“Day of All True Things”, established 1963, adds divine dimension to today’s green focus
A speech Dr. Michael Balcomb, the President of Family Federation in Europe and Middle East, gave at the celebration of the Day of All True Things in Bad Camberg, Germany 18th June 2023.
As you know, today is the Day of All True Things. As an inspiration for this brief message, I turn to Father Moon‘s speech on the Day of All True Things in 1974.
To put things into context, at that time there were very few blessed couples, especially in the United States. None of the major public rallies like Madison Square Garden or Yankee Stadium or Yeoido had taken place. And Father Moon was speaking at Belvedere probably to a group of people of about this size, no more than one or two hundred people.
Days of celebration
And in his speech Father Moon commented that throughout history there have been many different types of days of celebration. Some days were celebrated purely locally, or maybe by one nation or another nation. And he commented that in many cases the celebration of one people is actually of their victory over another people. So what might be a day of happiness in one nation, could be a day of sorrow in another nation.
And he also went on to say that we also commemorate days which are days of sorrow or reflection for everybody. Here in Europe for example, on the 11th November, the whole of Europe pauses to remember the dead of two great World Wars, regardless of their nationality.
And then Father Moon asked, “So, what kind of day are we celebrating today? The Day of All True Things? Is it a day of joy, or is it a day marking a great sorrow?”
Creation in utter sorrow
I’m asking you. Father Moon had a different answer; he said, “Of course this is a day of joy, but we have to remember how it started. How did these Holy Days become necessary? It started with the Fall of Man.”
Father Moon had this very interesting comment,
“At the time of the fall of Adam and Eve, if God had just slapped them on their cheeks, they could have felt a little relieved in their hearts. But God turned his face away and never said anything. He never did anything to them. If their sin could have been indemnified on the very spot by God beating them, it could have been much easier for men and women to return to God. But God could not do that. So God, human beings and all things had to be in utter sorrow and grief.
We have been taught by the Principle that at the moment of the human fall, men and women were chased out of the Garden of Eden. They ceased to be God‘s son and daughter; God was no longer their Father; and all things were not under their dominion.”
Pretty strong stuff, right? And you can find the same sentiment in the Scriptures. Take a look at the book of Isaiah, chapter 24, verses 4-6.
“The earth dries up and withers,
the world languishes and withers;
the heavens, languish together with the earth.
The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed laws,
violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.”
So God has had to remain in sorrow – Father Moon said for thousands of years until somebody could come and renew the covenant that Adam and Eve put aside. And that, of course, is our True Parents.
Free gift from God became point of contention
Now many of us in the audience are parents, and perhaps you can remember as you were bringing up your children, maybe your grandchildren, two kinds of emotion. When you prepare something really beautiful for your children, and they happily accept it, play with it and are joyful, you feel so happy.
But what if they cast it aside or break it, or it even becomes a point of contention and fighting? And your children fight each other over what you had intended to be a beautiful gift? You know how disappointing that is, as a parent. And I believe that for our Heavenly Parent, it’s the same. God gave us this beautiful world, this incredible creation, but instead of appreciating it, caring for it, loving it, it sometimes has become a point of contention and fighting.
Even now in Europe, we have a mighty and bloody war going on over the land that God gave to all of humanity. And not just in that country, but all over the world, there is conflict to possess the things that were meant to be a free gift of God.
Restore the pristine state
So our True Parents have come as the ones who can set this record right, not just once, but forever. Paraphrasing the book of Hebrews, True Parents are the same yesterday, today and forever, and we are here to remind ourselves of that covenant ourselves. Mother Moon is so serious about protecting the planet that God has given us. She’s always talking about the need to protect the creation, and not just protect it, but restore it to its pristine state, to make it beautiful once again.
Those of us who had the opportunity to go to Korea a month ago could see how Mother Moon‘s desire is being expressed in so many different ways, in buildings, sure, but also in greenhouses, gardens and boats, and everything she touches. She’s thinking about how to restore this world to its original state.
And luckily we have an opportunity to do something about that as well. Because each of us is created by God to fulfill those three blessings, among which is to have dominion over all of creation and all things.
Learn to love each other first
But one time, speaking in Brazil, Father Moon made a very simple observation. He said today people are concerned about the environment, but I can tell you we will never love the environment until we learn to love each other. Because we human beings are the pinnacle of all creation.
If we can’t love each other, how can we love all the things? And we will never love each other unless we learn again to love our Heavenly Parent and to put God the very first in our life every day. Mother Moon says we have to understand the essence of the Heavenly Parent, the longing of the Heavenly Parent to gather all the children of the world back together.
Our responsibility, who we are
Turning back to that first quote where Father Moon makes this comment, if God could have slapped their cheeks, if God could have punished them on the spot, wouldn’t it be easier for Adam and Eve to be forgiven or to recognize even what they had done? And I see in myself also this desire for instant action. If something is wrong, why don’t you solve it right now?
God could not do that because God can only work when we realize and recognize our responsibility, it will never be taken away. So God had to step back. And sometimes we have to step back and allow the healing power of our own conscience to come and let us understand who we are, what we are.
[…] But one thing will never change. We are the eternal children of our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents. Today let us determine to renew that covenant that was lost, to love all things, to love each other, and to love God. Thank you very much.
“Green Focus Holy Day 60 Years” is a slightly edited version of Dr. Michael Balcomb’s speech on 18th June 2023. (“Green Focus” headline added by unificationnews.eu)
Featured image above: Environment Poster for school children. Photo: Sanu N / Wikimedia Commons. License: CC ASA 4.0 Int
