Cheon Seong Gyeong (Ⅱ) - 11 - 1 - 2. Living in Attendance to God

[대태양/김현수]

Book 11 CEREMONIES AND HOLY DAYS

CHAPTER 1 The Etiquette of Attendance

Section 2. Living in Attendance to God

1 As you receive more of God’s love, you become larger, gradually leading more people and organizations. If you have laid a foundation to receive love from the people of a whole nation, you can make that nation one that can move the world. Because of this principle, you must lead a life of attendance. You need to lead a life of attendance in order to receive God’s love. You must serve and attend God first. What must you do if you wish to receive God’s love? God comes to us with perfect love, so we too must invest something that is perfect. The Korean maxim “Sincerity moves Heaven” expresses this heavenly law. To offer devotion means to do your utmost internally and externally. You must offer everything, combining your words, your attitude, your mind and thoughts, all your actions, everything in the internal and external realities of your life. In Korean this offering of devotion is called jeongseong. (78-031, 1975.05.01)

2 When you get out of bed in the morning, you should offer your first words to Heaven, and you should offer your first step out of the house to Heaven as well, by stepping first with your right foot. By cultivating habits like these, your life becomes a life of attendance. In your attitude every day, you have to adopt a principled standard. (17-296, 1967.02.15)

Attitude and law in a life of attendance

3 Where are you now? You should be aligned with me day and night, wherever you are and wherever you go. I live with God, totally investing my life for Him, totally aligned with Him, moving in the same direction as He moves, in step with Him. Now, the three—God, True Parents and you—must become one. We need to act in concert. It is a matter of life and death, so all three of us must come together and unite at one point. That point is the beginning of the realm of resurrection. It is the connecting point where the Father and I become one, and where you and I become one. It is where we three unite with one mind and one heart. Therefore, you must lead your life in accord with the Will. In order to do so, you have to understand what the Will is. Since you do not, I am asking you to pray. If you pray, I will surely appear to you and teach you. (031-321, 1970.06.07)

4 We cannot claim even a single square inch of land as our own property. God gave everything we have. Since God gave it, it must be returned to Him. No matter how small, everything came from God, and therefore we must return everything to God as things He values. The fruits of history will appear when we do. Since we received them as God’s gifts, we should give them back the same way. You should become a person who can do this. Until the world belongs to such people, this earth cannot become the kingdom of God. Why do you think I meet people and listen to them twenty- four hours a day? It is for God. Therefore, you too must meet people and listen to them, on God’s behalf. You must feel their difficulties for His sake. Even while we live on earth, we have to connect to life in the heavenly world. (35-284, 1970.10.25)

5 When you went pioneering alone in the remote countryside, you wished fervently that Unification Church members would visit you. You were anxious whether someone among the church members might have fallen sick. Your heart yearned to see the members closest to you, wishing to see a church pastor or me. You should yearn for God in this same way. If you do not yearn for God every day, you cannot attend Him. Whomever you yearn for, that yearning should always pierce you to the bone. When it gets late, if you say, “It’s already midnight, let’s go to bed,” this will cause God to worry. There is no day or night in the kingdom of heaven. The lateness of the hour is not an issue for those who live in the world of heart. (17-293, 1967.02.15)

6 "When you are hungry you say, “I’m hungry! I want something to eat!” But for whom do you want to eat? Do you want to eat for God, or for yourself? You must eat for God. By doing this, you make your body a perfect holy temple of God. You should think, ""God inside me is hungry and is telling me to eat.” When you eat with this mindset, your meal becomes sacred. It is the same when you breathe, when you go to the restroom, or when you do anything else. When you listen, you are not listening alone. Likewise when you see or touch something, do not think that you are doing it alone. When you relate to people, even when you relate to Satan’s world, you need to think that it is God who is relating to them through you. When you talk, you should think that God is speaking through you. When you are totally one with God, you can live. Even though your living, thinking and loving are centered on yourself, it will still be lawful. Even though you live, think and love centered on yourself, your living, thinking and loving will be centered on God. That is the principle. (92-166, 1977.04.03)

7 As a person who is attending God, how much does your happiness bring joy to God? When you are hungry you are grateful to eat, and when you attend God, you should have even greater gratitude. You should always attend God—when you eat, when you wear something nice, even when you are sad or face difficulties. By living this way, you will leave behind good stories that God will keep in His heart. (17-291, 1967.02.15)

8 God wants to caress the things of creation through the hands of the person whose heart is one with His. God wants to embrace all His children through the Son and Daughter whose hearts are one with His. God eagerly waits for His sovereignty to be established by the bride who is one in heart with Him. God is eager to see the day when this world will be governed by sons and daughters who are one in heart with Him. Have you ever thought about all this? The more you think about it, the more awe-inspiring it becomes. When you think about how God’s desire is not only connected to you but also to the world and even the cosmos, you cannot deny that you belong to God the Father. Therefore, you should think that your mind belongs to the Father, your heart belongs to the Father, your consciousness, your intuition and all your senses belong to the Father. You should establish the viewpoint that everything you feel and perceive belongs to the Father. You should do everything in your power to realize God’s desire. Our path may lead to death, but no matter how fearful it is, we must overcome with a strong heart and conviction. We will have the power to laugh at death and go beyond it. (008-295, 1960.02.14)

9 There are laws for attending God. When you violate them, God is very displeased. Parents can be affected by one word from the child they love. With just one word a child can drive a nail into his or her parents’ heart, or remove a nail from their heart. Likewise, because God loves humankind that much, if His children offend Him with even the slightest mistake, He can become hurt or angry. That is why I constantly strive to make God happy. (17-287, 1967.02.15)

10 When we look at six thousand years of history from a vertical perspective, we see that in the Old Testament Age, God gathered His people, and in the New Testament Age, God gathered His children. In this way, history has been flowing in reverse. In the world today there are people trying to build the kingdom of heaven centering on the concept of the people of God. There are also people who are trying to build the kingdom of heaven based upon the idea of heavenly children, the idea of heavenly siblings, and the idea of heavenly couples. You should know how to observe the laws of the kingdom of heaven in your daily life. To build the kingdom of heaven, you must observe the laws of the kingdom of heaven as required by Heaven. Based on the laws of the kingdom of heaven, you must also live the lifestyle of the kingdom of heaven. And based on the lifestyle of the kingdom of heaven, you become one through the love of the kingdom of heaven. The Word is the standard for the laws of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore you need to live based on the Word. This is the path you should walk. (001-337, 1956.12.30)

11 You may be able to experience God’s grace through prayer or the work of the Holy Spirit because of the cooperation of spirits in the spirit world. Originally, human beings were created to mature spiritually as life spirits and then divine spirits. We are meant to have the Spirit within us. If we cultivate our spirituality centering on the power of the Spirit of God within us, we will gain the ability as divine spirits to perceive things spiritually, even when we are not helped or guided by spirits from the spirit world. Once you reach that spiritual level, whenever God feels sorrow, you too will experience indescribable sorrow welling up within. For instance, if you feel indescribable sadness when bidding good-bye to somebody, it means that person is entering a path of sacrificial offering or another path for which God feels great compassion. It will be one or the other. If you can actually feel that, and stand in the position where you have this kind of intuition and communication in your sphere of life, it means you are a person who experiences the Spirit. (040-297, 1971.02.07)

12 When the True Parents live together with human beings on earth bound together by relationships based on the heavenly principles of natural law, on that day the work of God to establish morals and ethics based on the original human nature will spread throughout heaven and earth. Why are so many unhappy young men and women fleeing from their families? It is because love based on Heaven’s law was lost. Hence, to save all families, the Parents of Heaven and Earth must emerge who can enable God to dwell within their own family. Jesus cannot become the Savior if he lives alone when he returns to earth. How can he save fallen humankind? He can do it only from the position of a parent. God is the Father of true love. Therefore, Jesus must come to the earth as the Father, and with the qualifications of a parent, He must personally save humankind. He comes with the heart of a parent, to v save his children, whom he can hear groaning in the world of death and calling out to be saved. (21-156, 1968.11.17)

13 As object partners of the subject partner, we must not complain. To complain is rash and self-destructive. Therefore there is no place for complaint in our life of faith. In our life of faith there must be only gratitude. God is our eternal subject partner. Therefore, as long as we are destined to live our life along with Him, we I should not deviate from His law and His way of life. (58-310, 1972.06.25)

14 Heavenly principles of natural law are established when we human beings observe the proper order. Among subject partner—object partner relationships, God stands in the position of the absolute subject partner. Anyone who ignores that subject partner cannot become His object partner. If you want to become an absolute object partner before the absolute subject partner, you must become absolutely one with Him. If you do so, everything you see, hear and feel, even the love you feel toward your family members after returning home from work, must be for God, because you stand as an object partner before Him as the subject partner. This is what it means to become one. If you do this, your family will never perish. (58-311, 1972.06.25)

15 What is it that will last until the end? It is the way of life that God and human beings share, a viewpoint that they share regarding how to live. That viewpoint on life itself should also be the same; there should be a view of life and a worldview shared by God and humankind. Our relationship with God should not be based on only a vague understanding. This forges an eternal bond, an inseparable relationship. It never should have happened, but God and human beings separated and now must reach a level of relationship higher than what it was before the Fall. This requires that we advance our quality of life to where we are one with God every day, all the way to the world level. (65-127, 1972.11.05)

16 Now the quantity of indemnity you have paid will be transformed into love and be connected to your very essence. The time has come when you must observe the laws of a life of attendance. As a woman, if you have received the Blessing, your husband is necessary for love. Saying your husband is necessary centers on the mind that loves your husband. Your love is the measure. How much do you need to love him? If you say that you need to do so absolutely, then you need to stand in the position of an absolute object partner centered on absolute love. This is the exact position in which God is situated. Everything about God is absolute. The beginning and the end, and even the process, are absolute. (518-296, 2006.02.26)

The path of filial piety: sincerity moves Heaven

17 What does it mean to serve someone with all your heart and all your will, and offer your utmost devotion to that person? It means you are willing to offer your life for that person. That is the full measure of devotion. Where is the limit of your heart and mind? When you devote yourself to someone with all your heart, it means you surrender your life for that person. To serve with all your will and devotion means to put your life on the line. The saying, “Sincerity moves Heaven,” refers to what happens when your sincerity transcends all limits and you put your life on the line in offering devotion for the other. God cannot ignore those who offer devotion at the risk of their lives, putting their life on the line. (38-242, 1971.01.08)

18 What is the core thought that we find on the path of the providence of restoration? It is to follow the path of a sacrificial offering. What is a sacrificial offering? We were told to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37) The outcome of loving with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind is simple. It means that you put your life on the line out of your love for God. It does not mean that you are forced to do it. It means that you do it willingly, feeling an inexpressible joy. (48-114, 1971.09.05)

19 When I prayed kneeling down on the floor, my tears never dried. I even had calluses on my knees. In Korea there is a saying, “A tower built with devotion will not collapse.” We must offer devotion to God. We must reach a state where we are crazy with yearning for God. If God dwelt on Earth, He would want to visit His children a thousand times a day. But because He does not dwell on Earth, He cannot do so. That is why He sent me to you on His behalf. This is the special reason that you cannot help but love me. You would not feel like loving me without a reason. During the three months of bitter cold in the winter, the tears of my prayers would completely soak through all the cotton insulation in my clothes. Think about how desperate I was. I had showdown prayers with God, face-to-face, stabbing the floor with a dagger, and not just once or twice. (060-213, 1972.08.17)

20 Whatever you do, whether eating or drinking, sitting or standing, and regardless of whom you are with, what is most essential is that you demonstrate a childlike heart before your parents. You don’t receive this through knowledge. Are you going to live in God’s presence, bragging, “I am Dr. So-and-So”? That is something He doesn’t need. The question is how you can stimulate God to love you. There is only one path: “Sincerity moves Heaven.” There is no other way. (78-040, 1975.05.01)

21 You should not complain. There is no room for complaint. What I am saying is, you should not think of yourself. You should not hold on to concepts like “my possessions” or “my love.” Thinking about God, you should have the heart that if you complain, it would cause great pain to our Heavenly Parent, and that because you have the chance to understand His circumstances and inherit His tradition, you will inherit it, follow Him, and comfort Him. If you shed tears with such a heart, God will be with you. But God will not be with you if you shed tears centered on yourself. You should shed tears for God and the Parents. Such is the altar of the Unification Church. Such is the life of attendance in the Unification Church. (114-281, 1981.10.20)

22 Even though I might collapse from hunger and exhaustion, my only thought has been how I can walk the path to fulfill what God needs me to fulfill, and how I can shoulder the cross that I might be required to carry along the way. You, however, are not even preparing yourselves to go on such a path. Although you know that you can be saved through attendance, you are just brazenly watching me. You should not be standing still with that kind of mindset. Whether we are asleep or awake, we should move forward for Heavenly Father and His nation. We must dissolve His bitter sorrow, even if it means that we die tens of thousands of times. Whoever has the courage to do that should be able to carry a cross on behalf of God in addition to his or her own cross. That is why at this time we must work for Heavenly Father and His nation, and become the filial sons and daughters whom the Father can summon. We are the people who were born for God’s sake; therefore we must become filial sons, filial daughters, patriots and righteous men and women. This is our mission. (13-233, 1964.03.22)

23 You should not leave yourself even a moment to think about saving face, keeping your dignity or even feeling hunger. You should focus on activities for God’s Will even more than on a child that is sick. But if you can’t, you should at least have the kind of absolute obedience that won’t let you sleep at night when you don’t understand what I am doing, and sets you running to me at 2 a.m. to ask about it until you do understand. This is the kind of life you must live. That’s what I mean when I say that salvation comes through attendance. It’s how I have always lived out my relationship to God. I cannot relax even for a second. After my body was struck, I was even more determined to stay on the path of indemnity to comfort God. (21-070, 1968.09.09)

24 If you are in difficulty and in pain, go and pray in a quiet room with the door closed. If you still cannot find an answer, pray even more deeply and more seriously. Invest more time in prayer. As I walked this path, it was normal for me to pray more than twelve hours a day. Imagine that you are diving thousands of feet deep into the ocean. What would you have to overcome? What would you have to endure? Prayerful people seldom make mistakes. They can find the answers within themselves. Once you experience the taste of prayer, you will find it more delicious than any meal and more fun than any hobby. When you reach that level of spirituality, you will immediately know what is good and what is bad in your environment. (128-172, 1983.06.12)

25 Unification Church members must pray. Pray to set aside your desires about the clothes you wear, the food you eat and where you live, and pray for humility. How much prayer do you think is needed in order to liberate humankind and God? We should pray as if we were facing the most serious situation in human history. Prayer solidifies your resolve to follow the path, no matter how difficult it may be. Constant prayer, twenty-four hours a day, will bring God to you. If someone is thinking about you, you will want to go and visit that person. It is the same for God. God seeks those who are thinking about Him more than about anyone or anything else, and who are striving to dedicate themselves to Him. (128-172, 1983.06.12)

26 In longing for God, you should shed so many tears that your eyes are blinded and your nose is clogged with mucous. Your uncontrollable weeping should make your chest ache. That is how much you must long for God. A son may desperately cry out, “Father!” as he is being dragged to his execution. Another may mournfully call out, “Father!” as he is leaving for a far- off country. When we call out “My Heavenly Father!” our standard must be higher than that. (50-289, 1971.11.08)

27 God is suffering hardships because of me, because of my family, because of my nation, and because of my world. So it makes sense that I too should suffer hardships because of myself, because of my family, my society, my nation and my world, and that I should do it for God. I am saying that, together with the Republic of Korea, we should suffer hardships on behalf of God. That is my philosophy, and it is also God’s philosophy. Some people look for chances to secretly impose burdens on others, even when everyone is already suffering hardships. These spineless people think that others should shoulder all the burdens instead of them, and if they could, they would sell even God for their own personal benefit. You have to be somewhat foolish to follow God’s path. In a certain sense, patriots appear to be rather foolish people, even somewhat stupid. They have the character of a bear, with a kind of slow- witted generosity that, if someone took a piece of their arm, they would say, “Oh, that’s not enough, go ahead and take some more!” (26-142, 1969.10.19)

28 To this day, I have been enduring hardship for the Will, day and night, and I am not about to stop. Those who have not attended me closely do not know me well. As soon as I open my eyes from sleep I kneel on the floor and pray. Why do I live this way? It is because, even in the middle of the night, my beloved children who are spread all across the world are depending on me. If I cannot be there to offer devotion with them when they pray to God, shouldn’t I at least keep up with them and not fall behind them? Because I pray immediately upon waking up, God forgives me for not praying with them while I was asleep. (26-138, 1969.10.19)

29 What kind of person am I? I am a person who possesses only one talent: I just go straight ahead no matter what. Some people ask why I always do things that everybody vilifies and scorns, instead of quietly going a more convenient way. It is because I can reach the pinnacle only by overcoming the opposition of many people. On the other hand, most of you are thinking only about how to take detours around the difficulties. Why do we need to separate from the world? It is because even the love of our natural parents will take us off target. God has been following a straight path, and we must do the same. (097-257, 1978.03.19)

30 I am a lonely and solitary man. I could come this far only because I understand that God is as lonely and solitary as I am, and that He understands me. I know that the mission I must pursue until I die is to fulfill even a portion of God’s Will and desire—to expand His foundation in even one area. That is why I am gathering together people who can live for God. Because I was born as God’s son and because I feel responsible to establish His Will, I have not accused those who mocked me, nor have I sought revenge against those who beat me. Instead, I have persevered with love and fought my way forward, sometimes staggering, sometimes trudging ahead with my back bent over, and sometimes crawling on my belly. Through all of this I have maintained only one thought: how to establish God’s tradition and bequeath it to the world. (82-047, 1975.12.30)

31 Here is what True Parents have to do. They need to win every battle, enter the deepest place in God’s heart, liberate Him from bitter pain and sorrow, and establish His realm of victory on earth. You need to feel grateful to God that the True Parents have emerged on earth. You need to be aware of the misery of God, our vertical True Parent, which has been dissipated finally, because He has sent the Lord of the Second Advent to earth to liberate all humankind. Now we have entered an incredible era. Because of True Parents, we can pledge to become God’s filial sons and daughters and we can then strive to realize that pledge. (235-021, 1992.08.24)

32 How serious are you about following the way of the Will? I have been walking it all my life without even my wife and children knowing what it involves. Only God and I know that. It has been lonely. No one knows the path I had to follow. With God’s help, I, a solitary man, have brought amazing results. With this achievement I have raised issues fundamental to society. I have triggered a wave of innovative thought in this world of declining democracies. This has made me a controversial figure. What I have accomplished is not because I am great, but because God has been with me. (82-047, 1975.12.30)