Daily Inspiration

Listen to the Richard Urban Show installment 32:

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1700

My Rhema:

Fundamentally, this universe was created in the pair system in order to create consonance. This consonance or harmony takes place centering on love. When you think of it this way, did God establish love for the sake of man and woman, or did He establish man and woman for the sake of love? Which came first? Did God design love to be the way it is because men and women are the way they are or did God design men and women to be the way they are because love is the way it is? In light of this, the most precious thing is that which can-not be seen. (226-81, 1992.2.2)

Stacey’s Rheama:

What belongs to woman is not for her own use. It is for man. Is there anyone who can deny this? That being so, nobody owns anything. It is not shameful to be women with nothing for your-selves but your names, for as such you can harmonize anywhere. You can harmonize with grandmothers, mothers, grandfathers, aunts and uncles. As the centrality of being women is not great, it leaves plenty of room for women to gradually expand their realm of reciprocity. This is connected to the formulated foundation based on the principles of the creation of the universe, and so it becomes definite. (255-144, 1994.3.10)

Richard: We are in different locations this morning. We both opened (in different books) to the exact same page about love!

Individual Responsibility

1. Each Person Is Responsible for His or Her Own Self

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

In the life of faith, you absolutely cannot remain a bystander. You think you can follow me, Reverend Moon, but you cannot lead your life of faith through me; you must find it in yourself. Regardless of what others do, you have to keep on the path of faith by your own will. (153:136, November 15, 1963)

Even in the midst of the wilderness, you can build your dwelling. You must build it by yourself. No one can help you. Therefore, be self-sufficient, so you can help others. No matter how hard things may be, add something good to your daily life. Invest step by step. God also has been investing Himself and forgetting what He had invested: that is His tradition. (248:133, August 1, 1993)

You know what to do. You know better than I what needs to be done. This course is yours, not mine. (36:31, November 8, 1970)

Unless you develop yourself and arrive at maturity—the realm of God’s direct dominion—you will not understand what love is. (137:100, December 24, 1985)

All things reach perfection after passing through the growing period (the realm of indirect dominion) by virtue of the autonomy and governance given by God’s Principle. Human beings, however, are created in such a way that their growth requires the fulfillment of their own portion of responsibility, in addition to the guidance provided by the Principle. They must exercise this responsibility in order to pass successfully through the growing period and reach perfection. We can deduce from God’s commandment to Adam and Eve (Gen. 2.17) that the first human ancestors were responsible to believe in the Word of God and not eat of the fruit. Whether or not they disobeyed God and fell depended not on God, but on them. Hence, whether or not human beings attain perfection does not depend only on God’s power of creation; it also requires the fulfillment of human responsibility. In His capacity as the Creator, God created human beings in such a manner that they can pass through the growing period (the realm of indirect dominion) and attain perfection only when they have completed their own portion of responsibility. Because God Himself created human beings in this way, He does not interfere with human responsibility.
    God endowed human beings with a portion of responsibility for the following reason. By fulfilling their given portion of responsibility—with which even God does not interfere—human beings are meant to inherit the creative nature of God and participate in God’s great work of creation. God intends human beings to earn ownership and become worthy to rule over the creation as creators in their own right (Gen. 1.28), just as God governs over them as their Creator. This is the principal difference between human beings and the rest of creation. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 5.2.2) 

The path of life is not a way I go at another’s urging,
nor because someone leads me;
I realize I can only walk this path if I cope with it by myself.
It is a principle of nature:
I feed myself when I am hungry
and drink for myself when I am thirsty. (42:90, February 28, 1971)

Listen to the Richard Urban Show Installment #31

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1919

We are now in the era of the Pacific civilization. At the same time, this leads to the space age. All the waters of the world merge with the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The rivers and the waters from the Atlantic Ocean and even water from the Mediterranean Sea all join with the Pacific. There is a flow of water called the Black Current that is about four to five thousand miles long. As it circulates it influences all five of the great oceans of the world.

For this reason, when the era of the Pacific civilization draws near, every-body must become one. Then we can explore outer space. Unless people become one, they would even fight over the ownership of the sun, with everyone claiming that right. They would ask who the master of the starry realm is and they would all claim to be the one. They are bound to fight among each other. Our sun is about 1.3 million times larger than the earth. How could human beings, who don’t even amount to a tiny speck, claim to own this vast entity? The universe would roar with laughter. A unified world is bound to appear in the era of the Pacific civilization. That is why everything must be overhauled. Democracy in America does not work, and neither does communism. That is why the head-wing ideology, known as Godism, must appear in this age. (207-46, 1990.10.28)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1191

Instead of beating His enemy to death God must set the condition of having loved him. In the same way the person standing in the position of Adam has to set up a condition of having loved the enemy Satan. If you endure over and over again while being persecuted, and prevail over all the tears, blood and sweat, until the enemy naturally surrenders to you, and return embracing God’s love, then you can receive the blessing. That is when Satan will let you go. You must receive this public approval; “You can now become a child qualified to go to the heavenly kingdom.” Who must sign this approval? Satan must. After Satan signs this, you will sign it, and then True Parents must sign it. You can only stand before God only after getting this signature from True Parents. That is the heavenly kingdom. (141-202, 1986.2.22)

Individual Responsibility

Responsibility is central to what it means to be human. Other creatures have life, consciousness, and even intelligence, but only human beings are responsible to choose their manner of life and hence their destiny. individual responsibility implies an attitude of self-criticism. We should not blame others for our own difficulties, but rather look for the cause within ourselves.
All the religions of the world emphasize, in one way or another, individual responsibility in matters of faith and practice, although the definition and limits differ. Buddhism and other non-theistic traditions regard the journey on the path to liberation as entirely the responsibility of the individual. each individual is “a lamp unto himself ”; each works out his own salvation alone and by himself. There is explicit rejection of reliance upon a savior from without, as both Buddha and Muhammad rejected characterizations of themselves as saviors.
On the other hand, in the monotheistic faiths, the context of individual responsibility is prevenient grace. As a person works out his own salvation, at the same time God is at work within. Salvation is a gift, yet it is our responsibility to receive it and not reject it. Father Moon characterizes this joint responsibility in numerical terms: 95 percent is God’s responsibility and 5 percent is the human portion. In this view, responsibility ennobles human beings. It means that each of us has a role to play in our own perfection, and even an indispensable-able role in completing God’s work of creation. This responsibility contains the gift of freedom. Several passages explore this teaching in light of the human Fall and divine forbearance in not intervening to prevent it.
Many religions hold that an individual’s destiny is at least partly determined by factors beyond his or her control: God’s predestination, past karma, or the burden of inherited sin. Nevertheless, several texts reject the notion that such conditions impinge in any way on one’s individual responsibility. Arguing against fatalism, they maintain that with every situation comes the opportunity to improve our lot by the exercise of responsibility. Father Moon goes one step further: he teaches that inasmuch as our individual selves are the results of many generations, fulfilling our responsibility benefits not only ourselves but countless ancestors as well.

1. Each Person Is Responsible for His or Her Own Self

Book 12 • The Pacific Rim Providence1920are bound to fight among each other. Our sun is about 1.3 million times larg-er than the earth. How could human beings, who don’t even amount to a tiny speck, claim to own this vast entity? The universe would roar with laughter. A unified world is bound to appear in the era of the Pacific civilization. That is why everything must be overhauled. Democracy in America does not work, and neither does communism. That is why the head-wing ideology, known as Godism, must appear in this age. (207-46, 1990.10.28)