Seventh Annual Commencement Address by Founder

I am truly grateful to you, the parents and families of the graduating students, friends, professors, and distinguished guests, for your attendance at this seventh graduation ceremony of the Unification Theological Seminary.

The Unification Church has recently emerged as a unique group, without precedent in history. Parents of our members, the larger society, nations, and the world recognize our uniqueness but they generally fail to understand the nature of it.

Everyone in the world tends to see things primarily from a self-centered perspective. However, members of the Unification Church learn to view everything from a higher and larger dimension.

For example: money, power, knowledge — even salvation — are regarded from a worldly viewpoint: as benefiting the individual, or at most the family. How rare it is to find a person who puts even the welfare of the nation above that of the family! But for us the entire cosmos, both spiritual and physical, takes priority over the individual, the family, and even the nation.

Goals such as liberation, freedom, and happiness are generally sought for the sake of a few people rather than the human family as a whole. But unlike the rest of the world, we strive toward liberation, freedom and happiness not only for all of mankind, but even for God. Anyone who overlooks this difference, fails to understand our true nature.

Because our perspective is different and our goal is different, the direction and contents of our lives are different. This difference is analogous to that between a sprinter and a marathon runner. Like the marathon runner, we need not only long range thinking, but also more training. Our task demands more perseverance, longer periods of self-sacrifice, and more pain.

Coming from a narrower perspective, many parents, families, and even nations have failed to understand this, and have opposed us. In spite of this opposition, we have tried to embrace every- one; and fortunately, more and more people are now reflecting on their previous attitude and beginning to understand us.

From the point of view of the family, sons and daughters who love and serve their parents for the benefit of the entire family are called children of filial piety. From the point of view of a nation, citizens who love and serve their country are called loyal patriots. From a global point

of view, people who love and serve all of mankind are called saints. And from a cosmic point of view, those who love and serve heaven as wall as mankind are called holy sons and daughters of God. In the Unification Church, our goal is to become holy sons and daughters of God.

What does history need most? Does it need people with a narrow, worldly perspective, or does it need the Unification Church? If the conscientious people of the world really understood the Unification Church, they would agree that history needs us more than anything else. And if we were to ask God, the answer would be the same.

As sons and daughters of God, we can be proud of our historical mission. When our generation passes away, we must leave behind a worthy history, a secure mankind, and a satisfied God. Such a mission enjoys the protection of history, mankind, and God; and for this, we can be grateful in our daily work.

Those of you who are graduating from the Seminary today are part of this historical mission. Reverend Moon and the members of the Unification Church have devoted considerable effort to your education, and have high hopes that in your future careers you will become true leaders of tomorrow. We are praying that you will establish a royal pattern which will liberate mankind and God, and will defeat Satan and communism. We are also praying that you will establish a new and higher tradition for future history, mankind, and God.

I would like to close by congratulating the graduates on their achievement; and by thanking once again the parents of these historically important young people, the professors who have instructed these people whom history needs, and the distinguished guests who will watch over them with new hope.