ORDER NUMBER
79-07-08
REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
THANKSGIVING
TO GOD'S WILL
July 8, 1979
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
You are some of the many young people living in the present time.
When we look at young people on the college campuses or on the street,
we wonder where they are headed. They live lives of intoxication. but
without a goal. They don't care much about the past or worry much about
the world, and they don't care too much about the future. They would
rather live a free style of life at random, without contemplating any
responsibility, and are basically self-centered. They don't worry
about such fundamental questions as why man was born.
They have also forgotten about the founding spirit of America, which
was basically religious and focused on a God-centered ideology.
When you really study the founding spirit of this nation, you come to
the conclusion that this nation is really not a democratic country but a
religious nation founded on the spirit of God. That has been the
national motto.
At the present time, however, America is not living like a religious
nation and is even less than a true democracy. Right now the American
way of life is totally materialistic and money seems to have become
almighty. People are trying to locate human value within the realm of
money to such an extent that they are incapable of thinking outside that
sphere. But who should be subject, dollars or man? In the present way
of life in America none of these things are clearly defined or realized.
In America the most important information is the minimum wage law,
which says that a worker is worth at least $2.95 an hour. America is so
totally enslaved to the money system that every measure of human value
is translated in terms of dollars. When you hear $10, you think that is
worth three hours. If you loan someone $10, you think that you are
entitled to three hours of work. Sometimes children loan their parents
$100. and before thinking of their parents as parents they think, "You
owe me thirty hours." It is to the extreme that the money concept
dominates all other human relationships.
Money has become the tyrant of America's way of life. Children
often resent having poor parents and think that if their parents were
better people they would be rich like some other people. Sometimes
children are very critical of their parents simply because they are
poor. Particularly when looking for a husband, American women are
checking in terms of dollars. ' How much is that man worth?" Many
women marry because the man is very well off, forgetting however, that
money cannot stay in one place. Once the money is all spent. those
women who married for wealth start complaining. If their husbands don't
earn good money, the wives become scornful towards them. Money
increasingly supercedes other human values, such as character, morality,
religion. etc. These are the more valuable things but money seems to
be blinding people. This is the kind of life we see around us.
How much value do we have as men and women? Man's value has become
so small that people are considered insignificant unless they have money
behind them. If offered a choice between having money or good men and
women around them, people would normally choose the money. You say no,
but that's the way American life seems to be going. When people cannot
satisfy their fantasies through money, they seek to intoxicate
themselves with other external methods, such as drugs. They are trying
to find intoxicating happiness through many external means.
What would be the end result? The fundamental illness of today's
society is irresponsibility. People don't want to take responsibility
so they abuse freedom and reject any kind of disciplined or organized
life. They have no goal or master plan for their lives so they live
capriciously. In the final tragic result of such a life a person will
feel he has hit a stone wall and be shattered into pieces. If
individuals are living in that fashion, they will form an irresponsible
society, which will lead to an irresponsible nation and an irresponsible
world.
Knowing that such a way of life will eventually lead to disaster,
people must start a trend or new movement that denies the existing value
system. We see this trend in the attitudes of young people who question
why they need money, democracy. parents. or the institution of
marriage. If a person is only denying all the objects of the world
without a clear-cut goal to substitute for them, he will soon conclude
there is no reason to exist and eventually come to deny even himself.
He cannot avoid the fact that in this world no one can survive all by
himself, so he will either end his own life in despair or live out his
days as human trash.
There are two ways to deny life and value. One way is to deny a
lesser value by securing a greater value Denying the lesser value in
order to search after a greater value is the right thing, but total,
blanket denial is dangerous because then people cease searching after
true goals or the true way of life. There are many thinking people in
this country who are searching and experimenting with new values.
That's how the hippie movement began. But people couldn't find values
they were seeking there, and in their search many even ended up in a
communistic way of life without knowing its true nature. They thought
they might find something worthwhile in communism and never realized
that once a person gets in he becomes a victim of that philosophy, which
denies human value.
In the communist system no individual, no human rights, and no
freedom are recognized. Communism itself becomes god. To ensure the
survival of that god, communists would sacrifice anyone without a second
thought. Compared to communism. human life and even love is considered
unimportant, and even the family system is forcibly sacrificed to
promote the prosperity of the communist system. The communists claim
that their ideology will bring utopia, that it is the ideology of
ultimate human satisfaction. If that were true, maybe their sacrifice
would have some meaning, but we know that communism is based on lies.
There is no truth in it.
Today both communism and democracy have come to a deadlock. Then
what do we need at this juncture of human history? Even though
communism and democracy can be shattered into pieces, there must be one
ideal that can survive and clarify the value of human existence. Where
can we find this ultimate human values? The dilemma is this: the world
is dirty, yet you can never totally deny the whole world and liv·e
all by yourself because you need someone to live for. On the other
hand, you can't completely embrace the way the world lives either. This
is the dilemma of our society today.
No matter how great the democratic ideology is, it cannot digest the
human situation. and neither can communism. Then what kind of ideal do
we need? An ideology is needed which can start out small and grow to
greater and greater horizons, finding something that is greater than the
world, the universe and the cosmos. Some ultimate destination must
exist, but without an ideology of this dimension it would be impossible
to reach. It is almost like climbing over a mountain with a small
ladder. As you climb further and further, instead of finding your small
beginning disappearing, you will find it becoming wider and wider and
providing you with a much sounder foundation for your further climb.
Whoever goes by that route and climbs step by step to the end will win
the respect of all people because it's a goal everyone aspires to.
Every individual has certain aspirations and desires to climb higher
and higher to a commanding position. You have ambition, don't you?
Everyone wants to fulfill his own aspirations, but today most ambition
is squelched by the world, and instead of bringing fulfillment it is
only one more heavy burden. When all ambition is shattered, your life
is hell. No matter how many great things you are given, if you are in
that position then nothing can satisfy you because no one lifts your
burden. We are in a contradictory position because each individual is
small compared to the world, but our ambitions. goals and ideals are so
big that they are greater than the universe. This is man's eternal
dilemma.
Then how can we satisfy these contradictions? Suppose you become a
billionaire. Even with great wealth you are still small compared to the
world and are unable to change or deal with the entire world. There is
a vast world out there untouched, so where can we find true inner
satisfaction? All men and women have an inherent ambition to become
conquerors of the world. First, everyone wants to rise to the top of
the world, and second, everyone wants to possess the most precious thing
in the world. Do only Americans harbor that kind of ambition? All
people want to fulfill that kind of dream.
As you know, each person has two aspects, mind and body. Which one
should be subject? Which one would you follow? Do you live for your
ambition. desire and ideal, or for your physical body? You may work
very hard, but is work itself your goal in life, or is it the means to
fulfill the goal of your life? That goal is always ahead of you, and
though you can't see it you are always working toward it. Then what
should become your fundamental concern-giving satisfaction to your mind
or your body? Does that mean you neglect to give your body food and
sleep? The most ideal situation is to give satisfaction to both your
mind and body. In lieu of the ideal, however, there could be a very
easy solution: give the body enough to maintain itself, but give the
utmost satisfaction to the mind. If there is such a way then that
.should be the ideal. In other words, you may not eat or dress like a
millionaire, yet your mind is infinitely free and happy. Your ideal is
there and being fulfilled. The person who lives this way must be a very
happy person.
Two ways of life can be seen among men. One kind of person doesn't
care about the desire of his mind or about pursuing a larger will or
ideal: he just follows the sensual desires of his body for good food,
lots of sleep. fun and sex. The other kind of life doesn't pursue the
satisfaction of the body but of the desires and goal of his mind. These
are the two basic types of life that can be seen in our world today.
Which one would you prefer?
What about the happiness of the body? That's happiness, too. A
person is basically dominated by the ambitions and desires of his mind,
however, which govern his entire life. No matter how some tyrant may
try to eliminate ambition or desire from man, it is impossible because a
person's goal, desire and ideal are greater than the universe. Each
individual has his own universe. When you are centered upon the goal of
your mind, even though it seems to be difficult to achieve in the
beginning, there is always hope for opening greater horizons everyday.
But when you only seek to gratify the desires of your body you know that
your momentary pleasure will not last and that you are headed down the
road to despair.
Basically we can define good and evil by saying that the direction
pursued by the mind is good. while the direction pursued by the body is
evil. As a result there are two types of people in our world:
Conscientious people are trying to satisfy their own consciences, while
others are only living for the carnal satisfaction of their bodies.
Who is the man of conscience? He lives for the public purpose and
is willing to give himself as a sacrifice. In doing so he sacrifices
his outer person, not his inner self, which is steadfast and constant.
When you try to be humble and meek, you are making an effort to control
your body. At the same time your ideal is not limited but is as free
and as great as it can be. Your ideal is pursuing the benefit of others
and the public purpose, the purpose greater than yourself Your mind
unceasingly pursues that goal.
National laws or constitutions are enacted in any good nation,
basically to enhance the public way of life The philosophy and basic
nature of the law is to uphold the giving way of life and to attempt to
limit those who would live only for themselves. Once you make yourself
the center and try to pursue only self-centered goals, the more
effort you make, the more you narrow down your life ultimately confining
yourself to darkness and despair.
Many people today embrace the 'me-first" philosophy. When you
pursue that goal, you evaluate everything in terms of how happy it makes
you. Actually the opposite will occur; your nation and society will
turn away, and your parents, friends, and brothers and sisters will all
go away. Even your children will leave you. In the end you will be
left all by yourself and you will eventually hit the sharp edge of a
stone wall and get a bloody face. The outlook will be so dark that
finally you will not be able to see any more hope to continue. Though
you tried to be happy and to gain the most for yourself, you actually
suffered the most. Your suffering begins inside yourself because you
will be struggling with your conscience.
Everyone has another public man inside himself who keeps insisting
that living selfishly is wrong. The person who tries to ignore his
conscience is only torturing himself. If a dog barks at him, his first
reaction will be to think that the dog doesn't like him. If he passes
by Belvedere and hears the birds singing, he won't think their songs are
for the glory of God, but will feel the birds are criticizing him.
A person who is this self-centered is so closed that he cannot
relate to anything. Consequently he is perpetually scared to death that
everything is coming against him. In the end, he will feel he is no
good and that everything is against him and then he will want to kill
himself. That is why the suicide rate in this country is phenomenal.
The statistics show that last year at least 38,000 young people
committed suicide, and the rate of attempted suicides was 50 per cent
greater than that. This is the reality, but it is only the logical
outcome of the way America is heading now.
Where are you? Have you hit the stone wall? There is one hope for
democracy. for this nation and the free world. and that is to create a
movement that will deny the materialistic and self-centered
outlook. We must find the way of life in which our greatest ambition
and ideal can be freely pursued and a sense of fulfillment attained.
Even the smallest person has a dream and a goal and wants to possess the
entire world. That is an undeniable dream.
Everyone also has the desire to be liked by everyone and everything,
even the birds and the flowers. That's a natural desire, but how can we
satisfy it? It's impossible to erase this desire from within yourself.
Do you want to possess the United States or the world? When you go
beyond America, you do it joyfully because you receive the world instead
of one nation. What is greater than the world? When you receive a
greater value, you can give up a lesser value without any complaint.
The earth is a very small particle compared to the universe. so if you
can own the universe then you are willing to give up the world. Is
there something greater than the universe? If there is some greater
value than the universe, then in order to receive that value you can
gladly give up the universe. What is greater than the universe? How do
you know there is a God? Have you seen Him?
Deciding whether or not there is a God is really a problem for many
people. When you look at the universe, however, would your logic tell
you that everything came about at whim or random, or that there is
someone who planned and willed the universe to exist? We live in a
solar system in which the earth is but a very small particle, and there
are millions of other solar systems and galaxies in our universe. These
heavenly bodies are not stagnant or still like a dead fly on the wall,
but are in constant orderly motion. Not one heavenly body is standing
still for one second. Have you ever heard of a traffic accident between
planets in the universe? The earth has been rotating for millions of
years, but have you ever read that one day God's alarm clock didn't work
and the earth didn't get in on time and 365 days became 379 days? The
exactness of the universal movement cannot be compared to any
man-made computer system.
Is it logical for someone to say that all these things just happened
at random with no will behind them? The logical answer is that there
must be some cause or will which preceded all existence. There was an
invisible cause somewhere and the universe was the result.
During my school days I knew many people, some of whom were
communists who argued that material is real because they could see and
touch it. but God is a fantasy because He can't be seen. I said to one
fellow, "You believe in logic, don't you?" He replied,
"Yes." "Then if I logically explain that there is God,
would you accept it? Let me ask you a question. Do you know the
history of your eye? Where did your eyeball originate? The first man
on earth must have had eyes, and whether born with his eyes open or
closed, he eventually opened his eyes and saw." This person knew
that no baby has his eyes open in his mother's womb, so he said, ' 'I'm
sure that baby's eyes were closed before he was born." "When
you close your eyes, do you see your eyeball?" I asked. "Then
was the eye the result of some accident?"
He replied that it must have happened at random because there is no
will in such a thing. Then I asked him which came first, the sun or the
eye. The eye was made to perceive light, and without it the eye has no
function. The eye of the baby inside the mother's womb didn't know the
sun was shining, but someone else had to know because the eye is made in
such a way that it can function in sunlight. The eye didn't know but
some cosmic knowledge knew and matched the sun's rays with the eye.
If everything can happen at random then the eye could have been like
the sole of your foot. "Now think," I said. "Was there some
knowledge prerequisite to your birth and the creation of your eye."
There was some universal intelligence existing that organized the two to
match. Either the eye knew everything that was going on outside and
decided to become as it is, or else there must be some outside will or
intelligence which matched the eye to the sunrays. The eye certainly
had no consciousness of it. Then what do you think? There must be some
previous intelligence. You may call him anything, but we happen to call
him God.
"Before you were born, did your eyelash know that there would
be lots of dust in the air? Some will or universal intelligence knew
there was air and dust outside and that your eye needed something to
prevent the dust from coming into the eye. There is also a water supply
which moistens your eye all the time. Do you think the eye knew that
there was heat and dry air outside that would prevent the eye from
functioning unless there was moisture always available?"
"Do you know how hard your eye works? Try lifting your hand
and blinking it all day long like your eye does. It's hard work, isn't
it? If your eye was open 24 hours a day it would dry out like a fish
eye after three days. But because your eyelids blink. your eyes are
cleansed and moistened. If someone says that everything happened at
random and no one planned this universe, I have to say he is crazy. How
can you say that material comes first and spirit second," I asked this
communist. I was young and very excited, and at the end of our heated
argument the first communist surrendered to me.
From today on, when you look in the mirror look at your eye and
appreciate it. "God, thank you for giving me a built-in water hose
and for eyes that blink."
When I first came to America and saw how women here talk so fast, I
wondered how their lips could work that quickly. What kind of
incredible skin did God give to American women? When you think of the
beauty of man and the intricacy of the human body, you come to the
conclusion that the human body is a mystery palace. There is incredible
beauty and mystery within your one body, which is a microcosm of the
universe. One human body is so delicate and complex that the entire
universe cannot compare with it.
The human ideal is infinitely gigantic and there is no limit to the
capability of man's mind. Every man is born with ambition. The
ultimate question is: If there is an Almighty God, would you want to
possess Him? There is only one God. but billions of people want him.
So what should we do? To whose home should He go? If God has only one
body and everyone wants Him, it's a great problem. God thought,
Everyone wants me, so in order for me to go to everyone's home I
should be invisible. Now I'm available to everyone and they will come
to me in spirit."
With what spiritual substance would God want us to make a
relationship with Him? With what kind of love? Does true love have a
string attached? When you go to God with true love, He has no
sensation, but as soon as you contact Him with true love He will jump
from the shock of it. You don't want to touch a live wire, do you? If
you attach a live wire to a wooden stick and touch someone with it. he
won't feel any sensation. If you connect it to metal, he will feel some
sensation, but if you connect it to pure gold then all the electricity
will be conducted and the person will really jump.
God said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega. the beginning and the
end." The love God is talking about is not just wooden love or metal
love, but genuine gold love with 100 per cent conductability When the
gold wire is connected to a source of electricity it doesn't make any
difference whether it's 1,000 miles away or one mile because the same
sensation and power are conducted. There are all kinds ot love, but
true love has that 100 per cent conductability. What kind of love do
you have?
Are your body and mind united into one, or is there some struggle
within you? Your mind and body may be pretty good friends, but you
should make them absolute friends. Are you the kind of person whose
mind conceives some thought and whose body then gets excited and echoes
that thought to your mind? This morning your mind said to go to
Belvedere early and sit right in front of me. but your body said to
forget it and sleep a couple of hours longer. Normally does your body
come to Belvedere first and then your mind follow, or does your mind
come first and your body follow? Your mind comes to Belvedere and then
your body wakes up and says, "Mind, where are you? I want to go to
Belvedere too. Why did you leave me?" Do your mind and body work
together as one team and does your body respond quickly to your mind?
If that is the case then your mind and body are one. If you are genuine
gold. you should act like that. What is your real situation?
The man of conscience always has his body under control. God is
invisible, but we know through Divine Principle that God has internal
and external characteristics, sung sang and hyung sang. Even though God
is invisible, He has two parts which work together 100 per cent. When
you love someone with your mind and body in total oneness, you are
completely flexible and can penetrate anything. The heart of God is
perhaps the most impenetrable of all things, but when a bullet of gold
love hits it, even God surrenders. When true love hits the heart of
God, it causes the greatest thunder and lightning.
Even the birds sing songs of love in the spring. Then how much more
glorious would it be for man, God's greatest creation, to sing an
eternal love song? Their love together would be the supreme power.
Have American men and women thought about noble and true love? When
that love hits men and women, they become totally consumed into love.
How can two things which are utterly melted into one be separated? Even
at death that love cannot be parted. If I think and preach in this
fashion, how much more must God have this conviction?
Is there divorce in the spirit world? Are you convinced you can
give a shock treatment to God with true love? Do you want to be the men
and women of love? How beautiful you are. When you look at each face
here, there is none that is truly ugly. When you just look at the
surface it may be sometimes ugly. but when you see the origin of your
life, everything is so beautiful. When you know your true origin,
everything on your face-your eyes, nose, teeth, lips, hair,
ears-possesses incredible beauty and mystery.
Do I look like an ugly man, like a potato or pumpkin? Even if I do,
it doesn't make any difference. When men and women come into the
Unification Church do they love me? Is it because I give you sweet
things all the time? Your simple answer is that you like me, even if
you don't know why. When you come to see me you feel different
vibrations, don't you? People outside our Church can't understand these
vibrations and so they decided you must be brainwashed. They are trying
to describe me, but they can't do it because these vibrations can't be
detected by any instrument.
When sunrays shine onto a dirty mirror they aren't reflected well,
but a clean mirror gives 100 per cent reflection. If sunlight is being
reflected from a mirror into a cold room, then warmth and light come in
there. You feel that reflected warmth and move closer to it. I am like
a mirror reflecting God's love, so in this cold and freezing world you
want to come closer to be warm.
If I taught that there was no love and no ideal, would it do any
good for you to come here? If I only craved power and money, there
would be no attraction or vibration between us. God doesn't need
money or power or knowledge. God needs only two items: true life
and true love. True life is lived by men and women who have mind and
body united. What is true love? It is the infinite give and take
between God and yourself. Only through true love can you have give and
take with God heartistically. Our ambition is bigger than the universe.
If there is a God then we want to conquer Him, but there are many
different ways to possess God. You can possess God's wealth, God's
things, or you can hold God's hand or body, but the ultimate way to
possess God is to conquer His heart.
The heart has different contents, so where would you like to
concentrate? The center of the heart of God is love, and in the deepest
corner of God's heart is true love. The Unification Church was born in
heart, shim jung. You don't have a word in English to translate shim
jung, so I created a new word, heartle. The wisest men and women aim at
this innermost heart of God. Snatch it and put it in your pocketbook,
for as long as you have God's heart in your possession He cannot leave
you.
Imagine a gigantic powerhouse generating millions of watts of
electricity. If that power is burning within instead of being sent out
over the lines, how big an explosion will be generated? The power of it
will shock the world. This is what I am like inside.
When you touch true love you can taste and appreciate it, and then
when you look at the spirit world you understand it completely. In true
love there is nothing you cannot see, so getting a diploma from Harvard
or Yale isn't worth as much; in true love you have the highest education
of all. When you look at the world through the eyes of true love, you
already know the world. When you look at the spirit world through the
eyes of true love, you already know what is there. There is nothing
more you can learn.
If that is the case, are you an unhappy, miserable person? If you
have this ambition and come to experience true love, is there anything
else you need? No more effort is needed because you have reached the
peak and you can stay there for eternity. You live in love, dance in
love, sing in love.
If that is the case, do you think love should be the ultimate goal
of life? Then what is the Unification Church for? We are very greedy
people, so greedy that we want to Possess the universe and more. No
matter how much we are persecuted, we persevere because we are greedy.
I, for example. am the greediest Moonie and I go on and on because
nothing bothers me. We are so greedy that we can't stop until we reach
the heart of God. Once you arrive at the center, you can occupy the
precious heart of God. Then the whole universe and the entire world of
persecution will be turned around.
Recently a report came from Scotland about a minister who was so
vicious in his attacks on us that one day as he was making an
anti-Moon speech he collapsed and was taken away on a stretcher.
We don't advertise such events, but many such mysterious things have
happened around me throughout my life. The Japanese members had a
certain fund raising goal to meet this year, and it was reported to me
that most of the result is coming through the activity of spirit world.
Often a person has received a revelation or had a dream to have a
certain amount of money waiting. Then when our member knocks on the
door, his response is, "Please come in. I was waiting for
you."
The other day Mr. Kamiyama met with me and we discussed whether the
outstanding MFT members would like to receive good watches. Mr.
Kamiyama said they didn't want anything like that; they wanted a picture
signed by me instead. Unification Church members don't care about
money. It has no value to them. Can you find young people anywhere in
the world who say they don't need money? That's why people think you
are crazy. In the world money governs everything, but in our world
money has no power. Everything is secondary to receiving the love of
God.
Do I have lots of money or very little money? I myself don't have
any money, but when some goal is given to raise money in fifty days, can
I do it? Everyone thinks I am a billionaire but my pockets are empty.
I have a need for money because there is so much to do, but not a single
penny goes for my own well-being. It all goes for the sake of the
world. Therefore, I don't love money. I love God and mankind, so money
is merely the instrument with which to do God's work.
A diamond ring is actually only valuable as an expression or an
accessory of love. The money I spend is also an accessory of the love
of God. I would like to give every American a diamond ring as an
expression of God's love. In a way I am doing that now, and because our
work represents God's love it would be more precious than any other
diamond under the sun, even the First Lady's diamond.
People know that I am doing many projects and spending much money,
but they only see that external aspect. What they do not know is that
this expenditure of money is an accessory of the beautiful love of God.
The day will come, however, when Americans will know the true meaning of
my presence in this country and my projects here. Once they come to
understand the core of it, they will cry out in praise. If this
generation doesn't do it, your ancestors who are already in spirit world
will do it. This is the truth.
The man who pursues the "me-first", materialistic goal
will hit a stone wall because he is living a contradiction between his
mind and body. The ultimate freedom and liberation is not offered by
democracy or communism, but by the one ideology which will offer total
harmony between man's mind and body. That is Godism, the absolutely
God-centered ideology. The Unification Church possesses the
ideology that can satisfy the infinite ambition, will and ideal of man.
That means we have the possibility to help man settle in the ideal
world.
No matter how powerful or greedy a person might be, the love of God
can satisfy him instantly. The purpose of life here on earth is to
develop our sensitivity and capacity to have give and take of love with
God. That's the way God intended life to be, but because the fall of
man shattered everything into pieces we need salvation and restoration.
The consequence of the fall was the total loss of everything, and the
most precious thing to mankind-God. God is our common parent, the
beginning and end, alpha and omega. When we discover our eternal king,
we discover ourselves as eternal princes and princesses. The ideal
world is the atmosphere or circumstance in which that prince and
princess can receive a formal education of the love of God.
The love of God will fill you according to the size of your
container. When you have a greater container, more love comes. Our job
here on earth is to expand the capacity of our containers. Are we then
creating a better world than the democratic and communist worlds?
The American people are basically smart, so when they compare the
conventional way of life and this new way of life, they will see that
the new way is a greater. more valuable way. Then they will get rid of
their old mode of life.
When you come to the Unification Church you can find an incredible
value that cannot be swapped for anything. Sometimes your parents or
your society persecute or kidnap you, but nothing can stop you because
you have found your ultimate value. If you are kidnapped, will you
want to stay with the kidnappers? If loving husbands tell their wives
to stop coming, will all the wives not come again? Even your husband
should not be allowed to become a barrier between you and the ultimate
love of God. That doesn't mean he should be cut off but that his wife
must win him. Go to the goal and come back with a rope strong enough
to pull him there with you.
If two people are caught in a flood, the best way for both to be
saved is for one to somehow reach shore, anchor himself and then pull
the other to safety with a rope. That's the way you must think about
your life now. Sometimes your parents can't understand your mission and
don't have the patience to delay judgment about what you are doing.
Nevertheless, many members have succeeded in winning their parents.
When God looks down at how the secular world is doing things and
how we are doing things, which side do you think He will take? If God
doesn't support me but sides with the world, when the world crumbles
God will crumble too. Do you think God can afford to crumble? There
are many prayers petitioning God for my removal, such as God, Reverend
Moon is a heretic from the Orient. Please summon him to spirit world
soon so that we can be without him. Do you think God will listen to
that prayer? He comes to me and says' "My son, this person is
praying for your death. But keep going 100 per cent."
The Unification Church will provide the ultimate satisfaction. We
have the ideology and the way of life to attain the ultimate ambition
and ideal that mankind can possess. But at the same time, Unification
Church members are not living in a fantasy on cloud nine. We are
bringing practical restoration starting at the individual level by
upholding one central way of life. First you perfect the individual,
then restore your mate, create your family and have children. Finally
you change your society, nation and world. We have a practical master
plan to build the kingdom of God here on earth.
Ultimately when we restore the entire world we will liberate God.
Have you ever heard anyone talk about liberating God? It is an
incredible proclamation. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten son and whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. God loves the world, but the circuit of
love has been broken and God is not in a position to truly love the
world now. We must liberate God so that the circuit can be reconnected
and God can truly love the world once more.
There are many ideologies in the world, but nothing that surpasses
this Godism that I am proclaiming. All the great professors and
theologians are entitled to inherit these things, but the inheritance
is going elsewhere instead. The inheritance of the blessing is one
thing, but fulfilling the responsibility that comes with it is the
problem. You can do it, however, because the message is a simple one.
No one is asking you to lecture at Harvard University; all God is
asking you to do is practice true love.
There is a specific way to practice our love of God, and your 360
home area is your battleground. This is your university curriculum.
You should receive at least eighty points of credit, so in order to
make this grade at least 288 homes in your area must say, "yes,
you are truly my tribal messiah. You are a great savior and subject of
love." What kind of men and women should you become in your home
church? Suppose there is a newly married couple who have just come
back from their honeymoon. If they are in the bedroom when you knock
on the door, then they should want to jump up to greet you.
The amazing thing in the Unification Church is that wherever I go,
no matter how much a couple love each other, they follow me rather than
each ether. You should also be followed and respected to that degree.
If you truly represent God then your home church people should respect
you that much. Recently I tested what kind of standard our married
couples live by and called all the wives to assemble for new missions.
All the husbands urged their wives to go instead of trying to hold them
back.
There is no doubt that I have become controversial but it was
inevitable because without undergoing persecution we could not kindle
the revolution of love in this world. We are the planters of the
universal standard of love on the individual level, and when you extend
this standard it will cover the family, tribe, nation and the entire
world. That's the way step-by-step restoration will be
conducted. Are we doing it? We possess the loftiest ideology, but at
the same time we have a very realistic master plan to fulfill it. We
are not just dreamers. Every individual knows where he is standing
now, what he has achieved and how much further he has to go. You know
whether you have passed the examination, or are just a first or second
grade student because you have a standard to measure by. We have
triumphed over the individual, family, nation, world and spirit world.
With this central standard we are changing ourselves. The
important thing is to deny the world first and then to rebuild it.
When you deny the old, you already have a responsibility to build
something better. I deny the democratic world and the communist world
because I have a plan to build a better America and world. It is only
upon that condition that I can speak out. If you just deny for the sake
of denying, you will become the enemy of this nation and of the world.
The only thing I want to say to those who deny me is this: show me
your blueprint to make this nation better, and to make this world
better. If you don't believe me, show me a better alternative. But no
one has submitted a better proposal. Therefore, we can come to the
conclusion that I have already won this battle.
Do you think I am just sitting idle because of all the persecution
that has been directed against me? I am thinking of all possible ways
to go. I lived in the worst kind of concentration camp for several
years. Do you think I just sat back passively and waited for something
better to happen? That is not the way I am. I thought out every
possible way to solve the situation. As an individual and as the head
of a family I have fulfilled my responsibility. As the head of the
society, nation and world I have been fulfilling responsibilities as
well.
When we had the 705-couple engagement, I declared to you that
we are the love race. Does the love race consist of white marrying
white, black marrying black and yellow marrying yellow? It was
beautiful to have a lovely white woman say, "Give me a black
husband." When God saw that did He say, ' What's wrong with you?
You will stain your beauty by forsaking your tradition that way. Don't
do it"? No, God said,"She is part of my love race."
That is not just an ideal. It has become reality. The world is small
for Unification Church members. Going to England is like a weekend
sightseeing trip.
Where are all your chairs? You are sitting for hours on a concrete
floor. Because we live with all kinds of cultures, we can be
comfortable wherever we go. In Asia, Africa, Europe, South America we
are comfortable because we have the capacity to embrace different
cultures. I am doing the most incredible mission possible, but is this
making everyone miserable and unhappy? Before we began our new life we
were lost people. We had lost God, the universe, the world, the
nation, and ourselves. But as soon as we came to this new vision of the
world, we found we got everything back and more. Now our hearts are
filled with gratitude and excitement. That should be our way of life.
When people persecute you, have mercy on them instead of being mad
at them. Have a compassionate mind which is big enough to embrace them
and smile. Actually, they are jealous of your position. They feel you
have come to this position without any qualification and that they
should have come first. That's why they come against you. By
persecuting you, they will make you greater sons and daughters of God
because through them you can fulfill all the qualifications. Don't go
in a mediocre way but prove yourself worthy.
I created the home church system to give you an arena in which to
be persecuted and to realize what your position is, to feel gratitude
and really live the heart of God. You must have a grateful heart and
really understand the life we are living at this time in history. We
know the most precious truth under the sun so now we have a great
responsibility. The entire world is like a rag that we must mend, and
even though our hands are roughened and hardened by mending this dirty
rag, we will be grateful.
Even though you have been persecuted, you can be grateful for being
born in this country, because it is here that we met. Thank your father
and mother for giving you birth at this particular time in history. Be
grateful to all the teachers who instructed you, to everyone who
benefited you so that you could be in this position today. Thank all
things of creation which provide you with physical food. Thank the
birds for singing a beautiful song of God. Thank the farmers and their
fields for providing for you.
Declare to all creation that you have become the princes and
princesses of true love and love them as a representative of God. Love
the grass and the trees. The entire earth is like a glacier, so now you
must bring the warmth of the love of God and enable the earth to truly
feel the cosmic spring. Do you feel the joy of being the harbinger of
the cosmic spring? Feel the warmth in your heart, that satisfaction and
purpose of life. Look at the world and all things of creation with that
frame of mind. We have discovered God's will and dispensation and will
live on earth in eternal faith and gratitude.
Even though your heart is willing to give thanksgiving to God,
sometimes your body lets you down. Always repent that your body can't
keep up with your will. That way God will be very sympathetic with you.
Can you complain then? The moment you know the will of God and His
dispensation there is no way you are entitled to utter even one word of
complaint until you die. You should not even know how to complain. Are
you living that way? Even though you go through the valley of the
shadow of death, fear no evil but be grateful instead. We have so much
to be grateful for. We should begin our life in gratitude and end our
life in gratitude. With this heart you can desire to bear a greater
burden and be grateful for it.
If anyone lives this way of life and it comes to no avail, then he
can accuse me. I myself have lived this life and been persecuted, but
many incredible things happened. When other people wanted to see me
destroyed, God was right behind me and I became more and more prosperous
year by year.
The road of dispensation is our way of life and the way we can
restore the individual, family, tribe, nation and world. Our way of
life is the way of restoration. Every feeling and sensation in your
body should be an expression of gratitude. Would you be grateful to the
will of God? After working all day in the heat like a horse, would you
be grateful at night when you come back home? One brother requested a
Korean bride, but I gave him a white woman instead. Is that reason to
complain? You must always think you were given the best.
Recently I declared an emergency situation at The News World
and now everyone is going out to get fifty subscriptions. Should
you be doing that with a complaining heart? Would you wish I would go
away because you don't want to do it?
Mother has carried many children and her physical ordeal is great,
but my mandate to her was that she must have twelve children. Should
Mother pray to God, "My husband is crazy. How can I have twelve
children? Could you somehow convince him to be satisfied with less than
that?" Mother is precious because she is grateful to God for her
mission. It is an incredible mission but that's why she is even more
grateful. That is also why each child is more beautiful and great than
the ones before. Then Mother wants to give more because God is
rewarding us in such a fantastic way. God shows His love by blessing
this family.
If you want to start complaining, you have all kinds of reasons to
do so. "Why do I have a flat chest," or "Why do I have
no hips?" God has a reason for everything so you should be grateful
for whatever you have. If you are big and walk heavily, think of the
thin person who looks at you and is grateful to be thinner. Have that
kind of serving attitude. When your body has some abnormal condition,
you are serving some godly purpose.
If you are crippled, thank God. There are many healthy people who
don't appreciate their condition, but when they look at you they must
appreciate being given two healthy legs.
We have gotten so involved this morning that we have forgotten the
time and it's almost time for the home church service. So in
conclusion, everyone lift your hands and open your eyes and mouth and
thank God. God bless you.