Ep 931 - Let Us Bring God Back to America Part 1

Let Us Bring God Back to America - May 14, 2023

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PDF Printable Text and Images + Testimony Michelle Beia, YCLC in Korea
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Key Points

True Parents emphasize family values because family is “the root of Heavenly Parent's ideal of creation.” It is the source, foundation, and starting point of our lives that “transcends religion, culture, race and nation.”
Because as a result of the fall the individual, not the family, became “the basic unit of all relationships,” we need to restore the value of true love and filial piety centered on God and the family and “attend God within the family.”
Human history is the history of the providence of restoration as we seek to restore Eden and approach the “long-lost Tree of Life” who is Christ.
In contrast to the doom and gloom news in the media, human history is hopeful providential history to restore the original, ideal world and renew humankind.
Opening our spiritual eyes is not being dominated by spirits, but seeing with the eyes of our heart and understanding God’s word. “It is to have our eyes, mouth, and ears centered on our heart.”
We need to be armed with the word, hear others in the context of the word, and convey the heart of heaven to others with the “mouth of the word.”
By seeing, hearing and speaking with our spiritual eyes, we can avoid conflict.
If after knowing the Divine Principle our heart and way of living are transformed, then we are on the path of opening our spiritual eyes, becoming able to read the other person’s mind, situation and heart, experiencing the spiritual world and knowing God’s existence.
If we live a life of attending worship, of giving and of ownership, we are in the process of being reborn.
The first stage of rebirth is arming ourself with the word and experiencing joy through realizing and practicing new truths and sharing them.
In the second stage we understand the meaning of the words more deeply, realize our sins and weep, and connect to the world of the heart.
In the last stage, having become a blessed couple, we overcome conflict based on the word and our faith, come to trust each other, and sincerely serve and attend each other. Only in this way will we cleanse our original sin, be reborn and enter the world of heart.
The lineage of such a couple changes and they become completely different people, inseparable from each other. Because they accept and long for each other and share tears, they cannot be in conflict.
The process of rebirth begins externally by a person observing rituals, systems and conditions; gradually his character is reborn through the Word; and then a husband and wife meet, are blessed, and sincerely serve each other for the rebirth of their heart.

Transcripts from November 3, 2021 to the present, personal notes from November 11, 2020 until November 2, 2021 and slides from August 29, 2021 to the present are available at MD.Hoondok.com as PDF files.♦

Today I’d like to talk about “Let Us Bring God Back to America” from True Mother’s Anthology, Volume 2. This is a new title, right?

Respected ladies and gentlemen from home and abroad! Beloved leaders who strive to establish true family values! The fulfillment of the Heavenly Parent’s ideal of creation is rooted in family values. However, we see today that those values are rapidly deteriorating. It was in order to firmly establish true family values and fulfill the Heavenly Parent's Will to establish one family under God, that my late husband, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and I began our providential work in the United States in 1971. Since that time, we have devoted ourselves to advocating true family ideals and values.

Heaven specially prepared and blessed the United States so that it could become a pillar of the global providence of restoration. However, my husband and I could see the tragic deterioration of family values in America. Therefore, in 1996, my husband and I invited more than 5,000 religious leaders from all over America to Washington DC to awaken the nation, teaching about the absolute centrality of true family values. The content of this educational program inspired the clergy who had gathered on that occasion, and they resolved to participate in a great movement aimed at reviving America by restoring true family values centered on God, our Heavenly Parent.

I know that many of you who are seated here today have dedicated yourselves to this great and holy endeavor. It is through your devotion and your efforts over many years that this movement has grown and that we are now able to celebrate this very meaningful 20th anniversary. I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude for your tremendous work. I would also like to congratulate today's award recipients.

Respected leaders! We are born in the bosom of the family and we grow within the family. The family is our origin, our starting point and our school of love.

This universal truth and the values embedded in the family transcend religion, culture, race and nationality. Our Heavenly Parent's ideal of creation, when He created Adam and Eve as the first human ancestors, was for them to fulfill His commandments, namely, to be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion over the creation (Genesis 1:27). However, due to the Fall of the first human ancestors, our Heavenly Parent's ideal of creation was unfulfilled. As a result, our Heavenly Parent was unable to experience the happiness of true love within an ideal family. Furthermore, throughout the course of fallen human history, true family values were trampled upon and swept away into oblivion.

If we consider the history of the rise and fall of civilizations, we observe that the decline of the family contributes to the decline of civilizations. For example, we can generally agree that western civilization traces its roots to Hebraism and Hellenism. As great as these traditions are, they each tended to emphasize the individual more than the family. That is, we do not find in them a clear vision of ideal families, nor a forceful declaration of the importance of true families rooted in our Heavenly Parent's ideal of creation. Eventually, as western civilization increasingly embraced individualistic ideas and philosophies, a culture centered on individualism emerged.

Contrary to God's Will, the basic unit of all relationships in society and the nation was not believed to be the family; instead, it became the individual. Regrettably, all relationships, including those between parents and children, came to be defined as a kind of legal or contractual relationship, similar to that which exists between a ruler and the citizens. This was a grave error. Once the relationship between parents and children is defined fundamentally in terms of a contractual relationship involving the personal interests of the parents and those of the children, parent-child relations come to be understood not in terms of heavenly morality, but rather in terms of human morality.

Since the beginning of the providential work in the United States in 1971, to realize the ideal of "One Family Under God," True Parents have devoted themselves to advocating true family ideals and values.

True Parents invited 5,000 religious leaders from all regions to Washington, D.C., in 1996 to restore the value of the family, which is rapidly collapsing in the United States, and educated them on the importance of true families.

I was there at the time. I brought 120 of our Japanese missionaries and worked with them to invite so many Christian ministers to attend this Family Values seminar.

But what about the reality in America today? These days, the value of the family, which is the root of Heavenly Parent’s ideal of creation, is rapidly collapsing.

We are born into families and grow through those families. Family is the source, foundation, and starting point of our lives. This is a universal value and truth, and is Heavenly Parent's ideal of creation.

However, due to the fall of human ancestors, it collapsed miserably, and the true value of the family disappeared without a trace in the backwaters of human history.

The two trends of ideals, Hebraism and Hellenism, which can be said to be the fundamental roots that gave birth to today's Western civilization, defined the basic unit of all relationships as the individual rather than the family, so that the relationship between parents and children also developed between the ruler and the ruled. By defining it as a kind of contractual relationship, it has been reduced to a relationship based on human principles rather than heavenly principles.

Then, from here on, how can we turn this human-centered, horizontal value system into a God-centered, vertical value system? In establishing this vertical value centered on God, the most important thing is to restore the value of true love and filial piety centered on the family.

All horizontal problems and horizontal culture can be resolved only when we establish vertical values. And the center of that vertical value system is God. Therefore, we must bring God to the center of our individuals, families, and nations. And in the family, there is no way to solve anything if we do not practice the life of attending God within the family.

To set up the vertical hyojeong tradition is really important. Without the hyojeong tradition, we cannot solve any problems. That is why we need to really go back to the original point.

LIVING DIVINE PRINCIPLE: Eschatology 8 - Human History is the History of the Providence of Restoration 4 -The Words of the Bible

• Fourth, let us investigate this issue from the words of the Bible.

• The purpose of human history lies in the restoration of the Garden of Eden with the tree of life (Gen. 2:9) standing at its center.

• Because the first human ancestors fell, the Garden of Eden was claimed by Satan, and the way to the tree of life was blocked (Gen. 3:24).

• Human history began with Alpha and will end with Omega. At the end of history, the hope of fallen people will be to enter the restored Garden of Eden and approach the long-lost tree of life (Rev. 22:13).

• Thus, the Bible teaches that the goal of history is the restoration of the Garden of Eden with Christ, who is to come as the tree of life, as its center.

Based on this Bible Exposition of the Divine Principle content let’s study Father’s word based on the tree of life.

From the View of the Evidence in the Bible, Human History is the History of the Providence of Restoration

1. By observing the evidence in the Bible, we can deduce that human history is the history of the providence of restoration.

2. The purpose of human history is to restore the Garden of Eden centered on the Tree of Life (Gen. 2:9).

3. Because the first human ancestors fell, the Garden of Eden centered on the Tree of Life was claimed by Satan (Gen. 3:24). Human history began with Alpha and will end with Omega. At the end of history, the hope of fallen people will be to wash their sin-stained robes, enter the restored Garden of Eden, and approach the long-lost Tree of Life.

What is the purpose of life? To become a true tree of life and a true tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then to become a tree of true love and finally through multiplying our descendants, to become a true tree of blood lineage. That is really our course of life.

The Tree of Life of the Last Days represents Jesus

1. When we examine ‘The Human Fall’ of the Divine Principle, the Tree of Life represents perfected Adam, the True Father of humanity. Due to the fall of the first parents, their descendants were corrupted with original sin. To be restored to the state of true, original people, as Jesus said, we must be reborn.

2. Therefore, history has been humankind’s search for Christ, the True Father of humanity, who can give us rebirth. In this verse, the Tree of Life is none other than Christ. Thus, the Bible teaches that the goal of history is the restoration of the Garden of Eden with Christ, who is to come as the Tree of Life, as its center.

The Meaning of a New Heaven and a New Earth

1. When the Bible states that a new heaven and new earth will appear in the Last Days, (Rev. 21:1) it means that the old heaven and old earth under the bondage of Satan will be restored as a new heaven and new earth under the God-centered dominion of Christ.

2. The Bible also states that the whole creation, groaning in travail under satanic tyranny, awaits the revealing of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19-22). Created beings do not await the restoration of true children of God in order to be burned by fire and perish in the Last Days; rather, they wait to be made new (Rev. 21:5).

3. Having examined human history from various standpoints, it has become clear that human history is the providential history to restore the original, ideal world. Therefore, we must become believers who participate in God’s providence of restoration with hope and desire rather than listen to desperate news about the future of earth.

TODAY’S YOUTH MINISTRY: The Stage of Rebirth

What is the Spiritual Eye?

1. What is True Parents' desire? As we study the words of the Pyeong Hwa Gyeong, we come to understand it well. We must realize the meaning of the words given by True Parents and open our spiritual eyes. Opening the spiritual eyes does not mean being controlled by a certain spirit and having spiritual exchanges with them.

Then what is the spiritual eye? It is to have your eyes, mouth, and ears centered on your heart. So, we must always arm ourselves with the Word and have the eyes, mouth, and ears of the Word. Then, everyone will grow well spiritually. That is why True Father tells us to open our spiritual eyes. (Pyeong Hwa Gyeong, p. 79). Spiritual eyes are discovering and opening the heart of one's original nature.

How can we realize the wishes of God and True Parents and put them into practice? First of all, we must understand the meaning of the words given by True Parents. When we deeply understand the meaning of the Word, our spiritual eyes are opened.

Opening the spiritual eyes does not mean being controlled by a certain spirit and having spiritual exchanges with them. Then what is the spiritual eye? It is to have our eyes, mouth, and ears centered on our heart.

Therefore, we must always arm ourselves with the Word and have the eyes to see the Word, listen to the voice of the other person with the ears of the Word, and convey the heart of heaven to the other person with the mouth of the Word. Then, everyone will grow well spiritually.

Because Fallen human do not see, hear and speak with their spiritual eyes, but see, hear, and speak with their physical eyes, they come into conflict with one another.

We Are On the Road to Eternal Life

2. We have both the physical eyes and the spiritual eyes in one individual. If we only use the physical eyes, everything in the front becomes dark. That's why True Father told us to have spiritual eyes. We Unificationists live without knowing the will, but after knowing the will, we live within an environment and blessings where we can be reborn, and our spiritual eyes are gradually opened. If our lifestyle and attitude change, then we am born again and have entered the path of opening our spiritual eyes. If a person who did not know Sunday worship starts attending, if a person who does not know how to give thanks starts to give small offerings, and if a person who came to church as a mere spectator starts to take responsibility, that person is already in the process of being born again.

We have both the physical eyes and the spiritual eyes in one individual, right? If we only use the physical eyes, everything in the front becomes dark. If we only use the physical eyes, we can only see the reality in front of us, and we cannot read or see the other person's mind, situation, or heart. Furthermore, we cannot feel anything about the spirit world and the existence of God at all, and we do not even try to know about it.

Why can we not read our spouse’s heart or that of our children? Because we are just using our physical eyes, never our spiritual eyes. That is why we cannot understand our spouse’s, our children’s or our parents’ heart. There is always conflict and struggle and stress because we normally only use our physical eyes. If we use our spiritual eyes, our attitude will be completely different.

We Unificationists live without knowing the will, but after knowing the will, we live within an environment and blessings where we can be reborn, and our spiritual eyes are gradually opened. We do not know how good our environment is compared to the secular people.

In the secular world there is no Abel to teach them, but we in the Unification Church have such a great opportunity. We already know the Divine Principle, we have listened to True Parents, we have listened to internal guidance from our central figures, Abel and church leaders and we have read hoondokhae. How much opportunity we have to open our spiritual eyes compared to outside people.

(If our way of living and the attitude of our heart change after knowing the Principle, then we are born again and have entered the path of opening our spiritual eyes.)

If a person who did not know Sunday worship starts attending, if a person who does not know how to give thanks starts to give small offerings, and if a person who came to church as a mere spectator starts to take responsibility, that person is already in the process of being born again.

The Stage of Rebirth

3. Until now, we have heard the Principle and studied a lot of True Parents' words. However, most of us are ideologically reborn and often stop there.

Of course, we also experienced joy as we lived by the Word, such as attending worship on Sunday and spreading the Word. This is also a reborn person. The next step is to realize our sin and start to weep. As we go deeper and deeper in this way, we go through the process of being born again. In this way, a reborn individual starts from the outside and gradually enter the inside to connect to the world of heart. This is real rebirth. Then, our spirit selves will be resurrected.

When you enter the world of heart, you and your spouse must serve each other as a real husband and wife. So, the Unification Church is a religion of worship. When husband and wife attend and serve each other, their original sin is erased. Therefore, we come to know that there is no other way for the true cleansing of original sin than for a husband and wife to serve each other sincerely.

A Husband and Wife Serving Each Other is True Rebirth

4. There is no place to resurrect the heart of attending without husband and wife serving each other. It is true rebirth for a couple to serve each other. This is the fundamental way to eradicate original sin. The first stage of being reborn is to be armed with the Word and enter the stage of rebirth. Next, as the husband and wife serve each other, their lineage changes and they are reborn as completely different people. This is God's blessed family. When you reach that stage, you are already heartistically reborn. Couples who are still in conflict have not entered the true stage of rebirth. Such couples are evidence that Satan's lineage still exists. Because Satan's lineage has not yet been eradicated, they come into conflict with each other. Conflict is from Satan's blood. When a couple understands each other, forgives each other, and accepts each other with tears in a position where they may be in conflict, it is proof that they have entered the stage of shimjeong. Therefore, do not forget that the true conversion of lineage takes place between husband and wife.

A Reborn Couple Cannot Have Conflict Because They Long For Each Other

5. When a couple is in conflict with each other, they focus on the words they have heard until now, try to clear it up and overcome it. When a couple overcomes conflict, they come to trust each other and a heart of service emerges. When husband and wife conflict with each other, it is faith that makes them try to overcome by recognizing that we are a family blessed by the True Parents. The next step is to be born again and try to serve each other based on that faith. Then, when a couple becomes inseparable from each other in a heart-to-heart relationship, they are truly born again. Couples that were truly reborn cannot have conflict because they long for each other. Couples born again in this way are resurrected and growing every day.

So, everyone, know that conflict between husband and wife is death. Conflicts turns a couple into darkness. They don't know what to do or where to start. They just get stressed out, blame everything on the other person, and hate the other person. We, blessed couples, must not forget that we met to truly be reborn and resurrect each other. In this way, the process of rebirth begins with external regeneration, and then the individual is reborn through their conscience and through the Word, and then the husband and wife meet and serve each other and undergo rebirth of heart.

Let’s summarize this.

Through What Stage Do We Become a Reborn Person?

1. The first stage of rebirth is the stage of arming ourself with the Word.

Without arming ourself with God’s word, it is impossible to have an experience of rebirth. We can only can have such an experience through God’s word.

2. In the early stage of rebirth, we realize new truths through the Word of the Principle and rejoice.

That is why we need to really study (the Divine Principle) again and again. We need to listen and read and practice it very much. Without arming ourself with God’s word, it is impossible to be reborn.

3. We experience joy as we live by the Word, such as attending worship on Sunday and spreading the Word.

In the beginning when we join the church it is so exciting! We know the meaning of the fall of man and the second coming. We are so excited. We (attend) Sunday service and try to witness and spread the word. This is one (aspect of) the process of being reborn.

4. In the second stage, as we understand the meaning of the words more deeply, we realize our sins and begin to weep.

The more we understand God’s word – when the speaker delivers God’s word, (we feel,) “Wow! The speaker was talking directly to me!” – then we realize more deeply and get to understand, “I am the sinner of sinners.” If we do not realize this point, then our standard is still far away. The more we study and understand God’s word, (the more) we come to realize we are the sinner of sinners and start to repent with tears.

5. As we realize our sins and go inside, we go through the process of being reborn, and as we become connected to the world of heart, we go through the process of resurrecting our spirit self.

6. The last stage of rebirth is to enter the world of heart and to serve each other sincerely as a couple.

When we enter the last stage of rebirth, we automatically have a longing heart: longing for God, for True Parents, for brothers and sisters, for spiritual children, for Abel, for our central figure. This kind of phenomenon appears. It is very natural.

7. The Unification Church is, in a word, a religion of attendance. When husband and wife attend and serve each other, their original sin is erased.

How can we remove original sin? We cannot do it alone. When Adam and Eve fell at the top of the growth stage, (it was) as a couple, as a man and woman together. Eve could not commit sin alone. Even Adam could not commit sin by himself. The original sin came through the relationship between a man and a woman as a couple.

How can we remove our original sin? Through serving each other as husband and wife. I was so surprised to understand that: we cannot remove original sin alone. It only can be removed as a couple through serving each other. Only in this way can we remove our original sin.

8. Faith does not remove original sin. Furthermore, the true cleansing of original sin is possible only when the husband and wife sincerely serve each other.

9. When couples meet for the first time, they conflict with one another. However, centering on the words that they have heard so far, they try to clear them up and overcome the conflicts.

They become better and better after hearing God’s word and serving each other, and they come to value each other as husband and wife.

10. When husband and wife are in conflict, the stage of faith is the stage of making efforts while constantly remaining conscious of the fact that we are a family blessed by the True Parents.

11. If we try to serve each other centered on such faith, we will be born again.

12. When a couple overcomes conflict, they come to trust each other and a heart of service emerges.

13. Serving each other is fundamentally the way to clear up original sin. It is true rebirth for married couples to serve each other.

When we have a relationship with our spouse, do we feel we are a couple of rebirth? Or not? Are we reborn?

What are the Results when Married Couples Fight?

1. When a couple is in conflict, they become hopeless to one another.

When we have a problem with our wife or husband, we can feel that there is no hope. It is the hell of hells. Conflict between husband and wife becomes complete darkness. Have we gotten out of hell yet?

2. When a couple is in conflict, they don't know what to do or where to start.

3. When a couple is in conflict, only stress builds up, they come to blame everything on the other person, and hate the other person.

4. Unless husband and wife serve each other, there is no place to resurrect the spirit of attendance.

5. Couples who are still in conflict have not entered the true stage of rebirth.

6. Couples who are still in conflict are evidence that Satan's lineage still remains.

7. Since the lineage of Satan has not yet been eradicated, the couple is in conflict with each other.

8. Conflict between husband and wife comes from the blood of Satan.

Did we graduate from fighting with our spouse? Do we feel our spouse’s value? Are we serving each other? Do we feel that we have already become one? Then already we are a resurrected, reborn couple.

But if we are still fighting and arguing, that means something still remains.

Results of A Truly Reborn Couple

1. By serving each other, the lineage changes and the couple is born as completely different people.

How can we remove our original sin? Through serving and serving and natural surrender. Without serving each other as a husband and wife, there is no way to remove our original sin.

2. When a couple becomes inseparable by serving each other, the couple is truly reborn.

3. Couples who were truly reborn cannot conflict because they miss (and) long for one another. Couples born again in this way are resurrected and grow every day.

If we have already overcome that kind of conflict, then automatically we have a longing heart for our spouse. Even if our spouse goes somewhere for ten minutes or one hour, we already have a longing heart and are looking for him. “Where is my wife? My husband?” (We have) that kind of longing heart. We feel we cannot survive without our spouse for even one minute, even one second. We need to have that kind of inseparable relationship.

4. When a husband and wife become one and sincerely serve each other, they are already heartistically reborn.

5. Understanding and forgiving each other and accepting each other with tears in a position where a couple may be in conflict is proof that they have entered the stage of shimjeong.

6. When a couple serves each other, they experience true lineage conversion.

Serving our spouse is the way to remove our original sin and become a reborn couple.

7. The process of rebirth begins with external rebirth by observing the rituals, systems, and conditions, then their character is reborn through the Word, and then the husband and wife meet and serve each other for the rebirth of the heart.

Today we studied the details of rebirth. What is our standard with our spouse? Do we still have far to go? Of course, we invest so much effort, but (according to) what we have shared about a couple of rebirth, we still have far to go. It is not a simple matter. We are the pioneer. No saint or sage has shown the model. Only True Parents have shown it. That is why we are in the process of becoming a couple of rebirth. That is our homework.

(Testimony Michelle Beia, YCLC in Korea)♦

NOTE: This text and the PowerPoint slides from this speech are available as a link at the top of this text. Transcripts from November 3, 2021 to the present, personal notes from November 11, 2020 until November 2, 2021 and slides from August 29, 2021 to the present are available at MD.Hoondok.com as PDF files. Books of the transcripts and notes are available as PDFs at MDBooks.Hoondok.com.

3. This lightly edited transcript may contain errors and omissions. Indecipherable, inaudible or uncertain words and guesses are tagged with a “(?)” and indecipherable phrases, with an ellipsis “...”. First, second and third person pronouns have been left as spoken if the meaning is clear, and other apparently Korean English expressions have been preserved if understandable. Some repeated phrases have been eliminated.

4. Audio only is available at anchor.morndev.com, spotify.morndev.com & audio.morndev.com. Notes or transcripts of Dr. Yong’s Morning Devotion speeches from November 11, 2020 through March 29, 2022 are available as six paperback books at cost at Lulu.com/Shop -- search for Dr. Chung Sik Yong -- and as PDF downloads free of charge at MDBooks.Hoondok.com.♦

Familyfed MediaMay 14, 2023

Ep 931 - Let Us Bring God Back to America Part 1

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