Birth
One of the most precious relationships is that experienced between husband and wife. The purpose of God's creation is love -- as a personal experience, not only as a philosophical theory.
As the Principle explains, people encounter three stages of love -- parent's love, spouse's love, and love for children. We first learn about love as we receive love from our parents. Upon that experience, we climb to the second stage and more completely open ourselves by giving and receiving the love of one person. This love is essential in the process of procreating children as we complete the four position foundation.
Husband and wife have many ways to express love to each other, but the most precious is the intimate marriage relationship. Heavenly Father is always involved in the giving and receiving of this love. Even though in the fall love was taken and completely dominated by Satan's false control, it is still in accord with the Principle that God is present to some extent in every giving and receiving action.
When husband and wife generate real harmony, God wants to work with them. Unlike animal sexuality, conjugal love relationships among humans are not simply for the purpose of procreation. The love human beings can experience in conjugal communion is extremely precious and meaningful. As it develops, love becomes deeper and deeper.
In this sense, all new life relates directly to God. God's involvement in the love shared between a husband and wife can produce a child. Thus we can say that God is our Parent. A child's life is precious to the parents because the child is a living testimony of their love. God and the child are actually both special participants in the love relationship.
According to the Principle, any kind of intimate relationship without the participation of one's spouse is unthinkable and totally against the original ideal of God. Spouses are to reach complete unity centering on true love. They would never be tempted by other people because they have the potential to feel complete fulfilment of love in their marriage.
8 Day Ceremony
The blessed couples of this age1 are not yet perfected; even though they conceive physical children, they cannot really embrace those children with true purity. Blessed couples should feel that they are entrusted as the care-givers for Heavenly Father's children, that He uses them to produce heavenly children, and that they assist Him in their nurturing and raising. Blessed children are the ideal of God. Therefore, blessed couples must be extremely grateful that Heavenly Father is able to depend on them to take care of heavenly sons and daughters.
Blessed couples express their gratitude during the traditional ceremony of offering the child to God, referred to as the Eight Day Dedication Ceremony. Because Heavenly Father utilizes blessed couples to conceive ideal life, we offer those children to become godly sons or daughters. Through this kind of ceremony, couples should determine to live the standard of the family tradition (the contents of The Pledge of the Families) and also promise to externally and internally take care of the child(ren) God gave them.
It is important to understand that the ceremony of child dedication is not concerned with externals, but rather is a truly internal ceremony. The main focus of the ceremony is the couple's gratitude to God.
After the national level foundation is restored and ideal families live in that environment, it will no longer be necessary to hold the Eight Day Dedication Ceremony.
