I thank you for gathering here today in spite of your busy public and private schedules to create such a grand occasion in celebration of my seventieth birthday. I am particularly grateful for your heart that celebrates the fact that my life has been centered on the Will of God.

Many distinguished speakers have spoken generous praises of my work. Today's occasion would have little significance, however, if its sole purpose were to applaud my past accomplishments. the content of our celebration must be determined by the degree to which my past deeds give reason for us to have hope in the future, the degree to which my work is able to brighten the future of mankind, and the degree to which my work is related to the Providence of God, whose government encompasses the entire cosmos.

Throughout my life, I have run at full speed to pioneer a course never before travelled by anyone. It is already widely known that on an external level I have been buffeted constantly by opposition arising from a lack of understanding. Within the realm of my heart, however, I have been in a constant state of tension, fighting every minute and every second to focus how I can accomplish God's desire during my lifetime. My life has been so intertwined with God, that I could never speak of it without reference to Him. Because my life has been directly connected with the fate of the nation and the world, I have shared every aspect of it in a deep give and take relationship with God. As I recall now how I shared with Him my deepest sorrow, my greatest pain, and my most exalted joy, I offer my deepest gratitude to God with a heart that perhaps cannot be fully shared with any other person. All the glory of this day I offer up to the living God my Father.

It is true, frankly, that the foundation that I have laid around the world is an astonishing accomplishment. I take pride, however, less in the external and visible aspects of this foundation as much as in the fact that no part of this foundation has been established centering on myself and the fact that each part is geared more to the future than the present, more to the interest of the whole than of the individual, and more to the larger purpose than of the more narrow purpose. The value of this foundation lies in the fact that God was its motivating force and that it was established under God's protection even under the severest hardships and turbulent vicissitudes.

My seventy years certainly have not been an easy course. I had no friends in the world and no mentors. I travelled this course alone. I have recovered from many treacherous passages. Time and again, I have persevered even when death seemed certain. The only reason I did not lose courage in such circumstances was that I had a deep communication of heart with God. The content of the conversations that took place in that profound realm are beyond anyone's knowledge. I can only say that God always softly whispered His advice to me, and that He was the motivation for my life. He was even more than that--He was life itself; He was the source of my life energy.

I have never had the time to lend my ear to what others were saying about me. I never had the time to take my gaze off of God for so much as a second to caste a glance away from God. I have never been concerned with the public's opinion about me. I had no thoughts other than those of the earnest desires of God. With every cell in my being in unity with God, I have lived with an almost fanatic determination for the purpose of bringing His ideal of creation into reality.

Ladies and gentlemen, what do you suppose is this earnest desire of God for which I have dedicated my life?

Had there been no Fall, God would have been the invisible True Parent and man would have been His children. Man would have become a true life form, receiving love and a lineage of good from God, the Parent of vertical true love, and Adam and Eve, the parents of horizontal true love. Also, through the process of love, man would have been able to connect the seed of life to his descendents.

The Fall occurred when the original human ancestors failed to fulfill true horizontal love under the auspices of God's vertical true love, allowing instead the invasion of the Archangel, which led them to false horizontal love. As a result of this Fall, God lost the children He loved, and man was placed in a position where he had no alternative but to be born into the world as a dysfunctional life form embodying a contradiction between his mind and body. Satan, using the condition of horizontal love as a curse, has unjustly controlled man on all levels from the individual to the world. God, on the other hand, in an effort to return all this to its original state, had been carrying out His salvation providence. In accordance with the Principle, He has ben working for the natural subjugation of Satan, and working through the Messiah to graft mankind onto His lineage.

Because I know how God has invested Himself fully into the restoration providence, which is actually a course of re-creation, even as much as He carried out the original creation as a sacrificial act involving a total investment of His true love, I have followed His will and have offered my entire life to putting into practice these basic principles of true love and of living for others. I have led my life thoroughly in service to others within the Will of God, and have continuously made a full investment of myself. The foundation I have achieved today has come as a result of this.

Advancements in modern technology have already brought tremendous changes to the planet Earth and are likely to bring even greater changes in the future. As a result of such advances, mankind finds himself faced with a acute emergency that requires us to gather our wisdom together in order to find a solution. Contemporary civilization now stands at an important turning point.

In order to deal with this situation, mankind must first transcend national, racial and religious boundaries so that there can be cooperation among us on a global scale. This is necessary because today's problems such as environmental pollution, over population and protection of the environment are global in their scales. Second, the sickness of today's society, particularly the deterioration of ethical and moral standards and the deterioration of our humanity, and including threats of racial and religious wars, all have their causes in human nature. Thus, solutions to these problems must be approached from the perspective of bringing a revolution of consciousness to mankind and of remaking human nature. It is not a simple issue of making changes in social institutions and structures.

Ladies and gentlemen, all the activities that I have founded around the world are models of movements that rise above national boundaries, work to tear down the walls between races, are inter-religious in their nature and are global in their scale. Unificationists around the world carry with them a new world view that comes as a result of a revolution of consciousness centered on the true love of God. They are already living as one human family. The only place in the United States where there is no racial friction or barriers between Black Americans and people of other races is the Unification Church. Missionaries from Japan, the United States, and Germany rose above the historical hatred and struggles among their countries, and went out to their mission countries without knowing anything about their partners. Once in those countries, they dedicated themselves together for their mission work.

You already know that I have been contributing large sums of money to hold annual conferences to foster unity within and among the major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, and the highest leaders of various religions have commended my highly for this effort. Also, there have been situations such as the Korean man living in a farm village who received through the international blessing ceremony a Japanese bride who had graduated form a famous university in her country. His entire village held a feast to congratulate him. In any gathering sponsored by the Unification Church, wherever and whenever it may be held, there is no racial conflict or prejudice. The members, regardless of what part of the world they are form. have gone through a change of character effected by means of the philosophy that I have taught so that they no longer live in a self-centered manner but live a life of giving for others. They are examples of citizens of the ideal world.

On a quantitative basis, the Unification Movement is less than adequate, but what we have accomplished until today has profound significance in the history of the universe. Have not the teachings of many saints and sages through history sought to accomplish such results? Are not many people of good conscience in today's world trying to find the guideposts that will allow them to lead lives of goodness? And how many young people today are wandering in search of new possibilities and dreaming dreams of a brighter future for the world? And how many such young people have become discouraged in their search and have broken down in frustration?

I invite everyone to come and see for yourself. Come and look without prejudice. Examine for yourself this foundation that is not motivated of human concerns but is created with the intimate presence of the Will of Heaven. Design for yourself a brighter tomorrow. Build for yourself a clear system of values.

Look at the people of the Unification Church around the world. See how all of them, young and old, are filled with joy even as they travel on their course of total dedication. See how, in particular, the young people of the church maintain the highest ethical and moral standards even in the midst of a corrupt society, and are able to have pride in what they do. I see the young people of the Unification Church as representing the hope of mankind and the hope of God.

Let's think for a moment from a point of view that goes beyond narrow sectarian and religious interests. If the Korean people could undergo a change in character according to the philosophy that I advocate and could begin to live lives dedicated to others, what effect would this have on the future of the nation? Would unification of North and South Korea be a difficult task under such circumstances? And if all the people of the world could accept this philosophy, would not his guarantee a prosperous and peaceful world? My philosophy of "Living for the greater purpose" is not meant to bring about the development of the Unification Church for its own sake. God and the world do not exist for the sake of the church. It is the church that must live in service to God and the world. Even now, I continue to seek the way of service, and my plan is to dedicate my entire life to this path.

Thank you again for your congratulations. I hope that this occasion today will be much than a celebration of my seventieth birthday. I hope it will be an opportunity for you to learn of the universal path of righteousness that requires us all to live for others. I pray that God's blessing will be upon your work and your families.

Thank you very much.