Sun Myung Moon
July 3, 1982
International Leaders Conference
Belvedere
Among us are 96 foreign missionaries who have been working very hard for the past seven years. I would like to recognize them and commend them. I realize that each and every one of you has been really lonely for the past seven years.
Have you kept a diary throughout this time? The suffering you went through will serve as a constant inspiration to others. Compare the suffering you went through during the past seven years to the amount of inspiration it can bring to the people who follow our path. Every bit of suffering and hard work you did will be more than amply rewarded in terms of other people following you and loving you for that.
You probably never thought that all the suffering you went through would make the path easier for millions of people after you. Your experiences and sufferings will be a direct cause of millions of people resurrecting from death to life.
The Gate Of Hope
Your experience is much the same as what I have gone through; because of my loneliness and hard work, many people have been inspired. Without that, they might have just sat down and died, but now they find the gate of hope.
History remembers no ordinary things; if you suffer and go through intolerable difficulty and suffering, history will place more importance on that. This may not be so apparent in open societies.
When you work as missionaries in open societies, difficulties are not so great, but there are missionaries working in communist countries, going through incredible experiences. They were more qualified than you, and they should have been to this wedding; they can only think of this wedding day, and wait for theirs in the future.
Those members would really like to see me, to get a glimpse of me in reality, to touch me. And here you are with me! They would like to attend these ceremonies and conferences, even for a few minutes; but of course it is impossible. They want instructions and want to learn the most up-to- date form of my ideas and God's desire. But for them, there is no way of knowing it. The experiences of members in underground churches will be added to yours, and one day all the world will know about them; imagine how much influence their stories will have!
The Suffering Of Underground Missionaries
No matter how difficult your course may be, think about your brothers and sisters working in the underground churches, and how gladly they would exchange their position for yours. Here you can take a few minutes off and breathe freely, but there, that is not allowed. There, they have to think very carefully before making even a few statements. They have to think about what would happen if they said certain things.
Imagine the kinds of reports I hear; I was told of somebody who was about to face execution, for instance. There is nothing I can do except pray.
Those who are working behind the iron curtain have a very clear sense of purpose: they go through suffering in order to open up a way to freedom, in order to save these people. Our goal is the same as theirs.
Even though the number of missionaries working in underground churches is much smaller, their suffering is much more intense. Therefore, I think of that small number of people more frequently and more deeply than I think of the other missionaries suffering in free countries. That is a little inconsistent with the democratic concept, but this minority is a majority in my mind. I spend more time thinking, praying, and talking about those missionaries than about you. When I wake up, I think first about the missionaries suffering in the underground churches.
Maybe you are working harder than they are, maybe you have been longer in the faith, still I cannot help thinking about them.
There is a general principle that God's thinking goes to those working under the most difficult circumstances, even more than those who are working the hardest. This principle applies in many ways and many places.
As a missionary, you should consider being arrested, beaten or imprisoned as the standard thing you should go through. Imagine that your only chances to pray were to go off in the middle of the night to a secluded place where no one could see you. If you haven't gone through that, ask yourself whether you are going through the regular missionary work. You are not going physically behind the iron curtain, but you can intensely pretend for a few days that you are there, in spirit.
You may wonder whether I know you are working hard, but why not feel instead, "Father doesn't have to know about me or come to visit me; I wish he would think about those in underground churches more, so their mission would not go wrong, so they would not be arrested, jailed and executed. At least I have life, but their life is uncertain." In a tree, if there are a hundred branches and one is sick, all the healthy branches pay attention to the one sick branch and want to send nutrition to that point.
I don't worry so much about the free world. I brought together hundreds of thousands of people, and now there are many Americans who learned first-hand my heart and way of working, and in the next ten years, I can imagine how much result they will bring.
The Goal Of Religious Unity
Christians, Muslims, Jews and people of all major religions have come against us. Christianity is divided into hundreds of different denominations, which are in conflict with each other. My concern is how to bring all these different religions into a unifiable position. With this vision I have gathered together scientists and also leaders of various religions to a God Conference.
Also, in a few days, 141 young people will go around the world in a "Youth for God" program and meet people of all religious backgrounds and talk with major religious leaders. Such a program has never happened before. This kind of trip will open up their eyes to the meaninglessness of Christian denominations fighting among themselves. A way must be opened for all religions to come to a position of having hope to unite.
Communism is blocking the way between religions, promoting conflicts between religions. Christianity is predominately a white religion, for instance, and Islam predominately a religion of dark-skinned or black people. It is understandable that the two religions are in conflict, but the communists are exploiting this and making it an interracial confrontation. They are doing everything to promote this and cause an interracial war.
Historical events are in a sense ideal for communist goals, because white people colonized other lands and did incredible things; it's not difficult for everybody to see the result of what the white people did. When all the circumstances are ready, all the communists have to do is strike a match and cause a conflagration. You African missionaries can testify first-hand that you had no idea of what Africans feel towards white people; but after suffering there for seven years, you can understand the deep resentments that exist. Once the communists viciously ignite them, all white people will be chased out.
You may wonder why I spend money on the kinds of things I do. People come to our banquets and say nice things, but we know they are not fully on our side. Missionaries suffer, but I pay attention to a lot of other people instead of them. If your thinking is based on these actions, you have to think a bit more deeply. More than anyone else, I know how much you are suffering, but I also know better than anyone else what tragedies might happen in the future, so I sacrifice you and spend money on these long-term projects. Later on, when people know how much effort went into these other programs and how much missionaries around the world suffered, without even a few dollars at hand, they will be deeply moved.
Championship Marriages
You might have thought that I couldn't have done this to the church or to you unless I were cruel. You must have a new and clear standard. Jesus died on the cross and ordinary Christians were persecuted and killed for 400 years thereafter, but you don't have to go that course. Jesus died such a suffering death, but we are getting married -- and not even an ordinary conditional marriage. Here where 50 percent of marriages break up, your future is guaranteed to the extent that you will never divorce each other and you will have a better family than any couple in the United States.
Marriage happens to be one of the most significant events in our life. Unification Church marriages are championship marriages. In the future, nobody will ever dare challenge you and say they can make a better marriage than yours. Your parents are beginning to go along with you. Government officials will not come to you and say, "Your marriage is good, but these are better." A heavy-weight boxing champion, if he is lucky, keeps his title for maybe ten years before he has to relinquish it because of old-age. But your championship is eternal.
Regardless of how successful a person may be in every other way -- he may even rise to be president -- if his marriage is wrong, the rest doesn't work out. Be aware of how meaningful marriage is. To win the eternal marriage-championship, a title which you will never need to relinquish, has huge significance in the spirit world, although on earth it may not yet be recognized.
The Best Words: True Father
You know that one day you will go to spirit world. I will too. When you see me in spirit world, what will you call me? You would like to use the best word, wouldn't you? No matter what your condition may be, so long as you are able to say, "True Father," I know all the limbs of my body will become numb. You won't need to say anything more, in order to make any request. Why is this so? Because of divine law. Wherever the father is, the children are supposed to be in the same position.
If you are real sons and daughters, going through much suffering, when you come to me, you will find that I have been suffering ten times more than you have. You couldn't come and say, "Father, I know you are suffering, but can you come and help me?" You would find yourself wanting to help me, enduring more suffering than you thought you would be able to endure.
Conversely, if the father was going through suffering but went to see his son and discovered that the son was suffering in a way he had never imagined, the father would give every blessing to him.
You may have wondered whether I understand you. Has the idea ever occurred to you, even remotely, even in dreams, that I might be suffering more in East Garden than what you are going through in the African jungle? If that is true, you could not expect me to pray for you, but you, even in a low position, could pray for me.
My objective is not to free you, but our members in underground churches. And not even just our members in underground churches, but all suffering people.
Race To Become Historical Missionaries
People are accustomed to living in the middle -- maybe on the paradise level. One extreme is hell and the other extreme is heaven. When they look at you, they know very well that you must belong to one extreme or the other.
So, in conclusion, are you happy? After spending seven years in Africa, you become tired and sick and may think that to live in America is almost like living in paradise. Now you find yourself about to go back and do another seven years. Can you still say with confidence, "Father, I am the happiest person under the sun"?
Some of you women may look for excuses and say, "Oh, Father told me I should follow my husband." You are good missionaries, but you have not yet become historical missionaries. Each of you is a candidate in the race to become historical missionaries. Those who win the race become those historical missionaries. Maybe you men will say, "You are my wife, come and live with me; let someone else win this race." Would you women respond, "Anyone who says that kind of thing cannot be my husband"?
Remember the crux of Father's teaching: you must live not for the sake of your family, but for the sake of the country -- and not just for the sake of the country, but for the sake of the world.
Maybe you are thinking, "Oh, Father, we have been separated for seven years, is this the kind of topic you have to choose to talk to us about?" Yes, this is the topic I chose! Do you have a complaining feeling or not? The correct answer is that you don't have any complaints, because this is the best I can give you.
Truth is truth, whether it is spoken in the morning or evening, whether it is given when you are suffering or at ease. You may feel, "This is what Father said, and I have a long way to go in order to catch up." I know what you have gone through and what you will have to go through; therefore, I can speak with confidence. No matter what I do, you love me because your mind knows it is in the cause of truth. Once you get the knack of it, you will volunteer for more suffering, so you can meet me in your dreams and have such an intimate relationship with me. You are on the right course, but from now on, until your country welcomes you, you have to continue to work.
Extra-Sensory Feelings
Today, you now have someone who cares about you intimately, your husband or wife. Maybe you didn't before. Write a letter. The tears you drop on your letter will also make your husband cry. You will have a true friend in him. Your husband and you are responsible for both extremes, and everything that comes in the middle will melt in the intense heat between you and your husband.
Even though you are separated, there is an invisible wire or conductor between you and your husband. Electricity flows between you. You will experience extra-sensory feelings flowing between you. Even though it is invisible, there is a very thick conductor going between you. This intensity of heart is more intense than electrical voltage. There will be other noises or attractions, but in front of this intensity of heart, these will fade out.
We of course cherish poetry and literature. It is not the personal-experience poetry or literature which is significant, but the public-experience poetry and public-experience literature. So what makes you cry is feelings for the sake of the continent, for Africa as a whole, for example. The spirit world is impelling you to love more deeply all of Africa. You don't understand it, but I do.
Would you like a ten-minute break before continuing? I don't remember ever having suggested such a thing! I never thought like that, because I have a minimum responsibility to fulfill. That responsibility is to grow my children and marry them off! Now that I have married you off, I have to be a regular father. Now that you have grown, you will no doubt take some of the load off me, especially in state and national-level affairs, and let me take a little rest. Then I can devote more attention to the world.
Unexpected Meetings Are Better
Once when I went to Alabama, I stopped at a McDonalds for an early lunch. A black girl (a member) was looking at me, while she was eating. She was on the MFT, and the day had started out as just an ordinary day. They set out at 6:00 a.m., and she was having brunch at McDonalds. Her attention was first drawn to us because we were oriental. "Our Father is oriental," she thought, and turned to us again. After observing closely, she thought the man resembled me. She was sure the woman looked exactly like Mother. "What a strange couple," she thought; "they look so much like our Father and Mother." Eventually she concluded that's who we were. Then she wondered, "Am I in spirit world?" and looked around her carefully. When I called her to sit at the table with us, she was beside herself and dropped everything. I had her stay with us for a half hour. She will never forget this meeting throughout her entire life. That kind of encounter is so dramatic!
But what if it happened not in America but somewhere in Africa? What if I went to eat at an African fast-food concession? "It couldn't be Father," you would say. That would be a very dramatic meeting for you, wouldn't it?
If I go somewhere and meet you by coincidence, how much more wonderful it would be than if you received an official letter from Rev. Kwak's office advising you I'm coming! How would you like to meet me? Formally, or on some unexpected occasion, when you have been really working hard and longing to see me? Would you rather meet me 10 or 20 times officially, or just once in your life, unexpectedly?
When a person prays very hard, longing to see me, I might send someone personally to her and suggest she come around to a certain beach or hotel and wait for someone there. She would certainly never suspect it was me -- maybe someone she was witnessing to. After some hours, I would show up. I like that kind of thing.
Listening To IW's Reports
I have been receiving quite detailed reports through Rev. Kwak's office. Also, as you know, the itinerary workers report to me; occasionally their letters fill almost 20 pages and must have taken days to write. They sometimes write about angles of situations you probably didn't even think of. I give top priority to the letters of the itinerary workers, and I listen to every word, no matter how long they are. Once I start listening to a letter, I don't stop. I don't stop something until I finish it.
If there is something you need to know, make it your business to learn it; but other things, even though you hear about them, forget them. You have your immediate jobs to do, and you should do them well. I have my own goals which you may not know about at the time; but after things are done, I will tell you everything.
Americans are known for their candidness; they repeat whatever they hear and express whatever they feel. But a better honesty is to choose what you say and what you don't say. When you say something, tell the right person, not everybody.
Whether I should go to Africa at all is still a question I am pondering. I am very choosy about where I go. I may come to a neighboring country but not to yours, if that is what is best; so don't try to make me overly drawn to you. As much as I love Africa or South America, if not going there would be of greater benefit for the sake of the world than going there, I would not go.
Would you permit me to take a rest and not work all the time? I never even thought about a honeymoon, even though we have been married so long and now have 13 children. Could I go away for a honeymoon if there is nobody praying in my position or receiving people in my position? Could God approve, if He knows that nobody is taking my position? If enough of you divide up the work and do it very faithfully, so God c in look down and say that the work is getting done, then I could go on a honeymoon.
Does this talk answer many of the expectations you missionaries had before coming here? "When will Father visit us?" you have been wondering. I talked about this. When can you graduate from missionary work? When all the people come towards God. Maybe you can rotate countries sometimes. At least, you wanted to see me and talk to me, or have me talk to you, before returning to your mission place.
Now that I have seen you, I have planted all of you in my memory. If this is the end of my speech to you, would you be satisfied? Can you say, "Now I have seen Father, and this is enough; I can really go back and invest myself in my mission again"?
One further thing I can say: now that you have good husbands and wives, you will have fantastic children.