Home

ORDER NUMBER
85-04-07

REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON

PARENTS' DAY

April 7, 1985
World Mission Center
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

You make me feel very good today. Everybody looks young and bright. Today is the celebration of the twenty fifth anniversary of Parents' Day and the twenty-sixth return of this holiday. Actually, Parents' Day falls on April 20 this year, but because of various circumstances we are gathered here today to celebrate it.

There are many organizations and churches in the world, but there is only one Unification Church. The teachings we follow are deep and profound and the things that we do are also quite deep and profound. The Unification Church has an aspect of mystery to it. For that reason, unless one actually joins the Church, he cannot fully understand it. We have our own unique celebrations and holidays based on the different aspects of our understanding of the universe and of God; an example is Parents' Day.

Most ordinary people do not seek or require a great deal of depth or universal significance in their beliefs. They do not usually worry about the salvation of the world, but rather they are more concerned about their own salvation, their own little "cubbyhole" upstairs. That is the self-centered attitude toward salvation. Another common belief is that salvation can come only by following one's own particular creed or doctrines.

Different religions seek salvation in different ways; Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are trying to give the world a certain manner or way of salvation. They each look at God from their own point of view. What about the Unification Church? The Unification Church believes in a God who is the God of the universe, the God of all people. We are trying to bring together all religions into one common understanding of that universal God, into one universal faith.

Let's say there is a mountain, like the one I have drawn on the blackboard. There are many different people climbing that mountain and many different ways to get to the pinnacle. While they are climbing, the people do not see any other ways to get to the top. But once everyone arrives at the top, they say, "Oh, these other people are here, too. They were seeking the same goal as we were." When everybody reaches the top goal, centering on God, all humanity will arrive at the same destination. Therefore while we are striving for the pinnacle, we must try to embrace and unite with each other.

Everybody wants to claim that his religion is the closest one to God. For instance, established Christianity or Islam or Buddhism try to claim the closest position to God. However the time will definitely come when we all arrive at the pinnacle and meet each other.

Human beings fell from their original position; from that point the journey of humanity began and it has continued to this day. That journey is destined to arrive at its ultimate terminal. When humanity arrives at that terminal, everyone will realize that all people have a common destiny. Then the question arises: are there several different kinds of salvation, or only one? If anybody thinks there is more than one kind of salvation, he is denying the unique and absolute nature of almighty God. If God indeed exists as the Creator of all, then He must have one ideal, one purpose of creation, not two or three. Thus He has absolutely one, and only one, plan of salvation and one purpose, one goal.

If you ask most religious people, "How many purposes of salvation does God have?" they will not be able to answer. Not only that, they will not expect to hear such a question. Most people have never thought about such a thing. However, there is one God, one purpose and one salvation. God has His own purpose, His own ideals, and therefore God has His own destination or goal to achieve. That is what we call His dispensation.

As far as God is concerned, there is only one purpose and one will to achieve but people can look at that will from many different levels. People can say there is the individual purpose, the family level purpose, the national level purpose and the purpose on the level of the world. Also different religions interpret God's one will according to their own viewpoints: the Christian way; the Islamic way; the Buddhist way, for example.

If there is one God, one will, and one salvation, would the individual path be different from the family path or the national path? Would they all go in different directions or should they all go in one direction? When we come to the final destination, the mountain top, then we can see whether the dispensation level is based on the individual, the family, tribe, nation, or world, centered upon the same axis. The circle gets bigger and bigger, but the center is always the same.

We might draw a diagram representing this. You can see that different sizes of circles can be drawn, but they always share the same central point so many different circles can surround the same center. If God exists, then He must be at the center point. We can draw a line representing the vertical line from God down to the earth. Everything shares the same vertical line, the same axis. The individual is represented by a small circle while the world is a large circle, but they have the same axis coming down from God to the earth.

Since God is in the center coming down in spirit to the earth, that line is a straight vertical line. God is at the top position and man is in the lower position. But then you can draw a horizontal line intersecting that vertical line at a 90 degree angle. On a graph, you would have four 90 degree angles, making a total of 360 degrees. In that case, God would be on the right and man on the left. There is always a complementary, subject/object relationship-either vertically or horizontally.

With that one vertical line and one horizontal line, you can draw circles. The individual level is represented by a small circle; the family level is a larger circle; then the tribe, nation, and world are larger and larger circles. Within the dispensation of God are contained the salvation of the individual, family, nation, and world. That is reflected in the actual happenings here on earth. The same thing on the vertical level is true on the horizontal level.

When we have lots of different and complicated kinds of circles all over the place, where should their center be? Should it be way up in the sky, or what? And what do you think, should the overall form be like a square, or a perfect circle, or what? The circle is always an ideal shape. All the actions of the different size circles should come together and create a larger circle. When the horizontal line comes to its limit, it has to turn around in a circular motion; it cannot just shoot backwards.

In the movement of the heavenly bodies, for example the solar system, there is a certain pulling and pushing force that creates a harmonious circular motion. Scientifically speaking, the ideal motion is circular because that is a permanent, perpetual motion. Therefore, everything that moves in the universe is trying to achieve that circular motion.

God created many kinds of motion and dispenses many types of energy. What is the most powerful form of energy that God dispenses, besides the power of love? There is the power of life, or the maintenance of existence. What else is a form of God's energy? There is a certain energy to pursue the ideal; that is another form of power. People continually aspire to find something better; we always pursue goodness, moving toward absolute goodness. Even when we reach absolute goodness, we don't want to come down from it; we want to continue in that absolute state forever.

Thus God has these types of power: the power of ideal, the power of existence, and the power of love. Among all these powers, which do you think is the central power, the core of God's energy? It is the power of love. What is the difference between true love and not-so-true love? Basically everybody is pursuing love. A young person will say, "I am in love. I would give up my life in order to achieve the fulfillment of that love." But the question is, is that person pursuing true love or another kind, a not-so-true love? We have to ask that question. What is the quality of love that a person is pursuing?

What is the definition of true love? First of all, in order to be truly loved, you need someone else with whom to have give and take. You cannot be in love all by yourself. This principle applies even to God. God cannot derive joy from love when He is all by Himself. God doesn't sit on His throne and say, "I am almighty and I am enjoying absolute love." No matter how hard He might try to be happy all by Himself, He couldn't find happiness. If God didn't need an object, would He be a normal or an abnormal God? He would be abnormal, even a crazy God. The normal way is to need an object; if God did not feel the need for an object, He could not succeed. He would be a crazy God. Do you want the love of a crazy God? No, you want the normal, absolute and true love. Why is that?

In order for God to be the absolute God of true love, where should you be in relation to Him? You should be object to God, as your subject. Because God as a subject needs an object and without that object cannot fulfill His love, you are in the position to be the object of God's love.

As we have said, God has different kinds of power, the power of existence, the power of ideal, and the power of love. Are these three powers going in different directions, or shouldn't they be harmonized and pursuing one common direction? Who determines their purpose? I want you to understand that in order for God's power of existence to have meaning, it must have a center, a common purpose, a goal. That should be the ideal. Where can we can we find that ideal state, in terms of existence and this ideal power? It can be found in true love. Therefore, love determines the goal, the purpose; love is the center.

When you are sincerely pursuing the goal of true love, even though you may be living all by yourself, all things will come and fulfill you. For example, if a husband and wife must live separately but they have a common purpose and ideal in fulfilling their love in their relationship, they can always feel that someone loves them. They can feel an exhilaration because of that.

Even the energy of existence is always saying, "I want to exist for some purpose." The energy of existence must have some motivation and that motivation must come from love. Furthermore, the energy to seek the ideal must also have a certain motivation, a certain desire to perpetuate itself for eternity. What will ignite or provide such a motivation? What will give you such a central purpose? It is only true love that can give such incredible power of motivation.

Happiness cannot come until one's existence and ideal meets with the permanent ideal of true love. Then you are in a position of object so that you can have permanent give and take with the permanent subject, in terms of true love. That alone can engender happiness for every man and woman. You recognize the absolute Being as the subject who has an absolute purpose for existence. The purpose for the ideal, and then when you make yourself the object to that entity, you can truly talk about happiness.

Even the ideal, absolute God needs an object in order to fulfill His ideal purpose. He cannot fulfill His joy without an object. Thus He had to either go out and find His object or create one. Do you think God has a shopping center in which He could buy an object for His love? What about this-suppose there were two Gods, one to play the role of object and the other the role of subject. How about that? If that were the case, there would be two Pluses in the universe. Plus repels plus, so there could not be harmony and unity unless one God were the minus God, or the object God. Thus, what God needs is a minus God and since He has no shopping center to buy such a thing, He decided that since He was almighty, He would create His own. That is what almighty God determined to do. The creation is none other than God's effort to create for Himself a minus God with whom to have a relationship.

Which is plus in the terrain: the tall mountain or the valley? It is the mountain. Harmony is the key word. Harmony cannot be created with just flat terrain. You need both the valley and the mountain. Likewise, when a person dances, one arm moves in one direction while the other arm moves in a complementary direction. Rhythm gives harmony; one is up and the other is down, one is front and the other is rear. Harmony creates joy.

What about you women? You are created to be in the position of minus. Why is that? Do you have some philosophical reason for it? I have already given you the answer: it is for the sake of harmony and oneness. If everybody and everything were identical, men and women, God and human beings, and so forth, there would be no harmony and no joy. There must be up and down, there must be differences between plus and minus in order to create harmony.

What about two extremely beautiful women having a loving relationship with each other, touching each other's hands and so forth? Is it natural for two women to say, "We have so much in common. Your hands are soft and so are mine. Your skin is like silk and so is mine. Your voice is high and soprano and so is mine. That is why we are in harmony and we should love each other." Is that true? No, it isn't.

Harmony in the human body comes with the combination of flesh and bone. Flesh is soft and bone is hard. Absolute harmony engenders absolute oneness. In order to create harmony you must bring together contrasting components and unite them. That is why God created male and female with their own special characteristics. Men are supposed to be masculine and women are supposed to be feminine. When two hard objects come together and clash, what happens? Both objects can be shattered into pieces. However, when one soft and one hard entity come together, they wrap around each other. The part that wraps around on the outside is the soft minus part, while the part that goes inside, like the bones, is the hard masculine part. That is the universal formula. We cannot change that. Everything has to follow that law, even if you may not like it.

Now we shall get back to our main theme. God, in an effort to fulfill His position as plus, needed to create what we might call His minus God, which is men and women. Once He created that minus God, they turned out to be very greedy! They wanted to completely possess their plus God. What about you, do you have that greediness? All together, men and women are in the position of minus God. That is the way God created us. Therefore we are in the position of soft ground, like a soft field of love, where the hard center of love can impact. We are supposed to wrap around God.

Within God there is an internal character; He has both male and female character within Him. Basically, within the essentiality of God there is the subject portion and the object portion, the plus portion and the minus portion- internal character and external form, as you all know. These all harmonize and create one giant Plus character. By the same token, within the human world, there must be a subject character and an object character, a plus character and a minus character, an internal character and an external form. When these come together, they create a great minus for that great Plus.

Human beings have the duty to reflect God's image in perfection. So within mankind, there is the plus aspect- men-and the minus aspect-women. Therefore, men are in the subject position and women are in the object position. That is the natural order. In order to imitate God. we must relate in that way and create harmony. Women are destined to be the object. No matter how beautiful a woman you might be, you must search after your subject of love. Even if that man is ugly, the object needs its subject, according to God's concept. Thus a contrast might exist-one might be absolutely beautiful and the other absolutely ugly. What do you American women say to that?

The perverted love between people of the same sex is never a true love; such relationships were never supposed to exist, according to God's thinking. We must create an ideal formula that will live up to God's expectations. That is the duty and responsibility of human beings. The ultimate destiny of man is to receive the love of God. our ultimate subject. In order to reach the love of God, we must come together as plus and minus. This is why men need women and women need men: so that together we can create the harmony with which we can reach the love of God. That is the entire purpose of creation.

The horizontal line exists only because of the vertical line; it provides a place for the vertical line to come down and intersect. The man's position and the woman's position are far apart and they want to meet each other. Therefore, they have to meet in the center. There may be a lot of squabbles and fights but then when they meet at the center, true love unites them and melts them together. The desire for true love brings men and women together; no other power can bring them together. You get excited when you are ignited by true love.

God is like a guiding system for men and women, who are like missiles. He has to push them and guide them, "Your direction needs to change 50 degrees this way. You woman, you must move 10 degrees this way. Now come closer." Finally they meet and they create a tremendous explosion, but it is not a destructive explosion; it is an explosion of love. That impact is the greatest of all. When the plus and minus come together, they need certain protection; otherwise they will be shattered into pieces. That is when God comes down. When men and women impact, they would be shattered if they didn't have God as their cushion. God gets squeezed in between the two. Not only that, God Himself is ignited with true love. Once God is ignited in that way, there is no limit to the action that can take place.

When God is squeezed by the true love of men and women, does He cry, "Ouch! I must run away!"'? Or wouldn't He feel intoxicated with joy'? When God is wrapped around by the true love of men and women, everybody in that embrace is permanently welded together -God, man, and woman. They never want to leave each other. God feels, "How wonderful are man and woman!"

Actually, in this sense, man can educate God because with that experience, God can know the impact of true love for the first time. Even though God is almighty, you can say to Him, "You cannot be fulfilled without us." And God will say, "I have learned a lesson from you! I have seen that true love is even mightier than I am! True love can do something that I could not do." But that will not cause any unhappiness for God; it will make Him totally joyful. God will have found the state of joy that He has always been seeking. Once He finds the reality of His true love He can say, "Now I have become truly almighty, having fulfilled perfection and the purpose of creation. I feel my accomplishment fully."

Such a fulfillment of God's true love never happened before in the entire history of creation. Why is that'? Men and women were supposed to return that true love to God but they fell. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, men and women have not been restored. That is the reason God never before came close to fulfilling His true love in the manner we have described it. Therefore, God has never fulfilled His true love through His creation. The world became satanic, completely filled with untrue, self centered love. Thus, God's purpose has been to restore the original state of joy.

There is an incredible amount of dirtiness in mankind. We might say there is a lot of laundry to do. For that reason, God has been washing and washing the dirty linen of mankind throughout human history. The stains are so severe that a simple washing cannot suffice. God has had to unthread the fabric and reweave it with new threads. Thus God needs a factory in which He can do this remaking work. Making mankind whole has been the work of religion throughout history. We could call religion the tool of God, almost like a laundry factory. However, so tar no factory has been complete.

Each religion has been working on a different part of man. Symbolically, one religion might be redoing the right leg portion; another religion might be redoing the left leg; another religion might be doing the arms; another doing the ears; another doing the eyes, nose, and so forth. This is how the whole process of remaking was divided into different religions. All this time each religion has been working independently, without any interrelationship. Thus the left leg religion or the right leg religion thought they were the complete religion. But now the final days have come, and it is time for the complete religion to emerge.

So far in history, there has been great separation between the black and white people of the world. The white people have been in a position like the top of the mountain while the black people have been like the valley. God wanted that distinction between white and black until the time when the Messiah should come, so He allowed the two groups of people to go their individual ways in order to perfect their particular characteristics. But once the Messiah comes, he can bring them together into one beautiful, harmonious relationship. When there is a division between white and black, where would God place the axis or the center line? Of course, the center line is a horizontal line, in between. When the time comes, everybody will move toward that central horizontal line, which is the line of harmony. They will seek that line of harmony.

The world of God is a world of rhythm, so the white people should be able to come down and cross that central line and experience the valley. Then they should be able to recross the central line and go up again to the mountain. Therefore, the white people have to be prepared to come down; the black people have to be prepared to go up. This is the only way the ideal of harmony can be achieved. Oneness between black and white occurs at the point of that horizontal line. That is the meeting ground; the place for unity. This principle refers not just to the black and white relationship, but it can be expanded to all other relationships, such as Oriental and Western.

When this meeting takes place, the vertical line comes down from heaven and the center point is created. The Bible says that a person should be like a child in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because this is when a childlike mind is necessary. A white person goes down, a black person goes up and they see each other as brothers and sisters, members of the same family, loving partners. They can weep and laugh together; they can eat together and share everything. The best way to achieve harmony between black and white would be to have a black and a white baby sucking at the breasts of the same mother.

In order to create such a total, beautiful love atmosphere, True Parents are needed. Only through the infusion of parental love can the ideal be realized. Thus the Messiah must come in the position of a True Parent. This is most crucial. Without this basic, fundamental structure of love coming down from heaven, there is no way to create harmony between such groups as black and white.

Looking at religions like factories for the recreation of true human beings, how can they transform people into truly loving human beings? It is only if people are fed by the milk of love from True Parents. That love has the power to transform the most beastly person into a true man or woman.

In a way, the Unification Church can be described as the final remaking factory for human beings. Thus when people first come here, they will be given rough treatment, like raw material, because you have to be divided into pieces; you have to give up your former self. Then you are fed by the milk of True Parents' love for the first time in your life. Ultimately, a new person will emerge. This is almost like a beast being transformed into a new human being. This is what the Unification Church is all about.

The restoration of love is the central task for the Unification Church because that is where mankind went wrong. God gave Adam and Eve the commandment: "You can eat of all the trees, but do not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." Today's established Christian churches do not understand that that fruit represents love. God asked Adam and Eve to maintain their purity until such time as He gave them the Blessing. When they broke that commandment, the fallen generations began.

Men and women were originally intended to be the princes and princesses of God, His own sons and daughters. But what happened? Man joined with Satan; ultimately mankind became a part of the satanic lineage. This is the reason Jesus said, "You brood of vipers. You want satanic love instead of heavenly love." That is why people have had to shed their blood in order to cleanse it, and that is why the history of Christianity has been a history of suffering and martyrdom.

We need the final phase of the process of remaking people into whole people. The stained blood lineage of Satan must be cleaned up by that process. You have to know clearly what is the responsibility of the Unification Church: we must liberate mankind and God with true love.

Therefore, the greatest of all revolutions has been ignited by Reverend Moon. He is teaching the way to eliminate man's satanic lineage and restore the heavenly lineage. But of course Satan does not want Reverend Moon to succeed; the satanic world hates Reverend Moon and thus they put him into jail in Danbury. It is quite an irony that I had to come out of prison in order to speak to you on Parents' Day. They thought that by putting Reverend Moon into Danbury they would finish him and the Unification movement. But on the contrary, I have been using Danbury as my heavenly weapon to facilitate our progress. A great victory has already been won through Danbury. Danbury has been a powerful weapon for God. Now God is directing mankind to the new way of salvation. This new way of salvation requires the unity of Cain and Abel.

Where should we go? In the original concept, God and the archangel, Cain and Abel, and Adam and Eve were all supposed to be united. But instead they became divided against each other and enemies, because of the fall. The Cain and Abel struggle has grown now to the worldwide level, with the free world representing the Abel camp and the communist world representing the Cain camp. The central nation in the free world is the United States of America; within the United States, Christianity is in the Abel position and the government is in the Cain position, virtually trying to exterminate Christianity. This is happening because these are the Last Days.

Unless Cain and Abel arc united, there is no way for humanity to return to the True Parents' ideal. Therefore, what is happening in our world today'? All the barriers on every level-religious barriers, national barriers, racial and cultural barriers-are being torn down. Thus people can more easily communicate and become one. Satan knows that we are approaching the final stages of restoration and therefore he is administering his final blows through the destruction of love. Love has become extremely degraded and perverted. Free sex is completely opposed to God's morality and that is one way Satan is trying to block God's dispensation. Knowing that this is the time of total destruction of the love tradition of the world, the Messiah is pursuing this most crucial aspect of recreation. The Unification Church and Reverend Moon have been trying to accomplish the restoration of true love within this society.

There is a certain order and discipline which God is trying to restore. For example the relationship between men and women, especially here in America, has been confused. But in God's world there is no confusion. Man is in the position of subject and woman is in the position of object. This is a universal truth.

Both men and women are necessary in God's creation; it is like a cosmic miracle. If there were no women or no men, humanity could not continue. Marriage within the Unification Church has an extraordinary meaning. A man represents the plus part of the universe; a woman represents the minus part of the universe. When God brings them together into harmony, the fulfillment of His joy can come about. The mass weddings of the Unification Church are guided by this particular philosophy and purpose.

When a man and woman come together in love, a tremendous universal spark is created but that spark requires the input of God. Human love alone is like the horizontal light, the simple light. When man's love combines with woman's love, it creates a base for the vertical love to come down and hit that horizontal love. Then it is like a rainbow of light and spreads all over the world. Everything in creation will open its mouth and joyfully welcome that light, crying, "Oh! Come into me, beautiful light!" Only that perfect light can fill up everything, everywhere.

Love is precious but no one has truly known how precious until Reverend Moon came. Love is something we cannot buy even with the whole universe. People never knew that the proper cosmic beginning could not be made. That proper beginning had to be centered upon the love of the ideal man and woman. Through Reverend Moon, this secret was revealed in detail and Moonies came to be convinced of its validity. That's why the Moonies can be so strong and brave.

Wherever true love goes, it causes recreation and transformation. No matter which continent it touches- Africa, South America, Asia-it does the same thing. Therefore, the Unification Church is bringing rebirth and regeneration to humanity. Without experiencing true love here on earth, no one is allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven in spirit world. For that reason, the Kingdom of Heaven has been empty until now. The keys to that Kingdom were given to Peter while here on earth.

The entire teaching of the Bible is centered upon one key point: the fulfillment of true love. Jesus came to expound on true love. True love can never be possible here on earth unless True Parents are here. This is a key truth. The fulfillment of true love means the fulfillment of the ideal of the True Parents here on earth.

The Bible teaches that in the Last Days the bridegroom and bride must come. That means the basic contents of the Bible require the restoration of the original love place. The Bible teaches that in the Garden of Eden, there were two trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Established Christianity has not understood clearly what these two trees symbolize, but we know that they symbolize ideal men and women and father and mother-the parents.

At the time of the Exodus, when Moses was leading his people through the wilderness, they were guided during the day by a pillar of smoke and by night by a pillar of fire. These pillars symbolized the True Parents, the father and mother who would come to lead humanity to the promised land. Furthermore, when Moses went up to the top of Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments, they were inscribed on two tablets of stone. Why were there two tablets? They symbolized the father and mother, the True Parents, the full embodiment of the word of God.

The dispensation for that time, the time of Moses and the Exodus, was parallel to and symbolic of this time of the True Parents. For example, they had a tabernacle and they carried the tablets of the Ten Commandments inside of it. That tabernacle represents the temple of God and within that temple were the symbols of the True Parents. There was also the manna that came down from heaven, by which God fed the people. Moses used his staff to guide them along their way. That is symbolic of heaven and earth coming together-man and the things of nature coming together.

The Exodus of Moses was symbolic of the course of the True Parents. God knows that the only way to fulfill His dispensation is through the True Parents. Thus Moses' course was like a symbolic teaching for humanity, so that they could be prepared for the coming of the Messiah. Of course, the Messiah they were looking for at that time was to be Jesus. God educated the Israelites in that fashion so that they would be ready for the advent of the Messiah, Jesus, who was supposed to fulfill the ideal of True Parents.

As God taught during the time of Moses, absolute faith and obedience were necessary ingredients for the fulfillment of the Messiah's goal. But that faith and obedience were not exhibited at the time of Jesus and thus everything was destroyed. The ideal of True Parents was not fulfilled and only spiritual salvation was possible. Since physical salvation could not happen, the Messiah had to come again; that is the Second Advent. It was the tragedy of humanity that we had to wait for the Second Coming.

Who is Satan? He is the criminal who stole love away from God; he became the enemy of God's love. Therefore, for that crime there can be no compassion, no forgiveness. The fundamental point of the battle within our society is the struggle for love. Satan is trying to pervert love and make it his, while God is trying to restore love into its heavenly and pure state.

If anybody is proud of himself, then I want to ask him to ask God about himself. God will say, "You cannot be proud of yourself. You were born of satanic lineage." Reverend Moon is not a mediocre and compromising man. God needs people like Reverend Moon because I am absolutely committed to His work. Many people might say that I am too harsh or too strong, but that is the prescription this world needs. People come into the Unification Church with spiritual stains on them and Reverend Moon takes them and pounds and pounds on them until they turn into pure, clean seed.

Reverend Moon has tested this formula and it works. We can use ginseng extract as an example. The roots of ginseng are white, while its extract is black and has mysterious power. That is like black people, who have spiritual power. Black and white combine into one and what results? Together they restore the white color.

There are many holidays which people celebrate, but there has never been a day with universal value, representing the central theme of the universe, until Parents' Day was proclaimed. There are many different days that people can commemorate, such as their anniversaries or special days of happiness; also, there are memorable days for a nation. But until this time, God has not had His own special days to remember. You have to think about that. God doesn't have happy days to remember. Until now, God has agonized throughout history.

Originally God created man but the result was fallen people. From that point on, there were no more real men; that is why God started His recreation, His history of restoration. God wants to meet that kind of real man; He is looking to celebrate such days as Real Man Day. Real Woman Day, Real Couples Day. He is looking for the people who can combine human love and God's love and then multiply to the family, tribe, nation, world and universe. Where can we meet this kind of person? God has been working on this throughout history. No one has understood God's situation. There have been many philosophers on earth but they have never been able to understand the meaning of history; they have made up a lot of complicated theories.

I have not received this understanding by my own power or by the power of armaments' but only with true love power. I have been finding disciples one by one. You have to know how much agony and how many tears are behind this Divine Principle. I have gone to jail six times; it will be almost five years all together. I am not a bad person. I know very well the pain and difficulties up to this point but you don't know them. Now people can understand the Divine Principle doctrine given to them from God. This is a priceless gift.

You must come to realize what a precious gift you have, in terms of the Principle, the truth you have found through the teaching of Reverend Moon. It is so precious that once you realize its value, you cannot simply stand still. You should be virtually knocked over by it, thrown into a faint. That is the kind of gift you have received. Also you must know how much the True Father suffered to dig out that truth for the sake of humanity. You are the first recipients of that truth. You have to come to the realization that you are not living a normal kind of life, compared with other men and women. You are in an extraordinary, blessed position.

Through the word of God, you met the person in whom that truth is embodied. In this case, it is Reverend Moon. Through the personification of that truth, where would you go next? Your next goal is God, your ultimate destination. You must find and grab onto God. Also, every person is destined to one day become a personification of true love. But how do you really experience true love? The woman will find it through a true man, her husband; but first she has to help her husband become a true man. Then husband and wife can share true love and together become true parents.

But which level of true parents do you want to reach: the individual level, the family, tribal, national, worldwide or cosmic level? The level of cosmic true parents is the best. Have you loved humanity and the universe with the cosmic level of true love? The smaller levels of love are absorbed by the larger levels: the individual love will be integrated into the family level; the family into the tribe; the tribe into the nation. True love for the country can be fused into true love for the world; true love for the world will be absorbed by true love for the universe.

You might declare to Satan, "You cannot compete with the quality of true love that we practice:' but Satan will laugh and say, "Are you so proud of your true love?" Further, he will say "People in the secular world celebrate their birthdays; they have parties for that purpose. What about you who regard yourselves as godly people? What is the day of your birth?" You will say, "My birthday is such and such a day." Then Satan can say, "On that day, your parents gave you birth, didn't they? Those parents are fallen people, so that birthday is mine, not yours, because you come out of my own lineage."

Also, Satan will ask you, "Do you have a day on which you can celebrate your dominion over all the things of creation? Is there a day on which you were given stewardship over all things?" Even though you may consider yourself godly, you cannot say yes to that. But Satan can say, "Look, all this is mine. I can claim them and I can use everything. It is all under my domain."

The established Christian churches cannot say, "The world is ours. Yes, we have a true birthday and we have true parents." But Satan will say, "I claim all the nations around the world. That is my sovereignty. Where is yours?" Satan will even go to God with the question, "Do those people have their own nation?" The Christian world cannot give an answer to that. Satan will say, "I have Hell under my domain; I can put people into Hell. But what about you'? Where is your domain and your people?"

You godly people can be further confronted by Satan, who will say, "What have you accomplished? How have you succeeded'? Show me what you have done in this society." He will say further, "Everything is in my power and under my domain. I have great loyalty from people. There are many people who have died because of their loyalty to my power. Where are the people who are giving their lives in loyalty to God? Where are those who receive decorations for such deeds?"

America is supposed to be one nation under God; that is the noble concept under which it was begun. But where is today's America'? This country is centered upon material values and that is Satan's domain. Virtually all of society is being influenced by moral degradation; drugs are rampant; free sex and homosexuality are commonplace. This is the basic reason why one Christian nation after another has fallen into the hands of communism. Where is the power of Christianity today? Satan laughs at God, "All right, God, show me where is Your country, where are Your people'? I know You created this world to the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth; and You said You were going to restore it and bring it to that ideal. But where is it being restored'?"

What is the day of judgment? It is the final showdown between Satan and God. It is the time when Satan will show all his cards and God will do the same. God must prepare so that when Satan shows his joker or his ace, God can pull out His card-true men and women. Then Satan will be stunned and say, "Oh, I didn't expect that!" He will begin to retreat at that point.

Satan can show how he has destroyed family after family through his power, then he will challenge God, "Where are the families under your power?" Satan has completely divided the world-all the races, everyone and created chaos and contusion. He is triumphantly saying, "God, where is Your world'!" Don't you think God needs a winning card to challenge Satan's trump? Don't you think God wants to have that kind of super trump card?

As soon as Satan sees God's super trump cards, he will say, "Oh, no, those aren't the right kinds of cards. You are trying to play a different game!" But God will say, "Yes, they are two different cards. My cards are the cards that will save the world. But your cards are selfish cards; you only worry about your well-being at the sacrifice of others." And for the first time, Satan will come to realize that there is no match between him and God because their cards are entirely different. Satan has to admit that he is one of the created beings of God, and he is the one who has fallen. God will say to him, "Who are you, after all?"

Those who are working only for their own well-being, whether individuals, families, or nations, will become Satan's trump cards. They will never become God's super trump cards. When God displays His unselfish cards, Satan's cards will be blown away, completely scattered. In the beginning of this card game between God and Satan, Satan had ownership of all the chips-the whole world of creation and humanity were in Satan's camp.

Satan will show his cards first and then demand to see God's. God will say, "Let me see your cards. Well, that card is self-centered and only worried about himself, trying to sacrifice everyone else for his own benefit. I see now very clearly that your cards are evil and fallen. In fact, they are not real cards; they are imitation. My cards are true cards. Isn't that correct?" Even Satan will have to admit it and say, "Yes, you are right, God."

What about the United States? is it God's nation or Satan's nation? It is under Satan's domination. This whole world is under Satan's domination. Thus people are born under Satan's yoke; that is a fact. God lost everything to Satan; for that reason, there is no God's day in the satanic world. There is no True Parents' Day; there have never been any true children walking on the earth and therefore they have no Children's Day. There has been nothing that God could claim as His own. This is the great tragedy of God: He created everything, but then He lost everything. Where is God's nation today in the Christian domain? Is God's Day the day on which His beloved son was killed on the cross'?

Blind faith will not work. People cannot just believe, without any scientific evidence or verification. Today everybody tries to be scientific, except when it comes to the truth about God. As twentieth century men and women, how can we abandon science when we speak about God? Many people have respect for me simply because of the logic of my teachings. I have met many theologians who lack a fundamental understanding about God. Many philosophers totally change their concepts after one meeting with me. There is no way for scholars to go except toward the Divine Principle. Many times I have asked them questions and they could not answer.

What is the Unification Church? It is a new entity. It is the new trump card that God can use against Satan. Whatever cards Satan presents, this new card of God can wipe them out. What kind of cards are you? Do you have a number? Are you an ace, a king, jack, or what? You may have a special number, let's say an MFT card. In order to move to another department, you can receive another Unification card. But I don't want you to turn in your card for a satanic card. Our cards have a different backing; they are coated with true love. Satan doesn't worry about the number so much; the most important thing is the true love coating because that is what will completely defeat him.

For the first time, we can celebrate God and His day. God's Day alone would not be sufficient because God needs to have True Parents here on earth. Therefore, we must also have Parents' Day because that represents the victory of God here on earth. Without True Parents, there is no true love. Satan will say to you, "Do you have that kind of day? Show me your cards, then." When you show your cards, at first they will not appear different from Satan's cards; there are diamonds, hearts, and so forth. But when you turn them over, you will be able to show that they are coated with true love. Perhaps they aren't completely covered, but if even one corner is coated, that will be good. Satan cannot digest that true love coating so he will draw back and retreat.

We have many unique celebrations in the Unification Church. Besides God's Day and Parents' Day, we have Children's Day, Day of All Things, Foundation Day, and others. Basically, the Unification Church is centered upon two things: God and His true love. God and His true love were never fulfilled here on earth until the True Parents were established. For that reason, the Parents' Day celebration is special. Based upon the true love of God, Parents' Day has been installed.

Upon the victory of the True Parents and Parents' Day, true children came into being and therefore Children's Day came into being. Now the ownership of all things can be transferred to God and therefore the Day of All Things came into being. On that foundation, the Day of Family, the Day of the True Nation and the Day of the True World will come, even the Day of the True Cosmos. Satan says, "I have Evil Parents' Day, Evil Everything Day." But God can say, "Look at Reverend Moon. How wonderful he is!"

Are you excited and inspired by what I am saying? What are you stimulated by? True love? Do you have true love? Show me. Have you been educated by Reverend Moon? What is true love? You say it is God-centered, True Parents centered and so forth, but in plain language, what is true love? I will give you the answer: True love has no end; it never gets boring. You want it to continue forever; you always want more. After a hundred years, you will still want to be with your beloved. There is no way you can lose interest in one another. That is true love.

There is no hell with such love; hell becomes heaven. There are no boundaries of time, either. In the love of God, there are no dirty or ugly places in the beloved. The love of God doesn't change, even in the bathroom. Do you think that is true'? Today's Christianity does not really understand true love. Every individual has his or her own most holy place. The man has his most holy place and the woman has her most holy place within their own temples, their physical bodies. That holy place is the sexual organs. That is why it is so important not to misuse that area and why the punishment is so incredibly severe when you misuse it.

Individuals have to worship that holy place. Satan is attacking sexual morality so strongly and encouraging illicit love because he is trying to destroy humanity in this way. Therefore, God must restore the holy places of men and women and make them truly holy. The Blessing of God blossoms through these holy places. The key to your holy place belongs to your spouse. The holy relationship between husband and wife is completely sacred and beautiful; it must be pure and it must be disciplined.

My own life has been full of suffering, particularly since I learned the overwhelming truth. I have been trying to live that truth and to do that, I have gone to the lowest, most miserable places in human society. Sometimes I have felt as if I were a prisoner of God, but God has always comforted me. While I was giving all my effort to set the tradition of true love, my youth passed away; now I am in my sixties.

Today I am celebrating Parents' Day as an inmate of a U.S. prison. America may be my enemy, the free world may be my enemy and the communist world may be my enemy, but I will not hate them. I must love America and love and forgive the American government. I will liberate the entire satanic world. This is the way of Reverend Moon, the way of True Parents.

Who has ever understood the heart of Jesus? Nobody has known the real purpose of Jesus the Messiah, who came to earth after long preparation. Followers of Jesus went to Rome and they inherited his sacrificial tradition. They have been expanding their realm around the world for 2,000 years. Directly after World War 11, Christianity became the dominant influence in the world. However, at that particular time the established Christian leaders of Korea and the Korean government failed to listen to Reverend Moon. For that reason, I embarked on a sojourn in the wilderness, starting in 1945. This year, 1985, is my fortieth year of life in the wilderness.

I knew I could not go back to my homeland without having a superior foundation. Therefore, when I was crossing the 38th parallel I pledged that I would return on the worldwide level. No matter what race you belong to, you should keep in mind that we are working to create our fatherland during these final three years by giving our very best. Now is the time of the final showdown. The final persecution has come by my being thrown into Danbury Prison.

This time is comparable to the time when the Israeli spies went into Canaan to analyze the situation there. When they came back, Joshua and Caleb were appointed the leaders into Canaan. Today I find myself in a land that has treated me like an enemy, and I am trying to restore my position here; at the same time, I am reconnoitering. At the time of Jesus' crucifixion, the goal of world physical salvation was impossible so only spiritual salvation was achieved through his great sacrifice on the Mount of Calvary. But today, at the "Mount of Danbury" I am regaining my own family, my own disciples, my own nation and people. The chosen nation of America and the free world will eventually turn to Danbury as the mount of resurrection, both physically and spiritually.

Since I have gone to Danbury prison, many significant historical events have taken place. Forty days after I entered prison, they had an open house there for the first time. Outsiders could come in and mingle with the prisoners and see what it was like. At that time, crowds of people came to visit. Most were not interested in the prison itself, but were trying to get a glimpse of Reverend Moon. After seventy days of my prison term, a dialogue was begun between North and South Korea. Some time later, Red China started to criticize Marxism and began to adopt free market economic policies. Furthermore, hundreds of ministers have been attending the seminars which our church is sponsoring and they have praised Reverend Moon as the "twentieth century prophet of America."

Of course, the United States government has taken the position of enemy to me as well as to God, but I have no animosity toward the government. I made a clear statement of forgiveness to the U.S. government. At the same time, I have been loving the American people more than ever, knowing that God loves and needs this country.

The one great power that tears me the most is the Soviet Union. They thought that once Reverend Moon went to jail, it would be the end of him and his church, but on the contrary, Reverend Moon is becoming much stronger. When I entered the prison, I was considered by the government as an enemy of America, or a controversial leader at best. But the Soviet leaders can clearly see that on the day when I come out of the prison, it will be as a hero and a champion fighting against communism. For that reason, who is the most threatened by me? It is the Soviet Union and international communism. Everyone else is joining with me more and more every day. Do you understand?

It was Satan's plan to send me to jail but it was God's plan to use that jail as a tool to win the greater victory. Prison is the worst possible internal hell on earth and I am winning the internal victory there. You are in the external hell, which is the fallen world. Therefore, you must win the external victory in order to be parallel with me and make oneness with me. I want you to understand the clear goal, as expressed in our motto for this year, "Creation and Building of the Fatherland"-God's homeland here on earth. That is my goal and I am achieving the victory even in the worst possible hell on earth, the prison. You must win the same victory.

No matter what, I cannot feel any personal animosity toward America or the United States government. We cannot be defeated by Satan or by communism. For that reason, I must forgive the United States government and work with them, striving to embrace them. There are brothers and sisters who are now fighting and even dying in the Soviet Union and other satellite countries. They are becoming martyrs for the Unification movement. Therefore, we must be serious; not only that, we must have no complaint. The one who decides to give up his life for God and the True Parents' sake will find it.

This is eternal truth. God's people should be willing to die for God's sake; if they are willing to do that, God will find His Kingdom here on earth. When people are giving their lives, transcendent of culture or skin color for the sake of God's Kingdom on earth, we shall find that Kingdom. Today, at the culmination of our celebration on Parents' Day, we must pledge to march forward toward the ultimate battleground for the final victory. That is the true meaning of this celebration. This is not just a day to be happy and merry. We have to recommit ourselves to that final goal.

In one hand, we must grasp the United States of America. In the other hand, we must grasp the Soviet Union and international communism. We must make a showdown and we shall be victorious. Remember, God is playing His extraordinary and final "card game" with Satan. God is holding onto one trump card: that is Reverend Moon and you. Let's say that Reverend Moon is God's ace card; you all represent the rest of the cards. Together, we will create God's trump and win every round for God.

Therefore, there is no choice but to become united and totally committed. There are fifty two cards in a deck; we have all the cards we need for every eventuality, for every different direction. Can you say that you are a card in God's hands? I want you to be the best cards; if not an ace then at least a seven, eight, nine or ten. Therefore, you have to be different from other people. Your eyes should have a different shine; your focus should be different. You should not focus on earthly, material things but on spiritual things instead. We have no time to just walk; we have to run. We can't sit down and eat, we have to eat on the run. Every form of behavior should be different when you are a child of God. Tell yourself, "I am different because I am a child of God and I have True Parents."

Do you know how old I am? Am I 25? I feel like it; that is because of my purpose. I am constantly busy. I always yell at my own legs, "How can you be relaxed? There is no time!" If my body tries to lie down and rest, I say, "What are you doing? This is an emergency! How can you rest now?" I always battle with my own body, my arms, legs, eyes, and so forth.

Do you think Satan likes to see people trying to imitate Reverend Moon? Satan hates to see that. I voluntarily went to prison although I could have avoided it. There were many different things I could have done, besides returning to the United States. But I chose to go to prison for one purpose: for the sake of saving America, shaking up America and turning it toward goodness. Patriotism and the love of God have been lacking in this country and I want to revive those attitudes. There was only one way to do that: I went to prison to show myself as a person who loves America and to show how to love God. That is the only way to awaken America and now it is happening. Even though I am not a citizen of this country, I love it so much, Americans will become ashamed and will begin to love their own country more and also to love God.

What about you, are you a true American or a false American? Are there more of God's Americans or Satan's Americans in this country today? There has been very little patriotism in this country and the love of family, clan and society are severely lacking. Furthermore, drug abuse is almost out of control. Virtually ninety percent of young people are affected by the drug situation, even students in elementary school. Thousands of those young people lose their minds due to drugs. That is certainly not the effect of patriotism or the love of God. We are physicians with our own spiritual medicine. We have to give a special injection into the American body that will dissolve the poisonous effects of these drugs. We have to inject this nation with the love of country and the love of God.

I went to jail and some people thought, "Reverend Moon, you cannot influence those inmates." But what happened? Reverend Moon went to the most hellish society of prison and the inmates there began to be transformed. Even though I cannot openly preach the Principle, the inmates are being transformed by their direct experiences with Reverend Moon and his way of life. I want you to understand that there is a special destiny for me to go at this time at Danbury and I will fulfill it. People have said it is impossible to restore America but I will bring a great awakening to this country. We will return great patriotism to America and great love of God, so that this nation will truly become God's instrument to save the world.

Today for this Parents' Day celebration, I ask you to make a commitment to win your external battle as I have won my internal battle, and become extraordinary men and women. You will bring this nation to patriotism and the love of God and by doing so, you will bring salvation to the world. Those who pledge that to me on this Parents' Day, raise your hands and say, "I am like Joshua and Caleb, going into the land of Canaan. I will bring the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and march forward to great victory." Amen! Amen! Amen! God bless you!


Home | Bibliography | Teachings | Index of Sermons | List of This Year's Sermons