True Parents' Birthday
World Mission Center - Grand Ballroom
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
Who are those of you assembled here? You say "Moonies," but what is that? Are you men and women from the moon? When we think of the moon we think of a gigantic circle in the night sky. Beyond that familiar moon, there is also the sun. What is beyond the sun? There is also the sun of love, and that is God. The most important heavenly bodies are the moon and sun. Famous people are commonly called stars; many people yearn for stardom. But the way of life of the Moonies is greater than stardom.
The moon changes from one day to the next. The full moon is seen on the fifteenth day of the month, according to the lunar calendar, and the new moon is seen on the first day. Which aspect of the moon is most appealing to you-the full moon or the virtually invisible new moon? You like to see the full moon, but which time of month would you prefer to be on-the time approaching the full moon, or the time of decline after the full moon? On the first day of the month the moon is insignificant, but then every day it grows until the fifteenth, when it becomes a full moon. That is the period of building up, like the first half of a day. Then afterwards, even though the very next day the moon is almost as full, it is descending toward smallness again. So it is like the second half of a day, heading toward nighttime. Which would you look forward to-the daytime or the nighttime? You say "daytime" very firmly.
Let's say you had a choice of living on the stars, the moon, or the sun. Which would you choose? My name contains them all: Sun, Myung-which means bright light-and Moon. Which would you prefer to be-a Moonie or a Sunnie? In order to become a Sunnie, you have to free yourself completely from all shackles and become a real, true entity. Have you done that? What is the difference between Moonies and Sunnies? There is an important difference. The moon receives light and then reflects it, while the sun is the generator of the light and gives it out everywhere. Therefore, the difference between Moonies and Sunnies is also obvious. The Moonies are those who can only gain their strength from Father, receiving his light and encouragement, then giving it out. But, for Sunnies it doesn't matter whether Father is present or not. Sunnies are dynamos themselves, giving out light to the world whether I am here or not.
The wish of Heavenly Father, as well as my own desire, is for you to become such a Sunnie. Don't stay too long on the Moonie level; promote yourself to a Sunnie. Would you like to do that? You will give up being a Moonie? Throughout my life, I have stirred up things; therefore, everywhere I go there is controversy, particularly where it is most dark. That is what we must do: bring light to the darkness and that is why many people consider Reverend Moon's life to be controversial. Would you also follow that pattern? Would you like to stir up things wherever you go, even becoming controversial yourself?
What do you think-are there more sunny days or more dark, gloomy ones in the Western world? What about Father's lifetime-do you think I have experienced more bright, sunny days or more cloudy, dark ones? On a cloudy day, you cannot see the sun. When you look at the sky, all you see are the dark clouds. Just as there are many cloudy days in our weather, the life of the Unification Church, particularly the life of Reverend Moon, is intertwined with sunny and cloudy days, but there have been more cloudy days, more gloomy and dark days of persecution. That does not mean the sun was not shining-it is always shining behind the clouds-but it was covered up so people could not see it.
How many typhoon and hurricane days do you think I have experienced in my lifetime? I'm sure there have been a great number of hurricanes and typhoons in this world, but within my lifetime I have experienced more spiritual hurricanes than you could imagine. Why is that? In a way, the interaction of clouds causes typhoons. The history of the Unification Church is something like that-it has been covered all the time by clouds. They have always blocked the sun so that people can only see darkness. Evil and satanic forces have been trying to block the benevolent, pure, shining sunlight.
Do most tragic and difficult things occur above the clouds or below them? Where do the difficult weather phenomena occur? They occur below the clouds. The people who can continue to survive and prosper even under constant turbulent weather conditions will be the men and women who always remember that the sun is there above the clouds. Those men and women who have experienced the bright light of a sunny day can have the energy to go on and persevere through the darkness of the hurricane; they know another sunny day is ahead of them.
How, then, can we members of the Unification Church survive and prosper during these difficult, dark and turbulent days? Only those who have the power of absolute faith, those who have seen the sunrise of the coming of the Lord will survive. They become the survivors who maintain absolute conviction in the midst of difficult days. They know difficulties are temporary and will pass away, and that the bright, broad sunlight will eventually return. Only with that kind of conviction can they have the power to overcome the difficulties of the present.
You said you want to become Sunnies. Do you think it is easy to do? What is the nature of the sun? The sun is burning itself-its own body is being consumed in order to give out energy. By the same token, if you want to become a Sunnie, you have to "burn up" yourself in order to give energy and warmth to the world. If your life energy and warmth is not strong enough, you will be overcome by the power of darkness. so you should be stronger than any darkness that surrounds you. As the sun burns itself, does it shrink or become larger? When you burn up fuel, does it increase or decrease? Don't you know that energy is decreased when it is burned What about the life-giving energy?
Imagine that the sun itself had a mind to think about the fact that its limited resources were being depleted a little more every day. How would it feel? Since there is an ongoing depletion of the sun's mass, that means it will face its moment of death someday-unless there is some way that the sun is recuperating, regaining more energy and supply for its output. Otherwise, it will definitely come to a point when it will no longer be able to give out light and heat. Then what will happen? All the creatures of the earth will die, as well, because they depend upon the sun for life. What about the clouds-will they vanish and die, also? If there is no sun, there can be no clouds. Everything dies.
If eventually the sun vanishes, that means all the water on earth would turn to ice; the earth would become a big chunk of ice. What do you think-within such a chunk of ice, would there be room for Moonies and Sunnies? Thus we come to the conclusion that no matter what happens-no matter what sorts of phenomena we may see on the earth- one thing is certain: we cannot let the sun die. Therefore, there must be some source of refueling for the sun. Who shall be doing that refueling? Can we create a big laboratory and bring out giant buckets of gasoline to pour into the sun's reservoirs? Is there such an instrument? For the sun to survive, it must have some way of bringing back its lost energy so it can be restoring itself all the time. It must be recycling its energy somehow. The sun is a hot chunk of mass. Within the universe, there must be some other element with which the sun can interact and from which the sun can receive some energy.
The Unification Church suffers a great deal; we willingly and voluntarily make sacrifices. We do that because it is necessary. That means there is a demand for it. Someone else required such sacrifices in order to live. The Unification Church has been paying that price. Our job has been to eliminate the period of darkness, to clear up those clouds which have been obscuring the sun from humanity. What kind of people are you, those who are called Moonies? What can be said about the Moonies? First of all, they are the people who have the highest, most noble philosophy. If anybody is greedy, the Moonies are the greediest because their ambition is not only to dwell within God's love but even to liberate God. We want to free God from His sorrow. Thus no one is harboring a greater ambition than the Moonies. Truly, we want to possess the deepest love of God's heart.
From another perspective, someone might say that the Moonies are the worst possible people because they are so greedy. Satan likes to criticize Reverend Moon and say, "He is the most terrible character who ever showed up on the face of the earth" Satan likes to portray Reverend Moon as a monster. Do you like to hear such things? You do not want to be a part of the satanic world so you have joined entirely on Father's side, saying, "No, we are following Reverend Moon" Therefore, you will find yourself in the same position as 1, being persecuted and reviled by the world.
Wherever you go, wherever you live, people will be shocked and horrified to hear that you are a Moonie. They will fear you and think that their town or village will suffer because you are there, so they will try to get rid of you. Moonies are not riding into their cities and towns upon golden chariots like kings and queens. You are entering almost like beggars, humbly fund raising with peanuts and flowers. But even with that, the villagers do not want to accept you and try to drive you away. This results from a blind mind-set on their part; there is no reasoning behind it, but rather it is just an irrational impulse-reject the Moonies, no matter what. But the second generation, the young people, can observe such an attitude on the part of their parents and see that it is totally unreasonable. They say, "Why should my parents treat the Moonies like that? They haven't done anything evil" Thus the younger generation moves toward us.
What will happen? The first generation which has blindly rejected the Moonies is passing away, while the second generation, which is going to take over management of the world in the future, is more and more on our side. That is why we have so many young people in this auditorium today. Even if we are mistreated by the first generation, we can look forward to the future. There we will not only become Sunnies; we will move on to become "Kingies" Our march will never cease; we represent the future.
We have come to that time when the rejecting, persecuting generation is passing away and the new horizon is opening up. The time will come when the forces who rejected the Unification Church-the nations and sovereignties, the forces of democracy as well as communism-will decline. Their days are truly numbered; they will not be here much longer. That includes the adherents of secular humanism, people who glorify materialism. They are being moved out of the planet. Look at you Moonies. You are young people and you represent the next generation, the future. You are united with this incredible family and ideology of unification. The younger, second generation will inherit the world and we are going a step further-we will inherit the Kingdom of God on the earth. History is definitely moving toward that culmination.
What about the-American political system? For one period of time, the Democratic Party holds power; then the Republican Party takes control. In the meantime, the country is heading downward into more and more moral degradation. Look at the state of the young people who are espousing free sex and drugs. From the viewpoint of God, this country is virtually in its death throes. Many people have written off the future of the United States; they cannot see any hope for it. People know that the mighty power of the Pentagon, even with its nuclear arsenal, cannot bring any new strength or health to the American way of life. The country is going down continuously, despite all its build up of weapons. There was a time when people put their hope in science and believed that technology would liberate mankind. That hope has been gone for a long time now.
Nowadays people are desperately searching elsewhere and many people are coming to the realization, "The Moon philosophy might be our hope" What is the Moonie power? By sprinkling around the Moonie power, we have found what a healing effect it has. It can heal people from their drug habits, from immorality and promiscuity and homosexual problems. We have experienced that. So when Moonie power is sprinkled around, the clouds of darkness vanish; people can see their value and they can kind their true direction. When applied to the individual, family, society, nation and world, we can clearly see the right direction, where we should be going.
Equipped with that Moonie power, when you men encounter a beautiful woman, you don't feel the selfish desire to entice her. Isn't that true? Something is governing you, some strength has come to you. When you have that Moonie power, you are protected from the temptations of the world, such as money, fame, and carnal pleasures. Another important aspect: when you have Moonie power, you do not consider yourself just the citizen of your country, such as, "I'm an American, first and foremost" Rather you always think of yourself, "I'm a universal person, a child of God"
The director of the forces of Moonie power is Reverend Moon, isn't that correct? Reverend Moon has told you, "As universal men and women, you have to link the four corners of the earth. Therefore, I want to see you bring the North Pole together with the South Pole in one universal family. The white people represent the North Pole, like the polar bear; the black people represent the South Pole. Bring them together and create the universal family" When you hear that, all you Moonie men and women say, "Yes, Sir" Some white people simply don't want to see that happen. They want to do anything to tear apart such unity, but all of a sudden they will completely lose strength. There is no room for such an attitude. Do you understand that?
We can just stand and observe this passing generation as they are marching toward their end. There are many proud nations, such as Japan-which says, "We are the Number One economy,' end the United States, which says, "We are the first citizens of the world" But we will see about that. I know they will all find the end of their road because they are all following the same materialistic path. So you Moonies have a lot to watch. You can enjoy the show. You can say, "Yes, that's exactly the way it was predicted. Ha-ha-ha" I know that when ordinary white people come and hear such things as this, they cannot stand it. They feel great animosity and hatred toward such an idea. But we have absolutely no fear. We know that everything is going according to the program, like clockwork.
We are actually waiting to receive persecution, because we know that wave has to pass over us and we have to go beyond it. Therefore, we say, "Let it come" If nobody per persecuted us, I would have to ask you to go out and start a controversy so you would get persecuted. Do you think Moonies are very exciting people? We have been receiving attack over and over, but the time will come when the tables are turned. We will see that the opposition crumbles so quickly that they will have no energy or courage to even stand up to us. The world has become corrupted from within, and it has no energy to get up and resist.
Look at the situation of the family as well as the corruption within all realms of society. People have lost everything- their wife, husband, children have all gone away. They are just completely demoralized. Thus the country itself is lost; it is no longer intact. The society is virtually on its death bed. When the Moonies are moving forward, no one out there will resist. Do you feel good about that? When you say you feel good, what does that mean? Do you want to go out and save them, have compassion on them and restore them? Are you really going to commit yourself to sacrificing and suffering for them? You are an unbelievable bunch of people!
The situation here in America at the end of the twentieth century is truly one of devastation. Every sector of American life today is pitiful. That is the reality. Could you ever say, "l want to be part of that corrupted, dying society"? What will you do, then? Would you use the communist method-just take up machine guns and destroy them all? Then they would certainly leave you alone. Is that what you would like to do? If not, what would you do?
We have a special prescription or solution. It is not a killing prescription but rather a restoring one-Home Church. We have divided cities into sectors, taking responsibility for our areas. We want to become tribal messiahs for them. In this way, new vitality has been created; the new engine is turned on. By pouring new energy into this society, we will see its resurrection. Then what? We want to convert this dying, desolate society into the Kingdom of Heaven. We will turn this desert into an oasis and bring in the spring by centering upon the love of God. We will transform the people into a united, ideal society.
Who has suffered the most within the Unification Church? Why do you say it was Father? Well, Father certainly looks prosperous. I have everything I could need-automobile, home, clothing, money. What do you mean by suffering, I then? If there had been no fall of man in the beginning, love would have been consummated on the vertical line. Both the right side and the left side would have belonged to God's realm. But because of the fall and the creation of fallen nature, all these parts of heaven-both right and left-were taken under the satanic domain. Therefore, a new horizontal line must be created, a new right and left, a new heavenly territory. Through the fall of man, everything was turned opposite. What was supposed to be left became right; what was supposed to be right became left. In order to go into full restoration, you have to go through the crossroad. In other words, starting out from the left side, you have to go right; from the right side, go to the left.
As a consequence of the fall, all of humanity came to dwell below the horizontal line. It appears that evil people in the fallen world flourish, while good, righteous people appear to suffer. There is an ongoing human conflict between good and evil. From the individual level, it broadens its scope through the family, tribe, clan, society, nation and world. In order to cross the horizontal line into a new order, everyone has to go through a period of chaos, void, nothingness. So the spirit of total denial and doubt comes to every level, including the individual, family, society, nation and world. This is a natural phenomenon.
The left-wing, representing evil and the satanic side, has actually been occupying the right side of the world. Now it is moving toward the true left side and the right side, which has been suffering so much within the evil world on the left side, is coming out toward the true right side. The Unification Church movement is born out of this juncture. On the left-hand side, the time of surrender has begun. Individually, people really want to see Reverend Moon as a good man, and recognize him on the individual level, as well as on the family, clan, tribal, national and world levels. It takes about seven years for such recognition to come to its full fruition. Those seven years will be over in 1992.
1945 was a momentous year; seven years added to that was 1952. The forty years since 1952 will be finished in 1992. During this time, all the evil forces who have adamantly opposed our movement will be in a position to recognize the good force and surrender to it step-by-step. Then unification will take place and the new order shall be created. So far, we have had the classification of right-wing and left-wing. But with the new order of the Unification movement, we are building up the "head-wing" or the central wing. We are creating the individual head-wing, the family head-wing, the tribe, society, national and world head-wing, or center wing. When we reach that point, we will reach and go beyond the horizontal line. What will we see then? No longer will the right signify righteousness and the left, evil. Instead, both left and right shall be part of heaven's territory. The original situation shall be restored for the first time in history, and that is what we call the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
Now we see that the two conflicting worlds of democracy and communism are dying. But almighty God will not allow them both to perish without having some alternative. He will let them die only so that they can be absorbed into the new order, the new world. That new world will encompass and embrace both camps of the old world.
Everyone has to go through this crossing point, which is almost like the moment of judgment. You have to cleanse yourself of your past and become a new creature. That is the mission of the Unification Church. It will happen first on the individual level, then on to the family, tribe, society, nation and world. From that point, we can say that the true nation that God can recognize will come into being. The true parents, true brothers and sisters, and true teachers that God can recognize will come into being. The opposite of true is false, so there have been false nations, false parents, false brotherhood, and false teachers.
One of the greatest sources of controversy surrounding the Unification Church is that you call Reverend and Mrs. Moon your True Parents. Your parents say, "What are you talking about? We are the ones who gave you birth" That is why, in many cases, parents have been so negative and have even tried to kidnap their children from the Church. Also there were strong repercussions when you claimed, "These people in the Unification Church are my true brothers and sisters, seemingly disregarding your own physical brothers and sisters. That is why the world was so upset and persecuted us. Teachers have claimed, "The Unification Church is teaching a heretical and perverted theology. We have the right teaching" They have tried to protect their old concepts, but these will not last.
Our goal and destination is absolutely clear. We want to be true in everything: true nation, true parents, true self, true brothers and sisters, true teachers. Then we want to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. But we are not going to end there. We will move on to the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven, which will go on forever and ever. This is God's program. No matter what, it will unfold; it will happen. So we are in the mainstream, the center, of that event. We were chosen to play a central role. This is our privilege and our determination today. Do you follow?
When Reverend Moon began his pioneering task, were there a lot of people to help? Do you think there was even one assistant in those beginning days? There was a time when Father was completely alone. No one else was helping. But I was declaring, "This is the true individual, family, society, nation, and world" No one but I was representing this heavenly goal. When I began my pioneering task, did I l start from the highest throne of God in Heaven, or from the lowest possible dungeons of hell on earth?
In 1945, right after the end of World War II, God provided a golden opportunity for humanity when the restoration of the Kingdom of Heaven could have taken place relatively quickly. God's plan was to consummate the entire restoration process within seven years-1945 to 1952-if established Christianity had united. You know, however, that the opportunity of that time was lost. Therefore, l had to build up a new foundation through the Unification Church, a task which took forty years. The foundation which has been laid today goes far beyond the original foundation which existed in 1945.
All of that foundation from 1945 was lost; not only that, but it turned into an enemy to God's dispensation. Therefore, in order to build up a new foundation, I had to begin from the very bottom of the pit and endure incredible opposition. For forty years, I have been building up that foundation step-by-step. 1985 was the fortieth year and at that point, the successful foundation needed for the ultimate restoration of the world was recreated. Therefore, we have come to another time, the second opportunity for the golden age of restoration of the world. 1985 to 1992 is the new seven-year period for that to happen. But this time, we don't have to rely upon anyone else's foundation because Father has built his own-the Unification Church foundation.
Today we are in the middle of a very important period of history. During the three-year period of 1986, 1987 and 1988, our movement has to excel in every realm- spiritually and also physically. We have come to that point.
Today we are celebrating Mother's 44th birthday and my 67th birthday. These are providentially significant numbers. As you know, Satan took away the number 4 when he invaded the heavenly four-position foundation. Also the number 6, representing the day of the creation of man, was lost to Satan. Therefore, the total number of days of creation-seven-was also lost.
1986 was a most important year, the first of these pivotal three years. In that year, I returned to Korea and made substantial inroads within the leadership of the religious world, as well as the political world. The sort of accomplishment which we achieved last year was something that even the Korean government couldn't do. We mobilized the entire nation through our Victory Over Communism crusade. Especially within the capital city of Seoul, we have made tremendous strides. Every segment of the city has been touched; all the leaders have been chosen, educated and organized, so it is a virtually iron-clad organization. The Korean government did not have that sort of ability to organize the people, but we did. It is now a common understanding among all the Korean people that the person who can best defend the country from the hateful, warmongering North Korean Kim n Sung is Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Reverend Moon's strategy is not just to restore this great nation of America to God's domain but to liberate the very center of the communist world-the Soviet Union. Our ultimate goal is the liberation of Moscow. Without that, God cannot be liberated from His sorrow, and the True Parents cannot be liberated from their anguish. The Moonies shall be liberated at that point as well. From that point on, no one under the sun will even think of persecuting the Moonies. Then, there will be no more clouds between the sun and humanity. Everyone will be able to see the bright sunshine all the time. We shall be anointed not only as Sunnies but will move on to Kingies at that point. Each one of us shall enjoy the eternal true love of God, basking in that warmth and light. Amen!
The way you celebrate True Parents birthday is very important. Just to come and be happy is not enough. You have to know the True Parents' life history and their motivation-their life's beginning point and goal. As I already explained, that Journey began in 1945 and has continued during forty years of persecution. Our goal is the unification of the world-heaven and earth.
What is the title for today's message? "When It Was Over, It Turned Out To Be Love" Now let us draw the conclusion. The restoration of mankind can be divided into eight different stages, beginning from the servant of servants' position and going on to the servant's position, adopted son's position, stepson's position and son's position. Then it goes to the mother's position, the father's position, and it finds its consummation in God's loving bosom. That is humanity's ultimate destination. There we will be dwelling in the world of love, the direct domain of God's love.
You can well imagine that throughout his lifetime, Reverend Moon has been hated and pursued by Satan more than anyone else was throughout history. Father has gone through the entire spectrum of human misery, from the very bottom all the way to the top. I had to experience all the suffering of humanity. I could not circumvent or overlook any aspect of human suffering. This is why my past forty years have involved the worst possible misery.
I started from the servant of servants' position and I tried to become the "king" of servants, the best servant of servants that ever existed. In order to become the king of servants, you must be the model, fulfilling the worst difficulties of any servant imaginable. There have been so many people who died tragically under the most miserable conditions. Even those people can come and bow down before me and say, "Yes, you suffered more than I did"
There are many black people within this congregation. The history of the black race has been one of deep suffering and misery. Some black people, therefore, feel hatred toward white people, saying, "I can't forgive white people because they have always mistreated us" But those black people can see Father and know that he has suffered more than they. Father can tell them, "I understand. I also went through such experiences" Then these people can bow down and say, "Yes, I know you suffered ten, even a hundred, times more than we did" Their hearts can be comforted and melted.
This is why God can be proud of Reverend Moon, who was sent as the king of suffering. In other words, no one in history has suffered more than Reverend Moon, for the sake of God. Because of that, God can say to the people, "Look what My son has done" Everyone else's suffering becomes smaller at that point. Even Satan cannot say any more to Father because Father's suffering is far beyond Satan's imagination.
There are many convolutions and ups and downs in history, but basically it can be summed up within the eight stages of Father's pioneering task. From the servant of servants' position to the servant's position and all the way up to the love of God, I covered the entire spectrum by suffering every step of the way. That was the road of indemnity. No matter what suffering I have faced, I would never take a weak position or say, "God, this is too much. I cannot bear any more. I will not shed any more tears" I will never say that.
The path of suffering should not be distinguished by misery and tears; rather it should be embroidered with the Joy of acceptance. Tragedy must be converted into joy. Every step of the way, on every level, I have been striving to attain the kingship, to become the model for that particular level: the king of servant of servants, the king of servants, the king of adopted sons, the king of stepsons, and so forth. Father has walked every step of the way, achieving everything to the fullest degree.
Yes, I have shed tears but not tears of weakness and complaint to Heavenly Father; rather my tears were for the sake of humanity. Always my attitude has been, "I know, Heavenly Father, that You cannot abandon mankind; You have to save them. By the same token, I will never give up on humanity. Even if You must use me as a sacrifice to save others, please do that"
God always checked with Satan, saying, "What do you think, Satan, should I listen to Reverend Moon or not?" Even though he didn't want to, Satan always had to say, "Yes, God, he does deserve Your support" Satan has to testify for Father and say, "Even under the worst kind of suffering, Reverend Moon never complains or thinks of himself No one has ever lived like that before. For that reason, I have to surrender and completely separate myself from him" Satan has to acknowledge that Reverend Moon has walk the road of liberation.
I have traveled to all the continents of the world, and established Holy Grounds in every nation, including the most miserable, small, suffering countries. No matter what country I go to, I always have confidence that I can comfort the people there and restore them because I think, "I have done more suffering than these people. Because of that, God, please help and save this nation" I have consistently prayed such a prayer, even in the smallest and poorest nations of the world. That is the road of restoration.
If there had been no fall of man, the beginning point of everything would have been glorious. But instead, the beginning point was tragedy, suffering and misery. Forty years ago, I was doing the things I have described to you, but nobody believed. Today you can believe it because everything has been accomplished and completed. It is in the past. This is why Father always insists on the rule: I accomplish it first, then I speak about it.
Forty years ago, when I explained the need to liberate the heart of God and humanity, as well as eliminate the sin of mankind, nobody could believe it. Moreover, they would look at me and say, "You're crazy" They treated me like an insane person, although I was speaking the truth. For forty years, I have walked a lonely path. Therefore, as a Moonie, if you are trying to figure out ways to avoid difficulties and suffering, then you are a fake. What I have gone through in the past forty years-all the stages of suffering-has been condensed, in a way, into a small segment of seven years. All you have to do is walk that seven-year path, and the method of walking that path is the Home Church providence.
The course of Jacob had to be walked by the Israelites. The course of Moses had to be walked by the Israel nation. The course of Jesus must be walked by the people of the world. By the same token, the course of the True Father must be walked by each of you. If your seven years is a period of difficulty and a path of thorns, do not avoid that. Do not avoid the persecution, receive it. During your seven years, you will be converting the hostile world into a loving world, one that will open its doors and welcome you as a tribal messiah. That is happening because of the conditions of victory set in Danbury. Your job in Home Church is becoming much easier because of that Danbury victory.
The suffering period consists of eight stages and also the restoration period has eight stages: individual, family, clan, tribe, society, nation, world and universe. Our slogan for this year is "Unification of the Fatherland" Where do we accomplish this unification? It is through the Home Church providence. Thus you must follow my directions and fulfill the mandates. Give to others with true love. Then you can talk about it and tell me whether it worked or not, but first you must obey.
The entire consummation is centered upon you. Unless you do it, nothing will happen. Unless you act, the ideal family, tribe, nation and world will not come about. What will be your attitude? Will you try to dodge the suffering period, or will you plunge into it and convert it into joy? The course of restoration is one of breaking through, penetrating. Do you follow?
Up till now, I must say, your practice of the Moonie way of life has been fake to the point of being almost scandalous. On the road of indemnity, how can you demand a salary? You have to be paid to do the work of God? This is the road where you must invest your flesh, blood and every ounce of energy. This is the kind of investment you must make. When we have paid the indemnity, when we have consummated that road, we will come to a different level. But until we reach that point, nothing less than total commitment is required. That is the road of indemnity. Today is the day you must repent. You must say, "Yes, it is true, I have not been a good enough Moonie. But I will be different from now on"
When Korea was still under the occupation of Japan, Father was suffering in prison for the sake of the independence of Korea. At that time, my captors tried to tempt me e by saying, "If you will recant, we will give you freedom, as well as glory, honor, money and women" But I chose to remain on the suffering way. When I look back on those days, I feel it was God's grace to be in jail. There I was totally separated from normal earthly temptations, so I was protected in that sense. Both the highest and the lowest echelons of the Japanese imperial government united in order to persecute me. They had not even one iota of sympathy for me in those days. But I bit off that suffering and chewed it up.
In North Korea, I experienced imprisonment three times. Persecution in North Korea came, primarily, because of money. Looking back on those days, I can see that God was telling me, "Completely separate yourself from money; have nothing to do with it" That particular discipline was the grace given to me during my imprisonment. There was an established Christian church in communist North Korea, but I could not trust it. There was a government there, but I certainly could not trust them. Thus I truly became stronger by thinking that there was no one in the world that I could rely on except myself and God.
Every situation in Korea today will pass away-whether it is political, social or economic. I see everything today as pan of the passing phenomena which will not survive. I know the new order has to come to that country, so I can be above all current situations. No earthly power can become a temptation to me. When I came to the United States, the entire free world banded together against me. I really have no yearning in my heart for anything in the world. The world's persecution helped me, in a way, by helping me to isolate myself from temptations.
When I look back upon my 67 years of life, I feel nothing but intense gratitude filling my heart I see that every step of the way, God wanted to give me something better and greater. All the suffering was a method by which to gain something greater. I look at my life as one of great blessing. I can see that God has been with me every step of the way. From this point on, the foundation which God has erected can never be diminished even one iota by any earthly power. Because of my course of suffering, this foundation is completely rock-solid. I can see nothing but the flowing love of God throughout my life, supporting and protecting me.
The remaining path is a bright and rosy one. All I see ahead is a wide open road into the Kingdom of Heaven- in heaven and on earth. I can walk down that highway with true pride and confidence, filled with gratitude. Up till now the time of suffering was like dwelling in the nighttime; every step of the way was in darkness. The path of restoration was like one night after another, on and on, with no sunshine. But during this time, as I encountered barriers along the way, I broke down each of them one by one and opened up the path, enabling me to see larger and larger territory.
Now I can see the entire area; no compartments or barriers can obstruct my view. In other words, in spirit world there are no more fences. That is why the entire spirit world can now come down freely. In the past, the ability of the spirit world to help was very limited. Only with certain spiritual rapport could someone establish that single vertical line of communication. Today it is different because the compartments have been broken down and the barriers are gone. All the forces of religion can now come down with great impact on earth.
In order to be entitled to the Kingdom of Heaven, you have to be able to control the past, present and future. You have to be a historical person. The spirit world represents the past; the present time is the era of the True Parents; and the future will be God's era. Adam and Eve received support from the archangel and God; also, the entire world of creation was under their dominion. In order for you to come to the Kingdom of Heaven, you must become a historical person centered upon the love of God. Centered upon God's love, you must be able to control the past-spirit world- the present, which is the Parent's world, and the future, which is God's world. I devised a way by which you could encapsulate that course. That is the Home Church system. When you go to your area, you encounter all these things, so you can practice there.
Many people ask, "How will Reverend Moon build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth?" You have seen the blueprint this morning. Nothing is lacking in the Home Church- all the facets are there. Furthermore, all the information that Satan has, you also have. As an individual, my entire life has been one of extraordinary suffering, but then when I look at it from another direction, I see what a blessing it was. God gave me that path in order to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. God gave such suffering to Reverend Moon centering upon love. He wanted to bestow His entire heavenly inheritance on the shoulders of Reverend Moon and through him, to distribute it to you and all of humanity. So you are the inheritors of this Kingdom.
But you must not put a scar on that inheritance. Father's entire life was involved in this tradition, thinking, "I cannot leave even one little defect in the God-given Kingdom of Heaven" By the same token, that is the tradition for you. I am bequeathing that Kingdom to you, so you must not become a person who shall leave any mark of shame there. Do you have confidence? Do you want to receive that inheritance?
On this momentous, historical day of February 3, 1987 - January 6, by the lunar calendar-Father has proclaimed to the world, "I promise to give you all the inheritance I have received-the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven" What determines whether you become a winner or a loser? It depends upon whether you fulfill your responsibility not to deface that inherited Kingdom, especially you blessed families who are transferring the lineage. If you are determined not to leave any scar upon the future, I can promise to bequeath to you the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven.
Your stage to act upon is Home Church. This is where you can practice Father's tradition and words, as well as fulfill the Blessing and transfer God's lineage. With Home Church as the beginning point, where do we go from there? Home Church will be elevated into tribal church, then to national church, then to world church. Our goal is not too far away. One layer will not be enough; we can make a second layer, third, fourth and so on. We have to knit the world into different layers of Home Churches. So you may think that the Home Church system is sparse, but our goal is actually very near. We just have to begin.
Through Home Church, you will create your own tribe, nation, and world. When this system is successful in three nations-the United States, Japan, and Korea-we won't even have to worry about the rest of the world. By means of modern electronic media, we can communicate with the whole world. They can see the models in the United States, Japan, and Korea. So converting and transforming the world is not that big a task, once you get down to it.
By receiving the inheritance of Home Church, you are moving into higher territory. But you are not going in a zigzag way there; instead, you are like a comet, propelling straight forward to your ultimate target, which is God's heart. On this momentous birthday of the True Parents, let us pledge, "I shall become the true child of our Heavenly Father and be victorious along this path, so all mankind can ultimately dwell within the heart of God"
If that particular pledge is not fulfilled and is stained and scarred instead, then this birthday will lose all its joy and it will have no meaning. But I know you will not fail. God bless you.
