24.2.14

Words to live by - HIGHEST OWNERSHIP, REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON

HIGHEST OWNERSHIP

June 22, 1986
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

Whether from the East or the West, whether in the past or the present, all people want to possess or own things. Has anyone ever acquired ownership of the highest, ultimate things? The first man and woman-the original ancestors of mankind-must have had a very strong desire to gain that highest ownership, but they could not. We must understand why they did not achieve that goal.
Had the first ancestors achieved ownership of the highest things, their descendants would have inherited it and enjoyed it throughout history. The question is, why could they not achieve such ownership and through what process did they lose it? It was because of the fall of man.
Few people nowadays have a clear concept of the fall of man. If there had been no fall, and no such concept had come into being, then there would have been no evil, so we would have no need for a standard to distinguish between good and evil. If history had progressed according to the theory of evolution, as many people today believe, then there actually should be no such thing as the difference between good and evil. Whatever is a reality in our present time would have to be justified because it is the result of the evolutionary process.
It is only when we establish the existence of a purposeful Creator that we can establish a standard for good and evil. The minds of all men and women are always aspiring to achieve something higher. That is basic human nature. When you achieve a higher plateau you are elevated into a higher position, and your sphere of influence becomes larger and greater. The ultimate human aspiration throughout history has been to achieve one united world community. Is this present world the one for which all forty-four billion people who have ever lived have aspired, or is there something else we have to think about?
Religious teachings have indicated that there are both a physical world and a spiritual world which together comprise the cosmos. It is universally true that whatever is sown will be reaped. Division and discord have come into the world because of the fall; likewise, each person suffers from division between mind and body. When we say that we are destined to return to ultimate fruitfulness, what does it mean? It means that we are destined to be restored to the state where the fall had not taken place, or the position in which original man and woman would have dwelled.
God created the cosmos first, and then Adam, and then Eve. The fourth and fifth entities were the children- Cain and Abel-but they were engendered after the fall. The fallen Cain and Abel were never a part of the original scheme of creation.
The cosmos, Adam, and Eve-numbers one, two and three-were the initial, Principled creations of God. He created them centered upon the fulfillment of love, but then what happened? That love was infiltrated by evil and division came about. Cain and Abel became a symbol of division, because of the fall. That is the way history was sown and that is the way history is being reaped. The restoration had to begin, therefore, from the fallen Adam and Eve.
Division occurred in the first family; from the beginning, the mind and body were divided. Since then, the family became divided; the community became divided; the tribe and clan were divided; the nation was divided; ultimately what we see today is a world divided. Instead of one world we have, basically, two worlds. This is the worldwide manifestation of that original seed of division which was sown. Now we are reaping those seeds on the worldwide scale.
Each person has a mind and a body which are divided. The world of the mind could be called the theistic world, while the world of the body is the materialistic world. There is division and struggle between these two worlds, instead of harmony and unity. That struggle began from day one, from the day of the fall of Adam and Eve-the first ancestors of mankind.
When do we expect to see all these divisions healed and unity to occur? If Satan's invasion was the cause of the division, when do we have unity? It is when we chase out Satan and invite God in. Satan's weapon was satanic love, or self-centered love. We have to invite God in, therefore, and use God's love as our weapon to chase out Satan.
The love of God, which involves concern for the whole, is entirely opposite to satanic love. Although we observe the problems of mankind on a large, worldwide scale, the root of the problem lies within individual men and women. The United States of America is a gigantic nation with a Christian heritage. Thus the love of God, which is selfless love, should be the binding center of this nation. But what we have now is the opposite: self-centered love is prevailing in this country. Instead of God's love binding people together into one, selfish love is dividing people. That is why all kinds of perversions of love have occurred.
Do you think that most people in the United States today feel a relationship between themselves and the world? Do they have a poignant feeling of patriotism toward America? What about children-do they have strong feelings of filial piety toward their parents? Is there a commitment between husbands and wives to permanent, eternal and sacred love? All of these levels of relationship have become divided and secularized, almost like matters of business, or contracts.
Although the desire of each individual is to enjoy the highest ownership, the power of selfish love is always bringing division, rather than unity and harmony. Under those circumstances, can we ever obtain the highest ownership? The whole problem of the world can be boiled down to each individual-the self. That one self is the battleground where each of us must obtain the victory.
The Unification Church is looking forward today to achieving a worldwide victory. We have to transform and change the fallen world from the bottom up. Satan is the master of the fallen world. He got hold of each individual; not only every individual is divided, but so is the entire world. Therefore, the solution has to start with the individual. The individual was originally conceived in the love of God, according to His original concept of creation, which was total goodness.
There are two types of individuals: man and woman. That means one is a representative of Adam and the other is a representative of Eve. Unless we transform the satanic world and all the satanic elements within it into something entirely new, we certainly cannot hope to become the original, Heavenly Adam and Eve. No matter how much you may struggle to rid yourself of the shackles of Satan, you cannot do it; you are always swimming in the same pool of water. Thus nothing short of an ejection is needed; we have to eject ourselves from this old world, but we need incredible momentum to do that.
Although the self wants to eject from the fallen world, it does not exist in isolation; it is connected to the family, clan, tribe, nation and world. The most important credo by which to eject is to achieve victory over yourself; then you have to prevail over the family and then the clan, the nation and the world. This is the way to restoration.
When we look at human history, we see that there have been all kinds of philosophies and ways of thinking, but the most important of all these has been religious thought. Philosophy has changed and evolved at different times in history, striving toward modernity in each era. Religious thought, however, has always stayed with certain fundamental, unchanging principles and concepts. Philosophy changes because it is a product of human thinking and it exists on the horizontal level; it always changes along with the changes of human society. But religious thought is based on God, who is eternal and unchanging; for that reason, it has a fundamentally unchanging quality.
There is one common principle which has guided religious thought throughout history and that is self-denial. Humanist philosophy has not had this thread running through it. Through religion, people are taught to set themselves apart from this world. That is why religious teaching has always engendered struggle and even bloodshed. The power of the nation, or the government, in every age has been the major obstacle in this self-denial process. Therefore, we have to go beyond the nation in order to achieve the level of the world.
The ultimate religion must recognize no national boundaries; it must go beyond nations, skin colors, and cultural idiosyncrasies and work on a global basis. A religion such as that must ultimately arise. Many national governments and sovereignties throughout history have persecuted religion, but behind all these was Satan. Satan has used whatever tool he could, particularly government power Satan is always opposing your improvement, your self-denial process, but God's force is propelling you forward, giving you strength to do it.
We call this time the end of the world. What is the meaning of the end of the world? What is going to happen? When the autumn comes, the harvest begins. The farmer goes out and harvests the fruits. What kind of fruits-good or rotten? World history has come to its own autumn harvest. What is the good fruit of the world today and what is the bad fruit? This world has produced predominantly bad fruit, but individuals within that world are looking for something good; they don't want to accept the world's evil.
The owner of evil is Satan and the owner of goodness is God. The forces of Satan have to be shrunk, so they must go from the world level to the nation, then to the clan, family, individual and finally disappear. How about goodness? It must start from the original, tiny seed and go up; the process is exactly the opposite. Good must go up and evil must go down. God has been looking for the good fruit which can prevail in history-in other words, the individual who can gain victory over the evil history.
What kind of individual are you? Do you first think, "I am an American,,? Or do you say, "I am a white woman"? Or "I am a black man"? Do you define yourself in such a way? Your skin color, your nationality and so forth are all part of your satanic baggage-they don't matter. The important thing is the contents, what is inside the bags.
Every seed contains two pieces, covered by a thin skin. Nestled between those two pieces is the tiny embryo, the beginning point of new life. The world itself is divided into two pieces, like a seed. But no matter how big the pieces are, this world has no embryo. Who shall be in the position to bring that embryo to the world, to provide the source of new life? God is the first cause of life, the one who provides the embryo. No matter how big and powerful the world which was initiated by Satan may become, it doesn't have the source of true life; it has no embryo.
Today in the fallen world the two pieces are the communists and the democratic blocs. Searching both of these worlds, can we find an embryo there? The true embryo is a genuinely good one; it will ultimately transform the whole world. The two Darts of the seed provide the nourishment for the embryo, enabling it to grow. By the same token, the world will provide the nourishment for the embryo and enable it to spread through the entire world.
For a seed to grow, it must be planted in soil and given a certain amount of moisture and heat; it needs a favorable environment. The environment must provide warmth. The embryo cannot germinate unless the heat of its surroundings is greater than its own temperature. The heat we are talking about is love. Human life germinates in love; without its warmth there can be no growth.
We could say that one side of the seed represents the father and the other represents the mother; between the two, the new individual is formed. Can we just rip out one of the sides and replace it with another part at whim? But that is what is happening in American homes today; the father and mother do not remain intact.
What about the democratic world and the communist world-are they achieving harmony and unity and giving nourishment to the embryo on the world level? Centering on humanity, are they one? No, absolutely not. For that reason, we cannot put any hope in that world.
Therefore, we have to eject ourselves from that world and land within a new world. That new world has to begin from a new germination, which springs from a new embryo. We must become that new embryo. That is what our job is-to eject from the old world and its shackles and become a new embryo.
The embryo is in the plus position, while the rest of the seed is in the minus position. The minus part must sacrifice itself for the growth of the embryo and nourish it. Adam and Eve, for example, were created as the embryo of the world and the universe itself provided their nourishment. The embryo doesn't grow only to the size of the seed; it is meant to burst out and become much greater and larger than the seed. Self-perfection of the whole seed comes when the embryo grows; even though part of the seed must sacrifice itself for the embryo, it will become something far greater than the seed itself. Thus every component of the seed feels its own fulfillment when that happens.
We are living in the time of harvest, and we have gone beyond the level of the nations. The entire world has opposed the Unification Church, including the United States, Korea, Japan, and Europe. Every power has tried to stop us. Satan does not want to see us move to the world level, so he has tried to hold us down to the national level. That is because the highest authority of Satan is the nation, or national power.
Once the world becomes united, the significance of the nation will be diminished. God's original plan was for men and women to possess the world, not just the nation. Each individual's ownership goes from one level to an other higher one-from individual all the way to the world-in his struggle for goodness. Suppose there had been no religion throughout history. Without religion, there is no power by which people can break their shackles on the levels of clan, society, and nation. Without the religious concept, which is based on love, there is no way the barriers between White and Black can be broken down. East and West cannot come together; neither can North and South-nor can those differences between wealth and social standard find common ground. These barriers can only be broken down through religious principles and the power of love.
Satan does not like any attempt to bring the world together; he truly hates to see such a thing. That is because a united world is God's original ideal. It is the satanic desire to have many sovereignties, many divided nations-Satan loves that because he loves division. The divided situation is always on Satan's side.
Our goal is to see ultimate unity, but today we see two worlds-one of democracy and one of communism. They will never become one on their own. Satan would never allow that because he knows it would mean his end. Thus we have to be powerful and apply pressure and energy in order to unify these two worlds.
Reverend Moon is Satan's worst enemy because I am the one who can break through all his barriers. Satan has become defensive toward me. He says, "Reverend Moon, you can be nice and comfortable. Why should you always try to struggle between mind and body? That's baloney. Enjoy the world. I will give you power." What do you think-should Reverend Moon have division within his own mind and fight within himself?
A struggle within an individual signifies the worldwide struggle because once the battle is won on the individual level, it will ultimately be won on the worldwide level. Once unity is achieved, it will penetrate like a bullet, going through all the walls, all the way to the worldwide level, and Satan knows it.
Anyone who tries to follow Reverend Moon will meet all the forces that Satan can mobilize to stop him. Some of Satan's best allies in that effort are the parents who say, "Hey, you are my child! Don't go near that Reverend Moon." This is the front line of struggle. The battle begins with the individual. When Reverend Moon won the individual victory, he moved right on to the family level. If Reverend Moon's mind and body are divided, that would reflect in the division of the family as well. In order to engender the battle on the worldwide level, Reverend Moon came to America because this is the center of the world.
How far has Reverend Moon come, really? Today I have the reputation of being the one man in the world who has the solution to communism. As we have said, the two opposing camps in the world are the democratic world, the basically theistic camp which accepts the existence of God, and the communist world, the atheistic camp. In the theistic world, however, there is a prevailing trend toward secularism and humanism, which is basically atheistic. So the two worlds together have put up a barricade to Reverend Moon's forces, saying, "You cannot go any further." Reverend Moon has penetrated, however, making a spiritual beachhead.
Reverend Moon has not only brought a solution to communism; he has also solved the problems of secular democratic society. Within Reverend Moon there is something you cannot find in the communist or the democratic world-there is an embryo, a new beginning. Neither America nor the communist world knows what Reverend Moon knows. There is something completely new, and special; something brand new and priceless.
We are about to break through with that brand new force, that embryo. It's almost like a rocket launching. You've got to have great power for the initial thrust. That initial thrust of the rocket engine will blow the two worlds away! The rocket will take off and the two worlds will be left behind. The Unification Church has the solution to the divisions between East and West and North and South. Can the United States solve these divisions? What about communism? Can it digest this theistic, democratic world? No, it cannot. But then, once they accept Reverend Moon, they will find the power, the solution, the embryo that can truly liberate the agony of communism and the free world.
North and South, East and West-it's a gigantic world, but here in the center is the core, the nucleus of genuine pure love. That is what will grow into the family, and then into the clan, tribe, and nation. We have already encompassed the national level. We have grown into, and must go beyond, the national level.
Do you have a simple concept of the United States? Why not? We do not have a simple teaching but a providential one. When we even speak of America, we also mean there are other nations. Thus since there is more than one nation, they are under the satanic domain. God never wanted to see more than one nation. Two nations always come under Satan because it means division occurred. When the division occurred between North and South, that was a manifestation of the satanic nature. East and West divided and that was the same.
Any movement that does not bring East and West and North and South into one is satanic because that division must be conquered. There are people who claim the supremacy of their group over other peoples. For instance, some claim the supremacy of the Anglo Saxons; others claim Jewish supremacy. But they are automatically put tiny themselves in the satanic camp because they are promoting division. The Unification Church is one, promoting one nation under God. That is the overriding principle and teaching of the Unification Church. Only one nation-is that clear?
Do you Americans think, "Reverend Moon comes from the Oriental culture? If so, you are allying yourself with the satanic camp because you are thinking in divided terms. I am not Oriental, not at all. How can I prove it? Because Korea, an Oriental nation, gave me the most persecution of all. After forty years of struggle, the Korean people are finally coming to the realization that Revere end Moon is a most important man for them. They have asked me to stay there. But today in America, people are still looking askance at me. So far, only the American Moonies have given a true welcome to Reverend Moon. The rest of the nation hasn't. But will that embryo grow, or stay the same?
Are you growing? What about you blessed couples? Now that you have your spouse and children and so many more responsibilities, have you forgotten about everything else? If so, you are bringing yourself down to the satanic side. That is because you are saying, "The church is one thing and I am different." Thus there are already two entities and such division is satanic. No matter how difficult it may be, you should say, "I will go this way, crossing into Canaan, even if I must carry my family and tribe on my back. The church and I are united into one." God gave Moses that one mandate: one nation under one God. But the Israeli people thought differently and therefore Satan invaded.
We must give everything we have for the sake of others. How can we prove that within our way of life? Well, our marriages prove that. We recognize no boundaries between nations, cultures or languages. "Fallen" means fallen love, which is Satan's love. On the other hand is God's side and God's love.
The love of God brings total give and take and exchange between people. Those who have international marriages have sometimes complained, "Oh, Father, we have found this so very difficult!" But I wanted them to be difficult! If they were easy, what would be accomplished? Nothing. What would be your credit? Nothing. With the international family, you can kick the international Satan-with one kick. I want to give you that kind of weapon, so you will have that capacity. In a way, those international marriages have been a greater burden and more responsibility, but also greater credit and prestige. With no common language, different cultures, food and customs, how can you expect such a marriage to be easy?
As I have said, there is only one subject and that is true love. Any other element can be absorbed under that love, no matter how difficult or huge it might be. Unless you are united, you remain as two separate entities and you are inviting satanic separation. If you take your Blessing lightly, it means it is a fake-the fake International Wedding. If you come to the Unification Church and try to exploit God, taking advantage of Him for your selfish benefit, it is just no good! Is that clear?
America will change its attitude toward Reverend Moon and will come to welcome me. Most recently, the special documentary film called "Nicaragua Was Our Home" was shown across the country on the public television stations. The program says, "This program was sponsored by Reverend Moon and CAUSA International. CAUSA is bringing a critique and counter-proposal to the ideology of Marxism-Leninism.," This is the most authentic proclamation of what Reverend Moon is doing for the sake of this country and particularly for the sake of Nicaragua. Therefore, who is taking the truly subjective role in solving the problem of Nicaragua? Is it the United States government, or Reverend Moon?
What do the American people say about this activity by Reverend Moon? Do they welcome it? What about the U.S. Congress-are they ashamed or not? The American people will say, "We cannot let Reverend Moon take responsibility for Nicaragua like that. We cannot be shamed in such a way." The U.S. Congress is opposing the Nicaraguan aid bill, while the President is trying to get it passed. That means the President and Reverend Moon are both working for the same goal-to get the Congress to capitulate to this bill.
I know that when I announce certain things in conferences the American members say, "That's just Father's Oriental thinking. We Americans will get together and digest Father's words in our own way." You have your own separate meetings, but that is satanic because it means you are separated from me. There is one big difference between the Japanese and American people. When I give a mandate to the Japanese, they don't think about it. They just plunge in, like diving into the water. Then they come back and say, "Father, it worked." Sometimes they say, "Father, it didn't work," but they always jump into the water first. When the mandate is given to the American people, they say, "Hmm. ... well, let me consider it." Some Americans think, "The Japanese way is savage and uncultivated. We are more cultured and sophisticated and we don't do things like that." Which one is satanic in that case-the American side or the Japanese side?
When I first came to America and New York and walked down Fifth Avenue, do you think I was overwhelmed and awed by the American culture? No, I was thinking, "I am ready to launch the struggle." Looking at Fifth Avenue, the Empire State Building and so forth, I was standing there and thinking, "All by myself, I am fighting against this power." That was eventually manifested in the court battle. Who actually won that battle in the sight of God? American people have come to realize, "Reverend Moon is needed here." That was the victory. New, fresh air is blowing over this country and people are thinking, "We made a mistake. We need Reverend Moon here."
Suppose there is a couple in which the husband is following my directions absolutely, and the wife is following him. Or vice versa: the wife is following me and the husband follows her. Whoever follows me in that situation is the subject. Anything else is satanic. So ask yourself which side you are standing on, God's side or the satanic side. You can evaluate yourself. Unless I had this clear, absolute concept, with not one iota of haziness, I would not have survived this far. There have always been temptations coming toward me-temptations of money, love, knowledge, prestige-all kinds.
Because of this attitude, I could even visit the house of a prostitute and, instead of that place prevailing over me, I could help to clean it up. That is the way I work. Wherever I go, I try to think how I can cleanse the surroundings, leaving more goodness there than I found.
Even if I became drunk on alcohol, I would only do it if that could be victorious in some way for the sake of God. Suppose I collapsed at some point; I would not want to fall backward but instead my dead body would fall forward, in order to advance. That principle applies to my children as well. Do you understand?
In a sense, you are entering the home of Adam and Eve in this restoration process, but you are in Cain and Abel's position. It is there that you come under True Parents. The Cain people say, "Oh, I don't need True Parents. I can manage on my own." That attitude of separation is satanic. It is even more hellish if Cain says, "I don't need my brother.,, We must become one horizontally and then vertically. Abel is the subject and Cain is the object. East and West, North and South-all become one within this horizontal concept of unity. Then the vertical unity is established with the Parents, centered upon the love of God. When this horizontal unity is consummated, vertical unity is possible and can be consummated. Then you become a true Adam-and Eve; you consummate the ideal of Adam and Eve within yourself.
You can inherit from the True Parents the virtue of the true Adam and Eve and you become one. Thus you become like the second generation of True Parents. Who shall prevail over the world? You? Who did it for you? Only the True Parents have the power to prevail over the world, simply because they alone are in the position of original, restored Adam and Eve. The false parenthood brought the evil society and the fallen world; goodness can never come through that. Only when the world finds the True Parents can there be victory over the satanic forces. Is this concept very clear to you?
Are you primarily a U.S. citizen or a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth? That Heavenly citizenship is your pride. No amount of money can buy it for you. Heavenly Kingdom citizens must go first through the gate of the Blessing. That is why the Blessing is so precious- it gives you that qualification. Without your spouse, you cannot become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven because pairs together must be given citizenship. This is absolutely, logically correct.
What is our title today? "The Highest Ownership.,, What is the highest ownership? We own the entire cosmos because it belongs to our Father. What belongs to the Father belongs to the children. Thus we own the True Parents; ultimately, we possess God centered upon true love. Your own individual problems can never be solved without true love. The same is true for your family problems, as well as the problems of the nation and the world.
The highest ownership can be put into three categories. First of all, you own the God-created cosmos, which is spirit world and physical world together. Then you possess the original Adam and Eve's position, which is the True Parents, position. Then ultimately, you own God Himself. The dwelling of God is with you. That is the highest ownership.
True love never changes; that original heart of the love of God remains for eternity. The True Parents inherited that true love of God. The heart of the True Parents, no matter what happens in the world, will not change, not even one iota. For the past forty years, I have encountered one incredible situation after another, but I have always overcome them, one by one, and prevailed over them all. I went to communist labor camp, where death was everywhere, but that never stopped me from pursuing my goal. My mind was not changed even one little bit.
When you are sitting thinking, "I am so tired today. I just don't feel like doing anything," that is Satan whispering in your ear. That is when you must jump up and say, "What am I saying? God is with me; True Parents are with me." God is waiting for you, one step ahead of you. Therefore, when you reach out to take just one step forward, you meet God. Immediately, energy will come; bubbling enthusiasm will return. That most crucial moment is when you have the choice to turn around or go forward. If you think, "I want to lie down," and you just do that, you are not moving forward to the place of God, but backward to the place of Satan.
Your marriage does not belong just to you or exist for your own self-indulgence. You must marry because you want to advance the one, united world. You have your spouse because together you can get there first; you have children because you want that one world to flourish. That is the reason. Marriage is ultimately for the sake of God. We evangelize the world in order to accomplish that one world quicker. There are four billion people on the earth. How many people die every year without meeting the True Parents, without knowing God?
When you engage in business, you need some capital. In this great and glorious undertaking of the providential will, you also have to have some capital. What is your capital? What do you have that you can invest? One life-that is what you have. Since the love of God is at the center of your life, that capital can be accepted. As long as that love is there, you will be unchanging; that means you can join the club, in a way. It is an absolute necessity.
This pioneering task is not just for here on earth. If you don't do it here, you shall continue in the spirit world. But there the road is completely arduous because there is no place where you can be taught like this-no Belvedere. Once I am elevated to spirit world, I won't have to do anything further here on earth. True Parent's ideal is to see God's ideal realized. Once the True Parents, ideal becomes true and returns to the bosom of God, then God's work is done. For that reason, the satanic population growth does not bring joy to God.
Do you think the blessed couples should be using birth control or abortion? How many children can you multiply without birth control? Until they fill the earth. That is the way God wants the earth to be filled. The fallen population is meant to decrease while the Heavenly population should grow. That is what God wants and what I want to see. Mother is an excellent example of this. You know how many children she has given birth to.
You know now where we are going and where we are. No matter how difficult it may be, you must single-mindedly set out for the providential goal, striving toward the highest ownership of cosmic True Parents and God Himself. No matter how much suffering you endure, how much poverty you may go through, I know one thing: you will end up in the highest place in the Kingdom of Heaven. That is because you have the highest ownership. You will be the richest people in Heaven. Actually you don't have to suffer that much, because God did not design that all of you would have to go through the way that I went. I was able to prevail over the world and I set the pattern for you. Now you know where to go, how to go and what the goal is, right? One united concept, one victory, one world.
When you walk down the street, think, "I am walking toward that providential goal." Sometimes you may go into a bar, but you absolutely must not go there in order to assist the satanic world; you must do that only if in some way you are able to increase the Kingdom of God, such as by fund raising.
One concept, one mind-no matter what you do or where you go, there should be no deviation in your mind. You must be one person, with one mind dwelling with true love. When you have one mind, it needs to dwell only on true love.
The world is quickly changing in favor of God. Very soon the climate of society will become more favorable toward the Unification Church and Reverend Moon. In Korea, even the congressmen come to my talks about Unificationism; likewise in Japan. Among the primary providential nations, Korea has about 270 members of its legislative body; Japan has 511; the United States has 535. Suppose all the lawmakers of those three countries moved toward the Heavenly side. In any nation, the existence of two or more parties has been used by Satan as a means of keeping the country divided, but imagine if those two parties worked to unite the country. At the fall of man, two "parties" came into existence, and we can see that sort of system existing now within our society. That could not change until the True Parents came. Nobody else could change it.
What we need is both vertical and horizontal harmony. In the United States, the leader of the Democrats and the leader of the Republicans engage in all sorts of fighting; they practically curse each other. That is not harmony. It is more like the dialectic. When there is constant confrontation, there is no way the one world can be realized. Only when there is vertical and horizontal harmony between all parties can one world come to be.
How can this be applied to your life? Firstly there must be unity between husband and wife-that is horizontal unity. Then you must be vertically united with the True Parents. Should there be division and fighting between the vertical and horizontal planes? No, there should be one love uniting the husband and wife and uniting the True Parents and the children. Do you follow?
Anything that tries to contradict this way of true love will be pushed out by the environment and the spirit world. In other words, in time they will be regarded as foreign elements by the environment. In secular America today, there is division between parents and children; they are in contradiction. Also, men and women- husbands and wives-are in contradiction, struggle, and confrontation. God cannot dwell in such a situation. The family system is breaking down. It is a very unhappy situation-the family feeling is ice cold. There is a cold, chilly feeling between the parents and children, husband and wife.
In the Unification Church we are trying to come to the center, both vertically and horizontally. In one point, unity is formed. That is because true love is at the center. Everybody comes and unites in that center. You can go out from that center but you don't feel alienated; you can always come back and recoup, like returning to the "filling station" of love again and again. True love alone can make this possible. It's not only the little child who is lovable and cute. In this concept, the elderly grandmother is also beautiful. A grandpa may have very rugged skin with a long beard, but the little child will go up to him and kiss and hug him. That is a beautiful sight. Can we see such a thing frequently in the average American home? Not very often.
Does anybody like a contradictory system? Raise your hands if you do. Within the Unification Church, we have learned how to come together. We have many meetings and gatherings. In that way our intensity grows. When you feel lonely, then meet together. When you feel a lack of energy, meet. The more meetings in the fallen realm, the more destruction occurs, whereas on the heavenly side the more energy and harmony is created.
I was told that you were very lonely when I was in Korea for the past six months. You wanted to go to Belvedere, but because the True Parents weren't there, you weren't so inspired. Why is that? Reverend Moon is an Oriental man so why should you miss me so much? You can't explain it precisely in words, but your mind is pulled toward me. Even ex-Moonies say to me, "Reverend Moon, I love you very much, but it's those guys around you that I hate." But that is an evil viewpoint; it is having two minds. You cannot survive like that. That is why they became ex-Moonies; they had two minds, so they dropped out. Basically, however, they still feel pulled by the magnet of the True Parents.
The ultimate ambition for the human heart is that of true love. Therefore, women definitely need men; men definitely need women. All human beings together are born for the sake of reaching out and acquiring the love of God. That is the very reason for our existence.
No matter how great a religion you might proclaim, unless you reach out to gain the true love of God, you can never acquire true happiness. It doesn't matter if you are a renowned philosopher or a religious thinker, unless you reach that particular destination, you cannot be happy. A loving husband and wife gain possession of the entire world. We shall transform the world so that it welcomes and embraces that concept. That is the mission of the Unification Church.
If you can say, "The mandate given this morning is going to be my life's goal," raise your hands and pledge. God bless you. Let us pray.

23.2.14

Words to live by - TRUE PARENTS AND I

REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON

TRUE PARENTS AND I

June 15, 1986
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

There are many people living in our world today, but most of them are standing in the fallen realm rather than in the realm of God. There are different divisions within this satanic domain, such as community, nation and world. The people are divided not only into north, south, east and west, but also into five different colors of skin. There is also the major division between Oriental and Occidental. The principal thing that everybody is doing is fighting among themselves. Furthermore, they do not know where they are heading; they do not know their exact goal or purpose. Our world is not heading toward hopefulness and the ideal, therefore, but rather toward decline and disaster. That phenomenon persists not only in the Orient but also in the West. Because of such problems, people cannot feel hope for this world. Who can be responsible for the world? America-and you are primarily American people gathered here today-is part of that declining world. It makes no difference whether someone is educated or ignorant; all are heading toward the same destiny. The original hope and ideal for mankind was lost because of the fall of man. Now each individual has to deal with the most complex and confused way of life. Many people are in agony; they recognize that they could be in better shape-morally, spiritually and physically-but they are not. They ask themselves, "Why can't I be more healthy?" Many individuals are suffering because of this struggle between their mind and body. The problem of discord between mind and body is more difficult to solve than all the problems of history. No individual can be totally happy unless he enjoys balance and harmony in his life. The greatest human suffering is caused by the conflict and discord in our society. We have to deal with such a complex and chaotic world, but at the same time, there is an even greater problem within each individual-the discord between one's mind and body. When can we become truly happy people with harmony between mind and body? There are not two ways to become perfect, but only one. Thus we have to come up with one solution. This is the greatest of all problems. Each individual is the subject over his environment, and this is centered upon his own world view. You perceive the colors in your environment, and you feel certain things; you are the subject of those feelings. We want to be happy and joyful, but that is not possible unless there is truly one harmony. Many people have made great accomplishments through history, and there are many such people living now. However, history has yet to see one person who could say, "I am totally at one within my mind and body." Even such a great man as St. Paul, the one person besides Jesus who could properly be called the founder of Christianity, said that he was waging an internal battle between the laws of his mind and the laws of his body. "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24 NAS) The Bible records that confession of St. Paul's. What about Jesus? Although Jesus had a single, clearcut purpose and direction, there was a great deal of conflict between his will and his actions. Let's look at this and how Jesus was united between his mind and body. How could he become totally one, within perfection? First of all, we have to recognize that Jesus was not the cause of the universe. He is the true object of God, a God-sent individual. In the Unification Church, we make this Christological question very clear: Who is Jesus? We commonly describe Jesus in many terms: Messiah, Savior, and so forth, but the most important description is that he was the son of God, as well as the potential True Parent, the True Father of all mankind. What is the definition of the True Parent? The True Parent is the person who reflects perfectly the image of God and who can disseminate the power of true love. Do you find your own mind and body always divided and in conflict? Ask them, "Although you are always fighting with each other, don't you want to unite? What would you like to be united upon? " The answer would not be money, power or knowledge, but only true love. What, then, is true love? Nobody likes to be told, "Your love is false." But on the other hand, is anyone a true man, a perfected person? You shrug at that, knowing that you are not. When you speak about true things, you have to be true according to God. He is the center, the truth, the subject of the universe. You have to be one with Him. We commonly say that there are many bad people in the world. What do you base such a statement upon? What is the dividing line between a good person and a bad one? What is the dfinition of goodness? When you say, "This is a good deed," what is that centered upon? You may make a lot of money-you may hit the jackpot- and say, "That is good!,, On what basis is that good? Or suppose you are elected to some important political office, gaining a lot of power. You would say, "That is good!" But what is that good centered upon? Or perhaps you have acquired a great deal of knowledge and you feel that is good. There must be a center, some reason that defines whether something is good or not. That center is true love. Any deed or thought that contributes to true love is a good deed or thought. But if it does not do that, it is on the side of evil. All five senses of our bodies are mobilized to find and concentrate upon true love, nothing else. Ask your eye what it wants to see and it would say, "The only thing I want to look at is true love; I don't want to see anything else." The eyes are not interested in lots of bright colors, for example, without true love. Not only our five physical senses but also our five spiritual senses have this motivation. Do you think the mind is equipped to know and detect true love, or not? What do you think? Is that an inborn virtue of the mind-to be able to detect true love? You have an original mind, so why doesn't that original mind become bold and strong and take initiative to demolish all the ungodly things around it? Why doesn't it move forward to take dominion over the universe? The original mind has become weak and has failed to take the subjective role; it is always being pushed into the corner. Why has the original mind been in such a miserable shape? Since we have an original mind, it should be in constant communication with God, receiving power from Him and taking the subjective role over everything else. Why hasn't it been like that? The reason is that evil history began before each person was born; it was there already. Before your original mind ever came into being, there was already an evil dominion over everything. Your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were like that-all the way back to Adam and Eve. Before Adam's and Eve's original minds took hold, before they were able to take dominion over the universe, evil came into being. The fall occurred and the true lineage was turned around. Men and women are supposed to be perfected, united upon one love, in communion with God. With one woman and one man, centered upon God's love, unity would be complete. We would be born of God, in that case, because everything originated from Him; no foreign element would have come in. All generations would have come directly from God, therefore, and there would have been only one God-centered lineage. We are supposed to be united under one true love, centered upon God; total unity and harmony were supposed to mark the beginning of human history. But that was not the case; the force of Satan invaded. God would like to have dominion over all things-not by force or violence-but by love. That was the original principle of creation. Because of the forceful and violent invasion of evil, however, there was no chance for true love to reign over all things. Furthermore, every individual was born under the satanic lineage; thus it is the same fallen bloodstream. The fall of man was the putting aside of goodness and truth. Even though we know such things are there, we have been pulled to the side of evil and fallen into bondage. The original mind is within each person; people are aware of goodness, true love and beautiful ideals, but the body has become the slave of evil, pulled into evil activities. A prisoner or slave has no freedom. In the center of fallen man there are two minds: one is the original mind and the other is the instinctual, bodycentered mind. We are supposed to have only one mind, but man became divided into those two minds which fight between themselves. The body became the battlefield for those two minds. Surrounding the body is the family, which is also a battlefield; likewise the community, nation and world all became the battlefields for those two minds. We must have a true self in which the original mind dwells. So we must go back to the very beginning point- the state of mind where there is no division or discord and only harmony and cooperation. Then the body will cooperate with that one mind; then you can find your true self. How could such harmony come into being? Only by the touch of true love. Human beings have departed from true love; true love is always with God, of course. There are millions and millions of spiritual miles between God and man. How can God take this evil world back to Himself? What is God's method and strategy? How can He go into the very core of that struggle between the mind and body and resurrect man's original self? God has to establish a beachhead by which to enter the satanic world; that beachhead is true love. Initially, it will be small, but as soon as God gains a foothold He can move forward and go deeper to expand His foundation. In a way, God's true love force is invading the satanic world from all four directions. Throughout history, religious people always encountered persecution; no religion has grown without persecution. Those people who opposed religion have been in control of the principalities, those within the established power structure. There is a certain axis at the center of every individual, and the body is meant to turn around that axis. That axis is your original mind; your body is trying to turn on that axis. There should be no resistance. When the original mind-the mind before the fall-takes the center, the body automatically centers upon the power of true love. That should occur without trouble or difficulty. Such turning action by the body should be natural and easy. The original mind and original body, unstained by satanic elements, have the goal of unity centered upon true love. That was the original design of creation-an unstained, good mind and body united upon true love. Let us compare this with the two prongs of a tuning fork. When you hit one prong, its vibration will send sound waves to the other prong, which will make a sound of the same exact pitch. The initial sound or vibration within people should be that of true love; true love should hit the mind first, causing it to reverberate at a certain frequency and convey true love to the body. That is how it was supposed to be. But what happened? Because of the fall of man, the initial impact was not true love but fallen love. God has to make a new impact upon the original mind of man. This has been the work of God in history-to make an impact so that the mind could also give powerful treatment to the body. Thus filial piety has been upheld as a virtue in the home, centered upon the parents. When the homes exemplify filial piety, loyalty is also stressed in the country, centered upon the king or leader. This is the way the individual self revolves and, at the same time, turns around in a bigger circle. As you know, the earth turns on its axis and, at the same time, it revolves around the sun-human internal life follows the same principle. The solar system does not stand still; as an entity, it turns in a great, cosmic circle. What is its most central theme, its center? It is love, true love. Therefore, love has been taught in the home. Centered upon the parent, the expression of that love is called filial piety. In the nation, when love has been stressed, we call it patriotism or loyalty. On the world level, the love of mankind has been stressed and that is called saintliness. That quality of love, of course, is true love and that should be at the center. When true love takes the center seat, everything else will fall into its proper place. Right order shall be created around that eternal and unchanging axis. What will bind a man and woman together into one? What force could do that? What is the force to unite them? It is only the force of true love. That is what we call a couple-the husband and wife. They begin to orbit, circling around, and they create a family. A family is no longer centered upon an individual; the family has a larger purpose and goal, so each individual must harmonize with that goal. But then the family is circling around the nation, which is an even greater entity. Then the nation should be circling in orbit around the world; the world should be its center. Then the world should be orbiting around the universe, centered upon the love of God. You can see here the complete illustration. Once the individual, with his original mind and body, has become united upon the axis of true love, he will revolve around the family; then the family revolves around the nation, the nation around the world, and the world around the universe. Finally, the universe will revolve around God. The central axis is always the same-true love. God has been working through religion, trying to regain the world and restore it to its original shape. Since the body has been dominant and the mind has been weakened, religion has always chastised the body in order to strengthen the mind. This is why physical chastisement has always played a role in religion. Anything which is not parallel with the goal of true love had to be pushed down, eliminated. In that way, the true love-centered mind could prosper. In a way, God has been farming, planting the seed of true love within the barren soil of man's mind. He has been fertilizing it, watering it, planting the true love seeds. God has chastised and tried to eliminate anything that hurts true love. In this process, He has allowed religious people to make a great number of sacrifices. Many people suffered in order to safeguard the growth of true love. They then inspired and spurred many others on to greater heights. Seeing such righteousness and sacrifice gave them energy to go up to even greater heights. Eventually, the world came to be divided into two major camps-one which accepts the theistic, or religious, point of view; the other embraces the atheistic, materialistic viewpoint. What about the problem of religion? There are great numbers of religions. How can we evaluate them? There is one simple rule: the religion which demonstrates the greatest love of God should be at the center and then absorb the others, bringing everyone into unity. What is the essence of religion? It is God and love, those two elements. Centered upon God, love will win and prevail over the world. In speaking of God, only one religion calls God "Father," and that is Christianity. This must be made very clear: Christianity alone proclaims to the world that God is our Father. What is the definition of a father? What is the difference between a true father and a stepfather? The difference is in the bloodstream, the lineage. Nobody says, "God is our stepfather." We say, "God is our Father." That means we claim to be in the bloodstream or lineage of God. Do all those who call themselves Christians really feel they are connected into one bloodstream, centered upon God and part of one lineage? What is the Kingdom of Heaven? It is the same whether we speak of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth or in heaven. We speak of the Kingdom of Heaven as God's house. God is our Father; the parents and the children dwell in the same house. The children are entitled to live in that house because they are one bloodstream, one family. In the Bible, Jesus is described as the "only-begotten son." What does this mean? He was the only person who had inherited the total love and total lineage of God, and the only person who could represent it. For that reason, he had the power of God's lineage flowing through him. That is why he became the Savior. Christianity has taught that God is the Father of mankind; furthermore, Jesus taught that he was the only-begotten son of that God. Christianity's message, therefore, is that it is only through Jesus that we can be connected to the lineage of God; otherwise, God's lineage cannot flow through mankind. From the point of view of the Principle of Creation, "only-begotten son,, means that Jesus was in the position of the unfallen, perfected Adam. Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, so Jesus was meant to be the perfected Adam who entered into the fallen world and restored his bride. It was his mission to restore a woman to the level before the fall. Eve was in the position to be the true mother of all mankind, just as Adam was supposed to be the true father. Jesus came on the level of the chosen nation, and he came as the perfected Adam to restore Eve. If that had been done on the national foundation, they would have become not only the true father and mother of mankind, but also they would have become the king and queen of Israel. If they had not fallen, Adam and Eve would have become the True Parents in the Garden of Eden. Once Adam and Eve were perfected and completely centered upon true love, they could not have fallen. There was no way they could have deviated from their original position because no power could separate them from true love. True love should have been the central binding point between Adam and Eve. But what happened? Within Eve, her own self, and not true love, became supreme. The evil of selfishness crept into the Garden of Eden, planted in the heart of the woman, and it has now grown to encompass all of humanity. What do we see today? The entire world is riddled with selfishness. Contemporary America is the most self-centered nation. Youth today are even labeled the "Me Generation." How can such a thing be? This is the satanic attitude; it belongs to hell. What is the center of America? Is it the Pentagon? Is it wealth or knowledge? Certainly America today has lots of power, money and knowledge, but these things cannot become the heart and soul of America. If they did, America would certainly perish. America must be centered upon true love; only true love will bring unity between mind and body, and then the family, society and nation. When that happens, this nation will flourish. Let's say there are eight individuals within one family. The center of that family must be God and, as everybody comes toward God, they can cling together and be united. That is the way it was supposed to be. Your heart or original mind is the very deepest part of your being, and that heart is connected to the mind of God. That was the model. Your original mind is in a direct vertical line with Heaven. Everybody else has an original mind, too, which is part of the same line. The vertical line with God and the horizontal line of human relationships must cross at a 90-degree angle. Wherever you go or whoever you meet, you should always have a 90-degree angle. The love between men and women, for example, is real; your experience of that love is very real. That is the horizontal line. The problem is that people have lost the vertical line; they don't experience it. They don't even recognize the existence of any vertical line. Instead of coming to the center and uniting around God, each individual is trying to become the center, to pull everything toward himself. The United States is supposed to be a Christian nation. Why has it become like this? It can be attributed to what is called American pragmatism. This basically means that one doesn't have to be bound by any principles; whatever benefits you, you just go in that direction. People pursue self-interest in all directions; it doesn't matter what it is or where-as soon as they see something of self-benefit, they try to grab it. The result is that people don't care about what happens to the rest of the world; the world can even become a sacrifice if it benefits them. That is pragmatism. The pragmatic way of life repels religion and scorns its principles and rules. The truth is that pursuing self-interest is not fundamentally bad, but one must put internal, spiritual interests first before external self-interest. Ironically, however, Satan has divided the internal and the external world; he has been holding the external world under his wing. For that reason, in order to pursue your internal interests, you have to go against your external interests. That is what makes things very difficult. You have to fight and make sacrifices in order to pursue your internal benefit. The pragmatic person is one who focuses on accumulating all his material wants; that is what the "Me Generation" is all about. What is really important for a person, however, is to gain internal, spiritual benefit. In order to gain those benefits, you have to sacrifice the external things. This beautiful truth is far from the American way of life. Even if American people gain every sort of material wealth, if they have gained nothing internally, they will have lost everything. The irony is this: the United States, which is supposed to be the one central Christian nation, has become the worst example of the satanic domain. Because of this, then, the laws of the universe are opposing this nation. No matter how much the government and the American people may make effort, there is an even greater power pounding on them so that the nation continues to decline more and more. What about the Unification Church in America today? What are we? Do you think you are going to be digested by the "Me Generation,,, or are you going to digest them? You don't have unity between your own mind and body, so how can you go out and say, "I'm going to conquer the 'Me Generation"? That is a contradiction, isn't it? The present day reality is a real problem. We must bring a solution. God is not part of the "Me Generation." God's interest is the benefit of the whole. The benefit of the whole comes first. It is not money, power or knowledge which encompasses and embraces all the things of creation and the whole universe; it is true love. If the fall had not occurred, True Parents would have been established in the Garden of Eden. After the fall of man, God had the option to destroy every single human being. He could have said, "They are bad and I don't want to see them." But as you know through the Divine Principle, there was a reason He did not and could not do that. His second option was to restore the world, and in order to do that, He had to send a savior. That savior was the second opportunity for the installation of the True Parents. Jesus was that savior and, as you know, that was not completed. Thus God has given the third opportunity. The principle of salvation is quite simple. Because mankind was supposed to begin with True Parents and that did not happen, false parenthood came into being. We have to be rid of that false lineage and be restored into the family of the True Parents, the true lineage of God. The mission of the Unification Church is to reorganize the families of the world. Today's topic is "True Parents and I." Are True Parents absolutely necessary? Without them, the world has no hope for salvation, no way to turn. We have to bring the world back from the false to the true parenthood. Beginning with True Parents, direct oneness and union with God can come about. In this way, the true lineage of God can be installed and expanded. Where were you born-under the true parenthood or the false parenthood? The Bible talks about the wild olive tree and the true olive tree. The true olive tree's root is straight from God; so God's lineage is symbolically expressed in the true olive tree. Everybody comes from the false root, however, which is expressed as the wild olive tree. New life can only be given through engrafting with the true tree. That is the destiny of all men and women. It doesn't matter whether the wild olive tree is a thousand years old; in order for the engrafting process to take place, we have to cut off that wild tree. Let's say the wild olive tree's root is very large and it has many different branches. On the other hand, let's say the true olive tree is just tiny, with only a few little branches. Even though the old olive tree has been growing for thousands of years and has 44 billion leaves and buds, it doesn't change the fact that it has to be cut down. Do you think the United States portion of the tree should be left alone? Shall we think, "The United States is the number-one country on the earth; we have a great culture to preserve, so don't cut the U.S. portion," Or should we say, "There have been great people in the United States, like George Washington, and we have had important ministers who have done so much to advance Christianity. We have had great numbers of true leaders in this country; this nation doesn't need salvation, so leave it alone"? No, we just cannot say that. Is it correct to say that America should be an exception because of its great Constitution or its freedom? When God decides to cut the wild olive tree, He will do it. He does not allow exceptions. Outwardly, the bud on the satanic, wild olive tree looks just the same as that on the true olive tree; in fact, it might look a little better, since it receives better nourishment. So those buds might ask, "Why should we be cut?" All the four billion wild olive buds out there are looking at the Moonies, thinking, "How pitiful they are, so pale and miserable. We are much better off than they are." As members of the Unification Church we cannot indulge ourselves in the lifestyle of the outside world until we have gained real freedom for everybody. What do you think about my conclusion? Is it right or wrong? When God decides to restore the wild olive into the true olive tree, would He say, "Let's just do a little bit now and a little bit tomorrow, and a little bit next year"? What do you think? Would He like to take ten thousand years to do it, or wouldn't He want to do it all at once? What about Reverend Moon? Would I like to do it piecemeal? Even though the root of the true olive tree is small, the important thing is that it is resting on God. The root of the wild tree is resting on Satan. Always remember that, even though you are restored members of the Unification Church, your original roots from your ancestors are from the wrong, satanic side. We have not been born of the True Parents but of the fallen lineage, and we are in the process of being restored. When you look at trees you can see that their natural instinct is to reach up to the sun. It is the same with the flowers and grasses. Even if a branch is growing downwards, the leaves will reach upwards. The sun represents the source of life, so all the leaves and buds face toward that. The branches, the root and the stems all come under one direct line and that is the Tree of Life. When the tree grows taller, the branches become wider. The trunk goes up in a straight line, and at the same time, the roots reach out and take hold of wider and wider territory. The energy of life passes through that straight line, up through the trunk to the branches in a direct line. Your original mind is the deepest part of yourself. Right below that is God, so your original mind rests in the fertile soil of God. In the engrafting process, the branches are cut off but the root remains. Then the true branches can begin to grow. When that process begins, even though that root is the original satanic one, it will be transformed into a new root. Can we penetrate all the thousands-of-years-old customs of the satanic world and bring about a revolutionary change? Do we have that kind of energy and vitality? If that satanic root maintains itself, then the fruit will not be good, even though engrafting was done. The true tree will not develop properly. In other words, maybe the shape will be just like the true olive tree, but the olives won't have a good taste. How can God enjoy that poor tasting olive? After the engrafting process takes place, how do we transform the root into a new one? No matter how much effort is made by all 44 billion people in the cosmos, it would not come into fruition. Only by the power of the love of God and the True Parents will that root be transformed. Therefore, you will be plunged into the melting pot of the True Parents and God so that all your fallen, foreign elements can be burned away. All that will remain of you is what is centered upon God and the True Parents' love. Do you already possess the true love that can burn up the iniquities and ugliness of the satanic world? Even though you are engrafted-you turned your lineage over to the True Parents and God-your power alone will not be enough to burn up the iniquities of this world. Your children, the blessed children, will be more powerful than you; they are purer than you. Do you think the True Parents should listen to and follow the advice of the fallen generations? No one can advise the True Parents because there is no one with sufficient purity to advise them. The True Parents act from the genuine, true thought which flows from God and true love. Let us reflect upon ourselves in the Unification Church. Since we joined this church, what kind of life have we lived? God and the True Parents created a new, true love pond. Have you become like a child, taking off all your clothing and plunging headfirst into that pond? Or are you just standing on the edge and dipping your toes in? When you jump into that love pond, is your body so filthy that you will make the whole pond dirty? Is that the kind of men and women you are? Most of you have been a part of the life of the Unification Church for many years, and most of you have received the Blessing. What kind of members are you? Have you been living according to something less than the real Unification Church direction? There is much more distance to be covered, so we have to be shedding tears. We must be kneeling on the floor and repenting. Repentance must be the first thing on our agenda. Your mouth is still so imperfected, so dirty and fallen, yet that mouth is saying, "We don't want those Korean and Japanese leaders. All we need is the American way." But you must correctly understand one thing: I am not promoting the Korean way or the Oriental way. I have been opposed by the Korean and Japanese people for forty years. Why have I been opposed if I am promoting the Oriental way? I even went to Danbury. A prison is the lowest place in any society, but that is where I went because this country opposed me. I did that to save America. Do you think we can save this country with the power of our fists? No, it can only be saved by true love. This principle has not changed one iota. When I was in Korea these past six months, I was given the constant message, "American members want you to come back." Why should I have come back to America, really? Because it's comfortable, or for money or fame? No. If I wanted to, I could certainly acquire more of those kinds of things in some other country. I came back here in order to wage the final battle for this nation's sake. "True Parents and I" is the title of today's sermon. You call me and Mother your True Father and Mother, correct? What do the True Father and the True Mother do? The True Parents provide you with the root of God, upon which you can grow and prosper. True love can spring forth like water from that root, and all of humanity can dip themselves into it and be saved. Before this time, even though the root of God and true love was there, it was not flowing to humanity and the world. Thus the True Parents came to bridge the gap so that true love can flow. Logically speaking, without the appearance of the True Parents, there could be no way the true love of God could flow into mankind. This is the absolutely logical conclusion-the appearance of True Parents is the hope of humanity. In the Unification Church the most peculiar, extraordinary phenomenon is occurring. Young people do not want to arrange their own marriages; they place this most important decision in the hands of the True Parents. The young people who are joining the Unification Church are some of the best people in the United States. They are highly motivated and sincere and they dedicate their lives to the True Parents. Those most brilliant young people are giving up their own country, in a way, as well as their own parents and families. They give up their social status and their studies when they decide to follow Reverend Moon, a man who has gone to prison. Why is that? We have great numbers of Japanese members in this country. Have they come to America because they are so eager to live with white people? NO, their only reason is that the True Parents are here. They have left their home and crossed the Pacific Ocean, coming to this foreign land, unable to speak the language or understand the culture. They came here to work for the sake of saving this country, working harder than the American people That is truly extraordinary and amazing. What about you first-class American citizens? Are you proud of that? There are many city and regional leaders who have really overworked the Japanese members, letting them go out and do all the fundraising. Then the leaders sit down and spend that money. Actually, if I were just a secular businessman and I brought those Japanese people here to suffer so much, they would all turn against me, saying, "What are you doing to us?" Would probably be clubbed to death by them. Instead, they never complain. The American people are the ones doing the most complaining, behind the scenes. In this situation, who shall be responsible for the future of America? Those Japanese people, or me? Who shall be ultimately responsible for America? Yes, it is you Americans. I will go back to Korea and the Japanese will return to their country. After that, what will you do? Can you say, "No problem. We can take care of all America"? It is a shame that among Americans, the black and Hispanic people are following the True Parents more faithfully than the white people. That is the reality. While this continues, the white-centered culture will decline; more animosity will arise toward the white people on the part of minorities. The black people will resent more and more the self-centered and arrogant white people's traditions. Your relationship to the True Parents should be very clear to you through this morning's sermon. The Bible says that you should not worry about what to eat or drink or where to dwell. Those things are what the Gentiles worry about. You only have to worry about one thing- seeking God's Kingdom. By the same token, in the Unification Church you should only worry about becoming a partaker of the true love of God and the True Parents. Plunge into it and become intoxicated by that love. When that is the case, nothing can bother you-not your family, not the way of life, nothing. Are you totally immersed in the true love of God? That is the question. When I observe many of the long-time members of the Unification Church, I see them saying, "I am working for the sake of the whole." But they are actually the most tired-out, dispirited people. I don't want people to be like that. We are going to face the most difficult times from now on. If you Unification Church members today are virtually exhausted, can you face it when even greater waves of difficulties hit you? Will you find the power and energy to break through and overcome it? You must be thinking this way. You have to be more serious. Think, "I am ready for the greater difficulties ahead of us. Nothing can deter me." You must think that way, being ready to spring into action at any time, bubbling with enthusiasm. Otherwise, you will be distracted, left out from the ranks and left behind in the march. I have been in and out of prison, not just one time but six different times, but I was never deterred. My spirit was only strengthened. When I came to America, my destiny was, in a way, to march toward the prison. I knew that and I welcomed it; if that was my destiny, I would not shrink from it. I have never deviated from my path. Today I declare that in the march toward Moscow, I expect another prison to be waiting for me there. Will you let Reverend Moon do all the things necessary to get to Moscow? Or do you want to go ahead of me and prepare things for me? I want you to know that there are members, brothers and sisters, working behind the Iron Curtain in all those satellite countries who are desperately laying the foundation. When I was in Danbury, I did not rest even one day. I had many plans and strategies, new organizations to create. Those things are blossoming today. Even yesterday at the breakfast table, Dr. Pak reported some event to me and I asked him to give that information to Dr. Durst. If even Dr. Durst doesn't know about some of the things we are doing, how much do you not know? This is the time of the showdown; we are now at the crossroads. We are not talking about tomorrow; it is today. When I am at East Garden, I am always busy, always active. I don't have any leisure time. When I was in Korea for the past six months, almost 40 million Korean people were completely awakened by my presence. That includes national assemblymen, who are the equivalent of U.S. congressmen. What am I trying to do? I am not seeking political power. I have only one thing on my mind: to do the will of God and create the nation and world where God's love can prevail. I want to plant God's love in America, Korea and all other nations. Are you becoming the arms and legs of Reverend Moon? Do my arms and legs reach toward their own selfish interests, or toward the interests of God and true love and truth? You are the fruit of Reverend Moon in America. I have sacrificed my own family, clan and personal affairs in the process of loving you. I would like you to be such accomplished people that I could take you to Korea and Japan and let them see you and be proud of you. That is my ambition. What does that come out of-love or hatred for you? Do you know I love you? I would like you to become people I can be most proud of. That is my deepest, inmost thought. I am waiting for that. Dr. Durst sometimes tells me, "American members are working very hard and suffering a great deal." But what about those Japanese brothers and sisters? They are working day in and day out, ten or even a hundred times harder than you. I would like to send the American leadership to Japan to join the fundraising crews for several months. I brought the Japanese members here so they could help you to grow in membership in America. Then I will send American members to the rest of the world. As much as I am proud of the Japanese members here, I would like to be even more proud of the American members around the world. Do you think that in this world restoration the Japanese or the Americans would be faster front-line soldiers? What does your common sense say? The American people would be faster because the United States is the most important and respected country in the world. I want you to know that America is the Abel nation. God guided and nurtured this country for 200 years, bringing Abel-type people from around the world into this microcosm. In order to become the new forefathers of America, you must do more than those Puritans who came on the Mayflower. You must go beyond the strengths and sufferings of your ancestors in order to live up to your mission. In the future there will be less persecution but there is still an incredible uphill battle to wage. There are so many barriers, so many languages and cultures. Each country has its own idiosyncrasies. How can we harmonize all these? What will digest the discord among the people in the United States-the Anglo-Saxons, the Jews, the Hispanics, the Blacks, the Asians, the German descendants, and all the rest? Inside this country there is incredible corruption, discord, and struggle, but America just puts on more makeup, like a beautiful woman on the street. But that is not the answer. That does not bring peace to America. I want you to know that the external element is not the primary factor. Think how difficult it is to keep your own standard in the Unification Church. Self-management is not easy, so even after ten or twenty years in the church, people are still struggling. How can you bring the people of the world into one? Should we expect God, who does not even have His own hands and legs, to do it? He has to work through His instruments, human beings. You are God's instruments. Actually, all that God can rely on fully is the True Parents and you. Each one of you should be such a vibrant dynamo that I could pick you up and plant you in some foreign place and see a Unification Church germinate there. That is what God wants. What shall we do, then? First of all, we have to combat the self and be victorious in that battle. You must have a deep sense of gratitude, saying, "God picked me up and restored me. Knowing that I have found the True Parents and I am in the position to serve them, I am deeply grateful." Unless your life is based upon such gratitude, sooner or later you will drift away. Gratitude is the basic, fundamental attitude of my own life. When I listen to the worldwide reports of church leaders, I hear more discouraging ones than good ones. There is more suffering than accomplishment. In many cases, the destiny of a nation is hanging by a thread. Each day, I make decisions that directly influence the destiny of the nations in the future. Your own decisions do not have impact upon the destiny of whole nations, but I am in a different position. When one decision is wrongly made, then I am responsible and the burden falls upon me. I know clearly where I want everyone to go and I give the direction, but everybody is reluctant. They don't want to be directed; they don't want to go. I am sure some of you have experienced the loss of parents or spouses through death; some of you parents have even experienced the loss of children. In such cases you experienced tremendous heartbreak. How much more pain must God feel when He loses His most genuine, lovely creations. Can you imagine the broken-heartedness of God? Do you think I should continue to suffer here in America? Can you be responsible for my tradition, for what I have been doing? Do you have the energy and power to do it? All right, let's do it then. Let's give ourselves totally and sincerely to it. I will tell you something that I experienced a couple of years ago. I visited one place where there was a member who had decided to leave the Church that very day. It happened that I was on the same airplane with that person. Up to that day, that member had felt that I was his Father, but on that day, he decided that I was nobody. He walked past my seat on the plane, and he didn't even look at me or have the common decency to greet me and say hello. I thought that, even supposing we had not shared a religion or teaching, at least in terms of human decency, is that any way to treat someone you know? Is that the product of individualism here in America? How can someone turn around so completely in one day and create such a wall? I was really wondering about that. This is not only one instance-there have been many in my life. These show the potential ugliness of the human heart. Here is another example. There have been businesses and enterprises which our movement initiated. I assigned a leader to one of these, but I found out that he was treating the members there like slaves, giving them incredible treatment, simply because they were black and Hispanic. That person didn't even like them. Think of that from the parental point of view. It's unimaginable. I have had to swallow things like this more than once, digest them and move on. I didn't express anger. I want you to know one thing: I have been in America for fourteen years, during which I have poured my heart, soul, body and material for the well-being of this nation. No one can deny that. I have spoken to you frankly at times. I have scolded you, yelled at you, sometimes even pounded on your heads. Is that because I hate you? No, it is the expression of my love; I want to see you grow as rapidly as possible so that you can reach a certain level of accomplishment in the shortest possible time. For fourteen years I have left Korea behind; I have abandoned my country, in a way. When I went back this time, the Korean people did not want me to return to America, saying, "Why should you go back there?" They strongly expressed their desire for me to stay. But I persuaded them that I had to return, and then they wept behind the scenes without saying anything, knowing I had to go. You don't have to remember all of this. But one point is very important: who will be responsible if I do leave America permanently? During these past six months, have you been assembled at Belvedere service like this every Sunday morning? Think about Belvedere without True Parents. Imagine if I left America forever, never to return. Think about that. If you want my heart to continue to dwell in America, it is basically up to you. It will be determined by your own attitude toward me and the movement, toward the Principle and toward your mission. That will determine how long I will continue to dwell here and give my love here. Have you ever imagined me spending these past fourteen years in some country like Brazil or some other Latin American country? The American church has not yet become self sustaining, either spiritually or materially. Does this mean you should just give up? Is that what you will do? We have a very serious decision to make. I have one important mission remaining in this country, one more thing to do and I am tackling that now. Regardless of whether you listen to me and follow me, what I have spoken on this platform shall become a part of the history of the United States. This is the central point of the future of this country. With these words, you in America shall be judged. So it is a most serious moment when you are listening to me at Belvedere. The key question to ask yourself is, "Can I do what Father has done and succeed in his mission in this country?" If your determination is firm, you can go forward without one iota of deviation no matter what difficulties you may have to face. I have done that in my life. Look at my own children. They came to America simply because their Daddy and Mommy came here; there was no other reason. They have grown up here, enduring a lot of ridicule from this society. Imagine the children's position when their father went to prison. Think of it from a father's point of view: "What did I give to my own children? Am I bringing honor to them?,, Now they have become an even greater target of ridicule from society and their peers. Mother, through no fault of her own, has suffered because of me. What about prison? Nobody can be trusted there. It is like the wilderness, without any protection. Mother went to the prison virtually every other day, like clockwork, rain or shine. The average woman would give up, saying, "Why should I do this? I am disgusted by my destiny." Without knowing the True Parent's ideal and the dispensation, she would have had an entirely different experience. Do you think that she shed a great deal of secret tears? Mother and the family had to go on and conduct five o'clock Pledge service each Sunday, painfully aware that I was in prison. I'm sure they shed a lot of tears. Why did I come here to America? Why have I become such a controversial man, going through so much pain and persecution? It is only for the fulfillment of God's will. You have to remember this point. This is my first speech at Belvedere since the six months in Korea. I want you to know that I have done everything possible for the sake of the United States. Probably in another six months, I will review the events in this country. As I said, there is one more important thing I am undertaking. Then my mission is truly finished in America. The other day, we held a leader's conference after my return. There I told them, "My mission in America is consummated." Who shall succeed me in this mission? Do you have full confidence to be the ones? I have never forgotten my first flight over the Pacific to the United States-my thoughts on that plane are still vivid in my mind. After I landed in America, I visited forty-eight states within forty-three days. While driving on the road, I was thinking about America, planning for the future. I always comforted God, saying, "Father, You have Your will for this nation and I shall fulfill that for You. I will bring the glory to You." To fulfill that pledge, I have worked every day and night for the past fourteen years in this country. Of course, I have done a lot of activities centered on the church, but I have done things beyond that, too. I have initiated many national and global projects. In a way, there was a declaration of competition between the U.S. government and the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Do you have confidence? I know you do not have enough of the right kind of confidence. That means we need help from God. We can obtain this through deep prayer, dedication and sacrifice. Many American young people do not like that kind of life. I know that well, but someone in America has to do this mission. The final battle is ahead of us. With determination and a willingness to sacrifice, we shall tackle and win the glorious victory. For fourteen years, you have been like children. I have accepted your complaints and your criticisms. Before you get up in the ring for the big championship fight, you can say all kinds of things: "I'm tired, My legs hurt." But once you are in that ring, you have no time to worry about such things. You have to just fight and knock out your opponent. That is the only goal once you get in the ring. What you should do is liberate me from all the pressure and burdens I am carrying. I do not have the freedom to go anywhere freely. Once you know the truth and you are determined to unite, plunging into the mission, we know we can win. Victory is assured. God has prepared everything. Therefore, we can be bold and strong! We are going to bring the turning point of human history. From now until 1988 is the time of emergency and crisis for the United States, as well as for international communism. So we are going to have three exciting years, plunging into our victorious battle. Let us pledge that victory to God. Those who are marching toward that final battlefield to win the victory which God promised us, let us say, "Amen!" and raise our hands . Thank you. God bless you.

19.2.14

THE GLOBE IS OUR HOME

REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON

THE GLOBE IS OUR HOME

June 8, 1986
World Mission Center Grand Ballroom
Translator - Bo Hi Pak

Nowadays, many people talk about our world as a "global village." According to the Principle, we know that Satan always presents his own imitation of God's plans first. When we speak of a village, it denotes a small, simple, cohesive area in which one clan lives together. When we describe the globe as a village, then, it takes on entirely new meaning. Suppose that the fall of man had never taken place. In such a case, one family would have grown into a tribe, nation and a world. They would all have been under one master and a part of one simple organization. The important thing is that such a society would have only one culture, one habitual way of doing things, one tradition. There would have been only one language, of course. That is how the world would have been if the fall had not occurred. Within that ideal of the original world, there would have been no boundaries or separation between nations or peoples. Everyone would have felt part of one village, living under one chief As much as God can travel freely all over the place, those who belong to God - the inhabitants of the world - should also be able to travel without any limitations. That would be a world of true freedom. If God has freedom of travel, what about God's people? There's no question that they should have the same privilege. The earth belongs to God and, at the same time, it belongs to God's people. However, the fall occurred and ownership of the land fell into Satan's hands, rather than God's. The people who inhabited the land also fell under the dominion of Satan. More unity would have come about as history progressed if this earth had been populated by people totally centered on God. Everyone would have become more and more harmonious. Satan took dominion over the land, however, and there has been more and more division as history has proceeded. The fact that people fell under Satan's dominion produced tragic consequences; we have lost freedom and have been in the chains of Satan-total bondage rather than total freedom. God Himself has difficulty proceeding with His dispensation of restoration in this fallen world, trying to return it to its original design. The history of God has been the history of struggle between the forces of good and evil. That is why so many struggles are recorded in the Old Testament. An example is Jacob's struggle against the angel representing the evil forces. Jacob was victorious and that is when he was given the name "Israel" meaning "the victor" Jacob was the first victorious ancestor in the Old Testament. God's desire was to have Jacob's clan grow into the tribe, people and nation to which He could send the Messiah. The Messiah could not come, however, until there was a national foundation. As you know, the history of Israel was always one of dividing between God's side and Satan's side; there were frequent periods of purification in the nation of Israel. Who is Cain? He is the one who represents the satanic forces, but at the same time he is the elder son. Who is Abel? Abel was also the offspring of the fallen parents, but he is in the elder sons position on God's side. There are two factions, then-one headed by Cain, as the elder son of Satan's forces, and the other by Abel, in the position of God's elder son. Between these two forces, there has been constant struggle and confrontation. History has been a process of separating Cain and Abel, beginning on the individual level. God wanted to see the forces of goodness prevail over the satanic forces and then move on to the family level, clan, tribal and national level, and so forth. Giving the name "Israel" which denotes victory, means that God successfully separated Abel from the satanic camp and carved out a realm for His total dominion. That is the meaning of the name "Israel" Satan has held power over everything in this world; he has divided people into different nations, trying to block the Heavenly forces from gaining influence. Those people who are chosen by God and who represent His side, however, always have world unity as their ultimate goal. The instrument of God for this dispensation is religion; thus He initiated the central religion. Many secondary religions prospered and moved up to certain levels, including the tribe, nation and world. God has had the strategy of combining all the religious forces into one in order to win the world. Centering upon religion, God has been working to create an organization that could encompass the whole world. That kind of movement is essential for God. Right after World War II, a special situation arose through the victory of the Allies over the Axis powers. Christianity had a base around the world and one Christian nation was at the center of the world-the United States. That was exactly the situation God had been yearning to see throughout history. If the United States had fulfilled its God-given responsibility, then an entirely new dispensation would have unfolded. Why did America fail to grasp the opportunity to fulfill God's will at that time? First of all, at that time the people of America did not have any understanding that they were representing the mainstream of the will of God. They just did not realize they were the chosen champions of God. In other words, America did not know God's expectation for this country. America was founded for the sake of religious freedom. The first settlers left behind the religious persecution of Europe, under Catholicism, to establish a new world of freedom. They came here and created a new nation, basically under Protestantism, which recognized the ideal of religious freedom. That is very significant. The people who came to the New World were risking their lives and had given up all their worldly goods, status, and even their families, all for the purpose of pursuing religious freedom. In a sense, they were seeking to form a one-world nation. Those first Puritans saw each other as brothers and sisters; from that point of view, they envisioned the establishment of a global nation. The United States has become what is called a melting pot, where everyone from around the world can be harmonized with everyone else. All of this is under the concept of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. What happens when you melt something solid? It becomes liquid from the heat. From God's point of view, there is no limit to the number of people that should come and be melted together in this melting pot of America. All the nations of the world should be connected with the Christian nation of America, according to God's desire. But according to the satanic point of view, people want to preserve their own positions in this country and prevent others from coming here. So America has not moved truly toward God's direction; this country should be opened up. After World War II, the victorious nations centered upon the United States granted independence to the nations they conquered, rather than occupying them. Thus, rather than a winner and loser relationship, they initiated more of a brother and sister relationship. America should have gone even further and given sacrificially for the well-being of those nations, sharing with them the wealth and power which she enjoyed. In that way those nations could have become truly equal, with equal opportunity and wealth for everyone. That would have created an incredible, worldwide foundation of unity upon which the Messiah could come and usher in the Kingdom of God on earth. That was the utmost thought in the mind of God. Christians have been expecting the Second Advent of Christ, as it is taught in the Bible. During the two thousand years of Christianity, it seemed several times that the Second Advent might be imminent, but then it didn't happen. The concept of the Second Advent was not clear in the minds of Christians in general. The United Nations was born after World War II, granting membership to every nation. The United States was more or less the central figure of the United Nations. The concept of the United Nations was that of one world government, but the United States itself was confused and did not share that concept. God's dispensation was for the United States, as a Christian nation, to take the central position in the world as the leader of the United Nations, while moving aggressively toward the realization of one world under God. The Christian culture was supposed to be at the center of the United Nations. At that very time, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity came into being. The name itself signifies the tremendously difficult task we were undertaking: the unification of world Christianity. I was fully aware of the difficulties, so why did I initiate such a task? It is because that was the very concept of God, His desire for that time in history. Our movement was begun in parallel to God's thinking. However, I knew that such unification could never come through merely human endeavor; spiritual endeavor was needed as well. That is why we also included the words "Holy Spirit Association,, in the name of our group. At that time in Korea, many spiritual phenomena were occurring. Numerous spiritual groups sprang up. Some represented the Old Testament Garden of Eden; others represented the New Testament Garden of Eden. Their goal at least was correct, but they were divided in their concepts of spirituality. Korea was still under Japanese occupation. The imperial government of Japan had tried to force Shinto worship upon the Korean people. The Korean Christians were divided into two camps-one which went along with Shinto shrine worship and the other which refused to accept it and considered it idolatry. The first group was in the forefront, while the second group was basically underground. The new spiritual groups were a part of the underground Christian community and they were receiving special communication from spirit world. Who was supposed to be in the position to lead these groups? Those sacrificial groups had received the amazing word from spirit world that the time for the return of the Lord was imminent. Furthermore, they were told that he would come as a person in the flesh. They knew that much but they did not know who or where he was. Those spiritual groups were supposed to be united and work together for the independence of the country. They were supposed to assume the central position in Korea and take primary responsibility after the liberation from Japan. Unfortunately, however, the Christian groups who had cooperated with the Japanese occupation and accepted Shinto shrine worship became the dominant group working with the United Nations forces. They focused primarily on political and economic independence and prosperity, but they should have worked for the benefit and resurrection of the Korean churches first. The spiritual groups should have spoken up and asked the former Shinto shrine worshipers to join in a national time of repentance. Together they should have worked for the resurrection of the Christian churches, but they didn't. If that had happened, those resurrected Korean Christian churches would have been totally ignited with the fervor of expecting the Messiah. They would have been filled with excitement, making preparations for the Second Coming. That is how the church should have been energized. The most fervent Christian work had been going on in North, rather than South, Korea. The North should have played the central role in the needed revival of the Christian churches. If that had been the case, there would have been harmony between North and South, centered on Christianity. But the country became divided between the Cain and Abel elements instead, and the confrontation between them became rampant. Before the revival of the Christian churches could come about, the satanic forces of communism overran the northern part of Korea. Under these circumstances, South Korea had to go along with a separate independence, which was secured in 1948; they had to be separated from the North. The spiritual groups were the only ones who understood that the Lord of the Second Advent was coming. Before they could become the central figures of the Korean nation, however, they were blocked by three groups. First of all, the conventional Christian hierarchy opposed them because they felt threatened by them. Secondly, the Korean government opposed them, mainly because of influence from established Christianity. Thirdly, the communist government of North Korea opposed them viciously. It was virtually the same position of the Unification Church today. We are supposed to be at the central position, playing the subjective role, but we have been opposed by the same three elements established Christianity, the secular government, and the power of communism. When the Unification Church was newly born, it was like an orphan because it had no allies and no place to turn. The established Christian churches were not allies; the Korean government was not an ally and, of course, the North Korean government was totally opposed. The Unification Church was born under such adverse conditions and we had to move forward anyway to establish the global foundation. Under such conditions, I had to move step by step, dealing with the established churches, different governments and communism. Forty years later, we have come at last to this opportune moment for fulfillment. The Unification Church has been marching forward for 40 years under incredible persecution, but we have been moving steadily toward the goal. We have gone from the family level to the clan, tribal, national and worldwide levels. In the meantime, we have been persecuted and opposed by the established Christian churches, the democratic and the communist governments of the world. Under such difficult circumstances, we have continued to grow and have reached the worldwide level. What about the United States of America? Forty years ago, this country was virtually at the center of the world- it had everything going for it. It was the image of dignity and glamour forty years ago, but today that dignity is virtually gone. This country is losing everything, including its Christian foundation. Because that foundation is shaken, all kinds of internal difficulties and moral corruption have sprung up. I have received persecution from every direction and have dealt with every difficulty, overcoming each one. Finally, I established a beachhead here in America in 1973. Forty years ago, when I first proclaimed the Messianic message, if the Christian world and the United States had accepted it, God's dispensation would have been fulfilled at that time. Then there would have been no room in the world for the rise of communism. I want you to know that God had been planning and hoping that the Christian foundation would become the Messiah's foundation and that the Christian leaders would become the disciples of the Messiah. I want you to understand very clearly what we have been toiling for during these past twelve years here in America. It is to bring the leaders-Christian as well as secular-to an understanding of the Messianic message. Right after the liberation of Korea forty years ago, a sort of vacuum was created. God wanted to see the fervor and hope for the Messiah to prevail over that country, so that before the nation was rebuilt, the Messianic spirit would become the national spirit. But that did not happen. The secular nation came first instead, without the Messianic goal. Today the United States is weakened and crumbling, in a way, so this is another opportunity for the Messianic spirit and message to prevail. What was the result of the failure of Korean Christianity to embrace the Messianic message? The secular government became powerful and established Christianity became the enemy of our movement. Communism also became rampant. This kind of opposition will not go away until we succeed in one nation, particularly this nation of America. I have not been welcomed here in America, but rather have been persecuted by virtually every segment of society, including the Jewish community, the Christian community, and the governmental power. Even under these circumstances, I have continued to forge ahead. My dispensation has been parallel with Jesus, dispensation 2,000 years ago. When Jesus came, he was not welcomed. Everyone in Israel opposed him and the prepared foundation did not hold up. Jesus had to begin his own foundation and move forward, struggling to win every battle. He was not able to prevail and thus he had to go to the cross. Forty years ago in Korea, I faced opposition which made it impossible to establish God's will at that time. For that reason, I had to come to America and establish a new foundation. Ultimately, I am fulfilling the dispensational will. Two thousand years ago, Jesus was supposed to be supported by John the Baptist. Because of that failure, Judaism came against Jesus at that time, as well as the nation of Israel. Ultimately, the entire weight of the Roman Empire fell upon Jesus. Similarly, when I came to Korea and heralded the message to Korean Christianity, which was in the John the Baptist position, they failed to accept it. Because of that, established Christianity of the world came against me and the secular governments of the free world came against me. Likewise, I was opposed by the power of international communism, which is almost in the position of the Roman Empire at this time. This is the historical parallel. I knew I had to make the showdown between life and death by taking some drastic measures. That was the imprisonment in Danbury. Through that suffering, the hearts of many Christian leaders were melted and public opinion in the United States could be turned around. Because of my struggle in Danbury, many people were able to see the severe truth: that Christianity in America today has come to exist in name only. There has been a deep invasion of humanism and materialism. Likewise, the government has been totally victimized by secular humanism. The churches have become aware that they are surrounded by hostile forces. For the first time, American Christian leaders are realizing that the government has become truly anti-God. Many laws have been passed which have chipped away at the freedom of religion and worship here. Christianity has come to this painful and poignant realization through my own imprisonment. For that reason, even after I entered the prison, I did not allow myself to rest at all because I knew it was the time to bring an awakening in Christianity. Thus I worked hard to unite and inspire American Christianity from the prison. During my imprisonment, I launched an incredible crusade throughout this country. First of all, we pressed forward with the CAUSA movement to educate American leaders and unite them under Godism, one God-centered viewpoint, so they could clearly see who are the enemies of the Christian churches today. Furthermore, I launched a very spiritual movement, in order that the power of the Holy Spirit could move and bring the people into oneness, to go beyond superficial worship. At the time of Jesus, crucifixion, everybody ran away; there was nothing but division among his disciples. But when Reverend Moon was crucified-put into Danbury- the Christian communities united with me for the first time. Thus Danbury brought about two extraordinary consequences. First of all, the American churches came to the point of repentance; second, for the first time, representatives came to me and apologized for the conduct of the United States of America. The day I left Danbury, representatives of American Christianity welcomed me as their own victorious champion. Furthermore, the message of repentance and change was proclaimed throughout the country. These were the two most incredible victories won through Danbury. Danbury brought the painful awareness that Reverend Moon was the best friend of America, but that he had been treated as the worst enemy. The Unification Church is not the enemy of American Christianity at all; it is their sacrificial central figure, leading all of Christianity in a new direction. Thus they came to respect and appreciate us much more than before. Because these phenomena occurred after Danbury, many other changes have occurred as well. At this time, I have restored the elder sons position-that is, the elder sons position represented by American Christianity. Furthermore, even the United States government has begun to realize that they need a champion to stop the spread of communism, and that champion is Reverend Moon. They see that I am teaching the one, unique answer to communism. I want you to understand that after the victory in Danbury, besides the changes which took place in this country, drastic changes also took place in Korea. Within six months time, the Korean people virtually fumed around in their opinion toward me. They came to see that Reverend Moon is not only the friend of Korea, he is also the champion who has the only answer for the ultimate peace and security of that country. In just six months, I was able to bring about a revolution in the education of the Korean people, from the grass-roots level all the way up to the scholars and intellectual leaders, and finally, the political leadership, represented by national assemblymen and congressmen. What was supposed to be done forty years ago was not accomplished. Now forty years later, after the foundation of victory in America, I achieved the victory in Korea. Now all I have to do is link together the two victories-American and Korean. The final chapter would be the natural subjugation of the Christian leadership of America, as well as the political leadership, under God's ideal. Within the two political panics of America, the Democratic party tends to be rather left-leaning and liberal. On the other hand, the Republican party is very much beset by the problem of materialism. American political leaders in general are thinking very selfishly-at best they think of the national interest, but they do not think about the well-being of the world and all of mankind. They do not understand that America does not belong to the white majority but to God. He wants to use America for the sake of establishing the common brotherhood of the whole world. America was meant to be God's gift to the world, not a blessing for the American people. In the history of Israel in the Old Testament, there were the kings Saul, Solomon and David. David was the eighth child of his family. Nobody expected that David, the simple shepherd boy from the wilderness, would become the king of Israel. But he was qualified to be the king because of his concern for his people; he fought with Goliath at the risk of his life for the sake of saving the country. That kind of spirit is what the United States needs today. Because of his spirit, God chose David to become the king of Israel. Who would deny that the Unification Church today is in the position of David? Furthermore, we are also in the position of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, who was mistreated terribly by his brothers and finally sold into slavery in Egypt. But what happened? Later on, God placed the destiny of all the other brothers, as well as their parents, in the hands of Joseph. He was in the position to save the entire family. The Unification Church will be in exactly that position. Those historical people unexpectedly became the heirs of God's sovereignty. Likewise the members of the Unification Church today are sacrificially following God's will, giving up everything for the sake of the salvation of the nation and the world. You are absolutely the chosen ones with the mission to save the country and the world. I myself was in the same position as David and Joseph. For that reason, no matter what persecution I faced from my brothers in Christianity, I never felt hatred toward them or sought revenge. Rather, I was patient and persevered, knowing that they would one day come to me, the way the brothers of Joseph did, and ask for help. Joseph forgave his brothers, although forgiveness would be impossible from a purely personal point of view. He knew that they all came from the same parent, their father Jacob. He felt, "They are my brothers and regardless of their crime, I will forgive them,, Likewise, from the personal point of view, I might feel no reason for forgiveness toward the leaders of established Christianity. But knowing that God is our common Father and I must embody His will, then I can and must forgive them. The hope for the revival of America hinges upon the awakening of Christianity, which represents the Christianity of the world. The wealth, resources and technology of the United States should be dedicated to serving the whole world. When it shares with the rest of the world, the United States can preserve its own identity and prosperity. Such an awakening needs to come. According to the original design of God's providence, the Unification Church should not have been the ones to do the Victory Over Communism work. That mission was originally the responsibility of Christianity and the United States. But because of the failure of those two parties to oppose communism successfully, the Unification Church and I had to take on that mission. By doing so, we now have the opportunity to unite with Christianity and the American nation and government. I want you to know clearly that the Unification Church has three primary missions: first, to liberate communism; second, to save America from crumbling; third, to revive Christianity. I have been teaching the same thing all these years. We must liberate the young people of America from moral degradation; because the younger generation is in danger, the whole country is in danger. I have continually said these things, over and over. Reverend Moon has emerged as the one leader with the answer to communism; with the solution to American moral degradation, particularly among young people. Finally, I have the concept or ideology for the unification of Christianity. This is recognized by more and more people. What about you? Do you have the absolute commitment to defeat communism? We are launching the ideological offensive that can totally destroy that false ideology. Are you confident that we have the message and the power of love that will totally eradicate the moral corruption of this country, especially among young people? Furthermore, we have the Principle which has enough power to unite worldwide Christianity into one cohesive body of God. Do you have confidence in that? Yes or no? This is not something we are just talking about; it is already a reality. The Unification Church members must clearly know the reality of the United States today. You need to have that painful understanding. This assembly here today includes all the races of the world. Will you American people say, "I am special because I am a white, U.S. citizen"? Is that kind of thinking acceptable to our way of life? We are the champions of the future world, that global village to come. I want you to understand that you represent the Reverend Moon of forty years ago. At that time, I was alone, the only person proclaiming this ideal of God. Today, you are in that same position, and proclaiming that same ideal. You must know that your mission is a messianic one. Two thousand years ago, the Messiah came with God's ideal. Today I have taught you the same ideal; each of you has to proclaim and fulfill the messianic message, moving forward with dignity and power. I want you to understand that the democratic world is going down; likewise the communist world is crumbling. There will be one new ideology which rises up, however, and will win the victory. That is Unificationism - Godism. This is the time for the transformation and we are at the crossroads. For that reason, we have a big job ahead of us. I have a clear plan and strategy mapped out for this country. Unless the members of the Christian community receive the infusion of God's ideology, they cannot have a worldwide concept or a clear idea of where they stand. Likewise, the leadership of the United States has become too self-centered and nationalistic. They desperately need new vision which will free them to see the reality of the world. I am like a man intoxicated with this mission. It doesn't matter to me whether it is daytime or nighttime. I have commissioned you as co-workers and champions, to be like my partners. You are the only group of people I can trust in this country. You can move forward and represent this ideal, heralding it to the others. For that reason, you are in the position to indemnify the failure of the United States and the failure of the Christian community. You can pick up that failure, pay the indemnity and win the victory. As much as I have suffered for the world, going to Danbury and paying indemnity on the world level, today is your time. You are going to face your own Danbury, pay the indemnity for the sins of this nation, and bring this nation and world into resurrection. So today, you are inheriting my mission. As much as I have toiled and shed sweat, blood and tears for this country and world, especially these past twelve or fourteen years, now is your turn. You can plant my tradition upon the global community which is our world. I want you to understand the story about Elijah in the Old Testament. During Elijah's time, Israel was divided between north and south. There were ten tribes in the north and two tribes in the south. God was working with the two tribes in the south, striving to liberate northern Israel and bring them back to His side. Elijah won heroic battles over and over; he demolished all the evil gods and idols of Baal. After that, there were still tremendous obstacles for Elijah, so he became very disillusioned and gave up on his mission. He ran away and tried to hide, even trying to die under the shade of a tree. But God didn't allow him to rest there. An insect came and ate the leaves of the tree and made all of them wither away. At that point, Elijah was totally disheartened. He said to God, "Everything has failed. Now, God, I am all alone,, God responded, saying, "Elijah, what are you talking about? There are still 7,000 warriors who never surrendered to Baal. You have that many men to work with. Don't give up your mission!" There were also 7,000 hidden champions available at the time of Jesus. If Jesus had been able to mobilize them, he would not have been crucified. Today, Reverend Moon has gone to Danbury; I knew that there were 7,000 warriors prepared for this time of the Lord of the Second Advent. This was just like the time of Elijah. I was completely alone, discredited, dishonored, confined to prison, so I was in the position to be totally disheartened. But I was not. I knew there were 7,000 champions awaiting. This is the reason I gave the mission to the CAUSA movement to educate 7,000 ministers and equip them with our ideology during my imprisonment. Furthermore, I directed the mailing to 350,000 ministers of a letter from me, as well as the Principle videotape, so that they could become connected to me when I was in Danbury. Ministers throughout the country were moved to see that, even though I was in prison, I was not giving up trying to reach them. Also I directed the Unification Church members to go and reach out to the ministers. Many ministers have come to me now and I have given them the direction, "Go and reach out to the politicians and national leaders." This is the stage we are at now. Our job is education. Today I would like to educate Christianity first. Let them know there is a living truth and a hope. We have to educate and communicate that hope. That is what you have been doing in your work with the ministers. Some leaders might think, "Well, we have been working very hard, reaching out to quite a few ministers. Maybe when Father comes back from Korea, he will let us have some time for relaxation,, But I am telling you right now, there is no such thing as relaxation. I will give you even more pressure, added missions-to go out and win the greater victory. The United States today is losing everything. It has lost the world, the nation, the community, and is now almost down to the point of losing the family. Today, the American family system is crumbling to pieces. The father, the mother, the children - all these are just individual segments of society. This is a sign that the United States is crumbling in the ultimate degree. Such destructive consequences are being reaped because people have pursued self-centered love. As the American home crumbles, the homes of the world crumble, too, because America is in the position to spread its virus to the rest of the world. Therefore, we cannot let this country crumble. Your land, your home is in trouble; it is on fire. The fall of man crept into the family, so Satan's ultimate goal is destruction of the family unit. Then there will be nothing for man to hold on to. That is Satan's strategy and that is what he is doing in America today. The fallen family that began in the Garden of Eden is being exactly re-manifested in the American family. Instead of being a loving, cohesive unit, the members have become like enemies to each other. Parents and children battle with one another; husband and wife become enemies; brothers and sisters fight and struggle. Somebody has to become the flag-bearer, to go forward and accomplish the mission. The champions will not come out of the traditional Christian churches or the United States government. They will not come from the civil service. The only hope today to bring God's will to the American home is the Unification Church. Parents are the head of the family. The problem is that fallen families have been under the false parenthood. Therefore, let the false parenthood pack up and move out; we shall move into the American hearts with the concept and love of the True Parents. We can save America by doing that; we will have won the entire battle. Then we can win the communist world because their strategy to destroy the American home will be impossible. This is the reason the home church providence was inaugurated. The time will come when the home church concept can be applied everywhere. The White House will do home church; the State Department will do home church; the Defense Department will, too. Everywhere the home church principles will be applied and then we can wipe out Satan, and all the communist, secular humanist elements from our society. The concept of the True Parents must prevail everywhere -not just in the Unification Church, or in the Christian churches, but everywhere - every office of the senators, congressmen, in the state legislatures, in every business and shop. Everyone belongs to a family and the family must be centered on the True Parents. This ideal of the True Parents is the ultimate ideal for everyone, the one which will install the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. We are going to transform our globe into our home. Our homes must be headed by our master - the True Parents. That is the ultimate ideal of God. All family roots so far have gone back to Satan and the fall, so we must change our roots to become centered upon the True Parents and God; then the family will be secured for eternity. I want you to know that all the systems which are so powerful in our world today and all those values such as nationalism, government, ownership - all started from the false root, the satanic root. They did not start from God's tradition, God's root. All ungodly things must be changed. This is why the spirit world is being mobilized by God to bombard the world; every system is in trouble today, under attack. With this sort of trouble, they must be knocked down to the point where they can say, "There is no hope here. Maybe there really is some hope in the Unification Church. Let's go and listen to Reverend Moon and find out" Who has the answers? The President of the United States? The free world? The American government, no matter how great its defense system might be - with many weapons, an army, navy and air force - it cannot give the answers. More than ten years ago when I first came to America, I bluntly stated, "America will crumble if it continues on its present course." Everybody laughed at me. But today you bright, young American people know in your hearts that America is truly moving in the direction which I described then. Have you come to that realization? We know it, and therefore we have to get down to work. We have to reach one more minister, one more politician each day. We have to transform them with this great hope. Only Reverend Moon and the Unification Church represent true hope for this country and world, as well as hope for God. Each one of you has been commissioned with a task today. You are now inheriting this challenge and mission to save America, save Christianity, and liberate the communist world - those three primary missions which I set upon forty years ago. You must understand that I have been working for forty years to lay this foundation so that I could bequeath the mission to you. The globe is our home, our base. That home was invaded and came under satanic rule. At this time, after returning to the United States, I am declaring that your mission is to teach the people of the world that their homes and families must come under God and the True Parents. The name of the True Parents must be restored into every home so that the entire globe can know them. That will be the day of true and ultimate victory. This movement must be spread throughout the globe to every continent, every village. When that happens, you know the world will truly be transformed into the Kingdom of God on earth. After World War II, the United States was given the opportunity to restore the world and, because of that failure, this great country has been declining since then. Now we have come to the end of that decline. Because of the emergence of Reverend Moon and the Unification Church, the tide can be turned. The ultimate goal God established forty years ago shall become a reality, but only with our sweat and labor. America has been responsible for the moral degradation on the worldwide level, because it has spread its viruses of free sex and an animalistic way of life. Now we have to change that. We must indemnify it. The beginning point is the home. God must be able to say, "This is a home in which I can dwell" From that beginning, the home can grow to influence the community, nation, and ultimately the world. This is the transformation we foresee. The blessed couples, particularly, are in the position of restored Adam and Eve and must spearhead this crusade. These next three years until 1988 are the most crucial years of human history. All of the blessed couples and every member of the Unification Church must move aggressively forward for national and world salvation, under the banner of the True Parents' ideal. You must have the conviction, "The Christian leaders and the national leaders cannot survive without committing themselves to these ideals. The White House will not survive unless they embrace God's ideal" You must have such conviction and absolute faith within your own heart first. As you know, the first opposition came from the established Christian churches. I have worked with them and finally embraced them; now Jacob and Esau have met. The national leaders are next. They have been in the position to oppose me and Danbury was the result of that. Now we must move forward and win on that level. When the Christian churches and the national leaders come to the awareness of the ideal of the True Parents, what will happen? The entire world and nation will respect and love you as their elder brothers and sisters. America is a Christian nation and Christianity should be in the position of Abel, to embrace with True Parents first. That is the beginning point of victory in this country. American Christianity should win over the Cain-type United States government and bring this nation under the one will of God. What will happen then? The True Father will automatically emerge as the true Abel of the entire United States. Once Cain and Abel are totally restored into God's side, there will be no such thing as Heavenly representative and satanic representative. Both the elder and the younger sons will belong to the Heavenly side. Once this sort of restoration occurs in one place such as the United States, it will automatically occur on the worldwide base. Thus communism, which is in the Cain's position, will be restored to God's side. If the messianic message had been accepted forty years ago, there would have been no emergence of communist power. At this time, once the Cain and Abel elements within the United States accept the messianic message, what will happen? Restoration will occur here and then communism will cease to exist. To that end, in Geneva in 1985, I declared to the world the end of communism. From that point on, communism began to decline more rapidly, while we are climbing up more rapidly. When you listen to me speaking, you come to the full understanding that the time has come to restore true brotherhood among nations and peoples. We must all dwell with the one concept of the True Parents. We are in the position to do that job at this time. The Unification Church is not a political group. We are ultimately an educational movement. We are teaching about true love and the True Parents; others can translate these materials into every aspect of life, including political philosophies and so forth. But we ourselves are not a political group. God's message is one of natural subjugation. This is the great difference with the teaching of the communists. Their revolution is by violence. Our job is to teach the people so they can naturally change. This has always been our way. When the homes are occupied by God and guided by the truth of the True Parents, then every facet of the society can be changed. Politicians have to get their votes from the homes. Church leadership and political leadership together should develop the network of the home churches. Once that is organized, it is final. Do you understand where we are going? We are going to educate the ministers and the political leadership. In the meantime, we will work with the home church system to create a total network. The ultimate goal is a God-centered way of life for the family, the church, the community, and the nation. Ultimately the world will become God-centered. Who would oppose that? Nobody. I have erected this foundation through forty years of constant persecution. Now the era of persecution is ended; you will work without it. How can you fail? We are creating our own planet; the earth shall be one village in which everyone can move freely. You will be able to go anywhere- Germany, Japan, and so forth-at any time. The world will be like one home, one village. This is why we already initiated the International Highway project. Without your knowledge, I have already erected an enormous foundation, working within the Christian community and political circles and many different areas. That is the inheritance you have received today: to take over my mission. Are you ready to march forward to the ultimate completion of the True Parents' ideal? You must not forget, particularly you American people, that I have come to this country, which is actually a foreign country to me, and accepted persecution and rejection, even imprisonment. Under these circumstances, I have never given up but have concentrated completely on saving this country. You must remember the path that I have walked. During these next three years, no matter what the difficulty, we must not complain. Yes or no? This is the time of total commitment. This is the conclusion of my sermon today. Just as I won my victory, each one of you - including every echelon of the leadership of the Unification Church - must win your own victory. No matter what, you must not complain but remain 100% committed. Those who pledge to do their absolute best to fulfill the True Parents, ideal, raise both your hands, please. Thank you. God bless you.