Synopsis and photos from the Golden Rule Award Ceremony

Ambassador Clyde Rivers, Mayor Van Johnson and First Lady Gail; the
mayor's holding the Golden Rule International Award presented him by Rivers.

This past weekend was very much rewarding for Gail and I to be part of a group of men and women of different races, cultures and backgrounds assembled at the Golden Rule International Award Ceremony held at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Yes different, but with a commonality of purpose… their contributions toward making the world a better place for all.

This diverse group of men and women all share and continuously promote through their work, words, deeds and actions within their sphere of influence the simply yet powerful message of the Golden Rule, “Treating Others the Way You Want to Be Treated”.

Mayor Johnson was also presented the Global Leadership Award by
(L-R) Dr. Kevin Storr, Ambassador Clyde Rivers and Dr. Brian Williams. 

   

Can you image just for a moment the transformation of the world, our communities, our relationships and interaction with others, if we all paused for a second and considered our words, deeds and actions within this simply context?  Practiced by all this one fundamental principle could play a major role in peace-building efforts in every facet of our lives and in the rebirth of humanity.

The Golden Rule International Award is affiliated with the Interfaith Peace-Building Initiative of Ethiopia (IPI), the United Nations and the United Religions Initiative.  Each year an award is presented to individuals and/or communities who have made outstanding contributions in promoting the message of the Golden Rule through their actions.

This past weekend a group of such from across this great nation and abroad assembled in Grand Rapids to be recognized for their extraordinary work within their cities, towns, villages, communities, and countries.

Recipients of the award included the Archbishop of India who has over 3,000 churches under his care, Sam Griffith, 12th District Court of Appeals Judge from the State of Texas, the family of Sonny and Linda Lara from San Jose, California for their work in curbing gang violence on the streets of California and their very lovely and talented daughter Angel Garza who was one of the finalist on American Idol in April of this year where she performed the popular old school tune, 'You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman' by Aretha Franklin.  

Other noteworthy recipients of the award that Gail and I had the pleasure of meeting were Dr. Paul S. Moller, the California inventor of the Skycar, a flying automobile, former inmate, Nashon Walker, who was incarcerated on felony charges that carried a maximum mandatory sentence of 85 years is now out of prison and serving as president of Empowered 2 Excel, a network that’s helping break the cycle of poverty and incarceration in his community and lastly a Florida engineer that has taken discarded tree limbs and leaves along with other material and created a coating called Geo-Blue Crete that can be used to coat wood to keep it from burning.

All of which through their work have committed and dedicated themselves to serving the interest of mankind, however up until now their efforts have largely gone unrecognized and unnoticed, but thanks to Ambassador Clyde Rivers, iChange Nations and many others that's beginning to change.

"You are here today because I think you're the best of the best", said Ambassador Rivers during Friday's meet and greet.  Rivers is the ambassador at-large for the country of Burundi and an official of the Golden Rule International Award and iChange Nations.

A link to online photos of the entire weekend can be access by clicking HERE or by clicking on the first photo above.