To Live In Utmost Gratitude

Hak Ja Han Moon
July 31, 1984
Leaders' Conference
Belvedere

I know that all of you have been working very hard. Father urged us to have this leaders' meeting today, to unite our goals and our plans for the days and months to come. Knowing that you would all be coming today, I thought yesterday about what to tell you.

I have but one life goal: to live in utmost gratitude. Today I will be more grateful than yesterday; tomorrow I will be yet more grateful. However, I must confess to all of you that even though I feel that I have to be strong, determined, and constantly moving forward, it is sometimes inevitable that I feel rather weak, rather sentimental and emotional, and that is the truth of the matter.

I always think: What is the true way to pursue a life of faith in God? If we have a way of knowing the will of God precisely, then to fulfill that will is, of course, ideal. But in many cases we do not have that good fortune. So we stumble, wander, and go back and forth -- we all have some feeble tendencies. For that reason I feel that the best virtue in pursuing the path to heaven is to obey: Obey God, His will, and Father. I know we always learn great lessons from history. Seeing these, we redetermine ourselves, saying that we must not repeat some of the mistakes committed in history.

I am sure that 2000 years ago, before the coming of Christ, those people who believed in Judaism would have thought the same thing. They wanted to make no mistake when the time came. However, as you know, even though they did not realize it themselves, they made a great blunder. They committed the most serious error in history. You know the subsequent 2000 years of Christian history.

Today, where are we? Are we sure that we are not committing the same mistakes and blunders that people have made on many occasions and in different times throughout history? Do we have confidence that we are not going to make the same mistakes again?

Father gave a parting word to me at the last moment before he left for Danbury. He said that you must not complain about the situation. Rather, you must live in gratitude about it. When you are completely united in gratitude, this will create a foundation for true, lasting unity. When there is unity a great miracle will come. Those were Father's last words.

You know Father's history very well. Father needs to be received by the people. The Messiah came to be accepted. If in the early days of his life the people and the nations had accepted Father, he would have gone a different path. However, people again and again rejected him. They rejected, and rejected, and rejected again. For that reason, Father had to always take the secondary path. But no matter what difficulties, persecutions and tribulations Father faced, he did but one thing: God's will. In each situation, when he found the best way to fulfill that will, Father committed himself a thousand percent, and didn't deviate even one iota from that will.

You have learned Father's history and his way of life through the testimonies of the elder brothers and sisters. After he arrived in the United States, you know yourselves what Father's path was. He lived every moment of his life with one principle in his mind -- that he would never be indebted to others. Rather, he preferred that others feel indebted to him, feel grateful for him. He wanted to serve humanity and live for the sake of others. There is not a single moment of the day he does not try to serve humanity, knowing that he cannot afford to be indebted to others.

When Father left for Danbury, I saw him in utmost determination. Once Father saw that imprisonment was his destiny, at that moment Father forgot about himself and thought only about one thing: how to comfort Heavenly Father and redetermine himself to bring, under the circumstances, the best kind of victory he can to Him.

I have already gone to Danbury many times during Father's incarceration. I am sure you have previously heard that I spoke to another group of leaders here in Belvedere. Conveying Father's message I said that during the first forty days we must become miracle workers. I know Father wanted to comfort me and the children. He said, "Don't worry about me. I am not in pain. This forty-days is much better for me than a forty-day fast and prayer; it is better than that condition."

Father told me that 2000 years ago, when Jesus went up the Mount of Golgotha for the crucifixion, he was utterly alone. There was no sympathy, no understanding, no support, not even from his own disciples. But the difference today, 2000 years later, is that people see Rev. Moon has done nothing wrong. First of all the followers are with him. Secondly, the religious leaders now feel that he has done nothing wrong; they are united with Father. Moral people around the world are supporting Rev. Moon. So Father is not alone. Furthermore, Father said that by his incarceration, unity will come to the Christian community, so that for the first time in history God's age-old desire for the unification of Christianity is now possible. Father notes that this is happening 2000 years after Christ.

As you know, Father has reiterated in his instructions through the years that we need 30,000 solid members in the United States to fulfill God's will. Unfortunately, we haven't complied with that wish. Now, Father said, the time has come. God is giving you the opportunity to bring unity among 30,000 ministers. This is the opportunity. You can do it. Father has clearly defined the goal. I am sure all of you regained the confidence to achieve that goal by attending the Washington Rally and Pageant on July 25 at Constitution Hall. The purpose of this meeting today is to expand the success of the Washington Constitution Hall Pageant to a nationwide scale.

A Modern-Day Moses

I want to convey to you Father's message for all the leaders of the Unification Church. First of all, we must realize that this time is equivalent to when Moses ascended the mountain and fasted for forty days, receiving the Ten Commandments. Father is in the position of a modern-day Moses. Father entered the mountain, which happened to be Danbury, and he is proceeding with a special dispensation, fulfilling a special purpose there. This period particularly is a time for unity centering upon True Parents and the True Family in East Garden. All blessed couples should be united together. That is internal. We have already done all the external unity; it is all well set. Now all the religious communities and the denominations of Christianity are coming together. This is the time for all unity to take place. Father made that clear.

Four True Children have been blessed. Those four blessed couples are taking turns participating in the nightly prayer vigil at East Garden holy ground. And even those who are single, those who understand Father's dispensation, are vigorously participating in the prayer condition right now.

As you know, when Moses went up unto the mountain, he left behind chosen representatives, Aaron and Miriam, who were to pursue the mission and purpose in Moses' absence. When the leader goes into the mountain to do the work and receive the message from God, the representatives remaining behind lead the mission. Father has appointed his representatives for this time in our movement. These are the elder brothers of our blessed couples, Rev. Won Pil Kim, Col. Bo Hi Pak and Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak. These three must be absolutely united. This was Father's first direction. With this core of three forming one trinity in the center, Dr. Durst and all the leaders in the field are also in the position of Aaron and Miriam.

So, in this modern-day Mosaic era, my urgent instructions to you are that we must become God-centered Aarons and Miriams who will not commit the same mistake made by those two at the time of Moses. We must not repeat their mistakes in the modern era when our True Parents are in the center. You know what happened in the Sinai desert during the absence of Moses, don't you? But you have confidence that you will be better than Aaron and Miriam, that you will fulfill our Father's wishes in our time. From now on, we will go forward and have conferences under that spirit so that, as you said, you will fulfill the mission that Father and True Parents have given to you.