Midnight
World Mission Center
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
The slogan for 1985 is the same as last year, which shows a continuation of God's dispensation: The Building and the Creation of the Fatherland. I have missed you for a long time and it makes me happy to see your bright shining faces. You look happy and full of vitality. Our path is a pioneering one and the pioneering path is not easy; it is stony and difficult but that is the way we have to go.
Until now, nobody has understood history, especially the history of restoration. I have been pioneering the path of restoration. We have come this far and we have won great victory up to this moment. Many people in history have come to this earth and have undertaken the pioneering path. The path of the spiritual pioneer is always difficult, but the pioneering course today of the Unification Church is the most difficult; it is the path of supreme difficulty. The Unification Church path, which is also my path, has a universal meaning. It started from the bottom of hell and has been ascending into the highest part of heaven. Thus it contains the highest possible theological dimension.
I want you to understand that God would not give you a precious gift without asking you to fulfill certain responsibilities. We are about to receive the most cosmic, eternal gift from God; thus our responsibility is equal to that. We cannot expect such a blessing to come to us easily. Those who deserve the highest place here on earth and in spirit world are only those who are earning it by pursuing the most difficult and thorny path. That is the way we come to deserve God's blessing.
What is the worst kind of hell one can find here on earth? Externally speaking, we could say that prison is the bottom of hell in any society. I have known all kinds of prisons. I experienced Japanese prison and I was in the dreadful prisons of communist North Korea. After I went to South Korea, I experienced the prisons there. From my experience in North Korea I knew what kind of prisons the Soviet Union has, so in a sense I even experienced the Soviet Union's prison hell. I knew that in order to graduate from prison, I had one more place to go and that was to the prison of the United States.
Most people go into prison with a despairing heart. However, when I went there I was filled with expectation and enthusiasm knowing that God can always bring great miracles after great indemnity. I was eager to see what sorts of things God would do. Since most people enter prison in despair, there are two major aspects of daily life there. One of them is complaint. People complain against everything: "Why is that man's face so dark?" Or, "Why is that man's face so pretty?"
Secondly, there is frequent fighting because the men have so much time on their hands. They constantly curse each other and complain against each other. That is the reality of prison life. But my life in prison has been different. Because of the law of restoration, I knew that I was paying a great amount of indemnity by being in prison and after that payment there must come a great blessing. I thought about how to prepare for that blessing and how I could distribute it.
I have been in and out of prisons, including this occasion, six different times. Maybe there is one more prison awaiting me in the Soviet Union or Red China. No matter what, I am always preparing to receive the blessing and inheritance from God and to dispense it to the people who have earned it. Those who are to be the recipients of that blessing must prepare themselves to become worthy containers.
What would you do in order to receive that blessing? There is only one way to go: you must be able to naturally subjugate the people in hell. They must come and bow down before you. You must become the men and women who deserve such surrender from the satanic people. That is the road of restoration. Restoration cannot come without the indemnity being paid.
I did not go to Danbury prison just as Reverend Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, but I entered as a bearer of the universal mission for the sake of the world, not only this physical world but also the spiritual world. I was always standing before two entities, God and Satan, and they were the ones who were the judges of my deeds. I was always mindful of being worthy of God's blessing.
If you are trying to turn a nation around, you cannot do that from the high ground. You must go down to the lowest level, to the ground floor, and then you can turn it. Thus our efforts are always from the bottom upward, not from the top down. If you are all alone trying to make your upward movement, you can never succeed. You must be supported by your entire environment. The important question, therefore, is how to create the kind of environment that can support you.
Your task does not have anything to do with lawyers, judges, and government. The problem is how to gain the support of the people. That is the only way we can achieve a secure restoration and pay the indemnity. We have to turn the world around 180 degrees.
By my entering into prison. the entire world was thrown into commotion. People of the United States have been engaged in deep controversy. Until I went to prison, negative attitudes were predominant among the people of this country, but now many people's attitudes have changed 180 degrees. Many decent. thinking Americans are finding themselves in the position of supporting Reverend Moon.
It is almost like Reverend Moon has shed one layer of his skin, the way a snake does. Amazingly enough. I don't have to do anything-people are coming to me and taking off that old skin, trying to see for themselves what is really inside. While the external world is doing that. the people who are inside the prison with me are also seeing the true nature of Reverend Moon. When this is done. I will become a truly tree man. Then the path of the Unification Church and Reverend Moon will no longer require persecution.
Actually this process should have been completed in Jesus' time. He was supposed to have entered the Roman Empire and walked the same steps that I have gone through. If that had happened. Christianity would never have had to suffer the way it did.
We have the mission to save America and the world. Where do you go to save America? You go to its worst possible places. When you willingly suffer together with the people there, the blessing will come to you afterwards. I am sure that among you Moonies there are those who have a complaining and discouraged attitude. thinking, "I have been here a long time and I can't see any changes. I'm getting old and my duties are getting more and more difficult."
You have even more burdens after receiving the blessing. What happens? You have a baby and then you have to worry about it. Or you have to worry about when you can get together with your spouse. How to support your family and all kinds of worries like that plague your mind.
You know that I have been in prison and you know the tradition that I am setting. When you inherit that kind of tradition, you will never decline or perish. Even at my age, I always volunteer for the work chores in prison. That is because my goal is to transform that hellish place into the Kingdom of Heaven. When I first entered the prison, everybody was looking at me funny, wondering, "What kind of a man is he'?" But when I walked out a few days ago, many people waved a friendly goodbye to me. Whenever I am pushed into a hellish place I determine to turn it into heaven.
I know that these words I am giving you today are not satisfying your curiosity. I can look into your eyes and see that you are wondering what things are like at Danbury, what kind of a life I am living, and so forth.
Even now many of you do not know the real history of the Unification Church, particularly my own history. It is very difficult for American young people to understand me, since this is such a free and individualistic society. As you know, if I had wanted to, I could have avoided going into prison. Many people of the world are wondering why Reverend Moon went willingly into prison. They wonder for whom he is doing it.
I entered into prison to save America and those who are doing the work to save America. It was for your sake that I
did it. Among all the young people of America, you Moonies arc the ones who are ardently burning with the desire to save this country. Isn't that true'! I would like to bequeath to you a tradition and spirit that will never be removed from you-the true spirit. This particular spirit of Danbury is not needed by me because I already have it. but it is what you need. I want to demonstrate it to you and be the example for you.
I want to see the birth of young people who will say, For the sake of America and the world, I can go to prison anytime. I will not avoid it." I want to see such young people blossoming in this country.
I know that every one of you has walked a very difficult path up to and including 1984. I know that you only have one prime time of youth in your life, and you gave up the best part of your lives for the sake of your missions. But then I know that God has been waiting for such young people, those who were willing to give the prime of their lives for the sake of the world. History as well has been waiting for the birth of such young people.
You know that I was very handsome when I was young! But I was willing to give up my own youth. I would like to become the foundation, the launching pad, for many people to take off I want to see many people using me as their stepping stone to get into heaven. Actually I was never ambitious for fame but inevitably God pushed me into places of prominence.
1984 was truly a sad and painful year for the Unification Church. It started with the sacrifice of Heung Jin. Even though I knew that a time of turbulence and even sacrifice was coming to my own family, I had gone to Korea for the crusade. I wanted to create seven million IFVOC members in Korea and the same number in Japan. I want to see 45 million in the United States and seventy million around the world.
Satan knew all these plans, so he certainly could not just stand still. Satan has always tried desperately to stop me or discourage me in any way. 1984 was the year of my going into prison and that was a historic event. Many people thought that the Unification Church would be finished once Reverend Moon was incarcerated, but how wrong they were! While I have been in prison during these past months, I have continued to work and make great advancement. I have met important people, people who did not come to see me while I was on the outside. I have been visited by distinguished scholars, ministers and diplomats.
When those people came to see me, I spoke to them strongly about my ideal. They were very positively impressed and they could not reject what I was giving them. Life is like a marathon or an Olympic game. Until you have won the contest, you are not taken very seriously by the other runners. But once you have won the marathon, the others automatically look up to you.
1985 is a brand new year and we are all going to be busy. I want to push you out. In order to jump up high. you have to bend down very low first. I operate according to that principle; I am simply preparing to jump at this time. When the right moment comes. I will move up to higher ground; but you must be prepared to jump forward. too, so we can take leaps and bounds together. In a way, I was looking forward to going to prison because I knew that while I was there, great things would be happening to the Unification Church. What has happened? Since I have been in prison, large numbers of formerly negative Christians have changed completely.
When I was in Hung Nam prison in North Korea, I could not preach to the other prisoners directly; however I gained many disciples from among them. By the same token, when I come out of Danbury prison I will have a long line of followers.
Where would you like to go for your pioneering? Would you like to go to prison or would you prefer a nice. free place with lots of opportunity? well, we don't need you in prison. I am there and I will pay all the indemnity for prison. You say "Moscow"? That is good. We must go to Moscow. How about Africa? That would be a place to make an extraordinary record for history.
When I was in prison in Korea, many people thought I had to be finished but I was filled with hope for the future, specifically for America. At this time also many people think I am finished but I am filled with hope for the next step. All of spirit world is filled with hope for the future.
What about you? Can you have any complaint in front of me? Do you want to follow your dispensational path, thinking, "How many more years do I have to go?" Or will you say, "God, I am destined to go. I was born for this mission."
I wrote the motto a little while ago which is "Creation and Building of the Fatherland." Why is that slogan so important? It is because we have not yet gained our country. I want you to understand that God has not yet had His own land and country here on earth. That is why Satan is so strong and can always accuse-he has power over all the principalities of the world. Thus God is still suffering because He does not have His own country.
My desire is always the same: how can I restore that one country for God, the Fatherland'? But the Fatherland must be a place in which people transcend barriers of race, creed and culture. This is the reason we mingled all the races together in our mass weddings. There has been great controversy because of that. but in the meantime one race of God is being created.
It is not easy; in fact, it is very difficult. I knew that it would be. But it is even more difficult for God because He does not have any physical form. God is spirit so how very difficult it is for Him to move this physical world. In that sense. we are in a better position than God because we have a physical body. Therefore I decided to undertake this mission on behalf of God, to do it for Him.
This is the fortieth year since I began to walk the dispensational path. We have every reason to believe that 1985 is going to be the year of decision, the year of showdown. In order to show the true position, I wanted to begin this year in prison. I was sent to prison in 1984 and I wanted to start off dramatically in 1985, in these circumstances, and then go on to win the greater victory. What about you? Are you going to follow my footsteps? You must grab the helm of the United States and fight. You are not going to retreat, are you?
You came here today to welcome me on my return from Danbury. This is not an ordinary occasion; it is a very serious and significant moment in history. We will not let this moment pass in a mediocre or half-hearted way. I am now going the road of resurrection and you are, too.
This is a decisive moment of showdown which will determine either the salvation of America or its destruction. There is only one way to win. If you were completely desperate because you wanted to save America, you would not hesitate to grab any person and show him the truth.
But you don't want to do that kind of thing, do you? Do you say, "In that kind of game, I just want to be an observer.''? I would like every Moonie to be dramatic. Those who say, "Yes, Father, I want to become that kind of Moonie: raise your hands please.
When I look at your hands going up like that, I would go to prison ten times over. I am very grateful to you. You know, I am different now. Why is that? Before, I was just "Father" to you, but now that I have come back to visit from the prison, you know without a doubt that I have been through suffering.
You used to say things without much sincerity, even sometimes Lying or making up excuses. But now you will be different and you will be honest with me, won't you? Do you want me to trust your word this time? Those who will say, "Father, this time it's real. You can trust me.' raise your hands please. Thank you.
(Reverend Won Pil Kim leads everyone in the first cheers of Mansei for 1985.)
