change his lifestyle. I believe that this is because we do not do enough: for that reason he feels that he must still work on the front line.
Reflecting on this point, I remind myself and want to remind you that actually there is nothing we can try to give as an excuse when we think of what he is doing and the kind of life he is living for God. No circumstance really merits our excuse. Each of us should compare his own daily lifestyle with Father's. Remember that it is not only in the area of fishing that he works so hard. Everything he does is done with tremendous force and energy in his desperation to fulfill all he can every single day.
Because of Satan's persecution and attack, especially in this period of the crossroads of good and evil, each of us stands in a dangerous position. However, as Father has told us, the crossing point has come, and Satan's power and destiny is declining while Heavenly Father's is increasing. However, this is not the most important point. What is important is that because of all the historical victories at each level, there is potential for the destiny of any man to change. Therefore, we should remember the great importance of our attitude toward God and the True Parents.
If a person feels that he can never accomplish enough every day, begins to feel repentful and sorry for it and follows the way of the Principle -- his feeling could lead him to a good direction which would have a positive effect on his personal offering to God's will. However, when people dwell too much on how sorry they are or how they did not accomplish enough, damage can often be done. Each of us needs to be careful which direction such a feeling might take. Whenever we feel this way, it is like God sending us a message which we can learn from. To be sorry that we did not do more is basically a good feeling; but when it turns to extreme guilt and builds up resentment, it is destructive. It is then impossible for us to achieve any result which would please God. His desire and hope for us is to always remember that even though we do not do enough, we are still in the position to receive God's grace. This is the important thing to dwell on. We should be grateful for God's unchanging love and for all the blessings we receive from Him.
Many of us witnessed for ourselves the actual Washington Monument rally four years ago. Of course it is wonderful to remember the hard work we invested in the campaign, but I feel that we must do more than just remember it. I feel that we must reflect on the True Parents' victorious foundation -- a foundation which we can not only connect with but also inherit for our own future.
The True Parents want us to inherit this worldwide foundation, which we should each bring to the smaller unit of our own Home Church work. Using this broad foundation, we can make a microcosm in our Home Church area. Although our True Parents could not receive all the necessary support, we are still able to inherit the foundation. Therefore, we only need to conditionally go through the course of true son or daughter, before we reach the eventual position of parent. In going this path, we need to lay indemnity conditions and overcome many things, but it is still God's tremendous blessing to us that we can inherit this foundation.
Actually, we fulfill the roles of servant of servants and servant in the Home Church mission. In our position of servant of servants or servant, we should not expect or seek love from people. Rather, we should concentrate on our duty by sacrificing and working hard in serving them. Even though it is difficult to only follow rules or laws, we have to follow the heavenly law. As a servant, we cannot expect to receive love. When we have the attitude of serving or attending, two kinds of results will come: First, we ourselves can lay indemnity conditions for our individual internal growth and accomplishments. Secondly, we are able to give life and energy externally to the people.
So many people don't understand God's love and have never experienced a relationship or friendship based on true love. Through serving the people in our Home Church mission, we can give the very essence of life itself. They will be able to feel that the members of the Unification Church are the hope for America and for the world.
Once again, we celebrate this day not only by simply remembering it. We should once more feel gratitude to God and the True Parents that we are able to inherit the foundation they worked so hard to accomplish. Let us now work to strengthen this worldwide foundation through our own mission and through the providence of Home Church.