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.
Many times we compromise Father's words because we do not take them seriously. Many times we interpret his words based upon satanic living standards and traditions. Father recognizes the abilities that many of you possess. The reason that you have these abilities is for you to use them to assist True Parents. Everything in the creation, when it comes together in harmony, manifests beauty. All the qualities that you possess must converge centering upon True Parents in order to have a true effectiveness and true value here on this earth.
We must realize that what we possess inside comes from Heavenly Father. All of our qualities should reflect the ideals of Heavenly Father. All the various entities in creation uplift and enhance each other's appearances and qualities. You are in that kind of position also. Because of the qualities you possess, God's love can be uplifted. For you to uplift Heavenly Father's love, you must realize that you are within His domain. Since True Parents represent Heavenly Father, you must be within their domain.
Many of you are blessed, right? What do you think about when you create children? What goes through your mind when you give and receive love with your spouse? Do you long for Heavenly Father as much as you long for your wife or your husband, even at the moment of lovemaking? What is the whole purpose of you uniting with your wife?
The struggle of Abel and Cain, of good and evil, starts from the womb. When Rebecca bore Jacob and Esau, they struggled within her womb. God said, "Within you there are two nations struggling." Why does man need to struggle from the womb? We must restore ourselves. The only way that man and woman can unite under Heavenly Father is to first of all become one with God's ideal as an individual. Centering upon the ideal man and woman, the Blessing can come. Receiving the Blessing means completely receiving Heavenly Father. Only centering upon this oneness with God should we consummate love. Through this act of love we substantiate our love by creating our children. Through you yearning to give yourself totally to your spouse, and the spouse doing the same to you, you bring about precious life. When you look at your children, what do you see? You should see the intensity of love that you had in the moment of that lovemaking. If you longed for Heavenly Father in that moment and if you longed absolutely to become one with your wife, that is what you should see when you look at your child. That is the fruit of your labor.
Fulfilling Tribal Messiahship
Last week I visited Camp Sunrise. It is a very wonderful place. Father has told us to speak Principle for eight hours a day, and I am sure all of you are doing your utmost to fulfill this goal and to witness in your tribal areas. When I visited this beautiful camp, all the tribal leaders gathered there to greet me. You know the significance of the tribal leadership, I hope. I felt very peaceful and undisturbed there. But as I was driving back I was concerned about the future of this facility.
The reason that we acquired it was to utilize it for the purpose of attaining the goal that Father has set for 1992 of 30,000 members. I asked myself, how many of the blessed families truly intend through their marriage to ultimately become one with Heavenly Father? And that through their marriage they can separate from the fallen lineage? When you conceive your children you should think these children represent love. They are your substantiation of God's love. If your love does not correspond with True Parents' love for Heavenly Father, and the belief that we are sons and daughter of God, you are in big trouble. You cannot be in the position of becoming a model example of Father.
If you can't bring the example of Father into your own family life, I have true concern for the future of new faces, new members coming into the church. A workshop is like a womb, preparing them so they can commit their lives centering on the Principle. The Principle life is the beginning of their spiritual life. In order to create the ideal womb, we must have an ideal body. Without having the ideal body to consummate God's love, we are going to bear crippled children. They won't be healthy. If we, as Unification Church members, the body of True Parents, cannot become one with True Parents, we are in big trouble.
Some of you said to me that when Father asked everybody to move out of the New Yorker, you had certain reservations. But after you went out, and settled down in your tribal areas, you understood Father's intention. Living in communities and in apartment complexes with many non-members, we have no choice except to have give and take with them. "I understand Father's intention and am truly grateful," one brother told me. Centering upon Father we have the responsibility to multiply God's love and truth.
God expects you to become one with His direction because He expects you to become like Him. Don't deviate! Please become one with God's direction.
No matter what you did in the past, Heavenly Father ultimately wants to forgive you. But in order to receive this forgiveness, you must sacrifice your past self and receive Him completely. The way of true liberation is for you to separate from yourself and give in to Heavenly Father. That is what God is doing. He is separating from Himself, and He is giving Himself to us for the sake of the realization of love. In order for anyone here to win God's heart, he must do that.
Utilize Your Abilities for God
When people have some special credential, something they worked hard for, they want to be proud of it. I understand that. But that emotion should extend itself to embrace God, not to separate yourself from Him. The reason that you have those qualities is ultimately to benefit everyone else. If you have gained a Ph.D., the reason to have this should be to become one with everybody, and not exclude yourself from other people because of your special knowledge.
This is the reason to be a Unification Church member. If you have a certain ability, you must bring it within the domain of Heavenly Father. You must let God's love be enhanced through the quality that you possess. Please, no more self-aggrandizement. Every time I see that I am disheartened. That kind of attitude might be functional in Satan's domain, where there is constant conflict, but it should not be here.
Every time I come here, I am always faced with my responsibility to hold Father's place. I want to keep the spirit of Father burning when he is not here. It is difficult because I have to separate from myself completely. If there is a single iota of "myself" dwelling within me, I can't take Father's place. All of you expect to understand True Parents through me. I cannot say "no," no matter how hard it is, no matter how much my physical body calls out and says, "Take it easy, you spoke last week. Take some rest, you are doing too many things!" But if I don't come here to Belvedere, my heart is not liberated. For the week that I am absent, my heart is not the same as the week that I come. All of you must do the same, because we represent the 12 tribes. Centering upon True Family we must spread out north, south, east and west, and centering on the four position foundation, we must perfect ourselves. The purpose of the 12 tribes is that centering upon the True Family the ideal world begins and spreads out in all directions of the globe.
We all bear the same responsibility but somebody has to keep the responsibility burning. I know sooner or later you will follow, but I must lead the way. I want to commit myself to Father, not just in a conceptual realm, but I want to bring it into substance. I hope that you gain certain things when you come here, but even if you gain just a minute amount, I want to keep coming. Every time I come here I try to prepare a fresh approach to fulfilling our responsibility. Our goal must be to reach out to everybody in the world and to bring them closer to True Parents.
The only reason that I come here is because I love Father. That is why I want to come here and keep you strong. I am truly grateful to God and Father for liberating me and giving me the opportunity to become one with my mind, so I want to pass that on to you.
Subject and Object Structure
That is why I am telling you that you must surrender to God's love. The worst enemy of love is arrogance. You can't hold yourself in the highest position if you expect to receive God's love. So for the sake of the future of the Unification Church, and for your children, you must set a right example and create a right atmosphere for them. Children are learning every minute. Even many of the blessed children are learning things other than Father's example. They are learning things from the fallen world that are not God's standard. They are following idols other than Heavenly Father. So please, you set the example. All of the things that you possess should enhance Heavenly Father and His love. They should uplift and bring joy and happiness to everybody.
Father is always saying to us that we must live for the sake of something greater than ourselves. Our existence is for the sake of this family. All the qualities that we possess come from our parents. When every brother and sister within Father's family longs to become one with True Parents, and longs for the unity of this family, then within this family we will represent a unique quality of God's love.
That way we can preserve and multiply our 12 tribes. Heavenly order is very important. In order to have unity, there has to be a center. Even within the True Family, there is structure; there are subject and object positions. That is why Satan has desperately tried to claim the elder son's position, because it is absolutely necessary to fulfill the ideal. Even Satan, in order to create his sick ideal, must use the Principle and establish subject and object relationships. There has to be that order. Without it, you cannot establish God's community.
The reason that Satan wants his own kingdom is because he wants to have absolute dominion and control over his destiny. In order to have absolute dominion there has to be that kind of structure. But Satan's ideal is a self-generating, exclusive ideal. He could not see himself as a creation within God's ideal, so he began to separate himself from God's ideal. He started thinking, "God doesn't love me anymore. I am not satisfied with the position that I have; I want Adam and Eve's position." "My, I." That is the seed of evil. This is very important. In order for us to move united as one entity, it is absolutely necessary to apply this formula of subject and object. Father cannot force you to follow this order, because you have responsibility. Only through responsibility can man receive Heavenly Father. That is why (sod must just sit sometimes, not being able to do anything, just suffering.
Institute Godly Habits
Our true selves long to become children of God. So, our actions must coincide with the direction that our heart yearns for. We must become absolutely one with our heart. Our heart yearns to become one with True Parents. Many times the reason that we are being held back is because of our body. We just give into what our body is used to: our habitual way of life. Many times we spend so many hours sleeping because we are used to that pattern of life. But we have to exceed that in order to reach the goals that Father has set. We must live an extraordinary life.
Your heart wants to become one with Father, but what is holding you back is your old way of living. You must make the ways of God your new habits! Heavenly Father is desperate to save mankind. He is willing to forgive us all. And he is desperately trying to wake us up! That is God's way of living. We must become used to His way of living. That is why Father stresses denying sex, food, and sleep -- whatever aspects of your physical body are stopping you from doing godly things. You must separate from those kinds of things and become used to God's way of living.
Sometimes medicine is hard to swallow, but we need it. I need it too. Every time I speak, I remind myself of these things. I know these things, but when I share them, it helps me, too.
Father wants to do so much for America. He has so many plans for you. I know all of you are at your prime age. You are not old yet, you are ripe! You have prepared yourself to a certain point, so from now on really focus on adopting God's way of living into your own life. Motivate yourself to do a little more each day. Invest a little more for the sake of the future.
Every day you can make a difference, and we can ultimately be worthy to have dominion over all the things that Father has established for our future. Father expects everyone here to become God's vanguard, to set issues, to spark, the dormant mind of man. He wants us to become the educators of the future America, the leaders of a neon spiritual awakening in America. This country must accept the fact that in order to unite the world, it must first unite the religious community. More and more people are awakening to this great ideal. We are the vanguards, you must not forget that! Father has created these projects, but we represent Father, so you must take the leader's position. If you don't, someone else will fill your shoes. How can you let that happen? If you do, all of the time that you invested in yourself to prepare for this point will be wasted! Father is trying to give you a better future.
Ignite a Spiritual Revolution
If we have the means to spread the message out to the people, what do you think will happen? Do you think we can influence people? We can! People are becoming more and more fed up with what they see on TV. If we can give a clear direction for this human race, for the sake of global peace and harmony, many people will be interested. From that moment, spreading the ideal is no problem. Many times the reason that people don't join is because they are afraid of the response of their peers. But if we can create an atmosphere where people are gaining interest in the Unification Church, then we can ignite a chain reaction. People want to follow an appealing direction. We should appeal to them! The way for us to do that is for us to have control over our body. We must connect our own body to the greater body of America. We have to be purely centered upon True Parents. Right now we have not purified ourselves enough.
Do you understand what I am saying? It is in our best interests to become absolutely one with Father's words. The responsibility to do so lies in our hands.
We must endure the tribulations and hardships because we want to bring the ideal world to Heavenly Father. I want to offer God's ideal to my children, so they can pass it on to their children and your children, and grandchildren, and so on. So please join with the True Parents and the second generation to go into the Kingdom of Heaven. In Moses' time, the first generation should have gone together with the second generation into Canaan. They could not. But at this time, the first generation and second generation should walk into Canaan together. Please unite with True Parents. Centered upon that unity the second generation will unite with True Parents. How can you as a parent say, "Well, my son will do the job"? What kind of parent is that? I don't want to pass my responsibility onto my children without me fulfilling mine. You must live up to the promise that you made when you took the Blessing vow and drank the Holy Wine. If you don't, you deceived God. You made a promise to Him and you are just trying to take advantage of the Blessing which was bestowed upon you. Do not take that kind of fallen course.
Please become ideal Unification Church members, becoming absolutely one with Father. It takes great courage, into. Intelligence and talent to make yourself believe and actually follow that course. It takes courage to fight with Satan in every moment of your life.
I am faced with fulfilling many responsibilities, just as you are. Instead of complaining, I try to bring about a conclusion that unites with Father's expectation. You can do the same.
So I want you to give more effort, just a little bit, it all depends on how you think. If you can fulfill this, you can have everything. I will be grateful to you, and our family will be grateful to you. I will try my best to make you happy. What does that mean? It means I will truly take care of your children. So can you promise me that much? Then raise your hands, please!