There has been no rain,
    and farmers feel sick
as they watch cracks appear
    in the dry ground.^[b]

⁵ A deer gives birth in a field,
then abandons her newborn fawn
    and leaves in search of grass.
⁶ Wild donkeys go blind
    from starvation.
So they stand on barren hilltops
and sniff the air,^[c]
    hoping to smell green grass.

Let Us Possess the Everlasting Love of the Father

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
October 5, 1958

Before Jesus told others to invest their hearts, he first invested his heart for God. Before he told them to exert their wills, he did it first. Before he told them to love God with their utmost effort, he practiced it first. Thus, he became the substantial incarnation of the commandment. Jesus, who appeared on the earth with God’s mission for humankind, witnessed to God’s great power of life through words. When they went unheeded, he used miracles to witness. He introduced the ideal of the world and the cosmos to a nation who wished for their own happiness. The Israelite nation understood God’s ideal as being individually and nation-centered. Jesus showed God’s love to them through examples. He demonstrated a love which embraced the gentiles beyond the limits of the nation so that they could actually see and hear it.

Who received the stimulation of life from Jesus? Those who overcame death received it. Who felt the great power of hope? The same ones. Who felt the great power of love? Again, it was those who overcame death. They should have believed in Jesus when he was alive. They should have received the power of life to overcome death and attained the power of love. Only after they let Jesus die and saw his resurrection did they realize that he was their substantial ideal of life, ideals and love. Thus, they boldly went over the hill of death without fear.

What then is your position now, you who believe in Jesus as an object of hope? We should not be like the disciples, who did not recognize Jesus even when he appeared as the original incarnation of the ideal, love and life. If you become like them, you will commit the historical crime again and become the object of God’s sorrow. God has worked for 2,000 years since Jesus. Thus, in place of Jesus, who comes as the hope of believers, you should be able to dedicate your power of life for the sake of the past, present and future and to sacrifice your life for God. Where are the people who have such determination? This is the big question. You say you have faith, but the question is what standard of faith you have.

After meeting the returning Jesus, receiving the infinite stimulation of life, seeing the ideal world of creation, and feeling the infinite power of love, we have realized that the footsteps of Jesus were not for his own sake. Rather than complaining against his enemies, he produced the fire of love to melt them. When he received persecution from his enemies because of their excessive desires, he embraced them with greater love and exploded with the Shim Jung of a greater ideal and life. The whole world then came whirling into his bosom. If there is life, an ideal and love in God, what should we do centering on them? We should become original substances of love and life who can unify all the people of the world, whether on the brink of death or in the realm of life. You should know this.

Thus, the fact that Jesus came and we can follow him is a word of blessing or gospel for humanity. Knowing this, you should not think centered on yourself. You should, first, feel the fact that God totally invested His heart, will and character for us. You should also feel the fact that there has been a substantial person who thoroughly exerted his heart, will and character for us. That was Jesus. The footsteps Jesus left were loving humankind with all his heart, will and character. The question is if you have the Shim Jung which can experience this directly without explanation. You should know clearly that the existence or absence of such a Shim Jung determines God’s decision whether He can make a relationship with you.