The family home is a good place. Why is it good? It is good because it is where my mother and father have lived. It is good because it is where my elder sister and elder brother have lived. It is where my younger brother and younger sister and where all my relatives have lived.
This is why every human being feels a yearning for his or her hometown. People feel more deeply about their hometown than they do about their nation. A Korean will love the nation of Korea and want to live in Korea. But even when he is in Korea, there is one place where he will yearn to return to. It is his hometown. Our hometown!
How can we describe our hometown? It is the place where our hearts are entirely lifted up in four directions and in three dimensions. What is that heart? It is the ties that bind us in love. Above us, we are bound in love to our mother and father; as right and left, we are bound in love to our spouse; and below us, we are bound in love to our sons and daughters. We are bound in love to our relatives in these three dimensions.
This is the heart of the original homeland. People treasure above anything else this originating point of their happiness, where true love is at the center. This is the reason they cannot help but feel a yearning for their original homeland. Then, where is God’s original homeland? Where do you think God’s original homeland is on the planet Earth? This is a question we need to consider.
Since God is the God of love, He must surely have prepared a starting point on earth where He could reside. So where is this starting point? To answer this question, we need to understand how God prepared that starting point.
God wants to reside in the place where He first formed His family. What kind of place is that? It must be the place where a son of God dwells, a man who truly understands that God is his Father. In other words, it is the home of God’s only-begotten son, who can be the vessel for the entirety of God’s love. Also, it is a place where a daughter of God dwells, who can be the vessel for the entirety of God’s love.
Where that son of God and that daughter of God marry and complete their family, that place is the starting-point of God’s original homeland. (23-151, 05/18/1969)
If you could dwell in that original homeland, who else should be there? All the people you miss should be there. Your parents should be there and your brothers and sisters should be there. All your friends and relatives whom you have longed to see should be there. Moreover, they should not be the sort of people that you would want to see just for a moment. You would want to spend eternity with them and never grow tired of them. This is the kind of world we need to establish. This is the Kingdom of Heaven, which religions are seeking for in this age. (23-80, 05/11/1969)
We long for our original homeland because this is where we find the people who are closest to us: our parents, our brothers and sisters, and our relatives. These people will always guide us. Whenever we visit, they will welcome us just as they did in the past. When we face difficulties, they will show sympathy, console us and receive us with joy. It is important to realize, however, that although you may return to your original homeland with a heart of longing, if people do not welcome you on your arrival, then your intense heart of longing will vanish and you will turn back with feelings of deep regret. You need to have people there who will welcome you. (23-80, 05/11/1969)
END OF BOOK CHAPTER