The Words The Kwak Family
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The Words The Kwak Family |
Good evening. Most of you gathered here have recently received the wonderful blessing, and now I am wondering what you are thinking. Between high tide and low tide, there is a time when you don't know for sure if the water is going in or out. The blessing itself is the process for your salvation. As a blessed couple, your position is on a certain level of restoration (top of the growth stage), but the reality is that a lot of former habits remain, and your concepts are mixed.
Father emphasized the formula course at Belvedere, so I'd like to speak about how your blessing is now related to the formula course.
How is your past church life connected to the formula course? According to Principle, when someone joins the church, his time should first be devoted to doing the formula education courses of 2 days, 7 days, 21 days and then 40 days, which add up to 70 days in the training sessions. Only now are we reaching this goal in America.
Father has emphasized many times that if you educate members through the 70 days training and then they work for the church and their mission, they will be much less likely to ever leave. Education precedes the formula course, and members should be guided through the complete 70 days, and then begin the formula course.
Restoration of all things requires a basic period of 3 1/2 years. This course is connected to the restoration of the external form (our physical body). God created the environment first, and this time spent on MFT enables us to connect vertically with the re-creation of our body. We need physically hard work during this time.
From the viewpoint of God's dispensation, restoration is not just for the restoration of individuals. Our course is connected to the restoration of the Old Testament Era. Without restoring historical events, we could not completely restore ourselves. The way we connect to the Old Testament Era is through offering all things, through our sacrificial effort on mobile fundraising teams, for 3 1/2 years.
This is the time we lay indemnity conditions, and because of this reason, all our hard work and effort naturally connect, centering on God's main dispensation.
Everyone of you have had fundraising experiences, but when you are raising money under your department, for some short conditional period, or for some purpose, then it cannot compare to MFT activity. On MFT, their goal and purpose is to connect to the purpose of the main dispensation, not a department-level or national-level goal, but rather the whole purpose.
Usually MFT is really hard work, as you know, from early morning to late at night. This kind of process connects the laying of indemnity conditions to the re-creation of the body and enables us to progress through the Old Testament Era.
Within our course, restoration of mankind can be divided into two time periods. The first 3 1/2 years is directly connected to restoration of man and the gaining of 3 spiritual children.
Originally, as you know, after the growth period, man was to stand at the level of perfection. But fallen man fell down from this level and so we must be restored. Every person must reach the top of this level (top of the growth stage) once more, so when we talk about this 3 1/2 years we actually mean the time before blessing. We call this "The Way of Restoration." In the early days, only after fulfilling all the conditions of the formula course could members receive the blessing.
The second period of witnessing comes after blessing, another period of 3 1/2 years, which is to achieve this perfection stage. We call this time after the blessing "The Way of Principle."
I would like to give a detailed explanation, to show some important points of difference here.
Before blessing, we need the 7-year formula course. Generally speaking, at least three years spiritual age, and three spiritual children are necessary. But recently Father is giving the blessing sooner, to some of you even though you have only been in the movement two or three years.
Original guidance for the blessing required 14 years of these conditions, and later this was reduced to 7 years. Father is giving the blessing sooner and allowing the indemnity to be made up later. The most important thing for us to realize is how much benefit you have received. We are not worthy to receive such benefits which come at this time in history. We must keep within our minds this concept that the formula course actually requires seven years!
Originally, for Adam and Eve, for every step of growth which they accomplished they would be given one step of responsibility. One step growth, one step responsibility fulfilled... three steps growth, three steps responsibility fulfilled. The same amount; with no exception. Everybody would have the same conditions and by fulfilling responsibility they can grow.
After the fall, if Heavenly Father asked of fallen man the same amount of responsibility, there is no hope for us to ever restore ourselves to reach that original position. So, we lost the chance to fulfill responsibility, and instead we have to lay indemnity conditions.
The Way of Restoration (Indemnity) allows us, under Heavenly Father's benefit, to take great leaps, like using a jumping method. This is what we call receiving the historical benefit of the age.
Before Abraham. From Abraham to Jesus. From Jesus to now. These are three different eras. Simply by living in a certain time, already the people received a certain benefit because this was the time when progress was made through indemnity conditions.
To restore ourselves, we need to give 7 years of indemnity conditions (half MFT / half witnessing). And to restore mankind also 7 years (half before blessing / half after blessing). Father announced at Belvedere that he was allowing the husband and wife together to complete "the seven years," so all blessed couples have the duty to fulfill this condition of 3 1/2 years, but please do not misunderstand! Because of the benefit of True Parents, the seven years originally required has been cut to 3 1/2 years, as Father announced at Belvedere that he was allowing the husband and wife together to complete the 7 years. So all blessed couples have the duty to fulfill this condition of 3 1/2 years each.
(Editor's note: some members mistook the words to mean the formula course could be substituted by fundraising in home church area. Father did not mean this.)
Please do not misunderstand. After blessing your course is no longer the Way of Indemnity (Restoration), but what is it? After blessing, your course is the Way of Principle.
The meaning of the Way of Principle is that after the blessing there is no method of jumping, instead, your perfection will be achieved step by step. After your blessing, if you have not already fulfilled this minimum indemnity condition then you still need to lay indemnity conditions.
Already some members have been confused, thinking that they have been given different directions sometimes through an external understanding they think even Father's own directions conflict. But now you must understand more deeply that if you didn't lay all the indemnity conditions required in the formula course, you haven't yet paid all your debts. But at this time, following Father's successful completion of his 21 year course, the historical benefits of this age are so great. Father is giving such a wonderful blessing of 10,000 couples, and in the spirit of celebration, he didn't require so strictly the 3 spiritual children or fulfilling 3 1/2 years fundraising, or even 3 years membership. Because of his victory, he wanted to share this benefit with you, so, most of you still have this debt.
Most of the time Father speaks Principle, its meaning is as if everybody was already a correct candidate for blessing, as if you had already completed the formula course, with no debts remaining. Father addresses members in this way, but since they are not at that level, they misunderstand. Among those listening, many of you have not fulfilled; sometimes you were busy with other kinds of missions, and you understood that you could take some alternative, or some easier way. Some complaints are received, like, "Oh headquarters' directions are so many kinds; they're not principled, always directions are changeable..." etc.
Father never changes. Principle never changes. The only problem is that we have not yet reached the same level as God expects.
Even in last Sunday sermon, Father mentioned the minimum condition was 3 1/2 years, with husband and wife together their time would make 7 years. This is the period of Blessed Couples' Tradition.
I remember in 1971, just before Father came to America, Father ordered all blessed couples in Korea to begin a new condition. It didn't matter if they had four children... or five children... or if they were just recently blessed... The wives separated completely from their husbands and children and went to pioneer for the sake of the country. This became the traditional blessed couples' 3 1/2 years period of sacrificial duty. So, since that time this tradition has been to do 3 1/2 years hard working, separately, mostly in witnessing, like when the wives of the American couples joined CARP activities three years ago.
According to Principle, blessed couples should already have graduated from all the required indemnity course. Then they share the principled life. But the reality is that blessed couples do not yet have blessed environment. Heavenly Father's view is that still Abel's sacrifice is required, for the sake of the country and the world.
Even with the same amount of sacrifice and devotion, blessed couples' effort can bring such amazing results. It is entirely different than working during the time of indemnity, because now the purpose and concern is for restoration of the world. For this reason, since 1971 blessed wives do the 3 1/2 years sacrificial course.
Father has given permission that all of the time of engagement since the 1978 matching can count towards this 3 1/2 years sacrificial course! This engagement time connects with your Blessed Couples' Tradition, not to the before-blessing indemnity condition.
Why, after the blessing, do we need a certain course connected to the restoration of man? During the 3 1/2 years before the blessing, all witnessing activities connect to restoring our spiritual self, or our mind. This means our internal self, not just our external body. Historically, this connects to laying indemnity conditions for the New Testament Era. The Old Testament Era was a time of offering all things to God for restoration, and New Testament Era was mainly for connecting restoration to the internal aspect of man, through belief.
Before blessing, restoration is of environment, with man being only externally or conditionally restored. After going through the New Testament Era and restoring the internal aspects of man comes the time for everything to connect: like childhood is not yet parenthood.
Originally, according to the Principle of Creation, man within his Godly environment would grow and reach perfection, and then, as perfect son and daughter, would achieve the position of parents. But because of having fallen from the top of the growth stage, we first must restore son and daughter position (while they are under God but not yet perfect.)
After receiving blessing, we are in perfected son and daughter's position, and also parents' position. We have two kinds of roles to restore.
Mainly after receiving blessing we must re-create our parental heart and connect ourselves to the Completed Testament Era, by connecting with True Parents. Our devotion this year will be like attendance. Through attendance we restore our heart.
So now we see that there are two categories: before blessing and after blessing. The first means "restored to a certain degree"; the second means "completed."
We receive blessing not just for the sake of married life, nor just for any external family. The most important aspect is salvation. As Father announced, those of you who qualify, who were matched more than 3 1/2 years ago, may soon begin married life, but this is also assuming that those couples already have completed the minimum indemnity conditions. Practically speaking, your major leaders must find out your individual church histories because there is such a variety of situations.
I believe that this formula course will be made shorter, as more and more the way of restoration widens and becomes less difficult. We really cannot compare the difficulty between early members' conditions and yours now. Yours are much easier. Probably some time after the Blessing of 10,000 couples, I believe even home church members can be blessed too.
Furthermore, even the blessed couples' tradition of 3 1/2 years sacrificial duty will be made shorter some time in the future.
A question is asked concerning why we didn't practice the formula course already; many members did different missions which don't count as indemnity conditions.
Answer: We are in a position of transition now because of our small membership; our manpower was not enough, so we couldn't focus on the formula course. Heavenly Father instructed activities to begin in so many diverse areas. If we had gained a larger membership, then members could have been encouraged to remain on MFT, graduate from their 3 1/2 years indemnity course, and this would have been a more ideal way. But since we couldn't do that, then we find ourselves in this transitional period.