I accept this award with the full realization that there are many people of gifted vision and expansive hearts who participate in The Tri-Faith Dialogue of San Antonio with me. They are men and women of uncompromising courage and faith who have also walked this talk. After all, a dialogue is not something you can accomplish alone. Neither is making peace. The famous Israeli General Moshe Dayan said once that, "If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies." Well just who are our enemies? Are they the people we are taught to watch out for and be fearful of? Are they the people we know we can never trust because they are from that neighborhood or that religion or that heritage? Are they the people we are supposed to want to seek out and harm because of a warped sense of honor or revenge? Who are they?... Where do they come from?... Do we even really know them?

One day when I was thinking about how important it would be to have peace in the world, it suddenly came to me, just who our enemies are. Our enemies are our peace partners. They are the amazing people... and the only people... that we have an opportunity to create peace with, on the Earth. This time of year especially we are thinking about Peace on Earth. It has surely been on the lips of every prayer that has been prayed since the 9-11 attack. And if making Peace is the highest human act, then our enemy provides a rare gift to us. Our enemy allows us the opportunity to achieve the greatest goal on Earth by giving us just what we need... to come into balance... to come into wholeness... to come into Peace.

So then how does one get from that "Ah Hah" moment of awareness to living one's highest purpose? Well, when moments of profound but simple truth are followed by crystal clear clarity coupled with heartfelt desire, quite a batch cosmic intention gets mixed up. After that, The Powers that Be move in... and the synchronicity just starts to flow. The Tri-Faith Dialogue came together just like that, through a series of events that seemed almost magical at the time.

And it was a good thing that it did. Two years and 7 months to the day, from when the first Jewish-Muslim connections were made, our country was attacked and our nation's collective psyche was left stunned. San Antonio, like most cities in America and many around the world, would be comforted by an interfaith gathering of solidarity. Our city's prayer service though, would come only two days later, without any last minute scramble, because The Tri-Faith Dialogue partnered with The peaceCENTER of San Antonio, already had in place an evening planned to celebrate religious unity and good will. And this event was already scheduled to close with a joint benediction by Rabbi Barry Block and Imam Omar Shakir, who already were acquainted with each other through The Tri-Faith Dialogue. There was no on-the-spot awkward sharing of a podium with a virtual stranger here. Through The Tri-Faith Dialogue of San Antonio we had been very blessed with remarkable spiritual leadership and they were on hand.... both clergy and lay people... courageous Muslims, Christians and Jews who had dared to risk the scorn of their own communities by reaching out to each other. Now we shared an understanding of oneness in our hearts and proudly joined with citizens of all faiths that night as we stood together for peace.

The Tri-Faith Dialogue of San Antonio has helped to co-create a real pocket of peace that is planted here, where we live. Despite the escalation of violence in our world, it continues to blossom, even now in the present. Thank you for being aware of and appreciating our service to San Antonio. My heartfelt thanks must also go out to my many Tri-Faith brothers and sisters for sharing their light and love with me as well as with so many others.

In closing, I want to give special thanks to our daughter Jacqueline and to my devoted husband Michael for their love and support. Without them I could not do the work that I do. Finally, On behalf of a former Imagineer honoree, The Rev. Ann Helmke and The peaceCENTER of San Antonio, I invite all of you tomorrow night to come celebrate peace in our city with The Tri-Faith Dialogue at Noche de la Paz, A Night of Peace. Thanks again.

In 1958 Tom Slick gathered the best minds in the community to organize the Mind Science Foundation. In earlier years, he founded four other institutions to pursue an improved quality of life through science and technology. Southwest Research Institute and Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research Institute are now world-famous and have made important contributions to our lives. His Institute of Inventive Research and Southwest Agriculture Institute were not sustained, but lent lasting structure to institutions that exist today. He organized the Mind Science Foundation just four years before his death in 1962; it remains a lasting reminder of his vision, creativity, energy, and action ... the very qualities we honor through the Imagineer Awards.

The Imagineer Award is an annual search for creative visionaries who have made a difference in the local community of San Antonio, Texas. Winners are selected in late spring/summer, receive a $2000 award stipend, and are honored in the fall of each year.