Author: Richard Urban

It Is an Amazing Fact that True Parents Have Appeared on This Earth

Happy Seonghwa Anniversary to True Father, Rev. Sun Myung Moon (1920- 2012), who cam as the True Parent of all humanity. Here is an inspiring video about his life, in his own words. Also see this summary of Rev. Moon’s life and work.

View or listen to the latest Richard Urban Show video and podcast:
God in the Public Square-Interview with Philip Sharp.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 227

Now the time has come when you can
develop a vision for the nation. It is an
amazing fact that you can stand in the
front line as a fighter for sake of the inde-
pendence and deliverance of the nation.
Those who do this become representa-
tives of human history and the history of
the universe. When God sees this, how
proud and content He will feel!
It is also an amazing fact that True
Parents have appeared on this earth. We
have severed that which has come from
the false parents. Based on this accom-
plishment, we want to bring everyone
through the gate to the True Parents on
the opposite side. Accordingly, we aim
to turn the path to hell back toward
heaven.
Without passing through the gate of
the True Parents, you cannot enter the
Heavenly Kingdom. However, Chris-
tianity does not have this gate. Only
the Unification Church does. Passing
through this gate will enable you to go
directly to the Kingdom of Heaven. In
return, however, you must completely
clear up your past. You should not even
remember the names of the friends you
have known. Married women should not
be thinking of the man they first loved.
They must reach the point of completely
forgetting him. Those who think about
how they lived in the past cannot enter
the Heavenly Kingdom.
This is why we must put together all
our devoted effort to focus our thoughts
solely on True Parents and God. If some-
thing else is mixed in, you will not be
able to travel in a straight line. You will
not be able to walk the path of love. Just
because you have received the Blessing
on earth does not mean that everything
is finished. You must also pass through
a church-level Blessing, a national-lev-
el Blessing and ultimately a world-level
Blessing. You will need to go through
these three stages. Why? So that you can
effectively reach the point of total self-
denial. Just because you have sons and
daughters does not mean that they are
your possessions. You must reach the
point of total self-denial. These sons and
daughters belong to God and True Par-
ents. (208-342, 1990.11.21)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1554

The only ideology that should remain
is Godism, which provides us with the
absolute ideal of love and the realm of
heart for our brothers and sisters in all
nations. Only Godism and no other
should govern this world! Amen! (137-196,
1986.1.1)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Beauty

  1. The Beauty of Nature

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

No matter how precious a work of art in a museum may be, can it be equal to a living work of art? This world is God’s work of art; it is like a museum containing all God’s beloved creations. (175:187, April 16, 1988)

Listen to the sound of the cicada. When it sings, all other creatures sing along with it. No orchestra on earth can compare to the orchestra of nature. (285:243, June 5, 1997)

Beholding all things of the natural world, nature’s beauty and harmony through the changing sea-sons, we should appreciate their profundity. A bird in flight, a butterfly or bee, the flowing streams and the towering mountains—know that each is God’s creation and a manifestation of God’s inner heart. (5:343, March 3, 1959)

If you ever feel as if you are dying of loneliness, go out into a garden and find a flower. Smell its fragrance and talk with it, “What a beautiful fragrance! Where are you from?” It might respond, “I come from my grandma and grandpa.” This means its ultimate origin was from God. God created this world as a beautiful garden for us; it is a museum of living things, given for our enjoyment. Picasso’s paintings may be beautiful, but he could not create even a patch of grass. Have you ever considered that you are looking at God’s museum? Have you ever been astonished at the beauty of a pussy willow? It blooms on a cold spring day by the ice-melting stream. How marvelous! Have you wondered for whom is it blooming? Imagine: when your beloved child is thirsty, he breaks the ice with his fist and drinks the water. Afterwards he sees that pussy willow in bloom, a symbol of spring, and sings its praises. It is wonderful! Seeing it enriches our life.Our living environment is a museum of love. Talk with its exhibits and make them your friends. Once you understand that you were born on earth to build relationships with this world of love, how can you be lonely? (112:220, April 12, 1981)

God of creation! Thy beauty is manifested in all the created beings: Everywhere Thy hands have touched teems with mysterious and radiant beauty. Let us fathom the distressed heart of the Father who, even today, ceaselessly tries to find beauty in us, who were created for this purpose. Allow us, we pray, to return beauty to Thee, for Thy love. (1:102, June 10, 1956)

Even Solomon in all His Glory Was Not Arrayed Like One of These

James 1

1 From James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world.[a]

2 My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

5 If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. 7-8 If you are that kind of person, you can’t make up your mind, and you surely can’t be trusted. So don’t expect the Lord to give you anything at all.

Lamentations 4

4 The purest gold is ruined
    and has lost its shine;
jewels from the temple
    lie scattered in the streets.
2 These are Zion’s people,
    worth more than purest gold;
yet they are counted worthless
    like dishes of clay.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Beauty

Beauty abounds in nature: the majestic mountains, the delicate hues of a flower, the brilliant colors of a sunset, the sparkle of dew on the morning grass. there is harmony of shape and color, light and shadow, sound and silence.
Harmony is an aspect of beauty. harmony is inherent in the very structure of the universe. the ancients found mathematics to be the basis of music, and today scientists are learning more about the “music of the spheres” in the motions of the stars and the properties of the atom. singing birds and chirping insects sound nature’s music as they seek for love. they are expressing its inherent harmony; human music cannot compare with it. the dissonance of our fallen condition condemns us to strike discordant notes. Were that human beings as harmonious as nature!
Human beings, God’s supreme creations, should manifest supreme beauty. people sing, dance, and create beautiful art, but more than that, we find beauty in one another, in expressions of love. there is inner beauty in a loving couple, a filial child caring for aged parents, and a loyal citizen making sacrificial efforts for the welfare of his or her nation. the beauty that people manifest in these ways also glorifies God, who delights to see beauty abounding in his works. this inner beauty becomes apparent in the spirit world—where beauty abounds for those who are worthy.

  1. The Beauty of Nature

Nature is the art of God.
Dante Alighieri

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they
neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6.28-29

God is beautiful and loves beauty
Hadith of Muslim (Islam)

It is God who has made for you the earth as a
resting place, and the sky as a canopy, and has
given you shape—and made your shapes beau-
tiful—and has provided for you sustenance of
things pure and good; such is God, your Lord.
So glory to God, the Lord of the Worlds!
Qur’an 40.64

Known by the name of Protectress
is the Goddess girt by Eternal Law;
by her beauty are these trees green
and have put on their green garlands.
Atharva Veda 10.8.31 (Hinduism)

The One who, Himself without color,
by the manifold application of His power
Distributes many colors in His hidden purpose,
And into whom, its end and its beginning, the
whole world dissolves—
He is God!
Svestasvatara Upanishad 4.1 (Hinduism)

Beauty is before me.
Beauty is behind me.
Beauty is below me.
Beauty is above me.
I walk in beauty.
Navajo Song (Native American Religions)

God created the seven heavens in harmony.
Qur’an 71.15

In the cosmic Void is He absorbed,
Where plays the unstruck mystic music—
Beyond expression is this miraculous wonder.
Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 23.1,
M.5, p. 293 (Sikhism)

The origin of music lies far back in time. It arises
out of two poles: the two poles give rise to the
powers of darkness and light. The powers of dark-
ness and light undergo change; the one ascends
into the heights, the other sinks into the depths;
heaving and surging they combine to form bod-
ies. If they are divided they unite themselves
again; if they are united they divide themselves
again. That is the eternal way of heaven. Heaven
and earth are engaged in a circle. Every ending
is followed by a new beginning; every extreme is
followed by a return. Everything is coordinated
with everything else. Sun, moon, stars move in
part quickly, in part slowly. Sun and moon do
not agree in the time which they need to com-
plete their path. The four seasons succeed each
other, bringing heat and cold, shortness and
length, softness and hardness. That from which
all beings arise and in which they have their ori-
gin is the Great One; that whereby they form
and perfect themselves is the duality of dark-
ness and light… Sound arises out of harmony.
Harmony arises out of relatedness. Harmony
and relatedness are the roots from which music,
established by the ancient kings, arose.
Book of Ritual 19 (Confucianism)


The Purpose of Creation is Being Trampled

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Podcast: God in the Public Square

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1271

Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one
is reborn, one cannot enter the Kingdom
of God. The “I” who has lived until now
must be denied. Even if you have excus-
es, and even if you have many accom-
plishments to your name, you must deny
yourself. Because you are fallen human
beings, you cannot escape from this fate.
Your whole life should be denied, your
daily life should be denied; you are liv-
ing a spiritually dead life that should be
denied. (6-278, 1959.6.7)

Richard: This is about real “cancel culture”. You are supposed to cancel your (fallen) self, not “cancel” other people.

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1441

Those who are registered centering
on True Parents will become the ances-
tors of the future. They will become
ancestors of the next world, and based
on the mainstream tribe and everyone
from the collateral family lines, tribes
will be created. That is why you need to
be registered. You cannot be registered
without doing anything for it. You first
need to restore 160 or 180 couples. Those
who have failed to accomplish this will
be eliminated. The era in which you
could assert your position as one of the
36 Couples has already passed. We are
now living in the era of equalization,
and the only issue in this era is who will
be the first to fulfill that responsibility.
(286-247, 1997.8.11)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Stewardship

3. To Restore the Garden of Eden

The Lord God took the man and put him in the
Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
Genesis 2.15

When God created the first man, He took him
and led him round all the trees of the Garden of
Eden, and said to him, “Behold My works, how
beautiful and commendable they are! All that I
have created, for your sake I created it. Pay heed
that you do not corrupt or destroy My universe;
for if you corrupt it there is no one to repair it
after you.”
Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7.13 (Judaism)

In the days when natural instincts prevailed, men
moved quietly and gazed steadily. At that time,
there were no roads over mountains, nor boats,
nor bridges over water. All things were produced,
each for its own proper sphere. Birds and beasts
multiplied; trees and shrubs grew up. The former
might be led by the hand; you could climb up and
peep into a raven’s nest. For then man dwelt with
the birds and beasts, and all creation was one.
There were no distinctions of good and bad men;
being all equally without knowledge, their virtue
could not go astray. Being all equally without evil
desires, they were in a state of natural integrity,
the perfection of human existence.
Chuang Tzu 9 (Taoism)

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling
together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play over the hole of
the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the
adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all My holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. 14
Isaiah 11.6-9

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Our planet Earth faces serious environmental problems. Environmental pollution and injury to nature show contempt for the beautiful and holy world that God created. People without true love abuse the natural world; they take it as merely something to be used.
One serious consequence of the Fall is that Adam and Eve could not inherit God’s true love. As a result, people are unable to love their fellow human beings, and they are unable to love the creation.
All creatures still yearn to receive true love from human beings. I would like to build an ideal community in South America, one that demonstrates the appropriate relationship of love between human beings and nature. (271:75-76, August 22, 1985)

Live in the countryside rather than in the city. Embrace, nurture and protect the natural world with the same love that God had when He first created it. You and I have the responsibility to protect endangered species from becoming extinct. Only when we love all creation and all people in God’s stead can we return to our rightful positions as owners.
Love nature. Love the sea, the mountains and the fields—all three. Love all living things, so that they may grow. As the descendants of Adam and Eve, you have the responsibility to love the water, the air and the earth in God’s stead, restoring them to their original condition before the Fall. They will supply nutrients for all things to grow, and all creation will return to the blessed world of Eden. (May 10, 2003)

This planet earth is becoming barren. Year by year the deserts are growing, and plants are disappear-ing. Therefore, we should collect all the varieties of seeds that God created and sow them. With the loving heart that God had when He created all things on earth, we should increase the trees and plants, transplanting them and propagating their cuttings. We should protect the land. The land should contain a balance of plants, animals and human beings. If the plants die away, then human life and civilization will inevitably perish.
We are now faced with a situation in which the purpose of creation is being trampled. Therefore, as we love God, His nation and His sovereignty, we should also love and protect His people and His land. By restoring the entire creation, we should create a lush and prosperous natural world where animals roam free, as God originally intended us to build. (304:254-55, November 8, 1999)

Wasting Anything Is a Sin

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Romans 16

25 Praise God! He can make you strong by means of my good news, which is the message about Jesus Christ. For ages and ages this message was kept secret, 26 but now at last it has been told. The eternal God commanded his prophets to write about the good news, so that all nations would obey and have faith. 27 And now, because of Jesus Christ, we can praise the only wise God forever! Amen.

Joshua 8

21-24 One region of Benjamin’s tribal land had twelve towns with their surrounding villages. Those towns were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz, Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Chephar-Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Stewardship

2. Conservation and Sustainable Development

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Nature always seeks balance, and has been doing so unceasingly for billions of years. What about you Americans: are you in balance or not? You waste excessively. Once when I went to a public rest-room, I saw someone tear off a long strip of toilet paper and use only the end of it, leaving two-thirds unused on the floor. (339:165, December 20, 2000)

Wasting anything is a sin, from the principled viewpoint. When we were born, we are allotted only a certain amount of material for our use. If we use more than the allotted amount, we are committing sin. We should conserve resources for our posterity. (June 13, 2000)

How to solve environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems facing humanity. According to scientists, once the ozone layer is depleted, humankind will not be able to survive the sun’s ultra-violet rays. Pollution is even changing the climate. We should, therefore, change our lifestyle. We should live a simple life in nature, as people did in the ancient times. We should even go to the bathroom in nature, which recycles human waste as fertilizer, rather than causing pollution to the environment. (203:56, June 14, 1990)

We should not allow animal species to become extinct. We should nurture them and then set them free. Zoos should not just exhibit animals; they should breed them to set free in the wild. We should likewise protect insect species. We should protect and nurture all the species of plants, which are food for animals. We should protect the seeds of the world, that no plant species becomes extinct. (324:118, June 17, 2000)

Already, some species of insects, fish and animals have become extinct. If this phenomenon con-tinues unabated, then in 600 years, or even 300 years, human beings will also become extinct. (326:152, July 7, 2000)

We should raise fish in farms and then let them loose. We can hatch them from eggs like we raise chickens. After letting them loose, we love them, then catch and eat them. The things of creation serve as living offerings to compensate their owner for the love they have received: thus does the creation provide food for people. Now, instead of just catching fish, we should first farm them…Krill is high in protein; it is a good resource that can be food for animals. This foodstuff exists for the sake of humanity. By supplying the world with krill, we can solve the world’s food problems. We can lay water pipelines to the desert and create fish farms. Just as petroleum is brought to the American mainland from Alaska, it should be possible to pipe seawater or freshwater to any place in the world. Amazon River water can be piped to the desert. Then it can be developed for fish farming. We should breed and grow fish with a loving heart, before we eat them. By creating fish farms in the desert, we can also use the water to irrigate the land to grow vegetables and grass. Every year, more land is turning into desert. Through human ingenuity, by establishing fish farms, the desert will become a place of marshes and trees. I am not just thinking small-scale; I envision transforming a huge desert into fish farms that will produce an infinite supply of food. (324:114-15, June 17, 2000)

Solutions to the world’s environmental problems cannot be arrived at through the efforts of scien-tists alone, or by the efforts of any one individual, organization, or nation… They call for sacrifice and cooperation among all peoples of the world, transcending the interests of any one community or nation. Such a spirit of cooperation will be attained only when all people view themselves as mem-bers of the same human family. This revolutionary change in human consciousness has long been needed, and is vital to humanity’s survival today. (74:108-09, November 21, 1974)

Plant a Carob Tree for Your Children

Happy Pal Jung Shik Celebration (Settlement of the Eight Stages)
Declared 8/31/1989 at Kokiak, Alaska.


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Cheon Seong Gyeong 2160

Jesus knew that individual enemies
were not the only enemies. He knew that
family enemies, clan enemies, ethnic
enemies, national enemies, and glob-
al enemies surrounded him on all four
sides. This means that there are many
enemies awaiting those who want to fol-
low his path. It also means that if you
go the family path, there are family ene-
mies waiting, and if you go the clan path,
there are clan enemies waiting. You can
expect fierce battles, but you must love
those enemies whenever you encounter
them. If you possess this kind of spirit,
someday victory can be yours.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1179

Through two thousand years of
Christianity God made the Second
Advent of the Lord possible. If, imme-
diately after World War II, I could have
stood on the victorious foundation of
Christianity and the United States based
on the Christian cultural sphere, would
I have undergone hardships? If they had
accepted me in those days, then who
would have been Mother? If Sung-jin’s
mother had been unable to take that
position, who would have replaced her?
It would have been a British woman. As
seen from God’s will, it would have been
a woman from Great Britain. The British
royal family would have made a connec-
tion with me. Doesn’t that belong to the
realm of Christian culture? Britain gave
birth to America. There was symbolic
significance to Korean president Rhee
Sung-man (Syngman Rhee) marrying
a western woman. Ultimately, due to
the opposition from Christianity, True
Mother gained this blessing. ( 181-217,
1988.10.3)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Stewardship

2. Conservation and Sustainable Development

Never does a Muslim plant trees or cultivate
land, and birds or men or beasts eat out of them,
but that is a charity on his behalf.
Hadith of Muslim (Islam)

The earth feels happy in the place where one
of the faithful cultivates wheat, grass and fruit,
where he waters ground that is dry, or dries out
ground that is too wet.
Avesta, Vendidad 3.1.4 (Zoroastrianism)

If you do not allow nets with too fine a mesh to
be used in large ponds, then there will be more
fish and turtles than they can eat; if hatchets
and axes are permitted in the forests on the hills
only in the proper seasons, then there will be
more timber than they can use… This is the first
step along the kingly way.
Mencius I.A.3 (Confucianism)

One day Honi the Circle-Drawer was journeying
on the road when he saw a man planting a carob
tree. He asked him, “How long does it take for
this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy
years.” He then further asked him, “Are you
certain that you will live another seventy years?”
The man replied, “I found ready grown carob
trees in the world; as my ancestors planted these
for me, so I too plant these for my children.”
Talmud, Taanit 23a (Judaism)

The sacred hoop of any nation is but one of
many that together make the great circle of
creation. In the center grows a mighty flower-
ing tree of life sheltering all the children of one
mother and one father. All life is holy.
People native to this land have long lived by
the wisdom of the circle, aware that we are part
of the Earth and it is part of us. To harm this
Earth, precious to God—to upset the balance of
the circle—is to heap contempt on its Creator.
Therefore, with all our heart and mind, we
must restore the balance of the Earth for our
grandchildren to the seventh generation.
Black Elk (Native American Religion)

The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Speak
to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you
enter the land I am going to give you, the land
itself must observe a sabbath to the l ord . For
six years sow your fields, and for six years prune
your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the
seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of
rest, a sabbath to the l ord . Do not sow your
fields or prune your vineyards.’”
Leviticus 15.1-4

There is a type of man whose… aim everywhere is
to spread mischief through the earth and destroy
crops and cattle. But God loves not mischief.
Qur’an 2.205

When you besiege a city for a long time, mak-
ing war against it in order to take it, you shall
not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against
them; for you may eat of them, but you shall not
cut them down. Are the trees in the field men
that they should be besieged by you?
Deuteronomy 20.19

The destruction of vegetable growth is an
offense requiring expiation.
Pacittiya 11 (Buddhism)

Rajah Koravya had a king banyan tree called
Steadfast, and the shade of its widespread
branches was cool and lovely. Its shelter
broadened to twelve leagues… None guarded
its fruit, and none hurt another for its fruit.
Now there came a man who ate his fill of
fruit, broke down a branch, and went his
way. Thought the spirit dwelling in that tree,
“How amazing, how astonishing it is, that a
man should be so evil as to break off a branch
of the tree, after eating his fill. Suppose the
tree were to bear no more fruit.” And the tree
bore no more fruit.
Anguttara Nikaya 3.368 (Buddhism)