Belvedere, New York
Translator -- Mrs. Won Pok Choi
Today is the first day of December, 1976. We have only one month or 31 days left and we will be entering a new year. This year is the culmination of providential history, and we are crossing over the crest of the history of providence. Back in Korea, even before coming to the United States, I contemplated my having to cross over the crest of providential history here in America. I feel that we are now crossing over that crest; we are on that summit. Now the question is how to go on from this point.
When I look back at the 30 odd year history of the Unification Church, I very much doubt that we have gone a straight course. In Korea, Japan, and the Western world, we have had members from many nationalities and races who have gone a zigzag path. When I reflect on those 30 years of Unification history, I recall many people who just touched our movement and fell away. Among them were people guided to our movement by spirit world. They were taught by the spirit world and were meant to find the fruit of their past here, but somehow they fell away.
When I think of them, I realize how difficult the path of our Unification Church is because those people were determined, devoted people, who were resolved to go this way. When I think that those unforgettable figures fell away, I have to reflect upon them, and I also reflect upon the whole of our movement at this time. I remember well that when they entered this movement, they thought that it was the true way and that they would dedicate their lives to it. I am sure that upon falling away they searched for another movement of higher dimension, but not having been able to find one, they are now wandering in darkness.
Those who have gone away
Among them were young people who wanted to go back to school, to go back and restore their sweethearts, or to go back to a worldly career. Recently I hear from those people that they long for our movement and are anxious to return. Having gone through so many years outside our movement, they are disillusioned more than ever, but they are too ashamed to return.
I am going to describe the most miserable of those people, both young and old, who have fallen away. They are those who were once the most exemplary persons in our movement. All the members envied them and made it their goal to become like those people. Because of their ardor and exemplary conduct they were like the light of the movement. But they fell away and are now groping in darkness. While in the movement they thought highly of our theology and their goal was to practice what the Divine Principle teaches. They had left everything secular and were wholeheartedly devoted but they fell away.
When those people who have turned their backs on our movement look back at their past days here, their shame makes it impossible for them to come back. That is the most miserable feeling of all. They thought that in the outside world they would find a place of higher dimension and greater warmth of love. Since they could not find any such place, however, they have lost hope and think back to their days in our movement and say, "Because of that person and because of this and that I had to leave." They want to justify themselves. They think they have left, but somewhere in their hearts the Principle and our way of life are so deeply implanted that they cannot ignore them. They confess that when they think of our movement they suffer loneliness and despair. They long for the days when they took everything for granted in our movement.
Right now you people do not feel that. You take everything for granted and think the day to day routine in our movement is the natural way. You do not feel the comparison between your life here and their lives in the outside world. But if you could put yourselves in the position you would be able to cherish the blessedness of being here. I know there is a group of ex-members getting together and talking about our movement because they find themselves unable to belong to other associations or churches. The established churches are open, waiting with outstretched arms for them to come back, but somehow they cannot go to them.
Here too, I open my church door wide, but they cannot stand the shame of meeting early members who are now much more advanced than they. They are preoccupied with thinking, "The church members might think ill of me; Father will wonder about me." These thoughts torture them. Even though we would welcome them with warm hearts as usual, they would not receive it that way. We would console their hearts and try to make them at ease in our movement, but still they would feel that deep in our hearts we resent them. Some may try to start all over again and go along the road of our movement, but they would imagine skeptical eyes all around them.
They would find that there are already many blessed couples and that all these dedicated members are so spiritually advanced. Compared to them they would feel worthless and perhaps they could not quite overcome those ordeals. Some of them think of coming here to the United States or any country other than Korea since the members here might not know that they had once fallen away. Even though they do this, they may find older Korean members here, as well as Japanese and European members. When I think of those people I urge you to feel the blessedness of being in our movement. Put yourselves in their position, and then build a stronghold in your own minds so that you will not fall away.
We can say that if you leave, there is no place in the whole world where it will be easy for you to settle because not only this world but also the spirit world will know that you have left the Unification Church. The reason I am telling you this is because once you fail in our movement, not only this world but the whole spirit world will recognize you. It will be very difficult to escape that situation. You will actually feel like you are in prison.
For instance, imagine you were a young man full of hope and desire, but you failed at one point and were put in prison. Every moment in the prison cell would be filled with suffering as you contemplated your past. You could never forget your failure. You would think, "If I had not done this, I would not be in prison." Repentance and regret would torture you constantly. You would say, "I should have done this and this to obtain my goal in a decent way, and then I could have been successful. But because of my one failure I am now in prison being tortured like this." in a self-centered way; they are always proud of their past.
Now let me talk about you who are still in our movement. You are still here going towards the goal, but when you look back into your own past, maybe five or 10 years or more in this movement, you ask yourselves, "What have I done during those years?" You know only too well how the Divine Principle is teaching you to do certain things, but you have not been able to put them into practice.
If your history in the movement is longer than most members', when you reflect on yourself the torture will be greater. You do not grow spiritually by taking everything for granted, just repeating the same things every day. Maybe you do not have a burning desire or ambition to carry out your mission; maybe you are just lukewarm. If you go on like this for 10 years or more, when you look back into your past, then you will feel much repentance and regret.
We also see another kind of person in our movement. These people always struggle to go ahead of others. On the road they fight hard and take responsibility on their shoulders. Among those there are also two types. Some are proud of themselves, and looking back they judge others and say, "I am doing this for those people; what are they doing?" But there is still one more kind of person. They do their utmost yet still are ashamed of not being able to do more. They think, "What has our Father gone through? I can't copy him; I can't follow him closely enough."
Out of all those types of people, I find that the only ones who survive to the end are the people who always do their utmost and then still think they are far from being dedicated. They struggle hard, always with self-reflection, always evaluating themselves.
Four types of members
If I reiterate, there are four types of people. First, there are those who have already fallen away. Second, there are those who are in the movement, but who are still really somewhere between the outside world and the movement, who just go through the everyday routine, taking everything for granted. The third kind are in the vanguard and struggle hard, but in a self-centered way; they are always proud of themselves for having accomplished so much. Finally there is the fourth kind, who struggle harder than anyone else in the movement, but still feel that their lives fall short of the standard. They repent and reflect and re-evaluate themselves all the way through. Both God and I would choose the last type.
Let us think more about the fourth type. They are the people who really know the path of restoration. They know that on the path of restoration they have to go through the individual level, then the family, clan, tribal, national and worldwide levels. Only then can they reach the spirit world and God. They know they have to go through a more and more difficult way all the time because the levels get broader and higher, but they are determined.
For instance, members in Korea always have to meditate on how to go over the worldwide level of things while still in Korea. If not in a substantial way, they must at least think of crossing over the worldwide level in a symbolic way. So even though they are in Korea the whole time, whatever they do they are doing for the people of the whole world. Those kinds of people always pray hard and go the sacrificial way for the sake of other people.
The same thing applies to you here. You know you are dedicated to our movement, but there are four types of people here and from now on your way in the Principle will count. You must determine what kind of people you are going to be. I hope you are determined not to fall away because you are vulnerable to the temptation of the outside world if you remain lukewarm.
The year 1976 in our movement has been an historical year. Starting from 1974 we have gone through the successes at Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument. We are excited and proud of ourselves, but now when we look back to those events we must meditate on what those successes brought us.
Do you really feel to the bone that our Washington Monument success brought us great change for the better? There is no question that those events have been the most successful, not only in the history of the Unification Church but in my own history. Have you really felt that to the bone? If you really have, then you must have been very dedicated to making those events successful even at the risk of your lives, otherwise you could not feel like that. Did you really feel, "Oh, if I don't work harder, if it should be a failure, how will it affect our movement?" Were you desperate enough to think of that as a life-and-death event?
Can you be proud before God?
Among those who say yes, I know there are also many types of people. Several hundred people are here and perhaps several hundred kinds of people. Perhaps you really did your best, thinking that in the sight of God, in the sight of all humanity this historical event could be fatal, that if you failed there would be damage to the whole providential history. If you were that desperate, then I am proud of you. Then you could think of it as your own success as well as God's success and the success of the True Parents. Are you confident that you can go before God and say, "I did my best for Washington Monument. I'm a victor. You can be proud of me God!" Can you say that?
Think of things from the standpoint of God: He has been struggling hard all through 6,000 Biblical years, wanting to have His people win over the satanic world. How anxious He must have been to have His people win over Satan, and how happy God must be over our victory. Maybe there was a boundary line and God saw us cross over that line to occupy another sphere of life. That kind of moment must exist in the providential history.
If that line was the Washington Monument Rally, what would have happened? At that moment the gravest person must have been God. He was completely serious. The True Parents also knew that this was the summit, that we had to go over that line in order to make our success really solid. Without your knowing it I was so totally serious. Isn't it natural that I was far more serious than you? And I know that God was even far more serious than I was.
When I look at you from this viewpoint, you do not seem as serious as I was or as God was. Then, how can you be proud of yourselves? Before whom would you want to boast-before your brothers and sisters or your friends, before the governors and presidents and kings of countries, before God? The point at which God can be proud of His people is so high. If you have not reached that point, how can you be proud of yourselves before God?
Not being as serious as I was, can you really be proud of yourselves before God? Do you really understand what I mean? The reason I am telling you this is that you must reflect upon what kind of people you are now after the Washington Monument Rally. Are you lax and did you settle down into a routine again, or are you carrying forward that excitement, spurring yourselves to move ahead? I want you to have more than enough power to break through any obstacles, which lie ahead, but you look lax and blank. I want you to be re-awakened to the fact that 1976 is the most difficult, most eventful and most meaningful year in the whole history of the providence. Having gone up and up the slope, we will soon conclude this year. If this is the summit then you cannot go higher, and somehow you have to descend. Once you cross over the summit, you can see many kinds of people. Some are just wandering about, but some are dashing forward in a certain direction.
Somehow I find people lax now after Washington Monument. We must be very alert upon entering the last month of the year, not in complete relaxation. If you really understood that you are before God, if you understood that you are before the True Parents, how could you be lax? Who knows, this moment may be the only moment that you can meet with God; would you want to let it slip past? If you doze off then the person who is to be your mate, the love of your life, may just pass by without noticing you.
We can see roughly three types of people here. Some have just barely managed to come and think that their just being here is sufficient, so they doze off easily. Others struggle hard to listen, but after a few moments they go blank. Finally some listen with keen attention and are ready to carry out whatever I say.
There are ups and downs and successes and failures in your life. But when do the failures come? You must understand this. Right after some excitement, right after a success you tend to become lax. It is at that very moment that Satan will attack and you will fail. Let us think about ourselves. When we first began this kind of meeting you were all excited and enthusiastic to listen to me, and you kept your eyes wide open all the way through. But as time went by these meetings became routine and now you always take them for granted.
Recently I have been thinking of shipping all the members on the East Coast to the West coast and of bringing those people who have been missing me to New York. Some 80 Japanese members left for Japan and now they are writing to me, saying, " When I was in the United States we could at least come to see you every Sunday morning. Now we miss your talks; we miss seeing you, and we miss our brothers and sisters." In my mind I ask them, "When you were here, were you like that?" If they had worked with that zeal and enthusiasm all the way through then I would not have sent them back. If they had been resolved to carry out whatever I told them to do, somehow the way would have opened for them to stay here.
We can safely say that everyone needs training. Somehow suffering is necessary and struggling hard is the way to train and discipline yourselves. Do you think God is not particular about some things, that He likes just anything? What kind of people do you think God will love? People who are not dedicated, far from being perfect? I am very serious to teach you God's message, and I want to remold you into perfect people. Consequently I like those people who struggle harder than other people. That is very natural isn't it?
Sometimes I see members three or five years old in the movement taking things for granted, and then there are newcomers whose bright eyes are wide open to see me and to absorb everything. What kind of people would I be drawn to? Suppose only older members are in front but in the rear is one newcomer who is here for the first time, and he is all alert, saying, "Oh, that's Reverend Moon! Oh, how blessed I am to hear him." Which one would God be drawn to?
You have been hearing so many precious things from me and have not been putting them into practice. In that sense you are just thieves, stealing something precious and never using it or multiplying it. That is why the Bible says, "The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence will take it by force." That means those who struggle hard will win it. Those who are apt to doze off should sit where it is cold. Even though they may have come earlier than other people, if they doze off, what good is it? If I see the same person doze off three times or more then it is not erased from my memory, and at the time of blessing I remember, "Oh, this is the girl who was dozing off all the time! " Would you want to have that kind of image planted in my mind?
Dozing off is one thing, but there are many more things God would hate to see in you; for instance, some members stay behind while others go out witnessing. God is evaluating your attitude and spirituality in witnessing. Don't you see that what you have done here will be recorded and you will not be able to escape it when you are in spirit world?
Can you claim to be entitled to heaven? If you argue that you should be able to enter the kingdom, then with one press of the button your past history will be seen. Maybe you could not bear to look at it because you will have nothing to say against it. You are making your own record, your own history. You may sometimes think that what you are doing is not being noticed, but look at nature-the sun is always shining upon you, making you conspicuous in the sight of humanity.
My topic this morning is "Self Reflection." Recently I have been meditating and praying, and I found the spiritual atmosphere in our church these days is not quite what it should be. We cannot let these New York members go on like this. Instead of shifting all these members to the West coast and those on the West coast to the East coast, I shifted their leaders. I meant to have them live in a better way. Our motto should be, "Let's struggle harder than at Washington Monument." If you are prepared with that attitude, raise your hand.
However, the result of your work in New York is not too good I'm afraid. After Washington Monument you are back in New York, but is your spiritual standard ascending or descending? Before coming here this morning I already sensed the spiritual atmosphere, among you. Whenever I stand before you, I am drawn to you if your spiritual standard is high, and as I walk here my legs are very light. But if the atmosphere is the other way around, my legs are heavy, and I feel so low spiritually. Sometimes, meditating on what to say, I become confused, and without your knowing it I struggle hard. When I speak, you fill the vessels, which you have created of yourselves -- round, crooked and of every shape.
If a situation like we have now continues for three weeks in succession then a great problem will arise. We cannot go on like this. I want Dr. Bergman to alert you, and Mr. Kamiyama to really discipline you. If you conclude 1976 this way, we will not have brought the year into fruition. We must restore the excitement and zeal, which we poured into the Washington Rally.
We have another summit to cross
We won successes in Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, Washington Monument, and a few minutes ago David Kim said we won a great success at the Science Conference. What is the use of it if you are lax like this after the success? We are still traveling on the road toward the final success. We still have another summit to cross over. Where did you say we were going after Washington Monument? Is it any simple thing for us to go to Moscow? It means that you will have to win over the communists. Without your knowing it there are many communists trying to undermine our movement; therefore we must be fiercer and stronger than they.
You must be able to clear yourselves of all your negative feelings and downcast spiritual atmosphere and stand again in the face of difficulties. Without spurring yourselves forward you will be vulnerable to temptations from the outside. You must have more hope and more zeal for the future.
When I look at the future of America, I see dark clouds hovering over this nation. Who will break through this stalemate? We are the ones to do that, but with a spiritual attitude like this you cannot carry out that mission. We must put you in training again before beginning anew. If you see any member here whom you think cannot be challenged to this, they can even be sent to some other center.
This is the hour of self-reflection and I have named four types of people from the past in our movement. Those who have fallen away were those who did not have their spirits alert all the time. I know that many young members here are thinking of getting blessed. Somewhere in the next year there may be a blessing and you are all preoccupied with that. Which of the two is more valuable, the whole world or your blessing? When you think of things in a self-centered way you have nothing to do with the whole of humanity. We are in a life and death battle against the whole nation. The whole nation is coming against us, and only after winning that battle can we contemplate the blessing. There is a law about being blessed, and only after going a certain course of indemnity are you qualified. Some of the couples have started their married life, but if they do not meet the standard of the blessing, their descendants will be faced with troubles. Being blessed is no simple matter.
I am having the national leaders make a list of those who were already married when they came to the movement. If I bless them they may be happy, but I have to shoulder the indemnity for them. After I bless them, can they live a better married life than they used to in the outside world? That is the question. But again I must tell you that there is a more important thing than blessing.
What is our goal up to the year 1978? We must win 30,000 members. Do you think it is an easy goal? If you fail to reach that goal by then, I may have to leave this country. How much is 30,000 compared to the whole population of the United States? 1/7000th. After winning 30,000 members we will have won only I out of every 7,000 Americans! It is most extraordinary thinking when I say that I can turn this country upside down with 30,000 members.
Would I person be able to influence 7,000 people? We must make it possible and it is a tremendously difficult job, I know. That is the least possible foundation on which I can make a miracle happen here. In the ordinary sense would that be possible at all? When you think of that, how anxious you should be to win members! How many years do we have left until 1978? I want you to be really serious.
Upon leaving Japan, I ordered the Japanese members to win a certain number of members. Not having reached that standard, they are now going through much, much difficulty. If they had won that number of members, somehow I could have managed to have them turn Japan upside down. How many members have each of you brought since coming to the movement? Those who have brought more than five members, hold up your hands. How many years have you been in the movement? If you are four years old in the movement and have brought only five members is not acceptable; our standard is I person per month. Why did we set that as our goal?
Your personal course
In the Principle the number seven is very important. We have to go through seven stages or seven years. In our movement we have to go through at least a 7-year course. We talk about three years of public ministry, but unless I recognize that period, you will not have finished it successfully. If we multiply three by two it makes 6, plus I as the Sabbath Day after the whole creation makes 7.
You must indemnity the 6,000 Biblical years, and upon entering the new era, you will have indemnified 7,000 years of history. In our course of indemnity we fake seriously the 7-year course on the personal level. After seven years, 70 years in our movement will be the goal. The next goal is 700 years and then we will fulfill 7,000 years. Islam came because Christianity was a failure after seven centuries. Therefore any one religious movement must be able to win the whole world to God in 700 years time at the longest. No one here can live to be 700 years old; however, in your life span you will ideally go through 70 years.
Until we have restored the whole world, our path will be that of sacrifice. In making a sacrifice should the offerings on the altar be divided or united? Offerings are to be cut in two. That is why Christianity and other higher religions have advocated celibacy, even without knowing the reason why. In our movement that 70 years will be narrowed down to a 7-year course and without going through that course you cannot indemnity the 7,000 years.
The number seven must be indemnified in the family, between the parents and the children. Jesus had to go through three years of public ministry, and if he had lived, he would have gone through three more years plus 1, making his mission a success. He should have concluded his mission as the Son in three years and then as the True Parents in three more years.
In your first 3-year course you can complete the mission as a son or daughter and then in three more years you can build a family. In order to indemnity that formula in the Unification Church you have to go through at least a 3-year course in the beginning. In those three years of his public ministry, Jesus should have been able to locate three very dedicated, sacrificial sons from among the disciples. With those people dedicating their lives to him he would not have died on the cross, and he could have started his family. nose disciples correspond to Noah's family with three sons and three daughters-in-law, making 8 members in the family. Those disciples would also have been in the position of archangels ministering to his own immediate family.
In the Principle, you must bring at least three spiritual children into the movement or else you are not entitled to be blessed. That corresponds to your being able to win three disciples, as Jesus should have done. Jesus' three chief disciples should have been willing to sacrifice their lives for his sake.
You must be able to win and raise those spiritual children of yours. After completing the three years alone you can start family life. After the blessing you will set up another condition of three years. Why do I set up that period of time? In our movement we are the central figures to go through the indemnity course which has been unfulfilled in history. Couple by couple you have go through three more years of dedicated living, and then each of you will cross over the number 6. Then, being recognized by God, you can start married life; it will be the start of the number 7. This is the firm formula you have to go through, so you must understand the depth of it.
For the 1800 couples I shortened the time to 21 months. But even if I become more and more generous I cannot go any shorter than seven months. After the blessing the already-married couples will have to go through seven months of abstinence. It is not because they have met the qualification to have that short period of time before being re-united, but I can give them the right to do that because I have paid the indemnity.
Are we going through that formula or not? Without knowing this you have been wondering why we have to go through three more years of abstinence even after being blessed. Starting from the day You joined the movement, you have to go through seven years to accomplish the mission left unaccomplished by Jesus. He should have had 12 and then 72 dedicated disciples. Added together, those make 84 disciples. He could not have died on the cross if his 12 disciples and 72 apostles had been united in firm oneness.
From then on the channel to the heavenly kingdom on earth would have been open. With only 84 as the solid foundation the kingdom of God on earth could have been erected. Do you realize that? This is not any vague fantasy; this is a real formula. We want to meet that standard in seven years so that we can accomplish what was left unaccomplished by our predecessors.
Each year has 12 months, and seven years multiplied by 12 is 84. In those seven years if you bring one person per month that will make 84. So in this movement our goal is for each one of you to bring in 84 members in seven year's time. Those of you who win two persons a month will accomplish this in 3-1/2 years. And perhaps you can do much, much better than that. Do you understand now why I gave you the formula of I person per month? It is not something I fabricated to make you work; it is the God-given formula which you have to go through for yourselves, your descendants and all mankind.
Not having been able to accomplish that on earth, Jesus has to come again to accomplish it through some group in the physical world. That is God's formula, and without that being fulfilled we do not have the foundation to erect the kingdom. Corresponding to Jesus' 12 disciples you must be able to bring at least 12 spiritual children into the movement, and your next goal is 72 more. Those are going to be the outer circle.
I have paved this way for you
At all cost you must be able to win three spiritual children. That is why I blessed three couples in 1960. Before I was blessed by God, I had to win those three spiritual children. Those three couples were engaged first, and on that foundation I could receive Mother. That was my formula to follow.
The number 12 was the foundation of the 36 families. The 36 couples were chosen representing 12 in the past, 12 in the present, and 12 in the future. The first 12 couples are called Adam's family, meaning from Adam to Noah. The next 12 are called Noah's family, from Noah to Jacob, and the third 12 are called Jacob's family, from Jacob to Jesus. By my setting that up, this world is connected with the spiritual world and the past with the future. You can read in the Bible that there are 12 pearl gates in the heavenly world, and that in this world there were 12 tribes of Jacob flourishing in God's lineage. Unless those two are linked with ourselves in between, the providence cannot move on.
Centering on the 36 couples as Abel, the next level of 72 is in the position of Cain. The 120 couples are the outer level of the family, representing the whole world. In the days of Jesus too, 120 apostles were the foundation to spread the message all over the world. The 430 couples represent the whole cosmos, including the spirit world; they also represent the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt, and their start towards Canaan. In addition the 430 corresponds to the 4300-year history of Korea, the chosen nation. The 777 couples substantially represent the whole cosmos. Through these significant blessings we have improved and developed providential history step by step.
Including the 1800 couples we have gone through seven stages. Now that I have blessed seven groups, I do not have to bless any more groups myself. In this way we have organized tribes under God. I have paved the way for you to go to the end of the world, but you still have to lay the foundation for your own tribe. That is why I say the blessed couples are the messiahs to their own tribes. You will accomplish something on your own up to the national level and then you will be connected to the foundation that I have laid.
These are not just empty words or some manmade, fabricated formula. If you do not accomplish this much in your lifetime, then you must do it with more difficulty in the spirit world. If Jesus' own relatives and tribe had cooperated with him he could have accomplished his mission centering on them. Because of their disbelief, however, his mission was not fulfilled. Therefore you must be able to win that number of people from the outside world and lay a foundation on which you can build your own family and tribe. If Jesus had been able to win 12 disciples from among his relatives and 72 apostles from his own tribe, things would have been much, much easier. Instead, he had to bring his three and 12 disciples from the outside world.
The same principle applied to me. I, too, could not bring anyone from my own clan into the movement. I had to leave my own family-my parents, my brothers and sisters-and go out into the satanic world. Without loving those people more than my own relatives I could not have accomplished my mission. Now that I have laid the foundation, you can be blessed and build your own family; and you can also bring your own relatives, people from your own blood lineage; therefore restoration will be much easier for you.
Sooner or later you can go back to your native country and town and bring in your relatives as your three spiritual children, your 12 disciples and your 72 disciples, making the total of 84. If you really understand the importance of having at least 84 disciples, you can plead with your relatives, "If I don't do this, my spiritual life will be ruined and our family cannot be restored back to God." You can plead with them with tearful eyes and a warm heart, and they will be drawn to you. I have already paved the way, more for your sake than for mine.
Unless you do greater things than Jesus did in his lifetime, you cannot reach the summit. That is the heart of the Principle; I cannot change it because this is the God-given formula. If you feel that without doing this you will be spiritually dead for eternity, you will be serious enough. This is the reason why I am telling you to bring in at least one person per month. To make it easier you can go back to influence the hearts of your relatives. You will not be able to lift up your face if you pass away without being able to restore your own relatives. You should not want to get blessed without fulfilling all these formulas. I could not marry until the age of 40 because of the conditions I had to fulfill. Before that I went through many experiences in prison and with people who rebelled against me. After untold difficulty and persecution I barely laid that foundation by the age of 40.
Do not ever dream of getting blessed in an easy way. If you are serious, you cannot say, "I just cannot witness to the people." If you keep writing to your family, calling them on the phone with enthusiasm and energy, you will have no excuse for not being able to fulfill this condition. Even those blessed couples here, if you fail to bring in 84 members in your lifetime, you will have violated God's law and will not be qualified for the blessing. Because of the blessing the gate to the heavenly kingdom is open, but if you are not qualified then you cannot go through. In the future, I may have to drive those blessed couples out into the field to witness again.
I must restore the world; you must restore your relatives
I must restore the whole world to go into the kingdom, and as individual members you must restore your relatives. You have to cross the individual level and then go through the level of the family, tribe, clan, nation, world and cosmos. You have to begin by witnessing to three members, and then it will increase to 12, 72, and 84. Only after you restore 84 disciples will you be connected with the foundation that I have laid. Then you will inherit what I will have done. By following me you will be led into the heavenly kingdom. Then you are going to be citizens of the Kingdom of God on earth. As your spiritual children lay that foundation our scope will be widened to cover the whole world. With this important and serious task ahead of you how can you be relaxed? You must do your 5%.
In the face of so much difficulty and persecution I have paved the way for you. Since there will no longer be so much persecution as an obstacle, can you say you cannot go this way? After we have laid the foundation on the national level, you will not be able to escape laying the foundation on your own. Until now, when I have blessed couples I shouldered the indemnity for them. With your cooperation I will lay the foundation on the national level and then will acknowledge that what you have done is connected to my foundation. Only then can you really build your own kingdom.
Centered on me and my family, you will receive the heavenly heritage, but only by winning 84 people. Now do you realize the importance of winning at least I person per month? You do not have to spread it out over seven years. You can finish it in seven months time or even earlier, the earlier the better. What about bringing seven members a month into the movement? Then it will only take I year to bring 84 people. The sooner the better. This is a most serious matter. If you really knew the importance of this formula I would not have to encourage you to witness all the time like this. If you really understood, you would not beg me for permission to go back to college to study or for the blessing or for anything.
May I repeat-in the Unification Church you must go through three years of public ministry on the individual level, then three years more for the family level foundation, and I more year as fruition, the Sabbath. The 7-year course is the primary course you must go. If you complete the 6-year course in a wholesome way, the final year will be no problem at all.
My course in America is similar. After the first 3-year course in America the second three years of the seven year course-1974, 1975, 1976-are most important. We were successful in Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument in those three years in America. A mathematical formula is always there in the course of restoration. To accomplish these formulas, I had to go through great difficulties. With this serious matter ahead of you, you can never think of building your own families. You are not entitled to be blessed and I will tell you why.
Have you gone through the first three year course, and those who are blessed, have you gone through three years after the blessing in a wholesome way? In Japan the 777 couples went almost five years after the blessing starting from 1970. The 1800 couples had to go through only 21 months. Maybe somewhere in the future the couples will have only seven months. Those married couples who came into the movement will be blessed and I will give them the least period of seven months of separation, but they had already experienced living together, so in spirit world their level will be different from you who are being blessed as single men and women.
Originally I was supposed to bless only virgin men and women, not those who have had sexual experience. In fact, those who have held the idea of free sex are not entitled to be blessed by me. If you are blessed by me with all those scars and defects, you must be more dedicated and sacrificial in our movement. Do you really understand what I mean? You do not really understand the depth of everything. If I had not had to accomplish this formula I would not have had to go through so much difficulty in restoring the 6,000 years of Biblical history.
My first seven years
Before you can say you will follow me or that you love me, I want you to bring 84 spiritual children. Only then do you really belong to me. That is the core of Principle. Knowing this can you ever doze off? During the first seven years of my ministry, I did not even take off my clothing to go to bed. I did not use a table to eat; at best I would use a tray, but most of the time I ate on the floor. Until I was able to accomplish the whole of my mission I felt as though I were a sinner before God. For those seven years I fasted on my birthdays. With the great mission still ahead of me, I could not express love toward my parents or my brothers and sisters. During that period of time I could not talk about God's message. You know Sung-Jin, my eldest son from another marriage, whose mother opposed our movement; I felt disqualified to call him my son and I never once held his hand. I deeply felt like a sinner; you must understand that.
With the gravest of all missions ahead of you on the individual level, how can you enjoy your food or rest? Before accomplishing this mission you cannot claim yourself, or your family, clan, nation or the world; you cannot even claim God as your own, and certainly not the True Parents.
Without being able to accomplish his whole mission, Jesus' claim over the whole world and over God was lost. Jesus' mother failed to accomplish her portion of the mission, so as you read in the Bible, he once said, "Who is my mother ... ? Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my mother." And he said, "Woman, what have you to do with me?" I can say the same thing to you. What have you to do with me? Can you really say you are a member of the Unification Church without being able to carry out your own mission? In the truest sense, no.
You have to bring in at least three spiritual children as a base, then 12, 36, 72, and 84, going through the individual level, family and tribal levels. You are connected with me only after laying your foundation of 84 spiritual children. Starting from today you must be desperate to carry out that formula. If you fail to do that in this world, you will have violated God's regulation, and you will have to do that even in the spirit world.
Having failed to do that, Jesus was put on the cross. If I had failed to do this, I would have gone to something more terrible than the cross. If you cannot carry out that much on earth you will have to do it in the spirit world. Following my pattern can save the whole of humanity in the future. You must feel the blessedness of being taught this principle.
For these seven years you are something like a criminal facing capital punishment, but by going through the prison term of seven years and meeting that standard you will get rid of the sin and be brought back to life again. You must be very serious to understand the heart of this matter and carry it out; I want you to really understand. You must not just take everything for granted in this movement. Until now you have been going through an everyday routine, but starting from now I want you to become deeply serious.
Things will be much, much easier from now on. Once public opinion is favorable then it will be easy for you to go back to your families and bring them into the movement. You can do the job in a much easier way at the soonest possible date. You can bring people by the hundreds. After creating a good environment, after fuming the public opinion to our side, then I will send you back to your relatives. That will correspond to Jesus going back home to restore his relatives after finishing his public ministry. Sooner or later, all across the world people will think the Unification Church is within God's will. Then public opinion will be turned to our side.
Since coming to the United States I have pretty much made the public aware of us. I hear that in Europe too people everywhere know my name. Because of the controversy they are a little confused, but deep in their hearts they think, "This couldn't be a bad group of people. They're all clean-cut and so enthusiastic in doing what they believe is right." Once they find that we are the group carrying out God's will they will turn to our side at once. In a way I welcome the notoriety and controversial publicity. Without that, it would have taken a hundred years for our group to become known.
Only last year, I sent out missionaries to 120 countries. Because of the bad publicity, all over the world they are going through the same things we are, but we will all cross over the summit at the same time. If public opinion becomes favorable in the United States, their foundation will be laid too. Because the United States is the leading nation of the world what happens here will be spread all over the world. If America begins to think that our movement is part of God's will, then public opinion all over the world will change. I can foresee that from next year on public opinion will be turned to our side. After that our witnessing will be very easy. If I were you, I would bring 84 members before things get easier. If I were you I would bring that number of people in a week's time. Why don't you bring a hundred or more members to the workshop and have 84% of them be fruitful?
What we are doing here is laying the foundation for you to work easily. I told you to bring at least 30,000 into the movement by the year 1978. That is the minimal number through which we will lay the foundation for you to work on. If you are so serious as to risk your life to do that, one person per month is not so difficult. Maybe you will accomplish that number in three years, and if you struggle on you can bring in tens of thousands of members in several more years. Whoever is in the movement must be able to bring in one person per month at least. Do you really understand? If you are a forgetful person, when you go back this morning why don't you just fasten something on your wrist so that you will remember how many you have brought and how many you are supposed to bring in?
This formula applies to everyone. How can you say, "I am fund raising, so how can I witness to the people?" Sooner or later you have to meet the quota. You can witness by writing or phoning your family. Sooner or later you will be shifted and the MFT members may be witnessing later. As long as you are on MFT, why don't you write and call the people you knew and lay a foundation so that you can witness to them?
How old you are in the movement will not count, only how many members you have brought to the movement. If you are old in the movement but have not been able to bring many members, you are a failure. You lecturers must have had to lecture on this kind of central matter, but it looks as though you yourselves have not been hearing it. After building your own family, you must be responsible for your 84 children and have them connected with you as your family. What will you do if you are not qualified to enter the heavenly kingdom? Jesus is spiritually working in this world because his mission was left unfinished. Without being able to do greater things than Jesus did, how can you get blessed? It is no easy matter to get blessed.
During the first three years you must lay the foundation on the individual level; in the second three years you will lay the foundation for the family level, and with one final year you will complete the seven years. In his lifetime Jesus had only three years of public ministry. If he had not died on the cross he could have laid the foundation on the family level, and by setting up his family he could have completed his mission. With I more Sabbath year added he would have accomplished the 7-year course in a wholesome way, representing all the years of Biblical history. But after three years didn't Jesus lose all of his disciples? Even his three chief disciples left him. While Jesus was on the cross being tortured all the disciples ran away. Therefore, in the course of indemnity you must be able to raise your three spiritual children so that they will be ready to die with you. At least three very dedicated spiritual children is your minimal responsibility.
If Jesus' disciples had not left him...
If Jesus' three chief disciples had banded together and offered to die in place of him, he should not have gone to the cross. Even if Jesus had not been released, if his three chief disciples had died on the cross with him, then all four could have been resurrected, and at that very moment Jesus could have ascended into heaven. Through those four being resurrected on earth, all the spirit world could have descended from that moment on, working through the hearts of the people and making it easy to restore the whole world.
Because that foundation was not laid at the time of Jesus there has been a great gap between this world and the spirit world. Up to the present only those who excelled the three disciples of Jesus and were ready to be martyred for the sake of God's will could be contacted by the spirit world. Because of the failure of Jesus' disciples, those people had to be martyred, shedding blood to indemnity what the disciples failed to accomplish.
After you bring three chief disciples or spiritual children, you will have laid the foundation to be blessed and to have your own family. But you must multiply those three into 12 in the course of time, and most importantly, you must be united. One of the 12 disciples betrayed Jesus, but your 12 disciples must be so dedicated that they would die with you, and in complete unity with them you must multiply the 12 into 72. The three spiritual children will be the first, or formation stage; the 12 will be the growth stage, and the 72 the perfection stage. That is the course you have to go at all costs in seven year's time.
Each of your fingers has three joints, so these four fingers have 12 joints. The thumb denotes God, with the two joints representing God's dual characteristics. One hand represents the 12 surrounding the entity of God, with His dual essentialities. The 12 months of four seasons each encompass the whole law of nature. The right hand represents heaven and the left hand represents earth, so with two hands united, the whole world will be encompassed. In Christianity up to 12 denominations are allowed, but no more, and out of the 12 possible denominations, three should be the core ones. But now how many denominations are there? Because of rupture and division there are far too many. In the final days we must be able to organize 12 tribes, and through their cooperation bring the whole of Christianity into strong, harmonious oneness. All nationalities and all five races must be brought together.
Do you really understand what I have taught you this morning? Until you have accomplished your responsibility, you are not in a position to eat on a table or change into your pajamas to go to bed, or even to eat three meals. You must feel like sinners until you accomplish that much. You should not celebrate your birthday if you have not accomplished that much. I have willingly gone through the same course on my own. For seven years I fasted on my birthday; for those seven years I would go with two or three hours sleep at the most. That is the formula in the Unification Church. If you mean to follow me then you have to go through the same thing, not for my sake, but for you own sake.
I have accomplished my mission. Having won the victory at Washington Monument, even if I die now I will be a victor, not a failure. If you carry out the instructions I give you, you are sure to win the victory. I have done my part, so if you are really able to shoulder the cross on your own, I can take my Sabbath. I am thinking of resting for awhile, but then some of you may think that since I am resting, you should rest for a few days too. However, my position now is similar to having received my doctorate, and you are still in kindergarten; then how can you act like I do? Can you say, "Wherever Father goes I will go, and whenever Father rests I will rest with him." Can you do that? I brought my eldest daughter, Ye Jin, to Washington last weekend for the Science Conference. She was there for the first day and heard me speak, and then she hurried back home because she had to study for an examination on Monday. That is the attitude you must have. With your own task unfulfilled, you must not act like I do.
Now you have different missions-fund raising, security, and so forth-but you must fulfill this condition sooner or later. In the future there will be many members just flooding into our movement even without our witnessing to them. We will witness to the people through television and radio programs, and many, many young people will come from that to join our movement. Who will be their spiritual parents? They will belong to me. I will be their spiritual father, but if you are really dedicated and sacrificial in your public ministry then I will be more than willing to distribute them to you. If you love them more than yourself then I can give them to you as spiritual children, and I will be responsible for them in the spirit world.
Members who win more than 84 children will want to give them to other brothers and sisters. In the position of Abel, you want to give everything extra to others. Up to the present the disputes between Cain and Abel have been caused by being greedy, but by giving to each other you will be united very easily. If the children are united, then you can be received by your parents. The same thing applies between you and God.
I want you to be ready to give out the members you bring in. Then we can create our own heavenly kingdom in this nation, and with three such nations restored, other nations will be easily won to the heavenly side. Japan, Germany and the United States were once enemy nations, but if they can be united under God's will then the rest of the world will be easily united. Together those three nations can easily feed the rest of the world. That is why I sent teams of three missionaries, one from each of those nations. if Korea were included there could have been 4, but the situation in Korea was too difficult to allow that.
After starting in Korea I went to Japan, creating our movement there, and now I am in the United States. The European nations are the old world nations, in Cain's position, the elder brother's position. Of the European countries, Germany represents Adam on Satan's side, while on the worldwide level Korea is in the position of Adam on God's side. If those two nations plus Japan and America cooperate with each other, then it will be easy to restore the whole world. From Korea, the Adam nation, we carne through Japan, the Eve nation, and now we are in America, the archangel nation. Next we are going through the old world, restoring Germany as the most important nation in Europe. Having restored the Adam nation on the satanic side, we will connect it to Korea. Those four nations are crucial in God's will.
Each of them represents either faith, love or hope. Germany represents faith. They are a strong people; the physical stature of the German people and their industrial prosperity, show that they are a people of strong faith, will, and clarity of mind. At the Olympic Games in Canada, West Germany and East Germany together set a world record excelling Russia. When you visit Germany you will find that even the women look strong. They are very industrious and diligent.
The Koreans, Japanese, Americans and Germans all have different characteristics. It is very interesting that God chose those four nations as the champions for His will. Therefore we are concentrating our efforts on those four nations -- Korea, Japan, America and Germany. We will see that the restoration of the world is not too far ahead.
We must be desperate in working for the rest of 1976, 1977 and 1978. By the conclusion of the third 7-year course in 1981 the communist world should decline rapidly, but the outcome lies in our hands. If we fail to lay the necessary foundation by the year 1981, you will see the communists still ascending. Then the whole democratic world will be endangered. In the coming 2-year's time we must bring 30,000 members at least, and I urge you to bring in more than that.
The Jews have an important role
Jewish people have played a major role in the American government. Kissinger is Jewish and their are several more Jews in very important positions. President Carter, however, might replace them with others in the major roles of government. There is a kind of invisible tension between the Jewish people and other groups.
Recently at the United Nations Zionism is an issue. If the Jewish people insist only on Zionism and try to carry it through, sooner or later a great tragedy will come. If the communists take over the whole world, a greater tragedy than that of Germany under Hitler will occur. There would be more purges and more death. Without taking a worldwide view beyond national and racial barriers, the Jews will be endangered by the communist power.
But we can see that Christian society is crumbling. I can already see a battle emerging between the Jews and the Christians. If the communists decide to support one of the two parties then that group will be the stronger, and destruction will spread in the near future. Before that happens I have to smooth away racial and national boundaries here in the United States. I am working for the sake of the Jews and the Christians, but they are the ones who oppose our movement.
Recently the Jews feel threatened by the fast growth of our movement, thinking that if they leave us alone, we will over-run the whole country, endangering their prosperity. Therefore, it is possible that the Jewish people will sooner or later band together to oppose our movement. If we cannot prevent fighting between Judaism, Christianity and the Unification Church and bring those two into oneness with us then the whole world will crumble, beginning with the United States.
Judaism cannot bring unity between the three, nor can Christianity as it now stands. Only the Unification Church can unite the three, but we must first be prepared for opposition, because the communists will be infiltrating behind the scenes. To oppose the other two, the Jews or Christians may be willing to utilize the communists, who are desperate to destroy the Unification Church. If the Jews and Christians ever band together with communists to fight against us, the situation will be so serious. We are on the verge of life or death during the coming two years, so we must be wise enough to make a real breakthrough in those years. At the soonest possible time we must spread the ideology through which you young people have transcended religious, racial and national barriers. The Jews should play a central role in this.
If we do not win 30,000 members in two year's time, we cannot do the job. Without me here you cannot dream of doing the job. What we are going to do in these coming two years is very urgent; we all have to be working dynamically and almost explosively, with all our energies invested. With just I more month left in the year 1976 I really urge you to understand this formula and to be ready to accomplish your mission of bringing at least 30,000 members in these coming two years. This is why I am talking to you like this morning.
Now we will lay the internal foundation
My topic this morning is "Self Reflection." When we look back over this year we see that all our energy was used in those three great events culminating with Washington Monument. In the meantime we have not been able to witness to people too much. For these past months we concentrated our efforts on creating a favorable environment externally, but from this moment on we will concentrate our effort on the internal work of witnessing to the people.
You young people in the movement must be sympathetic with the youth outside who have become decadent, who are ruined by drugs and immoral life. During the time of my work in the United States young people seem to be increasingly influenced by religious ideas. I can clearly see that. I have learned from statistics that bookstores have sold more religious books in the last three years than any other kind. Heaven knows that we have created that good tendency. Several more years in that direction and we can change the whole nation. If we continue like this, doing explosive and dynamic things, then the world will be different by the year 1981.
You must understand that these coming few years are going to be more important than Washington Monument or anything else that we have been proud of. The success or failure of our movement and the whole restoration of the world will depend upon what we do in these three years ahead.
So far we have harvested external successes, but from now on we have to lay the internal foundation. The external is in the Cain position to the internal. We have gone through the external level as the indemnity course, but what we set on the internal level will be for our sake, and it will be our foundation to work on. The external things will flow away, but the internal things will accumulate to accomplish the goal. That is why I am telling you that we must struggle harder than we did for Washington Monument. From this moment on, wherever you are and whatever you are doing -- eating, praying, sleeping-before you do anything you must think of one person per month, and try to fulfill it.
These years concluding the third 7-year course are most important. Being prepared like this, we will do explosive work in witnessing on a large scale. Self-reflection is most important, but if you fall into despair thinking of what you have done in the past, you miss the point. Through self-reflection you must be encouraged to do more than you did in the past. We were successful at Washington Monument, but have we been successful in the whole nation of America? Not as yet. Only after doing that can we think of going to Moscow.
From now on I will travel a lot from center to center. Actually, your position is to do that for me, but since you are not capable of doing that I will take up the job. In fact; after Washington Monument I thought I should study English so that I would not need an interpreter. But the situation demands that I visit and encourage you. Since that is more important than studying English, I have to do it. Even if I would try to study I would not be able to concentrate. If any one of you could take up my job so that I can be reassured then I could concentrate on studying.
I am so serious that I must tell you again and again about the importance of your mission, about having to fulfill God's formula. For the year 1976 we have harvested three great successes -- Yankee Stadium, Washington Monument, and finally the Science Conference. But as I said before, after those victorious events, a more important task is at hand and if you are lax and proud of yourselves, contented and satisfied, we will not be able to go higher.
We are creating a newspaper. We have to make it greater than the New York Times as soon as possible. That will take time, but I want to do it quickly. Are you anxious to bring The News World to that standard? If I had 10,000 capable members then I could certainly do it within one year. I hear that the New York Times is using 4,000 people. If we had twice as many people for our newspaper we could reach that standard in a year, but now we have only 130 members working on the paper. Did you know that we bought the Tiffany Building for the newspaper? It is on Fifth Avenue, two minute's walk from the Empire State Building. It is a big, beautiful building, but too big for 130 people.
Even though I want to pick more members, there are not enough available who are capable of doing the work. We can bring money somehow, but if our people cannot do newspaper work then even though we put them on the staff they would have to leave because of their lack of ability, and we cannot use outsiders. For the fishery, too, we need several thousand people. Where can we get that number of people? We must use people according to their aptitude, not just anyone. I am ready to establish a university, but without having 10,000 members on the MFT we cannot do that. We need that many people to raise the necessary money, but where can we get that number of people?
If we mobilized 10,000 IOWC members then we could influence the whole world. If we have 30 jumbo planes arriving would Kennedy Airport be able to handle them? All the other planes would have to hover in the air while our planes land one after another. Wouldn't the big newspapers carry our story? Without being able to do that, we cannot turn the world upside down.
I am not dreaming impossible dreams; sooner or later I will be doing this in reality. I want those who left their universities to join our movement to be able to go back to school, but first I must win so many members that you will not have to work by that time. I must educate and train you to be world leaders in the future. After establishing our own universities, I will hire top level professors from all over the world, perhaps some who attended our International Conferences on the Unity of the Sciences.
I cannot live on this earth forever. I am now 57 and in 13 more years I will be 70. Without me on this earth, who will take up the job? If you fail to meet the standard needed by 1981 then the restoration of the whole world will be delayed or damaged. Some unknown hands brought you to this movement and now you are with me. You must be a coworker in our movement. We are already a controversial group, but we must fulfill our responsibility. Many people have accused you; have you felt challenged to fight back and win? We have some resentment because we are persecuted and opposed while we are doing God's will, but we must be determined to carry out our mission and show people that we are on the side of God.
Since you gather here every Sunday I will reeducate you, or if that is impossible, I will shift you from East to West and from West to East. I am very serious. I am encouraging the Japanese members to work harder; I have instructed Mr. Kamiyama to reorganize them in such a way that they will work as hard as before Madison Square Garden, all ignited and fervent in their witnessing.
They must recreate the atmosphere they had before Madison Square Garden, and lay the foundation for the Japanese who will follow. The Japanese who are not doing a good job will be sent back to Japan. I am encouraging you American members to work harder than the Japanese members from now on. You must be ready to take up the job they have been doing. Following their tradition, you must be responsible for this nation. About 150 Japanese members must be mobilized to sell our newspapers. There are so many things to be done that you may have to get up at four o'clock instead of six o'clock. Will you Americans be defeated by the Japanese?
We must excel the New York Times in every possible way. In the coming two years, 1977 and 1978, we must have branches of the newspaper in the eight major cities from my last tour-Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington, Philadelphia. You must expand our newspaper all over the nation and up to 50 or more people must be stationed for that purpose in each of the 50 states. With a handful of people like this, how can you carry out all those things? We need at least 200 people for one branch. For 8 such branches we would need some 1600 members. Without bringing in more members we cannot carry out these important missions. What I have declared, however, I will bring to pass. If you fail to do the job, I will pay people to do the job. At all cost I must move forward.
Family witnessing
From this day on, the first of December, you must have a new resolve. First, you must be able to witness and bring in one member per month. Mr. Kamiyama is going to make a chart for every month, and the statistics will be put up starting from today. Day and night you will be praying hard, striving hard. Each day each one of you should have a list of 12 names or households that you are determined to visit. You must plan to bring 36 people a year, and then you can win at least 12. Why don't you include your brothers and sisters? Don't choose elder brothers or sisters first, but younger ones who admire you. After you have won one of your elder brothers or sisters, too, then together you can work better to win more members of your family. With a well-organized strategy you can do that.
With three of you united, there is nothing you cannot do. Three brothers and sisters can work together and make money to invite your parents, say from North Dakota or Chicago during the winter months, to some warm place like Phoenix or Nevada. Then you can arrange for a very capable lecturer to drop by. After quite a bit of talking, you can invite him to lecture to your parents. Then your parents will be easily attracted to our movement.
Why don't you raise some money and have a big birthday celebration for one of your family members and invite your whole neighborhood and all your relatives? Then during the toast or after-dinner speeches you can invite our lecturer to introduce the Principle. If you invite a very capable lecturer then people might really be interested in listening to him.
Mr. Kamiyama will provide good lecturers if you can gather some 10 to 50 people. With three members working together, you can invite a camp full of people for the workshop from every level of society. There are several hundred people here and if you carry out the quota of one person per month, we will have to expand this place to accommodate them all. Shall we do that?
Without your being able to save yourselves, you cannot dream of being able to save America; our lifetime goal is 84 members. Are you going to fulfill that number in I year's time, seven year's time, your lifetime, or what? In a while I will bless those who have fulfilled 84 members, even if they have been in the movement only one year or less.
My topic this morning has been "Self Reflection." You must look back into your past and restore the failures into successes. If you go out with determination to win victory in the years ahead then our movement will be a great success. I urge you to fulfill the goal.
Some years ago, I instructed Mr. Kamiyama to lend our books to neighborhood people. They will read the books and then we can hear their comments, witnessing to them in that way. I gave this instruction after my long years of experience, so I want him to continue that project. One person will be responsible for 120 households, lending books for them to read.
Every three to six months you will move to another neighborhood and have those people read the books. After awhile, out of 120 households you can select 40 'A' class, 40 'B' class, and 40 'C' class households. After the classification, you will concentrate your efforts on the 'A' class people. You can win quite a few members out of the 'A' class people, and then with those people you can re-visit the 'B' class households. If you can win members out of the 'B' class, you can bring them when you witness to the 'C' class people again.
You can have a close association with those 120 households, closer than with your own relatives. Through your coming in and out and having the members of other households visiting each other, your people will get well-acquainted. By having those people influence each other you can win them.
List the names of the major figures in those households on a card. In the other column write the date and how many people were brought into the movement. Under the date record how many hours you worked with that family. Everyone, including staff members at national headquarters, should be doing the same. Whenever you find time, you will be witnessing to people. If you are responsible for a certain area, maybe you should rent a room in one of the households and just come to work in your office at headquarters every day. You must always carry the card with you. In the New York area there are 180 witnessers and altogether 500 members. Having 120 households for each person means some 60,000 households will be contacted. We will start doing that right away. Suppose you win one member out of those people. If you have him or her do the same thing, then the membership will multiply many times.
Male or female, young or old, before eating, before going to bed, you always have to look at the card. If your whole day's work was a failure, then even in sleeping you must be calling their names at least. Why do you think the cards are necessary? As a reminder or encouragement? Before saving other people, you are being saved. After that, you are saving other people, and America as a whole.
One person will have 10 Divine Principle books to lend out. If you are not a good lecturer you can read the Divine Principle to them and your zeal can influence them. Suppose there are three members living in one household; three multiplied by 120 makes 360, so there is one person's birthday every day, all through the year. You will have feast after feast in every household and you can invite other families. At those events you can give them some talks. Sometimes for a change, you can invite them out to a beautiful place in the country. Maybe you can rent a whole church and invite them there. Then you can have a workshop and invite lecturers, and it will be easy for you to bring in members. After one full year, all those people will be good friends of yours and you will have a foundation laid to sell newspapers. We will start doing this right away.
If we carry these projects out, we will meet the membership goal in the next two years. If you are resolved to do that, hold up your hands. Let us pray.
