Numbers 8
8 They are to bring a bull and its proper grain sacrifice of flour mixed with olive oil. And they must bring a second bull as a sacrifice for sin.
9 Then you, Moses, will call together all the people of Israel and have the Levites go to my sacred tent, 10 where the people will place their hands on them. 11 Aaron will present the Levites to me as a gift from the people, so that the Levites will do my work.
Jeremiah 31
People of Israel,
you are my own dear children.
Don’t I love you best of all?
Though I often make threats,
I want you to be near me,
so I will have mercy on you.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
Let Us Halt in Our Steps and Behold the One Who Is Protecting Us
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 8, 1959
We have to understand this as we relate with all things and become someone who can sing of the heart of God, who created the natural world. We have to be able to sing of the heart of God who rejoiced after creating the universe; we should sing of the heart of God when He rejoiced after creating human beings. We should sing about how this world of ideology has been made so good, precious and beautiful. When we can praise God with this heart, we can become connected to heavenly and human love. You must understand that this is how the historical and providential bond of heart, which is linked to the heavenly principles and human principles, is forged.
Today, we often understand God as one who has the same sung sang as we. However, in your life of devotion, when you are praying or when you are meditating quietly, watching the natural world alone in the dark night, or when you have opened the door to your heart with a serious attitude and feel the outpouring of your original mind as you behold nature, you will feel that nature exists for you. You will experience deeply that the infinitely large world of the heavenly bodies exists for your sake. If you then bow your head and pray, “Father, thank You,” you will offer a more profound prayer than any you may offer based on your personal feelings.
Although we call God “our Father,” we merely thought that this Father protects us. We did not know our Father was so gigantic, great and all-encompassing. We have to realize clearly, in the depth of our hearts, that this Father has been working hard to elevate us and build a father-son relationship of heart with us throughout the many thousands of years since the creation of the universe.
When you come to sincerely feel this in your innermost heart, you can use the words “great” and “gigantic” for describing this Father alone and no other. This is how great and immense He is. If we were to praise Him with such words as “great,” “amazing” and “dignified,” He is so great that there is no other being worthy of being portrayed by the same words. You have to understand that we have been worshipping this Father and that this Father has been protecting us.
Why has our human desire been so small until now? Why has our point of view been so narrow? Why have our feelings been so wicked? We can only lament over ourselves.
If in your life of devotion you have never had the experience of entering this state and feeling this emotion about the world of ideology, bowing your heads and shedding tears, calling out “Father” to the Holy One who is protecting us, then even if you understand our goal of attaining dominion over the natural world, you cannot shoulder the responsibility to accomplish it.
Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” (Matthew 16:26) What does it mean that our insignificant and unworthy selves are more valuable than anything in the creation? It is not because we have the most beautiful appearance or shape; it is not because we are so great. It is only because of the fact that we alone can connect to the love which flows internally from the world of the ideal of the creation. That is why we are precious.
No matter how vast the heavens may be, no matter how beautiful nature may be, they can at most give inspiration and stimulation to God. They cannot grasp the Father’s heart of creation and bring Him joy by manifesting that heart. The things of creation cannot grasp the entire stream of the creative heart and respond to it in kind. No other being in the universe, only human beings, who have been blessed with dominion over the universe can do this. For this reason, God needs human beings. If you take the heart out of human beings, their value is no longer greater than that of all things.
What is true for our heart is also true for our actions. What must we do to establish the ideology and manifest it as beauty, love and goodness before the heart of God, who created the universe? We have to understand that before our path lies a relationship of the heart which is loftier than any self-centered desire, hope, joy or feelings.