God's Will and the World

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

 

Chapter 31
Let Us Know Ourselves
September 30, 1979 -- Tarrytown, New York

Knowing ourselves is probably one of the most important things in our lives. When you say "us" or "I" you have a certain identity in mind. For instance, there are around 240 million people in America who would say, "I am an American." However, one could be either the lowest possible American, a very noble American, or in between. How do you think of yourselves?

Apart from being American citizens, what else are you? You are children of your parents. In this country your parents might be descended from many combinations of nationalities, and when you investigate your family tree there may be many variations. Your lineage may be a proud one or a humble one and your ancestors honorable or dishonorable. Your parents' lineages might even have conflicted with each other at some time. As members of the Unification movement we can ask, "Who are we?"

Again, there are basically two types. One person might be part of the backbone of the movement, while in the case of another person, it might not make much difference whether he is here or not. You may have come to some realization about whether or not you are a person of importance here.

It is always true that each person has the viewpoint that he is the center of each situation because each person thinks that he has some value or importance. Everyone also has some ambition or aspiration, and there is no limit to what man can desire. Do you feel that you are important? Do you have some aspiration in life? In this regard are there differences between races, or between people of the past, present, and future? No, each person is the same here. You can conclude that you want to be important and be recognized, and that you want to better yourself every day. This is a common human aspiration.

Let us determine whether we are good people or bad people. In the category of good people there are many different classifications or levels. It is important to know who determines whether one is a good or bad person; will you do it, or will someone else? Is that the individual right of a person, or will the majority opinion decide good or evil? Goodness must be determined from the public point of view, and whether a person is good will be decided by his contribution to the overall well being. Someone may pride himself on his good looks, but if he is missing one finger can we say his appearance is perfect? From the overall point of view, a part is missing Value is derived from the entire point of view, or point of view of wholeness or perfection.

A good person is one whom the whole can recognize as being good. Suppose I think I am the best in my family. My parents might think I am good, but if my little sister thinks I am terrible then something is lacking. Who determines whether you are the best in your family? It is the consensus of family opinion that decides. How can you be admired by all your family? When you serve them unselfishly and make them important to you, then they will respect you.

What is the basic formula for being recognized by public opinion? Two key elements must be there: sacrifice and service. Will you become a good person if you expect others to serve and sacrifice for you? No, you have to be the center of sacrifice and service. Will some of you protest this?

This is an important congregation because it is a miniature of the world, with all nationalities and races represented here. If this representative group can agree that this is the principle for determining who are good men and women, then this must be the principle that will work for the entire world. One category of people will agree that service and sacrifice are good and they will try it; others will mull over the issue, while yet others will agree that this has always been their way of life. Which group do you belong in?

If you feel you have been practicing this way of life, are you in a position to be recognized as a person of goodness by the entire world? Do you practice service and sacrifice by expecting service from 240 million Americans, or by thinking that you must serve 240 million Americans? Obviously, you must do it. Now that we have agreed on the definition of a good person, would you want to become the best person within the limited scope of America, or on the worldwide level? America is a microcosm of prejudiced man be described as a good man? If he dislikes black people, then would only blacks think he was guilty of prejudice, or would people of his own race also criticize his attitude? Is this a racial judgment or a universal one?

The universal principle is a judge

We must recognize that there is a universal principle involved, regardless of what race you are. You can see that the universe has certain fundamental laws, and anyone who violates them will be judged accordingly, regardless of his race or stature. What is the spirit of that constitution of the universe? It aims to preserve or uphold the men and women who try to live for others. It would also try to eliminate people who take advantage of others and seek to benefit only themselves. This is why we can say that good people are those who exist for the sake of others, and good deeds are those actions which benefit others.

If a person is brought to trial and convicted of violating the constitutional law, would he feel good? Often a convicted defendant reacts strongly to the judgment of the court, demanding to know what is wrong with him when there is so much wrong with society. Normally a court will not reverse its decision just because the defendant objects. If even a human court won't do that, would the universal court be likely to reverse its decisions?

There is always room for mercy in a righteous legal system, but in order to be entitled to receive it, a person must show his sincere repentance. Repentance is the key word. This is why Jesus' pronouncement was, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." What should we repent for? Very simply, we must repent for all those actions which violated the rule that says we should live in sacrifice and service for others. This was Jesus' first teaching.

The essence of Christianity is to seek repentance for the sin of greediness and selfishness. Sin can be defined as violation of the universal law of service to others. Stealing a dress from even a big department store chain is wrong. That dress has value which comes from the person who prepared it. If it is stolen, its public value is nullified by the thief. That is the sin. Another person might realize that he tells lies all the time, but his conscience doesn't hurt him. The motivation for lying always involves hiding something to take advantage of others; otherwise, there would be no reason to lie.

Everything is embraced by this universal principle and every deed can be judged accordingly. Imagine a person who sees an ugly woman on the street and knocks her down, thinking that he can't stand to see her and that he is also doing a service to other Americans who wouldn't like to see her. If that is his motivation, then is his deed a sin? That individual might try to justify his deed but the universal law will not. Universal law would decree that no matter how ugly that woman might be, she is just as valuable as everyone else because she was made by the Creator. Therefore, no one has a right to knock her down.

Everything about this principle is epitomized in two key words: sacrifice and service. In our human courts today, is there any judge who would uphold a conviction that a person did not live his life in service and sacrifice to others? What law judges deeds of sacrificial service? Such deeds are not governed by the law of the nation but are upheld by public recognition. If a person gives sacrificial service to his nation, then his country will honor him with a medal and national acclaim.

Perhaps someone will complain that this universal law about service doesn't fit him and want to know why he can't be given a citation and still enjoy his self-serving life. Would the society which honored selfish. greedy people endure very long? If that way of life prevailed, then no. unity and harmony would be possible. If the Creator enforced selfishness as the universal law, that law would apply not only to all humans but also to the whole material world. Then each tiny cell could claim that everything in the universe exists solely for him and that no other cell has any rights. That kind of attitude would bring nothing but division and destruction.

Universal law doesn't work like that, however. No one denies that the cells of the eye are important, but those cells exist for the benefit of the entire body. The purpose of the whole precedes the existence of the eye, so the eye must obey the universal law of the entire body. That eye should obey simply because the universe upholds this point of view and that is the way of life which will flourish.

You eat breakfast every morning, don't you? Where do the animals and plants come from that comprise your meals? In order to have food, you have to ruthlessly cut down different plants, then chew them up with your teeth and swallow them. The vegetables in your salad bowl won't protest, however, because they know the universal law and think that they are there to serve a greater purpose. With that attitude they can thank you for eating them so that you can serve the public purpose.

There is a harmony of purpose here. The food on your plate has a certain appreciation of what you live for and is willing to serve your body. That's the only way there can be harmony between you and your food. Otherwise, your food would hate you for eating it and resent hearing you laugh. The key point is that your food accepts you only because it knows you are living for the public purpose. Food will resent the laughter of a greedy person who wants to eat it.

Defining good and evil

If you are not living for a public purpose, then sometimes your food will stage a demonstration against you in your stomach. Then you get sick or even die in some cases. Under the universal law, goodness should flourish and evil should decline. Now you know precisely that the direction of goodness includes service and sacrifice, but until now that definition has been hazy in history, lacking a focal point.

Let us examine whether that definition is right or wrong. Everything in this world exists in one of two classifications, and even the tears trickling from your eyes can be either good or evil. Your ears and eyes could serve in two ways. If your eyes want to look at the world to find a person in need so that you can go and serve him, then your eyes are serving a good function. On the other hand, if your eyes are trying to spot someone's weakness so you can exploit him, they are serving an evil function.

There are all kinds of music in America, but who is it played for? Disco and rock music in themselves are not good or evil, so what purpose they serve becomes the main consideration. If they serve the public purpose, then they are good. If music and dance are used only for personal physical pleasure or for getting money from others, then they are serving an evil purpose. Is it likely that disco music is played for an unselfish, public purpose today? That's the reason I would not favor going to discos. If dancing and listening to that music will help resurrect people from darkness to light, then go right ahead, all 365 days a year. Do you have that confidence? Would it be correct to think that this. is just my idea, and that once I disappear it will no longer apply because it is not universal?

There are two great examples of how this universal law is unchanging through the past, present, and future. Jesus Christ lived a most miserable life on earth, but on the cross he could forgive his own enemies. When he died, he looked like a defeated person, in the secular sense. But his ideology has practically conquered the world in the last 2,000 years, and history is counted from the year of his birth. On the other hand, the Hitlers and Napoleons who thought they could conquer the world with military might have appeared successful temporarily, but have their accomplishments remained? No, because they, too, are under the dominion of the universal constitution, and that activity was unacceptable.

The saints in history are those who lived up to this principle and completely practiced this way of life of goodness. Saints are those who belong to God and at the same time to mankind -- people who live on the universal level. People are proud of any connection they may have with a saint, whether they are relatives or come from the same nation, and so forth. Why do they want to be proud? Because the saints exemplify the most basic principle of the universe.

The topic today is "Let Us Know Ourselves." What kind of people are you? You have some guidelines for evaluating your own deeds now. Per- haps you have a part of your body, a hand, for instance, that wants other people to work for you. Perhaps your body doesn't want to work at all for others but wants the rest of the world to work for it. Normally you have a rebellious attitude if someone gives you commands, but in the heavenly world you would think instead that you are linked to the universe through that person.

In that respect, do you like me? [Yes!] Why? Because you know I am a mediator through whom you can leap forward to greater well being. What kind of man am I? Some people describe me in the worst terms, saying that evil people like Hitler and Stalin paid their own people to work, but Reverend Moon is the worst because he doesn't pay anyone and yet he still makes them work hard. They say I am the worst because instead of giving you money, I send you out fund raising! If I am as evil as they say, why don't you leave? Am I evil or not?

The purpose of pushing

I can accept the charge that I am ready to push you harder than any other leader in history, but the issue centers around what my purpose is. My purpose is to let you work for something greater than yourself and even greater than your nation: it is for the world and for God. Mine is a totally unselfish motivation. While you work hard to raise funds, I am working harder than you to raise even more funds; then, when they are pooled together, it is spent for the public purpose. Each of my actions is within this principle of living in sacrifice and service for others.

I am not only doing this myself, but am pushing others to live for the public purpose as well. Does that make me an evil man or good man?

Parents sometimes seem very cruel when they push their children to study, but their motive is not to benefit themselves but to strengthen their children. These parents want their children to be future leaders and have a good impact on the world. Are those parents good or evil? Another kind of parent lets his child do whatever he wants. Though that may sound wonderful to the child, it is better for a parent to be firm and push his child in order to mold his character in a God- centered way. The leniency that seems wonderful on the surface actually reflects the fact that the parent doesn't care about the public purpose.

Teachers can also be classified in two ways. Students as a rule don't like to study and want the teachers to just leave them alone. There are two kinds of wives, as well. One kind nags her husband about where he has been and how much money he spent and why he doesn't spend more time with his children. The other kind decides she will just have fun on her own while her husband is away. In this case the nagging wife is serving the public purpose.

Some husbands are strict with their wives about not going out without first getting permission, and about caring for the children and the house. Another kind is lenient and feels that each of them should do as they please. Should the first kind of husband be criticized in this case?

Which person is more likely to be on the side of good, the person who has ten supervisors or the person who has none? Supervision can seem like a burden, but its discipline and demands can push you to accomplish more. My policy is that members of the Unification movement can't afford to do only one thing at a time. Sometimes I give so many instructions at one time that the American members are immobilized and don't know where to move. But even the smallest Oriental members will run like ants, jumping from mission to mission, and somehow bring the result.

You know how to evaluate good and evil now. What kind of person is God? God is the master and center of the public law of the universe. One thing can be said: God exists solely for the sake of others. He is the supreme public person in the universe. God is the creator and the originator of the two basic principles of service and sacrifice. Let us call these distinct characteristics A-type blood. If both your parents have A-type blood, most likely you will, too. In the same way, if we are created by God, then His principles must become ours as well.

Since God is proclaiming that way of life, everything should come under that way of life as well. That's the way God designed the universe and anything that goes against that principle will receive pain. When we establish give and take with God by living that way, it brings harmony and energy to life. Whoever is linked to that kind of give and take shall enjoy eternal life because there is no end to it. Why do we have to live the life of sacrifice and service? Ultimately, it is in order to have give and take with God and plug into His energy.

Why should we become one with God? By doing so you will enjoy eternal life. God is the source of power; He is the highest, so by uniting with Him you become highest as well. God is absolute. By uniting with Him you also become absolute, and in that unity you will be protected because no one else will have the power to harm you. In unity with God, His power and energy become your power and energy and you become a child in His image. There are all kinds of love, but none better than the love of God, which shines like the sun. You then become the recipient of that love.

The sun radiates warmth and light, and when you are part of the sun of God's love, you also become a life giving element which can bring harmony and life wherever you go. Such a person always brings life and energy and melts ungodly things. Many of you first came to the Unification Church to discredit the doctrine. You were like a cold chunk of ice, but when you heard the Principle you began to melt into water. Is that true or not? If this is true, then this is an historical event.

Leading the way

What technique do I use to inspire you this way? Am I a hypnotist or magician? There is no magic here, only universal law at work. All I have to do is teach this law. Sometimes I seem very cruel when I ask you to go out and work for the universal cause, but is it for the sake of good or evil? It is for goodness so big that it is the size of God.

I don't have any assets of my own except this universal law. Further- more, I aspire to work harder and suffer more than anyone else for this cause. God knows very well what principle I am living under. If Satan complains to God that I have been permitted to acquire too much success and prosperity and he wants me to demonstrate what I have done to deserve it, would God hesitate to let Satan test me? It is because Satan is trying to deter me that I have faced incredible persecution and torture in communist prison camps. But did I change even when I had to go through all that?

Is it true that the entire world has persecuted me? Has America welcomed me with the red carpet treatment? Do many heads of state want to welcome me to their countries? Christians and Jews are supposed to be our friends, but are they? Do the communists call me their friend? I think that in all of history there has never been one individual who was persecuted by the whole world or who has suffered more opposition than I have. Have I crumbled into many pieces because of this opposition, or am I getting stronger than ever? Even people outside the Unification movement must come to the conclusion that I am not lukewarm or mediocre. Either I am really evil or really good.

I am Oriental, but even white people are telling me I am good. It is a puzzle to the world and they can't figure it out. Do you really believe I am good? That is why people think I have brainwashed you -- it is too incredible for them to believe. Is that what I did? All you have done is link yourself up to the universal principle, but even you yourselves don't realize when you changed. You used to be just like the people in the secular world, but as you followed this way of life you covered a great distance and changed a great deal.

These days each faith has its pride. The Pope is visiting many nations, and millions of people gather to see him. Are their cheers for the Catholic Church, or for the salvation of the world? If that sound is for the sake of the Catholic Church, it is not good enough. But if that gathering is intended to help God and man together to save mankind, then it is good. If they gather to strengthen their resolve to sacrifice themselves more for the public good, then such gatherings are good.

Is the Unification movement a good group of people? What is good about us? We don't gather for the sake of the Unification movement, but for the liberation of God and mankind. What we do is for the supreme good. If we only gather to receive God's blessing and privilege, then we are not good people. We gather to give ourselves for the liberation of mankind and God, so we are a God-centered movement. In that case, the leader who founded it must be good as well. The more ardently we pursue the goal, the more success and prosperity is bound to come. My philosophy and ideal is to live for the liberation of God, in addition to that of mankind and spirit world. No one ever spoke of that goal before.

Are these empty words or am I really doing it? There is no night or day for me because I am always working for that goal. Were you lucky or unfortunate to meet me? Indeed, I am resolute, ambitious for God and greedy to do His will, but I am applying all these characteristics for making each of you a God-centered leader. That means I will push you into hardship and difficulty with an iron will to push you to be a winner and not be defeated. Even if someone threatens to poke your eyes out unless you renounce this movement, you can reply, "Even if you destroy my eyes, I will not change. They are being sacrificial for the sake of goodness." After you feel this way, then you can say ouch. Then God will receive that pain as well. When you are ridiculed and mistreated, you naturally feel pain.

But if you are serving the absolute goal of the liberation of God, then everything that you bear shall be borne by God as well. Your own death will be felt by God and He will acknowledge that you died for Him and for mankind. Then God and mankind will bow down to you because you made your sacrifice on the most divine altar.

Responsibility in God's behalf

Those who are here for the first time, raise your hands. Do you think I am speaking the truth or not? Did you come just to watch, or do you want to be a part of it? This universal principle must be taught to American youth who are in darkness and confusion today. Is the light we bring necessary for America? Night or day, the answer is still yes. If I don't fulfill this duty, then God must find someone else who will. This is the only course left to America and someone must do it. Otherwise, there is no hope.

The person who tries to fulfill the will of God every day is not going to be glorified by Congress but will be persecuted and ridiculed by the people instead. His duty must be fulfilled in that position. Sacrifice and service must be the credo of our life. Would a beautiful woman be willing to give up her attractiveness for the law of God? Imagine the most handsome white man and the most ugly black woman being blessed together in marriage, giving themselves to God at the altar. That is the most dramatic thing you can imagine. They will probably be the happiest and most attractive couple under the sun. They will open the door to historical heaven and God will be liberated by their marriage. God is truly life and love, and He is looking for this kind of dramatic marriage.

When I look at your eyes, I feel a certain vibration and it is not yet 100 percent pure. If the best looking man has the confidence that he can accept the worst possible wife and still be the happiest man, then this gap will be closed. When the two extremes can unite and be happy, everything in between will be overcome, and all people encompassed by those extremes can become happy couples. When a couple representing two extremes reaches heaven, they will enjoy total freedom to go anywhere and meet anyone they want.

That is the spirit of the Unification movement, the spirit of the founding nation for the Kingdom of God on earth. . Before the entire world comes against you, I will train you myself by asking you to pursue a very rigorous way of life. Will you accept it? Not only that, but God will be harder on you than I am. Why can you accept that? It is because you know that by passing the worst test, you can inherit the deepest love of God. To receive that unique love, you feel you can bear any burden.

Will the people of this conviction look gloomy and unhappy, or will they be the most exuberant, rain or shine? Why do we have to take up this duty and go through the narrow gate of this life I am describing? God created all things and made them with His dual characteristics. Not only are they connected to Him vertically, but to each other horizontally. God is invisible and the created world is substantial. The substantial world is horizontal while God is vertical. God's invisible dual essentialities were manifested in visible form, so everything is made in the image of God. Where do you belong here?

Each man is a microcosm of the universe. Your body is made of all the elements of the world. Nature supplied all the ingredients that make your body, which means that the universe made you by donating itself. If nature demanded that you refund everything that nature loaned you, would there be anything left of you? You can feel that the universe gave you birth and made you, so nature is your first parent. Do you feel good that you are a microcosm of the universe? All the universal formats or formulas can be found in you. You could accurately say that you are a small walking universe that can move, whereas the cosmic universe is stationary. Because you can move and act, you can govern the universe. The universe would want you to exercise dominion over it, so your first duty would be to love nature. Then, wherever you are, you can love the creation and appreciate t.

Since you feel such an urge to love the grass, trees, and flowers, the birds and running water, how can you not love your fellow man? When you lie on the beach, you can feel that you are lying in the bosom of your parent, or that when leaning against a tree you are leaning against your own brother. Would nature protest, or feel that you truly love and know it? All things exist for you, so you can appreciate them for that reason. As a man, you are the only begotten son of the universe, and as a woman you are the only begotten daughter of the universe. Then how much love would be possible between the two?

Have you ever had a conversation with the sun, saying that you love it and singing a song of love for it? Many of the people who think of themselves as poets don't even appreciate the depth of this truth, and their poetry is superficial and shallow. Am I telling the truth, or only seeming to?

Parents, and other family members

Your second parents are your own father and mother. They represent the universe and labored to bring your life into being. Men and women can feel that they are the center of the universe because their parents, representatives of the universe, brought their life to this earth. Your parents represent not only father and mother but all mankind -- teachers, neighbors, and relatives. When you serve your parents, you are actually serving mankind, not just two particular people. By doing so, you will be loved by all mankind. This is the historical background out of which we can say that our virtue as sons and daughters is to serve our parents with filial piety. Your immediate family and neighbors represent a microcosm of mankind; your sisters represent all women and your brothers represent all men. Therefore, your family is a microcosm of mankind.

The true people are those who look at all people as one family of man. If you are a true man or woman, when you see a senior citizen, you look at him as your own parent or grandparent. Other young men and women are your own brothers and sisters. If you are a true man, then you love not only your own family but also all mankind. It is against the Principle to care only for your family and not the rest of the world. If you happen to be white, then it is a most exciting adventure to find your black family, and to find senior citizens and young men and women whom you love as much as your own grandparents and brothers and sisters.

If you see someone in dire need, then you want to fill their need because they are not just your fellow man, but your brother or sister. Here in America, when parents become old and can't take care of themselves, do they go to their children's homes or to senior citizens' homes? Would a grandmother be happier to live with her grandchildren or be visited by them in a senior citizens' home?

Are you willing to accept your grandmother into your home? Would you do it in reality, or are you only saying yes because you are here? As a new wife, would you rather go to live with your husband's family of many in-laws, or to live only with him? If you want to live up to the public law of the universe, then you want to go live with his family.

You have your own physical parents, but ultimately you have one most important parent who created you -- God. Your parents were the tools God used to create you. The journey in search of the True Parents begins by loving nature, which is the first parent, then loving your physical parents, and then to the ultimate parent, God, who is our creator. God is the ultimate destination, our eternal Parent. The moment of death, which everyone now fears, is actually the moment of fulfillment. If you live your life in the right way here on earth, then your life leads ultimately to the one common Parent. Then the moment of death actually liberates you to live with that parent for eternity. He is the True Parent to us all, who has true love with no end. Life with Him is what we call the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven.

The principal atmosphere of that world is supreme love. That love is not selfish, but is based on sacrifice and service. Because it is based on that universal law, that supreme love flourishes. The Kingdom of Heaven in spirit world is our ultimate destination, and our physical life here on earth is only a workshop. No matter how long you live, it all nurtures you to enter eternal life in heaven. When I discovered the core truth of the universe, this is what I found. Earthly life is merely preparation for eternal life, and it is here that we pass or fail. With that realization, I then prayed to know the basic principle of the universe, and the answer came -- the parent- child relationship is the backbone of the universe. That is the relationship you have with the creation, with your parents, and with God. The central theme of that relationship is love.

While we are here on earth, we are attending the most important workshop of all, learning this principle so that we can ultimately reach our destination in heaven and enjoy our parent-child relationship with God for eternity. This is why the Unification movement exists and -- why I am leading you. Life on a mobile fund raising team is training to make a relationship. with God for eternity. Any money we raise comes out of nature and we value it accordingly. You can tell the money that after it has longed to be used for God's purpose it has finally come to the right place because you will connect it to the True Parents and God.

Wherever you go in the world, you face certain difficulties and persecution, out of which you gain greater value for your work. If everything came easily, then it would have little value. Your desire is to apply whatever money you have, whether large or small, to heavenly causes so that it will have true value. All things have been fervently waiting for this relationship and you are the mediator who will make it happen. No matter how old and distinguished and socially accomplished you are, you still need to make this link with nature and restore material for the sake of God.

Another important part of our mission is restoration of people. When you see other people, you can think that they have been waiting a long time to be restored to God. Now you can go to them because you know the way and purpose of life. You can be the mediator to bring them to God. By reaching out to people, you are actually serving your parents as well, and by having you as their children, they shall be glorified and saved. By finding the lost sons and daughters of America, you are serving your own parents in addition to loving them, and together you can come to the True Parents.

When you truly live this noble life, there are no parents who will not welcome you. As much as you practice loving the people of the world, you can certainly love your own parents and brothers and sisters to that degree. You love them as representatives of the True Parents and as someone who was commissioned by God. They have that value. No family would reject such a child, but instead would bow down before him.

There is one more training course left -- the training of the spirit world. You have to know how to deal with and serve the spirit world and liberate it. You should be in a position to love the spirit world, and no one can make you realize this except the Messiah. That is the most important training remaining before you can love God.

The Messiah comes as director of training, setting the example of how to love people, the world, and spirit world. Then you can pass the ultimate test. Before the coming of the Messiah, the spirit world was divided, with no harmony or cooperation anywhere in the midst of all that complexity. When the Messiah comes, he will create unity, and barriers will go down. It is one of his qualifications that he must fulfill this while he is on earth. He is the one man on earth who has the power to control the spirit world.

The True Parents are those who represent not only this physical world but also the spirit world and God, under whom you practice love. If you go to spirit world without knowing the Messiah, it might take several million years to learn to love people there. But when you accept the Messiah while on earth, you can accomplish many millions of years of work in a short time. By obeying the True Parents here on earth, you are entitled to receive recognition for loving all spirit world and obeying its rules. The True Parents represent not only this physical world but also spirit world and God, and by obeying God's representative you demonstrate your obedience to God. By loving them, you can pass every level. Now you know why unity with True Parents is necessary. They represent the heart of God, so that by loving them you have already loved God and the spirit world. That is the culmination of loving all parents -- nature, your physical parents, and God.

Until True Parenthood was installed, all love was divided and there was no harmony. Now, by loving the True Parents you are in a position to love them all. If you fail on other levels but in the end you accept the True Parents, you have demonstrated your loyalty and love to indemnify all the past. Everything culminates in that supreme accomplishment. If you are given a paper signed by the President of the United States, it has power everywhere in the land. In the same way, if you pass this final level of loving True Parents, you pass every other level as well. That is why it is an absolute necessity to have True Parents.

By fund raising, you inherit the material wealth of the universe. By witnessing to the people of the world, you inherit the condition of loving your own physical parents. When you love True Parents, you are inheriting the world of God and his love. We can conclude that by practicing loving the True Parents, God's representatives on earth, you can practice loving everything you need to love on earth. Here you can finish all the qualifications you need to be entitled to the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven. You have that center here in the Unification Church.

The people of the world just scoff or ridicule you, but in spite of them we are proud of being Moonies. Your voice of pride shall be stronger than the voice of negativity, both here and all over the world. If anyone is reluctant to speak up as a Moonie, I will not speak up for him in front of heaven. Tomorrow is the first of October. These nine months of 1979 have been months of indemnity for everything so far, and it is culminated with the birth of the new baby, Hyung Jin.

We know ourselves -- we are Moonies and proud of it. We rejoice over what we are, so when we deal with the world we shall be strong and bold. Don't be intimidated by the world, but be proud and quietly say, "You just wait and see. In a few years you will find the truth. The time will come when you will understand, and in the meantime we are proud." As long as the people misunderstand us, we will just tighten our belts and work harder to bring the victory. If you move forward and I am pushing behind you, there is no way you can fail.

Spirit world is pushing behind us. You know that the intervention of spirit world is becoming stronger. Is there anything to be afraid of? How proud we are to have found the truth and be children of the True Parents. In the morning when you stand in front of the mirror, greet yourself and say, "You haven't been too proud of yourself. Now you are proud of being a Moonie."

Those who pledge today as a new beginning to walk proudly on the streets of New York and be central people to bring this city back to God, raise your hands. Thank you very much. Let us pray.