The Providence And The Individual, Past And Present

You like English better than this complicated Korean language, don't you?

Since we have started speaking about language, I would like to tell you that language is something very mysterious. By the spoken word, dead men can arise.

Furthermore, people can be scared to death by hearing certain things. Indeed, language can give people life or bring them to the point of death.

Have you ever thought about what language we will speak in the spirit world?

Well, the spirit world definitely has a language. In the present world, we speak first, and then we see the result later.

What about God? Have you ever thought about how He communicates?

God's thinking is the same as His language. In other words, He doesn't think first and then speak as soon as He thinks He has spoken. So we could say that in the spirit world, one hears thoughts more than language.

The conversation of thought is continued through the past, present, and future. God can see the past, present, and future within one thought.

Furthermore, God expresses His thinking in language and communication.

How would you explain the country of America?

When we talk about a country, we must talk about the people who comprise it.

Where do the people come from? You, American people, are basically immigrants from Europe. All five colors of skin came from five different continents.

However, all these people came together under one common language, and with that language, they created a new culture.

The history of America is created by the thinking of the American people manifested in everyday life. As it accumulates, it becomes the culture and tradition, as well as the history.

The basic foundation of American culture is Christian thought and way of life. Therefore, America has become the center of the Christian culture of the world.

This year, America is celebrating 205 years of history. For 205 years, America has been forming a certain cultural character for itself.

In God's sight, has America completely grown up, or is it still in its adolescence, or perhaps even the infant stage? Is America, in God's sight, a very healthy country, or is it quite sick?

If America is sick, what disease is plaguing it?

There are all kinds of diseases of the eyes, nose, and ears, as well as of the hands, arms, and limbs. According to God, physical sickness is a bad thing, but spiritual sickness is worse.

Is America spiritually healthy or ill?

The most critical aspect of a person is their thinking, because the invisible, intangible thought is what manifests itself in the physical realm. Thus, if you have unhealthy thoughts, you will also have unhealthy physical manifestations.

Today's topic is “The Providence and Individual, Past and Present.” We are always talking about the “providence,” meaning events centered upon God. Can you say, “My providence is going very well”? No, but it makes sense to talk about the providence of God.

Therefore, whenever you discuss providence, you mean God's providence.

Likewise, “providential culture,” “providential history,” and so forth refer to the culture and history of God.

However, we can observe and evaluate human beings in the light of providence. A human being can represent mankind; he can represent the providence; that is, he can stand for something bigger than himself.

We are talking about providential history and culture centering upon God, with the individual seen within the context of the providence. As a product of history, that self also exists in the past as well as the present.

Consider American customs. When you eat breakfast, your table is laden with certain things: bread, butter, jam, sausage, and so forth.

What is the history of these American breakfasts?

You are laughing at this, but from the eyes of God, everything in the present must have a root.

Take the fork you eat with. Before they had metal forks, people probably used wooden forks. Somebody designed the fork at some time because they wanted a tool to eat with.

Look at your hand; notice that the fork was originally designed along that pattern. The hand is a “five-pronged fork.”

The hand served the role of a fork in the beginning. But people became smarter after working all day with their hands; they came home with dirty hands, and they would rather not use them to put the food into their mouths.

So someone decided to create an extension of the hand and must have carved something resembling a fork from wood.

Initially, maybe the fork had five prongs, just like the fingers of the hand, but trying to get it into the mouth was too difficult; it was too cumbersome. Perhaps they cut off one of the prongs to make four; maybe that's why it's called “fork”—“four-k”!

Just as the prongs of the fork resemble the fingers of the hand, the handle resembles the arm. Maybe some old grandfather decided to trim down the prongs to only one because four were too complicated to make. But as the food became more sophisticated, they needed more than one type of fork.

So they made another with two prongs. Then they compared the one-prong fork with the two-prong fork, and the second kind worked better. Why? Because one of the prongs represented father, and the other represented mother. Then they added another branch, which represents the son, and then another to represent the daughter.

So even on one fork, everyone is represented: father, mother, son, and daughter.

I'm sure the history and origin of the fork stem from the human arm.

If even a fork can be traced down to this root, how much more so the different aspects of human history?

An explanation of history must be logical according to the past, present, and future. The simple fork seems like nothing on the table, but when you dig down into its historical background, you can derive a universal truth from even such a simple thing.

Suppose the fork declared, “The whole Western world is indebted to me! They must appreciate me because without me, their lives could not be sustained.

Even though you have mountains of food, without me to provide the bridge between the food and your body, your body cannot sustain its life!

From the fork's perspective, more important than anything, even God, is the fork! The fork could claim a most instrumental role in the development of Western culture.

But then, listening to all this proud verbiage, the spoon, sitting next to the fork, becomes rather jealous and decides to speak up. “What are you talking about, Mr. Fork?

Despite all your importance, you cannot scoop up even one drop of liquid!” The spoon can declare, “Do you know that three-quarters of the human body is liquid? Thus, it is clear that liquid is more necessary for the body than solids.

When a child is born, liquid is necessary for its delivery. Every cell in the body is also full of liquid. I supply all that liquid!”

Such seemingly trivial things like the fork and spoon can make the proudest claims. By the same token, even the smallest hair on your head can make such a declaration; it can weave a universe around itself.

Every portion of the human body, including the five senses, the arms, and the legs, has its own unique role and can proclaim its function as the most important under the sun. Even the clothes and shoes you wear could do the same. Everything we wear has a certain history or background.

Likewise, women have their history. Before you, there was your mother; before her, your grandmother; before her, your great-grandmother. All together, you form the tree of women, with Eve at the base.

Likewise, you men have a father, and behind him, your grandfather; behind him, your great-grandfather, all the way back to the super-grandfather, Adam.

Is the history of women, Eve's history, a proud and shining one? You may think you walk alone, but actually, you are never walking alone. The history of women follows you. If you look around, you can observe the entire history of women—the “women's museum.”

What would you find in such a place?

All the different races of women—Black, White, Yellow, and all kinds of women. Ask yourself, “Who am I, as a woman?” or “Who am I, as a man?” Where do you fit in the history of women and men? For whom do you speak?

Have you ever considered how many words you have spoken so far in your life?

Suppose each person lived to be 100 years old. That seems to be a very long life, but it is only 36,000 days.

If you speak an average of 100 words a day, you will speak 3.6 million words in your lifetime. How many words do you think you speak every day?

Are you women doubling that?

All right, let's say you speak 1,000 words a day. That means you speak 36 million words in your lifetime. Words arise from your thoughts. Thoughts could not be expressed without someone to communicate with.

Language is the medium of communication. Thus, the word is the tool of communication. When you speak, of whom are you thinking, yourself or the listener? Think about that.

Let's say you utter a sentence. Ask yourself, “Is that for my benefit and protection, or is it for another?” There is always a purpose and reason for a particular sentence. Is that reason for yourself or for others? Most of a person's language is spoken for his or her own sake.

Actually, the most powerful weapon in the universe is language. It is like a machine gun, and even more powerful.

In a fight between a husband and wife, the wife may be really firing her “machine gun” of words at her husband. Words are sometimes that destructive.

If you speak 1,000 words a day, ask yourself, “Did I speak even one word today for the sake of my country?

Was it one word, for the sake of God? For mankind?”

Do you speak even one percent of your daily words, that is, 10 out of 1,000, for something noble and good, for the sake of others and God?

Can you devote at least that much to that purpose?

Have you ever compared a person's mouth to a gun barrel, shooting bullets of words? Some things you say may make no impact upon your parents, for example. But other words will hit them like cannonballs.

If their loving son turns around and says just a few abusive and angry words, they will be shocked. Such shock waves are not only physical but also spiritual, shaking people's minds.

In another example, a loving husband might say some words to his wife that electrify her. Certain words give a shocking reaction to the body.

In the Unification Church, we are pursuing the public way of life. Thus, when we speak, we have to ask ourselves if we are speaking more for the sake of ourselves or for others.

Perhaps before you joined the church, you felt very apathetic, not caring much about your country. When somebody discussed the country, God, and the universe, you would rather not pay any attention. That was your past. But then you joined the Unification Church, and something happened to you. It was more than “brainwashing,” something you might call “Moon-washing.” The direction of your interests totally changed.

So you are now “spiritually washed” people in the Unification Church. Your pattern of thinking has changed, focusing upon something greater than yourself. Much of the day, you think about the True Parents.

You have so many things to think about, home church, for example, that never even enter the minds of ordinary people. But we think about these things day and night, isn't that true?

The self of the past rarely devoted his conversation to the benefit of others, but after becoming a member of the Unification Church, what is the ratio?

Are you concentrating all 1,000 of your daily words for the sake of others rather than yourself?

“Number one” means something good. Mathematically, one occurs when the upper and lower lines become equal. So number one means equal, left and right, up and down.

Thus, the number one men and women are those whose words and actions are equal. If you say something while thinking something else, you are not number one at all.

Suppose you shoot out words like machine gun bullets, thousands at a time, but act upon only one of them: you are not a number one person. What if you act upon 1,000 words and only speak one? Then that number one becomes 1,000! That's not ideal either, because there is no balance.

Let's draw a conclusion and develop a certain principle: the person who speaks more for others is good, while the one who speaks only for their own benefit is a selfish person.

When you really evaluate your past before the church, your way of life was really deserving of hell. It was a hellish life. Do you agree?

There must be a boundary between good and evil, a law to set the standard. What is the law in this country? It is the standard by which everything can be judged and divided between good and bad.

Amazingly, the law always defines the minimum, not the maximum. There is no law or limit to how much good you can do above the line of the law. No law says you should only be honest to this point or loving to that point.

The law does set limits first upon the selfish person—the one who constantly tries to live for himself. Such a person tends to bring destruction to the public welfare, so the law exists to limit him. The law is always watching out for the self-centered person.

Next, the law watches out for greedy and destructive people. The law exists to protect the public from harm.

Certain individuals do not hesitate to resort to destructive methods to achieve their own selfish purposes; they will do anything. When someone speaks harsh, vituperative words that hurt others, he violates the moral law even though there may not be a written law against it.

The basic principle of democracy rests upon numbers; anyone who receives more than half the votes in an election will be the winner. Thus, democracy is always fluid, moving around.

Suppose evil people got together and accumulated enough votes to win a majority. According to the rules of democracy, they are the legitimate winners.

If evil can gain strength and exercise power, it is obvious that democracy lacks something.

Even the forces of God-denying communism, as soon as they amass enough strength, could exercise power and become the instruments of “social justice.”

So what is the more public way of life?

We need certain rules and norms to determine this. The first standard is unchanging quality. Then, uniqueness. Finally, durability. Public things must be unchanging, unique, and everlasting.

So when you are genuinely public-minded, you have room for the individual, family, nation, and world.

“Absolutely public” means “absolutely gigantic,” so big it can contain everything there is. Is America a big or a small country? You like to say that America is big.

However, compared to the sun, the whole planet Earth is small. How big something seems depends upon what you compare it with.

What about the realm of germs and viruses?

Do you suppose there exists a world even smaller than what human power has yet discovered? Such a micro-world must have certain means of sensing. I'm sure there must be some mini-micro hand, at a mini-micro table, reaching for the bread and butter!

As a young child looking at the ants crawling on the ground, you discovered that even creatures in that tiny world have eyes, legs, and so forth.

Furthermore, those ants have antennae and their own little computers that guide them in certain directions—and humans haven't even discovered their secrets yet.

Even all the knowledge contained within the London Museum could not explain the mysteries of one tiny ant. Think of it—that seemingly insignificant insect is carrying knowledge too vast to be contained within the London Museum!

Law is wonderful and strange, in a way. It defines the minimum that is necessary to preserve a society or existence from self-destruction, greed, and self-centeredness.

After I came to the United States, I saw how much the people here love comedy and comedians. Radio and television are filled with humor, and people laugh loudly and strongly. I wondered what was so funny and why there was so much laughing.

Comedy is a mixed-up kind of language, a strange combination of words; it's never straight or sincere, just a funny way of putting words together to make people laugh.

If Americans are so fond of such strange things, their characteristics must also be mixed up. When something moves people to laugh so heartily, they will act upon it and live it. Comedy has no content, no seriousness, and no real meaning—it is superficial.

Likewise, the American way of life has become very superficial; people would rather not think deeply or consider the serious side of things. They would rather not search for spiritual things.

Something of real substance cannot be conveyed in light tones. You cannot joke when you are saying something serious. The meaning of a serious message must be conveyed in black and white tones.

Still, some people are fond of making light of things, cracking jokes; such a person lives only superficially. Anybody capable of steering the world and all mankind must be a serious person, one of few words.

The thinkers of the past, present, and future are always pensive people, those who prefer to sit and think, never those who like to chatter, have fun, and laugh.

There is a certain way to write a musical score. The notes must have a certain shape, with their flags standing straight up above the circles or going straight down.

Suppose someone wrote music with the notes lying flat on the line?

Many American people today want to live their lives in pursuit of “fun,” with no allegiance to any laws. They want to jump around, doing anything they please. If they feel like saying or shouting something, they do it. Thus, their music and dancing—disco, for example—reflect that.

Can you imagine dancing with your father or mother and kicking them for fun? Can you say, “Don't take me seriously”? The father's common sense would tell him that his son is doing something wrong by kicking people around him. That would be a grave matter.

Our universe is the serious consequence of creation. It never came into being due to someone's sense of humor. Therefore, the central principle of the universe could never be imagined as a joke.

Suppose two diplomats are arguing, one a communist and the other an American.

The United States always loses in such discussions because Americans say too much; they give away too much, making jokes and having fun.

The American might try to stop the breakdown of such negotiations, claiming he was only joking and didn't mean it. But it's too late. There is no place for a joking tone in serious negotiations.

The Chinese, for example, are grave people. They rarely speak but just stare at you. They are the most formidable opponents in poker; they never reveal their cards until the last moment. Communists can lie in wait like serpents searching for their opponents' weaknesses. Then they will attack. They are always ready to strike at any time, like the serpent, as soon as you expose your weaknesses.

In this universe, there must be some serious central truth.

If there were no such thing, then we would have to form one, because without it, human civilization could never sustain itself. Even as a hypothesis, we would have to assume the existence of God as the central law and source of everything.

But of course, we don't have to settle for a hypothetical God. We have the real God. How much more fortunate we are!

Past, present, and future are all governed by one principle; there is no joke about that. Do you suppose the taste of honey changes from the past, through the present, to the future?

How about gold? Does its rich color change through time?

Does the quality of a diamond change? The source of their value is their unchanging, everlasting qualities.

God is indeed a public God. He is truly the center of the public way of thinking. God does think of Himself, but only within the frame of public-mindedness; He never thinks of Himself as separate. Suppose God were like air, permeating the entire universe with that public-mindedness.

Within that universal space filled with that “public-minded air,' God places Himself at the center. You should always try to locate yourself at the center of public life; standing at that center, whatever you do, you will be accepted.

Anything originating from that central point will be good and acceptable. The more that comes from there, the better.

This is like the axle of a wheel on an automobile. The axle is small, but the wheel that turns on it causes a tremendous amount of motion. Even a big wheel turns on a small axle. God is like that. The universe is like a huge, public wheel.

God is at the center, like the axle. As he turns, the rest of the universe turns. Thus, in that position, an individual can say, “I exist for the sake of the universe, and the universe exists for my sake.”

People of five different skin colors, coming from different parts of the world, living in the past, present, and future, comprise the masses of mankind, both vertically (past and present) and horizontally. God positioned himself in their very center.

In that environment, all kinds of people exist. One person will be smaller, another will be larger; one person will have a particular shape, and another will be different.

The combination of all these creates a certain harmony. They are swimming in a certain environment. Even though they seem to move at random, they cannot exist independently in this universe, disregarding their center. They have to relate to the center.

Thus, whenever the world situation changes, the situation in the United States changes as well. This country cannot think, “Well, don't bother me.

The rest of the world goes its way, and I go mine.” Any change in the government of the United States inevitably affects the men and women living within it.

President Reagan has taken office and is trying to make a new beginning. He is asking everybody to tighten their belts, so everybody's life is affected, one way or another.

If you are living under an austerity plan, then every aspect of your life is affected. For example, if you have a wedding reception, you will need to make it simpler.

In other words, one central person here in America is trying to turn the nation in a certain direction, and everyone within that nation is affected, like it or not.

God is in such a position, except God's scope is much bigger than Reagan's. God's realm is the universe, and He is always at the center, always public-minded, and trying to move the whole universe toward a certain goal or action.

God is turning a giant wheel. The larger the wheel, the stronger the axle must be to turn it. Therefore, the giant wheel of the universe can be turned only by almighty God.

We can use the word “almighty” regarding God because that word applies only to the one who is in the center, at the axle. Anyone who is somewhere apart from the center cannot be almighty.

We are investigating what good is. Good is whatever direction that God is pushing in. So a public-minded life, rather than a self-centered one, is always good in God's sight.

The center exists for the sake of all, and all exist for the sake of the center. That is give-and-take. From that central position alone can God be almighty.

God is always living within eternity. There is no dull moment; every second is vibrant. From this central position alone, God can be the center of happiness and glory. The public purpose always comes first, then oneself.

This is the correct sequence. Universal law says that men and women are made in the image of God, so we must live the way God lives.

Historically, the nobleman has tried to protect the interests of the public. The son of filial piety is the “noble man” of the family because he lives for the purpose of the family.

The patriot is the noble man of the country, because the nation is nothing but the extension of the family. And the saint or holy man is at the center of the world.

Let's say that you are lifted into the spirit world, leaving behind this physical world. At that point, you are accepted according to certain categories. Some may be children of filial piety, others patriots.

If you are accepted as a holy man, that means you are already a patriot and a son of filial piety, because they come within the scope of the holy man. The scope of the saint or holy man is larger than that of the others.

God's goal is to have everyone be a saint, more than a patriot or a son of filial piety. But you must begin at the training ground of filial piety. The next “workshop” for sainthood is to become a patriot.

Many “elder Moonies” are going through the 120-day workshop now. Some of them are thinking, “Why do I need more training? I've been teaching workshops myself.” You have been serving at the level of a child of filial piety or a patriot, but now I want you to progress to the level of a saint.

After this training, you should be given the world as your stage. You should begin to work for a whole continent and the entire world.

The public-minded person speaks from public-mindedness; he eats and sleeps and does everything from the public-minded standpoint. There is no such thing as his private standpoint.

When you look at the world with a public-minded eye, everybody loves your eye.

Even though my eyes are minimal, I look out of these windows with a public mind, and everybody pays attention to those eyes.

You love these eyes, don't you?

It doesn't matter what shape your ears or nose may have; as long as they are working for the public purpose, then people love them because God loves them.

This has always been my way of life: to position myself always at the center of the public-minded sphere.

If that center goes wrong, then the entire universe goes wrong. It is a grave responsibility.

If that center does something crazy, then the entire universe becomes crazy. The center cannot afford to do that. To preserve the universe and the universal order, the center must preserve its central position.

That is the way of life of the Unification Church members—everyone is standing in a central position. This is why you have to obey the laws of the Principle.

Perhaps you joined the Unification Church from the outer rim of the universe. But as you accept more and more responsibility, you move towards the center.

The more you practice the Principle and the traditions of the church, the closer you come to the center.

Approaching the center, do your burdens become lighter or heavier?

Some people might object, “I don't like the heaviness of that burden. I just like the authority of being in the center!” Is that good? That is worse than being a thief—trying to steal only the sweet part of something while denying the responsibility attached to it.

I am always thinking, “I am going to dig right into the heart of God. There, I will take every burden that He has upon my shoulders. I want to bear those burdens.”

I am planning on burrowing into the heart of God and shouldering every burden God has. I will insist on bearing that burden. So when I am in the center with that burden turning around and around, I am really wrapping myself around God.

Even God can't detach Himself. No way. So there's no distinction, no boundary between God and me.

You want to become very famous, don't you? You will be number one, won't you? That's not a bad ambition.

Yes, God created you to be number one, but not just for glory, but so you can shoulder responsibility. Then inside and outside come together, and you discover your new self.

Discovering yourself, you find that you belong to the public. The public owns you. Those who are trying to say they aren't concerned about the public, about the rest of the world, only about themselves, are evil.

Living that kind of life, whatever you think during the day is public-minded thought, and you can speak with true authority.

So, because your speech and actions are motivated from the center, they have a true focus. No life, no action, no word, remains in the center; it always passes through it.

So, this is the concept of providence. You are the product of providence. You emerged in history to be a part of this providence. This providence is the purpose behind you, each one of you.

You are born in this world. From this public-minded purpose and your parents' example, you were brought up. You are indebted first to your parents, so living as children is the first public-minded act.

For the sake of the world and posterity, children are given to you. Therefore, truly God-centered parents should be thinking that they are bringing up their children in the image of the universe, as representatives of the universe. A universal gift.

So you raise those children to perfection, and you truly love those children because they represent the universe.

Without even realizing this profound meaning, many parents truly love their children because nature works in that fashion. This is a universal truth.

After bringing you up in the center of their family, your parents try to send you forth to become an important citizen of your nation.

Your parents say, “All right, do something important for the country. Become a patriot.” Parents are constantly trying to push their children to study, to be disciplined. “Stay awake,” they urge, “Work on your exam. Come up with a good report card.”

Occasionally, they become too pushy, insulting the children and disciplining them harshly. Parents might spank their children, urging them forward, trying to improve them. It has a good purpose if that son or daughter is pushed toward the center, to a more public place.

Your parents should push you to become not only a good patriot but also a saintly or noble person, as well as a holy man or woman. Their greediness for you to become the best is for the public's purpose.

I came to America, and America came against me. It has never bothered me. America is a small object on our radar screen. Being the center, I have the responsibility to turn America around.

The United States of America opposes me because it is now on the dark side of the earth; half of the world is always heading into the night. But the globe continues to revolve, and what is now dark will soon enter the light.

At night, only the moon sheds her light, and we don't always see clearly. But as the earth continues to revolve, we see the sun come up. Then we exclaim, “We see the sun!”

If you become number one, you have to keep a balance. You have to like not only the day but also the night.

If you like only the day, you are not number one. In our way of life, if you want to become number one, you even willingly allow yourself to be persecuted, telling yourself you can withstand it, you can persevere. Then, when acceptance comes and people welcome you, of course, you feel good.

So suffering is okay, particularly when you are young. I am willing to go down the road of suffering because when that road ends and old age comes, there will be glory. There will be sunlight. That's the way, right?

So it's a great life. It's a great ideology, truly tremendous. It is almost like being a champion entering the boxing ring and challenging your opponents. In boxing, what counts is the ultimate KO, the knockout.

Until you reach the knockout point, you may be hit a thousand times, with broken teeth and blood coming out of your nose. Your eye may turn completely black and blue. It makes no difference as long as you persevere to the end and knock the opponent out.

So no one should become a victim. You need to first face suffering and then hardship, because the ultimate victory never comes at the beginning, but always at the end. Stand up and persevere with a strong determination, even under persecution, until the end, and then, in the final round, knock the opponent out.

You may think you want to become a world champion, but you want to avoid being hit. “I don't want anybody to come anywhere near me; I don't want anybody to touch me,' you think. “Then I will walk out and proclaim myself world champion.

Yeah. I want to be like that.” I say that such a person is a thief, trying to avoid all the intermediate fights to bask in the glory of the final round.

Senior Moonies in particular may say, “Well, Father, I have had enough already; I want to take the smooth path. I don't want anybody to touch me. And I don't want a big, vicious battle in the ring. I fought in the British ring; I'm not concerned about the world ring. I was fighting in the German ring; I became a champion there. That's good enough for me. I don't want to go ahead anymore.”

What I need are men and women who have already won the national championships. When I say, “Come here; I'll put you in the world championship race,” I want people who will say, “Yes, Father.”

Are you ready to face many punches? “No problem, Father. I am seasoned. I am very hardened. I am iron-fisted, iron-willed. Father, put me in the hardest fight you want.” That's the kind of champion I want you to be. Is it a bad thing for me to push you up to the even greater challenge?

Who is pulling whom?

The Unification Church is within this world, inside the world, and outside the world. Unification Church members are thinking, “Regardless of what happens to the world, I shall keep the center. I shall hold fast. I will not be thrown out of it.”

Somebody may pull you, but if you are already connected to the center, as soon as the person releases you, bang, you go right back to the center. Even if you try to pull me, what I am actually doing is circling, not being pulled out. Do you follow?

Suppose there is some lead on the wheel, near the axle. That dead weight causes a very unstable motion, jerking the axle all the time. What would you do? Would you say, “Oh, the weight is too much for me”? Would you be broken at the axis and give in?

But if you are always at the center, always strong, unfazed by anything, instead of the axle breaking, the lead will work its way out of the circle. Two things could happen: the lead chunk could fly out, or the axle could break. Which consequence would you prefer?

The lead today is communism. They are trying to jerk you off, trying to break the axle, but as they turn faster and faster, the axle is so strong that they will drop out.

In other words, they will destroy themselves. That's the way God sees the providence of your past and present.

How would you view yourself? Would you say, “Who cares about the world, about mankind? It doesn't bother me. I have nothing to do with those things, and I just live my life as I wish. It's my freedom. Don't bother me.” Is that the right kind of attitude?

That is in our past. Some women have said, “I am a woman. Why should I be confined to one man? Tonight, I may go with this man; tomorrow, another. So what? That's my freedom.” Is that true freedom?

True freedom is harmony with the axis. That is freedom, real peace. Work is freedom. True freedom is when you are working in harmony and peace with the axis or the balance. Therefore, freedom cannot leave the direction of the Principle. Within the scope of the Principle, you can enjoy freedom.

In the past, you may have spoken a lot, but was what you spoke the word of hell? If so, what you spoke was like a poison; it poisoned people and brought them down to hell instead of bringing them out of hell.

Why did Father ask you to bring your wife here?

Because you need complete harmony within your couple in your home. Total cooperation. When the husband is going after the universal mission, the wife has a critical role.

How does the husband react when his wife says, “Oh, don't bother me?

Why are you going away? Pay some attention to your children! Pay attention to your wife. What about me?”

Actually, the English word “better half' is good. So the man is half of the circle, and the other “better half' is the wife. Not here. The essential line, the dividing line of the better half, is not a random position.

In talking about providence, many people say, “I have to worry about myself and my family first, then I can worry about God.

If I don't even take care of myself and my family, how can I worry about God?”

The Unification Church is expanding outward in a universal mission. When you go home, you think you are separating yourself from the universal mission. Often, when Unification Church members of good standing get married, they become changed. They say, “Now my mission is over. I now have my cubbyhole, my life. I don't have a universal mission now.” But your family is within the universal mission. It is part of the universal mission.

Men and women should be together, strengthening their position to tackle the universal mission. You have found your better half, and by making yourselves a complete circle, you are standing in the center. That is the meaning of marriage in the Unification Church.

Often, when a person who stands in the center gets married, he wants to leave and stay on the perimeter.

Absolutely not! When you become a married man, a family man, your family is right in the center, revolving on the same axle. So when you get married, your mission and your wife's mission become one.

Together you create the center, and you become the axle. Nothing you do is separate from your central position. You might say, “I shouldn't have too many children, just maybe one or two, because more than that would be too burdensome.” That's a bad idea, from the heavenly perspective. The more children you have, the bigger your circle becomes.

I would like you to cover each direction. There are four seasons, each divided into three different segments, making 12 gates. Each child represents a certain gate and a certain direction.

You have to give yourself day and night for your children, changing diapers and everything. It's an incredible burden, but if you have 12 children, you are making an enormous contribution to the universe by offering 12 representatives that will span 360 degrees. In other words, your family will be able to relate to every direction in the world, not just one direction.

This applies not just to physical children, but spiritual children as well. That's why I want you to go out and win spiritual children.

Your spiritual children will line up around you at 12 different gates in 12 different directions, and they link you to the world—the Black world, the White world, and the Yellow world.

Every direction in the world is covered. Witnessing is not easy. Giving birth to that many babies is not easy, and giving birth to spiritual children is also not easy.

I'm going to Moscow

My goal is the Moscow rally. Is my mission easy? Communism is my worst enemy, but I am going to Moscow for a rally. You say unthinkable, impossible. Is it an easy task?

President Reagan has the mighty power of the United States behind him, and Secretary Haig has the mighty power of the armed forces behind him, and still they tremble; they don't know what to do with the communists.

However, without even a small Pentagon or one small state department behind me, I am going right to the center of Moscow to claim it. In other words, I am going right into the enemy camp, right into the center. It's not easy.

There is a high price to pay for it. We may have to pay the price, but it's no problem. That is the goal, that is the mission, and the mission shall be done.

So if in paying the price someone is being martyred, that is most valuable.

If it's for the mission, even I am ready to risk being a martyr.

I have no hesitation in saying it. What if the day of reckoning comes, and your wife says, “Father, that mission is very dangerous; don't send my husband. Send somebody else.” How about that? If that is the case, your wife is a failure within the Principle.

Your wife should say, “Father, could you have my husband be in the forefront of that mission? Use him, please. I will take care of the children. No trouble, Father. Send my husband to the forefront of the mission!” That is the true heavenly wife.

How many women in this room can say, “I shall be responsible for all the Soviet women, even if they all persecute me? Father, let me take care of them. I will yield not even one inch, not even one iota. I shall convert them.”

How about you men?

If all the communists of the world come after you, can you say, “Father, let me be in the forefront? I shall not yield even one inch. I shall be victorious in your name.” That is the kind of man I want you to be.

When I came to America, I already made allowances in my plan that I might even have to go to a U.S. prison or a Soviet prison, or even to a concentration camp. It was all within the plan. Nothing is unexpected for me.

When I watch a movie in which someone fails his mission, is discovered, and is executed by the firing squad, I am not just looking at the scene dispassionately. I put myself into that position; I put my life in that position. I am willing to accept it if that is God's will.

So when the nation is collapsing and the people are crumbling, you have to go to the forefront and pay the price to save them. Without paying the price, nothing can be accomplished.

For the sake of the nation, the patriot must be willing to be a martyr. For the sake of the world, the holy, saintly people shall be in the forefront; they shall be the ones who pay the price first!

So if that is the case, we want to die for the sake of the world and the sake of the country. Jesus Christ went precisely down that road. He died from a position in the center of the world, and it had a universal impact.

Never try to avoid the things coming to you. Face them! That's what Jesus did. He stayed in the center. Think to yourself, “Whether I live or die, my victory will affect all of humanity, past and present. and the entire universe.”

Look at Jesus. He erected his cross in the very center of the universe and died for the sake of mankind. He never grieved over his death. He had room to forgive and to love his enemies, even to the last minute.

That's the way God sees the providence. Look at everything from this standpoint.

Nothing can be outside this interpretation. Even though history has fluctuated, this principle has never changed, because God never changed.

Because God's position is the principle, it remains as the Alpha and Omega.

The letter G is almost a complete circle. If God, as “G,” were a complete circle, no door would remain for anybody to enter.

So God opened a little door and then made an entrance for you and me. But then the “d” of God is at the end; when the time comes, God will close the door. Judgment Day comes, and the door is closed.

That's the way God thinks, in the past, present, and future. And God not only thinks that way but lives that way. So to be the number one man, I should be like that God of the past, God of the present, and God of the future.

Think about the experiences of your past. After listening to Father, you know the truth. But in the past, did you have a full realization of this truth?

What kind of past did you have?

You had no self in a way, no awareness of yourself. You did not recognize yourself.

Because there was no center, the self was abused. Your life had no principle, no direction, no reason.

You have been a wanderer, straying and floating. In that wandering, you caught the Unification Church. All of a sudden, you entered the door and discovered an entirely new world.

First, you discovered something fantastic, amazingly refreshing, and good. But then you tried to live the Unification way of life. Then you started looking back, a little nostalgic, a little homesick, thinking, “Well, I had all kinds of freedom then. I could go anywhere I wanted. I saw everything I wanted to see. If I wanted to dance every dance, I could.” What about now?

In the outside world, you could think, “I am totally free to marry any girl I want. I can divorce any girl I marry.” Then here you find, “Oh, I have no freedom to do that. I have to wait for Father to say something. What kind of marriage is that?”

Furthermore, here, your mission is incredibly difficult. You go out, trying to witness, and people say, “You Moonie,' pointing at you and spitting at you. The attack comes from all directions. Then you say, “Oh, I came to the wrong place. I'm sorry, Father. I have to go. Fortunately, I don't have too much luggage.”

Suppose the Unification Church gave you everything you wanted, fed you the best meals, allowed you long hours of sleep, provided Hilton Hotel accommodations, and anything else you ever wanted.

Of course, no one would ever leave. I knew that if I made you comfortable, gave you an easy job, made your job enjoyable in a worldly sense, allowed you freedom, and gave you all kinds of other things, everyone would stay in the church. I knew that. But real people, godly people, conscientious, patriotic people who are concerned about this country and the destiny of the world—those people will stay. We will have the power to rally the true, genuine people.

The work of restoration might take 10, 20, 30, or 40 years. Well, I already determined that 40 years is nothing; it's only one stage. I started this mission when I was 16.

If you truly want to accomplish something of worldwide proportions, it takes at least 40 years.

The 4,000 years of recorded history have been an entangled, satanic history. It will take at least 40 years to untangle. What if my attitude had been to avoid a harder mission? What if I said, “God, give me an easier job? Make my burden lighter.”

If that were my aspiration, I would have been suspended from my job a long time ago. But I always sought the difficult path of restoration from the beginning. I have not even begun to fight. This is only the beginning.

I am training you and sending you out into the world. That is the standard I am asking you to meet. Actually, today, your standard is lower than mine.

How many of you could survive being put in one of the catacombs of Rome? How many of you could endure the pressure and danger of those first-century days? How many of you would survive in such circumstances?

If the first-century Christians could persevere amidst those ordeals and be strong, we can survive.

God loves me not only because of my philosophy and way of life; God sees that I have the power and the capability to bring the billions of people around the world into the same conviction, the same direction, and the same goal.

In other words, I am the kind of man God needs here on the earth. God sees that I have the power to multiply myself. Now I am 60 years old. How many more years do you think I will live? I do not believe that my physical body will sustain life forever.

Many Christians think that once you accept Christ, you will never die. But then what would happen?

If everybody sustained physical life here on earth forever, eventually there would be no standing room. So then what about the subsequent generations? Do you think anybody could last under those circumstances?

Actually, God is scientific. God does not permit physical life to go on and on. That's the principle of creation. When you become a spirit person and enter the spirit world, space is of no significance. But it is not like that here on earth.

You are limited by time and space. Everybody will one day die and be buried. But through both my physical children and the members of the Unification movement,

I can multiply myself by the millions. Those millions will multiply into billions, and the billions into trillions. That's the way I will live on forever.

The tradition that I am teaching is the relationship between true parents and true children. That is an eternal relationship. This is our tradition. First, we need education, and then the implementation of the education.

I want each one of you to do even better than me. Go ahead of me. Don't just duplicate me; become superior to me. My succeeding generations will become superior to me. Many people think, “Only Father can do this job. We can't do it.”

That's the wrong attitude! You could do even better than I, because you have so much support from God. The same God supporting me is supporting you. And you have additional support—my support, True Parents' support, and the Unification Church's support. You are in an infinitely better position.

Actually, impure elements in the church can only be destructive. We must preserve our tradition in pure form. Pure products always manifest power.

Some people are always getting darker and weaker; instead of trying to take care of them, go out and win 10 capable people.

Don't ever be boastful because you are an old Moonie. The new ones, the fresh ones, are always the more powerful. This is why I am asking you to go out and bring in fresh ones. They will be the exemplary Moonies.

Look at a plant: the old leaves just dry up and die out. The weak, early leaves become old leaves and drop off, but thereafter, strong green leaves come out. I knew that many Unification Church members would come and go. But the Unification Church will not disappear, and I will never retreat.

The Unification Church will never decline. That is a mandate from God because otherwise there is no hope.

Before you joined the church, most of you were almost human trash. You think that since you have been in the Unification Church for 10 years, for example, and surrounded by the customs of the church, you don't really know the outside world now. Therefore, you think that those times before the church, 10 years ago, were the “good old days.” You may have some nostalgic feelings, some homesickness.

Sometimes, elder members tell the younger members when they join, “Well, you are very excited now, but just stay here four or five years. You'll settle down like me. I'm a normal Moonie, the modern Moonie. Don't get too involved. Don't get too excited.”

That is absolutely wrong! The true model Moonie should be moving forward with increasing excitement and increasing enthusiasm because you are going up stage by stage to the family stage, the national stage, and the international and worldwide stage.

At each stage, you must develop greater vitality and greater vigor. That is the only way you can ultimately succeed. I see that person as the model Moonie. New Moonies must observe which elder Moonies are the model Moonies.

The model Moonie thinks, “Now I am working for the sake of this country, but for the sake of the world, I will work harder. For the sake of the universe, I will work even harder.” The model Moonie is the person who says, “When I get older in the Unification Church, I will take care of one whole country by myself, one continent.

I will take care of the world.” That is the model, Moonie. As you become older in the Unification Church, you should shine with achievement.

When you eat a meal, you must consider whether you are eating for a public purpose or a private purpose.

Are you eating for the sake of others?

When you take everything and hoard it in front of you, thinking, “Don't touch. This is my meal; that's a private meal.

If it's a public meal, your thoughts would be, “Let others enjoy their portion. If there is enough for me, I will take it.”

When you live a public way of life, you gather respect and love not only at the meal table but at every moment of the day. Where you live, people will know a person is living a public life.

Even in some of our church ceremonies, some people dash to get the best seat. They think, “I want to get to the front and disregard everybody. I want to take the best.” That's the selfish life. But public life is different. You know this is human nature; I don't even have to explain.

If you want to earn the respect of the country, you have to live for the sake of the country.

If you want to sacrifice yourself for the sake of the country, you must go to the worst place in the country to advance it; that's the way you earn the respect of the country. Then automatically, even though you don't want it, people will push you to the center.

If there were a quicker route of salvation for the United States of America, I would certainly take it. If selling the New Yorker Hotel would expedite the restoration of America, I would do it immediately. It would be the easiest thing to do.

If the sacrifice of America were necessary for the salvation of the world, that's the route I would take. Because once you save the world, you have already saved the United States, because the United States is a part of the world. That is the public way of thinking.

If you sacrifice your family for the sake of a higher cause, for the sake of the country and the world, you never actually sacrifice your family, because your family will be respected and loved by the people of the world.

You should not think I am standing still, that I am taking it easy. Not at all. I am still traveling forward at the fastest speed. I always think of living publicly.

Ever since I initiated the Unification Church, my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth have been used for the public purpose.

Even after I die physically, it won't make any difference. I will live on. Just by looking at my picture on the wall, people will hear me. History cannot forget me. History will immortalize me and follow my path. I knew that would happen if I perfected public life.

So past, present, and future—there's no difference at all. One principle, one tradition.

You know yourself very well. You know if you are a public or private person. You know what is selfish and what is unselfish. Do you know that? . . amount of money and make it go a long way for the sake of the country. That's the public way.

America must go under an austere plan of saving money. Why? So that America can save material things for the sake of the world. The American people are heavily taxed, but if they were bearing an incredible burden of taxes to save the world, then the entire world would bow down to America.

However, the American government is taking a lot of money for itself, and many Americans live luxurious, affluent lives. That is bad! Money can do evil just as much as it can do a lot of good.

In America, the dollar is doing more of the work of Satan than the work of God, isn't that true? I do not even keep one dollar for myself. I want to leave my children that legacy, that tradition, that heritage.

We do not do this for ourselves, but we want to build a tradition and give it to our children, to posterity, to the generations to come, so that our tradition and our way of life will go on and prosper forever.

Children go to school for the sake of their parents, in a way. They gain knowledge and come back to present their report cards to their parents. “Father, I did this. Mother, look at this. Here's my report card.”

Do you know why children do that?

Because everyone wants to go to their parents, where love flows from, where the public-minded, unselfish love comes from. That's why the children come back to their parents. By the same token, you must be in the parental position and let the world come to you for love and report everything to you.

You must be unselfish parents for the sake of the world. That is what our position should be. There are two kinds of love: evil, self-centered love and good, unselfish, sacrificial love. One type will destroy this country. The other will build the kingdom. So we must inherit unselfish love and build the kingdom here in America.

Within American families, self-centered love must be abolished. The parents should become truly public parents. The more you try to live for yourself, the greater the destruction that will come to that family. There will be social destruction, and the poison will destroy the nation and the world.

Those formidable powers of Satan, based on a self-centered life, are attacking you, wanting to compete with you, saying, “You keep saying that you live with unselfish love and public-minded love. All right, show it to me. Compete with mine.”

You must win the victory. Once you win the victory, even if you don't want it, you will be elevated to the center. You will be moved towards the center. That's the way God is. Out of that teaching, I conclude that this is the way of the dispensation and the providence of God and the self, both in the past and present.

You initiated this journey as an individual. Then you become two, husband and wife, working together to achieve the greater goal of creating a family.

The family becomes the larger unit and an instrument of God to reach even greater goals in society, nation, world, and universe.

Always think of Moses' exodus. We are in a modern-day exodus. Our way of life, our family, and our marital lifestyle are those of gypsies: a wilderness life. We cannot stop here. We cannot settle yet. We have not reached Canaan yet.

You have to leave your people, your clan, your wife, and your children and move on.

On your way to Canaan, you always find a Red Sea, a mountain to cross, and a waterless desert. That is why we must live with discipline. We must be trained for that purpose.

The Unification Church way of life is designed to give you exodus training. Your fundraising, your witnessing, your home church work, your mission, all the varieties of missions there are—these are designed to give you training for the victorious exodus.

Suppose you have advanced this far, but one inch before the goal line, you falter. That is still classified as failure. You've got to reach the finish line.

I am still running. Where are you? Are you dragging at me from behind and becoming a burden to me, or pulling me from the front?

Are you a tailwind or a headwind?

I keep pushing, Mother. She just gave birth to our twelfth child, which was the incredible historical burden of her mission. Even so, I asked Mother this morning, “Can you lift yourself and go with me to Belvedere?” I almost brought her here, but it is not good, medically speaking. At her doctor's recommendation, she still needs a few more days of rest, but I still wanted to push her to come here.

If I think that way toward Mother, how do you suppose I think about you?

Do you think I want you to take it easy and get plenty of sleep?

No, I will never think that way. I will not be that kind of “good” father. That is because I have the responsibility to train you and discipline you so that you will be worthy to inherit my mission. There is no easy way out.

We are moving to the ultimate victory. Until we reach that ultimate victory and great prosperity, we shall not lower ourselves. Be prepared to cross any oceans, mountains, or deserts.

Even if the seven satanic tribes of Canaan try to block your entrance into the promised land, be determined to overcome them. If the United States of America becomes an obstacle, we will penetrate it. When the communists block our way, we will break through.

The speediest bullet is the strongest; it can penetrate everything. When it loses speed, it loses its power. Suppose two bullets, one a communist bullet and the other a Moonie bullet, have a head-on collision in the air.

The communist bullet, even though it may be strong and moving very fast, has a dull point. But the Unification Church bullet is sharper, so when the communist bullet collides with it, it splits into two. That is the kind of bullet we must become.

Will we always have to fight and do battle?

We are certainly not warmongers. When battle is inevitable, we will never hesitate to fight. But our goal is to bring the harvest to God. The harvest is when no condition exists for Satan to accuse the heavenly children and when those heavenly children can dwell together with God.

Satan always accuses you if he has any strings attached to you. Satan is an expert at grabbing you where you are weak. But there is no way Satan can grab you when you are a bold, determined, and single-minded heavenly soldier.

Are you that kind of soldier of heaven?

You may feel you are, but what about your children?

If they become weak and half-hearted, then Satan will accuse them, and you as well. You are responsible for your posterity. Thus, most importantly, you must first free yourself from the accusation of Satan; that is your protection.

Furthermore, you must rid yourself of the accusation of Satan from your children and your posterity.

God has no room to be accused by Satan, either in the past, present, or future. You, too, should be free of Satan's accusation in the past, present, and future. Your best tool for accomplishing this is a public-minded ideology. Be totally armed and solidly equipped with this ideology so that nothing can deter you in the slightest.

Can you say right now, “I am committed and determined”? How about the leaders here—are you committed right now?

Were you already committed, or are you beginning today?

At least one thing must be certain—now we are all committed. Of course, we were committed in the past, but now, more than ever, we need to be committed and determined.

If you give yourself totally, in perfect commitment, for the rest of your life, when you go to the spirit world, you can accuse me if you do not go to the highest realm. I would not be able to lift my face before you in such a case.

The spirit world is a fair place. I can be placed in a higher position only if I am higher in my commitment and achievement. The spirit world is a completely public place. No one can bribe their way in there. Anyone who is elevated to the higher places is entitled to be there, according to his achievement. No one can complain or accuse that person.

There are 230 people gathered in this room, and I want you to understand that there are 230 levels of achievement, 230 levels of the spirit world to which you belong.

So, where will you position yourself?

You must make up your mind. I want to push you into the highest possible place, but to achieve that, I have to push you into suffering.

Only in that way can you prove how good you are in the sight of God, particularly you young people under the age of 30. There is nothing else I can bequeath to you. While I am alive, you are obeying me.

If you cannot obey me in a living relationship, how can you prove yourself worthy in the sight of God? Currently, you have the best opportunity because I am with you.

No matter how difficult it may be, you must be trained and disciplined. Nobody in the Unification Church is a tougher taskmaster than I. No matter what, I know that you listen to me when I say something.

Even if you would rather not hear certain things and you would rather not be pushed, when I say something to you, you are ready to obey. But when other leaders say something, you might discount them completely.

Which of you leaders is going to take my place?

You national leaders here, do you think you will be able to push the whole world the way I do? Are you capable?

The best chance is now, during my lifetime. I will give you your mandate, and you set the tradition of obedience, and then that tradition will go on.

For example, here is one young brother whom I have pushed from one side to the other. He feels, “If Father pushes me around, I have no complaints.” But if somebody else does it, he will be furious.

In other words, during my lifetime, I will push you and order you as much as possible so you can set the tradition of obedience. Your children will not have the chance to obey the True Father in the same way—this is your privilege.

The only reason I am doing this is to give you the inheritance of heaven and earth, and I want that inheritance to be perfect. This is the only way we can be assured that our children will live in heaven.

Do you understand?

Actually, I hold back a lot before I give out discipline to you, perhaps as much as 50 percent. But do you want to be given diluted discipline, or do you prefer 100 percent discipline?

You want to receive 100 percent, and I want you to have 100 percent, but I know that you must begin around the 50 percent level and then move up.

I never praise or compliment you, and there is a purpose behind that. In God's sight, no one is worthy of compliments. To receive perfection as your inheritance, you must be able to decorate it. I want you to be able to adorn your perfection with flowers and designs. That is the desire of providence, and heaven and earth as well.

We must align our destiny with providence, with history, and with the direction of heaven and earth. That is truly the wisest course.

I want to ask you a very personal question: Are you really trying to live up to the highest possible heavenly standard?

All right, then, I will give you the secret. If you want to do that, you must suffer more than I did. Jesus became the Messiah and suffered the way God did.

By that standard alone, can you inherit perfection?

It really doesn't matter how imperfect you have been. While I am living here on earth, you have an opportunity. Today is your chance. This is your privilege, and I want you to realize it; it is the greatest fortune I could ever give you. Those of you who can really make up your minds, not just give lip service and say, “From today forward, I shall be different; I shall strive to suffer more than you do, Father,” raise your hands and say, “Yes, Father!”

Today is the anniversary of my imprisonment by the North Korean communists on February 22. Not many Unification members know about this. However, this morning I designed my sermon for you.

Decades ago in North Korea, this was precisely the attitude and conviction I had when I walked into the communist prison. That is why I have given you this important message today.

I was not wrong to commit myself to that cause. I have been proven right after so many decades because I have been winning and prospering according to the Principle.

On this significant day in my life, all of you have made the same pledge to me that I made when I entered the communist prison. This shall be remembered in history. I will not forget you, and I will not forget this dramatic event today.

You shall receive heavenly blessings—you and the Unification Church. Whoever preserves this principle shall be blessed.

From this point on, the sun of hope is rising for the world and for mankind. Up to now, we have been known as Moonies, but today you have been promoted to “Sunnies,' shining like the sun.

Therefore, when you made your pledge this morning, you were actually saying, “Father, it doesn't matter whether you are here or not. I have made up my mind to move forward for the rest of my life, and nothing in the slightest will shake me.”

That is the way the Principle goes – those who seek to give up their lives for God's sake shall gain them; those who try to humble themselves shall be elevated. Amen!