Sun Myung Moon
August 1, 1978
Lancaster Gate, London
Just as a person can be mortally ill without showing external signs, a nation can be on the brink of destruction without realizing it. A patient may protest about bitter medicine, and a nation may complain about the efforts of a group like the Unification Church. But neither democratic or communist societies are able to maintain their original ideals and so God is starting something new.
In the second half of this sermon, Rev. Moon outlines his plan for the concluding years of the '21 Year Course' of restoration and of his expectations during the final period of the evangelical campaign in Britain.
A sortie is an assault mission undertaken by soldiers. The sortie we are undertaking is a glorious one. You know that if man had not fallen he would have had a glorious beginning in the love and all the glory of God, but instead man had a humiliating inception. If man had begun with God, every day and every year would have been one of advancement but it is evident that man became degraded. Man was supposed to become one with God and with other men but instead he became one with God's enemy.
This is not a conceptual event. Man had parents in God, but he has become so degraded that he is not even aware of that any more. Now people question whether God exists and many insist that there is no God. We are living in the time when children do not even know their own parents. Even religions have not maintained their true position; at one time men of religion were visibly better than non-religious people, but now in the last days they too have come so low that it is hard to distinguish them from any others.
The facts have not changed. God is there as He has always been. God has existed for millions of years and so has His ideal and dispensation, but man has changed. Until recently a man of high standing could be distinguished from a man of low position, and scholars and men of accomplishment were accorded respect, as were rulers and officials. Now, however, people think nothing of such men. Many men don't even acknowledge the most valuable one of all, God Himself.
A mere fifty years ago people envisioned Great Britain as the mightiest nation, one which influenced the whole world. That once glorious image has been reduced to almost nothing now and Britain is thought of on the same level as countries which are undeveloped both socially and economically.
Why has men's thinking changed so drastically? It could be either that man chose this way or that God made him like that, but if this is God's doing then we cannot say that God loved man. Man chose his own way and kept lowering himself until now he exists in this degraded situation. Even man's ideals have fallen. Originally the ideals of both communism and democracy were high, but now both have been lowered.
No one can say that Britain is living the ideal of democracy. Instead, many people complain that government officials don't want to do anything except hold on to their positions. The British are among the most educated of peoples but many of them don't even know the name of their own Prime Minister. If the British are like that then what about the rest of the world? It is no wonder that even neighboring countries don't know the name of Britain's most public official. It clearly indicates that they are not interested in the man who is responsible for running the country.
Most people are far from loving their own nation or race. Nor do people even have love on an individual level, wanting to dedicate their lives to one husband or wife. Nothing is more natural than motherhood but there is no mother who can say, 'This is my child for eternity and I will take care of him.' Many mothers marry more than once and have children by different men but gradually lose interest in them. A child is supposed to have true parents and naturally wants to have the love of his own mother and father. This is a basic human need and true love cannot be divided between many different people.
Man Lost His Original Value
Love, which is most important, has come down so low that in extreme cases there is nothing to salvage. In the animal kingdom the young are nursed and raised for a certain period of time and then forgotten once they are on their own. Among the animals there is little relationship between parent and child in most cases, but men are meant to be superior to animals.
In many of today's families children are estranged from their parents and their own relatives are no better than strangers. Ties to race and nations are so nebulous that people don't care much. Man has lost everything that is valuable. Man's life should have something valuable and worth living for, but these important elements are just not there. The situation is made even more miserable by knowing that no one intended to come down this low.
Man has drifted far away from having a relationship with God. Because of the fall a great barrier has been created which cannot be crossed at will, a barrier so formidable and cold that no one can go near it. People naturally look for hope and for something of value but in this situation hope is absolutely impossible to find. Mankind is not even aware of this and simply gropes in spiritual darkness like blind men.
When God looks down at people living on earth in this situation, He feels nothing but despair. God picks out people to restore, choosing as the best ones those who have given up everything, yet often even these people are not sincerely concerned because they don't know the value of their situation in restoration. When God picks a person He has a reason for doing so. Certainly God hopes to accomplish certain things through him, and does not expect him to just cause more problems.
Unification Church members may have some valuable qualities, but have you ever stopped to think seriously, 'If I were God, what would I do with a person like me?' Do you feel that you are a person without whom God would have a painful life or a person whom God would never miss if you weren't here? Can I really have hope because you are here? Put yourself in my position and think whether I can have confidence that you can really restore the world.
At a time when man has almost completely lost his sense of value of himself and others, can we say now that we are valuable people? Where does your value lie? Is the valuable man the one who changes all the time, or is he the one who doesn't change? If I were not here would you all continue working hard in the Unification Church or would you all disperse to different places? Perhaps you hope you would stay but it is a different matter when things become serious and very difficult. Think seriously about what we know from the Bible of Jesus' disciples. Was their attachment to Jesus greater than yours to me? Are you sure that your love for me now is greater than Peter's love for Jesus? This is a very serious matter.
If you were denied sleep for one week would you tend to complain? There is practically no one who is confident he wouldn't complain. You simply have to go through that for one week and see what happens. These are serious things you must test yourself on. If I declared that today every one of us would start a 40-day fast I am sure everyone would start, but would you do it willingly or grudgingly? You have to go through it before you can say one way or the other.
We know that everyone in the world was born into the lineage of the fall, but where would we be if that had not happened? What change took place in man as a result of the fall? Each person must be conscious of this problem. The greatest change was that by kidnapping man, Satan took the place of the original parents and the true husband and wife. As a result each nation and race was brought to Satan's side.
We cannot say that England belongs completely to God. Is the rest of the democratic world any different? Where is the border between God's country and Satan's country? The Garden of Eden is the borderline, with one side being God's side and the other being Satan's side. You have been taught that the democratic world stands on God's side, relatively speaking, but how does that compare to the true Garden of Eden? The democratic world is better than the communist world, but it is on Satan's side nevertheless. Everyone must understand that in order to belong to the heavenly side he must cross the border line by making a condition that God feels is significant. Can the free world come to God's side without doing anything? No, first it must go through indemnity.
The Most Developed Nations Are Declining the Fastest
If the world started to disintegrate, which nation do you think would perish first? Those countries which were once the good and mighty leaders of the democratic world are the nations which are declining the fastest. America has been leading the free world but do most nations like America? Not so much. Perhaps some of them still like Britain but America is farther down the list. How do Koreans feel about America? Have you ever heard of 'Koreagate?' The American people became upset with Korea over a small thing and the Koreans have really suffered as a result. Koreans have given up hope in America, as have other Asian and African nations. What about Americans themselves? Even Americans, especially the young people, are indifferent and don't care about America.
America is a great nation in the sense that it is pragmatic. A pragmatic person favors things which are useful for something, and if Americans can see something, they will feel it is useful. If they cannot observe it themselves, they attribute it to someone's imagination and ignore it. They don't really see the use of believing in God and trying to live with Him. Ultimately their pragmatism has led them to materialism and if they carry it further they will chase God and religion out of the country altogether. They will deny their parents and even themselves because pragmatic people see no use for something when it gets old and just throw it away, like an old car. What do you do with an old machine? Just throw it in the junkyard.
Why do other peoples dislike Americans? Because they have offered aid and assistance to other nations yet when they arrived they took things away and went home instead of really helping. No one with this experience likes America. Externally America may look like a healthy nation but inside there is every sign of deterioration. A man with terminal cancer may look completely healthy on the outside but be hopelessly ill on the inside. A sickness need not continue for ten years before killing a person; a perfectly healthy man can get sick and die within one week.
So far America has not really felt pain from its illness but there are many indications that it is sick. America is a dangerous, lawless place in the world and every uncivilized thing takes place in America; in broad daylight people loot, murder and rape. These things happen more in America than elsewhere and the signs of deterioration are everywhere.
Many Americans think there might be some good in communism. Why should this be so? When democracy is analyzed closely one can see that it is not an ideology of worldism, but is centered more on the individual, whereas communism looks international because it seems to show the way to an ideal on the world level. If communism is examined closely, however, it is clear that it too is an individual or limited way.
According to the ideology that China and Russia claim to follow, they should not break away from each other. Nevertheless, there is friction between many communist countries. Yesterday the BBC reported that the Vietcong are expelling thousands of Chinese from Vietnam, at least 160,000 in fact. Some of those Chinese families have lived in Vietnam for four generations. If the communists really stood on their ideals then they would insist that there never be such separation between peoples. But in Africa as well as in Asia, when communists come to dominate a certain country they insist that even the people of neighboring countries leave.
After experiencing this in the communist world, many people in Russia are now trying to find freedom in the free world. When they get a look at America and England will they feel that these countries are better or worse than Russia? Each country is trying to lead its people in a good way, like a hospital trying to cure its patients, but in the free world the patients come and go freely, whereas in the communist world they are strictly supervised. Which is the better way of running a hospital? In fact, using supervision is a better way to run a hospital.
The free world is actually not free at all but is sick. Americans always claim they have freedom to do anything, but if a man gets sick and tries to live like a healthy person, he will surely die. A sick person has to abstain from that freedom and cure his sickness. If you are sure that a person is sick and will die unless something is done for him, then even though he may accuse you of violating his freedom you must treat him. That is love, even if you must force the treatment on him.
I feel that the Unification Church is the one group which is taking this responsibility, educating the people about their illness, teaching them what remedy they must take and what they must abstain from. Is good medicine usually bitter or sweet? Is the Unification Church a sweet church or a bitter church? In this Church is everyone allowed to do just as he pleases? In fact, you sacrifice most everything and whatever you want to do is exactly what you should not do. If a sick person is left to do as he pleases he will not get better but may actually die from his illness. If a man is sick and realizes that though the medicine is bitter it will cure him, then he will enjoy taking it.
Can You Find the Sweet Taste In Bitter Things?
Bitter medicine is not bad at all. It may be offensive at first, but if you are careful to look there is always an inexplicably sweet taste there as well. If there is no sweet taste then there is a sweet smell. The bitterest substance in the world is the gall bladder of a bear. If you taste it the bitterness will last for hours, but if after that you breathe deeply in and out you will notice a sweet taste there. The point is that once you experience this your attitude towards that substance is completely different. When everyone else is shying away from it, you will jump at the chance to eat it because you are looking for the sweet taste. We must discover the sweet taste in all bitter things.
The man of developed taste knows how to find this sweet taste even among bitter things. This should not be an extraordinary quality because everything has up-and-down cycles. This 20th century civilization has an artificial sweetness, however, and people today talk sweetly and make false promises. In your own experience, for instance, you sometimes smile even when you don't feel like it and say nice things that you don't feel. You know that other people are the same, talking about things which they don't mean at all. Diplomats must speak very nicely, as though they were thinking mostly for the sake of other countries, but everyone knows that inside they are trying to take care of their own nation's best interests.
There is sweetness everywhere, but here is another civilization emerging which is bitter. Do you think the sweet can digest the bitter, or vice versa? Everyone knows that civilization is endangered. Would it have to be something sweet or bitter which would have the best chance of digesting the situation?
Water can taste either slightly sweet or slightly salty and both kinds look the same. Is there more sweet or salty water in the world? The oceans always have sweet water from rivers and rain running into them, and if you are able to distinguish the taste of sweet water in the salty water you can appreciate that more than the sweet water itself. Which kind of water do you think is the original? Did the sweet come from the bitter or the other way around? For some strange reason, everyone agrees that the bitter must have come first. Do you think light came from darkness, or darkness from light?
We can safely say that those who appreciate bitter things can produce any amount of sweetness, but not the other way around. If you don't mind darkness, then even though the light may become unbearably bright, you can tolerate it. Is love sweet or bitter? It is a strange thing, but if you ask Westerners that question they answer that love is sweet, while Orientals answer that love is bitter. Anyone who knows the taste of bitterness can taste sweetness, but without tasting bitterness you can't really appreciate sweetness.
Everyone would like to live without working very hard and we see this grasshopper and ant situation everywhere. The ants work hard, having no time to stand still or play. They are black from working so hard in the sunshine and their waists are thin because they haven't eaten anything, but the grasshopper sings in the grass and takes life easy. If you were a teacher would you tell your students to live life like the ant or the grasshopper? Why don't you say that to yourself?
Is it normal to play like grasshoppers in our youth and then be serious about taking care of ourselves when we get old and become like the ant? No, it is normal to live like the ant while we are young and have our health and then take it easy like the grasshopper when we get old. How can you play and sing once you get old? It is better never to be able to sing after having worked hard than to not have that kind of life. Even if you are only able to smile after having worked hard, that is still better than singing and relaxing all day.
If something is persecuted and unwelcome when it first appears, it lasts longer and later will be welcomed, but if everyone likes it right away it never lasts very long. This is the way the world has always been. When rock music first appeared everyone was excited about it, but how long has it lasted? All the fads, like the Beatles, the hippie life and streaking, have all passed. I have been working in a painful, impossible way for thirty years yet I am still going strong. Will I just fade away, or will the Unification Church grow and grow until it fills the earth?
We raise money in this Church and then we throw it to the vultures in the world and nothing remains. We have no money in our pockets or in the bank. I spent much money in America but now I am here in England. I am working just as hard now as many years ago and still nothing remains. It is still the same hard work, but through it all we have become healthier and we have really changed. We feel much better than before because our consciences are clear and we have hope. This movement is not like some passing disease; it occupies a position wherever it goes and grows there.
Does a tree only need air in order to grow big? No, the roots are always growing, probing for nutrition, even reaching into dirty sewage water. The leaves are only taking in fresh air while the roots handle all kinds of dirty things, but if we took pity on the roots and pulled them up to give them fresh air, the tree would die. The Unification Church is like the root of the great big tree which is the world. When people first come they are fascinated because they find kindness and love in our members but when they stay a few months they find that this is a bitter life and they think twice about staying. All of these different nutrients, bitter, sour, hot, cold, are necessary for our health. All our members go through many different experiences and become healthy. Only a few people really come to like the Unification Church life.
The English people have heard that I am here but they have never met me. Even though you see me here sometimes you don't know what I have been doing. How can anyone know what the root is like just by standing back and looking at the tree? People looking from the outside may say the Unification Church is good, but no one knows what is inside. I don't meet with newsmen because they will write their stories just to suit themselves and make their living. I don't want to see that kind of newsman.
If God is the root of all mankind then should He appear to everyone whenever they want to see Him? If He is the root then should He stay underground where no one can see Him or know what He is like? The branches try to grow up and up, while the root tries very hard to go deeper and deeper, growing wider and wider. It seems as though someone should be able to see God if he really wants to understand Him, but the deeper a person goes into theology the more difficult it becomes to understand and believe in God. The Archbishop of Canterbury said recently that today's bishops are not very religious and have lost faith, while ordinary laymen have kept faith. That's a strange thing, isn't it?
What Is the Most Difficult Peak To Climb In Restoration?
What does all this have to do with this morning's topic? In Norway at this time of year there is only a very short night. When nighttime comes you fumble around in the darkness and may even feel misery and fear. Would you welcome the rising of the sun more after a short night or a long one? It is the same as if you had eaten only bitter things throughout your whole life. If by chance you ate some slightly sweet thing your eyes would really open up and you would exclaim, 'That tastes so good!'
If you give something sweet to a person who has eaten only sweet things in his life then he will spit it out because he has eaten so much of it before. Does such a man truly know the taste of sweetness? This is simple logic and we must have it engraved in our minds. If history had been glorious and happy for thousands of years, when you had a new start could you call it a truly glorious one?
Let us assume that there is a God. Would God or mankind want the most glorious thing? Man is not less ambitious than God and he would announce, 'God, I will be more glorious than You.' You have that kind of ambition and greed, don't you? I am the same. Then the glorious civilization is about to come. Would man say, 'God, you should have the title of Glorious Man of Victory,' or would he say, 'Father, I am going to do more than You so I can have that title'? We can compete with God.
God has been working for thousands of years, going through much more pain than you experience now. You have been going through the same pain perhaps, but only for a few years at the most. It makes sense that there will come a peak time in God's work and suffering. We may not have worked as long as God has, but there is no limit to how intensely we can work. Imagine that by our hard work we come to occupy the peak of God's work. When God comes by and meets us there will He be annoyed that we fought His fight? Would God oppose you? He would forget His difficulties of the previous thousands of years and exclaim, 'This is the most glorious scene, seeing man on top of the peak before me.' God would not be annoyed at seeing man take His position there.
So far the Unification Church has been stirring up every corner of the world, all around America, Africa, Asia, everywhere. Now I have come from America to England and we are making more noise than the many Anglican churches. We have gathered together all sorts of people, even former enemies, and brought them to this small place. How many of you actually wanted to be where you now find yourselves?
Every one can pick out the tallest Himalayan peak because it is so big that it is unmistakable, but does everyone who sees it go and climb it? Many people might start up but not even half of them will reach the top. The only ones who will get to the top will be those who say, 'I will reach the top or die in the attempt.' When Jesus said: 'Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whosoever loses his life for my sake will find it,' was he speaking in a light moment, as on a playing field? No, he said that when his disciples were trying to go to the top of the peak.
Whoever reaches the top will know how to come back and consequently he is the one who will live. Those who do not go to the top will not make it back because they will get lost on the way. It is only after reaching the summit that a climber can clearly see his direction back again. If someone goes only halfway he may easily get lost and never find his way down. This is why those who are desperate to reach the peak will survive. If a climber gives up and says, 'It is too difficult for me to go on,' he is already dead. If you are serious about reaching the peak, you must be ready to die in trying.
We are seriously talking about carrying out restoration and returning to God. Is that more difficult than climbing to the top of the Himalayas? If someone is leading the way to the top then no matter how tired you become you must be so desperate that you never lose sight of him. If your hands are too tired then you have to bite his coat with your teeth in order to keep up. If you give up and decide not to go on then you are sure to get lost on the mountain.
You have been walking quite a few days now since joining the Unification Church. Are you tired? God has considered this problem for a long time and He is very logical about it. He sees that old people would never be able to make it so God recruited young people for the Unification Church. Shouldn't you go through some training before you start out for the summit, getting in shape and learning how to live on the mountain? Even though you are young and healthy, you need training in order to survive on the mountain.
It is commonly accepted that women are the weaker sex, but should we be lenient, or should we train them harder in order to equip them for the climb? I have seen that in the Unification Church many women work harder than the men. Since men have their dignity to uphold, they try desperately to catch up and get a step ahead of them. This has been true throughout our history, especially in Japan.
Are those of you who are single going to get married after you have reached the peak or only halfway up? Can you say that your marriage is indeed a glorious one if you haven't even reached the top? If you get married halfway up you won't even have the strength to kiss each other, but once you are at the top you can really embrace each other because you have nothing more to worry about.
Throughout my life I have been chased by time and suffering and my life has never been settled. The goal is to reach the top successfully and if I keep moving there is no chance of being defeated. The victorious feeling upon reaching the summit is like a volcanic eruption, with fire exploding out of the peak. That's a glorious position. If there is more pain, then so much the better; once we reach the peak it will be transformed into more glory. It is not simply a matter of reaching the goal. If you work for years and years in pain and misery then once you reach the top everything will turn into gold.
It is a matter of setting precedents as well. Once we reach the peak and see the glory many others will want to reach the top too. If we don't succeed, however, everyone will be reluctant to attempt any climb at all. Once you reach the top of the mountain, your ancestors and your descendants will want to imitate you and enough glorious roads will be built that many thousands of people will be able to follow you. If an Italian reaches the peak first then all Italians in the past, present and future will try. This example is a powerful thing.
The analogy of a mountain is easy to understand because we can see a mountain; but what is the peak in the course of restoration? We can only sense restoration with our minds and for this reason persecution becomes the most difficult thing to tolerate. As we try desperately we think, 'Am I going to make it or not?' That opposition and persecution is the Himalayan peak of restoration.
We Will Cross the Final Peak As the 21-Year Course Ends
We have a 21-year course, made up of three seven-year courses. Is it more sensible to think that the first seven years would be the most difficult, or that the third seven years would be most difficult? We have a few more years left to go in the 21 years, and as we near the peak the way will become more and more difficult. Who would have greater regret, the member who dropped out after the first seven years, or the member who left after working hard until halfway through the third seven-year course? If someone drops out during the first seven years he will not think so much of it, but if someone gives his utmost and then leaves when he is only a few steps from the top, he will be in anguish when he sees clearly what he did. He might have quit only because he couldn't see any end in sight. This is why spirit world and God will appeal to you to continue and to remember that there are only a few more steps left. They will push you because they know that suffering just a little while longer will be much less than the pain you will feel afterward if you leave.
When do you think my work in the free world will end? I have been going from one country to another for years now. Do you think my course will lead to ever more advanced countries, or to less and less advanced countries? I feel that if America was at the bottom and England was at the top, this would be the plateau and the dispensation could only go to lower levels in the future. I feel that after staying awhile in England I may go to Brazil or to Africa, but if you don't fulfill your responsibility in your own country, will you have the qualification to follow me to another country?
Do you think we will have even worse persecution than we have already experienced? No, the peak of persecution is already behind us. At one time it was so bad that our members shed blood and tears when they went to witness, but here in England people don't persecute you so much. If the English do not persecute us then it is unlikely that the Commonwealth countries will oppose us either. The world has heard that I am an evil man, but once one country accepts me, the rest of the world will follow the same pattern. Eventually a thundering voice of welcome for the Unification Church is bound to be heard. Where will that voice be heard? This London operation could be the borderline. England could be called 'Mingleland' because the French, English and Germans are all mingled here. I planned this London operation as the decisive turning point of the Unification Church efforts. It will become easier from this point on.
I started in Korea years ago and then went to America and England. When I go back to Korea I want to be welcomed by the Koreans. It is completely different from the way I left. I planned to conduct a 120-day operation in London and then to return to Korea. The 120 days started May 13, making the 120th day September 13, only six days from the anniversary of the Washington Monument victory. In just a few years we will cross the final peak as the 21-year course ends.
Even though we can't see it, this is the peak of the fiercest battle and struggle. I want you to feel that you don't want help from God or spirit world, but that you want to do your mission with your own power. Today is the first of August, eighty days after the 13th of May. The number eight always signifies a new start. We have emerged from the days of trial. There was terrible persecution in Korea, Japan and America and harassment around the world but now the worst is over. Even though persecution is declining, we must bring a victorious result during this period in London. Then there will be great hope for the free world. We all had a glorious start in the final war; we have gone through misery but now is the time to recover all things and claim the victory as the prize of all the previous suffering.
When I started the movement in America I was like the locomotive, pulling everyone. There the members only had to follow me, but here I want to see you take the initiative and not depend on me so much. I took the lead in America because we were under tremendous persecution at the time, but here there is much less persecution and you don't need me to worry over you. Instead of my working at this time, God would rather let you work here and take the glorious position.
When I started my work in America the future of the free world was in my hands, and with that realization I fought desperately. Likewise, you are fighting for the destiny of this country, but you can see that even in the last few years the world has undergone incredible transition. We are going uphill now and if we fail then we will slide down to the evil world. Once you go over the peak, however, it is better to slide down because you will reach the bottom faster that way. Now you must really strive with your life, but later you will be able to do your work even with your eyes closed. This doesn't require meticulous planning; just try your best and the result will be there.
Until recently I took the result of your hard work and offered it as indemnity for the world and nothing remained, but from this point on when you work hard everything will bear fruit and be yours. This is an entirely different situation. This is the time when whoever drives you out can do so with confidence because this is all yours and will be good for you. Before this time it didn't benefit you directly.
The desire of all devout Jews is to be buried in their fatherland. It is most meaningful to be buried in one's homeland. If you die before you reach the peak then you will be buried in the evil world, but if you die on the downhill after crossing the peak, you will roll down and die in your homeland. Because there are no obvious changes in scenery, a soldier only knows he has crossed a boundary when he sees enemy troops. In the same way, you don't have any indication when you cross the borderline at the peak.
Until recently people always thought the Unification Church was something evil, but since crossing the borderline everyone has hope because of us. When I sent the seminarians out into London I thought, 'If London mistreats them then the fate of this country will be dark.' But because the seminarians were welcomed I will change my attitude toward the Western world. I am happy now at how things have developed.
After This 120-Day Period I Am Free To Go Anywhere
This London campaign is different from anything I did in America. If America is an Abel country then this is a Cain country and the two nations ought to work harmoniously together as brothers. When the British welcome our American members they are actually welcoming me. Then this country can become the ancestor of the free world.
This is indeed a glorious start. For the first time in our history the persecution is finished. We have crossed that peak and are starting anew in a glorious sortie. It will never happen again in the future, just this one time. All the seminary students will go back to America on the 13th of September. During their remaining time I want you students to win six people and then you will have a glorious homecoming. Work yourself to the bone in the month remaining to indemnify what you did not do in America. Then there will be new hope bubbling in America. You seminarians must know that during the period you remain in England you are the center of the whole history of America and the free world, and that everything you do will be yours. I am saying every word for you. You must know the meaning of this so that you will have a glorious result too.
I talked with Mother this morning and told her that for some reason I cannot even pray about America. I have been praying with such fervent love for America but now I cannot help but drift away. If you fulfill your responsibility then my mind might turn around once more and feel like praying for America. I am not bound to that nation, no matter what historical position it may occupy in the dispensation. I will work freely, not depending on America alone. I can go anywhere to do the work of God.
Those of you here have flown here from all over the world to fight a war. Did you come to be victorious or to lose? To become a victor you must be determined to win and live every day in a life and death manner. How many countries are represented here? America, England, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Portugal, Norway, China, Finland, Holland, Sweden, Jamaica, Ceylon, Malta, Russia, Korea, Vietnam, Australia, Mauritius, Luxembourg, Denmark, Iceland, New Zealand, El Salvador, Guyana, Trinidad, Madagascar, Rhodesia, South Africa, Hungary, Poland, Ireland, India, Malaysia. That is forty. Forty nations and 120 days parallels my selecting Holy Grounds in 40 nations in 120 days during my first trip to foreign countries in 1965. If forty countries are competing, would you want the last position or the first? Everyone wants to be first but that position is very difficult to reach.
Ours is an unprecedented, unique kind of war and there will not be a second one. This is the only chance. After this 120-day period I can leave and go to different places, but you must remain and work until your country is rebuilt. All these years I have not been spending money on myself, just for other countries and other people, but now I can spend money for my own sake too.
Until now I have worn the worst suits of any man on earth but even so people called me the richest man on earth. I have lived the most difficult life but people accused me of living like a millionaire. I bought an $8 pair of vinyl shoes in Japan and wore them for five years, and in People magazine in America they wrote that those shoes were made in England and cost me several hundred dollars. I have never worn a ring on my finger because I felt I had not accomplished my responsibility. The man who has not fulfilled his responsibility is like a sinner. My philosophy has always been that until I fulfilled one-third of my responsibility I would have meal-less days and sleepless nights. That is how I have been living.
I was not supposed to suffer. If Christianity had accepted me then that part of my course would not have been necessary. Christianity has taken the position of my enemy, but I have opened up a way for the enemy to live. Even though they were supposed to open up the way, I did it instead. I will try very hard to forget everything I have suffered because God is that way. Now my whole mission is accomplished and if I go to spirit world nothing will be in jeopardy. The dispensation will be safe. If I go back to Korea now the people will welcome me.
Soon God Will Be Able To Be A Glorious God
Shortly after arriving here I had a problem with the immigration officials and the first message I received at that time was from Korea. It said, 'If you do not want to be humiliated in England, come back to Korea.' That was not from our members; Korea sent me a telegram. I have a responsibility to fulfill and until it is accomplished I do not care whether I am welcomed or not. In fact, staying forty days in England was so important that I thought, 'If the government refuses to let me stay, I will just disappear from sight and then leave after the forty days are up.' I knew that woe would come to this country if I could not stay. However long I stay now, it is merely an extension of forty days and has the same meaning.
I have had an impossible life but I could not die before the dispensation was finished. If you do your work successfully within the given period then the free world will see a hopeful path opening up, but if you fail then I see darkness ahead for the free world. You started your glorious sortie a month ago when you came to this country to work and I expect you to be victorious by winning three spiritual children. Then you can go back to your own country victoriously.
Perhaps after September 13th I will terminate all activity here and send everyone back to their nations, including the seminarians. Then you will not have a chance to win a victory. Dennis, do not send new members out fundraising; send them back to the place where they were witnessed to and let them witness to their own households and relatives. If they work as hard as they worked elsewhere, their city can very quickly be restored.
I am now going back to my own country, and so should you. Even if the Western world begs me to come back I might not. If I want to come back that is another story, but I will not go just because someone asks me to come. Whatever happens on earth has a counterpart in spirit world. Forty countries are represented here, which symbolize all of the free nations. All of spirit world will find a connection to the Unification Church through you and they will come down to gain credit for having done heavenly work so they can go to heaven too. Bear in mind that you have already started your glorious sortie. All of spirit world watches you, all the free world and all the countries that you represent watch you. This is not imaginary. The physical world is in Adam's position while spirit world is in the archangel position. Adam must get ahead of the archangel world.
As a result of the fall everything was lost and replaced by Satan, father, mother, children, friends, husband, wife, and became completely valueless. Now we are trying to regain our own individual value as well as regaining parents and all things by becoming victors in this war. You in the Unification Church are different because you have found God. Not just an imaginary God, but one who has a true relationship with you.
Until now God's work has always been intertwined with indemnity and He could never be God in the original way. He has been a humiliated God, the one whom everyone ran to for help, but never a glorious God. Your True Parents were humiliated as well. They went through suffering and were never True Parents in the original way. Now you are coming to the time when you can have glorious True Parents.
Since you can have a glorious God and glorious True Parents, now for the first time you can have glorious neighboring countries and glorious brothers and sisters. Only a few years ago neighboring countries were deadly enemies here in Europe, but the times have changed so much that even Asians and Africans can claim that they are true brothers. Until now the country where we have met was the country where much regret remained, where people persecuted us and did unspeakable things, but the country where we are going to meet from now on is the country that will welcome you and God and the True Parents. In England we can see signs of the possibility that people will soon start to understand the dispensation. They are welcoming you now and it will be an historical event when they welcome me.
We are not the best people in the world; in a way we are even the worst people. When the worst people in the world understand me and understand the dispensation then the rest of the world will take only three weeks to understand. Just imagine sending out broadcasts via Telstar; that would make it possible for everyone to have a three-week workshop at the same time. How many do you think will become members? One half or one third? Here in England 80% of those who go to workshops become members, so if you give a three week training session on TV 100% of the viewers can be turned around by seeing the TV program. It is relatively easy to bring world unity centering around one country. This is not imaginary. When we project the changes that have been happening in the last few years into the future, we can see that it is entirely possible.
We are making preparations now for reaching out to all people through the electronic media. When that day comes do you think you will have to go door-to-door asking people to come to a workshop, struggling to have them understand God's heart? Once that day comes you won't have that opportunity. Everyone will be taught through television and radio about Divine Principle and Unification Church and True Parents. On that day you will say, 'I was there on the first of August when Father spoke about the Glorious Sortie.' People will ask you about what you did back then. Will you be able to answer, 'Well, I was just there'? Or will you be able to say, 'I got really excited that day and saw a clear image of the future. When Father told us all those things I engraved them in my mind and from that time on I worked harder than ever before.' Do you want to speak proudly about yourself in front of your friends and neighbors? Your countrymen and relatives want someone to be proud of and they will take your picture and display it, telling people about the person they knew who worked hard in London during those days.
Now you are called Moonies but not so long from now you will be called 'Sunnies' instead. What's the difference between the two? The moon only reflects light from the sun, but the sun generates its own light. You don't have to reflect anyone else's light. Do you have light of your own? Is your face beaming? Never depend on other people to tell you what to do. Say, 'Father, I don't need you to give me advice. I will work on my own.' If you need me to give you orders and encouragement then you are a Moonie, but when you become a Sunnie I won't have to tell you what needs to be done. You would look for the most difficult place on earth and go there to witness. A Sunnie can go to the darkest place in the world and bring the sunshine there. The sun burns continually and melts everything nearby. Imagine how difficult it is to become like that. Are you going to do it, though?
What are you going to become once you are a Sunnie? A 'Kingie.' A Moonie is the formation stage and a Sunnie is the growth stage. You have to connect these three stages and then you are a King. In other words, the past, present and future should all be victorious. Was your past a victorious one? How about your present? I doubt it. At best you are still Moonies because you still need me, don't you? If I need God in order to do the work then I am not a King. A King would say, 'God, I will take care of the world. You don't have to work with me. I will take responsibility.' A Moonie needs True Parents and God to help all the time, and even a Sunnie needs God. When you become a King you can take the place of God and do the work all by yourself.
You can't say you are ready to take responsibility for the world without God's help until you have proven yourself in your own experience. Now it is possible for you to become Sunnies and to do that you should act in the position of True Parents. You must be victorious everywhere and never be overcome by anyone.
I told you a few weeks ago that for 6,000 years God did only one thing, which was work to restore one Adam. Now I have restored Eve, one family, and the foundation for the country in only thirty years. I have prepared the Abel position on the worldwide level; in eighteen years I finished what I thought would take 21 years. Can you compare that to winning three people in forty days?
You have to win your heavenly qualifications. If I tell you to do something you should be able to say, 'Yes, Father, I have done that already.' You will come to have True God and True Parents and then you will inherit the ability to worship, serve and live together with God on the individual and family levels. God is not just a deity, as religious people have been thinking for thousands of years, but is in the position of parent. He is parent to us and we can meet Him. He is our father and mother, our family's father and mother and our nation's father and mother, as well as the parent of spirit world. We are going to meet and serve God like that. Wherever He goes He is the parent of that place. As children you can go everywhere God goes, can't you? No one can go to the Queen's palace without a special reason, but if you are a member of her family you can go anywhere she goes. It is the same with our parent, God.
God is the God of the individual, the family, the clan, the nation, the world and the spirit world. Wherever you go you are following God because He has been working where you are working now. You do not go as a servant but as parents to a country, to a home or to an individual. You must love them as parents would. Since God does not have a body He is represented by the True Parents. They are the True Parents of the individual, family, clan, nation, world and even spirit world. In the future God will appear to everyone in the form of the True Parents because He has no body of His own.
You follow Mother and myself because children follow their parents wherever they go, whatever they do. In every situation you will be connected to the True Parents through heart. Sometimes it is painful and you are unhappy and disappointed with yourselves, but even if I mistreat you and people persecute you, you overcome and strengthen your connection with the True Parents. Sometimes you are excited to be coming along, but no matter what your feeling is, you must tag along with me before you can be a child. Then no matter how humble you may be, whenever the Parents go a victorious way you can come also, sitting down at the end of the table to join the feast. Worthy or not, you are children of the True Parents.
This is the one thing you must do while you still have a physical body. As long as you live here it is possible to make a tie with the True Parents, no matter what situation comes. You must make a solid tie with the True Parents on every level, from the individual to the cosmic level. This is the first and only time in all of history for you to make that connection. You must realize what a glorious sortie it is to be able to do what True Parents and God desire.
The Father-Son Relationship
Looking around the world we see only bleakness, misery and sorrow. In no organization do they have heart and love or family bonds between the leader and the members. If there is some bond there, it does not have the depth of a true father-son relationship. That is the misery of hell. We are connecting all the different directions and ways of the world to the original heart of the father-son relationship. Wherever you go you are following me. We are standing on the last frontier where we can physically make these ties; after this everything will become spiritual. What is troubling the father should be troubling his sons and daughters. Whatever he desires should be the hope and wish of his children. They have the same faith and the same hope. Whatever the king of a country wishes should be the wish of every citizen. It is the father's wish and should also be the children's wish.
Satan destroyed the original order in all things and now is the time when it is possible to restore all things. We have started upon the glorious sortie and are fighting to restore the original position of God. Only after you inherit the tradition directly from True Parents can you become Sunnies. If there is a difficult thing to be accomplished then you would say, 'You rest. I'll do that.' You will be able to communicate freely with the True Parents; wherever they go your heart will automatically go and try to do the same things. No matter what you are doing, they also feel like being there to watch you, working together with you and giving advice. Is your heart like that now? If not then you have to fight to cross over that barrier and go freely in and out of my heart.
What is glory? The glorious day will be the day when there are no barriers between us. Whatever you are doing, any time of the day, you will welcome me and share freely. It is a glorious day when you are able to serve God like that. You can do it by becoming victorious. This is the only important thing to know; everything else is an accessory to that. The most valuable thing in the world is the love in the father-son relationship; this love can go anywhere, to the most miserable, sorrowful place and the happiest and most glorious time.
When you undergo serious difficulties and try very hard, I appear in your dreams and guide you, don't I? I am building the father-son relationship wherever you go, especially in difficult places. Once you achieve that in times of difficulty it becomes automatic everywhere else.
You must be aware of what kind of war you are fighting now. You are fighting in the glorious sortie so that you can become victorious and be connected with the parents in heart and have a victorious meeting with God. This is the last severe battle and you must be willing to give your life. Never feel that you will simply survive this battle. You must become serious and be determined to be victorious. Those who are sure that they will be victorious, raise your hands. God bless you.