Authors
1. God is calling us to a hopeful future. Those who receive that call follow the path of destiny and not the path of fortune. The path of fortune can change, but the path of destiny cannot. Can you change who your father is or who your siblings are? No, you cannot. They are part of your destiny.
God desires to reach and settle in the place that heavenly fortune has determined. History has been developing centered on the path to that place. The starting point of this secure settlement is the True Parents.
God has already determined our destiny, which is to become true children with the True Parents at the center. That destiny cannot be changed.
(203-186, 1990.06.24)
God's call
2. People hope with all their hearts, minds, and bodies that they might finally enter God's direct dominion. Today God has given us not only the mission to work toward realizing this hope and purpose; He is calling us to complete it. To do so, we must restore God's rightful dominion as Lord over us and the creation.
We should also praise and thank God for blessing us with His governance. The responsibility to restore God's rightful dominion does not rest with the creation or with the angels in heaven; it is we who must now fulfill that. (1-119, 1956.06.27)
3. God seeks after every one of us. Through us, He desires to recover the family, and the society, and to expand His domain over the world. However, the path to this goal is still obstructed.
Throughout providential history, Heaven came down to earth to find each one of us. Now we as individuals must return to Heaven, but our way is blocked. People have sought to realize goodness, denying worldly things and cutting themselves off from the world.
They have striven to find what is original, to recover what has been lost, and to bring it back to God. Yet, they had to confront their limitations and have faced an impassable threshold. You should feel God's anguish over this history; you should empathize with Jesus' sorrowful heart.
You need to feel God's heart to your very core. During the last six thousand years, He has been going through all manner of suffering and grief to personally find you. (004-059, 1958.03.02)
4. Even though your field of work may be limited, the most important is who is directing your labor. You must work with the conviction that God Himself has called you for the sake of the nation or the world.
Although your environment may restrict you, you should believe that you work for the sake of the nation or the world. Even though you are only one person, you ought to work with that conviction. When you receive a work order, the results will vary depending on whom you are working. (30-177, 1970.03.22)
5. The path of faith is not easy. Anyone can be called by God, but it is extremely difficult to follow His call. God does not walk behind us; He is always ahead of us. You cannot imagine how fast He moves. He surges so far ahead we can hardly keep pace.
Therefore, it is difficult to come up with a long-term strategy or plan in accord with the providence of restoration. God's providence moves by leaps and bounds. Based on our investment of indemnity, it advances from the individual to the family, to the tribe, and so on. It leaps ahead from stage to stage rather than advancing through a steady numerical progression.
Therefore, if you try to fit your work for God's providence into an annual plan, or a plan based on any other particular period, you will find yourself frustrated and will fall behind. Considering this, you need to advance on the path of the Will with an earnest heart.
You need to constantly adjust your relationship with God, remaining a minus to His plus. You have to find your proper position in the providence and, as you move along, you must adjust to the providential time. However, knowing the proper timing and when to take a particular action is exceedingly difficult.
(040-080, 1971.01.24)
6. You are called for the sake of God and the world. Therefore, you should consecrate yourself and apply the knowledge you gained through your education.
All of you are commissioned to speak on God's behalf in your communities, to convey God's love and hope to your neighbors, and to help people work for God and humanity.
Utilize your education in your endeavors to awaken the congregations in churches and temples and mobilize them to build a world of peace and freedom with God at the center. (133-273, 1984.08.13)
7. God called me to save America. When I arrived there, you can imagine how earnest and anxious I was. Likewise, when those of you who are here in Korea receive a direction from me unless you are as earnest as I was when I left Seoul to save America, you can never become my partners in the heart.
My heart is governed by the principle of self-denial; it does not follow the principle of self-centeredness. (147-328, 1986.10.01)
8. I have progressed this far despite severe opposition. Such is the path of restoration; such is the history of restoration in the Unification Church to this day.
Therefore, do not lose your original spirit of loyalty, but follow me all the way, from the individual level to the world level. When you fulfill all your responsibilities before God, He will give you His seal of approval.
God will bless you only when He recognizes you as having accomplished your responsibility. You have to remain faithful until you are notified about that blessing.
Only then will you advance and share the same realm with me. If you move forward focusing on me, determined to risk even your life on the individual level, the family level, and eventually the world level, you will benefit by resembling me and standing in the same position as me. (164-116, 1987.05.05)
9. When God summonses us, we have no right to choose the responsibility, we are to assume. Being summoned means that if we are going east, and He calls us to go west, we turn around and go west. Simply because we live in the East does not mean we should take directions from those living in the East.
We need to take our directions from God, the center of all beings, who represents the standard that is everyone's hope. The person whom God calls must take on the role of His partner and the partner of all things. If God does not call us, we can fulfill our responsibility by going in just one direction.
However, once He calls us, He will give us missions to go in many directions, even encompassing the whole world. God called me, your teacher, to represent every individual and to connect everybody to Him, the central figure of the world. I will be able to accomplish my mission only when I am qualified to deal with every aspect of life and every direction – east, west, north, and south, plus vertical and horizontal. (188-255, 1989.03.01)
10. God needs people for various stages: individual, family, tribe, people, and nation. So there must be a “chosen people,” but what does that mean? It means a people called by God. They are to build the chosen nation, which means a nation called by God.
When that chosen nation fulfills God's Will, God's chosen world will come about. Once His Will is accomplished, everyone and everything will return to God and become one. Thus, God is called the alpha and the omega, the beginning, and the end. (188-272, 1989.03.01)
11. God is the True Parent of all parents. He is our True Parent, our Heavenly Parent, the King of true families, true nations, and the true world. We need to usher in an era of everlasting peace and prosperity in which all people serve and attend Him.
There is that Korean song that begins, “Moon, moon, oh bright moon, the moon with which the poet Lee Tae-baek used to play” As the words of the song suggest, we hope that all humankind will attend the True Parents here on earth for thousands of years. Please understand that each individual's mission and purpose in the Unification Church is to fulfill this hope. (277-090, 1996.03.31)
12. As leaders whom God has called for the sake of His Will, you must fulfill the responsibilities you are asked to shoulder. The Korean people have to fulfill their calling as Koreans, to become messiahs for the sake of the world.
The Korean word so-myeong contains the Chinese characters so (召 ), which means to call, and myeong (命), which means to receive an order. This “call to receive an order” resembles a marching order in the army. You need to fulfill the mission you are called to with that same unhesitating spirit.
(600-286, 2008.11.05)
Mission consciousness
13. You cannot imagine how difficult it was for me to climb over each hill in the course of the providence. If anyone says even one word about this, I could weep for a hundred or a thousand years, even after going to the spirit world. So many painful and sorrowful situations have pierced my heart.
God wept over Adam and Eve. Yet when I go before God and say, “Here am I, Sun Myung Moon,” I would wish to see God shedding tears of joy over the return of His son. God's heart has been filled with unfathomable pain and suffering.
Therefore, I cannot die until I hear God's voice say, “Welcome!” as He runs down a stairway of a hundred thousand steps as if He is flying, wraps His arms around me, and then climbs back up the forever-long stairway to return to His throne, carrying me in His arms and announcing, “My Will has been accomplished! Aju!”
Therefore, I can only continue fulfilling the Will on the path of the ironclad Principle that True Parents are destined to walk. In your path of life as well, you need to establish such a memorable standard as you prepare, during your lifetime on earth, the gift that you will offer to God.
Only then can you come close to the Heavenly Parent because you will be able to claim the right of inheritance, enabling you to live with Him and be happy together. Moreover, then you can be given authority in the kingdom of heaven.
Please understand this clearly, and walk the path of accepting responsibility throughout your life. (404-162, 2003.01.31)
14. You need to have a consciousness, that is, an awareness, of yourself, your environment, your nation, and the world. Based on a new worldview and with your new awareness, you can clear up and overcome everything and establish Abel's position. Once you have done that, you have to win over Cain, and together you need to attend to God.
By doing so, you can enter the kingdom of heaven, and you become one who is building Heaven's family, nation, and world, that is, the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, your awareness is the starting point of restoration.
(30-067, 1970.03.15)
15. Each of us has to recognize that we are the fruit of historical sins. The same applies to our tribe, and we can view the nations of today's world as extensions of tribes. All ethnic peoples stem from tribes that have persisted for thousands of generations.
Looking at a nation's lines of descent, we find that they are the extensions of tribes. Each of us is a sin-fill descendant of our people and our nation. Therefore, we have to take responsibility for our nation's sins. We need to be willing to pay the price of sin that our nation and our people are supposed to pay.
Each of us ought to determine that we will pay the price for the sins of the world and for the sins of the present time. This is how Jesus felt when he came as the Messiah. Therefore, each of us has to be earnest and reach a level of resolve such that we feel that “if I live, the world will live, and if I die, the world will die.” (68-318, 1973.08.05)
16. None of you has truly been aware of your real self. Only after you came to know the Will did you begin consciously knocking on the door of your personality. Each of you needs to know clearly that you sprang from past ages and that you are called to build the future.
You may think you became aware of this on your own. However, God guided you to realize this. Furthermore, countless saints and sages shed their blood to bring you where you are today, and they are working even now behind the scenes, hoping you will increasingly develop this consciousness.
Therefore, you need to feel as if you have negatively impacted history, as well as the present, and that you might do the same in the future as well. You should carry on your shoulders the bitter, historical sorrow of Adam and Eve that is embedded in our past. With that awareness, please understand that you must take responsibility for the present and the future. (11-150, 1961.05.13)
17. Why has the Unification Church appeared in this world? It is to show the way of repentance. We need to show people how to repent for their sins. To achieve that, what do we need to know?
The teaching that one can be saved through faith already exists. But people must understand that they represent the world. Men and women must have this awareness. Please understand that you are to become historical sacrificial offerings and victorious leaders of this age.
Since Jesus the Messiah was nailed to the cross, you must have the determination to throw your life into your mission and offer indemnity for his death. He will then sympathize with you, thereby allowing you to participate in the glory of resurrection. That is the Principle. Otherwise, no one would be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. (68-330, 1973.08.05)
18. The Fall started when Adam and Eve began to think centered on themselves. To reverse this through indemnity, we must not be self-centered but must put God's family first. From that family emerges a new, ideal world. The obstacle to accomplishing this is our bloodline.
Humanity has not known about this until I thoroughly explained it, for the first time in history. This knowledge cannot be found in the realm of self-centered existence. You must turn things upside down within yourself by creating an inner revolution, so that a new kind of family can emerge, focusing on the new True Parents.
That family will differ from the families that stem from the Fall, from which developed the perspective of putting oneself first. When we act based on this new family's public mindset, we do not experience a struggle between mind and body. (440-187, 2004.03.01)
A life for the salvation of humanity
19. What is religion's final objective? Of course, we know that religious believers seek personal salvation, but we go one step further and seek the salvation of the family.
To liberate human beings living under evil sovereignty amid sin and injustice, we must first recover the family. We must find the family that, in the true sense, can represent everyone in history, in the present age, and in the future. That family has to set up the standard that all families can follow.
It will be the foundation upon which all humankind can rejoice together. Without this family, there can be no world peace. Even families that look good on the outside can be in shambles internally. (023-011, 1969.05.11)
20. No matter how hard typhoons may blow, no matter how many mountains of trials and tribulations loom before you, if you ride on a steed of love, no one can stop you. No one will be able to block you on your path. No force can obstruct parents' love for their children.
No means or methods can stop them. Nothing can stop a wife from loving her husband or a husband from loving his wife. That is what makes love supreme. No power can stop a patriot's march of love for his country.
His love cannot be bought or sold. The path of a holy son or daughter who clears the way for the heavenly law to save humanity, out of love, cannot be blocked. (175-205, 1988.04.17)
21. God established the Unification Church to halt the decay of this world. Therefore, the Unification Church needs to be equipped with all the necessary tools. In this secular world, people are in despair, wandering about without a purpose, facing a dreadful and dismal environment.
We need to confront this reality by going the opposite way from the downward path along which humankind is hurtling. Otherwise, God's entire providence of salvation may be impeded. (266-304, 1995.01.01)
22. I am working to give life to the world, to heaven and earth. While I take responsibility for heaven and earth, all of you should save your families and clans. I urge you to save your brothers and sisters and your mother and father. In addition, you are responsible for subjugating the archangel.
Then five generations, from your grandparents to your grandchildren, must unite and follow the True Parents, taking responsibility to recover the heavenly kingdom. Together, you all are to bring the nation and everything back to God. (407-352, 2003.05.20)
23. God's resolute work of salvation throughout history has been to build one world of heart throughout the vast universe. You need to consider to what extent you can be useful in the process and work of salvation.
For salvation, God needs to employ all creation as His material, including all humanity and even the billions of believers in the spirit world. Yet, the question is you. When you act, how will the creation respond to you? How many people out of all humanity will respond to you?
How many people among the billions of believers in the spirit world will respond?
When you cry out here on Earth, how far into the universe do the vibrations of your heart resonate? Your value will be determined by the measure of its response. Jesus' death resounded in heaven and throughout the entire universe. That response proved that Jesus is the Savior. He is the Savior because of his heart.
(9-184, 1960.05.08)
24. It should not be your focus every day to satisfy your desires. Rather, you need to lead a life of faith, serving others, and sacrificing yourself for a higher purpose. Thereby you should come close to the standard of Jesus' heart. He toiled so hard, concerned only for God's Will and humankind.
From there, you have to progress to become God's true child and comfort Him, who has been working unceasingly up to the present with a broken heart. You should feel indignant when you witness unrighteousness.
With the heart of God, who wants to give more and more, you need to be willing to go to the ends of the earth to pursue His kingdom, establish it, and secure His righteousness. You should also be able to comfort the heart of God, who has been toiling to save humanity amid such sorrow. (3-131, 1957.10.13)
25. God has been striving endlessly to save humankind through His providence. Even though we human beings are fallen, He does not abandon us. Although we fell prey to sin and evil, who is it that rescues us, lives for us, and endeavors to guide us to the land of blessing?
It is not our parents, it is not our spouse or our children, even though they love us. It is not our nation, nor is it any of the saints and sages. It is none other than God. (5-214, 1959.02.01)
26. We have to recover the original garden that has nothing to do with the Fall. Because we are fallen human beings, we need to find the original state that existed before the Fall. We lost God; therefore we must find Him.
We lost the original True Parents of humankind; therefore we must find the new True Parents. We must find and occupy the garden of peace where we can live as sons and daughters with God, centered on the ideal of True Parents.
Since we have to accomplish these tasks, the term “providence of salvation” presents a fresh challenge to us. (3-047, 1957.09.22)
27. God is carrying out His providence to save humankind. He cannot save the world while standing back as an idle spectator, simply observing all the pain on earth. Therefore, He engages the fallen world as if all the pain that humanity experiences is His own.
He deals with humanity directly in the realm of their pain, taking responsibility for it. Without God's direct involvement, humanity cannot receive salvation. Therefore, He has been fighting alongside people on the path of their sad and tragic history. (14-047, 1964.05.03)
28. We lost God and our parents. Although we were born from our natural parents, we were born unable to receive all the Parent's love, which is truly genuine, profound, elevated, and precious.
We have not been able to live with Him as our Parent. Likewise, God, in the position of the Parent, lost His children. Therefore, His expectations for us were never fulfilled.
He has been dealing with this situation ever since, working in the background of human affairs throughout the long span of history to help us, His children, fulfill our purpose. This is God's providence of salvation. (22-075, 1969.01.26)
29. We need to be saved. We need to heal the wounds accumulated through our historical struggles. Only then can we find everlasting life and be embraced in the bosom of God's love.
Even though our families, the society, the nation, and the world are opposing us, we have to overcome and move forward as heavenly soldiers. We have to assume Jesus' position, holding on only to God's Will, and advance to save all people, both from the past and in the present, who dwell in the realm of death.
(4-082, 1958.03.09)
30. In this world, nothing can be accomplished without unwavering determination. We go to battle to fight for righteousness. Satan's natural disposition is to want to be exalted, but we, on the contrary, must humble ourselves to fight him, both with our bodies and our love.
We should be focused on a single target. If we shoot out like a cannonball but our eyes, ears, and hands are looking and flailing about in different directions, we are bound to miss our target. If we want to win the battle, we cannot hold back.
God is prepared to make any sacrifice, under any circumstances, to save humankind. This is Heaven's strategy. You need to vindicate God by protecting the sacrificial altars stained with the blood of your ancestors. (017-223, 1967.01.01)
Sun Myung Moon