I will tell you about a very special incident. In America now, there was a matching with some older women who deserve medals for pioneering our church there. They were all 42 or 43 years old. If they had married previously, they would all have had children by now. I should give the Blessing to them, but where could I find their spouses? This was the big problem I faced as I left to meet with them.

When Father went there and explained this problem to them, they all understood very well. Seeing how they responded I felt that certainly these Western people have transcended self-centered thinking. A 42-year-old woman is like an aunt, but a 33-year-old man says that he wants to marry her though there is a nine-year difference in age. The English members who were in America responded the same way.

If a 42-year-old person and a 33-year-old person are to marry, is there anyone here who thinks that it should not happen? You should think whether you, yourselves, can do that. You should quietly think about it. Think how old your aunts and mothers are. Since the person is old enough to have had two or three children if she were married, her face would be wrinkled and the rosy color in her face would have faded. Think how it would be if a woman who is like your aunt marries you in the flowering of your youth. Do you desire it or not? Be honest and tell me. You men? (No.) That is right. Answering that you do not desire it is the general rule.

Then did Father force them to marry? No, I did not. Those people do not just look at age. They respect honor very much. A person's achievements and results count for more than her age. Merits and results represent the whole of that person. That kind of concept is different from the Oriental concept. Why is that? They have the thinking that it is more important to live a short life well than to live a long life. In this sense, I felt they had a progressive attitude.

In the near future, in order for the young men to win over Father, they should have the magnanimity to be willing to marry older women. Do you feel good when you hear that? Why? Do you feel bad? Would you feel bad even if the woman were the only princess in that country? Would you feel bad if she were the only woman in that country? What will you do if she were the only woman? What if the ratio of men to women were one thousand to one? Will you feel more energy to do it or not?