Belvedere, New York
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
The blessing in our church has a very special meaning. You know through the Divine Principle that Adam and Eve, the forefathers of mankind fell. The fall was their deviation from their original position, and they fell down into an unprincipled realm, far from their original state. Because of the fall of man human history started from a position of sorrow and tears and could not reach a position of happiness and blessing. Then where can the blessing start?
The history of the blessing must begin with Adam and Eve, and two positions are needed to consummate the blessing: the giver of the blessing and the receiver of the blessing. Since a blessing without God has no meaning, it can only be received centered on Him. By giving His blessing to all mankind God will receive it back again in glory. In that way the blessing belongs to God as well as to men.
What is the content of this blessing? The blessing is a reward, the most supreme form of giving between God and man. In our secular world, the word blessing is used in many ways. If a person becomes rich, he might call it a blessing. If parents have good sons and daughters then someone might comment that they have a real blessing.
The blessing is life, love and the ideal
The blessing is given to both men and women. What is the most supreme blessing that they could receive? The supreme blessing is life itself, springing from the same origin as love. When we talk about life and love we are not talking about them separately; there must be one life and one love that originates from God. In other words, life and love are united in oneness in God. On the foundation of such life and such love the ideal can come about.
You men here are wonderful, proud people, yet your lives come from one person, God. You know that you have life, but do you know that inside that life you have love as well? In reality your love cannot be seen or proven until you meet a woman. A woman is the one who will awaken your love. You can insist that you have love and try to prove it, but no one will see that love until the day it is sparked by a woman.
Love will not be ignited unless a circuit can be formed. Electricity is similar in that it cannot be activated until a circuit is completed. A positive charge is manifested only in conjunction with a negative charge. You have that potential inside of you, yet it will not blossom until such time as it is activated.
We also have an ideal, but that ideal will not be seen until it is stimulated by something. If one person is dancing alone with no one watching, he must be a little crazy. But if he has even a little puppy to dance with, then his actions make sense because he has something with which to have the give and take of joy. Unless that circuit is formed between subject and object, however, then that individual is really crazy. Even Almighty God, who has all power and dominion over creation needs to find an object in order to form a circuit of reciprocal give and take; otherwise no energy or activity can be really meaningful.
I am just the same. If I were talking here alone, without you listening, I would be crazy. You are there stimulating me, and I am here stimulating you. Let us think of God. God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent; since He has everything and He can do everything, do you think He needs love? Can He generate love all by Himself? God does indeed possess the potential for love, the seed of love; the origin and base for love are within God Himself, yet until an object responds to His love, until a circuit is formed for that love, it will not be activated.
Imagine God being all by Himself in this universe. If God is shouting out, "Boy, it's a joyful day and I'm really excited," then in that case God is crazy too. Now we are being taught the greatest part of the Principle: Even God needs an object. Even God needs someone to love and someone to be loved by. Without love, without the ideal the world of existence would not make any sense; it would be an absolutely pitch-dark, dead world.
Why do we sing? Is singing the expression of joy and hope or hatred? Then how can joy be expressed? Songs can be divided into three categories: those that express a longing for joy, those that actually express joy and those that express sorrow over the lack of joy. In all three categories there must be a subject and object; a song about yourself alone would not be meaningful. When we talk about joy, we are automatically talking about someone else besides ourselves. The subject-object relationship is a prerequisite for joy. Before joy can exist there must be two poles that can form a circuit.
Throughout history much art and literature have been created and all of these express a yearning for joy, joy itself, or sorrow. Do we all need someone besides ourselves? The birds sing; even insects sing, yet no matter how trivial they may be, their singing and beautiful sounds are not for themselves. They are for someone else, for a partner, for their neighbors.
In sports a circuit is always formed between partners or teammates. Sports are primarily games which have two sides and one central purpose for either competition or unity. It is a most logical and important principle that this universe is made up of subjects and objects in reciprocal relationships, and they automatically have give and take which produces energy, the energy of life, the energy of joy, and the energy of love.
What kind of subject or object do you need: something temporal and changing or something lasting and eternal? Why do you pursue an unchanging quality? It is because things that are unchanging are connected to the truth. Then what is truth?
Truth is eternal, unchanging and unique
Truth has three qualifications: it is eternal, unchanging and unique. Truth will never tarnish. Even in this secular world, the things people nominally consider treasures are materials or precious stones that will not change in color, tone or quality, and will not decay. Treasures then have a certain unique and eternal quality. For instance people consider diamonds to be precious; do diamonds change from morning to night?
A diamond is harder than rock, and it has a unique shine which only a diamond can radiate. We can conclude that a diamond has unique, unchanging, and eternal qualities. Gold is also considered precious because it will not rust or tarnish; its quality remains on and on. A pearl also has a special kind of shine and uniqueness.
Are we true men and women, or are we fake and artificial? This is a very serious question. You may think that you are true men and women, but when you really know the Divine Principle you must ask yourself again, "Am I really a true person, unchanging, unique and eternal?" Do your minds change? When you have a changing mind, are you real; are you a true man? Think about it-when a person's mind is changing from morning to night, from one day to another, do you think his actions will also change or not?
How about a person's speech? When his mind is changing will his way of speaking change or not? That changing quality belongs in only one place: the trashcan. A prison could be called the trashcan of human society. There is also a big trashcan in spirit world which we call hell.
What is hell all bout? Hell is where all the fake and untruthful things are gathered together into one place. The people in hell are fighting and struggling all the time; consequently there is no unity, no beauty or harmony there. Then what is heaven? The unchanging world where words and actions will not change is heaven. God's Principle will not change, even after millions and billions of years.
Should we welcome a changing quality or an unchanging quality? Let me ask a more serious question. You are men and women, but there are two kinds of men and women: true and fake ones. In which category do you belong? Men and women have their own individual pride and dignity and think that they have everything necessary to be the royalty of this universe. However, their quality will be decided upon looking deep down into their hearts.
Your value as men and women will be decided by whether you are eternal, unchanging and unique. There are a million different kinds of people and levels of accomplishment. Neither men nor women are all the same. Is it true that the ideal is always changing? Is the ideal situation a temporary thing, remaining only a little while and then vanishing? Is the ideal a common thing, to be found anywhere, with nothing unique about it?
Communism is based on change, not truth
Today there are two worlds confronting each other: the democratic world and the communist world, both of which are pursuing certain ideals. Is the free world based on an unchanging truth or on one which is still changing? How about the communist world? Relatively speaking, which is closer to the ideal of God? Since you are living in the free world you might say that the free world is closer to the ideal, but perhaps the people behind the Iron Curtain will consider the communist world closer to God. Then how can we decide between them?
There is a standard of judgment to determine which one is truer than the other. The truer one is the same on the inside and outside, the top and bottom, whereas the untruthful one always has different qualities on the inside and outside, the right and left, and top and bottom.
The truth is always the same, whether on the right or left, top or bottom, inside or outside. In communism, though, the theory itself is based on change, on a theory which they call dialectical materialism. Therefore, communism cannot be true. Already their theory, their dogma, or " ism," is based upon the quality of change. In contrast, the truth is unchanging.
In theory, communism strives to improve society by centering on division and confrontation. There is no unchanging purpose in that theory. It is not the eternal truth at all; it is based on a lie. Communists say that society will always divide into two factions, which must then clash in confrontation and create a new society through the ensuing struggle. Can you believe that men and women become united by fighting one another? In communist theory though, to reach the ideal, to be a good husband or wife, you must fight!
The communist theory is destructive because it is based on a lie. Instead of bringing harmony, it brings division. Look at the communist system; because their own dogma, their own principle, is full of lies, they must use some method to cover it up. They can only sustain their power through using threats and clandestine operations, through creating fear in the hearts of the people.
I recognize that the free world is imperfect and even corrupt, yet the free world acknowledges the eternal, unchanging, and unique nature of God. The free world is based on a God-accepting ideology and consequently is still closer to God. Particularly in the democratic system all men are recognized as equal, from the president down to the common man.
The free world is at least making an effort to make its internal and external standards the same. There is no boundary between the internal and the external; the free world exposes to the outside everything which is on the inside, even when it is dirty and ugly.
The communist leaders, however, regiment human society and separate people so that they are afraid to communicate. Between the government and the people there is no real communication. Even within families there is no real honesty between husband and wife because the husband is under the surveillance of his own wife, and the wife is under the surveillance of her own husband. In the communist system there are always secret agents everywhere; consequently, when people are given a certain mission they know that there are always eyes watching them on behalf of the government. The government is almost like a big eye watching everywhere.
In order to get things done the government will threaten peoples' lives. In order to hide the fundamental lie within their principle the communists are trying to conquer love. They try to control the peoples' love, ideals and ideology by regimenting their thoughts. Under communist regimes you have no freedom to think.
All the propaganda about the glorious reality of communism today is far from the truth. The communist system is a cruel system where there are unending purges and friends can become enemies or disappear overnight. The aim of communism is world domination; consequently the government policies are aimed toward conquest of the free world. But even if there were no free world to fight with, the communists would not be at peace; they would fight among themselves about how to apply their own principle.
Right now the communist goal is to destroy the free world. If they achieved that goal they would inevitably destroy themselves because their ideology inherently fosters destruction. In other words, communism is now merging as a satanic ideology which aims to destroy the world and annihilate mankind.
Russia and China are both communist, but they are mutually hostile and even internally divided into factions. They profess that the world will become one through fighting and struggle, but that is their biggest lie. Currently America lacks conviction and the communist ideology is not only influencing many Americans but is even accepted by many of them. By an order of God I came to America to declare that communism is the enemy of God and of humanity, and I came to liberate mankind from that false ideology. Should I be the only person to have that conviction?
Everyone who is sincerely pursuing the unchanging, eternal, unique quality of truth must become a staunch adversary of the satanic ideology of communism. It is a very dangerous sign that here in America and elsewhere people cannot perceive why communism is so bad. They ask, "Why are you so bitter about communism? It may bring some good to the free world." Such people are not true men, but men of changing conviction.
Many people even advise me, saying, "After all, communism is a formidable power. Why are you making such a fierce crusade against it? You should be a little more diplomatic, a little more quiet about it." Those people want me to just speak quietly about the other churches and leave them alone too because the Unification Church is still considered an insignificant movement. I cannot do that; the truth must be spoken.
When God comes to the earth He will proclaim His truth. Therefore, a messenger from God must take His position and speak out strongly about the evils and corruption of society. If the government is doing something wrong, then he must speak out. If churches are in error, then he must speak out, and if the media is wrong, then he must speak out, and not only speak out, but live up to his words and make an earnest effort to correct the wrong. The situation is really a confrontation between unchanging and changing qualities. Which one do you think will inevitably fall?
In history there have been so many battles. The army which has the most determined front-line soldiers will be the strongest one. Can a soldier decide to take a vacation from a war and tell the enemy to wait until he gets back? If you were commander-in-chief, which kind of army would you want-an army which is changing day and night, or one with unchanging conviction, which is always ready?
You must be unchanging
The same principle applies in our lives. Think of whether your own actions from day to day are unchanging. If you stand upon the Principle then your actions have quality and value. The teacher who has unchanging conviction is respected, regardless of whether he is criticized or not. Parental love toward children must be unchanging. Could a parent say, "I loved you yesterday, but I don't love you today; I don't want you." Is that the love of a parent?
Men have many kinds of occupations, including thieving and murder. What kind of man or woman are you? In the evil world more crimes are committed by men than by women. Do you admit that men are a little more dangerous? If a man with a rifle has one direction, one goal, then he is controlled and disciplined, but usually a man changes direction twelve times a day and his gun is being pointed in many directions. You must realize that your thoughts are like bullets and you are actually firing them every day. Most people fire them in many different directions, but the true person fires them in only one direction.
The thoughts of an unprincipled, undisciplined person are erratic, going one direction in the morning and another in the evening. If that unprincipled man is smiling and beckoning you to come, you should hesitate because he is not truthful inside; he would try to exploit you or take advantage of you.
When you realize how wild your thoughts are, going in twelve different directions, you can imagine what a dangerous person you can be! But are such people true or false, valuable or valueless? Should such people be encouraged or stopped? The important thing to consider is whether you belong to the kind of people who need to be encouraged or stopped.
An unprincipled culture is coming out of America
Do you want to be treated as a true man? Do you deserve such treatment? When God sees untruthful, unprincipled people whose lives are based on lies, without truth, with no central point how do you think God feels? Such men are not really men. In many cases men are worse than animals; isn't that true? That kind of unprincipled culture is coming out of what is called the hippie culture here in America. In order to nurture our bodies we need food every day, not just once every several weeks. Do we need a balanced diet when we eat? Or should we go to extremes, eating only salt, or eating only sugar?
We also need a daily diet of love, but love, too, give aid to poor nations. Do they receive that respect must be balanced, and not take some extreme form. now? In many cases American young people do not When you cat the wrong kind of food, a pound of salt know the value of freedom, saying, "I don't need my or a pound of sugar, you have stomach trouble. In the parents; I don't need my nation. I have my freedom same way, the wrong kind of love will give you and I can do anything, I want." Where does that trouble. You will get "love diarrhea."
Many people enjoy what they call "free sex." That kind of unprincipled, carnal, dirty love is deadly. It is like eating a pound of dirty salt or sugar in the form of love. The spirit of a person who engages in free sex is so distorted that it even seems non-human. That kind of spirit body is the most hideous, dirty human form in the world. There is medicine to cure stomach problems, but there is no cure for the damage that free sex does to your spirit. It will only destroy you.
When you look at American society today, particularly at the lives of the young people, many deadly trends are seen: drugs, free sex, streaking. It is a form of judgment from God to expose human sins and the corruption of human nature. An operation requires cutting the body open; that is what is going on now in America. The dirtiness is being exposed. The American culture today is extremely materialistic, carnal, unprincipled, and immoral, and will bring the rest of the world down to hell. It need not be respected or followed. The God of morality and principle cannot forgive this or leave it alone. If America as it is now were acceptable in the sight of God, we would have to conclude that there is no God in this universe.
In the Unification Church we want to re-create ourselves as true men, acceptable in the sight of God. Will a true man accept only white people and not care about black people or yellow people? What is the concept of the true man? Are white people the only ones who appreciate precious things? What about blacks and Orientals? By the same token, the truth shines out-in the past, present, and future-to women, men, senior citizens, and young people everywhere. Even a criminal about to be executed would want to hold on to some precious thing he may have. The truth also has that value.
Today the young people of America are needed everywhere; in the past the rest of the world has really respected the idealistic American youth who tried to give aid to poor nations. Do the receive that respect now? In many cases American young people do not know the value of freedom, saying, "I don't need my parents; I don't need my nation. I have my freedom and I can do anything I want." Where does that person's value lie? Such a man is useless to the world and to God.
A new movement of truth must come
A new movement of the truth must come about which can bring man back to his true, original quality, which can shine up his rusty spots, and restore his original shine. That movement is none other than the Unification Church. Once the truth touches a man, then no one can stifle or remove it. When the truth comes into you it will clean you by judging all the foreign elements in you, by moving them out, and by preserving you in purity.
All men, even in the fallen world, have a dormant desire for unchanging truth embedded deep in their innermost hearts. Even though they lead very extreme and carnal lives, once the truth touches them that sleeping desire will be awakened and immediately ignited. The cleansing process will begin, and that person will start a new life of internal discipline and good habits, and you will witness their new life well up from inside and grow. This revolution of man is completely possible with absolute truth and will happen quite instantly. Even though you may not recognize it right away, once the truth touches a man, this kind of revolution will automatically begin in his heart.
Some of those people who are teaching Divine Principle in classes all over the world have never even seen me, however, the outside world still believes that I am a super hypnotist. In a way I am glad for that title; if that were the truth, I could hypnotize the entire communist world and the editors of the New York Times and the Washington Post. But that is not the reality. The reality is that the march of truth is going on, revolutionizing every human heart it touches. It is a slow process, but no power under the sun can stop my work because it is the march of truth.
Young people of the Unification Church, why are you here? Is this a group for free sex? Drugs? Actually many people who were in despair came here and saw the light of truth and had a revolution of truth ignited in their hearts; now they are becoming genuinely decent, God-centered young people in the Unification Church. For that do you think I deserve a citation from the United States government or deportation papers?
Are there more fake and dishonest things on the market, or items of genuine quality? In many cases the things of real value are hidden away somewhere, unadvertised. If a person has a million dollar diamond will he go all over the world and announce it, or will he just calmly cherish owning such a precious diamond?
Will that person wrap it up in rags or in a beautiful cloth, hidden in a beautiful box in the safest place in his home? Actually, diamond owners who worry about thieves often wrap their treasures in very humble cloths, and keep them in some humble place in order to not attract attention.
God hid a diamond here
God operates on the same principle. God is giving us a true diamond-in this case, truth. God is not exhibiting that truth in some glittering palace but wrapping it in humble cloth and leaving it in a humble place like Belvedere. Are you sitting in a very gorgeous palace or a humble garage? I do not think you will ever find another church like this. You are sitting in a garage on a hard cement floor, shivering and aching because the wind is blowing in; downstairs they are listening without even seeing my face. This is really a unique church!
Did you come with a willing heart this morning? Are you full of complaints now? Why not? It is because you found a diamond here in this humble setting, wrapped in humble cloth, and you can be the owner of that diamond. Do you have that joy? Your legs are becoming numb and aching, but your faces are shining and happy. People outside our Church cannot even imagine such a joyful experience in this kind of setting when they read about Reverend Moon and the Unification Church.
The negative publicity has made our wrapping appear even more ragged and rough, and no one imagines that they might find some super-diamond inside. This is the situation right now. The people outside who enjoy luxury and power and fame do not even bother to look inside the Unification Church. Only those who are really eager to find the truth can end up in the Unification Church. This is God's whole strategy. What we need in the Unification Church today are true men and women, not wishy-washy people who make half-hearted commitments. In order to find these people, God wrapped the Unification Church in humble rags.
Is this a good or evil group? Shouldn't I be unhappy, being misrepresented to people by the media and accused of crimes by all sides? In reality though, I am the happiest person in the universe. I am aloof of what the world is saying about me because I am addressing history. I know that history is my friend; the past, present and future will be on my side. I am transcending national barriers, cultural barriers, religious credal barriers, and language barriers, bringing one solid concept of the unity of love.
Recently there has been a trend towards imitation, for instance, imitation pearls and diamonds. I am sitting like a true diamond among the imitations at the auction. My own diamond looks the same as the others, even more unassuming, while the imitation diamonds are huge and glittery. Now people are deciding what to buy at the auction; many white people are saying, "I don't want that particular humble diamond." Maybe yellow people will feel that way too, but who knows, maybe the black people will say, "I will settle for that humble diamond."
Blacks have an important mission
I see that in sports more and more blacks are the prominent world champions. Every year more blacks are emerging at the top, replacing whites. Is that true? I hope that blacks in America and all over the world will have the wisdom to recognize the true diamond of truth. If blacks are equipped with God's ideology, then, coupled with their sense of physical power, I think they have a glorious future that white people could never compete with.
Who is opposing me the most here in America? Our adversaries are primarily white; however, the more that the whites oppose us, the greater is the chance for blacks to receive God's blessing. Heaven will never lose. Our black brothers and sisters are going to be important. A black man played an important role at the time of Jesus' crucifixion. When Jesus stumbled while carrying his cross to Calvary, a black person, Simon of Cyrene, took up Jesus' burden. That act was very significant; when the Last Days come, black people will be burdened with an important mission from God and will contribute greatly to God's overall dispensation.
It is important, however, that blacks be equipped with the true ideology. Corruption has come primarily from white society. Because of this I feel that some dynamic black spiritual leaders will be the hope of America in the future. Where would you go then? You must launch a heavenly assault on the white people in order to liberate them.
The satanic way of doing things is to just attack. But in the Unification Church we want to embrace and liberate the people. I never tell you to attack the communists and kill them. I tell you to liberate them, to save them. This is one major difference between God and Satan.
What is true love?
Actually I have not talked much about blessing this morning. Let us go back to that topic. We have reached one interesting conclusion: truth is eternal, unchanging, and unique. What is the core, the central point of truth? Everybody likes true love. What is true love then? Let us look into that unchanging quality of love in this world.
The love between parents and children is closer to the qualification of the truth-that is, unchanging and everlasting-than the love between husband and wife. And in that love between the parents and children, the love going from the parent to the child is much closer to that quality of truth than the love going from the child to the parent. The love going from the parent to child is the trunk line of love, the central point which does not change from age to age. In order to become a recipient of this unchanging love of the parent, the child should also become a person who can give unchanging love. His love will be manifested in the form of obedience to his parents. If the child has a willing heart of voluntary obedience to his parents, then the parents and child can be united.
Can true love be found through money or organization? No, but we can find true love through obedience to and harmony with our parents. Distrust and division are the opposite of harmony and unity, and make it impossible to create a base of love. The most important truth in this universe is that God is the parent of mankind, and that Adam and Eve were the children of God. This most important relationship did not come alive for humanity. What should happen in order to have that true love come into being? God's children must become obedient and unite with Him.
There is only one way that children can become one with their parents: in willing obedience to them. Did Adam and Eve obey God? By their disobedience their relationship with God was destroyed. Before anything else, we must restore mankind's obedience to our parent, God. To restore all the destruction and the fallen actions of mankind a movement of unprecedented obedience to God, one that can bring unity between God and men, must come about. That is a prerequisite to fulfilling the love of God and the love of man. Once you become one with God by obedience, He becomes yours and you become His. God becomes you and you become God through the explosive power of love.
This same principle applies between husband and wife; they should always be saying yes to each other. If a suggestion comes from her husband then the wife should answer yes. If a suggestion comes from his wife, the husband should answer yes. Will that bring them into unity or not? Through that harmony will their love disappear or be intensified? Should men, women, or love be the central point? Love must be the center. Nobody can deny this logic.
Communists will not succeed
in breaking down love
Communists are trying to break down love, even the eternal love of parents for their children. The nature of parents is to love their children, but communists have denied that and are trying to eliminate that love. Do you think they will succeed? They will never, never succeed.
If the son or daughter of the top official in the Soviet government committed some crime against the communist party and was sentenced to death, would that communist boss look at his own child at the execution site and say, "You are my child, but you deserve your death. You committed crimes against the communist party and you should die; I curse you"? Or at that moment would he forget about being the boss of the communist party and plead, "Is there any way I can save my son? Is there any way that there can be mercy for him?" As a parent, would he have compassion on his child, or would he curse him?
How about the theoreticians or the philosophers who teach Marxism at the universities? They teach that Marxism is the universal truth which will liberate all mankind, but when their own children make a mistake or deny that philosophy and are sentenced to some cruel punishment, how will they feel? Can they completely liberate themselves from their human nature?
Laborers and factory workers and farmers all feel the same emotions for their children. Are there varying degrees of human nature? Parental love is a natural law. Even animals instinctively know their offspring and try to protect their precious babies. When you see a hen trying to protect her little chicks you know clearly that protection of the young is an innate instinct. Is there power which can revolutionize this animal instinct? With dialectical materialism can they reorganize the animal world, saying to the chickens, "Chicken, you must believe in Marxism!" Nothing can revolutionize this basic nature because God created it that way. No one can overpower God's Principle of Creation. Can you accept that logic?
God wants to be the Parent of mankind
Where does parental love originate? Are we born with it? Do we learn it somehow, or is it automatic? It must have some universal origin. Your parents came from their parents, and their parents came from your grandparents. There must be a starting point somewhere. We know that this beautiful human nature was created and given because we are resultant beings; we ourselves are not the cause of the universe. Since we have certain innate natures as resultant beings, we must have some origin or cause; we are the mirror image of that cause.
It is scientific that there can be no result without a cause. There is a universal first cause for every being, every instinct, and every human nature, and we call that first cause God. God wants to be the Parent of mankind. This is the reality that no one can deny or revolutionize or destroy. That principle persists in this universe, even in the fallen world. Parental love toward children is built-in, and because of that particular instinct there is hope of restoration, even after the fall
Therefore, any true religion always touches this basic principle. Any religion which clearly teaches this principle will become a superior religion. Such a religion recognizes God as the one common Parent of mankind, and recognizes that we, as the children of God, are trying to restore our innate, original relationship with our parent. Religion is merely God's effort to restore man back to that relationship. Philosophy can never unite the world; it is impossible. Neither can we unite the world through money or power. Knowledge, money and power will never bring oneness or create the ideal world.
In human history, saints who came to save mankind did not rely on money, power, or knowledge; they always came to bring unity to the world by centering upon the love of God. They attempted to crystallize man's recognition of this one Supreme Being as his universal Parent, and tried to unite mankind with the love of that Supreme Being. That has been the effort of all the saints of history.
What kind of God is He? Without a doubt He would like to establish Himself as the loving Parent of all men. Then what would He cherish most? What kind of man would God call His son? Clearly the man who could be just like God in trying to love the world and to love mankind as his brothers and sisters would qualify as God's son. This is the wish of parents the world over. Even more than having their children bring many gifts and much love to them, parents want to see their children loving their brothers and sisters in beautiful harmony. Parents are grieved to see their children quarreling among each other even though they may bring many gifts to their parents.
If a parent had several children who loved each other, gave gifts to each other, embraced each other, and really helped each other, no parent would look at that and complain, "Why do you children love each other more than you love me?" God is the same: He wants us to really love each other as brothers and sisters.
In order to restore the fallen world we must live up to God's expectation; we must position ourselves as His sons and daughters and try to live up to His expectation by loving our brothers and sisters horizontally. Through this action we can be recognized by God as His children.
With parental heart, you have a messianic role
If you become men and women who feel precisely as God feels, then you are not only loving your own brothers and sisters, you are elevating yourself to the parental position of mankind; you want to take care of them, and really give them the blessings of God. If you feel that way, regardless of your nationality or race, you are in a messianic role. That kind of man must emerge to show mankind how to be that kind of parent.
There are many saints in history who came to this earth proclaiming the truth of the love of God for humanity and loving humanity as their brothers and sisters, but there is not yet one saint who has proclaimed to the world, "I love you not only as your brother; I love you as your parent, your living father." The only one in history who came with this concept, this conviction, is Jesus Christ; Jesus came as the father of mankind.
Think of Jesus at his crucifixion on the cross. The people were rebellious children. The Israelites and Roman soldiers were laughing and scornful of him, even piercing him with a spear; yet instead of cursing them, Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Only the father of mankind could have embraced such sinners with such a parental prayer. Parental love is capable of forgiving the worst criminal, even when that criminal is on his way to be executed. Parental love is capable of forgiving the enemy who intends to kill the parent. Even as an enemy is aiming his weapon, a person of parental love can still extend his hand in blessing and forgiveness. Only parental love is capable of doing that, and that is precisely how God feels and how God acts.
The person who can start a movement which can live up to the noble standard of God's love will be the moving force to unite all the races, religions and nations because that is the cause that God is pursuing. That man will not be working alone; the power of God will be acting through him.
Such a world would not be possible under communism. Neither can any philosophy in the democratic world make it possible. Only a religious crusade focusing upon the central parental love of God could bring about the unity of mankind. Is it logical or not? in human history all the cultural spheres centered upon religious movements. It was always a new religious movement that brought a new culture; that is the pattern of human history. Among the many religions, which one is the true one?
Characteristics of the true religion
The true religion is the one that can bring God down as the Parent of mankind and raise mankind up as the children of God, stimulating brotherly love in human society. That religion will bring about one world, one family of man, one family of God. That is the central characteristic of the true religion. You can evaluate Buddhism, Islam and Christianity from this one principle. They each have their own light of truth, but you can see clearly that Christianity is the highest.
The greatest declaration about Jesus was that he was the only begotten son of God. What is a begotten son? He is the trunkline, the only object or recipient of the full love of God. When we compare these words to the qualification of this true religion, they are the same. Jesus proclaimed, "I am in the Father and the Father in me." He said that he could not do anything but the will of his Father in heaven. When you read the Bible, it is obvious that Jesus is the trunkline of God's truth and love.
Jesus proclaimed that he came in the position of bridegroom to all humanity, but he also placed himself on the horizontal level, relating to everyone as a neighbor, teacher, brother and friend. The Bible has many points that are difficult to understand, but its message definitely contains the basic qualifications of a true religion of God. It is crystal clear that Jesus' purpose for coming was religious, and that Christianity is indeed the religion to bring God's new culture here on earth. Did Jesus come to preach the gospel in spirit world, or did he want to see that gospel consummated here on earth?
Jesus came as the father of humanity. Was it the children's duty to kill him, or to be obedient to him and become one with him? It is most obvious that dying on the cross was not the purpose for which Jesus came and it is not the way that complete salvation can be fulfilled. This is clear, simple truth.
Jesus had to leave this earth 2,000 years ago with his mission unfulfilled. His mission here on earth has not been completed, which is why the Second Coming is an absolute necessity and why it cannot be fulfilled on the clouds of heaven. As a man receiving the love of God, do you think Jesus could completely fulfill the will of God here on earth all by himself? Jesus is a man, isn't he, not a woman or a neutral person?
He is a man. Then do you think that Jesus would be capable of loving a most pure, God-centered woman? If Jesus looked upon a woman as his bride and felt love moving within him, would God have said, "I didn't send you down to feel that! Stop that! Turn around!"
How about earthly parents? Would they want their children to grow up to be 25, 30, or even 40 and still know nothing about love, but just earn money and give their parents gifts? Don't parents really want their children to grow to maturity, to realize the depths of love, and to form a family to consummate their love? Is this disgraceful in their eyes, or welcome?
Did God have any different desires when Jesus was here on earth? What was God's desire for Jesus? When He sent His son down here on earth God wanted Jesus to reach perfection and to establish one heavenly family here on earth. Then did Jesus understand the heart of God or not?
After fulfilling perfection himself, Jesus was just about ready to take a bride here on earth and go to the next stage of fulfillment when he was crucified. He was not given the opportunity to set up his heavenly family. In that case should he come again to earth or not? Was his crucifixion a time of joy for God, or did it deeply grieve Him?
Jesus knew the heart of God, and when he was crucified he said, "Oh my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Did he come to die, or not? The crucifixion brought tremendous grief to the heart of God; God had sent him down as His only begotten son, and God deeply wanted to see Jesus as the center of his only begotten family, only begotten society, nation and world. That was God's hope. When that hope was crushed by the rebellion and faithlessness of the people, leaving the mission undone here on earth, it became God's desire to send another Messiah, a second son here on earth to fulfill His will 100%. Once God conceives His will, can He give it up simply because of the situation on earth?
At the heart of Christianity is the relationship between the bridegroom and bride: the Christian churches are to prepare themselves in the position of bride. When the Messiah does come in the end times, he will be a living bridegroom, with all humanity as his true bride.
Even though Christians may have understood this concept, they are not living up to their responsibility; Jesus' will and God's will have been very much misrepresented for 2,000 years. The Christian churches have been separated from the will of God. Therefore, in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, a new Christianity must emerge, and the present churches which have deviated from the will of God, will inevitably decline. That true Christianity must come about. Then what form must that new Christianity have?
As the new Christianity,
we must go beyond Adam and Eve
The new Christianity must be the highest form of religion, perfectly fitting the criteria of God's true religion. Centering upon God in absolute obedience, let us bring unity between God and men in reality here on earth. As restored Adam and Eve, we must go beyond their level of fulfillment; in order to restore their failure, we must make ourselves superior in obedience, in trust, and in love. Therefore we must go beyond the limit of our life.
In order to have a superior position to Adam we must deeply understand Adam's failure. Self-centeredness became a very important part of his life, and ultimately brought the fall. To reverse the fall we must disregard ourselves and live only for God.
The world of self-centered families, societies and nations will crumble eventually. This is certain because everything starts from God and ends with God. In the Unification Church we proclaim that we are all brothers and sisters with no racial or national boundaries between us. Jesus wanted to bring all mankind into one brotherhood of man; now we are going to live it. Furthermore, we will bring ourselves one step higher, to the position of parents toward humanity.
We will take care of the world, meaning that we will save the world. We are going to give the world spiritual as well as physical food, and bring the people to salvation. Since we are fighting with our lives, nothing can stop us. We have already conquered death. Death has no meaning, no power over us, which makes us an invincible heavenly army.
In your mind the unchanging quality of God's love is growing. The stronger the persecution you meet, the greater your conviction becomes because you see clearly the confrontation between your changing nature and your unchanging nature. Eventually that tendency to change will crumble. That is the power of the Unification Church.
The outside world is trying hard to uncover that power, but it is not some clandestine formula, or the power of some kind of brainwashing. The power of God's love is real in your heart. Simply speaking, do you want to follow me or not? Do you really mean it? If I cursed you, pushed you out and kicked you, would you still follow? You know that this is the central trunkline where the love of God is working.
With the love of God in your heart you have a universal passport to any country, to anywhere in Father's heart; you do not have to show a visa. Not only that, in the Kingdom of God you can go right into God's heart. In this country a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, has become President of the United States and his wife has become the First Lady. Because of her relation to the President she does not need a pass to go to the White House. Even if she had only one eye, she would still be loved by the President and respected as First Lady.
External appearance and differences in education and background mean nothing in front of true love. The power of love unites, transcending everything. Even if I were the worst criminal on earth, if you become the recipients of God's love, then nothing could keep you from being the princes and princesses of God.
If I did not know this core truth then I would not have waited for kidnappers like Ted Patrick; I would have surrendered long ago. No one can subjugate the Unification Church. Am I just speaking out of some capricious whim, or am I a man of deep thought and love? Even though I am speaking entirely in spiritual terms, I am speaking to your level of logic.
If my goal were to become a respected scholar I have a good enough brain that I could have won dozens of doctorates in different fields. With such a good mind, why didn't I take some honored position and become a great philosopher or historian? For thirty years I have been a religious leader persecuted everywhere I go. Am I absolutely foolish to have taken this route? Actually I have been absolutely wise.
I have a real treasure that I would not exchange for anything in the world. People are very scornful of me only because they do not understand the treasure that I have. Once they really understand, it will be impossible to turn them away from Belvedere and you will have no room here.
There are some workshop people here with long hair. I want to know if you feel you have really found something here or if you have ended up in the wrong place. Is it worth hearing me say that we must die for the nation and the world, giving ourselves to humanity? In return for your sacrificial service I can promise and deliver the most incredible reward; not only here in this world, but hereafter in heaven you will be prisoners of God's love for eternity.
If I wanted to make a cave somewhere and disappear, probably I would take only Mother with me. Even then I am sure that hundreds of you would be digging tunnels to reach me. No one would order you to do it, but just the same you would try to reach me. You are really crazy.
Some of you have been here since 3 o'clock in the morning, shivering and icy cold on the cement floor, and it is 9 o'clock now. I have already spoken for 3 hours. Normally a church sermon will not last more than 15 minutes. People outside have a saying that no soul is saved after 15 minutes, but we have been going on for three hours.
You cannot forget what you learn in this church
You miss a good night's sleep and breakfast to be here. Still, after three hours of listening you feel a spark of the love of God. You may be wondering how in the world you can live such a dedicated life, but try anyway to commit yourself. A brand new world is opening itself to you and a new vision is coming alive; as your old world vanishes you will see a new world emerging. In that sense the Unification Church is a mysterious place; even if a person stays only a few months and then runs away, in a few months or even a few years he will come back. You simply cannot forget what you have learned in this church.
In Japan and Korea there are some people who really dedicated themselves to our church for several years, but as they found themselves getting older, their families started to pressure them to get married instead. They eventually did leave to get married, and some of them have limousines and live in elegant mansions. Yet they are terribly unhappy. Some of them have come back, saying that they would rather begin all over again in the Unification Church than continue their life outside. Some of those people even fled Japan and Korea and re-joined the Unification Church elsewhere. In Japan our fund raisers have met some of these people. One lady answered the door of a big mansion and gave a really generous donation to one of our fund raisers. All of a sudden she started to cry, and said, "I envy your position. Do well." Later we found out that she was once a Unification Church member. Even though she had left, in her heart she could not forget, could not get away.
Throughout your whole life you will never forget your first experience of love with a man or woman. By the same token, how can you forget your first love with God? In the Unification Church we have experienced the deepest love between God and man. No one can forget that.
As we emerge as a formidable force on the worldwide level, it is inevitable that people become fearful and persecute us. But I want you to know that this is the strategy of God. We are being attacked and hit again and again, yet we will never lose. If we do not receive persecution then the Unification Church is not a real church at all. We will never become princes of the new age without having overcome persecution.
Do you trainees know the reason why we have short hair and do not grow beards in the Unification Church? We are running all the time, and when you run you get hot. Furthermore, your long hair is heavy and will interfere with your activity. It is far better to have short, well-groomed hair and no beard. After you have been a member for a few months then on your own you will cut off your beard and long hair. Also we do not have much time in the morning to take care of long hair, but short hair is always ready to go. Actually I never adopted a policy that our brothers should have short hair and beards, but it has automatically become our tradition. When our work is finished then you can grow hair as long as you want and even decorate it with flowers.
This is not like other churches. I want you to think deeply before you join because once you come in I want you to become a true, unchanging person. Our way of life is not easy. You should anticipate hardship and suffering, and you should willingly discipline yourself. As you begin to run, do you want to gain momentum or lose power and relax? It is a law of nature that running becomes easier and requires less energy as you gain momentum. That is why I have been running quickly, gaining momentum and speed all the time. Since coming to America I have invested so much money and time that I cannot slow down.
Only love can create perfect unity
So far we have talked about vertical unity between God and man, but that alone is not sufficient. We must have horizontal unity, man to man and husband to wife, as well as the unity of life, love, and the ideal. Where will that unity begin? Life alone cannot create perfect unity, nor can an ideal alone create perfect unity; only love can create perfect horizontal unity. Then which comes first? Did you come from love or did you come from life?
We can see that the universal origin is either life or love. God's creation of the universe was for one purpose: the fulfillment of the love of God. Love is the key word. The meaning of the world that God created will not be fulfilled only by life, or by His ideal. It will be fulfilled by love.
When you truly love, you are happy to be completely consumed and completely dominated by that love. The more that love dominates you, the happier you are. Out of that fulfillment of love comes the ideal, and when that ideal blossoms it will consume the rest of the world and more.
Love energizes and creates an abundance of life; it is active and moving every moment of the day and night, penetrating everywhere. A child is first conceived in the love of his parents, and participates in their lives as a manifestation or blossom of their love. Love and the ideal together brought you into this world. No two lives can be united without love; husband and wife cannot become one without love. Love is the only power that can bring two lives into one, and the ideal emerges when this love is consummated. That is the place where each one of you was born.
Because you are truly a manifestation of the love, life and ideal of your parents, you are part of them. Can you separate yourself from them? Anyone trying to separate children from their parents is an enemy of God; His purpose is to light a spark of love and the ideal between parents and children. A child is inseparable from his parents.
What about your own parents? Are you one with them? When men and women who are inseparable from the love of their parents vertically unite into that same kind of love as husband and wife, their relationship as husband and wife should also be inseparable. This reality actually shows that God's ideal is for the parents and children, and husband and wife to live together in one home. This is what we call a family. Everyone wants to be wherever the father or mother goes; they all want to be together as a basic family unit.
Is unity and harmony the ideal or is the separation of the family the ideal? If God and Adam become one, and Adam and Eve become one, then automatically God, Adam, and Eve are all one in life, love and ideal. That was the original intended purpose of creation.
American sisters, after you are blessed and have a family, would you like to invite your in-laws and your own parents to be part of your happiness? Only a few are saying yes. It is common in America that wives do not want to bother with in-laws when they get married. The Unification Church will bring a new tradition, regardless of what America has been practicing. Will that be an easy task?
Americans are taking their own course and do not want to be bothered by a Korean man. Americans have not given me a sign of appreciation, only apprehension and mistreatment. However, I have no hard feelings toward them, or desire for revenge. I came to show the unconditional love of God. Do you love me more than your own parents? I am being criticized by parents who accuse me of stealing their children.
That is an inevitable occurrence because they cannot deny this deep sense of love toward me here in our church. Your loving me is not a crime because here the true relationship between the eternal, living God and the True Parents and yourselves is being created. Eventually you will bring your own family to this relationship, after you become part of the central family of God. At that time I will tell you to go back and love your natural parents more than you love me, and to bring them into God's family.
We are all products of the fallen world. That world is still lying out there and we are destined to save it. You joined the Unification Church as champions of God; let us establish a place where we can bring our families. All I am asking of the parents is that they give you a chance; they do not have to worry about their sons and daughters because you will soon come back to them as strong, dedicated, obedient children.
Adam and Eve should have manifested
God's own love, life and ideal
Because Adam and Eve did not demonstrate their obedience and unite with God, He could not bless them in heavenly matrimony. God's love must be at the center of His blessing, but because there was no way for His love to be consummated in them, God had no way to bless Adam and Eve in heavenly matrimony.
Adam and Eve had no one to teach them in the garden of Eden the way I am teaching you here. They were ignorant of God's Principle, but when they were approaching maturity their sense of love came alive. As they entered their teens they came to know love. Men and women alone cannot realize the maturity of love, but together they can come to understand the sensation of love.
As Adam and Eve were growing up their relationship with God was an individual one, but in order to complete it as one circle, there must also be a horizontal realization of love. That realization is what we call the love of husband and wife. When the love of God, the life of God and the ideal of God are individually perfected in Adam and Eve, then the individually perfected love, life, and ideal of Adam and Eve can be united horizontally in the love of husband and wife. Then one circle is completed and together they manifest God's own love, life and ideal on the horizontal level.
Should that love be changing from morning to night? As long as God dwells in such love it will be eternal. The person who embodies that love will feel responsible for his surroundings. The blessing of the Unification Church is the manifestation of the life, love and ideal of God on the physical, horizontal level. A husband and wife united together become the perfect object of God, and a circuit of give and take is created between God and that couple. That is where the true, ecstatic joy of God can be consummated.
Love therefore is divine and sacred. Now however, love has become a weapon of Satan. The love that Satan uses is dirty, impure, and absolutely destructive. When you become a true man or woman, unchanging, unique, and eternal in the sight of God, you become an embodiment of the truth. Only then are you eligible to receive the blessing.
Unless you are unchanging,
you are not entitled to the blessing
People should not think of their forthcoming blessing in an earthly or secular way. It is a holy, sacred matrimony and sacred responsibility comes with it. Even if your head is chopped off, or your arm or leg, you must be able to say to God, "God, I am a true child in your sight. I will not change; I will be eternal; I will be unique." Unless you can pledge this, then in the sight of God, you cannot come to the ceremony of the matrimony of heaven. Only when you have that conviction are you entitled to the blessing. You know the truth; then the truth must make you free. You are going to liberate your ignorance. You must stand firmly in the sight of God and say, "God, my Father in heaven, look upon me as your son, as your daughter. You can rest in me, and you can trust me; you can depend on me. I am unchanging, eternal and unique; I represent you."
You might even go one step further. God will not hate you even if you boast, "God, even though You may change, I will not. Even though You may be temporal, I will outlast you." Instead, God will smile at you, "How wonderful that I have some hard competition here." God would like that kind of competition.
In the garden of Eden, God was anticipating the day that Adam and Eve would come forward saying, "God, we are your son and daughter; we will not change." That is the day God would have given them His blessing. But God never saw that day. We want to show that scene to God now in the Unification Church. When men and women with that conviction are united into one, you will automatically see God coming down to dwell with you. You need not go up; God will come down.
The power of love will bring God down
The power of love will bring God down, making Him a prisoner in your own home. Love is stronger than life, uniting mind and body, uniting men and women; through love God's dwelling will be with you. If God is dwelling with you and you truly become a temple of God, when God says, "I'm so happy!" then your mouth will automatically say, "I'm so happy!" Your mouth will become God's mouth.
Do you know clearly why your mind and body are struggling all the time? It is because love was removed through the fall of man. Since your mind is subject, your body was supposed to be an object and unite completely with your mind. However, your body has been acting as another subject. Two pluses repel each other, and Satan has controlled your body through that disunity. Your body was chained by Satan to unhealthy, carnal and lustful desires. That is why religious teachings have always emphasized subjugating your body. In that way your body, instead of being plus, becomes a minus and completely harmonizes with the mind.
Throughout history the good religions have always had one thing in common: They were never kind to the body. They sought to transform the arrogant subjective body into an objective, humble, meek body. That has been the basic teaching of all universal religions.
This is the meaning of the blessing. You do not need God first; you need love. When you have this love then God will automatically become your prisoner. This is the secret for catching God. Even without any concept of God, if you become the owner of love and live up to that love, then God will automatically become your prisoner. The focal teaching of all good religions is love.
In all history God has had no one capable and qualified to be blessed. The Unification Church has formed the foundation for the first time upon which the revolution of man's love could take place, making each individual qualified for God's blessing. When you become the embodiment of that blessing and when you spread it out, the entire world shall become the world of blessing. I am really laying an eternal, unchanging foundation in America.
I am also laying a foundation in 120 nations. As we reach out more and more, we will multiply and come closer and closer together, and finally we will be able to join our hands around the world. Since the power of love is the strength of the Unification Church, no other power can shake our foundation. Governments will come against us, but let them do that; it will be to no avail. Do you have that conviction?
Through the blessing you gain God and the universe
The most significant aspect of the blessing is not that you are going to gain a husband or wife; you will gain God and the universe. The hope of the husband and wife in this blessing should be that they become the light of the universe, conquering the darkness. You should think that you have become the source of God's joy as His sons and daughters. In the same way God will reciprocate and give you sons and daughters so that you can share His joy in having children.
The scene of a mother nursing her child is the most beautiful scene in the universe. When you hold that child to your breast, you must feel that you are feeding the universe, that you are breathing with the universe. When you are smiling and feeding the baby you must feel that you are communicating with the universe about your love, your ideal, and your life. You can communicate with the rest of the universe through your child, who is the visible form of God's love there in your arms.
In the garden of Eden if God had blessed Adam and Eve, they may not have had beautiful clothes, or even a wedding gown to wear. They may have been blessed naked without shame. Later Adam and Eve, as father and mother, would have dwelled in a place of beauty, and holding their child together, God would have been moving with them wherever they went.
Eve would have praised God and her husband, singing, "My husband is the living, visible form of God. I can live with God." The baby in her arms would have been the manifestation of the love, life, and ideal of God, and would have linked their lives to eternity, from generation to generation. Eve would have been completely content. Adam, too, would have praised God and his wife, the manifestation of the love of God, and his child as the promise of the future.
What about God? When a child is born, the grandfather's attention is always focused on his grandchild. Likewise, when Adam and Eve held their child, God's attention would not have been on them, but on their child. As Adam and Eve looked at the child God would have been looking over their shoulders, smiling from ear to car. Can you imagine that scene? Can you become that Adam? Can you become that Eve?
Can you become shameless?
Can you become a person who is shameless before heaven and earth, who can say to God, "Father, I have no shame in front of you; I can praise you, God; I can praise my husband, my wife, and my child." This world is a shameful world, where no men have the power or the clear conscience to look up to heaven. No man can really look at his wife sincerely because he feels shame; no wife can really look at her husband because there is shame in her heart. No parents can look directly at their children because of shame.
Think of yourself. America has been a most shameful nation, very impure and dirty. In the hearts of Americans there are many stains. Coming from this American background can you be proud and say, "God and True Parents, you must bless me. I am ready." Are you able to say that?
No man can come before God with that kind of pride. We must realize our shame; it is the only way we can be justified. None is worthy or ready to be blessed. Do not ever think otherwise. What you need is repentance for being unworthy; actually you should be crying out and weeping before the entire world, in a flood of anguished tears. Through repentance you must win the mercy and sympathy of God and True Parents; that is the only way you can be eligible for the blessing.
Then God will say, "My child, I understand your heart." The True Parents will say, "I understand you. Now wipe your tears and come forward to receive the blessing." We have come out of a shameful, satanic origin. With the shameful way of life of your past, how can you appear in the sight of God, in the sight of True Parents, in the sight of man?
There is only one way that we can be justified: total obedience. "Father, I have no condition or word to say; please do as You will. I have no complaint, only willing obedience." That act of obedience alone can justify us in the sight of God, and that is what the Unification Church is all about. The blessing is the most precious thing and in order to be qualified for this blessing you must understand the truth, and live the truth. You have no right to despise any man or woman; any man or woman is too good for you. When you hear the truth, do you think you are eligible for the blessing to come to you?
Only repentance can cleanse you in front of the nation, in front of your parents, in front of yourself, and above all, in front of the True Parents and God. You must repent. So far we have been like bloodsuckers; we have not been adding to society but subtracting from it. This is the naked truth without symbols or flowery words.
I am giving you naked truth because this is the final year to say these things. We all need liberation from the bondage of sin, from our shameful bodies, our shameful pasts, and our shameful consciences. Unless you are liberated from this by repentance, you cannot feel real freedom or the joy of liberation. That is the point where the blessing comes. Once you taste that liberation, that joy of giving up your sin and of cleansing yourself, then whether it is night or day you will feel total, incredible joy,
The communists might conquer the free world by force, but as long as they cannot conquer the love of God, they will never conquer humanity. Those who want to say, "I certainly want to live that way; I want to become a shameless person in the sight of God," raise your hand. It is very difficult. If you want to be responsible for all the suffering of the world, and all the sins of the world, raise your hand. Can you do that? Then truly the blessing of God will come to you. God bless you. Thank you.
