Book Seven - Etiquette And Ceremonies
Chapter Four - Tradition and Daily Etiquette of Blessed Families
Section I. The Daily Etiquette of a Blessed Family

1.1. Establishing proper family rules and practices

We have been living and speaking carelessly, but from now on we should establish rules in our families. Parents should not beat their children with a stick out of anger or speak secular words of condemnation to them. Now everything should be aligned. Our words, attitudes, and way of life should be aligned centering upon God. (26-252, 1970.1.22)

Your families should not become slaves to habit. The family is the starting point for establishing the four-position foundation. Here, the unity of the family is required. The family should conform to the original standard of God's desire. (21-76, 1968.10.20)

In order for the first son's family to thrive, the family members are to accept and conscientiously practice the established family rules and etiquette that come from their ancestors. People whose attitude is "Those rules have nothing to do with me" cannot be the offspring of that family. Such a person cannot be the heir of such a family, even if he is born as its eldest son. (21-252, 1968.11.24)

How are we going to maintain the pure lineage inherited from God? How can we preserve the pure lineage rather than the fallen lineage?

We must sincerely care for the second generation. It is very difficult to become pure in this fallen world. The first human beings fell even though they were in the unstained Garden of Eden. In spite of their suffering, the blessed parents born in the fallen world should make an unstained environment for their blessed children. It is my desire to prepare such an environment as quickly as possible for the second generation, no matter what sacrifices that may entail. We have to hurry. (God's Will - 550)

In order for you to be liberated from the sinful world, you should not think that you are Korean citizens. Instead of thinking that you are Korean, you should have the concept, "1 am God's person, a citizen of heaven, a heavenly person." You should live your life as if you are sharpening a dagger to ruthlessly cut out the sinful nature that permeates the customs and habits of the fallen world, including its language, clothes, shoes, and cosmetics. This kind of dedicated life can liberate you from the sinful world. There is no way to subjugate the sinful world unless we achieve victory over the secular history, habits, and bad customs that pervade the environment. You will have to be liberated from such bad environmental conditions if you want to become a true person, restore a true nation, and go to the Kingdom of Heaven. (97-327, 1978.4.1)

Your family should not become secularized or slaves of habit. You should not think, "Things will be better in the future even though it is terrible now." You are to be perfect now; the present is the problem. When the past and the present are perfected, the future will be perfect. Not having had a perfect day in the Garden of Eden still causes us to suffer the effects of the Fall.

The ideal is the place where the past, present, and future can be united into one. You should be able to offer up the present. God's desire is to set up the eternal stepping stone on earth. This is the historical point of synthesis. (21-77, 1968.10.20)

The reason for the destruction of the Israelites after they entered Canaan was that they were assimilated into the existing environment and became accustomed to its habits. They met their downfall because their mental focus settled on the life of eating and luxury. The Israelites even married gentiles as long as they came from wealthy families. They coveted power and were fond of knowledge. They perished because they assimilated the existing Canaanite culture and abandoned their spirit of being the chosen ones to the gentiles. (144-134, 1986.4.12)

Chronic habits are deep-seated evil habits. After your marriage, if you lead a habitual life while rearing your children, habits become part of your body. You no longer find time for prayer or special offerings in such an environment; there is no time for prayer when the children are making noise right beside you. (30-125, 1970.3.21)

From now on, we should cut off what needs to be cut off and divide what needs to be divided. You should not do as you please. The Unification Church must establish the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, it should restore the family rather than the individual. Those who cannot become exemplary in their family life will suffer worldwide criticism, even throughout all of heaven and earth. (30-230, 1970.3.23)

The Blessing is precious only after you fulfill your responsibility. Men should not use their fists and women should not curse. They should not swear in the secular way. There should be something different about you. The family is a micro-church. It should be the agency of heaven; it should be a family that God would want to visit. At least three families should live together.

In particular, what I want to say today is, first, your families should be the ones that many people can visit. Harmony among people is most important. Second, heavenly families should build solidarity with one another. At the very least, you should be completely united with the other families in your blessing trinity. (15-270, 1965.10.24)

We are not focused on the individual but on the family. Still, we are not trying to solve everything based only on the family. Rather, we should connect everything to the family. Hence, the endeavors made in the past while cultivating a solitary life of spirituality are not enough now. To this you should also add your own determination and resolution to exert yourself much more than you did in the past. In an instant, a life of challenging evil can easily leave one fatigued and lead one to retreat. When you have a family, you should work much harder than when you were single.

The family is in the central position. We cannot avoid reality. You should establish relationships of front and back, left and right, top and bottom in your family. It will not do to have the kind of faith that existed in the past. That kind of one-sided attitude in faith that you had in the past will not work. (27-85, 1969.11.26)

Blessed families should establish a family tradition and create a family code of conduct. You should also create a standard of education for children and rules of conduct for the family. If the parents have not done so, they will have nothing to say when they commit an error and their children press them hard. (21.67, 1968.11.3)

1.2. Family life

There must be clarification about the way of life individuals and also families should lead. (24-29, 1969.6.22)

The vague way of life that you have previously been living must change into a purposeful way of life. (18-178, 1967.6.4)

When we silently sacrifice everything for the sake of God, He will protect us. God surely will be at our side. (88-231, 1976.9.20)

Your family should be a family of love, and you should become a public-minded husband and wife, or parents, centered upon God's love. Do not be a husband and wife or parents who seek personal benefit and live only for your own sake. (111-257, 1981.2.22)

When the parents make serious efforts not to deviate from the heavenly way, the children will never be disobedient. (27-88, 1969.11.26)

The family should be restored. There is no greater act of witnessing than this. Husband and wife should get up early in the morning and pray tearfully while holding their children's hands. If they do so, their children will yearn for their parents when they have gone out and sing for them as they wait for their return. (21-88, 1966.11.3)

When you were alone, everything came to pass when you prayed. However, if there is a person opposing you in the family, you should bear the cross and persevere until you reach the original standard. Alone, you are like one car of a train and the family is like a locomotive. It is simple to restore an individual's mistake. But if there is a mistake in the family, it brings ruin. (27-86, 1969.11.26)

The family in which the children can say, "Dad, we love you! Mom, we love you! We really like it when you love each other!" becomes a place of rest for them. (30-282, 1970.4.4)

In a family there needs to be a foundation on which the son can respond enthusiastically to the father's call. Yet, even if you have children, what good is it without a nation? It is of no use to be in first place or in any other position as a family if we cannot build a nation. (29-73, 1970.2.21)

Blessed families are the manifestation of everyone's hope. However, if they fail to fulfill their given responsibility, they become a family of despair. (21-87, 1968.11.3)