The Two Worlds Of Good And Evil

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
February 15, 1981
Belvedere International Training Center
Tarrytown, New York
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

If I said that you were all very evil, you would be upset and hurt. On the other hand, if I said that you were all good people, you would feel happy. The problem lies in knowing what is a genuine definition and boundary of good and evil in the world. Everything can be divided into good and evil; for example. there can be good eyes and bad eyes, good mouths and bad mouths, good hands and bad hands. There are good homes and bad homes, good policies and bad policies, good food and bad food. There are good countries and bad countries, good men and bad men, good ideology and bad ideology.

We conclude that if you want to become a good man then you have to deal with nothing but goodness: you have to have good eyes and ears, good food and good thinking. If you deal with evil or bad things in any way. the consequences will be evil. If you have a big, beautiful, seemingly perfect apple, but it has a small rotten spot somewhere. it will still be classified as a bad apple. One rotten spot spoils the whole thing, so that the apple cannot be totally good. Anything that is not good is bad. Then what is the definition of good? Goodness is liked and aspired to by everyone.

Many people who drink a lot will ask, "what's wrong with liquor'?" But the general consensus is that hard drinking is not good. Eating food in the right amount serves a good purpose, but overeating will hurt you. From what standpoint can you evaluate which members of a family are good'? Again, we have to come up with a principle defining the boundary between good and evil.

Where do good and evil begin? There are two schools of thought in our world today, one which says that men are fundamentally good. and the other which says that men are basically evil. What, then, is the origin of goodness'? First, goodness is something perfect. In the human body, all the organs and limbs have to be perfect. Suppose you are perfect physically, except that you have a minor deficiency in the brain. Compare that to a man who has a perfect brain, but whose body is abnormal; which is perfect? In order to be perfect, your brain, limbs and appearance must all be complete.

Perfection must come both internally and externally; also, your relationships with the surroundings must be harmonious. The complementary relationships of internal and external, self and surroundings, must all be perfect. When we speak of a world of goodness, we envision that in such a world everything else also starts to turn at various angles and speeds, but they are all harmonized in working for a common purpose. That is perfection. The electric power that runs the motor will bring all the machinery into harmony.

What is the basis for differentiating between the world of good and world of evil? Does it begin with two different people or with the division of one person into two parts? There are men and there are women, but each person also has an internal part and an external part.

A central characteristic of evil is that it is changeable in quality. An evil person is always changing, and will betray you, stabbing you in the back. Even though you trusted him, he will betray you. An evil man has two tongues, speaking of something, in a favorable way one time, and another time saying the opposite, depending on which will benefit him.

It is a delicate question to say whether it is man or woman who is more likely to have a changeable character. What is the greater possibility? In evaluating all the circumstances, I have to say that women are more susceptible to being changeable in nature. Women usually never miss out when good times or good things are being pursued. Men may be content to wear one decent suit day in and day out, all year long, but women always want to wear a new fashion. Just about all the men here are wearing the same style clothing, but the women are wearing all kinds of blouses and dresses, in all kinds of colors and shapes. The men's world is just one dull color. but the women's world is like a flower garden.

It can be said that the men's world is like the soil and the women's world is something growing above the soil. Thus, women are more susceptible to the changing world of evil; that's the way things were made. When we see all these things, and then read in Genesis that the fall was initiated by a woman, it is a convincing idea. Women paint their nails, and on the street you see nails of all different colors. I know that if fashion dictated that a women have ten nails of ten different colors, it would catch on like wildfire, overnight. Women pay attention to those things.

Men, however, are not so wise that they avoid following women. In our world today do women follow men, or do men follow women? It is feminine nature to want to be colorful, in a way sending out an invitation by attracting attention. A flower is colorful and has fragrance so that it can attract insects. The nature of men and women comes out very distinctly when they go to a department store. A man will just stop by to pick out a tie, but a women wants to shop around in many places before she buys one specific item, and in the process looks at many different departments. She is looking for strategic weapons to make herself more colorful, to send out better signals.

The function of a flower is to attract the attention of insects. Men are always replying to the signals that women send out, and men are always duplicating the changing nature of women by responding to those signals. This nature is apparent in the Bible, which says that the first woman committed sin, and then tempted Adam. He, in turn, just took the apple and ate. Do women usually do that to men, or do men usually do it to women'? Eve sent out artificial smiles and messages; that is most obvious. You may be wondering why I always give the women a hard time, but think about this and then say whether it was a man or woman who sent out the false signal first. It was a woman.

When we observe a nation and say it is very colorful, what we mean is that its women are colorful. Men would say that a house only needs painting every few years, but women would like to see it a different color for every season! When you first enter Germany, your impression is that it is a sober, dark country, with little that is colorful. Even the women wear dark, uncolorful clothes. When you come to America, however, the feeling is entirely different. America is always running after a new fad. and women are always at the head of the line.

I am not saying that the women's world is bad, while the man's world is good. Within the world of women there are both good and evil. Some women are always on the lookout for something new, exciting and fun, while the other group might be trying to preserve tradition. Which side would be closer to good or evil? Certainly tradition has a more unchanging quality, so it represents the good side. There are all kinds of national traditions, but which should be in the center?

Again, there are two worlds in tradition, one good and the other evil. What tradition should a person pursue? Do you want to preserve internal things, or follow external things? Without question, you want to pursue an internal tradition. We commonly speak of a "man of conscience." Men of conscience have life, and also love. Tradition should be based on the qualities of conscience, life and love. Is life or love to be preferred? Each person preserves his own life, but you cannot perfect love within yourself alone. You need a circuit, so in order to perfect love you must associate. Do you think the power of love could unite society and the world, or would it have to be the power of love? It must be love, but love should be added to life because love needs energy.

Where should the root of life be, then? Your life is the fruit of the love of your mother and father, coming vertically down to you. Thus, the energy of your life should be directed toward love, becoming a seedbed of love. Your parents' love is consummated in your life, so your life is spent searching after that origin. Also, you must associate with people in the society to consummate your love. You are pursuing the tradition in which your parents' love created your life, so your life is directed toward fulfilling love which will bear fruit.

It is not the energy of life which will make society ideal. Only the power of love can allow man's ideal to blossom. Love is the common goal of every person. Everyone loves love. Do you need food more than love? You eat food to preserve your life, needing the power of life in order to give energy to your love. From food you get energy for life, and it will be directed toward the blossoming of love.

Not only man, but also all things of creation are pursuing love. What would be the ideal for men of conscience? Men of conscience always value tradition highly. Where do they base that tradition? They thrust the power of their lives into culminating and perfecting themselves in love. If that tradition is erected, it should continue for eternity with everyone recognizing the value of it. Do you think God would spend much time pondering whether it should be approved, or would He give His approval right away? Without question, God will always give His stamp of approval to the tradition that bears the fruit of love.

What is an example of the unchanging quality of love? A good man is one who upholds the unchanging quality of the tradition of love. The tradition of love can be utilized on the individual level, family level, on earth, in spirit world-everywhere. It is valued universally. A man of love is accepted as a good man on every level, including spirit world.

What kind of person is God? Certainly He is a God of conscience. Have you seen God's conscience? We say that God has a conscience because we are men of conscience. We are only resultant beings, so certainly God, the Creator, must also be a God of conscience. We feel that the energy of life will blossom and bum into love, and our ambition is to fulfill love. If we think so, then our first cause, God, must think so, too. Do you think you can meet every criterion of the universe with love? You need love.

How much money do you think should be paid for love? I understand that there is a 517 carat diamond in the British Crown. Would you swap love for it? If the most expensive diamond in the world told you to come to it, you should reply, "You are only my ornament. You come to me instead." The power of life and love is priceless. When your eye is shining in the power of love, that eye is priceless. If you have eyes of love. all visible things of creation will want to be perceived by your eyes, saying, "Look at me first!"

If you have the power of love, all sounds will want to be heard by you, competing with each other to enter your ears. All smells and fragrances of the world will compete to enter your nose. If you have the power of love, all food will want to be chewed by your mouth. Even though the food will be crushed by your teeth, it still wants to be connected to the power of love through you. Food would rather enter the mouth that represents the power of love than continue as it is. All the fish in the oceans would rather leave the water to enter the mouth that represents love.

Everything wants to be a prisoner of love. The ultimate satisfaction of everything in creation is to be caught by true love. Mankind is part of the creation of God, so we too find ultimate satisfaction in becoming a prisoner of God's love. We want to enter the mouth and ears and eyes of God. We want to be tools of God by becoming prisoners of His hands. Why is that the ultimate satisfaction'? There is nothing greater than God's love, and by becoming His prisoner you are becoming part of His love.

What is the tradition of value that will last for eternity? That tradition must be based on love. Do you think God needs law? The primary purpose of law is to protect. Do you think the Kingdom of Heaven should have a constitution? It will be based on the life power of love. The most fundamental center of value is the life power of love, so all heavenly law is designed to protect that tradition forever.

The fundamental unchanging characteristics come from God, and He values the life power of love. Thus, these are the foundation of the creation. The whole universe is designed to promote or perpetuate these qualities. Love is never self-centered. but is always for others. The purpose of God's creation was selfish in a sense, for God wanted to have joy. but essentially God's sweat and labor went into making His object perfect and comfortable. God needed an object. because the law says that love is for others. God needed some "other" on which He could exercise the power of His love. Even God needs an object to fulfill love, and man was created in that position.

The whole universe was built to give joy to man. Do you have a deep, poignant realization that God created this whole universe as a gift to you? He created it for you because He wants you to be a subject of love, with the creation as your object.

Suppose you have created some objects which you enjoy, but someone else passes by and is so charmed and intrigued by what you have made that he wants it. When you see how that person feels, you feel the impulse to give it to him so that he can keep loving it. If someone loves your creation more than you do, you want to give it to him. That means God takes after you!

This analogy applies perfectly to this universe. If you see a cute little mouse that God made, or a soft kitten or puppy, God would say. "Please take it home with you and enjoy it." All creation is here to be your object and give you stimulation of love. Everything is a masterpiece of God's, and when He sees that you love what He made more than He does, He will love you for that as well. God can't help but love you in that case.

When you are loving the things God made, He will be following behind you. Don't you think He will want to hug you then? When you feel something behind you and you turn around. God will be there to embrace you tighter and tighter. When He squeezes you so that you plunge into His heart of love, you will feel deeper and deeper joy. When you get a heavy dose of God's love, you will be completely intoxicated, and when you come out you will stagger around! Then God will say, "You see how powerful my love is?" When God sees His son stretched out in heavenly joy, He will say, "Amen! This is just what I wanted," and He also will be stretched out in joy. He will feel perfectly satisfied to see His child enjoying His love. The more there is intoxication in the love of God, the more perfection will increase. This universe should be the world of people drunk in God's love. Then even if people are kicking around or Lying in the streets, it won't make any difference. That is the ultimate state which God, man, and all things of creation have been looking forward to.

Now we dig down to the very origin of good and evil. Anything contrary to this principle is evil. Once we know what God is really looking for, we know the definition of the worst Satan; that is any power or person which is designed to destroy the life power of love. Even though good and evil are not clearly defined in today's world, people generally know that the family and nation are good, for they are the stage where love can blossom. In the family the virtue is filial piety; in the nation the virtue is patriotism, for instance. On the world level, the life of a holy man is a good thing to achieve. Even if people don't know specifically what is good and evil, they still have a general idea.

Your life came into being through your parents' love, but your life doesn't know whether it has love, so while you are growing you must listen to your parents. It is through them that you will learn what love is. When you are fond of your father and mother, ultimately your love will go up higher, returning to God. the origin. A frequent question is whether the chicken or egg came first; actually they are the same thing, for everything returns. The seed goes back to the fruit, which goes back to flowers, and returns ultimately to its origin.

Why should you love your parents'? Because they are a rung on your ladder to God. You are a center of the circle of love which begins with God and continues through your parents. Together you are one team. As the center you will learn the pattern of love, and then create your own circle by finding Your mate and having children of your own.

Love brings unity. Why do you love your brothers? Because by loving them you are bringing God into your circle. It is in the family that you experience, practice and perfect love; it is your workshop of love. When you coordinate your family unit with others, you are creating a society, which is an even greater workshop of love. This principle works just the same in the nation. Thus, love in the family expands, becoming a nation, world, cosmos, and finally becoming one with God.

A heavenly man is living this virtue and tradition, in the life power of love on the individual level, to the family level, society, nation and world. There are no boundaries or resistance to hinder you in running this way to the love of God. When you have this heavenly quality within you, you can make yourself at home wherever you go, for your God is the God of every nation. It is the life power of love which will thrust you all the way to the top.

You already have life power within you, but to spur you on further, love must strike a spark within you. Love power is like the electricity which turns the motor. When it starts to turn in the power of love, all kinds of love and beauty are created in our universe, through the harmony of many things turning in many directions.

This is a hypothesis, which you have not seen in action, but hearing it makes you feel good, doesn't it? Still you want to try it because you have heard nothing better. If you knew it was a proven truth, would you bet your life on it?

There are many national Church leaders here this morning, and they may tell their members that everything should be done through the national leader. But the real question is whether those leaders are becoming powerful in love. If you are powerful without love, you are only a tyrant. But if a person of love is on top, he can dig all the way down to the absolute bottom. That person has total freedom and nothing will stop him, so he can go all the way up and down with absolute liberty. Even if he goes all the way down to the bottom of hell, everyone there will love him. He can go all the way up to the throne of God, and he will be perfectly acceptable there.

Perhaps a leader will tell his members that they should report everything only to him, so that he can tell me the good things, but keep the bad things from me. Maybe he thinks he can do anything he wants and the members should obey him. Energy and power are fine, but if they are exercised without love, you create nothing but hell. You should be listening to God and listening to me. Maybe the national leaders think they are infallible and their power is sacred, but that is no good. They should be totally obedient to higher authority, and only then can they have the authority to guide their members. The Divine Principle and God are trying to lead the Unification Church to a certain goal, but even within the Church there are influences trying to lead people in the other direction. A national leader should be like a sacrificial parent who works harder and suffers more than the children. If you become a personification of the love of God then even though you go down, people will lift you up high and the universe will lift you up.

Always shed tears of love. There are two kinds of tears- tears of sadness shed in tragedy, and tears of love and joy. If you are really crying out in the joy of love, so loud that you even wake up the world, that is good. Sometime it is love to hit or bite a person. If, when you are centered on love, you become controversial, it will be a dramatic, heroic thing, not an evil thing.

We have been talking about tradition here. In many ways people today follow only external traditions whose internal meanings have been almost forgotten, so young people aren't very attracted to them. Young people couldn't care less in many cases. If they heard about the tradition of love and conscience this morning, however, they would want to follow it. In religious history there has always been emphasis on service and sacrifice; they are the methods of living the tradition of love. In addition, we have certain external traditions, such as fund raising and witnessing.

Do you just like the internal traditions but not the external ones'? How can you prove that you have the internal traditions, but not the external ones? How can you prove that you have the internal tradition if you don't have a diploma to show'? To become a Ph.D. you have to start in elementary school and get good grades all along the way. Once you get your Ph.D. will anyone want to see your elementary school certificate? No, they will take it for granted. In the same way, in the Unification Church you must be certified. You need a fund raising certificate, which testifies that you have loved all things of creation. Your witnessing certificate testifies that you have loved people.

You must be a Ph.D. in loving men and all things, and with that certificate you are eligible to have your mate. No one would want to marry you until then! Does any woman want to marry a man who has no certificate or qualification? It is in the home that you actually practice love of all things and of people. If you don't already have experience in that area then you don't know how to build a real family.

When you fund raise, you work with unselfish dedication for others. When you create your family. you will do things for your family, your clan, society and nation. Fund raising is basic training for this, for that same spirit is extended in loving your society, nation and world. Then that tradition will be built into society. MFT is the best place to practice this. so all members must go fund raising. You don't love all things for your own sake, but for others. This is the beautiful tradition you must learn.

In fund raising you bring money from the secular world. Here in the Church we spend the money to save people in the fallen world; thus, the money is actually going back to those who gave it, creating a circle which will get bigger and bigger. The money you earn goes back to the nation, to the world, to the universe, and to God. Each time the material will serve a greater purpose.

In witnessing, you are loving people instead of material. The countryman who opposes you is still better for you than the foreigner who welcomes you. There are many obstacles to working in other countries. Even if your own people oppose you, at least here you have complete freedom, and you speak the same language and can talk to them. You have the same customs and background, so you can be grateful to be working with your own countrymen. Eventually, however. our mission will expand to include other countries. In the witnessing process you are seasoned by experiencing love difficulties. Then when you become a family man, you automatically know how to overcome family difficulties and you won't give up. Compared to what you experienced, your family will look like heaven!

You will have only one savings account with your spouse, not one for the wife and another for the husband. It is a good tradition when the father can ask his children to contribute their own savings to help in a family emergency, but it cannot happen if the husband and wife have separate accounts and can't touch each other's money. If parents fight, can they show their children how to love each other? When the parents are in love and are totally united, the children won't know what someone is talking about if he asks whether their parents fight.

In fund raising and witnessing you are getting the basic training you will need to build your home later. Maybe our white brothers are having a new experience here in sharing rooms with their black brothers. But through having that experience it seems natural later on if they have black wives. Once you find mutual respect among white and black, finding harmony between white and white seems more than natural. When you live in harmony with great extremes, it is easy to find harmony between things that are similar. I keep encouraging you to think about marrying someone of another race, so you are adjusted in your thinking by the time blessing comes and you can accept anything gratefully.

In every facet of life there are two contrasting worlds, but only one power can harmonize them both-the power of love. With that power you can willingly sacrifice yourself for your fellow man. You might think you will lose everything by living this principle, but the universal law is such that when you live this principle, the power of love will replenish everything.

In living this principle, instead of always losing energy because there is so much opposition, I am richly rewarded by young people who love me. When foolish people come against me, wise people will support me. When rich people oppose me, poor people will unite with me, and so on. If white people hate me, ethnic groups will love me. I am always amply rewarded.

What do you like about me? You like the life power of love. When you hear me, you feel some power coming to you, and you want to be grafted to me. We have come now to understand a real definition of good and evil. My ultimate declaration is that wherever the life power of love works, the power of God's love is always dwelling. When you go away from the power of that love, it is as though a vacuum is created which Satan will come to fill.

The Cain-and-Abel principle in restoration is based on this understanding of good and evil. Abel brought an offering to God, where the life power of love was contained. Abel's road is to link up with the power of God's love. Being the subject of the Abel world, my effort is to bring all good things to the altar of God through the life power of love, making a genuine offering that can be accepted by God.

On every level, Abel is continually offering to God both material and people. These two things should be connected to the life power of love, for otherwise they cannot be accepted by God. When you truly represent the life power of love, you cannot be self-centered, but are always living for others. If you are truly balancing the whole, you are naturally in the center. In every facet of our lives we are dealing with the world of material and the world of people; our way of dealing with them is in the life power of love, whether in religion, culture, economics, education, and so forth.

My activities are not just religious; this is why people say I am an industrialist, a scholar, a movie maker. I deal with every facet of life in this same principle of love. Even if I go fishing, it is never to enjoy myself. I am never apart from my fundamental mission. That is why even tuna are attracted to me!

The leaders are the first group of people who should practice loving the members more than they love their own families, so in this 120 day training they can practice this principle by loving each other. There are all kinds of members in this workshop, so I told the workshop director to mix up all types of people in the teams. I may make it a rule that they change rooms every day. If they know they will only be living in their room for one day, maybe they won't care so much about keeping it clean as if they knew they would be there 120 days. I want to find out. Do you leaders think you need training, or are you already perfected?

When this workshop was announced, I heard about all kinds of reactions. Some of the leaders thought their Church family would fall apart without them, but I think that without them their Church family may have a chance to survive!

I am always living most naturally in two worlds, both high and low, moving back and forth between them. When Col. Pak was in South America last summer, he met and was entertained by presidents of seven nations. He was given a great deal of honor because he was my aide, and told me that he felt at that time how great I was. But when he came to report to me in Morning Garden, he couldn't find me in the house. Finally he found me at the bottom of the back yard, working with several members to fix a rope for fishing. In my life I have embraced both extremes of high and low. God's will is to bring these two extremes into harmony, and only God's power can do this. A true Moonie is the personification of the life power of love, so we can bring the two worlds together.

Those who can say, "I really know who I am. I will be living the life power of love to bring the two worlds together," raise your hands. Thank you.

History Of The Providence Through Restoration By Indemnity

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
February 10, 1981
World Mission Center
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

The words in the title of my sermon this morning are household words to us, but no one else can understand this language! Today we are talking about history in terms of salvation. Very few people know the real meaning of salvation, which has been hidden in the heart of God. The reason that only God knows is that man fell before he learned the truth, before he had a chance to know about this. Throughout history, God's most elementary job has been to educate people and liberate them from their ignorance.

Even if we know the truth, however, we still cannot have salvation without fulfilling certain conditions. Ever since the fall of man, the reality here on earth has been completely contrary to God's own wishes. Therefore, without paying the debts of history, man cannot come out of that position.

We can take an example; a person who commits a crime and is sent to prison cannot come out again until he has made restitution for his crime. Until he clears away his past misdeeds, he will not be freed. This kind of indemnification used so frequently in society must also be done to rectify the crimes mankind has committed in the past.

What is the true meaning of indemnity? The problem is human capability; there is no way for anyone to be capable of paying all mankind's debts. That is the reality. Thus, there must be a special law to give salvation to people, for without a special dispensation there is no way anyone could be saved. God is asking for all of us to pay a certain amount, to be applied toward the total we owe. By meeting that condition, the entire amount can be indemnified. That is the basic principle. For example, God may specify a length of time-one year, ten years, or whatever-by which all the debts of the past can be indemnified.

God is always setting up little conditions so that everyone can have a chance to receive salvation. It is very good for us. However, there is a struggle between God and Satan. Satan is insisting that God can't do that, so some compromise must be made. Satan's goal is to force man to pay a great deal of indemnity. His ulterior motive in doing that is to give man so great a burden that he can never finish it all, thus ensuring he will remain enslaved to Satan. On the other hand, God is trying to make man's burden as light as possible so that everyone can complete every requirement.

God's argument is this: "Satan, when man was originally created you couldn't even put one finger on him." Then Satan will reply, "God, I already knew that. However, you made a rule that once someone is governed by love, that relationship can go on for eternity. I won man by love, even though it was illicit love, so our relationship has to be eternal." But God will argue back, "Satan, I created mankind and they are my children. You took them away by an illicit relationship." God is speaking out of truth, but Satan is also basing his argument on principle.

God and Satan had to compromise, and the decision was finally made that whomever man loved most would win him. Thus, in order to come to the side of God, man must make a condition to separate himself from Satan and come back to God by his own will. This is important-it is not by force but by his own will that man can return to the side of God. Satan agreed that God could have man only when man loved God more than he loved anything else.

Then they argued about the length of time. God said, "Let's give them a one year condition." Satan insisted it had to be ten years. Finally they compromised by agreeing not to talk about time, but only about which side man loved most. The standard of love alone would determine everything. Then Satan said, "God, you don't mind giving man a hard time. I can give as much as ten years hardship condensed into one year. " Then God gave him the go ahead.

Ever since that treaty was made between God and Satan, any man who attempts to return to God has to overcome Satan's tests, trial and tribulation. This is why anyone living a truly religious life has had to face the desperate bottom of human existence, the place where a person could even die. This is why Satan was successful in defeating many good people; because they could not withstand such hardship, they surrendered to Satan. For a person to be victorious, he must go through several stages to reach the final goal. No one can jump from the lowest place to the top in one jump. Everyone has to go by certain steps.

We begin our journey as a servant of servants. Then we are promoted to servant; then promoted to adopted son; then become true son, and finally become ruler of the universe. On every level certain conditions must be set. You must pay certain indemnity as a servant of servants in order to escape and go to the next level. Actually, according to Principle, God cannot directly deal with the position of servant of servants because the archangel was the servant of God. Furthermore, the servant is the angel, so when you start out as servant of servant, Satan can treat you any way he wishes; you can't have any will of your own. The servant of servant position was passed down unfulfilled from Adam and Eve, to Cain and Abel, to Noah and finally to Abraham. In Abraham's time, history finally advanced from the level of servant of servant to the servant level.

Abraham's dispensation lasted three generations: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob wrestled with the angel all night at the ford of Jabbok, and ultimately Jacob prevailed over him. By setting that condition, man was promoted; by Jacob's being victorious over the angel, man came out of the servant of servant position up to the servant position. Thus, the history of Israel as the chosen people began with Jacob.

What is the rank of the chosen people? The nation of Israel was in the servant position, not quite yet in the son's position. In the ideal world God wants to dwell with His own son and His own grandchildren, not with His servant. To come up to another stage, the chosen people had to wrestle with the satanic nation and prevail over it. That process began when Jacob's descendants entered Egypt, where for 400 years they struggled against the foreign power. After 430 years, they came out of Egypt. They were coming back to create a heavenly nation in the land of Canaan as preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

For what mission does the Messiah come? The Messiah comes to confer the title of son of God to all people, starting with Israel. To gain that title, those in the servant's position must go through the position of adopted son. That nation is also meant to move to the worldwide level. In this case, Israel was a colony of the Roman Empire. First it had to liberate itself from the bonds of its master, which was the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was very powerful, and it was virtually impossible for a small nation like Israel to free itself and conquer Rome. Therefore, it was part of the dispensation that God had been weakening the Roman Empire and making it possible for Israel to conquer it.

During that time God had also picked His champions. John the Baptist was a great man who traveled around his own country, spiritually arousing the people. What was the Divine Principle role of John the Baptist? He was like a bridge between the roles of servant and son, so John the Baptist was in the role of adopted son. Everyone else was still in the servant's position. By uniting with John the Baptist, everyone could instantly elevate themselves into the adopted son's position, in preparation for becoming sons of God. By uniting horizontally with John the Baptist, they could be elevated one step higher. The ultimate mission of John the Baptist was to win the people's hearts and take them to unite with the Messiah.

In that period 2,000 years ago, three different roles were being lived; first, the Jews in position of servant; second, John the Baptist as adopted son; and third, the son of God, the Messiah. There was a distinct vertical chain of command which God intended. The son of God should take command, and John the Baptist must unconditionally obey and listen to him. At the same time, all the people in the servant's position must also unconditionally obey John the Baptist because he was one level higher. Together the Messiah, John the Baptist and the people of Israel were to struggle against the Roman Empire, just like Jacob wrestled against the angel at the ford of Jabbok.

If that movement had been successful, then with Jesus Christ as the commander-in-chief there shouldn't have been any division between Abraham's children, such as there is now between the Arabs and Jews. After all, the Arab nations are descended from Abraham's son, Ishmael. In those days, God's intention was to unite all Arab people and the Jewish nation. The Roman Empire was their common enemy, so when Israel stood up to fight Rome, all her neighbors, who were also under Roman oppression, were supposed to unite with Israel against their common enemy. Together they could have won a most spectacular, dazzling victory.

But history did not take that route. No one united with the Messiah. John the Baptist went his own way and the people of Israel also went their own way, and the son of God was lonely. They were all divided, never united. Jesus came as the Messiah to win the people, starting particularly with John the Baptist. When everyone betrayed him instead, Satan scoffed, "Jesus, you have no one around you. You are no longer the Messiah. You really failed." Satan accused him directly. Satan said, "Even you, Jesus, should listen to me. I will control you." Satan became that powerful and arrogant.

John the Baptist was not completely opposed to Jesus initially. At the Jordan River he testified about who Jesus was, telling the people to look at the Lamb of God who had come to bear the sins of the world. If John had failed completely, without making any testimony for Jesus, then Jesus would have had absolutely no ground to stand on. But in the sight of God a small condition was made when John witnessed once to the people about who Jesus was. Then even if Jesus was crucified, on that small foundation Jesus could be resurrected, restoring all the nation at least up to the adopted son's level. Even after the crucifixion Jesus had the power to do so.

It was tragic, but the reality is that after the crucifixion of Jesus, the history of Christianity was the history of the adopted son. After his physical death, Jesus was resurrected spiritually and has been leading the way to spiritual salvation, opening the way for all men to reach the adopted son's level. Without the living Christ as the commander-in-chief, the chosen people could not easily conquer the Roman Empire. Instead, Jesus' disciples suffered for 400 years, and only then finally conquered Rome. Their suffering and tribulation was enormous. You have no idea how much suffering they went through.

When you go to Rome and visit the catacombs, the underground cemeteries, you can see how first century Christians lived. In order to preserve their lives they had to go down to the cemeteries to meet secretly, surrounded by dead bodies. But through their perseverance and sacrifice, they finally prevailed and restored the Roman Empire. That began the history of Catholicism.

Again, no matter what they did or how much they suffered, they could not achieve any more than spiritual salvation or the level of adopted sons. Jesus Christ never gave anyone else the title of son of God. He was only in the role of the spiritual Son. Physically speaking, there is no foundation even for the servant or adopted son, for Jesus had won only a spiritual victory. Christianity then received the task of preparation for the coming of the Second Messiah. Because Jesus' job was left unfinished, the Second Coming became mandatory. The Christian world was to physically create the realm of adopted son, upon which the new Christ could come and prosper.

For 2,000 years, therefore, the work of Christianity has been done only in spirit. However, we can really fight against Satan because our rank is already that of adopted son, which is higher than a servant. Even an adopted son has a right to receive inheritance. The servant, however, is always controlled by the master.

The spirit of Christianity made the foundation for modern-day civilization. Today the United States is the center of world Christianity, and its role is to complete the final chapter of God's providence for the coming of the Messiah by making the spiritual foundation upon which the physical kingdom can come. That is the ultimate destiny of Christianity. The modern dispensation will duplicate the providential pattern of 2,000 will duplicate the providential pattern of 2,000 years ago; what we need is a physical John the Baptist, and a Messiah living on earth.

By uniting with Jesus Christ, Christianity could be elevated one step higher to the position of adopted son, but all other religions remained in their same position. In our day, the various religions hold different positions in the providence, such as servant of servant, servant, adopted son, true son, and finally the religion of parents. The religion of adopted son is Christianity. Buddhism, Islam, and Confucianism, all fit into different levels. God's desire is to have all mankind come together and receive the one Messiah. The Messiah is not coming to one particular religion; He is coming for all men and all mankind. That was God's desire. This is why in the end there must be a movement for the unification of all religions.

At the same time, the ultimate satanic ideology will come into being. That is none other than communism, which is the common enemy of all religions. The satanic side has one religion, which is communism. On God's side, there are many kinds of religions, however, so when the Messiah comes, he will bring the religion of true sonship and the religion of true parents. The Messiah's job is to raise all religions to the level of the religion of the parent. There is no more beyond that.

According to logic, everything that happened 2,000 years ago on the spiritual level will now be duplicated physically on the world level. There should be a modern-day Roman Empire, for instance. Israel as the chosen nation was a part of the Roman Empire, so there must be one small nation today which is connected to the modern-day Roman Empire; that small nation will play the major role by bringing a new ideology and religion to the world. Also, that small nation will have to go through incredible tribulation, being completely overrun by satanic forces and gradually conquering them.

The United Sates is the central Christian nation, but America is not the physical foundation of national sovereignty on the heavenly side that Israel was. For the United States to have such sovereignty, it must liberate the country which parallels Israel of 2,000 years ago, and find the new truth.

From 1910 on, Korea was ruled by Japan. Imperial Japan brutally dominated Korea. Japan was seeking world domination, and was responsible for starting the Pacific war. From the dispensational point of view, however, World War II was fought in order to liberate Korea. Before Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910, a great many American Christian missionaries had gone to Korea. They planted the spirit of independence and made a deep connection between Korea and America. The imperial Government of Japan hated that very much and wanted to cut that connection. That is another aspect of why World War II began in the Pacific.

Japan was very ambitious and sought to dominate all of Asia, invading Manchuria, then all eastern China, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines. The nation most troublesome to Japan was Korea because Korea was always trying to be independent, and Korean Christians maintained their links with the United States.

At that time Japan felt that no nation could stop the Japanese expansion, so the Japanese military government concluded that it could cut off Korean agitation by severing its ties to America; therefore, Japan attacked America. No history books in America or Japan record it this way. That is the truth. The Japanese totally surprised America with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Historians have speculated about why they made such a blunder, but now you know.

American Christianity played a great role in planting a strong political ideology among the Korean people. Nowadays there is much criticism of me by American people and media, who think I am playing politics. But who started the politics first? Your missionaries in Korea. Actually, in history, Christianity has often been used as a political tool. The United States and Great Britain have to admit that. The Third World doesn't trust Christianity because they feel that missionaries are coming as the agents of some imperialistic American or British government. They do not open their hearts to Christianity because that religion was used so many times to justify colonialism. Satan used that tactic first, but this is also God's tactic, so it is not necessarily bad. When you become the prey of Satan's infiltration, your destiny would be hell; but if God uses the same tactic then you benefit by it, so it is actually a good deal. The people who are jittery about American Christianity don't know this particular truth. Even if the American missionaries were somewhat political, the people would ultimately receive some benefit.

When the allied powers defeated Japan in World War II, Korea was liberated in 1945. Korea is comparable to Israel of 2,000 years ago. By Korea's becoming one with the United States, American Christianity will for the first time have a physical foundation. That's why I left Korea to come to the United States. President Reagan is the fourth American President I have dealt with; at the same time, Reagan happens to be the fortieth President. This is not a coincidence. Four presidents represent four generations, so this will indemnify the 4,000 year history of the chosen nation. Even the American hostages came out of Iran after 444 days. Everything happened in multiples of four.

The hostages were symbolic in dispensational history, and through their suffering of 444 days, indemnity was paid for America's dividing Korea at the end of World War II, and for her standing by while the free world became weak and communism expanded. To indemnify the failures of America as a Christian nation, 52 Americans suffered as hostages.

President Reagan is God's chosen president, so I supported him all the way. Within eighteen hours after Reagan became President, he declared that the first head of state to visit the Reagan White House would be the President of Korea. This was very surprising to many people; after all, with all the many powerful nations in the world, why pick little Korea? This meeting of the presidents was like a declaration that Korea and America have a common destiny. This is also a big bonus for Japan. President Reagan will undoubtedly tell Japan that after having an easy time in the last two decades it must now participate in the defense of the free world, and in particular of Korea. Thus, Korea and Japan will also be linked in one destiny.

When the three nations come together, what is actually happening in the dispensation? First, we'll see the emergence of the physical adopted son nation, Eve's nation, and then the physical son nation and father nation. All the dispensational components will come into place on the physical level. Who is going to make this unity? Korea? Japan? America must do it because America is the archangel country, and archangel is supposed to be the heavenly servant and messenger. The archangel was the rascal who caused the division between God and man, and between Adam and Eve. Therefore, in restoration, the archangel must play a major role in bringing them together into unity. That's why America will play this role between nations.

By the end of the Carter administration, the free world was so divided and demoralized that there was little hope. The communist world and the Christian world were also declining. America had become helpless, like a sick elephant. During that period, the American government, Korean government, Japanese government, as well as Judaism, Christianity and all the religions of the world, and especially communism-all came against me.

The most dramatic symbol of that world opposition was our battle with the Fraser committee in Congress. Whether they liked it or not, many liberals were utilized as agents for communist strategy. But ever since we won that battle, all the liberals are being turned out of office. It was a dramatic turnaround. You know what happened on November 4. Almost from the very day President Carter was inaugurated, I had to speak out against him. This time, however, the picture is different.

It is truly a historical victory that I pronounced at the end of my 21 year course. During my three seven-year courses I had sole responsibility, but now, upon this victorious foundation, I can announce three seven-year courses that will be walked primarily by you. Your job is very easy compared to mine because I have built a big highway; all you have to do is follow my example. I fought on the worldwide level, facing the American government and facing communism. All you have to fight for is victory in your home church. That is your world. I have been accused and persecuted, but your day will be different. Later on you will not be persecuted any more. You will be welcomed by the people.

All these years I have been thinking of one thing: how can I make providential history perfect and complete? I began in the servant of servant position. Before I could inherit the Christian heritage, or the adopted son position, I went down to the servant of servant position and worked upward, paying all the debts. My battle is twofold. First, I had to go through an incredible spiritual battle, and then the physical struggle. In both struggles I prevailed.

I received my mission when I was still young. From the age of twenty to thirty I paid indemnity and developed the Principle. This parallels the period of Jesus growing up, the adopted son's period. At the age of 25, I began working for the unification of Korean Christianity. In those days there were quite a few John the Baptists who bore testimony to me, but just like the John the Baptist of 2,000 years ago, they all disappeared.

Because all these people left, I had to do everything myself. I laid the foundation for the new church, which is our church, then upon the spiritual victory moved forward to erect the physical foundation. By the time I reached the age of forty, I was completely victorious and invincible. From that point on I could give blessing to the world. I went through many critical, difficult points, many times coming near to the same point at which Jesus was crucified on the cross.

In 1960 I declared the three seven-year courses, determining that in 21 years I would indemnify the entire 6,000 year history of restoration. That was also equivalent to the indemnification of America's 200 year history. Together my 21 years and America's 200 years were to indemnify the entire 6,000 year old history of God.

If President Nixon had been a man of bolder faith and had listened better to me, America would not have declined this far. America's dispensational history was supposed to be complete by 1976, but had to be prolonged another four years, to be complete by 1980. For many years I predicted all this, preaching like a voice in the wilderness to awaken the nation. Finally, America has awakened. Now America has a government chosen by God, and it must turn around to be bold and strong, and march forward to stop the expansion of communism. That is what the Reagan administration is doing.

What God wants is for America to stop the expansion of communism. Only the United States has the power to do that. If the United States fulfills that part of its responsibility, we will finish the rest of the job. For the first time the United States has wakened up and is turning around to stop communism, so internally this is our day. When we march forward together in the next four years, we will win an incredible concluding victory in America and all over the world. There will also be many people coming into the Unification Church. There will be so many people that you won't know what to do with them all.

By the year 2,000, the work of God here on earth shall be complete. In that year, I will celebrate my eightieth birthday. As you know, Moses started his mission at the age of eighty and marched toward the land of Canaan, the Symbolic Kingdom of Heaven on earth. When I reach the age of eighty, I will indeed start the glorious march toward the physical kingdom of heaven on earth. You can believe what I am saying today because 21 years ago when I announced the three seven-year courses I said that in 21 years we would have the worldwide foundation. Now we have members from 127 countries, people of all colors worshipping together in living color. When I announced one incredible thing after another, the Korean members thought I was crazy. Today I am telling you about the year 2,000; can you believe it now? Today you say you can believe it because things are entirely different today compared to 21 years ago.

The era of individuals welcoming me is over, and the time has come that nation after nation will welcome me. Presidents of nations will ask me to come to their countries. The United States may not welcome me until very late, but many other nations around the world will say, "Reverend Moon, please come. " At that point the American government and people will realize how precious it was to have me in this country. Now the time of preaching to groups of people is over. The time has come for us to preach to the nation. The Yankee Stadium, Washington Monument and Madison Square Garden crusades were all done by our organization, but the time will come in the near future that each government will prepare such a stadium rally. They will prepare a microphone, speakers and singers, and say, "Reverend Moon, can you come and speak to us? " Furthermore, this is the era of satellites, so my talks will televised to many countries.

Will you go to your home church with that kind of excitement, or would you do it out of duty? Would you like to do your home church work before such national rallies are held, or after? Unless you do it now, other people will come and take over your home church. The president and government officials will want to do home church, and they will kick you out of your area.

I tell you this absolutely clearly: you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven without going through home church. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me." But I am saying, "I am the way, the truth, the life and love, and no one comes to the Father without coming through home church. " The book of Revelation says that at the end there will be 144,000 people gathered together, and they will be lifted up into the Kingdom of Heaven. But what the revelation is saying is that in the end we need 144,000 home churches around the world, through which we will be lifted into the Kingdom of Heaven.

So far, history has been the history of indemnity, and everything we did was to pay the debts. Therefore, for every step you take there is opposition. When you go to the home, there is home opposition. When you go to the level of society, there is social opposition. When you go into the nation, there is national opposition, worldwide opposition and cosmic opposition, all simply because we have been walking through the era of indemnity. We are repaying the debt by receiving opposition. But now all that is past. The incredible persecution of the past 21 years is over. From now on, everything you do will build up. You shall not receive the same persecution I received.

Whether the Reagan administration accepts you or not doesn't make any difference. Here in this congregation I see the future President of the United States, future Senators, Congressmen and Governors. To create such a foundation of victory for the sake of God, I have made my life one of sacrifice, like a lamb on the altar offered in the name of mankind. I had no such thing as a personal, private life, or a youth of enjoyment and travel. Everything was completely given up for the sake of God. It has been almost as though I were a criminal who had sinned against God. For the sake of mankind I took the burden of history, paying for the sin of the world. I thought that I was the most deeply indebted person, and until I paid off the debt that I would have nothing for myself. Now it is paid in full.

Considering the pressure and burden of the mission, it is a miracle that I have survived this far. I could have died many times over, but if I had died, there would be no more kingdom, no more hope and no victory. But today we are celebrating the great victory that I survived under those adverse conditions. Many times I used my own life like a bomb, throwing it into the enemy camp. Only because God protected me could I survive. If I had fought with only my own strength, I would have been dead a long time ago.

Now your job is a small one: 360 homes. You don't have to go through the tribulation I went through. All you have to do is conquer your home church by love in seven years. Then you will be entitled to a victory equivalent to what I have won. Complete and consummate your mission within your lifetimes. Don't drag it down to other generations.

I want to warn you that the second stage is always the most difficult. You are in the second 21 year course. Abel, the second son, died, and Abraham's second son, Isaac, was almost killed. Adam was the first stage, and Noah the second stage. Of Noah's three children, the second son, Ham, made the mistake. Jesus was the second Adam, and he was crucified on the cross. That's why I warn you that it is not going to be easy, but it can be done. It is relatively easy for you because you have removed yourself from where Satan can accuse you individually. Until just recently you had to wander all around to find just one person. Now you don't have to do that because you know where to go.

For over sixty years I have gone this path. You can do it in six years. In the Unification Church, home church is your lifeline. This is where life or death is made, where victory or failure is going to be made. I'm sure from time to time you will have lots of difficulties and sometimes you will become despondent, but all these things will blow over.

For the first time I can pay some attention to my own children. I never paid attention to them before now. The True Parents' children are the representatives of all mankind, and when they suffer and are unhappy, it means that mankind is unhappy. To preserve their well-being, I had to assist the well-being of mankind. It is your turn to liberate me. Will you give me liberation? So far, when I traveled it was always for the mission, and I would always take leaders around with me, so I neglected my own children. Now I will take my own children and embrace them. When you finish your home church dispensation, you can do the same with your children.

Right now you suffer and you have an abnormal situation. Some blessed couples are sending their children to their parents, or to the nursery, but they will not be shamed. Outside people will accuse you by saying that you don't even take care of your own children. Never mind. The time will come when your home church people will embrace your children and want to take care of them. That is beautiful.

Why have my wife and children come last? We must love the Cain world first. Love your enemy first and then love your own family. By doing so you are completely free from Satan's accusation. Not only can Satan not accuse you any more, but Satan will have to obey you. You can command him, "Satan, you know what I have done. Can you duplicate it?" Satan will have to reply, "No, sir."

Always look at God's own history. God always sacrificed His closest one in order to save the enemy. Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God, yet God sacrificed him in order to save God's own enemy. You have your own home church where you will love the people first. Liberate them before you do anything for your own children. When you liberate your home church and then come back to take care of your own children, everyone will embrace you.

Are you ready to liberate me from all by burdens? Instead of liberating me, all the leaders are always bringing me more decisions to make. They still rely on me for more help in finances and inspiration, but that day is over. You should be independent and go ahead like a locomotive. I don't even have one home of my own to dwell in. You may think I have East Garden, but that's the Church's property. Do you want me to have a home of my own? The time has come for me to look after my own children.

Now is the time for you to do home church with all your heart and soul. In the meantime, the true children must have their well-being taken care of for the sake of mankind, for their suffering will reflect the suffering of the nation and the world. When Ye Jin is over twenty and gets married and has children, if she is still going through suffering then it is not good for the sake of this nation, or you, or the world. This is because your children's path will follow the pattern of the true children's course. We have to completely smooth it out and lay the highway so that they can go forward easily. It is actually for your sake that I am now going home to take care of the true children. That is for the sake of the future. While I am doing that, you become front line soldiers. Use your bodies as bullets or bombs, as I did long ago.

The time has changed, and it is exciting because your chance has arrived. Would you accept that challenge? Would you complain? When I go away, don't ask where I am. If I take a vacation, will you mind, griping, "While we are working so hard Father is having a good time somewhere in the Caribbean or Europe? "

I would like to have a resort in 21 different places around the world, and stay about fifteen days in each. It is very important that after the age of sixty I live with glory, comfort and love. If I continue to suffer until I die, all those in spirit world who lived well here on earth will have no place. Even if I choose to drink some wine or liquor, not just from a glass but from a gallon can, Satan has nothing to say. Even if I go to Las Vegas and bet millions of dollars, there shall be no accusation because God has given me total freedom. Satan knows there is no way he can corrupt me.

Eventually that is the level you are going to reach. That is what we call perfection. When you do home church in seven years and really give yourself, the time will come that your home church people will say, "You are father and mother to home church. We will liberate you and take up your mission. You don't need to come here because we shall work harder than you do. Don't worry about us." That should happen now here. You should say to me, "Father, don't come. We don't need you. Go to a big resort and stay with your children and have a wonderful, peaceful, glorious time. We shall take over the battle." Would you do that? Then eventually you will be treated just like that by your home church. Now the time is here for the first time for me to go around the world.

Now I have totally consummated my mission here in America, particularly after the victory of Ronald Reagan. Now that his administration is starting off in the right way, I have truly finished all the restoration history here in America by paying all the indemnity.

The Moscow rally is next, but actually the United States government together with the free world will prepare it. I will just be the principal guest speaker at the Moscow rally. That rally must be sponsored by America and cosponsored by the free world.

Look at the world, where everything is crumbling and decaying. Only our movement is rising up every day. Initially our opponents were strong and full of energy, like barking dogs. Lately they have become weaker. You are the heavenly dogs. You started out barking very quietly, but now you are getting louder and louder.

Now the history of restoration by indemnity is over. The time will even come when your prayer is not necessary. Once the dwelling of God is with men, whom would you pray to? You will just talk to God directly. Once the foundation is established, the pattern of tradition will do all the work-the tradition of serving parents with filial piety, and obedience to the heavenly government. Citizens would automatically be elevated to the Kingdom of Heaven. That is the dream world, the utopia man has sought for so long. That day is at hand.

Amazingly, the most glorious chapter of human history has been written by the Moonies, who have been so misunderstood and mistreated. Those Moonies played the leading role in consummating human history here on earth. That is incredible in itself.

From your standpoint, I am like a shining sun, but the rest of the world thinks I am the worst kind of devil or monster. When the showdown is made, which observation is true-your observation or theirs? The lies and falsehood will eventually disappear, like the darkness disappears when sunrise comes. If we are living the truth, this will prevail throughout the world.

Once the home church system is completely established, we really don't need any formal organization. The Divine Principle will be taught in the school system. We won't need Church leaders any more. This is not bad news at all. We have a most glorious life, and with this goal we shall march forward until the last day of final victory.

This year's slogan is "Home Church is My Kingdom of Heaven." You are not doing home church as any favor for me. It is your kingdom of heaven. I don't want it to take you 21 years to finish; everything should be over in the first seven years.

God keeps asking me to take a vacation, but I keep asking to take it later. When you go to your home church and get pushed down and pushed out, without any vacation, would you complain? There you will receive a certificate of tribal messiahship. After the completion of your home church crusade, you have the right to be blessed. Jesus Christ did not have the home church providence, and he could not have a heavenly wedding. Even though you may be blessed now, until you have completed the home church dispensation you cannot really have a home yet. Make a home church first.

I am completely comfortable and confident that here I have done my responsibility well. Now I can leave America. I had to study English a great deal, and I am tired of doing that. You have a great advantage over me because you have young minds, but at my age learning a language is a great burden. You must learn Korean, however. In home church one of your important duties will be to teach Korean, at least a few words.

When you are ready to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, there is one test you must pass-the Korean language. That's true. Some of you are so clever that you know you need a good teacher, so you volunteered to have a Korean fiancée. Between the husband and wife, there should be at least one good Korean speaker, so that no translator will be needed when I speak. Particularly the heavenly ceremonies will all be conducted by Koreans, so if you don't know Korean, you'll be lost.

In the Children's Pledge, number five says we are proud of one sovereignty and one people. If we are one sovereignty, one people and one nation, there has to be one language. How can we have half a dozen different languages? In one land there is only one language. We are proud of the one language, one culture, of being children of the one True Parent, of being laborers who are going to bring the one world of the heart. We pledge and swear three times to fulfill our responsibility with our lives. We repeat it three times, formation, growth, perfection. Every Sunday morning you say you are proud of one language and culture, but are you living it? All the leaders have not fulfilled their responsibility. Even before I spoke to you this way, you should have done this. When you come to Korea, there will be no interpreters.

From now on, be like pool balls for seven years; when you hit a ball with the stick, it dashes straight toward the goal without deviation. There's no taking a moment to think about it. For the next seven years we will dash toward the goal. In heavenly pool the ball has a different route: when you strike a ball in heavenly pool, the ball will go first to 360 homes, round and round. Then it will ultimately go to the final goal: the Kingdom of Heaven. It starts out from hell, and goes to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Would you be a ball which hits several homes and gets tired, and doesn't want to go any more? Do you want to go to 360 homes? Raise your hands if you want to go. God bless you.

True Parents' Birthday Speech

Sun Myung Moon
February 10, 1981

On the morning of February 10, 1981, Father spoke at length about Jesus' mission and circumstances. "John the Baptist should have unconditionally obeyed Jesus, and the people should have united unconditionally with John," he said. As a result of many failures at the time of Jesus, however, Satan accused him, Christians and Arabs were divided and Christianity could achieve only the position of adopted son. After suffering in Rome, living in the catacombs, etc., they finally restored one nation, after 400 years.

"We are now in the final dispensation," he continued, "where God's desire is for all mankind to receive one Messiah. The Messiah is the one who brings the religion of sonship and parenthood, raising other religions to the position of parenthood as well." He referred to the many times he came near the point where Jesus was crucified. "But now your three seven-year courses have begun," Father added, "and you have an easier job than I. I had to indemnify 6000 years of biblical history in 21 years."

Father said the time of preaching to just individuals is past; now we will preach to the nations. Whole nations will welcome Father. "So then, will you do home church only reluctantly?" he asked. "In the future, presidents and prime ministers will do home church." Father paraphrased Jesus' words in John 14:6, "No one comes to the Father except by home church."

He also explained the number 144,000 of the Book of Revelations as the number of home churches by which we will be lifted to the Kingdom of Heaven.

"So far, we have been paying past debts with interest," he continued, "but people will oppose us no longer." Father said he has survived up to this point only because God protected him. "The second Adam was crucified. It is not easy, but it can be done. You may sometimes be despondent and in pain, but do not be discouraged."

In conclusion, he referred to the suffering and loneliness his children have gone through and said the time has now come when he can pay attention to his own children. He also read the fifth paragraph of the children's pledge. "I am proud of the one language" indicates that members should learn Korean, he explained. "Either the husband or the wife should speak Korean," he admonished. "Then at least one can translate for the other."

The Realm Of Existence

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
February 8, 1981
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

Yesterday, happy news came (the birth of Yeon Jin). The baby had some initial difficulty breathing because fluid had apparently entered her lungs, but she has recovered and there is no problem now. Mother is resting well, too, and the child is really beautiful. Mother had to undergo some surgery herself and there were some minor complications, but it was nothing serious. Just before coming here, I got a call from the hospital and the report is that Mother and the baby are both well and dandy!

The topic of my message this morning is the realm of existence. The balance in human life is so delicate that it can be thought of as hanging on the thread of a spider's web. Think of something simple like inhaling and exhaling. Can you imagine inhaling ten times without exhaling? Even to inhale three consecutive times is not easy. Try it. Inhaling and exhaling are one simple example of the beautiful balance that characterizes all of existence. Balance and harmony exists on a very thin line.

In addition to the respiratory system, our body also has a nervous system and a cardiovascular system. All these maintain a tight, narrow balancing act. For example, if you block one nostril you soon feel difficulty in breathing. Your mouth can't function if you open one side and not the other. If you close one eye and look through the other one, your vision is incomplete and your face isn't symmetrical. From all these examples, we can conclude that we need pairs, or complementary aspects, in our life.

Where does human life come from? It begins from a harmonized base or foundation. Common logic concludes that everything has its origin in harmony. Since we come from harmony and balance, there must be some element that generates this equilibrium. When you study the Principle, you learn that God exists in dual essentialities and that it is possible to determine the subject and object elements within God. This is one of the truly great discoveries in human history.

Everything in life participates in subjective or objective roles; subject and object are needed to form a pair or circuit. God as the fundamental subject of the universe created all things in an objective role to Him. Within any subject a minus or object exists as well; in other words, the subject also contains dual elements. A creation brings forth the object which, like the subject, contains dual elements. In general, though, there are two major categories of plus, or subject, and minus, or abject. These two are supposed to form a circuit of give and take, interacting in a complementary manner.

The cosmos is nothing but the expansion of this one basic truth of the relationship between God and His creation. The universe itself is divided into small entities of subject and object and trillions of them. But the relationship is always subject or plus, and object or minus, and each of these always contains complementary elements.

More than 100 elements have been identified through chemistry. An element is a fundamental substance that consists of atoms of only one kind and cannot be broken down into simpler particles by ordinary or physical means. Each element is characterized by the number of plus and minus particles that it contains. These ions are distinctly plus or minus, not halfway between. The plus-minus relationship becomes marvelously complex and sophisticated and is manifested in all the beautiful aspects of the universe. The variations in the universe come from the different combinations and angles of plus and minus.

One particular person might have a very large plus element and a small minus element. There are always variations, but the basic principle remains the same. Each being encompasses 360 degrees and includes various pluses and minuses, while its composition is unique.

When you draw a line through the middle of a circle, you form two complementary halves, but if you do not go through the exact center, the two sides will not match. When a straight line passes through the center of the circle, balance is created.

Each atom can be broken down into protons, electrons and neutrons. Two kinds of electrical charges-plus and minus-exist within that minute atom, even though it is so small. The atom can be compared to a heavenly body: there is always a center with elements revolving around it. No matter how small the atom, there will be an electron revolving around the nucleus, just like a miniature solar system. The elements of existence can be contracted into a tiny atom or expanded to the solar system and on to the universe. The microcosm and the macrocosm reflect one another.

Scientists today say that the universe arises from energy. But what is energy and how does it exist? Energy itself can operate only within the bounds of universal law. Which is the first cause: energy or action? This is almost like the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg.

I already stated that energy is no exception to the law of existence. Neither energy nor action can be permanent or solid without the fundamental elements of plus and minus. In other words, energy and action are like the effect, or the shadow; the complementary elements of plus and minus are prerequisites to both of them. Therefore, the origin of the universe cannot be either energy or action, but rather the complementary relationship of plus and minus. Within God there is plus and minus and that relationship is found everywhere. When plus and minus create a circuit, the action of give and take immediately arises. Action creates energy, just as the flow of water through a power plant produces energy.

The amount of energy you can exert depends on the size of your object. An extraordinary object calls forth extraordinary energy. For example, when I pick up a piece of chalk, do I have to use the same energy as if I were lifting a rock? No. So you see that to relate to a small object, you need to exert only a small amount of energy, while to move a large object requires greater energy.

The most logical, universal truth is that existence begins with plus and minus, which form a reciprocal relationship of subject and object producing give and take action. Through such action, energy is generated. Scientists talk about energy because it is a phenomenon that they can study. The two elements prior to energy are deeper and may not be recognizable by the scientific method. Plus and minus are invisible and often impossible to investigate in laboratory test tubes. Energy has a prerequisite, but scientists don't usually think that far. They are content to say that the universe comes from "energy" However, energy can produce no action without the two elements of plus and minus, or subject and object.

Do you have love? Where is it? Can you show it to me? You can't see the power of love and you cannot show it. However, as soon as you have an object of love, you can feel a certain power moving within you; you feel love growing. Have you experienced that? Likewise, people may not know whether God exists. He is invisible, hiding somewhere, but as soon as we become an object to Him, we can feel His power moving within us. This is a very scientific method, even though scientists may not recognize it! All action in the universe springs from the dual natures of subject and object; apart from them, no action can take place and no energy can be generated.

We have our ambitions and hopes which must have a direction or goal as their subject. Our aspirations and goals must work together as hand in glove, as plus and minus. People naturally want to fulfill their aspirations and reach their goals because we long to resemble God. When we unite subject and object, we become a perfect object to God and can have give and take with Him. This is our ultimate goal.

The aspiration and goal of all the elements was the creation of the universe. Just as human beings have aspirations and hopes, all things of creation do, too, although on a different level. Without this, they cannot connect to God. All things of creation ultimately aspire to resemble God.

The greatest question in the scientific world today is whether the phenomena in the universe are the result of evolution or whether they were created by someone's will. People want to know whether life originated from some purpose or whether it evolved through random mutations. If evolution is true, who determined its direction? Evolution heads towards a higher state of development. Does each element determine its own goal? Does each being know where it is going to advance next? Evolution needs the input of new energy to develop into a higher state. How does the process of evolution obtain its energy?

Today's science is totally deadlocked in this area. Even if the level of development is different, all things-grass, rocks, trees, etc. aspire in some way to be like God, who exists in dual essentialities. All the things of creation focus on one center and are concentrated into one microcosm-human beings. All the elements of the entire universe were assembled and compacted into one little shape: a human being. Each smaller plus and minus combines into bigger elements, forming higher and greater existences. The basic qualification for being absorbed or harmonized by a higher being is absolute internal harmony and balance between plus and minus. A harmonized plus and minus resembles God, who is perfect harmony.

The Principle states that wherever a perfect plus exists, it will automatically attract a perfect minus. When a greater plus appears, the smaller minus become a greater minus in order to be worthy of complementing the greater plus. The minus grows in stature to create balance. Suppose the minus is not large enough to balance a very large plus; it will assemble another small minus, and with it will grow in stature!

The theory of evolution is merely an external observation of the internal process of creation. Evolution analyzes the phenomena, but internally there is always a will and a goal at work; through give and take action a new and higher being is created. All the elements of the universe revolve around God.

In our body, an individual blood cell does not remain in one organ but circulates all over, from toe to brain. Blood is a harmonizer, traveling throughout the body and blending with all its elements. The nerves also bring cells and organs into harmony.

Spiritual growth can be compared to the educational process. We start out in life as a small being and want to become a higher and larger being since we want to resemble God, the highest being of all. Children go through elementary school but they are not satisfied with that. They want to continue through high school and perhaps go on to college and graduate school. When someone finally obtains a Ph.D., can he turn around and belittle his kindergarten or elementary school experience, or call high school a waste of time? Not at all. Looking back at all his experiences at the earlier levels, he realizes that they formed the foundation for his Ph.D. work and they are harmonious with it. From balance comes harmony, cooperation and advancement.

Communism claims that development takes place through confrontation and struggle, but that is a lie. It is impossible for higher beings to develop through confrontation and struggle. Only balance, harmony and cooperation can make it happen.

With this principle, we can evaluate the errors in the theory of evolution; also we can show that the ideology of communism is based on falsehood. When someone lectures on the Principle, he repeatedly stresses that God exists in dual essentialities. It sounds very simple and may seem easy to think of, but in order to reach that conclusion I had to dig down and search the four corners of the universe.

One of the greatest historical questions has been answered this morning: is our world today the result of evolution or creation? Creation is actually the most logical answer.

All things have a direction and goal; when they aspire towards it and take action, the energy arises which enables them to reach that goal. Thus it is logical to conclude that the entire universe is heading in a certain direction and that there is a will which determines that direction. Somebody set the goal, so movement has direction and all existence has a goal.

Communists talk about a utopia and the inevitable goal of an ideal world according to their "law" of dialectical materialism, but that is pure fabrication. They say that the ideal world can only be achieved through confrontation and struggle, but that is simply a lie. No such goal can be reached through violence and conflict. The Unification Church has a clear explanation: history has been the struggle between good and evil, not between plus and minus, not between the two complementary elements of male and female. History is filled with confrontations between good and evil. How can we determine that? By looking into our own hearts!

There are two types of processes operating within all things: action and reaction. When you consider only the reaction processes, everything appears to be a struggle. When there is action, a parallel reaction automatically appears. The Principle explains this as origin, division and union action. But the authors of communism, looking at the same phenomenon, came to a quite different conclusion. They saw it as a polarization-opposing elements continually at war with each other; and out of that conflict, they said, a new element or new creation comes into being. That is the view of existence according to dialectical materialism.

It is true that there are active and reactive elements, but there are two very different ways of explaining them-either communist theory or the Principle. There is a repelling energy in the universe. God is complete harmony between plus and minus, so He is a perfect being. If some foreign element tries to invade and break up the balance, this perfect element repels it and says, "You are not needed here. Get away" In your own experience, you repel a threat even unconsciously. If an insect flies toward your eye, your hand automatically comes up to stop it. If some person moved toward you in a threatening manner, you would crouch down, making yourself smaller, ready to burst into action. You want to repel any external invasions and defend yourself against foreign elements.

Why does the human body shrink before it expands or strikes out? It is because the universe is like that. God must have built some reactive or repelling energy into the system. Once perfect harmony is achieved, you want to maintain it for eternity. Everything aims for eternal existence; therefore, you have the built in power to repel any threat. You have your own defense department within you! Likewise, all of creation seeks to protect itself for the sake of preserving harmony. This is the beauty of the universe!

You might be thinking, "I am listening to what Father is saying but I am not convinced. How can it work?" The Principle teaches that when our plus and minus aspects come together in complete harmony, God will dwell within us. That is because a completely harmonized being reflects God's own characteristics; that is how God can make His dwelling with us.

When your cells function perfectly, blood automatically flows toward them and the nervous system serves them. A perfectly functioning cell automatically sends an invitation to the circulatory and nervous systems and the life force flows into it. How can you deny it? It is scientific truth. By the same token, when the plus and minus elements completely harmonize, God comes to dwell there.

Thus both a harmonizing or comforting force and a repelling force exist. The first brings everything into oneness- like glue. The second rebuffs any threats to that perfect harmony. It springs into action and says, "Get out of here!" A certain rapport is established between plus and minus, but a foreign element that is not a perfect plus or minus is unwelcome. You enjoy talking with a loving person with whom you have complete rapport; but to someone you dislike or perhaps even hate, you say, "Get out of here!" You don't want him around. The universe operates in two ways: by harmonizing and by repelling, and for both activities it needs energy.

Without being able to observe the whole picture, you only see things piecemeal and notice only the small elements and the repelling action. You can see a lot of struggle and wonder how such things can develop into something greater. But when you observe the whole, you find not only the repelling force but also the more important dimension: the harmonizing and unifying force. Whenever you seek after a greater object or subject, the uniting force becomes greater than the repelling force and it draws you forward.

If you know something about elementary electricity, you realize that two circuits are required in an electrical current: a plus circuit and a minus circuit. Do plus and minus attract or repel each other? They attract. However, two pluses and two minuses repel each other. When plus and minus unite, they resemble God, but plus and plus together do not.

During a summer thunderstorm, great masses of plus energy collide with great masses of minus energy in the air. When they come together, they produce Joyful sparks and an incredible sound. But if plus repels plus and minus repels minus, how can they amass into such a huge plus and such a huge minus? I was studying electrical engineering, and I was going to write my dissertation on this topic. However, I changed my studies to religion and never wrote the dissertation, but I still have a theory about this question. Engineers and physicists do not deal with philosophical questions; they usually just study the phenomena.

I worked out a beautiful theory to show why plus and plus do not always repel but also unite under certain circumstances. If no minus element is present, plus and plus may join, but as soon as a plus spots a minus-a potential "mate"-he exclaims, "Oh-ho! This is what I have been hunting for a long time!" Then he rejects the plus and goes to the minus.

Another good example can be taken from human experience. Before finding their mate, boys are best friends with each other; plus and plus are united in this case. But when one meets the woman who becomes his fiancée, he doesn't want other men around anymore. Once a plus discovers a minus, it is drawn to it as object; that is because their unity will make them more like the image of God. No matter how closely plus and plus are united, it doesn't reflect the image of God. Therefore, when plus and minus unite and then repel others, they are actually giving them a loving push away, an encouragement to go and find their own mate and create their own eternal harmony! That repelling action is a stimulant for others to become the harmonized image of God.

One plus unites with another plus, forming higher and higher pluses, and one minus unites with another minus, forming higher and higher minuses. Ultimately the super plus and super minus will meet, creating the ultimate universal, eternal beauty. One magnetic pole is mankind, the supreme creation, and the other magnetic pole is the universe, the rest of creation. When mankind and the universe unite and energy flows between them, they give birth to incredible beauty and the ideal world.

However, this is not the end of our journey. We continue our quest until we reach our ultimate, invisible subject, God. He is the final destination. When we reach God, we find complete, ultimate harmony, with God as the plus and mankind as the minus.

Once men and women join in perfect harmony, should we preserve it for eternity or break it up? If any foreign element tries to invade it, the repelling force pushes it away and tells it to go out and find its own mate.

When you are sick and in pain, it means that somewhere in your body the normal harmony or balance is broken. Something invaded and upset it, causing a reaction to eliminate the disruptive element. That is why you feel pain. The universal repelling force operates in your body to drive away the foreign invasion and sickness, and the struggle between the two produces the sensation of pain. When somebody hits you, you feel pain from that invasion. That pain motivates you to do something to protect yourself.

If something destructive is not painful, you might keep on laughing and in the meantime be destroyed. Pain is an alarm signal, an emergency warning system. The newborn baby feels pain whenever any critical balance is broken. He or she is sensitive to any abnormal situation. I thought a lot about the laws of existence last night!

We have concluded that we are the result of the act of creation, not evolution. We are the fruit of beautiful harmony. Communism claims to have the ultimate truth, but it looks at the world in little bits and lacks the whole perspective. To produce complete harmony, the universe is composed of pluses and minuses, and their intricate interactions form all the beauty of the universe. There is always give and take between them. A big plus includes lots of smaller pluses and minuses; a big minus includes lots of pluses and minuses as well. Each time plus and minus unite, something greater is created.

We have been talking about all these levels of duality, but you, too, are a dual existence. Within you there is the internal and external, mind and body, right? If there is no harmony between the internal, spirit body and the external, physical body, you feel the pain of conscience. To create perfect harmony you need God, who brings you the power of life. When God dwells with you, you never lack energy. As the dwelling of God, you become a powerhouse, able to continue day and night without running out of energy.

When you fund raise, if there is a battle between your mind and body, you feel fatigued and powerless. But once your mind and body are united, God can dwell in you and you feel abundant energy and vitality. In that case, an individual is like a factory with all the machines running- all the organs are doing their best-and you don't have to worry about them going on strike!

Some members wonder what is wrong with drinking a little alcohol, smoking or taking drugs. Liquor, for example, will only play an invading role and upset your balance, making you commit some mistake. Of course, after you achieve perfect harmony between plus and minus, liquor, cigarettes and marijuana could not distract you. But while you are in the process of growing, you tend to look in all directions and many foreign elements try to woo you. When you pay attention to them, you will be drawn into their sphere.

Take another example: although there is no line between you and me, you feel some pulling power from me, don't you? I may try to chase you away, but you come right back, just like a rubber band! You may think about me day and night, and you feel good because of the invisible link pulling on you. That is the power of life. All living things orient themselves toward the power of life; plants, for example, grow toward the sunlight.

My position is not that of an appointee; you cannot appoint a replacement for me. Someone can represent me, but not substitute for me. Can you replace your fiancé or spouse and swap them for someone else? Certainly not.

It is not enough to do well as an individual; you need a family. The family and its members-brothers and sisters, parents and children-are essential, because by uniting with them you enlarge yourself. In a way, your family is your larger self, and your society and nation are still larger selves. Even the world can be your larger self! Each person wants to become a greater and better being. Without this principle, the standards of value in society cannot be determined.

The greatest of all contributions that I have made to the world is the system of home church. Home church is the base or stage for becoming a larger self, for transforming the individual into the greater world self.

According to the Principle, a perfect plus automatically brings forth a perfect minus. God is the perfect plus of the universe. If I make myself a perfect minus, then perfect harmony will result. If any negative force threatens that combination, universal power will shatter it. If this is not true, then the entire universal law that I have been preaching throughout my life is false. God is the perfect plus, and everything and everyone else-myself, the United States, the whole world, the spirit world-should be in the position of perfect minus. I am taking the role of perfect minus to God so if the United States tries to harm or destroy me, the universal force will make it stop. That is the philosophical conclusion and truth must operate. I have seen proof of this statement.

Representative Donald Fraser, with the overwhelming power of the US Congress behind him, came against me and our movement. I gave Bo Hi Pak instructions to go out fearlessly and fight. Knowing this truth, I took the position of a perfect minus and Bo Hi Pak was united with me. No power under the sun, not even the universal power, can shatter such a relationship. Anything that tries to break the harmony between God and me will be repelled by universal power. History proves this. Who was defeated in the battle with Congressman Fraser? Who was defeated in the battle with the Carter administration? Was I defeated? I ran a beautiful test of this theory-like a laboratory experiment- with Fraser and Carter and I proved that it works.

The same principle is behind my announcement of a rally in Moscow. Everybody said, "A Moscow rally? How could we?" But if this principle is true, the Moscow rally will become a reality when you unite with me and the absolute minus. Yes or no? This is a logical theory and I am not acting blindly. There is logic and philosophy behind my actions. By following this principle, we will ultimately bring the universe and the world into unity. That is our ultimate goal.

When I talk about winning over the world, I don't mean with any sort of physical means. I mean winning over people with love, enveloping them with love. I am constantly urging you to become bigger people and take on greater challenges. You only win people by loving them, by giving greater and deeper service to them. By loving and serving the world, you create a total vacuum, or a perfect minus. High pressure air is drawn to a vacuum, so when you make yourself a perfect vacuum, God will move in. No power under the sun can stop Him.

Please become like perfect, low pressure air. God is the world's ultimate high pressure air, but there has been no corresponding low pressure air. If you become the lowest of all air pressures-a vacuum-you are a perfect minus, and God's high pressure air will flow into you and fill you. That is natural law and principle. I send you out to suffer and endure hardships-perhaps even unto death-not because I hate you, but so that you can become a perfect minus to God.

Opposing elements look for their perfect mate for the achievement of perfect harmony. The universal repelling power never works to destroy someone, but guides them into their complete harmony. Universal power is not a destructive power. That is why we should love our enemy. By loving the worst opposing force, you are actually guiding it into greater harmony.

If you make yourself perfect low pressure air, or a perfect minus, then you become a person of all seasons and all regions. No door will be closed to you; wherever you go, you will harmonize and be accepted. If I walked in on you in your home, would you tell me to get out? Or would you say, "Welcome, Father, this is your room. Come right in" This is an example of how you can become a perfect minus, if I come in as a perfect plus.

In the family, the father and mother are the plus. The children must love them, obey them and harmonize with them. That is the universal law. Because Americans violate that law so much, they have many problems in their homes. The secret to winning the others in your family is to become the lowest pressure air and draw everybody else in. Then all the members of the family-parents, brothers, sisters, and children-can embrace one another. You can become the master of the house when you give more love than anybody else.

The same principle applies to the nation. When you become the lowest pressure air of the nation, you are the best of all patriots. Everybody will pay respect to you, including the president. To create the lowest pressure air, go and live for others; serve others.

Today I have been talking about the universe and its central principle. We know the core of both communism and democracy. What is Unificationism? Unificationism means the harmony of everything through the power of love.

Today we are celebrating the birth of a brand new heavenly baby, Yeon Jin. I know she will be very smart and grow up fast, giving you lots of competition. Are you ready to compete with her? That is the best frame of mind for celebrating her birth.

My children know the universal truth and they pray according to it. You, too, know what to pray for. Then God will heed your prayer. Otherwise, your prayers are just mumbling and bumbling-beating around the bush, in God's opinion.

People say many things about me, but one thing is absolutely true. I am the one religious leader who will make you suffer the most! You may protest, "No, Father, we don't like it,' but it is a good thing. I will explain why. Take your home as an example. If you work harder than everyone else, with a loving heart suffering for the sake of your family, even your parents will come and bow down to you and thank you from the bottom of their heart. By living that way, you become the child of God. Being one with God, you attain God's position in your family.

When Unification Church members shoulder the worst problems of the United States with a loving heart, the entire country will eventually bow down to you. That is heavenly law. You can become the patriot of patriots. In order to do that, however, you have to suffer for the sake of the nation with a loving heart, more than any other person in history.

There are quite a number of patriots in every country, but only a few saints. The saint's scope is different from that of the patriot: he works for the universe and for God. We could describe three levels of spiritual advancement: children of filial piety, or good members of their family; patriots; and saints, or holy people. How high is my ambition for you? I don't want you to become mere children of filial piety. I am pushing you to become saints.

I am ambitiously seeking to take on the worst problems of the universe, asking to bear the universal burden. Is that good? People have had high ambitions and have tried to establish utopian ideals, but no one has been able to accomplish them. I have sought to understand the greatest problems in the world. God's worst headaches are the expansion of communism; the rapid decline of religion; the degradation of youth; and the collapse of morality. These are the major problems of the world. God has been working day in and day out to solve these problems, so I volunteered, "Heavenly Father, let me take up those burdens and solve them for You. Let me come up with a unifying source of hope and a method for establishing a utopia"

This was the motivation behind the International Conferences for the Unity of the Sciences. God's original plan was for people to be perfected within approximately 20 years. I am thinking that if I lead these scientists and eminent scholars for 20 years, they will have reached a pretty good level. Every year they give their unflagging attention to absolute values. When they could find no answer to a certain question, they decided to ask me about it!

All kinds of criticisms and accusations have been hurled against me but they don't bother me. I just persevere and move forward, completely digesting them. I am engaged in a tug of war against communism, confronting it face to face. I tell it, "I will digest you. You can never digest me" I am also throwing a challenge to Christianity, saying, "You need me to revive yourselves, but you cannot digest me"

The adjective most frequently used to describe me is "controversial"-"the controversial Reverend Moon" All right, I am controversial. At least it proves one thing: people pay attention to me. I have become one with God, so when the rest of the world comes against me, the universal power repels them. That clash becomes the controversy. I have a completely logical explanation for all these phenomena. No area is hazy.

I can be calm even in the midst of suffering. If I am sentenced to prison and have to face hardships, I am filled with peace even as I enter jail. I can sleep well, eat well, and even digest sand if necessary. There is never a cause for worry once you know universal truth. I am absolutely confident of my destination, the heavenly world, and I want to take as many people along as I can. I can invite you to accompany me without any doubts, since I know our goal and destination.

To the degree that I am a perfect minus to God, I am a perfect plus to you. Whenever you create the perfect minus position, I will be with you. Whether you are in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East or Asia, whether you are behind the Iron Curtain or the Bamboo Curtain-it makes no difference. I will appear to you there. When you are a perfect minus, I will be with you. Therefore, no one can stop the march of the Unification Church.

The Unification Church is grounded in the truth of this principle. Unless some greater truth emerges, there is no way anyone can push the Unification Church back or put us on the defensive. It will be those who are resolved to suffer more than anybody else, those who try to duplicate my way of life. It doesn't matter whether you have a Ph.D. or Master's Degree and are a great scholar-this principle shall not change. I am setting a new tradition, and those who give themselves to the best of their abilities and suffer for the sake of others with a loving heart shall form the mainstream.

I know this is true, so whether you like it or not makes no difference. I will send you out, knowing that the final result will be glorious. At the end of your course, great blessings await you. You will be grateful to me then. That is why I have no reservations about pushing you now. Do you think I am telling you the truth, or am I trying to win you with cunning and sugarcoated promises? This is absolute truth.

This is why God is protecting me. If it were not the truth, I would have been summoned to the spirit world a long time ago. So many people have wanted me to disappear, to be taken to heaven or hell-or wherever! Many people have actually prayed for my life to be taken away, so why does God keep me here on earth? Regardless of what the entire world might think or pray for, God needs me and the members of the Unification Church.

God has the power to protect you, so you should go forward with a bold and strong heart. Are you a living being? Do you manifest the life force? You should have the powerful life force that can move the whole universe!

When you are fortified with this ideology, no challenge is too big for you. When I first landed here in the United States, do you think I was totally overwhelmed? When you become a perfect object to God, you too can act independently. In that case, you might say, "Father, I don't need the help of you or the church. Let me take responsibility for this country"

You might also say, "I shall become perfected because that is my goal and destiny. I will perfect myself and then reach out to bring along the rest of the church"

When you encounter opposition, it is a test to see whether you can do these things on your own. Without overcoming opposition, you have nothing you can be truly proud of. Because you have learned to withstand and overcome opposition, that is proof that you have accomplished things on your own. That proof is beautiful and dynamic.

During the battles with Congressman Fraser, I was never afraid. I never prayed, "God, I am perishing! Come and help me!" I simply said, "Father, let me do this. Just sit back and enjoy the show and take delight in the accomplishment" This is the way I want to teach to be; you shall become people of dynamic boldness and strength. Don't say, "I have no motivation because my central figure never recognizes my work"; or, "I am discouraged because my fiancé is so ordinary; I don't have the energy to continue" If I ever had such thinking, I would not have gone far at all.

Those who pledge, "Yes, Father, I can follow your principle on my own. I will become a dynamo and perfect myself, helping to create the nation and world which God desires,' raise your hands, please. Let us pray.

Things That Are Important To You

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
February 1, 1981
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

There are many European brothers and sisters here who came for the matching. I'm sure you have found many things about this country that are different from Europe. Now you must decide whether those things are good or bad. Maybe you have found that life here is much more difficult than in Great Britain, or in European life generally. Perhaps you have become nostalgic and you think the simple and easy way of life in Great Britain is best. No? Do you like complicated things?

If you say that a school is good, usually it has an intense and demanding curriculum. Religious life can be compared to going to school. Do you want to join a very simple, easy-going religion? Members of other churches go to church Sunday morning and sit on cushioned seats. All they have to do is write out their contribution card and tithe weekly, and that's it. But here you have to raise funds. Some of you have been kidnapped by deprogrammers. There are incredible differences.

A healthy person can digest difficult things that a sick person cannot handle. By the same token, when you have a healthy mind, you can digest anything: democracy, communism, any philosophy.

What ism is the Unification Church in? Godism. Also Unificationism, which is concerned with uniting things. Do you think that making things united is easy? You have five senses, plus your limbs, and the beauty of each component comes from its harmony with the whole. The eyes don't say, "I don't want to belong to that community. I want to be all by myself."

In the Unification Church we have five different colors of skin coming from all different parts of the world. Our goal is to unite them into one family of man. Furthermore, Unification Church life is complex. It involves not only the Sunday morning service, but all kinds of things, including boat building and catching fish. There are even more fantastic things coming in the future. Later we will go deep into the mountains in the mines, digging miles into the earth for minerals.

What is my goal when I push you into these incredible experiences? I want to make you into people who cannot be defeated, people who are so capable that no one else can keep up with you. Once you totally digest many ways of living, with their hardship and incredible experiences, then you will be great teachers whom people ask for advice.

Ultimately, our question boils down to one central point: Is there a God? There are two contrasting "blocs" in our world today. One is the democratic world, or the free world, and the other is the communist world. The basic differences between them are rather simple. People in the free world assert that everything starts from the invisible world of the mind, or God, while communists insist that matter is the essence of everything. This is the fundamental ideological difference between them. However, in the free world today many people are not aware of the existence of the mind, or spirit, since it cannot be seen. When they get up on a cold morning, they feel they need warm clothing, not spirit. If they need an overcoat, they think about mink or sable. Are high quality, expensive things easy or difficult to come by?

If there is a God in the universe, how important He must be. If God were only useful for supplying daily meals and necessities, what kind of a God would He be? If God were dwelling on top of a mountain, would He be found on the lowest or the highest mountain? Not only would He be on the highest mountain, but on the peak of the highest mountain. If there were one tree on the top of the mountain, God would be in the top of that tree.

Is it easy to discover God? If God has hidden Himself in the earth, would He be just beneath the surface, or in the depths of the planet? If He dwelt in the desert, He would look for the largest desert, like the Sahara. That's the way we reason. Suppose God is in the midst of the Sahara. Even though many people die along the way in search of Him, other people will never stop searching until they find Him. God is that precious. If the most important and precious thing is God, and He is hidden in the middle of the Sahara desert, would you like to go there? Even at the risk of your lives? That is human nature. That is the way man is created. If God is at the highest point of the mountain, people will not stop climbing up until they reach that pinnacle.

If God were hidden in a cave hundreds of miles beneath the earth, then men will dig and dig and will not give up until they reach Him. That's the way man's spiritual nature is inclined. Why is that? In the process of reaching that highest, deepest or widest point, we are overcoming everything in between. We become conquerors when we finally get ourselves to the top. Thinking men always feel they want to conquer something which ordinary people do not reach. It is man's spiritual nature to strive to reach the utmost.

Should God place Himself in a place which is easy or difficult to reach? God should be at the pinnacle, in a position where people can ultimately reach Him only through an extraordinary way.

In what kind of place are we? I really want to give people the most precious thing under the sun. Then should I devise a way of life which is easy to live? Or should it be a path full of overwhelming experiences?

Everyone wants to get a Lincoln, if possible, instead of a Ford or Chevrolet. The most beautiful car is the easiest thing to create in the factory, right? No, the most expensive car requires the most care to make. The auto makers invest extra effort and give it all kinds of tests. The people who ride in the car don't think about how difficult it was to build; they simply enjoy the car. If the person who created that automobile wants a ride in it, the owner would exclaim, "You don't belong here" But if the car breaks down, who is going to be needed? The owner is helpless and has to go to a greasy mechanic. Both the well-dressed rich man who bought the car and the oily mechanic are connected to that one automobile.

What does this analogy mean for Unification Church? Do you want to be the passenger who rides in the expensive car, or do you want to be the dirty, oily laborer who made the car? Anybody can dress up in a nice suit and sit in a nice car, but not everyone can create a car. Dumb Reverend Moon took the difficult road instead of the easy one, becoming the dirty mechanic. The mechanic who had the ability to create the expensive car has nothing to worry about. If the car breaks down, he can fix it. Even if there isn't a car, he can create one. He has confidence in himself.

Many of you are Americans, and Americans are proud of the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, and so forth. But who built them? Dirty, sweaty black men built them. Who designed them? For example, the Trade Center towers in the Wall Street area were designed by Japanese. Americans are proud of these things, but can they build such things on their own? Even if your ancestors were great, working hard to build the things America is proud of, what about you? Many descendants just want to go disco dancing and have a good time. In that case, what can they be proud of?

Young people today are going after fun with no purpose in life. No matter how great their past may have been, these young people will decline. The children of the nation which could build the Empire State Building and the Trade Centers should be able to do something even greater and bigger. Then that nation and people will have prosperity. In the name of Unification Church we will be the people who will be purposeful and prosper. We shall be the remnant.

I was born deep in the mountain country of Korea in a little house. I talked about mankind, the universe, and salvation of the nation. My parents thought I must be crazy. They said, "You are the son of humble peasants. Think about how to take care of the fields, how to raise the animals." People around there couldn't comprehend the things that the little boy was talking about, so they said I was a crazy child, and when I became a little older, they said I was a crazy young man, then a crazy adult.

That crazy boy grew up to be a crazy man, then came to the United States, and is still talking about crazy things. I act like a crazy person. People look at me and say that something must be wrong with my brain. Recently I have been saying that America cannot afford to have Jimmy Carter as President for another four years. Attacking Carter was almost like hitting a stone wall with my own fist. Who would get hurt? Even if my hand got hurt, I wouldn't stop. But finally the stone wall gave in.

From the average person's point of view, my ideas are a little crazy. You are the followers of that crazy man. Amazing, though you aren't bothered by being called crazy men and women. You became so crazy that you gave up drugs, gave up discos, and you stopped any promiscuous behavior. You are liberated from that.

We are looking at the entire world and are trying to do something about its problem. If I tell you to gather on the East coast, you hop into vans and drive all day and night, and in three days you are all here. If one driver's eyes keep closing, someone else will open his eyes and drive.

Do you think I am so dumb that I don't know anything about these realities? You MFT members, for example, go out into the streets every day and people yell at you and spit at you. Sometimes you are even shot at. The best attitude is to go to MFT as a researcher who is studying the people who hate Moonies. I am also researching all the MFT members. I push you out, and in the meantime I study what kind of person you are. The material MFT members get to study is the extraordinary treatment they receive. Some are kicked, some are stabbed, and some are hit. I want to see these records. What makes the men and women who can withstand this remain committed to their purpose?

People do not like to suffer, even for themselves, but here my MFT people are suffering for the sake of others. Not a single benefit comes to them, but they are doing it for the sake of others and for the sake of the world. This is either extremely bad or extremely good; it cannot be in between. Certainly I don't enjoy tribulation. I would much rather go to an easy church. But I discovered that an easy path was not going to bring the solution. An extraordinary route had to be found, and I found it. Once I found that route, I asked you to go all the way and not give up. Do it until it is finished. What you are doing now is becoming dirty, oily car-makers. You have started to build an automobile, so don't stop in the middle; go all the way.

Your MFT record will remain. People will recognize your deeds and your certificate will come. Later, a signature will be placed on that certificate, acknowledging you as a master in your field of MFT, for instance, and then you become a teacher. When you complete a most beautiful car and then you drive it, nobody will say anything critical to you.

Would you rather build a 1981 Lincoln Continental, or buy one from a dealer? If you build one, when you drive it you are not just driving a car. You are demonstrating what you are and you can be proud of yourself. But if you only talk about your idea and never carry it out, no one will trust your word. You may buy a car and be proud of it, but people will say that you are just being snobbish, that you really have no right to be proud. But when you make it and drive it, then you can be proud of your accomplishment and no one will say anything.

The basic difference between you and me is that you would prefer to buy a car from the dealer while I would rather build the car myself. The Unification Church is like that car. I can be proud of it and no one can say I am taking too much credit. However, I am still working on this car because I haven't gotten the certificate yet from the US government, for example. But eventually the certificate will be processed and the signature will be put on, and then I will proudly testify and proclaim it to the people. Then they will say they are ready to hear me.

My ambition is to make each one of you my coworkers in the factory. Are you the auto buyer, or a coworker? That means you want to get down to work, don't you? Doing this hard work means being disciplined, pushed and taught. As the foreman of the factory, I will not compliment you too much. I will always discipline and criticize you instead. This is the only way I can make you into topnotch workers. I want to push you so hard that no one is able to compete with me. I want all customers to agree that the best automobile comes from the Moon factory. Would you like that reputation?

The same principle is being applied to boat making. I told our people to make the best boat under the sun, but to make it the cheapest. The only way they can do that is by sacrificially giving themselves. But through this process the most beautiful boat is created, and no one else has a boat that can compete.

With the same spirit we make a society, a nation. If we Moonies make the best kind of nation for the cheapest price, there won't be room for communism to creep in.

It has been reported to me that there is a great deal of communist activity on college campuses. When our CARP teams stage counter demonstrations, all the communists usually retreat. You applaud when you hear this because you are excited. CARP pushed the communists to take cover so you feel good, but you don't want to exert the discipline that would give you the power to do that. You have to accept the discipline that will make you powerful enough to drive communism back. If with bare hands we can gather the resources to lay the foundation that can save the world, then if we have enough tools and money could we do it easily? If we are that kind of people, the world has no way to compete with me. What we can accomplish is so far above their own standards that they cannot even imagine how to compete with us.

In the fishing industry, for example, I am working on such a scale that no competitor can outdo me. Once I proclaim something, it will echo through the entire country and the entire world. People cannot help but listen. I operate on a simple principle and I have a plan.

Don't look for the easy way out in the Unification Church. Before you are thirty, I will push you down to the dungeon. In that hell you will have to persevere and survive. The rest of the world is looking for the easiest direction, looking for another way to have a good time, but we don't care that those things exist. By following my discipline you can all become saints by the time you are thirty. After that, go ahead and have a good time. You can even grow your hair until it reaches your toes. You can braid it into a rope and connect yourselves together and have a big parade, but only after you reach that saintly plateau.

After you become men of God, you shall enjoy true liberation. But the amazing thing is that no matter how much you enjoy the liberation, you will always be within the Principle. That is what perfection is.

Today's topic is Things That Are Important to You. The most precious and important thing is God. Which comes first-spirit or matter? How do you know that matter doesn't come first? In the morning the first thing you think about is your breakfast, right? You can't show spirit to someone, but the communists can show matter.

How can you prove that the invisible world of the mind exists? Take the eye as an example. Could the eye know ahead of time that it would need moisture to keep it clean and wet enough to function? There is a pipeline beautifully placed near each eye to provide that moisture. Did the eye know it would need eyelashes to help keep dust away? Or eyebrows to divert sweat and rain from running into it? When a baby is born, its eyes are ready for any weather or dust in the air, as though the eye had known ahead of time.

Why does hair come out of the forehead and not out of the cheek? Why do eyelashes grow in only a very specific place? Do you think the eye itself is conscious of such a need? Of course not. Even after the baby is born, it knows nothing about the atmosphere. Do you think the eye knew anything inside its mother's womb? Not at all. The designer of the eye knew about sunshine and dust and rain. My point is that someone figured all this out in advance, knowing what kind of atmosphere the eye would have to cope with. With that in mind, he also planned for hair, eyebrows, ears and so forth.

What if you didn't have hair? Imagine being bald and going to visit the hot tropics with its fierce, hot sun. Some universal mind figured out all of these things in advance. That spirit had to exist before the material world could come about.

This is a very good analogy to use when you argue with communists, who deny the existence of mind or spirit. Just grab them and say, "Your eyes didn't know what they would need before you were born. Did you know? You couldn't talk to your mother even when you were two years old." Even after many hundreds of years, the best eye doctors still say they don't know all the secrets of the eye.

It is completely illogical to say that matter comes first. The spirit is invisible, yet it comes first, and it is the master and subject. We come to the conclusion that all the intricate beauty of the universe was designed by a universal consciousness which is spirit, and out of that spirit all of the visible world was created. You are the effect, therefore, so you have to know your cause. We are talking here about a vertical subject. You are living here in material reality, as men and women with horizontal relationships, but when you are connected to this vertical power, the vertical and horizontal turn around together. Then there is permanent existence. In physics, mechanical principles work the same way. In a motor there have to be four poles; one pair of plus and minus is not enough.

The visible universe has a spirit, like the visible body has a spirit. If some subject designed men like you, is that spirit superior to you? That universal spirit has give and take with all things in the universe. That central being who designed all things is what we call God. People cannot deny the divine knowledge, emotion and will in the universe; we call it God.

If God exists in our universe, what is most important for Him? True love? Where does true love come from? First, there must be life, for without life nothing can happen. You must exist before you can do something. For God, the most important thing is life, but He wants to exist not just temporarily but eternally. Therefore, temporal life is not enough. After life we can talk about true love, the culminating point. Love is not a stationary subject, but is only generated out of a complimentary relationship. Nothing can be perfect independently; it has to have the subject and object together to make a pair, creating a circuit which will generate love. The beauty of the universe is the pair system.

You men and women each have life, and God is the same. Without life nothing can begin. But in order to fulfill love, what you need is the pair system. Love cannot be activated outside of the pair system. Each individual also exists in the pair system of what we call dual essentialities. This too is needed to create a circuit for give and take of love. Think about your hand. How about taking one arm and linking it to your other one to make one longer arm and hand? Wouldn't that be more utilitarian? But that wouldn't pass the examination of love. Even teeth are part of the pair system, with an upper row and lower row. They are always snapping at each other, but they have to be that way within the Principle. Love can only be activated within a complimentary, reciprocal circuit.

The fingers on one hand each represent a season: spring, summer, autumn, winter. Since each finger has three segments, the total of twelve represents twelve months. The thumbs have two segments, so they represent duality. You have two types of nervous system, plus two types of blood vessels.

Before a baby is born, its hands make little fists, with the thumbs inside. The thumb is the number one finger, representing God. The center, or subject, should be inside. In the Unification Church who is the thumb? I should be in the center, and you are surrounding me. All these relationships derive from the pair system, in order to fulfill love.

Do insects have a pair system too? What about the grass and flowers? Everything exists in pairs and they all like love. There is no exception, because God's goal is to fulfill love. God needs eternal life and eternal love. In order to fulfill eternal love, God is looking for His eternal object, so He can live in an eternal pair. Who can be God's permanent object? Only perfect man-A-man. We have two Amens: the Unification Amen is A MAN, but when you pray with others you say Amen.

Eternal life is our goal. Why do we have to live for eternity? We are going to live forever because God is forever. God gave permanent life, for God is pursuing permanent love through the subject-object circuit system. Therefore, we are the objects of God. As much as God is eternal, we shall be eternal. As Moonies, you can be sure you are living for eternity. Many people are having fun today. But from today on, you should have the complete conviction that you will live forever.

So, upon this foundation, our next concern will be ideals. Do you think God has ideals? If you love someone, you want to be proud of him or her. You want to give him a gift, and you want to tell people about him. You want to demonstrate your every capability and be recognized by your lover, don't you? In the same way, when God loves someone, He wants to show off to that person what He has done. "Look at the universe I created," He might say. "Not just the oceans and the mountains, this little planet Earth, but the stars and all the galaxies. Would you like to have one? I'll give it to you." Then His children should feel, "Wow! Daddy, you did it, didn't you? You are really number one." Then they would embrace and become one.

If God had nothing to show His own children, if they only sat together in a lonely room in the empty sky, looking at each other, that would be no fun. There would be nothing to see. You can't even kiss for 24 hours. But they would kiss and then go back to enjoy the world and do some ideal thing, then come back and kiss some more We need an ideal, something to aspire to. God has an ideal. To fulfill that ideal we have a vast universe to travel in.

With this clumsy body you can't even travel to one planet, yet God has created millions of planets. In order to travel around God's world, you have to travel faster than the light, faster than electricity. Unless you have that kind of speed, you cannot travel throughout the universe. You can travel as fast as your thoughts come. If you think about the moon, you have already traveled to get there. That's why God can control the universe. With the power of love, He can travel even faster. Do you agree? Therefore, even God needs an ideal.

We need the four seasons and the changing weather, the great beauty of the universe to praise God for. Some people say they don't like spring, or they like only autumn. Some people say they hate the winter, or the summer. To be in the image of God, you will go through all these seasons. You may like winter, but also you have to go through spring, summer and autumn. Does God like only comedy and not serious drama? Do you think He has a sense of humor? Does He joke with His loved ones? Does He like riding a seesaw, playing hide and seek? If God hides, it means He will disappear momentarily, and then briefly you become sad. But temporary sadness is not bad at all because it gives you additional stimulation when your loved one returns Love is never boring.

Over the course of history all peoples will be treated fairly. Those who had a tragic history will receive glory at some time. Strong nations conquered and controlled small countries, but at another time the smaller nations and oppressed people will conquer the great nations.

That is why I do not come from a big country. I came from the small country of Korea to bring to America the ideology which can conquer. So far in the materialistic, scientific world, America has led the way. But the small country of Korea has a new spiritual ideology that will control the world. It is only fair. History is turning around. These events are not separate from universal principle. Most of the problems of America today begin with the fact that American society is very wealthy. American homes have so much to enjoy that they don't appreciate it. There is no true spiritual love between family members. Therefore, some change must come.

Even the planet earth is breathing. It expands and contracts. The amount of change is very small compared to the size of the planet, but still the earth is swelling and shrinking. Do your body cells breathe also?

Modern-day scientists are trying to prove that without love a human being can be created in a test tube. But in every cell there is life. Do you want to remain forever as you are now on this clumsy earth, or do you want to become the central element of love and live forever without any limitation? Does that mean you want to go to the spirit world very quickly? If God said, "Come on. I want to show you my world and my universe, " do you think you could keep up with God's speed with your clumsy body? Even with the Concorde it would be impossible. Our true body is our spirit body, and our real world is spirit world. This is not fantasy.

God is spirit, and God created man in spirit and body, with the body only necessary to help the spirit become perfected, following Him around and looking over the universe, enjoying eternal life. That's the way God designed it. You may ask why God made this clumsy body in the first place. It was because God is the ultimate spirit, like the north pole. His creation is a manifestation of spirit through material, the south pole. That's man. In other words, man in the visible image of God. The central line along which God can look down to the other extreme is the line of love. God dwells in the center. There, life, love and the ideal are all concentrated upon this line. This is the axis which turns.

You want to live forever, don't you? You want to have love, don't you? You want to have ideals also. All of these things which you crave are concentrated upon this point. Whether you are yellow, white or black doesn't make any difference; this is the universal center for everyone.

God will be proud of His creation when man also rejoices over it. When you look at the grass, you know that God made these beautiful, intricate green leaves for you. When you hear the birds singing, you can say, "God created them for me. Thank you God." Unless you have this fundamental understanding, you won't have gratitude. When you know that God made everything in the pair system, that God Himself is the subject looking for His object, and all of the universe is the object to man, then you know that all things are created for you. You know also that the central spirit behind it all is love.

Who is God and what is God? God is He who created life as a foundation, who is searching after perfection in love and who has a great ideal. You are the object of God, so therefore you pursue the same thing God is pursuing. So, first of all, I must be an eternal being. Once you have eternal life, then what? You fulfill love. Since God's ideal is the fulfillment of love, you want to make that circuit of love with God. Since love is sacrificial and unselfish, you want to give everything to God and God wants to give everything to you. In that respect, you want to own the entire world, don't you? In the spirit of love you can actually do that. God wants to love men, but He cannot love men who are without love. Man must have the capability of reciprocating in love, and then God can freely exchange love with him. Thus, the blessing comes only after men and women learn the value of love and experience that love. From this point of view, we know that the fall of man meant that man became numb to love, totally unable to understand love.

Christians always talk about being saved so that they can have their little niche in heaven. Most of them don't care about the world or about loving people. They don't want to waste their energy on the world. But heaven is not a place. Heaven is love. Unless you perfect your love, and unless you possess God's ideal and practice it on earth, don't talk about heaven. Our salvation means to become a visible image of God from the other extreme of the material world.

If your mind is yearning to go somewhere, then you don't just lie down and sleep. God's yearning is to perfect His visible image in man. In this case we are not the subject; we are only the object. Do you want to live by your will and ideal? By your own motivation and ideal? In America there is too much individualism and people don't care or worry about other people. They only care about their own position, honor and happiness. That means they cannot be harmonized with the universe. In that kind of selfish motivation, the more you move the more distant you become from the universe. You are apart and separate from the universe instead of harmonizing with it.

Every day I am working to cut out all the old ideas and give you clean new ideas. But the old ideas tend to creep back in again! Think about yourself-how many times do you have to keep cleaning out the old ideas? You want me to do things the American way. If the American method would build the Kingdom of Heaven at once, I would be happy to do that. I am a logical person. I look at the truth, and if there is a better and faster way to achieve it, I would take it. Your problem is that you never really threw out the old ideas, but keep carrying them around. But I devised a new way to get rid of them: I will Be you a very narrow gate and a crooked road, and as you go along your luggage will get worn out and you will throw it away. I will push you faster and faster, and soon you will lose your old ideas.

Tell me honestly, those who feel you have to keep washing out all the old ideas, raise your hands. I will push you out the narrow gate to be hardened and disciplined. In a way, I thank the deprogrammers for giving you such a good workshop to find out how tough you are.

When the Europeans come to America, they always have big bundles of ideas with them. German luggage is extra big! Great Britain's pride is pretty large. Do you I will have to leave them alone, or will I cut them away? I could do that, but Satan would accuse. The best way would be for you to leave the luggage behind on your own. Make a pledge among yourselves to get rid of these packages.

When you go door to door, either in home church or on MFT, think of it as visiting one planet. Some planets will give you the cold treatment, and some people will spit at you. When you get very cold treatment, think that this house is a winter season house. When you receive a hot welcome, think that it is a summertime house. That is the way you can rehearse everything in your life. You should be able to round out your character to love all seasons, all weather and all kinds of atmosphere. That is your goal while you are here on earth. By digesting with love everything happening here on earth, you become successful in your life.

Satan naturally has to surrender in the competition of love; Satan has no defense when you practice intense love. Love is your best offense and best defense. You can make it wider and wider because it has no limit. That is the original concept of the creation of God. For the first time in the history of man, the original concept of creation is being followed. We are the first to do that.

Because of the fall, man lost the knowledge of love, and has remained in the darkness of self-centeredness. We have to liberate mankind from selfishness. Wherever you go, your center should be the crossroads where life, love and ideal are concentrated. With it, there is nothing you cannot win. Without it, there is nothing you can win. Therefore, you must always defend these three key points. That has been God's strategy all this time.

Is it right to refuse to visit a home because you know the people are atheists? You should embrace them and be sacrificial toward them. God always sacrifices Abel for the sake of restoring Cain. For this reason I am pushing you out strongly. You are Abel so you must demonstrate sacrificial love to save the Cain world. The more you practice this greater love, the wider your horizon becomes. I have lived this principle all my life. I always forgave the people who mistreated me, and sacrificially loved them. Eventually they were conquered by love, and my own horizons became wider.

Do you think I am very tough, or vulnerable and easy to break? I will never break. You also should have that kind of toughness, so that nothing can stop your life power. Unless you demonstrate that power of life, love and ideal, God will not find any rapport with you. God is eternal and He is tough. When you resemble me in this way, God will know He can trust you and deal with you.

When I issue a direction, how do you answer? Pushing you out and making you hard does not benefit me; it only brings criticism to me. I don't need your fund raising because I do not spend American money for my purpose. I can take care of myself. It is not for my own benefit that I push you.

If someone is trying to take life power away from you, would you just give it up? When your former girlfriends want you to come back, will you say, "To heck with my eternal life. I would rather have fun"? Don't cheapen your life. You cannot swap the value of your life for even the whole universe. Your life is connected to God and is there for eternity. Your life should be full of give and take with God. Do you want to give it up because of one girl nagging you? Can you sell your life cheaply? Even if 240 million Americans come against you, still you cannot sell it. Even if the entire earth came after you, still you cannot sell it, because it is more precious than the entire cosmos, equal to God.

Ungodly love brought the fall of man, and brought death and misery. In restoration, we have found true life, eternal life. To restore the original love lost in the garden of Eden, you should not hesitate to do anything. It is your pride that you are persecuted, condemned, and spit at for the sake of restoration of true love. You are doing things as important as God is doing; God created original love, and now you are restoring it into wholeness. How great that sacred job is. Until God and the world are united in rejoicing over God's one principle, I shall not relax one minute. No matter what, you must defend the central point where life, love and ideal all come into the center.

The Unification Church is pursuing that kind of eternal life and that kind of God-centered love and ideal. The world is our stage. Unless we are victorious on earth, we shall never prevail eternally. We have not won that ultimate victory yet.

Instead of running many races, you can think about how to be victorious all at once, how to condense everything into one race. You want to participate in that kind of game, don't you? That's why you become a champion for all seasons, in all areas. I have a good brain and I am always thinking about what the one game is in which I can win everything. God wants to see His son

win that kind of certificate. That one game where you can win the championship is home church. That is where you can run with your life, love, and ideal. No matter what the people say about you, it doesn't make any difference. Go ahead and run in all directions with this principle. If other people sleep five hours, you will sleep four hours. If they sleep four hours, then you sleep three hours. If they sleep one hour, you won't sleep at all. You have to have strong life power.

Unification Church leaders come to East Garden from all over the world. I play ping, pony or pool with them for hours, or sit and talk with them all day and night. They cannot compete with me, and they say I have an iron body. Actually I am not a superman with an iron body. What I have is an iron spirit. Your mind jumps around all over, but my mind is like a rock that stays firmly in its place, period. When I set a goal and start marching toward it, nothing under the sun can move me away from it. No matter what hits me, I shall not shatter. I will not slow down at all. That is the kind of teacher and leader you have.

Since people persecute you, how can you forget what you represent? It doesn't make any difference whether you go to Africa, South America or Asia. Wherever you go you are standing on the Principle. God has given you the stage, your home church where you can practice this. Season your life with life power, love power and ideal power in your home church. To get a degree from home church, you have to work day and night. If you want to become a Ph.D. you have to write a dissertation. Sometimes people devote many years to preparing one Ph.D. dissertation. This cannot be done in your way, but must be done in God's way.

You want to meet these three criteria of life, love and ideal. When you think you have passed, I will examine what you did. When I sign for you, then God will examine it and add the final signature. Unless your certificate is completed in that way, it will not be accepted anywhere. Go ahead and create the power of life, love and ideal so that your cup completely overflows.

What is important to us? Life, love and ideal. If you say it is easy to do, I know you are faking. I know that it is not easy because I have been suffering all my life. What I had to obtain was so important that there was nothing I could not endure. I have already graduated, and now the next seven years are your course. I have become the school principal and now I can put my signature upon your certificate. From the bottom of your heart, do you believe this is the most important thing to practice? Would you do it even if your nose was cut off, your eyes blinded, and your ears cut off? The Bible says that if your arm or leg hinders you, cut it off. The Bible uses very severe language in matters of sin because sin is detrimental and because there is no way out.

Those who pledge that today is a new day for them to begin to practice what I have taught this morning, raise your hands and show me.

Let us pray.

Who Is God And Who Am I?

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
January 25, 1981
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

Those of you who are from Europe and were recently matched, raise your hands. Those who do not speak the same language as their fiancées need an interpreter. Can you communicate with sign language? Or love language? Have you ever thought about marrying someone who can't speak at all? Marrying a foreigner with whom you cannot communicate is like marrying a dumb person, and in a way that person is far distant from you. Everything starts with language and communication. When you have communication, then you can understand each other's personality, character, culture, background, everything. Without it you have nothing. At least one thing is sure, however; even though you don't have the same language to communicate with, you are married to the opposite sex. There are many people with whom you can communicate, but what happens in the Unification Church? You are engaged to a person who doesn't even speak the same language! What kind of a church is that?

When you are young, you see movies and famous movie stars, and you think that some day you will marry a man or woman like that. Insignificant, unknown people have this kind of dream, even if they don't have any qualification to expect that. That is human nature and desire. Now you are destined to live with one man or woman whom you will serve and love for your entire life. You will be closer to that person than anybody around you, closer than your parents, closer than your own brothers and sisters, and closer than any of your friends.

Who made it so? How do you know God or True Parents did that? We come to a natural conclusion: God alone has the power to bring together two people who don't even speak the same language. You accepted that challenge because you have infinite faith in God, and in True Parents as the instrument of God. You also play a role as the instrument of God. The catalyst to bring men and women together for eternity from different backgrounds and cultures is certainly the power of God.

You rejoice over the matching, not because your fiancé is the best person under the sun, but because the person who made it so-God-is the best personality in heaven and earth. True? If we move God out of this event, then we have nothing. Furthermore, if we pull Reverend Moon out of the scene, again nothing remains. When you pull the Unification Church out, as well, nothing will remain.

Why do I do these things? Not for myself or the sake of the Church, but for the sake of God. There is no doubt that I do not gain any profit by matching you to a foreigner with a different character and language. It is a totally unselfish deed done only for God, for you, and for the sake of mankind. Through your foreign fiancé you are closely united with me and the Unification Church and you are remembered by God. How wonderful that is! The same moment that your fiancé disappears, God will disappear, and the Church and I will disappear from your life; therefore, this union with your fiancé is a God-given destiny and you are bound by it.

Suppose you must labor to make a day's wages. Would you like to work by yourself or at least have a stranger as your companion? It doesn't make a difference whether you are rich and famous; when you are left in that kind of situation, you want to have a companion. During the day's work that companion is the closest to you, and when lunchtime comes you want to sit with him or her and eat together. It doesn't matter whether that person is good-looking or very poor-looking. The Unification Church is like that working site. We each want someone to sit down together with. Now you happen to have a companion from a foreign nation, maybe even a nation which used to be an enemy country, such as France and Germany or Japan and America, but this person is the only companion you can rely on.

Our work is so different and unique that we need unique kinds of companions. Of all the job descriptions in the world, ours is the most difficult. This job is so difficult that it is much better for you to start in an adverse situation. Instead of one American meeting another, you start out as strangers with different languages and backgrounds. It is hard enough for two strangers to unite into one, but while you are doing it, you can also overcome the difficult task ahead of you. No one can accomplish that kind of mission except us. That's our pride.

We are gathering world champions; since we are champions, this kind of adversity is nothing. A few bruises and cuts will never hurt you because you know you can overcome them. Within your own lifetime you can bring together two extremes. When you can do that, there is nothing you cannot do.

Who are going to be the most dramatic husband and wife? Two Americans? Two Japanese? Two Europeans? Or two people who don't speak the same language? One couple might say, "We are the perfect couple. We grew up together, we speak the same language, and we ate lunch together all the time in high school. Now we are married and we completely understand each other. That is why we should win this championship." But the next couple might say, "When we met each other we couldn't even greet each other; when I said 'good night,' she said 'good morning.' " This couple really started at an impossible level. Which couple is the winner?

Today you must feel that you are applying for the championship. When you say "good morning" to your fiancée, and she replies, "What did you say?," I want you to understand that you have the most dramatic, historical beginning. We do things others cannot do. Once you become men and women who meet God's expectation, there will be nothing under the sun you cannot do. How would God feel as He looks at such couples? Would He feel dark and depressed, or ecstatic with joy and pride? Would God pay more attention to those couples?

What kind of gift can God give? Children. Men and women with infinite faith, who thankfully accept God's challenge and God's given destiny will have a great gift coming in the form of children. Children will be given to that couple who are far superior than any others within their own society or nation.

What are the characteristics of good children? Good children bring good fortune, blessing from heaven and good happenings to that home. When you look at your foreign fiancée, you can say, "You are my champion, and God's champion." God is indeed sympathetic and concerned with those couples.

Let's talk about God now. Do you see God? Do you see air? Can you see your mind? How do you know that air exists? Where is your mind-on your fingertips? How about answering this way: men's minds want to make a home within women's minds, and women's minds want to dwell in men's minds. Why are they drawn to each other, and want to exchange their dwelling place? Because there is another reality-that is love. Love brings the two minds together, and because of that love a man's mind wants to dwell in a woman's mind, and vice versa.

Do you miss your home town? Even if you were born in a very miserable country cabin, would you miss that log cabin? Your parents may be simple rural people and your brothers and sisters may look like Idaho potatoes, but still you want to go back there, don't you? Why? You have an indestructible line of heart and emotion connected to your home.

Americans love to hear American folk songs and visit historical places that make them nostalgic. Those things make you feel something wonderful. Your home is the birthplace of your heart. Therefore, it is human nature to want to write a poem about your childhood and your home town. The American hostages are coming home now from Iran and there is lots of news about them all over America. The American excitement is different from the sympathy or excitement of Germany, France or Britain because the Americans have a connection of heart. For the same reason you have an attachment to your home town, your parents, and particularly to one focal point: your husband or wife. If you possess that essence of love, then everything wants to connect to it.

Where there is love, nothing is impossible. Certainly God, who is the person without any impossibility, would want to dwell in love. When men and women are united in love and they find there is a place of greater love, they want to get there together. When you meet your fiancée and you establish a loving relationship, how would you like to move toward greater love? Do you want the fastest form of transportation, or would you like to travel slowly in a carriage? You want to get there the fastest way. What is the fastest way? The jet plane of love.

Where would you like to land? You said you want to land in the heart of God. Do you need permission to land? Planes cannot land without some control tower on the ground to guide them to the landing strip. There is a correct way to land on the landing strip of love. What kind of welcoming party will be there? Amazingly enough, when you land on the correct landing strip, there will be a welcoming party of people from many thousands of years of history, including Abraham and Noah. They won't seem like strangers, but will come right up to you. What power could make that happen? Again, only the power of love.

In love there is no distance of time, even if there is a difference of thousands of years. In love, time and space are completely disregarded. You think Germans and French are far apart, but when you are united as a blessed couple and come in for a landing in your love jet and see people from many thousands of years who have come to greet you, then you know that the distance between the French and Germans is nothing. Even if one of those people is 6,000 years old, there is no foreign feeling between you. You can instantly become one and understand him completely.

Love is really a strange thing. Even if you are from different nations, when you come together in a marriage relationship, you don't feel bad at all. One thing is for sure: You are marrying a person of the opposite sex and no explanation is needed! You want to touch him or her tenderly and there is no distance. The power of love can unite strangers. The power of love can shorten the distance of time.

How old do you think God is? God is really an old gentleman. I say He's millions and millions of years old. I'm sure His beard has grown all the way down to His feet, and if God keeps growing taller, there's no telling how tall He will be. But still you don't have a strange feeling toward Him. What power can do that? How can you instantly become friends with someone from one million years or ten thousand years ago? By law or knowledge? Nothing else but love.

God wants to dwell where there is love. What is true love? There are incredible things going on in the Unification Church. Many of you are white people with blonde hair and blue eyes, but instead of loving only members of your own race, you love a man from the Orient, Reverend Moon. What power makes you want to stick with me? There is a power of love here that has never existed before. There is something bringing the East and West together. Does God want to dwell only where white people come together, or where Oriental people come together? Instead, God wants to dwell here, where the East and West meet and all colors of skin come and rejoice together.

I am a yellow man from the Orient. You are white, brown, black and red, but it doesn't make any difference. We want to come together to be happy and joyful. That means you have a different kind of love that ordinary Westerners do not have. God is pulled by the power of love, and is attracted to the place where the power of love is higher and nobler. Where will God find a landing strip? Absolutely, the Unification Church is God's landing strip because a higher love is attracting Him here.

In America there is still racial tension between white and black. When white and black people start loving and trusting each other, don't you think that will make a landing strip for God? It's amazing, but here in Unification Church whites want to marry blacks, and blacks want to marry whites and make an eternal life together. Have you ever thought about whether white wood or black wood can burn faster? It's scientific truth that black absorbs light, while white reflects light. When speaking of the fire of love, would it be more strongly attracted to white men or to black men?

God gave a fair chance to everybody regarding love. If for some reason a couple is being persecuted by their village, that harassment will actually drive them closer together. The power of their love would be most intense under those circumstances. In that couple there is a fire of love burning more brightly than in any other couple. That is very true with Mother and me. You know I have been persecuted by America. At home I will say to Mother, "You are my ally. You understand me." Mother will say, "Father, you are my hero, no matter what the people say." Although she is only one individual, with Mother's words I am comforted. There is nothing that compares to the way Mother supports me. "Besides," Mother will say, "It's nice in a way that the rest of the world is persecuting you, because it drives you home faster!"

Mother and I can really enjoy persecution. Our children understand us, and the cohesive harmony in our home is very strong. The children have a strong conviction that, no matter what the world says about their parents, they are the most wonderful champions of God. Sometimes they feel they cannot suppress their anger at the world, but in the meantime, they feel intense love toward their parents. There's nothing bad about getting persecuted.

When you look at world affairs from the standpoint of love, there is nothing you cannot be grateful for. Because I have been persecuted so much, God blessed my family more and more. The evidence of this is that over the years the children who are born to us are even more brilliant and more outstanding. When I look at them I thank God. When God has big gifts to hand out, you must make your shopping bags bigger so He can give the biggest gift to you. What are those gifts? God wants to give many gifts to Mother and me, so we will have more and more children. God wants to give us more than forty children, but since the human body has certain limitations, God will condense the gift into a few most brilliant children.

This is why we do not condone birth control. God wants to give blessings, but if all of a sudden you stop having children then you are blocking God's way of giving you blessings. If we did that, when we got to spirit world God would say, "My son and daughter, I had more gifts to give you while you were on earth, but you blocked the way. Why did you do that?" Probably Westerners can't understand this. Many Americans think they don't want to have children because they want to have fun in their lives. That way of thinking is very selfish. Which way of thinking do you think will prosper?

Westerners have always been proud that they are ahead of everybody, but now auto makers have to turn to the East to learn techniques. When you compare a Western made television and a Sony, the Japanese set has more brilliant color. Many consumers are buying Japanese products. Do you think it is because Americans want the Japanese to have superior technology? God is shifting the emphasis from one place to another. The day of the Asians is coming, and now they shall be understood and respected by the world. But Asian people have serious shortcomings. They are too nationalistic and they always cling together with their own people. That's not God's way. This is why I had to come out of Asia to shatter the barrier of nationalism.

I come to promote universals, or Godism, and the love race. What I am doing in the West is something that neither Western nor Eastern culture can produce. No existing culture can bring a heightened unity between East and West. Am I doing this with some technology? Some Machiavellian diplomacy? I am doing it with a special kind of love.

God is a universal person who really enjoys love. He wants to dwell in love, to work in love, to dance and sing in love. God is a fighting God too, but only in order to secure love for Himself and for everyone. We understand God and know His traits and what He likes. Where can true love dwell? There has to be a principled way, a way of law and order. Love dwells where principle dictates. What is the principle of love between men and women? When you meet in love do you want to beat around the bush and go round and round, or do you want to meet face to face? Do you want that person to have all kinds of stains, or to be a pure person? Do you want that person to bring lots of friends, or to come by himself?

Does the eye like love? How about the nose? The ears? Mouth? Hands? Everything thinks about the goal of love. Do you want to go straight to love, or wander around? When you come into love, there is total concentration, total focus. The mouth, ears, hands and mind all focus on one sharp point and go through the center. That is the force of love.

If love is concentrated into one dot and that dot moves around, any miracle under the sun can happen wherever it touches. When the love dot is visiting homes, do you think people will say, "Don't come into my home"? Or will they open the door and give love the red carpet treatment? Do you think the cells of your body will open or close up to love? Basically the Oriental woman is shy, yet when love comes in, she opens herself up. The total concentration of genuine, pure love has never blossomed yet in history, but when that concentration of love is created and the blossoming flowers open, that is the most joyful event.

If you told your hand that it could not participate in this feast, the hand would protest loudly. All your senses would insist on participating in that love. When a young man and woman become teenagers and feel the surge of their first love, their whole bodies are concentrated on it, day and night. But that should not be the high point of their love experience. The intensity of their love should become greater over time. Have you ever experienced such total concentration of love?

How can we get 100 percent concentration of God's love? God really wants to come down and touch every bit of you. When you have love, then God wants to come and touch you. Then everything sparkles with love. So far no one has ever totally concentrated all their five senses into that genuine love, so we are going to make a new history. All five senses are there to be intoxicated in love, so that you become a total chunk of love. If God sees delicious love, He swallows the whole thing without peeling it. God is very hygiene minded, yet whenever there is love, God doesn't stop to wipe anything clean: He just swallows it.

When are the five senses united through love? If you are intoxicated in true love, then with that true love you love your husband or wife, your children. neighbors, and nation. That is the ultimate perfection of man.

Where is that love? The fallen world has destroyed the heavenly order and discipline of love. They don't like the heavenly principle and resist its restrictions. Freedom in this country is often misused, so love has become perverted. Freedom can only blossom as true freedom through the discipline of heavenly principle. Perhaps men and .women go to a dancing place for an evening. It might be all right for the husband to dance with one of those girls when his wife is there, since then nothing is hidden. But if a man is deceiving his wife, leaving her at home and doing something unlawful with another woman, that is totally wrong. In love, there must be strict discipline, a strict principle to follow.

After the presidential inauguration there were several inaugural balls. Many men and women were dancing and socializing, and I wondered how many of them were thinking that, in many cases, such events help to split up families. Celebrating in dance is beautiful. I have nothing against it, but it should come under the Principle. Otherwise, such things can be destructive to homes and society. It is beautiful for a husband and wife to go out together and rejoice in dancing and love. If the wife introduces another woman to her husband, and then he dances with her, fine. It is not initiated by the husband. Sometimes you might introduce another friend to your husband or wife and say, "Why don't you dance?" That is beautiful. But in many cases, the man totally disregards his wife and looks around for some other sexy woman. That is not principled.

God is a God of Principle and He dwells in love. Love blossoms through the Principle. When men and women marry in the Principle, that is the most beautiful foundation upon which true love can blossom. Also, that love must be public minded and unselfish. Why? Because no one really possesses love. Love is activated only when there is an object, so without an object there is no love. Love needs an object in all four directions. That object will complete a circuit that can channel love to you. To receive love, you have to activate it by giving love. When you love and serve someone or something, that love will return to you.

Selfish love says, "You must love me. I'm here to receive love." Satan always works in selfish love, and that kind of love always drags you down like an anchor. In most cases, American women marry because they want their man to love them; they are ready to receive love. That is wrong. You should change your mind now and think, "I want to get married because I want an object to give my fervent love to." No matter how big and strong a man is, he will be melted by love. Your love can melt him. American women are often good at speaking about their love, but not good at showing it. Love is action and deed. The ideal woman acts out her love and then gives praise with her mouth. That's the way it is supposed to be.

Any love that is not public minded is destructive love. Which should be more important to the couple, their savings account or their love? In some homes there are two savings accounts, one for the husband and one for the wife. When they borrow from each other they even write a receipt! If the son asks for some money, he writes a receipt and pays it back with interest. Is love cheaper than money and a piece of paper? When you are truly in love, a husband and wife are one body. Your whole body can become sacrificial, so a bank account is nothing. When the husband needs money, the wife's money is her husband's. The husband's money is her money.

God's love dwells in the public place, in the public minded person. In the Unification Church we promote the public minded action and love. Public minded fund raising is a public deed which you do for the sake of America and mankind. You are not doing it for me or for yourself. We want to set the tradition that we have lived our entire lives for the public purpose. What reward would you get by doing it? You would receive the love of God, which is public love.

Most people think they would lose everything by living public mindedly, but actually there is no better deal than this one because you gain everything by doing it. I have been practicing this and everyone thinks I am a loser; but I am not at all. By practicing it, I have become more and more prosperous. There are many people who are well-educated, well-to-do, good-looking, and who come from good families. In worldly appearance they are far better than I am, but when they become Moonies they want to live by my standard. Once you go out to the world and practice this public minded love, you get a taste of real love. If you want to prove this to yourself, leave the Unification Church and compare what you get in the world with the life of the Moonies. Then you will really know what an exciting and rewarding life you have been living here.

I have a pretty sharp mind. Do you think I have not thought of this point? By living with public minded love you gain everything, including the love of God. I will be practicing this the rest of my life. When money comes to me, I don't think about putting it into my children's bank account. I want to spend it for the public purpose. I even want to borrow as much money as possible in my lifetime to spend for the public purpose. If you know my attitude, then when I tell you to raise funds, no one will complain. Instead, everyone will respond, "You can depend on us."

Such a way of life is just and righteous for the past, present and the future. When you live this Principle you feel good. You cannot explain it but you know your conscience is clear, and you can sleep well at night.

Look at our manner of worshipping here on a concrete floor. In New York there are many churches with plush carpets and cushioned chairs, organ music, and Ph.D. pastors with robes who deliver short sermons. Why did you come here and sit on the floor? The difference is that this is a public minded place. We pursue public minded love because that is where God comes to dwell. To attract God to us, we have to live a public minded life.

Last year some eminent professors came to see me at East Garden. One of them was a former Harvard professor, who said proudly to me, "Father, I am the first professor to become a Moonie. What can I do, Father?" I answered him, "I'll tell you what you can do: Go out to the world, be persecuted and cursed, and give your life for the world." This is the Principle. The professor might have expected me to compliment him, but not so. The heavenly decoration is to go out and receive persecution, be condemned, and die for the sake of the world. That principle is the same for you, for the professor, for the President of the United States. If the President came to me and asked me that question, I would give him the same answer. The tombs of people who die for the sake of God and mankind will never be dry; for generations people will come with flowers and shed tears there.

Without any hesitation I will let you go and suffer. God loves the world, and He has many problems today in the world. Go to Him and say, "God, let me have the worst problem. I will solve it for you." Now God's greatest headache is communism. Another headache is the decline of the Christian spirit. Go out to the world and revive Christianity. You are the true. revived Christians.

Another great headache for God is moral decline, particularly among young people. So go out to the world; tell God you want to take that headache away by restoring the young people. Americans are individualistic and have become selfish. Become an example by serving the world, suffering for the sake of others. Because you do it, people will say you are brainwashed. So what? You can reply, "We are resurrected; we are the new breed of people who hate injustice."

No one wants to suffer; that's human nature. But I am asking you to go down into suffering. Do you think my task is easy? It is far more difficult for me than for the person who gets my instruction. Many people think that the Principle is wonderful, but they want me to do things the American way. I don't reject that idea, but if I followed the American way, then I would become a part of declining America and God would say goodbye to me. Then I would have nothing to work with.

The third principle we must practice is sacrifice. Why? Again, the love of God dwells with you when you sacrifice. Sacrifice with love; give yourself to others with love; then you shall win everything there is. From a human standpoint, Jesus Christ was miserably defeated. He was crucified and ridiculed by the Roman soldiers, yet that same Jesus conquered the world because he sacrificed with love. There are many people who have died more miserable deaths than Jesus, but that didn't bring salvation to anyone because they died for their own cause, or for their own crimes. But Jesus did not have any sin, and he died for the sake of the world, with love. That is a true sacrifice, and that love conquered the world. Amazingly, when you are conquered by love, you don't hate that conquest. When you become a prisoner of love you sing and dance.

The three principles I have talked about this morning are points that a noble religious teaching always emphasizes. One: You should follow the heavenly Principle. Two: You should be public minded. Three: You should be sacrificial. Why? That is where the love of God shall come to dwell. That is the only way you can attract the infinite love of God. Therefore, you don't need someone looking over your shoulder to see if you are doing it or not. You are bound by your own will, not anyone else's. My life was so hard many times that I wanted to quit, but I couldn't. No one else forced me to go on, but I kept going because I had tasted the love of God. When you experience the deeper love of God, you can't for one moment go away from it.

In a way I miss the vicious persecution and life in the communist prison because there I tasted the love of God the most. In the love of God, nothing is impossible. Because of that love, God could endure and be patient through thousands of years since the fall. You want to have total, overwhelming love, don't you?

If you practice what I have told you this morning, you shall become a central person in your home. First, become Principle-minded. At home, respect your parents because they are your parents. That is the Principle. Be sacrificial for the sake of the household. Then your family will definitely want you in the central position. The Principle works the same in America. Whoever truly practices public mind love for the nation shall become the leader and master of that nation. The same Principle can be applied to the world.

Why should we practice this on earth? Why not enjoy life here and then practice it in spirit world later? That is a very clever idea! But this Principle must be practiced here on earth because this is the only classroom you have. You have to go through elementary school before you can enter high school. You cannot skip any of the material. When you go to college, you use the same formulas you learned in your elementary and high school days. No formula can change; all it can do is expand.

The spirit world is a higher realm that is completely Principle-oriented, public minded, and sacrificial. Unless we start to practice those things here on earth, we cannot unite with the spirit world. The spirit world and the physical world all operate on one principle. To enter into the spirit world and practice that principle on a higher level, you have to practice on earth first. Your elementary work must be done on earth so you can continue in spirit world. Unless you feel the love of God on earth, you cannot feel it in spirit world.

What kind of temple does God want? Each one of you should be the temple of God. When God dwells within you, does He want to look out through your eyes with His vision or your vision? In true love your eyes, nose and ears all become God's instrument. Through them, God will perceive His way. When the mind is fully contented in the love of God, then the whole body will be contented. The mind becomes exuberant and ecstatic when it has love. When there is love, therefore, there is freedom. Without love, everything is in slavery. In America, a person takes drugs and thinks he is free. Actually, there is no freedom there. That person is creating his own hell because no love dwells in him.

All creation was made for God's love. You are the temple of God when you become a public person. Look through your eyes in God's way; have God's hearing, God's smelling, God's voice, and God's touch. When you brothers perceive a beautiful woman in God's way, how would you think? Would you think about how you could get her to bed? You would think, "How can I advance her happiness? How can I make her better and whole?" You want to convey the public minded love of God to her so that she becomes in turn a public minded person who is another beautiful temple of God.

If you find there is no love of God within a person, then you want to give love to him. How noble that is. When most women look at a very handsome man, they wish they could have a date with him. But godly vision is different. When you put God inside of you, your world concept changes. You may not have wealth, but that doesn't matter, for as long as you practice love, you are the richest person under the sun.

You know now that God dwells within you when you have a mind of Principle, a public mind, a sacrificial mind. This is the place where God rejoices. The moment you complain and become depressed, think that God is leaving you. You cannot afford to lose Him, so you try to improve in order that He will stay. As long as God stays within you and you think in God's way, there is no complaint. But once God leaves, you lose everything.

Many tall, blonde-haired, good-looking American brothers are asking me for short, Korean or Japanese fiancées. Why? I represent the whole Oriental culture, and through me you have had a taste of heavenly love. No one can take that love away from me or you.

Yesterday an elderly Korean woman who has followed me ever since our Church was established came to East Garden. She used to come to the Church three times a day. She said, "Father, unless I see you three times a day, I become crazy and I cannot live." When she came to East Garden she said, "My life is hell now because I cannot see you every day. This morning I have come to see you." I never showed her any special favor in the past; I always treat all the members the same way. Mother was sitting next to me and the lady said, "I feel shy to say this, but I love you, Father." Mother was the first one to smile when she said that.

I don't show you any fabulous miracles, but there is something within me that touches everyone's heart. It is the love of God. Like electricity, it is not visible but you know that the current is flowing. God is a super person, but He works exactly the same as you do.

You have a certain attachment to the clothes you wear, even to your eyeglasses. If your mind works that way, what about God's? Does God feel a certain attachment to an object or a person? If God uses your body as a dwelling place, do you think He will have a certain attachment to you? Are you happy? God lets you suffer, but that is the fastest way to welcome God within you. God also enjoys the love that is public minded and sacrificial. You are going to resemble God, and when you go inside of God and God comes within your heart, you have total freedom. You have no strange feeling at all.

If God is dwelling within you, but you have some selfish thinking, then you feel as though you are choking. That is God saying, "You're wrong. Change your mind." Unless you live the public minded way, God wants to chop off the hand or limb that disobeys His principle. There is no way He can stay there otherwise. To keep God within you, to make Him happy, you have to practice the three points I have explained! You must be a principled person' you must be public minded, and you must be sacrificial. There is no national boundary in God. That's why this love can be extended even to your enemy. Then the true unity between mankind and God will be created; true unity between the spirit world and the physical world can be created. God is that catalyst.

Within your heart I have planted a small seed of God's mind. That seed must germinate and grow bigger and bigger, reaching out to your family, society, nation and your world. If you have a difficult task ahead of you, go after it. You are not asking for an easy way out, looking for a clever way. While you are tackling that difficult mission, there is no room for complaint. When you are trying to practice everything in love, how can you complain? You cannot complain against love. When you are searching after that love, you must always have a grateful heart to give glory and praise to God. Then God will be within you. If you want to be the dwelling place of God, you should be serving and praising Him all the time. If God is within you, you want to make Him happy, so you have to practice the Principle and be public minded. To truly have God within you for eternity, you must be sacrificial.

When you practice this, you cannot go wrong. If someone is nasty, you might want to fight back, but then you think that for the sake of God you must win him. That's the way you change your mind. God loves love and wants to dwell in love. He doesn't want to dwell in the Unification Church, but in me and in you. The Unification Church is not the dwelling place of God. The Church is merely an organizing system. Don't think you are only a part of the Church; the Unification Church is for you. It is at your service. The work you do is not for me, or for the Church. It is for you. The Unification Church has merely come to assist you to go to heaven. How thankful you should be then. If the Church is here to serve you, how can you complain? Actually, God, myself and the Church are mobilized for your sake. You must know that clearly.

Now you know who God is and you know who you are! You are the dwelling place of God. Your eyes shall become whose eyes? When your eyes become God's eyes and your ears become God's ears, and so forth, God feels they are working for Him. Then when you hear something, you know immediately if it is a satanic sound or a heavenly sound.

The Europeans who are here for workshop may say that they want to go back to Great Britain because the job there is easier. On the contrary, they must think, "The job here is not hard enough for me. Where is it the hardest? Maybe I will go to Africa, or South America." Maybe Mother and my children would not welcome the idea of moving to Africa, but it doesn't matter; I will go anyway. Is this wrong?

Now you know that your suffering is creating a bigger shopping bag for you to hold the love of God. The fragrance of that love is so wonderful that black, white and yellow people will feel heaven in it. Your God-centered suffering creates that kind of container, and you want to give that package of love to the world. If people reject you, that package of love will pass down to your own children. You won't lose anything. One way or another, you are the winner.

Be thankful. Digest everything so there is nothing stuck in your stomach. Nothing is harder than international marriage, and if you can unite two extremes in marriage you can digest anything. When you can serve a strange husband or wife, you know that you are sampling the difficulty ahead of us. While serving in your home you shall be principled, public minded and sacrificial. That way of life will grow like a snowball and cover the entire world. That world shall be the dwelling place of the infinite love of God. Amen

The Public And Private Way

Reverend Sun Myung Moon
January 11, 1981
Belvedere
Translator - Sang Kil Han

You all know that our lives have an historic quality. When we say historic, we are including the past, present and future. For example, I am speaking now in the present, I have spoken in the past, and I will continue to speak in the future. In this relationship our lives are connecting three points.

Some people place importance on the past, some put emphasis on the present, and others think seriously of the future. American people, for example, are proud of their past, but also they are proud of their present, and expect to be proud in the future. That is, in the view of Americans their past is big, the present is bigger, and the future is expected to be much bigger.

When we say "the public way", we mean the larger aspect, while the private way is the smaller way. What do we mean when we say "big" or "small"? Where do we draw the line? A person might be big or small, and he can live in a public way or a private way. When we evaluate someone we say he is a big man or he is a small man. If we say he is a big man, we imagine that he has a good future ahead of him. If we say he is a small man, we think his future is not so big.

Our ancestors made the culture we live in today. Our ancestors always thought about the future more than their present time, and their work made this huge civilization come into being. We cannot deny that. Looking back, we can see that religion had more to do with furthering civilization than any material things did. When we are focused on a religious perspective, living for a definite purpose, then we are almost guaranteed that our future will be big and stable, and will continue to get better. If we are religious then we make a sincere effort.

Centering on the present, there are two ways of looking at our lives: today we are smaller than in the past, and our future will be smaller; or the past was small, but today is bigger, and the future is expected to be much bigger still. It is natural to hope that the past was big, and that our future will be bigger. Everyone would want this. The third possibility is that the past, present and future would all be big.

It is man's original nature to want many friends, not just one or two, in order to expand horizontally the scope of his activities. Aren't you that way? In China there is hardly any private ownership but the country boasts a population of one billion people. People want to become wide, or big. Therefore, in the past they wanted the future to be big, and now we want our future to be even bigger.

How would God think? Which would He choose among these three possibilities? The third one. If God wanted it that way and He is omnipotent, then why is that world not realized already? We can say that God thinks in the public way, so why hasn't that world come to be? When He created Adam and Eve, was it His hope to expand or to narrow down? For Adam, Eve came into being. and for that couple children came into being. After their family there came a race, clan, nation, and so on.

There is the invisible world and the visible world, and man is an intermediary situated in between. If a thought is actualized in the visible world then it will also be realized in the invisible world, not just as a thought, but in reality. When something big is actualized on earth, then in the invisible world a corresponding area will be expanded in reality. We imagine that God had an expectation for how we would be. As we expanded in that way, the invisible world would also expand accordingly.

Although each person has the possibility of becoming immensely big, because mankind has been neglecting God man has narrowed down his future. Man's thinking has become narrower and narrower, and so the future which he projects is also narrow. As a result, there are two realms: one is the world of life, and the other is the world of death: one is the world of God, and the second is the world of Satan.

What we must know is that the public way is life lived for God and also for the sake of the future. We also have to have a way in which we cherish the past, for God is in the past as well as the present and future. In other words, it is the public way to cherish God and the future of mankind. If one is living with that image, then he is living the public way.

How would it look to God? When God created Adam and Eve, would He have encouraged them to love Him but not to think about the future of mankind? God must have told them to love each other and their children as much as they loved Him. He couldn't possibly have said anything else. If God had said, "Just love me alone and no one else," then He would have been denying the past and the future too.

When God was living close to Adam and Eve, He would ask, "Adam, you love me, don't you?" Adam would certainly say yes, and then God would have said, "You must love Eve more than you love me." That meant that God had a plan and outlook for the future, and was using Eve as an example to teach Adam about the future.

Let us go forward for the next year, more than for today. Then next year we will try harder for the sake of the next year after that. While standing in the present we have two directions. If we retreat to the past then we are headed for hell, but if we go forward then we will go to heaven.

Because of the fall, is the kingdom of heaven yet to come in the future, or has is existed in the past? It is not in the present or the past, but in the future. We are here in Unification Church for the sake of God and mankind, and if we retreat then where are we heading? No place else awaits us but hell. If we advance, however, then a big future is in store for us. Since the present time is so difficult, should you retreat? Should you just crawl forward, inch by inch? We can imagine that God has been teaching man by saying, "You must love others more than you love me." He should say that if He wants to insure a big future for man.

If as the leader of Unification Church I say that you must love all others more than you love me, then I am speaking as a public-minded teacher. If I said that you must love me more than others, then I would be leading everyone in the direction of hell. In that case I would be self-centered and retreating toward hell. Hell has no future, while heaven has a broad future. The deeper we go into heaven, the broader is the future we can expect.

It is the public-minded way to want a future bigger than the present, while the nonpublic way does not think about the future, but only about the present and the past. The fall took place from a self-centered position, where man thought about himself only and not about the future. Whoever is centered on himself and wants everything done for himself is going in the direction of hell. But if you love others more than yourself, you are heading toward heaven. When you think of yourself, you are in the present and the past, but when you think of others, you are in the objective realm, in the future. The fact that God told Adam to love Eve more than Him meant that He was thinking about the future. This is what God had in mind in the beginning, and how He taught Adam about it.

This is our goal in the Unification Church, to live for the sake of others. If you are alone then it's all right to love yourself, but if you have someone else then you should love that person more. When Eve came into being, Adam was supposed to love her more than he loved himself. When they had a family, Adam and Eve were supposed to love their family more than they loved each other. When that family expanded and became a clan, they should have loved the clan more than their family. When the nation came into being, it was to be cherished more than the clan, and so on. For the sake of the world, even countries would be willing to forget themselves. Thus, this pattern for the future was very much present from the beginning.

Why do electrons go around protons? So that they will create the world. If the proton would say to the electron, "You shouldn't move faster than me or be bigger than me," then the world would never have come into existence. Each one should be willing to let others become bigger and better, and even encourage that expansion, for then the small entities will eventually form a big world.

Unification Church members can all say that the individual should exist for the family, the family should exist for the sake of the clan, the clan for the nation, and so forth, but no one actually wants to carry that out because it is so difficult. We can imagine that this means we would love each other so much that we are connected to everyone by love, and thus become bigger. If one thinks more of his family than of himself and pours himself out for his family, wouldn't the neighbors join in loving that family? Everyone wants to participate in loving the family, and in that way they will come into unity. But if everyone is self-centered, can unity come about? No, everyone would be scattered. The universe could not come to exist in that way. We can conclude that the smaller one should be willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the bigger one. That's the public way of life.

What about a cow eating grass-from the viewpoint of the grass is that the public or private way? What about the cow's point of view? When the cow has a definite purpose in eating the grass, knowing it will one day become of service to a bigger being, then it is going the public way. If a man is confident that by eating the cow he can be of greater service to the whole, then he is a]so acting in the public way. The fact of eating something else is private in itself, but if it is connected to a bigger purpose, then that becomes the public way.

Possibly you don't feel happy about thinking of yourself last, but in living the public way everything becomes an extension of yourself. I can never be as huge as the universe, but if I connect with others for the future, then indeed I will become as big as the universe. Think of grass; by itself it can never become more than a few inches high, but when it is eaten by bigger and bigger beings, then eventually it can be connected to God. Each cell in the grass will become a cell which God can love directly because it is in the cell of a being whom God can love. The cells of the grass want nothing beyond the love of God. There is nothing better than God's love in this world. Would a woman want anything else than her husband's undivided love? Does she want money more than love?

Jesus said that those who want to live will die, and those who are ready to die will live; he also said that whoever wants to become high will become low, and whoever wants to become low will become high. Without love, this would not have much meaning, but it naturally happens centered around love. With love it becomes possible to jump up to higher and higher levels.

In America there is confusion about this point. There is 100% individualism in America today; is there any way it can be connected to the future? We have to say that right now America has no way to be connected to the future, so we must look for some way to become connected to heaven. We can only predict that America as it is will perish.

Why do I point this out? Because of the practical situation we are facing now. In 1981 you want to do better work than ever before. and to do so you have to stay in the public way or else you will become tired and exhausted. To sacrifice means to transplant part of ourselves. A cancer cell grows very quickly, but ours will spread even more quickly than cancer cells.

Why doesn't the Unification Church expand as quickly as it should? It is because individuals are not sure about their way and don't want to sacrifice themselves. If you don't understand why you have to jump into more difficult situations, then you shy away. I never thought that I would become bigger and bigger, but only said, "I must do my mission and live up to the expectation of the world and God." I was too busy to think of anything else except following the Principle, and one day I found that a bigger and bigger realm had been created for me. Since the Principle was the way, I kept on going, not thinking about being acclaimed by the spirit world. What good would it do you to think about it? It is beyond you.

If a president of a country would visit God, God would say to him, "You must love the world more than you love your own country." God would never tell him that his country was more important than the world. If according to the Principle there is something you must do, then there should be no hesitation about doing it, or about worrying what others think of you-or even what God or the spirit world think about you. As you go forward and do it, you will suddenly realize at some point that people have come to recognize you. If it is done here, it is automatically done in the invisible world. Then in the spirit world your realm will be expanded.

I have directed you to do home church, and all of you know why. That is the public way. When things become difficult, you find reasons for not going to your home church. How can you say you are too busy for home church? No matter how difficult it is, you must at least think that what you're eating and drinking is for the sake of home church. You should do home church as much as you eat and drink. You must think that home church is part of yourself and that you cannot cut it off.

The newspaper has to come out, and if you are literally too busy then you can at least go to your home church area and sleep there. If you cannot do the work, at least you should take a look at the work and say to yourself, "That is what I must do." If you cannot go to your area for one day, you should a least take a look at your home church. Spiritually, there are many people really waiting seriously for you. You don't feel that because of your less intense spiritual sense.

Home church people are all imprisoned by a wire fence and they are crying out to you, " Please liberate us, please free us. " But you cannot hear their cry and see that they are in prison. At least you have to go there and hear them crying out for you to liberate them. If you cannot do that, you have to pray about that to God and explain the situation to Him. You have time to eat three meals a day, don't you?

Now, you may think you learned a handy thing from me today, that you will just keep praying about home church. But you have to do as you prayed. If you prayed once, then you have to go there and take a look at your area.

Those who were in the matching ceremony, raise your hands. Have you imagined your fiancé in his home church? If your fiancé is in his area, would you go there? Maybe you would start out to go look at your own area, but your body would actually be moving toward his area! Is home church less important than your fiancé? You shouldn't waste time writing letters or holding hands for one year. Don't think about your fiancé so much because Principle says we must love our home church more and then we can love our fiancés later.

That's precisely the way I went. My own family broke up because I practically ignored them in order to live first for the sake of the dispensation. If I had done that for myself then it would have been a crime, but because I did it for the sake of the country and the world, it was right. You should never be confused about what is the public and private way.

If I were going forward for the sake of the world, but my wife decided she would not go with me, should you remain with her or should you go to the world? If I had stopped because of my wife, do you think the Unification Church would be here today?

We are called upon to sacrifice by everyone and everything around us, even by God. If this is the public way, we know that there is one thing we must do, no matter what happens to us. I did not come here for my own sake. In fact, I sacrificed myself. I did it for the sake of the world, for God, and to make this country live. How nice it would have been if I didn't have to fight against Congressman Fraser, Capitol Hill, and the government. I did not fight the easy way either. If I had lost then the Unification Church would have been taken over by Satan, but I was willing to take that risk. Prison and death were waiting if I had failed.

Not long ago in Africa, one of our missionaries was martyred. When I heard the report, I thought that he had done his mission totally, and that he would become the permanent ancestor for that country. If he had died doing the work of the world, then he would have been the ancestor of the world. I have completed my mission, and by achieving my responsibility toward the whole world, I am not to blame for the death of that brother. Because the country is surrounded by the world, it is protected by the world. Heaven surrounds the world.

If the fall had not taken place, all of these things would have been automatic. But because of the fall, we are trying to create a bigger and bigger environment. Without the fall we would have been under heaven's protection 24 hours a day. There wouldn't be even a small risk. Because the fall took place, however, the world is a different place. Now we have to cross the border into a country where we have nothing to do with evil.

The people in spirit world are still influenced by their past experiences of life in the fallen world. Each spirit man wants to cross over his own boundaries and become bigger and better, but he has to cross the borderline from the fallen world into heaven. This is what should happen, but since no one is in the position to see the right direction clearly, there is a lot of confusion in the spirit world. People there don't know how to get out and go where they are supposed to be. The spirit world cannot freely come to work on earth, however. It has been difficult for those in spirit world to get together and break through their boundaries.

In the Unification Church you are experiencing something you couldn't even have dreamed of in the past. The spiritual experiences you have had are the result of all the sacrifices made historically, and you are freely given them. What you are experiencing is happening only once in history.. It is not accidental, but with that great privilege comes responsibility.

For the first time in history, clear direction is being given about how to pioneer the way from the individual level to the family, to the clan, and to the society, nation and the world. Heaven is realized in spirit world to the extent it is accomplished on earth. Unification Church exists for the sake of the world, and so you Americans have to sacrifice for the sake of the world. This is the way we teach. If we sacrifice for the sake of the world, the national ideal will come to be realized. In other words, we are saving our country by loving the world. The quality of love which you give your family and nation is the same, except that one is wider. One hair on my head will look after itself, but all are connected through one life force. The individual is connected to the universe through the life force, by heaven. Through love, all the world is one.

Life is for the individual, but love is for the world. Therefore, you do your best in your life for the sake of love and the world; this becomes justice. Justice is loving the world. Have a clear idea of this, not a vague idea. It is truth that we must eat to sustain, our lives, and to love others is also the truth. Truth is eternal, and love is truth. Even in the future everyone will have to go this path of love.

Eating is truth, and love between husband and wife is truth, and giving birth to children is also truth. No matter how old you may be, still you want to give birth to a child. Some girl may say she is afraid to get married because eventually she has to give birth to a child; she doesn't know what truth is. But when she is thirty or forty then she understands and wants very much to have a baby. I think that is true. This is true everywhere.

We will go forward for the sake of the world and the spirit world, and while we are doing that, everything around us is left behind. People in the spirit world know that sensual disco dancing is wrong, that taking drugs and smoking cigarettes are harmful. We will do away with those things. Don't go to a cabaret to dance, but dance in your home. If a father, mother and children want to disco in their home, it's all right. Everyone in the spirit world knows that what is going on in this world is very bad. We should wipe out everything which is bad.

The immorality and prostitution on Eighth Avenue is no good. That needs to be stopped, but now is not the time. When the proper time comes, certainly we will do that with our own hands. We do not have the world foundation yet, but when we do, we will discontinue those things. We are doing this for the sake of the spirit world too.

The work you do today may look trivial, but you should always be thinking that the next year will be better. All the 80's will be better than the 70's, and the 1990's will be even farther reaching. The Unification Church members must have a clear vision of where we are going, knowing that each decade will be getting better. You may say, "I am only an ordinary person, so I don't want the world. Why don't I just live with my fiancé?" In the spirit world you should be able to go everywhere freely, with no boundaries, but if you refuse to work for the world then you are fencing yourself into a small area. You will be unable to go beyond your fence, and no one can break that fence down to free you.

Once you go to the spirit world, you cannot go beyond what you are, so if you still have many fences you must go all the way back to the earth again. You would regret everything so much, knowing that I explained all this to you when you easily could have done something about it. You must come back and do things all over again through people who wouldn't recognize you. How miserable that would be! I am telling you now, so please listen.

If I didn't know about the spirit world, I would not live the way I do. I would be easy-going like you. I am smarter than you and have many skills, and still I work harder because I know about the spirit world. That gives me conviction and strength. Even if the whole country comes against me, I couldn't stop, because l know that whatever I fail to do here I will have a harder time doing there. To break barriers is never easy.

When I got to the fence of a country, l kicked it open and all Satan's people shouted and accused me. Do you think there has been any other time in history that somebody would kick open a big barrier like a nation's fence and make all kinds of commotion? Do you think that will happen in the future? It is not likely that any greater commotion than what I went through in 1976 will come, even in my own lifetime.

If in the next seven years the Unification Church does not fulfill the mission of winning over communism, and the communists get the better of the Unification Church, then that's another persecution we will have to go through. We are supporting President Reagan so that a Christian revival can be made possible through the conservative ideals. As soon as the Reagan administration takes office, the communists will start to demonstrate against the new administration all around the country. Even Mr. Reagan is not thinking about it but also getting ready for that event.

How did you find yourself in Unification Church? So much work is waiting for you, and when the communists demonstrate, you have to go to the front line and fight against them. Someone might ask why a religious organization is fighting communism, instead of loving the communists. Communists are entirely focused on dominating the entire world. If they were working for the sake of mankind and God then certainly that movement would be helpful, but they are not. The atheistic communist doctrine teaches that historically the social classes clash with each other, so communists agitate for confrontation between different parts of society, and claim to support the proletariat. But God's ideal is centered on unity, not confrontation.

Also, the communists are promoting free sex, homosexuality, disco dancing, and drugs, urging people to create a world of hell by centering around themselves. We can never let that continue to influence the world. This is why it is the public way that the Unification Church fight against communism, and we do it for the sake of the country, the world and God. If we don't fight, then the communists will destroy all the religious people. If I did not know this, the world would have no vision for the future, and would succumb to communism.

Even though you are Unification Church members, actually you know little about the Unification Church. Only after listening to my words have you come to know my real value and the value of the Unification Church. I am not doing all these activities because I am dumber than you; if what I am doing looks obscure, it's because I am way ahead of everyone else in my vision. Eventually everyone will conclude that this is precisely what should be done.

Clearly we must have an ideal for a public life, a public way. If we don't have one, then when we must decide which way to go we will be thrown into confusion and disunity. But if we clearly know the public way then we can always become successful.

If "God" is a good word, why do people say "Oh God!" when they are frustrated or distressed? What they are really saying is that they want God instead of Satan, who took the central position instead. After the fall, the word God has come to be used in a negative way. It is not unusual for someone who is going toward God to wind up under Satan instead. You experience tears when you are happy and unhappy, but the quality of your tears is what makes the difference. You cannot say that crying means you are definitely in heaven or hell. In that situation I would call out "Oh God!"

What does God like most? God likes religious meetings. There have been various forms of religion over the centuries and now religion has come to a very high level. In this country, there are people of all kinds of religious backgrounds, but when you go to other countries, most people worship in one way. Also, there are not five different colors of skin in most countries, just one color. We can see throughout history that when a better religion comes into being, the existing religions always challenge and compete with it, and finally the higher level of religion emerges.

Now who fights the Unification Church? Jews, Christians and communists are all against Reverend Moon. Am I a good champion now? Are you a good cheering group? You say that my words are good and you know they are true, but you don't want to act on them. You like the idea of fund raising but you don't want to fund raise. Do you think I only speak but don't act? If I speak, I do. I have been fighting Satan on all levels, including in communism. Am I winning or losing? In this religious Olympics young people from all over the world have come to compete. People accuse me of breaking up their families when their children join Unification Church, but all the spirit world is saying we are good. All the world is going against the Moonies, the champion of religion, where as in the spirit world they are all cheering you on.

Where are we now? Is our score better than the world's score? You champions are not so great, but you have a great coach. Every time the coach gives direction, the champion who has faith wins all the time. Then the world would say the coach is really something. Will you be defeated or will you win?

Are you paying lots of attention to home church now? Unless you have that confidence, how can you break through even one barrier here? Once you finish home church, you are given credit for doing all the rest. Your arena where you fight the title match against evil is your home church. We have to have a world champion among the Unification Church members. We are competing among ourselves. Are you the Church champion at winning, or are you the champion at losing?

Yesterday I received a letter from one MFT member. It was simple but very straightforward. He was a teacher before he joined and really enjoyed teaching, but after being in Unification Church one year and on MFT for three months he learned more than he had learned in his life. He thanked me very much for giving MFT and Divine Principle Then I shouted out, "Oh God!" Such a person can see the gains he is making in his life. Why do some Unification Church members not agree with him?

Home church is the dividing way between heaven and hell. Those who fail and cannot go to heaven will say, "Oh Father, why did you create home church? If you hadn't created home church I would not have had to go to hell. " I will not say anything because members in the spirit world who worked hard in home church will blame them for saying that. They will say, "I am one example. I did just as Father told me to do and became successful, and so I could come to heaven."

A fighter may be a champion on a local level, but if he loses in the national fights then he's a loser. Someone might say, "I've been in MFT for ten years and I've worked harder than anybody else but I didn't do home church, so you mistreated me." Can you say that? Fund raising was not a waste of time; the person who fund raised in a principle way will have an easier time doing home church. You may think, "I'm not doing home church now because I'm fund raising, but I will do it so well that I could support all my 360 homes." If you fund raise with that attitude then you are connected to your own home church. When the fund raisers start doing home church, they can be successful in a short period of time. I brought you up to the world level and the universal level, the champion position.

If you go into space on a rocket, you won't eat your usual food. You must eat what's available in the capsule. In this situation you will eat and digest the Unification Church food that I have prepared. These are serious words. So would you act now? Once you enter the ring, fighting with all your might is the right thing to do. If you don't fight, that's wrong. Outside the ring it is different, but in the ring, hitting and fighting well is your virtue.

Home church is the public way. I have given you the best present mankind has ever had. With this weapon and this food, you should never be defeated. Today, jogging is in fashion, and that's good. Like dedicated runners who jog each day, you should jog to home church. You will destroy the walls between individuals and families, the walls white people put up to keep out other races, and you will enable everyone to move back and forth freely.

If you say that you don't like the public way, then you are retreating to hell. Only if you go the public way are you doing good work and going the way you are supposed to. Have you ever stopped to think that after you have done home church in America you will go to other countries, and even spirit world, and do home church? You can feel that in the future millions of people will act according to your direction.

Are you going to go into the arena of home church now? That's the ring in which you fight the championship bout. You must truly know the public way, for once you turn to the private way you will decline. You always have to check yourself in this matter.

A straight line passes through the three points of the past. present and future. If the central point turns around, will all the rest turn too? Since this line is the axis, it will turn. If heaven will make the axis spin, then everything else will tend to spin too. As long as you maintain a public position, if heaven spins then you spin accordingly. If you spin on your level, God will spin and future generations will spin also. As long as these three points are in a straight line, when the axis spins, everything will automatically spin.

The center always needs more power in order to spin. What is strong enough to move everything around and still have power to spare? It is the power of love. Would even America spin around with the power of love? Don't you want to be the main shaft or axis in God's place? This is how life will be connected to the vertical world. Your ambition and life will belong to the horizontal world, whereas love will dominate the vertical world. When life and love come into harmony, then they are strong enough to move the whole cosmos.

When we say God is love, we mean He is the center. To be public is to connect to the axis of love. Each individual, each nation, each level must connect to that axis. Sacrificing is not bad at all; love is all good. When your parents are urging you to study, it is good as long as they do it with love. No matter how a person bothers you, as long as he does it with love you must accept that as being good.

When God urges you to sacrifice yourself, it is not because He does not know the Principle, but because He wants to bring you to a higher level of love. You have to bear that heavy and important responsibility. If you persevere, then you can become the axis of love, right in the center. This is why you are urged to sacrifice and suffer.

If I had run away from America because working here was so hard, could I become the axis? I can be stronger than communists only through love, not anything else. Ultimately I will become the strong axis of God's love. I have been strong and unafraid of anything. I am the point connecting the present time to the axis of love, and when I go around in love, the universe will go around with love.

Once I teach you, whether you pass or fail is entirely up to you. If you fail, it does not mean this is a bad school. It's the other way around, in fact. If a school is so strict that many students fail, the school becomes more respected. Unification Church has a rigid standard, with no compromise. The world will come to understand that this is a true school. It is very much up to you whether you go through this course successfully or not. I haven't seen very many members who are going the way that guarantees success.

Now do you know what the world is, and what the relationship of the past, present and the future is, and what is your public way? Stay with the public way all the time. It is absolutely important to you. You can forget eating or drinking, but you cannot neglect the public way. It's more important than loving, eating or anything else. When you are hungry, when you feel you don't get enough sleep, you wonder why you are working so hard. You want to have Christmas vacation once a year, and perhaps there is someone you want very much to see. These are difficult things for a person to overcome.

Don't you feel pity for young people who do not know who they are and where they are going? They are taking drugs without knowing what they are getting into. They have no future doing that. When you know the love of God, and when you know the young people are so pitiful, then even though your body may become like a rock, you must skill go the public way.

Once you are married, would you ever get divorced? Your spouse is very close to you Even after you get together, you both have to sacrifice and continue working for the sake of the country. Then even after you secure the country, you sacrifice the country and work on for the sake of the world. You still have those things waiting ahead of you. Your spouse should be really close, like your friend and comrade. When you are fighting a war, a friend is more than a friend; he is like one of your legs. You have to feel that close to your spouse

You might say, "I'll fight personally for the clan," but you cannot fight a war of the clan unless you have a family. Even when you are fighting the war for the country, the family is still the nuclear unit. Without a family you will not come to the love of God. The family is the axis of love, and this is why you love your family. You should be thinking that through your family the world will turn around. If you think instead that you will forget about everything else and enjoy your family, then your family will perish. That family would be a thief of the heavenly country, and would end up in hell.

You must love yourself so that you can become strong and be an axis which the entire world can depend on. You don't love yourself for your own convenience, though, for that is the destructive element in the world. By loving the world you automatically become the central shaft. Everyone knows how to love themselves first but the public way is to love the world, and then for that reason love yourself. Once you become like that, everything will come to you.

Satan's way and God's way look alike, but God is living for the sake of the world and Satan is living for the sake of himself. You don't have to plan and think about what your accomplishment will be. If you are living for the public role, your future will be bright automatically. Likewise, you don't have to think about the future. If you work for your own sake, you will automatically be headed for hell, with no way to turn around.

You follow me because by doing that you find an easy way to go over the country and world levels. But it is up to you to win. As long as you stay in the public way and do as I tell you, you will win every time. As long as this is true, whether you go to heaven or hell is up to you.

Jesus was asked where the kingdom of heaven is, and he replied that it was in each person's mind. We realize that we are standing at the borderline of heaven or hell, and that we must persevere and win. There is no substitute for winning.

Now will you forget all your past attachments, realizing what is the public road, and continuing to do this until we win the final victory?

Let us pray.

The Best Things: A Big And Beautiful Mind

Sun Myung Moon
January 4, 1981

What is the best thing? Man keeps asking that question, and we could make an endless list of answers that would fit various situations. For a factory worker, the best thing may be a hammer. If you are going to bore holes, the best thing is a drill. On a cold day like today, woolens are the best thing. When you are starving, food is the best thing -- even food that you do not ordinarily like very much. Maybe you usually eat sweet foods, but when you get sick the medicine you need is usually bitter. All these examples show that at some time any given item can be the best thing.

All these items that we have cited are best in relation to a person; in other words, when they meet a need they are the best thing. They are good in an external way. Even such a treasured experience as love is relative in that it requires two people. For the internal self, however, what is the best thing? What is the best possession that you as an individual have? Is it your eyes, nose, mouth -- or perhaps something invisible?

People tend to regard their best thing as something they can see externally. Imagine a husband who brings his wife some beautiful gift every day, even a diamond ring. His wife may thank him a thousand times, but still if he does not offer his mind along with the present, she does not feel the value of the gift.

You have life, love, personality or character, which you cannot see, although they are very real. You can, however, see an expression of love or feel vitality coming to you. Love, life, ideals, thoughts, conscience and mind are invisible aspects of us which we may find to be more valuable than objects we can see.

What is external cannot be altered, but what is inside can be changed at your will. Your mind can be big as an ocean, but it can also be so narrow that nothing can pass through freely; a person with such a limited mind cannot be called good.

Your mind can be so big that no matter how much you toss and turn in your sleep, you would never be able to touch the far boundaries of that world. But at the same time, the mind can be so small that an ant walking through would become a major irritation.

Your mind can be big enough for a car to drive through, with room to spare. Some minds are wide enough for only one or two people to fit inside, but others could contain a car moving at the speed of 100 miles per hour.

If you have a big mind, it can contain many things: fine clothing or rags, nice things or ugly things. Regardless of its nature, everything can be comfortable in a big mind.

Not all big things are good. So what is so good about having a big mind? When we say the mind is big, we mean it has a capacity for tolerating things it dislikes until the situation changes. Such a mind tries to be generous and understanding about things that are foolish or even bad, and attempts to transform them into something good.

Nowhere in religion is it specifically taught that you must have a broad mind. Jesus, for instance, never taught that one must always broaden his mind. Nevertheless, religion does admonish us to be meek, humble and sacrificial. In pragmatic terms, if one is meek and humble and sacrificial, his mind will expand.

God would like to live in some person's mind. Would He prefer to visit the mind which is small and dirty, or one which is big and beautiful? Religious teaching directs a person in a way that will develop a big, beautiful mind.

God's dwelling should be the best palace, but there is no one with the kind of mind suitable for Him to live in: no one yearns for the kind of mind to which God can be invited.

When millions of people come against me, how can I tolerate it and embrace them all in my mind? If I were a woman, after just a fraction of that opposition, I would be unable to endure it! Did Jesus really know what he was talking about when he told us to love our enemy? Whoever is able to do that truly has a big and beautiful mind.

If I were to enter one of your minds, would I choose a big mind or a small one? No one's mind is big enough, so I have to expand them all by getting inside and kicking around. I have to be careful not to rupture things, however!

Many times I have told you to persevere and sacrifice, because I would like very much to see the kind of person you would become by doing that, but there is no opening in your minds for me to enter. Perhaps I could crawl inside and then afterwards be unable to get out! I am looking for such a mind, simply so that you and I can live together.

Looking back over my life, I can see why God sent me into situations such as prisons which were very difficult to tolerate and allowed me to be hated and persecuted. I know it was so that my mind would broaden. When God sets foot in a mind so small that His foot gets stuck. He kicks around with His other leg to make the opening bigger. That is how God enters your small mind. But even your small mind can expand without limit.

If a woman's normally small womb can expand enough to accommodate even a ten-pound baby -- plus all the amniotic fluid and placenta -- and then contract again after birth, how much more can the mind expand? Has there ever been a woman whose womb would not expand and allow her to have a baby? If the womb does not expand, the baby will die, because it cannot grow. The womb never thinks about whether it will expand. When God's seed is implanted in your mind and you let it grow, like a baby in the womb, it becomes as big as God Himself.

Before God sends His seed, He knows what kind of environment your mind is. If He knows that a person's mind will not expand, He will not plant the seed in the first place.

How big, then, is your mind, and how long will it continue growing? If your mind is very specific and limited in its likes and dislikes, God would not like to penetrate it. This is not just a concept, but a very religious outlook and an explanation of something invisible.

Even when a man with a big mind tells God not to come to him, God would insist on paying a visit anyway. If you warn God that you will post a sentry to prevent Him from coming in, God will sneak in while you are asleep. Then when you wake up, you will find a note left behind in the form of a dream or revelation.

When I push you hard and you go out to fundraise and witness, you do not know how you are growing. But the person who puts forth much effort will change greatly over the course of ten years, and people who know him will be amazed. In the past, you might have reacted negatively to anything your parents told you and liked to argue with your brothers and sisters, but after ten years you will be totally different. No matter what they say to you, you can accept it. Brainwashing is the only explanation people can invent for this phenomenon.

Certainly, we have expanded our minds to be able to handle any situation. For instance, a white girl who is persecuted by white people will go later to Africa and be persecuted by Africans. If someone feels he has gone through everything in both white America and black Africa, God would like to check him out to find out what his mind is like.

You usually remember the person who has done the best for you and the one who has done the worst. I only pound on you, instead of giving praise. When I pound on a person so hard he feels he cannot take any more, I appear in his dreams and make a tour to see how he has grown.

Yesterday, the leaders of the Japanese church visited me and I spoke with them for many hours. They work incredibly hard, but I did not praise them. I scolded them instead and said they must do twice as much. They were not hurt, but understood that is the way we ought to go.

No other Japanese members could have received such a direction from me, only our older staff members. They take it in, understand it and try to be thankful. They can remain when others would run away, simply because their minds have become big, even without their realizing it. What's more, I am ornamenting their already big minds with other jewels, by telling them to love others.

You may respond, "Father, I really take all this very seriously, but why did you not tell me this ten years ago? I could have grown so much faster." But then the door of your mind was not open. Even now, can you receive what I am saying?

From 1981 on, we have to attain the best thing in the world. You might say that we have exhausted ourselves, so the best thing would be a long sleep! I would like that too.

Regardless of the kinds of friends and relatives you may have, they will treasure your mind more highly if it is big and beautiful. When you see a person whom you dislike sound asleep, how beautiful it is to stoop and cover him to make sure he will not be cold! Don't you want to have that kind of mind?

Because I gave you instructions, you have passed through and overcome unbearable situations. Some of you white women, for instance, will marry black men; in fact, in one way or another, all of you do incredible things. My whole purpose is to broaden your minds so God can come in. Your minds have become bigger.

When your nation sends you to the frontline, it is expecting you to become a patriot. A patriot is born only on the frontline, not in the non-combat areas. The mind of a patriot can encompass a country; the mind of a saint can embrace the whole world. You may think you are ordinary people, but I am determined to make you better than the saints, and even better than Jesus. To do that you have to stretch yourself to the maximum, and even that is not enough.

Just think of all the years you spent obtaining your education, and look where you end up! Now you sell flowers on the street, and even when people buy from you they give you a hard time. Here you receive only difficulty! I know the hardship you go through. How wonderful it is to persuade a Harvard-educated person to sell flowers. A small flower is a lighthouse beacon, signaling to all mankind.

Recently I sent Col. Pak to South America. When he came back to report to me, I was at Morning Garden, sitting on the ground, mending nets. Col. Pak said it was a great insight to see how one person could embrace both the highest and lowest extremes in life. Because I have a big mind, it makes no difference to me where I may be, whether in a high position or low one.

I can be aware of the most minute things, yet can tolerate great difficulty, almost as though I had no nerves at all. I can stretch to both extremes. I still remember the name of one Japanese detective who was pounding on me, many years ago, and I was almost ready to retaliate, even though it might have cost me my life. But then I thought of how Jesus said to love our enemies, so I tried it to see if I could overcome that situation. Without knowing that principle, I could never have been victorious.

I have often dined at McDonald's and have eaten New York pretzels. No one thinks it could really be Reverend Moon eating at McDonald's; they think I just look like Reverend Moon. How fantastic it is for you to be doing menial things for the public good! That is why I have never felt ashamed -- even when I was handcuffed and on my way to prison. I knew that by going through that course, I could later ignite the minds of many people and teach them historical lessons, so what was there to be ashamed of?

Whatever I do looks natural. After the entertainment on God's Day, you saw how I got up on the stage and danced. I was not planning to show you dancing, but I just felt like dancing.

I am very particular. Even though you may feel bad when I point out your errors, I want to raise the standard in even the smallest thing. Still, at East Garden, I do not often point out such things, even though the staff makes mistakes like breaking things in the kitchen. (Americans think a broken dish can just be replaced, but it is not that simple; such an incident must be recognized as a mistake.)

Big and beautiful things attract people. Even the Germans and British want to visit the Louvre in France, because it is such a big and beautiful place. Furthermore, those who really oppose me want to see me. If the mind is big and beautiful, everyone would like to see it, whether they be your enemies or your friends.

I say this so that you can broaden your mind. You must make your mind grow to be so big that it can surround your body and encompass all people on earth, including the spirit world. How could a person be better than that?

Religious people have understood meekness and humility only in a conceptual way, but for us it is very realistic -- or we want to make it real. For instance, would you rather have me send you fundraising here in America, or in Africa, where it would be much harder?

Two nights ago we held an international Yute match, and an African team was one of the finalists. One white brother was cheering them on, chanting "Africa, Africa," for five hours. Later, his voice was gone and he could no longer speak, but still he was chanting, "Africa, Africa." I felt that perhaps he loved Africans more than I did. If you go to work in Africa when the world is focused on that continent, how much more real will be the love you express! Your prize for that victory would include God, the spirit world and all mankind. Everything would be included in the reward.

Don't think I picked today's topic at random. I feel that 1981 will be our best year, and since this is the first Sunday in 1981, I wanted to give you the best talk of all. By giving you these words, I feel that all of you can try to be beautiful for the rest of the year and forever.

My conclusion is that suffering broadens one's mind, and loving others embellishes the mind with jewels. Now you know the deep reason why I never leave you alone but keep on pushing you out to make you suffer and sacrifice -- my goal is to make your minds big and beautiful. What better present could I offer you on the first Sunday of 1981?

The best thing, then, is a big and beautiful mind. You must consider what to do in order to have one. From now on, if you are sitting comfortably and doing nothing, you must realize that your mind is getting narrower. If you hate someone, remember that by doing so, your mind is becoming ugly.

If you are to have a broader and broader mind, you must seek persecution and suffering. I came to America from the other extreme of the world in order to broaden my mind, and as a result I feel that everyone wants to come to rest and live in me. To make my mind beautiful as well as big, I have resolved to love the people of this country. I will be proud, not of what I have made or accomplished, but of how I have broadened my mind. I will not stop and rest; I still have further to go, because there are more people to reach out to and embrace. Will you join me in doing this?