Bridge of Peace Ceremony held in South Gate
Third Annual Bridge of Peace Ceremony held on May 26, 2018 in South Gate
Report by Susan Felsenthal Janer
The Bridge of Peace Ceremony is the signature project of the Women's Federation for World Peace. Crossing the Bridge of Peace is an opportunity for those who partici-pate to experience healing and reconciliation. No one is exempt from the need for this.
Bridge of Peace Ceremony was held in the City of South Gate on May 26, 2018. This marked the third annual Bridge of Peace event in the Girls Club House of South Gate Park, with almost 150 people attending this year.
Participants brought with them the spirit of friendship and love. Some were attending for the first time and many had been to all three. Those who wanted to walk across the bridge brought a beautiful spirit of hope for reconciliation and peace in their lives.
Starting with a welcome by Carol Takhar, a prayer and flag salute by Susan Munsell.
Jazz music by my son Justin Janer and his friends, Brice and Blake, while the guests were enjoying delicious Mexican food.
For the last two years, on behalf of WFWP Southern Cali-fornia, I have organized Bridge of Peace Ceremonies in South Gate, the city where I have lived for over 40 years of my life.
The City of South Gate is located geographically in the center of Los Angeles. South Gate has changed a lot from the community it was during the 1950's when I grew up there.
Three years ago, I attended an event where the founder of WFWP, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, spoke in Las Vegas. During her talk she looked at me, and with that look she sent a message to my heart. Her message was that I should do something important with the people I know and love. I felt clearly that she trusted me to follow my heart and make something wonderful happen.
That was the beginning point for organizing the Bridge of Peace in the city where I live.
For the first two years, the Mayor of my city, helped me with this project by being the emcee for the event. How-ever, this year I realized she wanted to give more of her heart to this project and I asked her to be the Keynote speaker with the topic, “Peace Starts with Me”.
At the end of Maria’s speech, Sheri Rueter and I award-ed her a crystal trophy with the words: Thank you for be-ing a shining example of Living by the Logic of Love…By sharing your inspiration and wisdom…and Making the Bridge of Peace a Reality.
To read the full report with more pictures, click here.