Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 163

Section 5. America's Bicentennial Celebration

Yankee Stadium

True Parents held two events to celebrate America's bicentennial. The first was the Yankee Stadium Rally, June 1, 1976, in New York City. This rally was held in front of an audience of 50,000, amid stormy weather and the occasional shouts of protesters. True Father conveyed his message "God's Hope for America," and proclaimed that God sent him to America in the role of a doctor and firefighter. This was a bold, historic declaration in America as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness." During the third seven-year course, a completion-stage course, True Father took the decisive battle to the heart of America, which represented the center of the world. At this global and historic Junction of good and evil, True Parents established a standard for all indemnity conditions. For their June 14 issue, Newsweek International interviewed True Father and made that interview their cover story.

1  Jesus died on the cross after a three-year battle to unite the people of Israel, who were of the Jewish faith, which was the center of Judaism. The Unification Church will therefore connect its national standard in Korea, which is victorious both spiritually and physically, to America, the central nation in the spiritual Christian world. The spiritual standard reflects the world while the physical standard reflects the nation. Jesus' three-year public life was on the national level, and he meant to expand it substantially to the worldwide level.

1976 is equivalent to the second year of Jesus' three-year public course. Jesus' crucifixion was decided not during the first but the second year of his public ministry. 1976 corresponds to the second year of Jesus' public life, in which it was decided whether or not Jesus would be crucified.

This is in the third seven-year course, the second year of its first three years. In this year the decisive battle will be fought. After the formation stage comes the growth-stage. The growth-stage is the middle. Counting one-two-three, it is the middle number, and it is the midpoint between top and bottom, front and back, and left and right. The providence of restoration always meets its fate at a point in time based on the number two. Either it is dealt a final blow or it is set on a path to victory.

In the second year of Jesus' three-year course, which would decide whether or not Jesus would be victorious on a national level, it was determined that he should go to the cross. Jesus had to bear the cross and the physical foundation was lost. I am engaged in a similar battle in America.

American citizens and the government are in an uproar. America's 200 year history corresponds to the last 2,000 years of indemnity. The number 2 in 200 years and the 2nd year of this seven-year course are precisely matched. The 2nd year inherited only a spiritual foundation. Today the 200-year period is being claimed as indemnity, and this final battle will determine victory or defeat in both spirit and body on the global level. The front line of that battle is the 1976 Yankee Stadium Rally. This rally will be a war unprecedented in history.

2  My success or failure at the Yankee Stadium Rally will have universal and historical significance. That is why God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, all humanity, the Unification Church and Reverend Moon of the Unification Church each placed their lives on the line in this fight. Satan knows this, which is why he is attacking through the American media and through public opposition. I have yearned and prepared for this moment, June 1, 1976, since my youth. It will be a time of joy if we are successful, but a time of misery if we fail. It is a time of joy, but also a fearful time. My concern is whether, on that stage, I raise the flag of victory or the flag of defeat. If I raise the flag of defeat, the way of the Unification Church and humanity will become sorrowful and I will not be able to show my face before God. Then all of you, along with God, those in spirit world, and all world religions will fall under the attack of communism. Eventually this world will become a spiritual wasteland and all religions which existed until now will decline. The Communist Party will destroy America; this could come even before 1980. We who know this reality have taken historical responsibility on the front line through the Yankee Stadium Rally.

3  In the Unification Church, we have the three stages of formation, growth and completion. The formation stage is the family level centered on True Parents, the growth stage is focused on the nation of Korea, and the completion stage is on the world level. We are fighting a decisive battle in America, which represents the world. The third seven-year course corresponds to the era of completion. This is the significance of the rally on June 1, 1976, at Yankee Stadium. June I signifies the indemnification of the number 6, representing Satan's world. We will then progress to the number 7.

4  The second seven-year course will end in 1974, and the years 1975 to 1977 are the first three-year course within the third seven-year course. That period marks the 200th anniversary of America's independence. Victory at Yankee Stadium will restore through indemnity the failures at the time of Cain, Noah, Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus. Since America represents the world, all the failures of the Christian age can be cleared up. When we bring an extraordinary victory, it will become an issue for religious circles in America and for Americans from all walks of life. Then rather than opposing me, they will have to study about me. They will have to study about you as well. Whether in the religious field or any other field, when they know what I have been doing, we will all be elevated to the top.

5  Starting today, April 1, 1976, we will initiate a national witnessing revival for 60 days to support the Yankee Stadium Rally. How do you take part in this? Live as if you represent 6,000 years of history; live to restore Adam and Eve, who fell. We are going to indemnify the 6,000 years of vertical history horizontally through this 60-day period. Work even harder than Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; work harder than Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus; work harder than True Parents and the Korean members. When you do that, you will overcome. If we just leave America as it is, the nation will perish. In this 60- day period we can save America and resurrect the perishing democratic world. We can erect a shield to block the infiltration of communist ideology. This is when we can deter the moral breakdown of young people, and prevent the decline of Christianity and resurrect it. If we only pass through this period, a universal and historical era will come, in which God, for the first time, transforms the providential Will into a new age of Jacob.

6  I know you have been entrenched in a national witnessing revival for 60 days to support the Yankee Stadium Rally; but destiny will be determined by how you carry out the task during these last three days that start today, May 30. The destiny of the Unification Church will inevitably be decided during this three-day period. The three days after Jesus' crucifixion was the time during which he was to bring about a three-day victory rather than a three-day period of death. This is parallel to Jesus' time. As a result, this time is a spiritual turning point for the history of world Christianity. In terms of the three year course in the Unification Church's history in America, this three-day period centered on Yankee Stadium can determine the future on the worldwide level. This is why, by heaven and you being victorious in this three-day period, you are preparing a new beginning where New York can overcome the opposition, hold the flag of victory and move onto the worldwide level.

7  There were torrential rains and strong winds when the Yankee Stadium Rally began. We were desperate; everyone sang "You Are My Sunshine" in the pouring rain, and the band joined in. Our voices were singing, yet tears were flowing and mixing with the rain. You probably wanted to shout, "I would be so grateful if the rain stopped! Rain, stop now!" That is a natural reaction and we all shared the same heart. God is the only one who has the power to teach us like that for 20 minutes, so I offered a prayer of gratitude, saying, "O! My beloved God!" I wanted to teach the young people of America about God's heart and this is what occurred during the rally. That is why I was grateful for the rain. We pleaded with the same heart, "Rain, please stop!" while loving the world. This yearning is the realm of God's heart. You received a great gift, to experience this heart along with thousands of others. When you feel the heart you treasured at that moment, there is nothing at which you will not succeed in life, and God cannot help but cooperate with you. When you think that, even though He wanted to give this gift to all New Yorkers, and especially to those who opposed us, God gave such an occasion for the sake of His beloved Unification Church members, you should feel grateful. That is why I think it is appropriate to say that yesterday was a great and victorious blessing.

8  Three days before the Yankee Stadium Rally, I said, "This three-day period corresponds to the three day period after Jesus died on the cross, when he went to hell to witness." I thought, "Oh my! It rained for three days, just as I said." Jesus dying on the cross caused the separation of spirit and flesh; half of God's Will was realized and half was not. In order for the Unification Church to accomplish the physical resurrection, we have to get physically hit, so I was expecting it; I knew something would happen. In the same way that Jesus held onto heaven and prayed, "Abba, Father, why have you forsaken me?" we also have to hold onto God and allow things to run their course. When the rain came on the day of the rally, everything could have been ruined, but we stood in unity and called out to God. This was a priceless opportunity to feel oneness with God's heart.

9  During the Yankee Stadium Rally, people could have said, "God is so terrible. Why did it have to rain?" I turned to heaven and instead of saying, "God! What is going on?" I prayed, "Thank you." A Japanese member's father had a vision of the spirit world and said that the raindrops were spirits. The same thing occurred when the curtain of the tabernacle was torn in half and the spirits descended to earth and were resurrected.

Now the spirit world will cooperate and move us toward Washington, D.C. We have entered the era when the spirit world can cooperate with earth, following the era when it could not. The time is coming when Jesus spiritually will return to earth and gather the Christian spirits. He will gather the fortune of Christianity and combine it with that of the Unification Church.

10  Nearly 700 of your parents and siblings, as well as Koreans from overseas, came to the Yankee Stadium Rally. From a biblical perspective, this is the same as Cain and Abel coming together. Until now many have watched us with criticism and complaint, but now they have united with us. This is an amazing occurrence. History is a record of the struggle between Cain and Abel. That led to their separation, but here, Cain and Abel were able to embrace each other internally and externally. Considering this, I represent the position of becoming one with Korea and you represent the position of becoming one with your families. If we just become one, this will be the starting point of a movement that can influence the world. Through this, we can make a new beginning worldwide.

11  From 1976, communists will work to eliminate the Unification Church or will deploy agents to create factions within our movement. I expect many such people to infiltrate our movement. Not long ago, a reporter from The Daily News attended a three-day workshop in order to spy on us. More things like this may happen. There is no way to prevent this because we are open to the public. Here in America is the first time in my entire life, and hopefully the last time, that I fight a battle while facing assassination threats.

The battles we fight during the Yankee Stadium Rally and Washington Monument Rally on American soil are in alignment with God's desire, Jesus' desire and the desire of all humanity. They are also the desire of all our ancestors, the people of today's world and our descendants. The critical point for all these desires is here. In order to reach a final decision, I must carry this out. When I say, "Let's go beyond this critical point of hope and overcome this critical point of desire," that critical point refers to the Yankee Stadium Rally. The Madison Square Garden Rally was the formation stage and the Yankee Stadium Rally corresponds to the growth stage, the second stage. It is therefore the most difficult. I believe we will pass through the third stage without any problem.