Reverend Sun Myung Moon
June 3, 1979
Belvedere, New York
Translator: Bo Hi Pak
Every word has its own nuance and flavor and cultural background. Correct perception of each word is important, yet translation from one language to another is very difficult sometimes. Have you ever thought how much of a gap there is even in a 100% translation from one language to another? You must recognize that it is virtually impossible for a translator to close this gap in interpreting for me into English. If I am speaking about one point, do you think the interpreter can get 75% of the way to the target? Some time in the future when you know Korean perfectly and you read my own words you will realize how different the English and Korean versions of my speeches are.
When I tried to understand English I discovered it is an impossible language, with many kinds of usages. It is true that in any language there are many exceptions to the rule and odd usages without explanation that just have to be remembered, but I also realized that English is not the best language for conveying the spiritual element of life. The language is just not equipped to express things about the spiritual life as Korean is. When you compare Korean and Japanese there are marked differences; even the Japanese language cannot match the Korean facility of expression. I am definitely encouraging you to study Korean.
The Korean alphabet is very scientific and modern, comprised of only 24 vowels and consonants, yet even with that small alphabet Korean can reproduce any sound. The Korean people are very good at learning foreign languages because their mother tongue already has a variety of sounds. I see God's hand working here, preparing the Koreans with a language suitable for the universal dispensation.
English can be a boring and tasteless language to study, but Korean has a profound taste in comparison, with a most intricate and beautiful way of saying things. It is true that the contents of Korean expressions are complicated, but that makes it sweet, so have trust in Korean based on my recommendation.
What are Moonies? You are not competing in a gold rush or seeking fame and reputation in society. You are not seeking fun from day to day or involved in drugs or sensual experience. Neither are you pursuing academic honor, or ruthlessly seeking worldly
success. None of you are writing love letters or dating, and you don't have lots of money in your pocket. There are many who want their names known to the world, but not you. You don't even have many accomplishments that command the respect of many people.
When we see all this, what would make anyone ambitious to become a Moonie? There seems to be no reason at all. On Sunday morning you come early to Belvedere, but here you won't find even one chair to sit on, only a hard floor. Reverend Moon's church is one without chairs. When you present yourself as a Moonie to the world, no one says how wonderful you are, but ridicules you instead. Even your parents cannot understand why you became a Moonie and your brothers and sisters think you made a mistake. No one is sympathetic and the nation and world are treating us poorly.
No one thinks Moonies are normal people. Regardless of how normal you try to be, as soon as people discover you are a Moonie they look at you in an entirely different way. Your clothes and demeanor may be perfectly normal, but still they will think you are odd. Waiters and waitresses practically expect Moonies to eat with their noses instead of their mouths. These are the circumstances we are forced to live with every day.
Why do we have to go this route? Our ambition is not to have delicious food every day or to make much money or gain honor, so we are looked at by society as an unusual group of people. Nevertheless, our goal is to give ourselves for the sake of all. People in the everyday world have one small target in their lives, setting money or honor as their life goal, but we look at the whole picture. These people who aim at only one segment of life can move freely and don't care about anything else as long as they have that one thing. They may be far from the whole, but as long as they have their one thing they are content. Americans today are individualistic, going in their own directions. The concept of nation, society, or even parents and their family are unimportant to them as long as they can go after their individual goal. If their life goal happens to be fun and carnal pleasure, they only think about having fun and a good time. But such an individual is pursuing a goal that contradicts the well-being of the whole.
Our first job is denial and separation from that kind of life, and we begin by denying the materialistic and individually oriented trends that America thinks are worth pursuing. We deny the new counterculture the hippies said they would build. We do unconventional things like worship, and not only that, but in a sanctuary without chairs. We are not thinking only in Western cultural terms, but looking at the world as one unit. Here white people are thinking about all races, for instance.
Instead of drifting away from the center we are returning to it, trying to unite with it, and no matter where we are we can always instantly join together at the center. We are turning, but there must always be an axis around which to move. Today people commonly seek happiness by revolving around the opposite sex, but then what is going to be the axis of men and women once they come together? Their job or family or society? Today Americans are living center-less lives and young people are not even making an effort to find a center, thinking that they are already having fun.
What is the center of America? There is none today. Because there is no center in American homes, families today are living at random without any lasting sense of purpose. A tree has roots, trunk and leaves. Just as a tree cannot survive without having its roots in the earth, the family is rooted in the society and the individual is rooted in the family. How can an individual leaf deny that it needs the roots and trunk? Do you agree that a rootless way of life prevails here in America?
How can you ever exist in isolation from everything else? Even minerals have certain relationships of harmony which unite their atoms and crystals. What is the central axis of American life? Should the center be the soul or the body? Americans today tend to favor the body and physical pleasure, and since there is no fixed center Americans bump into each other and bounce off the walls, ultimately inviting self destruction.
There are central principles in the universe which no one can change. In each solar system there is a fixed center and all the planets revolve around it. Each day has order, with the morning coming first, then noon, then evening. An animal's tail cannot be its head at times, nor can the tail and head argue over who does what. There must be order in relationships between men and women, not confrontation over who is subject. If everyone is constantly leaving his own position then there can only be chaos.
There should be consistent order and discipline in life, but when they are ignored nothing but chaos can result. Sentences have a certain structure; just lining up nice words from the dictionary won't make any sense. A great painting is always thought out and then constructed, but just throwing things together has no meaning - We live in a senseless society, so what are we doing about it? We are people who are uniting with the center of the universe, going back to the original center without which this universe could not exist.
What is the center then? You may say God is the universal center, but what is God's center? What kind of relationship is there between the love of God and the love of men, and which should be the center? There is love seen from God's point of view and love seen from man's point of view, so what kind of relationship must be created between the two in order to have meaning for both?
We have five physical senses, but at the same time we know we have five spiritual senses and that they should always be united harmoniously. That is why we are looking for one love which will satisfy both the spiritual senses and the physical senses so that they can function together. How intense should that love be? The intensity of this love is such that even though you may try to leave it you will be pulled back. The attracting power of that love is so strong that you cannot ever leave it. It is possible for such love to exist that will attract not only you but God. In that love the mind and body will be the same burning crimson red. When you begin to taste this love you cannot help but bring yourself up vertically instead of just remaining in the horizontal. If you journey all the way up you will penetrate the love of God and even go beyond. Do you have that love? This is a convincing explanation, isn't it? If you want love, that's the kind you want, right?
When Unification Church members are really burning red with love that melts spirit and body together, no power under the sun can separate us or stop us, even the power of God. Isn't that exciting? When this love is activated even a sleepy grand mother is electrified. If even grandparents can be electrified then the bodies of young people will be burning like the sun, giving out light and heat. You can become a radiator of love. Are you imparting such life and love?
Once you taste such love, would you be pulled away by anything trying to interfere? Even if someone physically tries to pull you away, your physical body may be dragged in one direction but your mind and soul will be straining to go the other way. That's why people tell you that I am using mind control and brainwashing on you, but actually that is not mind control at all; we are all patients suffering from the disease of true love.
If no one can deter you then you are like a bullet, with your purpose and goal so clear that you can fly straight to the bulls-eye. Amazingly enough, when you are a bullet of love you do not destroy or harm anything. When you penetrate a person or a society or nation, no one will feel pain, but will be overjoyed instead. Usually a bullet destroys what it hits, but not a bullet of love. People look scornfully at Moonies, but I want you to know that our ideal is the best of all. That is the exciting and dramatic philosophy which we live.
Because we have a goal and are not moving at whim, we have a discipline. Men and women are not pursuing gratification but pursuing the highest goal in a parallel way. There are many strings and ropes attached to each Moonie, including the individual line, a family line, a tribal line, national line and so forth. It is very complicated and there are many ropes to handle, but each rope has a certain meaning and we need them all. We have a way to straighten everything out. The individual line will extend a certain distance and the family rope will go in the same direction, but be a little longer. The tribal line is longer and can thrust you further, but most important of all, it still goes in the same direction. In crossing a river you need a bridge that is long enough to reach all the way across, not just halfway. The national rope can extend further, but the rope of the world goes farthest of all and will finally reach the other side. Each rope is an important segment of the bridge crossing the river.
Do you know how to make this process simple? Your goal is to go all the way to the world, and with that line you will embrace everything else. Once you reach that goal you already have everything else. That's why we set the highest possible goal of going out to save the whole world. We can save the world by practicing love, true love. When you truly practice love of the world, you will already have loved your family, your people and nation. All of those are smaller than the world, so once you have loved the world you have already loved them as well.
Since our goal is to love the world, it is nothing for white people to love black people, and for black people to love whites is easy. Your love shows when you come to be matched. Did those who volunteered for interracial marriage accept it because I pushed them? That day I was colorblind. Why is it possible in the Unification Church? Because our goal is to love the world, and as a result there is nothing we cannot digest. For us there is no boundary between races or cultures.
As an individual you must be anchored in this love, and as a nation and world as well. Everyone's life must be anchored in this foundation of love. If America really sees that the foundation of life is true love then this society and nation must be anchored there, and the government's first policy will be to anchor all citizens in this love. Could they oppose me or respond to me then? Then should the nation respond because you are Moonies?
One thing is sure however, because you love me most of all, no power can separate us and it doesn't matter whether the government or people accuse you. That is our pride. Naturally some adverse reaction comes because your parents are jealous of that love; after giving so much of themselves to raise you they will feel badly if you love an Oriental man, particularly one from Korea, which they have never known anything about. Your answer is that you can't help but love me because otherwise your conscience would suffer. With that love you can work harder and accomplish more, sleep better and feel better, so you can't help but love me. It is not brainwashing; you are bound by that bond of true love.
Why is it a goal to love me? I am at the other side of the river, like a support for the bridge you will cross over on. Unlike a regular bridge, I move back and forth, so when I pass nearby you hang on and cross over. That means you are here to take advantage of me! Are you happy people to see this? Why? Because you are sure now that you have a bridge of love between heaven and earth. You need a permit to cross that bridge, a statement that you practice love. That ticket not only gives you authority to cross, but tells you how. You came here to get that ticket! This is the only place that ticket is issued.
On Sunday morning you come from New York, and I am sure that many of you probably get speeding tickets for driving so fast. The Moonie's goal in life is to secure the central point, knowing it is everlasting. We have found that point, the central theme of the universe. When we loop our ropes around it and create a bridge we know we can cross the river. This is the first time in history there has been a bridge to cross over, and this bridge extends from here to eternity in the spirit world.
There are many ways you can travel, but they must all ultimately connect to this bridge. That is the destiny of mankind. It is ordained that every man in history and in the future must cross this bridge, the only one in existence. Do you agree that without it there is no connection to eternity? In order to cross it you have no choice but to listen to me and follow this way of life, even if you hate doing so. The most amazing thing is that no one is forcing you, but something inside tells you to go ahead. Once you know that the bridge exists and that you have to cross, do you want to wander and take your time or would you cross over in a flash, like a bullet? What about relaxing first and then crossing? You are young; don't you have time to linger and have fun before you cross?
Do you want to cross with your spouse? Suppose three couples came who are ready to cross-one couple is white, another is black, but the third is black and white. Which couple should be given priority? Don't white people have supremacy? American people resent hearing you say that white people don't have priority. Forget for a moment that you are a Moonie; what would you say then? I'm sure even the President and anyone in his family, if they are people of justice and good heart, will say that black and white together take priority.
Since the answer is so obvious, we in the Unification Church pay a great deal of attention to international marriage. I recently matched 705 couples, and the most beautiful scene was seeing all the volunteers who stepped forward for interracial marriage. I left it up to you, and a great many brothers and sisters made that request on their own. We will have all colors of skin in the society we are going to create. They will not be there for a fighting championship, but to embrace in love. This is the Moonie philosophy.
You don't feel good when people are scornful toward you, so today you must come to a confident understanding that you are destined to cross that bridge between heaven and earth. Being a Moonie is the only way you can accomplish that. Here is one brother who is a lawyer; he could have had a profitable practice, yet he is sitting here without money in his pocket. A Moonie's pocket never holds any money, no matter how much goes in.
Mike Warder recently went to Las Vegas for a Newspaper Publishers Convention and as The News World representative he was chosen to be on the host committee. That involved greeting and assisting all the leading publishers from around the country, yet Mike flew out there without a penny in his pocket. He has no money but he doesn't worry. If he really needs money then he can always fund raise. Mike's parents might wonder how he can be a publisher yet be so poor, but they don't understand Moonies. This is the drama of our life-one day you could be a newspaper publisher and the next be a fund raiser. This is how we can go up, down, and all over.
I am a messenger to mankind for the most important message from God, but at the same time I can be the number one laborer in any factory or mine. There is no shame in this because we do it all in the name of God. Many people think the Unification Church is rich and that I live in luxury, but that is not true. It is because I have laid a foundation based on terrible suffering that we have come this far. People in the everyday world despise Moonies, but we love each other.
What is the trust that is placed in us? We are taking up the life that proceeds all the way to God, with segments of the family, nation and world all in that one straight line. There is no confusion here, yet in the history of dispensation God could not even pass through this first gate of the individual and family. That is why God could never hold His true position as loving Heavenly Father. Because even the first gate was not open, there was no tribal, national or worldwide gate.
What was your goal in being engaged recently? Your purpose was to open up the first gate of the heavenly family. Those couples are forming the family gate, declaring to the world and to spirit world that everyone, including God, must pass through this gate. Would you object to having all those people passing through your gate, wanting only your husband and children to go through? Here in America everyone is worried about his privacy, but a Moonie has no private life, only a public one. Some blessed wives feel they must have some area that is just for their private lives, but I say absolutely not. Every moment of the day is for public ministering. The universe follows this principle as well.
What kind of gate are you making a narrow one, or one wide enough so the world's people can come dancing in with room to spare? Can you create such a gate with money or power or knowledge? Only with love. Love makes the gate wide and open. Suppose you couples have a tiny room to live in and you finally have a private moment; if I knock on the door would you ask me to wait so you can have some private time? I'm sure you would tell me to come in any time, but what if other brothers and sisters knock on the door? Would you turn them away or will your door always be wide open to them?
Love is elastic, far more than any balloon. There is no end to love. In one sense love is harder than a diamond, but in another sense it is softer than cotton or down. That love is our target. You American members are not just U.S. citizens who are working for America; you are living and working with Japanese and Germans, whose nations were this nation's enemies thirty years ago, but that historical fact doesn't make any difference to you. This family can only be united by the true love of God, with which we can open the doors and embrace everyone. It is not easy to follow me, but I'm sure you have realized that in the process you are learning many things.
Since knowing me you have learned how to use chopsticks. Can you envision God using chopsticks? It is logical that God must be the chopstick champion! God's chopsticks are very long. He made one representing Western man and the other representing what? If you think like God then you perceive the entire universe as one, so naturally the other chopstick must be from the East.
Westerners use canes often, and their philosophy is also straightforward and pointed. Oriental philosophy is very abstract, and you may think you understand it, but in reality you can't see the bottom of it. The bottom is rounded and disappears somewhere in the distance. If Oriental philosophy seems unending then does God comprehend this mystic philosophy? No one else is more mystic than God. Have you ever wondered whether God favors Western or Oriental philosophy? God's two chopsticks must have some differences of character; otherwise, how could there be both East and West?
I am from an Oriental background and I came to the West to examine the Western chopstick. I found that it is rusty and has rough edges and metal spurs on it. I came to cut off these dangerous rough spots so they won't cut your mouth when you use it. I discovered that this chopstick of God's has been rough and rusty and God has not been able to use it well so I want to shine it and clean it up to present it to God for His use. I will invite God to a banquet for all races and cultures and languages, and then put this chopstick there for His use and enjoyment.
I wouldn't want you to be embarrassed by not knowing how to use chopsticks, so this way of life is important training, including sitting on a hard floor. You should know about Oriental customs as well as Western customs, even though your long legs and your back ache from sitting on the floor. I know that when Westerners come they are glad to see me, but often they are practically lying down on the floor with their legs sticking out toward me. Even dogs are more courteous in front of their masters than to lie down. If you were to do that at God's banquet it would be an embarrassment to Americans and to the Western world. You are a representative of your people at the banquet and you have to be prepared to comply with all heavenly etiquette and courtesy. There is no room to complain.
Do you think it is easy trying to instill discipline in you untrained young people? Nevertheless, we cannot function like West Point; we are a religious organization so our manner of teaching must be based on love, not coercion. In love you come to know a higher protocol, but it takes time and also a great deal of energy on my part. You may never realize it, but you are so far departed from the usual American way of life that your countrymen are astonished to see your new manners.
The Japanese members who came to America use pidgin English, so some of our members are starting to use pidgin English as well! Instead of Yes, they answer Hi. What would the rest of America lose by bending over backward like that to learn about other cultures? In the future the Moonies will make the best diplomats because you learn how to mix with and embrace others. Governments will want Unification Church members to be their representatives because no others can better associate with other peoples. We know how to serve.
You are soldiers seasoned from MFT training, learning how to evaluate all circumstances and how to win someone's heart. You may not have anything in your pocket or in your bank account, but you know how to cope with the world. The training you are getting here will never be obtained at any university. You may not have a college degree, but I know you sisters will be the best wives for diplomats or Senators and Congressmen. No one can excel us in leadership.
I am an expert in every field, such as public speaking, but also as a fighter and hard worker. I would like to become a pilot, not for small aircraft, but for a 747. 1 very often fly across the country and have noticed that every time the 747 comes down it bumps on the ground. I am sure that I could make such a smooth landing that the sleeping passengers would never even realize they had landed. If I were the pilot then the stewardesses would have the extra job of waking everyone up. Because I am a little old to be trained as a pilot I may not have that opportunity, so you can inherit that mission instead.
Many times I have to drive to various places, and if time is short then the driver has to have the skill to weave in and out of traffic to get to the destination quickly. If I were a driver I know I would get many speeding tickets, but I also know how to go slowly and other drivers would be honking their horns for me to speed up. If war breaks out, you have to be alert enough to know how to act in an emergency. Would you prefer having an encyclopedia which covers all knowledge or just a simple dictionary of your own country's language? You need to become very broad and round in your thinking.
No one now knows the Moonies' true qualities, but in ten years everyone will be looking for my disciples because they are so versatile and adaptable. I would even like to organize an Olympics of the religious people of the world. Recently I invited some elder ministers to travel the world and examine Unification Church activities. They were amazed at the tremendous variety of things I am doing around the world and they said, "There is nothing Reverend Moon cannot do, and nothing that he does not do."
I was going to go to sea today, but the weather did not permit it. Some people might say I should rest on the Sabbath, but since the Sabbath is still a workday for God, going to sea and catching many fish for needy people is in accord with God's own standard. In our concept a holy day is not one for just sitting around. It is far better to go out and bring reconciliation to people who are fighting.
We are not the same old-time religion; we are a 20th century religion, but when the 30th century comes, the Unification Church will still be the most modem of all. We are creating a new unification culture centered upon one true love as a foundation of life. This is our goal. The path to love is strong and bold, never ambivalent. Love is almighty; it can be forceful and soft but it can also be hard and dignified.
America will definitely come to a time when it will accept this philosophy. America is now wandering without a focus or purpose, but we have a purpose and in every phase of life the love of God is our center. By centering upon that love we create a new family, nation and world. There is not a moment of wavering allowed because that way of life is the one which all human history has been waiting for. When the Pilgrim Fathers came to these shores they were aiming at that ideal but it was never realized. Now after 200 years of American independence I have come to this country and they are confident that their goal is ready to be fulfilled.
There are vast differences between the cultures of East and West, yet the power of God's love can unite the two powers and traditions. The vast distance between God and man can only be bridged by the power of love. This is our central ideology and theme and way of life, and no matter where we go, even to the rim of the world, we always come back to the center. There is no way we can deviate from it. Wherever we go we bring the power of love. At home you can embrace your parents and brothers and sisters with this love; with this power of love you can become one with anyone in society.
Now people are mistrustful and misunderstanding of us, but the day will come when they will put their whole trust in us. Why? Because God has trusted us and spirit world has trusted us. Spirit world is assaulting this earth, so those who are more sensitive spiritually will be the first to recognize our true value. Then more and more people will come to realize our true value. God is putting His trust in us because of His dispensational purpose; God knows that finally there is a possibility of consummating His historical love and that is why He supports us. This is God's battle, not only yours and mine. God has committed His whole life and honor to this, so we do the same for the fulfillment of love.
The marriages of the international couples will not be easy, but I tell you to go ahead and consummate this love, no matter what difficulties you face. Because it is difficult to fulfill, it can be your pride that you have been chosen especially for that mission. We must not forget the great trust and expectation that are invested in us by God and spirit world and history.
In England over 300 couples were matched last year, and out of those only two were matches of British people. Members from over 21 European and African nations were matched together. Often when the future husband and wife met to talk they needed interpreters, and if there weren't enough interpreters they started to talk with their eyes.
The European continent is much smaller than America, but each nationality there has fierce pride. The Germans think they are the best and they always stick together, while the British think they are the true gentlemen and the Germans are barbarians. Even in London society there are organized groups of each nationality. The European nations might be trying to come together economically now through the EEC and EuroParliament, but culturally and heartistically they are reluctant to mingle. There is no other way apart from international marriage to bring heart-to-heart contact.
The three great barriers in Europe are the barriers of national boundary, of language and of marriage, but when I went to Europe I challenged all three of those. Is there any national boundary or language barrier in this heavenly culture? In a few years everyone has to recognize that I could unite Europe and then one world will finally be born there. The communists want to promote division there so they can conquer each country one by one, so they see me as their archenemy in this respect. Here in America the oldest and greatest problem is animosity between black and white, and the communists thought I could never cope with it, but what happened? After the 705 couples were matched, the black community can see that it has found its champion in Reverend Moon.
The worst possible war in the future would be racial war. Whites know that if racial war ever begins that they will be the ones to be annihilated. Who is manipulating all these racial disturbances? The communists. Those white people who worry about the future of the world and of America must ultimately conclude that Reverend Moon alone can solve the racial problems of America. Interracial marriage is the worst problem of history, but the Unification Church is solving that problem.
The entire world is watching the couples I have matched to see what kind of children will be born to them and how those families will serve the world. Once they recognize that interracial marriage is working here, the entire world will be turned around. When you understand the incredible implications of this, you can't help but get goose bumps just listening.
This is the day and goal that everyone has been waiting for. The idealistic people of the past, present and future will welcome this new way of life, knowing that without it the world will not have hope. If you really live in this new way of life and commitment, you will have new dignity for eternity. When you are elevated to spirit world you can lift up your head before all the saints because you could practice what they only dreamt of.
From the historical point of view, the trust placed in us will be the final one. We are going to be the people who carry the ultimate trust of history, spirit world and God. Korea must reach the conclusion that the Unification Church is the only hope of that nation. Japan is no exception either. Now Japanese leaders openly say that the future of Japan depends on Unification Church young people. There is no doubt that America will also say this soon. If you know this is true, then this is an historical event taking place here.
Therefore, we are going along a straight line in this way of life, not from side to side. We go in a straight line, sacrificing the lesser for the greater. For the nation my family can be sacrificed. For the world my nation can be sacrificed, for once the world lives then all shall be fulfilled and everyone shall be saved. If there is a God, this must be His way, and the most idealistic thinkers and the saints must also feel this way.
We are living for people from all six continents. If everyone lives under this principle, how much benefit can be brought to our fellow man? It is realistic to think that we can turn this world upside down into the Kingdom of Heaven. People might say they don't like Moonies, but they will have to agree that our ideology is the best.
When we know this goal and ideal, we as individuals become small in importance. Are you glad to be Moonies? Are you becoming genuine Moonies? I have heard your answer, so go and do it. Would you prefer to be limited to activity on a small scale? My own children will be educated in this way of life. Later on when your brothers and sisters and relatives join, I don't want you to be in a position for them to point out what a poor Moonie you have been. Wouldn't you be ashamed if they exclaimed, "You have known this truth for a long time, but what little accomplishment you have brought! " Later on more prominent Japanese people will come and point out what trivial accomplishments you Japanese have made here if you aren't careful.
I don't want people to remark on what a tremendous ideology and way of life I had but what little I accomplished. This is why even now that I am sixty I am desperate to act every day. When my legs are tired I scold them and make them go on more.
Our job is to live up to the expectation of the trust placed in us. Do you want to be just small minded people? No, be giants who cause good trouble and controversy in the world. Go into the world of evil and stir things up; be strong and bold. America may not trust us yet, but already the entire spirit world has put their trust in us, and God Himself has put His trust in us. Would you be strong and bold to go to the ultimate victory? If you live up to it, America will come to trust us very soon.
Let us pray.