Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
How did you know today was the lunar new year? The Oriental custom of celebrating the new year based on the lunar calendar is thousands of years old. Unlike the West, when the new year comes we always add one more year to our age. So today you are really one year older; happy new year to you!
When you climb the mountains at night and look down in all directions you can see many sparkling lights. Colored lights always stand out, but bright lights stand out most of all. That is what spirit world sees when they look down on this world of ours. Your mind is like a light in the darkness, even though you cannot see it as such with your physical eyes. An electric bulb has an external shape, inside of which is the tungsten wire which actually lights up. As you know, the actual source of the light is the electricity generated by the power plant.
The brighter the light bulb, the heavier the wire inside must be. No matter how powerful the bulb is, however, it will give no light until the switch is turned on and the electricity flows. Where is the electricity, inside or outside the bulb? When you are quietly reading a book by your light you don't see the huge power source that is keeping your light on. The moment the light is turned on the power flows not only in the bulb but down the length of the wire from the power plant. Just looking externally, it might be concluded that the switch is the actual source of power, but the unseen power plant is the actual source. The power plant looks like a factory, with huge generators making great noise. At a hydroelectric power plant a massive flow of water is turning enormous turbines, while at a steam-powered electric plant huge amounts of fuel are burned to run the gigantic machinery.
If the power plant is far away from the place where electricity is used, some power is lost in transmission. Also, in order for your light to work everything must be in working order. If one little wire is out of place then the light won't work. Such a bulb is like a dead man whose body exists but isn't functioning. Our existence can be described in the same terms used for an electric bulb. You can be a person of small wattage or of great wattage and there are many ways you can shine. How many watts are you? It is easy to say you are a million watts, but are you really shining that brightly?
Have you ever thought about what power resources you have, or how heavy the wire is which connects you to the power plant? Perhaps you feel the wire is so heavy that it is difficult to maneuver. The important thing is that if you have a heavier wire you can draw more electricity. To use a powerful light bulb you also have to have an appropriate socket. We must consider what kind of socket and bulb we are. Are you small like a Christmas ornament light, or a big floodlight from a football field? It can be said that the effort you make every day goes to enlarge your bulb and socket so you can shine brighter and brighter. Is it easy? Also, is it cheap or expensive to do? It is one thing to enjoy benefit from the light, but to become a light yourself and become brighter and brighter is not easy. Often people are just like little lights, but they boast about it nevertheless.
When a great, bright light is turned on, the lesser bulbs are not needed and can be turned off. I'm sure God has thought about this phenomenon too. God made the sun such a bright source of light that nothing can compete with it. We need electricity only because there is night time. Do you have a greater need of sunlight or electricity? When the sun is shining is it possible to make the day brighter, even if many floodlights are turned on? It is impossible.
We commonly hear the expression "an enlightened mind." It is very poetic to speak of the lantern of the mind. Today we are talking about the sound of the bell of the mind. A bell can be a signal of good news or bad news. Our Jives can be compared to light bulbs and to bells which signal news. No matter what kind of bulb you are, someone must switch it on, and no matter how loud a bell you may be, someone has to ring it.
Who is going to shake your mind? Your mind is not standing still but is constantly active. The mind acts as a watchdog, being satisfied when you do something right, and criticizing when you do something wrong. Have you felt that your mind tries to control you and put the brakes on sometimes? Did your ancestors have minds as well, all the way back to the first forefathers and God? Have you compared your mind to God's mind? How are they different or the same? If they are the same then you must be God, right?
The relationship between God and man can be compared to that between the light bulb and power plant. In order for electricity to work there must be a circuit of plus and minus having give and take. If your two eyes functioned separately you would see two /images, but instead they cooperate. Your two ears hear slightly different sounds, but they are coordinated so that you perceive one united sound. You have two nostrils, but the sensations of each are coordinated. When there is no blockage between the power plant and bulb, the bulb can receive full-strength power. Therefore, it is important to remove all resistance to the electricity, for it consumes the power of the current.
One person can be like gold, which conducts 100% of any electricity passing through it, while another may be like wood-no matter how close it is to the source, it cannot conduct any electricity. When I look at you I can see all different purities of gold, different kinds of metal, and some pieces of wood. The power plant would prefer genuine gold, which can conduct electricity without any loss of current. If you are like a wire of pure gold then all the electricity can flow through you to the light bulb and ring the bell.
If all the current is conducted continuously, the bell could ring for a millennium. Your mind is like a bell which rings when it receives some power. However, there are all kinds of bells-bells of all kinds of material and shapes, some of which are whole and some of which are broken or damaged. Many people don't know what condition the bell of their minds is in. The bells of people who are doing evil are cracked and broken, and the electricity may reach such a bell but it won't react.
All our lives we are constantly ringing our bells. The sound of our bell may resound in the village, or even farther, throughout the whole society or nation. When you are the right kind of bell, everyone listens when you start to ring. On the other hand, if the head of a household has lost dignity and credibility, no matter how loud he rings no one will listen. His own son might feel he is more righteous than his parent.
Many people have come and gone in history and each of them created some kind of bell while on earth, ringing to the best of their capability. Some of them left a particular heritage or legacy behind them, such as literature, philosophy or art, all of which are the expressions of their ringing bells. If the manifestation of their character has some value, the people who come after them will want to preserve it, displaying it in museums or libraries and so forth. Many individuals have been remembered in a good way by history because they tried to bring forth the central truth.
What are those people like who remain in history? Are they powerful, rich men of military might? The word saint refers to a person who rang a bell which is listened to by people throughout history, and because people desire to come closer and unite with the ringing of that bell they ultimately create one sphere of culture. This is what we call a religious cultural sphere.
Who were the saints of purest gold? They were those who taught true character, and above all, true love. A true saint talked not only about true men but about true God. Those who are known as true saints are mostly religious leaders, but why would only religious people be elevated to sainthood? It is because they were concerned with some eternal and unchanging value and with eternal God, desiring to manifest in their lifetime the truth of God, which can never change or tarnish. Those who pursue goals that are limited to life here on earth will pass by unnoticed. The animals live that way, looking after their own well-being and centering only on life here on earth.
Men live forever, however. The true man must continue in eternal life. The headline news yesterday was about the death of Nelson Rockefeller. If the work he left behind is connected to some central, unchanging value, the reaction to his death will be great. If he had truly served the unchanging purpose of God then the entire nation would mourn him and think his passing was a loss to the whole country. At one time he was Vice President of the United States and before that a longtime governor of New York, but when he died the news was simply that a rich man had died. But ever since Jesus died 2,000 years ago, millions of people over the years have wept at his death
What is the difference in this situation? Jesus was only an individual, so the difference could only be one of mind. A person's mind determines his ultimate value. If he is centered on God and the universe and tries to benefit the people by spreading the truth, such a person will be loved eternally. Though we live here on earth only for a short time. we will continue living for eternity and so we must think how to live our life on an eternal basis. If we live and die like animals, what would make us any different from them?
There are many people in the world who pursue only their own honor and reputation. If someone did great things, not for himself but for America, then his work would be preserved in a museum, but if America were destroyed then the value of what he did would be destroyed with it. The American people would remember him, but what about the rest of the world? Heroes who are respected here in America are viewed as enemies by the communists, for instance, who consider them defenders of capitalism.
Is there any value in leaving a reputation behind? In one generation a name may be famous, but the next generation may criticize and degrade it; its earthly value changes with time. Nations come and go and men live only a short time, but there is one source and one person who sustains his life for eternity. The best way to immortalize your name and work is to give your life to his incorruptible museum. God is this immortal subject and creator of the universe. Since our minds recognize this universal entity, we always harbor hope in Him and try to follow his guidance and live His way of life.
Every person wants to leave something behind after he dies. That something could be money, but will it remain for eternity? Money is like any other physical matter on earth and really amounts to nothing. But men remain forever; they can be different The saints of history have made an impact that will never be extinguished because they lived for the central reality which will never be extinguished. We usually talk about four men who were the greatest saints of history. Which of those would hold the central position? Why do you say Jesus" Over the years Jesus has been thought of as the Messiah, but in his own lifetime he was considered a criminal. He looked very miserable in the midst of much persecution.
What sets Jesus apart from all other religious leaders? First, he said he was the only begotten son of God, and therefore, that he possessed the entire love of God. When you have your first child, he is the center of a tremendous outflow of your love. Those who are not yet married can expect that to happen to them. If human beings feel such ecstatic joy with their first child, what about God? Because God sees His own image in his first son and through him can manifest His image to the entire world, you know. how critical that person is. What should that son do? Does God need only a son? God knew ahead of time that He needed a pair, which would include a daughter. We have to talk about God's daughter, especially here in America! God will be more accepted in this country when we talk about His only begotten daughter as well.
A son living by himself would be like a person with one foot. Jesus knew that God was looking forward to having His only begotten daughter, so Jesus looked forward to restoring a woman in that position. This is why the central theme in the New Testament is that of bride and bridegroom. Christians today use incredible logic trying to make the impossible possible, saying that men are in the position of bride as well as women, and not only that but the church as well. What has the church as an institution to do with Jesus' bride?
How could Jesus kiss an institution? Is it true that your President is such an institution that he doesn't know how to kiss? Are great leaders so great that they don't need to kiss anyone? Jesus was the King of kings; in that sense he was the greatest institution so he should remain single the rest of his life, right? No, he was human and needed an object like all other men. Would he sit on his throne and proclaim the single way of life as the most holy, dictating it to his subjects? Such a teaching would be a crippled teaching.
Jesus came to fulfill the will of God, and to do so he had to restore his own bride. The entire Christian world is shaken at hearing this revelation, and because of it Christians have called me a heretic. Jesus can hear all this conversation going on here on earth. Do you think he would smile at hearing me say he should have had his own bride, or do you think he remained single because he thought that was the most holy way of life? Who created men and women, and who was Jesus' parent? God created men and women to become one, to marry and live as husband and wife. That is the holiest relationship of all in God's creation. Genesis says that God created Adam first and Eve second; God never said "It is good" until after He had created both Adam and Eve. Many religions have advocated a life of celibacy, but the Unification Church is saying that families, not individuals, are the building blocks of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus not only said that he was God's only begotten son, he also denied the world. No matter how beautiful or wonderful the world seemed, it was nothing in the sight of God, so Jesus' ministry had to begin with a denial of the world. Jesus came as the only begotten son to restore God's only daughter and make God's only begotten family, nation and world. Jesus truly occupied the position of central saint because he was the most direct manifestation of God. Would all other saints agree with that? I know you debate among yourselves who is the better Moonie, so wouldn't the saints do the same? Who will decide ? This cannot be decided by popular vote, but only by the first cause of the universe. Would God judge according to what would make the others happy, or according to His own truth?
What is God's central theme, the one which would completely melt even His heart ? God doesn't need money or power. When Jesus came and pronounced himself as God's only begotten son, it moved God as no other sound did before. Many righteous people had come on earth in the 4,000 years before Jesus, but if God had asked Jesus, "Do you think you are greater than Moses and Abraham and all the others," Jesus would have replied that he was.
How could he prove it to God? Jesus would have told God he could pass any test because his faith was absolute. He would have said that he could never be destroyed; if he were cut in ten pieces then there would be ten pieces of only begotten son but he could not be destroyed. Even if his finger were cut off it wouldn't protest, but would say even though it was separate it was still part of the only begotten son. There has never been another person who could make exception to Jesus' claim, or even be a candidate for that position. In Jesus' mind, being God's son was such an absolute matter that nothing could shake it. Such a man or woman had never existed before.
Are you absolute women, or do your eyes wander and look at all the different men? I can see how your minds are thinking! You may be trying to go in a certain direction, but instead of going straight you are meandering around. Are you thinking about which man you feel I should bless you with?
What kind of a person do you imagine Jesus was if he could claim he was the only begotten son of God? Was he cunning and quick-thinking, or dumb and dull? Even if his body was chopped apart piece by,> piece, he would still have had the conviction that he was the only begotten son of God, and nothing could change that in his mind. In that absolute commitment Jesus knew he could not be defeated by anyone.
Jesus reached the very center of love in the heart of God and he was always ready to receive any kind of instruction from God. No other saint has ever so closely embodied that goal. All the other saints taught a good way of life and truth, but no one was so absolute in his faith that God was his Father and in his total denial of the world as Jesus was. When he called himself the only begotten son of God, he meant that he and God were the only true existence and that he meant to change the rest of the world to become true as well. The first thing he intended to recreate was God's daughter. Then he intended to create God's family, society, nation and world.
The bell of such a refreshing sound had never rung before Jesus came. The sound of Jesus' bell resounded not only around the world but through the spirit world That sound pierced the very mind and heart of God and they resounded and rang together. That sound shook God and made Him feel good because it was the sound of love.
What would make God joyful-life? God is the source of life for all living things. Would knowledge please Him instead? No, He has all knowledge. Would power enthuse Him? No, He runs the entire universe already. Perhaps money would please Him. No. Why does He need love? Because God wants to be intoxicated in the joy of love. Only love can totally intoxicate Him in earth-shaking laughter and joy. That joy would not inspire only song and dance, but much more. God wants to be melted by love to the degree that He forgets Himself and His dignity as God and can become totally like a child.
Will anyone object that God shouldn't act like that? In love everything will be melted into one. If someone asks God for good fortune and honor because he has made many contributions to the church, that prayer will completely pass God by. God would show that person heaven's treasure house and he would realize that his contributions were hardly worth God's Kleenex. Someone might point out all his achievements for God, but God will show him what He has been doing and suffering throughout history, and that person's contribution will be seen as less than a peanut.
There is nothing we can really proudly present to God and make the claim that we should receive honor in heaven. No action could justify that. God already has everything in His storehouse-tremendous power and wealth and knowledge-but one thing is not there-love. There is no history that God can be proud of, and God's house of love is empty. God is looking for the man who can say, "God, I love you to the degree that no satanic example can compare with me. There is nothing that can compete with my love for you." When God finds a person who can satisfy Him with love, He will uphold that person as victorious.
All mankind is in a competition of love. All the nations and races compete with each other on this one point of who loves God most. The great cultures and art are of no importance to Him, for God can see only the element of love. He is blind to everything else. Depending on your love for God you shine brightly or dully. Do you love God? Do you love me? Is your love always coming and going? If you are not sure you have a living relationship with me, how can you be sure you love an invisible God?
How do you know 1 am telling you the truth, or whether I am a son of the devil? There are all kinds of love. Everything is instant in America, even love. How do you know whether God or Satan is working through your prayer? How do you know you are listening to the truth here? The answer is simple. You cannot help but love me, and there is no logical explanation for it. You cannot even explain it yourself. Your mind knows you are in the right place and your mind can always detect a lie eventually. It feels so right to be here that even if I push you out and insist you work hard you still feel right about being here.
At the crucial moment of the crucifixion Jesus said, "Oh my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" l wish Jesus had never said that. 1 would rather read that Jesus said, "God, my Father, glory to you. If my death upon the cross is the way to fulfill your will, I will die one thousand times." At no time, even in my time of hardest suffering, did I pray for God's help because I always knew there was a reason for my suffering. If sacrifice would yield a greater victory for God then I wanted to receive even more. The members of the Unification Church come from all over the world and all races to say, "God, I know what you want. Even if it requires my own sacrifice and that' of my people, I am willing to do it to liberate you and mankind."
People today are in bondage, and by liberating mankind we can liberate God from His sorrow. Billions of people have lived on earth and left the sound of their own bells, but what sounds will resound through history for eternity? What light will shine for eternity? Not the bell of knowledge or power, but the bell of the love of God. How much love you have toward God determines everything, even the length of your life and the size of your territory in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Some members are working very hard on MFT. Perhaps some of them complain that even when they break records the Church never recognizes them or gives them medals. But my thinking is that it is not enough to give the money that I have earned with my heart and soul; for the work of God and His will I can give everything and still that will not be enough. There is no time for me to think about my honor.
Some Christians think they are religious because they are generous in their tithing, but I think tithing is only a start. I want to give my life and blood and sweat and even more. I would rather become the most indebted person of history for the sake of God's will, owing my money to every bank in the world if necessary. Will God ask why I am so dumb as to work this hard instead of enjoying my life a little before going to spirit world? Would God praise or chastise me?
If I am willing to give every ounce of capability and every dollar 1 can earn before I become indebted, God will arrange the resources in advance to move ahead. There have been many arduous times in my life when certain funds were urgently needed and always a miracle happened. Perhaps someone would receive a revelation to give his fortune and all of a sudden that need would be met precisely.
There are millions of small bells in the world, but when a king-sized bell resounds throughout all the universe, all the others will be drowned out. That one bell is the sound of love. When that bell of loves sounds, the louder the better. You will never tire of that sound, whatever time of day, even 24 hours a day. That sound goes beyond the limit of time and geography. Those who are sleeping now do not know love. The worst situation you can be in is to be insensitive to love.
Nowadays everyone has home church fever. I am pushing you hard every week and in New York Col. Pak pushes you. Don't you feel you can't stand it any more? As long as you have the sound of the bell of love ringing in your heart, it doesn't matter how hard I push for it will never hurt you. If you do home church only out of duty, however, you will never survive. If you become a person burning with love then people cannot help but welcome you and invite you to stay longer with them. You will become a magnet that pulls the people.
You must experience having such a deep fellowship that you don't want it to end, even when it becomes two or three o'clock in the morning. It should be an experience that people wish could last forever, and it you are truly doing home church out of love then you will surely feel it. When such people come to a family meeting at home church they feel they can breathe, and when they return home they long to be back there again in home church. You are the powerhouse to generate all that.
If you create that kind of atmosphere then certainly God and spirit world will become one with you. When you open your spiritual eyes spirit world will be a living reality to you. If people experience that kind of uplifting love of God in home church then when they go back out on the New York streets they will stare at the familiar sights of cars and buses and feel that a thousand years have passed since they last saw those things. Nothing will look normal.
We sometimes say that your conscience spanks you, but you must be beyond the level of conscience, at the point where love is your guiding light. The mind can be so intoxicated by love that it won't function normally and you simply feel joyful without being able to say why. When you walk, you are so elated that you just smile to yourself, and at night under your blankets you are so happy you just smile. Wherever you are you are happy. In love you forget hunger and sleep because your mind is so intoxicated. Your body won't even realize it is missing sleep and food. Have you experienced this?
If you are truly intoxicated in the love of God then difficulty and suffering have nothing to do with you because you don't even worry about them. Because of love you want to give your most precious things to your loved ones and you hold nothing back. That's the way God is. When we know this truth there is no room for complaining, or for saying you are overburdened. Nothing can bother you, even the person who tries to hit and curse you. You feel instead that he is complaining because he has not received your love and you can't even get mad at him, much less fight back. You must see his behavior as a sign that he is starving for love. When people in your home church area are hostile you should wish you had been there ten years ago for them to receive the good news you bring so that they would welcome you now.
1t you feel that stepping forward for execution will give you an opportunity to declare the victory of the love of God on the most dramatic stage, then even death will never bother you. No power will be able to make you tremble. The power of love is the greatest of all. I have a very hot temper, and if 1 didn't know this truth then I could never let the unjust persecution of the world go on without protesting. But instead I feel that persecution is a request for my love.
When the whole nation of America came against me I felt sorry that I could not have come ten or twenty years earlier so that now people here could be satisfied. When God sees my attitude will He scoff at how dumb I am? He will feel I am truly His son and be proud of me.
Even Satan cannot protest but must surrender to the power of love. As long as you have love you have immunity and Satan has no way to influence you. Satan can always invade other achievements regarding money and power, but not love. If you try to win heaven with money, Satan will offer to pay you a little more. If you try to win heaven with knowledge or power, the same thing will happen. If Satan had love then he could not have become Satan, so when you plant love you will reap love.
When you become a man of greater love then you can ring a greater bell of love, and in looking down from Heaven God will see that your light is the biggest and brightest. Such a light is far more beautiful than any diamond because it shines with all living colors. Love not only shines. but has a taste as well.
The more you receive of it, the more you like it and the greater your intoxication in it. That's why it is really true to say that God thinks of nothing else but love. You can be all kinds of bells, but above all you must become a bell of love. No other sound will reach the heart of God. What you will be held accountable for is how much you have shed your sweat and tears for love.
All people in the world today can be seen as patients in a hospital, without exception. What do hospital patients think about all day long? No matter how much money or honor they have or how much work is waiting to be done, they think only about how they can get well. No medicine has worked for these patients and they are still sick; what they really need is a prescription of love. That alone can cure them, particularly in America.
A dose of love is a cure-all. Love doesn't just restore a person back to his original health, but makes him a completely different person who can love his family, society, nation and even the whole world. That person will become a man of love. With love we can even change the content of men. They won't be restored just to their old selves, but will become totally new men who have nothing to do with the satanic world and are pioneers of the world of love.
You should realistically understand the nature of hell: it is the place where people cannot receive the benefit of love and are consumed both with regret over what they have done and with resentment over what they think people have done to them. They are totally without love there. Hell is the place where people dwell who are always blaming others instead of themselves. When they remember the Moonie who knocked on their door, they will wish that the Moonie had been more persistent even though the door was slammed in his face. They blame that person for not persisting two or three times more, thinking that they would have accepted him after a while. People in hell are full of hatred and animosity. A betrayer of love is the worst enemy. If a loved one betrays you, you clench your teeth in anger and frustration and can't bear even to see that person.
Let us become a bell for love which can resound throughout the universe. When the sound of the bell of love reaches the hospital it will liberate the patients into restoration. Then they can be discharged and become bells of love themselves, bells whose ringing will save more people. Your bell will bring resurrection, and then those people can do the same.
I don't want you to do home church just out of' duty but because of an urge that you cannot resist. If your be loved parent or child were in jail, you wouldn't go to see him out of duty. The people in your home church area are like prisoners in jail, and as God's representative you go there with parental heart. You will never lose by doing that but will inherit the love of God. The more you do as a channel of God's love, the more you will inherit.
The world abounds with untruthful love and false teaching, so people are skeptical and will not trust you right away. They have never seen true love or tasted genuine truth, so it's only natural that they not trust you. You have to penetrate their trust one level at a time, gradually winning their hearts, but it takes time and real effort and love to do it. I want you to have concern and pity for those people who fiercely reject you because they are the people whose hearts have been hurt deeply and who cannot trust. You must understand that they need more love than anyone else, and just give and give and give until their hearts melt.
God's love is eternal and all-powerful, and ultimately it will win, no matter how great the obstacle blocking the way. It is ironic that even though I teach about this love people still think I am some kind of monster. Nevertheless, the bell of true love is ringing out from this place. God is amused by this situation. America is totally rejecting me and even trying to evict me, yet even Americans cannot help but be more and more interested in me. You are misunderstood and people sometimes even tremble when they meet you, more than if you were a prostitute or criminal. That is proof that eventually you can turn these people around in a life-giving way with love.
If you ring the bell of love with such effort that you falter and die, nothing is ended. Someone else will rise up in your place because people will compete to pick up the rope and continue ringing the bell. There is no way that bell will be silenced. Some people think that if I die then the Unification Church will fade and die. Why won't this happen? I am ringing the bell of love with all my might, and if I die then millions of Reverend Moons will come forward to ring the bell in my place.
The world is like a barren desert and it is very hard to find other people like you. Looking for true love in this world is like looking for water in the desert. However, the spirit world knows the true situation, and even though I may seem to be totally deserted and alone I am never lonely because God and the entire spirit world are with me.
When I was in England last year I invited about forty of our missionaries who were working under very difficult circumstances in their countries to come to London. Working there was like heaven compared to their mission countries, but when I asked if they wouldn't rather come back to America to work, they all said they wanted to return to their own countries. I feel that if you are truly people of love then even if you discourage people from following you they will insist on coming with you. If you left their countries they would feel as though they were dying and would insist on coming with you.
When I was in prison I never preached even one word of Divine Principle but the spirit world was there and conveyed my heart. Many disciples were found who wanted to live and die with me there, even though they never heard one word of Divine Principle. That prison was a living hell, but when I saw the people there as God must see them, I felt l should love them as He would. I prayed for them and cared about them; this thought could travel and spirit world communicated to them and these people were drawn to me like a magnet.
Your own ancestors are bringing more elements to you so that you can be pulled by the central magnet, just as those people were. The spirit world doesn't assist you because you are attractive, but because they know you are the inheritors of the love of God. That love is precisely what they need and the only way they can get it is by participating in your cause. Home church will make you a tribal messiah, but are you going out with a messiah's heart? Do you look for someone to help you and give you something, or do you feel that you are the messiah who will bring whatever your 360 homes need? You are going to home church to give, not receive.
If you have nothing in your pockets then you can give the people your tears, sweat and blood and your love. You may not give anything tangible, but if you give them love then you have given them the best.
Many people misunderstand who Moonies are, but one day they will realize that Moonies stand for real love. If you are conquered by love, you are thankful, and if you are a conqueror of love you are still thankful. The Book of Revelations teaches that it is better to be hot or cold, but never lukewarm. Love works best in either heat or cold, but worst in lukewarm circumstances.
Love causes a violent reaction either way; it doesn't produce any middle ground. Are you going at a lukewarm pace in home church? Love can have a hot and cold side; cold love sometimes means spanking children for their own good. Late Thursday I spoke strongly to the New York department leaders and they trembled that cold night. I am a loving person, yet I am ruthless when I speak of the Principle because there is no compromise possible. I am ruthless toward evil and totally uncompromising, but in love I give everything I can and hold nothing back.
There have been many bells of goodness and love in history, but today you can create the greatest bells of love, ringing them in a desert-like world. You are the first and last in history to do so. We are living in an age of hope and consummation, the time when God's history will be finalized. There is nothing greater you can expect. You should be honored to participate in this final drama of God's history. Let us be great bells of love ringing out in the desert. Once people hear the sound of love correctly, they will follow your pattern and imitate you and the sound of the bell will never cease.
In spirit world we will all have some accumulated testimony about how much love we gave to God and the people. Even though your ancestors lived many years before you, as far as love is concerned you are the forefathers. Those who loved less than you did will bow down. God is the oldest person, the forefather of all because He is the source of love and He practiced this way of life from the very beginning. In love you become a small God here on earth, so when you go to spirit world you have complete freedom to dwell in the realm of love God has been creating from the start. My voice is the loudest of all here on earth because I am ringing the bell of love.
Before you love anyone, listen to the sound of love in your heart. If you ask a question to that mind of love, it will answer. You must discover this in your own heart. God is like a broadcasting station, and as long as you have a receiver you can understand what God is saying. As long as you have a receiver for love, you can hear what God's love is saying.
Your 360 homes are your training center to open up your mind and heart of love. Once the love of God is consummated in your heart, you become the subject of your surroundings, no matter where you go. I'm sure you have pictures of Mother and me in some album. They are probably on the last page, right! No.' Who told you to put them on the front page! Your own mind did. Because we are a symbol of love, your conscience hurts you if you put us last; then you don't enjoy that album or want to show it to anyone.
Your home church people will have their own albums, and since you testify to the True Parents, even though they have never seen Mother and me they will put our picture on the front page, and right next to that they will put your picture. And they will say, "This person is my messiah." If this doesn't happen then our teaching is false. This will happen automatically, not because you tell them to do so but because they desire to do it.
When you see something wonderful you always wish you could show it to True Parents. Mother and I always think that way as well, wanting you to ride in nice cars and have beautiful houses in the future. I am not only thinking about this, but doing it. There is a lot of physical work to be done so we have industries and businesses. The Korean and Japanese members all feel indebted to me, not just because they are resurrected by this truth and love, but because their families, jobs and homes were all given to them by me. I want to do still more. I have set a world record for matching couples, but actually the True Parents have so many children to worry about that I can't help but set such a record!
Even if people in your home church area never see me in the future, I won't mind at all if your picture is on the front page of their album as their messiah. Would you ever check to see whether your picture is there? No, because their action would only be done out of their mind of love, not duty. Your picture will symbolize hope and happiness to them.
Our teaching is crystal clear, not hidden in symbols or vague mysteries. Because the teaching of Christians is often vague, they lack spiritual power. We do not see dimly, however, but face to face. We are now running to the patients in the hospital to bring them to the palace of God, not to their old homes. All people have some part of themselves that is waiting to be ignited with hope for the future, even though they are patients in the hospital. The Unification Church has the supreme task because we have the best life-giving gift to give.
You will never be alone, even though all of your 360 homes reject you. The electrical pole, the street signs, even the postal box are your friends, and in ten years they will all testify to what you did and how many tears you shed. Nature is like that. When people are your worst enemies then nature is your best friend. Even when you are trembling and shivering, that scene and experience is your friend as long as you are not shivering for yourself. You will never forget that moment. Your worst form of suffering will be a teaching aid for the future, and everything you do will be recorded as the acts of apostles to instruct the people. When people a thousand years from now read of your deeds, they will still shed tears; that is the kind of chapter we want to write.
When you hear the story of my suffering you feel badly, and it becomes a source of inspiration to suffer for mankind in my place. What a precious asset it is when many people can come alive because of one man's suffering. History demands such a man; God demands such a man.
Will you go to home church out of duty, or with enthusiasm and the love of God? Listen to the bell of love in your own heart. Your mouth won't obey if you want to talk of anything apart from sounding that bell of love; your eyes and ears won't want to have anything to do with it either. If that is the case then you are not far from the ultimate breakthrough to the spirit world and heart of God and you will always be sure of your course and destination. You are carrying the prescription that can solve all the problems and bring comfort and happiness for each of your 360 homes. If you are living in that heart that even if you don't intend to speak your mouth will automatically open and convey that love.
Susan Fefferman, you are back from three years' missionary work in Iran. Did you love the people? The coming of night won't bother the person who is anxious to visit one more house, meet one more person. The missionary's life is that kind of life. When you come to America you should be longing for your children back in Iran. When you site down to eat, you should feel such longing to see them that you can't even eat. That is true parental heart.
The love of God is far greater. When your hand reaches out to help, see it as the hand of God extended. If you see your image in a mirror when walking down the hall, you should be seeing the image of the love of God. Always ask yourself how much you have suffered for the sake of the love of God, how much you have loved your fellow man and served them for the sake of God. A sense of duty and responsibility all come on that foundation.
1979 is the year we are definitely going to become bells of love, ringing out so the power of love resounds through the earth. You are the one who determines how bright your light is. The power plant is ready. God is just waiting for you to light up and decide how bright you will be. You should be so bright that no one can miss you; your bell of love should be so loud that no one can avoid hearing you.
You are the only lighthouse on a lonely, dark sea, a beacon alerting the people to the emergency. Are you going to become such a light?
The lunar calendar is in a sense an internal calendar. Today is a new beginning on the first day of the new year. Let's ring the bell of love. Those who will do it, raise your hands.
Thank you. Let us pray.
