1. The Pattern for All Relationships

A person is always situated in a context, relating to what is above and below, right and left, and front and back.
This context determines his or her position. Your life will turn out better or worse depending on whether you properly create relationships with those above you and below you, with those to your right and to your left, in front of you and in back of you.
Whether it concerns issues in your family or problems facing the nation or the world, the same formula applies: we must deal with relationships to those above and below, on the right and on the left, in front and in back.
You as an individual are responsible to relate properly to those above you and below you, to your right and to your left, in front and in back. This is the case whether 10 True Families, Gateway to Heaven you are relating to your parents or your children, to your husband or your wife, or to your brothers and sisters.
The same applies as you relate to the nation and world. Your family should take the lead in your nation to embrace families in the east and west and north and south, and encourage all families to do the same. Your family should embrace the civilizations of East and West and of North and South, and embrace all the people of the world as your brothers and sisters. This is the way to bring about one world family.
The family pattern applies to everyone. Each of you is situated within that pattern. When you live by its logic, you will be the starting point of your family, your family can be the basis of your nation, and so on to the world, to heaven and earth, and finally to God. Everyone has the desire to be the center of the universe; moreover, everyone has the potential to fulfill that desire.
In this way, the concept of the family can be likened to the core of the universe. Heaven can be likened to parents in giving life to the earth, representing the children. The relationship between East and West can be likened to that between man and woman. For example, it is customary that when a woman marries, she goes to join her husband wherever he lives. This can be likened to the way the brightness of the east at sunrise illuminates the west and gives it the same value.
The same is true with sibling relationships. When the The Family Is the Basis and Pattern for the Kingdom of Heaven 11 oldest brother takes the lead in a task, the younger siblings join in to help. Thus, we need to be in a parent-child relationship, a conjugal relationship and a sibling relationship. The challenge is how all three relationships can meet at one point. There should be just one central point. There should not be different central points for above and below, right and left, and front and back. If the central points are different, all the relationships will be off balance. But when the center is aligned, then above and below, right and left, front and back, and their common central point add up to the number seven. A family that forms the number seven in this way is a family of perfect true love with God at the center, where all these elements form a complete sphere, bringing harmony and unity. From this perspective, the phrase “lucky seven” makes sense.
Since true love never changes, this central core will rotate forever without ever changing. This is how a family can realize the true family ideal. Also, because everything is connected to the core, each position, starting with the core (one) and two, three, four, five, six and seven, will possess equal value. When the grandfather wants something, the grandchildren will affirm it and the sons and daughters will want it as well. Thus, three generations will share a desire for the same thing. The grandfather and grandmother, husband and wife, and sons and daughters will all align with the center.
When such love is present, then parents and children 12 True Families, Gateway to Heaven form loving relationships and become one. Husband and wife build a loving relationship and become one. Siblings build loving relationships and become one. They are all one. Under what conditions can we say that these relationships make us one? They must be infused with the true love of God. God is the center of love. With true love at the center, parents and children will become one, husband and wife will become one, and all the brothers and sisters will become one. In this way, they all come to have equal value. (299-114, 02/07/1999)