Belvedere, New York
Translator - Sang Il Han
Everyone in the world has a fervent desire to have a family. We must first realize what kind of families we have in the fallen world because without seeing this clearly we cannot understand the urgency with which God has been searching for the original family. When we look throughout the world around us to find families which are centered upon God, we discover that there are none. Such a family is yet to come. No matter how many members a family may have, it still is a family within the realm of Satan.
Centering on the family a clan is created which is burdened by the same fallen nature, and it is further surrounded by the nation and the world. In that situation, no matter how much that family may want to live the ideal, it will still be influenced by the surrounding evil circumstances. Because this family must communicate with all levels of its corrupted surroundings we know that it will be unable to remain pure.
When the family deteriorates, the individuals who constitute that family also deteriorate. We can witness this deterioration throughout the world, even though there is not a single individual who wants his family to decay and deteriorate. Furthermore, no one wants to see other families deteriorate, especially God, but without a doubt that is happening. What is the cause of this?
Since no one desires this deterioration we must conclude that there is some invisible force which is opposing God's will for the family. Clearly Satan is doing this. Families are dominated by distrust and self-centered individualism. Many husbands no longer trust their wives, and most wives do not trust their husbands. Even children and parents do not trust each other because each individual is centered on himself.
In such families each person is seeking to center the family's love upon himself. Love is meant to be given to others, yet increasingly people are demanding love, and eventually their relationships center on animalistic love. To get this love they even dare to sacrifice other people, rather than sacrificing themselves. In this seeking to satisfy themselves with love they are taking everything from others. Where does this originate? We are destined to reap whatever we sow. If we had not sown this self-centeredness anywhere, then we would not reap it.
The world trend toward corruption
In the midst of these circumstances everyone senses that mankind and human history are coming to an end. If there is Satan then why can he cause such destruction at this time in mankind's history? Satan's purpose is 100% different from God's will, and he would like to fulfill his desire for mankind. This world trend toward corruption is centered on the family, which is fast deteriorating. The morals that societies have taught have played a very important role in history, but societies are now yielding to corrupting influences.
It is becoming clear that Satan's goal has been the destruction of individuals, as well as families. The elements of family disruption have been present throughout human history, but previously they have been held in check by moral teachings and social laws. But now, in the final days of human history, men are seeking freedom outside these restraints. Thus the existing elements of evil which were previously suppressed are now being exposed.
In the past, husbands and wives may not have always felt deep respect or love in their relationships. But now family situations are getting worse in that parents do not even know their children any more, and respect is barely maintained between them. Now even that relationship is on the verge of being broken down. Instead of building deep relationships, the kind of love found in families today is acting to break down the family ties. At this time in history people cannot recognize what love is, and it seems that everything we previously held as valuable has crumbled. What remains to be broken up in the future?
Love has always been valued by people. However, as love is breaking down those people who value love as much as their lives are also about to be broken down. We have been thinking of love as an eternal thing, the last thing we would like to destroy. Yet in the fallen world today love can be corrupted and broken down within a few hours or days.
In other words, what Satan has been striving for seems about to be accomplished. Satan has been trying to disrupt all of man's most precious relationships, and he seems to be succeeding. After that, where can we go? The world itself is hell on earth. There is no order of love, no order within life, no order within societies and no order within nations. The world we see now is in chaos. No individual wanted things to turn out this way; God did not want this to happen either. Only Satan has been wanting this and continuously working to achieve it, doing his best to destroy man. All his desires are now coming to fruition.
Satan had his purpose, and the people have been defeated and contained by his plan and strategy. In the process, mankind has completely lost all sense of value. It may be our desire to have good families, but what is being realized at this time is completely contrary to our ideal and now we find ourselves in hell. If there was ever any kind of hell, this is the worst in history. Let us imagine that there is a very good, courageous, confident man who does not want to be influenced by this world trend. Despite his efforts he would be absolutely unable to reverse this world trend and assert himself in goodness. Do you feel that this is where we stand now?
However, we cannot afford to be either completely discouraged or destroyed. Hippies and yippies have been searching in their own way for something different, something better. Are they living in an ideal way? Are they really content and secure? Did they find the truth? They have looked around completely but could find no way out either. After going in many different directions they have also come to the conclusion that there is no way out.
All mankind is now feeling that the only way left to find the ideal is to be constantly doing something more exciting. When this happens, they no longer are concerned about the world or nation or anything bigger than themselves. The lucky ones manage to take care of themselves, but many are destroyed in their search for happiness. For instance, drugs are used throughout this nation, and some have been pushing drugs, providing them to anyone who would try them. Once a person is addicted he inevitably faces an early death. Who would have done that? It clearly must be Satan who is pushing these drugs. After Satan succeeded in breaking down the love in families and in individual relationships, then he introduced drugs on a large scale. Once people are addicted to drugs they want to replace ideal love with physical stimuli. No one else but Satan could do these things or would want to.
Love is invisible; therefore even if it is crushed the physical body still remains intact. Now Satan wants to attack even the physical body and destroy it as well. He is not concerned with the bodies of old people, as they are about to die anyway, but Satan will never be satisfied until he can destroy the young people who are full of vigor and life. We know that Satan, the ultimate being of evil, is striving to annihilate young people through drugs. Then Satan will claim generation after generation and no matter how much people long to experience love and obtain their highest ideals, they will be incapable of achieving them. Satan will proclaim to the world that mankind will be under his dominion for eternity.
This is all happening on the family and individual levels, but what kind of nation would attack another nation in this way? The communist nations have exactly followed this process in order to undermine and demoralize the free nations. Their strategy is to immobilize the young people by destroying their lives with drugs. One communist country actually appropriates part of its national budget for raising opium and making it available in the free nations. This is actually happening.
It is very obvious that if individuals and families are being compelled toward destruction that the nation also is doomed to destruction. This is clearly Satan's undertaking, because no one else but Satan wants something like this to happen. This is now going on all around the world. I am not just describing some concept but everyday events which can be witnessed. We are heartbroken by this. From the standpoint of God's dispensation, how can it be possible to establish the ideal family among these overwhelmingly destructive circumstances?
Life rights and love rights
Anyone whose love has been bankrupted cannot think about his nation, and no longer cares about Satan succeeded in breaking down the love in anything. If someone's love has been destroyed then families and in individual relationships, then he in- no matter how true an ideal you may teach him, he just cannot listen. The Carter Administration has been speaking of human rights, but even more valuable than civil rights is the right to live and the right to love. These two are more important than so-called human rights.
If you were told to choose between human rights, life rights, and love rights, which would you choose? You would certainly choose something other than human rights. If you had to choose between the right to live and the right to love, which would you choose? If you had to choose between becoming a slave or being killed, which would you choose? Why do you choose death? Wouldn't you rather become a slave and keep on living in hopes of finding a better life somehow? There would be no blacks alive in America today if slavery were worse than death. The recent television series "Roots" deals with the history of Africans who were captured and brought to America as slaves. Why didn't they kill themselves if their human rights were more precious than living? Under this standard, are human rights more important, or life rights more important? We must have a clear idea about this.
In choosing between life and love, would you rather just live life, or would you rather go after love? For you it is easy to choose love, but are you really that way? Take hippies, for example. If we ask them the same question do you think they would say, "I will follow after love"? Actually they do not want to care about anything. They just want to exist.
We usually do not think about it much but every day we witness how many people would rather simply exist than be troubled by the demands of loving. Hippies, for instance, may love another person very much in the morning, but somehow by the afternoon their love changes. Nevertheless, deep in their hearts everyone is thinking, "I shouldn't be this way. I should pursue love to its utmost. I should even sacrifice my life for the cause of love."
I just heard that in some parts of American society couples even exchange spouses for a week or so. That love has far less value than life. You said earlier that you would choose love rather than life, but is this the general attitude in America? When it comes to love, no one knows anything about anything! With all this confusion it is obvious why we are really, really on the spot in trying to pursue the ideal.
The best human thinking has recognized that love is the most valuable and worthwhile thing. If you look around it is difficult to find someone righteous enough to protect our human rights, and even more important, we find that there is no one who is capable of raising the world out of this animalistic love. No matter how good our ideal may be, it seems impossible to fulfill it. After looking everywhere, we completely lose hope. What if you had never heard about the Unification Church and someone were to ask you, "Is there some hope for finding a true love or is there absolutely no hope?" What would you have answered? Can you see hope in this situation? Wherever you look, there is no hope. Where could you go to find hope?
As you look everywhere can you find a man who can say, "I can offer hope"? You can even look at the great political leaders and the presidents of nations. Can you find hope in President Carter, for instance? He is like any other human being. Can you find hope in a political party, or in a nation such as America? Is there any family within this society which could become a source of hope? How about your own parents? How about the feelings of a wife toward her husband, or the feelings of a husband toward his wife? How about husbands and wives--can they regard themselves as the source of hope in the future?
Hopelessness is spelled out everywhere. The earth is filled with it; even the universe seems filled with hopelessness. Do you see that? Our conclusion is that now is the time that Satan, the master of hopelessness, has achieved his great success. Then who is the master of hope? Invisible God. Only because of God is there a possibility for those who have lost hope to find hope once again.
Once a person feels hope, Satan cannot defeat him
We can be grateful that even though man is being pulled to his death inch by inch, man still has some life remaining. Man can see his path of destruction, yet he still continues looking desperately for life, knowing that somehow he should not be the way he is, If there were any way out he would take it. Something deep within his soul is crying out for hope.
Men everywhere get sick, lose their eyesight, and then their hearing. Perhaps they can no longer eat, and then they lose the use of their limbs. Yet even on the verge of death, would a person not be very grave about his life, contemplating the death that awaits him? If the news came that there was a new medicine, wouldn't he still want to try it out? Mankind at this moment is in a desperate position and needs the news of someone who can offer hope in the face of this sure death. Wouldn't people jump at that hope? With people feeling that their deaths are not far off they will become very serious, and react to news of the slightest hope. This is where we are situated.
When a person who is desperately sick hears the hopeful news, he would go immediately and try that remedy. As the cure begins to work, his body would begin to heal gradually. When he is completely recovered where would he turn? He would go straight forward in search of love. Having been so close to death, he would be almost crazy to perfect his love. Such a person would certainly be most precious to God. After he is cured and love revives within him, this person would begin urgently seeking out other brothers and sisters who are on the same deathbed that he was. His greatest desire would be to find and revive them, just as he himself was revived. God would certainly be touched by his concern and want to see many such people here on this earth.
That person will meet many people who are not aware of what has happened and who, out of their ignorance, are indifferent. Some people will even directly oppose the cure he wants to spread, but then he will be really serious to overcome their opposition and bring the truth to light. At first this kind of thing will happen sporadically, but inevitably the persecution will gather momentum. In the midst of this world of despair, we have to realize clearly that Satan is working powerfully at the edge of hopelessness. But a cure is now appearing along with a hope which cannot be removed from the earth. It is about to be brought out into the open and when it becomes visible to all, people will jump at it. Rather than trickle toward it one by one they will dash to it like a flooding river. Can you imagine that day?
Even though that first person was on the verge of death, he still had the power to move quickly when the right avenue opened before him. Eventually a whole river of hopeful people will penetrate the walls surrounding the satanic world and come to God's side. At this time in history the world is sinking in despair, misery, and hopelessness. When one person can manage to break out of this situation, he will soon be followed by floods of people also wanting to get out. Once they break out and are revived in every way, they will never want to even think of the hell which mankind has been held in generation after generation.
What if a person was somehow successful in making his way out to health and love, but then was kidnapped back again by his own parents urging him, "Stay with us; continue living like us." Would he be able to live there or would he try to escape at any cost? His decision would depend on how much he craved freedom and true love. If he deeply treasured their value then once he escaped a whole army from the satanic world could not keep him imprisoned.
If a whole army tried to kidnap me I would fight with my life. Anyone who has led a miserable life in the past has sufficient power to resist. Those members who were kidnapped and persuaded to leave the Unification Church did not have the internal power to free themselves, and were probably never deeply serious in their commitment. Some members, who perhaps came from the despair of a hippie background, are deeply serious and treasure the hope that they have found. Those who have never seen death cannot really experience the seriousness and value of life and love.
Those who have really suffered in bondage have deeply wept to find a way out of their misery. Once they free themselves, penetrating the barrier of despair, not even an army could successfully kidnap them. Once such a man has penetrated this wall he will work harder than anybody else. Once a person who sees absolutely no hope around him feels that there is hope, then even the formidable power of Satan can no longer defeat the desires of his original nature. It may look as if there is not even a tiny hole where hope might penetrate, but one day this avenue will be opened and on that day the people will flood out. God has been thinking about this all along.
We can say that Satan has been quite successful in this world because mankind sees no hope whatsoever. But in God's sight Satan is not successful. Once men clearly understand this then they will realize their own value even more, as they compare the present with their past under Satan. Therefore, no matter how successful Satan seems to be at the very end, Satan will eventually be obligated to help God complete His work.
God has been waiting to see how much Satan would take, and indeed Satan has taken absolutely everything. He not only invaded man's human rights, but he invaded the life rights and then even the love rights of billions of people. There is no right that Satan has not invaded. What remains for Satan to do?
At this point the historical conclusion is that the only thing remaining for Satan to do is surrender. God has been pondering the best way to bring people out of the misery of their unprincipled lives. In considering the most ideal nation to initially penetrate this wall of hopelessness, He has settled on America. The hippies of America have explored the depths of corruption and despair and would therefore value new hope the most. If someone can work with them to successfully penetrate this wall of despair and break through to the other side, they will be very eager to go out and do the same for others. The organization which can offer tangible hope to these hippies must be the group which is historically capable of doing God's work.
In looking at a situation such as this we can say that Satan has been helping to achieve God's plan. So many existing churches talk about God and about saving the world, but their members are generally older people. The young people have already gotten out of the Christian churches and become hippies or non-conformists. Thus those that we gather into the Unification Church are often young people who have been living a hippie life; ours is the only group that can really offer hope and salvation to them.
Love is a person's most precious possession
Presently we do not have any more status in the world than the hippies, but we are very different. The hippies live lives that are without order and they do not want to come under anybody's direction or dominion. In contrast our lives are very orderly: we go out fundraising and witnessing, and we are very effective. Furthermore, hippies are eating and sleeping for themselves, but we are living for this country and for our Heavenly Father. They are in despair and do not know where to turn, but we are full of power and vigor and have found love. In every way our lives are completely different from theirs.
Through developing a relationship with God we come to honor human rights to the utmost. There are no racial differences in our church; each race is equally great and valuable. We have come to realize that one human life is greater than the entire universe. Suppose someone like Rabbi Davis were working in an unjust and hateful way in a communist country; the leaders would give an order for him to be eliminated, and he would have been killed a long time ago. But regardless of all he has done to us we do not even have the desire to hurt him.
Some of our young members came to me, saying, "What Rabbi Davis is doing is absolutely unforgivable. We cannot let him continue working like that because he is hurting too many lives. Isn't it better to work directly against him and save all of those who are being hurt by him?" But I said, "No, can you quote an example of God killing a man because he was wicked? Instead He just waits." A man still has an opportunity to recover himself even until the last minute.
Do we invade others' life rights? Does anyone teach what we teach, that love is of such utmost importance and value that the greatest crime is the invasion of love? We would not want an individual apart from his love. In the end, love is between an individual and God, and no one can stand between a person and his love; that love is his most precious possession. From the earth to the heavens we want to cherish and protect his right to love. The one thing of greatest value is love.
Is anyone of us encouraged to take love lightly like the hippies do? Brothers and sisters are not even allowed to hold hands in our church. We are taught that when a brother and sister meet they must just talk, and then not even in privacy. Why? In order to prevent a cheap love from invading their hearts like it has invaded the hippies' lives we are living a completely different standard than the world is living.
For someone who cannot understand deeply, our standard might look like a violation of human rights, and he would accuse us, saying, "Everyone should have the right to do as he wants." But actually our way is the only workable way to protect human rights. Life is the same way. If someone wants to go and kill himself, why should anyone try to stop him? It's his own life. But such an attitude is not right. People who tried to prevent a suicide have actually been accused of treating the person unjustly and taking away his personal freedom. But from the heavenly point of view, being concerned about another person leads to complete freedom, and this is what all people have been dreaming about throughout history.
Likewise, nobody tells you to get involved in the events that are happening around the world; you are completely free to do nothing. Yet when others' human rights or life rights are violated, yours are violated also. You have no guarantee and no security in a world of evil. When we look back through history and review the present we know clearly that we are on the front line between God and Satan, and that a sharp division of good and evil is taking place. Very seriously, we are fighting for our lives.
The fiercest war the world has seen
What is the borderline between life and death, between God's country and Satan's country? Do the existing Christian and Buddhist congregations stand guard there, or are we on the front line? What is the nature of the front line? It is where Satan is always attacking God's side. I am doing nothing wrong but since I am on the front line I am constantly being attacked. Because you follow me you are also attacked.
Because I am taking responsibility for you, I get all the blame if even one very young member makes one mistake. Any errors you make are directly connected to me, and then I receive much accusation from people. Sometimes communists have posed as members and done evil things, and then claimed that I made them do it. However, even though he may be opposed, the person who speaks for God's side can be recognized by his teaching about human rights, life rights, and love rights. We are fighting to preserve these in the world.
The communist countries have annihilated millions of people who opposed their governments. An estimated 70 million people were killed in Russia during the process of socialization, and 150 million were killed in Red China. North Korea killed 3 million Koreans, and we read in the New York Times that 600,000 people were killed in Vietnam. With life rights being violated on such a scale, what is the use of talking about human rights?
We have to see this clearly in the free world, and fight to stop it. This determination makes me the strongest, most staunch anti-Communist, and the communists are really afraid of me. Can we allow their activities to continue? We have to realize what the communists are doing and expose it. The only reason we are doing this is because God's clear intention is to achieve a world of unity. We are not trying to do this out of our own personal desires.
Black people are especially susceptible to the communists' influence and can be persuaded to bitterness and violence. Realizing this, the communists are working to unite blacks in opposition to the whites, with the ultimate goal of inciting racial war. Of course both races will lose if such conflict occurs. In that case only the communists would benefit and advance further toward their goal of world domination.
A strange phenomenon has come into existence. On one hand, we are surrounded by hell on earth, yet steadily emerging alongside that hell is the beginning of heaven on earth. Do you feel fortunate to have joined this movement, or are you unfortunate? We have to take time to realize how valuable are the three rights that I have been speaking of because they involve our very lives. We cannot just speak of their importance with our mouths; we must have a deep feeling about the meaning of human rights, life rights and love rights, and be willing to fight for them. This is a more intense war than any the world has yet seen, even more fierce than the World Wars. It is of utmost importance that we secure these rights for humanity. There will be no such war in the future, nor have we ever witnessed such a war in the past. Ibis is the only such moment in history when this serious war will be fought. Can you even superficially understand that you are called to stand at such a time and place?
Satan is invisible, but we have located Satan and know what he is doing. Satan's central work is being accomplished through the communists. We can see the communists advancing their plans year by year. This is not just our interpretation; anyone who has watched their actions knows this. This is a war of utmost importance, the most significant war man has ever fought in the long process of freeing himself from Satan's fetters. We have to be an effective organization, so strong that we can win this war over the forces of evil. Are we that way?
Why do I stay in this church?
Sometimes when you are directed to go fund raising you do not really understand its importance. We have to fund raise in order to restore all the things of creation that have been lost. Why do we witness? We witness to revive love in another person. It is our duty to reclaim from the force of evil all the things that were lost, and we have to recover the life and love of others.
If the Unification Church is truly the center of God's will then when those people who do not join go to spirit world, they will be accused for not joining. But if people join the Church and then drop out without fulfilling the task given to them, then not only spirit world but all mankind will accuse them, and even God will accuse them. They will have absolutely no place to stand. Even if they go to hell, where people are usually left alone, people there will always accuse them, yelling, "You were supposed to be up there pursuing God's ideal and carrying out your mission. Why are you down here?" This will be the way they will be treated even after they go to hell. This situation is even worse than existing in the satanic world. In the satanic world there were at least some people who did not accuse them, but in hell they simply will have no place to go to escape accusation.
When those who oppose the Unification Church go to spirit world they will become very envious of those who are newly joining. Once we go to spirit world we can instantly perceive the truth. We have to clearly understand what kind of precious position we are in now and what kind of equally tormenting situation we could find ourselves in later. If I were to drop out of the Unification Church, Satan would accuse and mock me, "Why are you here? Why didn't you just carry on?" All hell would go against me, and even God would oppose me, as well as the rest of spirit world, crying, "Because of you we are not free! "
The ancestors of a Unification Church member who left will really resent that person because by working through him they could have elevated themselves in spirit world. The only way that spirit men can work on earth is through you, and they will be the first to accuse you for leaving. I will blame you and the brothers and sisters in the Unification Church will accuse you. Anyone who drops out really has no place to go, even within our Unification Church. Even Satan will mock you, saying, "I fell, not when I was perfect, but when I was in the perfection stage of the growth stage. But you went beyond me-you fell from the perfection realm. You are even worse than I." All of this is the reason why drop-outs from the Unification Church feel so miserable. This is the very reason why I myself stay in Unification Church. This is the truth.
My feelings are just like those of any other individual; I would like to lead my own life, having some enjoyment and free time, like anyone else in the world, but I have not had one single moment of time to myself. My mind is always occupied with this immense task; it is just like sitting on the point of a needle 24 hours a day.
Not long ago some members of my own staff were getting married and I had not yet given anything to them. When I went to Macy's and bought six 14 karat gold necklaces, people started commenting that I indulge in luxurious living. While I was buying the necklaces I could hear the people behind me saying something against me. Every place I go people know me. Even beyond that, there is no personal freedom in my life. If you led this kind of public life and were constantly receiving public criticism, would you really feel the joy of life?
I understand how difficult this is
If you are reasonably wise then even if someone were to really hurt you and try to pull you out of the Unification Church you would never leave. Is that true? This life can become so difficult, yet still we have to stay and keep on doing this work. Do you stay because you have no other choice, or do you stay because you are happy? How can you be happy when you do not have a dime in your pocket? How can you be happy when the clothing that you are wearing is the only clothing you have? How can you be happy when you have only one set of underwear and you have to wash it when you go to bed and put it on again when you get up? And sometimes when you wake up on a cold morning it isn't even dry.
As you meet the people during the day your heart aches when they do not listen to you, and you carry a great burden as you witness to them. If somebody opposes you, you have only yourself and God to console your aching heart. How can you be happy under these circumstances? There are people around you who may not be very bright but who still bring good results in witnessing and fund raising. In comparing yourself to them you may think ill of yourself, and that too is painful.
I think the successful witnessers and fund raisers must have some iron shield around their faces and their hearts. Sometimes I admire myself in that way; when I face those who are opposing me I do not feel anything, but I just continue. I am more sensitive than anyone here, yet sometimes I cannot afford to be sensitive. It must be the same for you. You cannot continually respond to all the people who oppose us.
You are fortunate in one thing, however. No matter what hardships you go through, I am one friend who will understand you completely. Not only in the past, but in the present I am going through the same life that you are leading. When your situation becomes difficult then remind yourself that you are not alone because I am sharing that very moment with you. When you live that way then I will give you the best blessing that God can bring. Do not falter because in going the difficult way you will receive God's deepest love. For this reason I keep pushing you to go on. I know that it is worthwhile because God is exactly like that. We must stand at the same place that God is standing and even now God is going through all these things.
When a sigh escapes your mouth, then instantly follow it by saying, "Nevertheless, thank You, God. Through this You can give me blessing. Now I can understand Your present situation. Thank You, for allowing me to go through the same things that You are facing." If you have a complaint because of some discomfort then you must replace it with gratitude. When we take this attitude, Satan cannot accuse us, nor can he oppose us any longer.
I have a story to tell you about Mother. Right after 5 o'clock pledge service on Sunday morning Mother drinks a cup of coffee. I told her that coffee is not good for her and grandmother told about seeing a man in the hospital whose stomach had ruptured after drinking coffee for three months. But Mother said, "If I don't drink this my eyes droop and I'm so drowsy." The children can go back to sleep, but since she cannot she has to drink coffee to stay awake. I felt pity for her and said., "Your life is as draining as mine."
I know that you wake up even earlier, maybe 3 or 4 o'clock, and come all the way up here, and your eyes just won't stay open. Looking down from the platform I see some really funny faces. I have a real sense of our common destiny, and I understand how difficult it is. I have trained myself very purposefully and now I manage to not sleep as many hours a day. I already know how difficult it is for you. Why are we working this hard? We cannot eat more than three times a day, so if you have $3.50 a day then you can live. Then why do you try so hard to do well in fund raising? Are you working to buy your own houses? To misunderstanding eyes we are really crazy people.
Do you know the consequences of this life?
Who really understands that we are doing this for the sake of America? Why don't we just lead peaceful religious lives like the Christians do? Why do we have to push ourselves like this? The reason is that we do everything to save even one more life more quickly. Conservatively speaking, if one percent of the population dies per year that is 40 million people going to the spirit world. Most of them go to hell, don't they?
Later they will come to us and say, "Why did you not save me while I was still on earth? Why did you not tell me about this one day earlier so I could have heard and accomplished something while I was on earth, and then come to heaven? This is so real to me that being called names and going through difficulties on earth is still better than facing those people who would demand to know why we did not do anything while they were still alive on the earth. I would Re to reach even one more life in order to catch that person before he goes to spirit world. This is why all of us must push ourselves even harder.
I have let everybody know what I am here for, and with all of you I am working day in and day out, not wasting even a second. Then even though thousands go to spirit world without knowing God's will, they cannot blame me. On the contrary, when those people who oppose us here on earth go to spirit world all the spirit men will come and accuse them, "Because you opposed the Unification Church on earth I did not have the opportunity to join! " I know that this is happening.
When I wake up to find that I overslept I feel like a sinner because I should have been working during that time. Sleeping in the daytime is virtually unknown to me. This is the kind of life I have been leading. If I sit down in a chair, within ten minutes I can be snoring. I am always tired because I do not sleep. Imagine, in ten years 400 million people will have gone to spirit world. That is twice the population of America. In ten years that is how many more people will be doomed to bell. Can you grasp the significance of this?
You are in the same position. When you go to spirit world the spirit men will blame you for not helping them come to the Divine Principle while on earth. That is why we cannot help but work the way we do. Even though the people call us names here, it is still better than being blamed in spirit world. If you do not witness now, then even your own ancestors will become your enemies and your own offspring may turn against you for not being more dedicated.
Once we grasp this clearly, how can we help but push ourselves? No matter how difficult something may be, can we complain? Knowing this, all of us are trying to change the evil course of the world, trying to change this darkness into light. God also is trying to reach each one of His children in every comer of the world. How truly serious do you feel, knowing that God is looking down at us?
Without that seriousness we are not in a position to even put on our pajamas to go to sleep. Imagine all the spirits in the spirit world looking down at us, knowing that the only way for them to be saved is through working with those of us on earth. If we are not thinking about saving people then how critical and frustrated they will feel. We are very fortunate since we can be liberated while here on earth, needing only one millionth of the effort that it takes to be elevated in the spirit world. This is why we have to make impossible efforts here on earth. Even though we go through intense difficulties here it is still insignificant because we have a body.
When you really do your best and invest every bit of yourself, even if you cannot do any more then the spirit world understands and respects you and cannot accuse you. God knows that too. I will never tell you to take a day off, even when you have been working hard. You don't like that fact, do you? A school child has the same problem. Every time his parents see him, they tell him to study. He does not like it, but his parents keep on telling him anyway. Later, when the child grows up and wishes that he has studied harder, he cannot complain to his parents because they had warned him time and time again.
It will be the same for you when you go to spirit world, and you will ask me, "Father, why did you not tell me to work harder so I could be in a higher place?" But you will not be able to say that because every day I am telling you over and over again to work harder. This is the reason why I am always pushing you to work harder every time I see you. I know too well about the consequences of this life, and that is why I am telling you these things.
If everyone here except one man fails to respond, then in the spirit world everyone else's blessing will go to that one man for his efforts. When that one man happens to be me then I can take all of those blessings to the spirit world and distribute them to the spirit men who had no opportunity to serve directly on earth. This is the reason I do not want to be outdone by you. When you work hard then I will work even harder.
When you are idle you forfeit blessings
When I tell you to do something and you do not do it, then I will do it myself and receive all the blessing for it. In a way you are losing blessing every time you do not respond. When a new member comes who tries more and works harder he will receive greater blessings than older members who are a long time in the church. God's blessings automatically flow to those who work harder. This is true wherever you look in the world; those who work harder get more results. When a vegetable grows bigger and bigger some of the leaves on the plant are bound to wither. The same is true in the Unification Church; as our movement has grown some withering has also been seen. You must work more than anybody else ahead of you and then we will develop as a whole.
A marathon runner does not stop training just because he has accumulated previous experience. If you are experienced then you will practice even more in order to stay ahead of all your competition. For the same reason you have to work harder to keep in the forefront of the enthusiastic new members.
When an electrical wire is hooked up it will easily conduct an electric current, but if the wire is cut it can't function as a conductor. You are here in the Unification Church because of your ancestors' merit. In the same way that electricity goes through a wire that is hooked up, energy from the spirit world will flow through you when you are connected to your mission. Electricity does not need a lot of space; only one wire is necessary to start the electricity flowing. It does not matter how many strands of wire there are as long as they are hooked up. If the wires are cut in just one place then the entire system is of no use.
When you are idle you are forfeiting all your blessings. It is the same as going to school. Perhaps everyone in class is concentrating very intensely on the lectures, but one student is not studying at all. When examination time comes, what happens to him? The professors do not like that kind of person, nor does the school superintendent. I am the superintendent and your leader is the teacher, and if you are a diligent student, then everybody likes you. But people do not care for a student who is not so diligent. What do you choose to do? Are you just going to take it easy and rest, or are you going to work? Or maybe you are waiting for me to finish speaking and then you will dash out and carry on.
In wartime, when bullets are flying and artillery shells are exploding, the soldier who does not want to die is usually the one who gets hit first. The brave man who just goes out and fights as he should without caring about the bullets, surprisingly enough is the one who lives longer. Even the bullets seem to be discriminating, and choose who to hit and who not to hit. The bullets will chase after someone who is trying to escape.
All my life I have been working on the very edge of the realm of possibility. If I had ever retreated at the many moments when everything appeared to be impossible I know that long ago I would have been dead. When I realize that those under me will not be able to make something work then I think, "I'd better do it myself." When I jump into a task then somehow a way to accomplish it always opens before me.
There are some members who are 29 years of age and were almost included in the blessing. Those people may be depressed about that, which is understandable. But think about it-there are so many important things waiting for you in your lives. Consider these things and forget your depression. You can get blessed anytime in the future. As you are idle imagine how many people ate passing in front of you on their way to hell. Have you even stopped to think about that? Every time you are sitting at the table eating, many people are passing on their way to hell.
Have you seen the movie "Silver Streak"? It deals with a train going from California to Chicago and the action develops between the travelers aboard. At one point the conducted is killed and the train's accelerator is somehow weighted down as the train moves faster and faster toward a collision with the Chicago station. Those passengers who know what a tragedy they are speeding toward have to take a great risk to prevent it. They cannot just sit there doing nothing. If God were watching that train carrying His sons and daughters toward death would He say, "Oh, they deserve it since they didn't pay any attention to me." Would He just ignore their situation? Suppose there was one person who knew what was happening and tried very hard to save the train; even if the train crashed and he went to spirit world, God would tenderly lift him up to heaven,
This nation is at stake. Like the runaway train America is heading towards a fatal crash. If somebody becomes aware of the situation and tries his best to save the nation, then even if he fails, when he goes to spirit world would God just leave him in hell? God would certainly lift him up to heaven because of the adventure he dared try. I am thinking in these terms, and trying to inspire you to become such people. Can you promise that you will never complain? These circumstances I have described are not exaggerated. They are very real, yet even under these circumstances God is constantly thinking of establishing the ideal family.
What kind of great leap must we make in order to reach the ideal family? Is it further from Cape Kennedy to the moon, or from the bottom of hell to the highest heaven? This world is a Cape Kennedy where we ignite our own rocket of heart with love, and ride straight up to the world of heaven. This world is our launching pad. Our destination is the heart of God; pursuing that goal seems really dream-like, but it is real. Would you like to get on the rocket? Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to land on the moon; he was the father of astronauts with his strong arm. But you are not only arm-strong, you are strong in every sense, and you must land directly in the heart of God.
To successfully launch a rocket and land it on the distant target of the moon your previous training must be very complex. As you listen to my sermons you are learning how to manipulate the buttons in a very complicated machine. When you ride on a rocket can you push any buttons you want and expect to land on the moon? You must be strong in every sense. You have to learn to live without food for many days, how to stay alert without much sleep, and train yourself in every conceivable way-physically, mentally and spiritually. You have to overcome many personal weaknesses.
Just hearing this inspires you, doesn't it? What if I am telling you a lie? Then you must determine, "I will teach the truth instead of him." You have to try harder than I do myself. When you have hope then everyone else can have hope. Would you be like that? If so, then as I see you again and again I will see you become increasingly beautiful. Please go ahead and do that. If all of you become like that, then God would really be happy to see you. In this world, this kind of training can only be done with God's help; it is like flying from one end of the universe to the other.
Are you interested in the spirit world? Don't you think sometimes that if you could go there once and see it that an immense new universe would open up to you and completely change your perspective? Do you sometimes desire to know about the spirit world so intensely that you wish you could die briefly to see it, and then come back? Do you have this kind of curiosity? If you have this curiosity then when I say something about this, seek out what is behind it. Try to see what is behind my power. Don't you really want to penetrate through the wall of this physical plane and see the world beyond with your own eyes? Once you see for yourself you would be in a position to know if what I say is true or not. Do you think you already know about spirit world? Actually you do not yet know for sure. You do not completely understand what you have been hearing.
With love you can go anywhere and experience anything
You have only heard about die love of God. Have you ever truly experienced the love of God personally? None of you really have. When you slaughter a chicken and pull the tendon in its leg, then the chicken's foot will draw together. If you pull the coat of God's love and just keep pulling it, the entire universe will eventually come into the bosom of God. Once you are intoxicated in the love of God then your eyes, your nose, your ears, mouth and hands will become focused on one point. When you are focused on one dot your entire being becomes completely one.
When you are feeling good, then your entire self will say, "Good!" in unison. In the same way, when you are completely one with God, you will tag along wherever He goes. You just cannot stand to be separated when you are in the midst of that love. Then all the universe rejoices with you in your happiness. When you really feel good then the entire universe will answer your feelings, like an echo in the mountains. When you say, "Ah," then all the universe will echo, "Ah." We have a saying in Korea that when one is really happy, "His eyes are just tumbling over." It means that his eyes are not just tumbling over, but almost popping out of his head. This is actually something that is beyond explanation.
Men are created to receive that kind of love from God. The couple that is united in that kind of love will be inseparable, and even as they are taking a breath, the entire universe will join them in that breath. Wouldn't you want to be near them and experience that? The fastest speed is spirit world is the speed of love, which is even faster than that of electricity and light. When you are deeply anxious to see God and you say, "Father," God is already beside you. The spirit world is governed with love. Although you do not know what love is you still like that idea, don't you?
There is nowhere that love cannot go and nothing that it cannot go through. With a special lookingglass of love you can see through anything into the real basis of existence. You can even see God's image, for He is not without image, and so you can experience love with God who has a form. In Paul's words, "You are Christ's, and Christ is God's." That is only a small expression. Your experience can be a million times greater.
Each one of us originally possesses the value that makes us eligible to experience this. That is the way we were originally created. It is almost too good to be true, isn't it? Even if it is not true, it is the best untruth there is. If this is true, what then? Would you willingly bet your life on it? We must go on with this to nothing less than the whole world. Actually Mother would not be happy to hear this, but strictly speaking, I do not have any real affection for this physical world. However, because I have things to accomplish here, I am doing everything I can while on earth. Sometimes I think about life in the spirit world, even in the night. Even though you may have a sleepless night, somehow you never feel tired when you are absorbed in that spiritual environment.
True love is more than lightning and thunder
I know very clearly that there is nothing which can control love. If there were a man and a woman who could both extend themselves fully in love, wouldn't their marriage be really fantastic? As soon as you see a bright flash of lightning you know you will hear a great roll of thunder. Have you ever stopped to think about why God created such bright lightning, to be followed by a great roll of thunder? Now imagine God's two extremes, plus and minus. What if they were to short circuit; do you think it would make a bigger explosion than the lightning and thunder? You cannot conceive how much bigger. Similarly, in God's love a man has plus voltage and a woman has minus voltage. When a true man and woman unite in love then the entire universe will see the lightning and be shaken by the thunder. That catches God's attention, and He is surprised Himself, just to experience that. Then God is drawn right into the midst of the relationship.
That is the greatest rhythm in all the universe. Man and woman were originally created for this. However, since the fall they do not have this voltage of love, and when a man and woman love each other nothing happens; no powerful current of love flows between them. If a man and woman were to have the voltage of true love then their marriage would be ideal, almost like a fairy tale. The entire universe is eagerly waiting for this kind of love to brighten every comer of the cosmos. That day is finally here.
Have you prepared yourself to become that kind of woman? A strong current will be connected to the man and woman, and when even a small current starts to flow then the earth and the universe will tremble in resonance. Have you ever imagined such a moment? Human beings the world over have never experienced these things. How false their world is! This power of love is the ideal that God had in mind from the beginning when He created man. Would you all like to fulfill the ideal of this morning's talk, the ideal family from the viewpoint of God's dispensation?
I want every inch of every one of you to become refined like pure gold. Is pure gold different on the inside and the outside? A person reflecting this purity does not have any fallen thought. To become one with God one needs to be pure; can you be false gold and achieve that? Jesus told his disciples that everyone must become perfect as their father in heaven is perfect.
If you are pure gold then it is so easy for you and God to melt and become one. Combining two different metals may be difficult, but pure gold can easily blend with pure gold. When you compare yourself to me, are we made of the same substance? Think about that; you have to cleanse and cleanse and cleanse your hearts and minds every day for a long time to become pure gold so that you can become one with God.
We must also become one with the world. The physical world and spirit world are divided up into many classes. All the walls that separate people must be done away with so that they can become one. After each of you do away with all these walls you can become completely one with the world, but for this to be possible you must become pure gold.
Fallen man is gold that is contaminated by foreign metals. We have to go to the refinery to separate those out and replace them with gold. In this refining process we should not be washed away but withstand the test of all the worldly currents passing through us.
Each one of you have to become a ray of hope for both heaven and hell, so that even God can say that you have brought hope. Have you become convinced that after you train and perfect yourselves, that you will become people of pure gold, and one with God? When you and your spouses are blessed then your love will be just as strong and dynamic as I have been describing.
When you really enter into the depth of love, then even without looking with your eyes you begin to see everything. In the same way, even without listening with your ears you hear everything, and you even begin to taste everything just as you sit. In that depth of love nothing will attract your attention except love. The universe will be full of nothing but love and you will be the perfection of everything, and the owner of everything. Beyond that there is nothing else you can desire.
Love has that quality because God has that quality; this is why mankind has not given up hope of having love, even though they have been struggling up to this point. When I begin to speak about the depths of love, I completely lose track of time; and many times I continue on for four or five hours. That is enough time to fly from New York clear to the West Coast. Is that five hour flight boring or not? Do you have an aching back, or are you all excited? Imagine how exciting it would be if I could express all of this in English! Even if someone were to encourage you to doze off, you could never go to sleep, and your eyes would open wider and wider.
If you were really intense and grave, then you could hear things directly from the spirit world, and spiritually see things right from where you are sitting. We could all become like that. One example of spiritual awareness is coming into Belvedere. Even though there may be people around when you walk into Belvedere and look around, it feels like nobody is here. When I am here then people want to come, but when I am not here Belvedere feels empty, even though there are people here. The Washington family told me that when I am there the center seems filled with people, but once I leave then all of a sudden the house feels empty, even though all the people still remain. Do you feel that sometimes? What if I did not exist? It would be as if all the world were here but were empty. Why do you feel like that?
Only love can fill the universe
When love is present then love fills every comer of the universe. If God did not exist, then the world would be empty because God's love would be absent. But if God were here and His love filled the earth then you would feel that the world was full. If He dwells within us then we are filled with everything. Even in a family, when the husband comes home and his children run to greet him the first thing he says to the children is, "Where is your mother?" The wife is the same way. If she goes out shopping somewhere, when she comes back home many children are there, but the first thing she asks is, "Where is Daddy?" Why? It is because of a longing for love, a feeling of "Where is my love?" What can fill this vast universe? Not even air can fill it. We can only fill it with love.
The man with love can go anywhere and still be happy and contented. Without love a man can go anywhere and still feel empty. In spirit world this is even more real. The man who is filled with God's love feels satisfied and whole everywhere he goes. It is understandable. If we experience God's love and remain stable in that, then we become the source of the spark of love and can be called sons of thunder and lightning.
Would you want to give birth to sons and daughters once you were blessed in marriage? When a man and wife love each other like that, then their sons and daughters dwell in that harmony, rejoicing in each other, and caring for each other. That love would interact within the family, among the father and mother and all the children. An arc light is extremely bright, like a spotlight. The current does not pass through a filament but creates an arc of silver light. The energy or current of abundant love creates that kind of brilliant silvery light. God wants to live within that kind of bright home, within the warmth of such love. Wouldn't you like to create that kind of family in the future?
God is alive and like us, isn't He? He must also want to live like all men; He never had the desire to live all by Himself but to live among His sons and daughters in the midst of abundant love. What kind of love would He like to live in? In electrical terms, would He like to live in the light of electric bulbs like these, or would He like to live in the brilliance of an arc light? God would like to live in the arc light of love. If you would like to experience that kind of love in the future, the first thing you have to do is prepare yourselves for marriage. Unless you are pure like gold then when you come under an intense arc light you just could not stand the heat. If you are made up of any other inferior material you would just bum away.
Raise your hands if you have taken drugs and lived a hippie life. Almost all. Some scholar took a poll and found that 75% of our members are exhippies. We have to show people a brand-new hippie, a "King Hippie," who will originate new fashions and concepts of life. That is the kind of hippie that God likes, while Satan likes the ordinary hippies. Here for the first time we have heard about such essential things as life rights and love rights. Here we have also created a new person, called a "kingpie," who also has the habit of eating kimchee. Americans will just shake their heads in amazement.
You can become men and women of pure gold with the love of God in your hearts and form ideal families. This is the ideal family I have described this morning. Just imagine that perfect man and wife, the original ideal of creation. We have just imagined that this morning; we have not become that ideal as yet. Has God connected His own source of power to you yet? Have you prepared yourselves for blessing in such a way that when the two wires touch then a huge spark will jump between them? How may karats of gold are you, 24, 14, or 8 karats? Would you like to stay where you are, or would you like to purify yourselves to become 24 karat gold?
You need a passport from Satan and a visa from heaven
What kind of furnace can purify you? You guessed very quickly! All the iron, copper and other foreign metals will be processed out of you in hell, and in their place God will fill you with gold. Therefore, you are actually going into hell in God's name, not in Satan's name. There is no other way to refine yourselves. All the corruption which we inherited from the satanic world will be drawn away and only our gold will remain. After that God can fill with gold the holes left by the other metals.
After that, even if you want to stay in hell, Satan will say, "This is not the place for you. You have to leave." When you really become like that Satan will write you a passport, "This man is completely free from me; he is qualified to stay in heaven." No one but Satan can write you a passport to leave hell. Has Satan issued you a passport saying that you can go? Your visa to heaven is written by an angel from God and you can go to the original place that God intended for man, being a true man for the first time. You are qualified to proceed to heaven after you win over Satan and take dominion over the angels. This is the way of restoration: we must do something that even Satan and the angels cannot do. After we do that we are given passports and visas and then we can proceed into heaven.
This is similar to the old world, where even though you have a passport and are free to leave, if the place to which you are going does not release a visa then you cannot enter. When you have both then you have the qualification for blessing. Those who have both your passport and visa, raise your hand. Nobody? But on the other hand, those who want to be blessed, raise your hand. All of you. The angel also wanted to be blessed even before he was qualified, and then he and Eve both fell. You also want to be blessed but it is not the time yet. Do you understand that you are situated at that very same point?
Many of you were stimulated by the 74 Couple Blessing of a few days ago. You watched that and thought, "I want to be blessed too." Those of you who were not affected by that and didn't even think of yourselves getting blessed do not even qualify to receive the blessing next time. Raise your hand if you compared your position to that of the marrying couples, thinking, "I want to become blessed also, but I'm not prepared so I'd better become prepared! You are like good businessmen!
Businessmen you may be, but you must become pure gold. If you are pure, then no matter how strongly the satanic world opposes you, can your gold be altered into copper? What if you are twisted around-suppose a heavy roller rolled you out-are you still gold? If somebody did everything to provoke you, spitting at you and calling you names, would you still not change? Do you sometimes wonder why you have to put up with this, and feel like jumping in a car and killing yourself?
Instead maybe you wish your opponent would be killed by an automobile! To love your enemy is a most wonderful thing. In that case, you are still pure gold even while you are going through hell. We have to realize our objective as Unification Church members; no matter what hardships we go through, we must continue to purify ourselves and become pure gold. Going through hell is the only way for us to become pure gold. Through test after test we must drain ourselves of all fallen nature and be filled with God's gold. We cannot achieve this by going into a palace or by being comfortable. Before Americans finally understand us the whole nation will go against you, melting you down as they call you names and mock you. But once they realize that you are actually made of pure gold they will gradually change their attitudes and start respecting you.
Whenever pure gold goes through the furnace, its weight stays the same because no foreign metals are drawn off. You will reach heaven when you have become victors over all the satanic world, going through all of hell and winning over it. I have been going through the individual and family course, and now am striving to accomplish on the world level. I have been persecuted and have suffered, but my liberation is near. The day will come when all the people who oppose me will sign a statement testifying that I am a royal worker for the heavenly world. They have started making drafts already. Even though such a man may have opposed me, once he carefully examines what we are doing and realizes he was wrong, he will have no further reason to oppose me. Once he recognizes the goodness of what we are doing he will become a member, and try to become many times better than the rest of you.
Once you prepare yourself, what kind of spouse are you going to get? Is he or she going to hold a college degree or be very handsome or beautiful, or be refined and high-standard in every way? Would you like to marry that kind of spouse, or would you like to marry someone who is deformed and misfigured and of a different race than you had expected? Would you be willing to many that kind of spouse? After you become pure gold, you will not care so much about external appearances or college degrees, but more about how pure your spouse is. Would you rather marry a very good-looking spouse who is not pure gold, or would you rather be with an ugly person who is 24 karat gold?
What is so different in the Unification Church? Our philosophy of marriage and value of love are what is completely different. We are not contented with some small love, but are always reaching for what we were originally designed to be; we want to occupy this great big love of God with our own pure gold love. In this country the custom is a little different, but in the Orient women nurse their children. When God looks down on a woman of pure gold nursing her child he is filled with heart-felt laughter and happiness at seeing such a beautiful sight.
Can you say with confidence, "My husband is the best in the whole world because of his inner nature, and therefore my child is the one whom God can love the most. I too, am completely one with God and His love." How can you become like that? God will look at you with His eyes filled with love if you can be like that. When you are filled inside with love then nothing looks ugly or hateful. If you are truly in love, then you can handle the soiled sheets or clothes of your spouse and still not feel that they are dirty. When you have absolute love for another then even the dirtiest thing about them actually appears clean. Some married people have experienced this to a certain extent.
If God's love is dwelling within a person, then no matter how ugly he may be by worldly standards you will love him; external appearance is just not noticed among those who love God. There is a saying that beauty is only skin-deep. Those who occupy God's love have unlimited beauty. I want every one of you to become part of an ideal family which resides in the heart of God.
This morning we have spent much time already but actually I have not been able to complete my talk. Next time I will continue on this topic. Maybe next Sunday we will assemble here at 3 o'clock in the morning. Is that all right? I expect that none will be absent.
Now we know we have to become good and perfect husbands and wives. If I forget this topic next time and start talking to you on a different subject, then remind me to continue. Let us pray.
