“Peace is our destiny. All of humanity’s suffering and challenges are not to be considered pointless, for everything in our past gives birth to who we are and the possibilities we represent for the future. So we thank all the ancestors, all beings of all nations who came before us, for they have given birth to us.
“We are the people of the Great Shift, a time of massive transition on planet Earth when human beings collectively see there is no other road for us, or for the survival of life, but the road of Peace. No other time has been more pivotal in human evolution – because we have been given the opportunity to choose life and to choose peace; we have been given the opportunity to take the next leap in human development and end war, greed, and violence to each other and our beloved home in Nature.
“That is why finally, a generation of peacemakers is being born as an expression of the long journey of human evolution. Hold up your sons and daughters and honor them as the peacemakers we have waited so long for, and then look into each other’s eyes with confidence and gratitude and say, ‘we are the mothers and fathers of the peacemakers.’ Peace is our destiny.”
— James O’Dea, President of IONS, read to 10,000 people at the Symphony of Peace Prayers on Mount Fuji, Japan, May 18, 2008.