"The Heavenly Tower"
William S. Stoertz
December 7, 1998

     I want to suggest that the "heavenly tower" refered 
to in Divine Principle on the very last page is the 
International Space Station.
     This International Space Station just became a 
reality yesterday (December 6th) with the docking of 
Zarya and Unity.
     It is a 16 nation project. Sound familiar? There were 
16 nations in World War II, 16 nations in Korea, and 
160 nations attended the 1988 Seoul Olympics. It is 
a providential number for completion of the providence 
of restoration.
     It was not an easy job, getting everything together, 
making the agreements, starting to move, launching 
the hardware, and finally making the first successful 
docking maneuver. There will be about 100 separate 
modules connected by 2004, scheduled completion.
     Did you ever wonder why we reached the Moon 
almost thirty years ago, and now, a space station, 
which seemed a natural next step, has taken all this 
time? This is also providential or principled. It is 
because the space program from Mercury to Apollo 
was all vertical, like the foundation of faith, and like 
the rockets -- straight and narrow and to the point. 
But the next stage, building space stations, actually 
doing stuff together up there, is horizontal, meaning 
expansion and unification, like the foundation of 
substance. Father has said the foundation of 
substance is more difficult than the foundation of 
faith.
     Back when we went into space the first time, and 
soon afterwards landed on the Moon, that seemed a 
very worthwhile venture. But it seemed kind of dreamy 
to build a space station. Why do we need that? It was 
kind of futuristic. That was the age of Vietnam, the 
Cold War, VOC, persecution. See how far we've come? 
Now we are working together, building the International 
Space Station with the cooperation of 16 nations.
     You all work together, as Russians, Americans, 
British, Japanese, Ukrainians, Brazilians, Koreans, 
French... you name it! We have overcome a lot to work 
together like this. May I also suggest that, as we work 
together, overcoming many things, on the spiritual 
level, we are substantially making the foundation for 
people in the world at large to peacefully harmonize. 
Aren't we glad to do such a grand thing?
     In the Divine Principle, it says that the sons of 
Noah got together to build the Tower of Babel to 
exalt the will of Satan. So God sent down angels to 
confuse their languages, and they knocked off the 
work, split up, and went their separate ways. Now, in 
the Last Days, by the principle of restoration, we must 
unite together centering on the construction of the 
heavenly tower. I have often wondered what that would 
be. Now I got the heavenly inspiration: it is the 
International Space Station, a tower over a hundred 
miles high, involving 16 nations. Get it?
     The languages and races of man split up over 
one hundred thousand years ago, as evidenced by 
archaeological artifacts, linguistic drift, and DNA of 
mitochondria. Probably Noah himself landed his ark 
about 2,369 BC, which is a long time ago, but well 
after the establishment of recognizable civilizations. 
Certainly all the races of humanity aren't literally his 
descendants. But that shows a kind of way of the 
operation of Principle: the "ancestor" or "forefather" 
is not in fact the very first living being as such, but 
is the one to whom God can relate and designate as 
the "original ancestor" (like True Parents) or the 
"father of faith" (like Noah).
     You know that it is not easy to work together. 
Please know that, as you overcome many difficulties, 
including language and cultural barriers, you are 
paying indemnity for the sorrowful past history, and 
you are paving the way for the bright happy future. If 
we fail, and fight with each other, or just break off, 
or just quit, then there will be big trouble in the 
outside world. But if we get along, overcome, smile, 
and go forward for God's will, then things will also go 
smoothly in the world at large. Isn't that basically 
what we want? We don't want destructive judgment!
     One more thing, about understanding Father's 
words: I have studied very carefully, and concluded 
that, in spite of the fact that Father has said many 
times that Adam and Eve lived 25 million years ago, 
it was actually about 2.5 million years ago, and I 
also had to understand why Father must say that. 
Similarly, Father said something recently which has 
troubled me: About Children's Day, Father said that 
our problems cannot be solved in space, or that 
space is not the answer to our troubles, but we 
have to find the solution on earth, and Father 
suggested the oceans. Of course. Makes sense! 
But, anyway, our nations and peoples are anyway 
going forward in space. You're not going to stop 
them. Not only that, I'm a space fan too, and many 
of our Russian brothers and sisters are too, and I 
think maybe some of you are too. I happen to not 
only be interested in space, and science in general, 
but I believe it is the next step in the providential 
future, after we bring peace and build the ideal 
world on earth. So obviously, we have to start looking 
forward and moving ahead, which we are. And that 
also means Moonies or Sunnies or Kingies who 
think about the future should also be cognizant of 
that future reality. The universe is enormous! This 
earth is a tiny pea. Is anyone going to convince me 
that the earth is the only place people will ever live, 
and the rest of the universe is only for our spirits? 
Nonsense! Not only that, but we will very soon 
discover ways to bridge the very space itself, and 
substantially go there. Individual, Family, Tribe, 
Nation, Bloc, World, Universe, Cosmos... It's in 
the Eight Stage Course of Restoration!
     Okay, so, to summarize, the "heavenly tower" 
in Divine Principle can be interpreted to mean the 
International Space Station, which is now being 
built, and all our work is similarly connected, 
either spiritually or substantially.



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