Feature
2014 Living Now Evergreen Medals
Last year, we launched the Evergreen Book Medals to commemorate world-changing books published since the year 2000. We all seek healthier, more fulfilling lives for ourselves and for the planet, and books are important tools for gaining knowledge about how to achieve these goals for ourselves, our loved ones, and for Planet Earth.
Divided into five categories, these books are honored for their contributions to positive global change. Here are the Living Now Evergreen Book medalists.
Evergreen Medals for World Peace
GOLD: Global Emergency Actions: For a Small Urban Industrial Planet, by Alan Wittbecker (Urania Science Press)
"We have been fooled by the fact that we cannot see an enemy. We have been misled by the slowness and subtlety of the penetration of our defenses. We have been betrayed by our own desire to continue our industrial dreaming at any cost. Some people have noticed changes and have been crying alarms, but they have not been loud enough or persuasive enough. Everybody needs to be awakened; everybody needs to participate, everybody needs to sacrifice and work towards peaceful solutions."
SILVER: Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel, and Quran, by Brian Arthur Brown (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers)
"Those who remember Tolstoy know that he was an influence on a young Indian lawyer, Mohandas Gandhi, who founded Tolstoy Farm in South Africa in 1910. Those who remember Gandhi know that the story does not end with him. Gandhi was an influence on a young African American minister, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. The story shows that we are connected to each other, both forward and backward in time.”
BRONZE: To Find the Way of Love: The Purpose of Our Existence, by Oliver E. Deehan (Barett Publishing)
"Love will enable us to win the struggle to achieve greater freedom and equality in our relationships and realize our full potential as human beings. But to do this, we need to pay attention to some overlooked aspects of our history. We need to become conscious of our constant connection to our beginnings. We need to understand those elements of our inheritance that continue to influence our lives and behavior, especially self-interest, altruism, and our senses."
Evergreen Medals for Health and Wellness
GOLD: Little Changes: Tales of a Reluctant Home Eco-Momics Pioneer, by Kristi Marsh with Rachel Vidoni (Lil’ Red Cardinal)
"The key is just to start. Take one product or room or food item, and make a wiser choice. Replace it, and move onto something else. Pour yourself a margarita, and dance around your newly purchased farm stand spinach. Celebrate your new deodorant, the tomatoes you grow, or the cleaners you made, instead of focusing on what you still have left to do. I've been changing things around my house for four years now, and there are still many items on my list. View change as a process and not as destination, and tasks become adventures."
SILVER: Mother Om: Connect with Yourself and Your Child in One Mindful Moment a Day, by Leonie Percy (Self-Published)
"Yoga teaches us to mother our children from a place of love, not a place of fear. We mother from our own unconscious conditioning which we have inherited from our own childhood -- which can be difficult if our own experiences as a child were not happy ones. We parent how we were parented. If we were shouted at or smacked as a child, then we may unconsciously shout or smack our children. This can be a very hard cycle to break. But yoga can help us change this because it teaches us to be compassionate in the way we communicate to our children."
BRONZE: Creating Healthy Children: Through Attachment Parenting and Raw Foods, by Karen Ranzi, M.A., CCC-SLP (SHC Publishing)
"As children grow into communicative beings, it's important to include them in family meetings to discuss their views and respect their opinions in family decisions. Emotionally charged topics should not be initiated at mealtime, and if children are playing and not hungry, they should not be coerced to the table. There are plenty of opportunities for family bonding outside of mealtimes. The happiness of family as a whole should take priority, and most especially, the needs of the children."
Evergreen Medals for Personal Growth
GOLD: A Beautiful Death: Facing the Future with Peace, by Cheryl Eckl (Flying Crane Press)
"These decisions are difficult and personal. Not everyone is as solitary as Steven. Many do want their final breath attended by loved ones, with prayers and songs and the comfort of physical touch -- although hospice books are replete with stories of the dying slipping away only when loved ones have briefly stepped out of the room. In Stephen's case, he had wanted me with him but even pushed me away from time to time if I became disruptive in my caregiving, which happened if I watched him too closely or hovered like a nervous mother hen. He didn't like being clucked over."
SILVER: You Don’t Have to Be Buddhist to Know Nothing: An Illustrious Collection of Thoughts on Naught, Edited by Joan Konner (Prometheus Books)
“In fact, Nothing can and does co-exist with Everything, because everything in the natural world, we are learning, has its equal and opposite force – matter and antimatter; electrons and protons, and so forth. We accept “equal and opposite” because we trust science. We also trust, from science, that Nature abhors a vacuum. If a vacuum occurs, nature rushes in to fill it. But where and what would Nature rush in to fill if there wasn’t a vacuum? Without Emptiness there would be no opportunity for something new, or something else, to occur. Where would Something happen?”
BRONZE: Achieve Anything in Just One Year, by Jason Harvey (Amazing Life Press)
“Day 1: You can’t predict the future. What you can do is let go of the baggage of your past and move forward without expectations. There is no evidence to prove this book will change your life. Take that first step in faith. Walk boldly into this endeavor, and have faith that if you are simply willing to make one small change at a time, you will begin to see huge results. You don’t need to see the whole staircase."
Evergreen Medals for Spiritual Leadership
GOLD: Unbound Intelligence: Discover the God Within, by Rajeev Kurapati, MD (Pranova Publishing)
“You will realize that, in actuality, the Truth, Spirit, or Soul is not something to be externally sought out – it is something within you to be realized. A sense of connection to all of existence comes with this understanding, as well as clarity of thought and integrity of action. Arbitrary boundaries erected by cultures and religions will no longer be barriers to your instinct to act for the greater good. By seeing the world through a clear lens void of these mind-created cultural and societal influences, you will see your true self as the direct witness to all that is transient and ephemeral. You will discover the God within.”
SILVER (tie): Tree Spirited Woman, by Colleen Baldrica (Beaver’s Pond Press)
“’Joy is all around. Look!’ she said excitedly, as she pointed to the trees.’ One can learn much from trees. Look at all those leaves; they are already starting to change color. They have lived a full cycle. In the spring, they sprouted new buds and grew new leaves and branches. The weather warmed; summer came. The leaves turned rich green, blew in the wind, trusted all would be well in the life journey. Autumn is now approaching. The trees shout out for joy using bright colors, declaring the life journey is almost done. It is a sign they have lived and are not afraid of dying’.”
SILVER (tie): Message from the Mountain: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, by Chuck Gallagher (Life Paths Publishing)
“One Who Flies knew differently. He knew that being present and living was part of his being – his spirit. When he sought food, he was living in Spirit, and he knew Spirit would meet his needs. He was not disconnected from his source. When he formed shelter from the earth beneath his feet, he thanked Spirit for his protection. As his daily activities were performed, he understood that Spirit was a part of all of life and that one could not disconnect from Spirit. I consciously knew that too.”
BRONZE: The Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha, by Venerable Master Hsing Yun (Buddha’s Light Publishing)
“The Buddha’s teachings have a profound impact on our world, shaping societies and individuals for thousands of years, and leading countless ardent practitioners to free themselves from suffering and attain lasting peace. Though they come to us from long ago, the Buddha’s teachings have a timeless quality that makes them as relevant today as when they were first spoken. Just as in Buddha’s time, for example, it is useful for us today to think good thoughts, say good words, and do good deeds. It is valuable to be mindful of our daily actions, grow in virtue, and purify our hearts and minds.”
Evergreen Medals for Nature Conservation
GOLD: Mother Earth: Through the Eyes of Women Photographers and Writers, Edited by Judith Boice (Sierra Club Books)
“Why, you may be asking, do the images and words in this book reflect a collective ‘woman’s view’ of Mother Earth? I was weaned on collections of Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, David Muench, and many other fine photographers, accompanied by quotes from the writings of John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, and Aldo Leopold. The books truly inspired me. I reveled in the images and words. As the years passed, though, I realized something was missing – where, I wondered, were the women? This book is the result of my own explorations to discover and appreciate many women’s views of our planet.”
SILVER: Failsafe: Saving the Earth From Ourselves, by Dr. Ian Prattis (Manor House Publishing)
“I draw on teachings about humanity and nature being totally interconnected. That if we want to look after humans we have to look after Mother Earth. Just as important is that if we wish to take care of Mother Earth we must also take care of ourselves. ‘The taking care of’ is through meditation, the practice of mindfulness, realizing that interconnectedness is a fact of life and furthermore, being aware of consequences of our actions. These aspects are to be found in many spiritual traditions, particularly aboriginal ones.”
BRONZE: Nature’s Secret Messages: Hidden in Plain Sight, by Elaine Wilkes (Hay House)
“In today’s ‘modern’ society, we too often forget to look to Nature – with her four billion years of knowledge and experience – as our mentor and nurturer. Yet when we do remember, we find that she holds the answers, offering us an abundance of cures for our ailments; nourishment for our bodies; and prescriptions for achieving physical, emotional, and spiritual health. It’s time for us to reconnect to this relationship and discover Nature’s secret messages so that we can use this ancient, intuitive wisdom to heal the planet and ourselves.”