Move Over Nobel; Make Room for Love and Forgiveness

Who doesn't want love and forgiveness? If there were a prize for such things, shouldn't that be the most sought-after award in Awardville?

Well, the Nobel and Pulitzer better look out because the Fetzer Prize for Love and Forgiveness has come to town. According to Reuters, the first-ever Fetzer Prize was awarded to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu last Sunday, September 27, at the 2009 Vancouver Peace Summit.

The award-winners are recognized for bringing "the power of love, forgiveness, and compassion to bear on some of our world’s greatest challenges." Incidentally, they have both in fact already won the Nobel Peace Prize, but that doesn't diminish the importance of this unique recognition. Each received $100,000 to carry on his work.

Tom Beech, president and CEO of the Fetzer Institute, stated that, “The lives of these two remarkable people give us concrete examples of another way to live. They stand for compassion in the face of isolation, love in the face of fear, and forgiveness in the face of violence.”

The Fetzer Institute is dedicated to espousing love and forgiveness "as powerful forces that can transform the human condition." The organization's projects work to heal a divided world and help people live more loving and forgiving lives. The institute is the primary sponsor of the Charter for Compassion, brainchild of scholar Karen Armstrong, a wide collaboration by religious figures and the general public to create a peaceful and compassionate world. The Charter will be formally unveiled on November 12.

In the meantime, we'll have to keep depending on the eminent award-winners to help us strive for peace and human dignity on this crazy planet we call home.

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