Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman
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Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman |
Sons and daughters of God who have chosen to sacrifice their lives in order to fulfill their filial duties are true filial sons and daughters of God. Children of a family who sacrifice their lives to fulfill their duties to their parents are deemed filial sons and daughters. Those who sacrifice their lives for their sovereign and for their nation are considered the true patriots of their nation. Saints sacrifice their lives for the sake of the world. Those who sacrifice their lives for God and the cosmos are knows as holy (divine) sons and daughter of God.
Whenever a lesser condition of indemnity fails to be fulfilled then a greater condition of indemnity is required. Because Adam and Eve failed to attend God with absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience then greater sacrifice became necessary. In the Old Testament it says, "Obedience is better than sacrifice."
There is something holy and sacred when someone sacrifices his/her life for God and for others. Christianity's foundation as a religion was established by many martyrs who sacrificed their lives for God and for the sake of others. Those martyrs sacrificed their lives because of their faith and utmost devotion to Jesus Christ and his teachings.
Satan is the father, owner and ruler of this world. He wants no one to escape his kingdom. He will not willingly let anyone go. Many individuals with a heart of filial piety toward God have chosen death rather than remain enslaved to Satan and in order to open the way for many to be liberated. These martyrs set the foundation for the realm of Christianity to be expanded throughout the world. A similar call has gone out to sacrifice one's life in order to save many. Filial sons and daughters sacrifice their lives for the sake of their families, their tribes and their race. Patriots sacrifice their lives for the sake of their nation. Many saints throughout the world have sacrificed their lives beyond their race, beyond their nation, and beyond their religious sphere. Holy sons and daughters of God sacrifice their lives for the whole world and for the spiritual world.
In John 15:13 Jesus says: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Jesus' teachings have reached the original heart of many people. In an account of the 2006 Amish schoolhouse massacre there is a report that one schoolgirl who died in the incident had asked the killer to shoot her first, in hopes of saving the younger girls. This was then followed by her 11-year-old sister's appeal to the killer to shoot her next. Such love reaches the heart of God and we are brought to tears.
Jesus Christ, the son of God, after being rejected and persecuted and badly beaten, chose to sacrifice his life for the perpetrators. Making matters more difficult for him was his knowledge that God was experiencing great sadness and pain not only at seeing the death of Jesus but also knowing the path that the Jewish people and humanity would need to trod in order to separate from Satan and establish a foundation for the expansion of His providence.
Attendance is the love the object partner expresses towards the subject partner. The strength of one's love determines the value of the life we live. It is the heart of the object partner in making the offering that needs to be approved by God. To sacrifice one's life for God and for others is good. It is not good to sacrifice one's life for oneself. To sacrifice one's life for others as a form of filial attendance to God and True Parents and as representatives of God and True Parents has the same value as sacrificing one's life for God and True Parents.
There are two forms of sacrificing one's life. There is sacrifice unto death and there is the living sacrifice. In sacrifice unto death one gives one's physical life for the sake of God and humanity. The living sacrifice devotes his/her body, mind, heart, wealth, and deeds during his/her lifespan on earth in living for the sake of God and for others.
Filial attendance means to be an offering, a sacrifice for the sake of one's parents and one's family. To attend the sovereign and the nation as a sacrifice is called patriotism. To live as a sacrifice in attendance to divine principles and for the sake of the people of the world is the life of a saint. The greatest act of filial attendance is for someone to offer their life on the altar of God, either as an offering who loses his/her physical life, or as a living offering for the sake of God and True Parents and for the sake of others on earth and in the spiritual world. These are the holy sons and daughters who live their lives in total attendance of God.
There have been filial children throughout human history. So, if we want to single out the greatest filial child in all of history, who could we deem to be that greatest or most exemplary filial child?
A youth who demonstrates greater filial piety than an old person is the more precious of the two. Filial children come in all shapes and sizes. Filial piety is practiced at all social levels, by the poor and by the rich, by laborers and by beggars. A person who is still alive cannot truly be a filial child. A person who is still alive cannot enter the ranks of those we call filial children. There are so many people who died in order to fulfill their filial duty; so those who are awarded the medal of filial piety during their lifetime will be accused by all those who died in the cause of filial piety.
From the ranks of those who died, there will be those who did so while trying to fulfill their filial duty. There will be those who died attempting to procure medicine for a sick parent, and even among them, there will be those that went with their own money, and others that had to borrow money. The tougher the situation, the greater is its value. Likewise, a patriot does not become a patriot before death. (49-279, 1971.10.17)
In what position do you have to stand in order to become a filial child? You have to stand in the position where you can take responsibility for the path of death, the path of the greatest suffering. So what is the path that filial children must walk? Parents will say "Love your brothers and sisters more than us. Live for the sake of your siblings in the same way as you live for our sake." Fulfilling this is the way of the filial child. Parents will probably say that this is their will. (62-37, 1972.9.10)
God's will for the world and God's love for the world have to be passed down. This must be your legacy even if you die. All you need to realize is that people who devote their lives to bequeath this tradition will become filial children and patriots. We do not need a one-day filial son, or a one-day patriot. Even the most evil robber can become a filial son for a day and anybody can also become a patriot for a day. If you repent immediately, you can still become filial children and patriots. God wants people who live as filial children and patriots from the moment they are born to the day they die.
If you compare yourself to me, then I am probably a more filial child of God than you are. The reason is that I have lived my whole life in the way that God wants. Yet, I would not even dream of assuming that I have fully carried out my filial obligations. In fact, I feel ever more inadequate with the passage of time. When people think they have fully discharged their duties of filial piety and loyalty, they actually cease to become filial children and patriots.
The person who complains, saying, "I am a filial child. I am a patriot. Why do you not recognize me?" is the person who is retreating. You must understand that Heaven's filial child and Heaven's patriot is the person who realizes, as time goes on, how much more of his filial duty remains to be fulfilled. He then renews his commitment and goal to fulfill his filial duty as his life's philosophy. (35-341, 1970.11.1)
What kind of person is the true filial child among all filial children? Who can we say is more pious: a person who sacrificially attends his parents throughout his life, even into his seventies or eighties, or someone who sacrifices his life for them as a youth? Even if a son sacrificially attends his parents into his seventies or eighties, he cannot compete with the son who sacrifices his life for his parents in his youth. It is for this reason that the title patriot is conferred posthumously. From numerous historical examples, we know that true filial piety is determined at the transition from life to death. (48-65, 1971.9.5)
The filial child is the person who can accept what he dislikes more than what he likes. The person who sacrifices his precious love in order to fulfill his filial duty to his parents will be able to go anywhere in Heaven, and if there are twelve pearly gates, then not one of them will be blocked to him. All the gates will be wide open. (163-264, 1987.5.1)
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." What do those words mean? Those placed in the position to die for God's will must die. Then what happens when we die? Before we die, we belong to ourselves, but after we die, we belong to God. That is because we inherited the fallen lineage. Thus, our lives cannot be freed from satanic bondage before we die, but we bond together with God after death.
Which is stronger: life or death? Is life stronger than death or is death stronger than life? Death is stronger than life in the satanic world. Therefore, after coming to know God's will, do not hate death when you are in the position of having to die. You have to die anyway in the satanic world. Unless you die, you cannot resurrect. Unless we pass through one age, we cannot welcome another.
What kind of death is the Bible referring to? It does not end the life that God has eternally, but that life which inherited the fallen lineage of the satanic world. Thus, those who seek to die for the Will shall live. These words sound paradoxical, but from what we understand about the Fall and restoration, restoration cannot be achieved unless that is done. This is the normal logic of restoration.
The biggest question then is whether we can offer our lives. When I started out on this path, I asked myself if I was resolved to lay down my life. I was resolved to die. I also thought about how I would die as well as the last words I would utter. I did not think about how I could live.
Since God's providence revolved around Korea, I sought the position of death. Where was that? It was the place to confront the enemy, that is to say, the place where the enemy was to be found. I went out in search of the enemy head-quarters. Because the foundation of the Will based upon Korean Christianity fell into satanic hands, I went to North Korea, which was Satan's den, to recover it.
Because I had to fight the worldwide Communist Party from that time on, I went to North Korea. I entered the nation of the implacable foe, fully prepared to be chained in irons and imprisoned. Despite the atrocious ordeals that were imposed upon me, I never surrendered. I never lost God's dignity even at the point of extreme starvation. No matter how constricted my living conditions were, I never violated heavenly law.
In spite of my confinement, I was able to restore everything within those limited circumstances, and sought after the motivation for a new start and a new meaning of life before God. I started out doing that. Even though I was made to perform all manner of heavy labor, I maintained the conviction that I would never break, and that I would never die even if all others did.
The Unification Church did not start from the place of seeking life but that of seeking death. Yet were you resolved to die after you came to know the purpose of the Unification Church? When Colonel Heo, the head of special operations under the Freedom Party, and the government's chief suspect in the murder of Kim Chang-ryong, was executed, he was asked if he felt any remorse for having planned and ordered the murder. He said he felt no remorse and died like a man. When such assassinations or shootings occur, you should compare those executed with yourselves, and ask yourselves how you would die in comparison.
You might be driven by the conspiracies of your enemies to die as a great traitor, or you might die as a result of your comrades, friends, or loved ones, or others, plotting to harm you, but when you die, do so with the heart of benefiting the world. Die without enemies. If you are to die anyway, die after planting something, and without making any enemies. Be resolved to die while loving the enemy as a friend rather than otherwise. Jesus' prayer on the cross for his enemies was great in this way. (34-45, 1970.8.29)
Even so-called patriots must live for the sake of Heaven before they can be conferred the title of patriot by Heaven. The path of the filial child is the same. Thus, you can understand how valuable and precious it is. Everything we do, whether eating, seeing, speaking or acting, must be for this purpose.
We have to realize that we have the responsibility to fulfill our duty as filial children and patriots, even if it entails walking the path of suffering and tears in the place of God, the Lord of Heaven. Even if we collapse while trying to block God from walking the path of tears, we must pick ourselves up again and go this way in His place. The duties of loyalty and filial piety must be accomplished from this position. (41-157, 1971.2.14)
Filial children and patriots cannot truly be termed as such unless they walk with death to their dying day. Nobody is truly a patriot prior to death. No matter how much a person may have suffered, a word spoken today with regret, nullifies any qualification as a patriot. All the loyalty that someone may have previously demonstrated is undone by a single moment of betrayal. It is only when someone has crossed over the peak of death that it becomes possible to determine whether that person has fully discharged the duties of loyalty and filial piety.
Hence, loyalty and filial piety are part and parcel of leading a public life. People who give their lives for their country are called patriots, and children who give their lives for their parents are called filial children. Consider the case of two sons: one had been pious and the other impious until their parents' dying day, but in the parents' dying moments the filial son becomes impious while his brother repents and turns pious; in that moment their positions will be reversed. In that event, the standard of his actions on that one final day would allow him to be elevated and have the title of filial son conferred upon him. Those who pursue their goals unerringly to the end of their days will inherit glory. (64-75, 1972.10.24)
Jesus said to his followers, "Whoever wants to follow me must give his life and bear the cross. Those who want to live will lose their life and those who lose their life for my sake will gain their life." Without craving life in the satanic world, in front of God's will, my blood, flesh and bones will be burned and made into powder. The smell will be so wonderful. When shaken throughout the heavens and earth, one who loves God and the universe like that will not go to hell. He can live forever. "With all your heart and effort, you must love the Lord your God." (Blessing Pt. 1 -- 211)
I am more excited by a fallen person who is prepared to cast aside all fears of death and danger in order to confront grave global issues sincerely and earnestly than by someone who has toiled unremittingly over a prolonged period. Whoever ends their life for God in this way is assured of going to a wonderful place in the spirit world. (18-280, 1967.6.12)
Parents must provide the education for their children to progress through the stages of filial children, patriots, saints and divine sons and daughters. They have to teach them to perfect the dutiful way of children of filial piety, patriots, saints and divine sons and daughters, all the way up to God. If there is a parent who teaches in this way, then would not God think, "My goodness! That parent is doing what a parent should do. He is doing what a real teacher should do. He is doing what a real leader should do"?
When God says, "You are qualified to be a real parent. You are qualified to be a teacher," then you become a father who has the qualification to be a leader, and, beyond that, a king. Today, the concept of filial piety hardly exists in western culture. The concept of becoming a patriot does not exist. The concept of becoming a saint does not exist. The concept of becoming divine sons and daughters does not exist. This is why cultures will perish.
God wants you all to become divine sons and daughters. Then, who wants you to become a saint? The world does. The country wants you to be a patriot. The family wants you to become a filial child. This is the way of absolute truth.(285-218, 1997.5.19)
A wife who sacrifices her life for her husband is called a virtuous woman. A filial child sacrifices his life for his parents. A patriot sacrifices his life for his country. However, from the heavenly standard, loyalty and filial piety are fulfilled when you offer your eternal life. Our bodies die, but the standard of a heavenly virtuous woman is only established when she offers her eternal life to God, to her husband, and to her parents. You have to devote your entire lives to God.
That is why the Bible teaches us to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind. So what is the standard of "all"? You have to be better than all other patriots, all other filial children, and all other virtuous women in the world. If not, then God's dignity cannot be established. Even in the satanic world, there have been many patriots and virtuous women until now. Yet God's dignity cannot be established if the standard for being a patriot and a virtuous woman is the same as in the satanic world. (9-108, 1960.4.24)
What then is going to happen if, faced with the last days, we unfold a crusade today to save pitiful humankind, which has been embraced in the satanic world and is the condition of God's sorrow? If there is a person who gets sacrificed to save humankind in this endeavor, God will build his tomb and reveal his footprints after his death. You who are confronted with a dead end road must remember the Bible verse, "Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33) (Sermons Vol. 4 -- 179, 1958.5.11)
I am not suggesting that we now need to learn about a God who is in a state of happiness. You may or may not want to do that. It is not important. What we have to know first is that we have to become filial children, patriots and virtuous women. The person who is to establish filial piety emerges out of difficulties. Loyalty is not fulfilled when a country is in a comfortable position. Loyalty is not realized when the country is enjoying prosperity and its people are well off. A person can only be called a patriot of the nation when, at the time of his nation's greatest crisis, its gravest peril, he asks, "Will you die or will I die? Will the whole country perish or survive?" If, at this moment, he dedicates himself wholeheartedly, risks his life, fulfills his duty and successfully alters the destiny of his country, then he can be called a patriot. The historical records show that it is in the times of difficulty that the great names appear. These loyal, filial and virtuous people are remembered forever. (151-219, 1962.12.15)
In going the way of filial piety for the sake of God, even if you have to die away from home, you should protect whatever environment you are in such a way that will earn you the appreciation of its inhabitants. Only by bequeathing such a legacy can you go to heaven. If you do not, you will not. (280-41, 1996.10.13)
That's how different religious leaders are. Stepping over human ethics and pursuing an elevated world, they have elevated values, elevated human ethics and elevated human heart, i.e. they have pursued heavenly ethics and heavenly heart. They worked very hard to digest heavenly ethics and heavenly heart, trying to return and reconnect to human ethics, often losing their life in the effort to make it happen, but preferring to continue rather than avoid death. Would not such a man become a great saint? You must understand this. Then what can you call such a man: a good man or a bad man?''…
If there were ten patriots, one patriot may have led a normal life and died a natural death, while another may have fought a furious fight against thousands of enemies, carrying the fate of his nation. Which is the patriot of greater significance? There is no question, there is no comparison. Isn't that so? And, in being hit by a bullet and dying, there will be those who die during the first attack, and there will be others with many, many wounds. Although they both died, the more miserable the way one died, the more people will respect one as a patriot. This is true isn't it? (No, it is not true.) Are you saying, then, that the more miserable the process of dying the more valuable? (Yes!) There is no mistake about this.
Then among numerous sons of filial piety who live for the sake of God, there must be a top son of filial piety. It is not such a nice way of referring to such a person, but young people like the colloquial.
Obviously some sons of filial piety will be better than others. There will be some who, when hungry, will eat a meal and bring the remaining food to their parents, saying, "You must be hungry, mother and father. Please eat." They too are sons of filial piety, because some will not even do that. (Laughter.)
If you explore into the history of filial piety to find the greatest son of filial piety, who would be the one? The one who would serve his parents with blood and sweat, and who, as if that were not enough, would sell his own blood to support his parents. To bring what he can is a son of filial piety, too, but if the other appears, who supports his parents by selling his own blood, who is the greater son of filial piety?
Would any parents teach their children saying, "You must forsake your life to become sons of filial piety?" (No.) "This is the way true sons of filial piety are made. All parents covet true sons of filial piety. Therefore you must lose your life to serve me." Are there any parents who would teach their son in this way? (No.) Then what? Are parents not educating their sons to become sons of filial piety? We will come to this later.
If there are two types of sons of filial piety, one will die for the sake of his parents without regard for his own recognition or the potential value of his existence, and the other one will serve and die for his parents thinking that he could have been such and such a man and should have become such and such a son, but that he is dying instead. Which son would have the greater filial piety? (The one who does not even think of himself.) You know that.
What is the saint of all saints like? This is an important question. Is he like the son of the most filial piety? We all have pledged that we will become sons of filial piety. But it is not easy. The loyal subject (loyalist) becomes one only after death, though we can be candidates. (Laughter.) Historic patriots all became such at the risk of their lives. Thus to compete and become such you must go through much harder times before you become a champion. Are you all going to be sons of filial piety? (We will.) Do you want to become loyal subjects? (Yes.) Really? Good. Then do you want to be saints? (Yes.) Those who dedicate their lives for the sake of kings we call patriots; those who dedicate their lives for their parents are called sons of filial piety; and those who dedicate their lives for heaven are called saints. We must know what saints are like. What are saints like? We must know this. We must dedicate all we have. "My ears exist for him, my eyes, my limbs and whole body." Then you are in the rank of saints.
You do not just dedicate your life for God, but you do that with the motivation of leaving the holy tradition which will be kept throughout human history. Many give their lives for their beloved ones so that the loved ones can remain within the teachings of saints, too. In other words they are willing to die with the mind of love for the country and the world and to leave such tradition behind.
Within this context, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, "Father, if you can, let this cup pass from me, but do not do as I will, but as You will." "Do not do as I will, but as you will" means that there is a correspondence of two wills. He did not simply say, "Father, do as You will." The Father's will and Jesus' will are in correspondence, aren't they? (Yes.) But many people say that Jesus' will is the same thing as God's will. But my will and the will of God are different. Isn't it so? I do not equal God's will.
Then what is will? It was to indicate the purpose which Jesus was going to achieve, and not Jesus himself. Isn't it so? (Yes.) The future of the world was at stake in the will, and the world progresses in the course of that will. In this process of history, races are formed, and nations and the world are formed.
Through this discipline one comes to respect the will of the Father, overcomes his own personal interests, comes to give up all trivial matters, pushes himself onto higher level and enters the domain of sainthood. If we reach this level, is it bad or good? Answer me, is it good or bad? (Good.) It is good, but it has differing contents. It is bad for me but it is good for God. Is it good to die? (Yes.) What are you talking about? (Laughter) It is not good to die for myself, but for God, it is good. (Public Venue, 1972.7.16)
When the True Parents are here, those who seek to live shall live. Those who seek to live with the True Parents will live. Without the True Parents everyone had to do the opposite. Paradoxically, without seeking death, you could not find the path of the True Parents or the place to attend them. The spirit world must be liberated, and the earth must be liberated. Since the time of Adam and Eve, there has never been a person who could remove the great nail that was driven into God's heart. The good ancestors throughout history all had to shed blood. Their anguish was not released. (301-166, 1999.4.25)
What is meant by the teaching of religions? Because two ways came into being due to the fall, it seeks to block people from going the evil way. Because people think about ways to put themselves in the forefront, in order to completely break that religion tells them, "Hey you, go to the place of death. Die for others!" If it succeeds in making people die for others, it spreads to the world immediately. Do you understand?
When one gives his life for others, when one sacrifices for public problems, then one can go anywhere in the world without any difficulties. Therefore Jesus came to this earth and taught that those who were willing to die would live and those who sought to live would die. If we think of this from a worldly viewpoint it is foolishness, it's the rambling of a madman. But if we look at it in view of this principle, we exclaim, "Wow, that's how it goes!" Those who seek to die live, and those who seek to live die. (56-180)
Going forward at the intersection of life and death is the way of filial piety and loyalty. What I mean by this is that you should go forward at the risk of death in the position in which you can express the utmost value of living and dying. Without passing through this position, you cannot set up the way of filial piety and loyalty. This is the way to march on preparing for death. Even if you fall down, it doesn't matter when you risk your life for the purpose. If you have to die, it's better to die while going straight forward.
In the perilous situation of your parents having died and your family going down, you shouldn't make a fuss about a little bleeding at the tip of your finger. You should have the attitude, "Let it bleed; I have my work to do." When the nation's survival is at risk, you don't have any extra time to worry about your survival, your children's schooling, or your spouse. (Blessing Pt. 2 -- 126-127)
In the fallen family of Adam and Eve, Cain was not able to inherit a true parental tradition, and neither was Abel. How exasperating it is, and causing such great resentment! That's why they are pitiable. That children cannot inherit a good parental tradition even though they have parents is stifling.
But for the Unification Church members centering upon Father, Cain can inherit the tradition and so can Abel. You should feel grateful to live in this time of great benefit. This is a very terrifying place. This is not the place that you pioneered with your own means and tactics. This is the place to give birth to children only with the benefit of being granted the privilege by the True Parents. Therefore, you should be able to live and die together centering upon the heartistic union. If you encounter a situation in which you have to die instead of them, and retreat, you kill your parents twice.
To Peter, John and James, Jesus was in the position of their father; nevertheless, they ran away when their father was on the way to his death. They were extremely undutiful.
Looking back at such a history causing resentment, you should be determined to protect your parents at the risk of your own life, to keep the way of filial piety. At the risk of sacrificing yourself, you should proceed this way for sure…
The chief priests are the first ones to experience the most miserable situations. Therefore, blessed families should be the first ones to experience misery. (Blessing Pt.2 -112)
What kind of example should we leave on earth? Filial son? Loyal subject? Even though you become a filial son or loyal subject, or if you leave your name in the history of your country, that does not give you real meaning. This is because a filial son and loyal subject in the fallen world do not have the original heavenly standard. Accordingly, in order to reach the original heavenly standard, one has to be the most filial son among filial sons, the most loyal subject among loyal subjects, and the most exemplary woman among exemplary women. When is that time? Now is the time.
Therefore, those who want to enter the Kingdom of God should live miserably and die miserably. Are these good words or bad words? [Good words!] Then, are the words: "Go out and desperately lead people to the church!" good or bad words? [Good ones!] Then, why don't you go out and work hard? You should die for the sake of others. If you die for the sake of others, the world, and the universe, you will be treated as the subject of the great universe.
The most valuable things are the creation, humans, and God. Those who sacrificed, risking their lives to embrace the world from the position of goodness, are essentially sacrificing for the sake of those three things. Therefore, God has to compensate them with something more valuable than those three things. Because Jesus had such a viewpoint, he proclaimed, "Members of your family are your enemy," and "He who seeks to die shall live, while he who seeks to live shall die." Otherwise, people cannot go to the Kingdom of God. Thus, Jesus' proclamation was the most wonderful news. Do you understand? It was the most magnificent, valuable, and absolute gospel.
Thus, the Unification Church does not teach that one should live a rich and comfortable life. Even though you may live a miserable and poor life, and die in a tragic situation, your sacrificial life will be resurrected at the time of blossom. Every holy person will gather together and adore you before your holy life. What kind of life do you want to create? True Father is going to let the members of the Unification Church have an extremely hard time, and make you filial children and loyal subjects. Do you feel good or not? [Good!] How shall True Father treat people who are not willing to go such a way? In the relation between father and child, brother and brother, teacher and disciple, one should say firmly, "Father, please cut off my bone! Elder brother, please cut off my bone! Teacher, please cut off my bone!" It is true love to make some one overcome his present difficulties by kicking him with your foot. (Spirit World II -- 32)
If a king were compiling a list of historic patriots, and he considered a possible number one patriot, but in the process he found out that this person loved his son more than he loved the king, the king would mind. In the event that he loved his wife more than the king, he would fail to be considered a patriot. If he betrayed the king for his own wishes, he would be a traitor. However, if he sacrificed everything, his wife, children and even his life, and loved and served the king, he would become a loyal subject who would long be worshiped in the history of patriots. This is the principle. (Public Venue, 1972.7.16)
Even though you should stand up with the victorious flag of tomorrow, centering on conditions to be praised as the filial sons and daughters of God, with the internal and external qualifications, with the character that Satan cannot accuse, when I take a look, you are in a big mess. Therefore you must have new faith from this moment. Do you understand? Peter in Jesus' time, John and James -- you should not be the descendants of those betrayers. Suppose Teacher is going to the place of death. Could you surely go beyond the standard of Peter, John and James and block the Teacher's road of death, and place yourself on the road of death instead of Teacher? You must have asked yourself this. Young and old, man or woman, all should absolutely make this pledge. Without thinking like this, you cannot liberate Jesus' grief without liberating Jesus' grief; you cannot come to the Blessing. (Blessing Pt.1 -- 279)
When I tell you youngsters "work and suffer," you probably think "Aigo! (Good Lord!) Son-saeng-nim! (Teacher!) I've just been through high school; from year one in junior High to year three in Senior High . . . time to stop, isn't it? You say more? Not me. I'm done for." But, wait. Think about it.
For a patriot, or a child of filial piety, if he's not dead yet, then without doing all he can, even unto death, he's not really a true patriot.
There's really no such thing as a patriot before he's dead. Why? No matter how much hardship he has gone through, if today he utters just one word of regret, he can't be a true patriot. No matter how much of a patriot he has been, if he turns his back on his country right now, then he becomes a traitor. Isn't that so? You can only become a person who has fulfilled the letter of patriotism and filial piety after you have been loyal and filial up to the time when you pass over the frontier of death. Absolutely true, right? [Yes.] That's why as far as the public path is concerned; the course for loyalty and filial piety is the same. We call someone who gives his or her life for their country a patriot, and a son who gives his life for his parents, a filial child. (64-75)
When I look at myself, however, there is the issue of whether I can become the king of victory or not. I have to be able to say that I have become one with that heart and have become completely inseparable from it. In other words, the pivotal axis of your life has to be the conviction that you are with the Father and that you are together with the True Parents. Only if each of you becomes the self that can continue on the same course for thousands, even tens of thousands, of years will a linkage be established between the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world. This means that you will be the master of Heaven and the master of Earth. Then, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world will be opened up for the first time.
From this perspective, such a bond is not something that can be formed in a position of comfort. It is formed in a position of extreme difficulty; a position so serious that it could not possibly be any more serious; a position where life and death are on the line; a position where there is an increased level of risk.
That is why if we look at the Bible it says: "Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it." Jesus sounds as though he is saying something out of tune with the times, but this is the normal approach and attitude for going the way of restoration and for progressing through the world of heart. It is clear that each person is the self who must strive to achieve such a state, and that path will be the true course. (31-74)
Have you determined to do the will of God even if you lose your life? The fact that you do not do like this, is an insult to God. It is an insult to the good ancestors. It is an insult to Teacher and it is an act of betrayal. What is the fall? Centering on the self in order to make progress, isn't it? No matter what type of man or woman you are and no matter what kind of suffering or trials you have endured, first of all you must have faith in the True Parents. You must have absolute faith. My heart toward the True Parents cannot be changed no matter what tempts me. Even if I lose my life ten times, I will not deny them. Like that, you must have faith. That is the problem. If you are not like this, you must repent. Do you understand? What this means is to have absolute faith. (Blessing Pt. 1 -- 285-286)
I am not suggesting that we now need to learn about a God who is in a state of happiness. You may or may not want to do that. It is not important. What we have to know first is that we have to become filial children, patriots and virtuous women. The person who is to establish filial piety emerges out of difficulties. Loyalty is not fulfilled when a country is in a comfortable position. Loyalty is not realized when the country is enjoying prosperity and its people are well off. A person can only be called a patriot of the nation when, at the time of his nation's greatest crisis, its gravest peril, he asks, "Will you die or will I die? Will the whole country perish or survive?" If, at this moment, he dedicates himself wholeheartedly, risks his life, fulfills his duty and successfully alters the destiny of his country, then he can be called a patriot. The historical records show that it is in the times of difficulty that the great names appear. These loyal, filial and virtuous people are remembered forever. (151-219, 1962.12.15)
Then do our Unification Church believers have a Unification Church nation? Do they or don't they? Do we have the Unification Church or not? We have the church, don't we? When this church group seeks to lose its life, what happens? It will find it, and when it finds it life, it will die. Christians, are you seeking to lose your lives or to find your lives? In the Last Days that is what will be compared. The religious group which sought to sacrifice itself for the nation will live together with the nation; the religious groups which caused loss to the nation will be ruined together with the nation. This is a historical, absolute rule. (55-221)
Where do you discover the highest love of God? Not in the palace. You can find the way to occupy the highest love of God in the bottom of the hell where you are dying shedding your blood. You should know this. When I was in the Communist dungeon, the spirit world witnessed to people even without my saying a word. I had disciples who were determined to offer their lives and do anything for me. If I were a criminal, there would be many ways to break out of the prison. God works with you in such situation. Do you understand?
For example, my disciples made cakes with wheat powder and hid them under their arm or in their crotch to avoid discovery during the physical examination. They brought the cakes to me during lunch time. We shared them and ate together. A piece of cake I ate at that time is priceless. You cannot even buy it with hundreds of millions of dollars in this world. You should know that. That is more valuable than your life.
Those people say they can never forget the experience at that time. I cannot forget the experience either. How much we were united at that time. I knew them and they also knew who I am. They understood at night and in daytime, and we lived in this way. If it had become necessary for them to die for me, they would have offered their heads many times.
I was the same. I was also risking my life for them. You could not go to that stage. Do you understand what I am talking about? Three years passed, and whatever your situation is, you should know that you still have a long way to go to experience the deep world of love. If you are deprived of your life and lose all you have, only then do you enter the realm of experience that enables you to say, "This is the best in the world,
Did you have that experience? You have to go on. You should know that there is still a way to go remaining. When you voluntarily go on such a path with gratitude and digest it, you can unite your spirit and body and connect with God's love. But, you stopped going and complained, saying, "I know all about the Unification Church, I think," But it is not correct.
If you cannot go on that path, you will be separated from me in the spirit world. I am in a different realm, and you say, "Oh" underneath. You can go there. You go there and see whether I told you a lie. You will know everything once you die.
If you want to know, go ahead and die immediately. You should not die, saying that is right. (Laughter.) If you die, there is no way to come back to life, so you will be in big trouble. If you find out it was true and you are not prepared, what will you do? You cannot come back. So, you have to believe and prepare. (91-175)
Then from where does True Love begin? This is True Love: After you sacrifice your own life and are resurrected, you try to invest again, more than three times. Since we have inherited fallen lineage, even at the cost of our own lives we have to persevere and overcome. Therefore, "whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33) Jesus followed this way when he came to this world. That is why he could lead the world, not by selfish individualism, but by altruism. …
Regardless of the degree of opposition, the person who loves the most will become the owner. Those who love more, invest more, who give more and forget what they have given, will become central figures. This is cosmic law.
In the future, please follow the way that in the family you offer filial piety to your parents, become a loyal citizen before the nation, become a saint before the world, and become a Holy Son or Daughter before God. Whoever can stand without shame before the family, nation, world, and Heaven and Earth, will be protected in the center of the cosmos and can then realize a family that receives God's highest love. (World Peace -74, 1997.6.16)
A true parent will never say to their child, "You have become a filial child, so, you do not need to become a patriot. Do not go the way of a patriot." A true parent must teach that filial child, "You have to sacrifice your family and walk the path of a patriot. You must serve your country, fulfill the duty of a saint, and you have to sacrifice your duty as a saint in order to go the way that Heaven desires. And beyond this, you have to sacrifice Heaven and Earth to find God."
People become filial children only by sacrificing themselves for their families. Further, in order to become patriots, people must be willing to sacrifice their entire families in order to save their nation. Only in this way can they become patriots.
Saints are people who are willing to sacrifice their country in order to save the world. Divine children must be willing to sacrifice the world in order to realize God's Nation and Land, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Humankind has been ignorant of this truth. You need to invest and sacrifice yourselves. If not, then the ideal of one world or one country will never be accomplished. (285-218, 1997.5.19)
It does not matter how many Christians there are. God wants people who are resolved to go anywhere anytime at His command -- people who are awaiting His command with a joyful heart. There are millions of Christians in the world. They are proud of their numbers, but how many of them are like this? If someone at sword point were asked to allow themselves to be sacrificed on God's altar, but they refused to do so, then they would be nothing. This era requires people whose hearts are burning with desire to fulfill their filial duty. It requires people who will risk their lives for Heaven and strive for Heaven. I think these people will be called Heaven's Revolutionary Soldiers of the Last Days.
God will be looking for individuals, families, peoples and nations who are one with His ideology in seeking to fulfill their responsibility to the world. God has long sought such individuals. Such people must comfort God's heart and demonstrate loyalty and filial piety before Heaven, and resolve all the circumstances of Heaven and Earth. So you have to become a person to whom God can say, "You are the person who can take responsibility for this age. When I see you, I have hope for tomorrow. You can achieve the victory in today's fight." This kind of individual is absolutely essential.
God must be able to say to that kind of person, "You are truly the bone of my bones, the flesh of my flesh, and the heart of my heart." No matter how many ancestors we have, and no matter how many people there are in this age, unless a person appears on this earth about whom God can say from the depth of His heart, "You are the greatest ancestor, unparalleled in human history," then humankind will be unable to escape the sadness brought about by the Fall of the first ancestors of humankind. We, who were born in this plight, need to attend a new set of parents. (15-216, 1965.10.10)
Therefore, in order to progress in the way of becoming filial children, you must endure persecution, and many trying moments. You have to become confident people who can overcome all difficulties. Rather than reverting to the path of sorrowful bitterness with thoughts of retreat, you must become people who determinedly overcome the hardships and difficulties of the ages. You must distinguish between the paths that lead to life or death, and press on to make a new start overflowing with the hope of tomorrow. You have to know that this is what God and history require of you. (1988.2.23)
Who is closer to the center: someone who is willing to sacrifice love to sustain life, or someone who is willing to sacrifice life for the sake of love? Who is closer to the truth? One who sacrifices his life to attain love is close to the center and close to what is true. This is because the one willing to sacrifice love for life is self-centered, whereas the one willing to sacrifice life for love is not. (174-15, 1988.2.23)
Tamar put her life on the line by having a relationship with her father-in-law. She might have been stoned to death immediately after that, or perhaps the two families might have perished. In such circumstances, she abandoned her honor and dignity. Her husband had died, so she received her husband's younger brother, who also died. The third son was too young and the lineage blessed by God could not be passed on through him. Thus, Tamar pledged to continue the blessed lineage by putting aside her dignity and honor, even if it meant sacrificing her life. Tamar's sacrificial heart is precious. (47-124, 1971.8.22)
Judah was Tamar's father-in-law, representing the father. Tamar conceived a son through her father-in-law as a result of the "father" and daughter uniting, while also representing the positions of God and Eve. According to Genesis, Chapter 38, Judah had three sons, and Tamar was the wife of the first son. Her husband died, and the Jewish custom was that she had to bear a son by the second brother, but he also passed away, and the third son was too young. As Tamar believed that maintaining the restored lineage of God was the most important thing, she had to resort to the final means of conceiving a child through Judah, her father-in-law. At that moment, she had to forget her pride, and was prepared to even sacrifice her life. She put on the clothes of a prostitute, sat on the road where her father-in-law would pass, tempted Judah, who was going to the farm, and had a relationship with him. (55-114, 1972.4.1)
Humanity has established sovereign nation after sovereign nation in order to establish such a unified sovereignty, nation and domain. In this process, a great number of people lost their lives, innumerable citizens were sacrificed, countless nations were destroyed, and many sovereign powers were replaced by others. Thus, is it not obvious that the people who were sacrificed, the people standing on God's side and those who sacrificed their lives for these causes would wish for us to one day establish God's nation and world? (72-292, 1974.9.1)
Walking the path of sacrifice in the position of martyrdom even to the extent of shedding blood, I have been developing a movement of loving God and loving even my enemies. We too must develop this movement in our families, societies and nations. (CSG -- 2126)
Jesus became a servant of servants in front of God, and then he was crucified and died. A person is said to be righteous when he dies for his country in the wretched position of a servant of servants. A person who dies for his country is a patriot. If a person humbles himself as a servant of servants and is grateful to serve his parents, then that person receives the title of being a filial child. This is the highest point of morality in the human world, the core point. It is essential that you understand that this is the core point. In this we can realize that, rather than living a public life for God, becoming a servant is the way to become a more righteous man. Rather than being a servant for your country, becoming a servant in a worse position than an ordinary servant is the way to become a more patriot. Rather than living for your parents, sacrificing yourself in the position of a servant is the way to become a filial child. (88-294, 1976.10.3)
The Bible says, "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." This is not referring to dirty, immoral people losing their lives. Exemplary people who are willing to sacrifice their lives and die after having expressed their loyalty fully in the position of filial sons and daughters, patriots, and virtuous women are the heavenly people who have reached a standard higher than the filial sons and daughters and patriots of the fallen world. Such people will live, even in a situation facing death, if they are willing to sacrifice their lives. Even if one had many lives to live, if he has gone to the bottom of hell he has no relationship with God. Bluntly speaking, that is what it means. (261-58, 1994.5.22)
A wife who sacrifices her life for her husband is called a virtuous woman. A filial child sacrifices his life for his parents. A patriot sacrifices his life for his country. However, from the heavenly standard, loyalty and filial piety are fulfilled when you offer your eternal life. Our bodies die, but the standard of a heavenly virtuous woman is only established when she offers her eternal life to God, to her husband, and to her parents. You have to devote your entire lives to God. That is why the Bible teaches us to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind. (9-108, 1960.4.24)
How happy would your grandparents be to give up their lives out of love for your parents? Also, how happy would parents be to love their children even at the risk of their lives? You say that you are willing to die for the sake of love, but true love is actualized when a grandson dies for the sake of his grandfather. We can conclude that a true family is one exemplifying such sacrificial love between grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children, among siblings, and between spouses. (162-140, 1987.4.5)
What on earth is original love? It is the love by which parents can give their life for their child. Their love goes beyond their own life. Why must this be so? Originally, the universe was not created for the sake of life. Because it was created for the sake of love, it is love that comes first. Thus, it is rather that life goes along with love, and not that love goes along with life. Thus, genuine love acts by sacrificing life and by going beyond life. You should know that this is the love of Heaven, a love that can connect with the universe. (132-152, 1984.5.31)
Parents have given their very lives for the sake of their children. Children should likewise sacrifice their lives for the sake of their parents. Since life comes from love, sacrificing one's life in front of that essential love is a logical conclusion. I say that this is not a contradiction. (Blessed Family -- 1009, Korean Edition)
If someone at sword point were asked to allow themselves to be sacrificed on God's altar, but they refused to do so, then they would be nothing. This era requires people whose hearts are burning with desire to fulfill their filial duty. It requires people who will risk their lives for Heaven and strive for Heaven. I think these people will be called Heaven's Revolutionary Soldiers of the Last Days.
God must be able to say to that kind of person, "You are truly the bone of my bones, the flesh of my flesh, and the heart of my heart." No matter how many ancestors we have, and no matter how many people there are in this age, unless a person appears on this earth about whom God can say from the depth of His heart, "You are the greatest ancestor, unparalleled in human history," then humankind will be unable to escape the sadness brought about by the Fall of the first ancestors of humankind. We, who were born in this plight, need to attend a new set of parents. (15-216, 1965.10.10)
We can never go to heaven without sacrificing our lives. If you could go there you would see for yourselves whether anyone there did not do that. That is how it is with the essence of faith. (37-248, 1970.12.27)