God's Will and the World
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
A Stimulating and Adventurous Life
April 16, 1978
Tarrytown, New York
t is springtime and everyone loves spring. Young people, especially
teenagers, long for some season like springtime. The love within them
desires this season. Springtime brings a natural, instinctive longing
for something untouchable. Unlike the young, however, older folks
approach spring with a sense of responsibility. Those who have raised
children now have an empty nest, so they have a different feeling in
spring. Their children have married, left home, and now have made
homes of their own. This is the season for senior citizens to
reminisce about their past accomplishments and about their families
and children. For them, spring is the time of recollection and
reevaluation of their lives.
This doesn't necessarily apply only to human beings, but to the animal
kingdom as well. For instance, during this past winter in New York we
had an unprecedented heavy snowfall. Deer and other big animals, as
well as birds, sought shelter during winter, but now that spring has
come they have a new hope and resurrected feeling. They enjoy this
precious time of spring. Witness the flight of the birds; during the
winter season they were gone, but now they are back, singing and
looking for food. They have aspirations too.
Spring would be proud to say, "I have the capability to revitalize all
creation." Spring would declare that we are given new life and
refreshing elements in its season. During winter we can't see leaves
on the trees, but now buds are emerging with new life. Everyone loves
to see new buds. Plants, animals and man all have the same feeling.
The migrating birds will find their way back north and enjoy the
regenerating forces of spring. What kind of migrating birds do you
think of? Robins, ducks, Canadian geese, swallows, swans. They never
miss migration.
You urban people don't understand birds. If you live in the country,
they sometimes make nests under your roof or on your porch. When the
swallow is singing, it sounds to Westerners like an Oriental language,
but to Orientals it sounds like they are speaking English! The swallow
looks like he is wearing a tuxedo, and to see the male and female
singing together is very impressive. No single bird sings; they sing
together. If a bird is alone, then he sings to invite or woo the
opposite sex. Wherever birds sing together it seems like love is
there, right? The same thing applies to mankind. An individual longs
for someone else with whom to have a subject-object relationship of
give and take.
In the Unification Church the majority of members are younger people.
Do you like songs or not? Because you are young you like singing. This
youthful spirit is the characteristic of the Unification movement. You
young people are in the spring of your lives. Your faces are shining
just like the trees and flowers that bloom after the winter.
You sit straight and have vigor and energy instead of being sloppy and
lazy. I don't like to see women with their hair falling messily over
their faces. You have to lift it up in back to look fresh, like the
season of spring I understand that you don't have so many extras, but
in spring you can wear some bright pin, or even put some decoration in
your hair to fit the spring season. You might carry some pink
handkerchief to reflect the spirit of spring.
You have to know how to adjust your mood to the seasons. There is a
wonderful feeling here this morning, isn't there? If you come to doze
off in the spring, then you don't fit in here. Spring brings new
vitality. If you can't be like a swallow, be like a sparrow or
Canadian goose.
What animal represents springtime?
et's talk about the animal kingdom. Which animal would you like to
resemble? A tiger or bear? People would be scared if those creatures
appeared, and no one wants to kill anyone. The most loving animal in
springtime is the deer. Therefore, if you want to become a spring
animal, I would like you to be a deer All in all, spring is good for
everything.
I love the big tree in front of the main house. here, but in winter
you can't tell whether it is dead or alive. Now spring has come and
some vital element is moving throughout creation. Spring is the season
of planting seeds. A seed planted in the earth has a sleeping feeling
at first, but then moisture seeps in through its shell to waken it.
Spring brings many changes in all of nature, adding a developmental
and advancing element.
Do you think America is facing the season of spring, or the autumn
before the winter? A scientific observer would say that America is in
its autumn season, but Moonies don't necessarily belong in that
category. Are you in spring or autumn? We are not talking about the
Moonie who never has new buds and sprouts; a true Moonie becomes like
the branches of a tree. Would you like to be the leaves of the tree or
the branches? Branches. Why? A branch produces leaves. It is important
because the blossoms and new growth come from the branch, not from the
leaves.
The branch is the connection to future life. It not only brings
flowers but bears fruit, and through the fruit other trees will be
produced. That is the process through which the life of the tree
continues, and that's why the branch is so important.
Who in the contemporary world will be the branches on which flowers
will blossom? Christians and hippies will say they are the ones.
Communists will say they are the ones. Young people will say that they
will be the new branch out of which new hope for all mankind will
come. It is a wonderful thing to be that branch, but Unification
people are the only ones who belong to this category. You must know
what goes on before the flowers appear. Think of the leaves and
branches. More than that, you have to think of the atmosphere, water,
earth and all other necessary conditions for sustaining this tree. A
tree does not just come up suddenly; preparation is needed. Various
elements must be harmonized, and that same kind of thing has to go on
in the world.
The same thing applies to the five different races if they are ever to
come together. Instead of fighting, they must harmonize. The water
inside a tree is circulating, and then in spring the flowers come.
Instead of fighting, the various elements must exist in harmony and
beauty and have a peaceful relationship. This preparation must be made
before the glorious flowers and branches and leaves come out.
It won't work if one branch of the tree insists that its water should
not go to another branch. The roots can't insist that their nutrients
not go to the topmost branches. Seeing how all the races are
harmonized in the Unification Church, some racist will say, "It is not
natural." However, the world cannot flower without this harmonized
unity among its peoples. In this perspective, no other organization
parallels the Unification Church.
The roots of a tree never stop growing, but spread everywhere, even
through rock, splitting it apart. Nothing can stop them. You people
should have that kind of power. It is hard for ordinary people to go
fund raising door to door. but you do it anyway. Persist penetrate and
march forward and your root and branch will be the ideal branch for
the whole world. We can easily declare to the world that we may become
the worldwide branches, roots and beautiful flowers to save the world.
When branches come out, do they look toward the ground or toward the
sky? Why do they turn upward instead of downward? The sun is there.
The branches will naturally turn toward the power of the sun, the
power of life. The universal sun is God, and we receive the power of
life and love from Him.
White is a symbol of peace
ne single flower is a more superb masterpiece than the greatest
painting in a museum. There is no comparing their value. A masterpiece
will result when all five racial colors are put together. If all
colors in the spectrum are combined, white results. White is symbolic
of peace; for example, a white flag in wartime means truce. Actually,
white people should be the symbol of peace, but according to past
history they have never brought peace, only exploitation. Always other
races had to submit to white invaders.
Very soon the time will come when those black people who worship God
will have a chance to receive a great blessing, on the condition that
they unite with goodness and are entirely loyal to God. Blacks who
worship God, and are not lazy, have hope. God has to work through the
restoration providence, and the reason white people have been able to
dominate the world in the past is because they had Christianity.
Without Christianity they would be nothing. Black people shouldn't
become discouraged or disappointed, because in reality they have a
great hope ahead. In the past white people have been aggressive and
conquered other countries, but that must end. Orientals are very
religiously and philosophically inclined. When they eat the fruit from
trees they meditate about life, while white people are used to killing
animals for survival when they get hungry. I am not implying that one
is superior or inferior, but I'm interested in the kind of tradition
each race has. Tradition is what determines inferiority and
superiority.
The Unification movement will bring the hope of spring to all mankind.
You have to seriously think about what it means for us to be the
spring branch of the whole world. Do you have that kind of pride?. Are
you growing as branches and leaves, or just sitting and doing nothing?
Do the buds only grow when the sun is shining and not at night? If you
ask the buds whether they only grow in the daytime, they will answer
that they grow during both the day and night. Buds will say they
prefer to go forward instead of backward; they would prefer being
transplanted to a place where they can grow big, rather than stay
small. They would rather be a total tree, not just branches.
If you are an entire tree, then you have everything — limbs and
roots, leaves and flowers. In order to be a whole tree you have to
separate from the parent tree. Is there any other way to be a perfect
tree? Would you rather be cut off quickly or slowly? That is why I
kick you out. The first step in being transplanted is to get out of
the World Mission Center and go form a home church. You may agree with
the philosophy of this, but in your hearts you feel a little pain.
Maybe you will resent the idea, but by doing it you will form a better
tree. Multiplication is mobile in nature.
This personnel change won't take place in winter or autumn but in
springtime. Spring, rather than autumn or winter, is a good time to
transfer to another mission. The whole universe is changing in
springtime, and according to that law our personnel change should also
occur then. We don't need heavy coats when spring comes. If I
elaborated on this point, I could go on endlessly.
Does spring bring only goodness, or hardship and sacrifice as well? It
is not just a time of sitting, but of hard work and moving. Spring is
a hopeful time, but only those who are moving have hope. The
adventurous person has great hope and desire, which is why he is
moving, but without that hope he has no motivation. History advances
through that kind of person. Do Unification people fit into that
category? We have a great, adventurous nature. Do you want sweet
adventure, or do you have grave, noble, high ambition? Adventure
fascinates young people, but some young people talk about sweetness,
while others talk about great feats. Which is better? A man and woman
can talk about romance in a flower garden, but instead they could work
together with a bulldozer. Which is better? We are working together.
Spring brings stimulation
pring is sweet and feminine, but when you bring this kind of
adventurous hope to it, spring will respond to you. Sometimes in
spring you doze off, but it is better to be stimulated and excited in
spring. Some of you might have thought I would talk about sweet
things, since the topic this morning is spring. But no, I am going to
push you out! You know that now.
Now let's talk about celestial things and ask God questions. If we ask
God whether He has experienced spring, He will answer, "I made all
four seasons. There is nothing new there." But if you say, "God, You
must have had some experience of love with mankind," He will reply,
"No, I never have."
"Then even though You made the universe and all four seasons, You have
never experienced love in the spring?"
"Yes, that is true."
Then can we say that God is fortunate and happy, or sad and miserable?
God would be very happy to hear someone say, "Since you have been so
unfortunate, let's work this situation out and make it better." He
would say, "It would be wonderful if someone would work this problem
out." If someone promises to make Him a happy God, however, He still
cannot just automatically go with that person, even though He might
want to. There is a hidden reason for this. Until the problem of sin
is completely solved, God cannot act freely. He is a limited God.
Because of the human fall, God never had a time of spring. He made all
of these things, but because of the fall He has been living in the
winter season, with everything white and inactive. How are we going to
unfreeze Heavenly Father's loving heart? Only a powerful warmth will
melt the ice and thaw God out. Who is going to defrost this freezer
God is in? Because love has been frozen, God cannot function. The
problem is that because of the fall all creation is in the same
situation. Some other element should help defrost it all.
All the creation is waiting for that time to come. Can we bring that
change with power and knowledge? What shall we use? Love. What kind of
love? Love between man and woman, or love between you people? Pure,
unchanging, unique love is needed. This is the element that is inside
God, so it is the only thing that can unfreeze His frozen heart. Who
is going to provide all this? Because God cannot provide it alone
without an object, we have to actively give love, not passively wait
to receive it as in the fallen world.
Somewhere on earth, some kind of movement must influence God with
absolute, unchanging love, so that He can be happy and fortunate. One
part of this mission has been given to religion, which has been able
to take partial but not total responsibility. When people are united
in love, there will be no war. In light of this mission, if religions
fight each other then they are disqualified. Conflict is no way to
resolve God's situation. The power of all horizontal and vertical love
and universal, global love must be: concentrated in order to liberate
God. The power of vertical love must be added to love coming from all
four horizontal directions.
Will God's heart be defrosted only by white people's love? No, that is
not enough. Love of all five races together must come to cover God,
and the power of love from three generations must also be involved
here. Instead of being scattered, this love should be focused on one
point. All races of the spirit world, the contemporary world, and the
world to come must first come to one point, and then the ice that has
accumulated for 6,000 years will begin to melt. Only that kind of
situation will begin to defrost God's heart.
Some powerful movement on earth must teach mankind about this;
otherwise, there is no hope. We have this kind of hope. Is it within
reach? The kind of person who is hooked by God's love is going to
launch this movement; that kind of person can liberate God. That
person himself will be melted on earth and be intoxicated by God's
love. He will be addicted to God so much that with just the word of
God's love he can go beyond all hardship and have no problem with
persecution.
Anything for the sake of God
ven though men and women in the world may love one another, once
God's love comes they will abandon their old love and follow Him. Even
after the Blessing, when husband and wife are supposed to love one
another, if they receive God's love they can leave each other to go to
two separate missions if necessary. That kind of power can enable
blessed couples to separate with no problem, and they won't mind
because the power of God's love is so great. Even if I ask all the
sisters who are already over 30 to give up their Blessing and go to
the field, then for the sake of God's love they can go without
resentment. This is characteristic of you church members.
For the sake of helping God defrost, we can go everywhere, even to
Africa or the most unfamiliar countries. I can go anywhere when God
commands it. Even though you feel pain when you get a shot, if God's
love is inside the syringe, you can keep receiving it. Even though you
may be working hard, you cannot give up when you get upset. God's love
is that sweet. You in turn are giving an injection to Heavenly Father.
He has always been receiving passive love, but now that He is
receiving an active element, His frozen heart is going to be
defrosted. This is what I am trying to do on the international and
universal levels. There is no other method of liberating God. Will He
be glad or not to see this kind of movement come about?
Bit by bit God is beginning to thaw. His eyes are blinking, His hands
are flexing, and His arteries and veins are coming unfrozen. You can
make Him dance. Even though God made all the seasons. including spring
with all its fragrance, when He meets this new spring He will announce
His first spring to the whole creation. Then the whole creation will
enjoy spring and laugh together with Him.
You have to give a shot of love to God, each one of you. You will each
be God's physician, but the shot you give should not contain any
satanic elements. It must be pure. Where do we get the contents of
that shot, in an easy place or in the midst of hardship and
persecution and rejection? When you want to give the shot to God,
Satan is always there, trying to nullify it and give his own instead.
You cannot give the shot as long as Satan surrounds you. Instead, you
have to find the place where Satan cannot come, and that is the place
of hardship and persecution. The place where Satan cannot invade is
the worst place, where even your family gives you a hard time. If you
are willing to give up everything, however, and go on alone, then
Satan cannot invade. That's the secret.
You have to also go to the world and give this shot to all the people,
immunizing them. How can anyone who claims he is going to liberate God
be easy going and lazy and sloppy? He has to fight and find the place
with the most hardship. Do you have the necessary equipment now? You
are the doctors and nurses who are going to give the injections of
love to God and mankind. Even though people don't like it and accuse
you, you have to give it regardless. When babies go to a doctor and
get inoculated, they cry and fight. Nevertheless, the doctor has to
give the shot. People may not like you giving them this shot, but
later they'll appreciate it.
A pickpocket mingles with people and somehow diverts their attention
in order to steal from them. You may have to divert people's
attention, but you will do that to give them the shot. Because the
people are ill, you have to inoculate them. At first they will
persecute you, but later when they are healed and their sickness is
over, they will show their appreciation. They will see that their
rejection of you was unjust and they will apologize.
Shall we have an enjoyable time since spring has come, or shall we
work harder to give this kind of heavenly injection of love? You are
concerned with the heart of God, and even when you sleep you dream of
God. When you witness or sell papers going door to door, you are
thinking of God's heart. Because of you and the True Parents, God's
heart is melting and the whole universe is finding a new spring. It is
a glorious day. We are renovating everything, in the name of God's
love. In God's providence, a person can choose to be just a spectator,
or just a follower, or he can be an active participant. There are
three different categories. Which would you like to be?
Let us pray.
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