God’s Will and the Ocean: Episode 11

God’s Will and the Ocean
True Father Speaks on: The Founding of Ocean Church, page 26-28
October 1, 1980, Morning Garden

Preparation for Pledge

I wonder about couples who may fight the night before Pledge service. They shouldn't come to Pledge with that kind of thing between them. It's hypocritical. They should pay some indemnity and repent. They should apologize to each other. If they do that, if one says, "I started the whole thing and I'm sorry," and the other replies, "Well, there was some fault in me too," they can then come and do Pledge together. You don't want to come in front of Heaven with conflict in your hearts. The deep meaning of Pledge is that it is the weekly, monthly and yearly opportunity to clear up your hearts.

So far, you have been doing Pledge service in the early mornings and many times you say to yourself, "I wish Father would abolish this tradition of getting up so early to do Pledge." I know that everyone of you has felt that way. Whoever has not felt this way raise your hands. Well, even I have felt that way sometimes; I am not always so excited to get up at 4:00 a.m. and then work a long day after that. But when we reflect upon ourselves, consider what we say in the Pledge and compare where we are to that, we get better and better week by week. It takes time to perfect ourselves. We cannot just do it in a moment of magic. It takes many days, weeks, years, and we have to make consistent effort. To graduate from elementary school takes six years. If you are going to learn to go to Heaven can you do that overnight? You might look out and see a cloudy sky and say, "Oh, it might rain today, so I don't want to go to school; I don't want to go through that storm." Can you do that? Will you be excused? There were only a few days when you really wanted to go to school. There were mostly days when you were tired, or it was raining or snowing, or something else was going on, but you went to school every single day, didn't you? How about eating three meals a day. Don't you sometimes get tired of that? However, you do that three times a day, regardless of whatever goes on. What about going to the bathroom? If you hate to go to the bathroom because it isn't the nicest room in the place, do you refuse to go there when you really have to? Even though you may not want to use that room, you actually feel much better after you go there, don't you? Maybe you are really tired and don't even feel like doing it, but you feel much better afterwards and that is why you go ahead and do it.

When the Pledge service comes, you have to shower or take a bath and clean yourself up. That is also the case spiritually. You have to think about what you did wrong the past week, and pray and get ready for the Pledge service. Think about every part of your body. For example, if your hand did something wrong, pushed or struck someone, you have to really repent about that. You should repent if you thought badly towards others during the past week, month or year.

How good it is to have this time each week! You can truly clean yourself and prepare yourself. Then, for Pledge you can bow down in the purest way. For at least a few moments, have a deep prayer before you bow down. The night before when you take a bath or shower, make it very significant. You are cleaning yourself, getting ready to face God again for Pledge. Then, you can ask Heaven, "Since I am clean tonight, please stay close to me tonight and I will see you in the morning." You can even ask God to show you something good in your dreams that night. So, is Pledge bad or good? You should change from now on. Don't be lenient or tired to do the Pledge service. Instead, truly anticipate it and be joyful to do it. All year long, the very beginning of a brand new week is the very beginning of a brand new you. Think about yourself, your spouse, your children and if there is anything wrong in those relationships, clear it up. That is how serious Pledge is. Feel to your bones the great privilege you have in doing Pledge.

The Bible once warned us never to pledge, never to say an oath. That is because man did not have the condition to do so in front of God. But now, that foundation is laid and you can participate in the Pledge. So, think about how great it is to come before God in this way. I am concerned that you have done Pledge in a ritualistic way, that you didn't understand it, but have just done it like a habit. You should be very serious and solemn like the Jewish people when they go to the synagogue on the day of atonement, Yom Kippur. This ceremony is vitally important in order to build the Kingdom of Heaven in the family. Do you understand?