Sun Myung Moon
June 5, 1977
Belvedere, New York
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
It is human nature that everyone has the desire to be proud of something about themselves and about their families. This desire has no boundary and is the same in the East and the West, in the past and the present and affects everyday lives as well as famous people. After thinking about what kind of God exists, I concluded that God is the same. God would want to be proud of Himself and His creation as well as of His children. In other words, there are not a great many different things which God wants to be proud of, but rather only Himself and His family and what He created.
Since human nature works in the same fashion, we are the image of God. Because God feels proud, we too experience that feeling. That same nature affects families and nations. For example, Americans want to be proud of America and of what it has accomplished in the world. Americans who love their nation feel proud and inspired when they look at their flag.
When Americans explain the meaning of the flag they always say that the stripes represent the original thirteen colonies. If I were an American I would answer this way instead: "The stripes represent Jesus, the son of God, and his twelve disciples." Which answer do you like better? Some day America is going to have a new God-centered tradition and explanation for its flag, in which God comes first plus Jesus and his disciples represented by the stripes, and the fifty stars representing the first fifty truly Christian nations of the world. The number fifty will increase to include more nations in the future, reflecting the ongoing development of God's kingdom. At this time we in the Unification Church are working toward 50, 70, to 120-to all the nations. The internal meaning behind this can be derived from the Bible; Jesus had 12 apostles and 70 disciples, and next would have had 120 disciples in his own lifetime to spread the gospel all over the world. The stars on the American flag would represent all of Jesus' disciples as well as each nation.
If America became a nation of God, working toward the establishment of God's kingdom, then the American people could have even more pride in their nation and flag. Americans are proud of this nation's mighty economic power, its pioneering heritage and democratic tradition. If someone criticizes America then most Americans get upset. This is not bad or wrong because it is the human nature God endowed us with, and God Himself will feel the same way when His world comes. God wants to be proud of the things He has and proud of the people He has, and He wants the people in His kingdom to be proud of the ideal they have.
Sometimes people do things just in order to boast about them and get attention. For example, some people wear fancy eyeglasses simply to show off. They don't necessarily have bad sight, but they wear the most stylish glasses. Why do women wear earrings? I am sure that some woman in the past had very ugly ears and started that tradition of wearing earrings because she wanted to improve her ears.
If you have very nice ears, you can be proud of them without wearing ornaments. If you are self-conscious about having ugly ears then you want to draw attention to an ornament and away from your ears. Necklaces were probably originated by women who had ugly necks. A woman who has a long neck has extra space which she wants to improve by putting something beautiful on it. People wear all these things to disguise certain deficiencies they may be conscious of, trying to enhance their feeling of value.
Raise your hand if your nature is different. Not even a single hand. Were people in the past any different? What about the people to come in the future? This human nature is a cosmic thing; we are all in the image of God and God gave His own nature to us.
One extraordinary aspect of Western culture is the effort made to make bathrooms ornate and beautiful. In most Western homes the bathroom is a very expensive area. Why? It is human nature to beautify even an area where we are not doing the prettiest thing. God is just the same, and we not only live in that fashion here on earth, but even after we go to the spirit world.
All nature delights in seeing its characteristics reflected
You want to be proud of yourself, but it is important to understand that you will suddenly realize how little you have to be proud of about yourself if you are far from being in God's true image. What kind of person should you be in order to be proud of yourself in spirit world?
You must be a true, eternal, and unchanging person, not an imitation. When your being reflects that standard, you are just that, true and eternal. If you compare yourselves to that standard then you can measure the degree of your genuineness. For example, there is a basic standard for judging diamonds and a diamond must meet that standard before it can be recognized as a good diamond. Genuine gold is soft and has the quality of not rusting, as well as having an unchanging color. All of these qualities are the standard of reference which determine the genuineness of a particular thing.
There are many imitations today, but you don't feel as proud of an imitation as you do of a real diamond or real gold. In the same way, in the spirit world you want to be proud of yourself for being close to the standard of perfection. God is the standard of perfection and you can be proud of yourself when you are closest to the image of God. Your original personality characteristics are molded after God's, and in resembling Him you can be proud of yourself.
What kind of eyes might God have? How do you know God has two eyes; have you seen Him? In order to love the nature God created and love Him more deeply, God gave you two eyes to enjoy the universe with. It is necessary to have two eyes to express your love, and since God wants to express His love He needs two eyes also. It works both ways: God reflects your image and you reflect His.
Parents also take great delight in their children, who most resemble them in all the world, even though those children may be ugly. Suppose beauty queens from all over the world were gathered together for some pageant and among them was one ugly woman. If a group picture was taken and copies given out, whose face will the parents of the ugly woman look for when they get their copy? Inevitably they will look for their ugly daughter in the midst of all the beauty queens.
Because their children most reflect their parents' characteristics they will bring delight to the parents. Look at the elephant world. Elephants are an incongruous shape and a gloomy color. When I saw an elephant family one day they were all in the mud, playing and making themselves completely dirty. The baby elephants were imitating what their parents were doing and covering themselves with mud, but the parents were smiling upon them and nudging them with their trunks and enjoying them. Why should that be? Parents enjoy seeing their baby doing the same things they do.
All of nature delights in seeing its own characteristics reflected. Is it true that love can be communicated only in a most glorious palace? Even in the mud there was an expression of love among the elephants. During a fishing expedition yesterday at Barrytown everyone was covered by the mud and sometimes you couldn't even see their eyes, yet even under those circumstances there was much joy and excitement and laughter; I thought that even in those circumstances we can communicate more of trust and love.
Why did we take so much delight among ourselves in such a situation? There was a common denominator of being covered with mud and each person took great delight in the likeness. That principle works precisely the same way in spirit world. No matter how handsome or beautiful you think you are nobody will agree with you; only when you resemble God will people recognize your true beauty. Then you have become someone you can be proud of. Everybody's shape or form reflects God. Even though there are differences between Westerners and Orientals, all are a reflection of God.
How will God laugh? Most people naturally look up at the sky when they laugh. Why? It is built-in human nature that when you have something to really laugh about you don't want to laugh all by yourself but together with God. The same is true whether you are Western or Eastern. Then will God laugh up to the sky? I think that God must look down toward us when He laughs because He wants to be joyful with us. It is most logical. You will find out how true this is when you go to the spirit world.
The subject today is "Our Pride." What is the pride of the Unification Church? People have probably told you that you are brainwashed. Our critics use that word with a negative meaning but we take it as having a good meaning. You wash something to bring back its original beauty. Even animals wash. The person who always wants to wash himself, his clothes and his spirit is going to progress because that nature comes from God. God gave that nature to man so that he could come closer to God's original nature.
It is our pride to greet God even before the sun and the birds
One basic difference between primitive and advanced civilizations is that most primitive peoples don't care about their surroundings while more cultured people keep themselves and their environment clean. Because of the fall, man's brain needs to be washed. God knows that man went wrong so He has been thinking about how to wash the human brain of impure thoughts. Therefore the original definition of "brainwashing" is not bad. People who do not want to change their way of life to resemble God are not on God's side, while those who welcome God's brainwashing are on the side of heaven.
Another criticism we hear is that I am enslaving you young people. People say I make you get up early for worship and then push you out to work hard during the day. They say you come here early because you are forced to. I don't think so. We feel spiritually uplifted by getting up before the sun rises; you don't feel good when you sleep late and get up in the middle of the morning, as though you were defeated by the sun coming out first.
When you get up in the early morning and are busy and then the sun rises with great dignity, it will say, "Did you arise first to welcome me in the morning?" If you are up first to greet the birds then you can feel that their singing is their praise of you. Most important of all, when you get up early in the morning first call the name of God, beginning the day with Him. How would God feel? He does not want to be welcomed first by the birds or the using sun. God wants to be praised first in the morning by His own children. You came up here early in the morning solely for the purpose of God, welcoming Him and praising Him and hearing His word. Is it hardship or joy and glory? This is a precious life you are living.
Do you like to come to Belvedere? Some pragmatic people-and most Americans are-would wonder why I have this many people travel all the way to Belvedere each Sunday instead of having only one person travel from East Garden to New York. Why don't I speak to you at the New Yorker instead of making you get up so early? I know that the time you spend traveling will awaken your enthusiasm to come in the right frame of mind. I am also working early in the morning, earlier than you; you are coming in anticipation of hearing me speak, and I have been concentrating my thoughts on what God's message might be.
If there is a receiving aspect which is eager to respond plus a giving aspect ready to give, then truly great inspiration will come. If you only had to walk downstairs in the New Yorker on Sunday morning you would sleep until five minutes before the speech, and even then get up reluctantly. You would not be ready in that case.
Your preparation creates an atmosphere for the service, and your deep, spiritual preparation will enable you to receive great blessing. Many of you are still sleepy even after traveling all the way up here from New York. Nobody could even get you up if I were to meet you in New York. After three Sundays of such reluctant participation you would think, "I wish Father would eliminate all these Sunday visits. "
That is just another side of fallen nature. However, in order to come to Belvedere you have to make an effort, getting up several hours earlier. Coming such a long distance builds the expectation and you will get more out of my message. There are people sitting out on the lawn, but if their motive is only to be comfortable, rather than because there is no room up closer, then the spirit here is not correct.
I think there must be a certain system for service here. Perhaps one Sunday all the men would sit inside and next week all the women, to give an equal chance to everyone. However, if on the Sunday the men were supposed to be inside there was one sister who insisted she had to be inside to hear me, then I would have something to remember her for. Her firm desire would be one more thing for her to be proud of before God.
People outside the Unification Church are saying not only that you are brainwashed, but that you have been enslaved and your money taken away so that I can live in mansions and high fashion. I know very well what is being said about us. America enforced a slavery system only a century ago. Comparing your life here to that forced slavery, could we say that you are forced to be here? Have you heard that you are here only because I control your mind? What makes you come here? Are you here because I forced you, or is it your own desire and conviction to be here?
This is a heavenly school and we have high standards
Put in simple terms, the Unification Church is a school and you are the students who have come to learn. You are here to learn and school begins at a certain hour. Would you prefer to get here just ten seconds before class begins, or would you prefer to get here well in advance and be ready for the teacher?
There are basically two kinds of teachers. There are many teachers today who tell their students that they can take it easy and not work so hard. Another kind of teacher gives his students a hard time and insists that they do their assignments. Which one is truer to you? The true teacher looks at your future and paints a dream and a vision for you. With that goal ahead of you he will then discipline and inspire you to do your best. If the teacher is pushing you and giving you a hard time it is not for the sake of the present, but for the future.
There are also two kinds of parents. Some parents don't want to bother either their children or themselves by giving discipline. The other kind of parents are serious about their children becoming true men and women and would ask their children's teachers to give them strong guidance and strict standards. Which kind of parents are the most loving?
The Unification Church fits into the pattern of the concerned school. I do not need you to serve me or to support me or my family. That is far from the truth. This is a school of heaven and we have high standards because we have a vision of the future. All through human history most people have tried to achieve selfish goals, and by working on a selfish level they ultimately faced destruction. They ruined not only themselves but their nations as well. Those who pursue selfish goals can never accomplish true good.
Right now the entire world is continuing to pursue a selfish way and everything of value is being lost. This is the lesson of history. It is my observation that soon the world will hit a stone wall and find that there is nowhere left to turn. This is why there must be a new kind of education; the world must have a way to break through that stone wall. To do that we must revolutionize the thinking and way of life of the world, turning it around 180 degrees from the selfish way of life to the unselfish way of life. The world has been ruined by the selfish way of life, but there will again be hope for the future when people are inspired to follow an unselfish way. If this thinking is correct then certainly this ideology could change the world. We have hope, because when the people of the world revolutionize their thinking we will be able to go forward to great peace and prosperity.
What do we have that no one else has?
What is the greatness of our Unification Church? You may look like slaves to our critics, and you may work even harder than slaves, but unlike the slavery of the black people of the past, your hard work is freely given for the sake of God. In this new way of life a revolution of mankind will take place. This is why we have the gut conviction that what we do is different from anything else in history. This is our pride.
If the locomotive pulling a train hits a stone wall then it cannot go forward any further. However, for the train to back up another locomotive must come from the rear and pull it in the other direction. So far the world is being pulled straight towards that stone wall, but you Moonies are the locomotive coming up from behind to pull the world back into the right direction. Some people are convinced that your eyes are glazed and that somehow you don't look normal. Is that true, or are you looking at reality very clearly? There is so much adverse publicity on that point that sometimes people hold up their fingers like an optometrist to see where your eyes focus.
An amazing amount of attention is given to you because you are Moonies. When you say you are a Moonie then everybody watches to see how you behave. Even the ordinary things you do may suddenly seem strange to them. Even though you dress normally, they think that somehow Moonies wear a different kind of clothes. The important thing is that these people are aware that we must have something that people outside our Church do not have. If that something is the right thing then we can really be proud of it. Our unique position is our pride also.
What do we have that is different? Simply this: We Moonies get up earlier and work harder and go to bed later than anyone else, but not for ourselves. Every moment of our day will be completely filled with service to humanity and God. This is what we have and others don't have.
Mankind is one group of people; no matter how many billions of people there may be they are all part of one family. This family of man is going to be proud of people like the Moonies. At some point this family of man needs someone to pioneer a new direction; otherwise all will be ruined. The Unification Church is making that revolution a reality by demonstrating that it can be done. We are the first group to proclaim that an ideal world, the Kingdom of God on earth, is possible.
Amazing things can become possible by applying a way of life different from the rest of the world. Because we are different, persecution has become our daily diet. Do you think that I am sick and tired of persecution, or am I in a position to be proud of being persecuted? In most cases people are ashamed and hurt by criticism and opposition, but I am proud of going to jail and of being persecuted. I have lived that kind of tribulation my entire life.
I am absolutely convinced that going to jail has an entirely different purpose than people realize, and whether people realize this or not does not matter. God knows the difference so people's opinions mean little. Most people are put in jail because their actions were selfishly motivated, but I am put in jail because the nation and world cannot digest the revolutionary way of life I teach, that of sacrificing myself for the sake of the world. Because today's world has rarely seen such a man, people come to the point where they are afraid of me and they would rather put me in jail.
At that moment jail is not a shameful place. All of America is upset, trying to solve the controversy and return to its old ways. I am proud to be the person who can do things that even the President of the United States cannot do and which this nation doesn't know how to digest and accept.
The Unification Seminary is a good example. When I created the seminary only a couple of years ago it had only fifty students in the first class. Externally speaking it is not an extraordinary place, but many of the scholars who have come to lecture there have been completely fascinated by our students and wanted to have some of them in their own school. Why is that? Those professors supposedly came to visit and to teach the students, but actually the professors themselves were the ones who were taught, not just the students. Instead of being influenced by the negativity, those professors started to speak out; they are very conscientious of truth and once they see the truth they will never back down.
At Barrytown those scholars could learn what the Unification Church philosophy really is about and also see the fruits of it in the students. The experience was so moving for them that they have been setting off spiritual bombs when they speak in a positive way about our church. Most people have heard only that you members are brainwashed slaves, but these professors ask such people, "Have you seen them and talked to them? I have, and I know they are not brainwashed."
Will the storm surrounding us blow over or intensify?
Already Americans are fighting among themselves over us in the business world, the academic community, in the government and every walk of life. This war will not end soon but will become more hectic in the days to come. The pragmatic politicians may think that the easiest way to end all the turmoil would be to simply ship me out of this country. This is why they are searching for any reason to accuse me of doing something illegal. The Immigration Department, the IRS, the Justice Department, even Congress is trying to find some violation.
With all this government involvement, many more people have become interested in us and are looking more deeply into our movement. That is when conscientious people will discover that I am not so bad after all! Public opinion will begin to turn and condemn the deprogrammers as brainwashers, rather than me. When the judge in San Francisco made a questionable judgment in favor of the deprogrammers, the legal community became divided and there were many harsh criticisms of the decision.
Where will all the controversy end? Will everything soon come to a climax and our work get easier, or is the storm going to build up and up even more? When people come to take a deeper look at me and the Unification Church they will discover the truth. Then they will become different people because truth has the power to change the human heart. After all, have I done anything wrong in, this country? Even non-members ask that question.
Look at the organized crime in this country which thrives on prostitution, gambling, and drugs; the government has been helpless to deal with organized crime. Why then do they come to oppose me? In our Church they see good looking young people who used to be drug addicts or wanderers with no purpose, but who now completely have devoted themselves to a new relationship with God. Only after realizing that more than just a few young people are being changed do people fear that I will become powerful and try to dominate the world.
One of the greatest miscalculations of those who oppose us is their firm belief that I am an agent of the Korean government. That kind of assumption begins with the thinking that nothing good can come out of Korea. When the media mentions that I am a Korean evangelist there is usually an undertone of scorn. Because Korea is a small country that Americans never knew too much about and because Korea is indebted to America, then a man from Korea is criticized for speaking out.
They want me to be quiet because I speak out about what is wrong with America. I say unpopular things, that America will lose God's favor and is destined to perish if it continues in its present direction. I am not here to praise America and to ask for money, but to warn America that it must return to a godly way of life.
Because I am Korean, Americans are jealous when their young people listen to me. Do you think they would kidnap their own children if I were another white man, even if I taught the same principles and inspired the same conviction? No, they would not be as upset if I were a white man. The amazing thing is, however, that not too many Asian people follow me here in America. American young people are following me here, and we are writing a new chapter of American history. Future generations will think it was most extraordinary that no American inspired the American people, but that a man from Asia came and inspired the Americans to build a new America, making them realize the truth of their destiny.
After this chapter is written there shall be no segregation or racial discrimination because an Asian, one of a minority group in this country, came and preached the gospel of love and equality of all men and races. Here we are creating the new hope and future of America. I am here to help this country get back on the right track, but if America does not heed my advice then this nation will be further entangled in difficulty. Racial unity is the key to the survival of America. America has been the melting pot of all the world's people, but if Americans persist in thinking in terms of races, nationalities and religious groups, there will be tremendous difficulties ahead.
In an unseen way I am contributing more to American history than any other individual. There has been no American leader for you who could give honest hope to the young people of America. My purpose is not to divide people; I want to be silent and keep doing my job, working to bring harmony and understanding instead of inciting more fights. My desire is to save America, to bring new hope to America through you. Through you the extremes of America are being brought into one harmonized center.
The government is very powerful and I don't want to have it turned against you. We are still a small minority in this country and we still need to lay the foundation here. I am building a movement to convert American youth into better God-centered American youth. Many people think that I am trying to convert you into Korean youth, but that is far, far from the truth!
When the Jews came to America they were a persecuted minority, but now some prominent Jews are in turn denouncing me as being anti-Semitic. There are millions of young people in this country, and eventually this movement will spread because young people here have nowhere to turn. Why then are the Jews treating us as enemies? This is a universal movement and not confined to any race or religion; the time will come when we are so big that people will not want to oppose us. I don't want anyone to have caught themselves in that position in the future. My attitude now is just to be patient.
Why are some Christians opposing me now? Do you think the Unification Church will outgrow traditional Christianity or not? Many congregations have mostly senior citizens; what will these churches be like in another few decades? In contrast, many of you are young people and by the time you become senior citizens those other churches will all be gone.
Christian churches have already done incredible things against me. You do not know the vicious and dirty things they did to slander the Unification Church in Korea and Japan. Plots to kill me and harm my family were made, and some Christians plotted to stop the weddings and our other activities in the early years. Even now, in America as well, some Christians are trying to disrupt our work. Can you find any worse enemy than that?
How much more should we take? God has been patient with His rebellious children for 6,000 years, however, and therefore I have never lifted even one finger to take revenge for all that has been done against me. All I have done is to pray for them. It is significant that those negative forces have been themselves destroyed, one by one, even though I have never retaliated. We have never lifted up a finger against them but one after another they have destroyed themselves. When we are free ourselves from satanic accusation, we have nothing to fear from outside forces because those forces will eliminate themselves.
Are you ashamed when people ridicule you on the street? Today's world may scorn you, but your deeds will be recorded for all of history to read. God and all the spirit world, including all your ancestors, are with us. If the FBI arrested me and put me in jail I wouldn't even blink. The Bard College incident last month shows how determined some people are to use trivial things to harass me. The whole world learned through the news media that I was arrested, but I only smiled at the whole thing and thought, "You foolish people. That's not the way you can win over me."
The person who has not been persecuted has not much to be proud of
I have never done one single thing that is shameful to America. If I have committed any crime it is that I raised up young people like you and re-made them into children of God. If that is a sin then I have definitely committed it. Since you are Americans too, you probably agree with all the professors, ministers, parents and everyone else who thinks I am evil. You don't agree? That is why people say you are crazy! Amazingly enough, that is our pride.
We have something that people don't understand: our pride. The person who has not been persecuted has not much to be proud of. I have pioneered a new movement to receive persecution for the sake of good, and as members you also become pioneers. Am I the only one who feels good about doing this, or do you feel good about it also? Does America feel good about it, or Korea?
Certainly this is for America's benefit. Few patriots could ever have imagined doing for this nation what I have already done. Then how can America mistreat me? All of you are the true patriots of America, and the American people will some day be grateful enough to treat you kindly. I want to see the day come soon when the American people understand you.
Because we are asking for donations for this work our fund raisers many times are thrown in jail. You go fund raising not because you are incapable of earning money or of holding a job-many of you could earn tens of thousands of dollars if you held a regular job-but because we chose this route for the sake of the movement. Are you asking for donations so you can get rich? Absolutely not.
None of the real estate we purchased is for my sake. I will do things for the sake of America and then go back to Korea. All these things will remain here to be used for the sake of the world; I will not take them back with me. This is my pride.
We bought 500 acres of land in Tarrytown and I announced that eventually we wanted to build an international, God-centered university there. The village of Tarrytown reacted by passing an ordinance against building more educational institutions. They would rather not have their peace disturbed. They are using other subtle ways to try to move the Moonies out of Tarrytown, for example, by deliberately designing a new zoning code for the purpose of keeping the Moonies out. We are actually thankful to them because these things will make American history more interesting, and as a result we have more to be proud of. I have become so controversial that everything I do gets a news article, but I am simply collecting more material for history.
We are going to harvest the blessings of the oceans
I have been going out to sea in a boat called New Hope. The public may think I just go yachting for pleasure, but every day I am collecting more material. God has hidden unlimited resources underneath the sea, and the oceans will be the key to future development in the world.
I know very well that in the course of developing sea industries we may sometimes suffer some sacrifice. Eventually we will have hundreds of fishing boats, and some of them may be lost at sea. Even losing husbands and brothers will not deter our pioneering zeal because that business will be for the sake of humanity.
We want to become masters of the sea. The ocean surface is twice as big as the surface of the land, and furthermore there are vast resources beneath the sea. Any nation which can overcome the difficulties will conquer the sea. We first teamed to have dominion on the land, and with the same pioneering spirit we can conquer the sea as well.
Our battle is now being waged on the land, and we must be victorious here, being tested and seasoned by a hurricane of persecution. Then when real storms come at sea we can welcome them. The Pilgrims who came to America were pioneering people; otherwise they would not have crossed the Atlantic Ocean, especially during the stormy months. They realized that an uncertain destiny lay ahead of them, and that they had no guarantee for their lives; few had ever safely arrived in the New World, but they started anyway., They overcame by their hope and faith in God. Now in the 20th century we also are forging ahead, like a boat in a rough ocean, with faith in God. Whatever the persecution and blowing winds, we have faith in God.
I look at the vast ocean resources as God's blessing waiting for the Unification Church. I have promised to God, "Give me twenty years' time and we will conquer the sea, taking dominion over it and returning the glory to You." That is how I think every time I go out. Later we will establish a great foundation, and even the Ford or Rockefeller Foundations will look like peanuts in comparison. That is the way we must realistically feel.
Do you like going out to sea? You may like the sea but you don't like riding in the boat do you? When the Unification Church women marry sailors and fishermen, America will have hope. American men are refusing to become sailors or fishermen because of women. Sailors are gone at sea sometimes three or six months, and often their wives don't wait faithfully for them. When the husband comes home there is no wife there! After that he thinks, "No sir, I'm not going out to sea again. I'm watching my wife!"
Women thus have the potential to destroy the opportunity for developing the blessings of the oceans. I will definitely match the most beautiful sisters with brothers who are sailors. By being loyal and faithful to their husbands they will set a new example. If the most outstanding women are hoping for husbands who are seamen, then all our brothers will want to become sailors! Don't even think about marrying one of our very outstanding members before you become a seaman.
One of the captains on my boat, the New Hope, is named Spiro. He is from Greece and he is a very outstanding and good-looking man. I love him very much, and when blessing time came I looked for a most outstanding woman. I recommended one sister who has helped care for Mother as a nurse-midwife. She is slender and beautiful and I never hesitated to suggest her to Spiro. That sister, Leslie, has another kind of blessing from God; as an inheritance from her grandparents she receives a certain amount of money every month. Their home is already guaranteed! Spiro couldn't ask for any better wife than her! But he only got that blessing because he loves the ocean and above all he is absolutely loyal in his work for the Church.
All these things are our pride in the Unification Church. The fisherman's life is a hard, dirty, even crude life and fishermen have to be very rugged. Furthermore, fishermen have always been known as thieves and liars. Why should I have us get into the kind of business which is known as a living hell? I go down to the bottom of hell and by revolutionizing such a place and bringing heaven there then I can hasten the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
Col. Pak's report:
The other day I read a letter to Father from a captain down in Norfolk, Virginia. His name is Tony and he always told us, "You Moonies are in the wrong business. You will never make it in fishing because it is dirty and full of cheating and corruption." The fishermen cannot bring their families to see their boats because there is so much swearing and ugliness at the docks. In the last six months, though, the atmosphere in Norfolk is changing; although the work on the docks is really cruel the men have changed and there is no more swearing and drinking going on. Now they love to bring their wives and children to the dock and do so more and more frequently because they want to have their children mingle with Reverend Moon's members.
Captain Tony has been fishing since he was 12 years old, for 30 years, and he is a rugged individual who knows the sea. He met Father and shook hands with him when Father first went down there. Our competitors tried to ruin our fishing industry in Norfolk by giving us a bad image, but Tony found that every time he took one of our members out in his boat he got a big catch. He told me about an incident at sea when his boat was sinking because of a sudden large leak. He asked our brother to pray, and for the first time in his entire life he prayed together with someone. The minute their prayer was over a Coast Guard cutter appeared and soon a helicopter came with extra pumps enabling the boat to be salvaged and safely escorted back to the dock. Tony told me, "Without Reverend Moon I would have been dead!"
Last year brought the most severe winter Tony had experienced in his thirty years of fishing, but he took in more fish than he had ever caught in one season. His catch was the equivalent of ten boat loads. I told him, "Do you know why you got so many fish last winter? Reverend Moon is praying for you. He loves the sea and he deeply meditated about setting up our business in Norfolk. He shook hands with you and he knows your name. That's why you had such a big year last winter." Tony asked me, "Would you kindly ask Reverend Moon to keep praying for me?"
You members are not the only ones witnessing about Father. At sea the captains talk by radio. I met another captain, named Oswald. He is completely impressed by Father and our members working in Norfolk. One day he came back and told one of our members, "I had a big fight today at sea. Some other captain criticized Reverend Moon on the radio and I had such a fight with him on the radio that I didn't even have much chance to fish. But after the fight was over all of a sudden the scallops started coming and we got a whole boat load!" His family lives in North Carolina, but this summer he is bringing them to Norfolk to meet our people and experience the love our members have. He never thought that such love was possible.
Most of the time fishermen become dried up emotionally, working like machines almost. But in Norfolk our members sometimes go out to wave as the boats put out to sea. The fishermen want to come back with a big load, not just because of the money, but because they don't want to disappoint our members there.
One captain told me that he and his crew have recently been seeing visions. He was awake on deck while going out to sea one night but the crew was asleep. All of a sudden he saw a pure white rainbow arching up from the ocean, something he had never seen in all his years at sea. Usually these things appear to only one person, but when he woke his crew up to look each one could see it! Another night he looked into the water and saw his own image, and suddenly he saw a halo around his head. He just couldn't believe it! When Captain Tony said, "Tell Reverend Moon to pray for me," this man said, "Tell him to pray for me too."
One time Father said that once a fisherman's heart is melted, he is a person closest to God. Our members have seen how this is so true. Men like Oswald and Tony are now bringing more boats to do business at our dock. In the last two months they brought four new boats. One time Oswald's boat had equipment trouble so he could not fish and he radioed back that he had to come in. On the way back he saw another boat with engine trouble; that ship had a tremendous catch of scallops, but it couldn't move. Oswald volunteered to tow that boat into our dock and they unloaded their catch there. That boat has stayed with us ever since.
Many other wonderful things are happening in Norfolk. Father picked a man named John Schmittke as our manager. He is just like our family member and calls Reverend Moon "Father." He told his wife that for the first time in many years he could leave the business at night with the feeling that he doesn't have to check every inventory, every door and every freezer. Previously there was so much theft by employees that unless he was a watchdog they would steal from him. He told me he knows one man with a fishing business in North Carolina, but that he is only successful because his twelve sons are also in the company and can keep checking everything. But John said he can trust our members.
There is a freezing company next door, where many people bring merchandise. After our company rented space there the supervisor told the employees, "Don't let anybody come in except the Unification Church members because they are trustworthy. They can come in and go anywhere they want, but not other people."
This morning Father has talked about a revolution among men, particularly in the most dirty and impossible place like the hell in the fishing industry. Tony kept saying that we would never make it because we were so naive, but this time he told me, "I have high hopes that Reverend Moon will revolutionize the entire fishing industry."
Rev. Moon continues:
Everything I do is to lay a cornerstone of tradition
When I created Tong Il Industry in Korea, our machine shop, there was never a day when I didn't visit that industry, sometimes even three times. The entire time I was thinking that I was dealing with all the engineers and machine specialists in the spirit world and that our factory was a joint operation with them. In anything we do it is most important that the spirit world recognize and acknowledge that I am far ahead of what anyone else has ever done and that I certainly deserve their support. That recognition from spirit world is most important.
In order to receive their cooperation I have to do things differently. First of all they must clearly know that I did not create that factory for my own sake but for the sake of the world. In setting up Tong Il, I always felt that I was laying a foundation and cornerstone of tradition for all future industry and for the world. Those concepts will move the hearts of those in spirit world. I love that factory more than anyone in history has ever loved that life, and in building it I was always intensely interested in how to develop everything. Once I touch something in the name of God I must create a powerhouse which will progress to the world level; I must do my best, with total sincerity.
Always a time will come bringing adverse situations and stormy weather, and there have been many times when the factory was faced with peril and crisis. We lost much money and there were different kinds of setbacks, but each time I spurred myself on to a higher level. It was a tremendous investment for our Church, and at that time the leaders at headquarters did not like what I was doing; we invested much money into Tong Il only to have the money vanish.
The more the people closest to me thought negatively, the more I gave my heart. I showed my complete determination by giving my whole heart and energy and soul under any circumstances and investing even more money. Today Tong Il is the leader in the Korean machine industry. We have a streamlined factory and have received government recognition for the quality of work done there. It is the time now to establish our industry all over the world.
I am always conscious of those in spirit world and always in competition with them because I know that they must be in a position to approve my actions. I always felt that unless someone could devote himself with A his heart and soul and mind, more than I did to the Tong Il industry, that no other person would be capable of running that place. Even if government people took it over they could not make it more successful because in the name of God I gave everything to it.
Sometimes even someone as close as Mother could not understand my motives; I would get home early in the morning from the factory and only wash and then turn around and go out again. At that time Hyo Jin was only a young baby, but even then I always took him on every tap I made, riding back and forth on the bumpy, rugged roads. Even Mother does not know my prayer for him at those times.
Hyo Jin has a very adventurous character. When he rides a motorcycle he doesn't do it in an ordinary way but rides on rugged roads and does difficult stunts. Even as a boy, once he was determined to do something he just hung on until it was done. He is just like I was in my younger days. When I was young I came home many times so completely tired out that I almost collapsed at the door. Hyo Jin is doing the same thing now.
We bought much land at Chung Pyung, a beautiful mountain lakeside area, and some day there will be an international training center for the Unification Church. I went to that place often, sometimes two or three times a day, even though each trip took three or four hours. Once I set my mind on something then no one else can move it aside. I know that no one can touch that land until it is developed for God's purpose; because I gave all my heart and prayer to that place, no one with a lesser motivation is worthy to claim it. Before we bought Barrytown I went there seventeen times to look around and pray and make a master plan, giving my whole heart to it. I wanted my heart for Barrytown to exceed the vision and dream of the person who originally built it.
There are many possible businesses to start in this country, but I decided on the fishing industry. Therefore, rest assured that it will be done, because I gave my heart and soul and total energy to it. Now you can understand that I am giving my heart by going out to sea earlier in the morning than anyone else and coming later.
Yesterday I was training the seminarians in net making and teaching them about different fish. I never went to bed the night before and last night I was also up very late. For the last three days I have had almost no sleep. Knowing the consciousness of spirit world, I want to exceed anyone who gave themselves for the fishing business. There are many in spirit world who set records, and I want to exceed them in giving all of my heart and soul. Once I lay the foundation, the spirit world can begin to totally and overwhelmingly support us.
There are thousands of people who died at sea under miserable circumstances, and in 1975 1 had a special ceremony and prayer, calling all of them to forgive them, liberate them and send them into a higher spirit world. By my going through the kind of ordeals they experienced at sea, the value and dignity of the sea is elevated and restored. Because all the people who died at sea are now vindicated, the entire world has to help our efforts at sea.
You cannot expect a result without a cause. The cause may be invisible but the result is physical. Sometimes I come back from the sea and only have one meal, and then without even changing or taking a shower I go out again. What matters is where my thought is.
All the things that are happening in Norfolk may seem to be miracles, but all of them have a cause in spirit world. People have died in a situation like Tony's, when his boat was sinking; the Coast Guard pilot doesn't know why, but something pulled him to that area to pick Tony up. These are the mysterious things that happen wherever we go in the Unification Church. You must motivate the spirit world to help. It is our pride that we can do that.
So far I have named three things the Unification Church can be proud of. First, we're proud of the Unification Church; second, we are proud of our tradition; third, we are proud of our people. But our pride must not end there; it must go on. Elevating our pride to the level of the nation, we must have this same pride in America, and furthermore, in the world.
The time will come when the public is proud of our establishments as their own
Eventually I would like to open all of our major facilities like Belvedere and Barrytown to the public and let the public be proud of our establishments as their own. I am still waiting for an opportune time though, because there are still so many people who intend to destroy our church and would set bombs. All kinds of things could happen. The time will come, however.
I like the name "New Yorker," the original name of the World Mission Center. The New Yorker belongs to New Yorkers. I would like that particular building to be known not as a Unification Church building, but as the New Yorker. The Tiffany Building is the News World Building now, but New Yorkers should feel an attachment to it and think of it as their own. The News World is a New York newspaper.
We must first be proud of all our establishments, like Belvedere and East Garden, as American establishments. We are proud of them for the sake of America and eventually we will be proud of these things for the sake of the world. They do not belong just to the Moonies.
In order to make Belvedere and East Garden the property of the world, the people who live there should be working day in and day out for the sake of the world. You in New York are working day in and day out for the sake of humanity, and I have the people at Belvedere and East Garden also working for the sake of the world and humanity. In that way they can become a world Belvedere, world East Garden and world New Yorker.
We must make a Unification Church that belongs to the world, not just to the Moonies. That means we are going to live our lives for the sake of the world. Whether you are of the yellow, white or black race does not make a difference; if you truly give your life for the sake of the world you will say, "This is my church, my house."
If you are doing that then the Unification Church has a future, pride and hope. Our way of life may be very humble and our food very coarse, but that spark, that spirit is universal. You are universal men and women who are living to achieve some benefit for mankind.
Those who lived rich lives before were not the people who were working for the sake of the world. It is far more dramatic and beautiful to God to bring yourself down to the humble way of life, having done nothing but truly give for the sake of the world and humanity. The more you suffer for the highest possible goal and bring yourself down to the lowest position, the greater will be your honor and the greater will be the divine purpose you accomplish. That is the pride of the Unification Church.
So what do we have? What we have is not for us but for God and for the world. I do not think of Belvedere as my personal private property, or even the Unification Church's private property. You must not think that way either. It all belongs to God and to humanity. Then you can be proud of it because it is God's property. If our Unification Church members are living that way of life then we can truly be proud of one another. We are here to restore all the things of creation back to God, and in order to do that we restore money by using it for God.
It is your pride to be restoring the creation for God and purifying yourself for God. When you feel that pride then a bag of peanuts or a stick of chewing gum comes to have an entirely different kind of value, becoming a priceless piece of God's property. Every penny you collect goes to the Church to be sanctified for God and then used for the world. We can be proud of that. The more you suffer for this noble purpose, the greater will be your accomplishments. God recognizes you more because you do so many things under the most unusual circumstances.
You are going out to harvest God's own things and bring them to Him, where they belong. Then God will say, "Go ahead and spend it for the world." Even when God wants to spend money He will not spend it by Himself but will ask you, "Do you think it should be spent for this purpose? For America and other countries?" God will ask your permission because you are the one who is actually harvesting it for Him. In that sense everyone is elevating himself to an equal level and participating in God's decision-making body. Fundraising is a noble deed and through it we can share in God's decisions.
We will never perish as long as we go this route. We are the people God is dependent upon and restoration of the economy is an important task in this matter. I am looking forward to seeing who will be the champions among you, who will emerge to do more for the sake of God and His Kingdom. Because God loves the things He created, we too love all these things.
God also wants to love the people, so we are the ones who love the people enough to bring them back to God. That is the reason for witnessing, and that is why witnessing is more intense than fundraising. After all, men have a greater value in the sight of God than the things of creation. It is not an easy task to pour out your heart and soul to a person and guide him to becoming God-like. Re-creating a man is a difficult task, but that is why it is our pride to do it on a 24-hour basis.
It is your pride to embrace in love the extremes of the world
Would it be easier for me to lead the Korean disciples or the Americans? It gives me greater pride to lead Americans because it is a more difficult task: we have a different language, cultural background, and even different faces. Actually the most difficult part is that the Western thinking process is completely different; compared to the age-old courtesies of the Orient, American customs are almost primitive.
I must lift you up step by step, re-shaping you in both external and internal things. For one thing, you are sitting on the floor. It is impossible for Americans to think of sitting for long hours in a cramped room like this, but now you are ready to go anywhere with no problem. Many times American leaders come for a conference and sit with their legs sticking out in front of them toward me. In the Orient that practice is unheard of; even 2-year-old boys and girls would laugh, "That's amazing, how can they do that?" However, it becomes your pride to start out that far down and then come up high. Then God will be proud of you as His own objects.
You too, are proud of your loved ones, but you must try not to love only familiar, similar things. You must love from extreme to extreme. It is far more dramatic to see a black and a white or an Oriental and a Westerner as a couple living happily together. Americans generally don't think that way but God thinks differently. Do you want to embrace such extremes? Because I pay more attention to an international marriage, that becomes the tradition of the Unification Church.
Generally, international couples experience scorn from the world for being different, like a minority group, but the Unification Church will be the champion for international couples. Eventually I will fully establish this new tradition, and as people see God blessing those international marriages there will be more and more of them throughout the world. Through these marriages the national boundaries and racial differences will automatically be broken, and some day international marriages will be in the majority.
The world basically thinks of America as a white people's country. When a black American wins a gold medal at the Olympic games, and the national anthem is played as he receives his medal, many people react by thinking, "He doesn't belong to America; he's not American." America has failed to give an impression of racial unity yet. It still conveys the sense of white people being supreme. Will that be the case when there is a Unification Church nation? Would you white members identify with one of our black brothers who won a gold medal? This kind of ideology must become this country's ideology and the world's ideology.
When this very tall brother Gerhard goes with me as a guard, many people look at him and they wonder, "Could that German really be loyal to that Oriental man?" Whenever I travel in the Lincoln limousine, Americans automatically think that some dignitary is arriving, like the President or some official. First they look at the driver and when they see our good-looking brother they assume that there must be an even more good-looking man sitting behind him. When they look in the back seat and see me their expression completely changes. First they are smiling ear-to-ear and then suddenly they look shocked. After they recover from the initial shock they think I must be a foreign minister or ambassador from another country. I don't like to travel in that car too much.
Many times people are very sarcastic and ask the driver, "You are one of us. Why do you drive that man?" That kind of thinking shows that Americans are not really ready to embrace the rest of the world. Without some re-education America cannot become a world leader in the truest sense.
We in the Unification Church are proud of our tradition, proud of our love of unity, our love for the world and our love for one another. I feel that the highest possible heaven will be reserved for the couples who demonstrate their pride in embracing the extremes of interracial marriage.
We are truly transcending the national and racial barriers and God is proud of this organization. Simply because God is with us this organization cannot be destroyed. That is our pride. We are the only group which can gather people for mass weddings. Many nationalities are gathered together and joyfully participate in those weddings, with husbands and wives giving their common pledge to God.
Your greatest legacy win be your tradition
If someone were to list my contributions to America then one of them must be that I am the first one ever to come from Asia and introduce the depths of the Oriental spirit in terms of God, making possible the unity between East and West. I am the first to lay the foundation of this unity between East and West; it is not by knowledge or by anything else but love. This is a new tradition that America has never had. It can be seen in your willing desire to marry someone of another race, and together to serve God and humanity. Nobody forces you, but you want to be an example of a truly happy family embracing two extremes. A great deal of effort is needed to harmonize one extreme with another, and that is why it becomes our added pride to do it.
A pious son is the one who overcomes the utmost difficulty for the benefit of his parents. It is a rare thing to see in America now, but loyal subjects or patriots are those who gave themselves totally, under utmost difficulty, for the benefit of their king or nation. The greatest of all saints are the sons and daughters of God who will strive under incredible difficulties to achieve the purpose of God. Indeed Jesus Christ did that.
We have much to be proud of in the Unification Church. The very things that we are proud of are the very things that all mankind and also God Himself wants to be proud of. On behalf of mankind and God we are fund raising, witnessing and building revolutionary marriages. You can be proud of that in itself.
Which kind of person will you be when you go to the spirit world? One person will proudly say, "God, look at how great I am and how greatly I lived, gathering knowledge and honors." God will kick such a person out of heaven. The other person will say, "God, I am sorry. I have not much to be proud of. I didn't bring many accomplishments, but at least I can assure you that every moment of the day I thought about You and mankind and did my best to serve. Everything I earned I wanted to spend for the sake of humanity and I wanted to guide the people I met to understand You. My effort is there." God will say, "You are my child and you shall be with me for eternity."
If you live that way of life here on earth then you don't have to go anywhere to see heaven; you will make this place heaven. Such a person is already living in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. You all must be proud that you are doing that. I am concentrating my entire life to accomplish certain goals; in the same way, when you concentrate all of yourself on your mission for the very purpose of God and humanity then you are becoming a man of heaven.
That tradition will be the truest asset we can leave behind; money, knowledge, honor, even your own children--those are not your greatest legacy. We are launching an extraordinary once-in-history crusade, which is our greatest pride. Our pride is universal.
What we are doing is far greater than what the President of the United States can pursue, and greater than anything the greatest American ever thought. Even without being perfect, we can at least be sure that this is the way to become a son of God or a daughter of God. And that is the noblest of all titles you could receive. You can be heirs of God and receive His entire inheritance and bequeath his Kingdom to posterity. That is the position you are occupying today.
It is your pride to persevere so mankind can be saved
So far you probably never thought of your tradition in that way and didn't have that pride. Usually you think mostly about physical inconvenience, about how you get up early and work hard and whether you are hungry. When people ask, "What church do you belong to?" your answer just does not come out proudly. V,/hen people yell at you and give you a hard time you usually want to shy away from them and feel miserably defeated. You probably cry sometimes and blame me, "How come Reverend Moon brought me into this misery?"
All my life I have thought about this, far more than you can imagine. My first reaction is not to stand for persecution but to crush it in an instant. My temper is so hot that I cannot stand such injustice, but I always think about how people have spit at God so many millions of times and how God endured it. By His enduring, God is giving people a chance to be revived, and in the same way your endurance will enable you to turn men and women from the satanic side to God's side. It is your pride when you can exercise that kind of power.
You have nothing to be ashamed of, even if you are begging for food. It is the person who would shame you who is the one that is shamed. Sometimes go deliberately into a situation and by your presence stir people up and let them give you a hard time. Though others around you may ride in the best car available and you may walk, inside yourself you must maintain the pride to think, "I am more precious in His sight than all those people and positions put together." When you feel this way then you will never be alone and even the birds and animals can comfort you. Sometimes people just passing by will suddenly stop and offer you assistance, and other amazing things will begin to happen around you.
Do you feel ashamed when you go out fund raising? Did you have this kind of logical understanding before, or somehow you just blindly gathered the courage to overcome your fear? Now you have both the courage and the reason to be proud. Those who accuse you and beat you are the people who will be shamed, while those who assist you are the people who will be elevated. You are helping to bring them blessing so they and their forefathers can some day share in heaven.
When people spurn you, you can think, "All right, while you are sleeping I will work and because of me you shall be liberated. I am a mediator, and even though you misunderstand me today, I will pray for you and work harder to prove to you how truthful we are. Some day you will know."
When I was younger I could keep an intense schedule and go many nights without sleep. But now my body bothers me and has certain limits. Sometimes my legs suddenly get weak, but I curse them, "We have no time to be weak! We have still farther to go!" Mother sometimes thinks that I am made of iron, that God built my body in such a way that I do not feel fatigue. Her nickname for me is "The Brass General."
Mother takes a little longer to get ready than I, and many times I have to wait for her. While waiting, many frustrations are going through my mind. Then when she appears she mentions something to slow us down more. But I calm my frustration, thinking, "Yes, in the name of God I have the power to endure this also. What else?"
I know that the time will come when Mother will completely appreciate what I am, and at the same time I know that she will absolutely follow me. I know that without understanding the whole situation someone may unintentionally do the wrong thing. When you understand then you do the right thing because if you don't then your conscience hurts. Nothing is driving me except my conscience. Unless I live up to my own conscience I feel guilt-ridden and unhappy.
When I look in a mirror I see that I am no longer young. No one is happy to see himself aging, but amazingly enough you Unification Church members seem to take great delight at seeing this aging face. It is God who inspires you that way. You do not deliberately try to feel that way, but somehow God made you want to look at me and feel fondness for me. God can say the same thing about me, that I want to look at Him all the time and love Him. In order to be my God He had to first capture my heart, which is why He inspires you to feel close to me.
In addition, God knows clearly that for me to fulfill the mission He gave to me that He must create some spiritual tie between us. That is why you are drawn to me without any conscious effort. Those who have my picture, raise your hands. Who told you to have such pictures? You robbers! Really, it is God who made you want a picture of me. Even married people have pictures of Mother and me instead of their own families. Did I ever enforce a regulation like that? That very love between us is what you can be proud of.
God is a living God, so I am never alone or lonely. My relationship with God is a living witness to you; I feel the presence of God every day and if you live as I have lived then when you become old you too will be respected and will be loved by the people. I can assure you that in heaven you will be given absolute respect and admiration and love.
The tomb I will leave behind
When you pass by a cemetery you never see many people there visiting. Perhaps once a year one of the family might remember and put flowers on a grave, but that is probably all. I have thought about what will happen when I die. I think about whether only my wife and children will visit my grave or whether there will be line after line of people coming to pay respect.
When you become a universal man of God then your impact and presence is not just with your family but is universal. Every day at your tomb there will be a new spiritual element present. Because you planted a universal tradition, every person who goes there will receive something different; one person who is despondent will be comforted, and people facing tremendous difficulty will come just to be inspired, remembering that in your life you had courage to overcome incredible hardship.
The tomb of such a universal person can give all kinds of answers and comfort to people in despair and difficulty or in happiness and excitement. I have thought about whether I can leave that kind of tomb behind to this world. In order to leave that presence behind I must live that kind of life. When there is despair I must be a person to inspire, and when there are setbacks I must become a person to courageously advance.
I have not lived that kind of life for myself but for the purpose of God and humanity. I have set that tradition yet that is not my footprint but God's footprint. That living teaching will remain as long as God remains. After my death I want to witness, even at my grave. Tens of thousands of years in the future I will still be alive and witnessing.
I decided that I do not want to have everything fulfilled in my own lifetime, but to have the ultimate fulfillment come in the future so that even after my death I can continue to witness. I am already preparing for that. The living God is our God, and until His goal is fulfilled this deep desire and anxiety will not be treated idly. It shall be reaped and fulfilled and God will definitely deliver His promise. Until then the Unification Church and I will continue and prosper. If this is a true church then we must embrace the will of God as our own.
It is certainly your infinite pride to have Reverend Moon as your teacher. In turn I want to be proud of you who want to succeed my tradition and way of life. Having such people in my own lifetime in this room is my pride. You know what is the pride of the Unification Church and your own pride, what is God's pride and what is my pride. What will you do now that you know? Do not give any excuses or complain. The only words you can speak are, "We will go and we will do it."
There is not much time. Even when people attack you there is no time to spend in arguing with them because you are too busy. No matter what persecution comes there is too much to do to spend time defending yourself. There is no time to fool around with these people. With that kind of attitude I have already established missions in 120 countries. No saint in history has ever done this.
I will risk everything for the things we are proud of in the Unification Church. Are you already doing that or are you going to do it? Up to now you may not have been that way, but now you can become that kind of person. You may remember the shameful deeds you have done here and there and have many things you want to hide, but are you now going to be a different person? Without having done your utmost you can't even talk about whether you deserve recognition from God or the True Parents.
You must get down to work and achieve results. You do not even have to ask me to come help or ask God to help; when you become an indispensable person in the sight of God then He cannot afford to not help you. I do not think about how much I have already done and how I do not need to make any further effort. I am not dwelling on the past or even on the present; I am looking at the future and seeing how much work there is to do.
You must eliminate the idea that I am a different person than you are, born for a different mission. Do not think that. You must feel that you can be just like me and even outdo me because you have so many other advantages. You are younger and Americans will accept you as being one of them. I want you to have that kind of conviction. I want to see members who think, "All right, Father and I are in competition. Father is older than I am so he will get tired first but I will keep going. Father, I will outlast you."
You should think, "I am young and I have a grand future. I will take the entire world as my ministry. What Reverend Moon did here in America I am going to do all over the world." I have said that our next target is Moscow, which means Must Go. Do you really have the feeling, "I must go"?
Even if I get hit by a communist bullet I do not want to be hit in my arm or leg but right in my chest or head. Then when I go to God I can say, "God, I have something to show. I never dodged the bullets." If a bullet hits you somewhere else and you die, then when you go before God you could say, "God, I wanted to be hit right here, but they mis-aimed. Father, let me go down to earth once again and be hit again the way I want." Almighty God will let you go again.
Are you really young men and women of courage and commitment? I am not the only one watching you; God is looking down and the communists are watching too. Can you pledge to be like I have been and even outdo me? Those who can pledge that, raise your hands. Let us pray.
