Numbers 4

4 The Lord told Moses and Aaron:

^2-3 Find out how many men between the ages of thirty and fifty are in the four Levite clans of Kohath. Count only those who are able to work at the sacred tent.

Richard:  God wants us to have specific and measurable results in our ministry work.  Visionroot produces great tools to help you do that:  http://www.visionroot.org.

Mark 2

¹² The man got right up. He picked up his mat and went out while everyone watched in amazement. They praised God and said, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Richard:  Miracles do happen!

Let Us Halt in Our Steps and Behold the One Who Is Protecting Us

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 8, 1959

Psalm 121

You may not be so well aware of this fact, but history is moving toward some destination. It is ceaselessly flowing toward the one unified world of the ideal. This is not an arrangement made by human beings or something human beings have accomplished. This flow moves forcefully in spite of our ignorance of it. Since it has the power to surround us, move our minds, and steer the course of our nation and world, and since we are on our way toward the world of our destination, we cannot help being a part of this great procession. You should reflect once more upon your being subject to this unalterable fate.

In this flow, where is our path heading? Is it to the left or the right? Is it vertical or horizontal? When we consider this flow, we find that we cannot boast about any self-centered success. The same thing holds true, even if we are delighted in the great world of the arts.

A person has value as the subject in sight of the entire universe in a reciprocal relationship with it. Therefore, until we can achieve the kind of success of which we can boast in the presence of the creation, there is no way we can alter that flow of the heart. The path we must walk is one. We set out from this amazing and great world of relationships and pass through a world of relationships before arriving at our destination. There we can fully manifest our original value and proudly stand in the presence of the Creator. Hence, we must understand that in their innermost hearts human beings long to be such victors and attain such joy and freedom.miracle

Religions and the arts have emerged to guide people. They have been dealing with the realm of our emotion. They have been expanding the realms of emotion from the individual level to the family level, the national level, the world level, and the universal level. This is the direction the arts of the past have pursued.

The arts, culture and literature exist to connect us with the natural world in our hearts and to guide us to the world of emotion and thought. Science has been helping us relate with our external living environment through its external laws. The path of science is more cold-hearted the more one pursues it, while the path of the arts and literature is an increasingly painful path the more one treads upon it. Despite this, everything has been moving toward the one ideal.

What is religion? Even though science, the arts and culture have made contributions to our world and have broadened our emotions, they could not connect our realm of emotions to the eternal world. They could not connect us to the world of original, heavenly emotions. Religion emerged to shoulder the responsibility for this internal world of emotions.

Religion represents the internal aspects of the arts and culture. Religions guide people to worship the invisible Lord, whom artists and authors cannot imagine. They allow people to be moved by the inspirations of beauty the invisible Lord gives them.

There will come a time when religions, which were divided into many denominations and sects, will come together. This will not occur based on the framework of religions or the arts, but through those of you who work to bring it to pass. Ladies and gentlemen, “I” am a being. If there is a religious doctrine which understands this concept well, it can pierce to the heart of the matter and lay a foundation of the heart which can connect with heavenly love. No matter how beautiful and stimulating a work of art may be, if it cannot connect with the religious spheres, history will shove it aside as a failure and expel it from the earth.