London, England
Translator - Sang Kil Han
You can imagine how difficult words and concepts are, especially if you try to analyze the elements of something like perseverance. Whether in the West or East, men are generally more successful than women in putting up with something. Of course, some men do not measure up in this way, but as a rule men are usually more persevering. This concept has played a key role in the dispensation.
In daily life, which sex is usually more disruptive or problem-causing? Percentage-wise, it is usually women. What contributes to that'? It is mainly because they lack perseverance. If you strike a piano key the tone is played instantly. Because women have this same tendency to react quickly, God has tried not to use women as central figures in the dispensation. Do you think God acted wisely? If God's dispensation were easy, it would have been much more effective to use women in order to finish quickly. They mature rather quickly and can be very handy, whereas men take longer to grow up and during this time can't give much service or assistance.
A man who is called by God will usually respond after looking around trying to figure out where the voice came from that is calling him. After he grasps all that, then he will say yes. That kind of man is necessary in the dispensation. If anything his response is rather deliberate, not sudden. He is like a bear, which will climb trees many times before learning that he will only hurt himself because he often falls. Yet once he starts walking he can go on for ten or twenty years and it doesn't bother him. The person best suited for the dispensation is that kind of person. He should not be dumb though; He should have keen, sensitive thinking, but not be one to act impulsively. That combination is quite necessary.
If I asked the women who would like to marry that kind of man, I think not many would respond, especially Western women. Imagine how nerve-wracking it would be to live with such a man; if you spoke to him it would take him a long time to respond, and then he would not respond to your wish as much as to what he thinks would be the best way. His wife would like to express keen emotion, but he will just think deeply and come to his own conclusion. A very sensitive woman would get thinner and thinner with this kind of husband. It would be like eating yards and yards of thread, when you can hardly wallow one foot.
What is the work of dispensation like? It is something like continuing to swallow hundreds and thousands of fathoms of thread, one after another. Which would be easier, to swallow all that thread, or to complete the dispensation? Swallowing thread might be easier. How can we imagine women doing that? Those women who are confident they are different, raise your hand. God knows best, however, and as a result He has refrained from using women as central figures. I would rather have the women, even Mother, leave the room and then discuss the important work of dispensation with the men. In this Mother is outdone by her own young son. If Western women hear this they will really protest that I am discriminating. They can't tolerate that idea.
A man who is caught and tortured by the enemy can tolerate it better than women. During wartime in years past a conquering army would let the women live, but not the men or even the young boys. Women are less likely to seek revenge, while once boys grow up they would seek retaliation. The dullest woman will have a keener, quicker response than the dullest man. We have to conclude that it was wise of God not to use many women in dispensational history. You women might think you have no reason to feel good at this point!
Whatever mistakes were made in dispensational history usually resulted from a lack of perseverance and deep thinking. Of all the creation, who would have tolerated the most and contemplated the most deeply? What kind of man? Would he be the one with power, or a man without power who had to suffer and endure? The weak man may be righteous but because he is in a powerless position, he follows the tradition of perseverance and contemplation. Such men know it is wise not to speak, so they endure. Why do they not act'? They refrain in order to become better than whoever is in power and make sure by long tolerance that they are superior. They persevere for the future, regardless of the present.
This has been true throughout history. When things become difficult the man who thinks deeply will continue doing so, without acting impulsively, but he will resolve to start acting and speaking as soon as his foundation is built up. If you look back at history does it look the same to you? If God is such a person isn't it logical that the country God will use to pursue the work of restoration will be a people who think in this deep way? God knows better than anyone else that this is an important factor, so He will naturally look for that kind of person and organization.
In the world of diplomacy anyone who speaks more than everyone else is a defeated person. The diplomat who does not speak is the one to be aware of. Think back to your school years and your classmates; you have seen many people who were articulate, but perhaps you also remember the person who never spoke unless he had to, and then only sparingly. Are the classmates who have become successful the ones who spoke the most or the least'? In national matters the judgment of one person can influence the fate of a whole country, and perhaps that of the world. That kind of person should be the one who will persevere to the very end, thinking deeply before acting.
This is not a deep philosophical question; it is a matter of daily living. We must understand how important it is to persevere and tolerate. It may feel good to speak out constantly, but in the long run it is not wise. The brave person can win a victory in the first battle, but not even the bravest man will win battles continuously without ever losing. The man who perseveres may lose initially, but in the second and third conflict his chances of winning are greater.
If you really become serious, think about which person you would want to be; do you want to be the early winner, or the one who loses yet perseveres and wins the final battle? After hearing what I said this morning you may conclude that you want to be the second kind of person who can tolerate and persevere even if you don't win all the time, but ordinarily ten out of ten people will want to be the instant winner. I If it is principled to think that perseverance is best, I this applies not only to individual matters but to . national and world level affairs.
As a matter of daily living, what kind of husband would you rather have-one who is brave and shows off all he has immediately, or one who tolerates and never shows what he has inside? I realize it may be difficult for Western women to say they want the second type. The Eastern and Western concepts of love are strikingly different. The West has the tradition of chivalry in which two men duel over one woman who then goes with the winner. Certainly a strong sense of chivalry is to be respected, but even more fearsome is the man who does not feel that impulse deeply; people who don't express their feelings so openly are more to be feared.
The Chinese demonstrate that characteristic to a striking degree. They think that even though some foreign power may occupy China, they will ultimately dominate the conqueror. Even when the rest less, aggressive Japanese invaded China, the Chinese thought that the Japanese could not last more than a few years. In a Chinese restaurant the service is leisurely and the table may not be so clean, but there is consistent flow of equanimity and self-confidence. This cannot be dismissed lightly. When I think deeply about the Chinese way, it is clear that they are to be respected and feared rather than ridiculed. I feel we have to be able to out-tolerate even the Chinese.
Let's examine black societies. So far the black nations have persevered through invasions by white people, but not necessarily with deep thinking. If you think deeply and research some question, you will find a solution. In the same way, if an oppressed nation thinks deeply and long enough, it can always overthrow its conqueror and later stand up effectively. When two such individuals meet each other they will immediately know what the other is like; they will immediately be able to become one and understand many things without a word being said. These two will be formidable allies.
When we think of persevering for the future, China is the first nation that comes to mind. That country built the Great Wall, thousands of miles long. Egypt built the great pyramids, and even today people have a hard time understanding their engineering techniques. Yet Egyptian culture of that period disappeared long ago. I think often of what would happen if China and Russia fought each other. The Russians would no doubt win the initial victories, but I feel the war would continue, maybe for hundreds of years. Such endurance is the outstanding characteristic of the Chinese in comparison to Westerners. You cannot even imagine such a thing.
What kind of a race should we look for? The race which has suffered and endured most of all is perhaps the Jewish nation. Korea also has endured impossible suffering under other nations, yet Koreans have remained intact for 5,0()0 years. Can you imagine how much teaching and thinking they must have done to make that possible? Korea and China are the only two nations which exhibit the kind of tolerance and deep thinking I am speaking of. It is on the basis of their religion that the Jews as a people have preserved their faith under all circumstances. Korea has religion, of course, but not one central faith. We can conclude that even a non-religious country, if it can tolerate and persevere, will be the ultimate victor. However, usually a religious nation will outlast other nations.
Another factor is that the nations which have lasted have been of one race, not many. Here in Europe nations are like brother countries, aren't they? The people readily mix and you cannot really distinguish one nationality from another. Such countries which can mix readily can expand horizontally and go anywhere, winning quick success. Even intermarriage, the ultimate form of intermingling, comes easily. In contrast, Chinese and especially Koreans have never liked to intermingle with people of other nations and they have the most conservative feeling about marriage. Also, the Jews do not favor intermarriage, but they will do so on the condition that the newcomer accept Judaism.
When we look back through history we see that God used religion to teach mankind to be humble and forgiving, which is the same as being persevering and tolerant. Christianity is distinguished from other religions in that the practice of Christian love is more advanced than any seen in history because it includes forgiveness and sacrifice. We can understand that this is how God was able to develop the faith of Christians and encourage people to persevere and contemplate. Though it has been extremely difficult, this is how He has been able to continue the dispensation until this moment. Without this ideal of forgiveness and love, God could never save mankind.
One most important thing to think deeply about is how to overcome the difficulty of an enemy taking something precious from you and still love him. You may not have an enemy now, but imagine that you do. It is difficult to love him, but even more so when he does something vicious. Because of your hate you may feel the urge inside to kill him. You must have such love that you want to bring the child of such a person into your household, not just putting up with him but loving him more than your own children. When you can do that then you have perfected yourself.
God would never be able to complete restoration without thinking of these things. God has thought about this thousands of times and if there were any better way to accomplish restoration then He certainly would have gone that way. There is nothing God has not thought about over and over again down through the years. God has been thinking of everything for millions of years. Religion has produced more thought than any other field of study, and religious people not only tried to forgive but did their best to love. They thought about all the different aspects of the individual, family, nation and world. If there are a number of religions then the criterion to find the most profound one is to look for the one that thinks and thinks without ceasing. That will be the religion which will ultimately guide the entire world. That is because God Himself has been that way.
When God finds some group which will fulfill His dispensation, He will choose them to do His work. When we look around the world, what religion falls into that category? Is Christianity now persevering, accepting and loving everything? Instead Christians have built walls around themselves, being concerned only for their own salvation. Today's Christians are forsaking the world and wanting to be isolated. They don't try so much to digest the troubles of the world but want to pursue heaven independently.
What about God? Is He isolated from the misery of the world'? Is He only concerned about a certain group of people? No, He is everywhere. Islam may be the second greatest religion in the world today but Muslims are acting the same as Christians in this matter. They cherish their own believers and country, but do not care so much about other people and nations. Buddhists are the same; they never think about embracing Christians; they don't know how and they don't care. They don't go out to society and try to solve the problems of the world.
The religion we are looking for is the one which has universal thinking, which will never isolate itself from even the most miserable part of the world, eagerly entering with determination to bring it to high position but more recently they have come down God's side, persevering on and on. Such people will lower and lower. Already even that stage is past and able be to digest even their enemies' situation, for- now they are down below you. That is a very difficult giving and then loving them and bringing them to position to oppose from effectively! They have no God. Where can you find such a religion today'? This reason to oppose us, but they continue anyway. This is exactly the goal the Unification Church is headed means that the future of the Unification Church is for. I came by myself to confront the turbulence of becoming more and more elevated. You can see this the Western world, but am I going to be influenced clearly in the course of the few years of persecution by Westerners, or will I single-handedly digest the we have experienced in America.
If I were no different from other people there would be an immediate clash of my conviction with theirs, but then nothing would be accomplished. Even if you are right, if you can only clash then everything will be destroyed and nothing will remain. Always I am thinking that I must tolerate more and more. I feel intolerable anger and wrath at injustice, but still I must keep it inside and go on. You are not thinking so much so you just listen; then you can try to bring yourself up to that level of thinking I am describing. Isn't that what you are doing'?
Receiving more persecution gives you more to think about. In that view persecution is never bad, for it provides you with indispensable ingredients. We are trying to digest the persecution not only of England but of Europe, the communists and even hell. We are willing to go there to tolerate and love. In order to do that we must be able to persevere and think even more than God. If Unification Church members are going an intolerable path, then the final outcome will be much more substantial.
When I tell you that this is definitely the path to go, the only workable way, God will check to see how you are doing. If God is looking down at you intently, billions of spirit men will wonder what God is so intent upon and they too will look at you. Since this world is only a shadow of the real world in spirit, whatever happens there will manifest in the physical world. When people there are concerned, every man on earth will also be concerned. This is what you see every day; people may persecute you but nevertheless they follow your activities intently, watching to see how you handle their hostility. This is very strange when you think about it. It would seem more normal for them to ignore you.
If you observe the history of persecution you will see that years ago they persecuted you from a Americans thought that once I left their country our movement would cease growing, but to anyone who thinks deeply it would be clear that this could never be true of religion, and certainly not of Unification Church. One example is how The News World is going strong, with a circulation of 200,000 yesterday. The nature of religion and my work is such that actually it doesn't matter if I am in America or elsewhere. Now everyone agrees that the Unification Church and Divine Principle are something unusual. Would this logically be the result of deep, deep meditation, or of revelation? Was I taught everything in dreams, or did I have to fight fiercely with Satan for many years and think deeply to understand?
From this you should learn that you must think publicly, not selfishly. If you are a person who does much God-centered thinking then you will be the one who leaves a great tradition and no one will ever erase your achievements. I am thinking 24 hours a day about the world, even about the second generation of our members. For instance, since the communists oppose us so adamantly, how can we embrace and love them so that we can ultimately save them also? What should we do to help Africa?
When you do much thinking, an answer is bound to materialize. When you are that way then you won't have to ask anyone for assistance, even God, because you are doing the same thing He is. You are too busy going door to door to think about these things, but do you agree that the Unification Church is going that path now? Can you really say yes confidently if you haven't had time to think deeply about this matter? I think about your work and how people criticize you day after day, and I concluded that you really need to know the value of what you are doing. You must remember what you are doing as you go. Even though you have no concrete future in sight, you think about three years from now, or even sixty years from now. In even ten years you will be in a position much higher than you can imagine. Your resolve can be that persecution will only make you try harder, that the children of the people who oppose you will depend on you for guidance as long as you try harder today and tomorrow.
Since we are still making a foundation, it is natural that people ridicule and persecute you, but once it is set then the foundation itself will raise you up and your position will be much higher than theirs. This is the logical conclusion. This is how I felt ten years ago when Korea completely rejected me: "You don't have to help me. When I go to the world and build my own foundation, then you will have to depend on me because you have no solution."
Why do you have to persevere and endure? It is so you can make a foundation stronger than that of the people who oppose you. We think deeply so that we can guide other people and give them leadership instead of having to follow them. People's opposition gives you fuel to try harder. If you were an important member of a rich corporation, people would come to get a job from you, not persecute you. It is natural that we are opposed because our foundation is weaker than theirs' right now. The only way to think is that we will endure and make a better foundation than theirs. Even if you fought them now and won, you would have no place to store that victory.
We endure in order to make a higher foundation. We contemplate so that at the end of long endurance it is we who will be able to provide leadership. This is the straight road to victory. Once you go through this process to victory, you will find no enemies at the end. With this attitude we don't mind if people act superior toward us, but ultimately we must really love them. They will respect you because usually a victor retaliates against his opponent, but you do not. After what they did to you, they will be grateful for any little thing you do for them. Inside they know what they do is bad, and they will come to change.
My personality and temperament is fiery and fierce, especially when I see unrighteousness. When I am clearly on the side of good I have a hard time tolerating opposition and I really feel like wringing someone's neck. In Korea practically everyone opposed me, and even the children of these people sometimes thought they were wrong, but what could I do? Could I fight all of them? A thousand people have a thousand different opinions about me, and in their own way each of them is right. But if I fought the people who opposed me, they could all agree that I was one way and their ideas about me would be the same. Then people would think our members were just rubber-stamped. But I never fought that way and neither did you. Instead, we persevered and tolerated, and as a result the Unification Church mystifies people.
Why are we so mysterious'? It is because I endure and endure instead of lashing out. There are times to fight too, however, especially now after the victories of 1976. I never thought about fighting unimportant opponents, but chose to confront no less than a Congressman of the United States, who was supported by many other Congressmen. Next I will fight communism, not just one communist. Actually no one has a real reason to oppose us; we are not talking about fighting with weapons but just defending justice.
Our fight is to make other people understand that what they are doing is wrong. In that sense we have much fighting to do. Throughout human history God never did any fighting; He only endured and contemplated. The world is not aware of the changing time, but now since two years ago God's side can go on the offensive. It is not to condemn anyone but to point out to people what they are doing wrong. What would you do if you saw a man running away to kill himself? If it was one of your brothers would you just sit still? No, you would run after him and tackle him and even break one of his bones if necessary to prevent his death. Isn't this true? God would definitely say it was love to do so.
If someone is doing something to hurt the world, would you just stay aloof? If you knew he was ruining the world then you would go after him and make him stop. God would approve that kind of fighting and even give assistance. Every day ten thousand people attempt to kill themselves, and one out of ten is successful; that means one hundred people a day kill themselves. What if people who were about to kill themselves learned the Divine Principle; how many of them would stop thinking of suicide after hearing the truth? No one can teach those people the Divine Principle except us and it is our mission to do that.
In just one year 3,600,000 people attempt suicide, but that statistic is always changing. Ten years ago fewer people attempted suicide, so what about ten years into the future'? Will fewer people try, or more people than today? Ten years from now the world will be even darker unless we do something. Now is the time we can rightfully protest to the government that they can rule us out, but only if they will take responsibility for these people. We can protest if they won't let us take responsibility and demand to shoulder the government's responsibility toward them. If there is anyone in this category in your area, you can be the one to help him. You have to make haste to find such a person if he is there.
When you go door to door with tired feet, you can be sure that you are preventing some possible death. This is exactly how I feel. 3,600,000 people may try to kill themselves, and whose responsibility is it? It unconditionally depends on me and I want to find the way to take care of them. I will drive all Unification Church members out as much as I push myself because this is your responsibility also. Even when I know you have already worked twelve or eighteen hours, I still have the urge to push you even more.
When we see thirteen and fourteen-year olds in this situation, we know it is not their fault; it is society and evil ancestors who push them to do wrong and never help them. When we see innocent people suffering and dying we all feel indignation, unlike when we see an evil man suffering. If there are people with such heart then no matter how dark the world is, there is hope. With even a handful of such people a country can be saved, but without such people that country will soon be overcome by problems.
This is not a remote problem. A troubled person may not be your own relative, but in ten or twenty years it is likely that the suicide attempts will still be increasing. You can talk to a perfectly capable young man and say, "This is what we are facing, but we can do something about it." It is not bad to stop someone on the street by force and beg him to listen to you. After he listens and recovers from his encounter with you, will he accuse you of being a thief or criminal? No, and neither will God, who has seen so much crime.
I am not telling you to do that, however. What I am suggesting is that you get hold of your own brothers, especially younger ones, and educate them.
When they become better people after that experience will your relatives accuse you? They must acknowledge that they have become better people. In Japan and Korea parents have been known to say they wish someone would take their child and make him a good person like Unification Church members. If children do that to their own parents, they will thank them once they understand. To do that you need to have the right foundation, but once you do then this is just.
What do you think you can accomplish if you just act in the accepted gentlemanly fashion? If the Romans had listened to Jesus and accepted him, would he have retaliated toward them? Certainly not, and the Roman Empire would not have crumbled afterward. If some Romans had been kidnapped and brought to Jesus and been saved, where would they have ended up in spirit world? They would be in paradise with Jesus, not in hell. Kidnapping them would be a loving act in that case.
Why did Jesus teach his people to love their enemies'? At that time no foundation had been laid and no one had the ability to stand up to unrighteous enemies, but once the necessary foundation is laid you can exercise full power and give them love. Jesus did not mean to tolerate sin and not get involved. To love your enemy means to try to save him by bringing him to the truth, by force if necessary. That is loving him, and that was the true meaning of Jesus' words.
People often have their own wild ideas about the meaning of Jesus' teachings. When Jesus said to turn the other cheek did he really mean for you to offer your other hand to be slapped by your younger brother? No, you should really shake him up and say he has to listen to you. Will God not be able to help smiling at that scene, or will He call you a cruel man for forcing your younger brother to hear the truth? Would God say your smiling tolerance showed that you were living up to His teaching? God will get angry if you let your brothers and sisters beat you when you are the one who knows the righteous way.
Would a parent allow his child to slap one cheek and then turn the other for him? Would God say those were good parents? We must deeply know the principle of endurance. Jesus meant that you need to endure until you have a strong foundation; he never meant for you just to be slapped around by people. Will someone with a strong foundation allow his parents to kidnap him? No, he will kidnap them back and teach the truth instead. If your parent is a lawyer but you have completed your own foundation, when he comes to kidnap you are you going to listen to him? If your country recognizes that what you are doing is good, will your parents kidnap you'? Now you are fund raising and you don't have any fame or fortune so they try to impose their will on you, but once your foundation is laid even your father and mother will have to listen to you.
If the Unification Church has the best university, will they try to kidnap you? No, your parents will want you to go there. They will even beg you to go. When I have completed my worldwide foundation, it will reflect right back to you. Actually it is only necessary for us to have one university to acquire this reputation, and all of us will help build it.
When our leaders visit me in London I buy them suits at Harrods, a store which has the reputation of being the best in the world. The manager is baffled at how I buy suit after suit. He will start talking to people and as word goes around they soon will be saying I spend millions of pounds on suits. Actually, even if I went every day I could never spend that much. People will be curious who all those suits are for and they will learn that the people who received them actually suffered for many years in Korea and Japan and America and pioneered impossible mission work overseas. Then will they say I am wrong to spend money to buy suits for such people?
As for my own appearance, no one notices my suits so much because they are inexpensive. I don't buy my suits at Harrods. This suit I am wearing was bought on the outskirts of London and the label says, "Made in Poland." Because my foundation is laid, my conscience never bothers me, no matter how many suits I buy. If I bought hundreds of suits for myself it might be questionable, but not if they are for other people. The English members might think, "Every day Father was here he went to Harrods and to Chinese restaurants." But my conscience is clear.
The foundation is all-important. I have a certain foundation to buy hundreds of suits for people.
Without laying that foundation, no matter how hard a life those people had had before, I could not give them anything. If I bought one hundred Mercedes Benz to give to members who had worked hard for ten years without thinking of themselves, then your parents might want you to stay! What if I bought big houses every time I came? Don't you think young people would want to join then? Then you wouldn't have to witness as hard as you do now because people from Oxford and Cambridge would just swarm around.
When that foundation is achieved I probably won't even have to ask you to go out witnessing. When people walk in on their own like that you will be useless. If you could go to heaven without working hard then you would be a fool to do so, and if I had a better way to go, I would certainly do it. Right now what we are doing is the best way, however. We are laying one brick on top of another, and once the foundation is laid we will work in an entirely different way.
God doesn't want just a small foundation built. We have to build something which is better than anything in the world and everyone will realize that it is unparalleled. We are certainly building much faster and on a larger scale than the early Christians, who took one hundred years to lay a foundation. Who is more capable, the Pope or myself? What would people on the street say? They might ask, "If Reverend Moon is so capable, why is he speaking to only two hundred people?" How would you reply? Laying a foundation is a matter of time; the Christians took time to build a foundation and we will also. When people see the great accomplishment we will complete in the future, they will exclaim at how much work went into it.
Twenty years from now you will be in your forties and fifties, but I will be past eighty. Once I have gone to spirit world who will be as determined as I am to save the world? You and I are both in haste now.
I trust that you are accustomed to serving your people and sacrificing yourself and loving them, but I worry sometimes that you will forget the real meaning of doing that. I am reminding you that sacrifice and service are not ends in themselves; you do those things so you will have a better foundation to bring people into goodness and lead them better once your suffering is over. You are enduring for the sake of practice it, while Christians may have an ideal but mankind. If you fight instead of enduring then you they take no action. Day by day their foundation will be shattered. is slipping away, but day by day we broaden our
When you are persecuted, look at the whole r picture. Think, "When my individual foundation becomes better than his, then he cannot persecute me." Then you will pressure him in order to bring him to the world. When government officials deny you permits to fund raise or hold rallies, then you can be angry inside and think that we will build a foundation bigger than the government's and then they will have to succumb to world opinion. You can think that because of their obstinacy you will endure and work harder until that time. Once that foundation comes you will no longer have to put up with such harassment. God and Jesus are both thinking that way.
People wonder how I spend all the money of our Church, but it is all for this purpose of laying the best foundation. Then people will find out that we are much larger than they think, and with that in mind I plan how to spend money. We know all too well how difficult it is to earn the millions of pounds that we spend. We skimp on our own meals so that money can be spent in the most effective way.
Persevere and contemplate; then build the foundation and provide working leadership. Nothing short of this will get you anywhere. Even Jesus failed to finish all of this. The Jews endured all kinds of hardship for 2,000 years without striking back and they thought and thought; however, Israel today is not strong enough to win decisively, nor is their leadership any different from other countries'. They are always pushed around by the Arabs and no one wins because both sides lack adequate thinking and leadership.
When Christians came against me ten years ago, I determined I would build a superior foundation, both in thought, internal character and in material wealth so that we wouldn't have to take such treatment. Now many people feel that my foundation is equal to or better than the Christian foundation. In numbers we are smaller, of course, but in teens of development one of our members is the equal of thousands of Christians. God and the saints in spirit world know that. We are a powerful army without any guns but Christians have nothing to fight injustice with. We not only have the highest ideal, we also foundation.
People are indignant when they see churches sold and turned into supermarkets or nightclubs, and so I am determined that we will buy the churches that go up for sale. We will preserve the purpose of the buildings that our persecutors once preached in, even though they cannot. We are aiming to build a foundation greater than that of all Christianity in America. Though I am in London, I am in communication every day with America. I am always receiving information about communist activities and thinking how we shall guide the communists to the right path.
Why do Americans oppose me? My foundation will be stronger than theirs and then they will have to listen to the truth from someone who is different, and they don't like that idea. The American people really believe that no one is better than anyone else, including God. They see, however, that in ten years I will be the biggest person in America and they are resentful. They feel that anyone who gets too big is bound to be abusive because everyone else with power has been that way. They know, probably better than our own members, what I am accomplishing and they are suspicious.
Even criminal intelligence agencies watch me. I am optimistic because the more they investigate me now the better. They will conclude that only the Unification Church can revive the Christian spirit in America and they will also see that only the Unification Church can stop communism, not the police or even the army. They can see the fruits of our work against communism in Japan and will know that we can do the same thing in America. You don't know what instructions I have given in Japan, do you, or in Korea? Just because I am in London does not mean I am working for England alone.
I am enduring just as God has been enduring to build a foundation. I will untangle all the suffering God and Jesus have been enduring. When you suffer you must be a man with bones, not without bones. You might have thought that serving and enduring were religious aims in themselves, but you must change that thinking. It is the other way around, in fact. In the true sense, non-religious people should serve religious people, but since you don't have a foundation you must wait for that to happen. Whenever you meet persecution you must feel that God is sending you a message to work faster to make your own foundation. You have to know that God will relieve you from suffering only after you make an adequate foundation; until then you must work harder when you are persecuted.
What if I persecute you? Then you can think indignantly, "Father, just wait. I will build more of a foundation than you do and you won't have to persecute me." You can ask God to persecute you because otherwise you will forget about your foundation. What would you do after you build your foundation? You would give it to God, and then He will have to love you unconditionally and listen to everything you ask. If I persecute you and you are upset by it, once you finally make your foundation you can give it to me and then I will really find something better to give you, such as a worldwide foundation. If America's foundation is all dedicated to me, I will never be indebted but will find something better to give in exchange.
If you have a foundation in three countries then you can go anywhere in the world. From this morning on would you do your work based on this principle? Then you have to be determined that you would rather be persecuted by Africans in Africa even though you are doing something just; then you will never mind. When you are determined in the name of justice to be persecuted by other people, God will follow you to help you.
Many people in our early church in North Korea often communicated spiritually and they pledged they would never leave me, no matter what happened. Then when I was in prison they were afraid of the consequences for themselves and left. Ten later years one of them happened to oppose me. After I escaped to the South I was again imprisoned without a fair trial and this same person came to see me. He tried to prove that he had been right to leave and he said, "Are you still doing this same thing?" In this way he tried to justify his opposition to me earlier, as though he were right and I were wrong. Even now I cannot forget that one incident. After he left pledged that I would wait and persevere to make my foundation so big that the opposition would have no justification to oppose me. Then I want to show it to people like that man.
I have spoken of this incident only a few times, and only just recently, because I already have a foundation bigger than at that stage. In this way I am a formidable man; although I may endure, I am not a man without bones. Endurance itself is never the goal. Endurance is only necessary to elevate God and bring Cain's side to its proper position. Even though you suffer and suffer, your bones must be strong inside.
If you want to meet a friend but you discern that he has a better situation or foundation than you, don't go. Wait until you are better established, and then go. This will affect how he will receive you and what you can do for him. I witness every day; I send money to the children of my enemies for school fees and so forth, without disclosing that I am the one doing it. In that way the second generation has no way to find fault with me, even though their parents think they do. Then the sons and daughters have something to think about and they wonder why their parents opposed me.
No IRS man or tax man who came to investigate our Church has ever remained our enemy, but became sympathetic instead. Many schools today teach the wrong things, and one school is needed which teaches the right way. Many newspapers slant the news in the wrong way and one is needed to speak strongly for righteousness. Do you want to do that? Why? Because it forms part of our foundation to save the world. When the situation becomes difficult, the world will come quickly to be saved. I will continue thinking in this way because it shortens the time necessary to build the foundation. This is the only way to love God and mankind.Can you understand my reasoning?
In these three years I will work ahead of you. Don't think so much about eating or sleeping but about how to accomplish this goal in three years. Should we do it or not? Would you find a limit where you think you cannot do any more? Or would you think, "Father, there is always room for me to do more." If you are skin and bones, reduced to a pound of flesh, you can still do it. Mother has been warning me that my waistline is getting bigger but I tell her not to worry; some day my waistline will be thin again and no one will worry.
A foundation is absolutely necessary. I would really like to combine the highest technologies of American, British and Japanese corporations and integrate them to form an industrial kingdom in the Unification Church. I called on two college graduates here to investigate boat building; they had better find a way, because if they don't I will. Because they can see my example, they can't plead that they have no experience.
When I started the fishing project in Barrytown I showed the students how to make the nets. You seminarians saw how I worked. Maybe the first thing the seminarians thought when they heard I was coming to England was that they wouldn't have to fish this year. The fishing was not easy; when I fish I don't go for just a few hours but for 24 hours, even long into the night.
When you know the whole picture, are you fortunate to have met me or not? You are fortunate because you can shorten your suffering from ten years to three years. Do you agree? Now you know what I have been doing and why. Whatever I decide to do will get done. When I started this path, don't you think my own parents begged me to stop because they saw my suffering and difficulty'? My own brothers and sisters as well? My schoolmates, too. Even the government wanted me to stop but now they are asking for my help. This is how the world changes. Yet all I had to work with were my own two hands. This kind of driving spirit is a formidable one, the source of inexhaustible power.
Now I feel less strain because everything is coming within the sphere of my foundation. Soon prime ministers and presidents will want to see me, not the other way around. It is all because of the foundation I have made. Even though I am not handsome, I feel that when I have a foundation no one will be able to overlook me. I keep insisting that the way you look has nothing to do with your life, that as soon as you have the necessary foundation people will respect you.
Before you sisters came to the Unification Church you thought you would marry a handsome white man. If you had been the one to pioneer this then you would have had doubts, but now you know the meaning of international marriage, so you think that is what you should do. Now when we think about I marriage we immediately think about mass marriage, and when you think about it you wonder which nationality you will marry. Ten years ago all the newspapers ridiculed our group marriages, but since these marriages succeed they now approve. I have worked all these years to make a tradition, and now it seems natural.
If you know the real meaning of marriage, would you prefer being married with hundreds of other couples with the world watching you, or marrying as one couple with no one watching except a few relatives? You may not know this but many people write to ask how they can be engaged and married in the Unification Church! Imagine how, once this tradition is even more well-established, young people of all ages will be married by the thousands of couples. Would you rather marry in that fashion or in the individual way?
People around the world will watch by satellite and all your relatives will see. Your parents will think, "That is my son's wedding," not that it is the wedding of thousands of other people as well.When these weddings become the tradition or fashion, the younger people will be overcome with impatience to see their own wedding day come. This is how much a foundation can change the world. You will never be the same once you lay your foundation.
Because you are still pioneering a tradition, not so many of you understand fund raising. If you do it for three years, however, fund raising will become the established tradition and new members will not wonder why they should go, but will eagerly go out and do it. If a young member just naturally starts fund raising, not keeping a penny for himself but giving it all for others, will he become a bad or good man? You don't realize what a great thing you are doing, but once the foundation is laid you will see the greatness of what you have achieved.
Now you know that through persecution God is helping you make your foundation faster and bring the time when you will be free from persecution. If you continue thinking deeply through this experience then you will have some idea what to teach other people. Many people don't think for themselves and are at the mercy of other people. Even though things are difficult, when you are crying out you have to be figuring out something else. The person who does not think is deprived of an opportunity.
German members, raise your hands. The Germans still have pride in their technology, but they shouldn't be so confident. If there is a man who is enduring persecution and gains superiority, you can assume that one day his country will take the leadership in technology over Germany. Not long ago Germany was recognized for having the world's best ball bearings and Germans laughed at the Japanese product. All the time the Germans continued thinking they were the best and criticized the Japanese to their customers, but the Japanese worked and planned and now the Japanese excel the Germans. What happened was that the Japanese first made a slightly better product but charged two-thirds the price, so you know where the market went. As they continued to develop, the Japanese have gone to the top in every phase of industry-electronics, ball bearings, automobiles. The Germans never imagined what the Japanese could do.
Now the Japanese face competition from the Koreans, who are thinking even more than the Japanese, studying the mistakes the Japanese made so they can avoid them. Currently the Japanese are better, but they know that the Koreans will overtake them one day. This is no accident. Koreans have existed for 5,000 years, saying nothing, but they were thinking the whole time and now they are much better prepared. It is no accident that I come from Korea because it has these special characteristics. Industry is not a Korean specialty; their specialty is thought, philosophy and spirituality, and eventually the world will have to turn there for leadership.
Koreans are characteristically inquisitive about why and how, like a spy who infiltrates to figure out the whole situation. If they had not developed that nature then they would never have survived 5,000 years of persecution. Koreans are more sensitive than most other peoples and are capable of analyzing the world situation; if something happens in the world they immediately have some idea of why. They have been caught right in the middle of the conflict between the communist and free worlds, enduring terrible suffering during the five years of the Korean War. When they have suffering they can only think about how to overcome and get out of it. Thus, they have thought and thought for thousands of years.
This is in great contrast to Great Britain. What's so great about Britain now? If the British think they are willing to endure their present decline and that they will be great in the world once more, then they have hope. But if Britain follows America's present pattern, just continuing along without thinking, then Britain has nothing to inherit to rebuild the country. The British should think they will endure being treated as a third-rate country, all the while thinking deeper and deeper, and then they will become a great nation again. They must not only anticipate enjoying an easy way.
I am waiting to see how the soil of England will grow the seeds the Unification Church is planting as you go around bringing the heavenly side of life. If the British follow the Unification avenue then they will once again have hope. If the English will follow the example of the American seminarians who came here and they go out to the commonwealth nations, they will win the hearts of the people and England will once more become a great nation. If the English refuse, thinking that there must be an easier way to become a great nation, they will utterly fail because this is a small island country without resources. I feel that this is the perfect time in history for the English to come to this realization. They have endured being a third-rate nation for a decade now and their national pride must be challenged. I want to see if they will be sensible, or whether they will be content to remain as they are now.
The African nations are undeveloped and have suffered in colonial history. However, they must not bear resentment, but just endure and think and think. We have to give them schools and other stimuli to think. They have been good at enduring, but if they are not good at thinking then neither God nor any nation will come to help them. As long as they are thinking then their problems can be solved.
I constantly endured persecution, even when I could have gone my separate way and rejected the people who opposed me. Finally the time came when God said that I had been persecuted enough, but even now I am still enduring. As a result, more and more young people continue to follow. If I had given up then nothing would have resulted. Individually and as nations you need me, don't you? why? I am in dispensable to you even apart from such things as the blessing. You may reach the limit of your endurance and be ready to quit, but when I talk to you then you know you have to endure more. You can adopt my thinking and continue on. You may have a good education, but if you lack endurance you have nothing.
You are on the right track now, but if I weren't here then you would long ago have gone astray. You need me because when you see me you can endure. I can give the nation and Parliament good instruction about what they should be doing, and I can also persuade you to suffer willingly. That is where my greatness lies. The Christian church needs me as much as you do, hundreds of times more than they need the Pope.
Now you know about endurance and contemplation. What would result from your doing this'? How much effect would this have on the world? If Adam and Eve had endured, would they have fallen? If they had thought one or two steps ahead, would they have yielded to the fall? If Eve had had second thoughts, she would never have tried to tempt Adam into falling as well. She would have contained it within herself and never passed it to Adam. If they had thought longer and more deeply, they would never have fallen in the first place.
We can say that the failure of every providential mission resulted from failing to think deeply. If Noah had persevered in his vigilance a little longer, instead of becoming intoxicated and Lying naked, his mission would not have been invaded. We can definitely say his mission would have succeeded if he had continued and thought a little more. Why would Abraham have cut all of his offering in half except the two birds? If he had only thought a little more about what he was doing and whether it was right, then he would not have been negligent and brought failure. If John the Baptist had only persevered and thought a little more about Jesus and about all the revelations he received, he would have acted differently.
If Jesus had started his public mission at forty instead of thirty, don't you think he would have been more mature and had a better chance of fulfilling his mission? Why didn't he just sit tight until he was forty? Why was it necessary for him to go to the Jewish synagogue to preach? Moses struck the rock at Horeb twice, but if he had endured a little more and thought once more then he wouldn't have acted impetuously and he could have fulfilled his mission himself.
I never witnessed to people in a public speech, only privately. I never made public appearances like speaking at rallies, but only gave sermons at the Church every Sunday. I endured and laid the foundation and started speaking in a strong way publicly only after I had made enough foundation. Even then I didn't speak first in my own country but in America. After 1 got my permanent residency in America in April, 1973, I started speaking out strongly in a public way, culminating that ministry in 1976 at Washington Monument. Before that I could not have defended myself if opposition had come. If Jesus had waited longer and thought even more before he proclaimed himself, perhaps he could have been victorious.
I feel I must announce myself to every nation of the world, but I only started speaking after I thought my foundation was secure enough. If England is the Eve nation then America is the Adam nation and Germany the archangel nation. I knew I would have to work on the foundation of at least three nations, centering on America. Now as far as that foundation is concerned, the minimum is done and it can continue without my presence. Now that the foundation is laid in America I must work in England for four months and take responsibility for this country. These four months are a very intense period in the sight of God and all the spirit world.
Do the British think I am good or bad? People from all over Europe have come here and we are trying to show the English that we are good. Unless I show you how the work you are doing is good, you do not necessarily feel that. You never thought you were great, but dispensation-wise that is true. People everywhere talk about you. People don't know how to think this through for themselves, but when they see you working hard in long silence and eventually get around to talking to you, they find that you speak more profoundly than a professor. That's what people come to tell me.
I told the seminarians to go visit ministers, and the ministers are very surprised to see the quality of our young people. They see that there are many such people in our Church, but not at all in the Anglican Church. Their honest conclusion must be that Reverend Moon must be great. Bishops and church leaders may look at you and think that you will only last six months, and then when you are still around six months later they think you will surely disappear after three years. But then three years later when you are stronger still they realize that sooner or later they will have to surrender to you. It takes them time to realize that. At that time they must repent and start reflecting on what they themselves have done for Christianity compared to what you have done. This kind of awakening will spread like a wave.
They may think that the seminarian who visited them was unique, but then over the next one or two years they see that because of our movement some young people from their own congregations are becoming equally as eloquent and purposeful as that one young person. If this trend materializes, will England have hope to revive? If you want to light a fire in the wilderness you only need one match; after it is lit you don't need a second match because the fire can spread on its own. When you are first lighting the fire a wind may blow your fire out, or you may not have built it adequately, but once it is really blazing then a good wind will help the fire spread. We have already gone beyond the step of initiating the fire. This is unique in all of English and all of Christian history. Once you are older and more mature, when you think harder and persevere more, the Anglican church must follow you when you pull.
Now we are constructing a bridge and soon the people will pay more and more attention to you. Is that a sign of prosperity or decline? Though the wind is blowing hard, you must feel you need to work harder to build the foundation and then you will be free. Even as you people are going forward, others are dropping away. Nevertheless, their course will begin all over again a few years later and it will be even more difficult because they will have to pay additional indemnity.
Endurance and contemplation go hand in hand. If you just endure without thinking, it is meaningless. While you are enduring you must think what to do next. Then you not only survive, but have a solid foundation to be the center of future world leadership. People will come to ask your guidance.
Even though you might miss dancing and parties from the past, if you tell yourself you can do without them then you can become confident that you are more fortunate than those people who only spend their time doing things like dancing. You don't have any reason to envy what seems to be a well-established home; that home is never really secure. You may not have your own home today, but it is guaranteed to come in your future. You know absolutely that those people who are dancing and enjoying themselves now will have to depend on you in the future. Without you they will go nowhere so you shouldn't depend on them.
Persecution will definitely disappear one day, along with many of the activities people think they enjoy now. But what you are building up step by step now can never be taken away by anyone. It is your foundation. Later you won't even have to talk to people to win them; they will come to visit and ask to see you. It should be clear to you now that your foundation is necessary, not just for your family or friends, but for much more. If someone treats you roughly then try to contact them, and if that doesn't work then persevere and think deeply. If you have many brothers and sisters, your own parents will be drawn to the child who endures more. If you are that child then they will come to you. History and heavenly fortune are moving in that direction and will make this path the successful one.
Even here I look for the best person, the one who is closest to God. My criterion is very simple-whether a person endures and endures without complaint. If I speak to him a few minutes or a few hours, he is bound to say something which is a result of his deep thinking and confirms that part of his character. The country which can inherit the work of heaven will be the one which endures and endures, always thinking how to do the will of God more effectively. That's not hard to understand, is it? Anyone who protests that choice will be wrong because there is only one valid criterion in this choice.
God applies this criterion here as well. Is that the wrong way of thinking? When I am going to give some good blessing I always chase everyone even harder than usual. That is the best time to tell who is ready. After I give a difficult order like that three times I can pretty much tell who is ready and willing to persevere with deep thinking. It is one thing if a person is doing good work, but the main point is whether he is doing it willingly. It is not difficult to estimate whether a person is the right one to inherit a particular responsibility; if you meet these two criteria then I can give much responsibility to you.
If you speak all the time, you can never endure. Lock up your mouth and open it only when necessary. Lock up your ears too; hearing many bad things is discouraging and makes endurance very difficult. Sometimes you have to close your eyes to keep from seeing unwholesome things. Forget them because they have nothing to do with you. Continual silence is not good, but when you speak you should do so most meaningfully. You should also be able to keep silence for months and years. Once a king assumes the throne he doesn't need to say much. If he keeps his mouth closed he actually carries more authority. God is the king of the universe, but have you ever heard God say anything? God never spoke so much, and as a result God has many secrets which He has never told anyone. I am the same, and since God and I are never apart, I have as many secrets as God Himself. That's how I have lived all my life. That's why even the oldest Korean members say that even after twenty years they still don't know me. If they knew everything about me after twenty years then life with me would not be interesting any more. If there were no more interest then they would leave.
Your nose is the only thing you shouldn't lock up, but you will do better if you lock up your eyes, ears and mouth. If you feel the urge to say something, postpone it and endure. Few people have anything worthwhile to say these days. Only if you need to see something clearly do you need to open your eyes; if you need to witness then open your eyes, ears and mouth and you have a better chance of winning people.
If you heard something that really isn't worthwhile, don't pass it on but just forget about it; You live this way so you can lay a good foundation. If you abuse these things then your foundation is gone. I can tell all you women the secret for getting a good husband: Always endure and contemplate about the future and lock your mouth; the only thing you should do is act. Then the best men will beg you to marry them, not the other way around. When you think much then you can do much and you don't have to worry about hearing or seeing or speaking. Dressing beautifully and having lovely hair is less important than these things. The same is true for men. Do you agree with this or not?
Why do I talk to you about these things this morning'? Many people can serve and be humble without thinking, and I want to give them some stimulation so they won't just be fools. Actually you are the ones to be served, but since this is not yet the heavenly world you must be confident that serving your 360 homes is your foundation. Then people will come to visit you. After one or two years of not speaking much, people may think you don't have much to say, but when you do start to speak they will be surprised at your depth.
For many months in communist prison I never spoke one word about my mission. The other prisoners had no idea that in the future I would wipe communism from the face of the earth. None of my friends in school ever knew that I would one day be famous because I never said anything. My own brothers and sisters didn't know what I would become because I never spoke about it. I determined that I would talk to them only after I built a foundation. Until you do so, you will not speak either. If you win the hearts of your family then you can tell them Divine Principle.
God follows this rule, always making a foundation first before teaching you. If you speak you must analyze whether it was meaningful and effective or out of place. You should be aware of how many good things you said yesterday, and if you try hard you will be able to remember how many good things you heard last week and how many good things you said, etc. Never be careless about your ears or eyes. Women especially must put a double and triple lock on their mouths, one each for formation, growth and perfection. Then you will see that people start to respect you and treat you as parent and teacher.
I look around to see who stays up latest at night and gets up earliest in the morning. Usually without mistake he is worthy to be here. This is how I trained myself even when I was a laborer. I trained myself to be the first one to start work, not the last. On my way out I usually saw that everyone else had gone home, even the owner. You should try this all your life centering on the heavenly work. Then you can come sit at my banquet table because such a man is worthy of inheriting this work. If anyone there feels guilty at eating such good food then it shows he has not passed the test, even though he is seated at the table. If he waits for others to start, then eats, that is fine though.
During the early days of our Church in South Korea, all the people with me were working hard every day, and when we sat down to eat after a long day of physical labor everyone was ravenous. They were amazed that every day, without fail, I was always the first one to finish eating and put my chop sticks down. I ate the least. This went on for two months, and only one time did they beat me in leaving their chop sticks first. After that, whenever I said, "Let's eat," they were reluctant to pick up their chop sticks. They were afraid they might be the last. Finally, when they came to the table they looked at me out of the corner of their eyes to see what I was doing. Whenever I put my chop sticks down everyone else did too, even though they were still hungry. In this case no one told them what to do. This was a great compliment they paid me.
What makes a man behave that way? Without anyone saying anything they all felt that awe. Whenever I go to Korea all the people who come to greet me do so with full bows, old or young. I never told them to do that; in fact no one even remembers talk about it. Why do they bow? If they don't bow they feel they might have done something wrong. It is easier to bow down and feel comfortable.
I may see a mistake, but if that person is not ready to correct it, I never say anything. In the Orient, breaking china ware is a bad mistake showing carelessness. Americans think that it is easy to buy replacements, but it's not the money that matters in this case. Making a big noise and shattering dishes often enough is reason for a new Korean daughter-in-law to be put out of the house. I hear about who breaks the most dishes in East Garden because even the children talk about it, but I never pay attention. When I am away the sisters in the kitchen feel very free and they hum as they work, but when I am around they work silently and hide their laughter. No one makes a noise bigger than I do. Do you understand the significance of this? That is necessary authority.
Even in daily life endurance and contemplation are necessary. When you meet the person who opposes you, don't get angry but concentrate on showing him an even higher way. If you heed these things you will be welcome wherever you go, no matter where in the world. If you become like that then without your saying anything others will try to be the same. This example of goodness will hold tremendous authority, binding together even tens of thousands of people. In twenty years you will he grateful for hearing these things on August 27, 1978 in London. You will remember this day and try to live up to these words.
I wish you success in the heavenly way. Take heed of this and practice it and you will be successful. Those who will do so, raise your hands. Let us pray.
