Spring

Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon gave the following speech at Belvedere Estate in New York on  April 16, 1978.

It is springtime and everyone loves spring. Young people, especially teenagers, long for some season like springtime. The love within them desires this season. Springtime brings a natural, instinctive longing for something untouchable. Unlike youth, however, older folks approach spring with a sense of responsibility. The elderly people who have raised children now have an empty nest and they have a different feeling in spring. Their children have married, left home and now have made homes of their own. This is the season for citizens to reminisce about their past accomplishments and about their families and children and recollect good memories. For them, spring is the time of recollection and re-evaluation of the past times of their lives.

This doesn’t necessarily apply only to human beings but to the animal kingdom as well. For instance, during this past winter in New York we had unprecedented heavy snow. Deer and other big animals and the birds sought shelter during winter, but now that spring has come they have a new hope and resurrected feeling. They enjoy this precious time of spring. Witness the flight of the birds; during the winter season they were gone, but now they are back, singing and looking for food. They have aspirations too.

Spring will be proud to say, “I have the capability of revitalizing all creation.” Spring will declare that we are given new life and refreshing elements in its season. During winter we can’t see leaves on the trees, but now new buds are emerging with new life. Everyone loves to see new buds. Plants, animals and man all have the same feeling. The migrating birds will find their way back north and enjoy the regenerating forces of spring. What kind of migrating birds do you think of? Robins, ducks, Canadian geese, swallows, swans. They never miss migration.

You urban people don’t understand birds. If you live in the country they sometimes make nests under your roof or on your porch. When the swallow is singing, it sounds to Westerners like an Oriental language, but to Orientals it sounds like they are speaking English! The swallow looks like he is wearing a tuxedo, and seeing the male and female singing together is very impressive. No single bird sings; they sing together. If a bird is alone then he sinus to invite or woo the opposite sex. Wherever birds sing together it seems like love is there, right? The same thing applies to mankind. An individual longs for someone else with whom to have a subject-object relationship of give and take.

In the Unification Church the majority of members are younger people. Do you like songs or not? Because you are young you like singing. This youthful spirit is the characteristic of the Unification movement. You young people are in the spring of your lives. Your faces are shining just like the trees and flowers, which bloom after the winter.

You sit straight and have vigor and energy instead of being sloppy and lazy. I don’t like to see women with their hair falling messily over their faces. You have to lift it up in back to look fresh, like the season of spring. I understand that you don’t have so many extras, but in spring you can add some bright pin as decoration, or even put some decoration in your hair to fit the spring season. You might carry some pink handkerchief to reflect the spirit of spring.

You have to know how to adjust your mood to the seasons. There is a wonderful feeling here this morning, isn’t there? If you come to doze off in the spring then you don’t fit in here. Spring brings new vitality. If you can’t be like a swallow, be like a sparrow or Canadian geese.

Let’s talk about the animal kingdom. Which animal would you like to resemble? A tiger or bear? People will be scared if those creatures appear, and we don’t intend to kill anyone. The most loving animal in the spring is the deer. Therefore, if you become a spring animal, I would like you to be a deer. All in all, spring is good for everything.

I love the big tree in front of the main house here, but in winter you can’t tell if it is dead or alive. Now spring has come and some vital element is moving throughout creation. Spring is the season of planting seeds. A seed planted in the earth has a sleeping feeling at first, but then moisture seeps in through its shell to waken it. Spring brings many changes in all of nature, adding a developmental and advancing element.

Do you think America is facing the season of spring, or the autumn before the winter? A scientific observer would say that America is in its autumn season, but Moonies don’t necessarily belong in that category. Are you in spring or autumn? We are not talking about the Moonie who never has new buds and sprouts; a true Moonie becomes like the branches of a tree. Would you like to be the leaves of the tree, or the branches? Why? A branch produces leaves. It is important because the blossoms and new growth come from the branch, not from the leaves.

The branch is the connection to future life. It not only brings flowers but bears fruit, and through the fruit other trees will be produced. That is the process through which the life of the tree continues, and that’s why the branch is so important.

Who in the contemporary world will be the branches on which flowers will blossom? Christians and hippies will say they are the ones. Communists will say they are the ones. Young people will say that they will be the new branch out of which new hope for all mankind will come. It is a wonderful thing to be that branch, but Unification people are the only ones who belong to this category. You must know what goes on before the flowers appear, and think of the leaves and branches. More than that, you have to think of the atmosphere, water, earth and all other necessary conditions for sustaining this tree. A tree does not just come up suddenly; preparation is needed. Various elements must be harmonized, and that same kind of thing has to go on in the world.

The same thing applies to the five different races if they are ever to come together. Instead of fighting, they must harmonize. The water inside a tree is circulating and then in spring the flowers come. Instead of fighting, the various elements must exist in harmony and beauty and peaceful connection; this preparation must be made before the glorious flowers and branches and leaves come out.

It won’t work if one branch of the tree insists that its water should not go to another branch. The roots can’t insist that their nutrients not go to the topmost branches. Seeing how all the races are harmonized in the Unification Church, some racist will say, “It is not natural.” The world cannot flower without this harmonized unity among its peoples, however. In this perspective, no other organization parallels the Unification Church.

The roots of trees never stop growing, but spread everywhere, even through rock, splitting it apart. No hindrance can stop them. You people should have that kind of power. It is hard for ordinary human beings to go door-to-door fund raising, but you do it anyway. Persist, penetrate and march forward and your root and branch will be the ideal branch for the whole world. We can easily declare to the world that we WILL possibly be the worldwide branches, roots and beautiful flowers to save the world.

When branches come out, do they look toward the sky or toward the ground? Why do they turn upward instead of downward? The sun is there. The branches will naturally turn toward the power of the sun, the power of life. The universal sun is God and we receive the power of life and love from Him.

One single flower is a more superb masterpiece than the greatest painting in a museum. There is no comparing their value. A masterpiece will result when all five racial colors are put together. If all colors in the spectrum are combined, white results. White is symbolic of peace; for example, a white flag in war-time means truce. Actually, white people should be the symbol of peace, but according to past history they have never brought peace, only exploitation. Always other races were submissive to the white invaders.

Very soon the time will come when those black people who worship God will have a chance to receive great blessing, with the condition that they are submissive to goodness and are entirely loyal to God. If blacks are not lazy and they worship God then they have hope. God has to work through the restoration providence and the reason white people have been able to dominate the world in the past is because they had Christianity. Without Christianity they would be nothing. Black people shouldn’t become discouraged or disappointed because in reality they have a great hope ahead.

In the past white people have been aggressive and conquered other countries, but that must end. Orientals are very religiously and philosophically inclined. When they eat the fruit from trees they meditate about life, while white people are used to killing animals for survival when they get hungry. I am not implying that one is superior or inferior, but I’m interested in the kind of tradition each race has, the kind of history. That is what determines inferiority and superiority.

The Unification movement will bring the hope of spring to all mankind. You have to seriously think about what it means for us to be the spring branch of the whole world. Do you have that kind of pride? Are you growing as branches and leaves, or just sitting and doing nothing? Do the buds only grow when the sun is shining and not at night? If you ask the birds if they only grow in the daytime, they will answer that they grow during both the day and night. The buds will also say they prefer to go forward instead of backward; they will say they like to grow in big steps, not small ones. They would prefer being transplanted to a place where they can grow big, rather than stay small. They would rather be a total tree, not just branches.

If you are an entire tree then you have everything — limbs and roots, leaves and flowers. In order to be a whole tree you have to separate from the parent tree. Is there any other way to be a perfect tree? Would you rather be cut off quickly or slowly? That is why I kick you out. The first step in being transplanted is to get out of the World Mission Center and go form a home church. You may agree with the philosophy of this, but in your hearts you feel a little pain. Maybe you will resent the idea, but by doing it you will form a better tree. Multiplication is mobile in nature. That’s why this personnel change won’t take place in winter or autumn but in springtime. Spring rather than autumn or winter is a good time to transfer to another mission. The whole universe is changing in springtime, and according to that law our personnel change should also occur then. We don’t need heavy coats when spring comes. If I elaborated on this point, I could go on endlessly.

Does spring bring only goodness, or hardship and sacrifice as well? It is not just a time of sitting, but of hard work and moving. Spring is a hopeful time, but only those who are moving have hope. The adventurous person has big hope and desire, which is why he is moving, but without that hope he has no motivation. History advances through that kind of person. Do Unification people fit into that category? We have a great big adventurous nature. Do you want sweet adventure, or do you have grave, noble, high ambition? Adventure fascinates young people, but some young people talk about sweetness while others talk about great feats. Which is better? Man and woman can talk about romance in a flower garden, but instead they could work together with a bulldozer. Which is better? We are working together.

Spring is sweet and feminine, but when you bring this kind of adventurous hope to it, spring will respond to you. Sometimes in spring you doze off, but it is better to be stimulated and excited in spring. Some of you might have thought I would talk about sweet things since the topic this morning is spring, but no, I am going to push you out! You know that now.

Now let’s talk about celestial things and ask God questions. If we ask God whether He has experienced spring, He will answer, “I made all four seasons. There is nothing new there.” But if you say, “God, You must have had some experience of love with mankind,” He will reply, “No, I never have.” “Then even though you made the Universe and all four seasons, You have never experienced love in the spring?” “Yes, that is true.” Then can we say that God is fortunate and happy, or sad and miserable?

God will be very happy to hear someone say, “Since you have been so unfortunate, let’s work this situation out and make it better.”‘ He would say, “It would be wonderful if someone would work this problem out.” If someone promises to make Him a happy God, however, He still cannot just automatically go with that person, even though He may want to. There is a hidden reason for that. Until the content of this problem is solved, God cannot act freely. He is a limited God.

Because of the fall God never had a time of spring. He made all of these things, but because of the fall He has been living in the winter season with everything white and still and inactive. How are we going to unfreeze Heavenly Father’s love and heart? Only a powerful warmth will melt the ice and thaw God out. Who is going to defrost this freezer God is in? Because love has been frozen, God cannot function. The problem is that because of the fall all creation is in the same situation. Some other element should help defrost it all.

All the creation is waiting for that time to come. Can we do that with power and knowledge? What shall we use? What kind of love? Love between man and woman, or love between you people? Pure, unchanging, unique love is needed. This is the element that is inside God, so it is the only thing that can unfreeze His frozen heart. Who is going to provide all this? Because God Himself cannot provide it, we have to actively give love, not passively wait to receive it as in the fallen world.

Somewhere on earth some kind of movement must influence God with absolute, unchanging love, so that He can be happy and fortunate. One part of this mission has been given to religion, which has been able to take partial but not total responsibility. When men are united in love there will be no war. In light of this mission, if religions fight each other then they are disqualified. Conflict is no way to resolve God’s situation. The power of all horizontal and vertical love and universal, global love must be concentrated in order to liberate God. The power of vertical love must be added to love coming from all four horizontal directions.

Will God’s heart be defrosted only by white people’s love? No, that is not enough. Love of all five races together must come to cover God, and the power of love from three generations must also be involved here. Instead of being scattered, this love should be focused on one point. All races of the spirit world, the contemporary world, and the world to come must first come to one point and then the ice that has accumulated for 6,000 years will begin to melt. Only that kind of situation will begin to defrost God’s heart.

Some powerful movement on earth must teach mankind about this; otherwise, there is no hope. We have this kind of hope. Is it within reach’? The kind of person who is hooked by God’s love is going to launch this movement; that kind of person can liberate God. That person himself will be melted on earth and be intoxicated by God’s love. He will be addicted to God that with just the word of God’s love he can go beyond all hardship and have no problem with persecution.

Even though men and women in the world may love one another, once God’s love comes they will abandon their old love and follow Him. Even after the blessing, when husband and wife are supposed to love one another, if they receive God’s love they can abandon each other to go to two separate places if necessary. That kind of power can enable blessed couples to separate with no problem, and they won’t mind because the power of love is so great. Even if I tell all the sisters who are already over thirty to give up their blessing and go to the field, then for the sake of God’s love they can go without resentment. This is characteristic of you Moon people.

For the sake of helping God defrost we can go everywhere, even to Africa or the most unfamiliar countries. I can go anywhere when God commands it. Even though you feel pain when you get a shot, if God’s love is inside the syringe you can keep receiving it. Even though you may be working hard, you cannot give up when you get upset. God’s love is that sweet. You in turn are giving an injection to Heavenly Father. He has always been receiving passive love, but now that He is receiving an active element, His frozen heart is going to be defrosted. This is what I am trying to do on the international and universal levels. There is no other method of liberating God. Will He be glad or displeased to see this kind of movement come about?

Bit by bit God is beginning to thaw. His eyes are blinking, His hands are flexing and His arteries and veins are coming unfrozen. You can make Him dance. Even though God made all the seasons, including spring with all its fragrance, when he meets this new spring He will announce His first spring to the whole creation. Then the whole creation will enjoy spring and laugh together with Him.

You have to give a shot of love to God, each one of you. You will each be God’s physician, but the shot you give should not contain any satanic elements. It must be pure. Where do we get the contents of that shot? In an easy place or in the midst of hardship and persecution and rejection? When you want to give the shot to God, Satan is always there, trying to nullify it and give his own instead.

You cannot give the shot as long as Satan surrounds you. Instead, you have to find the place where Satan cannot come, and that is the place of hardship and persecution. The place where Satan cannot invade is the worst place, where even your family gives you a hard time. If you are willing to give up everything, however, and go on alone, then Satan cannot invade. That’s the secret.

You have to also go to the world and give this shot to all people, immunizing them. How can anyone who claims he is going to liberate God be easygoing and lazy and sloppy? He has to fight and find the place with the most hardship. Do you have the necessary equipment now? You are the doctors and nurses who are going to give the injections of love to God and mankind. Even though people don’t like it and accuse you, you have to give it regardless. When babies go to a doctor and get inoculated, they cry and fight. Nevertheless, the doctor has to give the shot. People may not like your giving them this shot, but later they’ll appreciate it.

A pickpocket mingles with people and somehow diverts their attention in order to steal from them. You may have to divert people’s attention, but you will do that to give them the shot. Because the people are ill, you have to inoculate them. At first they will persecute you, but later when they are healed and their sickness is over, they will show their appreciation. They will see that their rejection of you was unjust and they will apologize.

Shall we have an enjoyable time since spring has come, or shall we work harder to give this kind of heavenly injection of love? You are concerned with the heart of God, and even when you sleep you dream of God. When you witness and sell the papers and go door-to-door, you are thinking of God’s heart. Because of you and the True Parents, God’s heart is melting and the whole universe is finding the new spring. It is a glorious day. We are renovating everything, bringing the shot of love for mankind. When you act as doctor to give the shot, it is in the name of God’s love.

A person might be just a spectator or just a follower or he might be a participant in this process. There are three different categories. Which would you like to be?

Let us pray.