Our Family and the Dispensation

Belvedere, New York

Everyone in the world has a fervent desire to have a family. We must first realize what kind of families we have in the fallen world, because without seeing this clearly, we cannot understand the urgency with which God has been searching for the original family.

When we look throughout the world around us to find families that are centered upon God, we discover that there are none. Such a family is yet to come. No matter how many members a family may have, it is still a family within the realm of Satan.

Centering on the family, a clan is created, which is burdened by the same fallen nature, and it is further surrounded by the nation and the world. In that situation, no matter how much that family may want to live the ideal, it will still be influenced by the surrounding evil circumstances. Because this family must communicate with all levels of its corrupted surroundings, we know that it will be unable to remain pure.

When the family deteriorates, the individuals who constitute that family also deteriorate. We can witness this deterioration throughout the world, even though there is not a single individual who wants their family to decay and deteriorate.

Furthermore, no one wants to see other families deteriorate, especially God, but undoubtedly, that is happening. What is the cause of this?

Since no one desires this deterioration, we must conclude that there is some invisible force that is opposing God's will for the family. Clearly, Satan is doing this. Families are dominated by distrust and self-centered individualism. Many husbands no longer trust their wives, and most wives do not trust their husbands.

Even children and parents do not trust each other because each individual is centered on themselves.

In such families, each person is seeking to center the family's love upon himself. Love is meant to be given to others, yet increasingly, people are demanding love, and eventually, their relationships center on animalistic love.

To get this love, they even dare to sacrifice other people rather than sacrifice themselves. In seeking to satisfy themselves with love, they are taking everything from others.

Where does this originate?

We are destined to reap whatever we sow. If we had not sown this self-centeredness anywhere, then we would not reap it.

The world trend toward corruption

In the midst of these circumstances, everyone senses that mankind and human history are coming to an end.

If there is Satan, then why can he cause such destruction at this time in mankind's history?

Satan's purpose is 100% different from God's will, and he would like to fulfill his desire for mankind. This world trend toward corruption is centered on the family, which is fast deteriorating. The morals that societies have taught have played a significant role in history, but societies are now yielding to corrupting influences.

It is becoming clear that Satan's goal has been the destruction of individuals as well as families. The elements of family disruption have been present throughout human history, but previously they have been held in check by moral teachings and social laws. But now, in the final days of human history, men are seeking freedom outside these restraints. Thus, the existing elements of evil, which were previously suppressed, are now being exposed.

In the past, husbands and wives may not have always felt deep respect or love in their relationships. But now family situations are getting worse in that parents do not even know their children anymore, and respect is barely maintained between them.

Now, even that relationship is on the verge of breaking down. Instead of building profound relationships, the kind of love found in families today is acting to break down the family ties.

At this time in history, people cannot recognize what love is, and it appears that everything we previously held as valuable has crumbled.

What remains to be broken up in the future?

Love has always been valued by people. However, as love is breaking down, those people who value love as much as their lives are also about to be broken down. We have been thinking of love as an eternal thing, the last thing we would like to destroy. Yet in the fallen world today, love can be corrupted and broken down within a few hours or days.

In other words, what Satan has been striving for seems about to be accomplished. Satan has been trying to disrupt all of man's most precious relationships, and he seems to be succeeding. After that, where can we go?

The world itself is hell on earth. There is no order of love, no order within life, no order within societies, and no order within nations. The world we see now is in chaos. No individual wanted things to turn out this way; God did not want this to happen either. Only Satan has wanted this and has been continuously working to achieve it, doing his best to destroy man. All his desires are now coming to fruition.

Satan had his purpose, and the people have been defeated and contained by his plan and strategy. In the process, mankind has completely lost all sense of value. It may be our desire to have good families, but what is being realized at this time is completely contrary to our ideal, and now we find ourselves in hell.

If there was ever any kind of hell, this is the worst in history. Let us imagine that there is an excellent, courageous, confident man who does not want to be influenced by this world trend.

Despite his efforts, he would be absolutely unable to reverse this world trend and assert himself in goodness. Do you feel that this is where we stand now?

However, we cannot afford to be either completely discouraged or destroyed. Hippies and yippies have been searching in their own way for something different, something better.

Are they living in an ideal way?

Are they really content and secure? Did they find the truth? They have looked around completely but could find no way out either. After going in many different directions, they have also concluded that there is no way out.

All mankind is now feeling that the only way left to find the ideal is to be constantly doing something more exciting. When this happens, they no longer are concerned about the world or nation or anything bigger than themselves.

The lucky ones manage to take care of themselves, but many are destroyed in their search for happiness. For instance, drugs are used throughout this nation, and some have been pushing drugs, providing them to anyone who would try them.

Once a person is addicted, they inevitably face an early death. Who would have done that?

It clearly must be Satan who is pushing these drugs. After Satan succeeded in breaking down the love in families and in individual relationships, he introduced drugs on a large scale.

Once people are addicted to drugs, they want to replace ideal love with physical stimuli. No one else but Satan could do these things or would want to.

Love is invisible; therefore, even if it is crushed, the physical body remains intact. Now Satan wants to attack even the physical body and destroy it as well. He is not concerned with the bodies of old people, as they are about to die anyway, but Satan will never be satisfied until he can destroy the young people who are full of vigor and life.

We know that Satan, the ultimate being of evil, is striving to annihilate young people through drugs. Then Satan will claim generation after generation, and no matter how much people long to experience love and obtain their highest ideals, they will be incapable of achieving them. Satan will proclaim to the world that mankind will be under his dominion for eternity.

This is all happening on the family and individual levels, but what kind of nation would attack another nation in this way? The communist nations have exactly followed this process to undermine and demoralize the free nations.

Their strategy is to immobilize the young people by destroying their lives with drugs. One communist country actually appropriates part of its national budget for raising opium and making it available in the free nations. This is actually happening.

It is very obvious that if individuals and families are being compelled toward destruction, the nation also is doomed to destruction. This is clearly Satan's undertaking, because no one else but Satan wants something like this to happen.

This is now going on all around the world. I am not just describing some concept, but everyday events that can be witnessed. We are heartbroken by this. From the standpoint of God's dispensation, how can it be possible to establish the ideal family among these overwhelmingly destructive circumstances?

Life rights and love rights

Anyone whose love has been bankrupted cannot think about his nation and no longer cares about Satan succeeding in breaking down the love in anything.

If someone's love has been destroyed in families and in individual relationships, then he in- no matter how true an ideal you may teach him, just cannot listen.

The Carter Administration has been speaking of human rights, but even more valuable than civil rights is the right to live and the right to love. These two are more important than so-called human rights.

If you were told to choose between human rights, life rights, and love rights, which would you choose?

You would certainly choose something other than human rights. If you had to choose between the right to live and the right to love, which would you choose?

If you had to choose between becoming a slave or being killed, which would you choose? Why do you choose death? Wouldn't you rather become a slave and keep on living in hopes of finding a better life somehow?

There would be no blacks alive in America today if slavery were worse than death. The recent television series "Roots" deals with the history of Africans who were captured and brought to America as slaves.

Why didn't they kill themselves if their human rights were more precious than living? Under this standard, are human rights more important, or life rights more important? We must have a clear idea about this.

In choosing between life and love, would you rather just live life, or would you rather go after love? For you, it is easy to choose love, but are you really that way? Take hippies, for example.

If we ask them the same question, do you think they would say, "I will follow love"? Actually, they do not want to care about anything. They just want to exist.

We usually do not think about it much, but every day we witness how many people would rather simply exist than be troubled by the demands of loving. Hippies, for instance, may love another person very much in the morning, but somehow by the afternoon their love changes.

Nevertheless, deep in their hearts, everyone is thinking, "I shouldn't be this way. I should pursue love to its utmost. I should even sacrifice my life for the cause of love."

I just heard that in some parts of American society, couples even exchange spouses for a week or so.

That love has far less value than life. You said earlier that you would choose love rather than life, but is this the general attitude in America?

When it comes to love, no one knows anything about anything! With all this confusion, it is obvious why we are really, really on the spot in trying to pursue the ideal.

The best human thinking has recognized that love is the most valuable and worthwhile thing. If you look around, it is difficult to find someone righteous enough to protect our human rights, and even more importantly, we find that no one is capable of raising the world out of this animalistic love. No matter how good our ideal may be, it seems impossible to fulfill it. After looking everywhere, we completely lost hope.

What if you had never heard about the Unification Church and someone were to ask you, "Is there some hope for finding true love, or is there absolutely no hope?"

What would you have answered? Can you see hope in this situation? Wherever you look, there is no hope. Where could you go to find hope?

As you look everywhere, can you find a man who can say, "I can offer hope"? You can even look at the great political leaders and the presidents of nations. Can you find hope in President Carter, for instance? He is like any other human being. Can you find hope in a political party or in a nation such as America?

Is there any family within this society that could become a source of hope?

How about your own parents? How about the feelings of a wife toward her husband or the feelings of a husband toward his wife? How about husbands and wives? Can they regard themselves as the source of hope in the future?

Hopelessness is spelled out everywhere. The earth is filled with it; even the universe seems filled with hopelessness. Do you see that? We conclude that now is the time when Satan, the master of hopelessness, has achieved his great success.

Then who is the master of hope?

Invisible God. Only because of God is there a possibility for those who have lost hope to find hope once again.

Once a person feels hope, Satan cannot defeat him

We can be grateful that even though man is being pulled to his death inch by inch, man still has some life remaining. Man can see his path of destruction, yet he continues looking desperately for life, knowing that somehow he should not be the way he is.

If there were any way out, he would take it. Something deep within his soul is crying out for hope.

Men everywhere get sick, lose their eyesight, and then their hearing. Perhaps they can no longer eat, and then they lose the use of their limbs.

Yet even on the verge of death, would a person not be very grave about his life, contemplating the death that awaits him?

If the news came that there was a new medicine, wouldn't he still want to try it out? Mankind is currently in a desperate position and needs the news of someone who can offer hope in the face of this sure death.

Wouldn't people jump at that hope?

With people feeling that their deaths are not far off, they will become earnest and react to news of the slightest hope. This is where we are situated.

When a desperately sick person hears the hopeful news, he would go immediately and try that remedy. As the cure begins to work, his body would begin to heal gradually.

When he is completely recovered, where would he turn?

He would go straight forward searching for love.

Having been so close to death, he would be almost crazy to perfect his love. Such a person would certainly be most precious to God. After he is cured and love revives within him, this person would begin urgently seeking out other brothers and sisters who are on the same deathbed that he was on. His greatest desire would be to find and revive them, just as he himself was revived. God would certainly be touched by his concern and wants to see many such people here on this earth.

That person will meet many people who are not aware of what has happened and who, out of their ignorance, are indifferent.

Some people will even directly oppose the cure he wants to spread, but then he will be earnest about overcoming their opposition and bringing the truth to light. At first, this kind of thing will happen sporadically, but inevitably the persecution will gather momentum.

In the midst of this world of despair, we have to realize clearly that Satan is working powerfully at the edge of hopelessness. But a cure is now appearing along with a hope that cannot be removed from the earth.

It is about to be brought out into the open, and when it becomes visible to all, people will jump at it. Rather than trickle toward it one by one, they will dash to it like a flooding river.

Can you imagine that day?

Even though that first person was on the verge of death, he still had the power to move quickly when the right avenue opened before him. Eventually, a whole river of hopeful people will penetrate the walls surrounding the satanic world and come to God's side.

At this time in history, the world is sinking into despair, misery, and hopelessness. When one person can manage to break out of this situation, he will soon be followed by floods of people also wanting to get out.

Once they break out and are revived in every way, they will never want to even think of the hell that mankind has been held in, generation after generation.

What if a person was somehow successful in making his way out to health and love, but then was kidnapped back again by his own parents, urging him, "Stay with us; continue living like us."

Would he be able to live there, or would he try to escape at any cost?

His decision would depend on how much he craved freedom and true love. If he deeply treasured their value, then once he escaped, a whole army from the satanic world could not keep him imprisoned.

If a whole army tried to kidnap me, I would fight for my life. Anyone who has led a miserable life in the past has sufficient power to resist. Those members who were kidnapped and persuaded to leave the Unification Church did not have the internal power to free themselves and were probably never deeply serious in their commitment.

Some members, who perhaps came from the despair of a hippie background, are deeply serious and treasure the hope that they have found. Those who have never seen death cannot really experience the seriousness and value of life and love.

Those who have really suffered in bondage have deeply wept to find a way out of their misery. Once they free themselves, penetrating the barrier of despair, not even an army could successfully kidnap them. Once such a man has penetrated this wall, he will work harder than anybody else.

Once a person who sees absolutely no hope around him feels that there is hope, then even the formidable power of Satan can no longer defeat the desires of his original nature.

It may look as if there is not even a tiny hole where hope might penetrate, but one day this avenue will be opened, and on that day the people will flood out. God has been thinking about this all along.

We can say that Satan has been quite successful in this world because mankind sees no hope whatsoever. But in God's sight, Satan is not successful. Once men clearly understand this, then they will realize their own value even more, as they compare the present with their past under Satan.

Therefore, no matter how successful Satan seems to be at the very end, Satan will eventually be obligated to help God complete His work.

God has been waiting to see how much Satan would take, and indeed, Satan has taken absolutely everything. He not only invaded man's human rights, but he also invaded the life rights and then even the love rights of billions of people. There is no right that Satan has not invaded.

What remains for Satan to do?

At this point, the historical conclusion is that the only thing remaining for Satan to do is surrender. God has been pondering the best way to bring people out of the misery of their unprincipled lives. In considering the ideal nation to initially penetrate this wall of hopelessness, he has settled on America.

The hippies of America have explored the depths of corruption and despair and would therefore value new hope the most.

If someone can work with them to successfully penetrate this wall of despair and break through to the other side, they will be very eager to go out and do the same for others. The organization that can offer tangible hope to these hippies must be the group that is historically capable of doing God's work.

In looking at a situation such as this, we can say that Satan has been helping to achieve God's plan. So many existing churches talk about God and about saving the world, but their members are generally older people.

The young people have already gotten out of the Christian churches and become hippies or non-conformists. Thus, those that we gather into the Unification Church are often young people who have been living a hippie life; ours is the only group that can really offer hope and salvation to them.

Love is a person's most precious possession

Presently, we do not have any more status in the world than the hippies, but we are very different. The hippies live lives that are without order, and they do not want to come under anybody's direction or dominion. In contrast, our lives are very orderly: we go out fundraising and witnessing, and we are very effective.

Furthermore, hippies are eating and sleeping for themselves, but we are living for this country and for our Heavenly Father. They are in despair and do not know where to turn, but we are full of power and vigor and have found love. In every way, our lives are entirely different from theirs.

Through developing a relationship with God, we come to honor human rights to the utmost. There are no racial differences in our church; each race is equally great and valuable. We have come to realize that one human life is greater than the entire universe.

Suppose someone like Rabbi Davis were working in an unjust and hateful way in a communist country; the leaders would give an order for him to be eliminated, and he would have been killed a long time ago. But regardless of all he has done to us, we do not even have the desire to hurt him.

Some of our young members came to me, saying, "What Rabbi Davis is doing is absolutely unforgivable. We cannot let him continue working like that because he is hurting too many lives.

Isn't it better to work directly against him and save all of those who are being hurt by him?" But I said, "No, can you quote an example of God killing a man because he was wicked? Instead, he just waits." A man still has an opportunity to recover himself even until the last minute.

Do we invade others' life rights?

Does anyone teach what we teach, that love is of such utmost importance and value that the greatest crime is the invasion of love? We would not want an individual apart from his love.

In the end, love is between an individual and God, and no one can stand between a person and his love; that love is his most precious possession. From the earth to the heavens, we want to cherish and protect his right to love. The one thing of greatest value is love.

Are any of us encouraged to take love lightly like the hippies do?

Brothers and sisters are not even allowed to hold hands in our church. We are taught that when a brother and sister meet, they must just talk, and then not even in privacy. Why?

To prevent cheap love from invading their hearts like it has invaded the hippies' lives, we are living an entirely different standard than the world is living.

For someone who cannot understand deeply, our standard might look like a violation of human rights, and he would accuse us, saying, "Everyone should have the right to do as they want." But actually, our way is the only workable way to protect human rights. Life is the same way.

If someone wants to go and kill himself, why should anyone try to stop him? It's his own life. But such an attitude is not right. People who tried to prevent a suicide have actually been accused of treating the person unjustly and taking away their personal freedom.

But from the heavenly point of view, being concerned about another person leads to complete freedom, and this is what all people have been dreaming about throughout history.

Likewise, nobody tells you to get involved in the events that are happening around the world; you are completely free to do nothing. Yet when others' human rights or life rights are violated, yours are also violated. You have no guarantee and no security in a world of evil.

When we look back through history and review the present, we know clearly that we are on the front line between God and Satan and that a sharp division of good and evil is taking place. Very seriously, we are fighting for our lives.

The fiercest war the world has seen

What is the borderline between life and death, between God's country and Satan's country?

Do the existing Christian and Buddhist congregations stand guard there, or are we on the front line?

What is the nature of the front line?

It is where Satan is always attacking God's side. I am doing nothing wrong, but since I am on the front line, I am constantly being attacked. Because you follow me, you are also attacked.

Because I am taking responsibility for you, I get all the blame if even one very young member makes one mistake. Any errors you make are directly connected to me, and then I receive many accusations from people.

Sometimes communists have posed as members and done evil things and then claimed that I made them do it. However, even though he may be opposed, the person who speaks for God's side can be recognized by his teaching about human rights, life rights, and love rights. We are fighting to preserve these in the world.

The communist countries have annihilated millions of people who opposed their governments. An estimated 70 million people were killed in Russia during the process of socialization, and 150 million were killed in Red China.

North Korea killed 3 million Koreans, and we read in the New York Times that 600,000 people were killed in Vietnam. With life rights being violated on such a scale, what is the use of talking about human rights?

We have to see this clearly in the free world and fight to stop it. This determination makes me the strongest, most staunch anti-Communist, and the communists are terrified of me.

Can we allow their activities to continue?

We have to realize what the communists are doing and expose it. The only reason we are doing this is that God's clear intention is to achieve a world of unity. We are not trying to do this out of our own personal desires.

Black people are especially susceptible to the communists' influence and can be persuaded to bitterness and violence. Realizing this, the communists are working to unite blacks in opposition to the whites, with the ultimate goal of inciting racial war. Of course, both races will lose if such a conflict occurs. In that case, only the communists would benefit and advance further toward their goal of world domination.

A strange phenomenon has come into existence. On one hand, we are surrounded by hell on earth, yet steadily emerging alongside that hell is the beginning of heaven on earth.

Do you feel fortunate to have joined this movement, or are you unfortunate?

We have to take time to realize how valuable the three rights that I have been speaking of are because they involve our very lives.

We cannot just speak of their importance with our mouths; we must have a deep feeling about the meaning of human rights, life rights, and love rights, and be willing to fight for them. This is a more intense war than any the world has yet seen, even more fierce than the World Wars. It is of utmost importance that we secure these rights for humanity.

There will be no such war in the future, nor have we ever witnessed such a war in the past. Ibis is the only such moment in history when this serious war will be fought. Can you even superficially understand that you are called to stand at such a time and place?

Satan is invisible, but we have located Satan and know what he is doing. Satan's central work is being accomplished through the communists. We can see the communists advancing their plans year by year. This is not just our interpretation; anyone who has watched their actions knows this.

This is a war of utmost importance, the most significant war man has ever fought in the long process of freeing himself from Satan's fetters. We have to be an effective organization, so strong that we can win this war over the forces of evil. Are we that way?

Why do I stay in this church?

Sometimes, when you are directed to go fundraising, you do not really understand its importance. We have to fundraise to restore all the things of creation that have been lost.

Why do we witness?

We witness the revival of love in another person. It is our duty to reclaim from the force of evil all the things that were lost, and we have to recover the life and love of others.

If the Unification Church is truly the center of God's will, then when those people who do not join go to the spirit world, they will be accused of not joining. But if people join the Church and then drop out without fulfilling the task given to them, then not only the spirit world but all mankind will accuse them, and even God will accuse them. They will have absolutely no place to stand.

Even if they go to hell, where people are usually left alone, people there will always accuse them, yelling, "You were supposed to be up there pursuing God's ideal and carrying out your mission. Why are you down here?" This will be the way they will be treated even after they go to hell.

This situation is even worse than existing in the satanic world. In the satanic world, there were at least some people who did not accuse them, but in hell, they simply will have no place to go to escape accusation.

When those who oppose the Unification Church go to the spirit world, they will become very envious of those who are newly joining. Once we go to the spirit world, we can instantly perceive the truth.

We have to clearly understand what kind of precious position we are in now and what kind of equally tormenting situation we could find ourselves in later.

If I were to drop out of the Unification Church, Satan would accuse and mock me, "Why are you here? Why didn't you just carry on?" All hell would go against me, and even God would oppose me, as well as the rest of the spirit world, crying, "Because of you, we are not free! "

The ancestors of a Unification Church member who left will really resent that person because, by working through him, they could have elevated themselves in the spirit world.

The only way that spirit men can work on earth is through you, and they will be the first to accuse you of leaving. I will blame you, and the brothers and sisters in the Unification Church will accuse you. Anyone who drops out really has no place to go, even within our Unification Church.

Even Satan will mock you, saying, "I fell, not when I was perfect, but when I was in the perfection stage of the growth stage. But you went beyond me-you fell from the perfection realm.

You are even worse than I." All of this is the reason why dropouts from the Unification Church feel so miserable. This is the very reason why I stay in the Unification Church. This is the truth.

My feelings are just like those of any other individual; I would like to lead my own life, having some enjoyment and spare time, like anyone else in the world, but I have not had one single moment to myself. My mind is always occupied with this immense task; it is just like sitting on the point of a needle 24 hours a day.

Not long ago, some members of my own staff were getting married, and I had not yet given anything to them anything. When I went to Macy's and bought six 14-karat gold necklaces, people started commenting that I indulge in luxurious living. While I was buying the necklaces, I could hear the people behind me saying something against me.

Every place I go, people know me. Even beyond that, there is no personal freedom in my life. If you led this kind of public life and were constantly receiving public criticism, would you really feel the joy of life?

I understand how difficult this is

If you are reasonably wise, then even if someone were to really hurt you and try to pull you out of the Unification Church, you would never leave. Is that true? This life can become so difficult, yet still we have to stay and keep on doing this work.

Do you stay because you have no other choice, or do you stay because you are happy?

How can you be happy when you do not have a dime in your pocket? How can you be happy when the clothing that you are wearing is the only clothing you have?

How can you be happy when you have only one set of underwear and you have to wash it when you go to bed and put it on again when you get up? And sometimes when you wake up on a cold morning, it isn't even dry.

As you meet the people during the day, your heart aches when they do not listen to you, and you carry a great burden as you witness them. If somebody opposes you, you have only yourself and God to console your aching heart.

How can you be happy under these circumstances?

There are people around you who may not be very bright but who still bring good results in witnessing and fundraising. In comparing yourself to them, you may think ill of yourself, and that, too, is painful.

I think the successful witnesses and fundraisers must have some iron shield around their faces and their hearts. Sometimes I admire myself in that way; when I face those who are opposing me, I do not feel anything, but I just continue.

I am more sensitive than anyone here, yet sometimes I cannot afford to be sensitive. It must be the same for you. You cannot continually respond to all the people who oppose us.

You are fortunate in one thing, however. No matter what hardships you go through, I am one friend who will understand you completely. Not only in the past, but also in the present, I am going through the same life that you are leading.

When your situation becomes difficult, remind yourself that you are not alone because I am sharing that very moment with you. When you live that way, then I will give you the best blessing that God can bring.

Do not falter because in going the difficult way, you will receive God's deepest love.

For this reason, I keep pushing you to go on. I know that it is worthwhile because God is exactly like that. We must stand in the same place that God is standing, and even now God is going through all these things.

When a sigh escapes your mouth, then instantly follow it by saying, "Nevertheless, thank You, God. Through this, you can give me a blessing. Now I can understand your present situation. Thank you for allowing me to go through the same things that you are facing."

If you have a complaint because of some discomfort, then you must replace it with gratitude. When we take this attitude, Satan cannot accuse us, nor can he oppose us any longer.

I have a story to tell you about Mother. Right after the 5 o'clock pledge service on Sunday morning, Mother drinks a cup of coffee. I told her that coffee is not good for her, and her grandmother told her about seeing a man in the hospital whose stomach had ruptured after drinking coffee for three months.

But Mother said, "If I don't drink this, my eyes droop and I'm so drowsy." The children can go back to sleep, but since she cannot, she has to drink coffee to stay awake. I felt pity for her and said, "Your life is as draining as mine."

I know that you wake up even earlier, maybe 3 or 4 o'clock, and come all the way up here, and your eyes just won't stay open. Looking down from the platform, I see some hilarious faces. I have a real sense of our common destiny, and I understand how difficult it is. I have trained myself very purposefully, and now I manage not to sleep as many hours a day.

I already know how difficult it is for you. Why are we working this hard? We cannot eat more than three times a day, so if you have $3.50 a day, then you can live. Then why do you try so hard to do well in fundraising? Are you working to buy your own house? To misunderstanding eyes, we are really crazy people.

Do you know the consequences of this life?

Who really understands that we are doing this for the sake of America? Why don't we just lead peaceful religious lives like the Christians do? Why do we have to push ourselves like this?

The reason is that we do everything to save even one more life more quickly. Conservatively speaking, if one percent of the population dies per year, that is 40 million people going to the spirit world. Most of them go to hell, don't they?

Later, they will come to us and say, "Why did you not save me while I was still on earth? Why did you not tell me about this one day earlier, so I could have heard and accomplished something while I was on earth, and then come to heaven?

This is so real to me that being called names and going through difficulties on earth is still better than facing those people who would demand to know why we did not do anything while they were still alive on the earth. I would reach even one more life to catch that person before he goes to the spirit world. This is why all of us must push ourselves even harder.

I have let everybody know what I am here for, and with all of you, I am working day in and day out, not wasting even a second. Then, even though thousands go to the spirit world without knowing God's will, they cannot blame me.

On the contrary, when those people who oppose us here on earth go to the spirit world, all the spirit men will come and accuse them, "Because you opposed the Unification Church on earth, I did not have the opportunity to join! " I know that this is happening.

When I wake up to find that I overslept, I feel like a sinner because I should have been working during that time. Sleeping in the daytime is virtually unknown to me. This is the kind of life I have been leading. If I sit down in a chair, within ten minutes, I can be snoring. I am always tired because I do not sleep.

Imagine, in ten years, 400 million people will have gone to the spirit world. That is twice the population of America. In ten years, that is how many more people will be doomed to hell. Can you grasp the significance of this?

You are in the same position. When you go to the spirit world, the spirit men will blame you for not helping them come to the Divine Principle while on earth. That is why we cannot help but work the way we do.

Even though the people call us names here, it is still better than being blamed in the spirit world. If you do not witness now, then even your own ancestors will become your enemies, and your own offspring may turn against you for not being more dedicated.

Once we grasp this clearly, how can we help but push ourselves? No matter how difficult something may be, can we complain?

Knowing this, all of us are trying to change the evil course of the world, trying to change this darkness into light. God is also trying to reach each one of His children in every corner of the world.

How truly serious do you feel, knowing that God is looking down at us?

Without that seriousness, we are not in a position to even put on our pajamas to go to sleep. Imagine all the spirits in the spirit world looking down at us, knowing that the only way for them to be saved is through working with those of us on earth.

If we are not thinking about saving people, then how critical and frustrated they will feel. We are very fortunate since we can be liberated while here on earth, needing only one millionth of the effort that it takes to be elevated in the spirit world. This is why we have to make impossible efforts here on earth. Even though we go through intense difficulties here, it is still insignificant because we have a body.

When you really do your best and invest every bit of yourself, even if you cannot do any more, then the spirit world understands and respects you and cannot accuse you. God knows that, too. I will never tell you to take a day off, even when you have been working hard. You don't like that fact, do you?

A schoolchild has the same problem. Every time his parents see him, they tell him to study. He does not like it, but his parents keep on telling him anyway. Later, when the child grows up and wishes that he had studied harder, he cannot complain to his parents because they had warned him time and time again.

It will be the same for you when you go to the spirit world, and you will ask me, "Father, why did you not tell me to work harder so I could be in a higher place?"

But you will not be able to say that because every day I am telling you over and over again to work harder. This is the reason why I am always pushing you to work harder every time I see you. I know too well about the consequences of this life, and that is why I am telling you these things.

If everyone here except one man fails to respond, then in the spirit world, everyone else's blessing will go to that one man for his efforts. When that one man happens to be me, then I can take all of those blessings to the spirit world and distribute them to the spirit men who had no opportunity to serve directly on earth. This is the reason I do not want to be outdone by you. When you work hard, I will work even harder.

When you are idle, you forfeit blessings

When I tell you to do something and you do not do it, then I will do it myself and receive all the blessings for it. In a way, you are losing a blessing every time you do not respond.

When a new member comes who tries more and works harder, he will receive greater blessings than older members who have been a long time in the church. God's blessings automatically flow to those who work harder.

This is true wherever you look in the world; those who work harder get more results. When a vegetable grows bigger and bigger, some of the leaves on the plant are bound to wither.

The same is true in the Unification Church; as our movement has grown, some withering has also been seen. You must work more than anybody else ahead of you, and then we will develop as a whole.

A marathon runner does not stop training just because he has accumulated previous experience. If you are experienced, then you will practice even more to stay ahead of all your competition. For the same reason, you have to work harder to keep in the forefront of the enthusiastic new members.

When an electrical wire is hooked up, it will easily conduct an electric current, but if the wire is cut, it can't function as a conductor. You are here in the Unification Church because of your ancestors' merit.

In the same way that electricity goes through a wire that is hooked up, energy from the spirit world will flow through you when you are connected to your mission.

Electricity does not need a lot of space; only one wire is necessary to start the electricity flowing. It does not matter how many strands of wire there are as long as they are hooked up. If the wires are cut in just one place, then the entire system is of no use.

When you are idle, you are forfeiting all your blessings. It is the same as going to school. Perhaps everyone in class is concentrating very intensely on the lectures, but one student is not studying at all.

When examination time comes, what happens to him?

The professors do not like that kind of person, nor does the school superintendent. I am the superintendent, and your leader is the teacher, and if you are a diligent student, then everybody likes you. But people do not care for a student who is not so diligent.

What do you choose to do?

Are you just going to take it easy and rest, or are you going to work? Or maybe you are waiting for me to finish speaking, and then you will dash out and carry on.

In wartime, when bullets are flying and artillery shells are exploding, the soldier who does not want to die is usually the one who gets hit first. The brave man who just goes out and fights as he should without caring about the bullets, surprisingly enough, is the one who lives longer.

Even the bullets seem to be discriminating and choosing who to hit and who not to hit. The bullets will chase after someone who is trying to escape.

All my life, I have been working on the very edge of the realm of possibility. If I had ever retreated at the many moments when everything appeared to be impossible, I know that long ago I would have been dead.

When I realize that those under me will not be able to make something work, then I think, "I'd better do it myself." When I jump into a task, a way to accomplish it always opens before me.

Some members are 29 years of age and were almost included in the blessing. Those people may be depressed about that, which is understandable. But think about it-there are so many important things waiting for you in your lives. Consider these things and forget your depression.

You can get blessed anytime in the future. As you are idle, imagine how many people are passing in front of you on their way to hell. Have you even stopped to think about that? Every time you are sitting at the table eating, many people are passing on their way to hell.

Have you seen the movie "Silver Streak"? It deals with a train going from California to Chicago, and the action develops among the travelers aboard. At one point, the conductor is killed, and the train's accelerator is somehow weighted down as the train moves faster and faster toward a collision with the Chicago station.

Those passengers who know what a tragedy they are speeding toward have to take a great risk to prevent it. They cannot just sit there doing nothing.

If God were watching that train carrying His sons and daughters toward death, would He say, "Oh, they deserve it since they didn't pay any attention to me."

Would he just ignore their situation?

Suppose there was one person who knew what was happening and tried very hard to save the train; even if the train crashed and he went to the spirit world, God would tenderly lift him up to heaven.

This nation is at stake. Like the runaway train, America is heading towards a fatal crash. If somebody becomes aware of the situation and tries his best to save the nation, then even if he fails, when he goes to the spirit world, would God just leave him in hell?

God would certainly lift him to heaven because of the adventure he dared try. I am thinking in these terms and trying to inspire you to become such people.

Can you promise that you will never complain?

These circumstances I have described are not exaggerated. They are very real, yet even under these circumstances, God is constantly thinking of establishing the ideal family.

What kind of great leap must we make to reach the ideal family? Is it further from Cape Kennedy to the moon or from the bottom of hell to the highest heaven? This world is Cape Kennedy, where we ignite our own rocket of heart with love and ride straight up to the world of heaven.

This world is our launching pad. Our destination is the heart of God; pursuing that goal seems really dreamlike, but it is real. Would you like to get on the rocket? Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to land on the moon; he was the father of astronauts with his strong arm. But you are not only arm-strong; you are strong in every sense, and you must land directly in the heart of God.

To successfully launch a rocket and land it on the distant target of the moon, your previous training must be very complex. As you listen to my sermons, you are learning how to manipulate the buttons in a very complicated machine.

When you ride on a rocket, can you push any buttons you want and expect to land on the moon?

You must be strong in every sense. You have to learn to live without food for many days, how to stay alert without much sleep, and train yourself in every conceivable way-physically, mentally, and spiritually. You have to overcome many personal weaknesses.

Just hearing this inspires you, doesn't it? What if I am telling you a lie? Then you must determine, "I will teach the truth instead of him." You have to try harder than I do myself.

When you have hope, then everyone else can have hope. Would you be like that? If so, then as I see you again and again, I will see you become increasingly beautiful.

Please go ahead and do that. If all of you become like that, then God would really be happy to see you. In this world, this kind of training can only be done with God's help; it is like flying from one end of the universe to the other.

Are you interested in the spirit world?

Don't you sometimes think that if you could go there once and see it, an immense new universe would open up to you and entirely change your perspective?

Do you sometimes desire to know about the spirit world so intensely that you wish you could die briefly to see it and then come back? Do you have this kind of curiosity?

If you have this curiosity, then when I say something about this, seek out what is behind it. Try to see what is behind my power.

Don't you really want to penetrate the wall of this physical plane and see the world beyond with your own eyes?

Once you see for yourself, you will be in a position to know whether what I say is true or not. Do you think you already know about the spirit world? Actually, you do not yet know for sure. You do not completely understand what you have been hearing.

With love, you can go anywhere and experience anything

You have only heard about the love of God. Have you ever truly experienced the love of God personally?

None of you really has. When you slaughter a chicken and pull the tendon in its leg, then the chicken's foot will draw together. If you pull the coat of God's love and just keep pulling it, the entire universe will eventually come into the bosom of God.

Once you are intoxicated in the love of God, then your eyes, your nose, your ears, your mouth, and your hands will become focused on one point. When you are focused on one dot, your entire being becomes completely one.

When you are feeling good, then your entire self will say, "Good!" in unison. In the same way, when you are completely one with God, you will tag along wherever He goes. You just cannot stand to be separated when you are in the midst of that love. Then all the universe rejoices with you in your happiness.

When you really feel good, then the entire universe will answer your feelings, like an echo in the mountains. When you say, "Ah," then all the universe will echo, "Ah." We have a saying in Korea that when one is pleased, "His eyes are just tumbling over." It means that his eyes are not just tumbling over but almost popping out of his head. This is actually something that is beyond explanation.

Men are created to receive that kind of love from God. The couple that is united in that kind of love will be inseparable, and even as they are taking a breath, the entire universe will join them in that breath.

Wouldn't you want to be near them and experience that?

The fastest speed in the spirit world is the speed of love, which is even faster than that of electricity and light. When you are deeply anxious to see God and you say, "Father," God is already beside you. The spirit world is governed with love.

Although you do not know what love is, you still like that idea, don't you?

There is nowhere that love cannot go and nothing that it cannot go through. With a special looking glass of love, you can see through anything into the real basis of existence.

You can even see God's image, for He is not without image, and so you can experience love with God, who has a form.

In Paul's words, "You are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

That is only a small expression. Your experience can be a million times greater.

Each one of us originally possesses the value that makes us eligible to experience this. That is the way we were created. It is almost too good to be true, isn't it? Even if it is not true, it is the best untruth there is. If this is true, what then?

Would you willingly bet your life on it?

We must go on with this to nothing less than the whole world. Actually, Mother would not be happy to hear this, but strictly speaking, I do not have any real affection for this physical world.

However, because I have things to accomplish here, I am doing everything I can while on earth. Sometimes I think about life in the spirit world, even at night. Even though you may have a sleepless night, somehow you never feel tired when you are absorbed in that spiritual environment.

True love is more than lightning and thunder

I know, obviously, that there is nothing that can control love. If there were a man and a woman who could both extend themselves fully in love, wouldn't their marriage be really fantastic?

As soon as you see a bright flash of lightning, you know you will hear a great roll of thunder.

Have you ever stopped to think about why God created such bright lightning, to be followed by a great roll of thunder? Now imagine God's two extremes, plus and minus. What if they were to short-circuit? Do you think it would make a bigger explosion than lightning and thunder? You cannot conceive how much bigger.

Similarly, in God's love, a man has plus voltage and a woman has minus voltage. When a true man and woman unite in love, then the entire universe will see the lightning and be shaken by the thunder. That catches God's attention, and He is surprised Himself just to experience that. Then God is drawn right into the midst of the relationship.

That is the greatest rhythm in all the universe. Man and woman were created for this. However, since the fall, they do not have this voltage of love, and when a man and woman love each other, nothing happens; no powerful current of love flows between them.

If a man and woman were to have the voltage of true love, then their marriage would be ideal, almost like a fairy tale. The entire universe is eagerly waiting for this kind of love to brighten every corner of the cosmos. That day is finally here.

Have you prepared yourself to become that kind of woman?

A strong current will be connected to the man and woman, and when even a small current starts to flow, then the earth and the universe will tremble in resonance.

Have you ever imagined such a moment?

Human beings the world over have never experienced these things. How false their world is! This power of love is the ideal that God had in mind from the beginning when He created man. Would you all like to fulfill the ideal of this morning's talk, the ideal family from the viewpoint of God's dispensation?

I want every inch of every one of you to become refined like pure gold. Is pure gold different on the inside and the outside? A person reflecting this purity does not have any fallen thoughts. To become one with God, one needs to be pure; can you be false gold and achieve that? Jesus told his disciples that everyone must become perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect.

If you are pure gold, then it is so easy for you and God to melt and become one. Combining two different metals may be difficult, but pure gold can easily blend with pure gold.

When you compare yourself to me, are we made of the same substance?

Think about that; you have to cleanse and cleanse and cleanse your hearts and minds every day for a long time to become pure gold so that you can become one with God.

We must also become one with the world. The physical world and spirit world are divided into many classes. All the walls that separate people must be done away with so that they can become one.

After each of you does away with all these walls, you can become completely one with the world, but for this to be possible, you must become pure gold.

Fallen man is gold that is contaminated by foreign metals. We have to go to the refinery to separate those and replace them with gold. In this refining process, we should not be washed away but withstand the test of all the worldly currents passing through us.

Each one of you has to become a ray of hope for both heaven and hell, so that even God can say that you have brought hope. Have you become convinced that after you train and perfect yourselves, you will become people of pure gold and one with God? When you and your spouses are blessed, then your love will be just as strong and dynamic as I have been describing.

When you really enter into the depth of love, then even without looking with your eyes, you begin to see everything. In the same way, even without listening with your ears, you hear everything, and you even begin to taste everything just as you sit. In that depth of love, nothing will attract your attention except love.

The universe will be full of nothing but love, and you will be the perfection of everything and the owner of everything. Beyond that, there is nothing else you can desire.

Love has that quality because God has that quality; this is why mankind has not given up hope of having love, even though they have been struggling up to this point.

When I begin to speak about the depths of love, I completely lose track of time, and many times I continue for four or five hours. That is enough time to fly from New York clear to the West Coast.

Is that five-hour flight boring or not?

Do you have an aching back, or are you all excited? Imagine how exciting it would be if I could express all of this in English! Even if someone were to encourage you to doze off, you could never go to sleep, and your eyes would open wider and wider.

If you were really intense and grave, then you could hear things directly from the spirit world and spiritually see things right from where you are sitting. We could all become like that. One example of spiritual awareness is coming into Belvedere.

Even though there may be people around when you walk into Belvedere and look around, it feels like nobody is here. When I am here, people want to come, but when I am not here, Belvedere feels empty, even though there are people here.

The Washington family told me that when I am there, the center seems filled with people, but once I leave, then all of a sudden the house feels empty, even though all the people remain.

Do you feel that sometimes?

What if I did not exist? It would be as if all the world were here but were empty. Why do you feel like that?

Only love can fill the universe

When love is present, then love fills every corner of the universe. If God did not exist, then the world would be empty because God's love would be absent. But if God were here and His love filled the earth, then you would feel that the world was full. If He dwells within us, then we are filled with everything.

Even in a family, when the husband comes home and his children run to greet him, the first thing he says to the children is, "Where is your mother?" The wife is the same way. If she goes out shopping somewhere, when she comes back home, many children are there, but the first thing she asks is, "Where is Daddy?" Why? It is because of a longing for love, a feeling of "Where is my love?" What can fill this vast universe? Not even air can fill it. We can only fill it with love.

The man with love can go anywhere and still be happy and contented. Without love, a man can go anywhere and still feel empty. In the spirit world, this is even more real.

The man who is filled with God's love feels satisfied and whole everywhere he goes. It is understandable.

If we experience God's love and remain stable in that, then we become the source of the spark of love and can be called sons of thunder and lightning.

Would you want to give birth to sons and daughters once you were blessed in marriage?

When a man and wife love each other like that, then their sons and daughters dwell in that harmony, rejoicing in each other and caring for each other. That love would interact within the family, among the father and mother and all the children. An arc light is extremely bright, like a spotlight.

The current does not pass through a filament but creates an arc of silver light. The energy or current of abundant love creates that kind of brilliant silvery light. God wants to live within that kind of bright home, within the warmth of such love. Wouldn't you like to create that kind of family in the future?

God is alive and like us, isn't He? He must also want to live like all men; He never had the desire to live all by Himself but to live among His sons and daughters in the midst of abundant love.

What kind of love would He like to live in?

In electrical terms, would He like to live in the light of electric bulbs like these, or would He like to live in the brilliance of an arc light? God would like to live in the arc light of love. If you would like to experience that kind of love in the future, the first thing you have to do is prepare yourself for marriage.

Unless you are pure like gold, when you come under an intense arc light, you just cannot stand the heat. If you were made up of any other inferior material, you would just burn away.

Raise your hands if you have taken drugs and lived a hippie life. Almost all. Some scholars took a poll and found that 75% of our members are ex-hippies. We have to show people a brand-new hippie, a "King Hippie," who will originate new fashions and concepts of life.

That is the kind of hippie that God likes, while Satan likes the ordinary hippies.

Here, for the first time, we have heard about such essential things as life rights and love rights. Here we have also created a new person, called a "kingpie," who also has the habit of eating kimchi. Americans will just shake their heads in amazement.

You can become men and women of pure gold with the love of God in your hearts and form ideal families. This is the ideal family I described this morning. Just imagine that perfect man and wife, the original ideal of creation.

We have just imagined that this morning; we have not become that ideal yet. Has God connected His own source of power to you yet? Have you prepared yourselves for a blessing in such a way that when the two wires touch, a huge spark will jump between them?

How many karats of gold are you, 24, 14, or 8 karats? Would you like to stay where you are, or would you like to purify yourselves to become 24-karat gold?

You need a passport from Satan and a visa from heaven

What kind of furnace can purify you?

You guessed rapidly! All the iron, copper, and other foreign metals will be processed out of you in hell, and in their place God will fill you with gold.

Therefore, you are actually going into hell in God's name, not in Satan's name.

There is no other way to refine yourselves. All the corruption that we inherited from the satanic world will be drawn away, and only our gold will remain. After that, God can fill with gold the holes left by the other metals.

After that, even if you want to stay in hell, Satan will say, "This is not the place for you. You have to leave." When you really become like that, Satan will write you a passport: "This man is completely free from me; he is qualified to stay in heaven."

No one but Satan can write you a passport to leave hell. Has Satan issued you a passport saying that you can go? Your visa to heaven is written by an angel from God, and you can go to the original place that God intended for man, being a true man for the first time.

You are qualified to proceed to heaven after you win over Satan and take dominion over the angels. This is the way of restoration: we must do something that even Satan and the angels cannot do. After we do that, we are given passports and visas, and then we can proceed to heaven.

This is similar to the old world, where even though you have a passport and are free to leave, if the place to which you are going does not release a visa, then you cannot enter.

When you have both, then you qualify for a blessing. Those who have both your passport and visa, raise your hand. Nobody? But on the other hand, those who want to be blessed, raise your hand. All of you.

The angel also wanted to be blessed even before he was qualified, and then he and Eve both fell. You also want to be blessed, but it is not the time yet. Do you understand that you are situated at that very same point?

Many of you were stimulated by the 74 Couple Blessing of a few days ago. You watched that and thought, "I want to be blessed too." Those of you who were not affected by that and didn't even think of yourselves getting blessed do not even qualify to receive the blessing next time.

Raise your hand if you compared your position to that of the newlywed couples, thinking, "I want to become blessed also, but I'm not prepared, so I'd better become prepared! You are like good businessmen!

Businessmen, you may be, but you must become pure gold. If you are pure, then no matter how strongly the satanic world opposes you, can your gold be altered into copper?

What if you are twisted around-suppose a heavy roller rolled you out-are you still gold?

If somebody did everything to provoke you, spitting at you and calling you names, would you still not change? Do you sometimes wonder why you have to put up with this and feel like jumping in a car and killing yourself?

Instead, maybe you wish your opponent would be killed by an automobile! To love your enemy is a most wonderful thing. In that case, you are still pure gold even while you are going through hell.

We have to realize our objective as Unification Church members; no matter what hardships we go through, we must continue to purify ourselves and become pure gold. Going through hell is the only way for us to become pure gold.

Through test after test, we must drain ourselves of all fallen nature and be filled with God's gold. We cannot achieve this by going into a palace or by being comfortable.

Before Americans finally understand us, the whole nation will go against you, melting you down as they call you names and mock you. But once they realize that you are actually made of pure gold, they will gradually change their attitudes and start respecting you.

Whenever pure gold goes through the furnace, its weight stays the same because no foreign metals are drawn off. You will reach heaven when you have become victorious over the entire satanic world, going through all of hell and winning over it. I have been going through the individual and family course, and now I am striving to accomplish it on a world level. I have been persecuted and have suffered, but my liberation is near.

The day will come when all the people who oppose me will sign a statement testifying that I am a royal worker for the heavenly world. They have started making drafts already. Even though such a man may have opposed me, once he carefully examines what we are doing and realizes he was wrong, he will have no further reason to oppose me.

Once he recognizes the goodness of what we are doing, he will become a member and try to become many times better than the rest of you.

Once you prepare yourself, what kind of spouse are you going to get? Is he or she going to hold a college degree or be very handsome or beautiful, or be refined and high-standard in every way?

Would you like to marry that kind of spouse, or would you like to marry someone who is deformed and misfigured and of a different race than you had expected?

Could you marry that kind of spouse?

After you become pure gold, you will not care so much about external appearances or college degrees, but more about how pure your spouse is. Would you rather marry a very good-looking spouse who is not pure gold, or would you rather be with an ugly person who is 24-karat gold?

What is so different in the Unification Church?

Our philosophy of marriage and the value of love are what are entirely different.

We are not content with some small love but are always reaching for what we were originally designed to be; we want to occupy this great big love of God with our own pure gold love.

In this country, the custom is a little different, but in the Orient, women nurse their children. When God looks down on a woman of pure gold nursing her child, he is filled with heartfelt laughter and happiness at seeing such a beautiful sight.

Can you say with confidence, "My husband is the best in the whole world because of his inner nature, and therefore my child is the one whom God can love the most? I, too, am completely one with God and His love."

How can you become like that?

God will look at you with His eyes filled with love if you can be like that. When you are filled with love, then nothing looks ugly or hateful. If you are truly in love, then you can handle the soiled sheets or clothes of your spouse and still not feel that they are dirty.

When you have absolute love for another, then even the dirtiest thing about them actually appears clean. Some married people have experienced this to a certain extent.

If God's love is dwelling within a person, then no matter how ugly he may be by worldly standards, you will love him; external appearance is just not noticed among those who love God. There is a saying that beauty is only skin-deep. Those who occupy God's love have unlimited beauty. I want every one of you to become part of an ideal family that resides in the heart of God.

This morning we have spent much time already, but actually I have not been able to complete my talk. Next time, I will continue on this topic. Maybe next Sunday we will assemble here at 3 a.m. Is that all right? I expect that none will be absent.

Now we know we have to become perfect husbands and wives. If I forget this topic next time and start talking to you on a different subject, then remind me to continue. Let us pray.

I am sure you remember from that talk that to build ideal families, we must become men and women of genuine gold. Adam and Eve were supposed to be the first ancestors, and mankind was to have extended out from them like many, many branches.

A diagram of this looks like an upside-down tree, with the single trunk on top, spreading out into many branches.

What would be the root of this human tree?

God would be, and just as healthy roots are hidden deep in the ground, God is also hidden from view.

It is wonderful to see what the Earth can do. The earth is the source of thousands of different miracles-trees, flowers, fruits, and all manner of infinite beauty. A seed may have the hidden potential for making red flowers, but a seed alone means nothing; it must be supported by the earth. Even people like our giant Gerhardt were born small, and the ingredients of the earth helped him grow.

Of course, his parents gave him genes, but something in the earth made his blue eyes possible. The earth is the source of wonder and beauty, but the spectacular things that spring from this earth must have some source of infinite energy where all the wonder and beauty of life originate. That source is certainly God.

Is it true that the ideas of men control this world?

The men who have deep vision and insight are the ones who actually control the world, not those who just have power or money or knowledge. An idea can organize and effectively put power, money, and knowledge to use. However, even the men with ideas have deviated from their original state.

In striving to become prosperous, men have actually been losing

Where did the separation occur-between the trunk and a branch or between the root and the tree?

A broken branch is no problem because the trunk can always reproduce branches and leaves without difficulty. Man's problem is the more fundamental one of separation between the root and the tree. There is absolutely no way that such a tree can survive.

We fallen men now stem from a different root: the root of evil.

Then who are our ancestors?

All of our human ancestors have come from that evil root. Do you really know, not just in your mind, but all the way down to your bones, that your ancestor is Satan?

Since Satan became the ancestor of mankind, men have been like his branches, and he has maintained control over men's actions.

Like him, people pull things to themselves, trying to be prosperous, and for this reason, people have been fighting among themselves ever since the fall of man.

Presently, that same fallen human history is continuing. Even though people are desperately trying to accumulate external things for their own benefit, internally, they are all losing.

For example, though America has been a powerful nation, it has often tried to control the rest of the world for its own purposes. Even though America has become the central nation in the world, and is desperately trying to survive, make friends, and gain influence, America keeps backsliding internally.

America's way of life has become extremely individualistic.

How could a nation become selfish if it is truly centered upon the ideals of Christianity?

When individualism becomes people's major interest, then ultimately, the people will lose everything.

If God is lost, then the nation will be lost. In America today, how many youth are seriously thinking about the well-being of the nation? Not too many. By centering upon "self," a person can only lose parents, family, and friends. The "self" may be trying to survive, but it can never endure alone.

Ultimately, human value is being lost through individualism, and love itself is becoming stained. Human life in America often resembles the life of animals. It has become very trivial, with little mutual respect. Are you the product of a society that has degenerated to that degree?

All through human history, man has been foolishly striving to enrich himself, but in that process, people are actually losing everything. That is a cold, historical reality.

How is it possible that all mankind has been making such tremendous efforts to survive, yet losing everything in the process? No man in history who made the effort to acquire things for himself ever seriously thought, "Of course I will lose all these things some day."

Yet in striving to become prosperous, men have actually been losing instead. If this were just a local phenomenon, in Tarrytown or New York, then we could dismiss it as a very trivial matter. But this is not just a local matter; it is a historical phenomenon, a universal situation, and we must take it very seriously.

Does any person or any nation actually desire to be in such an impossible situation? No, all people would prefer to be happy, prosperous, honored, and respected. Yet at the same time, they are going in exactly the opposite direction. Why is that?

Is this a random process, or is there some reason that world history has always been persisting in this direction? It is a scientific principle that in our world, no result can occur without some cause. There must be a decisive cause behind every world situation.

We can see that, contrary to the will of men, the world is heading further and further into despair and decline. There must be some invisible, opposing force exercising control beyond us that causes this. Do you think the American people wanted to create this present world situation?

Do you think that American philosophers and men of thought got together and decided to take the world in this direction?

Do you think that a majority vote would have ever placed the world on its present course?

There must be some cause beyond human reach or control, one that no philosopher on earth could influence or even slightly change. There must be a first cause; you could call it God or anything you like. The name is not relevant, but there must be a first cause that is separate from human thought.

We all feel very anxious to perceive the future of the world. Let us use our wisdom and think about it. So far in human history, many thousands of people have been trying to improve their own situation but still losing.

What would happen if we were to live in exactly the opposite way?

Instead of taking, what would happen if we exerted ourselves to give things away and to respect others? What do you think would happen? The change would be a fundamental one.

So far, a history of grasping has brought mankind to decline and despair. Then what about a philosophy of giving? That must produce entirely different consequences.

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The God that we know has a giant personality; He has feelings of joy and sorrow, just like human beings. Consequently, His ideal must include eternal happiness.

This idea about God is contrary to human assumptions so far. We must consider how God would describe happiness. It must be entirely different from man's present thinking.

The fallen world, which separated itself from God, has a history of greediness and exploitation; those characteristics brought the fall and the destruction of the world and mankind, and we are still living on the edge of a cliff. We could fall anytime.

What would have happened if we had been living under God from the very beginning? The world would have been 180 degrees different from the one we live in now.

Generally speaking, everybody assumes that if there is a God, then He must be a good God. Satan is the king of evil, the center of evil.

Then what is the definition of good and evil?

Why is God good and Satan evil, and who will decide?

Everyone, but particularly individualistic American youth, must know this, obviously.

What is evil? The answer is simple. Evil is self-centeredness. The person who makes himself the center of everything is evil. What is good, then? A good person exists solely for the sake of others. A good man is always trying to give of himself to make others happy, trying to benefit them.

The environment for true life

You have only one absolute life. In that one life, can you possess more than one absolute love? You cannot even use the word love in describing the present situation in America.

Do you know what diarrhea is?

Love in America is suffering from diarrhea in a hundred different directions. What American young people call love is just trash. Would you like to have one life and ten loves and a hundred ideals, or one life, one love, and one ideal?

The fundamental problem, then, is finding where that one absolute true life can be born and finding the environment where it can survive and prosper.

This true life can emerge when there is an environment of absolute giving, absolute service, and absolute love for others. When parents have an absolutely sacrificial, giving love, the beauty of an ideal child can be conceived.

I want you to know that there is a universal law and principle created by God that declares that anyone who builds his life on absolute love and the absolute ideal of service to others will have the rest of creation respond to him as his object.

This is a universal law that no one can bend. It is true simply because God is such a person. God exists in that ideology, and it is God's own way of life. God controls this world through the philosophy of giving Himself up for the sake of others.

Anyone who lives that philosophy must certainly receive the same power, beauty, and honor as God does. Isn't that wonderful! Is becoming a billionaire the most precious thing in this world?

Many people are convinced that I am trying to become a billionaire, but I just laugh at them. Becoming wealthy is such a trivial matter and so far from being the central value of human life.

Anyone who really knows me knows that my ideal goes far, far beyond that. I know that anyone who becomes an embodiment of absolute life, absolute love, and the absolute ideal will have the entire universe respond to him.

That is the way God has been dominating and controlling this universe, and I can do the same things God can do by becoming the embodiment of His truth. You do not respond to me because I am successful or have a Ph.D. from Harvard, but because I am the embodiment of God's truth.

For example, you do not have to come here on Sunday morning. You could go to a comfortable place and listen to a sermon in beautiful English instead of Korean.

Then why did you come here?

You do not hear kind things here; I am always pushing you and giving you a hard time. But in all honesty, I am glad you came since you are drawn to this one internal, fundamental truth of the universe, to that one call of true love and true ideal. That is why you came.

If anything other than the truth is moving you, then my teaching is not true. No power in this universe can overthrow true love, life, and ideals. The power to create the beauty of true life, true love, and the true ideal is the greatest power of the universe, and it can only come from God.

Even God could not obstruct someone who lives that kind of life because God Himself has to live by that principle.

Is God very forceful in love or weak in love?

Would God ever say that because He is Lord of the universe, He does not need love or care about love?

Once there is even a little bit of love, God will forget about being God and stand helpless before that love. Can you imagine this? When even a small whisper of love reaches His ears, God completely melts.

True love is God's vulnerable point. Am I also a vulnerable man in this sense? Could I say, "I have an iron will, and I do not care about your love"? I, too, am like a helpless child before pure love.

I know the secret of God's vulnerability, so if I carry a big bag of love when I go to God's mansion, I can do anything. I can ride anywhere piggyback on God, and God would let me.

God is far greater than I am in ideology, in knowledge, and in life, so I cannot approach Him except through love. The kind of love that I am speaking of is not a greedy love but a sacrificial love for others.

That love is the essence of God. Therefore, once we know the truth about God and understand His personality, we come to a clear vision of how we can live with God and make Him and ourselves happy.

Even God could not stop a man who followed this way of life, and certainly Satan would have no power. Such a man would not even have to give a thought to Satan.

If God, you, and I are the group pursuing that philosophy and that way of life, can anything block us? For example, right now, the world is trying to stop the progress of the Unification Church.

Do they have the power to stop us?

Personally, I choose to live this difficult way of life only because I know the love of God, and I know His vulnerability. Because we are talking about that love, everyone here is wide awake this morning.

A lifestyle of greed will only bring this world into despair and destruction. If, right currently, all the four billion people of the world were to do an about-face and turn from selfishness to unselfishness, what do you think the world would be like?

If four billion people could have that realization, then would God just doze and sit idle, or would His eyes pop open with excitement? If such a thing ever happened, God would shout, dance, sing, and act crazy for sure.

Do you think there would be hope for an ideal world here on earth? Is the ideal world going to be eternal or just temporary? Is it far from reality or within reach?

All that is necessary is for the four billion people of the earth to do an about-face, then all the work would be done. Could that possibly take only a moment, or would it have to take several decades or even several centuries?

It could happen instantly; you do not have to travel 9,000 miles to find true love. How can we change the minds of four billion people?

Actually, we do not even have to instruct them to do so; all we have to do is show them clearly what they would gain by doing it, and they would change on their own. For us, the Kingdom of God is so close and so obtainable. Jesus Christ began his mission by saying that the Kingdom of God is at hand, that it is in the midst of us. He did not say that we had to die and go up to heaven.

How do you know that the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you?

Simply speaking, the answer is that you are becoming a heavenly person, a person of God.

That is the kind of person who goes out to give his life by truly serving and loving the world to unite it centered upon God. That is a godly personality.

This is a religious ideology because it is concerned with human souls. It is the ideology of Jesus and of God, and the root of it comes from God. This is why Jesus said that he had come to serve and not to be served, even though he was the King of Kings and the Son of God. God will surrender to you when you stand on this fundamental, basic truth.

Did Jesus want God to curse the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him?

No. Instead, Jesus asked God's forgiveness for his enemies. He knew that God's way of life would eventually blossom and bring down the blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. That ideology of unselfish love can fulfill God's ideal, and Jesus had the power to live it.

Christians today are still a minority in the world.

Are they respected by the rest of the population?

Christians have become arrogant, feeling that they are especially privileged people of God, and the rest of the world is doomed to die.

Many Christians believe that when Jesus comes again, they will be lifted to meet the Lord in the air while the rest of the world is consumed in the fire of judgment. How can the rest of the world admire people like that?

There is a subtle infiltration of individualism in contemporary Christian thinking.

Currently, a peculiar situation exists; many Christians have power and great social prominence, but when people meet them, they find that they are not very impressive personally.

Moonies, on the other hand, are ridiculed by the media, and many people are strongly opposed to our church. But once people meet our members, they experience a sense of new hope. They are surprised to find that we are wonderful people after all. Why is there such a wonderful contrast?

Why do you want to go this way?

The answer is that our way of life is entirely different from conventional living. We are living a revolutionary way of life and trying, however imperfectly, to practice a life of service and love.

Now that the heavenly secret of service has been unlocked, will you say that you simply cannot live that way, even though it sounds very sweet to your ears, or do you want to live it and experience it, going all the way to perfection? The first way is the selfish way of life, and the second is unselfish.

Do you want to go the heavenly way only because I told you to and because you want me to say good things about you?

Have you decided to work hard for three years just so you can get married in the Unification Church, even though you do not care about the philosophy too much? Is that the right attitude to take?

While the couples walk in to be blessed, perhaps some of them are thinking, "I'll graduate from peanut selling any moment now!" However, others might be thinking that after receiving the blessing, they will sell ten times more. What kind of spouse will you be?

How do you envision an ideal man?

Does he have a great mustache and a custom-made suit? How about a pate, humble-looking man who is desperately trying to serve others and help people to rebuild the world?

That ideal man might not even have time to sleep at night, and during the day, he might look like a sleepwalker going down the streets. If you want an ideal man or woman as a wife or husband, then you are going to get such a person.

Sometimes I press Mother to keep an impossible schedule, and she wonders, "Why do you have to go so hard all the time? Why can't you slow down a little bit?"

Should Mother be like that? Your mouth is laughing, but your eyes are serious. You are responding with two different faces.

God's search for one true man and one true family

What has God been doing these years? Why did He not just tell people plainly what I am telling you this morning? I want you to know that God is not free to do that Himself.

Instead, He needs a representative who can embody His spirit. Until He could discipline, nurture, and train such a man, God could not say these things. God is now bringing human history to its conclusion.

Before His philosophy could prevail throughout the world, God needed to find one man of perfection to live His ideal and then expand it to the family level. God wanted to remake history from the very beginning, so He has been searching for one man and one woman to make that new beginning. God has had to take a slow and gradual route rather than instantly turning the entire world upside down.

What kind of men and women does God need?

God has been searching for men and women who are trying to give their lives to the fullest degree, to truly become the embodiment of His own way of life by giving totally for the sake of the spirit world and the earthly world. Until you give to the absolute degree, you will not receive in the absolute degree. Absolute giving brings absolute receiving.

The history of the chosen nation of Israel can be seen as one dispensation: the search for one true man and one true family. God will push that one chosen man out into a head-on collision with the world. In Adam's family, Abel gave his life to return his family to God.

If Abel had given the blessing to his elder brother instead of just being killed, then the will of God would have been fulfilled far sooner. When God asked Noah to build an ark, Noah made his shipyard on the top of a mountain instead of on the shore. Do you think even one person thought Noah was sane? Not even one. That is why Noah is unique. God was using Noah in a face-to-face confrontation with the world.

When Abraham was called by God, he was living decently and doing well in his own hometown. But one night, a vision came from God, and he was told to drop everything and take off for some unknown land.

Furthermore, God said to this man with a barren wife, "Your descendants shall be numbered as the stars in the sky and the sand in the sea." Who could believe such a promise?

All of a sudden, Abraham was a gypsy with no direction or destination. Since he was not welcome anywhere, he even went to Egypt. Do you think he went there willingly or helplessly, without any choice?

And once in Egypt, bad fortune was waiting for him; his nephew was taken away, and the pharaoh even stole his wife! Under those circumstances, Abraham could either curse God or, deep in his heart, he could maintain his faith in the blessing of God.

Abraham was a man of iron will, the one obedient man that God was seeking. God was not seeking a group of people but one man of faith, and Abraham met the criteria to become that man.

When God looks at this world, He sees basically two personalities: one like Abraham and the other like Pharaoh. Pharaoh would change even 100 times during the day to gain his own advantage, but Abraham would never change, regardless of his situation.

Ultimately, God fulfilled His blessing through Abraham, and Satan could not accuse him because there was not even one other man like Abraham.

Moses was similar in that he was a man of strong will. His love for his own people and his faith in God never wavered. John the Baptist, on the other hand, was also chosen to be God's champion, but he became a traitor to his own people. He brought tremendous misery, not only to himself but to the world.

John the Baptist is greatly responsible for the form of today's Christianity. In contrast, Jesus Christ never changed at all. At the end, he prayed to God, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It is not recorded, but he must have also said, "Even though you may abandon me, I will never abandon you. I am your son."

What about you? Are you changing or unchanging?

Your answer comes effortlessly, but your actions do not come as easily. Because Jesus was unchanging, God was able to raise him and give him the power to conquer the world even after he had died on the cross.

What about me? How do you know I am not the world's number one swindler? The rest of the world thinks so. If God gives me responsibility here on earth, then Satan will accuse, "How do you know he is your son?

How do you know he is not a person who changes?" God will answer, "I know who he is, but you go ahead and test him, and then report back to me." God should be able to say that with confidence.

Indeed, Satan is testing me by mobilizing the American nation and the entire world to oppose me.

Some people think that I will continue in the name of God only as long as I have money. They are sure that once I become poverty-stricken, that my life is endangered, or that all of you leave, I will curse God and die.

I know that this is Satan's test and that God is waiting for Satan's report, so how could I become weak? I am striving to become the one unique man under the sun who can qualify as God's one man of faith.

I know that the criteria are not easy, and for that reason, I welcome whatever difficulties come. In my own lifetime, I have become the center of worldwide controversy and have received persecution everywhere.

Even though some people are trying to destroy us, we are surviving and prospering. In this one room, there are representatives of every human race, and in becoming one with me, you are all treated alike. This one phenomenon says a lot about us. If the entire world is opposing me, then do I represent God's way of life or the fallen world's way of life?

The mere fact that the entire world is set against me is good proof that I represent God. If I lived Satan's way of life, then the world would have no reason to oppose me. Further proof lies in the fact that I am not teaching you to take everything for yourselves.

Instead, I am asking you to give for the sake of the world by sacrificing your family, society, nation, and even the Unification Church for the sake of the world. This is my fundamental teaching, and because of this doctrine, I am being opposed.

Do I represent good or evil?

I am excellent, and therefore God-like on this point. Then am I a heretic? From God's point of view, I am completely orthodox.

Those who do not agree are mistaken. In the Last Days, the false will appear to be true, and the good will appear to be evil.

Why be like genuine gold?

Are you like imitation or genuine gold?

Genuine gold is the best conductor of electricity because it offers no resistance to a current. It has 100% conductivity. Gold is ready to conduct any amount of electricity.

You should be like that, ready for any eventuality, willing to accept any mission.

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Then, when God gives you energy, you will have no resistance but instead will absorb it 100% like a sponge. Then it will not lie dormant in you but be amplified and used for the prosperity and salvation of the world.

Both iron wire and gold wire can conduct electricity, but where will the electricity travel first? Electricity will travel first along the gold wire, switching to the iron wire only when the gold wire is carrying its full capacity.

You do not have to wonder whether God or the True Parents recognize that you are working hard, because if you become a wire of genuine gold, then the power of God will automatically flow through you to your fullest capacity.

Without being genuine gold, even if you beg God to show you many secrets and visions, He cannot accommodate you. How God responds to you is up to you. Are you becoming that kind of man and woman? In that case, you are genuine gold.

Imagine that a powerful king orders you to be brought before him, and he orders you to melt yourself on the spot. Would genuine gold obey such an order? The king might become enraged and order you to be beaten. The wonderful thing is that when you hammer genuine gold, it only becomes more brilliant.

Suppose God said to you, "I am the creator of the universe, and you are only a chunk of gold, so you must listen to me. I command you to turn into black dust." Would you turn into black dust?

My point is that when you become a true person, you need not worry about hell, heaven, the world, or God. As long as you are genuine gold, you will continue being genuine in whatever circumstances you may find yourself.

Once you become genuine gold, then God Himself cannot change you, and all hell cannot threaten you. Do not worry about who recognizes you.

Even if you remain completely hidden, do not be concerned. Suppose the entire world acclaimed you as a hero, but you turn out to be a fraud.

What good would that be to you?

But as long as you remain genuine gold, you will have no anxiety because you shall remain genuine wherever you may be, whether before the throne of God or at the bottom of hell.

Why are we teaching that you must serve others? The serving person becomes the central person and the master of life. Those who live for others become the subjects because they are like God, and God is indeed the subject of the universe.

Those who do not serve others are lonely people because there is no connection to them. It is the same in the Unification Church. Does anyone like someone who exploits others, speaking harshly and parading himself around as though he were the boss? Such a person would soon lose whatever position he had because he is not following God's way of life.

Searching for your horizontal line

No matter how straight and true you may be as a gold wire, if you are suspended all by yourself from heaven to hell, then you are unstable. You must be supported by others. A single lonely wire will never be ideal. The vertical line must be supported by a horizontal line. A vertical line and a horizontal line have the power to support each other, thus becoming solid and stable.

Then, power can move in a circular flow of energy. Why does that make it ideal? If you touch a person on top of his head, not only his head but his whole body senses your touch. If you pull just one hair, his entire body knows.

Your whole body is completely alive; it has no dead parts. Because there is give and take between the parts of your body, whatever is happening in one area is communicated throughout.

This is also true in God's ideal. When something wonderful happens in one place, it becomes the source of happiness throughout the entire universe.

When we achieve that goal, what will happen?

The universe will be in constant motion from give and take for eternity. Have you ever thought about the automobile wheel?

What if it were square instead of round?

When wheels turn, they can go anywhere without limitation. If you are a person with a vertical line, then searching for your horizontal line means searching for your perfection and your mate. It is our responsibility and our destiny to become united with others.

First, your own mind and body must be united. Then you can expand your capacity for love and broaden your sphere of influence.

We must be able to expand the scope of our unity. First, mind and body must be united; then, as we individually expand onto a larger scale, men and women must become one by forming families, a society, and a nation, ultimately encompassing the entire universe.

We are developing our horizontal lines of perfection, starting as individuals and then expanding to the family, society, nation, and world. Individualism is very narrow and leaves no room to maneuver.

As you develop an unselfish way of life, your sphere of maneuverability and influence becomes larger and larger, and eventually the entire universe becomes your sphere of influence.

Then the entire universe is yours. You must always be ready to become absorbed in a higher goal. By doing so, you are horizontally expanding yourself and expanding your sphere of influence.

Everyone has the innate desire to expand their territory and position. To achieve this, you need a reciprocal relationship between subject and object. Your goal is to eventually possess the most precious thing in the universe.

This goal is reached through the process of giving; do not be satisfied with second best or relax until you reach that goal. This is a sage way of life, because if you delay establishing your position until you possess God, then the rest of creation will automatically become yours.

When you reach perfection, you will possess the highest position, and there is nothing that will not come under you. Striving to reach that goal of perfection must become our daily way of life.

God is brilliant, shining like the sun. You can stand directly in His celestial light, or you can stand to the left of that light, in a shadier area. Both areas are within the sphere of God's influence, but the sunny area has a subjective role while the shady area has an objective role.

When a subject in the sunny area is connected to heaven, then the object is drawn from the shady to the sunny area. You have relationships both horizontally between men and women and vertically between heaven and earth.

Therefore, you must become a central, harmonizing person within these two kinds of relationships. You need both experiences. When you are together in the expression of love between a man and a woman and are united in love with God, then you are already united with the universe.

Customarily, we stand with the man on the right and the woman on the left because in this way the man protects the woman. The right side receives direct sunlight.

In this relationship, the man more directly receives the rays from heaven, and his nature is to embrace, support, and lead. Being in a more objective role, the woman has an innate tendency to rely on or depend on the man.

How about American women?

When riding with her husband, an American woman does not move after the car stops. She just sits until her husband gets out and opens her door like a servant.

What if the man refuses, thinking, "I am the subject after all, and I will just sit." Who will outlast the other if the man is determined to sit there and not open the door? The woman would have to give up.

However, there is a dispensational reason why women occupy a more subjective position here in America. America is an archangel nation, and for 70 years, women should move forward and take the initiative. When restoration history is over, however, American women must resume their original, feminine position.

Today, the woman's voice is too loud in the American home. I will bring about a revolution in the American home by softening the women's voices.

Men and women have distinctly different body features. Men have broad chests, and women have broad hips. Are you built thus for your own benefit, or are you made to fulfill a higher purpose?

What if a woman had all the feminine and all the masculine features? Then she would be useless as a woman. She would be a monster instead, and men would not need her.

Do you want to stay as you are, or do you want to be a monster?

That means you are existing for whom?

You women exist for the purpose of serving men, but this formula does not only apply to you women. A man has strong, masculine features to serve a woman. God tailor-made women and men to serve each other.

From the beginning of existence, man was made for woman, and woman was created for man. This is a fundamental principle of God's creation. God did not create you for your own sake. He created you to serve each other and to become men and women united in perfection. We must live up to that ideal.

A selfish person has no way to elevate themselves

Why are your eyes the way they are? Are these eyes existing solely for themselves? How about your ears?

God made the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and hands to function perfectly for the needs of others. When the subject takes the initiative and the object responds, then the subject can turn the object. This is the principle of action and reaction.

When you push another person, he will lose his balance, but if you quickly redirect your energy, that person can right himself again. Once it is controlled, subjective energy stimulates the object to respond. This action and reaction create universal beauty.

The person who is trying to live for himself with the attitude that he is all-important is a destructive person who understands nothing about the universal law. Eventually, he will become a victim of his own selfishness.

What is the fall of man revealed in the Divine Principle?

It is really the destruction of heavenly law and the redirecting of energy into a self-centered way of life. Because the archangel's motivation was self-centered, he could initiate the fallen act. Then how could Eve have been tempted by Satan?

Eve was vulnerable to temptation only because she was also motivated by selfishness.

A selfish person has no way to elevate themselves out of the unprincipled level. He needs to progress to the level of a servant, then the adopted son, true son, and finally to the level of parents, but his selfishness will always prevent him from laying the necessary foundations. Only a sacrificial spirit of service can lay those foundations.

The person of sacrificial service becomes a foundation. He brings himself down so that somebody can step on him, and then he lifts that person higher and higher. On that foundation, a new structure can be built.

The restoration of the heavenly family becomes the building block of the Kingdom of God. That is the ideal of God and the point where God's providence will be consummated.

In the circle I have drawn, the top half represents the Orient, and the bottom half the Occident. The Orient and the Occident are in a subject-object relationship. The materialistic culture of the West is now crumbling, and Westerners are fuming toward the East in their search for spiritual inspiration.

Only God's ideology will govern the world in the future. If our way of life is the fruit of God's own ideology, then it will prosper, regardless of opposition. It is God's mandate that the center of the dispensation is the ideal family.

You have a messianic role

A heavenly revolution is turning the satanic family into a God-centered family. The ideal family must be born as the building block of the Kingdom of God. The Unification Church has the terminology of "True Parents."

You are now true children, and you will become true parents when you marry.

What is the difference between the True Parents and you? You are only a step lower because you did not pioneer this mission, but your role as the true parents of your ancestors and descendants is the same messianic role.

Why do you believe in Jesus? Why do you believe in the True Parents?

The mission of the Unification Church is to become one with the Messiah, who brings liberation to the satanic world. Then you are in Abel's position to the rest of the satanic world, in Cain's position. That means your role is a messianic one.

The Unification Church is like a tree; God in heaven is the root, the True Parents are the trunk, and you are the branches. What is the difference between the trunk and the branches of a tree? They are essentially the same. We are all interconnected as one tree.

What if something terrible were to happen and Mother and I passed away, as well as the rest of the Unification Church?

If only one couple among you remained, then your duty would be to fulfill the role of the True Parents! An entirely new world would spring from you. You must realize that even at this time, you are in that central role.

You must learn to think that the Unification Church is not my church, nor even God's church; it is your church. Our success and foundation are your success and your foundation.

You can say, "Actually, Reverend Moon is employed by me, and God is also working for me. All my brothers and sisters throughout the whole world are working for me, for my church, my movement, and my perfection."

Whether there are hundreds or tens of thousands or even a million members in the Unification Church does not make any difference; each one of you possesses everything.

I want you to go out to that wide world waiting for you with the conviction that you are the messiah. I want you to proudly present yourselves with that conviction and that commitment. Will God say, "No, no, no, you are not the messiah!" Will God be angry at you?

You can think, "No one is trying to save the satanic world. I am the only one who is working to reverse the tide, so I am truly doing the work of God. God needs more people like me." Regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, you are a messiah.

Such men and women will create true families in the ideal of God. Do you really feel, "Heaven and earth belong to me, and I am responsible for everything? I am definitely committed to bringing this world to the throne of God, and even if I die, I will return in spirit to fulfill that responsibility. I will not give up."

Eventually, we are all going to the spirit world, but when we go, we cannot freely return to work and help this world unless we are deeply motivated.

Would you rather be dead and work from the spirit world, or would you rather work to consummate your duty on earth while you yet have this life in the flesh?

In this flesh, you can bring a total revolution with one great leap, but once you die, you will no longer have that freedom. This is the age of miracles, and here on earth, you can perform such a miracle.

When God lifts His one ideal family, then the whole universe will be lifted, the same way that potatoes are unearthed when the plant is uprooted. Where that family moves, the entire universe will move.

That one family is the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God on earth. In searching for that family, God has felt such tremendous sorrow at the suffering of the Jews, the martyrdom of Christians, and now the sacrifices in this age of the Unification Church.

We are creating a dramatic unity

Let us imagine that somehow every man on earth was killed, leaving two billion women alive. What would you do in that case? You would be willing to swap even two-thirds of the women for just one crippled, hunchback man.

Even such a man would be priceless in that situation. Would it be worth giving up nine-tenths of the women to have that one man? What if all but one woman had to be given in exchange for that one ugly man?

Why should you do it?

The women alone could survive no more than 100 years, and then the whole earth would be left destitute, but with that one man, posterity would be ensured. The same thing would apply if only men had survived. You would even sacrifice all but one man to get only one woman.

There would be no other way. Imagine being blessed under the dramatic circumstance of your spouse being the sole survivor of two billion men or women. You must feel that your spouse is that precious. Then how can you complain?

Suppose God asked you to separate, promising that He would be your mate instead. You would probably answer, "Then you are no God! I don't care about you."

Do you think that God would prefer to see Adam and Eve sharing in perfected love, or would He rather separate them so that they might always love only Him? Would our God of true love want to see separation or unity? Would the genuine love of men and women be sacred or dirty before God?

What about love in a world without God?

Love can be as sacred and high as heaven or as dirty and low as hell.

My responsibility is to discipline men and women to remake them into the genuine gold of the original Adam and Eve and bring them together in heavenly matrimony. That is my responsibility. Are you going to that course now?

Is it good for blacks and whites to marry each other? There are two types of unity.

One spans a short distance, in which there is not too much difference between spouses in culture and language. The second, more dramatic unity embraces two extremes.

We are creating a dramatic kind of unity. Who would make the perfect mate for a white person with blue eyes and blond hair? Shouldn't we look for the darkest possible spouse?

With that spirit, will America prosper or decline?

Then who can bring that spirit to America?

Only I can do it. Even if the government spent two-thirds of its budget to do that, it would never be able to create this spirit. To bring this nation into God's ideal and prosperity, the whites should marry blacks.

As God watches the whites and blacks running towards each other, willing to unite and build one family, would God say, "Stop, your lineage will be stained," or would He say, "At last, here are genuine men and women of heaven!"

When we look at families from God's point of view, what pleases Him the most?

Black sisters and brothers, you might have developed very narrow attitudes in the past, but God cannot allow that to continue.

You must not even be conscious that you are Black. Merely walk with pride as sons and daughters of God. You are the most beautiful people in the sight of God as long as your spirits are beautiful. This Black brother here moves my heart very much.

Every Sunday, he comes early to sit right in front of me, always with a burning spirit. When I come to the platform, I constantly look for him, thinking, "Where is my little Black son?"

All of you women, would you look at men with scorn? You rascal brothers, would you scornfully look at your wife and drive her like a slave?

If you both answer no, then there is a possibility that you can create ideal families. The family is the building block of society, the nation, and the world.

We must concentrate our efforts on the perfection of the family. Once perfect families begin to flower, we will see the beginning of the perfected society, nation, and world. The joy and laughter of God will burst forth as God's hope blossoms.

One ideal family is like one small stone dropped in a calm lake. That one stone makes a small ripple that spreads out, expanding into ever-widening waves.

Eventually, the whole lake will feel the effect of that one small stone. Would you like to pioneer that kind of family?

When you look at Mother and me, do we appear to be a happy couple?

Actually, I do not care whether you say yes or no; I only care about whether Mother says yes or no. I should also be in a position to say yes to Mother. Can you say, "Father, we will be like that; we want to pioneer that ideal family." If you volunteer to become the number one family under the sun, then God bless you!