Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply grateful that you have taken the time from your busy schedules to help me make today's gathering such a success. Our theme for today is "The Path of Life for All Humankind."

Today the world is lost in great confusion and cries out in agony. We face endless conflict as individuals, in our families, in our nations and in the world. As individuals, we are confronted with inner turmoil between our mind and body. Our families are plagued with the moral decadence of our young people and the breakdown of family-centered traditions. Historical rivalries lead to distrust and even war among our nations, fanning the embers of uncertainty and hopelessness in the world. The solution to all these problems lies in experiencing an ideal love relationship with God.

Throughout history, humankind has sought to answer the basic question: Why are we born? Some have concluded that they were born for the sake of their country. Others have decided that they were born for the sake of their parents. Still others believe they were born for their own sake. People of faith believe they are born for the sake of God.

Yet, it is not enough to say that God created the universe for the sole benefit of human beings, or even for Himself. The creation of humankind involved the cooperation of many beings and elements. Although each had its own inherent purpose, they had to be aligned to initiate the creative process. God's purpose in creating, the angel's purpose in assisting, nature's purpose in providing the materials, and even the human purpose for being created must all be consistent. Each one must be pleased. There must be some common content that will be pleasing to God, to the angels, to the rest of creation, and to human beings themselves.

This common content must be something that gives greater happiness and joy the longer it is possessed. It should be something that, once we possess it, we would never let it go. It cannot be external in nature. It must be something internal and invisible. Things like knowledge, money and power are merely collateral conditions that are needed in people's lives. We are not born into the world for the purpose of possessing them. Such external things may exist in a reciprocal relationship with humankind, but only temporarily, not eternally.

God has no need for money. If Almighty God ever needed money, He could create as much as He desired. Also, we know that God is the root of all knowledge, since He created the universe through certain principles and laws. Furthermore, the Creator God is the subject of power, so He has no need to seek power.

What, then, is this common content? It is something we cannot achieve through human effort alone. This is because human effort cannot control the fundamental origin of life. This content must be something capable of directing the motivation, course, and even final destination of each person's life.

From this perspective, this common content can only be true love. Human beings are born in love and are destined to go the path of love. People even die for love. This shows that love is more valuable than life itself. Moreover, we see that love precedes life. That is why people willingly offer even their lives for the sake of love.

Love is eternal. When human beings reach the state of consciousness in which they are able to love the universe, all the doors of the universe open to them. For example, I am just a tiny being occupying this space right here. But centered on love, I can reciprocate in relationship with a being of any size or magnitude. Let us say that God is an extremely large being. Then by the power of love, I can rise to a position reciprocal to that of the Absolute God. This is possible because love is an attribute of God.

Thus, a person who recognizes and keeps God's covenant of love can enjoy freedom anywhere in the universe. Such an individual, called by God to represent all humankind centering on this cosmic love, would be the Messiah. Jesus is that representative. We can never find this cosmic love without going through the Messiah. It is reasonable to say that all people on Earth will have to follow the Messiah. Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). The meaning of this would be clearer if the word love were added: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and the love; no one comes to the Father, but by me."

The Divine Principle of the Unification Church teaches that energy is produced when a subject and object become one. In a family, parents hold the position of the subject partner and children hold the position of object partner. Once they reciprocate in a relationship of love, they become one entity -- a true family. This entity then becomes a new object, which can enter into unity with a larger subject. If God is that subject, then the parent-child unity becomes one with God. We can also say that when a perfect subject-object relationship is formed with God, centering on His ideal of love, God and humankind can exist in total oneness. When the realm of love between God and humanity becomes a reality, the light of love will shine throughout the universe as bright and constant as the sun.

Not only is each person a life-connecting entity in whom the lives of both parents are brought together as one, but we are also partners in our parents' love. We are one with their love. Furthermore, we are one with their ideals, including happiness and peace.

Each person is connected to the lifeline, love-line and ideal-line of their parents, and no one can sever these lines. Even God cannot sever them, nor can the universe. In fact all the forces of the universe work together to safeguard these lines. This is because the parents are the cause and the children are the result. The parents and children are one, centering on love. Cause and effect become one to form a substantial realm of love. This is a principle of the universe.

Each person comes into the world through three sets of parents. The first parent is the material world. Elements from the world of matter combine to form each person as the center of the material world and as a complex material being. Thus, it can be said that these physical elements themselves are the ancestors who gave us birth. On the other hand, the material world is an extension of us. The universe is created so that matter can settle only in the ideal of love. It is only in the ideal of love that all cells can live in tranquility. But this is all ruined whenever a person becomes angry.

Our second set of parents is our physical parents. By giving birth to us, our parents gave us a particular form, and to this extent they are the masters of our lives. However, no matter how hard they may try, these parents cannot be the masters of our love.

The master of love is God. In this context, God exists so that love can be expanded into the entire universe and made eternal. Because God is the subject of love, He becomes the parent centering on love. That is why God is our third parent. So we have three sets of parents.

Human life can be divided into three periods: life in the womb of about ten months, a physical life of about a hundred years, and life in the spirit world that lasts tens of thousands of years into eternity.

If we look at our own faces, we also see three stages: the mouth, the nose and the eyes. These reflect the three periods of our lives. The mouth symbolizes the period in the womb, which is a world of material. The nose symbolizes the period on Earth, which is the world of humanity. The eyes symbolize the period in Heaven, which is the spirit world.

To the fetus, the aquatic world of its mother's womb is a world of total freedom. Interestingly, although it is constrained within the confines of the womb, the fetus feels completely free. In the womb, it can't stretch its legs as much as it would like, and the fetus relies on an umbilical cord to breathe and receive nutrients for survival since its nose and mouth are both useless in this world. Nevertheless, to the fetus, the world in the womb is one of complete freedom.

As soon as the baby is born, it begins to cry. At the same time, it starts to breathe through its nose and becomes linked to the second world, the world of air.

As the baby leaves the womb to enter the world of air, the umbilical cord is destroyed along with the water sac and everything it needed in the world of the womb. With the death of these things, the baby is born into the bosom of its new mother, the planet Earth. Once born, the baby begins to eat with its mouth and breathe with its nose. The food we eat on Earth nourishes our physical bodies, but it does not contain the essential element of life. This life element is nothing other than love. Thus, while we are in this world, we also need to breathe the air of love. We need to inhale this air of love from our mother and father.

A newborn baby automatically searches for its mother's breast, following the vibrations of her love. Whether she is beautiful or ugly does not matter to the baby. The only thing that matters is that she is its mother. It is a sacred scene manifested in limitless variety. We are born in love and we grow by receiving love.

Once we are born, our parents take responsibility to see that we become good human beings during our life on Earth. Our parents act on behalf of the world, the nation and the family to teach and provide for us. We receive material things and education from our parents so that we may become complete as individuals. Based on this, we then become linked to a horizontal foundation of love, which is marriage.

Parents take responsibility for us until we marry. After marriage, we inherit the love shared by our mother and father. When we marry and start rearing our own children, we begin to understand how much our parents loved us and thus come to inherit parental love. In this way, the individual becomes capable of receiving and giving love completely. This is how each of us matures as a complete man or woman.

We are born and mature in the vertical love of our parents, and later we engage in horizontal love. This is the only way we can find the integrated realm of love. Heaven and Earth together form a spherical world, covering all the dimensions of top and bottom, left and right, as well as front and back. When the vertical and horizontal love relationships are linked, they interact, revolve, become integrated, and finally emerge as a single center of harmony. Once the vertical love of Heaven and Earth is firmly established as the axis internally and externally, then the need for horizontal love arises. This takes place during adolescence.

During adolescence, even the sight of an autumn leaf blowing along the ground can seem inspiring. Girls who used to be so reserved when they were younger suddenly start doing things to their hair, putting on make-up and trying on all sorts of clothes and accessories. Their interests expand as well. These are horizontal phenomena of love.

When a husband and wife love each other, it symbolizes the planting of God. Parents represent God's original position. Here, the husband and wife each embody different sides of God. Also, each child is like a small God. Since God is the original entity of true love, when the various members of the family link themselves to true love, they become one body with God. Here, parents are the living embodiment of God representing Him. Husband and wife each represent God, and the children represent Him as well. Thus, three generations, centering on true love, stand in the position of God.

This is why all members of the family - parents, husbands and wives, and children - need true love. A family formed in this way, centering on true love, is the foundation for the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless we first establish such a foundation, the Kingdom of Heaven can never be established. This is the formula. The family is the center of the entire physical universe. People today do not realize that their family represents their country, world and universe. They do not know that their family is the center. Breaking apart a family is an act of rebellion against the country, world and universe.

Because a perfect family is the foundation for a perfect universe, a person who loves the universe as she loves her family can travel freely everywhere. In such a case, God, as the Parent of the entire universe, sits in the central position to these manifold relationships of love.

When a man and woman become one centering on true love, they form an ideal couple, and build an ideal family. By doing so, they stand in a position representing God and thus are connected to everything in the universe. If this happens, then all of God's possessions become theirs. Think how wonderful that would be! This is the reason we naturally desire to have dominion over all creation.

Men and women come together as pairs to build families, societies, nations and the world. Thus, the family centering on one man and one woman must be the model for the tribe. This tribe, in turn, must be the model for the nation. Families must strive to achieve the ideal family, tribe and nation. Therefore, until ideal families appear, ideal nations will never emerge.

Respected guests! The greatness of true love is that it enables us to become God's object partners and also enables God to become us. The Bible speaks of God being in us and Jesus being in us. This is similar to the idea that the parent is in the child, the grandchild is in the grandparent, and the grandparent is in the grandchild.

A grandmother and grandfather should bind their hearts together centering on their grandchildren. This is necessary so that the vertical line of love can have a beginning. Also, grandchildren must become one with their grandparents. Grandparents are in the same position as God, so we should attend them as we would attend God. Grandchildren will not be able to find the vertical axis of love without doing this.

After the formation of this axis, the horizontal expansion can develop. The horizontal can be connected to all directions, but the vertical has only one direction. The horizontal can turn North, South, East or West; it has a range of 360 degrees. The vertical can move centering on one point only and cannot be split.

Our first task is to create mind and body unity, centering on love. Then, we need to know how to love the spirit world, which is the vertical world centered on God. Furthermore, if in the future a central country emerges, we should love humanity centering on that country. When we love the spirit world and the whole of humankind by means of sacrifice, service and dedication, we can automatically become the central figures who can have dominion over the two worlds, and make them into one. Then God will surely dwell there.

The entire spirit world, combined with the entire physical universe, is called the cosmos. The spirit world and the universe yearn for the unification of the cosmos centering on true love. True love can unify the cosmos. True love can transform all families into ideal families and make them one. Thus, we can conclude that true love is the only thing that humanity needs absolutely, whether we are alive on the Earth or are in the spirit world.

We can conclude, therefore, that nothing in this world is more precious than a true person who possesses true love. As the highest being in creation, human beings are in a reciprocal position equal to God's. So human beings should be able to act even more quickly than electricity or light, which travels at three hundred thousand kilometers per second. It is our spiritual selves that make such a thing possible. The fastest action in the world is not electromagnetic waves.

In the world of God's original ideal, a person who has experienced true love has the ability and authority to possess instantly anything God wants.

People need to experience such a state while on Earth. One can rise to this position only if the physical and spiritual selves become one while establishing a love relationship with God, centered on the true family. We can feel God's love by loving our countrymen, the people of the world, and creation. Each of us, regardless of nationality, must develop the heart to love people of all races. We should love not just people but even the smallest microorganism. This love has to spring naturally from within. When a flower blooms, its beauty and fragrance come naturally. The blossom of love has to bloom in the same way. The fragrance of love should fill the air naturally.

To do this, we need to receive the nutrients that make it possible for the blossom of love to bloom. In the same way that plants receive nutrients from the soil and sun, we receive nutrients through our physical body and spirit self. We receive vitality elements through our physical bodies, and then we receive living spirit elements through our spirit selves.

This is how we become beings who are totally equipped to love and how we develop the ability to fly anywhere. When this happens, the solar system and the entire universe become the stage of our activity.

When we finish our physical life, we go through a second birth. This is called death. The place into which we are born this second time is the spirit world. We go into the spirit world and, on behalf of the entire universe, receive love from God, our third parent. That is to say, we receive ideal love. So in the spirit world, unification is inevitable.

In the spirit world, people breathe and live centered on love. We are born in love, live in love, and give birth to sons and daughters through love as God's representatives. Eventually, we reach the resting-place of love, and return to God so that we may live eternally in His presence. In other words, our lives begin in love, ripen in love, and are finally harvested as the fruit of love. When a person dies, he harvests the fruit of his love.

During our life, we receive the love of our parents, share love with our husband or wife, and give love to our children, bringing to fruition all the seeds of God's love sown in the internal world of love. Eventually, we harvest this fruit and go into the next world. So when we become completely one in love, we come to resemble God. If a husband and wife work together to complete the three stages of love and then go to the spirit world, they will exist as creators and lords in a reciprocal relationship with God, who is the eternal subject. That is what happens when a husband and wife die centering on love. We begin and end in God.

To die means to move from a world of land, where we crawl and walk, to a world where we fly freely. We pass through death in order to become qualified travelers who, with love, can enjoy the entire universe. That is why death is, in reality, a new birth.

Ladies and gentlemen, our life course is not a smooth path. This is because human beings fell. The Fall of the original human ancestors did not result in misery only for human beings. God, also, suffered misery. For this reason, we do not dedicate our lives only to the accomplishment of the ideal world. An even more important goal for our life is to clear away the sorrow and agony in the heart of God, who is the origin of all life. Thus, when human beings finally attain happiness, then God, too, will be happy. God and humankind have gone through the course of history in the same situation, pursuing the same goal.

As a result of losing Adam and Eve, God has walked the most difficult path, a path that no one would choose to walk. Human beings, too, have walked this inevitable path of destiny brought about by the Fall, always hoping for the coming day of salvation.

Humankind's most fervent hope in relation to God is to become His sons and daughters. This is because no relationship is more intimate than that of parent and child. We were born when the love and life of our parents converged, and thus we represent their ideals. But words like love and ideals never refer to just one person. Life cannot be created by one person alone, but must come from a love relationship between husband and wife. So when God created humankind, He created us to be the object partners of His love, His life and His ideals. This is amazing and incredible.

If I did not exist, my parents' love could not become visible. The love, life and ideals of my parents exist in relation to me. I am the fruit of my parents' love, life and ideals. That is why the child's position is the most precious of all.

Had Adam and Eve not fallen, they would have been the children of God's direct lineage, and His royal descendants. That is, Adam and Eve were the prince and princess who stood to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world and on Earth. At the same time, because they were created as the objects of the invisible God, who is the subject, Adam and Eve were substantial beings who could receive His love. They were substantial manifestations of the invisible God.

It is the special privilege of a child of God to say, "God is mine. All that is His is also mine. Even His love, His life and His ideals are mine." It is up to human beings to recover this amazing and incredible value that was originally ours.

If God is the subject of love, who exists eternally, then the reciprocal partners of His love must also exist eternally. When I become one with God's love, God becomes me.

Had Adam and Eve not fallen, their bodies would have been the homes where God could dwell. They would have placed God at the center of their hearts and become entities of love, life and lineage who were unified eternally through true love. If they had done this, our mind and body would not be in conflict today.

The Fall meant that we inherited the life and lineage of evil, centering on evil love. We were born from false parents. We, therefore, have to rebuild the lineage. We have to take the false olive tree and change it into a true olive tree. To do this, we should be engrafted onto the true olive tree, go through at least three generations, and produce the fruit that becomes the true olive tree representing the original standard. Only then will fallen human beings be restored to the original state. That is when the Providence of Salvation will be completed.

In this way, God is trying to make human beings become children of the parents of goodness, centering on love that is one with Him. This is why He sends the Messiah to the Earth as True Parents. The Messiah is the one who comes to return the lineage of all humankind to God and establish the original ideal of creation.

Before seeking to excel on the world stage, humankind should have first excelled in the original family of Adam and Eve. Had Adam and Eve taken their places as lineal prince and princess before God, they would have been the most exalted among all men and women. They, however, fell and lost their entitled positions of the elder son and daughter, the crown prince and princess. This tragedy has remained throughout human history. That is why humankind has traveled a path of life in search of the positions of first son and first daughter so that we might recover God's true love.

If we are to receive His true love, we cannot live selfishly, centering on our own self. Instead, we should live for the sake of God and humankind as our brothers and sisters. The more a person sheds blood and tears for her brothers and sisters in place of her parents, the deeper, wider and higher will be the love she receives. This is the son and daughter we must become if we are to inherit everything from our parents. Every man and woman must go this path. Even if we have to face death ten times or a hundred times, we must continue our search for God's true love. This is the supreme path of life.

The Divine Principle of the Unification Church teaches that the Fall occurred when human beings left the realm of God's true love. Restoration means to return to that realm. When a person enters the realm of such love, he can merely look at his body and praise it tens of thousand of times. In that world, you know that your own body is one that receives God's true love. Words cannot express such joy. This wonderful world is called the Kingdom of Heaven.

Until now, people knew relatively little about the spirit world. It is a world where people are recognized depending on how closely they followed God's principle of existence - the principle of living for the sake of others. A world built on this content is the ideal Kingdom of Heaven.

This is the original homeland for which all humankind must search. Today, we live as fallen people who have been expelled from our homeland, so it is our destiny to return there. However, we cannot do this on our own.

God has worked through history to resolve this problem by establishing numerous religions in accordance with the different cultural backgrounds, customs and traditions of various nations. He has done this so that human beings would have a path to lead them back. Religion is the training ground where we can cultivate the qualifications that enable us to return to our homeland. In accordance with the cultural background of each region, God is guiding us toward one unified world of religion that can advance us to a higher ground.

Let us make the new millennium an age of true peace and true ideals in which people will practice the way of true love. I hope we will recover the value of true original human beings centered on God, establish true families, and live for others eternally, centering on God and the True Parents.

May your families and country be filled with an ever-greater abundance of God's love and blessings.

Thank you very much.