ORDER NUMBER
87-02-15
REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
A LIFE OF ATTENDANCE
AND THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM
February 15, 1987
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
The topic this morning is "A Life of Attendance and the
Heavenly Kingdom" and in parentheses, "Salvation."
A lifestyle of attendance of True Parents, attendance of God and the
Heavenly Kingdom. It doesn't taste the same as it does in Korean -
Korean has a very special taste. It gets watered down in English.
We are passing through a different stage of religious life than in
the past. First there was the Old Testament era, then the New Testament
era, and now we are in the Completed Testament era. The Old Testament
era was a time when people were basically called upon to have blind
faith. The New Testament era was the time when salvation came through
faith and deeds. However, people in the Completed Testament era receive
salvation by a life of attendance.
After the fall of man, the restoration process became necessary and
it includes three stages: formation, growth, and perfection. Those
correspond to the three religious eras. As a person of faith, you must
not forget one most important factor: we are a fallen generation and we
are living in a fallen world. That is reality. Furthermore the fallen
world is governed by Satan. It is his principality. That is not just
our concept but when anyone looks at things from the spiritual point of
view, they see it is the clear truth.
In the process of the fall of man, Adam and Eve lost faith first of
all. Then their deeds were invaded. Then they lost the opportunity to
attend. Therefore in the process of restoration, we have to go through
those three stages. The stage of faith was the Old Testament era. The
stage of deeds was the New Testament era. Now there is the stage of
attendance, the Completed Testament era. No one can be saved without
going through these three stages.
In a religious life, the most important goal is righteousness.
Why? Without seeking righteousness through faith and deeds, we cannot
be in a position to understand the difference between good and evil and
divide them. What is the standard of righteousness? The measure of
righteousness always gets back to one point: what is the position of
God? Just as God believes, we should believe. Just as God acts, we
should act. Just as God attends, we should attend. That is the
standard.
There is one realm where Satan has no power-the realm of God. No
matter what, Satan has nothing to say about God. Even though he rebels
against Him, he cannot enter God's territory. So our salvation requires
separation from Satan and entering God's realm. We must discover how
God acts, how God believes, how God thinks, and then unite with Him.
Then we can be saved.
Of course, these three stages we mentioned are merely a matter of
emphasis. Even in the Old Testament era, the people needed not only
faith but they also needed right deeds and attendance. In the New
Testament era, they needed not only right deeds, but they also needed
faith and attendance. This is true of the Completed Testament era as
well. Upon the foundation of formation, we have growth, and on the
foundation of growth, we have perfection. You cannot pull any layer out
of it. If you did, the whole thing would collapse. In the present era
of the Completed Testament, emphasis is placed upon attendance. This is
because conceptual faith is not sufficient.
We are talking about realistically living in the Kingdom of Heaven,
and practicing that way of life. Complete restoration rests upon both
realms-the spiritual and physical. The fall caused human beings to
depart from the original ideal and will of God, spiritually as well as
physically. For that reason, total salvation means the attainment of
that original position in the spiritual and the physical realms. Both
have to come together, not exist separately.
What is the difference between the spirit world and the physical
world? First of all, spirit world clearly knows that God is the central
figure. Every phenomenon in the spirit world is connected to God
because God's power is governing there. Here in the physical world,
however, everything is under the sovereignty of Satan. The control is
in Satan's hands. This is the vast difference between spirit world and
the physical world.
Another way of describing the difference is this: the spirit world
has different levels and classes. There is a higher heaven, there are
lower heavens, and there is hell. But even a person who dwells in hell
knows about the sovereignty of God. They deserve to be in hell under
the circumstances, but they do know that the spirit world is organized
under God's sovereignty. In other words, there is an orderly chain of
command and hierarchy. In the physical realm, however, everything is
mixed up. People simply do not know where they belong, where they
should stay.
When Jesus said, "Thy will be done," he also said,
"On earth as it is in heaven." This is not to say that the
restoration is completed in the spiritual world, but it does mean that
there is one central figure, a hierarchy, and the chain of command is
completely organized in spirit world. In the physical world, there is
no central figure, no hierarchy, no chain of command. This is what
Jesus was speaking about.
Another way to describe the goal of restoration is that the
physical world must come to have a parallel system with the spirit
world. God has been trying to establish a channel of command and a
centralized system here on earth-as it is in heaven-by erecting
religions and encouraging spiritual works. That is the goal of
restoration.
Up to this moment, who has been the central figure and the moving
force for the work of spiritual restoration? It is Jesus along with the
Holy Spirit. There is no question about it. In the spirit world, God,
the total sovereign, is in the center and under God, Jesus and the Holy
Spirit are the guiding figures with the central role. That situation is
reflected here on earth in that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are leading
the major religion, Christianity. God has been working chiefly through
Christianity for the last 2,000 years.
Spirit world phenomena are reflected here on earth. What we have to
do is bring the two worlds together so that they are like the two sides
of a coin, parallel and united. How can the spirit world and the
physical world become totally united? When will it happen? It will
happen at the time of the Second Advent. The Lord of the Second Advent
inherits the entire hierarchy and power of spirit world. His role is to
bring the system of the spirit world down here and reorganize the
earthly principality.
Right after World War 11, Christendom was flourishing. With the
defeat of Hitler's totalitarian system, the most golden opportunity
arose for unity between the earthly system and the spirit world. That
time was the ripest opportunity for Heaven. At the same time, the side
of Satan was undergoing tremendous difficulty. If Christianity and the
major governments of the earth had accepted the messianic movement at
that time, the world could have been quickly transformed into unity.
The system of the spirit world could have been duplicated here on
earth.
That was not the case, of course. What happened is history:
Christianity and the major governments of the world rejected the
Unification Church and Father at that time. Therefore, the Christian
cultural foundation, based on the victorious name of Israel and a 4,000
year history, failed its purpose and came to have no meaning.
Therefore, in 40 years I had to rebuild that foundation. The last 40
years have seen the most tremendous turmoil and chaos because the
entire 4,000 years of history were being reenacted in that period.
The heavenly forces of 40 years ago were in a position to
completely conquer and overcome the satanic principality on the earth.
Instead, satanic power took over the world and tried to push the
Unification forces into a corner and demolish them. Satan took the
initiative. I had the entire spirit world behind me, but I was working
all by myself. The entire physical world was hostile toward me. There
was supposed to be a physical foundation of Christianity and free
nations like the United States. But when they didn't fulfill, I had to
work alone against the hostile physical world.
I have been erecting a new foundation step by step, from the
individual victory to the clan, tribal, national, religious, and
worldwide levels. In other words, I have been re-erecting and
re-organizing the physical foundation bit by bit, stage by stage. The
Unification movement is now taking over the role of Christianity. The
Unification Church has undergone incredible persecution, yet we laid
the foundation bit by bit, even under those circumstances, and pushed
the satanic world to the corner I have been pushing and extending the
Unification realm and now we have come to the victorious worldwide
foundation.
When a mood is created on the worldwide scale to welcome the
Unification Church movement, that means the moment of unification
between the spirit world and the physical world has come very near.
This is the way. You have to have this kind of overall viewpoint clear
in your mind.
The United States of America has been the representative, central
nation of the Christian world. This nation was supposed to be in the
position to accept the coming of the Lord of the Second Advent.
However, when she failed to do so, a new foundation needed to be
erected. Now after 40 years, this hostile nation of the United States
is turning and changing. What is happening today? Christian ministers
by the thousands are welcoming me and learning the Unification message
and going to Korea for pilgrimage. Seven thousand ministers will have
completed the pilgrimage by the end of this year.
Another area that is changing is the political leadership of this
country. Representatives from every echelon of the political leadership
are coming to embrace our ideology. When all the Christian ministers
and all the political leaders can say, "Mansei!" to what we
are doing, that will be the victorious culmination. Now we are
restoring the victorious and opportune moment of 40 years ago and it is
being re-enacted now.
Anybody who is speaking about the fulfillment or unification of
Christianity has to consult with Reverend Moon. If anyone talks about
true peace for the world, that person has to consult with Reverend Moon
because no one else is clearly talking about unity on a global scale.
Therefore, the time has come. The Unification Church proclaims Godism
on a global scale. We have an absolutely God-centered ideology through
which all religions and all people can finally unite.
This year we have been planning and working on the education of
state legislators. There are about 7,000 of them. We want to reach at
least half of them-3,500. Already over a thousand of them came to be
educated last year. This year we will complete the goal. In this way,
leaders from all 50 states can hear about and learn Godism. Christian
ministers are saying to me, "Reverend Moon, you are the hope for
the salvation of Christianity." Political leaders, feeling very
pessimistic about this country and the world, have come to see Reverend
Moon as their unique hope. Furthermore, many now recognize Reverend
Moon as a great patriot of this country even though he is not
even a citizen of the United States.
What is Reverend Moon trying to accomplish? I want to duplicate the
hierarchy of spirit world here on earth, replacing the satanic world
with it. As I said, there is a heavenly hierarchy in place in the
spirit world. However, the spirit world has not been completed because
a True Parent-centered society has not been accomplished there. It has
to be accomplished here on earth first. Earth is the place where True
Parents come first and this is where the true order must be erected
first. After that, the spirit world will adopt the True Parents'
system and be complete. Ultimately, we could say that the perfection of
the spirit world is "Adamism," like Godism.
"Adamism" means True Parentism.
The spirit world has been divided under different spiritual central
figures. There is a realm of the spirit world united under the guidance
of Confucius. The same is true for Buddhism and Islam and other
religious groups. So far, they have had no united, overall hierarchy.
They have been waiting and looking forward to this one, great day of
fulfillment: the appearance of one overall central figure, and the
appearance of True Parents.
An incredible movement toward unification is taking place in the
spirit world. At the same time, it is being reflected here on earth.
That is the reason for so many spiritual phenomena. They are pushing
everybody toward the center, which is True Parents. The spirit world is
pushing this world into one unit, coming down and trying to create an
atmosphere such that True Parentism can be totally fulfilled and
successful. Without this success, people cannot achieve perfection in
spirit world.
Therefore, the entire spirit world, all men and women there, are
desiring one thing and one thing only. That is that all the members of
the Unification movement become frontline soldiers and aggressively
take advantage of the atmosphere and transform the world. When we
accomplish that goal here on earth, we will make it parallel to the
spirit world, an exact duplication or reflection of the spirit world.
The two systems will match. That is the day of fulfillment.
The center of the hierarchy in spirit world is God. Second, there
are True Parents. Third, there are True Children. Fourth, there is the
true nation. Those are the four elements. True Children are the direct
heirs and descendants of the True Parents. The True Children will
become the center of a tribe and a true nation.
Who shall deserve to live in the Kingdom of Heaven? True Parents
are the temple of God; God dwells within them. God and True Parents
were meant to dwell together forever in the heavenly palace, but
because of the fall of man, that did not happen. That is why the
restoration became necessary. What is your desire? Do you want to have
citizenship of the heavenly nation and also the title of heavenly
children? Then you will have all the titles you need to dwell in the
Heavenly Kingdom.
Is the heavenly system democratic? Democracy is an interim system
which is serving a very important purpose. When the Lord comes,
sovereignty can be transferred through the democratic system. Making
this transfer easier is the purpose of this system. Truly when the Lord
comes and when everybody recognizes him, who should they follow? All
the people of the world should follow the Lord. When that happens, the
boundaries of nations become meaningless.
You know that democracy has its limits because it has already been
tested in this world. The democratic system can never unite the world,
since it has not made the United States flourish. This country is in
peril, close to disaster. If anyone truly wishes for one world under
God, he knows it must come under Godism. That is the only way.
The entire spiritual world and physical world are yearning to see
the same pattern or system in both worlds. God will be the center of
the earth and True Parents the central figures. Out of the True
Children a true nation and a true people will emerge. The obstacle
today to the ideal pattern in spiritual and physical worlds is the
fallen reality of this world. Instead of God being the center, the
world is centered on Satan. False, fallen parents and false, fallen
nations are the reality. So the ideal spiritual world and ideal
physical world are denied.
When your parents hear about the Unification Church, they say,
"What do you mean by True Parents? What do you think we
are?" They simply can't accept that idea. Furthermore, they say,
"What do you mean by True Children? You are true children."
That is why some parents have tried to kidnap their own children.
Without question, incredible opposition has come against us. But day by
day the opposition is losing the power to resist. It is our destiny to
succeed.
All of you have to make your exodus out of the fallen world into
the true world. That is your destiny but Satan's world or system is
stringing up many layers of barbed wire to prevent you from getting
out.
The things that go on in this world are governed by Satan;
therefore the first step toward God is denial of one's present
surroundings. This is why for true religions throughout history,
starting with Judaism, the first order of business was for someone to
take off from his homeland and become a sojourner in a foreign land. So
far, true religion has proclaimed to the people: "Leave your
home. Leave your own country." Now the Unification Church is
telling white, black and yellow people to abandon their own culture and
racial boundaries. That is happening because of the teaching of
Reverend Moon. This proclamation is the ultimate one, not an interim
proclamation. Do you understand?
Look at all the Japanese faces in this audience. They were told,
"Take off from your homeland," and they obeyed and came to
America. To you American people, I will say, "Go to Africa."
Will you pack up and take off? Are you ready? Someone might say,
"No, no, Father, I cannot leave America. I just want to live here
for the rest of my life." That is almost like Lot's wife. What
happened to her leaving Sodom and Gomorrah? She looked back and turned
to salt.
What kind of group are you? You are the champions or pioneers who
are working to transfer the spiritual pattern into the physical
pattern. Therefore, this morning we all made the pledge: "We are
proud of the one sovereignty, the one people and one nation, one world
under God." We also pledged: "We are proud of the one True
Parents, one tradition, one language and culture centered upon
God." All these showed what we are taking responsibility for.
To what country do you belong? As citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom,
you've got to think, "I am a citizen of heaven, not just of the
United States, or Japan or Korea." You must feel, "I'm
marching from the individual heaven to the family heaven to the tribal
heaven to the national heaven and ultimately to the universal
heaven." Until we reach the final destination, we cannot let up.
Here on earth, you are dedicating your energy and your sweat to
transform this fallen world into the heavenly pattern. The more you do,
the more you walk this path, the closer you are to heaven. That is the
logical conclusion.
When you go on the way to heaven, you should not say, "I just
want to bring my children, my brothers, my parents," and so
forth. Instead think, "I want to bring my whole country and all
the people of the world to heaven." Then what happens? Your
parents, your children, your relatives and friends will be included
already. We never say, "I don't care about my country-so what? I
just worry about my own family. I'm just trying to take my children and
my parents with me." That is not our ideal or goal. When we are
able to achieve the salvation of the nation, that will include the
salvation of our own family.
What about Father? I have always thought, "I'm trying to bring
the world, not just the nation, into the Heavenly Kingdom." Day in
and day out, from day one up to this day, I have been thinking of
nothing but global restoration. For that reason, I am moving into the
position of the central figure on a larger and larger level day by
day. Thus the thinking of God becomes the True Parents' thinking; the
True Parents' thinking should become that of the true Children; the
flue Children's thinking should become that of the true citizens.
After the Israelites made their exodus, they wandered for 40 years
in the wilderness. What about you in your exodus? Have you been looking
back to your own family, your own culture or country? What kind of a
life have you been living? The absolute central figure of the
Israelites was Moses. The Israelites were absolutely required to follow
him. In those days of the exodus, they should not have been focused on
their children or their parents. Even though all 600,000 might deny
it, the true Israelites should have been looking at Moses only, and
following Moses' orders absolutely. That is the way they could have
successfully entered the land of Canaan.
Today the same thing is true. That situation is being repeated
again. There is a Moses of the twentieth century, the Moses of the
Second Advent, which is the coming of the True Parents. We must be
following absolutely, with our eyes and spirits focused on only one
point. Therefore, the Unification Church tradition is that True
Parents' position is absolute. No matter what happens-if you are a
Cabinet member and working for the President, if True Parents call and
ask you to do something, you should drop everything and jump to it.
That is the tradition. Are you centered like that?
If you listen to Father then you will not stray. On the road of
restoration, should you always need an explanation before you act, or
should you take action first and then be told why? I always push you
forward into action first, and then I explain it. Therefore, absolute
faith is necessary. The time has come to teach this because it is all
being fulfilled. It is all done, in a way.
Compare your desire to go to spirit world with the desire of spirit
men and women to come here on earth and fulfill-which desire is more
intense? From the Principle point of view, who should be more
intensively aggressive in doing the work? Who should be taking the
initiative? Spirit men and women or you people here on earth? So spirit
world has come down to assist you. Will they do that to help you become
a millionaire and have a good life? Or so you can have a good home, a
fine automobile? Or to help you build the Kingdom of Heaven here on
earth? It's for the Kingdom!
How can you say, "Well, how much would you pay me to do my
mission? Without a salary I won't do it." The children of Satan
take such a role. Actually, what is required is dedication and
sacrifice for the sake of your mission. Otherwise, no matter how hard
you work at your mission it is not worth much because you have done it
for yourself. Who shall pay you? You should pay yourself and do the
work of heaven. Think of it. Did True Parents come here so that God
would hire them and give them a good salary? "I'll give you this
much salary and you be the True Parents." Actually, no salary
should be paid by God or the central figure. The salary should be paid
by the true world, the true country. In order to do that, you have to
build that country first. Therefore, we have to create a country even
at the sacrifice of our own life. We have to build a world first. Do
you follow? You cannot be mistaken in this concept.
Some people say, "Well, when you hire people outside the
church, you pay a lot of money to them. Why, Father, do you pay very
little to me?" Don't you realize they are like the servants? They
are hired to do the job. They are not doing it for the glory of
Heaven. They come and they go, but you will stay and inherit the
Kingdom. That is the difference. So how can you say, "Father, you
pay me"? The true attitude is, "Yes, Father, I will do
whatever you need because I want to lessen your suffering. I don't mind
sacrificing to any degree." That is the children's attitude. Do
you think that attitude is parallel to the true spirit of attendance to
the True Parents or not? If you are trying to reduce and eliminate
Father's burden, is that a good attitude or a bad attitude? It is
certainly a good attitude.
Think about yourself. You know how you are living and in which
realm you belong. When you say, "Yes, I am trying to bring the
entire world to heaven," that means the entire spirit world will
come down and help you. But if you just think about yourself, no help
can come from spirit world, or only a small group of people might come
to help you. Which kind of assistance would you like to receive-the
entire world of the spirit or just a few?
Someone named Mike is here. Suppose he says, "I am going to
heaven in the name of Mike. I want to go to Mike's heaven." The
entire spirit world would say, "Huh! Who is interested in Mike's
heaven?" But if he says, "I'm interested in bringing the
whole world into heaven," spirit world says, "That's my
champion. That's him. I'm going to go down and assist him." Then
the entire spirit world will mobilize to help him.
If Father ever thinks, "I'm a Korean and I just want to work
to create heaven for the Korean people and my own parents and
grandparents," do you think the spirit world would have reason to
come and help me? No. What I say is, "I am trying to bring the
entire universe into heaven." Then what happens? Father becomes
the champion of the entire universe. The universal spirit world comes
down and says, "Yes, Reverend Moon, go ahead. We are all behind
you."
Are you working for the universal heaven? You are not so dumb. You
know what the right answer is. What has been your goal so far, before
listening to me this morning? Is God listening to this sermon too?
Will God say, "Reverend Moon, you are right. You make me feel so
wonderful this morning." Or will God say, "What are you
talking about, Reverend Moon? I don't want that kind of heaven. Let
them worn for themselves!" Which will He say? Somehow you are very
clever this morning. So, no matter how much difficulty you may be
having at your home, or how many problems you encounter each day, say,
"I am working for the sake of the world." Then God and the
entire universal support system will be with you.
When I entered Danbury prison, my thinking was, "I am the
champion of the universe. Nobody can touch me; not even one
finger." That is the kind of feeling and pride I have. What
happened? I walked the path of Danbury in the name of God and for the
sake of the universe and I felt no shame. I felt truly wonderful. What
happened? Rather than shame, Danbury, brought me greater reputation and
greater victory. I do not seek to become famous, but circumstances are
making me more and more famous every day.
What is happening nowadays? In 1988, another presidential election
will be held. Many who are harboring the dream of becoming candidates
in 1988 are thinking, "How can I get some connection to Reverend
Moon so I can get his advice?" Even though they cannot explain it,
they sense that somehow they have to hook into Reverend Moon or else
they will not get heavenly, spiritual help. Something calls them in
their heart.
We have come that far. Among the American people, who will stand up
on the side of an Oriental man, Reverend Moon, and be his advocate?
Beyond you, there are many champions who are standing up for Father.
The time has ripened. Do you understand? God's timetable has come to
the time of golden opportunity. What do you think? Is this just
Father's whimsical thinking? Or is it the heavenly Principle? This is
not my concept. It shall be done.
This is heavenly law. When you follow this law, you shall deserve
heaven. If you are against this law, you shall deserve hell. Period.
Every one of you, whether you have the Blessing or how many years you
have worked in the Unification Church, it doesn't make any difference.
Whether you come under this law or against this law shall determine
your destiny.
Tens of thousands of years of human history have elapsed in order
for this kind of foundation to be established. Think about it. It is
such a glorious and incredible opportunity that in your lifetime here
on earth, this short time span, you can have this heavenly goal. What a
blessing! Do you understand?
Let us give an analogy. Imagine raindrops coming down from the
sky-billions and billions of drops are falling and every drop is
wishing it could fall on the head of the True Parents. But out of those
billions of raindrops, how many could actually have the chance to fall
right on the head of the True Parents? So very few. But that is the
position you are in-you are like a drop of water that hit True Parents
right on the head. Therefore, the spirit world is looking down at you
and saying, "Oh, I envy that person. I've been working so hard for
tens of thousands of years, and I never even got close to the Blessing
those men and women are receiving. How wonderful it is for them. They
hit the heavenly, million dollar super home run." That is your
position.
(Father writes on the board.) Mark Lincoln very important name.
Let's imagine that he goes up to the spirit world and he says, "I
was a bodyguard for the True Parents." Then spirit world will say,
"Oh, you were? Let's see your score." Then they will go to
the heavenly computer room and push a button. Suppose they say,
"Mark Lincoln, you only got ten points. You flunk." The
heavenly computer might say, "You had a golden opportunity, the
greatest opportunity on the face of the earth. You were luckier than
anyone else, but you thought about your family and your own things, you
complained, you slept late, you missed Pledge." In that case the
computer would say, "Mark, you missed the mark!" What could
he do? By that time, he no longer has an opportunity to change things.
As soon as Mark Lincoln enters into spirit world, he has no more
opportunity, so in order to raise his score, he would have to come down
to the earth and try to assist somebody else. But by that time, no one
would even recognize him, no one would want to receive help from Mark
because already tremendous progress will be made. So he would be left
totally behind. This is just an illustration. Mark Lincoln is not that
kind of brother! But this is the way it happens.
Everyone must go through that kind of judgment. You may say,
"I want to hear Father this morning at Belvedere because he is so
exciting and amusing and I like it very much." You don't just come
here for enjoyment. You know you've got to do it. You've got to
practice living correctly. This is the Principle. What do you think? I
don't want you to say someday, "Father, why didn't you teach me
more clearly?"
You are not here for the sake of the Unification Church. Don't ever
think, "I'm doing a favor to the Unification Church." You are
here for the sake of yourself, for your own salvation, your own eternal
life. Ultimately, the Unification Church will not even need to exist.
We will take down our sign when we are no longer needed. Only during
the period of the fallen generation does the world need the church.
No matter what, this philosophy is final. This is the ultimate law
in the entire universe. According to this, all the Christian ministers
out there deserve a big chunk of heaven, don't they? No, they don't.
Because they don't know that truth, they can't practice it. But you
know it, don't you? In many cases, you are so clogged up with
discouraged, narrow thinking and you suffer and agonize inwardly, and
in the meantime you waste your time. But Father never wastes one
minute. From the first day up to this one, Father has been thinking of
universal restoration. Not even one iota of my time has been wasted.
When you go out and do home church and witnessing, you can see that
circumstances out there have changed quite a bit. Can you really feel
it deeply? Reverend Moon has become like a refreshing new wind of hope
for people. Even though they cannot clearly explain it, they know that
the direction of that wind is good. They will get some good news from
it. Central America, South America, and Africa are already like that.
Many there are saying, "Reverend Moon is our hope." There is
no question about Asia. Soon it will come to the Western world, to
Europe. Even if you feel the time is late, you can redetermine yourself
today and say, "I'm going to become a champion for the world and
the universe." Or are you going to remain centered on yourself?
In order to become a universal champion, you have to transform the
world to the ideal of spirit world-God, True Parents, True Children and
True Nation. That is your job. When you serve that goal here on earth,
Satan has no power or accusation against you. You will have graduated,
having successfully made your exodus from the fallen world.
How can you become good children of attendance? How can you develop
the lifestyle of attendance? Seek always to unite your thoughts and
deeds with God. Strive for absolute unity with God. The way God thinks,
the way God does things, you do the same. The way God serves, you
serve. By your doing so, Satan will have no power over you.
Think, "Everything in the universe belongs to God and to True
Parents. I am a child of True Parents; therefore, it belongs to me. I
love this city of New York because it belongs to God and True Parents
and it belongs to me." For every material, even toilet paper,
think, "This belongs to True Parents and it belongs to God, so I
cannot waste it." It is according to my tradition that I never use
more than two sections of toilet paper at a time. But in many cases,
American young people seem to try to use up an entire roll at one
time!
Think about how you are living-you are always living with Heavenly
Father, even when you are on the toilet. He is with you. God would say,
"Hey, what are you doing? Why are you wasting My things?"
Always think, "Would God do that? This is a revolution of
lifestyle. Think, "Everything belongs to God, and that is why it
belongs to me. Everything belongs to True Parents, and that is why it
belongs to me. That is why it is precious."
Many working people today have the desire to do less work and get
higher wages. They only want more money all the time, but you are the
opposite. You do the best work and you get small wages. You do more
work because you are doing it for the Kingdom of Heaven and you are
doing the work of True Parents.
In order to receive a greater blessing in the spirit world, you've
got to seek very little in the physical world, materially speaking.
Most people want to receive a lot of material blessing here on earth
and they may think they can get a lot of blessing in spirit world,
too. But it is the opposite. If you really want to deserve spiritual
things, you have to go the opposite way. That is because less material
help means more sacrifice on your part: less money, humbler clothing
and food, little sleep. The more you sacrifice, the more you deserve
spiritual blessing. It is logical. Do you understand?
If some store is holding a big sale, average people will run to the
racks and try to grab as much as possible, even pushing other people
out of the way. But Unification Church members should say,
"Everybody else go first and get what you want. Then, if anything
is left, I will get something for myself." With such a lifestyle
and character, that person will be appreciated not only by God and
spirit world, but the people on earth will love that person too. For
black people especially what you need now is more effort: work harder
than white people. If you try to seek little, then the black people
will be blessed. Who shall dislike that kind of person?
When you walk down the street, you may think you have nothing to do
with it, but that is not the case. That street belongs to the True
Parents. That is the street of God. Pick up the dirty things, like
cigarette butts, and put them in the trash can. In that way you are
cleaning the Kingdom of Heaven and True Parents' world. When you walk
down the street, always walk with God and True Parents and you will
never be alone. As True Parents' representative, cleaning up trash is
an ordinary duty. It is your responsibility.
When you talk, you talk as a representative of the True Parents.
When you teach, when you sleep, it is as a representative of the True
Parents. You should live 24 hours a day with this attitude. That means
you never allow Satan even one minute to infiltrate your thoughts.
Satan is given no chance; your 24 hours are guarded.
The United States of America has given tremendous anguish to me.
But I do not harbor any resentment against this country because I can
see that Satan did it. The American people and the American government
did not do it. They did what they did because they were ignorant. But
once they are taught the truth, they will follow God instead of Satan.
I know that. I have never lost hope for this country and its people.
That is my thinking about America.
When you wear your suit or your dress, don't think of it as
"yours." Think, "This is my armament from God and True
Parents. I am wearing it for them." When you eat a meal, think,
"This is not my meal. This is given by God and True Parents and my
brothers and sisters." When you have some delicious food, don't
think, "Wow, that was wonderful. I'm in heaven." What about
the tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters around the world who
may not have such good food? Think, "God, forgive me, but with
this energy I will work harder for them." Then go out there and do
your work.
That is the way Father always thinks and lives and practices. This
is my lifestyle. Therefore, the suffering people of the world can have
no complaint against me. Even if someone has followed me through 10,
20 even 30 years of suffering, they still don't feel, "I've done
enough." They feel they are inadequate because they know that they
have never come near to the suffering of the True Father. Sometimes it
seems that men and women who work with this kind of spirit and
understanding will not make it. But somehow such people do make it
because God and spirit world are behind them.
My life is a good example. For 40 years, everybody thought,
"Reverend Moon will never make it. All kinds of opposition is
against him. How can he survive?" Many people thought I would not
last. But during the past 40 years under such difficult circumstances,
I have become more successful every year and I have finally laid the
worldwide foundation. Amen? (Amen!)
Would you like to walk down the road of failure- Satan's road-or
the heavenly road? Therefore, live a life of attendance. Wherever you
work, that is where God and True Parents are. Think, "I am there
to be a model, to be an unspoken teacher to those around me." Can
Satan invade a person with that kind of lifestyle? Without that
attitude' you are just trying to live for yourself. Then Satan says,
"Oh, this is my boy. This is my girl," and he begins his
infiltration.
This life of attendance should become so much a part of your
consciousness that even if someone shakes you awake at midnight, the
first words out of your mouth would be, "God! True Parents! True
Children! True Nation!" That means you will be separated from
Satan. That shows you are subconsciously moving with True Parents and
that lifestyle becomes yours to the bone. You don't even have to think
about it, you just do the heavenly thing.
For example, if I want to go somewhere, I immediately feel whether
it is the right thing for God or whether it is not so desirable.
Actually, for that reason, I don't need a bodyguard anymore. Sorry-Mark
Lincoln lost his job! (Laughter.) Am I a very unhappy man or a very
happy one?
In Danbury, we had a cubicle with a lower bunk and an upper one. I
always took the upper bunk. The reason is that I always want to be
close to Heavenly Father. I thought, "God is above me and I want
nothing to be between me and God." When I pray, it is always in
such a way as to comfort God. Therefore, I prayed, "Heavenly
Father, don't worry. Even though I am in Danbury prison, that does not
lower Your prestige. I'm here fulfilling Your desire. If Your will is
done more quickly this way, don't worry about me. I just want to
comfort You."
What happened? During the Danbury period, I achieved more than at
any other time in my history in the United States. Major projects and
plans were all unfolded and executed while I was in Danbury. This is
why, without any reason, the Danbury officials just could not like me
at all. They felt a certain spiritual barrier because they were
representing the satanic forces. They could not even come near me.
However, the inmates were totally united with me. Knowing that I
was watched by the officials, they could not even say, "Good
morning," to me. If they showed too much kindness to me, the
officials would become even more hostile because they were jealous of
me. So the inmates would say in a very low voice, with a kind of
signal, "I can't say anything, Reverend Moon, but you
understand." The whole camp felt heartistically connected to me.
Yesterday, some of those inmates sent Valentines to me. I didn't
remember all their names, but they never forgot me. Furthermore, they
wrote on the Valentine's cards, "Dear Reverend Moon and
Mother." Everybody called us Father and Mother, so the inmates
addressed us as either `'Father and Mother" or "Reverend Moon
and Mother." To everybody, Mother is Mother. Period. (Laughter. )
Wherever I go, heaven is there. There is no such thing as hell for
me. Do you understand? We have the extraordinary privilege of bringing
the spiritual heritage down and duplicating it here on earth. That is
our job, our pride and our prestige. "Within my lifetime, I'm
going to use every ounce of energy, every drop of blood for Kingdom
building." You've got to live with such bubbling enthusiasm.
Then. you will be the happiest men and women.
If you are living such an enthusiastic lifestyle of attendance of
True Parents and Heavenly Father, you may get so exhausted that you
just drop down on the sofa and fall asleep. Even if your hands are
dirty because you have not had time to wash them for a week, they will
give off a spiritual glow. The person who lives like that never leaves
God; God will always be with him. Think about that lifestyle-prayerful
and always aspiring for the goal of God and True Parents. That is the
most noble, happiest, and most prosperous lifestyle anyone can have.
Don't you think so? That is where the Kingdom of Heaven is
established. That is heaven, actually.
Our job is to destroy the satanic kingdom and the satanic realm.
Then our pride and our mission is to transform it into the Heavenly
Kingdom. Perhaps you can say, "Up to this morning, I haven't
really lived for the sake of the universe, and Heavenly Father was not
always with me. I have been thinking mainly of myself, my own family. I
have felt miserable many times. But this morning, I feel awakened like
a new person. I'm going to be different. I'm going to be God's and True
Parents' child. When I walk down the streets of New York I will fulfill
my mission of changing this world into heaven. I am a Kingdom
builder. "
Those who pledge that to Father, raise your hands, please. Thank
you. Let us pray.
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