I told my sons to take responsibility for this country in my place

Sun Myung Moon
April 5, 1988
Morning Talk
East Garden
Translator: Sang Kil Han

At East Garden on April 5, Father appeals to the third-year UTS graduates and other leaders to take responsibility for America.

At East Garden on April 5, Father appeals to the third-year UTS graduates and other leaders to take responsibility for America.

The day before Father left America for Korea, Father met with third-year UTS graduates and other leaders at East Garden. He began speaking at 8:30 pm on April 4 and spoke until 2:30 am. He asked that everyone remain at East Garden and pray in repentance, and then he began speaking again in the morning and continued his talk right up to the point where he had to leave for the airport.

If North and South Korea are united, don't you think the whole world will come into unity also? When a condition of indemnity is fulfilled, Satan cannot claim dominion anymore. I have laid indemnity conditions all over the world for the purpose of uniting North and South Korea. When these conditions are truly fulfilled, then the homeland, in reality, can be restored.

I have told Hyo Jin and his brothers to take responsibility for this country in my place. No matter how old you are, you are the younger brothers and sisters to them. Now you must absolutely follow the True Parents' children. Then you will come to stand on their level, the level of the elder son. If you can stand in that place, I will have faith in you. Last night you prayed in repentance. So from now, you are in the elder brother's position for America, in the position to lead this country. The spirit world is ready to help you, so be strong and have confidence. You must raise up the image that our church has in the eyes of the American people. If the Unification Church members come up to a higher and higher level, then every day Satan's world will go down lower and lower and lower, as if a big machine were pressing it down, making it flat!

Looking back, you can see there is not really very much that you did well so far. We will try to erase that shame by working hard in this coming year. In just one year, we will work so hard that we will offset all the things that we didn't do right in the past.

The reason why I fought so hard in this country, even going to Danbury, was because I had hope in you -- the state leaders and CARP leaders and UTS graduates. For you, I went to Danbury. You are the leadership; you are God's remaining hope. This is your time now. You are in charge instead of me. You are small Sun Myung Moons. Remember to be confident. I established the indemnity condition, so now you are in the position to love your own second generation. I have never been able to love my own relatives, because the time was not right. But now we can do That! You can go to your home towns and educate your own people.

If we become lax in our unity, Satan will attack, especially the three-year students. The graduates' most important duty now is to witness to the second generation, for those are the ones who will save this nation. So all three-year graduates from now should try to establish a campus ministry. Stand up and be strong. You can do the same as Rev. Moon! You must want this for America even more than I do.

All members who work in businesses must also witness. Through the business world you can actually create heaven on earth. Everything should be integrated. Business people can witness to business people. Scholars can witness to scholars. Journalists can witness to journalists. Now you are beginning to understand that we all have the same objective. You must never think, "Oh, I don't like to work in a spiritual mission; I want to work in a business because I can keep certain hours and get certain pay." You must have no thought like that. Witnessing is our basic way of life, and it is the way we should live now and in the future. We have to grow straight from our root. You should make up your mind and say, "This year, Father, I am planning to witness to this many people," and fulfill that goal.

At a marina in Gloucester, Massachusetts -- Our places of worship will be the restaurants, the factories, the docks and wharves, the schools. Work itself will be a prayer.”

At a marina in Gloucester, Massachusetts -- Our places of worship will be the restaurants, the factories, the docks and wharves, the schools. Work itself will be a prayer.”

A Brand New World

Imagine, all of a sudden, a dazzling new world springing up. You can see that, can't you? A brand new world is coming out of nowhere, one so different than the one we saw in the past. After a long cosmic winter, the springtime is coming, and the new sprouts are starting to come out. That is us.

This summer we expect 2,500 Korean professors to visit America and go through a tour of our movement. Back in Korea, they will be working in the villages, towns, and counties for the unification of the North and South. This is the first time in history that professors have taken such responsibility on this level. They will love and guide the people of their native communities and teach them about Godism, the counterproposal to communism. Scholars are trained to get the essence of a concept very quickly, so these professors are very quick to grasp Unification Thought. Imagine if American professors could respond in this way. Would America live or die?

Now, after listening to me all night and this morning, do you feel the world is coming to the end or the beginning? Don't you feel a new world is in the making? Things are happening; they are all falling into place. The more progress is made, the more blessings will come back to God. So upon whom will He bestow those blessings? On you, on all of us. This means that God is entrusting you to take the responsibility for America -- not anybody else but you, the Unification Church members. You will literally become the leaders of America. You and your families, with the blessed root, will set the tradition.

Beyond that point, we won't need a religious life. Our daily life will be our religious life. People won't have spiritual experiences only in church, but in the workplace, in the factories, wherever. Every area will experience a spiritual revival.

You may have wondered why I made foundations in so many diverse areas of life during these last 15 years -- in fishing, in media, in business. That's because in the future there will be no such separate category as religion. Our places of worship will be the restaurants, the factories, the docks and wharves, the schools. Work itself will be a prayer. We won't have to close our eyes to pray; we will work and pray! That's what happening now.

Father ends the conference at the last moment before he has to leave for Korea.

Father ends the conference at the last moment before he has to leave for Korea.

Don't Waste Time!

I'm almost 70 years old. Any person that age should go back to his native land. Saints have always been buried in their native land. Naturally you want to go to your homeland, too. So if you belong to True Parents' lineage, you have to know their language. You have to learn to speak Korean by 1990 -- that's only two years from now. Don't waste time! I know how fast time goes. Once a time period is lost, you can never get it back. You can't live your lifetime again.

If you don't understand the language, you will be defeated. It's really a practical matter. But don't think about learning Korean in a university. That is the slow way. To learn it fluently, the best thing is to get a job in Korea doing menial labor. Then in three years you will understand everything. When you know how to talk their way, the people will help you. Can you do it?

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Our Standard of Devotion

Our Duty, Our Mission
10/5/80, Belvedere

God gives us all a mission and duty, and you have been given the mandate to do home church. In the home church dispensation, will you be praised or scolded? Is your own home ready 24 hours a day to welcome people, or do people find the door closed to them when they want to visit you? Do your home church families expect you to visit them 100 times a day, or only once? Actually, they should want you to visit them as much as possible, not just once or twice a day. Wouldn't each house want you to be the most frequent visitor?

Today is such a beautiful day, and it is the weekend. I'm sure everyone would like to go on a picnic. But if your children say to you, "You should go to home church!" that is wonderful. Suppose you come home all worn out from working and collapse on your bed, and Dr. Durst comes by late at night to meet you. Should he say, "Everyone, please go to sleep because you are all tired"? Or should he ask, "What about your home church?" Even if he is exhausted himself and dozing off, his last words should be about home church, asking you for your home church report.

Perhaps you run into a friend you haven't seen for a long time and he wants to take you to a Chinese restaurant. You should think, "What about my home church?" If you plan to go to your home church area right after you eat, then the food will like you, but if you don't, then it won't like you!

If you use the toilet in a fancy hotel bathroom, it will know that you should be using a bathroom in your home church area instead. Even if that bathroom is smellier and dirtier than the fancy hotel bathroom, it is where you belong. If your home church bathroom is far away, then you have to apologize to the fancy bathroom, explaining why you need to use it. The smelly home church bathroom knows that more blessing will come to you through it.

A puppy in your home church area will bark at you when you come. Though the dog cannot talk, if he could he would say, "This is my way of welcoming you." If you have a loving heart, the dog will stop barking and start licking you. Once he comes to love you, he will welcome you with a different bark the next time you come. Even the mice and birds in your area will recognize you when your heart communicates with them.

If you and your fiance have a long-standing date to visit the Statue of Liberty, and while you are there you buy a can of Coke to share, the Coke will say, "You think you are enjoying this, but wouldn't it be better for you to be drinking water in your home church area?" Wherever you go, things will ask you why you came there, instead of going to your home church area.

The bench in the park will blame you for sitting on it and not being in your home church area. If you stop at a restaurant for a quick lunch, the food will protest that it should not be eaten by you. Even though you may eat only leftovers in your home church area, it will be healthier for you. When you go to sleep in your bed, tell it, "I know I should be sleeping in my home church area, but please forgive me this one time. When I wake up I will do twice as much tomorrow." Spiritually, everything talks.

If you go out to enjoy nature, all creation will feel that you are not a good person if you are not in your home church area. It is like when people see a ten-year-old child running around playing when they know he should be in school. In the same way, nature knows spiritually that you should be doing home church.

Before now, you felt you could freely drink water or go to the bathroom or drink Coke whenever or wherever you wanted. But after hearing me this morning, you will feel the creation protest against you everywhere you go. It is a good thing if it makes you feel more connected to home church, because everything will remind you of your mission.

After 15 years in America there is nothing I have not taught you

Sun Myung Moon
April 4, 1988
Evening Talk
East Garden
Translator: Sang Kil Han

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The day before Father left America for Korea, Father met with third-year UTS graduates and other leaders at East Garden. He began speaking at 8:30 pm on April 4 and spoke until 2:30 am. He asked that everyone remain at East Garden and pray in repentance, and then he began speaking again in the morning and continued his talk right up to the point where he had to leave for the airport.

Who among educated Americans would have imagined that an Oriental could come to America, teach all of you young men and women, and make you into what you are today? After 15 years here, there is nothing I have not taught you. You know everything I know. There are 518 UTS graduates. If you had all completely dedicated yourselves to unite together, so much work could have been done by now.

I always warned you that America was declining and going to perish. Now do you see that? Why is all this happening -- the immorality, the drugs, the selfishness? It is because people do not know the value of a human life. When I spoke out and said, "I will be the one to save the entire population of the world," who believed me? No one understood me in this country. Even you reborn, recreated Americans don't understand your own value. You are concerned only with your spouse and children and have reduced your lives down to nothing. If I had concerned myself just with loving my wife, do you think I could do what I am I doing now? I went beyond that, so why can't you? There are people outside our church who respect me more than you do, who understand more fully what I can do for this country.

An Agonizing Decision

Every single year, out of so many candidates, I selected each of you to attend UTS. After you went through three years of study, I expected you to have a certain standard. But the way you are today is certainly not the standard I hoped to see in you. I had to make an agonizing decision -- whether to send you to school or to send you out to the streets. It was a great sacrifice to let you spend three precious years in school at such a critical time, when the persecution of our church was so great. In those three years you could have gone out and preached and witnessed to many people, and the deterioration of America would have been halted to a much greater degree. In a sense, tens of thousands of people were simply sacrificed because you were not available to witness to them. So now, after three years of education, have you resolved to do everything possible to pay back what was given to you and sacrifice yourselves for the sake of this country? Or are you thinking, "Now that I have had three more years of education, I can get a better salary"? Is the outcome of these precious three years that you are doing just a few meager things? Appeal to your own conscience. This a very serious point to think about.

Why do you think I sacrificed the most qualified members and sent them to Barrytown in 1975, just before we had to do the critical Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument campaigns? Mainly because I knew you needed to be trained to be able to educate American young people. America needs to be saved by Americans. I wanted you to hold on to the true standard and be the locomotives in all 50 states. If you had fulfilled that, America would have kept its advantage; America would not be where it is today.

Have you ever become so desperate that you ran out to the street with tears to save America? Look at yourselves -- you handful of Unification Church members. Can you save America when it seems even the American government cannot? Which country do you think should be saved first -- America or China? Which country do you think will perish faster? Isn't it America? So how can we justify trying to save America? You must realize that I put all my golden years into this country. I have been pragmatically and realistically fighting a war, not daydreaming. But should I continue to wrestle with an unwilling America to no end?

Brothers and sisters praying in repentance.

Brothers and sisters praying in repentance.

Why Do You Think I Was So Serious?

Do you think I will always stay here in America? You must have known that I would devise a plan to cope with America's problems when I could not be here. That's why I created Barrytown. After I opened the school, for three years I went there almost every day to pray and speak. But now I never go to Barrytown, because long ago I saw that even after three years of education, class after class, not a soul came up to my expectations or standard.

All these years, did you regard the Japanese leaders as highly as your own American leaders? You wanted to do everything all by yourselves, didn't you? Didn't you wonder, "Why do we need these people who don't make any sense?" Yet don't you think they had to go through great difficulties just living together with you? If all the Korean and Japanese leaders and members were to leave America, what would you do?

When I came to America, did I just take it easy or did I pour my whole being and everything I had into this country? Was I as small-minded as you, or did I come having in mind the restoration of the whole country, the whole of heaven and earth? Why do you think I was so serious about nurturing you to become public people? When I see each of you behaving like a private person, even below the standard of a private person, can you imagine how I feel? Don't you think I've had an urge to kick everybody out, to chase everybody away?

I tried to forgive and forget every day. Every time I crossed over one hill, another hill was waiting. Whenever you experienced difficulty you came to me and complained, "This is so difficult!" But has any one of you stopped to think what my difficulty was? I had to deal with all the problems in America, but I never received any sympathy from you. In a public situation, I never scolded anyone to this extent or complained about you, but now for the first time I am publicly complaining about the situation of the American members.

Achieving the Elder Sonship

Do you think that if I spent another 15 years here I could achieve something through you in America? There is a Cain/Abel relationship between the West and the Orient. Korea is my own country. I left that Abel country and chose to come to this country and suffer, pouring everything I had into America. I sacrificed Abel to serve Cain in order to restore the elder sonship. I achieved this through Danbury.

When the elder sonship is achieved, where does the son go? Back to the Garden of Eden, back to the homeland. That is the Principle viewpoint. That is why I went back to Korea and prepared an association to make a foundation for the unity of North and South Korea. Now, shouldn't the country in the archangel's position go to Abel's country and help restore it?

I fought that fierce battle all by myself in America to achieve the elder sonship. But I didn't just leave America after doing so; I had to bring everything together meticulously and set the right course. I sent videos to 300,000 ministers and invited 7,000 ministers to Korea. I educated people in all different fields and connected them to each other.

The Washington Post fears that Rev. Moon is getting stronger, but it is not Rev. Moon who is getting stronger -- America is getting stronger. Can't you see that? But America's religious communities have to become even stronger, and the Unification Church members have to become stronger. But are the American members so strong? This is a very serious question. America's future is at stake.

Who has the spirit to save this country? Do you? How can you expect me to believe that? There isn't proof enough. You've got to present some proof that you can save America. You must have some grounds to be able to say to me, "Yes, Father, we can save America." How do you propose to do it? You say you will follow my pattern, but do you really understand my pattern? Only in words, maybe, but words cannot attain my pattern. This pattern is like a mathematical formula. It is of heaven, but heaven is not your level.

You educated people, you should be the decision makers. Should I continue to put so much money, time, and energy into America? If you were to be given a choice to either stay here in this dying country or go and get fresh hope in China and through your effort there save the world, which would you choose?

Should I Implant Your Tradition?

If God leaves a spot, I am the kind of person who will just follow God without regret. I won't even look back. This is not an idle time. This is a serious situation. Should we save America or save the world? Which is about to perish now? America, yes, but the world is perishing too, and America is very much responsible for that. America has long ago given up on the world; Americans are only living and working for themselves. Shouldn't I just forsake America and move quickly toward the world level?

How about you? What are you going to do? What would happen if I brought you with me to Asia? Can I implant your tradition in Asia and hope that Asia will benefit? Do you have the confidence that you can speak to the people and influence the Orient in a better way? I know you. If something bothers you, you always complain; you cannot retain it within yourself. But in Oriental culture, if something is bothering a person, he keeps it to himself. You will not be able to persuade anybody merely by what you say, but by your deeds. Do you have confidence that the people of the Orient can learn something from you? Why should the Koreans follow you? Compare yourselves with the Korean culture. Which people listen to God more, accept God more, respect God more?

I am not saying these things to please anyone. This is my frank opinion. The way I am going and the way American members think they can go are two different directions. If we are bound to separate, we might as well separate now. The ones who complain the most, I feel, are the Americans. Complaint goes directly against any religious way of thinking.

I am fighting with my life at stake. This is serious. Because you didn't fulfill your portion of responsibility, Heung Jin died, and I had to go to Danbury. I knew that if we didn't fulfill our responsibility, this would happen. During all these years do you think I have been able to sleep peacefully at night? I have worked as if I were waiting for the day of my execution.

Whenever I suggested that you do something, you criticized me and blamed me, saying, "Father, what more can I possibly do? To do more than I am doing now is not my way. It's the Oriental way, perhaps, or your way, but not my way." I was never treated in such a manner by my own family. But when I heard that, I didn't counter it; I still had so many things to accomplish here. I came here to save you, to do everything for you, yet I was treated in this country as if I were lower than the lowest person. So I chose to swallow any harsh words and just waited and persevered. But now I am opening my mouth and telling you these things straight. I have heaven's dignity to keep.

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I Have Been Taking the Blame

I regret that the Japanese members here have had to work so hard. How much persecution they received, and how much they suffered! Many even lost their lives in this country. You owe them so much. You should be so ashamed that you can't lift up your faces. I have been taking the blame for you; that's the only way you have been able to go forward. If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't be able to do anything, you would feel so ashamed. Do you understand?

From 1984 and even before that, I instructed all members to fulfill 1-1-1, but did anybody do that? Without undoing the situation faced by Jesus, you are going into blessed marriage. Do you think that Blessing can hold? Restoration through indemnity -- are these just empty words?

You should all work nine times harder than I worked here for these 15 years; then America might have some hope. Until the end of 1988 I will continue to take responsibility for America, but I am going to say good-bye for now. While I am out of this country, you American members must work super hard, especially Barrytown graduates. Take initiative. Each one of you must redetermine yourselves at this moment.

If you pledge to me that you will take responsibility from now, then I will pay attention to you during the rest of 1988, but if you yourselves have no hope or confidence, there is no need for me to even continue to make any more effort here the rest of this year. You had better hurry up and fulfill your responsibility now or nobody else will.

I am still pioneering my own path; so you must also. You should each understand what you must do. When I go to Korea, I have to find and bring forth the good people in Korea; then Korea will become stabilized.

The Final Liberation

The East is where we must go. Even Newsweek magazine just announced that the Pacific Era is coming. God is trying to raise up Korea now, because of His dispensation in that country, while America is trying to undermine that by the influence of the secular humanists, who are being manipulated by the communists. Korea is America's last and strongest ally. Korea has always supported America no matter what. Americans should help the noble effort to bring South and North Korea together and do away with communism. If they do not help, how can they avoid suffering?

The North Koreans have a great need; the people are starving. One day you may be in charge of distributing food to the needy people of North Korea. America has a lot of surplus that is just dumped into the ocean. You need to organize a way to distribute it. America is going in the wrong direction and doing the wrong things; so the only way to offset that is if we do the right things now. Then heaven cannot write off America; Satan cannot accuse America.

There are nearly 10 million people living in North Korea. They have all heard of Rev. Moon and, living under such a repressive dictatorship, they would dearly welcome me there. The people living in the Soviet Union would love to have me come there too. But the people of the free world don't care about me.

Why? They live too well. Think about it -- who would God want to help the most -- America or the communist world?

When the people under Kim II Sung's regime, the last foothold of the satanic world, are saved, at that point Satan must let go. Satan will be liberated. That's the end of all liberation, do you understand? That day is coming to us.

Your Second Front Line

From now, you must take action. Now is the time to restore the right of the true elder brother. To do this you must go to your hometown. Make yourself a friend of the second generation. Witness to all of your relatives in your hometown, especially your own parents. Korea will be the first front line, and your hometown will be the second.

First, make the churches in your hometown more beautiful places. Next, improve the schools. Third, go to the homes of your relatives and educate everyone. Revive your family, revive your tribe -- that's the way to revive America. At the same time reach out to the families of other ministers; in this way you can unite your Abel and Cain home church. Combined into one, this will establish the parents' foundation. That is the Principle.

In your native place, plant a tree there as a tree of life. Heaven will cherish that tree for thousands of years. If you have fostered that tree well, I might come and visit you. When I come, you could throw the biggest feast that town has ever experienced. Imagine how precious it would be if I visited your town and your tree! I know the members in Brazil are trying very hard and praying so that I can come and visit them and live with them. Do you really know that I am that kind of Father, that I have that kind of value?

How difficult it was for the early Korean members to persevere for 40 years and keep on believing! During that time the Korean members worked hard, getting only three hours of sleep and eating only one meal a day. You here in America cannot imagine their suffering, no matter how clearly I try to explain it to you. You are lazy and eat too much, and yet it is they who are praying for you all the time.

How often I prayed at night for you! I educated you so you could save the people! But you never understood God's miserable situation. Whenever I hear about a member getting killed in an accident, I can never get it out of my mind. Many people think, "Oh, that Rev. Moon -- he must be a happy guy. He's got money, power, everything. He's got a pretty easy life." But that is Satan's lie. Is my way easy? Can you understand what kind of a life I lead, trying desperately to liberate you? Do you really know me? Do you really know how hard it is to cleanse the historical sin of mankind? You don't know how hard my way has been. You only know your own small way.

A Heart of Desperate Longing

When I leave for Korea will you miss me? Actually, you should miss me as much as if nothing else remained on the earth. Unless you can feel that degree of longing, you will never understand how difficult it was for me to search for God when there was only barrenness and loneliness all around. I looked for God's heart desperately in an empty world, and I finally managed to find Him. You can tell how far from the true standard your spirit is if you don't miss me that much. So do you feel fortunate to have met me? How much would you pay to have me stay here with you? Even if all the American members got together and begged me to come back, unless it was the proper occasion, do you think I would just come? If you think I am just an ordinary person, you are wrong.

Did all of you come here on time today? If you really wanted to see me, you would be ready to come here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in case you were called. If you had that attitude, you would never have arrived late.

American people do not really know how to serve others. They don't know how to live for the sake of their elders, sacrificing for them, doing everything to make them comfortable, trying to understand their heart. We call this attitude moshinda. That means to cherish your parents and serve them in a vertical way, not a horizontal way. You have no word or concept for that in English. That is why you must learn Korean, or else you will never truly understand the deep meaning of what I am saying. Now your spiritual eyes are very much closed and you cannot see things very well. Only the power of love towards heaven can lift the blanket of satanic love off your eyes. Unless we experience God's heart, love cannot take bud in our mind.

Naturally women, because of their nature, can reach this level of heart much faster than a man. The reason why is that through Eve's fall, Eve lost God's love and her husband's love and her elder brother's love -- three loves. Through me, a woman can restore everything she lost. She can feel that I am her father, her elder brother, her husband. A woman may be very close to her own father, she may have an exceptionally good brother, and she may love her husband very much, but when I appear, her original mind is immediately drawn in that direction. This is the Principle, not my idea. But you can't have that experience of love if you're hiding anything. No matter how much you may research about true love, no one will ever find out what it really is or how it happens except through the way I am explaining it.

I have tried very hard to take all these ugly brothers and make them into worthy husbands. The best way is to allow them to go through suffering. If your hearts don't come close to each other through suffering, then there is no way you can feel close to me. If you reject the suffering way, more and more distance will come between me and you. So you must be glad for the opportunity to suffer. When I scold you, be happy, for at that moment I am paying indemnity for you, taking that amount of burden from you.

Preparing for Eternity

We are a group of people preparing for eternity. Without joining in true love with each other, we cannot exist. We must all join in true love, and True Parents must be the center of that love. You should feel, "These are my brothers and sisters, and what I am doing is a labor of love. We will all be together for thousands of years. I will go this way for eternity; there is no other way for me." If you don't feel this way, train yourself right away to feel it. That's true love. And if you hate someone, you'd better quickly come to like him, because there can be no enemies in heaven. This is not a theory; we have to do this.

What Satan has been saying to God is, "You and Adam must love me before heaven can be opened -- that is the Principle. For even though I fell and became what I am, Your original plan was to love me, and that cannot be changed."

Jesus had to do what Adam did not do -- love Satan; that's why he forgave the Roman soldiers. The only way to get into heaven is to love the archangel.

Until this age, the gates of heaven were shut. To open them I had to complete my portion of responsibility to love Satan (Cain) on an individual, family, tribal, national, and world level by making indemnity conditions. In establishing the foundation of faith on the world level, the central figure was myself, the offering was the Unification Church members, and the time period was 40 years. During this period the members suffered greatly, offering themselves for the sake of the world, and many even lost their lives. So as an offering, can you open your mouths and complain?

To get to heaven, you can't go alone. You have to go as a blessed couple, and you have to be able to know how to love. I precisely researched the righteous, narrow way to get into heaven. One mistake along the way and Satan is waiting to cut your neck. I knew that if I myself made one mistake, all the membership would crumble. That's now serious I have been.

This was a serious talk tonight, with lots of practical guidance. From now you must take the responsibility into your own hands. You have to suffer for the sake of this country much more seriously now than ever. You should work so much that you never take off your shoes and sleep only because you can't survive otherwise. From early morning, go out and reach the people. Yearn for people and really miss them in your heart.

Farewell Speech

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
April 4 - 5, 1988 East Garden
Translator: Col. Sang Kil Han

Who in the world among educated Americans could have imagined that an Oriental would come to America, teach all of you young men and women, and make you into what you are today? After 15 years here, there is nothing I have not taught you. There are 518 UTS graduates. If you had all completely dedicated yourselves to unite together, so much work could have been done by now.

I always warned you that America was declining and going to perish. Now do you see that? Why is all this happening -- the immorality, the drugs, the selfishness? It is because people do not know the value of a human life. When I spoke out and said, "I will be the one to save the entire population of the world," who believed me? No one understood me in this country. Even you reborn, recreated Americans don't understand your own value. You are concerned only with your wife and children and have reduced your lives down to nothing. If I had concerned myself just with loving my wife, do you think I could do what I am doing now? I went beyond that, so why can't you? There are people outside our church who respect me more than you do, who understand more fully what I can do for this country.

Every single year, out of so many candidates, I personally selected each of you to attend UTS. After you went through three years of study, I expected you to have a certain standard. But the way you are today is certainly not the standard I hoped to see in you. I had to make an agonizing decision -- whether to send you to school or to send you out to the streets. It was a great sacrifice to let you spend three precious years in school at such a critical time, when the persecution of our church was so great. In those three years you could have gone out and preached and witnessed to many people, and the deterioration of America would have been halted to a much greater degree.

In a sense, tens of thousands of people were simply sacrificed because you were not available to witness to them. So now, after three years of education, have you resolved to do everything possible to pay back what was given to you and sacrifice yourselves for the sake of this country? Or are you thinking, "Now that I have had three more years of education, I can get a better salary"? Is the outcome of these precious three years that you just concentrate on your family and do a few meager things? Appeal to your own conscience. This a very serious point to think about.

Why do you think I sacrificed the most qualified members and sent them to Barrytown in 1975, just before we had to do the critical Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument campaigns? Mainly because I knew you needed to be trained to be able to re-educate American young people. America needs to be saved by Americans. I wanted you to hold on to the true standard and be the locomotives in all 50 states. If you had fulfilled that, America would have kept its advantage; America would not be where it is today.

Have you ever become so desperate that you ran out to the street with tears to save America? Look at yourselves -- you handful of Unification Church members. Can you save America when it seems even the American government cannot? Which country do you think should be saved first -- America or China? Which country do you think will perish faster? Isn't it America? So how can we justify trying to save America? You must realize that I put all my golden years into this country. I have been pragmatically and realistically fighting a war, not daydreaming. But should I continue to wrestle with an unwilling America to no end?

Do you think I will always stay here in America? You must have known that I would devise a plan to cope with America's problems when I could not be here. That's why I created Barrytown. After I opened the school, for three years I went there almost every day to pray and speak. But now I never go to Barrytown, because long ago I saw that even after three years of education, class after class, not a soul came up to my expectations or standard.

All these years, did you regard the Japanese leaders as highly as your own American leaders? You wanted to do everything all by yourselves, didn't you? Didn't you wonder, "Why do we need these people who don't make any sense?" Yet don't you think they had to go through great difficulties just living together with you? If all the Korean and Japanese leaders and members were to leave America, what would you do?

When I came to America, did I just take it easy or did I pour my whole being and everything I had into this country? Was I as small-minded as you, or did I come having in mind the restoration of the whole country, the whole of heaven and earth? Why do you think I was so serious about nurturing you to become public people? When I see each of you behaving like a private person, even below the standard of a private person, can you imagine how I feel? Don't you think I've had an urge to kick everybody out, to chase everybody away?

I tried to forgive and forget every day. Every time I crossed over one hill, another hill was waiting. Whenever you experienced difficulty you came to me and complained, "This is so difficult!" But has any one of you stopped to think what my difficulty was? I had to deal with all the problems in America, but I never received any sympathy from you.

In a public situation, I never scolded anyone to this extent or complained about you, but now for the first time I am publicly complaining about the situation of the American members.

Do you think that if I spent another 15 years here I could achieve something through you in America? There is a Cain/Abel relationship between the West and the Orient. Korea is my own country. I left that Abel country and chose to come to this Cain country and suffer, pouring everything I had into America. I sacrificed Abel to serve Cain in order to restore the elder sonship. I achieved this through Danbury.

When the elder sonship is achieved, where does the son go? Back to the Garden of Eden, back to the homeland. That is the Principle viewpoint. That is why I went back to Korea and prepared an association to make a foundation for the unity of North and South Korea. Now, shouldn't the country in the archangel's position go to Abel's country and help restore it?

I fought that fierce battle all by myself in America to achieve the elder sonship. But I didn't just leave America after doing so; I had to bring everything together meticulously and set the right course. I sent videos to 300,000 ministers, and I invited 7,000 ministers to Korea. I educated people in all different fields and connected them to each other.

The Washington Post fears that Rev. Moon is getting stronger, but it is not Rev. Moon who is getting stronger -- America is getting stronger. Can't you see that? But America's religious communities have to become even stronger, and the Unification Church members have to become stronger. But are the American members so strong? This is a very serious question. America's future is at stake.

Who has the spirit to save this country? Do you? How can you expect me to believe that? There isn't proof enough. You've got to present some proof that you can save America. You must have some grounds to be able to say to me, "Yes, Father, we can save America." How do you propose to do it? You say you will follow my pattern, but do you really understand my pattern? Only in words, maybe, but words cannot attain my pattern. This pattern is like a mathematical formula. It is of heaven, but heaven is not your level.

You educated people, you should be the decision makers. Should I continue to put so much money, time, and energy into America? If you were to be given a choice to either stay here in this dying country or go and get fresh hope in China and through your effort there save the world, which would you choose?

If God leaves a spot, I am the kind of person who will just follow God without regret. I won't even look back. This is not an idle time. This is a serious situation. Should we save America or save the world? Which is about to perish now? America, yes, but the world is perishing too, and America is very much responsible for that. America has long ago given up on the world; Americans are only living and working for themselves. Shouldn't I just forsake America and move quickly toward the world level?

What are you going to do? What would happen if I brought you with me to Asia? Can I implant your tradition in Asia and hope that Asia will benefit? Do you have the confidence that you can speak to the people and influence the Orient in a better way? I know you. If something bothers you, you always complain; you cannot retain it within yourself. But in Oriental culture, if something is bothering a person, he keeps it to himself. You will not be able to persuade anybody merely by what you say, but by your deeds. Do you have confidence that the people of the Orient can learn something from you? Why should the Koreans follow you? Compare yourselves with the Korean culture. Which people listen to God more, accept God more, respect God more?

I am not saying these things to please anyone. This is my frank opinion. The way I am going and the way American members think they can go are two different directions. If we are bound to separate, we might as well separate now. The ones who complain the most, I feel, are the Americans. Complaint goes directly against any religious way of thinking.

I am fighting with my life at stake. This is serious. Because you didn't fulfill your portion of responsibility, Heung Jin died, and I had to go to Danbury. I knew that if we didn't fulfill our responsibility, this would happen. During all these years do you think I have been able to sleep peacefully at night? I have worked as if I were waiting for the day of my execution.

Whenever I suggested that you do something, you criticized me and blamed me, saying, "Father, what more can I possibly do? To do more than I am doing now is not my way. It's the Oriental way, perhaps, or your way, but not my way." I was never treated in such a manner by my own family. But when I heard that, I didn't counter it; I still had so many things to accomplish here. I came here to save you, to do everything for you, yet I was treated in this country as if I were lower than the lowest person. So I chose to swallow any harsh words and just waited and persevered. But now I am opening my mouth and telling you these things straight. I have heaven's dignity to keep.

I regret that the Japanese members here have had to work so hard. How much persecution they received, and how much they suffered! Many even lost their lives in this country. You owe them so much. You should be so ashamed that you can't lift up your faces. I have been taking the blame for you; that's the only way you have been able to go forward. If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't be able to do anything, you would feel so ashamed. Do you understand?

From 1984 and even before that, I instructed all members to fulfill 1-1-1, but did anybody do that? Without undoing the situation faced by Jesus, you are going into blessed marriage. Do you think that Blessing can hold? Restoration through indemnity -- are these just empty words?

You should all work nine times harder than I worked here for these 15 years, then America might have some hope. Until the end of 1988 I will continue to take responsibility for America, but I am going to say good-bye for now. While I am out of this country, you American members must work super hard, especially Barrytown graduates. Take initiative. Each one of you must redetermine yourselves at this moment.

If you pledge to me that you will take responsibility from now, then I will pay attention to you during the rest of 1988, but if you yourselves have no hope or confidence, there is no need for me to even continue to make any more effort here even the rest of this year. You had better hurry up and fulfill your responsibility now or nobody else will.

I am still pioneering my own path; so you must also. You should each understand what you must do. When I go to Korea, I have to find and bring forth the good people in Korea, then Korea will become stabilized.

The East is where we must go. Even Newsweek magazine just announced that the Pacific Era is coming. God is trying to raise up Korea now, because of His dispensation in that country, while America is trying to undermine that by the influence of the secular humanists, who are being manipulated by the communists. Korea is America's last and strongest ally. Korea has always supported America no matter what. Americans should help the noble effort to bring South and North Korea together and do away with communism. If they do not help, how can they avoid suffering?

The North Koreans have a great need; the people are starving. One day you may be in charge of distributing food to the needy people of North Korea. America has a lot of surplus that is just dumped into the ocean. You need to organize a way to distribute it. America is going in the wrong direction and doing the wrong things; so the only way to offset that is if we do the right things now; then heaven cannot write off America, Satan cannot accuse America.

There are nearly 10 million people living in North Korea. They have all heard of Rev. Moon and, living under such a repressive dictatorship, they would dearly welcome me there. The people living in the Soviet Union would love to have me come there too. But the people of the free world don't care about me. Why? They live too well. Think about it -- who would God want to help the most -- America or the communist world?

When the people under Kim Il Sung's regime, the last foothold of the satanic world, are saved, at that point Satan must let go. Satan will be liberated. That's the end of all liberation, do you understand? That day is coming to us.

From now, you must take action. Now is the time to restore the right of the true elder brother. To do this you must go to your hometown. Make yourself a friend of the second generation. Witness to all of your relatives in your hometown, especially your own parents. Korea will be the first front line, and your hometown will be the second. Until this time, we worked in other places, but now we must go to our native place and work hard to build our temples.

First, make the churches in your hometown more beautiful places. Next, improve the schools. Third, go to the homes of your relatives and educate everyone. Save them all. Revive your family, revive your tribe -- that's the way to revive America. At the same time reach out to the families of other ministers; in this way you can unite your Abel and Cain home church. Combined into one, this will establish the parents' foundation. That is the Principle.

I will soon ask you all to go back to your hometowns. That's the fastest way for the Unification Church to grow. Any time you want to give someone a lecture, you can just put on a videotape. Let the lectures be broadcast on the radio and TV.

In your native place, plant a tree there as a tree of life. Heaven will cherish that tree for thousands of years. If you have fostered that tree well, I might come and visit you. When I come, you could throw the biggest feast that town has ever experienced. Imagine how precious it would be if I visited your town and your tree! I know the members in Brazil are trying very hard and praying so that I can come and visit them and live with them. Do you really know that I am that kind of Father, that I have that kind of value?

How difficult it was for the early Korean members to persevere for 40 years and keep on believing! During that time the Korean members worked so hard, getting only three hours of sleep and eating only one meal a day. You here in America cannot imagine their suffering, no matter how clearly I try to explain it to you. You are lazy and eat too much, and yet it is they who are praying for you all the time.

How often I prayed at night for you! I educated you so you could save the people! But you never understood God's miserable situation. Whenever I hear about a member getting killed in an accident, I can never get it out of my mind. Many people think, "Oh, that Rev. Moon -- he must be a happy guy. He's got money, power, everything. He's got a pretty easy life." But that is Satan's lie. Is my way easy? Can you understand what kind of a life I lead, trying desperately to liberate you? Do you really know me? Do you really know how hard it is to cleanse the historical sin of mankind? You don't know how hard my way has been. You only know your own small way.

When I leave for Korea will you miss me? Actually, you should miss me as if nothing else remained on the earth. Unless you can feel that degree of longing, you will never understand how difficult it was for me to search for God when there was only barrenness and loneliness all around. I looked for God's heart desperately in an empty world, and I finally managed to find Him. You can tell how far from the true standard your spirit is if you don't miss me that much. So do you feel fortunate to have met me? How much would you pay to have me stay here with you? Even if all the American members got together and begged me to come back, unless it was the proper occasion, do you think I would just come?

If you think I am just an ordinary person, you are wrong. Did all of you come here on time today? If you really wanted to see me, you would be ready to come here 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in case you were called. If you had that attitude, you would never have arrived late.

American people do not really know how to serve others. They don't know how to live for the sake of their elders, sacrificing for them, doing everything to make them comfortable, trying to understand their heart. We call this attitude moshinda. That means to cherish your parents and serve them in a vertical way, not a horizontal way. You have no word or concept for that in English. That is why you must learn Korean, or else you will never truly understand the deep meaning of what I am saying.

Now your spiritual eyes are very much closed and you cannot see things very well. Only the power of love towards heaven can lift the blanket of satanic love off your eyes. Unless we experience God's heart, love cannot take bud in our mind.

Women can reach this level of heart much faster than a man. Women cry and miss me very much. The reason why is that through Eve's fall, Eve lost God's love and her husband's love and her elder brother's love -- three loves. Through me, a woman can restore everything she lost. She will feel that I am her father, her elder brother, and her husband. A woman may be very close to her own father, she may have an exceptionally good brother, and she may love her husband very much, but when I appear, her original mind is immediately drawn in that one direction. This is the Principle, not my idea.

But you can't have that experience of love if you're hiding anything. No matter how much you may research about true love, no one will ever find out what it really is or how it happens except through the way I am explaining it.

I have tried very hard to take all these ugly brothers and make them into worthy husbands. The best way is to allow them to go through suffering. If your hearts don't come close to each other through suffering, then there is no way you can feel close to me. If you reject the suffering way, more and more distance will come between me and you. So you must be glad for the opportunity to suffer. When I scold you, be happy, for at that moment I am paying indemnity for you, taking that amount of burden from you.

We are a group of people -- a family -- preparing for eternity. So our minds must come into unison. Without joining in true love with each other, we cannot exist. We must all join in true love, and True Parents must be the center of that love. You should feel, "These are my brothers and sisters, and what I am doing is a labor of love. We will all be together for thousands of years. I will go this way for eternity; there is no other way for me." If you don't feel this way, train yourself right away to feel it. That's true love. And if you hate someone, you'd better quickly come to like him, because there can be no enemies in heaven. This is not a theory; we have to do this.

What Satan has been saying to God is, "You and Adam must love me before heaven can be opened -- that is the Principle. For even though I fell and became what I am, Your original plan was to love me, and that cannot be changed." Jesus had to do what Adam did not do -- love Satan; that's why he forgave the Roman soldiers. The only way to get into heaven is to love the archangel.

Until this age, the gates of heaven were shut. To open them I had to complete my portion of responsibility to love Satan (Cain) on an individual, family, tribal, national, and world level by making indemnity conditions. In establishing the foundation of faith on the world level, the central figure was myself, the offering was the Unification Church members, and the time period was 40 years. During this period the members suffered greatly, offering themselves for the sake of the world, and many even lost their lives. So as an offering, can you open your mouths and complain?

To get to heaven, you can't go alone. You have to go as a blessed couple, and you have to be able to know how to love. I precisely researched the righteous, narrow way to get into heaven. One mistake along the way and Satan is waiting to cut your neck. I knew that if I myself made one mistake, all the membership would crumble. That's now serious I have been.

This was a serious talk tonight, with lots of practical guidance. From now you must take the responsibility into your own hands. You have to suffer for the sake of this country much more seriously now than ever. You should work so much that you never take off your shoes, and you should sleep only because you can't survive otherwise. From early morning, go out and reach the people. Yearn for people and really miss them in your heart.

Morning Talk

If North and South Korea are united, don't you think the whole world will come into unity also? When a condition of indemnity is fulfilled, Satan cannot claim dominion anymore. I have laid indemnity conditions all over the world for the purpose of uniting North and South Korea. When these conditions are truly fulfilled, then the homeland, in reality, can be restored. Then Satan cannot take it away from God any more.

I have told Hyo Jin and his brothers to take responsibility for this country in my place. No matter how old you are, you are the younger brothers and sisters to them. You must absolutely follow the True Parents' children now. Then you will come to stand on their level, the level of the elder son. If you can stand in that place, I will have faith in you.

Last night you prayed in repentance. So from now, you are in the elder brother's position for America, in the position to lead this country. Automatically the people will follow you. The spirit world is ready to help you, too, so be strong and have confidence. You must raise up the image that our church has in the eyes of the American people. If the Unification Church members come up to a higher and higher level, then every day Satan's world will go down lower and lower and lower, as if a big machine were pressing it down, making it flat!

Looking back, you can see there is not really very much that you did well so far. We will try to erase that shame by working hard in this coming year. In just one year, we will work so hard that we will offset all the things that we didn't do right in the past.

The reason why I fought so hard in this country, even going to Danbury, was because I had hope in you -- the state leaders and CARP leaders and UTS graduates. For you, I went to Danbury. You are the leadership; you are God's remaining hope. This is your time now. You are in charge instead of me. You are small Sun Myung Moons. Remember to be confident. I established the indemnity condition, so now you are in the position to love your own second generation. I have never been able to love my own relatives, but now I can do that. I can go to my hometown, to the first place where I opened my mouth to teach the Principle, and educate my own people.

If we become lax in our unity, Satan will attack, especially the three-year students. The graduates' most important duty now is to witness to the second generation, for those are the ones who will save this nation. So all three-year graduates from now should try to establish themselves as campus ministers. Stand up and be strong. You can do the same as Rev. Moon! You must want this for America even more than I do.

All members who work in businesses must witness. You are the omnipotent people -- you can do anything. Through the business world you can actually create heaven on earth. Everything should be integrated. Business people can witness to business people. Scholars can witness to scholars. Journalists can witness to journalists. Now you are beginning to understand that we all have the same objective. You must never think, "Oh, I don't like to work in a spiritual mission; I want to work in a business because I can keep certain hours and get certain pay." You must have no thought like that.

Witnessing is our basic way of life, and it is the way we should live now and in the future. We have to grow straight from our root. You should make up your mind and say, "This year, Father, I am planning to witness to this many people," and fulfill that goal. America is a strong melting pot, but people should not assimilate to America's standard; they should assimilate to God's standard.

Imagine, all of a sudden, a dazzling new world springing up. You can see that, can't you? A brand new world is coming out of nowhere, one so different than the one we saw in the past. After a long cosmic winter, the springtime is coming, and the new sprouts are starting to come out. That is us. Just wait until this sprout grows into a tree.

This summer we expect 2,500 Korean professors to visit America and go through a tour of our movement. When they go back to Korea, they will be working in responsible positions in the villages, towns, and counties for the unification of the North and South. This is the first time in history that professors have taken such responsibility on this level. They will love and guide the people of their native communities and teach them about Godism, the counterproposal to communism. Scholars are trained to get the essence of a concept very quickly, so these professors are very quick to grasp Unification Thought. Imagine if American professors could respond in this way. Would America live or die?

Now, after listening to me all night and this morning, do you feel the world is coming to the end or the beginning? Don't you feel a new world is in the making? Things are happening; they are all falling into place. The more progress is made, the more blessings will come back to God. So upon whom will He bestow those blessings? On you, on all of us. This means that God is entrusting you to take the responsibility for America -- not anybody else, but you, the Unification Church members. You will literally become the leaders of America. You and your families, with the blessed root, will set the tradition.

Beyond that point, we won't need a religious life. Our daily life will be our religious life. People won't have spiritual experiences only in church, but in the workplace, in the factories, at the police station, wherever. Every area will experience a spiritual revival.

You may have wondered why I made foundations in so many diverse areas of life during these last 15 years -- in the fishing industry, in media, in business. That's because in the future there will be no such separate category as religion. Our places of worship will be the restaurants, the factories, the docks and wharves, the schools. Work itself will be a prayer. We won't have to close our eyes to pray; we will work and pray! That's what happening now.

I'm almost 70 years old. Any person that age should go back to his native land. Saints have always been buried in their native land. Naturally you want to go to your homeland, too. So if you belong to True Parents' lineage, you have to know their language. You have to learn to speak Korean by 1990 -- that's only two years from now. Don't waste time! I know how fast time goes. Once a time period is lost, you can never get it back. You can't live your lifetime again.

If you don't understand the language you will defeated. It's really a practical matter. But don't think about learning Korean in a university. That is the slow way. To learn it fluently, you should get a job in Korea doing menial labor. Then in three years you will understand everything. When you know how to talk their way, they will help you.

Can you do it?

Early Spring Of Life

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
April 3, 1988
Belvedere
Translator - Sang Kil Han

Early Spring is the very beginning of spring. If our ancestors had not fallen, the moment they were born would have been the early spring of life. All they were supposed to do was to grow up and live their life centered on love. What is the seed from which Adam and Eve were born? It is God Himself. Man was created from the dual characteristics of God.

In the natural world, a seed sprouts and eventually grows into a tree or flower, and then it bears its own seeds. Seeds grow in every part of the world, east, west, north and south. On an apple tree, the fruit is redder on the side where the sun shines more. The fruit is paler where there is less sun. Likewise, the fruits and seeds from different directions and areas are slightly different, although the seed itself is of the same composition. The seed of human beings was God Himself. Like a tree, human society has grown branches. The trunk has become large, and its leaves have spread all the way around the world. That tree should be bearing the same kind of fruit and seeds it began with. A tree is a good textbook to show us how to live. It is a symbol of man's life as it follows natural cycles and returns to a aced.

A tree has hundreds and thousands of leaves. A leaf doesn't think much about anything except itself. The branches do the same. Meanwhile the root, which is hidden deep underground, is constantly sending nutrition up to them. Such is the situation of man. Man is usually very cognizant of the visible parts of his life, but hardly gives any thought at all to his hidden roots. God, like the root, is deep inside human society, which is growing above the ground.

Which part is more precious-that which is above ground, or that which is hidden underground? Why is the underground part more important? If you cut the top of a plant off, another plant can grow out of the same root. By the same token, which is more precious-man or the root of man? This is a simple but appropriate metaphor.

How do roots and branches grow? They grow according to law. Different plants and trees resemble the shape of their own seed-a tall alpine tree has a long seed, whereas the chestnut tree, like the chestnut itself, is round. The seeds contain the blueprint and the necessary ingredients for the tree to be deployed. Thus the tree assumes the same shape as its seed.

When the seed first sprouts, it has two parts. There are two directions, not one, because the seed has the two parts of plus and minus. God Himself is one being, but He has dual characteristics. So seeds and plants resemble God in this way.

Likewise, each human being has a mind and a body in dual relationship. Woman in the minus position and man in the plus position come together and give birth to more pluses and minuses. The same principle is true on every level of life.

When the sprout first starts coming out of the ground, it is nurtured from the food which is contained within the seed. By the time the nutrition contained in the sac of the seed is used up, both sides will have produced the necessary root. Suppose a seed lands on the soil upside down Even so, it still sprouts upward toward the sky and the root digs down into the soil. The plant must get its nutrition from above and below, from the root and from the air. Earth and heaven must have give and take.

The life of a plant is not as simple as it seems. In fact, it symbolizes the whole principle of the universe.

Why does the plant become bigger? It received nourishment, so it must give. Growing is a form of giving. Children want to grow up to be big. In growing, we become more aware of our surroundings; thus we can give more and receive more, too, enjoying give and take on many levels.

Imagine a huge tree which is really beautiful to behold. Although you can't see its roots, they will be deeply laid. The tip of its root is small and lies hundreds of feet below the surface. Can you see that the tiniest leaf on the top is connected to that root? It is so high in one direction and so deep in the other that the connection is hard to see. Yet, without a relationship with the root, the leaf will eventually die.

By the same token, if we human beings say, "I don't care about the roots; they are separate from me." Then we too will start to die. The man who is aware of his root lives and prospers, while the man who does not recognize his root will die.

The leaves are close to each other so they appreciate one another. But the unity among leaves and branches is not just for their own sake. When all the branches and leaves above the ground are unified and are growing larger, it is because there is a large, healthy root. When the roots become stronger, the rest of the tree becomes stronger. It reflects the ideal cycle of good, brisk give and take in all directions.

Consider the trees in the wintertime. What do they do? They are dormant and do not grow. In winter, a warm, nourishing environment is lacking, so the elements cannot have strong give and take. Trees simply have to wait until springtime to grow. That is like being bound up and unable to do anything. For humans it would mean just breathing and existing. Does anyone want to live like that? No one does, regardless of whether they are young or old, or whether they are from the past or the present.

When a farmer puts down fertilizer, does he put it on the branches or leaves, or on the ground? The fertilizer nourishes the leaves and branches, but we put it on the ground. Why do we have to give nourishment to the ground first? The underground roots must grow and expand in order for the rest, the visible part, to grow and be strong.

Traditionally, Western culture has appreciated and pursued the revealed, visible aspects of the world. On the other hand, the Eastern cultures have put more value on the hidden world beneath the surface. It is a striking contrast. Here in the Western world, people are very active; they go hunting and they sail over the oceans. They dissect things and do experiments with everything to learn about the world. By contrast, when Oriental people want to know something, they sit down and meditate about it!

We can compare the characteristics of Western and Eastern people with the parts of a tree. When a strong wind blows, the branches and leaves dance around in all different directions. But have you ever seen the roots dance? The roots hold the rest of the tree firm.

As long as the trunk, branches and leaves are healthy, they don't think deeply; but as soon as they get sick and fear for their life, they start wondering about the root. When Western civilization is sick and troubled, as it is now, people start looking to the East to try to find their way back to good health.

China and India are the two largest, most heavily populated nations in the Orient. How have these huge countries remained intact? Seeing the millions of Chinese and Indian people, we know that there must be an equal quantity of roots beneath them.

Fertilizer is put on the ground to feed the part of the tree which we can't see. The fertilizer for human beings is thought and prayer. These give nourishment to our root. We have to constantly give more and more nourishment to the underground root.

Which is more important to society: creating more inventions, developing greater technology, or digging down deeper and learning about our roots? Digging down and paying attention to the root, or to religion, is more important.

The religion tradition is the most precious part of human society. Especially precious is that religion which emphasizes the relationship between the deepest part of the root and the highest part of the branches. Without such a religious thought and teaching, the world would really be in danger. When give and take between the under- and above-ground parts is very active and strong, then so is the whole society and culture.

Look at the average American person. Is he trying to dig down to his roots, or is he focused on the visible, upper parts of life? Almost everybody is trying to reach higher and higher, gaining more and more in that direction, but they can't do that without a deep root. At its present rate, American society must perish. It will happen naturally, according to universal law, even though nobody wants to perish.

When a Western person gets kicked, he will immediately stand up and fight against the adversary. But when an Oriental gets kicked, he tries to protect himself. What do you predict-will Western society continue to prosper at the same rate it has in the past?

I recently visited Columbia University in New York City, and I observed an interesting phenomenon. Out of twelve professors, four of them were Korean and only two were American. The others were from several different countries. Why are so many Koreans here in the United States, particularly on college campuses? Korean people study religion and philosophy with great seriousness, seeking to dig down to the core truths. Now it is a widely-discussed social phenomenon that Orientals, especially Koreans, are occupying a large number of academic positions in the United States. Likewise, a high percentage of students in the Ivy League schools are Korean.

Imagine that you were a company executive looking for employees. There are some brash and talkative candidates and others who are more reserved. Which type would you choose to appoint to a responsible position? You American women answer me first! If you were the president of a company and you had to choose a department leader, would

you pick a talkative person or a more reticent one? Your mind knows that the more valuable person is the one who doesn't talk all the time. How does the mind know? The mind i8 connected to the original root, 80 it understands these things.

If a father is ready to pass on a central position in the family to one of his children, which would he be likely to choose? To whom would you give that central mission? Would you choose the son or daughter who laughs and talks a lot, constantly expressing his thoughts and feelings, or the one who is more quiet and calm? Certainly, the one who is more quiet would be more trustworthy. Roots do not move; they are silent and deep. The person who speaks a lot is bound to make more mistakes and to make more trouble, whereas a person who keeps things to himself can create harmony.

Can you think about God at the same time that you are laughing and merry-making? Yet, it i8 common to think about God when you are in a contemplative mood. Western Unification Church members, especially in America, rarely pray. When you do pray, it is almost never for one solid hour, and certainly not for ten hours straight. Now do you have a better idea why you have to pray?

Should we value the present time, or should we cherish the past more? Thinking about and evaluating the past means we cherish tradition. What is the most important part of tradition? Honor your parents, your brothers and sisters, and your good ancestors. That is the root. By studying history, people can learn many things and become wise. In that way, they will prosper.

Then who are Reverend Moon and the members of the Unification Church? We are the ones who want to dig deeply down to the roots of life. Before you joined this movement, you didn't have that attitude.

Today I have to meet a certain time deadline, so I cannot speak for a long time. I have spoken to you so much already, what more is there to say?

Your root must go down straight. Which do you think is more difficult-for the root to dig down straight, or for the tips of the leaves to reach upward? Yes, the roots have to work harder to dig down. For a person, a country, or a civilization to become great and extend itself, visualize how far down its roots must go. By looking at the history of civilization, we can conclude that our root is still moving down in a certain constant direction, even while mankind is undergoing such turbulence. Imagine how much God has worked and prepared everything underground.

Those families, clans and nations who declined and perished in history were those who scorned the invisible world of religion and even persecuted religious people.

In your opinion, is God sad or happy? We must understand that God's experience has been the most tragic of all. We can feel something of that tragedy when an individual dies, or a family breaks up, or a country falls to pieces and declines, but God has borne more sorrow than that by Himself. We feel outrage and sorrow at the deaths of millions of people under communist regimes, yet we must understand that God's suffering has been even greater than that.

There are many branches on a tree, but which should be the main branch? They cannot all be of equal size. The one which stands in the center is the tallest and the main branch. If only the easterly branches prosper, a tree will lean to the east. A slanted tree is not attractive to look at.

By the same token, look at the world in general and the drastic differences between Eastern and Western hemispheres, the disparity of wealth between the North and South. One is so poor and the other so rich. Who is going to balance that situation? The source of balance for the fallen world can only be found within the tradition of religion. It cannot be solved within the purely material realm. The roots of a tree have many different parts, just as the tradition of religion has many different denominations. Right now they are confronting and even opposing each other. Unless and until the roots of religion become one, the world cannot become one. Our Unification Church members must know that clearly.

My work has been focused on that point. First, I have sought to unify all the Christian denominations, and after that, all the peripheral or side religions. Someone must do this that someone is the Unification Church.

From this moment on, when you look at trees, you will think about these points. If you see a tree projecting out in only one direction, think: "Oh, that reminds me of our situation. We have to have a balance among all sides.. All you American members here represent the Western world and I am representing the Eastern world. Who is the root? Then what are you? You are the branches, leaves, trunks. Am I a straight root or a crooked one? How about you? Do you have a straight trunk? It is becoming straight and strong, isn't it? I have been teaching you continually how to grow straight.

By nature, black and white people have some different characteristics. You might say that white people have been underexposed to the sun. Have you ever seen an apple which is red on one side and pale on the other? When you take the first bite of such an apple, where do you want to sink your teeth? Certainly, in the red side. By the same token, black people have more of the roots-they are richer in emotion with more things to cherish inside themselves than white people. All there is to white people, in general, is what we see outside; there is not so much inside.

The sun represents light, original life, and therefore love. All creatures naturally follow the sun so they can be most alive. Sunshine is symbolic of love. Thus black people have absorbed more love and are more deeply emotional. White people for the most part are cold. Look at the frigid North Pole, where there is not much sun.

Western men and women are very individualistic and they tend to think about themselves first, not others. When you are in the shade perhaps you have to worry about yourself, but when the sun drives away the shade, everyone is warm.

What have I been doing here in America? I agitated white people; I have made you think more. Also I made you suffer more, something you never wanted to do. I discouraged you from merriment and pushed you to think deeper and suffer more. I have done that in order to change you.

Look at the trend toward labor in America: "Let's work only five hours a day, five days a week." What about the Japanese? They say, "Let's work ten hours a day." The Koreans are saying, "Let's work twenty hours!" American society is in an uproar over that standard. "They work too much," people say. Koreans are naturally gaining more wealth. In New York, people are expressing anger and resentment toward Koreans. The black community is complaining because Koreans are making money so fast. But it is happening naturally- the more diligently you work, the more material things will be drawn to you.

The solution is so simple. What both the white and the black people of America must do is to work harder than the Koreans. Then America will once again spring up in vitality. Otherwise, Koreans will be taking more and more positions of responsibility in American society. You might not like that, but you can't help it because it is natural. This is not just my thinking. The ones who work the hardest eventually take the positions of influence within any society.

I have been working very hard. I know that someday this society will have to follow my standard. It is natural law. No matter how much America goes against me, in the end Reverend Moon's standard will win out. Can you understand that?

From now on, each of you will yearn to look at a tree at least once a day, isn't that true? Let them teach you. Be educated by the trees.

We don't enjoy being reminded of the results of the fall and all the difficulties we have to go through because of that. Traditional Christianity has been thinking that God has everything; He can do anything; He knows everything. Therefore, He is the great, glorious, ideal God of joy. People have associated only happy things with God. But now Reverend Moon comes and teaches you something completely different: God is the saddest, the most miserable, suffering Person in the universe. At first you couldn't believe it, but little by little, you have grown to understand this truth.

Don't you think God is glad to find so many people who are finally understanding Him as He really is? When we begin to understand God, then He can start sharing His heart with us. Out of all the human beings, I am the one who knows most deeply how miserable God is. Then, was meeting Reverend Moon a good or a bad event in your life? You said good, and I believe and trust that. I believe that you like my words, but you don't like to follow what I say, do you? This is the dividing point. The one who loves my actions and tries to do as I do will go to the heavenly realm with God. Otherwise, you cannot go there.

Our topic today is the early spring of life. As we have said, each person starts out from a seed and then goes through many different circumstances and activities. We all have many relationships with the environment, and then we return to the beginning point, that of a seed. Like the tree, a person is supposed to grow in a balanced way between his plus and minus sides.

As a person grows older, he is exposed to many different people, many different leaves and branches. From that, you will get proper nutrition before you form a seed. When is the time for the flower to come out? It is in spring, correct? When is your springtime? It is when you get married. That is when you come to know about the opposite sex.

You sisters here-do you need a man? How much? You need him so much that you don't mind being occupied one hundred percent by him. American women do not like to be dominated. You think it is a horrible idea to give yourself up. You can't possibly do that! But something in your mind says, "You must do that.. Although you expect misery, you find your husband and you find love. Not only that, you also find yourself. Love has that kind of power. How wonderful love is. Most American people do not know this secret point. It is actually the businesslike way, the pragmatic path. In love, you do not lose you gain! Do you understand? When you invest yourself completely, you gain a total return on your investment.

Flowers have male and female parts. When the female and male parts of a flower come together, a seed is formed. Does the female part of a flower fly around and land on the male part, or is it the other way around? At that time, at that moment, the female part actually plays the role of plus because the male pollen flies in. The seed grows in the female part.

You all wanted to get married, didn't you? Do you want to stay as you are and find love, or do you want to give yourself up and be enveloped and controlled by love? On this foundation, one finds love and is uplifted gradually to heaven. Husband and wife are able to go together to heaven. Love follows this vertical line.

In your seed are all the things that you inherited from your ancestry. Both male and female are the total expressions of their ancestry. The essence of the two seeds is exactly the same; they are equal.

Look at the American family. Should a child deviate from the parents, or should he resemble them? What do we see now? Today's American family has so many problems. The sons and daughters are at variance with the parents. Children should ideally be the fruit born of the first love, not the second love. Is that clear?

The fallen world is going against the original way in every conceivable aspect. I came here and started teaching you American people how far from the ideal you were. In the beginning, no one liked it. But I want you to become engrafted into the true root, getting all your elements from God. Then you will naturally produce a seed which is much more Godly.

The fallen world's root, as we know, is different from the original root. That root is the problem. God doesn't want a deviated root, so He is working to reverse the root of the world. That work i8 what we call re-creation.

If we could draw a picture of the Unification Church, it would look like a tree with many strong roots. Now we are about to branch out. You came here from many different roots, but now you are grafting onto the central, true root. The simple purpose of religion is for fallen man to be grafted into God.

First, we need to be cut away from the old root. Where should we make that separation, at our foot or at our neck? The Bible promises that those who are willing to die for God will live; those who seek to live will die. Therefore we must be willing to cut ourselves off from old ties.

Would you prefer to cut yourself from the old root, or would you like someone else to help you? Can you do it yourself? You need someone else's help. Who is that someone else? It has to be someone who represents the ideal, an original person, not a fake. The invisible, hidden parent is God. The visible, tangible parents are our True Parents. That is why you want to be engrafted onto the True Parents. You want to be cut off from the fallen American root, inheritance and tradition-you want to sever every fallen connection.

How does this relate to our topic, the new spring of life? We will be cut off from the old root and be grafted onto a new root. Our new life will bud and flower. Once we are engrafted, how are we going to live? We will live as straight as the root which formed the tree. You must live consistently with the tradition of the True Parents. When you do that, every part of you will be fulfilling one hundred percent: your leaves, branches, roots, and your seed. When you fulfill this one hundred percent standard of perfect fruit, then you can return to God.

Until now, you have been enduring a long, bitter winter. You became rather adapted to the wintertime. But now spring has come, and everything starts growing with new vigor. When you break your leg, you have to wear a cast for many months, but eventually you have to get out of it. When you do, you are bound to experience certain aches and pains associated with healing.

We must go over all cultural and national barriers. You have to separate from your old heritage and be grafted into a new root. Then you will start to grow. That is when you meet the new spring.

Do you feel that what I have described is exactly the way you ought to go? Or do you think, "Well, that's generally right." It has to be precisely that way, not generally that way. So your central figure with whom you work is always an issue. You have to support him, go along with him. When you do, everything becomes harmonious.

Do you feel confident that you can live that way now? Which should you emphasize more the present, past, or the future? The past is the root; the future is our goal. They are more important than where we are today. We must go vertically to the apex, the summit. The vertical beam is the main pillar in a house.

When you know this general rule, you know what kind of husband or wife you are, what kind of child or parent you are. You know whether you are worthy of going to heaven or not. No one else has to tell you.

We and all of mankind are about to go in a new direction. New life and new growth will be sprouting everywhere. Therefore, Unification Church members will be very busy from now on. You are the ones who must not only go this way, but also lay the foundation for the rest of the world.

This is the way we must go at this time of history, the early spring of life. Those who say, "Yes, I will grow and reach the top," please raise your hands. God bless you. Let us pray.

The Will and I

Sun Myung Moon
April 1, 1988
Belvedere
Translator: Col. Sang Kil Han

True Parents offer the whole creation to God in prayer at the Main Pledge Service at East Garden on the Day of All Things, June 14, 1988

True Parents offer the whole creation to God in prayer at the Main Pledge Service at East Garden on the Day of All Things, June 14, 1988

The whole of humanity, as well as the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, has a certain mission to fulfill. Since God is the Creator, He must have a certain plan or pattern for what He wants to accomplish, according to His will. However, we often feel that we would like to do things only the way we want to do them, according to our own will. There is no difference between the races as far as this feeling goes. Oriental or Westerner, rich or poor, all have that same urge: I want to do as I like.

There are many different classes and levels of people among the five billion people of the world, from the lofty to the lowly. We all think we exist separately or independently from other people or groups; but we do not exist that way. Americans are ancestrally connected to Britain, Europe, and Africa. Beyond that, we are connected to all of history. We are not alone. We are not independent. Have you ever stopped to think that your eyes are not yours alone? Your father's eyes, your mother's eyes, your grandparents' eyes, and all your ancestors' eyes are in your eyes. They are a part of all history.

When we go out on the street in the springtime, we see women dressed in all different colors, shapes, and designs. Each one wants to stand out from the crowd and be unique, doesn't she? People like feel, "I do not belong to anyone. I am completely independent. I don't have to be influenced by anyone." But to think like that is to no avail, because it just isn't so.

While every one of us exists as "I," as an individual, we are never alone and independent or detached from others. We are a part of the whole of mankind, the whole line of history, and "I" exist in the center of that.

We All Have a Proper Place

Let us consider that we are all like works of art in an exhibition. If the world is a museum, then "I" am one of the exhibits. Each exhibit must stay in his position. No matter how valuable an object is, or no matter how valuable an individual may be, if he does not stay where he is supposed to and wanders around according to his own will, he immediately loses value because he is not serving his purpose.

We all have a proper place and should not go just anywhere we feel. If I stay where I am supposed to stay and go in the direction true human beings are supposed to go, then I, as a representative of all human beings, will be cherished by the universe.

Leaders should be in the leaders' position. If a leader leaves his position on his own and goes somewhere else, he loses his value. He is the same person, but if he is in a different position, he is not as valuable there. When a leader leaves his proper place and goes the wrong way, the other people feel, "I wish he wasn't my leader." In the same way, parents have certain expectations of their children; they want their child to do what he is supposed to do and become successful in life. But what if that child becomes involved with the wrong things and makes trouble all the time? The parents might think, "Oh, I wish that child wasn't mine." Is it because the parent is unloving that he thinks this way? No. We can understand that parent's heart. It is because the parent knows universal law; he knows which way his child should go. His original mind and conscience know, and when that child goes astray, he feels a great deal of pain.

This situation extends to the society and national level. Even a country is supposed to go in a certain direction. If it doesn't, we may wish that country just didn't exist. Look at the powerful communist countries. A few decades ago, some people briefly thought that communism was the highest ideology, but time has proved that communism is not going in the direction of mankind's ideals. Now they are saying, "Communism must contain itself; it must not spread." Even many of the communist countries themselves think that communism should be dissolved.

Why is this? Because each individual human being has a conscience and knows the original way he is supposed to go. We always have to check and make sure we are in the right position. If we are not, either we correct our position or our position is eliminated. We have to constantly ask ourselves, "Am I standing in a position where I will never be eliminated?" You should have the confidence to say, "Yes, Father. I am where I am supposed to be. I am very sure about that. I must stay where I am because the world needs me and the universe needs me." This is a serious matter.

Some people are not sure, so they try to find out where their leader wants them go to. But suppose there is a person who is constantly checking himself and striving to go in the right direction, the unmistakable direction. He continually tries to bring himself more and more closely into the true position. Such a person is destined to be a leader of the rest of mankind.

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What Is the True Way?

The Orient has produced many saints. Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed all came from the East. But who is the saint of all saints? Christians would say Jesus is the greatest, but wouldn't the Buddhists say Buddha? This could be confusing. Are there many different paths a human being must go? What if those four saints got together and tried to determine whose way was better. One thing they wouldn't say is, "My way is best." Instead they would each say, "I will ask Heaven and see which direction is the best of all." That is the difference between saints and ordinary people.

What about someone from the secular world? How would they come up with the best idea? They would probably form a Board of Directors and hire representatives; they would analyze their findings and come to a certain conclusion. Their answer may be right for a season. They may be right for that time in history, but for all other times it may not apply.

The founding fathers of America agreed upon a system of democracy. They saw very clearly that democracy was the only thing that would work. They tried to be very conscientious in creating their constitution and then they asked God if it was right. When they got the answer that it was, they ratified it. But that was 200 years ago. Look how much the environment has changed since then. Is what the people decided 200 years ago exactly right for now? Impossible. The American people should be constantly going back to God and asking, "Are we still all right?" Yet has there ever been a president who asked God exactly how to do things? No. Not here or anywhere. Pragmatism has always served the immediate purpose. Pragmatism means doing not what God decides but what man decides is the most practical thing in the moment. We cannot be satisfied with pragmatism. We know there is something higher. Shouldn't we abandon secularism and humanism in hopes of reaching something more lasting and enduring?

When each of those four religious founders started out, each was quite confident that he was going in the most righteous direction. But eventually each came to realize that his way was not perfect after all. Today, their followers are fighting bitterly amongst themselves and against each other. That is proof enough that none of their ways is the ultimate way.

Then how shall we resolve this? Where can we find the true way? We have to go back to Heaven and ask God what we should do.

More Precious than Scripture

Why did I come to America? It is very simple. I knew that while the direction Christianity was going here may have been right once, it is no longer adequate. The people need to be shown a higher way, a way that represents human beings and history more fully. The people need to be uplifted so that America can serve as a leader of the entire world. I came to America to provide that impetus.

What if the four religious founders got together for a conference and, with God as the chairman, discussed how the world should be? First, there would be a debate, with each holy person explaining his own view. Do you think they would come to a conclusion as to which was the true way in one month's time? How about a year's time? If God and the saints were at the conference table year after year with still no consensus, they would get exhausted and give up, wouldn't they?

Then would God, who is also getting tired of the conference, say, "Well, since we can't come to an agreement, I'll make the decision"? No. The four would say, "God, You can't go against the law of Your own creation, the law of man's responsibility." God would admit, "Okay, you're right. You four saints represent all of humankind, so you decide. Tell me, what do you think are the most significant teachings?" Jesus might say, "The Bible is the utmost direction-giver. Without the Bible we could never follow the true way of life." Then Mohammed might say, "No, we must decide everything based on the Koran." Then there would be even more serious debates. But think about it. What is more important and significant than those holy books? You Unification Church members are saints or near-saints -- or should be anyway. What is more significant than the Bible, the Koran, or any book? What is the point about which all holy people would say, "Yes, I agree that that is the most important thing of all"?

Yes, it's true love. No one would oppose this. Even Satan knows this. The most important things are true love, true life, and true living. People have been so serious about the Koran and the Bible, yet the purpose of these books is to lead people to a conscientious way of life, the true way of life. The books themselves are not the goal.

Suppose these three things -- true love, true life, and true living -- came up for consideration as the most important things in the world. Would you and Confucius and Jesus all vote for them? Yes and all five billion people in the world would agree about these three points. Do you think anyone would find any objection to this conclusion, saying, "That's not enough"? Not likely.

How about God? Would God reject that conclusion? No, even God would have to agree. But should God say first, "This is what I know you need"? Or should the four saints go to God and say, "God, there is nothing more precious than this. This is what we are longing for. Please give it to us."

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The True Love Direction

Today's topic is "The Will and I." What is the will of God, anyway? The will of God is that man should stand in a certain position and go in a certain direction -- the true love direction. That is what God wanted to express from the very beginning. If saints leave their position and go in a deviated direction, they no longer have anything to do with God or God's will. If the saints do not become one with the will of God, can they remain in the position of saints?

Imagine that the Unification Church is a big exhibition center where all the different things that God wants to see are exhibited. Shouldn't a person on display stay where he is supposed to stay and go in the direction he is supposed to go? Here is the American museum. But suppose the museum moves to Korea and all the objects have to be moved to the Korean museum. Will the objects say, "No, I don't want to go to the Korean museum. I am fine in the American museum"? What if the display were to go to Africa. Would the objects say, "No, I would rather not go to the African museum"? The purpose of the display is to show the whole world. If that person on display says such things, is that person connected with God's will or has he failed?

As a human being, actually as a saint, we must say, "There is a way I must go. There is a way I must follow, whether it be straight or winding. Whatever I may personally feel about it, still I am destined to go that way."

It is very hard to k low God and stay with God, but at least we can know the head of the museum, who can tell us where we are supposed to be. There are many religions and some are very good, but who is qualified to be the head of the museum of religion? All of the religions of the world have been separated; they have been fighting and they have been confused, but there is one that spends millions and millions of dollars plus time and effort and prayer to bring all the world's religions together.

Religious people are saying that the only hope of the religious world is Rev. Moon. He has brought religious people to the point where they would rather worship together than apart. What is the purpose of the Unification Church? Is it to separate Buddhism from Christianity or to divide the Christian churches? No. The purpose of the Unification Church, of course, is to bring all the churches together into one.

Many churches still insist merely on the truth of their own scripture. But there is one church that places much more importance upon these three things -- true love, true life, and true living. Would God go to a place where utmost importance is put on doctrine or would He follow us here? Why? Because when people come here, they can always find their rightful position -- being an object to the true subject, God.

Perpetual Circular Motion

Once you have correctly established the position of subject and object, you can always talk to God. You are free in this position of object to God, and you can find real peace and security there. You are provided for; you have no worries. As long as you take these three things seriously, then you don't have to worry about anything else, because this is the will of God.

As you have noticed, the words "life," "love," and "living" are all abstract nouns. They do not have a shape. Therefore, God took time and great pains to make physical things out of His ideas. Men and women were created by God with substantial, physical bodies to be the embodiment of true love, true life, and true living.

Did God inject true life and love into man or did man inject it into God? God did it, therefore He is the subject body. He is the center of being, the one who exists totally for the sake of others. This is the way God intended it. This is the philosophy that the Unification Church is teaching -- the philosophy of living for the sake of others. This is very, very important; this is the very essence of God's ideal.

What is true life? God is the center of life, and He invested His own life into the creation. That is true life. God invested Himself completely, not halfway. He did not keep some back. That is what "true" means. True life means that God has completely placed Himself into others.

True life is direct. It allows for no deviation. But if you just continue going straight ahead and never return, there can be no ideal. The ideal exists where there is perpetual circular motion, going out and coming back again and again, forever. With true life alone there can be no ideal. You need a response, or else there is no eternity. But true love has the power to make you turn around, so when you add true love to true life, the ideal is created. Look at little children -- they never want to just go in a straight line even for a minute. They want to go around and around. Aren't you that way too?

Why is love so precious and necessary? Because love brings you your object or subject. Why did God inject such preciousness -- His own self and life -- into man? Isn't it because God also needs love? Does God take pleasure in always pulling you in one direction? Doesn't He need some response? When He pulls on you, wouldn't He want you to pull back on Him?

God invested in us until He had nothing left. He emptied Himself completely. That is the nature of being true. So we should give something back to Him, shouldn't we? How? By living for the sake of others. When you live for the sake of others, there is a force always coming back and igniting love. Do you follow?

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Invest Yourself Totally

This is how God is: God invests everything into a being, and then that being experiences love. Then that explosive love will be returned back to the original Being who made all that investment. God created everything according to this principle.

God gave everything to man. A man should want to give everything to a woman. Then the woman will want to give everything back to the man, and the man will want to give everything back to God. Things are created that way. When this give and take action takes place in a lively way, then the two will come into complete unity and never separate. That is the focal point of God's love. When a man and woman are really in love and live in love, God is living there too. That is the most ideal place, the nucleus.

This is the secret of a subject/object relationship, the secret of being a spouse. Pour your love into your spouse; live for the sake of your spouse; do things for his sake, day after day. When he gets saturated, he may say, "Why are you doing all this? I don't want this," and he may even want to escape. But if you continue loving him, he will turn around and return your love. Love will grow. That is the Principle of Creation.

What are saints? Saints are the ones who are ahead of other people in realizing, practicing, and teaching this principle. In other words, saints are people who have expanded this realm of living for the sake of others. It's all part of the law of the creation. We must go and we must love. We must put all our love and everything we've got into our families, into other people, and into the nation. This is the course we have to follow, and then this living principle will just go around and around and expand throughout space.

There is only one way for us to go. I, as an individual, must love my spouse and then bring all of society into oneness and later meet God. Then I will fall in love with God and jump into that love and live happily day by day. When I really live for the sake of other people, the society, and the nation, love always comes back to me.

If you are trying to find love, that is the wrong process. You cannot "find" love. That goes against the process of the law of creation. You have to invest yourself first. Have you done that? Have you poured your love into your spouse? Love is bound to come back to you as much as you have poured your life into the other. When that happens, love starts coming back.

When Ownership Begins

We are establishing this tradition here on earth for the first time in history. I have lived for the sake of leaving this tradition behind. I have lived absolutely consistently with the will of God. I always put in everything I've got. I spare nothing. I always search out how I can give even more. Then all things start to follow me. That is when ownership begins. That is when you start to truly own things. A husband and wife may think they love each other and say they love each other, but if one disagrees with the other and gets offended and they start quarreling, that is obviously not love. Love is when we want to put our whole life into the relationship so there is nothing more to put in. Then love starts coming back. Then there is no more quarrelling.

The more we love, the more love and ownership will come to us. That is the living, daily philosophy of the Unification Church. When we practice this, we are guaranteed to be on the right path. Even if we do not realize where we are going, we are going in the right direction.

Imagine a big family with many, many brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts and in-laws. Who is going to be the center of that family, the master of that house, in the future? It will be the person who invests the most into that family, giving everything he's got for the sake of the other family members day in and day out and not expecting anything in return. You can predict who is going to be the center of that household and be the true owner of everything. Everyone and everything will want to belong to that person.

We know we must love the world, but that concept is too vague. How do we love? This is something that Unification Church members must know. We've got to put our life totally into what we are doing -- just as God did for us; then all things will want to belong to us. In order to own everything with love, give. Give all you have. This is our credo.

Don't say, "Where is love?" Don't say, "My husband must love me," or "I expect love from my wife." If you do, peace and love can never be realized within your family. There is no love until we put our love in. Do you understand? This is an amazing truth. On an individual level all the way up to the national level, we must love unto our very lives. Put in everything you have, then your investment will return as love towards you. How wonderful that is!

If you want to be a true mother or true father, you must ask yourself how much you have loved your children in a righteous way. Children who are loved absolutely will never want to leave you, even if you scold them. When everything comes back to you and wants to be owned by you, then you can live happily every day. That is the ideal.

God loves us, but we have to love God too. All things belong to God, and if we love God, all things also belong to us. There is no other way to own anything in the universe except through loving God. Then we begin to own things.

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Your Own Mind Knows

Now we know all men and women must go this way. How do you know if you've invested everything? Your own mind knows before anyone has to tell you. You know whether you have given your 100 percent or not. Nobody needs to tell you. In the spirit world you will not be able to pretend, because everything will be revealed. Daily living for the sake of each other is the ideal. There is no other way you can find the ideal. Did you know that God tries to love even Satan? That is the amazing reality we must learn.

Every day I am so excited that I hate it when one day ends; I can't wait until the next day dawns. That kind of excitement is the ideal way. Unless and until we put everything we have into what we are doing, we cannot realize true joy. Just put in more and more every day without thinking what will be returned. Then you will always have more and more -- never less. I have always followed this formula.

At the last moment you may feel you have done enough. Then insist on putting in one more bit of effort. That one step makes all the difference. When love owns you, you can't oppose it. You have to belong to somebody. How can you object to belonging to someone who truly loves you?

Do you think I'm a happy person? Why do you think so? Because I know that in the future, even Satan, even the communists, will not be able to oppose me. How can they oppose me when I love them?

What is the will of God? It is to fulfill the ideal of creation, which is to form a four position foundation and live for the sake of others. Then all the love ownership comes back to God. The person who has done this will have lived the will of God. Such a couple will be an ideal family and live happily ever after. This is the nucleus through which the whole world can be connected. The world is an extension of such a family.

The ideal life is putting everything we have into our ideal. No country will oppose this way of life; therefore, we can go anywhere and be welcome. This is the ideal; this is the will of God and this is our philosophy. If we really live this philosophy, won't the world become the ideal world?

The secular world today has its philosophy: "I want to be loved. I'm going to take whatever I can get." With that philosophy, there can never be unity or peace. The Unification Church's teaching and God's formula is to live for the sake of other people. Then automatically, the world will come into unity.

How can we say that it will automatically come into unity? Because God lives that way. If we live that way, our unity becomes broader and broader. God lives the way I have described, and we are about to live the same way. This is the way I have always lived. There is no other way; there is no other secret but this. The proof is striking. Now we all see that the ideal world is at hand.

Do you say, "Oh, I expect the ideal world will come pretty soon. I'd like to sit in that kind of world, and when I die, I will go to heaven"? If we think like that, we are no better than thieves. What is a thief? He doesn't work, yet he takes everything. You have to realize that you have come this far because of the investment of True Parents. Without that investment, you would not be able to participate in God's world.

If we do not do enough, how can we stand in front of God? Our conscience will not permit us to. One thing we should never be in the future is ashamed of ourselves. I have always lived conscious of the fact that I could never lead a life I was ashamed of.

We need salvation. This is a very real situation. We want to be saved, and we will be saved, not with shame but with dignity. We cannot eat as we like; we cannot sleep as we like; we cannot say and do things as we like when there is the possibility that later we might be ashamed of that action. At this very moment, our brothers and sisters are losing their lives at the hands of Satan. How can we be complacent?

You must not just borrow this way of thinking and this way of life from me, but you must make it your Own. You must be proud of the concept itself and live this life just as I do, so that you can become true descendants. I do not just think this, I live it. It is not just words; it is actions. Do you understand clearly?

Now we know how we will achieve salvation; how we can be saved with dignity, without shame. We are all individual messiahs of love. When we practice love, love will come back to us, with ownership. That is reality.

Plant love and you will never perish. You may suffer, but you will never perish and you will never be ashamed. Do you understand? Those who say, "Father, I understand deeply now and I will live the way of love," raise your hands.

Let us pray.

Religious scholars examine the nature of God at the sixth conference on God: The Contemporary Discussion, held in Key West, Florida.

Religious scholars examine the nature of God at the sixth conference on God: The Contemporary Discussion, held in Key West, Florida.

Our Standard of Devotion

Home Church Is My Kingdom of Heaven
1/1/81, World Mission Center

Maybe you think, "Father talks too much about witnessing to 360 homes; I will do it sitting in my living room." Sometimes things happen if you set the right conditions; but sometimes you have to act to make things happen. How nice it would be if home church could be accomplished just by setting some condition! For instance, it would be nice if you could put down the names of your 360 families on a big piece of paper and write something on it every day, thinking, "This will serve as my condition of having visited my area every day." But it doesn't work that way.

Just as I have worked hard, you also have to work hard and do everything as I did. That kind of effort is needed to make home church successful. Heaven on earth is the place where your ideal and your love can dwell. Home church belongs to you, and when you really work at it, your ancestry and the supporting spiritual world will come down and help you accomplish it. You will discover that the spiritual world will actually help you very much, but you won't find this out until you do it.

The Things We Want to Be Proud Of
10/25/81, Belvedere

Do you like home church? Do you want to do it yourself, or together with someone else? Can two people become the greatest in your home church area at the same time? There can be only one greatest person, not two. So shouldn't you do it yourself? In home church, you know it is difficult to become the greatest, but this is what you must do.

Is it greater to work for the world or for the nation? Would you then choose to work in America or in another country? Would you even go into the desert or the jungle? Would you rather go to a part of Africa where white people are welcomed or to a place where they are persecuted? How much more training do you need here to meet this kind of challenge? You know what I will say to you even before I speak; I will keep telling you to suffer more and work harder, even though you feel it is impossible. Should you ignore this kind of teacher, or should you welcome him, even if it is painful?

Let Us Protect Ourselves
5/1/82, Belvedere

For four years, I have been telling you that you must work hard in your home church area, but how much actual work have you done for the sake of home church? Our whole objective is to invite God to dwell with us. Are you making a base for Him in home church? Within your own mind, how much do you actually want to go out and do home church? Your words alone do not prove anything. Too often American young people say something but cannot carry it out. How can such a standard be trusted?

We all say we want to become righteous people, but what is a righteous person? A righteous person is one who will go against any odds, any difficulties, to keep on the right path. In the Bible, Abraham prayed to God and begged Him to spare Sodom if there were only ten righteous people in it. God answered that He would. You are in the very same position today. If you follow my direction and work diligently in your home church area, you will be the righteous people standing before God in America. Because you are righteous, someday all your home church members will also be righteous. By observing the way you sweat and shed tears for them, those people will find their hearts reviving; eventually, they will have the strength and inspiration to go out and do as you do.

If you are focusing only on when your wedding will occur, you are certainly not serious enough. America is literally in a last- minute position. The country has to be alive first before your individual and family situation can be secured. How can you think about how you look or whether or not you have nice clothing and makeup and so forth when the country is in such spiritual danger?... Now we are engaged in a spiritual war, and nothing else is more important than winning that war. Do you understand that?

Some people say, "I need to study more; then maybe I will be able to do home church," but they have not realized the urgency of the situation. Your shoes should wear out from walking in your area. The number of pairs of shoes you wear out will be your pride and your record of accomplishment in the future. The spirit world is always eager to help you, but you must create the conditions that enable them to do so. 

The Will and I

Sun Myung Moon
April 1, 1988
Belvedere
Translator - Col. Sang Kil Han

The whole of humanity, as well as the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, has a certain mission to fulfill. Since God is the Creator, He must have a certain plan or pattern for what He wants to accomplish, according to His will. However, we often feel that we would like to do things only the way we want to do them, according to our own will. There is no difference between the races as far as this feeling goes. Oriental or Westerner, rich or poor, everyone has the urge to do as they like.

There are many different classes and levels of people among the five billion people of the world, from the lofty to the lowly. We all think we exist separately or independently from other people or groups, but we do not exist that way. Americans are ancestrally connected to Britain, Europe, and Africa. Beyond that, we are connected to all of history. We are not alone. We are not independent. Have you ever stopped to think that your eyes are not yours alone? Your father's eyes, your mother's eyes, your grandparents' eyes, and all your ancestors' eyes are in your eyes. They are a part of all history.

When we go out on the street in the springtime, we see women dressed in all different colors, shapes, and designs. Each one wants to stand out from the crowd and be unique, doesn't she? People like to feel, "I do not belong to anyone. I am completely independent. I don't have to be influenced by anyone." But to think like that is to no avail, because it just isn't so.

While every one of us exists as "I," as an individual, we are never alone and independent or detached from others. We are a part of the whole of mankind, the whole line of history, and "I" exist in the center of that.

We All Have a Proper Place

Let us consider that we are all like works of art in an exhibition. If the world is a museum, then "I" am one of the exhibits. Each exhibit must stay in his position. No matter how valuable an object is, or no matter how valuable an individual may be, if he does not stay where he is supposed to and wanders around according to his own will, he is immediately valueless because he is not serving his purpose.

We all have a proper place and should not go just anywhere we feel. If I stay where I am supposed to stay and go in the direction true human beings are supposed to go, then I, as a representative of all human beings, will be cherished by the universe.

Leaders should be in the leaders' position. If a leader leaves his position on his own and goes somewhere else, he loses his value. He is the same person, but if he is in a different position, he is not as valuable there. When a leader leaves his proper place and goes the wrong way, the other people feel, "I wish he wasn't my leader." In the same way, parents have certain expectations of their children. They want their child to do what he is supposed to do and become successful in life. But what if that child becomes involved with the wrong things and makes trouble all the time? The parents might think, "Oh, I wish that child wasn't mine." Is it because the parent is unloving that he thinks this way? No. We can understand that parent's heart. It is because the parent knows universal law; he knows which way his child should go. His original mind and conscience know, and when that child goes astray, he feels a great deal of pain.

This situation extends to the society and national level. Even a country is supposed to go in a certain direction. If it doesn't, we may wish that country just didn't exist. Look at the powerful communist countries. A few decades ago, some people briefly thought that communism was the highest ideology, but time has proven that communism is not going in the direction of mankind's ideals. Now they are saying, "Communism must contain itself; it must not spread." Even many of the communist countries themselves think that communism should be dissolved.

Why is this? It is because the conscience of each individual human being knows the original way he is supposed to go. We always have to check and make sure we are in the right position. If we are not, either we correct our position or our position is eliminated. We have to constantly ask ourselves, "Am I standing in a position where I will never be eliminated?" Do you have the confidence to say, "Yes, Father. I am where I am supposed to be. I am very sure about that. I must stay where I am because the world needs me and the universe needs me." This is a serious matter. Some people are not sure, so they have to find out where their leader wants them go. But suppose there is a person who is constantly checking himself and striving to go in the right direction, the unmistakable direction. He continually tries to bring himself more and more closely into the true position. Such a person is destined to be a leader of the rest of mankind.

What is the true way? The Orient has produced many saints. Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed all came from the East. But who is the saint of all saints? Christians would say Jesus, but wouldn't the Buddhists say Buddha? This could be confusing. Are there many different paths a human being must go? What if those four saints got together and tried to determine whose way was better. One thing they wouldn't say is, "My way is best." Instead they would each say, "I will ask Heaven and see which direction is the best of all." That is the difference between saints and ordinary people.

What about someone from the secular world? How would they come up with the best idea? They would probably form a Board of Directors and hire representatives. They would analyze their findings and come to a certain conclusion. Their answer may be right for a season. They may be right for that time in history, but for all other times it may not apply.

The founding fathers of America agreed upon a system of democracy. They saw very clearly that democracy was the only thing that would work. They tried to be very conscientious in creating their constitution and then they asked God if it was right. When they got the answer that it was, they ratified it. But that was 200 years ago. Look how much the environment has changed since then. Is what the people decided 200 years ago exactly right for now? Impossible. The American people should be constantly going back to God and saying, "Are we still all right?" Yet has there ever been a president who asked God exactly how to do things? No. Not here or anywhere. Pragmatism has always served the immediate purpose. Pragmatism means doing not what God decides but what man decides is the most practical thing in the moment. We cannot be satisfied with pragmatism. We know there is something higher. Shouldn't we abandon secularism and humanism in hopes of reaching something more lasting and enduring?

When each of the four saints started out, each was quite confident that he was going in the most righteous direction. But eventually each came to realize that his way was not perfect after all. Today, the followers of each of these saints are fighting bitterly amongst themselves and against each other. That is proof enough that none of their ways is the ultimate way. Then how shall we resolve this? Where can we find the true way? We have to go back to Heaven and ask God what we should do.

More Precious Than Scripture

Why did I come to America? It is very simple. I knew that while the direction Christianity was going may have been right once, it is no longer adequate. The people need to be shown a higher way, a way that represents human beings and history more fully. The people need to be uplifted so that America can serve as a leader of the entire world. I came to America to provide that impetus. What if the four saints got together for a conference and, with God as the chairman, discussed how the world should be? First, there would be a debate, with each saint explaining his own view. Do you think they would come to a conclusion as to which was the true way in one month's time? How about a year's time? If God and the saints were at the conference table year after year with still no consensus, they would get exhausted and give up, wouldn't they?

Then would God, who is also getting tired of the conference, say, "Well, since we can't come to an agreement, I'll make the decision?" No. The four saints would say, "God, You can't go against the law of Your own creation, the law of man's responsibility." God would admit, "Okay, you're right. You four saints represent all of humankind, so you decide. Tell me, what do you think are the most significant teachings?" Jesus might say, "The Bible is the utmost direction-giver. Without the Bible we could never follow the true way of life." Then Mohammed might say, "No, we must decide everything based on the Koran." Then there would be even more serious debates. But think about it. What is more important and significant than those holy books? You Unification Church members are saints or near-saints or should be. What is more significant than the Bible, the Koran, or any book? What is the point about which all the saints would say, "Yes, I agree that that is the most important thing of all?"

Yes, it's true love. No one would oppose this. Even Satan knows this. The most important things are true love, true life, and true living. People have been so serious about the Koran and the Bible, yet the purpose of these books was to lead people to a conscientious way of life, the true way of life. The books themselves are not the goal.

Suppose these three things -- true love, true life, and true living -- came up for consideration as the most important things in the world. Would you, Confucius, and Jesus all vote for them? Yes, and all five billion people in the world would agree about these three points. Do you think anyone would find any objection to this conclusion, saying, "That's not enough?" Not likely.

How about God? Would God reject that conclusion? No, even God would have to agree. But should God say first, "This is what I know you need?" Or should the four saints go to God and say, "God, there is nothing more precious than this. This is what we are longing for. Please give it to us."

The True Love Direction

Today's topic is "The Will and I." What is the will of God, anyway? The will of God is that man should stand in a certain position and go in a certain direction -- the true love direction. That is what God wanted to express from the very beginning. If saints leave their position and go in a deviated direction, they no longer have anything to do with God or God's will. If the saints do not become one with the will of God, can they remain in the position of saints?

Imagine that the Unification Church is a big exhibition center where all the different things that God wants to see are exhibited. Shouldn't a person on display stay where he is supposed to stay and go in the direction he is supposed to go? Here is the American museum. But suppose the museum moves to Korea and all the objects have to be moved to the Korean museum. Will the objects say, "No, I don't want to go to the Korean museum. I am fine in the American museum?" What if the display were to go to Africa. Would the objects say, "No, I would rather not go to the African museum?" The purpose of the display is to show the whole world. If that person on display says such things, is that person connected with God's will or has he failed?

As a human being, actually as a saint, we must say, "There is a way I must go. There is a way I must follow, whether it be straight or winding. Whatever I may personally feel about it, still I am destined to go that way."

It is very hard to know God and stay with God, but at least we know the head of the museum, who can tell us where we are supposed to be. There are many religions and some are very good, but who is qualified to be the head of the museum of religion? All of the religions of the world have been separated. They have been fighting and they have been confused, but there is one that spends millions and millions of dollars plus time, effort and prayer to bring all the world's religions together.

In the religious world, people are saying that the only hope of the religious world is Rev. Moon. He has brought religious people to the point where they would rather worship together than apart. What is the purpose of the Unification Church? Is it to separate Buddhism from Christianity or to divide the Christian churches? No. The purpose of the Unification Church, of course, is to bring all the churches together into one.

Many churches still insist merely on the truth of their own scripture. But there is one church that places much more importance upon these three things -- true love, true life, and true living. Would God go to a place where utmost importance is put on doctrine or would He follow us here? Why? Because when people come here, they can always find their rightful position -- being an object to the true subject, God.

Perpetual Circular Motion

Once you have correctly established the position of subject and object, you can always talk to God. You are free in this position of object to God, and you can find real peace and security there. You are provided for; you have no worries. As long as you take these three things seriously, then you don't have to worry about anything else, because this is the will of God.

As you have noticed, the words "life," "love," and "living" are all abstract nouns. They do not have a shape. Therefore, God took time and great pains to make physical things out of His ideas. Men and women were created by God with substantial, physical bodies to be the embodiment of true love, true life, and true living.

Did God inject true life and love into man or did man inject it into God? God did it, therefore, He is the subject body. He is the center of being, the one who exists totally for the sake of others. This is the way God intended it. This is the philosophy that the Unification Church is teaching -- the philosophy of living for the sake of others. This is very, very important; this is the very essence of God's ideal.

What is true life? God is the center of life, and He invested His own life into the creation. That is true life. God invested Himself completely, not halfway. He did not keep some back. That is what "true" means. True life means that God has completely placed Himself into others.

True life is direct. It allows for no deviation. But if you just continue going straight ahead and never return, there can be no ideal. The ideal exists where there is perpetual circular motion, going out and coming back again and again, forever. With true life alone there can be no ideal. You need a response, or else there is no eternity. But true love has the power to make you turn around, so when you add true love to true life, the ideal is created. Look at little children -- they never want to just go in a straight line even for a minute. They want to go around and around. Aren't you that way too?

Why is love so precious and necessary? Because love brings you your object or subject. Why did God inject such preciousness-His own self and life -- into man? Isn't it because God also needs love? Does God take pleasure in always pulling you in one direction? Doesn't He need some response? When He pulls on you, wouldn't He want you to pull back on Him?

God invested in us until He had nothing left. He emptied Himself completely. That is the nature of being true. So we should give something back to Him, shouldn't we? How? By living for the sake of others. When you live for the sake of others, there is a force always coming back and igniting love.

Invest Yourself Totally

This is how God is: God invests everything into a being, and then that being experiences love. Then that explosive love will be returned back to the original Being who made all that investment. God created everything according to this principle.

Since God gave everything to man, a man should want to give everything to a woman. Then the woman will want to give everything back to the man, and the man will want to give everything back to God. Things are created that way. When this give and take action takes place in a lively way, then the two will come into complete unity and never separate. That is the focal point of God's love. When a man and woman are really in love and live in love, God is living there too. That is the most ideal place, the nucleus.

This is the secret of a subject-object relationship, the secret of being a spouse. Pour your love into your spouse; live for the sake of your spouse; do things for his sake, day after day. When he gets saturated, he may say, "Why are you doing all this? I don't want this," and he may even want to escape. But if you continue loving him, he will turn around and return your love. Love will grow. That is the Principle of Creation.

What are saints? Saints are the ones who are ahead of other people in realizing, practicing, and teaching this principle. In other words, saints are people who have expanded this realm of living for the sake of others. It's all part of the law of the creation. We must go and we must love. We must put all our love and everything we have into our families, into other people, and into the nation. This is the course we have to follow. Then this living principle will just go around and around and expand throughout space.

There is only one way for us to go. I, as an individual, must love my spouse and then bring all of society into oneness and later meet God. Then I will fall in love with God and jump into that love and live happily day by day. When I will really be living for the sake of other people, the society, and the nation.

If you are trying to find love, you are misguided. You cannot "find" love. It goes against the process of the law of creation to look for love. You have to invest yourself first. Have you done that? Have your poured your love into your spouse? Love is bound to come back to you as much as you have poured your life into the other. When that happens, love starts coming back.

We are establishing this tradition here on earth for the first time in history. I have lived for the sake of leaving this tradition behind. My life has been absolutely consistent with the will of God. I always invest myself wholeheartedly. I spare nothing. I always search out how I can give even more. Then all things start to follow me. At that point ownership begins. That is when you start to truly own things. A husband and wife may think they love each other and say they love each other, but they need to be patient with each other. If one disagrees with the other and gets offended and they start quarreling, that is obviously not love. Love emerges when we want to put our whole life into the relationship so there is nothing more to put in. After that love starts coming back. Then there is no more quarrelling.

The more we love, the more love and ownership will come to us. That is the living, daily philosophy of the Unification Church. When we practice this, we are guaranteed to be on the right path. Even if we do not realize where we are going, we are going in the right direction. Imagine a big family with many, many brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts and in-laws. Who is going to be the center of that family, the master of that house, in the future? It will be the person who invests the most into that family. It will be the person who gives everything he has for the sake of the other family members day in and day out without expecting anything in return. You can predict who is going to be the center of that household and be the true owner of everything. Everyone and everything will want to belong to that person.

We know we must love the world, but that concept is too vague. How do we love? This is something that Unification Church members must know. We have to put our life totally into what we are doing. This is what God has done for us. If we do that all things will want to belong to us. In order to own everything with love, give. Give all you have. This is our credo.

Don't say, "Where is love?" Don't say, "My husband must love me," or "I expect love from my wife." If you do, peace and love can never be realized within your family. There is no love until we put our love in. Do you understand? This is an amazing truth. On an individual level all the way up to the national level, we must love unto our very lives. If you put in everything you have, your investment will return as love towards you. How wonderful that is!

If you want to be a true mother or true father, you must ask yourself how much you have loved your children in a righteous way. Children who are loved absolutely will never want to leave you, even if you scold them. When everything comes back to you and wants to be owned by you, you can live happily every day. That is the ideal. God loves us, but we have to love God too. All things belong to God, and if we love God, all things also belong to us. There is no other way to own anything in the universe except through loving God. If we love God, we begin to own things.

Your Own Mind Knows

How do you know if you have invested everything? Your own mind knows before anyone tells you. You know whether you have given your 100 percent or not. Nobody needs to tell you. In the spirit world you will not be able to pretend, because everything will be revealed. Daily living for the sake of each other is the ideal. There is no other way you can find the ideal. Did you know that God tries to love even Satan? That is the amazing reality we must learn.

Every day I am so excited that I hate it when one day ends. I can't wait until the next day dawns. That kind of excitement is the ideal way. Unless and until we put everything we have into what we are doing, we cannot realize true joy. Just put in more and more everyday without thinking what will be returned. Then you will always have more and more -- never less. I have always followed this formula.

At the last moment you may feel you have done enough. Then insist on putting in one more bit of effort. This one step makes all the difference. When love owns you, you can't oppose it. You have to belong to somebody. How can you object to belonging to someone who truly loves you?

Do you think I'm a happy person? Why do you think so? Because I know that in the future, even Satan, even the communists, will not be able to oppose me. How can they oppose me when I love them?

What is the will of God? It is to fulfill the ideal of creation, which is to form a four position foundation and live for the sake of others. When you do so, all the love ownership comes back to God. If you fulfill this, you will have lived the will of God. Such a couple will be an ideal family and live happily ever after. This is the nucleus through which the whole world can be connected. The world is an extension of such a family.

The ideal life is putting everything we have into our ideal. No country will oppose this way of life; therefore, we can go anywhere and be welcome. This is the ideal; his is the will of God; and this is our philosophy. If we really live this philosophy, won't the world become the ideal world?

The secular world today has its philosophy: "I want to be loved. I'm going to take whatever I can get." With that philosophy, there can never be unity or peace. The Unification Church's teaching and God's formula is to live for the sake of other people. Then automatically, the world will come into unity.

How can we say that it will automatically come into unity? Because God lives that way. If we live that way, our unity becomes broader and broader. God lives the way I have described, and we are about to live the same way. This is the way I have always lived. There is no other way; there is no other secret but this. The proof is striking. Now we all see that the ideal world is at hand.

Do you say, "Oh, I expect the ideal world will come pretty soon. I don't need make any effort to live in that kind of world. When I die, I will go to heaven." If we think like that, we are no better than thieves. What is a thief? He doesn't work, yet he takes everything. You have to realize that you have come thus far because of the investment of True Parents. Without that investment, you would not be able to participate in God's world.

Not With Shame But Dignity

If we do not do enough, how can we stand in front of God? Our conscience will not permit us to. One thing we should never be in the future is ashamed of ourselves. I have always lived conscious of the fact that I could never lead a life I was ashamed of.

We need salvation. This is a very real situation. We want to be saved, and we will be saved, not with shame but with dignity. We cannot eat as we like; we cannot sleep as we like; we cannot say and do things as we like when there is the possibility that later we might be ashamed of that action. At this very moment, our brothers and sisters are losing their lives in the hands of Satan. How can we be complacent?

You must not just borrow this way of thinking and this way of life from me, but you must make it your own. You must be proud of the concept itself and live this life just as I do so that you can become true descendents. I do not just think this way, I live way. It is not just words; it is actions.

Now we know how we will achieve salvation and how we can be saved with dignity, without shame. We are all individual messiahs of love. When we practice love, love will come back to us, with ownership. That is reality.

Plant love and you will never perish. You may suffer, but you will never perish or be ashamed. Do you understand? Those who say, "Father, I understand deeply now and I will live the way of love," raise your hands. Let us pray.

Prayer at Shin Gil Nim's 40-Day Celebration

Sun Myung Moon
March 23, 1988
East Garden

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Loving Father!

It is now 8 o'clock in the morning on March 23, 1988. Today is a most significant day. Heaven and earth are watching and blessing this place today -- the fortieth day after the birth of Father's grandson Shin Gil, marking the establishment of the third generation of True Parents' family.

Father, I thank You for Your wondrous love, in having led Hyo Jin's family to this blessed point through many difficulties. Father, I thank You so much for leading and guiding and taking care of True Parents' family, allowing them to inherit the tradition for a new era on the earth.

Thank You, Father, for Shin Gil's birth in this year of 1988. This year marks the end of 43 years of my public life, years of persecution which had to be endured because the Korean government and Christianity didn't unite with me 43 years ago. These 43 years represent the restoration and indemnification of the 430 years of the Israelites' suffering in Egypt and the entire 4,000 years of Christian history. Furthermore, You have remembered the sacrifices of all the good ancestors, especially the Moon clan, and through this birth this clan can now be established as the representatives of the Korean nation.

Kissing cousins Shin Young Nim (Hyo Jin Nim's second daughter) and Shin Myung Nim (In Jin Nim's son).

Kissing cousins Shin Young Nim (Hyo Jin Nim's second daughter) and Shin Myung Nim (In Jin Nim's son).

I truly thank You for letting us celebrate this fortieth day in this month of March. We should not have had to wait so long for this day. But when heaven's nation is finally connected with the world, based on the nation's providing a victorious foundation and dissolving Heavenly Father's sad history, Satan's power can be expelled from the earth. This period has been a time of great persecution and difficulty for the Unification Church. But this year You blessed our family and our nation so that we can restore the new Israelites' rightful position on the earth. A new direction has been given to the free world, and now the Soviet Union and its satellite states have lost their position; they are now suffering through severe trials and becoming confused.

Father, please lead us and guide us so that all Unification Church members, the nation of Korea, the new Israelites, and all Christianity can be united into one centering on heaven. Guide us so that we can build the victorious Kingdom of Heaven for You. Thank you, Father, for this opportunity to march forward to victory in Korea in April to unite the South and North. We are grateful that, because of Shin Gil's birth, the ideal four position foundation through three generations of Heavenly Father's family can be established, bringing peace and victory over this suffering period.

Hyo Jin Nim with Shin Young Nim (on his lap), Shin Jeung Nim (his eldest daughter), and his baby son Shin Gil Nim.

Hyo Jin Nim with Shin Young Nim (on his lap), Shin Jeung Nim (his eldest daughter), and his baby son Shin Gil Nim.

Father, through the birth of Shin Gil, please allow the four historical nations -- Adam's nation, Eve's nation, Abel's nation, and Cain's nation--to unite into one, centering on Korea and America, and restore heaven's country.

I declare now, in True Parents' name, that the foundation Heavenly Father has built, the foundation I have built, and all the blessings of the Unification Church will be united together with this newborn baby, to advance our progress toward the new world. Please allow both the physical world and the spiritual world to receive the blessing of this birth so that the unity of heaven and earth can be established.

On this 40-day celebration, please accept this day as the restoration of the lost number 4 in the history of human life, and completely liquidate the indemnity centered on the numbers 40 and 400.

Shin Gil Nim gets lots of attention from his sisters Shin Jeung Nim and Shin Young Nim.

Shin Gil Nim gets lots of attention from his sisters Shin Jeung Nim and Shin Young Nim.

Please allow this baby to start the new history of heaven and earth carrying a banner of victory that the entire world can follow and obey.

Please bless the faithful Unification Church members, the faithful Koreans who believe in True Parents and Heavenly Father, and the free world with the fortune of this baby's name, so that upon this foundation the entire world can prosper.

All Your disciples from each country in the world are here together to celebrate this ceremony. Please bind all their hearts together and accept this as symbolic of all countries being bound together. Thank You so much for this day. Please let us free the spirit world, Korean Christianity, the Moon clan, and all Unification Church members so that they can all celebrate this memorable day for heaven and earth together.

Shin Gil Nim gets lots of attention from his sisters Shin Jeung Nim and Shin Young Nim.

Shin Gil Nim gets lots of attention from his sisters Shin Jeung Nim and Shin Young Nim.

Please let this baby's parents do everything in their power to raise and take care of this baby with a good heart for the sake of the Unification Church and the entire world.

Please let us remember that, at this moment, heaven and earth and all the sages and patriots of the past are watching. I declare and pledge that from this day we will march forward toward a new historical era of a totally united universe.

Bottom right: Jin Sung Nim in a quiet moment with his son Shin Myung Nim.

Bottom right: Jin Sung Nim in a quiet moment with his son Shin Myung Nim.

Please allow eternal fortune to be with this baby.

I bless and declare this in True Parents' Name.

Amen.

The emotion with which Father prayed is difficult to adequately convey in a translation.

Isolation and Liberation

Sun Myung Moon
March 20, 1988
Belvedere
Translator: Peter Kim

At East Garden on True Parents' homecoming day, March 17, 1988, Father and Mother get acquainted with their new grandson Shin Gil Nim. Left to right: Father, Mother holding Shin Gil Nim, Nan Sook Nim, Hyo Jin Nim, and Shin Jeung Nim.

At East Garden on True Parents' homecoming day, March 17, 1988, Father and Mother get acquainted with their new grandson Shin Gil Nim. Left to right: Father, Mother holding Shin Gil Nim, Nan Sook Nim, Hyo Jin Nim, and Shin Jeung Nim.

Do you feel happy to see me again? Since I left this country the last time, which was on December 2, it has been a little more than three months. I understand that you have been waiting eagerly for my return, but the brothers and sisters in Korea have also been waiting to see me for many years now. Therefore, I have come to the realization again that I can't stay in one place all the time because I am awaited by people everywhere. I have only one physical body, but still people everywhere want to see me -- it's as if they want to carry my body away.

As you know, we are all from different racial backgrounds -- some people have blue eyes, some are short, some have big noses, some have large mouths. Yet all kinds of people are waiting and longing for me. Why is this happening? If you are serious about boxing, you will naturally long to meet the world champion boxer. If you are a sumo wrestler, you will want to encounter the champion sumo wrestler. I am not really popular in a secular sense, yet people are yearning to meet me. Why? People have many different desires, but there are two things that everyone on earth longs for -- truth and love. That is why people want to meet me.

The problem in this world is that we can't find true love or a true man who brings true love. Then what is the truth, and what kind of person is the true man? Truth is unchanging; truth always has self-contained authority. No matter what happens or what kind of difficulty or persecution truth may encounter, it can never be destroyed or changed.

Then what is true love? True love is one thing that everybody wants to touch, to live with, to cling to -- eternally. Everybody longs for it. True love does not change, no matter what situation develops. It is eternally unchanging. We may have lived 30, 40, 50 years or more, but we can never forget our parents' love. Now it is springtime and we can observe the birds laying their eggs and bringing their new babies into the world. We can find love there, too. If any force from the outside came to destroy the love relationship existing among you, you would even be willing to sacrifice your life to protect your love, wouldn't you? We can conclude from this that the power of love is universally recognized and has authority in itself.

What do I have that causes people to love me? The answer is simple: I have always been trying to love the truth and to love everyone and everything. Look around and you will see many Americans who are more handsome than I am, who are more knowledgeable, more popular, and more famous than I. In the worldly sense, I am not very popular. So then why did you drop all the pleasures of the outside world and come to the Unification Church and go through this difficult life? Why do you always want to come and see me?

When you look at me from a horizontal point of view, there is not much to differentiate me from the average person. I have a physical body and everything that everyone else has. But why are people crazy about me? That's a real mystery. But that phenomenon is reality, so it cannot be denied. Americans think, "Rev. Moon is a strange one. He has some strange power."

When a man and woman are in love with each other, there is a power that causes them to cling together, regardless of how they may look. One or the other or both may be tremendously fat or unattractive, but no matter how huge that woman may be, or no matter how unattractive that man may be, there is some strange and mysterious power keeping them together. That is love power.

It's the same in the relationship between me and the Unification Church members. Regardless of where I go around the world, all Unification Church members follow m, footsteps everywhere. Other people may not be able to figure it out, but there is a mysterious power there. What is it? It is the power of love and truth, which can penetrate all the way to the universal level.

Father, Mother and the True Children just before Father begins speaking at Belvedere on March 20.

Father, Mother and the True Children just before Father begins speaking at Belvedere on March 20.

Satan's Roadblock

But what is the source of this power? Did Rev. Moon bring this power to the world, or did it exist from the beginning? It has existed from the beginning. So since that power has existed from the beginning, why hasn't everybody already been using it? In electricity we can clearly observe that as soon as a minus charge comes into proximity with a plus charge, they are naturally and automatically pulled together. They don't have to be told. There is no need for explanation. According to the same principle, man and woman are originally supposed to be united together centered on truth and love. But why isn't this happening in the world today? That is the problem.

The title of my sermon today is based on this phenomenon. There is definitely isolation and separation in the world. Our original mind is always heading toward the direction of unity, but there is a roadblock preventing us from reaching it. In the field of electricity, the plus and minus charges can be prevented from coming together by what is called resistance. How can we get rid of the resistance in our world? If we don't have enough power to get rid of the resistance, we have to find some other way around. Either we have to jump over the roadblock, or make a hole in the middle and climb through, or we have to just attack it, thereby destroying it.

Where did that roadblock come from? If we say that roadblock or resistance existed from the beginning with God -- that concept is called dualism -- we can't even begin to talk about an ideal world, eternal love, or truth. Nonbelievers will say, "There is some roadblock, but we can't explain it." They just have a vague idea. But religious people understand that the resistance came about because of a human fall. We must conclude that this resistance is a side product of history, and if we really work together, believing in God, we can get rid of it. We can destroy and eliminate it, correct?

Human history has shown that no matter how hard we have tried to eliminate the roadblock, no matter how much we fight against it, it always comes back, sometimes becoming bigger and more powerful than before. There must be some power behind the scenes, something sustaining and controlling that roadblock; that is the only logical conclusion. We may call it the devil, or evil, or sin. Then what is this devil, evil, or sin? It is the power that separates goodness from us. We have to understand that this power of evil has always been working behind human history. Even now, that evil power exists with us and among us here.

Who Understands the Situation?

As we know, God is the absolute essence of goodness and power and authority. If that is true, why does God tolerate the existence of that roadblock or resistance? Why doesn't God destroy it? If there is anybody who clearly understands the real reason why evil exists in the world, that would have to be only God and the devil himself. No human being has ever known clearly. You know from your experience in life that when you deal with a lot of people in various situations from a position of authority, you develop an ability to judge or to discern a person's character when you first meet him. But if you don't clearly have that power or authority or ability, you can't have a clear idea of what he or she is like. For example, when the time comes for you to marry, do you want to pick your own spouse or do you want me to match you? You want me to pick your fiance for you because you know that I have more knowledge and much more ability and power to evaluate people.

Satan is always working hard to stop God, to try to isolate God from man. At the same time, if there is anybody who is trying to get close to God, Satan always comes in and tries to destroy that person. How can we get rid of this Satan who has always been trying to confine God and destroy men's lives? We have to somehow tie up Satan so that he won't be able to move. That's the only thing we have to know how to do.

Let's analyze the difference between God's characteristics and Satan's characteristics. There must be something totally and entirely opposite about them. Everybody knows that God is the owner and master of truth and love. He is never changing, never deviating, forever eternal, unchanging, and unique. Then what are the major characteristics of the devil? We can say that the essence of Satan's character is falsehood, false love, cruelty, and brutality. Another key difference between God and Satan is that God always exists and works for the sake of the whole, for the largest public purpose, whereas Satan is always self-centered and individualistic, existing only for himself. Furthermore, God exists for eternity without changing while Satan is always changing. Satan is always shifting and deviating; he is always temporal and without an eternal base. So we can sum up that God is the master of the whole and Satan is the master of the individual, the self. He is the self-centered master.

Ye Jin Nim sings during a celebration at East Garden.

Ye Jin Nim sings during a celebration at East Garden.

Are You a Public Person?

When you think about yourselves, can you say that you are a completely public-minded person, completely living for the sake of others? If you are, then no matter how many roadblocks you may encounter, you will still be able to reach God. But if you can't say that you are that kind of person, then Satan is just watching and waiting along the narrow road, ready to catch you. What is a public man? A public man is the one who has public eyes, a public nose, a public mouth, a public mind, and public sense. Think about yourself. Are you a public person or not? You leaders of the Unification Church, what do you think about yourselves? When almighty God looks at you, He sees a man trying to build a path for his life down just one avenue. God can't claim this kind of life because that is Satan's possession.

Of course, a public man has five physical senses; however, each sense is focusing on the public purpose. For example, what his eye is looking at, or what his ear is hearing, is always centered on the public goal. What is the public goal? The public goal is that which works toward creating goodness for the whole. What is a satanic man? He looks just like the public man. He has two eyes, but he sees things differently with each of his two eyes. He has two ears, but he may hear one thing with one ear and another thing with the other ear. He has a mouth, but he speaks the way he wants, without thinking about God. That is a satanic man.

Which way is easier for you -- the public way of life or the private, individualistic way? There is no doubt that living the public way of life is much more difficult. The self-centered way of life is just free and easy. There are no restrictions or regulations; you go as you feel. From that point of view, do you think you belong to Satan or God? I can't believe you when you say "God." You are laughing, so that means you admit that it's true! So which do you choose -- the easy way out, or the difficult way?

The world today is in turmoil, being pulled by both God and Satan. Therefore, if we want to save or restore this world, the entire population has to choose this difficult way and be united and work together. Then we can eliminate the power of Satan and make this world beautiful world of harmony.

The hope for mankind is for some person or group to appear in history that can block Satan's influence. Satan is the one who creates the roadblock between man and God; but if a group of people can begin to create a roadblock between Satan and man, that is the world's hope. That is why we see two distinctly different groups in this world. One group will go after self-centered goals, and one group will even be willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the public goal.

Man has to find this public-minded way of life. But it is a very thorny path. Who is going to show mankind that this thorny way is the right way? Only the religions have been doing this. That is why religions teach, "Don't live for yourself; sacrifice yourself for others." In Satan's dictionary, there are no such words as "love," "sacrifice," or "service for others." He knows nothing about those things. However, in God's dictionary, those are the key words. Those are the words that fill up all of God's books. They are like kings of words. When you read the Bible without understanding the essence of the words "love," "sacrifice," and "service for others," you may get tired or bored. However, if you fully understand those terms, you will really enjoy reading the Bible and will be completely inspired.

Which aspect of you likes those words -- your mind or your body? Of course, your mind likes them because your mind is connected to God and shares in His unchanging and eternal character. However, the body belongs to the realm of change and therefore is connected to Satan and the secular world. We can say that the mind is the stage for the public w y of life and the body is the base for the individualistic way. The mind is the base for God and the body can be the base for Satan.

If we see some delicious food, the body may say, "Hey, go over there and grab some before anybody else comes in." But your mind will say, "No, wait for the others to take some and then take from whatever is left." In this particular example, we can clearly see God's side and Satan's side. If we just follow the body's desire, the evil mind will continue to grow. But if we follow the mind's direction, would the evil mind continue to grow? If our body completely unites with and follows our mind, this kind of evil inclination will gradually disappear.

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A Simple Conclusion

When we look at this fallen world, we can draw a simple conclusion that whatever the body likes most is the thing the mind likes least. Shall we just follow our physical desires wherever they lead, or shall the mind be our leader? Should we be a mind-centered or a body-centered person? You know the answer. But you don't really understand. You may understand this in the morning, but in the evening you forget. Then when nighttime comes, since its dark, you totally forget! This is a serious point.

No matter how evil, confused, or fallen the world is that surrounds you, the very key to solving this evil is within you. Even the liberation of God, or whatever other problem there is to solve, is up to you. Do you understand?

You are separated between your mind and body, aren't you? Then what is separating you? It is Satan. You may not be able to see Satan directly, but when your eyes want to look at something bad or your ears want to hear about somebody doing terrible things, then you must immediately realize, "This is Satan." When you recognize that kind of evil situation, your original mind will cause your heart to pound and you will tell yourself, "Don't go anywhere near that." However, if your original mind gives up and becomes sick and weak, this can lead to your destruction.

If you don't know that God exists right behind you, you may be swayed easily by satanic desires or action. But as long as you understand that God exists in reality, then even though it's difficult, your original mind can give you the strength to fight against that evil direction. You can do this because you have the confidence that God is supporting you in the struggle. God is an absolute being and He can control everything, whereas no matter how strong the power of your body may be, you cannot make it continue to live forever. The greatest thing in this world is knowing God's existence. You have discovered that, haven't you? Do you know that absolutely?

As Moonies, we may have walked a very thorny and difficult path up to this point -- so much persecution, so many roadblocks in our life. However, we know that God is with us, and because of that power we can always march forward and survive, even though the satanic world tries to isolate us. We have been fighting against that power, following the True Parents, and we are still here. When we feel our body being pulled by evil desire, at the same time we can feel our original mind centered upon God, and our heart starts beating fast. Then we feel afraid of that evil, and we start doing everything we can to avoid it. Because of this very phenomenon, we can find God's existence within ourselves. That is the power of God. He is working through you, and through each person. You can find God not just through Rev. Moon, but also through yourself. Of course, I am teaching you and bringing you the truth; but you have to practice it and make this truth substantial in your life. Then you can find God's existence and power within yourself, not just through my words.

The members applaud Father after his speech.

The members applaud Father after his speech.

Your Original Mind

So, do you just think God exists, or have you discovered God? When you say, "I know God exists," that may just mean, "I've heard about God's existence from somebody else." But when you say, "I've discovered God's existence and power myself," that means you have put all of yourself -- your effort, your heart, your mind and thoughts, everything -- into discovering God, and you have finally come to the conclusion that God and His power are real. Where do you find God's power and God's existence? Within your original mind. Right there is where you should start developing yourself. That is the very place from which the family, the nation, the world, and the universe will develop.

When Jesus Christ said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within your mind," he meant the original mind. Do you think that once you possess the Kingdom of Heaven in your original mind someone else will be able to come and steal it from you? If you become the eternal owner and possessor of such an original mind, who can ever take it from you? If somebody comes and kicks you because he wants to steal this treasure from you, you may be thrown against the wall, but then you will bounce and land in a place too far away for Satan to kick you again. Then you will gain the momentum to run back and force Satan back even stronger than Satan kicked you!

When I was sent to Danbury prison, instead of becoming weaker by being there, I became even stronger. Did America make me great, or did I do it myself? I do not embrace America because it is great, but I embrace America because you Unification Church members are here and you are following me. This is a great thing. This is eternal.

Judge Yourself First

When you see people doing bad things, before you criticize and judge them, you have to look at yourself as if you were a mirror of that person and judge yourself. No matter where you may go or what situation you may face, if you feel that a situation or a person is more public-minded than you, you should be able to humble yourself and respect that situation or that person. That's the public way of life. If you do that, you will become greater than that particular situation or person because of your humility.

Why do you love me? You know I am more public-minded and am living a more public life than anyone else, so you realize, "As long as I follow in Father's footsteps, I will be adopted by him, so I will go the way he goes." In a way, you've got your mental calculator going, adding up all the spiritual profits, right? There's nothing wrong with that. It's heavenly business!

There is so much talk today about liberation. The Soviet Union claims, "We are going to liberate America." Americans say, "We want to go and liberate the Soviets." All of this talk, however, is fruitless; nothing will take place unless and until you solve the basic problem within yourself. What is the position of Moonies then? Are you going to be liberated by democracy? Are you going to be isolated and separated by communism? We have the keys and answers within ourselves. So the Moonies' claim should be this: "Neither Russia nor the United States can isolate me or liberate me. I will achieve liberation for myself because it is within me."

Think about how much separation and isolation has been brought to bear against me. Satan has tried every possible avenue, working through individuals, through your nation, your society, and the world. But Satan always failed. When I came to the United States and started my public life here, this country tried to separate and isolate me, but that failed. Now I am the winner and I am able to isolate and separate the influence of individualism from America.

If there were a collision between my head and America's head of individualistic, secular humanism, which head would get cracked first? What is my secret enabling me to win over this entire country? As I have already told you, I have the secret within myself. I can contain and embrace the entire world within my original mind. The United States government has given up opposing me. The British government sued the Unification Church, but in the middle of the court litigation, they dropped the charges. The same thing happened in France and Germany. That means they recognize their failure.

But there is only one country which is still trying: the Soviet Union. The Soviet Politburo gets daily, up-to-date information on my activities and whereabouts. They are trying to stop me and destroy me. But their problem is that they don't know how to deal with the spirit world, while I do. If you don't know about something, you can't bring victory out of it. The Moscow government may say, "We have wealth and power, so we will be able to destroy Rev. Moon." But they don't know that the spirit world is powerfully working on our side, so there is no way for them to catch up with me.

Father and Mother with their new grandson Shin Gil Nim.

Father and Mother with their new grandson Shin Gil Nim.

Have Confidence in Yourself

In order to bring success, there has to be a cause or motive. Where is that motive? You must say, "It is within myself, so nobody can take it away. Isolation will disappear in my life and liberation will come automatically. Satan will be destroyed and eliminated." We will find and follow God. Who will do that? Every individual must do that. You can't say, "The Unification Church will do that." You must say, "I will do that" I can trust myself, but you always change and sway from nighttime to daytime. I just have a small hand, a small fist, but it has great power. No matter how powerful the force of evil pitted against me may be, just one punch from my small fist will destroy it. Do you want to have that kind of confidence and power, too? After this course of isolation and then liberation, only victory will remain. Do you want to become a victorious person?

Considering my physical age, you may say, "Father, why don't you just settle down and enjoy your life?" But I am always very busy, traveling between Korea and the United States. The day I left Korea and arrived here in America was the same day that President Reagan decided to send American troops to Honduras. Also it was the day that Lt. Col. Oliver North got indicted. Satan is using this turmoil to separate and isolate the American people from the side of goodness. Who do you think can unite the American people centered on God? Each of you should say strongly, "Me!" When you say "me" in Korean, it means "beauty." So your "me" is precious to the entire world. Then God will say, "I will give myself, my love, and everything in exchange for you."

You may say, "Well, this life in the Unification Church is so difficult that I feel like giving up several times a day." Is this kind of difficult path wonderful or just mediocre? How many times have I gone to prison because of my mission? Think about it. An innocent man has been persecuted and accused and somehow ended up being put in prison six times. Later on, nations will come out and repent and be ashamed for what they did. Think of how wonderful that day will be.

How wonderful "me" is! You really have to think that way, having that kind of pride. Without such confidence, you cannot move. Are you like that? Do you give your promise, your pledge, to have that confidence? If so, accomplishment and success will be with you forever. Let us pray.


Our Standard of Devotion

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Home Church and the Battle of Love
1/7/79, Belvedere

Before we can even talk about home church, we need to win the war between good and evil within ourselves. Do you think the person who is defeated in the individual battle will be very successful in home church? The person who is already defeated by his own fallen nature is like a mortally wounded soldier. If he gets up and tries to do home church, he will only become an obstacle there. In order to succeed in home church, you need to have first won your individual battle. You need to be strong, healthy, disciplined, and absolutely determined. That is the only way you can move on to the home church providence and bring results.

The person who can say, "Father, I have disciplined myself. I can control hunger and sleep and sexual desire," is ready to march into home church.

If you cannot say this, you cannot win the battle, because you don't have a weapon with which to fight.

The 360 homes you are going to visit are full of temptations. You may feel, "They are eating good meals while I am hungry, so why should I serve them? They are better off than I am. Why do I always have to go out so early in the morning and come back so late?" There are all kinds of men and women trying to tempt you out there. You are facing a poisonous atmosphere every day. How can you go on like that, suppressing your own desires? It is because you want to win the victory of true love. You must be able to say, "Even though I am hungry and tired, I will accomplish for the sake of true love. I will overcome all sexual temptations in order to be victorious in true love."

In the confrontation between good and evil within yourself, are you confident you can beat Satan? Is it an easy or difficult task? It's almost as painful as dying. Therefore, unless you firmly make up your mind even to die to achieve your victory, you cannot win. Your first battleground is yourself; then you can move on to the second battleground--home church. If your battle within yourself is difficult, how much more difficult do you think the battle in your home church will be? Don't take it lightly. The road to perfection is very difficult.

You must set the highest example. You know what kind of criteria you must establish: Love home church more than you love eating or sleeping, more than you love your parents, your husband or wife, or yourself. Love your home church with all your heart and soul and mind.

God is the root of love, and home church is the fruit and harvest of His love. Therefore, love God more than anything else. When you come to the throne of God, you want to be able to proudly say, "God, as Your representative, I have loved my home church, which is a symbol of the whole world. Now I want to come back to You."

Whether or not you can create your eternal happiness depends on the outcome of this war. Will your intensity in your battles bring better or poorer results? At first, people may not welcome you, thinking, "Oh, that Moonie is always bothering me, sometimes coming even twice in the same day!" But the time will come when they will say to you, "Please come over more often. Teach us more; discipline us." The time will come when people will let you come in any time of the day or night. Three hundred and sixty house keys will be jingling in your pocket as you walk. You must win that much of their trust and love. If you can do this, then there is certainly hope that the Kingdom of Heaven can be created on earth, because trust is the foundation for building the Kingdom of Heaven.