Book Four - True Family
Chapter Two - The Way of Love in the Family
Section 1. God's Laws of Love Centering on the Family

Since the beginning of history, who has practiced true love focused on parents, true love focused on husband and wife, and true love focused on brothers and sisters? True love is absolute. (20-40, 1968.3.31)

The love of God is expressed as parental love, conjugal love and children's love. These three great loves make it possible for human beings to exist forever. These great loves transcend even the loftiest human view of love. When these loves are perfected, happiness is perfected. When they are lacking, misfortune sets in. This is why people become happy when these three great loves unite. Is a motherless person happy? That person's misery is equal to the emptiness he or she feels. Is a fatherless person happy? A fatherless person envies those who have a father. Happiness leaves no room for envy. The same is true for love. If you envy someone or something, you cannot say you are happy.

You cannot be happy without a father and mother. No matter how great a man's ideals may be or how much he boasts, he needs a woman. He needs a wife. When a husband and wife have lived happily together and then the husband suddenly passes away, the wife will shed tears. A woman cannot live without a man, and a man cannot live without a woman. (20-38, 1968.3.31)

Also, no matter how happy a husband and wife may be together, they will be miserable without children. Do you need only sons? You need both sons and daughters. But what if the parents have only one son and one daughter? A son needs an elder sister and an elder brother, and a daughter needs an elder brother and an elder sister. Furthermore, they each need a younger brother and a younger sister. Everyone needs elder and younger siblings, and without any one of them, the individual would be unhappy.

A family wherein the younger sister, younger brother, elder sister and elder brother are all united will be protected by God. This is because such a family becomes the origin of a clan, a people and a nation. My father, mother, elder brother, elder sister, younger brother, younger sister and me total seven people. This underlies the significance of the number seven as the number of perfection. You should know that I am talking here about perfection in reference to love. Why is seven the number of perfection? Why is it that the creation of heaven and earth taught by Christianity was completed based on the number seven? It is because of this. It is said that three is the number of heaven and four is the number of earth. The number three is established by my father, mother and me. Then what does the number four refer to? It refers to brothers and sisters. (20-40, 1968.3.31)

You should know that seven is the number of perfection. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit refer to Adam and Eve with God at their center. The Father refers to the connection of top and bottom -- that is, the vertical relationship -- and parental love represents heaven and earth. Your elder brother and elder sister refer to east and west, and your younger brother and younger sister refer to north and south. When these unite, a three- dimensional relationship is formed. This is the law of love. That is why there is no law of science that does not adhere to these mathematical principles. It is from God's laws of love that the fundamental concepts of the Principle of Creation arise. Once such laws of love are firmly established, peace will be realized. (20-40, 1968.3.31)