Love cannot be accomplished alone. Without life, love cannot exist. When we think about the parent-child relationship, we see a relationship of love. So, unless we have life and hope, there cannot be a relationship of love. We cannot have love without the connection to life.

That is why the connection of life must be invested in love. Also, whether we feel more value of this love or do not is determined by how much life was invested in this love.

For example, the parents' love towards their children does not consist of the usual relationships of daily life, but it arises from the bone. The parents have this love, which they cannot forget or cut off. That is why, as long as they live, parents love their children. When they feel they are related to the child with their own life, love arises naturally to the hearts of parents. They do not love thinking "That child is mine so I have to love him," but because their own power of life is connected to the child. They cannot but love him. We feel these facts strongly in our family life. (32-15)

When we ask what sort of character God has, we find He has a heart of giving, giving for thousands, ten thousands of years and still wanting to give more. That is the reason we seek Him. If He was a God who says, "This costs this much," after he has given, we would not want him.

Why must all people follow God in joy? When we think why we must like God, it is because he gives and gives to all people while still feeling ashamed of not being able to give more and promising to give something even better in the future because He has a surplus in His heart.

So when we are with such a person, we are happy even without food or the good life. When you stand in a position where you cannot even eat, the hope for the future becomes more vivid. The meaning of this is that you will have more determination for the future.

When there are parents who feel ashamed of not being able to give more, won't the child run to the mother and hold her tight? Will the child hold only her body? How grateful must the child feel? That position is the place where they can shed tears for the future together. In that position you do not feel sad together, but you see the hope for the future as a stimulus of the present and have determination, encouraging each other.

So the reality that appears is not miserable. The position where you can praise the values of daily life and keep the stimulation for tomorrow is attained in this sphere of love. That is why people who live in this sphere are not unhappy. Do you understand what this means? (36-291)

Parents invest everything for their children. They are the same as God on this point. Now, what does that mean? God does not invest for Himself. God does not exist for Himself, but for his object partner. If God were to say He exists for Himself, that would not be True Love. When you invest everything in your children and say you want to be with them, then, in that position, love, life and hope will be realized. (69-62)

To parents, children are everything. When I was in the Hung-Nam prison, it took twelve hours to get from Hung-Nam to Jong-Ju by train. In order to get a pass to go there, my mother had to wait before the Communists every day. As I was known as the champion of beating the Communists, many of the leftists hated me, and I guess many of them bothered her about bringing things to me. But even in these circumstances, my mother went through all these sorts of hardship to visit me once a month.

When she came, she had prepared all sorts of things like the powder of roasted grain, thinking that I was hungry and suffering. Well, do you think there was plenty of food in North Korea? I know there was not, yet in this difficult circumstance my mother would prepare food and bring it to me. About 30 people, prisoners met the visitors, and there were prisoners who were often visited by their parents, whereas there were some who were never visited longing to hear that someone from your home has come to visit you.

The world would not understand longing to hear that someone from your home has come to visit you. You do not understand it, even if I explain it to you, as long as you do not experience it. How sincerely you yearn for it! I know these facts well. How glad I was when my mother visited me once a month.

When she gave me the powder, she told me to eat it alone and not to give it to anyone else. (Laughter) Now, is she giving me good advice or not? Is she giving me good teachings or not? [She is not giving good advice] No? From her point of view, she is giving good advice. But from my point of view, it is different. I cannot take the powder and walk past my companions, fellow prisoners, alone into the room. It is also written so in the book. My feet would not move. I could not eat it alone. So, if I am going to give it away, I would rather give it all and say, "Here, enjoy it." (177-246)