"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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