Madrid, Spain - Looking back, it is truly a miracle that such event took place. We had one week to find the venue, prepare the program and invite the guests. And to make things more challenging, we had our four-day national Easter holidays in between, so all the businesses were closed and our key friends unreachable. But as many times happens in our Founder's tours, there is always a flow of good fortune coming from above that makes the impossible possible.
As the program went on and on, Prof. Pikaza realized he had to leave because he lives in Salamanca (three hours away) and he was afraid he would miss the the last bus back. When he stood up to leave, Father Moon said in a very loud voice, “Why are you leaving? You are going to go to hell!.” The audience laughed and Pikaza took it in a very loving way. He asked me to explain the situation to Father Moon and to tell him that he had all his support.
We, the UPF staff in Spain, want to thank our network of Ambassadors of Peace for responding on a few days' notice and helping to make the event a success. We want to thank heaven for protecting a situation where many things could have gone wrong with no time for correction. Above all, we want to thank our True Parents, and their son Hyung Jin Moon and wife Yeon Ah, for bringing this wonderful blessing to our country. Many times in his speech Father Moon raised his hands and said, “I bless you all…. Take it as a blessing.” And truly we have been deeply blessed and thank our God above for His grace and compassion.
Comments from people in the audience:
It is an honor to know Dr. Sun Myung Moon and his wife — they are the ones who transmit peace and harmony and also logic for our spiritual lives, so that we can live in peace.
Our gratitude and congratulations for organizing this event. So many people sharing the same spirit of peace and a dream for a better world.
As Father Moon taught us there is always an opportunity to better ourselves individually and in the society when God is present, as then all changes become possible. So many people from different cultures and religions came to work together for a more humane and spirit-filled world.
I am full of praise for this movement for peace and Father Moon’s vision of integration — the way to reach harmony, unity and equality based on acceptance of differences. I believe in peace and that all of us will achieve it when we act with peace in our hearts.
Father Moon told us to "return to true love." We will commit ourselves to participate in the building of the ideal nation with ideal families as the seed for true universal and divine love.
How do we have a victorious life and build peace? Dr. Moon, please pray for us. It is the prayer of a True Father that continuously guides and gives orientation with practical principles offering us his unblemished biography.
Through the video we remember the impressive history of Dr. Moon; his example encourages us to never give up in our intentions to plant seeds of peace in the midst of war, especially here in Spain.
It is so true that universal peace is cemented in the family.
We learned from Father Moon that the true and good should persist and endure over time.
We were so moved by Rev. Moon’s son, who encouraged us to give honor to his Father with affectionate applause.
How wise deep and admirable are the words of Rev Moon! How difficult it is to put into words all the uncertainties of the temporal world and to understand the spiritual world and convey such truths to an audience of people who live in such a mundane world. However, Rev. Moon could reach them!
We understand and value that Father Moon’s sense of mission and ambition, for God urges him to express in a such a way that his spiritual being transcends his physical body's limitations. His vitality and energy is communicating to the world.
It is a great privilege to be able to enter into communication with a being of such a universal stature as Rev. Moon.
We are united in a cosmic assembly around the substantial being of God, and we have a new era in front of us. As Father Moon said – "I am almost reaching 100 years old but I stay young in order to continue with my mission." This is the spirit that really encourage us to never give up.
People took the first part of the speech so well because of his very familiar and heartistic style and the enjoyment he has in his subject. The intellectuals in the audience may have struggled at some points but the heartistic majority were really tuned in and responsive.
We are happy this evening, with our hearts full of hope. The musical intro was very uplifting, making us vibrate in the same harmony – each one with his own but also universal harmony.
We share the certainty that peace will be built through each of us taking personal responsibility – as Father Moon urged us.
