Claim. Displaying and revering True Parents’ picture in the home creates a spiritual altar that brings the household under God’s dominion, the way the lamb’s blood on Israelite doorposts spared them in the Exodus.
Elaboration. SMM gives the picture a literal sacramental function: “It will protect you so that you can safely withstand any difficulty you may encounter. Moses led the Israelites away from the Pharaoh of Egypt… all the firstborn of the Egyptians were smitten, while the Israelites avoided this calamity by smearing the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. Thus, the spirit world is watching over you and will protect you” (2.2. Honoring True Parents’ picture in each home, 130-290, 1984.2.7). The mechanism is ancestral: “Because you are revering it more than the photograph of your own parents, your ancestors will come and also revere True Parents as their ancestors. It will become an altar where ancestors can come and hold a service” (ibid, 219-91, 1991.8.25). The picture is also a recognition token in the spirit world: “Everyone in the spirit world knows me well… Your ancestors are connected to you through the medium of the photograph” (ibid, 132-190, 1984.6.1). The home becomes a node of true-parents-centered hospitality where guests are received “as if they were God and True Parents” (ibid, 169-220, 1987.10.31).