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Feature
2015 Living Now Evergreen Medals
Two years ago, 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 Medal for World Peace
GOLD: The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World, by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu (HarperOne)
"We are able to forgive because we are able to recognize our shared humanity. We are able to recognize that we are all fragile, vulnerable, flawed human beings capable of thoughtfulness and cruelty. We also recognize that no one is born evil and that we are all more than the worst thing we have done in our lives."
SILVER: The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story, by Sandra Moore; illustrated by Kazumi Wilds (Tuttle Publishing)
"Miyajima, you have seen the sadness created by war between Japan and America. You have felt the hope that helped up to rebuild. You are stronger than ever, and patient, and wise. I hope you will understand if I ask you, my favorite white pine, to become a tree of peace."
BRONZE: The Skin I’m In, by Natalie K. Carricarte; illustrated by Neville Hidalgo (Tickle Me)
"Whatever your shape or the sound or your name,
know that you're special. No two are the same.
Give God your worries, and show him your grin.
Love who you are and THE SKIN YOU'RE IN."
Evergreen Medal for Health and Wellness
GOLD: Come Back Strong, by Eileen McGuire Whaley (Self-Published)
"I'd learned there are two kinds of hard. There are the surprises which hit you so brutally that they take your breath away, and then the hard that you gradually face, like easing into a cold swimming pool until you have your whole body immersed.
Small doses of hard. Get used to them and move on."
SILVER: A Touching Good-Bye: The Gentle Use of Jin Shin Jyutsu® At Times of Critical Illness, by Judith B. Andry, M.Ed. (Ampersand Inc.)
"How can it be that some people die and others have unexplainable recoveries? It is a mystery. None of us have power over the life or death of another person, over saving or not saving, over living or dying. That realm is much bigger than we are. We are here, in this time of need, to love that person and to provide as much comfort as we possibly can."
BRONZE: 101+ Secrets from Nutrition School That You Need to Know, by Lynne Dorner (Aware of This)
"Do you have a headache? Are you feeling droopy, foggy, or slow? How do you bring yourself back up to par? Sometimes the answer is simpler than you think. Grab a glass of refreshing spring water. If you have signs of dehydration (such as thirst, tiredness, dark urine, headache, and dry skin) you need to replenish yourself. Drink up before you go searching through the medicine cabinet or rushing to the local pharmacy!"
Evergreen Medal for Personal Growth
GOLD: This Life is Joy: Discovering the Spiritual Laws to Live More Powerfully, Lovingly, and Happily, by Roger Teel (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin)
"There is a mighty rushing river of deep Joy at the center of all life. Oh yes, there is also a roller-coaster ride of pleasure and pain at the surface of human experience. When we remember that Life is Consciousness, then it makes more sense that the pain or changes we endure at the material or worldly level of experience are just as temporary as everything else at that level."
SILVER: The Dear One Letters: A Path to Growing as a Human and Evolving as a Soul, by Dr. Connie Numbers (Two Harbors Press)
"Your Spirit Guides are like a wreath wrapped around you that protects, loves, and serves you in any way you need. Many times this service takes the form of summoning other invisible forces to come to you when you need more than their assistance. This can be anything from asking writers to come to you while you write, healers to come when you are sick, or other loving spirits to come when you are fearful."
BRONZE (tie): Autism: A Dad’s Journey, by Luis M. Bayardo (Mercury HeartLink)
"That is one of the problems with autism. The children look so normal that people cannot accept that anything is wrong with them. Autistic people are discriminated against because they don't have any features that scream special needs. Because of that, people have no patience with them and just assume that their behaviors are faked and done on purpose to get out of work or to bother others."
Dadprovement: A Journey from Careerist to Adoptive Father to a Real Husband and Dad, by Patrick R. Riccards (Turning Stone Press)
"I was playing at being a father; I wasn't being a father. I was playing at being a husband; I wasn't actually being a supportive husband. I was doing everything I had always done. I was being selfish. I wasn't being a real man, and I certainly wasn't being a real husband or father. I was a selfish little boy. And I had had enough."
Evergreen Medal for Spiritual Leadership
GOLD: Where Is the Way: Humanistic Buddhism for Everyday Life, by Venerable Master Hsing Yun (Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center)
"How wonderful our lives become when we trust in the infinite and inherent capacity for connection that all beings share. Living with utmost ease and happiness and with the maximum ability to benefit others depends on our capacity and willingness."
SILVER: The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus, by Dallas Willard (HarperOne)
"God uses history to allow people to approach him in a way that will not consume them. He creates a place to meet people where they are and then leads them onward to something better. We probably haven't arrived there yet, so we are still in the process of learning, developing, and growing, and that is the good side of what some call progressivism. But there must be conservatism as well, within progressivism the good that was already there is to be conserved and made better."
BRONZE: Living in Light, Love & Truth: Change Your Life Positively, by Kasi Kaye Iliopoulos (Balboa Press)
"There is only love. We have the choice to see, feel, and live with love as the core of all our actions, emotions, feelings, thoughts, words and perceptions. This is one of -- if not the most challenging -- of all wisdoms to learn and apply in life. Love is the core of all we see, do and think. Yet, it requires discipline. And through discipline, you can achieve freedom -- the freedom to see good in the universe, the freedom to love others and ourselves without fear."
Evergreen Medal for Nature Conservation
GOLD: Singapore’s Splendour: Life on the Edge, by Chua Ee-Kiam (Simply Green)
"I hope to show readers that we live in this world surrounded by natural gifts that are a constant amazement to me. It is essential that we know what we have been bestowed with so that we can take the next possible action -- that is, to save the precious little that we still have."
SILVER: Sharing Nature: Nature Awareness Activities for All Ages, by Joseph Cornell (Crystal Clarity Publishers)
"Since humans began speaking, storytelling has been used to influence thoughts and behavior. Science now shows that those listening to a tale actually live the story as if it were real. Ending your outing with uplifting accounts from the lives of the great naturalists is a marvelous way to inspire a sense of idealism and altruism."
BRONZE: Adventures in Yellowstone: The Land of Curiosities, Book 1, by Deanna Neil (The EcoSeekers)
"What would happen if there were no more buffalo? James wondered. Jed said that 'the West wouldn't be settled for 500 years' and that 'there were more buffalo than people in America.' But what if it did happen? What if we killed every single buffalo? James couldn't shake the image of the suffering animals just lying there. And for what?"