Reverend Sun Myung Moon,
April 6, 1980
Belvedere
Translator - Sang Kil Han
We are aware that we were born, and that we encounter many situations around us. For instance, we have families, a society and nation, and so forth. Beyond that, our nation has other countries and a world to relate to. Speaking simply, each nation has its different language, values, and customs; many nations are in competition, and some are backward and others advanced. The various nations contain many different elements, so when we come to think about all this, we ask, "What is the relationship between these things and myself?"
Nowadays this question is magnified, and young people especially are doubtful and searching, questioning more than at any other time what they have to do with all these different elements in the world. At one time or another they pass through a stage of saying they don't care about anything else except the fact that they exist, and then they tend to care only about themselves. If you are a little more sophisticated, however, you realize that your lack of trust in the world begins with the fact that our circumstances have nothing to do with the ideal. Somehow the world started in such a way that it became separated from the ideal, and people are not moved by the highest motives.
Now we have to define what the ideal actually is. Every person would like to develop as an ideal individual, and create an ideal family and society. What kind of society could be called an ideal society? We can safely say that the ideal should not be changing in quality, but should carry on consistently. This is one element to be considered. Each part of the ideal must be constant, with each existence naturally and easily connecting to every other existence. Is there any family or society that is close to this situation? No.
Let us consider a simple example. An individual may find it difficult to communicate with the other members of his family, even his parents, who are the direct cause of his existence. On a larger stage, citizens of different countries may find communication difficult with other countries. People are primarily concerned with their own well-being or profit, instead of with other people, and this is generally assumed to be normal. If we are serious about the ideal, however, we immediately realize that this is contrary to the ideal. Selfishness and concern for one's own profit cannot help sustain the ideal.
This struggle continues all through life, generation after generation. The elements of money, power and knowledge are utilized to promote profit and to survive competition, but this also is distant from the ideal. It is this way everywhere we look, so in the midst of this situation there is no hope for the ideal. Paradoxically, everyone wants peace and an ideal society to live in, but we can only dream about happiness as long as the present situation continues. No matter how proud or ashamed it may feel, every country lives in this situation, as well as each family. Though no one can avoid living in these circumstances, we can divide mankind into two groups-those who are religious and those who are not. Which side do we belong to?
What are we working to achieve? We are particularly interested in bringing everything into unity. As soon as we make up our minds to it, unity will be achieved, right? A man may have one eye that sees well and another that sees poorly. Is it easy or difficult for him to improve the poor eye to see well? One ear may hear less than the other, and one arm or leg may be shorter than the other. It would be very difficult to improve the weaker limb to be as strong as the other.
Making unity sounds very simple in concept-all you have to do is make the disadvantaged element conform to the standard of the other element. Another way would be to destroy the healthy element and have it meet the standard of the unhealthy element. But of course, when we say unity we mean bringing the bad one up to the standard of the good one. It is the same with everyone-when we talk about unity we mean raising the lower element to measure up to the higher element. How difficult it would be to do this with a society or nation. There are many medical specialists, even doctors who specialize just in feet. Would it be the ideal to go to a specialist for each part of your body, or just one doctor who knows about all parts of the body?
Everyone is looking for the ideal, including such diverse groups as the communist world, the free world, hippies and churchgoers. If the ideal had a color, would it be white, black, yellow, or what? We have to think one step further now and determine what is the starting base of the ideal. If a man works hard to get his Ph.D. and then does research for years and finally is awarded the Nobel Prize, how much longer will he live to enjoy that honor? If you closely observe a so-called "man of success," you will see he is looking at a much narrower world than any of you sitting here. The world may praise and honor him, but when you look closely, you will find you wouldn't want to be like him.
A great scientist may be given a Nobel prize for eye research, but he knows only a little bit about your eyes, which are only a small part of yourself. Even the greatest psychologist has only scratched the surface of the self. Any man of knowledge knows about only a small part of human phenomena. America is proud of its technological advancement and its living standard, but when we look closely we see that America is standing on very shaky ground. The more seriously we look for the ideal, the sadder we become because it seems we are getting farther away from it instead of closer.
Was there any time in the past when things were more perfect than now? Actually the past was even darker than the present. Will the future improve in any way? If we had hope for the future then we would not be disappointed in today, but there is no reason to think that it will get better. A sensible man could only conclude that no one can achieve happiness and the ideal. He may keep searching, but he is destined to be disappointed.
Many people think America is the land of their dreams and that it stands for what is good. But if they carefully examine this country they will see it is far from measuring up to their dreams. In this country, Americans from the East coast go to the West coast looking for something; when they can't find it they keep going on to the Orient, hoping to find something ideal. America is not the only country where we can't find a clue to our ideals. It is the same in the Orient, Africa and Europe.
Everyone wants to go to Harvard and is proud when they are accepted, but if you ask the students who study there, they are likely to express as much disappointment as any student studying in some other school. Since school fails to give us a clue about life or the ideal, naturally we turn to religion. The man who fails to find what he seeks in college will turn to church or religion. In the beginning he may feel that something about church is different, but soon enough he finds it contains as much inconsistency as any place else. The closer he examines it, the more clearly he will find that the church has as many problems as society.
People talk about God, and perhaps find some consolation in their belief, but they don't know about God. Even though church is really no different from society, it demands a stricter life but gives no benefit for it. Thus, religious life feels like a bigger burden to carry. Discouragement in your quest of religion is your second disappointment.
In a regular church you will be greeted by the whole congregation when you become a new member, and after service people will shake your hand. The minister wears a handsome robe to preach in, and by being seen at church you may gain some social prestige. But after that you come to the Unification Church, which is rather unpopular, and was even started by an Oriental. Here people don't regard you as a perfect person, and don't even offer you a chair; here at service you sit on cold concrete. You might wonder if this will prove to be yet another disappointment.
In the midst of that, you ask, "Who is Reverend Moon?" You know one thing for sure. He denies everything that is established. For instance, he will not recognize existing churches, no matter how beautiful or famous, because they have nothing to do with God. You may have noticed that there is no part of the world that I accept. You know that, yet you are determined to follow that path. You are sure that disappointment is ahead of you, aren't you? Maybe the longer you stay the more you feel that eventually you will give this up. You say no, but up until this morning I don't think you were so sure!
Someone might speak up, asking, "Reverend Moon, who are you?" I would confidently reply that I am the one who has experienced the deepest disappointment about the world. Therefore, I represent all those who are denied by the world and the churches, and who have given up all hope in this world. The voice will ask why I didn't totally give up in despair, and my answer will be that I have found the possibility of a religion which has a concrete plan, not just wishful thinking. Thus, I have begun anew.
We are teaching other people that if they come to the Unification Church they will find hope and an avenue to create a completely new church, society and life. We merely said that the possibility exists; we didn't say it would be done easily. Then we teach how it is possible. In this we are very down-to-earth, covering even the smallest detail. If God exists, and sees anyone who has reached this point, then we can imagine that God certainly would give His whole attention to that person. All of us here are part of the Unification Church. God doesn't think as much about the other billions of people on earth, but concentrates on the Unification Church here in America.
Now that you know you are the ones whom God pays most attention to, let me ask you a question. You were deeply disappointed in the past; if you are disappointed here, do you think you could go back to the place of your first disappointment and continue living? If I say you are not needed here, would you go back to your old place? If you refuse, does that mean you have nowhere else to go and you will stay here, no matter what? Sometimes I have an urge to chase you out of the Church!
There are many things you must do, like fund raising and home church. Sometimes going to the bathroom is a smelly experience, but some of the things we do seem worse than going to the bathroom. You are not the only ones who feel that way. Do you think I enjoy everything I do? I am not handsome according to American standards, but by Oriental standards I am very handsome. I could have been a big businessman, or a famous political leader. I am confident I could have done anything I wanted to, if only I had not been disappointed with the world.
Why would I live the kind of life I do now if I could have been established and successful by worldly standards? I came to America as a lonely pioneer. All the churches and newspapers have slandered me, so that everywhere I go people watch me and the FBI keeps track of me. Why don't I quit and just go to another church? I don't enjoy traveling all over and being watched, so why do I continue?
Since I was disappointed with the world, the world was disappointed with me. They have pretty much kicked us out and we have no place to go, but even though everyone is opposing me, am I disappointed? No, I am confident and my only thought is how to change this world into the world of God. Why do we think and talk like this? First, we must really know for sure what circumstances we are in. Our big breakthrough is in knowing why the world became as it is and why there is no trust or love.
The world is a broken heaven, like a radio broken in its most essential part. Anyone trying to repair it will mess the machine up even more. If the fall had never happened, yet the world was this way, there would be no hope at all. But we know that the fall shaped mankind to be the way they are now. We hate the fall so much that when difficulty comes to us we are not disappointed, but grateful for what we know. Because we know about the fall, we have hope to become the way men should have been if there had been no fall. We know clearly that history began upside down, and knowing the cause of it, we know how to change it and we can be strong.
Knowing about the fall gives us hope. Now we know that the world can be saved. Now we know that God has been working for many, many years. All during the time when we were in darkness, God was thinking and working. When you come to know what God already knows, the spark of electricity jumping between you will be bright enough to light up the entire world. Everyone else remains in disappointment and despair because there is no way any man or power could change the world. But we know God has been working to make a good world, so together with God we are strong enough to remake the world.
We know that we are living in the midst of the dispensation of restoration. Was God already thinking about how to save man, or is the Principle something I thought up for saving the world? Many important incidents took place in history, but only those who know the meaning of those incidents can have anything to do with them. The dispensation of salvation has been going on for thousands of years, but if people don't know about it then they have nothing to do with it. Only the person who knows accurately what took place and why can be saved.
Who knows the most about this dispensation? When you are disappointed and it is difficult to continue, you have to confront God about why He is letting these difficulties happen to you. You should demand that God let you know why you are here, because that is what you are going to teach the world. If you think you are having difficulty, you can demand to know why. I confronted God with this matter. Do you think it was easy? No one knows God more deeply than I do, and you cannot imagine how difficult it was. Were there no greater men than me in these thousands of years? Weren't there other people God could teach? There were many great men in history.
If God were to hate me then He would have to hate me more than anyone. But if He were to love me, then He would have to love me most. As Divine Principle teaches, God has been working rather unsuccessfully in history, and now I am determined to finish God's work. If God were to hate me, why would He hate me most of all? Restoration is so difficult that God felt perhaps no one could ever do it. If I volunteered but failed, then God would hate me most. On the other side, no one has even worried about what God was thinking, let alone volunteer to do what He is doing, so God would embrace me for being even willing to try. In that respect God could love me most.
If you look around the world you will find that the same people who say they hate me will also say, "But you know, I like Reverend Moon!" You sometimes hate me too. When I tell you something, you sometimes criticize, and that is the same thing as hating me. If I tell you to do something but you don't, it is the same as hating me. Until today you have been that way. Is it easier to say you won't work hard because your leader isn't working hard, or to say that because your leader isn't doing so well you must work harder?
Did you come this morning because you knew I would speak, or even though you didn't know for sure? Did you come like a rising sun, thinking that because of you Belvedere would come alive? Have you ever come with that kind of mind? Maybe you drag yourself here out of duty, even though you don't care about salvation because you feel ready to die yourself. Let's be open about this! Is it more difficult to come as a dying man, or to bring a dying man with you and revive him? Until today you admit that you came like dying men, but are you going to continue that as of tomorrow? Would you feel that you cannot give up your position because it is the best in all history, or would you just give up?
You have a place to sleep and three meals to eat, so now you say you will hang on even if you die. But what if you go hungry? That day might come. You might even sleep in the rain, but would you say that you can't give up, even if you die in this situation? You thought the assignments I have given you so far were very difficult, but if I gave you ten times as much would you still try to live up to it? Many Koreans promised me they would fulfill but they did not. Many Japanese promised me but they didn't do it. How could I believe that you will do what you promise me?
America is thought to be a great country, but its people are individualistic and have hardly experienced difficulty. When Americans encounter difficulty they find it hard to endure through, so America has little basis for saying that only Americans can do something. Can I believe in and trust America? Can I have hope because Americans have bigger eyes than mine, or because they are taller? The Bible teaches that those who are willing to die will live. You shouldn't just know this in your head, but feel it every day.
We know that Reverend Moon and the Unification Church are advancing, but do you think that many times I was about to die in reaching our present position, or that I never experienced that situation? How could you say you will go the way I went and not expect to experience that? For a long time God could not believe in me. We can understand God's situation, however; Adam and Eve, who had no original sin, abandoned God, so what guarantee did God have that I could change the fallen world I was born into? I went through incredible situations to win God's approval, and finally after many such victories God came to trust me.
If I push American members into a difficult situation where they don't think they can succeed, but they do, then I can trust America. Would that be reasonable?
Now that you have been engaged by me, are you in a position to talk all the time about your fiancé? Do you love the dispensation and God more than your fiancé? Really? That is a practical matter than you cannot bypass, and you have to evaluate yourselves in this matter. I am here physically with you now, so if you go wrong there is a way to correct it immediately, but if you want to go forward all by yourself there is no way to correct yourself if you go wrong. You have to understand the significance of my presence here.
How do you go through the dispensation of salvation and restoration? God comes to man through the angels and through all things. Since the fall, both God and the angels must come down on earth, but is that God's original position? Do you think God has been a true God so far? Has He had dominion over the world, or has someone else been in control? Satan has held that position of dominion and God has been looking in from the outside, so He has to remove the archangel and put him in his true position.
The religious and non-religious worlds both follow the same pattern. There are many religions today, but there should be one central religion. Each religion today claims that it is the central or chosen one. The Protestants, Catholics, Jews and Unification Church all say they are the center. Who is actually the center? If people hear that the Unification Church is the center, and yet they see that Unification Church members are greedy people, they will say Unification Church members are thieves. Are we greedy in an ambitious way, or in the sense that we want to do many things? People say Reverend Moon has lots of ambition and is greedy like a thief. How then could the world believe the Unification Church is the central religion?
If you say the Unification Church is the central religion, how can the world believe you? You are not well-dressed and don't have important positions. The world doesn't like Moonies. In the beginning people will not believe you, but they will watch as you keep coming back to see them. Then their idea about you will begin to change. When a person sees the Unification Church moving intone city, then finds it working in another city, after a long time his idea may change and he may feel that the Unification Church is different. People will find that Unification Church members are absolutely different from all other regular church members. I have a feeling you already understand about this.
In this country people date all the time and go to the disco, but in all the years people have watched Unification Church members, they have never seen one of our boys and girls walk hand in hand, and they know we are very strict even after marriage. Officials know that for three years after you get married you still work apart from your wife or husband. People can never understand that. If they were put in that situation, they would protest after three days, but after three years you are still going strong. That's what they can't understand, and their conclusion is that you are brainwashed.
Actually this idea of brainwashing is a convenient tool for us. People sometimes say Unification Church members are glassy-eyed. They think there is no singing and happiness in Unification Church, but they are wrong. All of you could be great dancers, and I could be the best disco dancer; if I were determined to do it, I could disco many nights without sleep. I know that if I gave you the go-ahead you could out-dance the whole world. One day God will tell us to indemnify the fact that we never danced in the past, so we will have to dance a lot. I know the longest dancing champion will come from the Unification Church.
The Unification Church is different from the secular world. Where would God and mankind find hope in this world? If someone is different, then hope might be found in that difference; there is no hope in being the same as the world. Many people think I carry guns and handcuffs because they think I have a fierce temper and am a dictator. They connect all the bad names of the past with me, saying I am like Hitler and Stalin. They even say I am worse than Hitler because at least Hitler paid his army; you not only don't receive a salary, but you fund raise to support the Church! People think that you must be forced to do that. Non-religious people could never understand.
But I am not paid either. Everyone has to pay their own indemnity to God. Sometimes you wonder who is going to support you; we are different in that we support the Church, while other churches pay their ministers and officers. Strangely enough, the people who get paid don't work as hard as those who work without pay. Is there such a thing as an eight hour day in the Unification Church? We work 24 hours a day, but even then we know we haven't done enough.
People in the everyday world work eight hours a day and buy their own homes, but we work all day and still own nothing. Do you realize we are different from the world? We are 180 degrees different from the world. The point is, who has hope and inspiration and feels secure in their happiness-those who work eight hours a day, or those who work all day and own nothing for themselves? We are proud of our job. I push myself in a difficult way of life, but I have nothing to be ashamed or afraid of because there is nothing I have not experienced. It is a privilege not to be afraid of anything.
No matter how the world may oppose me, some day the world will have to make way for me and for our movement. What a privilege it is! Though I sleep only a little, when I do sleep it is so deep that all the kings of this world would envy me my peace of mind. Deep inside I have nothing to worry about or be ashamed of. I sleep short hours, but very peacefully. Is such a man happy or unhappy?
I was fascinated one day watching Kook Jin and Heung Jin playing with a whole company of toy soldiers. They had a mock war under way and were so absorbed with their game that they never noticed time passing. I wished that I could play like that, and now maybe sometime I will. If all of you work like I have and bear the burden, then I will be relieved and be able to play like the children.
The problem is that Unification Church members don't think so much about how hard I worked in the past. I have graduated from working, but the members then question why they have to work while I have finished. One day I might go to the ballet with Mother and a few staff members. Then one leader might think he can come too, and then when the people under him hear where he is, they think that they can also go to the ballet. Then I feel that I shouldn't go to the ballet in order to prevent everyone else from thinking they can go too. For that reason I find it difficult to play like the children with toy soldiers.
You must bear in mind that there are graduates and undergraduates. My children go to school, so if they ask to accompany me everywhere I go should I say yes? I tell them they must go to school. There will come a time when I must go to other countries to meet national leaders, but can everyone come with me? Will I go in a small airplane? The American President travels in a big jet, so shouldn't I go in a bigger jet? No one criticizes the President, but if I fly in my own plane, people will complain that I am a dictator and wonder where I got the money. You think like that, don't you?
People compare how I live with how you live, and sometimes you too might wonder why I live in a big house. It is a mansion only because it has many rooms, but I need many rooms because I have eleven children already. Years ago my house was big for a family of four, but since I moved in, four more children have been born. Several years ago the garage burned down, so now we are building a new one. Initially the city denied us a building permit, but when we asked them to review the case they asked how many people and how many rooms there are at East Garden. Later they said they could understand how I needed more room! Finally they gave us the permit.
Many people who don't know the facts can't understand why we are erecting another building. People may criticize, but what about you? You want me to live in the biggest house on earth, don't you? But the world would hate me for that.
People think we are crazy, but a psychiatrist who interviews a Moonie soon finds he will be brainwashed by the Moonie! The top student at Harvard Divinity School is a Moonie. The other students have fuzzy thinking, but the Moonie students have sharp straightforward thinking and the professors can't understand why. The patriots who care most about this country, even at the risk of having a bad reputation, are the Moonies. If the President recommends that the draft be started, the communists stage demonstrations against it, but the people who stand up against the anti-draft movements are the Moonies. Whether in the home, the community or the country, the Moonies are there. When no one has a solution, a Moonie is there to suggest a solution. Then people debate whether Moonies are good or bad.
Some people are beginning to realize that they would like to see more Moonies around. I don't say this to brag, but this is exactly what is happening in Korea. Even the Korean political community is paying attention and studying what the Moonies are doing and why. They say that they know Reverend Moon is a patriot, and can't understand why people speak badly of him. The same thing is happening in Japan. Soon it will happen in America.
If Unification Church didn't exist in America, would you have any better alternative to offer America? You know that I love America and the world, but in the beginning I had to renounce the world and only later embrace it. If I went to the middle of the desert, many people would give up living in green fields to join me there, or even to live with me on the sea. Why would you miss me so much?
From all this evidence we can conclude that there is a good possibility the Unification Church will become the central religion. People think that the Unification Church is dynamic because I am a superman, but that after I go to spirit world the Unification Church will become soft. How can you say that won't happen? The real reason is that God will continue to support Unification Church. Not only will God lead us spiritually, but we have the truth and highest thought as the foundation of the Unification Church. Whoever is willing to try it out will soon find he is living exactly as I did. If you duplicate elements and circumstances in a laboratory, the end product will always be the same. If the same thought and ideal is followed, many Reverend Moons will be born. Whoever has the same qualities will feel grafted to me, just as you feel grafted to me. Now do you believe or do you know that Unification Church should be the center of all religions?
In this world where there is no hope, the Unification Church came to exist. Is that good for the world? How much tuition should we charge people to attend this school? A student pays much tuition to attend a famous college and then he has to work hard. How much money and time would you have to devote to attend a school, like Unification Church and learn to perfect yourself? Is this an easier course than Harvard, or more difficult? You are right-it is harder. How ashamed would you feel, standing before all history and God, to think about how difficult this is and wonder when it will end. The tradition at Harvard is to pursue knowledge and reach ever higher standards. If it is the Unification Church tradition to encompass all the thousands of years of God's dispensation, can you let your mind wander and not do God's work in a straightforward way? Do you really value this tradition?
Tradition is not important for our sake, but for our children and grandchildren. It is also very important for society, and for Unification Church members to come. Without that they will have much difficulty We are in the middle of establishing that tradition. I made sure we would do it, so can you say it is hard? If you complain, imagine what kind of enemy you will be to the future! This is a very fortunate place, but if you don't conduct yourself correctly, it is a very fearful place. Do you believe that? Can you continue establishing the tradition in the years to come?
The more you know, the more humble you must become. Likewise, if you work hard you should feel you need to do even more. Just like a stalk of wheat bows down as the ripening grains get heavy, walking humbly is the normal thing for man.
When God looks down at every corner of the earth, will He be interested in and attentive to the Unification Church? What in America would God have utmost interest in? So far you have vaguely known that God was focused right here, but now do you know? If God tells you, through me, to do something but you do not, have you thought that you could be an enemy to other people because of that? You must always realize that God is paying much attention. I am always aware of what the leaders are doing, and how strongly they feel. The world is watching the Unification Church in America. Conscientious and religious people are watching us. How can a person who represents God act in an irresponsible way? No one is always reminding you of the importance of your position, but how can you help thinking about that fact?
You must think that every problem of the past and present rests on your shoulders, and the future will be determined according to the direction you go. In this sense the world is at our mercy. Have you ever thought that? It's good to be simple and humble, but it's also important to realize the real situation. The real situation is that your country will be affected by what you do. Realizing that, you know that your position is not an easy or casual one, but a fearful one. The dispensation and yourself are linked together, just like an arm to a body, and if you do wrong, it affects God's dispensation. That is why it is fearful.
Things will be lifted to heaven according to how they develop in this world. Today we see the world has no hope, no foundation or center, no nothing, but now we are going to lift it up. Before we go to spirit world the Unification Church will become that center and original point. Already all religious circles pay much attention to Unification Church, and even non-religious people have hope in Unification Church. Attention is paid around the world to words spoken by the Unification Church. Part of our mission is to organize against the evil power of communism. The communists have no lasting power because they don't have God.
What was the center for God when He created the world-the society, family or individual? The individual was the center of the world, and after that the family was to be the center of the world. Are you going to be individualistic and live by yourself, or are you going to live with a spouse? You want to live with a spouse because that's the way we were created. But it must be a true man and woman whom God will recognize and love. The man and woman God could recognize would have to think the same way as Cod, having the same purpose and dream. You have to know that you are meant to be matched to each other; first you should become perfect and later be matched.
You have to know God's thought and ideal in the deepest part of yourselves. What does Divine Principle teach you that God's thought is? God's thought and ideal is to perfect the four position foundation. That four position foundation is not isolated from the world, but will be the center of the world and universe.
Don't think of yourself as a member of the Unification Church or a citizen of the United States. All of us are the center of the universe as part of the true four position foundation. Have you ever stopped to think this is not exaggeration, but is the true situation? We know one thing for sure. God is looking at you this way. When God thinks about you and your situation, He thinks of you in this position and about how you will fulfill His ideal. When you are blessed and walk together as man and wife, do you ever think that the whole universe is following your footsteps? You just don't realize that this is the way it is. How do we know this is true? Because that's the ideal God has created; that's the Principle.
You all want to be the center or owner of the universe, don't you? Why do you feel that? Because you were given that when you were created. If God had not given that thinking to each man then maybe we would be crazy. But we are not crazy; that's the way God created man in the beginning. You might wonder, "I could understand if I were the only person thinking like that, but not if everyone is like that." Would God be happy to see only two magnificent trees in a barren world? No, He would want many different kinds of great trees making one world. Anything less than that is not a perfect world.
It is a Unification Church assertion that each individual is a truth body of the universe. Every essence of the universe is contained in each individual. One day God will order each individual in a four position foundation to march together in God's love- left, right, left, right. One day all God's sons and daughters will march like that in a big group; this is the time God has looked forward to. To restore someone means to bring him back to the original state. He is not restored according to his own law, but according to the very law by which God created in the beginning.
When I came to America and landed in New York, I felt that God and the universe were right behind me. Other people were bustling about, but God wasn't noticing them. When I see birds fly, I know that those birds are flying for me and no one else. The mountains and trees exist for me, and for each individual. When I catch a fish from the ocean, I know that out of billions of fish in the sea, this one had to land on my boat. When I go to the mountains, I feel that the mountain has developed for millions of years to reach the point where I will meet with it one day. I like the ocean and mountains and all nature because they are pure.
I recently spoke to a new pioneer group of members, and everyone felt that I was so natural in being with them. Americans are more natural and casual than Orientals, but I am more relaxed and natural than Americans. Before that experience many of them thought I was more formal. You like me in spite of yourselves because I have that quality and nothing changes me. When you think about me you feel good. I am like a magnet, and the more you are like me, the more magnetic you also become. That's why you like to be near me. There are some Korean leaders here, and when they are respected by the members and share in my authority, they realize that they are respected because of what I did. How can they be proud? Because they have loved me much. They think as I do and do as I do.
Each individual is in the process of being recreated. Where do you belong now-to hell or heaven? Actually you belong to neither. You are out of hell, but you have yet to create the heaven in which you can live. If you don't create it, you will have no place to live. For all of you there is not yet a true God or archangel or all things. You even have to be selfless and have no selves. To be a true man one needs the original of everything-God, angels, world, and true parents. Mankind lost those things, so we need to recreate them. How are we going to recover them? Man lost them by his fall, so it is man who will have to restore them. We are not going to create God because He is already there, but somehow we have to find a way to make connection with Him. If we don't have an angelic world, we have to create it, but we find it is there. In this we are fortunate. The world of all things was lost to man, but it is still there, so we must make a connection with it. Man must be recreated, but though he is broken, the basic structure is still there.
What would start the fire which will melt everything into one? Would it be love that originates from you? It will start only with God's original love. God's love for us today is not His original love, but a kind of love given temporarily during restoration. True love can only come from the original God, original archangel, original creation and original man. That makes sense. Where does that original love begin? It starts from the original parents. Those original parents, in Unification Church terms, are True Parents. Have you ever stopped to think about the deep meaning of True Parents? Just having the name of True Parents, let alone the real entity, is such a blessing for it has such a strong meaning.
Because of True Parents, the true family, true tribe, true nation and true world can come. Because of True Parents, all other true things will begin and can be connected. This is why they are so important. As Unification Church members, you have learned this, but have you ever deeply felt that realization about True Parents? Just knowing that you should love True Parents is not enough; you have to understand how bleak and painful the day was for mankind when the True Parents were lost. Only in that way can you understand the true joy of finding them again.
We must know how difficult and long a course it was for mankind to find the True Parents again. First you must know how sad mankind was in the beginning to lose the love of True Parents, then you have to know how difficult it was to find the True Parents again, and thirdly, know how joyful it is to find them again. God tries to forget the painful past, and I will try to forget it; from now on we have to help the rest of mankind find True Parents, and then there can be a joyous, ideal world for everyone. God, True Parents, and all of you are going in that direction. All religions are going toward that day of joy when there is no more sorrow. That day is here.
Love starts from parents, and the angelic world and all things all come under their love. We already have God, the angelic world, man and all things, but to restore all of that we have to go through the peak of difficulty. People oppose us when we witness to them, but we have to overcome opposition instead of being overwhelmed by it. Going beyond difficulty, we have to gain material. The angelic world will rebel against us, but we have to love them and bring them back. Even if God doesn't recognize us, we have to do our best until He does. All things will say, "No matter how much you do for me, I won't listen to you. But if you bring me the true love of God then I will come." That's the original Principle of creation.
You should not fund raise blindly, but know your reason for it, and have a light heart, realizing that you are bringing the result back to God. When God created, He gave much love and devotion, and when we recreate and bring material back to God, we also must have that kind of feeling. Go out with the heart that you are doing it on behalf of mankind and all things.
Since God created all things with the assistance of the angelic world, restoration of the physical world is done with the help of the spirit world, or angelic world. When these three are united together then the recreation of man will begin. We do these activities over and over again to condition ourselves so that in God's eyes it will make a condition, as well as making ourselves accustomed to it. Fund raising is not merely making money; in raising funds we experience these feelings and recreate ourselves.
You have to realize that no matter how many millions of dollars you have in your pockets, they do not belong to you. First you must return the money to God and then let Him give it to you. Then it is yours. But until He gives it to you it is not yours. We even dig into our own pockets to give everything we own back to God, wanting nothing in return. That is the position of returning to God and being restored. When we recreate something we have to have things to recreate it with. We could not recreate people if we were empty handed, even if we wanted to. First we need all things. Without enough foundation of restoring material, no one can remake God's man. This is the meaning of fund raising. It is not that we need a certain amount of the world's wealth; what we make is used as a condition in dedicating man to God's side.
Even a rich man will have to do fund raising in the future. Even though he can dedicate all his wealth to God, he still has to make some connection with the world by bringing material from the world and dedicating it to God. Then he can recreate himself and is ready to recreate man.
We know that the man to be created will rebel and not listen nicely. But when we can overcome that person's reaction, we will experience God's love and reach the position of original man. The person who witnesses to the people should feel that people oppose him because he is lacking something. Like a rough stone being smoothed, when you persevere and continue, God will take it as a condition for you to be restored. In the world you can advance by taking material to important people to win or influence them, but in Unification Church it doesn't work that way. We live by the Principle, which everyone can understand at the same time.
Have all of you experienced fund raising? After fund raising you must be successful in witnessing and overcome all opposition. Then you will overcome your impure qualities, and can perhaps enter heaven. If you don't do that, you cannot enter heaven, even though you have received the blessing. The gate will be open but you cannot enter.
If you have not even made your own foundation then it is a pity if you have a family and children. You still have to redo your environment and comply with the Principle-there is no compromise in Principle. It is pitiful if you have lots of children, yet are not ready yourself. If God could help you in this situation, He would not have waited thousands of years for restoration, but you have to do this yourself. You know these things only since learning Principle. Once you take off the glasses of Principle you are confused about which way to go. This is why 1 want you to wear the glasses now; just like someone wearing glasses for the first time, you may feel it is inconvenient, but I insist that you keep them on. If you wear them long enough then everything will become clear. Then you can see God and everything
He did in the past. isn't that true? A person who doesn't wear these glasses has to tag along with other people, like a blind man. Don't depend on someone else to guide you; do it yourself. With those glasses you can see God and Satan and tell whether you are going the right way. Would you want better glasses than anyone else? Would you choose wooden frames, plastic or gold, or diamond frames? I will follow the person who has diamond frames, and even God will follow him. The person with wooden frames can't see so well.
The people I pushed into suffering in the past now have gold frames, but they didn't appreciate them. Now they come and say they regret not having suffered more. Whoever studies the most will have a better academic record, and in the school of restoration the person who suffers the most is likely to get the best record. What will be your standard when you go to heaven? The person who has suffered in many parts of the world will have more to talk about in heaven and be the most exciting person. If you are skeptical about this then you might as well stop following me. If that is not true then God does not exist as you have been taught.
No one knows the history of restoration better than God because He has worked through every bit of it. The first one to be persecuted and to suffer was God. We want to take after God's heart, but how do we find it? By doing the same things God did in the past. That is how we develop God's heart. Without that heart how could we sit near God in heaven? How could anyone who has not suffered share in the conversation or the life in heaven?
I will gather all the contents of what we have done around the world and we will take off like a missile to the universe. God wants us to escape earth's gravity, and this will happen inevitably through dispensational history. All our work is contributing toward that goal. The altar for that offering is home church. How can the person who never did home church be considered to be a serious student? Home church is the arena in which we will go through all things God has done and said and through which He wants us to inherit His broken heart. In that way you can inherit the true individual, true family, true tribe, true nation, and True Parents. Can you say you don't want to do that?
You have to be able to leave your hard work in home church to your own sons and daughters. If you don't have that, what are you going to show them? By going through this you will qualify and become a rocket yourselves. Without doing that there will be no happiness for you.
All the world watched as Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969. People were excited at a mere moon landing, but now we are realizing the meaning of the fall and the recreation of the new world, and we are about to take off to land on God's heart. When I am the pilot on that flight, all the spirit world will follow my progress. When God is receiving such a long awaited guest, will He keep him waiting, or tell him not to come? Imagine that one moment, when God will be ecstatic hundreds of times over.
True Parents is not a title given only to Mother and myself. You all will have to inherit that lineage because you will have children. My power lies in my authority to bequeath this to thousands of families. Will you engaged couples be worthy of that title? Are you confident of becoming worthy? It's not a simple thing. You have to build a foundation, which you don't have yet. It took me almost all my life to build my foundation, but now you are about to create it.
After Apollo 11 takes off, another rocket has to be made for the next launch because the first one won't come back. But the second time it is much easier. You have to think that instead of sacrificing yourself for God and mankind, God, True Parents, mankind, and all things are tools for you to perfect yourself. In this way, whenever we look around, everything is a source of thankfulness. You are grateful that True Parents exist, for without them you would have no base. Everything exists for you, so if you didn't exist, what good would the world be? If you can feel that way, you won't get tired.
Those who are matched, raise your hands. Think that with your own hands you will make your foundation as an individual, and then when the blessing day comes you can really cherish your own spouse. During that time you will make yourself a perfect man with the love of God, and then as a real man you can really embrace and squeeze your fiancé. If you are saturated with love and power, your spouse will be also. When both of you generate billions of volts, the spark between you will be so tremendous that the entire world will wake up. You will soon encounter that great historical event, so you should prepare for that day. When that happens then God's dispensation will come to a successful end, and your work and career will have a successful end.
After that time you will not be hampered by borders between nations. You will go anywhere you choose, to any community and any country. In that kind of world, flowers will bloom all the time, and the singing and dancing will never stop. I like that kind of atmosphere! How about you? "Yes" sounds like Ye-su, the pronunciation of Jesus in Korean. You will become like him in your work.
These are the goals and steps you will go through. You are not doing this part-time or for a short time. If this were a business, would it be worth investing everything you have, including all your money and love and self? Are you going to go there slowly, or with real zeal? Actually it's all up to your mind. If you are really confident to move fast, then you will go quickly. I cannot imagine that we have time to play or wander around. When you do one year of good work here, it is the equivalent of 1,000 average years.
You all know that spirit world exists. When you die, can you say you won't go there? In spirit world there are countries where God lives and countries where Satan lives. Where will you go? In a heavenly country there are three levels-the stage nearest to God, a middle level, and then the lowest heaven. Which heaven would you want to be in? The person who had the hardest life will go to the lowest heaven, won't he? Of course he will go to the highest heaven. If I am a loving leader will I keep the highest heaven a secret so only I can go there, and then tell you to take it easy? Or will I tell you to do your best and then ignore you? No, I will tie dynamite to your back and light it so that you will run hard! The rest of the world will say what a cruel man I am when they see the dynamite. Everyone will wonder what is happening, but you won't care what they say. When you finally run over the hill then the people of the world will forget what they said.
Would the leader who ties the dynamite on you be a good leader or a bad one? Why would I come all the way to America and send so many Koreans here and make you suffer? You have seen me every Sunday, so you know the conclusion of each sermon - "Oh, Father is going to make me suffer again." But now at least you know why. I know that in spirit world the question will be asked-who brought more people to heaven? I would like it said that Reverend Moon is the one who brought the most people to the highest heaven.
The heaven in spirit world has to draw love from me and come under my influence. I know that at that time all thanks will be given to me and the people I pushed will be grateful, knowing that they never would have made it otherwise. Now you just think I am cruel and you complain. The most valuable gift in all history is not just words and thought, such as Jesus gave, but an actual physical foundation, such as I give you. This is the best possible gift any human being can imagine on earth. If I were to buy you a diamond ring, which I will do some day, you will be proud of it. If you know the value of a diamond, why don't you know the value of what 1 give you now-home church? It is more valuable than the biggest possible diamond. I couldn't give it to you if I myself did not have the necessary foundation.
Have you ever thought that home church was more valuable than a diamond ring? So far some of you have paid little attention. In the dispensation of salvation God has worked to recreate mankind, and now we are doing the same thing. Where are we going to do it? Home church has a direct connection with the four position foundation. The home is the foundation where the four position foundation is increased. Now the four position foundation is everywhere here on earth, but with Satan at the center. We are going to change it into God's four position foundation.
Where would you engaged couples go to have your children? Where would you go to dance on a happy day in the future? Wouldn't you be happier returning to the home of your own parents? If you wear the glasses of Principle then you know you should go to your own home church to celebrate. You cannot be proud of your family all alone, but only in your home church area. After that what would you become in your home church? Not only the true parents of the home church area, but true parents for your own clan.
When you have your own clan, what will you teach them? You must have material and tradition to teach them. That is what you will set in your home church. You will make a textbook or manual of love for your clan in home church. Even though you leave this earth for spirit world, you will have written down everything you did. Some crystals are big and others small, but they are the same in structure and clarity- everything except size. This is the relationship between your family and my family.
This is the first Sunday in April, and it is almost like the first day of spring. Spring is the time when everything lives again. Like the spring season in nature, I want you to have life welling up in you again. I want you to start a new life from now on. You may have an old idea of home church, but throw it away like winter clothing and have a bright, new home church idea, knowing the relationship of yourself, God and the dispensation. From now, march on. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Thank you very much.