Belvedere, New York
Translator - Sang Kil Han
The topic of Father's sermon this morning is "Historical Debt and the Liberation of Ourselves." When we say history do we mean American history or the history of any one country? [No.] Do we mean the history of Korea? No. From the view point of the dispensation, history is the path human beings have trod on the way of restoration and improvement. History began at the time mankind fell and was lost to Satan and it has continued as human beings improve themselves for the sake of eventually winning over Satan. That is history. In the course of history the name Israel appeared. It means "gain victory over," which makes it a very significant word. After the victory of the self, the family, clan, nation and the victory of the world, cosmos and God, a true sense of liberation can set in. After liberating God we can liberate ourselves. It must happen in that order. Do you follow?
By looking at our lives today we know we are not Living in the realm of liberation. We are still fettered; we are not free. We only have freedom after being liberated and we have to be free before we can seek happiness. There is such a formidable and strong wall between the individual and the family and the family and the nation and so on. Today, for instance, we do not feel liberation within the self. Our minds and bodies are still struggling and trying to overcome. The same is true within the family and all the other levels as welt This is not something light that you can afford not to think about, but it is a great question we must consider.
In order for me as an individual to be liberated, I have to take certain steps. Likewise, for the liberation of the family certain steps are to be taken. The same is true for the nation and world. Can God, who is almighty and omnipotent, walk horizontally right into our lives and world? Can He do that? We must understand that as omnipotent as He might be, it is not possible. Vertically, He can, but not horizontally. Because each individual is born with an original mind he wants to follow his conscience and stand vertically. Since God cannot come horizontally, it means man must breakdown the walls, then God can come in. It works in that order. God needs to be liberated before He can sit in the subject position. Man is in the object position which is secondary. It goes without saying that the subject must be liberated before any object can hope to be liberated.
Until we reach that realm, we live within the realm where Satan and his laws prevail. We live there waiting for the day to go into the realm of liberation. What has mankind done in so many years? What are man's achievements? Have they done well at taking down the walls and going over the barriers of the individual, family and so on? Obviously, it is not enough for an individual just to go over the wall or make a big hole and go through it and stay there. We have to completely do away with the wall, making sure it crumbles down. Who eliminates that wall? Mankind has been doing this kind of work through religion. The ones who try to go around the walls are the ones who do not have a set religion. They are not religious people, they just want to achieve the goal. Those who do not pay attention to religion seek happiness by going around each wall, but certainly they can never achieve happiness, try as they might. Instead they only reach hell We see conflict everywhere and in every circumstance as the manifestation of that.
Why is there war? Why hasn't God tried to stop war? Why does He rather choose to allow war, hoping it leads to improvement? So people will make change, with the larger entity absorbing the smaller one. Together they can then make improvement and progress towards reaching the final goal of taking the wall down. As we have seen, the world has been filled with conflict. There have been many wars, all headed towards a certain goal. Until now we saw the confrontation taking place between two main powers, the democratic countries and the communist countries. The right and left wings made up the two elements of conflict. We easily speak about right wing and left wing but there is no clear demarcation between the two. The whole world is in chaos; we live in a very complex situation, yet walls are strongly maintained even though it adds to the complexity.
On December 25th, the communist empire came down for good. It was historical The very element which created so many problems and violence for the world disappeared almost overnight What about America? America too is going through a lot of change now. The giant has become so sick that it is leaning to one side. There are a lot of problems here. After the fall of the communist countries, America would now like to maintain its superiority as the strongest nation; the one with all the nuclear weaponry. America would like to stop those like Kim Il Sung from owning nuclear weapons because if he possesses nuclear weapons, his neighbor, Japan, will not feel comfortable. The Japanese would then have to develop their own nuclear weapons just to prepare themselves. Then many countries would come to possess these weapons. America does not want that, but can any one country possess all the weapons of war and continue that way? That is the question.
America would like to maintain a rigid situation of supremacy over the world, but looking from the perspective of the cosmos, America is not equal to the rest of the world. America is a part of the world, it is not the world itself. America just wants to maintain its wall, not take it down. This is against the cosmic movement. America's future is greatly in question.
It is a principle of nature that the one which is highest sooner or later falls down to the lowest position because of its weight. Once something starts rolling downhill, it becomes very difficult to apply the brake. Is America ascending today or is it about to come down? If it comes down where would it come to rest? Would it fall part way down? No, once it starts coming down, it will gain momentum so it isn't hard to predict what will happen: there is a danger it could fall lower than ever. The fact that America started to fall is proof enough that it must be going against the rules or desire of the universe. Otherwise, all the elements of the universe would protect it so that it wouldn't fall. The fact America is allowed to fall shows it is going against the trend of the world.
Externally this is very visible. What about on the internal level? Internally, a very similar thing is taking place. Religions today will be re-balanced. That means the higher religions will come to absorb the lower ones. They will merge into one. People want to become higher and higher in spirit. From God's perspective, the great question is, what kind of country or external form will remain and stabilize? And, what kind of religion will remain while others fade away? The standard they finally will have is of great concern to God. Externally speaking, God would like to see the world without the boundaries of countries and without the boundaries of culture. That is what He visualizes as ideal God would like to see a world without these limitations. All the wars, struggles a difficulties mankind has had all contributed towards the goal of doing away with these walls.
Through the fact that our intelligence always improves, we've come to realize that it is useless to maintain all the walls. We have to do away with them. This is the whole purpose; to bring the walls down and create an environment of peace. This is the purpose behind religion too, which is the internal aspect of the human being, as compared to the external which is manifested in politics. The historical debt is a wall. It cannot disappear automatically. It has to come into confrontation and collide with something. Then either the wall or the force that hits it will come down. After the wall comes down, unity will be realized. In other words, we have to pay a certain price (of indemnity) for the wall to come down. Just like we see a war on the external side with fighting between countries, a similar thing takes place internally; two religions will have a bloody fight. After that we see the external and internal elements fight also. That means a country will fight against a certain religion. Simplified, this is the same form as the mind and body struggle. Just like the mind and body fight each other, different elements war against each other on the external level.
Who has been playing the leading role in history of bringing about these improvements in mankind to reach the ultimate goal of having no walls? The great name is Israel. God made the Israelites to lead the way; the first Israelites, the second Israelites and the third Israelites. In the interim God created such a great country as America. A lot of walls have been taken down within America. Many people of different races from all over the world have come to live in harmony without walls. Practically speaking, people of every nation have come to America. God created such a country. Unlike Americans who want to keep this country for themselves, God would like to have this immense country exist without walls so that any people from the north, south, east or west could come here and migrate back and forth to their own country. God visualizes everyone coming and going through this great free country.
Why is it necessary? by doing so people come to understand the ideal world God wants to see. They will see an example. by coming to America and experiencing life here they can see what God's country is like. They will come to know, "This is what God eventually may create in my country." They come to - learn. Everybody who comes through America and then goes back to their homeland learns about God and God's country. When they go they should have twelve countries they will make effort to unite through their love and their service for the sake of others.
When the United Nations was conceived it seemed rather easy in principle to unify the whole world. They wanted to create an upper house and lower house. To the upper house they would bring the presidents of all the countries in the world and to the lower house, they would bring all the congressmen of each country and make one huge unified organization representing the world. If America had accomplished that and created an environment where there were no walls, where anyone would be free to go in and out, and had educated them all painstakingly, then America could never fall or experience hardship. God would have preserved America. That is what would have happened.
For example, if you undertook serious cultivation of this immense fertile country, it would provide enough resources to feed the entire world. Nobody has to go hungry. But why is it not practiced? Because of the borders of countries. Countries simply want to keep things for themselves and not let anyone else come in. The world is destined to be one country, not hundreds of countries. It isn't difficult to understand that the whole world must become one in order for God to be liberated. When God wants to go to Korea, does He need a Korean visa? You laugh, but we should be serious about this matter. So God can go into Korea as He wishes? At least that is the way it should be, right? But today, can God go into Korea and live as He wishes in Korea? [No.] That means God does not even need to go to Korea. There is a wall. Korea is just for Koreans, Korea is not for the world. That is why God cannot go in.
What about this great Christian nation where people believe in and preach about God and do everything in the name of God? Can God come to America? [ No. ] How many invisible walls are there in America? We have experienced many. Different denominations fight each other. That is a great big wall. If we think this is an environment where God can come in and out as He pleases, we don't need to pray to God. All we would have to do is talk and God would listen. If you called, "God please come here", He would come. But since He cannot, we have to pray intensely to reach him vertically in the morning and evening and throughout the night. In order to communicate with God now, we need a big antenna to send out a strong message. This is not the original idea though. Originally we were built to talk to God easily.
Are there walls within the Unification Church or not? [Ideally, no.] "Ideally" is not reality. How many walls are there when we sit and look around, "Oh, he is Korean, he is English, he is Japanese, he is American . . ."? There are cultural walls too, "Oh, he does it the Korean way." These are all walls. America has been historically proud that whoever comes here becomes Americanized within five years. This is the melting pot and no metal escapes melting. Then Reverend Moon came here and didn't seem to melt like America want him to. Rather, they think that he is a fearful guy or that they don't need him because he doesn't melt. Father wants every American to melt in God's way and take down the walls.
We see a certain type of freedom in American society. Is there more freedom within the Unification Church society than outside of it? [ Yes. ] Does that mean there are that many less walls? [Yes.] That is a very serious question. If you really mean this, you don't need to worry about it. If it is an outside person's judgment, it means they come and see there are no walls here, so they want to stay and rest their minds and bodies before they go out again. So just like Father said it should be in America, it can be within the Unification Church too. Everybody can come in and go out, come in and go out. While they do that, they come to understand, "This is what the godly way of life is. This is the godly way of thinking." Why is this migration necessary, where people come in and feel comfortable, then go back out and others come in? It is because in the spirit world there are twelve gates of pearl. Are the twelve gates of pearl kept open or are they kept closed? They are open in such a manner that you can go in through any gate and go out through any gate. There is no set rule that you have to come in this way and go out that way. Of course in order to travel through you have to reach the hub or center where the twelve gates connect. If you don't reach that, the only way you can exit is the same way you came in. As long as you reach the center you are free to leave from any exit. That means once you go through God's palace you can go anywhere. This is why you are very free to travel anywhere in Heaven. Adam and Eve were originally a king and queen, weren't they? They were to establish the royal family too.
The key question of history is how to effectively take the walls of every type down. Who is anxious to take the walls down and who is anxious to keep them up? Satan doesn't want the walls to come down He wants to build them higher and make them more sophisticated. We know why. God and the people on His side should be the ones who are anxious to take the walls down. We also know why. In order for all the walls to come down, somebody has to pay the price, which is indemnity. Therefore, the conclusion is, all the high level religious people should pay indemnity because their life's goal is to take the walls down. The Bible mentions this many times, "Blessed are those who are peacemakers."
In a family where the husband and wife disagree very seriously and fight all the time, their children want to nullify their differences and take the wall down so they can become peaceful That child is indeed a peacemaker. A peacemaker is the one who takes the wall down. Such a person will stand as the center member of that entire family. Of course, the father is the center, but not always. If a son or daughter is a better peacemaker, a better wall-tearer down, then he or she will be the center. The only difference here is that the children have to bear the indemnity. They have to bear many times more indemnity than their parents or grandparents would pay. Do you follow? Therefore, we Unification Church members who are sitting here right now have a clear resolution and idea that within our own generation and with our own hands we have to tear down the walls. Never pass this to the next generation. Do you understand?
Why did Jesus have twelve disciples? It is simple. So he could make twelve disciples into one. With Jesus sitting right in the center, any person could go through one of the twelve disciples and reach into his realm and then travel out through any gate. They could then come in any gate again and go back out any gate over and over. Then we could say "They have become one." When we say "becoming one" this is what we mean. Extend the twelve disciples of Jesus into twelve countries and twelve religions. That would be the world by itself. Jesus' goal was to liberate God and liberate mankind, but obviously he wasn't successful. Even Jesus could not do this. Unlike others, we Church members see clearly what Jesus came here for. Therefore Unification Church members should achieve at least what Jesus came here to achieve. That is something very clear that we know. You should think, "Centering on my family, I will lead twelve families and bang them into unity." Is it easy? You have already been trying. Think of your family and then think of twelve more families around you. Twelve is the minimum. You need to bring them together. If one is not even thinking of the let alone not doing it, how can God or anyone else trust him to lead twelve nations? All of us Unification Church members are boastful; bragging, '1 am living for the sake of the world." But how can you do that if twelve people cannot live harmoniously centered on you? Or if twelve families cannot live centered on you? How can such an individual live for the sake of the world? How can we not take one step but still expect to go ten steps? Some people are frustrated enough to say, "Father, this is too complicated. Why don't we just live like everybody else and just mind our own business? If everybody lives like this, the world will be a nice place to live. Why does it have to be so complicated? Why do we live like this?" There is a good reason why we do this.
Where are we headed in this world? We are certainly headed somewhere, where we want to find happiness. In the spirit world, when some visitor or guest comes to visit your family, you will give them the best bed in the house. You will give your own bed to your guest. When a black guest comes to a white family, will you say, "I don't want to give him my best bed"? No, it doesn't work that way. Even if a black man comes to a white family, he will be given the best bed for the night. Why is this natural and no one questions doing it? Because the bed in which I am sleeping is not actually mine. It belongs to God. Everything belongs to nature itself and God. It is God's property.
So centering on love, we go through the hub. If this person at the center is noted by others all over the world who then come storming in to visit because she is so wonderful, you'd have to do a lot of work to accommodate them. But eventually would you be a happy person or unhappy person? Happy. So each one of us should be like a gate. We let everyone come through us and go out as we please. We are the passageway. If I don't open my door the traveler has to go around a long way to reach another entrance. Knowing this, we open our way day and night so anybody can travel through me a short distance. There are millions and millions waiting to travel. This is the reason all Unification Church members must go through rigid training by which we can accommodate twelve different races and nationalities. How do you like it? Just like Father has twelve tribes and just like there are twelve tribes in the Bible, we too should be the center of twelve different races. That is how all Unification Church members should be. Are we proud of it, do we want to do it? Would we be better off doing it? Yes or no? [Yes!]
Maybe you can accommodate 100 people, maybe you wouldn't mind even up to 1000. but when the number endlessly increases, would you say it is too many? Or would you say, "The more the better"? Is it increasingly more difficult or increasingly easier? More difficult, it is very difficult. How do you solve that difficulty? It is very easy in principle. All we have to do is be submissive to everybody. Live for the sake of everybody else. Don't draw any lines. That means everybody is determined not to be indebted to others. Whenever somebody does something for you, you immediately want to do something in return as if to pay them back Always live like this.
We always talk about training. What are the best forms of training? The best form of training is for as many people as possible to learn to live harmoniously with each other. People from one extreme living with people of another extreme is even better. That is the best training for the sake of spirit world. When this becomes a reality you can ignore all the walls and all the national borders and you can travel in and out as you wish. What is the most ideal state of living? To live with the attitude that anybody can go through your property and travel freely in and out. Even though a thief may occasionally take something away from you, at least you have something that he can take, and he goes in and out but you just close your eyes to it. This is the way God is thinking. We cannot be that generous, but God can. Why? Because God feels that, '`Though he may be a petty thief, he is still in my domain." He is still in God's world and he is still God's man. He can repent and change overnight. God is thinking this way. Do you think you'll see any form of lock in heaven? Do you think God has to carry keys?
Everybody agrees with the standard of God. Compare it to America's standard. Is America closer to God or closer to the opposite of God which is hell? [Hell.] Today when you go to a hotel, you can see very sophisticated keys. You'll be shocked. They used to have simple locks, which some smart person could go around and open without authorization, but now security is becoming much tighter because the walls are becoming tighter. that closer to heaven or hell? The news keys are very effective but they are closer to hell! The outside world is getting worse and tighter. Does that mean that Unification Church members have an easier life or a more difficult task? Which are we experiencing? Our lives are not getting any easier. You are getting better, but it is not getting easier.
If the Divine Principle and Father's teaching about God's ideal were practiced universally, do you think America would be a better country to live in or a worse country? [Better.] Do you like the idea of that better country? Do you think you can just sit and hope for America to be a better country some day or do we have to constantly invest and improvise to make it better? Of course, when the sun is shining no one minds working, but when it rains no one wants to go out. Which is more precious? To go out in the middle of the rain and save one soul or close your business when it is raining and only work on fine days? Which effort is more precious? [In the rain.] The more difficult and more severe the conditions, the better.
We sit here but we see with our own eyes a clear vision of what the ideal world is, even though we're not there yet. Still we can be in that kind of high level Obviously that is a very high level. Years ago, nobody even dreamed this was a practical matter, and now it is a reality with us. Think about it, did it come easily? Did it come because we are so worthy to see this day? How much work has been invested into the foundation upon which we're sitting? How many people were brought into war and killed? How much misery has been realized to pay the price of indemnity for the general level to come up as high as we are sitting today! It is all meant for "me", not us, but "me", so that each of us sit in that privileged high position. Why? Because all the work that has been done in the past, present end future of history's progress is for my liberation. For one man to be liberated hundreds, thousands and millions have had to literally pay with their lives. There was bloodshed through wars and religious dedication. Make no mistake about this. God has been clearly going in this direction and doing this. It is God's will to put every single person, with no difference, into the same position as God Himself. That is God's wish always.
Among us who are gathered here, those who have confidence that they will never die, raise your hands. [No one.] We live here because we were born. We didn't plan fir it, nobody planned. Make no mistake about this. Think about it. You happened to be born in an American family, so you are American. That is all. That person is never any better than someone who is born in the worst place in the world. And our way of life is certainly not better than other peoples'. We wake up and eat three meals a day, work, sleep, get married, have children and go to spirit world.
Some people want for nothing. They are millionaires born into good, highly respected families. They never have to do anything to make a living. They live lavishly and arrogantly trying to protect their position. They go to spirit world. Others work, breaking their backs, but always wanting the ideal world and always wanting to get near God. All throughout life they are miserable by any standard, but that person is better off in spirit world. Those are the ones who always pray. They have to because they are wanting so much, but by wanting so much, they come to discover a deeper God. Every day is a prayer.
Wait and see, in spirit world you will realize, "This world is different from the world I left." What will be the difference? Here on earth we always pay the price of indemnity and work miserably searching for God and searching for the ideal. Then you go to spins world. Once you reach that world, you are no longer miserable. You can travel all the domain of God freely. No guard can stop you, you can pass freely. However, those who lived for their own sake, all of a sudden find themselves stopped everywhere. They cannot go anywhere in the spirit world. Do you follow?
Historical debt means we owe something to history, to the many historical happenings and to people. As a result of them, we sit here in such an elevated position today. So our goal in life is at least try to pay back the historical debt you incurred. You have a debt, your bank account is on the debit side. We have to pay it back.
Today, truly we have come to the world level. Whether it is external in the political area, or internal l like religion, everything is complicated and in chaos. Who is going to rearrange and solve this situation? What is the Unification Church? What are the people to do? From the worldwide perspective, Reverend Moon becomes more and more famous. More people are learning about him. It has become almost common knowledge among intellectuals and to everyone else that Reverend Moon is the one who worked all his life to destroy the walls of communism. Today we see no trace of the walls of communism. this is owing to whom? Did it happen automatically? Nothing happens automatically. It was Reverend Moon who took down the walls of communism. This is a historical fact. Father fought so fiercely against communism. Why? To destroy them? No, to save the people under communism. After Reverend Moon met Gorbachev, it was a mere eighteen months before communism came to a complete end. It is a short transition compared to the years of historical turmoil, beforehand. Now that Reverend Moon met Kim Il Sung, won't it be interesting to see how long it win take before North Korea disintegrates? Can you imagine it?
What is Father thinking about all the time? How to effectively educate the youth of North Korea and mainland China. We have to educate them just as we have educated here. Father already educated a great number of Russian students. Those very sons and daughters of the highest officials of what used to be the communist regime regard Reverend Moon as higher and greater than their own parents. Spiritually, they are in a higher plane than some or most of us. Isn't that amazing? It is alarming
Dispensationally, the second generation is closer to Father's side. Kim Il Sung's position is the worst imaginable, but what about his offspring? Do you think Kim's son is closer to or farther away from Reverend Moon? He has to be closer, not farther. The one who invited Father to North Korea was Kim Jong I1, the son of Kim Il Sung. It was not Kim Il Sung who invited Father to their country. December 25th, Christmas of 1991 was a very significant day. it was the day the Soviet Union was phased out and on the same day Kim Jong Il, the son of Kim Il Sung, took charge North Korea. So when North Korea and Father become one there is no major conflict anymore and certainly no one here on earth can make any organized effort to kill him or hurt Father like North Korea did in the past.
We have headwing thought. Centering on the head, there is the right wing which denotes the democratic world and left wing, the communist world. The legs represent the laborers and workers. The right hand and left hand is the right wing and left wing. Now the head has come to exist. Centering on the head, right and left will merge into one. Where is headwing headed? Vertically, directly towards God. So, headwing is Godism. Godism means vertical and right and left wing together are horizontal. The horizontal era has ended and the vertical era is beginning. Human history had been heading towards hell but now it has turned around and is headed back to God. What was left is right and what was on the right side is now left side. You may call it ironic, but look at the fantastic things now happening. Those who were under communism, the Russian students, have been trained by Father in the Divine Principle. They have gained so much confidence that now they are inviting American students from Ivy League schools to Russia and they are teaching the Americans about God and the Divine Principle! Can you imagine? America has always been the country propagating God and the right wing, but now they are learning the A,B,C's of God from the Russian students. In Korea, the cows have rings through their noses, which makes it easy to lead them. Americans always thought they were the ones leading the cow, but all of a sudden the Russians are leading the cow by nose. One day you will wake up and find this is true. What will you do? Americans will look around in disbelief and ask, ''What happened? I thought I had the ring in my hand!"
It is true that Reverend Moon came to America physically, but he never worked for America's sake alone. It is clear now that Father worked for the sake of the world, especially the major opposing area of Russia. The center stays in one direction but it goes around. When the center turns around, what was on the left is now on the right and what was on the right is left. This happens all the time. Father is not dumb. All during his incredible fight against unrighteousness in America, Father always extended part of his work and energy behind the iron and bamboo curtains. Father prepared even during the incredible difficult times. Father has representation in almost all the countries, of course some were underground. Now they are no more underground. Unification Church members like us are found all over the world. Did that idea ever occur to you, that this is happening all over the world?
Who will be the true master or owner of America? That is the question of the future. America today should be reminded that they owe a lot of blood to the Indians who were the original owners of this land. Reverend Moon is not dumb, he knows who his cousin is. The Indians are a similar race, like cousins to the Oriental race. Reverend Moon never tried to retaliate against America He tried to put everything he had into America. Even when America turned enemy to him, Reverend Moon still did not change his mind History story, revolves it does not only go in ore direction :ion only. It goes arc and. Koreans are `. very much up to focus now aren't they? Ten, twenty or thirty years ago they were still far behind, but now even in America a lot of people pay attention to Koreans. Sometimes we see clashes between blacks and Koreans. Inevitably the outcome will be better relations.
The Japanese are diligently searching Wall Street and looking for something to buy. Americans cannot dismiss Japan lightly. This is history is inevitable course now. Western civilization is at its height so now the world is turning to the east again. The Pacific era is coming about now. Will Western people understand Eastern people or will Eastern people understand and digest Western people? Digesting means to understand and embrace and make good of the relationship. If there are 3.2 billion Asians and 850 million whites, who will be taken more seriously by God? The larger number of course because to God's eve every life is equal. Until as recently as only a few decades ago, Asian people were all down and Western people were up. But in a mere few years the situation has changed significantly. Can America say, "We are going in the wrong direction, let us go back"? Not even America can do that. This is the tide of time and you cannot reverse the tide. We have to understand why so many Orientals are coming to America, more than at any other time in the past. They are exerting great influence over America whether Americans like it or not. God is allowing this to happen, not for the Orient to invade the West as the West may think (because they did that to the East). Eastern people must come and help this country get better. The time is coming soon for America to realize the gravity of the situation and accept Oriental influence. Then, will they just welcome any Japanese, Koreans or Chinese? No, only Unification Church, because Unification Church has international marriage. They are Asians but they are married to Westerners. Their children are certainly a fair and impartial entity. We have seen the limitations of Western people, but Western people in the Unification Church are different. They are better.
Why are these historical things happening? Where are we destined to arrive? We are very clearly and unmistakably destined to the liberation of the individual. Isn't it true that Orientals know about the west almost entirely, 100 percent, whereas Western people do not understand the Orient so much? Who will be the natural leader? The one who understands everything becomes the natural leader. That's true. How many Americans can speak Koreans and Japanese? Very few but all Koreans and Japanese speak English do not be endlessly proud of a certain culture. A certain culture will be challenged by other elements and our whole purpose is to bring about an even better culture. This is where history is going. The only one who can harmonize the extremes of East and West both spiritually and physically is Reverend Moon. This is not just one man's assertion or claim. It is the result of his work which has been shown over tens of years now. The Divine Principle is perfectly capable of understanding and absorbing all the existing Oriental thought let alone Christian thought. Nobody has ever imagined this, but look what Reverend Moon is doing. Oriental people are hermits, very exclusive to Confucianism. They never speak to Buddhists because there is nothing much they have in common. There is so much difference. Then there is Hinduism and Islam. Father brought them over here and taught them Divine Principle. Father also brought the Buddhists to Divine Principle. For the first time Confucionists too can see the common point. Father received a very interesting yet very serious report about the Muslim workshop yesterday. When these governments send their representatives here for workshop, they do not send them for fun. They are serious; they mean business. They are trying to find a way. Two of the elite group in forty day training now got really exhausted and decided they wanted to go home. So they sent a telegram to the Royal home office in Jordan, their own country, saying, ''We want to come back before the forty days ends." They received a reply that said, '`If you want to do that, you pay you own fare. And, when you come back be ready to give up your present position." Yesterday Reverend Kirn reported this to Father. This is how serious they are about the outcome of Father's teaching them. Father has done this many times before so they know what to expect. People can be changed.
Father created the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace in August as the internal organization. The World Federation for World Peace is the external way. They are in the position of mind and body in relationship. One group was organized based on political people and the other group was based on internally religious people, not just Christian denominations but all major disciplines. In effect this is taking the wall down. The wall has already come down very much. The utmost goal of the Religious Federation for World Peace is to adopt a common scripture from the essence of Buddhist teaching, Christian teaching and all major religions. They formed a committee to find the common denominators that they all believe in. What a large step in history! Already sixty countries are involved. That is a majority of influential countries. Twelve major denominations of religions are involved The only other way for them to accomplish unity would be a bloody fight but Father brought them up and now they are seeing the light peacefully. The world knows Reverend Moon was the one who invested over fifteen years to raise the denominations up. Everyone thought this was reckless. Many experts wondered what he was doing but Father did it. The people from the Islamic realm and the Jewish realm can never meet each other. The' have had no common ground up to now, but when Reverend Moon steps in then they can begin to talk. Even the scholars of these two countries can never meet each other on their own and come to significant achievements, but through Father they can.
The Unification Church is an entity that Muslims, Jews, even those who used to be the communists can come to. Americans can come in. Anybody can come into the Unification Church and anybody can leave as they please. And when they leave they are better than when they arrived. We have no walls. When any of us go to England or Germany and say, '1 am from New York" everybody will embrace you and say, "Oh, please stay."
So many walls are found everywhere, but numerous walls are now down. Who made the major effort? No one but Reverend Moon. This fact is recognized all over the world. Of course Reverend Moon was not completely alone. Alone, he never could have accomplished this. God was always right behind Reverend Moon. From this time on where is the world going to go? Does anybody know? That is the question. Only the person who has done the past work can do the future work too and that is Reverend Moon. Imagine, this big transition took place while the world fiercely opposed Reverend Moon's path, yet Reverend Moon achieved this. Now the world is just about ready to accept him, welcome him and listen to him. Once they start to listen, how quickly progress can take place.
It was only 1987, four years ago, that Gorbachev and Kim Il Sung got together and talked seriously about how to get rid of Reverend Moon. They thought Father was the only block in their efforts to communize the whole world. So they called on twenty four Red Army members. One of them was caught on the New Jersey turnpike quite by accident. He had a bomb so he was arrested and interrogated and he said he came to kill Reverend Moon. Other people were skill at large. His case is still pending; he didn't receive a sentence yet. This was only four years ago, but amidst all this Father went by himself to Moscow to meet Gorbachev, the very person who was serious to eliminate him. How can all this happen? Because Father knows where history is going. Father never said, "Oh I am very glad you invited me." Father went there and spoke his mind saying, "If you continue to do this you are going to perish." It was the same when Father went to North Korea. He told Kim Il Sung, Give up your intention of communizing this world and send every person under you to me so I can educate them. I can make your work easier." Father did say that to Kim Il Sung. As you know, Kim Il Sung is formidable, he can do anything. but what could he say? He just laughed diplomatically to Father and didn't mind. Father did say that.
Father was bold because he knew what he was doing. It was not just the first or second time. What happened in America? When America indicted Reverend Moon they did not do it because he did a seriously wrong thing. They indicted him to discourage him from coming into this country. They thought he wouldn't bother coming back. But is that what Father did? No, he had to do the work he was destined to do and walked, literally by his own feet, into prison in America just like in Moscow and Pyongyang. it's the call of duty, the call of God, Father's vocation. Father has always trod the straight path. That is why God is able to help him Father has always told us to travel straight. Father said we must take the statue of Lenin down before Russia can live again and it all happened. Wherever Reverend Moon and the Unification Church go, they gulp the walls up. We are the wall eaters!
Up until a decade ago, each religion thought that with the help of God, they could accomplish their own goals. But now everybody is seeing straight, "Nobody can do it, not me either." Only Reverend Moon is in the position to bring all the religions into one. Major religious leaders are saying that.
The realm of liberation is in sight and expanding. We can see it becoming more and more visible. What about God's liberation? When we see our liberation, we will also see the liberation day of God and Father. Until that time Father will not be liberated. What about us? We have to work for that day. So what is your conclusion? Don't even think about anything else but God and True Parents. That is all that matters to you. Nothing else actually matters.
Whose achievements are these historical accomplishments? Did Reverend Moon do it or did God? Each had to fulfill the right role. If Reverend Moon didn't know the Divine Principle, which God could not teach him, could God have helped him? No, it would have been unprincipled. We must understand \the Divine Principle and know how important it is. We are not serious enough. Are you studying Divine Principle very hard? Read the Principle and avail yourself to be seriously moved. Shed tears in spite of yourself and then God will visit you. The Unification church takes tradition seriously. The Unification Church also talks about education and takes it very seriously. Action is third. After being educated you must carry it out.
What is the tradition of Unification Church? The tradition of Unification Church is Divine Principle. Of course, the Divine principle book itself is not our tradition, the tradition is represented by Divine that is everything that is behind the Divine Principal book, which is heart.
We now come to realize the historical debt we have incurred and all the indemnity directly paid by Father. Because of that incredible amount of debt and the price that has been paid, we now see the realization of liberation at hand. Therefore at this juncture we have to be able to see what is ahead of us. What should I do? What is my goal as we head toward this final goal? This is what we have to think about. What is Father's age today? Seventy two. In eight years it will be the year 2000. Father will be eighty. Kim I1 Sung met Father when he was eighty. And Kim Il Sung opened up his heart and allowed his feelings to flow to Father.
There is a definite road ahead which Father and all of us must trod upon toward the year 2000. It is not vague or conceptual. There is a list of many things Father has to do and we have to do. We all know Korea is a unique country. Kim I1 Sung has reigned as the satanic second coming in North Korea, as king. In the south there is God's side second coming. There has been no time in history when these two have been arranged in such a direct confrontation. Kim says he is a Father, but we know our parents are in the south. There are two parents for mankind now, one in Cain's position and one in Abel's. But Cain and Abel's purpose for being is to become one.
In this case the twins struggled in the womb and Cain and Abel recovered elder sonship. When this day comes, this is an unmistakable sign of the end of days.
Imagine what America will experience in the eight years to come. We're not talking about 800 years, but eight years from now. The communist countries which seem to be quite helpless still have their direction determined in a certain way. What about America? Its major problem today is the economic problem. Usually an economic problem would be solved in two or three years. The oversimplified thing for Russia to do is disband the urban areas and ruralize, letting everyone go and farm their immense land. [if they dedicated everything to agriculture nobody would starve. It would bring an economic recovery. By far the most important aspect is the spiritual side; their value system. They have to fill their heads with something. They have to be educated with some kind of content just like Orientals have been educated by Confucianism, which worked pretty good so far. What are the Russians going to fill their heads with? Confucianism? Certainly not! Reverend Moon's teaching alone.
People will look around and select the best understanding. They are now deciding to study Godism, Reverend Moon's thought. Here in America, since people literally have a thousand things going on in their head at the same time, they have failed to make classifications, so they say the Unification Church is only one teaching among many. There are so many denominations here. They treat Unification Church as just one of literally hundreds of denominations. They have failed to see the meaning of it. In Russia, once they decide which direction they will go, all they have to do is push one button and everybody will go that way. To work the same way here in America you would have to have hundreds and thousands of buttons. And they wouldn't work either!
This is why God is now helping the Christians to go beyond the church and discourage attendance. The result is when you walk into a church there are only a few people there and they are much older. But who is that Christian? The Christian that God put everything into. Mankind shed so much blood for the sake of the rise of Christianity, but that very precious heritage is not fulfilling its function today. God wants to break it down and salvage it. That way more people will benefit from the new truth That is what is happening today, so there is a lot of work we have to do in the future.
You heard about the USA revival meetings, didn't you? Father said they need to resurrect America, "revival" by itself is no good. USA means United To Serve. Why does Father do so many things, from major tasks, medium tasks to little tasks in every detail?? Father sees that if he does not provide a path then America has no way to go. There is no other way to save America so Father allowed USA to take place. How disappointing it is for America, out of all the countries that God created, to become helpless in the face of communist youth and be taught about God by them. There is nothing but Divine Principle to save American young people.
We need a revolution, but not one with tanks and artillery. The only way to save this country is to`` revolutionize the concept of sex and do away with promiscuity. We need to get rid of drugs and the immoral family. If you study modern history you would know about the Opium War. The English brought a lot of opium to China to anesthetize the country. Now, they are reaping the result of their actions. They are receiving spiritual retaliation. Is Reverend Moon saying, "Good for you, you deserve to perish"?? To the contrary Reverend Moon has undertaken the impossible task of saving America from its drug war. Many of you used drugs, didn't you? Do you still use drugs? Certainly not. President Bush declared a war against drugs but now he admits he didn't win that war. If Bush was humble enough to say to Reverend Moon, ''I can't do it, please help me" Reverend Moon already would have been successful in accomplishing this. Father told him that a long time ago. It is now a part of history. Bush thought that by working with Reverend Moon he would perish. On the contrary he would have been saved. Father is not the one who causes anyone to perish.
Our tradition is the Divine Principle. Knowledge is power. We must have Divine Principle knowledge or else we have no ability to lead anybody or do anything. Certainly we would not be able to rise up in position without it. Father has been working so hard, even breaking his back God has been doing the same. For whom? For us, for everybody. That is how much we have a historical debt. Today we inherited so much invisible debt. Father is just reminding us. When we know the will of God and our call of duty, we cannot stay idle. There are so many people we have to save, and feed and worry about. Even the remote countries of Africa, where the situation is very bad, we need to worry about them too. Twenty million people are starving. Sixty thousand die of hunger every day. You can see it on television. God feels a deep agony from this. God's sympathy and enthusiasm towards America have turned into anger. He thinks, "I did not bless this country so your stomach could get big. The reason I blessed America is so America can feed and take care of the world." That is what God would say. Do you agree? We see a lot of waste and think nothing of it. People have had plenty all their life so they feel no sense of remorse or guilt.
Isn't it part of our thinking as Unification Church members to regard others as brothers and sisters and to see everyone as fellow human beings with the same fate? We see each other as eventually having the same root and the same nation, the same everything. We see each other as a family that spreads all throughout we world. Isn't this the thought of our movement? If we become serious about that do you think God will help us or not? Will He just leave us alone? He will help us if we become serious. Father has told us over and over that because he had this thought and determination in every inch of his being, ever since he took up this mission, no matter how difficult the path became he never faltered. He never failed. God always came to help. Likewise, if we inherit this thought, as children inherit their parents' thought, and if we work and think like Father, then God will also never fail to come and help us. Our work will prosper. We have to experience shim jung segye or the heartistic world. The only way we can reach the goal of a heartistic world is by following Father's path. There is no other way. That is also God's path. We cannot imagine how many buckets of tears Father has shed to reach this point or how painful and spiritually agonizing it was because he had to bear so much loss. That we did not know this so clearly means we never bore our burden. We didn't know it, let alone did we bear Father's burden as if it were our own. This goes for all members whether they be long time members or even older Korean members. Father bore the burden by himself up until this moment. Should that continue? That is the question.
What is wrong with us? We have gone over most of the persecution. Now Father has come to the peak. Should he start flying now or should he go back the way he came? [He should fly.] Yes, he should fly, not walk, back to the east. This is what Father has to do. When he does that the center point of the future will be determined. The whole world will start moving when Father returns to the east.
Father is well known to the world now. The world recognizes Father's achievements and his thought. What about Unification Church members? Father will be recognized and welcomed, but what about you? Can Unification Church members go anywhere and hear people say, "Oh, he is like God"? Have we become like that? Because Father has come to the focus of attention, people all over the world are beginning to study his actions and his teachings. Everyone is researching Reverend Moon. Father was really surprised when he went to North Korea. He learned that the communist staff members had read at least 200 books about Reverend Moon. They have such thorough knowledge. Most Americans never even read one or two. What about we, Unification Church members? How many volumes of Fathers words have we read? Are we better or are we not any better than North Korean people?
They are caught now. Like us, like any human being, the more they read, they will be moved. They decided to themselves, "this is it." That is their conclusion. Once they arrive at this conclusion, will they ever listen to anybody else? When Father went to North Korea this time, in a mere five or seven days the government made a brand new road to Father's old house where he was born. They made a new lawn at Father's parents' tomb. There were brand new tombstones there. And Kim Il Sung said he is going to preserve Father's area forever. Why would he do this? Because they studied who Father is and what he does.
Does any one enthusiastic member of the American CIA study about Father so laboriously to be able to decide whether Reverend Moon is a good person or bad person? KGB members said as early as eight years ago, they were concluding that the Unification Church and Reverend Moon were significant. They decided to invite Reverend Moon to Moscow then, it wasn't an overnight decision. Even today America is opposing Father with no good reason. They cannot state any reason for their opposition, they just do it. There is no such thing as "just opposing!" Not even God can do this. Why does Father say this? Because we in the Unification Church are America. God has no problem accepting Unification Church members as America even though America does not respond.
Now we are in the days of liberation. We live in the realm of liberation, but our country is not liberated. The schedule is already there, but it is not happening. Are you going to abandon the ship of America or are you going to jump in and save America? You have to decide one way or the other, there are no two ways about it. When that salvation happens, Father will no longer be in America. Father will be back in the east. Father has to go to the east. All of us too, will go to our hometowns. Father must go to his hometown too. Father already told all of us to go to our hometown and then Father went to his. On the 1st of September, 1991, in Korea, Father proclaimed to the whole world that everybody should go to their hometown. In a mere ninety days Father went to his own hometown on the 30th of November, 1991. The number nine is satanic, but Father took it. It was interesting that someone prophesied Father would meet Kim Il Sung on a certain day. They figured the day like this. The name Kim, of Kim Il Sung, is written in Chinese characters with eight strokes. It takes four strokes and Sung takes six strokes to write. Eight plus four equals twelve which is December and six, December sixth. In Korean writing there is a mystical quality. It always works. Someone made this prediction.
Kim Il Sung means golden day perfection. That means Adam and Eve's perfection. Even these small things are not significant. Like many major works in Gods dispensation, especially during this time Father was in North Korea, many coincidences occurred. Only we know they are not just coincidence.
So much has been invested for the sake of liberating "me". So my liberation is that important and valuable. Much effort was made for each one or you. Don't take this lightly. Think about that. When you enter Harvard on a scholarship you are expected to work seriously. It is the same with you. You are expected to return so much to society. Historically each one of us is sitting in a position of great indebtedness. So much investment has been made by mankind and God for the sake of "me". "Me" is then expected to do a lot of things for society in return. Father knows this, therefore Father has protected us. He never let evil penetrate us. Father always became a bullet-proof shield against evil When evil attacked, it didn't attack Unification Church members, it always attacked Father. For decades Father took all the arrows and all the bullets. In this time of liberation of each self, Father took the burden upon himself and came into this world to protect all the people. The second realm of liberation embraces all humankind living on the face of the earth All this was done by Father himself.
What about after liberation? Liberation is not the end of it. Once you are liberated, you have to maintain it. So Father must take the responsibility and make a plan of protection after liberation. Liberation is one job, but after than, protecting the liberated is another job. Do you understand? We must understand that after liberating this country and liberating ourselves, then Father has to go back to the east and form a second liberation realm to maintain this liberation. We must understand and inherit his burden.
In the outside world, the well-meaning Christians especially are really horrified now because they feel the day of judgment is near. They feel that the worthy will be uplifted to heaven. They have insecure days now. But we Unification Church members don't worry. We know somebody will take responsibility for me so we don't even worry about it. However, sometimes we don't make any decisions. That is wrong. We shouldn't worry, but we should take responsibility for the rest of America and mankind.
Liberation takes place and then our concern is how to secure the second realm of liberation. According to how much you achieve this is yours to keep. This is your realm of activity. Father has to work for the second realm of liberation in the next eight years to come. Like Father, we too must create this realm of second liberation. That means we have to liberate a lot of people and maintain it. How much we can do that will be reflected in spirit world. Whenever we walk, breathe or eat a meal we should never forget how much has been invested in us. Therefore we have to realize our responsibility to return something back to the source of that investment. We should never go to spirit world keeping that debt. We should pay it back Getting into Harvard is a joyous occasion, but after graduating then a student is expected to do so much good for the country. It is the same with us; there is an obligation. Somehow we in the Unification Church have been selected. We come to occupy that precious foundation where so much investment has been made. But just like Harvard doctorate graduates we are expected that we will return this to the world. This will be a source of judgment to us Therefore where, ever Father went, he never complained, no matte how difficult things were. To whom can Father complain, except to himself? Father had that kind of resolve. Then what happened? God said, "Yes you are right" and for the first time God could help Father. And we see things are happening.
We should start thinking now, "Many, many people should come in and out of me to save themselves and make their own foundation." We must allow ourselves to exist that way. That is a liberated self.
There are brothers and sisters from ten different countries living at East Garden. Not one time has a loud voice been raised at East Garden. Father and Mother never even once scolded or gave strong advice to any brother or sister. Father never scolds, but why is he viewed with such awe? Why do they revere Father and not come to him casually? Why are they sort of cautious, even afraid to come to Father easily? Because they have a conscience which knows that what Father does is world level work. Each mind realizes that. Our realm of work at best is local, but Father's realm of work is worldwide. Therefore everyone is afraid of coming to Father to speak because they know he is on a different level. In East Garden Father may be doing a certain thing physically, but what he is doing actually concerns world matters. All things Father taught this morning are the result of what Father has achieved over many years in the past. Nobody can deny the result of our work. Heaven and earth must recognize it and no one can change it. Father expects that to happen within us. Do your work so no one can touch your work.
Even though now there is only a handful of us here, if Fathers message were broadcast everywhere and people knew it would be spoken again here on a certain date, there would be a huge crowd gathered. History is moving in that direction. When a crowd of people gathers here, what Father spoke here will be realized at that time. Think about that. Sometimes we say, "Oh today is Sunday again!" We should not. if we become lenient like that, we don't deserve what we have. What happens if we stop coming here or if we lose our seriousness or forget our indebted position? Then somebody else will move in and steal that position from us. Maybe even our own enemy. The enemy means those who opposed us and bothered us, namely Christian church people.
Father went to Kim Il Sung and shook hands and they both agreed to become brothers with each other. Premiere Kim Il Sung is reported to have boasted about it to some visitors. We are living in the kind of time when enemies can meet each other and become close. If your enemy comes to find out what is going on and he finds tremendous value, and he also finds out that you don't realize that value, he will take it away from you. Now the Japanese have come to America and they have found gold here. Americans didn't think they had gold, so the Japanese took a lot of it, didn't they? It's the same thing. They worked hard for it because they realized the value. We must be the same. We must truly work hard once we realize the value, or someone will come and take that value away from us.
Can you quantify the amount of debt we have? One way to quantify it is to think that even if we pay all our life, we would still have difficulty paying back our debt. We must work all our life to pay back our debts. Are we going to truly work hard whether anybody sees us or not? [Yes.] First, we have to take responsibility for our own country, America. And since America's responsibility is taking care of the world, we have to take care of the world too.
Let us take it easy from now on and let's wine and dine! [Laughter.! Why did Father speak in such a fashion? Because today is the last Sunday of the year. It is the year end, so at least at this serious time we have to brace ourselves to live up to the standard. For at least that one day we go into 1992 so that God can recognize us. We are about to fly over this promising year of 1992. We have to resolve many things. Isn't this true? We don't want to be stragglers left behind. Those who truly determine, this moment, that in 1992 "I will become a new person", raise your hands!
