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ORDER NUMBER
90-02-01
REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
FATHER'S SEVENTIETH
BIRTHDAY ADDRESS
February 1, 1990
Chamshil Fencing Gymnasium, Korea
11:00 A.M. Speech
Distinguished guests, Representatives from over 130 countries,
Leaders of Korean society, honored Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank you for gathering here today in spite of your busy public
and private schedules to create such a grand occasion in celebration of
my seventieth birthday. I am particularly grateful for your heart that
celebrates the fact that my life has been centered on the Will of God.
Many distinguished speakers have spoken generous praises of my work.
Today's occasion would have little significance, however, it it's sole
purpose were to applaud my past accomplishments. The content of our
celebration must be determined by the degree to which my past deeds
give reason for us to have hope in the future, the degree to which my
work is able to brighten the future of mankind, and the degree to which
my work is related to the Providence of God whose government
encompasses the entire cosmos.
Throughout my life I have run at full speed to pioneer a course
never before traveled by anyone. It is already widely known that on an
external level I have been buffeted constantly by opposition arising
from a lack of understanding. Within the realm of my heart, however, I
have been in a constant state of tension, fighting every minute and
every second to focus on how I can accomplish God's desire during my
lifetime. My life has been so intertwined with God, that I could never
speak of it without reference to Him. Because my life has been directly
connected with the fate of the nation and the world, I have shared
every aspect of it in a deep give and take relationship with God. As I
recall now how I shared with Him my deepest sorrow, my greatest pain,
and my most exalted joy, I offer my deepest gratitude to God with a
heart that perhaps cannot be fully shared with any other person. All
the glory of this day I offer up to the living God, my Father.
It is true, frankly, that the foundation that I have laid around the
world is an astonishing accomplishment. I take pride, however, less in
the external and visible aspects of this foundation as much as in the
fact that no part of this foundation has been established centering on
myself and the fact that each part is geared more to the future than
the present, more to the interest of the whole than of the individual,
and more to the larger purpose than of the more narrow purpose. The
value of this foundation lies in the fact that God was its motivating
force and that it was established under God's protection even under the
severest hardships and most turbulent vicissitudes.
My seventy years certainly have not been an easy course. I had no
friends in the world and no mentors. I travelled this course alone. I
have recovered from many treacherous passages. Time and again, I have
persevered even when death seemed certain. The only reason I did not
lose courage in such circumstances was that I had a deep communication
of heart with God. The content of the conversations that took place in
that profound realm are beyond anyone's knowledge. I can only say that
God always softly whispered His advice to me, and that He was the
motivation for my life. He was even more than that-He was life itself.
He was the source of my life energy.
I have never had the time to lend my ear to what others were saying
about me. I never had the time to take my gaze off of God for so much
as a second to cast a glance away from God. I have never been concerned
with the public's opinion about me. I had no thoughts other than those
of the earnest desires of God. With every cell of my being in unity
with God, I have lived with an almost fanatic determination for the
purpose of bringing His ideal of creation into reality.
Ladies and gentlemen, what do you suppose is this earnest desire of
God for which I have dedicated my life?
Had there been no Fall, God would have been the invisible True
Parent and man would have been His children. Man would have become a
true life form, receiving love and a lineage of good from God, the
parent of vertical true love, and Adam and Eve, the parents of
horizontal true love. Also, through the process of love, man would have
been able to connect the seed of life to his descendants.
The Fall occurred when the original human ancestors failed to
fulfill true horizontal love under the auspices of God's vertical true
love, allowing instead
the invasion of the Archangel, which led them to false horizontal
love. As a result of this Fall, God lost the children He loved, and man
was placed in a position where he had no alternative but to be born
into the world as a dysfunctional life form embodying a contradiction
between his mind and body. Satan, using the condition of horizontal
love as a curse, has unjustly controlled man on all levels from the
individual to the world. God, on the other hand, in an effort to return
all this to its original state, has been carrying out His salvation
providence. In accordance with the Principle, He has been working for
the natural subjugation of Satan and working through the Messiah to
graft mankind on to His lineage.
God has invested Himself fully into the restoration providence,
which is actually a course of recreation, even as much as He carried
out the original creation as a sacrificial act involving a total
investment of His true love. I have followed His will and have offered
my entire life to putting into practice these basic principles of true
love and of living for others. I have led my life thoroughly in service
to others within the Will of God and have continuously made a full
investment of myself. The foundation I have achieved today has come as
a result of this.
Advancements in modern technology have already brought tremendous
changes to the planet Earth and are likely to bring even greater
changes in the future. As a result of such advances, mankind finds
himself faced with an acute emergency that requires us to gather our
wisdom together in order to find a solution. Contemporary civilization
now stands at an important turning point. In order to deal with this
situation, mankind must first transcend national, racial and religious
boundaries so that there can be cooperation among us on a global scale.
This is necessary because of today's problems such as environmental
pollution, overpopulation and protection of the environment are global
in their scale. Second, the sickness of today's society, particularly
the deterioration of ethical and moral standards and the deterioration
of our humanity, including threats of racial and religious wars all
have their causes in human nature. Thus, solutions to these problems
must be approached from the perspective of bringing a revolution of
consciousness to mankind and of remaking human nature. It is not a
simple issue of making changes in social institutions and structures.
Ladies and gentlemen, all the activities that I have founded around
the world are models of movements that rise above national boundaries,
work to tear down the walls between races, are interreligious in
their nature and are global in their scale. Unificationists around the
world carry with them a new world view that comes as a result of a
revolution of consciousness
centered on the true love of God. They are already living as one
human family. The only place in the United States where there is no
racial friction or barriers between Black Americans and people of other
races is the Unification Church. Missionaries from Japan, the United
States and Germany rose above the historical hatred and struggles among
their countries, and went out to their mission countries without
knowing anything about their partners. Once in those countries, they
dedicated themselves together for their mission work.
You already know that I have been contributing large sums of money
to hold annual conferences to foster unity within and among the major
religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, and that
the highest leaders of various religions have commended me highly for
this effort. Also, there have been situations such as the Korean man
living in a farm village who received through the international
blessing ceremony a Japanese bride who had graduated from a famous
university in her country. His entire village held a feast to
congratulate him. In any gathering sponsored by the Unification Church,
wherever and whenever it may be held, there is no racial conflict or
prejudice. The members, regardless of what part of the world they are
from, have gone through a change of character effected by means of the
philosophy that I have taught so that they no longer live in a
selfcentered manner but live a life of giving for others. They are
examples of citizens of the ideal world.
On a quantitative basis, the Unification Movement is less than
adequate, but what we have accomplished until today has profound
significance in the history of the universe. Have not the teachings of
many saints and sages through history sought to accomplish such
results? Are not many people of good conscience in today's world
trying to find the guideposts that will allow them to lead lives of
goodness? And how many young people today are wandering in search of
new possibilities and dreaming dreams of a brighter future for the
world? And how many such young people have become discouraged in their
search and have broken down in frustration? I invite everyone to come
and see for yourself. Come and look without prejudice. Examine for
yourself this foundation that is not motivated of human concerns but is
created with the intimate presence of the Will of Heaven. Design for
yourself a brighter tomorrow. Build for yourself a clear system of
values.
Look at the people of the Unification Church around the world. See
how all of them, young and old, are filled with joy even as they travel
on their course of total dedication. See how, in particular, the young
people of the church maintain the highest ethical and moral standards
even in the midst of a corrupt society, and are able to have pride in
what they do. I see the young people of the Unification Church as
representing the hope of mankind and the hope of God.
Let's think for a moment from a point of view that goes beyond narrow
sectarian and religious interests. If the Korean people could undergo a change
in character according to the philosophy that I advocate and could begin to
live lives dedicated to others, what effect would this have on the future of
the nation? Would unification of North and South Korea be a difficult task
under such circumstances? And if all the people of the world could accept
this philosophy, would not this guarantee a prosperous and peaceful world? My
philosophy of "living for the greater purpose" is not meant to
bring about the development of the Unification Church for its own sake,
God and the world do not exist for the sake of the church. It is the church
that must live in service to God and the world. Even now, I continue to seek
the way of service, and my plan is to dedicate my entire life to this path.
Thank you again for your congratulations. I hope that this occasion
today will be much more than a celebration of my seventieth birthday, I
hope it will be an opportunity for you to learn of the universal path
of righteousness that requires us all to live for others. I pray that
God's blessing will be upon your work and your families.
Thank you very much.
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