Sun Myung Moon
April 15, 1979
Excerpt
The Importance of Prayer
Belvedere, NY
Unofficial Translation
Sun Myung Moon, God's Day 2011
What is the center of the universe? That central principle or axis of the universe is the father-son relationship. It is the starting point of all. In any family there is a father-son axis and everything else surrounds that. When one family assumes the father position, other families assume the son's position in the society. Any corporation operates the same way; the president is in the father's position and the employees are in the children's position. By the same token, in a nation, a head of state is in the parental position and the people are in the children's position. A true central figure should be thinking like a father would think. Without that parental heart anyone in that position is a false central person.
The criterion of comparison is whether he is better or worse than your own father. In the proper relationship, fathers should love the central figure of their nation more than they love their own children, because after all, their own natural fathers are also in the position of children to that person. Those fathers would expect their children to love the head of state and leader of the nation more than their own fathers. With this viewpoint, the fathers hope and desire that their children be patriots. Their children can participate in patriotic action even to the extent of giving up their own lives and sacrificing their own families. That is the way that they should go. Above the president of the nation should be someone in the position of president of the entire world. The head of state should be loyal to the president of the world to the same degree. Almighty God resides above that man, and he should be loyal to God in the same fashion that everyone is loyal to him. Why should it be like this? From the individual to God there should be one central connecting axis, with the result that everything in between is like a bridge between the individual and God.
In any company operating under this principle the president would serve his employees like a father would his own children. The employees would work for the well-being of the company just as children would for their father, and naturally such a company would prosper and be righteous. What about the Unification Church in light of this principle? The Unification Church is bound together by the father-son relationship, but our purpose is not to advance the well-being of the church. We are here to accomplish something greater for the sake of the world and cosmos. I always teach you to sacrifice yourselves to help the nation and God, never to live for the prosperity of the Unification Church. If we truly practice this ideology then it has to become the central theme of the world. Then we can use the Unification Church as a ladder, going all the way to the top with the same principle. You are working toward being tribal messiahs, then national and world messiahs, all the way to God. So, do you now understand Father-son relationship in depth?
When I was searching after the Principle I spent many agonized nights in prayer, and the central theme of those prayers was to understand what the central axis and core principle of the universe was. Ultimately the answer came after many years of agonized and desperate prayer, "The central axis of the universe was the father-son relationship." This is the key and foundation for us. When we live up to that principle then we are going to build a world of peace and unity. Since the universe is organized this way when you look horizontally at other people you are seeing no one else but your brothers and sisters. You are linked together because you have common parents. We are brothers and sisters under one father.
If the younger children serve and love their elder brother more than their parents, would the parents be jealous? No, they would smile ear to ear to see such an exchange of love between their children. It is the same for Unification Church members. God will feel joy when He sees you love one another as true brothers and sisters even more than you love God. What a wonderful sight would that be to Heavenly Father. In order to become true sons and daughters you must first love each other more than your parents; that is the most beautiful gift you can give your parents. If you love in that way then you are positioning yourself closest to the parents. Then even if you don't know Principle intellectually, no one could say you don't know the truth. This is a common sense.
In the Unification Church we have one common rule about who is the true member of the church; he is the one who truly supports and loves brothers and sisters more than he loves Rev. Moon. Not only I think that way, but company presidents, national and world leaders should think that way as well. God Himself is that way. This same principle works in every single level. This is a simple principle.