With all that’s going on in the world today, world peace sometimes seems like an ambiguous moving target. It sounds good, but how is it actually achieved? How can we simplify the seemingly impossible task of creating lasting peace? Perhaps we should be looking at something a little closer to home: the family.
True Parents teach that sustainable peace starts by first creating peace within the family.
In this selection of his autobiography, True Father clarifies the process to change the world through your own family.
True Families Create True People
As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen
There is a saying, “Anything can be accomplished when there is harmony in the home.” When there is peace in the family, everything goes well. The peaceful family is the building block of the Kingdom of Heaven. The family operates on the power of love. If we love the universe as we love our families, then there is nothing to stop us from going anywhere we want. God exists in the center of love, as the Parent of the entire universe. That is why the love in the family needs to link directly to God. When the family is completed in love, the universe will be completed.
World peace is not such a huge undertaking. It takes peaceful families to create peaceful societies and eliminate conflict among countries. This will lead to world peace. This shows the importance of families that are intact and the immense responsibility such families must bear. The thinking that says “It’s enough that I live well and that my family lives well” is completely alien to me.
Marriage is not something that involves just the bride and groom. Marriage creates a relationship between two families, and it brings reconciliation between clans and countries. Each accepts the other’s different culture and overcomes the resentment and hatred built up through history. When a Korean and Japanese marry, it contributes to reconciliation between the two countries; when a white person and a black person marry, it contributes to reconciliation between the two races. The children of such marriages represent harmony because they inherit the lineage of two races. They represent a new beginning for humanity that transcends the races. When this continues for a few generations, division and hostility among nations, races, and religions will disappear, and humankind will become one family living in a world of peace.
Marriage is not a simple matter of a man and woman of marriageable age coming together and combining their two lives. Marriage is something built on the basis of sacrifice. The man must live for the sake of the woman, and the woman for the sake of the man. As you continue to live for the sake of your spouse, your selfish mind disappears completely. The heart that seeks to sacrifice this way is the heart of love. Love is not a man and woman meeting each other and having a good time. Love is offering up your life. If you marry, you must do so on the basis of your determination that your life is for your spouse.
