Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for your deep congratulations. I owe you an apology. I myself limited the attendance at this meeting, and many could not come from around the nation and the world. We are in a war centered upon God, and I want to wait and have a great celebration after the victory is won over Satan and atheistic communism. Because we are still in the middle of that war I didn't want to make this a spectacular occasion. I want to thank those people who could not come from this nation and around the world for their love and prayers.
People normally want to be proud if they have something special that others do not have. If a person has only one thing but then acquires another thing, his pride gets bigger, and if he adds one more then he is even more proud. Does the same principle apply to getting older and acquiring more years? People under twenty years old don't care about age and are eager to get older, but when you are advanced in years and know more of life then you know that each year brings you closer to something!
In Oriental philosophy the sixtieth birthday completes one cycle in a person's life, so it has a special meaning. This is the biggest birthday celebration according to Korean custom. When I was a young boy there was always a great celebration for grandfathers, with singing groups and dancers. I enjoyed the performance, but at the same time I pitied the man who was honored by the celebration; he was very old and it wouldn't be long before he finished his life. At that time I felt I would never reach sixty, but that memory seems like just yesterday, and today I am here being congratulated on my sixtieth birthday!
I am also concerned that since I am getting older you Unification Church members won't pay any more attention to me. That's true! I think so. There are many people who see only that I am a very controversial figure, and they are glad to hear I have reached sixty, thinking that it will be only a few more years before I am not around to trouble them any more. There are many people who follow very complex thinking. On the other hand, you people don't care what they think and just give your single-minded devotion to following me. You wonder if there isn't any way I could age in reverse, and next year we could celebrate my 59th birthday.
Let's not worry about what other people think, or even what you think, but about what God thinks. Would God think that I have been on earth for sixty years and have suffered tremendous tribulation, and then want to bring me to spirit world out of compassion for me? Or would He feel that He knows how capable I am so He wants me to stay and clean up the world a little more before He brings me to spirit world? Parental heart is always concerned whether children suffer too much, so maybe in God's heart He wants to have me come to spirit world. Do you think so? But I know that you want me to be with you for a long time to come because if I am around then the hardest battle is fun and victory is sweet. Does that mean you want me to stay and continue to suffer?
Now let's consider how Mother and my children feel. I'm sure the closest members of my family would want me to relax finally and be a little more comfortable and happy in the years to come, and maybe have more time to spend with them. Now God is very confused about what He should do about me!
Do you want to hear what I think? For purely personal reasons I would not want to prolong my life on earth too much longer, simply because I know the spirit world so well. The reality in spirit world is so good that for myself, prolonging life on earth has no special meaning. But I am very aware that we have begun the divine task and it is not yet complete.