Our Realization that Father's Life on Earth Was Near Its End

Peter Kim
August 31, 2012
Excerpts
Cheon Bok Gung
Seoul, Korea

I would like to say a few words, as one of True Parents' staff members, about how True Father left the hospital on August 12, traveled to Cheon Jeong Gung and then returned late the following day to the same hospital, Seoul St. Mary's, where he was then admitted to the intensive care unit. Our international president, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, has given a detailed explanation of Father's situation at the last two Sunday services, on August 19 and August 26. A detailed letter on Father's condition from international vice-president Dr. Joon Ho Seuk was sent out on August 30. From his words you have gained some understanding of both the spiritual and practical aspects. He expressed that it is not important to know Father's precise medical condition, but rather, what is important is the prayer we are offering for him and what conditions we are making.

On August 3, Father was admitted to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital (known in Korean as Seong Mo -- Holy Mother Hospital) and over the ensuing ten days received every possible medical test, including several x-rays, PET CT blood tests -- every test he could possibly need. During the days that Father was receiving all these tests, we would sit with him. He would watch the Olympic Games on television. He would sit down for three, four or five hours at a time and cheer on the players, cheer the soccer games. This is how he spent the time.

Even though he was in some discomfort, he spent that period in an ordinary private room at the hospital, but not in the intensive care unit. On the morning of August 12, expressing his iron resolve, he gave the strong instruction, "I must go to Cheon Jeong Gung." The doctor wanted to stop him leaving the hospital. Hyung Jin Nim and Kook Jin Nim wanted to keep him there. Mother caught hold of Father and asked him to please remain there. She also wanted to stop him going. But Father, perhaps for some providential reason, was very stubborn. So on August 12, we brought Father back to Cheon Jeong Gung.

From the afternoon of that day to the evening of the next day, he remained at Cheon Jeong Gung for about twenty-four hours. During that twenty-four hours, we became deeply concerned about how Father looked.

On the third floor of Cheon Jeong Gung, Father went from this room to that in his wheelchair. Sang Soo Lee, Father's driver and personal assistant, mentioned that Father had said he would go to the East, West, North and South in Cheon Jeong Gung.

He went around holding people's hands. He entered the Hoon Dok Hae room and touched the table at which he and Mother would sit during Hoon Dok Hae. He touched everything with his hands, and now and then he would say, "Please be well."

Father looked at everything. Those things he could not touch with his hands he observed with his eyes. As he did this, he held Mother's hand tightly, and said "Mother, thank you." This he repeated from time to time. He asked True Mother and others who were with them to sit down. He said, "This is my last prayer," and then he prayed.

At the conclusion of his prayer, he said, "I have completed everything." All together during that day, as I recall, he said this four times.

During the night, he stayed awake and spoke to those who were caring for him and to Mother, cautioning them and giving guidance. Sometimes I couldn't fully understand what he said. But he continued on. And when morning came, Father said he must do a tour and see the different places in the Cheonwon [Heavenly Garden] holy ground and asked for a car to be brought. Father was actually not in any condition to go out in a car, however. Mother and the assistants all wanted to stop Father from going. Seeing Father's condition, and knowing the danger of his going anywhere in a car, we asked him not to go. Yet, how could we know the providential schedule set by Heaven? We wanted to stop him, but he was in no way swayed by our entreaties.

We brought him down from the palace to the Cheongshim Middle and High School in the SUV he always uses.

He stepped out of the car at the little park in front of the Cheongshim Middle and High School, and stayed there a short while. He looked at the little pond, and at first I thought that Father might have wanted to walk around. But after observing for a short while, he got back in the car.

We went back to Cheon Jeong Gung, and he remained there for a little. Maybe I am using rather plain language, but his breathing was labored, he was breathing quite rapidly and seemed to be in some discomfort as he sat on the sofa.

Seeing Father in this state, Mother asked Hoon Mo Nim and me in the hallway; "What is best to do for Father? Shouldn't I take him back to the hospital? You must help me." So we went back into the room and Mother took hold of Father's knees as he sat there, and Mother, while kneeling on the floor, said, "Father please come with me to the hospital. Let's go to your hospital, Cheongshim hospital." Normally Father would remonstrate and scold at such a suggestion, but on this occasion he gave his consent. Moreover, he said, "Yes, thank you Mother."

So they took Father straight to the Cheongshim hospital, (about 3 kilometers from the Cheon Jeong Gung). At the hospital, there is a room with a bed for Father, and all the furnishings; everything is prepared. (A section of Cheongshim International Medical Center was kept in readiness in case True Father should ever need treatment.) Father rested for a short while, and slept for about thirty minutes.

Over the preceding three weeks, Father had not been able to eat very much. When Mother begged him to, he would swallow one or two spoons of rice. While he was at the Cheongshim hospital we heard that he ate a few spoonfuls of rice soup and drank some water.

Then it seemed again as if his strength failed him, and he was coughing. He was in great difficulty. We didn't know what was causing this. Then I felt that Heaven worked through Mother. Seeing how Father was in such difficulty, Mother said something into Father's ear. As I understood later, what she said to Father was, "I will bring you back to St. Mary's hospital again." Mother was seeking Father's consent to this idea, and it seemed that Father gave his permission. Mother told them to bring the car; there was no time to prepare an ambulance. The car was brought down. There were two nurses from Cheongshim hospital attending him at his side. They brought two oxygen tanks. One of the nurses only had her indoor slippers on, having had no time to put on her shoes.

We have a big American SUV that Father uses. It has a special step that conies down that allows someone to get in easily. Moreover, if you take an ambulance, you have to lie down and be strapped in. So the doctor said to take the SUV that Father always used, in which Father had a special chair that he could sit on comfortably. Father sat in the car, put on his seat belt and was breathing from the oxygen tanks. The doctor said this would be best. So Father went in the SUV, with two nurses with him.

They sped to St. Mary's hospital. We did not know why, but on the way to the hospital, Father began breathing in quick breaths. When we were still fifteen or twenty minutes from the hospital, Father was hardly able to breathe.

You can imagine how the people in the vehicle felt at this point. The nurses didn't know what to do and could only tremble. The vehicle raced at such a high speed, often going off onto the shoulder to get around traffic, that we thought we might all die. We just raced along at a desperate speed and finally made it to the hospital.

At St. Mary's, Father's attending physical, Dr. Jeon, and all the doctors specializing in respiratory problems who had already gone home, as well as many nurses, came rushing toward Father. Some had not even taken time to dress fully, they came so quickly to give Father emergency treatment in a hospital room for general patients. I don't know exactly what medical equipment they were using during that time.... Emergency care was administered to Father for an hour or so in a very serious manner.

Father was brought to the intensive care unit. It was already after midnight. It took another hour and a half to set up everything for Father. We were then informed that Father was in a deep sleep, that we should not worry so much, and we could go home. We spoke with the doctor for a long time. We spent that night and early morning there. Then back again we went to the intensive care unit.

Dr. Jeon told us that if we had arrived at St. Mary's even thirty minutes later than we did, Father would have died. He asked who had made this correct decision so quickly. We told him that Mother had made the decision after looking carefully observing Father's face. She had been able to gain Father's consent also. He said he was truly impressed at Mother's having made such a wise decision....

Father's situation has been stabilized; he cannot move and is being treated continuously. With his holy body in such a situation, he is being given sedatives so he can continue to sleep soundly. Depending on the amount of the sedative administered, sometimes he has opened his eyes a little or moved his toes a little, while at other times he has not responded at all -- even when Mother approached him and said, into his ear, "Father, Father, I've come. I have a letter here from Shin Joon," and read it aloud to him.

About an hour before visiting time began, the amount of sedatives administered was reduced as much as possible to help him become conscious, and Mother and the True Children were led in to visit him. This is what the doctors did.

After that, when Mother held his hand tight or Kook Jin Nim held his hand and spoke to him about this or that, beginning with "We love you" and continuing to say other things, at times Father responded a little with his hand. Thus, we continued the process of helping Father in fighting his illness, comforting him and nursing him.

However, from yesterday, the sedatives were virtually stopped. The hospital where Father is, is one of the five best hospitals in Korea, isn't it? Seoul St. Mary's Hospital provides all kinds of services made possible by their state-of-the-art medical skills. Under the circumstances, the hospital, out of consideration, created an opportunity for Father to communicate with Mother and his family. So when Mother, accompanied by me, went in yesterday morning, Father's eyes were open. When Mother talked about Shin Joon Nim and Shin Pyeon Nim and how they had drawn pictures and written letters for him, he moved his eyes this way and that, and we felt that Father was responding to us. It had been a long time since I had seen this. He did not, however, move his hands, nod his head or give any other indications. While maintaining that state, he closed his eyes.

I am there every day with Mother and other members of the True Family as they are nursing Father during his illness, offering devotions and watching over him, and it hurts my heart to watch them.

Knowing that at various major hospitals in Korea there are renowned experts in diseases of the lung and respiratory system, Dr. Peter Kim and Dr. Bo Hi Pak took it upon themselves to drive to Seoul National University Hospital and seek out a second opinion on Father's condition. There, with the help of a doctor who had treated Dr. Pak some time before, they visited experts. Dr. Kim continues his description of events:

We pushed our way into the office of a Professor Han, without making an appointment in advance. He is said to be a distinguished authority in Korea on illnesses related to the lungs and the respiratory system. We found him in his shirtsleeves, and though he is like the godfather of that office, we went in. We asked him to sit down, explained Father's symptoms to him, and asked his advice. In tears, Dr. Pak and I asked for his opinion.

He told us that when a patient is admitted into an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with respiratory or lung-related illnesses, the doctor who is in charge of the ICU knows best how to deal with the symptoms and give treatment.

He then said that a Prof. Yu was in the room three doors away from his, and he suggested we go see him. So, we barged in on Prof. Yu. He was surprised, and protested, "How can you do this?" We explained to him about Father's condition and his symptoms. At the end of our explanation he said, "You don't need to say anymore." I asked him what he meant, and he said, "I am not a Unification Church member or even a Christian. I see ten, twenty, thirty patients a day with the symptoms you've described, since I am the doctor in charge of the ICU. I am well aware of how renowned Rev. Moon is, but since we are now in a doctor -- patient relationship, may I speak frankly about him?"

I immediately responded, "Please speak frankly." Then he looked into our eyes and stated, "He is too far gone. And I believe he has already been headed that way for quite a while. In fact, there is zero possibility of Rev. Moon regaining his lung function and being able to speak again and lead an almost normal life."

My dear members, think about it. When we heard from the lips of the most qualified doctor in Korea that the possibility was zero, Dr. Pak and I wept in front of him. Until then, we had continued to pray, and we had believed there was a remote chance; we had been ready to even grasp at straws. So when we heard what amounted to a sentence of death, we felt as if the skies were falling down upon us.

After sitting there weeping, Dr. Pak and I went down to the lobby and talked for a long time, asking ourselves, "Should we tell this to Mother or not?" Our conclusion was that we must tell her, and that the True Children should also be told about it. Therefore, after discussing the matter fully, we returned to St. Mary's hospital and told Mother and the True Children everything.

When we had finished speaking, Mother went into a small room, locked the door and wept her heart out. For a long time she stayed in that room, weeping, unable to come out. Then she said, "Oh, we must talk to the doctors in charge of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital and see what their opinion is!" So we called for Father's doctor and asked him frankly.

When we had posed the question, Father's doctor also said, "We were reluctant to say it outright in front of the patient's family members, who were clinging to him with religious faith and praying for him. We were waiting for the right time to tell them the same thing."

Prof. Kim, the doctor in charge of the ICU also said the same thing. Though we were dismayed and sorrowful, we then felt that we could not just sit there and do nothing. Mother and the True Children, feeling the urgency of the moment, had asked for Rev. Young Hwi Kim, Dr. Bo Hi Pak, Rev. Jae Seok Lee, and Joon Ho Seuk, the Korean church president, to come. Hoon Mo Nim was also there, because she had been the one who brought Mother to the hospital. So on August 28, they and Kook Jin Nim, Hyung Jin Nim and I sat down together and held an emergency meeting. (I call it that for want of a better word.)

We said many things in that meeting. Mother asked each of us, "So, Young Hwi, what do you think?" "Rev. Jae Seok Lee, what's your opinion?" After we had fully exchanged our opinions, she said, and it pains me to repeat it, "Now all we can do is pray for a miracle, but miracles are wrought by Heaven and we are not the ones who can decide. We should continue to offer devotions to the end, however, and the most important thing right now is to protect Father's holy body."

As we later observed, further complications began to appear from the very next day. Father's liver was failing rapidly, and his liver function deteriorated to the point where it could barely function at all. He still needed machines on both sides of him to pump oxygen into his blood at the maximum rate. He was suffering. We learned that the next stage of complications would be that his heart would be affected, and the moment this happened would be determined by how long his liver could continue to work. When his heart became affected, every organ in his body would fail.

Knowing this, Mother had said, "We must protect Father's holy body." She did not want them piercing him here and there, going into his arteries and veins, and the hospital had suggested certain procedures that would have required this. Mother became worried that Father might be placed in the same circumstances as Jesus when Jesus was crucified.

Since it was their medical opinion that recovery was impossible, why should they try to do things that were impossible? Therefore, we should protect his holy body. Such was the gist of what she said, and we need to understand Mother's heart and intention.

Mother also spoke based on the Confucian traditions. She said, "Father came as the Second Coming of the Messiah." (She had said something similar to Father's doctor, Dr. Jeon, even though he is not a member of our church.) She said, "Father came as the Second Corning of the Messiah because Jesus was unable to fulfill his responsibility, and we cannot defile the holy body of the returned Messiah if there is no possibility of his recovery, just because the hospital wants to do it as part of their procedure. And if Father were to pass away in any hospital or medical center away from Cheon Jeong Gung, which is his eternal holy ground and home, or the Chung Pyung holy ground complex, by Confucian tradition it would be said that he had passed away in a strange place, away from home. I cannot accept this."

I hope you realize how sorrowful and anguished her heart was as she said this. She then asked us to come up with a plan for what we should do. Everyone answered that we understood her intention and that we should take Father to Cheongshim International Medical Center, where the entire eighth floor could be prepared for his arrival. Thus, we were determined to take him away from the ICU, which was full of patients dying and screaming and yelling, not to mention germs flying everywhere. We were determined to take him to Cheongshim hospital but to continue to treat him with the best equipment and medical skills, which could be provided by the ICU of Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, the best hospital in Korea. We agreed to this unanimously. [All specialized medical equipment was transferred from St. Mary's to Cheongshim International Medical Center. Both Father's main doctor at St. Mary's and that hospital's ICU respiratory specialist accompanied Father in the ambulance and agreed to see him subsequently.]

Kook Jin Nim and Hyung Jin Nim also suggested to Mother:Mother, Father is not just your husband and our father. He is the cosmic, the first, and possibly the last public figure in all of the spirit world and the earthly world. Therefore, we should at the least disclose the process of Father's illness, and what condition he is in no to the blessed families and other members of the Unification Church, who have held true to their belief in True Father. Only then can they hang on to Heaven and pray for a miracle all together. Isn't that the case?

Consequently, Mother said yes, and everyone else at that emergency meeting agreed that it was a good idea. After all, the policy that Kook Jin Nim usually follows when running the foundation is transparency.

That is why we cannot hide True Father's condition. He has come in the public position of the returning Lord. We must inform our members honestly of the present situation, so that they can be aware. This was why you received international vice-president Dr. Seuk's letter yesterday. 

Keynote Speech at the Inauguration of the Abel Women’s UN

Sun Myung Moon
July 16, 2012
Inauguration of the Abel Women’s UN
Cheongshim Peace World Center, Korea

Photo: Belvedere, 1974 or 1975

I would like to extend my warmest welcome to the woman leaders, peace leaders and members of the Women’s Federation of World Peace (WFWP) from one hundred ninety-four nations, who have come to the Cheongshim Peace World Center in Korea to take part in the historic Abel Women’s UN Inauguration Assembly.

From our early days, my wife and I have upheld Heaven’s will and proclaimed the vision of the peaceful world originally envisioned at the time of the Creation. We have come here today, having returned from America after completing our busy providential schedule there, in order to establish the Abel Women’s UN. It has the mission of realizing the providential goal of creating, on earth, a world of lasting peace, without conflict or war.

As my wife and I have already proclaimed, Korea is God’s homeland. Therefore, this inaugural assembly for the Abel Women’s UN, which will play the providential role of leading the establishment of a new world of peace, had to take place here in Korea in accordance with God’s will.

Beloved woman leaders from around the world, as you are well aware, representatives of all the world’s peoples, who had been suffering from the aftermath of the Second World War, founded the United Nations according to God’s will and with a yearning for peace. In June 1945, representatives from fifty nations met in San Francisco in the United States of America to sign the United Nations Charter. Today, with one hundred ninety three member nations, the United Nations has developed into a unique organization in the world with the purpose of maintaining global peace.

Respected peace-seeking leaders from around the world, what is today’s reality? During the sixty years of the United Nations’ existence, it has been unable to prevent wars from breaking out, including the Korean War. Even though the Cold War has ended, the world is not free from wars, both large and small, that originate from conflicts between rich and poor, between races, and between people of different faiths. Hasn’t the UN experienced repeated breakdowns of its efforts to fulfill its original purpose and mission to maintain global peace?

At the time of its inauguration, the UN was shaped by a compromise between the United States and the former Soviet Union produced under the confrontational structure of the Cold War. From the outset, its ability to transcend individual nations’ interests and to bring about lasting world peace was limited. For this reason I have proclaimed that in terms of God’s will, the UN has been unable to emerge from the position of Cain. Therefore we emphasize that the renewal of the UN is absolutely critical to building a world of lasting peace as originally envisioned at the time of the Creation.

To realize this renewal in a concrete form, I maintain that an Abel-type interreligious and international peace council needs to be organized within the United Nations. I propose a reorganization of the UN into a bicameral system within the present UN General Assembly. The arena of individual nations with their competing interests can serve as the lower house, and the interreligious and international peace council consisting of global religious leaders can serve as the upper house. I already have presented this proposal of renewal to the UN, and the Philippines, as a co-sponsoring nation, has done so as well.

Respected peace leaders, the UN has run into a brick wall. It is unable to move beyond balancing the various interests of individual nations. Isn’t that the case? In history up to now, we have depended on governmental organizations mostly managed by men to bring about global peace. Now, however, to surmount the limitations they have demonstrated, I believe that a women’s peace movement based on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) needs to take root as a new system to resolve problems that arise in the field. One individual or one NGO alone cannot carry out this women’s peace movement; rather, it is only possible through a global organization exercising global solidarity. For this reason today’s inauguration of the Abel Women’s UN is absolutely necessary.

Today’s historic, inaugural assembly of the Abel Women’s UN was made possible by the foundation of the declaration of the coming of the global era of women. Twenty years ago, Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon and I declared this era, when we founded the Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) in April 1992 as a central organization of the women’s peace movement, in accordance with Heaven’s decree. The event took place at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Jamshil, and woman representatives from more than seventy nations and one hundred fifty thousand Korean woman leaders attended. Since then, WFWP, which this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary, has established local chapters and has been active in more than one hundred sixty nations. It has continuously participated in the global peace movement by creating networks that carry out peace efforts.

Furthermore, the Women’s Federation for World Peace does not intend to be an ordinary women’s organization. It does not aim to be an external, political and aggressive women’s rights movement mainly targeting men, which advocates the expansion of women’s rights, gender equality and reform of the workplace. Rather, it is a global peace movement on a whole new level with the providential significance of realizing the ideal world as God envisioned it at the Creation.

In the context of such providential significance, during the past twenty years, WFWP has carried out service projects and education programs based on true motherly love. It has been active in all parts of the globe, establishing families that embody true love and elevate the status of mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. It has achieved amazing growth and development throughout the world.

From the moment of its inauguration, Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon and I have worked together as co-founders to prepare the ground for WFWP’s global organization and the foundation for WFWP activities. WFWP members,including the sixteen hundred Japanese members who went to one hundred sixty nations as volunteer workers in its early days, have carried forth a peace movement around the world.

At WFWP’s inaugural assembly, my wife said in her inaugural message that, under True Mother as the victorious representative of the world’s women, women can now establish the model of a true mother and true wife and form ideal families through a true love movement. Furthermore, women can carry out a campaign to exemplify the practice of true love by living for the sake of others in all walks of life, including politics, economics, culture and social work.

Accordingly, we have carried out a variety of volunteer projects and educational programs, as well as campaigns to bring about the resolution and reconciliation of international conflicts, transcending the barriers of race, religion, language and nationality.

In addition, after the special address my wife gave at the UN headquarters in New York in September 1993, and based on three years of hard work, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) approved the Women’s Federation for World Peace as an NGO in general consultative status, which is the highest status given to an NGO. Since then, every four years after our approval, our status has been re-approved. This ECOSOC re-evaluation entails a strict assessment of activities and achievements. It is safe to say that ECOSOC recognizes our true value, because among the more than three thousand nine hundred NGOs affiliated with the United Nations, only one hundred forty have this highest status.

Our WFWP Women’s Conference for Peace in the Middle East, which has been held every year since 1997, has attracted widespread interest and participation from woman leaders of the Middle East nations. Over the years, it has expanded and recently given birth to more concrete activities in the field, about which I am glad to be able to report. At the end of June this year 2012, WFWP sponsored the sixteenth annual Middle East conference, held as a session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The subject was Children Affected by Conflict and Disaster: Prevention, Protection, Healing and Empowerment. Women leaders from eighteen nations in the Middle East, diplomatic officials, including ambassadors to the United Nations in Geneva from around the world, and representatives from UN agencies and global NGOs attended the conference. About one hundred eighty participants came together, discussed this serious, contemporaneous problem, and resolved to apply the results of their discussions in the field.

Furthermore, each WFWP chapter is also providing relief aid to address problems caused by natural calamities and poverty in various parts of the global village. In particular, under the slogan, “Let us share a little of what we have,” they are carrying out the 1% Love Share Project to help children and women in North Korea. I am very happy to tell you that they have achieved wonderful results.

As can be seen, from WFWP’s founding to its reaching the highest consultative status as an NGO at the United Nations, our members have never lost their founding spirit and have quietly pioneered the path of a woman’s peace movement with an unwavering heart. Therefore, I would like to offer a big round of applause to express my utmost gratitude to them, and also to the woman leaders who have never held back in their encouragement and participation.

However, the work for world peace WFWP carried out until now need not remain at its current stage. It has the potential to expand and develop to the next stage, so that it can work together in solidarity and cooperation with woman leaders and NGOs from all parts of the world, and strive to follow the path of the ultimate establishment of the world of peace.

In order to do that, WFWP has to go beyond the level of a women’s NGO, bring together the governments, organizations and individuals across the world and march forward. The establishment of a great organization under the name Abel Women’s UN is absolutely necessary to bring this about. It is, in fact, the absolute decree of God’s providence.

As we usher in such a cosmically historic and revolutionary era of changes, my wife and I solemnly declare the inauguration of the Abel Women’s UN. We urge all women in the world, who make up half of its population, to recognize their historic mission as stated above and to expand their work to all parts of the globe.

Beloved woman leaders who seek peace, what path does humankind need to take today? In the end, the problems afflicting humanity can only be resolved through the worldview of one family under God, which is the system of thought based on true love that my wife and I, the True Parents, have learned from Heaven and have championed and taught throughout our lives. These ideals alone represent the path that will lead humanity to a world of everlasting peace and happiness.

We are living in a historic time of a great cosmic revolution to change history, to unite the spiritual and physical worlds and to create the ideal kingdom of heaven that God has longed for since the beginning of time. We can no longer postpone or delay it. Heaven has already proclaimed that the thirteenth day of the first month in 2013 by the lunar calendar will be its Foundation Day.

Therefore, it is a time for all people to be humbly obedient to Heaven’s decree. I hope you will bear in mind that a fateful time is approaching, and that we need to devote ourselves completely with a life or death commitment for the remaining time under the guidance of True Parents, who are carrying out the providence on earth as the substantial selves of God, the King of peace.

Beloved woman leaders, the course for humanity is set. Now that we have Foundation Day, the “D-Day” that Heaven has given us through True Parents, what reason is there to hesitate? We now have less than a year. Heaven will bless your endeavors to establish a world of peace based on the Abel Women’s UN.

However, I would like to emphasize again that the priority of the Abel Women’s UN needs to be creating a true family movement that emphasizes living for the sake of others based on true love and carried out in conjunction with education in proper values. War and conflict arise from selfish motives, desiring to take others’ land, others’ possessions and the like by force. On the other hand, peace arises from investing oneself for the sake of others, that is, giving based on true love.

Those leaders who turn their faces away from the new realities of the world, or who refuse to see them, will be cast aside by the changes coming upon us like a tsunami. I believe the time has now come for us to step forward boldly and seize new opportunities and values.

Beloved woman leaders, you are not here merely to help or to be protected by men; rather, women are interdependent individuals who, as representatives of the feminine aspect of God’s nature, are meant to make men more complete and manly. Centering on true love, women are men’s precious love partners. Men and women are absolutely equal in terms of value.

Men and women who unite through the true love inherent in the original ideal share the same position. Also, they attain the right to accompany each other wherever they may be. Furthermore, they attain the ideal right of inheritance, where all their property belongs to each equally. Thus, when the original love unites men and women in God’s ideal of true love, they become completely equal beings, focused on true love, by sharing the same rank and the right of participation and their possessions with one another.

Therefore, men and women do not need to confront or contend with each other, because they do not need to imitate the characteristics, dispositions or roles of the other or to covet those things and take them by force. Instead, by giving what they have to the other with true love, and completing the other, they can unite in a greater whole and share in a relationship of joint ownership.

In the twenty-first century, women need to play a major role in world history by serving, together with men, as the wheels of the vehicle advancing the construction of a peaceful world. Transitioning beyond a century of power and technology, women will be the central axis in building a new century characterized by its loving, peaceful culture, and their role will be more important than ever before.

I sincerely ask you to choose the path of a true mother, the path of a true wife, of a true daughter and of a true woman leader who will build a united world where freedom, peace and happiness overflow in its truest form.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for having listened closely right to the end of my speech. I pray that God’s blessing will be with you, your families and your work.

Thank you.

A Providential View of the Pacific Rim Era in Light of God's Will: The United States and the Future Direction of the United Nations and the World

Sun Myung Moon
March 7, 2012
The Strong Korea National Movement keynote address
Convention Center on Yeouido Island
Seoul, Korea

Respected Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am delighted to meet you all today. I would like to welcome you, on behalf of my family.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I am well aware that this rally today is a launch ceremony paving the way for the Strong Korea movement to actively carry out its campaign throughout Korea. Therefore, on this occasion I will explain something of the profound providential plan God has had for the Korean peninsula throughout history. I will also speak about some aspects of God's providence dealing with the Pacific Rim Era that I have announced.

Distinguished guests, at the beginning of the seventh year of Cheon Il Guk, I declared the beginning of a jubilee period in God's providence. God has greatly blessed us from that year. It is a time of jubilee the likes of which God and humankind have never experienced in thousands of years of history.

God's heart has been in pain throughout history because humanity has been confined under Satan's dominion. Humanity had endured oppression under the sovereignty of evil throughout the "era before the coming of heaven." That time has finally come to an end! 2007 was the zenith at which time it became possible for the gates to open wide to the revolutionary era after the coming of heaven, ushering in the time of a new sovereignty of goodness in which humanity could serve and attend God as the central being.

Without your being aware of it, Heaven's providence has been expanding in extraordinary ways. Now ambassadors for peace in 185 nations, numbering in the tens of thousands, have received my teachings and are working day and night in response to a special decree from God. Hence, today I would like to convey to you Heaven's message, which is entitled, "A Providential View of the Pacific Rim Era in Light of God's Will: The United States and the Future Direction of the United Nations and the World." It is a declaration of God's plan for His dispensation and the direction humankind should take.

Movement of Civilizations

Ladies and Gentlemen: If you carefully examine the progress of history, you will undoubtedly discover God's plan and sense His presence as He tirelessly worked behind the scenes. Consider the history of civilization, which began centering on four of the world's great rivers. We are familiar with the Egyptian civilization that flourished along the Nile River, the Mesopotamian civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Harappan civilization on the Indus River, and early Chinese civilization around the Yellow River. The center of civilization shifted over time to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea where the Mediterranean peninsular civilizations flourished in Greece and Rome. History continued to progress and the European continental civilization emerged. This continental civilization in turn gave birth to an island civilization, Great Britain, which flourished in the Atlantic sphere. The British Empire, which dominated the seven seas and wielded its might as "the empire on which the sun never sets," passed its splendid culture on to North America. We know these facts from history.

Civilization on the North American continent raised the banner of democracy, which was rooted in Christianity. It bequeathed to the world the principles of freedom of religion and respect for equal human rights as it led the struggle against fascism and communism, which had established atheistic, evil sovereignties. Through the victories of the First and Second World Wars, and the third -- the Cold War -- it won victory over totalitarianism and communism.

However, that victory does not simply mean that America is great; the development of human civilization did not stop there. Victory came because God had chosen and raised the United States of America as the Second Israel, in accordance with His providential plan, and had raised and trained the American people through Christianity. God worked through America to bring His providence to its present stage of fruition.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The present time marks an important milestone in the development of civilization. Civilization has completed a circuit of the entire globe and has now arrived on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. History's course has come to the point under God's providence where it must be completed and concluded in the Pacific Rim region.

No force can stop God's providence now. Though there were both victories and defeats during the course of indemnity under the evil sovereignty in the era before heaven, now nothing can prevent the rise of the Pacific Rim Era. Herein lies the special reason that Heaven declared 2007 to be the beginning of the jubilee period.

New Start for the Providence

Ladies and Gentlemen: The arrival of the Pacific Rim Era signifies many things. What do you think the world would have been like if Jesus had fulfilled the complete messianic mission during his lifetime on earth? Jesus came as the Savior and Messiah, to save all humankind. He did not come just to save the people of Israel, a small nation located on a corner of the Mediterranean Sea. At that time, Rome, based at the center of the Mediterranean, was the center of human civilization. Rome was ready to rule the seas. Heaven earnestly wished for Jesus to first teach and transform Rome and then rule over her empire. Heaven was eager for a civilization that could bring salvation to all humanity by employing Rome's strength. Yet, Jesus was cruelly put to death on the cross, as we know all too well through the biblical record.

After thousands of years of preparation, God finally was able to send Jesus to earth as His only son. There is no way to fathom God's heart as He anxiously watched Jesus' each and every action. Jesus' death was a tragedy that broke God's heart. It brought Him anguish even more extreme than the time when Adam and Eve, whom He created as the first ancestors of humankind, were lost from the Garden of Eden due to the Fall.

During the two thousand years since the crucifixion, God, in the background of history, has walked a suffering path that is beyond human imagination. Through this course, He prepared the United States of America to serve as the nation of the Second Israel. As a Christian nation that includes Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as the Orthodox world, the United States' mission is to bring harmony and unity to Christianity as soon as possible -- and moreover, in the twenty-first century, to fulfill the responsibility that had been the Roman Empire's, but which was not realized in Jesus' time. On America's shoulders rests the responsibility, within God's providence, to bring harmony and oneness among the world's seven billion people and to expedite the creation of a peaceful, ideal world. These are not simply the words of Rev. Moon. This is Heaven's decree to America.

Then how can we unify Christianity? God has already revealed the solution through me, Rev. Moon, the True Parent of humankind. Through me, God has given Christians the supreme command to practice lives of true love, to understand completely the reality of the spirit world to which we go after we die, and to establish model, ideal families -- true families.

What kind of love is true love? And what kind of family is a true family? The essence of God's absolute true love is not to have others serve you. Rather, it is to be the first to give, to serve and to care for others and to seek the greater good. True love gives, forgets that it has given, and continues to give without ceasing. True love gives joyfully. We find it in the joyful and loving heart of a mother who cradles her child in her arms and nurses her child at her breast. True love is sacrificial love, such as that of a devoted son who finds his greatest satisfaction through dedicating himself with all of his body and soul to helping his parents.

When we are bound together in true love, we will only ever be happy to be in each other's company. The attraction of true love brings not only the universe, but even God Himself, to follow us when we call on them. The value of true love is that it has the power to permanently dissolve the barriers that people, descended from the Fall, have created -- including national, racial and even religious barriers.

A Coming Era of Model Families

The main attributes of God's true love are that it is absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal. Therefore, whoever practices true love will share God's pleasures and pains, enjoy the right to participate as an equal in His work, and enjoy the same right of inheritance. Therefore, a life of service, in other words a life of true love, is an absolute requirement for entering the kingdom of heaven. A life of true love is the way to create all things; it is the mode of life of new families that live peacefully centering on God and form peaceful ideal model families.

The path is now wide open for anyone to establish a true family. The family is the model by which people are to live in service to one another. The warm environment of oneness based on love and respect between parents and children, mutual fidelity and love between husband and wife, and trust and mutual reliance among siblings is the manifestation of the model ideal family. This means that you need to establish a true family wherein the stem of true love emerges from the root of true love and bears the fruit of true love.

The responsibility of tribal messiahs, the mission of ambassadors for peace, and God's desire is to seek and set up families of Cheon Il Guk, comprised of three generations -- grandparents, parents, and children -- that together serve the ever-present God as a united family.

You should form families that God will miss and yearn to return to after He has been away. You should raise families to which He can come freely as a parent visiting His children. This is what it means to live in service to God. In such a family, God is the vertical subject partner of everyone's conscience. Following God as its vertical subject partner, the mind of each family member stands in the position of that person's very own vertical subject partner. Each person must bring the mind and body into unity by following the mind.

It is in such a family that the four major types of love -- parental love, conjugal love, children's love and siblings' love -- which also form the four great realms of heart, are perfected. It is only in such a family that the relationships based on upper and lower, right and left, and front and rear can be linked together and the resultant spherical motion continue. This is how God's everlasting model ideal families, ideal nations and peaceful ideal kingdom can be formed. If the entire world were filled only with such families of true character, it would be a world of natural order in which the heavenly way and heavenly law would reign supreme. There would be no need for lawyers, prosecutors or judges.

Dear Peace-loving Leaders:

Among the seven billion people on the earth today, almost five billion are our neighbors and relatives. They are our brothers and sisters of the Pacific Rim region. In other words, they are our relatives within the heritage of the Mongolian birthmark. Is there anything we cannot accomplish if we join together as one blood through receiving the blessing of marriage centering on God's peace ideal? The future of humanity is now in the hands of the nations of the Pacific Rim.

Ladies and Gentlemen: God's providence has now spread from the North American continent and blossomed in the island civilization of Japan, which is in the same position that Britain once held. It is now about to fulfill its destiny by reaching fruition on the Korean peninsula, the homeland of the True Parents, who have appeared as the Savior of humanity and the returning Messiah.

The Position of Korea in the Modern World

The Korean peninsula stands in the same position as Rome did in Jesus' time, in that it is considered a conflict zone transcending the spheres of religion and politics that must resolve all the world's problems. From a geopolitical point of view, the Korean peninsula persists as an arena of the most intense confrontation, despite the ongoing efforts on the part of all to secure peace.

The principles of restoration through indemnity make it inevitable that civilization will bear fruit in the Pacific Rim region, centered on the Korean peninsula. Fortunately, during the Korean War, the UN Forces, led by the United States, were, thankfully, mobilized to the peninsula. Yet, they did not recover the homeland and hometown of God's desire as they should have, according to God's will, and they left the job half done. As a result, global conflict and strife emerged, soon to be called the Cold War. As a result of this, the Korean people lost their property and were displaced, leading them to search for God.

In order to restore this through indemnity, I established the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) seven years ago. I then organized the Peace Kingdom Corps and Peace Kingdom Police Force, comprising heavenly women who have received the marriage blessing, who love peace, and who are willing to serve and sacrifice for the work of the Universal Peace Federation. I have taken the lead in educating those involved with these organizations. These peace organizations stand in the forefront for actualizing a world of peace centering on God. They will create the peaceful, ideal world that God desires.

You may not be aware of this, but I have been assisting behind the scenes of the Six Party Talks that were being held for the sake of resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula, and working to reconcile democratic nations with communist nations. I am presenting a solution based on the principles of peace and harmony rooted in the new ideology of the Heavenly Father.

At such pressing times, what exactly should the role of America and the United Nations be? Hawaii in the Pacific, located at the center of the Pacific Rim, bridge East and West, and link North and South. With the support and protection of the American continent, the Korean peninsula should become the homeland that protects and defends the Pacific Rim region by bringing together all the island nations of the Pacific. I say this because the future of humankind lies in the preservation of the Pacific Rim region centering on Korea, Japan and the United States.

As I was well aware of Heaven's plans for this region, I invested thirty-three of the prime years of my life in the United States, beginning in the early 1970s, for the sake of world peace. On that victorious foundation, I returned to Korea, where I am working to complete the providence of establishing God's homeland and hometown.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I ask that you analyze the current state of affairs in the world closely. Although the days of communism are gone, even now powerful nations are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to pursue their own interests aggressively at the expense of the powerless and small island nations. No small island nation by itself can deal with these powerful nations and their economic, political or even military ambitions. They are so powerful that if they wanted to, they could dominate any smaller nation in a single day, without shedding blood.

Only when peace and security are settled in the Pacific Rim can peace for all humankind be guaranteed. As I have mentioned, the small island nations by themselves cannot contend with the great tsunami of powerful nations moving into the region. The time has come, therefore, for all these small island nations in the Pacific Rim sphere to unite and build the homeland of the new, godly civilization.

The small island nations dispersed in both the northern and southern regions of the Pacific, on either side of the equator, as well as Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, should become like one country, forming a union to sustain peace to the Pacific Rim civilization. This will secure peace and stability for all people.

What I am saying to you is that you have the responsibility to protect and save the oceanic realm, which is a lifeline upon which humanity's future depends, from the environmental destruction and conflicts that are worsening by the day, and to shield its natural resources for the sake of peace in the future.

Ladies and Gentlemen: For the purpose of resolving these problems afflicting humankind, on September 12, 2005, I proclaimed throughout all of heaven and earth the establishment of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), which will enable God's providence to flourish. Now, it is possible for UPF to serve as an Abel-type counterpart to the UN in the era after the coming of heaven. It will renew the Cain-type United Nations and lead the way for millions of ambassadors for peace throughout the world who have taken up the ideology of the Heavenly Father, that is, my teachings -- which consist of the principles of true love and the ideal of a true family -- to without fail, fulfill the heavenly will of creating one family under God.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Through the cross-cultural marriage blessings that transcend religious denomination and nationality, the Universal Peace Federation will be the vanguard that carries out the great revolution of restoring the original lineage of humanity, hearkening back to Adam before the Fall. Some may laugh and say that this is impossible. Yet, where there is a will there is a way, especially if it is God's will. The international and cross-cultural marriage blessings are conducted according to the teachings of Rev. Moon, who does God's work on His behalf. Please think about this: What do you think will happen if people from the United States and countries such as Russia marry across the boundaries of their nationalities through these marriage blessing ceremonies? The two nations will belong to one family under God, the eternal, absolute Lord of all creation. How could anyone aim weapons at, much less launch nuclear weapons at, a nation that many millions of grandchildren from their own lineage make their home?

The holy task of building the ideal kingdom of heaven -- the sacred reign of peace on earth -- by recovering our ideal homeland and hometown, is being carried out enthusiastically in all corners of the world. This is God's hope for engrafting the seven billion people of the world to the lineage of the true tribe.

Beloved Leaders, Ladies and Gentlemen: Please do not miss your chance to ride on the surging currents of heavenly fortune during this important and sacred jubilee. Take the lead in protecting and developing the realm of the oceans, which cover seventy-five percent of the earth. Where else will you find undiscovered treasure-stores of natural resources that hold the promise of reviving the earth, which is endangered by all kinds of pollution and resource depletion?

You have truly come to a significant event today. You should now join together under the Strong Korea banner. The scope of this campaign shall soon go beyond the Republic of Korea to the rest of Asia, and become the beacon that shines beyond Asia to the world. The Universal Peace Federation's ideology shall be a cry for a strong Korea because at the root of Strong Korea is God's philosophy of peace based on true love. Is there an ideology or philosophy that can surpass this philosophy of peace and the ideal of God's true love? Heaven shall surely be triumphant!

On this meaningful occasion, please engrave this message on your hearts. The families of your good ancestors in heaven are already blessed. Numbering in the billions, they have come to earth today, and they are listening to this message with you. This is because it is only through you, their descendants, that they can perfect themselves and advance to the positions of true parents, true teachers and true lords and owners. You should not forget the fact that the spiritual and physical worlds live and breathe together in this way and walk hand-in-hand.

Your families should now find their place in history by fulfilling their missions as members of the Peace Kingdom Corps and Peace Kingdom Police Force of the Abel UN, which is advancing God's providence in the revolutionary era after the coming of heaven. History will forever remember you for leading a noble life of devotion for the well-being of humanity and world peace. I am now developing globally the Peace Kingdom Corps and the Peace Kingdom Police Force, which I founded. I hope to see the heroic sight of you holding the UPF flag [Universal Peace Federation -- the Abel UN] standing in the vanguard of the Peace Kingdom Corps and Peace Kingdom Police Force and shouting for a strong Korea.

I pray that you will engrave today's message in your hearts and use this message as material for educating your children, the youth in your country and the people of your nation. May God's blessings and grace be upon you, your families, the Pacific Rim and the Peace UN, and upon the launch of a "Strong Korea."

Thank you.