The Cosmos is My Hometown and Fatherland

Hak Ja Han
March 7, Kyush, Japan and
March 8, Hiroshima, Japan

Distinguished and honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I am grateful from the bottom of my heart to all of you, representing leadership in various fields and specialties from all over the world, who have come to visit Korea in order to congratulate me and celebrate my 80th birthday. In particular, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to God, who has been with me, protecting me throughout all of my life. I would like to offer Him all of the glory and honor given to me.

During the course of my life, I have been totally committed to the salvation of humankind centered on God's Will. Ever since I was called at age 16, I diligently explored His Will, communicating with Jesus in Paradise and other saints and sages. As a result, I came to realize that God is not sitting in the throne of glory and honor, but is a God of suffering, grief and lamentation, who has been endeavoring to save His children who were thrown into hell as a result of the fall.

Due to the fall, humankind became spiritually ignorant. We did not understand God's existence, the origin of human life, the purpose of living on the earthly plane in the physical body, the existence of the spirit world to which we go after life on Earth, and the preparation necessary for life after death. However, ever since I learned the Will of God and His heart, my life have been totally committed with a single mind and goal to accomplish God's Will, transcending time and space, forgetting about everything else.

When I reflect upon the 80 years of my life, filled with misunderstandings and persecution, it is just amazing that I can be with you today. I believe that it is because during the entire course of my life I have not for a moment deviated from the Will of God in order to seek a comfortable life for myself. I have given approximately 10,000 public speeches throughout my ministerial career. These speeches have been published in 300 volumes, and so my life is open to your view through those speeches.

On this day of such great significance, I would like to share with you the most fundamental relationship between God and us, by speaking on the topic, "The Cosmos is My Hometown and Fatherland."

Originally, cosmos is a huge house in which humans to live at the master. Human life assumes a spherical structure in the context of relationships between up and down, right and left, and front and rear. These culminate in the relationships between parent and child, husband and wife, and brother and sister. God occupies the center of all these relationships. Thus He is in the position of the number 7 as the center of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, representing the positions of up and down, up and down, and right and left. That is why God can guide and educate us in our daily life, even though He is invisible.

Despite the struggles and difficulties we face in Satan's realm due to the fall, we recognize that the normal course of human life is to become a true spouse after growing mature enough to marry and become a true parent, by having children. Therefore, we cannot deny the relationships of brothers and sisters, of husband and wife, and of parents and children. If we do, we are violating the principle of the universe. Thus, whether we are great or small, we need to have a family with parents and children, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters.

Being together as a family with parents, husband and wife, and children, is the ideal model of human relationships. That is the reason one should fully receive love from one's parents, one's spouse, and one's children. What can perfect all of these human relationships? It is certainly not money, knowledge or power. Only true love brings balance to these relationships.

Such true love is the force of investment, the force of giving and not receiving. It is total giving, to the degree that we ultimately reach the zero point. When we reach the zero point, we can embrace anything that comes in. The power of total giving is eternal. Therefore, the power of receiving and giving back is also eternal. Thus an eternal balance is created in the relationship. Hence, the original reciprocal relationships based upon living for the sake of others, centered on true love, perfects the world.

If we look at Heaven and Earth, we see that creation exists through relationships. The source of the energy that pulls the world of space can eternally define a central point between the energy of giving and energy of returning. There, God exists in the position of a lucky number, 7, keeping the balance of the entire universe. heavenly fortune develops in the process of receiving this and returning it. In it, love flows, air flows, water flows and light flows. And after going around and around, the flow returns to its original form.

Ladies and gentlemen: Who is a good person? We can come up with various answers to that question, but one that must be included is that a good person is one who returns more than what he or she is given. For this reason, no parents wish that their children be inferior to them. On the contrary, they desire that their children be superior to them. Likewise, a husband desires that his wife be better than him, and vice-versa. Furthermore, an elder brother desires that his younger brother be better than him, and vice-versa. Thus, parents wish to return something greater than what they have received. Both spouses wish for this. Siblings wish for this. All creation wishes for this. Ultimately, the universe wishes for this.

Moreover, only those who believe that the cosmos is my hometown and my fatherland with a great vision and heart will be welcomed by the cosmos. That is, one can come to the conclusion that only when one is welcomed first by the individual, then the family, the nation, the world, and finally by the cosmos, can one become God's divine son or daughter.

Then, where would you like to live? I believe that you would like to live in your hometown. Your hometown refers to the planet Earth in the cosmos, and your fatherland refers to God's dwelling place. Therefore, the ancestor of our fatherland is ultimately God. The place where unfallen parents, spouses, children, and siblings live together is our hometown. That is the original planet Earth, where black, white, and yellow live together in harmony.

Whose children are we? We all originated from the same Parent. He is the Father of all humanity, who is with us wherever we go, whatever direction we take, whether north, south, east or west. That is God, the Father of all humanity.

For example, it is wrong to think that the owner of America is the white, or the black, or the yellow. The owner of America is God. The same is with Korea. The only reason our skin colors differ is the fact that climate and environment may require a protective color, depending on the region where we live. That is why white people occupy the regions with heavy snow. On the contrary, there are many blacks in places that have strong sunlight, such as Africa. Nevertheless, all people have the same bone structure and the same blood color. Therefore, discrimination is not allowable.

That is the reason the Unification Church has been conducting international and interracial mass weddings so often. We are striving to promote the equality of all races. People of all races and colors marry one another, following the laws of nature and the principle. Marriage between white and black is as if the North Pole and the South Pole are coming together. We also believe that their descendants will benefit by inheriting and combining the strengths of each race.

There is no conflict where love exists. Although you come from different hometowns and nations, you cannot help but share the same true hometown and fatherland centered on love, because all creation desires to go to the central point of creation.

The most important matters in the human world are love, life and lineage. Life is in love and lineage is connected to life. Love cannot be connected unless it be by lineage. Therefore, love that is not connected to life is false, and there can be no connection to life except in relation to lineage. Thus, path to eternity can be open only through true love, true life, and true lineage. God's ideal of creation is to bequeath upon us true love, true life and true lineage, by having us become true persons.

Why do we marry? It is to connect the true tradition to the past, the present, and the future. Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve could directly and freely relate to God, but after the fall, they could not. And their children, Cain and Abel, could not receive God's blood lineage, only Satan's. That is why Jesus said in John 3:3: "Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven."

Satan is a false god, the god of licentiousness, the enemy of God's love. When Adam and Eve failed to bear God's children and instead gave birth to Satan's children, what misery Eve's body, centering upon her womb, must have experienced! Due to the fall of the first human ancestors, the world of love began to be divided into God's world and Satan's world.

You must understand that you were born with wrongful life due to wrongful love. You must be ashamed that you are in the position of an enemy of love, enemy of life, and enemy of lineage. God is suffering and grieving tremendously, looking at today's world in which free sex and homosexuality are prevalent.

God's situation is that He nevertheless must love the children of Satan, His enemy, more than He loves His own children. No matter how difficult, God must give and give and give everything that He has in order to restore His lost sons and daughters. That is the context of God's providence of salvation.

In order to revive fallen lives, a stronger force of life should be projected. God is unbelievably pitiful, tormented by the misery of each baby who is brought into this world through the false seed. Such children have multiplied into the billions during the course of history.

Humans are to go through the three stages of life, in the womb, on Earth, and in the spirit world. These correspond to the age of water, the age of air, and the age of love. The planet Earth on which we live in the physical body is like the mother's womb. As a fetus grows, receiving nutrition in the womb, we grow eating food from the creation. That is why we should love the Earth. Since God created the cosmos for us, the era during which we live in the flesh is called the era of the planet Earth.

In the spirit world light is shining like the sun, day and night. Out in the solar system there is no night, only day. It is the same in the spirit world. The light of love in spirit world does not change. Love does not change whether it is day or night, at the North Pole or South Pole. Spirit world is the world of love. And spirit world is like a storehouse in which the fruits of the hard work we do through our four seasons on Earth are stored.

During the course of God's providence of restoration, Jesus was the only one born with a life connected to God's direct lineage. Accordingly, no one amongst fallen humanity has ever entered God's realm of direct dominion. That is why God has been living a lonely, lonely life, all alone. Hence, we are sad, creation is sad and our human world is sad. Therefore, God has been looking for one trustworthy man who can purify the fallen lineage of humanity and connect it to true life. That man is the Messiah, who can bring liberation to all humankind by restoring the true love of God.

Beginning at the time of Adam and Eve, the providence of the Old Testament Age was a historical path leading the chosen people to receive Jesus as the Messiah. God's will was to have the chosen people, the Israelites whom He had prepared for a long time, receive the Messiah and bring all humankind back to Him by engrafting. However, due to the faithlessness of Israelites, Jesus gave his life for us on the cross, enabling God's providence to reach its conclusion at the time of Second Advent.

Accordingly, the Lord of Second Advent should restore the haven of true love in the position of True Parents, and fulfill God's providence for the salvation of humankind by the Parents of Heaven and Earth. The Messiah's starting point is to become a son and daughter of filial piety greater than Adam and Eve, who would have established a true family had they not fallen, by serving and attending God better and more gloriously than Adam and Eve did. The Messiah is the master who should start everything anew in the position of father centered on true love, and connect the lineage of true love through true life.

Accordingly, the Messiah should come as the True Parents of all humankind. The coming Messiah should deny the love of satanic fallen world and fallen human ways. The True Parents should be a man and a woman with a perfect score of 100 points, and work to establish a family of 100 points, a tribe of 100 points, a people of 100 points, a nation of 100 points and the world of 100 points.

We should understand that there is no other way to inherit the original blood lineage. The question is how we can transcend the realm of Satan's dominion in which we are currently dwelling, captured as prisoners ever since the fall. All people should be restored to the position of God's sons and daughters. In other words, we should pass through eight stages from the age of womb, to the ages of infancy, brother and sister, betrothal and marriage as husband and wife, parents, grandparents and finally the age of king and queen. Hence, we should understand that we were born with the purpose to become the great masters of Heaven and Earth by becoming princes and princesses as God's children.

Ladies and gentlemen: as such, man was originally to meet a woman as his wife, and woman to meet a man as her husband. They were to become a king and queen and to inherit everything in Heaven as a prince and princess. Through an eight-stage process of restoration, in which even the dungeons of hell are restored, oneness will be brought between the heavenly Kingdom and those in hell. However, this can be done only through the blessing of the True Parents, who are coming as the Messiah.

Therefore, "blessed couples" should become "plus couples," who are making a contribution for the sake of others in the world. As such, in order to become a totally new person, practice absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. I personally have also practiced this throughout my life.

At the time of creation, God created the universe with absolute faith. God made us as His partners of love. Absolute obedience means that one invests everything, including himself, totally and completely. And one totally forgets about the investment that he or she made and then invests all over again. Such a process continues until he reaches a zero point, without any concept of what is his own.

Since God poured out all of His faith, what is left is zero; since He poured out all of His love, what is left is zero; since He poured out all of His obedience, what is left is zero. Nevertheless, the more you invest, the more true love grows. Therefore, we should model ourselves upon God.

Even if we are rejected, we should love more; even if we invested everything that we have, we should continue to invest until we can make our enemy voluntarily surrender. heavenly Father walked such a path and the Parents of Heaven and Earth have walked such a path.

Thus, the one who invests and forgets about it becomes a central person, and the one who lives for the sake of others becomes a central person. Even in a family in which ten people live together, including a grandmother and grandfather, the central person will be the one who is living most for the sake of others.

The one who invests everything for the sake of others and forgets about it, repeating the same action over and over, will become the central being, a standard bearer for the sake of the whole, and the greatest among all people of filial piety. The same is true in relation to patriotism in the nation. The more one invests and forgets about one's investment, the more one can rise as a patriot, a saint, and a divine son or daughter of God.

Since the beginning of human history, God has been living more for us than anyone else has in this world. He has continuously invested Himself and forgotten about His investment. And because He will continue to do this for eternity, He will continue to be the King of all the kings of life for others and our ultimate Ancestor.

The reason the Unification Church that I founded and led could become a worldwide religious group in such a short time is because I personally lived a life based on this principle. When I reflect upon my life, totally committed for the sake of humankind, I can testify that it truly has been a path of opposition from the billions of evil satanic forces in both the invisible and visible worlds, from numerous religious leaders, and from many governments. Yet because I have been living for their sake, I came to be their center. As I lived for those who opposed me, who did not understand me, and invested myself for their children, and lived for the sake of governments that persecuted me, they came to bow down before me. From this, we can learn God's strategy in contrast to that of Satan. God's strategy requires taking the blow and initial loss, then regaining everything in the end, but Satan's is to strike first but lose in the end.

Under such a principle, I blessed many tens of thousands of young couples from the six continents and five oceans in mass marriage blessings as a means to save the five colors of humankind and establish one world under one God. When the West and the East come together as one, conflicts will disappear. For example, when an American and a German marry each other and become a husband and a wife, those two enemy nations become one.

Furthermore, I gave the blessing even to spirits in the spirit world. In order for the Kingdom of Heaven to be realized on Earth, denizens of the spirit world also should be liberated, and only True Parents on the Earth do that. As false parents, the first human ancestors, Adam and Eve, sowed sinful seeds. The Messiah should liberate humankind both on Earth and in spirit world, by coming as the True Parents. God alone cannot untangle the problems wrought by wrongful blood lineage. If God could have done it, He would have done it long ago. He would not even have allowed the fall to occur in the first place. However, as the God of Principle, God cannot interfere with the human portion of responsibility.

Accordingly, the returning Messiah who comes as the True Parents should give rebirth to humankind, whose blood lineage was defiled by the original sin. When viewed from this perspective, the mass marriage blessing ceremonies are not simply to bring young men and women together as husband and wife. In fact they are a holy ceremony in which you are reborn as God's true children by receiving the original seed of life from God.

According to the principle of indemnity, the age of liberation of the spirit world and the age of liberation of Earth can come through the ages of individual indemnity, family indemnity, tribal indemnity, national indemnity, worldwide indemnity and universal indemnity. The world is divided into tens of thousands of peoples. Relationships between parents and children, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters, have been divided. Even the religious world has been divided into the four great cultural spheres of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Confucianism. However, we now have entered upon the age of great unification by entering the Age of the Realm of the Fourth Adam, passing the Old Testament Age, the New Testament Age and even the Completed Testament Age, which is the era of completion.

Thus, we have now entered the age of the Kingdom of Heaven. And in accordance with the progress of God's providence, passing the ages of the first Adam, second Adam and third Adam centered on the ideal of the Second Advent, we have entered the Age of the fourth Adam, the age of God's direct dominion. In other words, no longer are we living in the age of nationalism or even in the age of globalism. These have already passed. We are now living in the age in which the universe is to be one with one God. Moreover, by becoming the hometown of blessed families, the planet Earth will become one with the spirit world. Then will come the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in the spirit world.

Honorable and distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen!

With the arrival of the new millennium at midnight on New Year's Eve, I proclaimed a message with a new-year's motto, "The Cosmic Expansion of True Love is the Perfection of the New Millennial Kingdom of God." The cosmic expansion of true love means to remake Heaven and Earth as the house of true love. In other words, the universe is the house of the heavenly Kingdom. And as we receive the new millennium, the house built with true love is to be the cornerstone upon which the Kingdom of Heaven can be built throughout the world. The world is the house of love that nations can enter, and the cosmos is the house of love that the world can enter.

And, because the cosmos came from God, for the sake of the completion of the house in the position of object, houses of the principle should be restored and united on the levels of a family, tribe, people, nation, and world. Ultimately, the family of true love is the core of the cosmos. Therefore, the husband is the house of his wife's true love and the wife is the house of her husband's true love. Parents are the house of their children's true love, and children are the house of their parents' true love. Moreover, the nation of true love is the resting-place of the cosmos, and God's nation is where true freedom, true love and true life can dwell for eternity.

I have been promoting true family values with the theme, "The Realization of the Kingdom of Heaven through Ideal Families." This is because the center of the realm in which Heaven and Earth can rest is the family in which a true man and woman in whom God can dwell are brought into union. Accordingly, we should realize the Garden of Eden mentioned in the Bible on the Earth. This new millennium is an era in which to complete the 6,000-year history of providence for the salvation of humanity and build the original heavenly kingdom centered on the ideal of creation. It is an era in which the promises of the Old and New Testaments are to be fulfilled. The direct dominion of the living God is to begin through restored elder sonship, parentship and kingship, opening a new era of God's transcendence, immanence, abundance and sovereignty.

As was mentioned above, Earth is the hometown of all humankind and the spirit world is the eternal fatherland where all humanity will eventually arrive. The time finally has come for the global family ideal to be realized on the Earth, centered on the heavenly Parent, moving us beyond "one nation under God" to "one cosmos under God." Therefore, I request first that you understand that the fundamental relationship between God and us is that of parent and child. On that foundation, I ask you to take an active role to turn the cosmos, that is, Heaven and Earth, or the spirit world and physical world, into our hometown and fatherland.

Once again I thank all of you who attended this event. I would like to conclude by expressing my desire that the people of the world, of all colors and races, will live as true brothers and sisters and build a new millennial kingdom of peace, freedom and righteousness.

May God's blessing be with you and your nation! Thank you very much.

True Mother's Directions During Her 1999 Speaking Tour

William Enriquez
June 5, 1999

Greetings in the most glorious, victorious and prosperous names of True Parents!

As I was following the reports from True Parents' Speaking Tour, I noticed that True Mother has been giving the same important guidance to all members throughout the world. As sons and daughters following the footsteps of our True Parents, we need to have a clearer understanding on how to respond to these guidance True Mother has given to us.

I pointed out some of these important directions emphasized by True Mother, and share something that I hope can help us in responding to it.

1. Become filial sons and daughters of the True Parents.

Attendance with absolute Faith, Love and Obedience.

2. Study and learn Korean Language.

Behind language is culture and heart. Studying and learning True Parent's language is a way to understand our True Parents completely.

3. Hon Dok Hae everyday.

Through Hon Dok Hae we are living our life with True Parents and establishing a tradition in oneness with the True Family.

By fulfilling this tradition, our True Parents thought, life and love will remain eternally on this earth through the Blessed Family.

The center of God's ideal is the True Parents. Doing Hon Dok Hae everyday as a tradition means that we are establishing God's Ideal as the center of our lives. In this way, Blessed Families are establishing God's Ideal on this earth eternally.

4. Fulfill within these 7 months period what you are planning to fulfill for the next 10 years.

We are all destined to become Tribal Messiahs. Our mission is to become parents, teachers and leaders of our tribes.

Within these remaining period of 7 months starting June to December, it is a good condition to be able to gather our relatives and let them feel our parental love for them, teach them and lead them to receive the Blessing directly from our True Parents while TP are still here on earth.

If we can make this condition, we will become victorious Tribal Messiahs in the future. In this way, before the time will come when our True Parents ascend to the spirit world, True Parents can be proud of us (Blessed Families) and can call us Filial Sons and Daughters of God and True Parents.

Mother’s Message to Moscow Members

Hak Ja Han
May 24, 1999
Moscow, Russia
From notes by W. Stoertz

The morning after Mother’s Moscow speech -- Sunday, May 23, 1999 -- we had Sunday pledge service and Hoon Dok Hae. At that service were more than 100 young CIS members together with True Mother. Mother was so inspired to see all those young faces (even many leaders did not attend so that their young members might have that chance -- space was limited). Mother gave speech that morning instead of reading Hoon Dok Hae. The interpreter from Korean to English was Rev. Peter Kim, his words were then repeated in Russian.

Looking at your smiling faces, you all look young, handsome and beautiful! Because of you being bright, beautiful and handsome, your country may have a good future!

Suppose you are standing at the starting line of a marathon race. Do you want to become a winner or loser? [Winner!] To become a winner among the five billion people of the world, how much prayer and preparation do you need? Midway, halfway? [No] Do you think you can make it?

I have been emphasizing two points on my speaking tour everywhere I went.

As a mother and teacher, I want all of you to become true filial sons and daughters to God and True Parents. Of course, as Mother, I wish the entire five billion people in the world to become true filial children -- to become winners. However, when I see you Russian brothers and sisters, I hope you will become winners in that race! It takes more than ordinary effort and prayer to be called filial sons and daughters among so many billions of people. For you to become filial sons and daughters, you have to know about True Parents. In order for us to play the role of filial sons and daughters, we have to know what True Parents are thinking and planning. We have to study a lot to find out more about True Parents. So I truly wish all of you to resemble -- to become -- True Parents.

Have you seen this book? Do you possess this book? [Mother holds up a book of Father's prayers] Prior to the publication of this volume, there was another book of Father's prayers published in Korean; but this book is one of the twelve volumes of Father's prayers, categorized by subject, published two years ago. Out of twelve volumes, during the speaking tour I have been encouraging people to study Volume 6, the book "On Filial Piety", to begin with. I have an earnest desire for all of you to become true filial sons and daughters in front of True Parents.

This particular book, Volume 6, "On Filial Piety", has a lot of prayers from the 1950s, the 1960s, and early 1970s. We have to think about God's providence at that time. God prepared during two thousand years of Christian history, laying the foundation, because God has a special purpose in the last days. But has Christianity done it? [No] Particularly right after World War Two, centering on Christianity, American Christianity was in a position to embrace the entire humanity. For that reason, unlike in the past, after World War Two, those countries that won the war started embracing the defeated countries. Why was that? That was because of God's providence: it showed that all countries started becoming brothers and sisters. They did not know why it developed in such a way, but the reason was because the time had come for True Parents to appear. So what was the result of those nations right after World War Two?

When we look into Father's immediate family, one of True Father's great-uncles [Yoon Kook Moon] was a well-known freedom fighter for independence. He was in the position where he could become one of the 33 national representatives of the Korean Independence Movement. Because of that, Father's great-uncle was in the position to become one of the leaders, the 33 representatives of the Korean Independence Movement. However, he decided to stay behind the scenes to raise funds, and in his stead, he sent one of his church elders to represent him.

Also, if we look at Christianity's development in Korea at that time, it was unlike any other place in the world. Korea started to experience a revival; every church was worshipping with truth and the Holy Spirit. Many Christian believers and groups prepared to receive the Second Coming. Yet even though there was so much preparation, in the end they all failed to welcome True Parents.

Suppose that Christianity, which had been prepared by God for thousands of years, had accepted True Parents, and Father's immediate family preparation was well harvested. The leaders were not to marry -- they were single. Korea could have been the champion country to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. If the people, the nations and Christianity had received True Father at that time, then it would have taken less than seven years, until 1952, to restore the world. If that had happened, then the Korean War, which broke out in 1950, would have been avoided, and worldwide communism would have ended much earlier, and the entire world would have had peace.

However, when the internal and external preparation by God was taken away, where else could True Father go? The only choice left for True Father was the course of wilderness, so Father had to start his life course from the bottom of hell, from the dungeon of hell. He had to start from scratch, and work his way up step by step. Father had to actually lay the foundation all over again up to this point.

In those early days, when Father didn't have many Church followers, Father visited Taegu (between Pusan and Seoul). Because of opposition, Father had to move his Church even several times in one day. Your Korean National Messiah, Rev. Hyun Shil Kang, is living proof: she was there in those days.

The reason that the Christian churches at that time opposed Father's public ministry and persecuted Father, was because those Christian leaders at that time, and even now, were waiting for the Lord of the Second Advent coming on the clouds. Father taught a different belief. Also, once deacons and elders heard Divine Principle, they immediately started following Father; and because of that the church leaders were scared of losing their followers.

During those days there was a lot of spirit world intervention. Spirit world was very active in dealing with the followers of True Father. When, because of the persecution and opposition of Christian churches, True Father had to move his Church three or even five times in one day, Father didn't even have time to inform his followers; spirit world helped them find the prayer meeting. They received revelations. Can you imagine that?

At that time, True Father had to face incredible, unimaginable persecution. That was the situation at that time. Father had to walk through a pitch dark tunnel without any light. Put yourself in that kind of situation: you can't see any light. You don't know what will happen. In such a situation, usually people only think of their own lives. But Father still constantly offered his comfort to God. Father prayed to embrace and forgive the entire humanity because of their ignorance. Father offered hope for the future of humanity. You must have heard from Father. Until the Holy Wedding of True Parents in 1960 there was a continuous battle and confrontation. At this point, you sitting here have no way to imagine the miserable situation. There was so much misunderstanding, persecution, bigotry -- you name it.

To make the situation even worse, the communist countries such as North Korea and Russia came to know about Father's existence before even the democratic world, and they came up with plots to stop Father's ministry.

In that kind of miserable situation, up until the first God's Day in 1968, True Father's teaching was focused on the life course of Jesus Christ. Also in his prayers he prayed about Jesus Christ's life and ended his prayers "In the name of the Lord".

Therefore I strongly recommend you to read True Father's prayer every day as you begin Hoon Dok Hae. That way your heart can be engrafted into True Parents' heart, and you can mobilize spirit world to come down to help you in your daily life and mission.

As you know, "Father's Prayer" book was published in Korean two years ago, and has been translated into Japanese. [Mother holds up a photo for everyone to see] Can you identify True Father's picture in this photo? This is the same one which appears on the cover of the "Prayer" book. This is the scene of an outside bookstore in Japan, displaying "Father's Prayer" for public sale. Not only this book, but also other True Parents' Hoon Dok Hae books are being sold there. In Korea and Japan, "True Father's Prayer" books are becoming bestsellers.

It's nice to see you clapping and cheering, but more than that, if you want to understand True Father's teaching, how long should I wait? This book has been translated into English but it is not yet complete. Yeoreobun ch'ampumonim-eul sarang-haeyo? Do you all love True Parents?

Until now we have been translating other books, but when it comes to translating Father's prayers, it is almost impossible because of the difference in languages. The book appeared two years ago -- how long do you have to wait until the book will be translated into your language? Yeoreobun ch'ampumonim-eul sarang-haeyo? Do you love True Parents? [Yes!] How can I believe you?

In Korean we have a saying, "To kill two birds with one stone." If you learn and master the Korean language, you will find the most simple and effective way to accomplish a double goal:

  1. By learning Korean you can study and learn True Parents' words directly; and,
  2. That is a shortcut to becoming a filial son and daughter to True Parents.

Raise your hands if you agree. Since you are bright and young, I feel able to have hope in you.

Unfortunately, we have one problem: our time is limited. If you have a plan to achieve your lifelong goal in ten years, this is the time that you have to shorten the time period and achieve your goal in one year.

Actually, we have less than one year until the year 2000 -- only seven months in fact. In the year 2000, how old will our True Father be? [80] Is the physical age of eighty old or young? [Old] When you say "old", is old age closer to birth or closer to spirit world? [Spirit world] It is closer to spirit world. You are all young and enthusiastic, but when you achieve your goal, achieve victory, with whom do you want to share the victory? [With True Parents] That is the problem.

Therefore, understanding your desire and hope in order for us to be able to prepare to welcome the new millennium, we have to do our absolute best in the remaining months to share our victory with True Parents in 2000. We have to learn Korean and master it. That is the secret. Would you like to do that? [Yes!]

Do you feel this is a different time period we are living in now? [Yes] In the past, when we had invested ten units of effort in our mission, we could only harvest one. That is a ratio of 10:1. But now if we put in ten units of effort in our daily work, we can harvest one hundred! Or, at any rate, double or triple. This is not because of our own effort, but because of True Parents' sacrifice and effort. As you know, True Parents stand upon the foundation that they have laid following the principle of indemnity, coming up from the bottom of hell. This is the way they have lived. In the last few years True Parents have been liberating, blessing and forgiving all the people in the spiritual world, even in hell.

Because of that victorious effort by True Parents we are now living in this providential victorious time. Now we should feel that victory in our daily life. The deeper we feel that, the more we can bring victory ourselves in this time of great harvest; so if we do not bring substantial fruit, it is our problem.

Therefore I can conclude that, if we make new determination, make a new start in our life course, make a perfect ninety degree vertical relationship with True Parents, and invest ourselves completely in our daily life and mission, then we should certainly receive abundant blessing every day!

I truly pray and hope that you will all go out and bring the greatest result in your entire life. This is probably the last chance in our life to do that. I wish you all to become filial sons and daughters to True Parents.

True Mother's Speech in Moscow

Hak Ja Han
Speech at Hoon Dok Hae
Sunday, May 23, 1999
Moscow, Russia

To National Messiahs, Leaders, Missionaries and Members National Hotel, St. Petersburg Room - Alternating translation from Korean to English by Rev. Peter Kim - 5:06 - 5:49 a.m. - Unofficial, unedited notes by W. Stoertz]

Those who met True Mother face to face for the first time, show your hands please. How do you feel? [Great!] How great is it? Before you met True Mother, I'm sure you had some imagination. Which is better: your imagination, or the real meeting? [Real meeting!] I'm happy to hear that.

Looking at your smiling faces, you all look young, handsome and beautiful! Because of you being bright, beautiful and handsome, your country may have a good future!

Suppose you are standing at the starting line of a marathon race. Do you want to become a winner or loser? [Winner!] To become a winner among the five billion people of the world, how much prayer and preparation do you need? Midway, halfway? [No] Do you think you can make it?

I have been emphasizing two points on my speaking tour everywhere I went.

As a mother and teacher, I want all of you to become true filial sons and daughters to God and True Parents. Of course, as Mother, I wish the entire five billion people in the world to become true filial children -- to become winners. However, when I see you Russian brothers and sisters, I hope you will become winners in that race! It takes more than ordinary effort and prayer to be called filial sons and daughters among so many billions of people. For you to become filial sons and daughters, you have to know about True Parents. In order for us to play the role of filial sons and daughters, we have to know what True Parents are thinking and planning. We have to study a lot to find out more about True Parents. So I truly wish all of you to resemble -- to become -- True Parents.

Have you seen this book? Do you possess this book? [Mother holds up a book of Father's prayers] Prior to the publication of this volume, there was another book of Father's prayers published in Korean; but this book is one of the twelve volumes of Father's prayers, categorized by subject, published two years ago. Out of twelve volumes, during the speaking tour I have been encouraging people to study Volume 6, the book "On Filial Piety", to begin with. I have an earnest desire for all of you to become true filial sons and daughters in front of True Parents.

This particular book, Volume 6, "On Filial Piety", has a lot of prayers from the 1950s, the 1960s, and early 1970s. We have to think about God's providence at that time. God prepared during two thousand years of Christian history, laying the foundation, because God has a special purpose in the last days. But has Christianity done it? [No] Particularly right after World War Two, centering on Christianity, American Christianity was in a position to embrace the entire humanity. For that reason, unlike in the past, after World War Two, those countries that won the war started embracing the defeated countries. Why was that? That was because of God's providence: it showed that all countries started becoming brothers and sisters. They did not know why it developed in such a way, but the reason was because the time had come for True Parents to appear. So what was the result of those nations right after World War Two?

When we look into Father's immediate family, one of True Father's great-uncles [Yoon-kook Moon] was a well-known freedom fighter for independence. He was in the position where he could become one of the 33 national representatives of the Korean Independence Movement. Because of that, Father's great-uncle was in the position to become one of the leaders, the 33 representatives of the Korean Independence Movement. However, he decided to stay behind the scenes to raise funds, and in his stead, he sent one of his church elders to represent him.

Also, if we look at Christianity's development in Korea at that time, it was unlike any other place in the world. Korea started to experience a revival; every church was worshipping with truth and the Holy Spirit. Many Christian believers and groups prepared to receive the Second Coming. Yet even though there was so much preparation, in the end they all failed to welcome True Parents.

Suppose that Christianity, which had been prepared by God for thousands of years, had accepted True Parents, and Father's immediate family preparation was well harvested. The leaders were not to marry -- they were single. Korea could have been the champion country to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. If the people, the nations and Christianity had received True Father at that time, then it would have taken less than seven years, until 1952, to restore the world. If that had happened, then the Korean War, which broke out in 1950, would have been avoided, and worldwide communism would have ended much earlier, and the entire world would have had peace.

However, when the internal and external preparation by God was taken away, where else could True Father go? The only choice left for True Father was the course of wilderness, so Father had to start his life course from the bottom of hell, from the dungeon of hell. He had to start from scratch, and work his way up step by step. Father had to actually lay the foundation all over again up to this point.

In those early days, when Father didn't have many Church followers, Father visited Taegu (between Pusan and Seoul). Because of opposition, Father had to move his Church even several times in one day. Your Korean National Messiah, Rev. Hyun Shil Kang, is living proof: she was there in those days.

The reason that the Christian churches at that time opposed Father's public ministry and persecuted Father, was because those Christian leaders at that time, and even now, were waiting for the Lord of the Second Advent coming on the clouds. Father taught a different belief. Also, once deacons and elders heard Divine Principle, they immediately started following Father; and because of that the church leaders were scared of losing their followers.

During those days there was a lot of spirit world intervention. Spirit world was very active in dealing with the followers of True Father. When, because of the persecution and opposition of Christian churches, True Father had to move his Church three or even five times in one day, Father didn't even have time to inform his followers; spirit world helped them find the prayer meeting. They received revelations. Can you imagine that?

At that time, True Father had to face incredible, unimaginable persecution. That was the situation at that time. Father had to walk through a pitch dark tunnel without any light. Put yourself in that kind of situation: you can't see any light. You don't know what will happen. In such a situation, usually people only think of their own lives. But Father still constantly offered his comfort to God. Father prayed to embrace and forgive the entire humanity because of their ignorance. Father offered hope for the future of humanity. You must have heard from Father. Until the Holy Wedding of True Parents in 1960 there was a continuous battle and confrontation. At this point, you sitting here have no way to imagine the miserable situation. There was so much misunderstanding, persecution, bigotry -- you name it.

To make the situation even worse, the communist countries such as North Korea and Russia came to know about Father's existence before even the democratic world, and they came up with plots to stop Father's ministry.

In that kind of miserable situation, up until the first God's Day in 1968, True Father's teaching was focused on the life course of Jesus Christ. Also in his prayers he prayed about Jesus Christ's life and ended his prayers "In the name of the Lord".

Therefore I strongly recommend you to read True Father's prayer every day as you begin Hoon Dok Hae. That way your heart can be engrafted into True Parents' heart, and you can mobilize spirit world to come down to help you in your daily life and mission.

As you know, "Father's Prayer" book was published in Korean two years ago, and has been translated into Japanese. [Mother holds up a photo for everyone to see] Can you identify True Father's picture in this photo? This is the same one which appears on the cover of the "Prayer" book. This is the scene of an outside bookstore in Japan, displaying "Father's Prayer" for public sale. Not only this book, but also other True Parents' Hoon Dok Hae books are being sold there. In Korea and Japan, "True Father's Prayer" books are becoming bestsellers.

It's nice to see you clapping and cheering, but more than that, if you want to understand True Father's teaching, how long should I wait? This book has been translated into English but it is not yet complete. Yeoreobun ch'ampumonim-eul sarang-haeyo? Do you all love True Parents?

Until now we have been translating other books, but when it comes to translating Father's prayers, it is almost impossible because of the difference in languages. The book appeared two years ago -- how long do you have to wait until the book will be translated into your language? Yeoreobun ch'ampumonim-eul sarang-haeyo? Do you love True Parents? [Yes!] How can I believe you?

In Korean we have a saying, "To kill two birds with one stone." If you learn and master the Korean language, you will find the most simple and effective way to accomplish a double goal:

  1. By learning Korean you can study and learn True Parents' words directly; and,
  2. That is a shortcut to becoming a filial son and daughter to True Parents.

Raise your hands if you agree. Since you are bright and young, I feel able to have hope in you.

Unfortunately, we have one problem: our time is limited. If you have a plan to achieve your lifelong goal in ten years, this is the time that you have to shorten the time period and achieve your goal in one year.

Actually, we have less than one year until the year 2000 -- only seven months in fact. In the year 2000, how old will our True Father be? [80] Is the physical age of eighty old or young? [Old] When you say "old", is old age closer to birth or closer to spirit world? [Spirit world] It is closer to spirit world. You are all young and enthusiastic, but when you achieve your goal, achieve victory, with whom do you want to share the victory? [With True Parents] That is the problem.

Therefore, understanding your desire and hope in order for us to be able to prepare to welcome the new millennium, we have to do our absolute best in the remaining months to share our victory with True Parents in 2000. We have to learn Korean and master it. That is the secret. Would you like to do that? [Yes!]

Do you feel this is a different time period we are living in now? [Yes] In the past, when we had invested ten units of effort in our mission, we could only harvest one. That is a ratio of 10:1. But now if we put in ten units of effort in our daily work, we can harvest one hundred! Or, at any rate, double or triple. This is not because of our own effort, but because of True Parents' sacrifice and effort. As you know, True Parents stand upon the foundation that they have laid following the principle of indemnity, coming up from the bottom of hell. This is the way they have lived. In the last few years True Parents have been liberating, blessing and forgiving all the people in the spiritual world, even in hell.

Because of that victorious effort by True Parents we are now living in this providential victorious time. Now we should feel that victory in our daily life. The deeper we feel that, the more we can bring victory ourselves in this time of great harvest; so if we do not bring substantial fruit, it is our problem.

Therefore I can conclude that, if we make new determination, make a new start in our life course, make a perfect ninety degree vertical relationship with True Parents, and invest ourselves completely in our daily life and mission, then we should certainly receive abundant blessing every day!

I truly pray and hope that you will all go out and bring the greatest result in your entire life. This is probably the last chance in our life to do that. I wish you all to become filial sons and daughters to True Parents. Will you do that? [Yes!] Thank you very much.

** And after this, Peter Kim shared about the prophecies of the "Chung Gam Nok" and Nostradamus that talk of a time of destruction in this year (around August to be exact), and how these things can be avoided only if mankind begins to accept the teachings of "the enlightened man"-- our True Father. As a result of these words (Mother's and Peter Kim's) many members repented and have now a much more serious attitude in their relationship to True Parents. They understand that they should not just look to receive nice things from "Mommy and Daddy" but they should be mature and offer something to their True Parents.

The Shortcut to Becoming Filial Sons and Daughters

Mother's visit to Helsinki, Finland
Knut Holdhus

Mother's speech at the Hoon-dok-hwe service Saturday, 22nd May 1999, translated by Peter Kim, unofficial notes by Knut Holdhus.

Who here are from Finland? From Denmark? And Norway? There are many children from Norway. And from Sweden?

Do you recite Family Pledge every day? You must do that! And practice it as well!

When you're really hungry, what do you think of first, God and True Parents or food?

Are you united with True Parents? How much are you united with them? [Someone replied 100%.]

Do you know what True Parents are thinking right now? [No] So you cannot say 100%.

Blessed couples call themselves children of True Parents. How grateful are you to True Parents that they have given you new life?

The population of Finland is about 5 million. Yet you could not restore the country back to God and True Parents. How could you say you're 100% united with True Parents?

According to the Bible, God loves this world so much. What is God's and True Parents' hope for this nation? It is the restoration of its 5 million population.

We pledge to complete the realm of liberation, but have we done it in our daily lives?

Human history has been for True Parents. For whom has the history of Christianity of Western Europe developed? The foundation has been fully established, but are we fully utilizing it? If we cannot utilize it, how can we say we're 100% united with True Parents?

The year 2000 is only 7 months away. Why is the year 2000 so special? It is because of the existence of True Parents and the blessed couples. You may not be fully aware of it. The time we're living in is so special. You must make yourselves into historical figures. You should become true children of God.

There are two critical points I emphasize during this speaking tour. According to God's providence, the six billion people on this earth are destined to return to God's bosom. But we live in this time period when True Parents are on the earth. You have the possibility to become true filial sons and daughters. The prerequisite is to know True Parents. Then we can attend them well. We have to live our lives united with True Parents' heart. If you want to reach that goal, you have to learn Korean.

Two years ago our Korean movement published 12 volumes of Father's prayers. This is volume six, about filial piety. [Mother holds up that particular book.] It contains Father's prayers from the 1950's, 60's and early 70's. It was translated into Japanese soon after it was published in Korean. For Westerners it may take one, two or three years before you can get an English copy. Besides, it is almost impossible to translate True Father's prayers.

Put yourself on the starting line of a marathon race. Do you want to become a winner or a loser? We all want to win. Do you want to become a victor or a loser when it comes to the heart relationship with True Parents?

Without knowing True Parents, how can we call ourselves filial sons and daughters of True Parents? The secret is to master Korean. You are all young. Do you know why we must learn Korean? In Korean we have a saying: "to kill two birds with one stone". If you master Korean, you gain three privileges: 1) To speak Korean and to be able to study Father's words directly. 2) To engraft directly to True Parents' heart. 3) It becomes much easier to know and understand True Parents.

God prepared Christianity for 2000 years, yet they failed to receive True Parents. That's why the 40 years wilderness course became necessary. You should read Father's prayers from the early years of that period. Father was supposed to begin on the prepared and blessed foundation of Christianity, but had to start all by himself. It was so painful! Yet, still his main concern was to comfort God's heart.

We don't become filial sons and daughters by living a common way of life. A filial child constantly attends True Parents. To what extent have you realized your goal of becoming a filial son or daughter? Now is the last opportunity. After 80 years of age, Father will be so close to the spirit world. Father may go to spirit world before we reach full maturity. We must live our lives differently from the past. We are only seven months from the year 2000.

How much suffering, persecution and pain did Father have to go through in order to make a victorious foundation in each stage until now! There hasn't been a single day when True Parents could rest and stretch their legs. Even in that miserable situation True Parents attended and comforted God as a filial son and daughter, as patriots, saints and a holy son and daughter of God.

There is a strong foundation in the spirit world as well. That's truly a miracle. One week ago Father went to Pantanal and made a special prayer condition, which signifies that Satan has completely surrendered to True Parents. Father claims Satan's lineage has been completely rooted out.

At the time of the creation, God created Adam and Eve with a special privilege to name all things. Whatever Adam and Eve called them, would be their names.

We have to form a perpendicular angle with True Parents, and the force of the universe will be with us enabling us to accomplish our mission. We don't have to deal with Satan's accusations. Don't you feel the different time we're in? Then you should be able to go out with courage. How much are you aware of it? There are already many miracles taking place.

Restoration of 5 million people is no problem!

Now we also have the liberation ceremonies for seven generations of ancestors. With 120 generations liberated, the entire universe can be saved. It is up to us! The key is in our hands!

It is also up to us to become true sons and daughters or to remain secular people. God's providence is rapidly gaining speed now. To study Korean is a shortcut. You have seven months until year 2000!

Private Meeting of Venezuelans with True Mother in Colombia

Unofficial Notes by Gabriela Navarro de Tomasini
Caracas, Venezuela,
May 15, 1999

After an outstanding meeting and celebration in the Salon Rojo at Tequendama Hotel, Santa Fe, Bogota, Colombia on May 10, the members who came from Venezuela were very anxious to meet True Mother more personally as they would have to leave without being able to attend Hoon Dok Hae the next morning. After being told it would be impossible as True Mother had granted no other, as it were, "private audiences" elsewhere in Latin America through the excellent Peter Kim, the impossible became possible!

Initially on seeing our group our group of 10 - 16 members, Japanese National Messiah, National Leader, four Japanese sisters - entering her Presidential Suite, True Mother did not look overjoyed, she was even a little upset. But after listening to Peter Kim's explanation of why we came she greeted us very graciously.

When we entered she was talking to True Father on the phone, trying to persuade Him not to go too far into the Pantanal, in Brazil, so that she would be able to keep in touch with Him. As you may already know, that day we could only get True Father's voice during the Victory celebration.

Well, True Mother was even more beautiful than the last time we saw her in Caracas in September 1996 (Foundation of the FFWP tour). She then spoke to us for about five minutes and made three very important and clear points:

  1. We must publish in the main newspapers of our country the speech The Path of Life for All Humankind as soon as possible.
  2. We must work to accomplish our country's goal for next year's Holy Blessing, mainly by giving speeches on the prevention of AIDS, drugs, etc to the youth.
  3. She remarked that this is a very important year and we must accomplish during the rest of it what we had planned to accomplish in the next ten years (personal goals, internal and external goals). That it is Heaven's Spring and there is much help at hand. So she asked, "Please decorate this year with great victory and substantial results which will be unforgettable in the rest of our lives' histories."

Well, that was about it and we hope this message gets to all Unificationists' hearts all around the world, especially the ones that didn't have the fortune of receiving True Mother's visit so that we bring blessings to our countries and to all humankind in the name of God and the True Parents.

Mother in Los Angeles, a Testimony

April 8, 1999

HakJaHan-990408.jpg

While it is still fresh in my mind, I would like to share with you my experience last week when True Mother came to Los Angeles.

I only want to share, not to judge or brag. My life is my life. I always say mine is worse than some and better than others. We are born with what we have and life dishes out what it gives but I think that the most important point is what do I do with those things. Personally I believe that I am a very lucky person in many ways.

I am originally from Los Angeles. I was born here. I joined the church when I was 22 years old, in Oakland in 1973. For the next 11 years of my life I went all over the country, working on IOWC, living in church centers, working as a cook in Barrytown, having the opportunity to hear Divine Principle from the greatest lecturers in the world and also seeing True Parents many times during that time and I worked for over 6 years on MFT. In 1982 I was Blessed in Madison Square Garden. We lived in Seattle, Washington for 3 years. Then we moved to Los Angeles. Two years after our last child was born, in 1991, my husband left me and the children. I was devastated at that time.

I was in bad shape. But through the help of my many wonderful and very patient friends here, I recovered. My three kids and I moved in with my mother who was living alone in a big house, the same house I grew up in, I got involved in PTA and the local Optimist Club. I sold roses every weekend and managed some apartments. I was very involved in Women's Federation for World Peace. I went to Washington D.C. to meet my first Japanese sister. Here in LA I went to every conference we had except one where I stayed home to baby-sit so someone else could go.

When the first National Parents Day was announced, I along with our State Leader put on a National Parent's Day Celebration. I met all the principals in all the schools in the city. (15 schools) and the first year we honored 12 couples. I also met with the city council and the mayor to get a proclamation. And, bye the way, this year will be our 5th Annual National Parents' Day Celebration.

A few years ago we opened a newspaper in my hometown. At first I refused to work on it, because I was too busy. Then I got on board that. The New California Times. I was never a journalist or a photographer, before that time I never studied anything about it, but through the paper I received on the job training and became a writer and photographer. Also through the paper I had a reason to meet everyone and go everywhere and became quite famous. Plus I learned a lot.

We also had many Blessings in my city. We did two Marriage Rededication Ceremonies with a total of 50 couples participating. They all wore veils and drank holy wine. It was beautiful, deep and meaningful. Of course you can imagine I had my ups and downs. I must thank God because God led me all the way. I also have many side stories of the people who entered my life during all this time, but I will save them for another time. Let me get back to the story of Mother coming to Los Angeles on April 2, 1999.

Through many trials and tribulations and a very messy house, the day of the event finally came. I bought a new dress and new shoes and painted my fingernails. The reason I did this was because I needed to feel like a VIP myself. I wanted to set a standard of respect for Mother. I had 3 VIP's at the VIP reception. One was the City Clerk. She is a young lady who I have been up front with about my church affiliation from the very beginning. She has already attended a bridge crossing ceremony with me before and we are planning one together for our city. She is a personal friend of mine and we often talk on the phone. The other guest was the City Treasurer and he was a former Mayor of the city. He is only 35 years old. He went to Washington D.C. with our brothers for the True Family Values program a few years ago. The last VIP was another young lady who I have known for over 3 years and she also attended WFWP bridge crossing ceremony with the Japanese sisters. She just became a city council woman in March. She is only 27 years old.

Because of these guests I was in the center of the front row. I did not even get a chance to see if any of my other guest were coming because I was up front. While I was sitting there I was thinking. Hey look at this, how did I get to sit up here? I just thought that it is God's Love and a real opportunity to substantially encourage and support True Mother since I would be the first face she could see from where she was standing on the podium.

At the end of the speech my friend the councilwoman gave flowers to Mother and Mother came down to the front row to shake hands with the people in the front row. She shook my hand too. The next day we went to her room to do Hoon Dok Hae. When it was time for Mother to have breakfast most of the members left. I just thought that if no one told me to leave then I would just stay around in the next room until Mother went to the airport. All of a sudden, I was asked to come to the dining room to meet Mother. There I was standing next to her. She looked so beautiful and tranquil and also a little tired. She asked something about the councilwoman and I told her that the councilwoman was my friend before she was a councilwoman and that she is only 27 years old, which means she was one year old when I joined the church. And how I and the other members always supported her with love and friendship. Mother was smiling at me as I was telling her these things. I felt like in that moment her heart and mine were connected. And that she was pleased so that was the reason she was smiling at me.

I think I needed that and I think she needed to see me to know what kind of people our members are. I felt she can see America through me. Needless to say, it was a good experience. After she left to go to the airport, I stayed behind to eat Mother's food and to help the sisters wash the dishes and the napkins and pack up the things for the next stop in California, which was San Diego.

The Path of Life For All Humankind

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon

This is the text of the speech that is being presented on the 1999 worldwide speaking tour.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

I am deeply grateful that you have taken the time from your busy schedules to help me make today's gathering such a success. Our theme for today is "The Path of Life for All Humankind."

Today the world is lost in great confusion and cries out in agony. We face endless conflict as individuals, in our families, in our nations and in the world. As individuals, we are confronted with inner turmoil between our mind and body. Our families are plagued with the moral decadence of our young people and the breakdown of family-centered traditions. Historical rivalries lead to distrust and even war among our nations, fanning the embers of uncertainty and hopelessness in the world. The solution to all these problems lies in experiencing an ideal love relationship with God.

Throughout history, humankind has sought to answer the basic question: Why are we born? Some have concluded that they were born for the sake of their country. Others have decided that they were born for the sake of their parents. Still others believe they were born for their own sake. People of faith believe they are born for the sake of God.

Yet, it is not enough to say that God created the universe for the sole benefit of human beings, or even for Himself. The creation of humankind involved the cooperation of many beings and elements. Although each had its own inherent purpose, they had to be aligned to initiate the creative process. God's purpose in creating, the angel's purpose in assisting, nature's purpose in providing the materials, and even the human purpose for being created must all be consistent. Each one must be pleased. There must be some common content that will be pleasing to God, to the angels, to the rest of creation, and to human beings themselves.

This common content must be something that gives greater happiness and joy the longer it is possessed. It should be something that, once we possess it, we would never let it go. It cannot be external in nature. It must be something internal and invisible. Things like knowledge, money and power are merely collateral conditions that are needed in people's lives. We are not born into the world for the purpose of possessing them. Such external things may exist in a reciprocal relationship with humankind, but only temporarily, not eternally.

God has no need for money. If Almighty God ever needed money, He could create as much as He desired. Also, we know that God is the root of all knowledge, since He created the universe through certain principles and laws. Furthermore, the Creator God is the subject of power, so He has no need to seek power.

What, then, is this common content? It is something we cannot achieve through human effort alone. This is because human effort cannot control the fundamental origin of life. This content must be something capable of directing the motivation, course, and even final destination of each person's life.

From this perspective, this common content can only be true love. Human beings are born in love and are destined to go the path of love. People even die for love. This shows that love is more valuable than life itself. Moreover, we see that love precedes life. That is why people willingly offer even their lives for the sake of love.

Love is eternal. When human beings reach the state of consciousness in which they are able to love the universe, all the doors of the universe open to them. For example, I am just a tiny being occupying this space right here. But centered on love, I can reciprocate in relationship with a being of any size or magnitude. Let us say that God is an extremely large being. Then by the power of love, I can rise to a position reciprocal to that of the Absolute God. This is possible because love is an attribute of God.

Thus, a person who recognizes and keeps God's covenant of love can enjoy freedom anywhere in the universe. Such an individual, called by God to represent all humankind centering on this cosmic love, would be the Messiah. Jesus is that representative. We can never find this cosmic love without going through the Messiah. It is reasonable to say that all people on Earth will have to follow the Messiah. Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). The meaning of this would be clearer if the word love were added: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and the love; no one comes to the Father, but by me."

Parents and Children

The Divine Principle of the Unification Church teaches that energy is produced when a subject and object become one. In a family, parents hold the position of the subject partner and children hold the position of object partner. Once they reciprocate in a relationship of love, they become one entity -- a true family. This entity then becomes a new object, which can enter into unity with a larger subject. If God is that subject, then the parent-child unity becomes one with God. We can also say that when a perfect subject-object relationship is formed with God, centering on His ideal of love, God and humankind can exist in total oneness. When the realm of love between God and humanity becomes a reality, the light of love will shine throughout the universe as bright and constant as the sun.

Not only is each person a life-connecting entity in whom the lives of both parents are brought together as one, but we are also partners in our parents' love. We are one with their love. Furthermore, we are one with their ideals, including happiness and peace.

Each person is connected to the lifeline, love-line and ideal-line of their parents, and no one can sever these lines. Even God cannot sever them, nor can the universe. In fact all the forces of the universe work together to safeguard these lines. This is because the parents are the cause and the children are the result. The parents and children are one, centering on love. Cause and effect become one to form a substantial realm of love. This is a principle of the universe.

Three Stages of Life

Each person comes into the world through three sets of parents. The first parent is the material world. Elements from the world of matter combine to form each person as the center of the material world and as a complex material being. Thus, it can be said that these physical elements themselves are the ancestors who gave us birth. On the other hand, the material world is an extension of us. The universe is created so that matter can settle only in the ideal of love. It is only in the ideal of love that all cells can live in tranquillity. But this is all ruined whenever a person becomes angry.

Our second set of parents is our physical parents. By giving birth to us, our parents gave us a particular form, and to this extent they are the masters of our lives. However, no matter how hard they may try, these parents cannot be the masters of our love.

The master of love is God. In this context, God exists so that love can be expanded into the entire universe and made eternal. Because God is the subject of love, He becomes the parent centering on love. That is why God is our third parent. So we have three sets of parents.

Human life can be divided into three periods: life in the womb of about ten months, a physical life of about a hundred years, and life in the spirit world that lasts tens of thousands of years into eternity.

If we look at our own faces, we also see three stages: the mouth, the nose and the eyes. These reflect the three periods of our lives. The mouth symbolizes the period in the womb, which is a world of material. The nose symbolizes the period on Earth, which is the world of humanity. The eyes symbolize the period in Heaven, which is the spirit world.

To the fetus, the aquatic world of its mother's womb is a world of total freedom. Interestingly, although it is constrained within the confines of the womb, the fetus feels completely free. In the womb, it can't stretch its legs as much as it would like, and the fetus relies on an umbilical cord to breathe and receive nutrients for survival since its nose and mouth are both useless in this world. Nevertheless, to the fetus, the world in the womb is one of complete freedom.

As soon as the baby is born, it begins to cry. At the same time, it starts to breathe through its nose and becomes linked to the second world, the world of air.

As the baby leaves the womb to enter the world of air, the umbilical cord is destroyed along with the water sac and everything it needed in the world of the womb. With the death of these things, the baby is born into the bosom of its new mother, the planet Earth. Once born, the baby begins to eat with its mouth and breathe with its nose. The food we eat on Earth nourishes our physical bodies, but it does not contain the essential element of life. This life element is nothing other than love. Thus, while we are in this world, we also need to breathe the air of love. We need to inhale this air of love from our mother and father.

Growing in Love

A newborn baby automatically searches for its mother's breast, following the vibrations of her love. Whether she is beautiful or ugly does not matter to the baby. The only thing that matters is that she is its mother. It is a sacred scene manifested in limitless variety. We are born in love and we grow by receiving love.

Once we are born, our parents take responsibility to see that we become good human beings during our life on Earth. Our parents act on behalf of the world, the nation and the family to teach and provide for us. We receive material things and education from our parents so that we may become complete as individuals. Based on this, we then become linked to a horizontal foundation of love, which is marriage.

Parents take responsibility for us until we marry. After marriage, we inherit the love shared by our mother and father. When we marry and start rearing our own children, we begin to understand how much our parents loved us and thus come to inherit parental love. In this way, the individual becomes capable of receiving and giving love completely. This is how each of us matures as a complete man or woman.

We are born and mature in the vertical love of our parents, and later we engage in horizontal love. This is the only way we can find the integrated realm of love. Heaven and Earth together form a spherical world, covering all the dimensions of top and bottom, left and right, as well as front and back. When the vertical and horizontal love relationships are linked, they interact, revolve, become integrated, and finally emerge as a single center of harmony. Once the vertical love of Heaven and Earth is firmly established as the axis internally and externally, then the need for horizontal love arises. This takes place during adolescence.

During adolescence, even the sight of an autumn leaf blowing along the ground can seem inspiring. Girls who used to be so reserved when they were younger suddenly start doing things to their hair, putting on make-up and trying on all sorts of clothes and accessories. Their interests expand as well. These are horizontal phenomena of love.

The Path of Life

When a husband and wife love each other, it symbolizes the planting of God. Parents represent God's original position. Here, the husband and wife each embody different sides of God. Also, each child is like a small God. Since God is the original entity of true love, when the various members of the family link themselves to true love, they become one body with God. Here, parents are the living embodiment of God representing Him. Husband and wife each represent God, and the children represent Him as well. Thus, three generations, centering on true love, stand in the position of God.

This is why all members of the family - parents, husbands and wives, and children - need true love. A family formed in this way, centering on true love, is the foundation for the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless we first establish such a foundation, the Kingdom of Heaven can never be established. This is the formula. The family is the center of the entire physical universe. People today do not realize that their family represents their country, world and universe. They do not know that their family is the center. Breaking apart a family is an act of rebellion against the country, world and universe.

Because a perfect family is the foundation for a perfect universe, a person who loves the universe as she loves her family can travel freely everywhere. In such a case, God, as the Parent of the entire universe, sits in the central position to these manifold relationships of love.

When a man and woman become one centering on true love, they form an ideal couple, and build an ideal family. By doing so, they stand in a position representing God and thus are connected to everything in the universe. If this happens, then all of God's possessions become theirs. Think how wonderful that would be! This is the reason we naturally desire to have dominion over all creation.

Men and women come together as pairs to build families, societies, nations and the world. Thus, the family centering on one man and one woman must be the model for the tribe. This tribe, in turn, must be the model for the nation. Families must strive to achieve the ideal family, tribe and nation. Therefore, until ideal families appear, ideal nations will never emerge.

God and My Family

Respected guests! The greatness of true love is that it enables us to become God's object partners and also enables God to become us. The Bible speaks of God being in us and Jesus being in us. This is similar to the idea that the parent is in the child, the grandchild is in the grandparent, and the grandparent is in the grandchild.

A grandmother and grandfather should bind their hearts together centering on their grandchildren. This is necessary so that the vertical line of love can have a beginning. Also, grandchildren must become one with their grandparents. Grandparents are in the same position as God, so we should attend them as we would attend God. Grandchildren will not be able to find the vertical axis of love without doing this.

After the formation of this axis, the horizontal expansion can develop. The horizontal can be connected to all directions, but the vertical has only one direction. The horizontal can turn North, South, East or West; it has a range of 360 degrees. The vertical can move centering on one point only and cannot be split.

Our first task is to create mind and body unity, centering on love. Then, we need to know how to love the spirit world, which is the vertical world centered on God. Furthermore, if in the future a central country emerges, we should love humanity centering on that country. When we love the spirit world and the whole of humankind by means of sacrifice, service and dedication, we can automatically become the central figures who can have dominion over the two worlds, and make them into one. Then God will surely dwell there.

The entire spirit world, combined with the entire physical universe, is called the cosmos. The spirit world and the universe yearn for the unification of the cosmos centering on true love. True love can unify the cosmos. True love can transform all families into ideal families and make them one. Thus, we can conclude that true love is the only thing that humanity needs absolutely, whether we are alive on the Earth or are in the spirit world.

We can conclude, therefore, that nothing in this world is more precious than a true person who possesses true love. As the highest being in creation, human beings are in a reciprocal position equal to God's. So human beings should be able to act even more quickly than electricity or light, which travels at three hundred thousand kilometers per second. It is our spiritual selves that make such a thing possible. The fastest action in the world is not electromagnetic waves.

In the world of God's original ideal, a person who has experienced true love has the ability and authority to possess instantly anything God wants.

People need to experience such a state while on Earth. One can rise to this position only if the physical and spiritual selves become one while establishing a love relationship with God, centered on the true family. We can feel God's love by loving our countrymen, the people of the world, and creation. Each of us, regardless of nationality, must develop the heart to love people of all races. We should love not just people but even the smallest microorganism. This love has to spring naturally from within. When a flower blooms, its beauty and fragrance come naturally. The blossom of love has to bloom in the same way. The fragrance of love should fill the air naturally.

To do this, we need to receive the nutrients that make it possible for the blossom of love to bloom. In the same way that plants receive nutrients from the soil and sun, we receive nutrients through our physical body and spirit self. We receive vitality elements through our physical bodies, and then we receive living spirit elements through our spirit selves.

This is how we become beings who are totally equipped to love and how we develop the ability to fly anywhere. When this happens, the solar system and the entire universe become the stage of our activity.

The Next World

When we finish our physical life, we go through a second birth. This is called death. The place into which we are born this second time is the spirit world. We go into the spirit world and, on behalf of the entire universe, receive love from God, our third parent. That is to say, we receive ideal love. So in the spirit world, unification is inevitable.

In the spirit world, people breathe and live centered on love. We are born in love, live in love, and give birth to sons and daughters through love as God's representatives. Eventually, we reach the resting place of love, and return to God so that we may live eternally in His presence. In other words, our lives begin in love, ripen in love, and are finally harvested as the fruit of love. When a person dies, he harvests the fruit of his love.

During our life, we receive the love of our parents, share love with our husband or wife, and give love to our children, bringing to fruition all the seeds of God's love sown in the internal world of love. Eventually, we harvest this fruit and go into the next world. So when we become completely one in love, we come to resemble God. If a husband and wife work together to complete the three stages of love and then go to the spirit world, they will exist as creators and lords in a reciprocal relationship with God, who is the eternal subject. That is what happens when a husband and wife die centering on love. We begin and end in God.

To die means to move from a world of land, where we crawl and walk, to a world where we fly freely. We pass through death in order to become qualified travelers who, with love, can enjoy the entire universe. That is why death is, in reality, a new birth.

The Suffering of God

Ladies and gentlemen, our life course is not a smooth path. This is because human beings fell. The Fall of the original human ancestors did not result in misery only for human beings. God, also, suffered misery. For this reason, we do not dedicate our lives only to the accomplishment of the ideal world. An even more important goal for our life is to clear away the sorrow and agony in the heart of God, who is the origin of all life. Thus, when human beings finally attain happiness, then God, too, will be happy. God and humankind have gone through the course of history in the same situation, pursuing the same goal.

As a result of losing Adam and Eve, God has walked the most difficult path, a path that no one would choose to walk. Human beings, too, have walked this inevitable path of destiny brought about by the Fall, always hoping for the coming day of salvation.

Humankind's most fervent hope in relation to God is to become His sons and daughters. This is because no relationship is more intimate than that of parent and child. We were born when the love and life of our parents converged, and thus we represent their ideals. But words like love and ideals never refer to just one person. Life cannot be created by one person alone, but must come from a love relationship between husband and wife. So when God created humankind, He created us to be the object partners of His love, His life and His ideals. This is amazing and incredible.

If I did not exist, my parents' love could not become visible. The love, life and ideals of my parents exist in relation to me. I am the fruit of my parents' love, life and ideals. That is why the child's position is the most precious of all.

Had Adam and Eve not fallen, they would have been the children of God's direct lineage, and His royal descendants. That is, Adam and Eve were the prince and princess who stood to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world and on Earth. At the same time, because they were created as the objects of the invisible God, who is the subject, Adam and Eve were substantial beings who could receive His love. They were substantial manifestations of the invisible God.

It is the special privilege of a child of God to say, "God is mine. All that is His is also mine. Even His love, His life and His ideals are mine." It is up to human beings to recover this amazing and incredible value that was originally ours.

The Messiah's Mission

If God is the subject of love, who exists eternally, then the reciprocal partners of His love must also exist eternally. When I become one with God's love, God becomes me.

Had Adam and Eve not fallen, their bodies would have been the homes where God could dwell. They would have placed God at the center of their hearts and become entities of love, life and lineage who were unified eternally through true love. If they had done this, our mind and body would not be in conflict today.

The Fall meant that we inherited the life and lineage of evil, centering on evil love. We were born from false parents. We, therefore, have to rebuild the lineage. We have to take the false olive tree and change it into a true olive tree. To do this, we should be engrafted onto the true olive tree, go through at least three generations, and produce the fruit that becomes the true olive tree representing the original standard. Only then will fallen human beings be restored to the original state. That is when the Providence of Salvation will be completed.

In this way, God is trying to make human beings become children of the parents of goodness, centering on love that is one with Him. This is why He sends the Messiah to the Earth as True Parents. The Messiah is the one who comes to return the lineage of all humankind to God and establish the original ideal of creation.

Before seeking to excel on the world stage, humankind should have first excelled in the original family of Adam and Eve. Had Adam and Eve taken their places as lineal prince and princess before God, they would have been the most exalted among all men and women. They, however, fell and lost their entitled positions of the elder son and daughter, the crown prince and princess. This tragedy has remained throughout human history. That is why humankind has traveled a path of life in search of the positions of first son and first daughter so that we might recover God's true love.

If we are to receive His true love, we cannot live selfishly, centering on our own self. Instead, we should live for the sake of God and humankind as our brothers and sisters. The more a person sheds blood and tears for her brothers and sisters in place of her parents, the deeper, wider and higher will be the love she receives. This is the son and daughter we must become if we are to inherit everything from our parents. Every man and woman must go this path. Even if we have to face death ten times or a hundred times, we must continue our search for God's true love. This is the supreme path of life.

The Original Homeland

The Divine Principle of the Unification Church teaches that the Fall occurred when human beings left the realm of God's true love. Restoration means to return to that realm. When a person enters the realm of such love, he can merely look at his body and praise it tens of thousand of times. In that world, you know that your own body is one that receives God's true love. Words cannot express such joy. This wonderful world is called the Kingdom of Heaven.

Until now, people knew relatively little about the spirit world. It is a world where people are recognized depending on how closely they followed God's principle of existence - the principle of living for the sake of others. A world built on this content is the ideal Kingdom of Heaven.

This is the original homeland for which all humankind must search. Today, we live as fallen people who have been expelled from our homeland, so it is our destiny to return there. However, we cannot do this on our own.

God has worked through history to resolve this problem by establishing numerous religions in accordance with the different cultural backgrounds, customs and traditions of various nations. He has done this so that human beings would have a path to lead them back. Religion is the training ground where we can cultivate the qualifications that enable us to return to our homeland. In accordance with the cultural background of each region, God is guiding us toward one unified world of religion that can advance us to a higher ground.

Let us make the new millennium an age of true peace and true ideals in which people will practice the way of true love. I hope we will recover the value of true original human beings centered on God, establish true families, and live for others eternally, centering on God and the True Parents.

May your families and country be filled with an ever greater abundance of God's love and blessings.