I am probably not getting my spiritual experience across to you the way I experienced it. We printed it in Daily Word, and Jill Jackson, a songwriter who was a Unity student, turned it into a song. The song originally came to Silent Unity during World War II in the form of a prayer. This song of peace is in itself a symbol of the worldwide nature of the Unity movement.
When the last of the 33 representatives took his place on the stage, we all rose as one and joined hands and voices and sang Let There Be Peace on Earth with our friends from so many places around the world. I glanced around and saw that all the people sitting around me were crying, and I had a feeling that all the people in that room were crying. As I sat there watching this long line of people from so many different countries lighting their candles and bringing us greetings from so many parts of the world, I realized that I was starting to cry. I became aware that they were all softly singing, and slowly I recognized the song they were singing: Let There Be Peace on Earth. David said, "Argentina," and a beautiful woman dressed in an Argentinian costume rose from the front aisle, walked forward holding a small candle, lit her candle at the Christ candle, took her place on the stage, turned, and said to us, "We bring you greetings from the people of Argentina."ĭavid said, "Australia," and a man dressed in authentic Australian hat and boots, carrying a boomerang came forward, lit his candle, and said to us, "We bring you greetings from the people of Australia." Then, one by one, people from all over the world-countries as far away as South Africa and Japan and Guyana and Nigeria and Romania-lit candles and brought us greetings from their countries until there were 33 men and women, dressed in 33 different costumes, standing in front of us. David Davenport, the minister who conducts the Unity work in England, stood at one side of the stage. In the center of this stage was one lighted candle, symbolizing the Christ. Across the front of the room, there was an exceptionally long stage. Soft music filled the room, so soft I was almost unaware of it. A huge room in the hotel was crowded with people from front to back and side to side. Let me describe the session that made such a powerful impression on me. We invited the world to come and meet with us, and more than 700 people came from 38 different countries. It was important because it made an important statement: Unity truly is a world religion. Perhaps a few have been larger as far as the number of people who came, but I don't believe that any event that has happened at Unity for a long time has been more important than this one. Unity has had many conferences through its hundred years of history. It was held at the Metropole Hotel on the grounds of The National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, England, from August 8 through August 13, 1995. We called the meeting the first Unity World Conference, and that is what it was. You may think that is an exaggeration, but that is how I felt about it. Unity held a meeting and the whole world came.
0 kommentar(er)
