God’s Will and the Ocean
Excerpts from Published Speeches, page 301-303
1974-1983

Excerpts from Published Speeches

1974-1983

You should know, in order to be a qualified leader, you absolutely need more training. You have to know how to speak out and persuade others. Everyday, I go fishing out in the Freeport, Long Island area. Some of the people think, "Oh, Reverend Moon is a world renowned preacher. Why does he have any connection with fishing? He should forget it"

To Belvedere Trainees
August 29,1974

I am leaving again today for Boston, and again I have an important mission. I will go out to sea, not for pleasure, but to lay a foundation for the future economy of the Unification Church. That's my goal. There is no way we can exceed the advances in industry and technology, except in the one virtually untapped area of the sea and sea products. The international law has recently been changed and America can soon claim jurisdiction over the waters extending 200 miles out from shore. There will be much more territory to cope with, and the American people do not pay very much attention to the sea, nor invest very much in marine industries. Thus, the treasure of the sea surrounding America is virtually untapped. I feel that the future economic foundation of the Unification Church lies in this area. Some time ago, I promised that in three years I would start exploring the treasures of the sea.

I have to train you. People criticize me and say that Reverend Moon is taking it easy on a yacht out in the Atlantic Ocean, enjoying himself. Nothing could be further from the truth. I don't think very many of you will inherit large fortunes from your own parents, so I am responsible for you. I must begin to plan how you can support yourselves. You will be blessed in marriage, and God will bless your marriages with children, whom you must be able to support. While you're going down to Washington to fight this battle, I am looking more than ten years ahead and going to sea to prepare our future economic foundation. Going out to sea is the most wearying and tiresome task I have ever done, but I am determined to do more and to endure more physical hardship than any one of you.

Since we have developed a worldwide system of organization, our movement can grow rapidly in this new industry. Even in this area I want to play the role of a forefather, a pioneer.

Past and Future Generations
August 1,1976

Do you want to participate in the creation of the economy that will restore this world? I am now starting our fishing industry and with that purpose in mind, I experimented with the tuna trade this summer. No matter what time of day or night or what type of weather there was, I went out to sea. If the sea was rough the captain of the New Hope used to ask whether we were going out, but now he knows I will go out no matter what the circumstances.

The members who finished at the Seminary and now have their Master's diplomas may work at sea. The captains of our boats may have PhD's. Don't laugh. It is that kind of condescending attitude that has caused the decline of America's fishing industry. Unless I resurrect it, the fishing industry in this country will die. I will contribute to America by restoring the dying marine industry. We are now negotiating to buy a mother ship, but it is not for a pleasure cruise to the Caribbean. It is to catch the treasures of the sea. I don't like the smell of fish, but we can create a great economic foundation for God's work. Catching fish is not our goal, but the liberation of the communist world is. That is why we must advance. If you unmarried women don't want to be blessed to fishermen, you should leave now. If you don't want to marry a sailor then you will have to marry someone outside our church.

There is a vast treasure lying in the sea, waiting to be harvested by our hands, but right now the American fishing industry is dying because American young people do not like the hard work of going out to sea. When they go out to sea for three months, they return to find that their wives have left them and their money has been squandered and they never want to go out to sea again. If they are not married, they are still not interested in going out because sometimes the weather is so brutal. You women who marry fishermen must be proud of them for working for God and mankind.

I have experienced how the sea will make a man more reverent. At sea, you need faith in God because you must totally rely on Him. Furthermore, when the men go out to sea they will not forget their families. In my own experience, I thought of Mother and my children more at sea than at home because at sea I never knew what would happen in the next moment. At sea, I love and pray for my wife and children more than anywhere else. When the New Hope docks, and Mother and the children are waiting and waving to me, I feel as though I have met God at that moment. The women who can love their husbands when they return from harsh work at sea will be the most superb, exemplary wives in the sight of God.

Perfection and Gratitude
October 3,1976