We believe in God who wants to realize one world, a world of one purpose. Since God is Jehovah and Lord of all nations, and the center of all centers, when we face Him from afar, we want to be His loyal subjects. We were born for this duty and responsibility. Understand that as we draw near to Him, He becomes our Father to whom we owe the duty of filial piety as His sons and daughters. That is our priority. Only when you have lived like that can you say to God, “If you want to send me to hell, send me there. If you want to send me to Heaven, send me there. Do as you please.” Nobody went to hell after living like that. (154-314, 1964.10.5)
As viewed from God’s original ideal of creation, the eldest son should come from God’s side and, of course, the second son should also come from God’s side. Due to the Fall, the position of the first son was taken by Satan, and the position of the second son went to God. This has to be made right. Thus, when we consider the story of Esau and Jacob in the Bible, Jacob united with his mother and received her help. He gave Esau the pottage of lentils and bread in exchange for the birthright of the first-born son. Until today, we could not understand why Bible history is the way it is. With the appearance of the Unification Church, its meaning was clarified for the first time. (134-304, 1985.8.16)
People think, “Let us seek our pleasure during this life of less than 100 years. We have only one chance at adolescence. So, let’s eat as we wish, play as we wish, and do as we wish while we are young.” Most people who live on this earth think this way. However, even if they do everything their physical bodies desire, eventually all will come to naught. In a matter of a few years they will be bored with it all. Their life will have been in vain. (41:143, February 14, 1971)
Religions have made strenuous efforts to deny life in this world in their quest for the life eternal. They have despised the pleasures of the body for the sake of spiritual bliss. Yet, however hard they may try, people cannot cut themselves off from the reality of this world or annihilate the desire for physical pleasures, which follows them like a shadow and cannot be shaken off. This world and its desires tenaciously grab hold of religious people, driving them into the depths of agony. Such is the contradiction which plagues their devotional lives. Even many enlightened spiritual leaders, still torn by this contradiction, have met a sad end. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)
Suppose a man devotes his life to earning money and becomes a millionaire. It requires strenuous effort; he must labor through his 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s to become a millionaire in his 60s. However, at age 60, the day of his death is not distant. Having worked hard to earn money all his life, the age of retirement draws near. When he looks at all the money he has accumulated, does he feel hope or despair? As he thinks about the past, he might feel a heaviness in his spirit. As he reviews all the efforts he made at earning money, he might feel an emptiness in his heart. When it dawns on him that he lived his whole life for money, wouldn’t he feel extremely miserable?…
Suppose a man goes to a university and earns a Ph.D. He might think it a great accomplishment. To obtain that degree he studied day and night without eating, playing or taking rest. Maybe he even becomes a world-famous Nobel laureate. However, if we look closely at his life, we find many miserable things.
Although he has the knowledge of a Nobel laureate, it is all within a small field of specialization. His research in his field is like digging a small cave in the wide world. Staying within the limits of his specialization, he realizes that compared with the whole world he is extremely small. Even though he boasts that he knows something, it is an extremely small thing.
Does knowledge give human beings happiness and peace? No. Knowledge is such that we realize that the more we study, the more we do not know.
Suppose he becomes a famous professor at the university. Every day he holds a chalk and writes on the blackboard. He writes books and takes on various academic responsibilities. Yet while he inhales chalk powder and becomes a leading voice in his field, he has no idea what kind of influence he has in the world. He does not know what will happen to the world in the future. Lacking the mind to comprehend God’s Will, he does not think about what perspective he should take in viewing the world. In fact, he is more ignorant than ordinary ignorant people, because he is so caught up in his own studies.
Even with all his knowledge, he spends his entire life as a mere bookworm. He lacks the self-confidence to assert his own ideas; mostly he just represents and compares the ideas of others in his field. His life commitment consists of little more. Hence, even if he becomes a famous professor, what is the point? Life is too precious to invest it all for something like that.
Another man covets power; he dreams of becoming a big shot, like the President of the United States. Yet even if he attains that power, does it last forever? The President of the United States holds power for only four years. Compared with the expanse of history, it is like the blink of an eye. Though he enjoys his power—eating the finest food, drinking the finest wine, dancing—once the power is gone, he is nothing. He no longer matters to anyone. People with ordinary aspirations are better off than he. (98:82-85, April 30, 1978)
