As A Peace-Loving Global Citizen: Episode 68
As A Peace-Loving Global Citizen: An Autobiography by Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Chapter 8: New Vision for Youth
Happiness Is a Life Lived for Others, pg 247-249
Happiness Is a Life Lived for Others
Children are born from the flesh and blood of their parents. Without parents, there would be no children. Yet, people in this world shout out for individualism as though they came into this world on their own. Only a person who receives no help whatsoever from anyone at all would have the right to speak of individualism. There is nothing in this world that comes into being for its own sake alone. All beings are created for one another. I exist for you, and you exist for me.
There is no one as foolish as the selfish person who lives only for his or her own sake. It may appear that a selfish life benefits the individual, but ultimately it is a life of self-destruction. The individual must live for the family, the family for the people, the people for the world, and the world for God.
All the schools I have founded have three mottos. The first is “Live a life that casts no shadows as if you were under the sun at high noon.” A life without shadows is a life with a clear conscience.
When we finish our life here on earth and go to the spirit world, our entire life will unfold before us, as though it were being played back on videotape. Whether we go to heaven or to hell is determined by how we live. So we need to live spotlessly clean lives, casting not even the smallest shadow.
The second motto is “Live shedding sweat for earth, tears for humanity, and blood for heaven.” There are no lies in the blood, sweat, and tears that people shed. There is only truth. There is no great meaning or value, however, in the blood, sweat, and tears that a person sheds only for his own sake. This great investment must be shed for the sake of others.
The final motto is “One Family under God!” There is only one God, and all human beings are brothers and sisters. Differences of language, race, and culture account for less than one percent. As human beings, we are more than ninety-nine percent the same.
There are fourteen island countries in the South Pacific. When I visited the Marshall Islands, I asked its president, “This is a beautiful land, but it must still be difficult to lead this country, isn’t it?”
The president sighed and replied, “Our population is just sixty thousand, and the land is just two meters above sea level on average. So high waves, or a rise in sea levels of just one meter, would flood much of the country. But our most serious problem is education. Children of rich families go to America or Europe to be educated and do not return. Children of poor families have no schools from which to receive a good education, so even the brightest child cannot be trained properly for leadership. The concern for an island country such as ours is that we are unable to raise up leaders who will lead us in the future.”
After hearing his lament, I established the High School of the Pacific in Kona, Hawaii, for the sake of the children of these island countries. This school provides secondary education to children from countries throughout the Pacific and helps them apply to college. We provided round-trip airfare to Hawaii, tuition, board, and even computers so they could receive the best education. We attached just one condition to receive this education: Once they finish, they must return to their countries and work in the service of their nation and its people.
Living for the sake of others requires sacrifices from time to time. Some years ago, one of our church missionaries was touring South America when the place he was visiting was hit by a major earthquake. His wife came running to me with her face as white as a sheet. “What should I do?” she asked with tears in her eyes. “I’m so worried, I don’t know what to do.”
You might be surprised by my response. Instead of patting her on the shoulder and comforting her, I shouted at her, “Are you most worried about your husband’s safety? Or are you worried about how many lives he may be able to save in that disaster area?”
It was natural for her to be concerned for her husband’s safety. But because she was the wife of a missionary, her concerns should have been of a higher order. Rather than only pray for her husband’s safety, she should have prayed that her husband could save as many lives as possible.
Nothing exists for its own sake. That is not how God created the world. Man exists for the sake of woman, and woman exists for the sake of man. Nature exists for the sake of humanity, and humanity exists for the sake of nature. All created beings in this world exist for the sake of their counterparts. It is an axiom of Heaven that every being lives for the sake of its partner.
Happiness is possible only in a relationship with a partner. Imagine that some fellow who has lived his life as a singer goes to an uninhabited island and sings as loudly as possible. If there is no one there to hear him, he will not be happy.
To realize we exist for the sake of others is the great achievement that changes our lives. When we realize that our life is not ours alone but is meant to be for the sake of the other, we begin to follow a path different from the one we were on.
Just as singing to yourself will not make you happy, there is no joy without a partner. Even the smallest and most trivial thing can bring you happiness when you do it for another.
FFWPU, USA