Reverend Sun Myung Moon
June 1, 1979
Belvedere, New York
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
The meaning of my topic this morning is to turn around and evaluate life.
Today is June 1. Now summer is practically here and all of nature is ready. When you come to Belvedere you might look at that one big tree outside here and remark at how big a tree it is. When you go into a garden the special characteristics of some trees catch your attention, especially if one is particularly tall or colorful. Even in nature, however, it is very difficult to find something that is perfectly beautiful. It is not a simple thing because there must be arrangement and tremendous effort made to create and present that beauty.
There is manmade beauty and natural beauty, but beauty created in the natural way is more difficult. A big oak tree began as a small acorn and during the many years that passed while the tree grew large many sacrifices and contributions were made; the tree absorbed many elements in order to grow. Before that big tree can ever command respect as a great tree, it must realize that many elements and circumstances were combined to make it all possible. It is a heartistic necessity that before he feels himself great he must bow down to those elements which made his greatness possible.
If that tree can be grateful and humble before the elements which made him great then all those elements would respect him for knowing his position. Then they would be glad to give even more elements. Even the little blades of grass in the tree's shade would not complain that the tree gets all the sun, but would decide just to live with it because the tree is grateful. Both internal and external elements combine at great sacrifice to make that one tree.
What would happen if suddenly the sun no longer shone on the tree? Would he still feel proud and great, or be worried and anxious about how he could survive without the sun? Suppose there was no more air; would he be more wrapped up in his own greatness, or more worried about the lack of air? If there was no more water, how would the tree react?
This situation of the tree is merely an analogy for the same relationships that exist for man. Can you exist independently and walk pridefully, thinking that you owe nothing to anyone? Or are you meek and humble enough to thank the sun and air for sustaining you? You eat food with your mouth and at the same time your skin is "breathing" sunlight; which is more delicious? You may think that you taste everything with your mouth, but without the sun you would no longer need your two eyes at all. You have eyes to see with, but for that you need light. Would you be proud of yourself without your two eyes?
Your nose inhales the air, and if there were no air you would no longer need a nose. Without air do you think sound waves would travel? Then without air you wouldn't need your ears either. Your mouth takes in many things from outside, sacrificing them for you. What can you be really proud of then? You walk very proudly, but where did your arms and legs come from? Did you design them at a drawing board? Who really owns your legs and arms? They come from your parents and belong to them in reality.
You started out in your mother's womb and stole energy from her while you grew. Even in a little country store money and change is carefully counted and you get a receipt, but did you ever issue one small receipt to your mother for all the sustenance she gave you? That's why you are thieves! Can you still be proud of saying that your body is yours? Did you complain while in your mother's womb, or have gratitude? Day and night you kicked and poked her, but you never apologized. Then after 9 months of acting up inside your mother you were born.
As soon as you were born you still took nourishment outside from your mother when she nursed you. Then later when you were a little older you were fed meals by others. Does your body really belong to you then? You never earned it. Americans are prompt to say thank you, but how much more do you owe thanks to your parents who gave birth to you and attended to you while you grew? Particularly if you were a very restless or sensitive baby you were crying all the time and demanding attention. Your parents wouldn't insist that you stop crying, but would try instead to comfort you. Then as you grew you needed education and they attended to that as well. All in all your parents had to take care of you for over twenty years.
When you think of all these things you realize that every cell of your body is totally indebted to your parents. Have you ever thought of that? If you conversed all the service your parents gave you into dollars, the debt would be so great you could never repay it. In many cases American young people only think that their parents don't understand them and talk about the generation gap, and they act like they just appeared from heaven without causing any trouble to anyone else. Many times young people think their parents are only bothering them, and later in life put them away in senior citizens homes with the attitude that no one needs them.
But the universe doesn't work that way; the world must be harmonized. If each individual only claimed things for his own selfish benefit and demanded his rights then he would never parallel the universal way. It is a law of nature that while you are growing up you are deeply indebted to your parents, and after you are grown and responsible then you repay that debt by taking care of your parents.
Therefore, what can you be proud of when you reflect on your past life? You can be proud that you are deeply indebted to your father and mother and recognize that you are deeply indebted to nature. You can appreciate the water, sun and air, for without them you could not survive, even for five minutes. We must be thankful for the world of plants and the animal kingdom. When you see a cow in the pasture, what do you think first? That she is fat and well nourished and will give good steaks some day? Probably you think of food first, instead of thanking that cow! Would the cow welcome the person who showed some gratitude, or the one who only thought of her as a potential steak? Even a cow wants to be eaten by a person who shows some gratitude instead of greediness.
When God looks down and sees man's very selfcentered behavior, He feels that He certainly did not create this entire world just to serve man's greed. Do your clothes belong to you? You wear jewelry and ornaments, but who do those things belong to? When you are proud and boastful and think that you can be independent, nature laughs when it looks at you, knowing that you can never exist all by yourself.
The universe would never show any gratitude to ] the person who has no thankfulness, but if a person I knows his position of indebtedness to nature and his parents, then the world gladly harmonizes with him. Then he can think that an oasis in the desert is created simply for him, and how much gratitude would he show in that case? Suppose you were living in a barren desert, but woke one morning to see each beautiful aspect of nature being created just for you -sunrays, grass, trees, flowers, and so forth. How much ecstatic joy and gratitude would you feel then? Wouldn't you shout out in happiness if all of this appeared out of nothing one day?
There was once a day when nothing existed, before God created anything. When God created each thing He said it was good, but suppose that you as His child took more delight in each thing than He did? Would He upbraid you, or really be glad at the appreciation you show? God is eternal, existing from beginning to the end, so He has memories of all history and looks at you in historical perspective. Will God just comment that you were good, or would He remember and appreciate you in His heart? He will think that you are better than anyone in history for having so much gratitude.
If that appreciative person were not attractive at all, but ugly and maybe even crippled, would that diminish God's appreciation of him? That person would be remembered first in God's heart. What do you feel when you look in your mirror? Do you have confidence that you are good looking? I have heard that some women just cringe and look away whenever they see their reflection in a mirror. But no matter how ugly you look, view yourself in the broader perspective that God sees us in.
Each of us sends out waves or vibrations to the universe and the world can communicate with you through them. Will the person who appreciates all things send out good or bad waves? What about the people who always complain and try to take advantage of others, will they send out good vibrations? Such a person will repel everything in the universe because of his vibration. The person who is always dissatisfied is internally biting everything in sight, even his parents and friends. Today there are a great many people living in such an unhappy state.
I have seen women whose fingernails are very long and painted vivid red, and I used to wonder why, but now I think that they grow them that way to bite or scratch the universe. You may not have long fingernails, but what about your heart? A dissatisfied person has nails everywhere his ears, his nose, all over his body-ready for action.
On the other hand, when you realize your position relative to your neighbors and family you feel gratitude and then instead of trying to bite and scratch others you are reaching out to embrace them all. Then you are sending out infinite waves of gratitude which reach every corner of the earth. The ocean is wide, but it could not be greater than your mind of gratitude. Your mind can be small if you make it so, but if you make it large then it is larger than any ocean on earth. In that case the entire universe is embracing you also.
You have millions of individual cells in your body, like employees in a corporation. Each cell sends out waves, which all nature responds to. Whatever wave you send out is how nature will echo you. What kind of person would you like to be-one of infinite appreciation, or one with infinite disappointment and complaint? This is why the Bible teaches us to have gratitude always, as well as meekness and humility.
Do you know how many words you have spoken in your life up to this point? Can you count them? Can you determine what portion have been dedicated to speaking gratitude or complaint? There is a general tendency in our world to complain, so most people deserve a sign saying, "I am a complainer." That's the kind of life most people are leading. But when you complain then everything in the universe is repelled by you and even your parents and friends don't like it. Would God be happy to hear it? Are your eyes and nose and ears complaining or appreciative? Have you always been thankful? When your body and mind are full of complaint, who will welcome you? Your husband or fiancée? There is no exception-no one likes it.
When you weigh the bags holding your complaint and appreciation, which outweighs the other? Are complainers usually good or bad people? You don't like to hear this do you? But even evil-minded men or women like to hear kind words from others. Then what about nature, would it like to hear some words of kindness and love, or tell you to shut up? Are you at zero balance between complaint and gratitude? If you are below zero then nothing will treat you like a human being because you will be substandard, at the animal level.
The Unification Church is a wonderful place in this respect. We know about the law of indemnity so we are willing to assume our burdens with an appreciative heart, and then we can be far above zero. Satan's scheme is to give you harsh treatment and test your mind to see whether you are full of complaint or whether he has no power over you under any circumstances That is our way of life, and no one can win over it. But if someone persists in complaining even after coming to the Unification Church, he is really on the minus side. Have you learned that heart of gratitude here? Don't you think in your heart that you would be more grateful if you didn't have to do fund raising and witnessing?
The heart of gratitude must be unconditional, being thankful for any mission. Every day in the Unification Church you are winning a sign to wear saying thank you. I can see whether you have a thank you sign on your forehead, but if you are wavering and doubtful then your sign is turning upside down even as I look at it! What kind of thank you sign do you have-firmly attached, or wiggling around and turning all which way? You might remember how you had really nice clothes before you joined but now you don't look so sharp, and at that moment your thank you sign is moving. Or you might think that since you have joined your face has become paler and more wrinkled. Then too the thank you sign is turning around. Now you have more to worry about than before, but if you complain then your gratitude sign is shaking. The important question to ask is whether you are being dominated by gratitude or complaint, the clear sky or the cloudy sky. Your mouth is saying yes, but your face is saying no, I think.
If you complete your whole education with a Ph.D. it can take up to 25 years, so you are indebted to your parents and teachers for that length of time. Do you remember how many teachers poured out their hearts to give you an education? You may think you are a good writer or a good artist and that you can do those things all on your own, but did you acquire your skills by yourself? In the beginning you were like a blank piece of paper, upon which one instructor after another wrote, implanting their skills in you. Before you can be proud of your achievements you must be grateful to those who gave you that inheritance. Men are first indebted to their parents, then to their teachers. In Oriental philosophy teachers are the second parents. Have you really showed your appreciation and gratitude to your teachers?
It is an amazing fact that here in America many teachers are physically assaulted by their own pupils, and some even beaten to death. The power of the universe would bring such people to ruin and never allow them to prosper. Nature cannot permit this kind of thing. Would God allow this, saying that America is a great country and deserves His blessing? If you were in God's place would you give additional blessing to that kind of nation?
Those children who are grateful to their own parents are welcomed by the universe. If you have that heart then you can harmonize with your own brothers and sisters and with nature, and of course God would welcome that kind of man and woman.
But what is genuine gratitude-is it when you can thank them under rosy circumstances, or under adverse conditions? The latter is most precious. God is actually observing the depth of gratitude of each individual and in His eyes your value is determined by the amount of gratitude you can impart. This principle works the same in a courtroom, where any criminal who shows true repentance and willingness to make restitution for his crime will win mercy from the judge and prosecutor.
I have come to America telling the people what is wrong with America and how it must change, and Americans demand to know what a yellow man is doing coming here to meddle in their business. Will that kind of attitude be acceptable in the sight of God and nature? No matter what kind of mistake a person has made, if he is making a conscientious effort to extricate himself and make restitution he can win forgiveness. But if he is hardheaded and claims he did no wrong, that person has no way to be forgiven.
At some time you should sit down and write to your teacher, telling him or her that you realize how indebted you are and thanking him. You can recall how you and your classmates sometimes resented how strict he was with you, but you know that because of that firmness you can now spell and write well. Because of that discipline you have gained very much and can make much clearer judgments. Now when you can appreciate great masterpieces in art or literature you can recall that it is because of your teachers that you can have such perception.
You can write to your teacher, recalling what kind of student you were, and expressing gratitude that now you have the ability to perceive and understand things like literature. It is your teachers who have bequeathed their skills to you, and this kind of unconditional gratitude should be given to them. Do you have any complaint about that?
If this tradition prevailed at American schools, would there be much immorality and crime on the campuses? If American children appreciated their parents, would homes break up as much? Now American young people are trying to blame older people for what is wrong, but I say that it is the young people who are equally or more responsible, trying to separate themselves and do everything at their whim. Instead they are the ones who must change and become loyal. Then even the most evil parents could be swayed and turned around.
Parental heart is always there, so when parents see the good deeds of their child their hearts have to be moved. If American young people would become righteous then even if parents were inclined to fight or separate, they could not do it; they would be shamed into becoming better parents for their children's sake. If such genuine appreciation dominates the family, it will unite them all, but if a complaining attitude prevails in the home, it faces destruction. Here in America the most important thing is how to get rid of complaint.
Are you inclined now to be thankful to your teachers? Some of you sisters have beautiful handwriting, but you must be thankful to the person who taught you that skill. If you write with that kind of grateful mind then the entire universe will help enhance your skill. When you enter into society, you find you are deeply indebted to society and the nation. Suppose there was no social system at all, but only anarchy; how could you live?
When you get a job with a mind of gratitude you will prosper. Do most people have a grateful attitude toward the person who becomes President and toward the government? The office of the presidency is an awesome one because ultimate responsibility rests there. The President has to protect the people, make good policies, conduct diplomacy and maintain defense. In order for those policies to work the people must unite with them. Should the people be grateful? But no matter how great the leader in office, if the people's inclination is to criticize, what will happen to their society?
If a manipulative, scheming person is elected president, however, what will happen to the country? Disaster will come. The most important quality for electing a President is that he truly loves this country in a sacrificial way. Do you love President Carter? What would you expect if a nation is built by people who don't feel gratitude toward their parents and teachers, or toward their society and nation? What direction do you think this country is going?
Education is a paramount task now in America. There are two places where education is given through the schools and through religion. Is the American educational system interested in teaching these grateful attitudes, though? What about the churches? When there is so much struggle and politicking going on in the churches, I don't think the religious people could really be concerned either about what happens to the nation or the world.
There has to be one religion that is on the right track, caring about the family, society, nation and world and teaching these things. That is the Unification Church. A genuinely good society begins with good parents, then children who grow up in gratitude and go out to relate to society through their teachers, and to their nation through the head of state, and finally to the world. After the parents raise the children a number of years they pass the baton to the teachers to educate them; they in turn pass the students to the society and the nation will take up the baton. In that way the person can take up a higher mission all the time.
The person growing up with a heart of gratitude at home for his parents and teachers and nation will be grateful to the almighty creator. Unless a person goes that central route, he will never be successful. Harvard gained fame because it has excellent teachers, and students who are educated there want to take up important positions, such as President or Cabinet member, which can influence the nation. If they have the right frame of mind then that's acceptable, and then they will think that by influencing the nation they will serve the world.
After they become nationally important they want to go on to become worldwide leaders. The true worldwide leader is a religious person, or saint, because the worldwide level is already beyond the boundary race and nation. The only person with that kind of life and attitude is truly a religious person. To know God and enter heaven as a saint is the destiny of all men. To go this route each individual must carry a bag of love of parents, of teachers, of the nation, and finally from the saints, and then reach God.
At every stage you will receive a certificate which is signed first by your parents in recognition that you are a child of filial piety. Then your teachers will sign, saying that you are a devoted and grateful student. Then the head of state must confirm that you are a patriotic person, and the saint must affirm that you are a trustworthy and dependable man for the sake of humanity. Then with that certificate you can go to God and He will accept you. From childhood all through your adult years you have to gain certain qualities in order to reach the ultimate goal, which is God.
When you come to the level of the nation you cannot always listen to your teachers and parents because you are already at a level of higher responsibility. At that higher level of mission you should be able to govern even your own teachers and parents. In that case you listen to the saints above you and to God. When you come to the level of sainthood then the saints' level of teaching is inadequate and you listen directly to God, who is the greatest teacher of all.
You are going forward step by step, trying to reach higher goals, ultimately focusing on the supreme teacher of love. At each level the capacity of love is different. As a child you learn to receive parental love, and when in school you learn to love teachers. At the national level you learn love of the patriots, and in sainthood you learn the love of the saints. On the world level you learn love of the world, and finally above that you learn the love of God. Then ultimately the universe is yours.
Through love you know your parents and through love you know your teachers. Through love you find your nation and world, and through love you find God. That is the kind of education we are talking about. That kind of man and woman will be able to go anywhere and harmonize with anything. You, therefore, must be a recipient of the love of parents, love of teachers, love of head of state, love of the saints and of the world, and finally of God. Until the age of 18 parental love predominates. After that age your attention is shifted to education and the love of teachers predominates until you have finished the Ph.D. level at age 36. Then you come into society. The society and nation are the paramount target in these years until age 54. Until the age of 72 the world is your stage, the universe and God are your stage. Actually you start your life at that point; all this time before then is devoted to education, and the subject is love.
Most important of all in this period is getting the right start so that you receive this love from your parents and show ample appreciation. Then in the same frame of mind you can move on to each stage and be formed in the right way. The subject of education is love, and the attitude of education should be gratitude. There are two things to inscribe in your heart-love and gratitude. In all this time there is nothing that is yours; you are completely indebted to someone else.
You will confirm your position when you give ample love to your own children and brothers and sisters. To determine your position you need a horizontal line, which is love of your brothers, and a vertical line, which is love of your own children. Then you yourself become a teacher and patriot. Then you become like a saint yourself so you can introduce God to others.
In history all these processes of education in love and gratitude have failed. Therefore, it must be indemnified, and by finding an example and following it you can make restitution for the entire loss. The world of microcosm where this takes place is the Unification Church. First, we teach the love of parents and love of teachers. We teach love of the nation and head of state. We teach how saints should love their own pupils or disciples. Ultimately we are here to teach how to love God.
I am in a position of parent and also of teacher, instructing you how to become a teacher. Also I teach patriotism, which national leaders today are failing to do. In the position of saint I am teaching how to love humanity and the world, and ultimately I teach how much God loves the world. Therefore, even though you leave your home to go to the world, it is not a violation of universal law on your part. You are actually coming to a new world and learning the very best essence of education. Many of you are very faithful to your own parents, but for the time being you set that aside and join the Unification Church because you know there is a higher mission in the sight of God. You have been getting a good education but for the time being you stop that and join the Church because you are here to get a better education.
Since joining the Unification Church you have come to love me, but I tell you to love your own parents more than you love me. That is your education right there. Would your parents be upset if they heard this? They haven't known I am trying to teach you how to love your parents and teachers. The Unification Church has the one ideology that can unite the universe and I am teaching you to be the leader of a Godcentered society. If the Unification Church were one sovereign nation then I would be in the position of head of state. I tell you to love your own nation as much as you love me.
Do you honestly think history will give me the title of having done more than any other religious leader like Buddha or Confucius or Jesus? As soon as it is known what Divine Principle stands for, then even famous theologians will say that here is a modern-day saint who outdates what others have done and sets a new trend of love. I want you to become saints, each one of you. Once you come to that level I want you to love the world as much as you love me. I am teaching the true heart of God for the first time ever in history.
We are talking about the heart of God in history, the past, present and future, and in the society, nation and world. Other people are not even sure if God exists, but we are talking about the very heart of God. That is why we can teach the true love of God. When you see me you don't look at me as a Korean or as an Oriental; you see me as a universal being. Regardless of your race or nationality you want to follow me. In me you see the best father, the best teacher and best leader, even as the best saint and representative of the heart of God. That is why you don't mind giving up everything to follow. In your heart you know you are winning, never losing.
Your heart knows that here you will go through the best education to be a good family man, teacher, patriot and saint, and to reciprocate the love of God. Do you think the courses of that school will be easy? No, as the best school our courses will be the hardest of any institution. Our stage is everywhere. We are not confined but go beyond all boundaries between races, nations, and even between the spiritual and physical worlds.
When I go to Korea the members there call me their father; when I go to Japan all the members there call me their father, and here in America you call me your father too. You applauded, but what historical applause that will be when you really understand your position. No one has ever seen a mass matching like you have, but more than that, no one ever saw people asking for interracial marriage like you do either. People cannot even dream of such a wild idea, and even if they did they wouldn't know where to start.
Most important, this is not just precious in the temporal sense, but is eternally precious. In this energy we find the power for unification of the world and cosmos. We know it can be done. A lifetime may seem like a long time, but after you pass through it you see that life is really like a spark of light, and the beginning and the end pass ever so quickly.
Now you enjoy having me here, but I will not be here indefinitely. At some time I will positively go to South America or Africa, or back to Europe and Asia. Would you try to protest that I should stay? The wise Americans are those who go out there in advance and are waiting when I come. If you are already there then I know that my children are there waiting, and in reality I am visiting you. If you are here then I will not necessarily visit you, but if you go to a mission in Africa or South America then I will be your guest.
In England I invited about forty missionaries who had been kicked out of their countries or who had been imprisoned to come and work in London. When they came I told them that they could stay in London where no one would put them in jail and they would be treated better, but they all objected and said they didn't want to abandon their countries. Recently I told them we would have forty days' training and then they could go back, but they all thought forty days was too long. They have a wise attitude. You work in New York and on MFT as hard as they are working, but their deeds will be more historical because their work is changing the destiny of one nation; they are becoming part of the history of their nation.
Are you making your work part of the destiny of this nation? Your record will remain in home church, but it is far more difficult to make impact on a national level in America than in Africa or another mission area. When historians write the history of the Unification Church in America, will they write about me? Will they write about your deeds? Historians will see clearly what I have suffered and the work I have accomplished, and the final chapter will be about the fruit I harvested here so your name will be there in the grand finale. However, the missionaries in their countries are in my position, doing work in my role. When the history of those countries is written, those missionaries will be in the central role. It's only natural that there is a missionary fervor in the Unification Church to go to untouched areas.
There is a way to make history here in America too. You can feel that as far as hardship and tribulation are concerned you are going to set the highest possible standard. Are you young or old people? This is the privilege of young people to do. However, some people may be young physically but old in spirit, all tired out and sluggish. You must be young in spirit and body, going over the hills like a rocket to reach the stars. Will you be that kind of young people?
What would you Japanese sisters say? If you are dozing then I should give you a tough husband who can wake you up. Do you know that this is the time when I am testing you? Now everyone is awake! Those entitled to inherit the love of God are those who suffer in the lowest possible position but with the heart of gratitude. They shall win the highest possible position in the love of God. Would you welcome having me push you down to the lowest possible position? Would you accept it with complaint?
I know that of the 705 couples I recently matched there are some who are disappointed or not fully satisfied, but please accept my advice-for these three years be grateful for your life and for your fiancée. Think that you do not even deserve to be matched, and then three years later see what kind of children you have. They are the greatest of all gifts.
A child is a real gift from God, even more than a wife receiving her husband, or a man his wife. In some cases the matches don't seem to fit according to common sense, but I put them together knowing what their children will be like. So just be grateful and see what kind of children you will have. When you see that child you will know that he is truly a gift from God, and you will love that child more than you love your husband or wife. You can be mutually grateful because your mate enabled you to be the parent of such a child. You can admire each other on that foundation.
I encourage all the blessed mothers to breast feed their children, even just for the time being. Mother always breast fed our first children, but since she has had so many children it has become much more difficult. Still that basic principle is there. Breast feeding is the best link for a mother and child to truly relate. It is a most beautiful sight for God to see a black mother loving and feeding her white child at her breast. Is it conceivable that a father or mother in that situation would have some racial discrimination? This is the Unification Church culture, God's culture, and there is none more beautiful than this one.
You have entered the best school in the universe, coming through the narrowest gate. Therefore, it is a most precious and rare blessing for you. If you truly inherit my philosophy and way of life, then wherever you go in the world you shall be welcomed and respected and loved as much as you love me. That is the consummation which will be seen in the world of Unification Church. In seven years you have to consummate this role. During those seven years there must be nothing you cannot bear, even being treated like human trash. There is where great kingship and queenship begin.
That dramatic scene will make the best movie. What kind of drama makes the best movie-everyday life, or some story of shocking courage and victory? You can definitely think of yourselves as movie stars. Shall we do it? When you come to Belvedere you say yes, but when you reach the World Mission Center are you so confident?
Will your conviction last more than three days? Time is like an arrow flying and this is already the month of June. Would you say that you will start next month or next year? Your timetable must start today, June 1. Even if you say you will start now, there is still much time passing by, but if you wait until next month or next year, tomorrow will never come.
Those who were just matched, raise your hands. Three years from now you will have a lump there beside you which cannot be separated from you. It will be a very clumsy feeling. Where would you go? Do you want to go your own way, or the way God wants you to go? Where will you settle ultimately? I cannot take care of each of you individually, couple by couple, so you have to set your own goal and home church is the way. In home church you can be proud of your husband or your wife. That is your territory and realm.
No man will compare with your husband, and no woman will compare with your wife. Home church is the place for your settlement, so unless you establish the home church foundation you will be kicked out and there is no other world for you to go to. If you fail there then there is no way I can bring you along this path. I instructed you to go and your destination is home church. That is the order coming from the true parent, teacher, head of state-all in one. When you love your home church you are consummating every order you have received from True parents, true teacher, true patriot and true saint.
In a few years I would like to have a shrine built to the home church parents, home church messiah, and tribal messiah. You must build your home church in order to be honored by that shrine. Anyone who is successful will have their own shrine in their home church area, and when I am passing by that will be the place I visit and where I rejoice; where it is located won't make any difference for it is definitely the place I will visit. It will also be the place God wants to visit. The destiny of women is to marry and go where their husbands go. In the same way the Unification Church destiny is to go to home church. This is where you will find your permanent home. It is almost like being given in marriage. Through the home church destiny you will go to heaven, but if you don't then no matter how much you love the True Parents you cannot go. If you leave it unfulfilled then that great burden will be left to your own children to complete.
A wife will work harder than her husband and a husband will work harder than his wife, loving home church more than they love each other. More than anything else you love home church and concentrate there to find your own kingdom and heaven.
Then you know you are entitled to ultimate heaven. Even if you appear in your home church without clothes, they will still welcome you as their savior. This is the new evangelism where we must succeed.
After three years you will have your children, first one and then two and more. I do not support birth control, so have as many as you want. Home church grandparents will always be competing to have your children come to their home to be taken care of. Then your baby will have 360 homes right away. Home church people will give true blessing and honor to your children. "We know your father and mother very well and they are true saints. We saw God through your parents." Then your children will be embraced and loved by your people as precious children. Do you feel that way toward my children? Your home church people will pray for blessing towards yours as well. Your children will go to the same school in the morning with the home church children.
If the home church people have money they won't consider it theirs but think how they can use it for home church work; 360 homes will be one family work and they will want to spend money for that. In another twenty years you will be approaching your fifties, and by that time you will be assisted by many people. This is really a prime time now.
Would you want to die in the place where people spit at you and never even look at you? Would you like to be treated like a dying cow or dog in your final days? When I am eighty would you tell me you don't want senior citizens in your home and ask me to stay somewhere else? If you had me in your home but I was totally incapacitated and became very dirty in my bed, what would you say then? Would you be glad you had me in the beginning but then want me to go to the next place?
You say no, that you really want to serve me. Do it for your own parents then. I am only one person and not all of you can serve me, but you should serve your parents in my place. When they get old, serve them as much as you would me. Will you promise me that? That's real love.
I want you to make your base so you can practice this love, and that territory is home church. It will happen within seven years if you consistently make effort now. Then if I am passing by to another destination some power will pull me to visit you. Life goes by very fast. Already five months have passed in 1979. If you had met one new person each day and really poured out your heart imagine what extraordinary things could have happened. You could have converted 150 people. Start today and renew your energy. That's what Heavenly Father wants, what your wife or husband wants, what your children want and all your relatives.
Time is not merciful enough to slow down for you. You have to keep abreast of time because time will never relax its pace. You can finish school in four years, but with extra effort you can graduate in three or even two years. Our Unification university is the same-it all depends upon your own effort. This morning the two central words are gratitude and home church. Once the home church providence is begun there is no room for complaint. When I came to America I never complained at all, even though it has been hostile here. I will always be grateful to God instead. Even though I have been persecuted constantly, no one can beat me. My territory is constantly growing.
Our opponents thought that we were knocked down and out of commission but the more they attacked me the more blessing came to us. If the government persecutes us, then their blessing will come to us. If the media attacks us, their blessing will diminish. It will be like scales being emptied on one side and loaded on the other. We are receiving persecution, but with that as a daily diet we are growing. Many of you have no idea what I am actually doing now, every day, but in a year or so some of it will be revealed.
Until now I can forgive all your shortcomings in home church, but only on one condition-that from today you really live up to my expectations in home church. Will you promise? So far you have listened to me with the feeling that you are indebted and that what you have can never be yours, but actually what you have is nothing to be proud of.
Give your pledge and promise this morning by raising your hands. Let us pray.