Cheon Seong Gyeong Ⅱ - 422. Culture and World Peace
1 If human beings had not fallen, they would have ushered in the ideal spring garden. In that ideal spring garden, they would have grown up to be people with whom God would have lived while rejoicing. Having reached maturity, they would have created a God- centered new culture and new world on this earth. And at the center of the world and culture that they created, they would have lived in peace and happiness. Just as all things revolve following the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn and winter—in the world they created, which would have continued forevermore, each human life would have passed through stages corresponding to the four seasons. Instead of this, human beings fell. As a result, they were unable to see the beginning of joy. It was to have come when they welcomed the one day of glory into the world. That would have been the time of formation, when human beings could have rejoiced. (49-319, 1971.10.24)
2 God desires to see His purpose fulfilled through human beings. That purpose is only one, the one world of creation. The conclusion is plain from both sides. Human beings need to pursue that world and God also needs to tealize that world. Throughout history, both God and human beings have been pursuing that one world, the world of one culture and one sovereignty, the one world of peace and unity. We have to pursue that world, for it is a condition hecessary to the life of all humanity as well as to each individual. (72-115, 1974.05.26)
3 The World Culture and Sports Festival is a history-shaping event. It exalts the true values that make for human happiness, and promotes the culture of heart for all humanity. Its founding purpose is to present a new, peaceful world culture in which God, humankind and all things can be in harmony. People of all walks of life the world over, including scholars, religious leaders, journalists, public servants and youth leaders, will gather in one place for the festival. There, as citizens of the global village and members of one global family, they will pool their wisdom and experience, and celebrate life in harmony with all humankind. (234-226, 1992.08.20)
4 It is part of the original human nature to both pursue and express beauty. Human beings embody God’s ideal of creation. Their internal world manifests the three faculties of emotion, intellect and will, and the physical body acts in response to the commands of the mind. As a result, human beings continually pursue beauty, truth and love, which they express by means of art, science and religion. In the end, the universe and all things in it are but external forms expressing the internal nature of God, the Creator, in a variety of substantial embodiments. (316-069, 2000.02.09)
5 The ultimate goal of artists, and those who work with the arts, is to reach the world of God’s heart. God, the Creator, wants to feel boundless joy through all the different things He personally created with His own hands, one by one, as works of art. God’s heart is such that He wants to give again after He has given. After doing things for others He wants to do more for them, and even after investing unconditionally He wants to forget what He has done. That heart is the basis of the world of true love. God’s ideal of creation for the created world arose from that heart. The starting point of art is the desire to represent that heart. Accordingly, in the world of art there are no national boundaries. The purpose of art is not to serve as a tool of an ideology or an agenda. Its fundamental principles are harmony and unity. Divisiveness and conflict are fruits of fallen nature. Therefore the world of art demonstrates universal characteristics in all directions, bringing the East to understand the West and the West to accept the East. (316-070, 2000.02.09) |