Text Box: Interfaith Celebration Gathering Sunday, May 20, 2001 Interfaith Celebration Gathering Service Service agenda: Opening Prayer Readings Message OPENING PRAYER: Dear Mother, Father, Great Spirit, God, please hear my prayer. Today I look around me and see who the true heroes and heroines are in my life. And, as I look around me, I realize that I, too, am one of them. I ask this knowing that all I need do is ask and it is granted. AMEN READINGS: No true and permanent fame can be found except in labors which promote the happiness of mankind. Charles Sumner It often happens that those of whom we speak least on earth are best known in heaven. Nicolas Caussin Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story. John Barth MESSAGE: Humanity Awards I have trouble watching the Academy Awards, the Country Music Awards, and all television shows of that genre. In them, people in show business give awards to others in show business and the public hangs on every word and award because the people giving the awards and the people receiving the awards are celebrities. The type of awards show I would enjoy watching is one that gave some really meaningful awards. If I were in charge, I would create awards that celebrated the really tough things people do and the mighty challenges they overcome. I would create a Feisty Lady Award for my friend Anne Pollard, who has accomplished some incredible things in life. She has beaten breast cancer once and is overcoming its challenges once again with humor and a lightness of spirit I wish I could emulate. Anne has been a psychiatric nurse for many years, a difficult profession, but one in which she taught many people to overcome the darkness within themselves. She also taught herself alternative medicine and healing, founded Parents Anonymous groups, and worked faithfully in child abuse prevention. All of the many things Anne has achieved have been done in the heart of the South where she has faced and overcome prejudice because of her gender as well as her skin color. There would likely be a large number of Feisty Lady Categories because I know quite a few Feisty Ladies who have overcome incredible obstacles in their lives to make a difference in our world. Like the Feisty Lawyer Lady, and the Feisty 12-stepping Lady, and the Feisty Sister Lady. Next, I would hand out a Wholly Human Award—this would go to the person or persons who are so incredibly down to earth that, within ten minutes of meeting them, it seems like I have known them forever. Susan Rodriguez and Dick Vines come to mind for this award. Susan has been a delightful friend since our first conversation, as has Dick. (Susan would probably also pick up a Feisty Lady Award. Dick would not qualify for one of those, but he certainly would get its gender equivalent, the Mighty Man Award. He has overcome kidney failure and multiple myelomas with more grace and panache than I can ever imagine anyone having.) Next, I’d bestow a Faithful Friend Award to the people who have been with me through all of my life’s ups and downs as well as through their own challenges. Jacqueline Whitley gets my vote for this one. She is a pint-sized Feisty Lady who has a heart that is bigger than she is. She has loved me in spite of myself for many years. She was my Maid of Honor at our wedding. The really interesting part of her service at our wedding, however, is that she also filled in for Father of the Bride, Best Man, Flower Girl and Ring Bearer. Then, I would create a Joyful Heart Award. That would go to the person who has endured life’s challenges with a joyful, sunny disposition. Chuck Fisher would definitely get one of those. Even when he was told by the doctor after I sustained pesticide poisoning that I was dying, Chuck maintained such a positive outlook that I had no choice but to go on living despite the doctor’s prognosis. Without that sunny disposition of his, I would have given up long ago. These are the people I would celebrate if I were in charge—not the people making big money to entertain us, but the unsung heroes and heroines. I have a sneaking suspicion that these are the people God celebrates, too. What do you think? May God add a blessing to these humble words. AMEN © 2001 Rev. S. Suzanne Fisher