The Words The Kwak Family
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The Words The Kwak Family |
Father established the tradition of Belvedere Sunday service long ago; during these months that he cannot be with us we miss him and long to have him near.
Although Father is physically in the Danbury prison, in the spiritual sense he can never be imprisoned. Yet since Father went to Danbury, all of us have entered spiritual prison. Because of his position in this time era, when True Father went to Danbury, not only Unification Church members, but all Americans, all humankind became spiritually imprisoned.
Why, during the 2000 years of Christian history, have so many kinds of sacrificial indemnity conditions been needed for restoration? Actually, only a few people were directly involved in Jesus' crucifixion. However, it does not matter whether people were directly involved or not. All humankind can never escape from the historical events of Jesus' crucifixion; there have been serious ramifications since that time. Jesus was not an ordinary person, and he was not simply a saint or sage. He came to earth to fulfill the Messiah's mission, the mission of 'five Parents. All humankind must bear the burden of the historical mistake of putting Jesus on the cross. In order to reach the heart of Jesus, one must lay a certain amount of indemnity conditions.
None of us really expected that Father would have to go to jail. Yet Father himself says that this course is God's will. His attitude is so noble. Under any circumstances, he accepts all challenges with faith, respect and a heart of love. We must recognize that the path Father is now walking was not Heavenly Father's original desire. He is paying the debt for our mistake. And in this sense, from the spiritual point of view it is actually not Father who is in jail but rather all Moonies.
According to spiritual law, there is no greater mistake than imprisoning God's true son. While our members did not directly convict him or put him directly in jail, we cannot deny that we had a part in it. We cannot deny that we did not fulfill our goals. If we had fulfilled our responsibilities, this would probably never have happened. We listened to Father's guidance and direction so often. But we did not fully obey and consequently did not fulfill his expectations.
Presently, the Unification Church lifestyle is necessarily one of repentance. The significance of repentance is that we have been doing something wrong in the sight of God. We must therefore stop and change our direction. Real repentance means to stop going in a direction opposite from God, and turn back to Him.
Because of our mistakes and sins, a distance is created between both ourselves and the True Parents and ourselves and God. This gap is something we must overcome. After the experience of a real and heartfelt repentance, we must lay indemnity conditions. A condition of indemnity is a condition for restoration. We must arrive back at the original position before we made the mistake.
I visited Father yesterday and found that his desire is not to go back to East Garden, but rather to do God's will. His mind and heart are always pushing him to do God's will. He constantly thinks how to fulfill and accomplish God's expectations. At this time, his thinking is totally focused on how to restore Christianity and how our movement can unite with ministers. He thinks of nothing more. It is important to understand this point about Father -- even though Father is in prison, his heart and goal never change.
I sat with Father seven hours yesterday reporting and listening to his direction. I forgot that we were in Danbury prison and not East Garden. His attitude is so natural. He feels there is no difference between the prison and his home, because his desire to fulfill God's will is so strong. He completely forgets about the environment. He talked continuously, just as he does in East Garden.
Throughout that seven hours together, I never sensed that he felt concern for himself, or that he wanted his freedom. His thinking, ideals and goals go far beyond his own freedom and liberty, they are focused on dispensational goals and activities. So often we are easily influenced by our environment or challenges and unexpected situations that confront us. Father is not like this at all. As you know, Father knows his role better than anyone. Even though we attend, respect and follow him, our degree of understanding is far below his. He knows his identity, his position before God and mankind. He knows how to attend God and what God's expectations are in relationship to his mission.
When I saw Father I felt that he was not really in prison, because even though American law dictates that he stays there, he is smiling. We can realize just how much Father overcomes any circumstance and obeys God's will. Despite his true identity and position, he is humble to God's will and does not complain. Satan can find no point of accusation.
There are some dedicated leaders and members among you who understand this situation and share a similar lifestyle and attitude. But most of us go in an opposite direction. Externally we have our freedom. Spiritually, however, it is difficult to realize that because we violate many spiritual laws we are in spiritual prison. We don't recognize those violations. Father, however, is physically in prison, but spiritually has incredible freedom. Satan cannot accuse True Father.
After Father went to the Danbury prison we could not feel so much joy on the personal or family level; this is simply because we are in spiritual prison. We must be liberated. The day that Father physically returns to East Garden can be a day of true liberty. But we must not forget that it is essential to make indemnity conditions even after Father is liberated from prison. How do we dedicate our life in the same way Father does? We have to learn his dedication, his desire, and how strongly he focuses on fulfilling God's will while forgetting the circumstances surrounding him.
Because of Father's environment, he is not able to continue frontline work in his daily schedule. Even though we are in spiritual prison, though, we have the physical freedom to do so. Therefore, we must dedicate our daily lives completely to the fulfillment of God's and True Parents' expectations.
Father often urges us not to worry about him. On the contrary, he wants us to feel encouraged that because he has gone to prison, the Unification Church can unite with all Christianity and all ministers throughout America.
Father never complained about his own situation or that we did not fulfill enough responsibility. He simply accepts his own situation with faith. In fact, he wants to comfort our minds. Because of his sympathy and comfort for us, he says that through the conditions which are being made now, Christianity will unite with us -- it is God's expectation. If Christianity throughout America unites with the Unification Church, Father is happy to go to prison.
We must catch the true spirit and the true meaning of his speeches. We should listen to his explanations of our responsibility and of the importance and necessity of repentance. We need to repent. We need to listen to his speeches with repentant hearts and repentant ears. What is our condition of indemnity'? We must fulfill the condition of working with the ministers and broadening Father's foundation so that Christianity will unite with us. Whenever I visit him, he continuously focuses on this matter.
I urge you to do two basic things. First of all, strengthen your desire and determination. Realize that this is an emergency time. Accept the fact that we are in a spiritual prison. Secondly, work to fulfill his expectations of unity with Christianity. Visit ministers and the existing churches. Even though it is a difficult challenge, don't be afraid. Don't be defeated by fear. Be strong, be confident. We have our True Father's example to follow. Father is spiritually liberated from his physical prison because of his spirit and desire to fulfill God's will. Even though we are in spiritual prison, we should work with our physical bodies for the unity with Christianity. This is the condition that will set us free. This is the most important indemnity condition we have to offer.
Father taught me by this diagram how to educate you about the importance of working with the ministers. Father wants us to understand this present era and the Unification Church stage.
If man had fulfilled God's will, it would have been the starting point of Godly history. We would have followed this line. Father explains that this line is the standard of heart. We must follow that standard of heart through listening to our original mind. Unfortunately, humankind denied God and went the opposite way. Even though we fell from the original blessing, fallen man followed the same form as the original blessing on the individual level, family level, tribal level, societal level, national and world level. The cosmos and universe multiplied and developed more and more.
Unfortunately, this direction is in the opposite direction from God. We must come back and restore ourselves. Another serious problem is that originally man's mind was to be subject and his body object. After the fall, the body occupied the subject position. Above is the Cain side (body) and the Abel side (mind) is below. In God's dispensation of restoration, history must come back to the original point. It is not a simple process, because we must overcome all the existing historical challenges by going in the opposite direction. We must overcome as well all levels both above and below. Cain and Abel must also be restored. This is the true process of restoration. God expected a healer to bind Cain and Abel together beyond the national and worldwide levels in the period just following the Second World War.
This is very important because God prepared a central personage through Christianity, and the power and authority of Christianity was very high at that time. The fact that Christianity, centering on America, was to influence the world, was a historical event prepared by God and related to the Second Coming. Only at that time, on the worldwide level, Christianity was the subject, and the secular world and all its institutions, object. God prepared these circumstances for a certain purpose. Unfortunately, Christianity failed to meet live Parents. Then Father, upon founding the Unification Church, led us to restore history by going back to the original point. That is why the Unification Church has received all kinds of challenges on the world, national, tribal and family levels.
Through this diagram, we are able to see that internally and externally Father himself received these kinds of challenges. He found victory in those challenges and grew closer and closer to the original starting point. He has started the new world through the new ideal by clarifying the true nature of subject and object.
It is God's desire that we overcome and restore and reach the original point according to a certain model. The line in the diagram that represents the challenges we face in order to complete restoration equals the line representing the original world. Historical challenges to an individual, family, tribe, nation, etc., are represented on this line. It represents the summary of world history.
Father's main point is that laying indemnity conditions alone does not bring freedom. We must follow a certain form or line. God prepared certain historical chances. Because they were lost, Father himself, with the Unification movement, must return to the original point. Adam should have originally fulfilled his responsibility and exactly followed Heavenly Father's directions for the individual, which would have expanded to the family, tribe, society, nation and world. Jesus came for this purpose, and later so did Father.
Father now expects us to unite with Christianity. The meaning of this is that Father has to overcome all the fallen conditions made throughout history, and must fulfill the original ideal, centering on the Time Parents' position. His main expectation is that he must embrace Christianity. Why is the unity of Christianity with Father so important? Christianity originally was to occupy the position of Abel, while the secular world had the role of Cain. Abel should completely unite with 'True Parents, for after this, Cain (the secular and eventually the communist worlds) cannot accuse True Parents and Abel. In this sense, Father technically needs to unite with Christianity.
Today we have re-determined to liberate Father. But what Father desires, more than liberating him, is that we unite with each other and lay a strong and united foundation with Christianity. As always, on the basis of repentance and indemnity conditions, we have to achieve this goal. Leaders tell me that if we repent too much every day, we lose power and often feel unnecessary guilt. So don't indulge in too much emotion or sympathy in regard to Father at this time. You and I face, and are part of, a historical issue, a historical event.
The fact that Father went to prison cannot be erased from history. It virtually does not matter how serious the impact is on you and me. It is important to overcome the emotional impact of this event. The real meaning of repentance is that it is not only for our own mistakes. The repentance offered throughout history by saints, sages and the Messiah was not only for their own mistakes, but for other's mistakes, for historical mistakes. More than simply generating a positive attitude, we must repent for history's mistakes.
If we stay only at a certain stage of repentance it is not so favorable to growth. Have a positive attitude. Repent in order to change your direction. Through our daily life in the movement we must offer conditions of indemnity in order to liberate ourselves and the True Parents. Keep this positive attitude and overcome any feelings of guilt. We do not have time to be sad and simply feel guilty all the time. Rather our time should be more wisely spent in fulfilling the expectations of God and True Parents. In order to fulfill those expectations, we must offer conditions of indemnity.
Father wants all members to understand his concern. He asks us not to focus on him, but rather on accomplishing our missions. Of course, we worry about Father and he does need our prayers. We each must build a strong spiritual foundation and secure spiritual protection for him. We need to pray continuously and develop a strong spirit to offer live Parents our spiritual support so that Satan cannot attack him. We must also be concerned with his directions, concerned with our mission, our duty, and offer conditions of indemnity.
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
Danbury Prison
Danbury,
Connecticut
United States of America
August 11, 1984
Dear Reverend Moon:
As invited participants at the Fourth International Conference on "God: The Contemporary Discussion" who have come to Seoul, Korea, from thirty-five different countries and who represent most of the major religious traditions, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks to you for making this gathering possible. Vie deeply respect the profound vision which underlies your efforts to realize world peace through religious dialogue and intercultural harmony. At this conference, we have experienced for ourselves the fruit of your labors. As a result, we have come to appreciate your dedication and your earnest efforts to facilitate increased understanding among the peoples and religions of the world.
We had anticipated that you would be with us in Korea as our host. Now we are profoundly saddened by the realization that while we conduct our deliberations as your guests in your native land, you have been denied your freedom in the very land whose Constitution has guaranteed religious liberty to all.
Having experienced the magnanimity and scope of your support for efforts towards religious harmony and world peace, we are grieved that the government of the United States would seek to hinder that work.
The history of religious and racial intolerance is long and painful. We are especially dismayed that this pattern has continued in your case. Your suffering has saddened us. Our hearts are with you. We pray for your safety, for your speedy liberation, and for your complete exoneration.