Participants in parents' love 7 It is from our parents’ love that we were born. We were born from the love of our mother and father. Before life and lineage comes love, so it is through love that our life and lineage are connected to our parents. Why is person- hood so precious? It is not just because the person has life, but also because the person participated in his or her parents’ love. It is their parents who loved, but the person is the fruit of their love. The one who is born as both the beginning and the result is not the mother or father; it is a new person. That’s why each person is precious. (140-234, 1986.02.12)
8 I am not only the one who combines the life of my mother and father, but I am a participant in my parents’ love, as one body with them. Taking it further, I am one with my parents’ ideal. The ideal includes everything: peace, happiness and all else. To parents, the joy of living a successful life on earth pales in comparison to the joy of meeting their child who has been lost. To parents, children are the fulfillment of their highest ideal. (298-303, 1999.01.17)
9 My mother and father’s lifelines are connected to me, their “love line” is connected to me and their “ideal line” is connected to me. No one can cut this off. Even God cannot cut this off, and the universe also cannot cut this off. To the contrary, all the power of the universe protects this. Thus wherever I go, my parents follow me. My parents always want to be with me, even in the spirit world. Thus it is the greatest sin if you dislike your parents accompanying you. This attitude is destructive of the entire universe. If you dislike the company of your parents, it means you are off track from the universal principle and are going the way of the Fall. Hence, thinking of and loving your parents as if they were your own body and carrying out your filial duty are of the highest value for human beings. That’s why it is said, “Heaven’s blessing comes to the harmonious family” (298-303, 1999.01.17)
10 People without children are said to be lonely. Our children enable us to experience deeply the heart of God, the subject partner who created the entire universe through love. Our children are born through us, through our motivation, but by having and loving them we come to realize, “Yes, this is how God loves people.” Once you have your own children, without anyone teaching you, you realize the importance of filial piety toward your parents. (136-202, 1985.12.29)
11 You have to return the love your parents gave you. When parents are raising their children, they don’t worry about their own hunger. If there is something to eat, they will hold their hungry stomach, keep a stiff upper lip and give that food to their children. By the nature of love, children will return such love to their parents. After the parents have gone the way of love, the children go the same way to comfort their parents. It begins with your heart to comfort your parents. Then your sons and daughters will become such sons and daughters to you. You need such sons and daughters in order for people of a good blood lineage to continue. You cannot become a filial child if you center your life on yourself and neglect your parents. (35-241, 1970.10.19)
12 What kind of person can we call a filial child? The son who treats his parents as they treated him is a filial son. A filial son moves Heaven. Even though parents devote themselves to raising their children, if the children don’t care about their parents, that family will go to ruin. In order to gain a return on their investment, they need to establish an objective standard based on the principle of giving and receiving. When that happens for the first time, God will come and dwell in that place and the kingdom of heaven will be realized. What kind of children can reside in the kingdom of heaven? They are those who pay the debt of parental love on their own. When their parents become old and senile, the sons and daughters should endure the difficulties of their care without feeling it is difficult. They should possess the same heart their parents had toward them when they were little, cleaning up their urine and feces. This is what it means to be children of filial piety. (35-241, 1970.10.19) |