Victory of God [Part 1]

Good morning everybody. My topic this morning is "Victory of God." When I said "victory" you applauded, even though I had not said anything yet. Victory sounds good-it tastes good to the tongue-but its contents are very difficult. Let us consider where we can apply the word 'victory."

Imagine a contest of all different kinds of hands. In order to win this contest, a hand must have all its necessary components. It must be perfect in everyone's eyes. The same is true about the eyes, the nose, and all the different organs of the body. In order to be perfect, all the essential components must be in place.

At an arboretum, you see millions of different plants; each has its own characteristics, its own shape and form. Suppose there were a contest or exhibit of human beings. There is actually such a thing -- the Miss Universe and Miss America pageants, for example. I have always wondered why they have such contests for individuals Miss America, Mr. America -- but they don't have a "Mr. and Mrs." contest, a Universal Couple pageant. What about a contest of families?

Even more valuable would be a universal tribe contest. What about a contest of nations? All the heads of state, starting with the U.S. president, could gather together to judge the nations. Why not a world and a cosmic contest?

We see that the world is full of contests and competition. This is an aspect of life. Among all the contests, which would be the most precious? What would be Gods victory? What contest is so close to the heart of God? It is the contest of true love.

Are there many different kinds of true love, or only one true love? Consider pure 24K gold. Is 24K gold different in Korea from 24K gold in America? No. The standard, the criterion for pure gold is universal; it is the same everywhere. The same is true for diamonds -- identical criteria and standards for diamonds apply in America or in the Cape Horn of Africa.

What is the essence of the diamond? Is a diamond a diamond because it glitters so brilliantly, or because it is so hard? Hardness is the standard for diamonds. Why is the pearl considered precious? Does the pearl's value also he in its hardness? No, the harmony of its coloring is the essence of the pearl's value. The pearl's colors are unchanging, so it does not lose its value over time. Its luster will not change with the seasons; and it will be the same under water or on dry land.

Think of these values applied to human beings. Who will be the diamond-like man? Who is the pearl-like person? How can we judge a person's value? You say the standard is unchanging love, yet in America today everyone is dashing one way and another, chasing ephemeral fads and fashions. Is that the way of life of the precious man, the diamond-like person? Don't you have some urge to follow current fashions? When we say 'urge in English, it means moving toward something without thinking, almost unconsciously.

I want you to know that precious things, like the diamond, carry their own value. Others see that value and respect it and are affected by it. Who is the more precious person, one who is influenced by others or one who can influence others? Of course, there are both good and bad influences. Would the Jewel-like, pearl-like person give good or bad influence?

You say "good," but is your standard of goodness the same as Gods? There are so many varieties of goodness, so many different standards and definitions. When God says "good" it is one thing; when people say "good" it is often something else. God's good is plus, and your good is also plus. Then which one takes the initiative? Should God's standard take the initiative, or should ours?

Because you are Moonies, you say God's standard should be taking the initiative. But if you ask a communist, he will say, "My standard should take the initiative. There is no such thing as God." Communists have their claim, and Moonies have their claim. Which one is true? Why is the Moonies' claim true? Because you are Moonies? I am sure there are many answers, but the most important point is that the Moonies' definition of good is unchanging, no matter what. Wherever a Moonie goes, he is always the same person. Do you become different at night? No. A Moonie is a Moonie at night, at dawn and during the day. That means your contents are the same, inside and out.

The communists are different. They say one thing and do something else. They he for the sake of their cause, for their own purposes, and they do not feel any pain in their conscience. They would do anything to advance their cause; for them, the end justifies the means. Communists want to create some conflict which they can fight about and win over others, to beat them down and destroy them. So communism seeks to influence others, but it is a bad influence. They seek to govern the world by fear and threats. They threaten lives and they carry out those threats, resorting to violence. They are not the same inside and out. They promise the most peaceful things through propaganda, but they do the most terrible things.

Their words and deeds are different because of their concept of struggle. Communist theory holds that changes for the better will always come up against a force opposing them, so by overcoming that force something greater can be created. But this theory is completely false. Do you think that by fighting, a greater thing can be created? No. Struggling reduces people. They are hurt, and ultimately they destroy themselves. You must understand that struggle decreases value, not increases it. So when communists claim that struggle creates greater value, it is baloney. The truth is that only through harmony and mutual give and take through fusion, in scientific terms can greater results come.

What is the basic doctrine of education? When parents send their children to school they say, "Don't be a problem. Don't get into a fight with anybody." Why? Parents know that fighting only brings harm to their child, so they want him to harmonize with others. Learning to be harmonized with others, to embrace others-that is the essence of education.

The communist theory of struggle is truly destructive. It is a straight-line theory, with no way to turn and make a circle. Circular motion is the only lasting, eternal motion, and it requires give and take between the extremes of high and low. If the lower echelon and the higher echelon are fighting each other, that only brings destruction. Therefore, the communist theory of dialectical materialism will not suffice. It is not true. They came up with that theory after observing certain phenomena on the surface; it appeared to be true. But when we look deep inside to the essence of things, there is no "dialectical materialism."

Let us look at a mature tree in full flower. Would the flowers say, "I must continue to struggle, even up to the sky"? No, in order to bring new growth, the flowers must drop to the ground, become seeds again, and another cycle must begin. It is only through such circular, give and take motion that we find development and advancement.

The diamond maintains its own value and gives influence to others in a good way. Let us consider the influence of the United States, one of the great nations of the world today. More and more nations are accusing the United States and turning against her. Why is that? America is being rejected by the world because it is not a true nation. It is a false nation. America has become so self-centered, it is always taking resources and pulling them into its own pockets. In the eyes of God, anyone thinking first of himself is false.

What is the definition of an evil person? Is a black man bad, in the eyes of a white man? Why do you say no? The definition of a bad man is not connected with the color of his skin, but with his inner motivation. Anyone who tries to take everything for himself and to sacrifice others for himself is evil.

We must understand clearly the definition of evil. A synonym for evil is greediness. Satan is the most greedy one who is trying to pull all God's assets to himself. That is evil, and Satan is evil.

Are you bad or good? Each "I" is good when he serves the sake of something else. "I" must be looking at things not for my own sake, but for the sake of others. Your ear should listen to something for the sake of the nation or world, for greater things, not just your own pleasure. If your mouth eats not just for you but to gain energy to serve the nation and world, that is good.

Do American youth like this definition of goodness? Americans are said to be pragmatic. Pragmatism in itself is not evil. The question is, for whose sake are you pragmatic-for others, or just yourself? Is America's pragmatism sacrificial or self-centered? All these are basic, fundamental aspects of good and evil.

A person who lives only for his or her own sake will encounter the entire universe coming against him. The universe is looking to promote goodness. When it sees selfishness, it repels it and tries to throw it out. That is why anyone who lives a selfish life will be fearfully lonely. He has no true friends. Can such a person find peace, happiness, or tranquillity? Is that possible?

Do you think there are more happy or unhappy people in the world? What about you? Why are you, happy? It is because you are living like the diamond and the pearl. Your way of life is to give good influence to others.

In what way are we influencing this world? What does the vast cosmos desire? Does it want bread and butter? Does it want a great fighter, a powerful general? Would the universe find joy in a brilliant Nobel Prize winner? Well, what does the cosmos want to see? You say true love, and I cannot find any answer better than that.

When you say true love, are you speaking of the kind of love you give once, and then never again? Is it the kind of love you give out, waiting for it to come back, with interest? That is pragmatic love; you give it once and wait for it to come back.

Does true love give only once, or is it giving continually? If you give and keep giving, unconditionally and unselfishly, you may think you are losing everything, but a great circular motion is bringing everything back to you. You see, I am very pragmatic too. In true love, everything comes back to you, without any confrontation or deviation.

There is no special way that a loving husband must touch his wife. Anywhere he touches, it feels good to her. The bottom of the foot or the top of her head-wherever he touches, it becomes a love spot. Love has no limits; therefore, there is no resistance to love. This means there is no concept of struggle in love. Harmony, welcoming and warmth are within love. There is no repulsion, coldness, or rejection. Do you agree?

When parents correct their children with a loving heart, they will speak unselfishly and for the good of the children, even when they scold. Sometimes parents may be so harsh that the child becomes very angry. He may run away a few miles, and then repent. He will realize, "Oh no, they scolded me because they love me. Otherwise they wouldn't do that!

True repentance is engendered only by the power of love. When Jesus proclaimed, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," it meant that true love was near, because only true love can give the power of repentance. Do you agree with me? Even if this theory is false, I would like it, because there is nothing better.

Now we know that the universal, never-boring topic for literature or music is the topic of love. Tell yourself that true love is dwelling within you, and that no power under the sun can diminish or destroy it. The color of pure gold is very rich. That rich gold color is also very calming-, it imparts a feeling of peace. The color of the sky at sunrise and sunset is a rich golden color. God is trying to influence you with these peaceful colors. He wants you to wake up with a peaceful mind and go to sleep in peace.

Gold is also a soft metal. It can be molded and is not hard like the diamond. The person who has a character with the quality of gold is a peaceful person. The essential quality of the pearl is harmony.

I am a spiritual leader, but I do not dress like one and wear a high collar or black robes. I am capable of harmonizing with any sort of environment. When I went to the prison labor camp, I did hard labor. When I go out to fish, I am a successful fisherman. When I go to a factory, I become one with the factory workers. In a mine, I can be a good miner. When I meet with scholars, I gain their respect. So I can harmonize with everybody.

What about you young people? You love Reverend Moon, don't you? Old people and children also love me. Young women look at Reverend Moon as an ideal type of husband and think, "Where can I find another man like that?" My character is deep, not shallow, so wherever I go, I instantly harmonize with the environment and I am friendly with it.

In the Unification Church tradition, should a newly assigned leader show up at his new center saying, "I am the king, and you are the subjects. You must obey me"? No, not at all. There is a typical Moonie follower who wants to hide in an easy role, an easy position. Is that true? Some of you are saying "no", but not so many. When I say to the Korean leaders, "Let's go riding in the boat,* they know my standard for riding in the boat, so they would like to hide. I am deliberately testing them, watching their faces.

Should a harmonious person hate the sea? No, he should be welcomed even by the sea. The ocean has something to offer. When you ride around on the vast ocean, it will say, "Move on me at the fastest possible speed." I always want to respond to that. I tell the ocean "All right, I will ride on you as fast as possible," and the engines start to burn at that point. I have such a dialogue with the ocean.

Because I go to the ocean, does that mean I hate the mountains? What about you women? You love to behold the mountains, but you don't like to climb them., do you? If you only look at the mountain, you will never become the master of it. Do you men want to climb mountains?

When I first came to the United States, I traveled for 40 days and nights. I crisscrossed this country from north to south, from east to west. The land was speaking to me, saying, "Come visit my state. Please walk on me." When I was riding in the station wagon, I was feeling the land's desire, so I had to respond to that and keep going. But the driver didn't know about my conversation with the land. He would say, "It's midnight, so why don't we stop at the next Holiday Inn?' But I said, -No, please keep going." One a.m. came, then 2:00 a.m., and we would pass another motel. Still I pushed the driver to keep ping.

Why was I pushing him to drive even at 3:00 in the morning? At those hours no one else is driving, so we had the entire highway to ourselves. I really want to be the champion in demonstrating love for this land. I felt that in the 200 years of American history, no one else had done that. I wanted to set the record. I wanted to greet all 50 states because I knew each one was waiting to see me. I visited each and every one of the 50 states, and I went out to meet the people with a genuinely loving heart.

Even so, many people were very unkind and persecuted me. That negativity almost became like a neurosis or an obsession for some people. When they heard the word "moon" they thought "Reverend Moon." They would go out at night and see the moon shining and think, "Oh no, that reminds me of Reverend Moon." But I knew that nature in this country had genuinely welcomed me, even though the American people hadn't.

Why do I stay in this country? Who is loving Reverend Moon? The Jewish people, organized Christianity, the U.S. government, the Congress everyone hates me, so how can I stay here? Who loves Reverend Moon? You say you do because you are Moonies, but there are other kinds of Moonies, ex-Moonies. Some of them even came to court to testify against me. Therefore, even Moonies don't love me. It seems that clever Moonies are rejecting Reverend Moon and leaving. Are you all dumb for staying here?

The situation here in America is absolutely incredible. The authorities are trying to say that the Unification Church is not really a religion. They say, "We will not treat Reverend Moon as a religious leader or his followers as religious people." They are trying to take away the tax exemption on our church property. Not only that, they are trying to kick me out of the country. That is what is behind this court battle.

However, I feel such negativity is okay. Let them begin with this giant amount of negativity. When they learn a little more, their negativity will decrease. As they learn still more, it will become smaller and smaller, and finally disappear. Then they will become slightly positive and as they learn more, their positivity will grow and grow until it is a giant positivity. Do you think that will happen in the future, or not? That is the history of the Unification Church. In the past, there was great negativity, but eventually it comes to the crossing point, and that negativity becomes positivity.

Some of you women are already thinking about the family you will have someday. You have started pulling on your fiancée, saying, "You are so busy doing home church, witnessing and fundraising. When are you going to take care of me?" Some are saying, "I don't want my husband to be only a high school graduate. Give up your mission and go to college!" I know that this is going on now. There are members who are thinking, "Well, I have done enough for the church and I have given enough years of my life. It is time to start thinking of the future, of my family to come."

So far we have been fighting a fierce frontline battle, and the victory is coming -- the victory of God. But a fierce battle causes much destruction. The victors in battle must rebuild the area they gain. That is where we are now, beginning a great reconstruction. The time to rebuild is a painful period. It is the time when we will truly shed our tears, our sweat and our blood.

The time will come when the American people realize what a great mistake they have made, and they will welcome you Moonies. I worry that, when that time comes, you may be totally exhausted. Mothers, please raise your hands. If I asked you to go out and work for the mission, leaving your family behind, would you like it? Would you say yes or no? When you received such a direction, would you immediately worry about your baby, who would feed him and change his diapers? Or would you think, "No matter what, I will go!"

What about me? Don't you think I received that type of mandate from God, to march forward to the enemy camp? Actually, I received the worst persecution from the members of my immediate family, especially in the case of my first marriage. At that time I had a child, too; but when I received the order from heaven to go to North Korea, I just went. Nothing could stop me. I knew that suffering and possible death were waiting for me there but I marched forward, toward the prison camp in North Korea. God was pushing me to go and I did not hesitate to say yes.

When I left Korea for the United States, the Korean members were very unhappy. They said, "What about us? Why are you going to the United States? Please stay here and give the orders; we will take care of everything." The 36 couples implored me to stay in Korea. I told them that I was not going for glory, but that I was willing to endure anything and be imprisoned. Only after that could the final victory come.

Now my prediction has come true. That battle is at its peak. The power of the United States of America has come against me in the form of an indictment. I do not fear it; I am walking straight into this battle and meeting the challenge. When the government initiated the tax case, they thought that I would not come back to fight it. That is what they wanted; they wanted me out of the country. But they were wrong, weren't they? I did not take the pragmatic way, I took the providential way, the spiritual way. I walked straight into their trap, knowing full well it was there.

Next week is going to be the final week when the verdict will be reached. The court has decided that we are a legitimate religion; so we may raise funds legally and proselytize to increase the membership. But they still hold on to one thing: they don't want Reverend Moon. They want to kick me out. Well, well see!

So far we have been engaged in hundreds of court battles in different states and cities throughout the United States. Some of the most famous lawyers are connected with the Unification Church. Whatever field you name, constitutional lawyers, litigation lawyers, tax lawyers, the beat are connected with us. These people not only come to know the legal problems of the Unification Church but they come to know our religion. In particular, they come to know Reverend Sun Myung Moon. They come to feel that America has treated me wrongly, and they want to fight for us.

Many leading philosophers and theologians have come to our seminary for seminars or orientations. Great scientists and scholars from all over the world have known about Reverend Moon and his teaching for years. That is the achievement of the science conferences. This year we are organizing the Professor's World Peace Academy in forty different nations.

Now we have organized the "God Conference," inviting top scholars and theologians from all religions. These scholars come together to discuss the subject of God. It is amazing! That is the only word for it. But in order to bring this amazing thing about, I have spent so many, many hours. I have spent sleepless nights for years.

I have been engaged in the court battle since March 22, but throughout that time, gigantic things have been happening. First was the creation of The Washington Times. Another is the creation of the Victory Over Communism organization among Korean residents in this country -- about 600,000 people.

Why are we doing all these things? Is it for the sake of Reverend Moon? Is it for the sake of America? We are doing these things for the sake of the world and the sake of God. In order to serve humanity and to serve God, I will walk any kind of stony path. At the grassroots level, you encounter a great deal of opposition in this country, but I want you to realize that there is a great deal of breakthrough at the highest possible levels. As we penetrate higher and higher, the negativity will decrease and turn into positivity. When the leaders and educated people in this country come out in support of Reverend Moon, the ephemeral public opinion will change. There is no question about that.