Five Steps to Freedom Forever - The Holy Marriage Blessing — De Geode

•Rev. Sun Myung Moon once said, “The Blessing Ceremony is a ritual of bringing God into one’s own body.” (CSG 1275) •This is not science fiction. God is love. Love attracts man and woman to each other. No matter what race or religion, they desire to become one in God’s love. 2

STEP ONE: The Love Revolution

•We experience this as ecstasy. •Transcendence. •The purpose of living. •As peace, security, fulfillment.

STEP ONE: The Love Revolution

•However we express it, this is our ideal of marriage, and it comes from our Creator. •It is a universal hope, achievable by us all, because it is what God created for us. •It’s actually God’s will that this be ours.

What’s holding marriage back?

•If it’s something we all want, then one thing we need to answer is: why don’t we have it? •If this is the greatest good, then what is preventing it is the greatest evil. •So we have to find how to get evil out of marriage.

What’s holding marriage back?

•That’s what the Holy Marriage Blessing does. •It releases marriage from evil and unites it with God’s perfect love. •It has five steps: rebirth, resurrection, purification, liberation, and completion.

•The Gospel of John prophesies a rebirth of husband wife love: •Jesus answered, “The living water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” (John 4:6-16) 7

Rebirth • Jesus promised living water. He changed water into wine at a wedding. He taught that a man goes into his mother’s womb, a place of living water, to be reborn. The holy wine represents husband wife rebirth, a transformation of love. • The woman at the well, receiving the living water from Jesus, would have reversed the human Fall by giving life to her husband. • So in our ceremony, the wife receives the Holy Wine, drinks half the cup, and shares it with her husband.

•In the womb, your father and mother bring you to life. • In the desert, the people asked Moses for food. He cried to God, “Did I conceive this people? Do I have flesh to give this people?” (Num 11:12- 14) •Moses did not, but the Messiah does. 9

•The seed that gives us birth is the Word of God. (James 1:18, Luke 8:11) Jesus compared the Word of God with food—the bread of life. (Mt 4:4, Jn 4:34) The food we eat becomes our flesh and blood. (Jn 6:28-29, Jer 31:33) •So to receive the Holy Wine means that your marriage is reborn. 10

Rebirth • At the Last Supper, Jesus gave his flesh and blood, his seed, to the disciples. Jn 15:1-8 • Jesus said of his Second Coming, “…I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20) • Jesus is the vine and his followers are the branches. It means to be reborn from the same root, to have the same seed, or lineage. • This is the meaning of the Holy Wine Ceremony. 11

Preparation • You begin by locating a sincere desire to change and grow yourself and, if you are a couple, your marriage. • You talk about this with a mentor couple. • You do something to embody your desire for purity. • On that foundation, your mentor couple, in God’s name, will forgive you and open the door to a new life. 12

Conclusion •Through the Holy Wine, we change our lineage from that which sprang from sin, to that of God, with no Fall, no sin. We open the gate of God’s perfect love with our spouse. •These are the facts of new life! The Holy Wine represents God’s seed and womb in True Parents, who are one with God. They bring to all people a rebirth of husband-wife love. 13

THE HOLY WINE PUTS GOD’S WORD INTO YOUR MARRIAGE •This is the first step. The second is a public ceremony, a formal wedding. •Thanks for listening.

FIVE STEPS TO FREEDOM FOREVER

THE HOLY MARRIAGE BLESSING Part 2

STEP TWO: Resurrection

•The second step of the Holy Marriage Blessing is a formal wedding. •It begins with a sprinkling with holy water by your pastor or mentor couple, which symbolizes washing by the source of divine love. •The couple then recites a covenant by which they commit to four ideals. 16

STEP TWO: Resurrection

•One, that God’s divine and perfect love, the ideal of True Parents, is the power and glory of our marriage. •Two, that our love as man and wife is eternal, based on our absolute commitment to God and each other.

STEP TWO: Resurrection

•Three, that we will raise our children to be pure and themselves receive the Blessing. •Four, that our marriage will be a source of inspiration that imparts the Blessing to all people, beyond race, religion and nation.

STEP TWO: Resurrection

•Then comes a laying on of hands and prayer. •God’s touch comes from two hands —your father and mother —through the True Parents, and those whom they have anointed. True Parents accept, embrace, heal and unite. •By the laying on of hands we receive God’s Spirit, the holy and divine energy of life. 19

STEP TWO: Resurrection •Then your pastor or mentor couple proclaim the Blessing on your couple. •As Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God on the foundation of Peter’s response that he was the Christ, they proclaim us a blessed couple by our response that as True Parents, Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon are the mediators of God’s marriage Blessing. 20

STEP TWO: Resurrection

•This draws a line in the sands of time. This declares your resurrection as a couple, in God’s eyes, liberated from the world of sin. •Keep in mind, when Christ proclaimed Peter the Rock upon which he would build his church, Peter’s responsibility was just beginning. 21

STEP TWO: Resurrection

•So too, the mission of the newly blessed couple is just beginning. Peter had his times of failure, and so do we all. But Jesus forgave him, and Peter became a saint. •So will your couple. •The next three steps of the Blessing launch your new history. Let’s go to the next step right now. 22

Let the heart catch up •WE DO NOT START (OR RESTART) MARITAL LIFE IMMEDIATELY •We slow down, because marriage begins in the mind and heart. It begins with the right decisions based on your ideals, hopes and dreams. •Our next steps assume you are ready to take some time for this. 23

Let the heart catch up

•In these steps, you will learn how to work as a team. You will share the patience and love. •You will invite God to guide your Venus and Mars personalities —which are very different— to serve as the living foundation of your marriage.

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION

•We dedicate 40 days of sexual abstinence to God and to each other. •Joseph and Mary had no sexual relations during her pregnancy leading to Jesus’ birth. (Mt 1:25) •The period of 40 days appears often in the Bible, as a time with God that leads to a new beginning. 25

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION

•Shannon: from the charts, use what is in red.

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION Central person The 40 days The new beginning Noah 40-day flood A purified world. Gen 7:4

Moses Central person 40 days fast The 40 days Ten Commandments The new beginning Noah 40-day flood A purified world. Gen 7:4 Ex 24:18, Num 14:33 Moses 40 days fast Ten Commandments Ex 24:18, Num 14:33

Moses Jonah 40 years in the desert 40 days of prophecy A new nation Salvation of Ninevah. Jonah 3:4

Jonah 40 days of prophecy Salvation of Ninevah. Jonah 3:4

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION Central person The 40 days The new beginning Jesus 40 days in the desert Public ministry. Mt 4:1

The resurrected Jesus 40 days teaching the The Holy Spirit and disciples the church. Acts 1:3

My spouse and I 40 days spiritual Your eternal blessed oneness and sexual marriage abstinence

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION

•These 40-day periods brought forth new life, and our 40-day period brings forth our blessed marriage. •Here are some ideas for how to get the most out of your 40 days: •Dedicate a quiet time each day. If possible, make it the same time each day. 29

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION •Attend a workshop or retreat about marriage. •Read holy scriptures. •Read about marriage and parenting. •Volunteer to do a service activity or church work. • Work on forgiveness, generosity, gratitude, simplicity. 30

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION

•Pray about dealing with temptations and facing fears. •Talk with God and each other about things in your life you want to change, about your goals, about a personal or family mission.

STEP THREE: PURIFICATION

•Meet individually, or together, with your pastor or mentor couple to talk about these things. •At the start or during the 40-days, the fourth step takes place, that we’ll talk about next. •Thanks for listening.

FIVE STEPS TO FREEDOM FOREVER

THE HOLY MARRIAGE BLESSING Part 3

STEP FOUR : Liberation • The fourth step of the Blessing is where you free your marriage from the cycle of hurt and pain, and put an end to it forever. • We face the physical dimension of hurt and pain, through a physical discipline from God. • What is the motive behind physical discipline from God? • It is a form of love, good for our spiritual growth. (Heb 12:6, Rev 3:19) 34

STEP FOUR : Liberation

•“The one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” (Prov 13:24) •God’s Word led to physical creation. Faith is expressed through physical actions of love. We seek Heaven on Earth, in our real life. •Sex itself has a physical dimension, and so does sexual purity. 35

STEP FOUR : Liberation

•God sent an angel to wrench Jacob’s thigh out of joint. He instituted circumcision. •Jesus said to cut off a hand or foot, pluck out the eye, cut off the sexual organs if they cause one to sin.

What happens when we strike something for God? •Moses striking the river turned it to blood; striking the rock brought forth the water of life. (Ex 17:1-7; 1 Cor 10:4) •The Lord answered Moses, “…take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” (Ex 17:5-6) 37

What happens when we strike something for God? •We experience liberation from anger and guilt by the husband and wife in turn striking each other three times. •Where? On your bottom. •That’s where our first parents covered themselves in shame. They were ashamed of sex. We liberate from shame or guilt about sex. 38

What happens when we strike something for God? • Before leaving Egypt, the Israelites struck the doorway three times to protect their families from the angel of death. • In the Bible, the doorway represents “…my mother’s house, … the chamber of her that conceived me. (Song of Songs 3:4) • The doorway represents the sexual organ. (Ex 12:22- 23, KJV) Striking three times represents separating the sexual organ from the angel of death.

What happens when we strike something for God? •It is repentance for the sin of the Fall, by oneself or one’s ancestors. •It is a release of resentment toward whatever caused you to sin. •It separates your body and soul from the angel of death, Satan, and makes room for God in your marriage. 40

What happens when we strike something for God? •This act happens just once. It never should be repeated. •In fact it is a pledge never ever to strike your spouse, physically or spiritually. •This ceremony is a declaration of the end of abuse. You are forever free from anger, resentment and violence. 41

What happens when we strike something for God? •Therefore, the indemnity ceremony is conducted by the couple with pure and grateful hearts submitted before God and each other, guided by your mentor couple. •Thanks for listening. Our next two sessions will be on the fifth step of the Holy Marriage Blessing. 42

FIVE STEPS TO FREEDOM FOREVER

THE HOLY MARRIAGE BLESSING Part 4

STEP FIVE: THE THREE-DAY CEREMONY I

•In the Blessing our marriage has rebirth, resurrection and growth. Our fifth step, the Three Day Ceremony is the completion in the maturity of love. •God created us to be parents. Being parents makes us sexual, and sexual love is how we become substantial human beings. 44

STEP FIVE: THE THREE-DAY CEREMONY I

•The Three-Day Ceremony opens the gateway to “absolute sex,” man woman love that is completely one with the perfect holiness of God—in which in fact, God is present. •To explain it very simply, we point out that God reproduces by the union of above and below.

STEP FIVE: Genesis 1 + 2 ABOVE BELOW The heavens The earth Darkness The surface of the deep The Spirit of God The waters The water above the expanse The water under the expanse The land The seas Man All the creatures The breath of life The dust of the ground 46

STEP FIVE: Birth of Jesus, his ministry and the Christian church ABOVE BELOW The power of the Most High Mary The Spirit, a dove, a voice Jesus coming up out of the water The Spirit Water, flesh The Holy Spirit The disciples The Holy Spirit, the rushing wind The disciples

STEP FIVE: COMPLETION

•God-centered birth comes from the union of the “above” and ‘below,” representing heaven and earth, the spirit and the water. We call this “absolute sex.” •Remember: above and below are not superior and inferior. Both are of God. 48

Physical rebirth begins with God’s seed. Where do we go to receive it? •The Bible calls the Word, Principle, Law or Spirit God’s seed. How does this come into us? •Jesus said that a man inherits the seed of God— the Spirit— in his mother’s womb —the water. •How does a man get into his mother’s womb?

Physical rebirth begins with God’s seed. Where do we go to receive it? •It is through the union of the sexual organs in the marital act of love. Through sexual oneness, the above and below become one — God’s creative power comes alive. •The Three-Day Ceremony is an experience of sexual oneness between God, husband and wife. In it the sin of the Fall is completely erased. 50

Physical rebirth begins with God’s seed. Where do we go to receive it? •Jer 31:22: “For the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.” •To compass means to envelope, to surround and to know completely. This is the sexual oneness of husband and wife.

Physical rebirth begins with God’s seed. Where do we go to receive it? •The bridegroom gives his life to the bride. The bride adds her life to his, and creates a new life. •The husband and wife themselves are completed, perfected, in their sexual union. •So this fifth step is Completion. •We’ll cover the rest in our next session.

FIVE STEPS TO FREEDOM FOREVER

THE HOLY MARRIAGE BLESSING Part 5