4. Textbook for the Heavenly Kingdom
Every child should inherit the good fortune of his
grandparents and parents. Why do we need grandparents?
It is because they represent the past. Grandparents represent
the living history of the past. Parents represent the
present, and children represent the future.
How can one family encompass East and West and also
North and South? How can it be the center of the whole
universe? Its center must be true love. The center of the
grandparents, the center of the parents, the center of the
children and the center of God – in every case, the center
is true love.
When you love your grandparents and respect them,
you can inherit the past completely and learn about the
world that has gone by. From your father and mother you
learn about the present, and by loving your children you
learn about the future.
What can you inherit from your grandfather and grandmother,
and mother and father? You can inherit true love.
You recognize, “Our grandfather and grandmother are old,
but they are as one in true love. Our parents have become
as one, too. Let’s live the same way and inherit true love,
which will give us a bright future.” You should become absolute
true families so that you can bequeath such love to your
children, and thus secure your family’s future.
The three-generation family can be likened to the universe.
Representing the present and the future, such true
families possess the very love that pulses throughout the
universe. This is the love that we can also learn about by
observing nature’s textbook: the love between male and
female in the animal world.
If your grandmother were suddenly absent, your family
would feel distressed. If your grandfather were absent, it
would be the same. The remaining grandparent just could
not feel good about it. This earthly example indicates something
about heaven. When a grandfather and grandmother
have lived happily together on earth, after they pass over they
will live happily together in the Kingdom of Heaven. If they
separated, their dwelling-place would not be heaven. Likewise,
a family can live together as a family in the Kingdom of Heaven when the grandparents, mother and father, and
children have been living harmoniously
together on earth.
Your loving relationships with true grandparents, true parents,
true children, true families, a true nation and the true
universe will qualify you to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
The model and textbook for the Kingdom of Heaven is the
true family. (162-140, 1987.4.5)
The family provides us with lessons that enable us to establish
the Kingdom of Heaven. Its lessons were created by God.
Any person living anywhere in the world can enter the
Kingdom of Heaven if he loves every old man he meets
just as he loves his own grandfather. A person who can love
everyone he meets of his parents’ age just as he loves his
own parents will be welcomed everywhere. It is the same
in every country. When he goes to the spirit world, he will
transcend every boundary. Furthermore, a person who has
the heart to regard all the young people of the world as
his own sons and daughters will be able to travel freely
throughout the Kingdom of Heaven. All the twelve pearly
gates are open to him, and the regions in all four directions.
Thus, the family provides lessons that teach us how
to connect ourselves to the Kingdom of Heaven.
When you apply these family lessons to loving your
nation, you will become patriots. When you apply these
family lessons to the world, you will become saints. When
you apply these lessons for the welfare of all beings
in heaven and earth, you will become God’s sons and daughters – divine sons and daughters. This is a desire that
every person shares. (137-78, 1985.12.18)
You must be able to embrace the sons and daughters
of all races, and their grandsons and granddaughters too.
This means you have to stand as true parents, with God’s
true love, and inspire your family to love all the world’s
people. By abiding in God’s love and in a relationship with
the original True Parents, you will be able to attain that
standard of true love in your family. Only then can you
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (176-210, 1988.5.9)
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