Silvester-Gala in Frankfurt Germany

Silvester-Gala in Frankfurt A nice way of greeting the New Year in the community Frankfurt, Germany, 31. December 2013

The Frankfurt community came up with the idea to greet the new year jointly with a Silvester Gala in our chapel. Some 50 brothers and sisters, almost all of them couples both young and old, with children and without, attended. They were not only from the Frankfurt community, but came from Giessen, Berlin, and even from Switzerland and the USA (of course not just for this event, but visiting their loved ones). The program began with a delicious dinner (prepared by Thea Kuenzig and her husband Fred Schlichting, supplemented by food which the participant brought along). The Main chapel area was nicely decorated. All guests were required to dress up neatly and festively. We had board games in one room. Another room was kept as a quiet place from reflection and meditation. As special attraction we had dancing lessons with Karl and Rosemarie Leja. All couples joined in and soon everybody was stepping up to a walz or a foxtrot. In preparation for the dance, Rosemarie quoted from St. Augustine (354 – 430 AD), who had the following to say about dancing: “I PRAISE THE DANCE… I praise the dance, for it frees people from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community. I praise the dance, which demands everything: health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul. Dance is a transformation of space, of time, of people, who are in constant danger of becoming all brain, will, or feeling. Dancing demands a whole person, one who is firmly anchored in the center of his life, who is not obsessed by lust for people and things and the demon of isolation in his own ego. Dancing demands a freed person, one who vibrates with the equipoise of all his powers. I praise the dance. O man, learn to dance, or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you.”

We could all resonate with theses words. Just before 12 PM we opened our sect bottles (non-alcoholic, of course) donated by the Family from Switzerland. Then the three winners of our tombola were drawn before we all got dressed for watching the fireworks near the Main river. There we finally welcomed the New Year. May it become a blessed and successful year for the establishment of Cheon Il Guk, with people from all over the world bringing hope and fulfillment to our Heavenly Parents. Hildegard Piepenburg