Foundation Day - Internal Overview

Okay, so it's really great to be able to give this kind of talk because I had to sit down and work out what Foundation Day really means. It's interesting to see William's perspective and understanding. I always enjoy his talks because he has a historic perspective, but I'm trying to link it up with today—how we are, how I am—and that we can understand a bit more about Father and also about Mother. If we think about everything, we can understand that Father and Mother, especially Father to start with, had to restore the whole foundation that was lost after the Second World War. If you restore something, you need to restore it backwards. If you're building a building, you start from the foundations upwards, but if you're restoring something, you go the other way around; you take the wallpaper off and go backwards. Father had to restore the Christian foundation, which includes Jesus's life, Mary, John the Baptist, and so on. He had to restore the nation of Israel, the Temple, Kings, Moses, the Ark of the Tabernacle, and the time in the Wilderness. He had to restore Abraham's offering, the original offering, the second offering with Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Noah, and all the things that happened at Noah back to Adam and Eve to create a new beginning for humans, which should be the time before the Fall. We're trying to undo the Fall and all the results of the Fall throughout history.

Of course, some sections of that period took longer than others because of failures, as William has hinted, and some things are still unfolding. We can see that because of this restoration, Father's course is really complicated—super complicated. This is just some part of it. Don't panic and don't try to write it down. We can see that there was like a seven-year course where Father should have been accepted. He's mentioned this. Then there's Father's own 21-year course, which he stated started in 1947, and then there's also True Parents' 21-year course from 1960. There's Father's own personal 40-year course, the 40 plus three years course of the HSWC to restore the foundation for the Bride of Christianity, True Mother's 40-year course from the blessing to June 14th, 1999, and the two children's 40-year course that first started on May 16th, 1981 with Haines' blessing, and then again from 2000. There's this 12-year course that we're in now, and actually there are many other things. If you really look to see some of the things that Father said, you can realise it's even more complicated than this. But this is enough for us for the moment.

The point is that Father is trying to restore the parallel providential periods from the Christian era back to Old Testament times and before the Fall to create a circumstance where God can feel He can reside with people who are as pure as they were before the Fall. That's a big job, a very big job to do, and Father needed to do it in a very short period of time. It's a really condensed effort. Let's just look at a couple of things because I want to use those as something to understand how we can be also. Let's look at the restoration of HSWC, especially because we just got an email saying that we've changed our name back again. HSWC was basically to recreate the foundation that Christianity needed to have to receive the Messiah. Why? Because Christianity stood in the position of the Bride. You can read that in the Bible. Essentially, Jesus needed to marry; we understand that from Father's teachings. Christianity was to provide this basis upon which a bride could be offered to Father or to the Messiah when He came. Essentially, the spirit of a true woman should be embodied within Christianity.

If you think about the true Christian spirit, what should it really be? Give me some examples of what you think a good Christian attitude would be, thinking about the idea of a bride. Caring? Love your enemy? Yes, compassion? Maybe stopping the children fighting? I don't know what you call that—reconciliation. Yes, there are many things that the Christian spirit needs to embody, and that should have been there to really provide a basis for Father's bride to find a woman who could really have those highest characteristics, who could embody that and become the wife of the Messiah. But because Christianity couldn't really understand Father and what Father's mission was, we know that after seven years, or actually less, of effort, Father had to start a new kind of course. Finally, in 1954, he established the HSA WC, which had a mission to restore this position of the bride. Our members, Father himself, and also Mother during that period went through incredible difficulties, the same difficulties that many of the Christian martyrs and people went through in the early days of Christianity and later on. You see an incredible heart of suffering and effort. I don't know if anyone's read Tiger Park's book. It's amazing. I suggest you try to get a hold of it. It's such an incredible story. Tiger Park ran CARP in America for a long time; he died of cancer later, but his story is unbelievable.

HSWC was officially disbanded in a sense; Father explained that it had finished its role on April 10th, 1997. That was actually a 43-year course. The Family Federation had been started just the year before that, in July, I think July 1st or something, and basically that then took over the role of HSWC to carry on its mission in a broader sense. We can see that during that time, Father really worked very strongly, particularly making a foundation in Korea until December 1970. So from 1954 to 1970 was like 16 years, and then he went to the United States and worked in America for 33 years to try to rebuild the Christian spirit. He felt America had an incredible role to play in the world in terms of its Christian role. He worked particularly with ministers. He went to prison, he went to Danbury, but during that time it was a kind of revival for our ministerial work. Not long after, because of that, many ministers went to Korea to study our movement, and we could establish a strong foundation with Christian ministers.

Finally, on April 10th, 1992, the Women's Federation was founded as a platform for True Mother to go from being Father's bride and the mother of his children to really taking on the role that Father had himself on a wider scale. She could understand his heart more in terms of the broader aspects of his work with other people and provide a different type of input for people to really catch who Father was and what Father was trying to teach. She started with small tours around Korea, then Japan, then Korea, Japan, and America, and then on and on for seven years. I remember when she came here on her last World Tour through 80-plus different cities around the world. She came into Britain in May 1999, and I remember her going through the front door in Chiselhurst. She whispered to her main secretary, 'What country are we in?' I thought that was amazing. I could understand that. In the last summer, I went to Spain, Finland, and Germany over a period of about three or four weeks, and that was enough for me. I can't imagine doing 82 cities in many continents and countries one after the other every couple of days. Mother went through an incredible course to inherit the sort of stand that Father had and to control herself, to be able to still give out and smile to people, and to be there for people as a mother on a wider level than she was ever before. Her course basically finished on June 14th, 1999, after a seven-year period during which she went through incredible things to catch up with Father on a world scale. For the first time, Father recognised her and congratulated her, saying that now she was standing on a level with him in the things they were doing. That was a very key moment, and the whole point was to restore this position of the Bride.

If we look at another aspect of that time, we can see that there was a series of points where Father had to create this elder son, younger son restoration position. To start with, he couldn't even establish himself as a true father. In the very early days of the church, he prayed in Jesus's name, in Christ's name. Later on, the prayers changed, and gradually our members used to call him Master at first, more like a teacher, and then later he became Father and then True Father. Step by step, Father was trying to establish this elder son, younger son relationship, not just with members but on wider levels. The first major victory Father talked about was on August 31st, 1989, where he explained that he had been through these eight stages of this kind of relationship on wider levels, not just with one person or a group of people or his tribe, but actually on the world stage. Not long after that, he met Mr Gorbachev and Kim Il-sung, and he could really make some foundational conditions of unity with these types of world-level figures. On August 9th, 1997, after Mother succeeded on her World Tour, instead of just being an elder son, he could start to really work on the idea of parentship. He started to work together with Mother and said that God had reached some sort of Sabbath period where they had been restoring all these relationships, trying to make the foundation of faith and substance. He started to emphasise much more about parentship and True Parents. Later, the third stage was when he had this coronation ceremony for the kingship of God on January 13th, 2001, where he started talking much more about sovereignty and establishing a nation. There was this step-by-step process that Father went through to build a deeper foundation of heart.

If you look at this period, it was all to do with how to love your enemy, how to win someone's heart, and how to be more parental. True Mother had to be super parental on a world level. The mission of True Parents was to restore our position before the Fall. The Fall was first of all Adam and Eve, and it was the Archangel and Eve that was the first step of the Fall, between a spiritual being and a physical person. The next stage of the Fall was between Adam and Eve, which was two beings on Earth. Later, of course, Jesus came to restore that failure, but he didn't manage to restore the relationship between men and women. Far later, Father then had to restore these things himself. He had to go through the circumstances that Jesus went through and even go back to Adam's family. That's one reason why Father set up these different kinds of blessings. The first blessing, of course, was the True Parents' blessing, but True Parents weren't really True Parents if you think about it from what I've just been saying. They were in a kind of John the Baptist position, restoring Jesus's position. We can say that the first blessing on the 16th day of the third month of 1960 by the lunar calendar was restoring Jesus's inability to get blessed and married. Father had to work to rebuild the Christian foundation on that basis. Then there were three couples, 36 couples, 72 couples, and so on. All of these couples were offerings of people who were following True Parents and who could expand Father's teaching, culture of heart, traditions, and standards on a wider level. Each time these blessings were successful, Father could expand the level of our work.

The providential mission that he was involved in began first in Korea, then in Japan, and then between Japan and America. Finally, in 1975, with the blessing of 1,800 couples, he could expand worldwide to nations and beyond. Each one of these blessings was like an offering of people, similar to the time of the Hebrews making their offerings and sacrifices in Israel. They would make an offering at the temple to atone for their sins. In the same way, the Father wanted to make offerings of people, real living offerings of ourselves, to advance the Providence. By presenting these people who were following him and the Divine Principle, Satan could not accuse us at that level of work because we had already established a strong foundation. The years 1992, 1995, and 1997 were beyond our reality, but we had to undertake them because the Father needed to establish a basis on the world level. I remember standing outside Wembley football ground, trying to bless people, which was quite an interesting experience.

At the end of all that, there were conditional offerings. On the basis of True Mother fulfilling her role and True Father overcoming these relationships, he could start a 12-year course in 2001. On 6th February 2003, he had another blessing with Mother, marking the next stage. We started with Jesus, and now we were going right back to the Fall. The Fall, if you look at it in reverse, involves Adam and Eve, with the Archangel and Eve being the first step. Father and Mother had the blessing, and it was a very simple affair. Father wore a white tuxedo, and Mother wore a white dress. There was nothing on the stage, and Father gave Mother a ring. They exchanged rings, and Father prayed, representing the restoration of Adam and Eve. Mother had established her world-level foundation, and they could receive this blessing together.

In 2013, on 22nd February in the solar calendar, there was another blessing. Father's in the spirit world, and whether by accident or not, he is using this for the purpose of establishing true parents substantially and undoing the Fall of the Archangel and Eve completely. This information comes from a speech that was given just last week, which I found quite interesting. Our blessings have always been offerings until now because we have been in a period of restoration. We have had to be given as offerings so that Satan can step back and God can advance the Providence more deeply. True Parents are trying to restore our position before the Fall, and we look at all these historic figures, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Zechariah, leading up to True Parents. This represents a whole course of restoration, where many people went through various experiences to change their hearts.

The restoration of the Fall is fundamentally about the restoration of heart. It is not merely an intellectual exercise; we need to understand what we are doing, especially when circumstances are difficult. Our hearts, not long after the Fall, were quite messed up and selfish. Early people were very barbaric and cared little beyond their immediate families. However, over thousands of years, our hearts have become more sensitive to each other. We are now concerned about various situations and sensitive to the suffering of others around the world. This growth has been gradual, and Father wants to pass on to us a state where we cannot be invaded by Satan any longer. Our hearts must reach a point where we have no connection with Satan, providing there is no basis for Satan to step into our lives.

Through the blessing, Father is trying to capture us and pay a price for us, ensuring that Satan cannot violate us, provided we adhere to some basic rules. If we break those rules, it is our responsibility, and Satan will invade us. However, if we do not break those rules, then Satan cannot invade us. If he did, God would claim a bigger price for that. In Revelation 14, it speaks of a time when they sang a new song before the throne and the four living creatures. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. This number relates to us. Those who did not defile themselves with women kept themselves pure and followed the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as the first fruits to God and the Lamb, standing as the first steps towards this new Kingdom.

The entire history has been an amazing journey of God trying to establish not just a foothold but also His heart within human beings. God wants to be inside us and work through us. It has taken a long time, nearly a million years since the Fall, for God to work with people, deepening their hearts and raising them step by step, generation by generation. Finally, we have reached a point where Father can come and be blessed with Mother, paying a huge price for us so that we can be taken away from the Fallen World and start anew. This new beginning is not just a fresh start but a way to begin on a completely pure footing if we follow the teachings of Father and strive to overcome Satan in our circumstances and within ourselves.

This is a very special point where we can be taken away from the Fallen World and make a new start, which is related to the holy wine and the Covenant. William mentioned the Covenant that Solomon broke. The blessing, represented by water and wine, signifies forgiveness and a renewed covenant with God based on our repentance and determination to make a new start. We can ascend step by step. Historically, the Covenant was established at the Last Supper, where Jesus made a covenant with his disciples, symbolised by bread and wine. This was a reminder of the Passover when the Israelites left Egypt, marked by the blood of the lamb on their doors to protect them from the angel of death. This act was a sign of their faith in God, indicating where they stood in terms of their belief.

Even now, Jewish people eat unleavened bread at the Feast of the Passover, reflecting what Jesus said about bread and wine. There is an even deeper Covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, where every male had to be circumcised as a sign of the Covenant between God and Abraham. This act symbolically separated them from Satan. The Covenant is deeply rooted in history and is not arbitrary. If we take it seriously, we can be part of the first resurrection and truly be part of God's people. As we think about the blessing, making a new start, and our promise with God, we must remember the Covenant. In Romans, it talks about the Messiah coming down, cutting down the wild olive trees and engrafting them with the true olive tree. This means we can regain the same state of heart and love that existed before the Fall. We need to change, purify ourselves, and undo the connections to the Fall. We receive salvation through the blessing by attending the Messiah, which is a subtle yet crucial point.

I want to share a personal story about attendance. This is a photo of my son Samuel and my father, taken in 2005, a couple of years before he passed away. I wrote about a visit to my dad shortly before he had his final stroke and died. I remember sitting with him, noticing that he had a dribbly nose. I leaned forward and told him, 'Dad, your nose is dribbling.' He responded, 'Really? Oh blast!' He fumbled for a tissue, explaining it was his allergy. I assured him it was okay, and the people around us continued eating, unaware of the situation. He caught the drip just in time and attempted to eat, but the fish fell off his fork. This moment was a poignant reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of being present with our loved ones.

I know Dad, let me help you. I leaned over and took the fork from him. I put some fish on it, and when you're ready, just lift it up. I'll replenish it again for you, okay? It's the darn light. I used to sit by the window, and I could see the plate. It must be the weather; is it cloudy outside? It's very difficult for me now. I'm not being a pain, am I? I'm sure I'm a bother for you. I don't want to be a burden. You know the picture I gazed through the restaurant window, out over the glinting, twinkling sea? No, Dad, the weather's fine; it's a bit sunny at the moment. And no, you're not a bother. If you were, I wouldn't be here, would I? I care about you, Dad; you know that, don't you?

Yes, dear boy, I'm very grateful. Don't let me make you think otherwise, but you know my eyesight is gone, and it makes life very difficult. Yes, Dad, I know. Six dribbles later, we walk slowly and carefully, arm in arm, down the steps outside the restaurant, leaving behind a half-empty plate and a messy tablecloth. The next day, my dad had his final stroke. So, that's what attendance is; you understand, right? It's not bowing; it's not saying the right things or doing the right thing. It's actually very deeply to do with heart. My relationship with my dad is interesting because I wasn't his son, yet I lived with him all my life. I thought he was my dad for a long time, and later I found out he wasn't. He was a very strong and often angry man, and I didn't have a relationship with him until after my mother died.

I started to get to know him after he began to go blind and became very ill. Through attending to my father during those times, I built a very deep feeling for him. It was a simple, artistic kind of relationship. When he died, I felt completely at a loss, like he was the last of his generation in our family to be alive. He died when he was 95, and after he died, I suddenly realised what he was really worth to me. I understood who he really was because of my artistic connection with him. He was a great diplomat who travelled and did many things, but he was also a man of tremendous values and standards. He always kept his word; he was a very honest and reliable person. You could absolutely rely on him, and he would never break a law of any kind. He was that kind of conscientious person.

It was only later that I realised this, and it was through serving him and connecting with him that I could understand these good points about him. When he died, I felt really broken-hearted and sorry for him. He had such a tough time when he was older; he was so ill in many ways. When my father died, I had the same experience. I caught quite a few stories about how he was, and I could see from various emails and testimonies what kind of things he went through. I was privileged to see him for 12 years, quite a few times a year, and to really catch his real heart about things. I wanted to show you a picture, which I haven't got in digital form, but it's a picture of him in his 50s, sitting down and deeply thinking about something. My mother is leaning over to him, saying something to him, which really captures my understanding of who my father is.

He worked so hard his whole life to put into practice what he believed in, and he wanted us to understand it and practice it, especially his children. It must have been difficult for him when his own children couldn't understand what he was doing. He was betrayed many times by people around him, and he literally worked himself to death to reach a point where he could say, 'I am blameless; I have done everything I can to make this work.' He knew he was ill but continued to show absolute determination. In a sense, he crucified himself. I remember many times he was so exhausted in our meetings, yet he still pushed himself to carry on because he wanted to inspire us and educate us about what was important.

To really understand, we have to attend to father through heart. We need to catch this aspect of who he really is, and then we can start to understand a bit more about who God is. God is similar, perhaps even more so, because He has gone through all of history trying to bring His children back. It's difficult to grasp that. The troubles we face often stem from the control we have over ourselves and our purity. Father's always talking about mind-body unity and keeping pure. We've heard it so many times, but it doesn't mean much in the end. I tell you, if you can control yourself properly and keep pure, you will feel God's spirit in your heart very deeply for days on end. You'll start to have a deep connection with God and feel what He is trying to do, and you'll understand your part in all of that.

It doesn't mean we all have to become church leaders; we all have different roles to play, and we're part of a big plan. You'll catch whatever your calling is. Here's a great picture; it's such a cute picture. Father and mother look like little kids; they're so young. Father is 41 there, and mother is even younger. These are all our elder members, just a bunch of young people. Father made an amazing speech at that time, a very prophetic speech, which I want to leave with you for this half of my talk. God warned humankind that there would be seven years of great chaos in the last days. During this time of great difficulty, the faithful will face circumstances in which the bonds between human beings will be severed completely, and they will be unable to trust anything.

It will be a time when you cannot insist that you are following your course of life based on your conscience, no matter how much you have lived faithfully according to your conscience. It will be a time when you cannot insist that the course of your life is based on faith or some ideology. Anyone who embraces God's will will feel pain whenever they behold what is around them. When such a time comes, it will be within the seven years of great chaos. It will be a time when hope is shaken, and the centre of the faith we believe in will be shaken. Leaders who have followed in faith will waver; everything will be shaken. It will be a time when ideologies, religion, conscience, and the parental heart will be shaken. That is why you should not be sorrowful if you see the church sway or if you see an ideology create disturbance. Do not be sorrowful if you see a sovereign collapse or if you see your parents change. Even if everything you have relied on and trusted sways, your heart should be composed. You must know that God is unswayed, and even at this very minute, He is coming to you.

You must understand that He gives us pain because it is part of a great promise to connect us with that day which He treasures, along with the pain that He has gone through. Therefore, do not be discouraged if you see that the path ahead is locked. Do not lose heart if you see your nation falling into disorder. God is not dead; do not lose hope, even if the world is in uproar. God is not dead; He will surely come to us. Even if everything is in chaos, do not waver in your single-mindedness towards heaven. Your heart, depending on heaven and looking toward heaven with hope, must never change. Even if God places you in a painful position to change that heart, you must remain fervent and be able to call upon the Father in such circumstances. No matter what kind of situation you find yourself in, you must make an effort to hold on to God's heart as a lifeline and climb up from that position. So, what is this promise? Father mentions this promise that God made. What is the covenant between us and God? That's what I want to focus on next in my next half.