The Words of Reverend Sun Myung Moon from 1984 |
Farewell Speech
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
July 20, 1984
East Garden
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
My faith will not change, wherever I go! To say that your faith will never change means that your mind will never change. By the same token, the world that I am pursuing will not change, either. Wherever I go, whether it is a high place or a low one, my life will be the same life.
Since we do not have much time today, I would like to give you a very short and simple lecture. The work of God is to make unity. If there had been no fall, each man and woman would have experienced the unity of mind and body. Then with the unity of man and woman in marriage, the ideal would have been achieved.
However, the world in which we live has not yet become one. The huge world is nothing more than the extension of individual men and women. Almost no one can claim that his mind and body are always united, thus the world in which we are living is not the world which God wanted. This is the fallen world, instead.
Since there are no individual men and women united perfectly in mind and body, there arc no families which are perfect, and no societies, nations or world which is perfect. Whenever a person becomes perfectly united in mind and body, God relates with that person as one completed individual. When such men and women are united, then God becomes the subject or center of that couple. If a certain tribe becomes totally united, then God becomes the center or the subject of that particular tribe. Therefore, it makes no difference how large the population becomes because God wants to be the center and subject to everybody.
When God becomes the subject and center of every individual, the unified world comes into being. Within the unified world we would have the unified nation, unified communities, unified tribes. families and so forth. Do you think God would like to travel around the world for sight-seeing once the unification of the world has been achieved? Or would He be content to do that at some intermediate stage, perhaps the level of unified tribes or nations? What do you think? Certainly, God would want to wait to travel through the world until it is completely unified. I am sure God is thinking now that Reverend Moon understands His desire quite well.
What is the path I am walking? My ultimate mission as the son of God is to bring about the unity of the entire world. If there had been no fall, God would never have had any problem in visiting this world. All people would have become perfected and would have automatically welcomed God into this world. It would not have mattered how many billions of people were horn; they would all have been incorporated into the unified world.
God has worked so hard to bring unity on the levels of family, clan, tribe, nation and the world. But if Adam and Eve had not fallen' they would have automatically created that unified family, clan, tribe, nation and world. If that was the reality, then God would be free to travel everywhere, joyfully experiencing unity. Wherever He would go, He would be with His people.
Because of the fall, barriers and division came into the world on every level. Now God has to deal with this divided world and that is the tragedy of both God and man. God is not at the center of this compartmentalized, divided world; instead, Satan is at the center and is running it. Incredible conflict pervades every relationship, first of all between the individual mind and body. Throughout history, no one has been able to pull out and eliminate the roots of the conflict of this world.
There is conflict between men and women, between families, tribes, and nations. There is conflict between East and West. As the champion of division, Satan knows precisely how to divide this world. Therefore, a godly man must appear who has the power to bring unity. If such a man should come with the ability to bring unity and overcome the power of divisiveness, how much joy that would bring to God!
There have been many saints throughout history and they were always unifiers. In the face of adversity, they never allowed themselves to become divided. Among the saints, the greatest of all was Jesus Christ. Jesus was the son of God and he came to unite the world, with the greatest power of unity that anyone had ever seen. He brought unity among all different races and cultures. Even his enemies, the forces of Satan who tried to destroy him, could be brought into unity by him. I want you to understand that Jesus prayed on the cross for his enemies because his deepest purpose and mission was to bring unity to everyone.
However, when Jesus was bearing the cross he was a single, solitary person. Judaism was not supporting Jesus; the chosen nation was not supporting him and the Roman Empire was not supporting him. He was absolutely alone. But today, what is Reverend Moon doing? Reverend Moon came to this modern age to bring unity. He is a unifier - he is casting fire to bring about unity. Thus, no matter what we face, we will succeed. The forces of Satan are trying to divide the Moonies and they are trying to divide Christianity, but they cannot do it.
The entire world is watching the Unification Church and Reverend and Mrs. Moon. Many people are curious about Mrs. Moon and how she is taking the recent turn of events. Also they are wondering if the Unification Church is now shattered into pieces and destroyed. But on the contrary, under these difficult circumstances the Unification Church has found itself most powerful. If Mother sheds tears, they are not the tears of tragedy or defeat; they are the tears of unity, tears for bringing hope to the future.
God's method has always been that of being hit and then restoring it, over and over again throughout history. Thus we can sometimes weep knowing that our tears will bring us greater determination and hope to allow us to march forward to the greatest victory. But if we become defeatists we will never become the people who can receive the ultimate blessings from God. Those ultimate blessings can come only to those who endure being hit and never falter, those who continue to move forward.
Even though Reverend Moon is opposed by the entire United States, I will never be defeated. I am ready to receive the blessing that goes far beyond any blessing of this country. We are growing every day - today we are greater than yesterday and tomorrow will be greater than today. If God provides a way for me to bring about the unity of the 4.5 billion people of this world, I will not hesitate an instant to take that path.
When the Supreme Court rejected our review on May 14, I never wavered in asking God, "What way do You want to lead us now?" Since then, in the past two months great numbers of Christians have become united. Today I am going the road of incarceration and I am asking God, "What is Your next chapter for me? Let Your will be done and bring the unity of all mankind, centering upon the True Parents." l know that no matter where I go, I will find people who will follow; strangers will follow me, even beyond the Unification Church.
When I walk over the hill, the unified world will be waiting there to welcome me. The billions of people will become united into one. There is a way for God to come and dwell with mankind. For the first time, the unity between God and man will be achieved.
Therefore I walk the road of the cross with hope and a totally victorious mind. We are here together, people from all different cultures and the five different colors of skin. You must be united as you follow me. You blessed couples must follow me with your entire family united. All the members throughout the world must follow in unity; that is the only way you can follow me. Because of this momentous day, there is great hope for unity starting from Mother and myself, the East Garden family, and the entire membership of the Unification Church, as well as for the rest of humanity. Because of this day, unification shall become a reality. It will continue to grow, greater and greater.
This is a glorious, victorious and historical day. For that reason, I don't want you to send me off in tears. If you have tears automatically streaming down your face, they must not be tears of tragedy. They must be tears of determination, telling me, "Trust us. We are going to bring 100 times greater victory in the days to come." I want you to understand that if you have sadness in your heart today, there is only one way to alleviate it. On the day that I return, you must be able to share with me about all the thousands of people who became united while I was gone. That is the only way you can be worthy of your tears.
I am going the road of confinement for the purpose of unity. Inside the prison I will work even harder to bring about greater unity within the Unification movement and the Christian community. Also I am working to bring unity between the Unification movement, the Christian community, and other religions. That is the purpose of my going to prison today.
Therefore, I want all of you to unite. Unless you have that internal unity, you are inviting hell to come in. When you are united, every door in the world will be opened to you. That is our God-given territory.
When Jesus was crucified, he went into hell first and opened the doors there. Today I am bearing my cross, but I will not die; I will open the doors of hell as a living person. From that point on, resurrection and Pentecost will come. That is the way I understand the meaning of this day.
The living God never dies. Therefore, my cross will only bring unification and victory. The doors to 120 nations shall be opened from today forward, depending upon how much you act. Today I am going as a champion, to bring the unification of all of humanity, as well as the unification of Heaven and earth.
You are the children of the True Parents; thus you must inherit my spirit and tradition. That means you must also become unifiers, becoming united among yourselves and helping others to unite. Even our mass weddings, such as that of the six thousand couples, are symbolic examples of my work to bring unity between people from all the six continents, with different language, culture and skin colors. The Unification Church members are one in mind. Our goal is to fulfill the will of God and the will of God is to bring the unity of mankind. We are marching toward that goal!
The road of suffering and the cross shall have no power over me. I confront all difficulties and shatter them with my determination. I am opening the highway to the horizon of hope and beyond, all the way to the victory. Even if the time comes to give up my life, it will be given up for the unification of mankind. Then God will erect a monument to me as the champion of unity. Certainly anyone who died under such circumstances would be launched like a rocket directly into God's heart. Therefore, do not worry.
As Jesus was hanging on the cross, he told people not to weep for him. Instead, he told them to weep for their children, their own people and nation and the world. Jesus could see the misery that would come to the world. I want you to understand that although there are only a few people here listening to me today, there are great numbers of people around the world who are shedding their tears in prayer, pouring out their hearts for the sake of East Garden.
Have I been waging a futile battle? No, as I struggled for this seemingly impossible dream, I knew that the entire world would eventually rally around me. From now on, you can go out and shout to the world and everyone's heart shall be melted. Their consciences will be awakened and you will be able to unite them with your heart.
As we work for greater levels of unification, we will have greater levels of success; we will not decline. At this time, I am going away and you must stay here. This is your moment of commitment to become the catalyst for the unity of the world. The Unification Church is not alone; there are many other people and groups who are siding with us now. The time has come that people will stop mocking and scorning you for being a Moonie. Now you will be admired and you will be recognized as having a great spiritual leader. This is our own time of unification. We must stand up now and move forward to achieve our goals.
When the morning comes, the beautiful sunrise can be seen in the Eastern sky. I want you to understand that the Unification sunrise is now coming to the world. Now the sunbeams are becoming stronger and stronger and we will march forward forevermore. First we must ignite the sunshine of the individual; then the individual ignites the sunshine of the family and then the sunshine of the nation, and ultimately of the world and the universe. This is how we will grow.
Thus there is no time to rest and certainly no time to weep and be despairing. We have only one road to go - the road of determination and marching forward. Why is that? It is because we are the champions who must liberate God through unification. From that point of liberation, we will be able to take our dominion over the creation. From that point forward, the Kingdom of God on earth shall become a reality. I know that to my bones. That is the goal toward which I am marching today.
So far, we have prepared a container; now we are preparing something to put into that container - the results, the victory. I am at the forefront of the marching lines, carrying that container. I am merely marching in the front of that line and everybody behind me is going in the same direction, with the same purpose. You and I have the same mission of world unification - that is the job we must do. I am going to open the doors of hell so while I am doing that, you must take care of this world. Unification is your sublime duty and your goal.
Those who are going to march according to my instructions, please stand up and shout Amen!
You blessed children who have been participating in the workshop during these past few weeks have an especially important mission for this time. You are going to be united with the True Parents' children; be totally united and do not think about anything else.
I have one piece of advice for all of the members. I know that you are feeling a desire to go to the prison and be near me; however we must conduct ourselves in an absolutely orderly fashion. Therefore, no one must come to the prison without having the express permission of Mr. Hyo Yul Kim, who has been given the special duty of being near me. His telephone number and address will be available. You must never come to Danbury without permission because if anything unusual happens, it becomes my responsibility and it can bring shame to me. I want to be proud of you, so I want you to act honorably and responsibly. Do you understand?
I want you to understand that I am going to prison on the worldwide level at this time. I have already gone to prison on the individual level, the family and the national level. This is my destiny. That means you cannot visit me in the individual capacity. Jesus told his people, if you want to follow me, follow me with your cross. Therefore, if you want to follow Reverend Moon, you must bear the worldwide cross. Once you are victorious with the worldwide cross, you can come to visit me. After you have been victorious in carrying your own cross, then I will be able to come out. I want you to understand that.
When I was in the North Korean prison, my mother came to visit me. She had walked many hundreds of miles, all the way across the peninsula, and the moment she saw me, she began to cry very strongly. At that point, I shouted out to my own mother, calling her by her given name, not Mother, "I am not just your son. I have only come to this world through you. I am the son of God - you gave birth to me, so you should be as great as your son. You cannot be cowardly or weak. You must walk forward courageously and encourage me."
Today I am saying the same thing to you. Do not ever behave in a weak or cowardly fashion. You must be proud and courageous. Even without your encouragement, I will follow the highest possible road of the son of God. Thus, instead of trying to come and visit me, go out to the battlefield. Go out and bring unity to the world. Do not waste your time coming up to the prison but bring the victory for God in the world. Even if you were killed by a runaway truck while working for God, that would be far greater than trying to come to see me in prison.
Therefore, only with permission can you come to visit me. That is the one instruction from me that you must obey. Think of it, citizens from the entire world will want to come to visit me. How can I accommodate everybody? I only have one body. In two days, the people in Danbury have already been overwhelmed by the presence of Moonies. Most prisoners are visited only once a month, so if you came every day and made a scene and were reported by the media, that would not be good at all. I do not want you to spend your energy in that fashion. Also that would bring an enormous burden upon the prison officials and that burden would fall upon me. Don't you think so?
You can come to visit the holy rock at Belvedere. I will eventually instruct Mr. Kim to dedicate some area in Danbury as a holy ground where you can go to pray, but do not go near the prison. I do not want you to be stupid. Be wise.
Mother will probably come every other day to visit me, so you can find out about my situation from her. Also those who accompany Mother can share their experiences with you. Do you understand?
If you feel such a strong desire to come to visit me, here is a method. Close your eyes and open them. That is one visit. Do it anytime you want and you can visit me, even a thousand times. I thank you for your one thousand visits!
Now the only job remaining to you is to go out and fight the Heavenly battle. Bring the unification - that is your task.
At the leaders' conference the other day, I instructed them to rally 30,000 ministers. If each of those ministers can reach out to ten churches, then 300,000 churches will be united. We organized everything for a crusade. 30,000 video tapes of the Divine Principle will eventually be distributed. How many ministers are you going to contact and bring together? Even those ministers who are not members of our church are going to bring together ten churches, so you have to do at least ten times more. That means you must contact 100 ministers. If you have fulfilled that responsibility, then I might allow you to come to see me. Is that OK?
Now show me your determination by standing and giving three cheers of Mansei!
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