Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 360
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 9: The Role of Nations in Realizing World Peace
Speech 8: The Way to World Peace, pg 1347-1350
Revolution from selfishness to unselfishness
Ladies and gentlemen, today’s creation of the Federation for World Peace must be different from that of the League of Nations and the United Nations. Most important is that we must found this organization upon the true ideal and philosophy of lasting peace as well as the ideal of True Parents. In the final analysis, peace in God and with God is the newest level of awakening. This is, therefore, a refreshing new beginning toward the attainment of peace. The exclusion of God from human efforts for peace is the core reason for their failure. Therefore, we shall make God the center of this movement and the dynamics of this movement will be true love.
For men and women who are fervently longing for world peace, today’s gathering is historic. There are many presidents and former presidents here today, as well as prominent members of the clergy and leaders from every walk of life. This is truly a rare and extraordinary assembly. Furthermore, there are leaders from the East bloc and the West bloc. Until recently, those leaders were mired in the Cold War and locked in a chilling confrontation. In this auditorium, however, there is no East or West. Everyone is gathered together in one spirit of cooperation and reconciliation.
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall finally came tumbling down. Ever since that event we have been living in a different world. The world is moving quickly toward reformation, change, mutual understanding and friendship. Everyone today feels acutely that the mood of the world is opening up to the blossoming opportunity of peace.
If you agree that the principles I have expounded are the fundamental criteria for peace, then true peace is reachable and achievable. The industrialized North must reach out to help liberate the South from pervasive impoverishment. The developed nations must reach out with a helping hand toward the developing countries and the new democracies. Each nation’s attitude must be changed from a selfish one to an unselfish one.
That by itself is a revolution. Nations can do this when leaders see from the position of parents. The most unselfish and sacrificial love of all is the love of parents. From that perspective, one can see that all nations are brother and sister nations. Then a fresh new vision emerges and new opportunities will open up in front of us.
It has already been announced that in September North Korea and South Korea together will join the United Nations. This is another significant positive development toward the achievement of world peace. Then the number of member nations of the UN will reach 163 countries. What ought to be the priority of those 163 countries in the days to come? The time of colonialism is over, when the powerful nations exploited the weakest ones.
The law of the jungle and Herbert Spencer’s “survival of the fittest” do not apply in our world. The age of the superpower arms race that drove the world and humanity into fear and uncertainty has also passed; humanity ought to be liberated from the devastating threat of nuclear arms. What time is it in God’s timetable? This is the time that the Holy Scriptures refer to as that of “beating our swords into plowshares.” (Isaiah 2:4)
This is the time for developing mutual trust based on a high moral standard. It is a time when all the member nations of the United Nations, with a relationship of mutual respect and love, must jointly declare one final war against our common enemies: the scourges of hunger, ignorance, disease and crime. This is in God’s plan. From this time on, the definition of “my country” will expand. Although everyone has their home country where their family lives, in a larger sense the world now becomes “my country,” because it is where God my Father and my brothers and sisters—all the people of the world—live.
From this point of view, advanced nations ought to seek to share high technology with the developing nations and new democracies. To do otherwise would be a crime against humanity. Things that are good and beneficial must be shared among all nations. When a new discovery is made, it can benefit all nations. If something is good for humanity and the world, we must share it, transcendent of national boundaries. For a long time, I have been fighting for equal access to the use of high technology by all developing nations.
The twenty-first century will be an era of peace
Ladies and gentlemen, your coming to this place is not an accident. Nothing happens by accident. I feel you are ordained to be here. You are chosen by God to be champions of peace.
Just nine years remain until we reach the year 2000. We shall commemorate that year within our lifetime. That year will be history’s new turning point. A new era is unfolding. With the cooperation of God, man and woman together, the twenty-first century will be a century of peace. In order to make that happen we shall work tirelessly together for the next nine years. If we do, we shall be able to eliminate all obstacles that might hinder the attainment of peace.
The twenty-first century shall be a righteous century. In the twenty-first century wealth will not be the dominating factor. Instead the human spirit and human soul shall be dominant. The twenty-first century shall be the era of unity between God and humanity. It shall be the era where a new awakening will come to every person, a realization that one benefits oneself more when one genuinely lives for the sake of others. In the twenty-first century selfishness will decline. Life, honor and glory based on unselfishness shall be triumphant. These are the characteristics of the coming twenty-first century.
The era for peace is approaching. Even the opportunity for the kingdom of heaven on earth is closer. The twenty-first century shall be a hopeful and glorious century. To make this happen, the Federation for World Peace will provide the ideal and philosophy to educate the world’s population. The federation will assist spiritually, intellectually and financially in the development of all nations. The federation will set a high moral standard and take up a dynamic role in building a world of peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are the apostles of peace. A bright new hope and an exciting new future are awaiting us. Today we need to feel fervently the desire to fulfill the great mission that is being bestowed upon us.
In order to achieve this sacred duty and the historic responsibility of building lasting peace, we need to dedicate our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor with total commitment. The very first item on our agenda needs to be to invite God into our individual hearts and into our family, society, nation and world. When God is with us, who can be against us? Respected friends, my beloved brothers and sisters, we are called to this sacred mission, the building of world peace. Our noble march shall begin today toward that glorious future. Let us build a world of true peace together with God.
Thank you.
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