Father's Directions

Hyo Jin Moon July 9, 1989 Belvedere

Often we face a situation where Father gives us certain directions. There are many people who receive Father's directions absolutely. However I also see many people struggling with the direction that Father is giving. Maybe their intentions are to try to understand why Father is asking them to take a certain course. However, perhaps because they cannot relate the directions that Father has given them to their personal experience, they have difficulty understanding them. Every time I see this situation, I think about the future of mankind as a whole, because in order for mankind to become one, they also must unite with and understand God's will and direction. If we, as Unification Church members, have difficulty in grasping and putting into practice Father's advice, this is not a good precedent for the rest of humanity.

So if True Parents represent Heavenly Father's ideal, then the words that God speaks might not have any physical form, but they come through True Parents. If Father is the embodiment of God's love, whatever comes from Father has that absolute aspect of love. If True Parents are the embodiment of Heavenly Father's essence, then whatever comes from Father should be interpreted in such a way. Ultimately we want to become children of God, don't we? We want our bodies and minds to become absolutely one with Heavenly Father, forever and ever. How can we reach that goal? It is very important for every one of us to interpret Father's words and actions as reflecting God's qualities. If you believe Heavenly Father is the absolute, eternal, loving Being, then you must receive the symbol of His love as such.

It is our responsibility to understand Heavenly Father, and to inherit his qualities. That is very important for your sakes and for your descendants' sakes. Moses, at the desert of Zion, was told by God to strike the rock once to bring water to the thirsty Israelites. But Moses struck the rock twice, disobeying God's commandment. Abraham was told by God to make an offering and to cut the prepared offering in half. But he forgot to cut the dove. Let's try to imagine we are in Abraham's shoes. When he received that kind of direction from God, how should he have thought? How would we have thought in the same position as Abraham, or Moses? If my goal is to become one with Heavenly Father, should I deviate from the direction of the person I am trying to become one with? Is that the way to become one with God? Even a little misunderstanding or misinterpretation can cause such bad consequences.

Inherit God's Qualities

So why are we in such a precarious situation in the first place? It is because of our portion of responsibility. If we are to become the children of Heavenly Father, we must reflect His qualities. The children should inherit everything from the parents. When you have children, they inherit all that you possess. If God is the Creator of all things, then we must inherit creatorship. If Heavenly Father created for the fulfillment of His ideal, then we must help create the same ideal. If God's ideal of creation is to manifest love, there must be a base which can reciprocate love. We might not fully understand what Heavenly Father intends when He gives us directions, but we should try, within our minds, to bring about an answer which can satisfy us, and in turn motivate us to follow God's directions. When Abraham stood before the altar, preparing to cut the offering, he perhaps wondered why he needed to cut the offering. If he couldn't see clearly enough into God's reasons then he should have tried to create an answer within himself to motivate him towards God's direction. In order to act we must know. Sometimes Heavenly Father gives a direction to follow, but we're not sure why, and God is not telling us why. In that case we should try to produce an answer which will motivate us.

In Abraham's situation, God had a clear goal of separating good and evil. But since Abraham couldn't comprehend that depth of Heavenly Father's thinking, then at least he should have tried to think, "Heavenly Father is my Lord, my Father, and he directed me to do these acts. So as a son and as a servant to God, I must obey Him absolutely." On a more humorous side, Abraham could have thought, "Maybe God wanted to take• half of it in the morning and half of it in the afternoon. So I'll obey because I want to please God." And based upon that kind of naive understanding, he should have acted according to God's direction. If Abraham had united with God's direction and fulfilled his portion of responsibility, even based on a naive understanding, God could have claimed the ideal result.

Our Portion of Responsibility

Adam and Eve should have thought in the Garden of Eden, when Heavenly Father told them not to take the fruit of good and evil, that "God is saying this for my sake, because He does not want me to die. God has absolute concern for my life, and I should in no way attempt to bring suffering or heartache to God." That portion of responsibility is left to man, because through fulfilling this responsibility man becomes the recipient of God's love. So within our mind, we have to bring about an answer which will unite with God and True Parents' direction. That is the most important key to having a successful life of faith. We must realize that it is within our ability to motivate ourselves to properly unite with Father's direction.