By Jason Stone, INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA

The biblical “Golden Rule” means something to everyone.

The Right Rev. Jennifer Reddall had her own defining moment of the “Golden Rule” when going to see the tomb of Jesus – the place the Bible said he arose from the dead.

It was on that tour that she became angry at a group of tourists who were pushing and cutting in front of a long line that took hours to navigate.

“I started thinking, ‘There must be a special circle in hell for people who would cut in line to see the tomb of Jesus,’” said Rev. Reddall, drawing laughs from a crowd of a couple hundred people gathered May 1 at the Surprise Area Interfaith Breakfast and Golden Rule Community Celebration. “I thought, ‘Jesus died for these people?’”

Then Rev. Reddall said she heard the voice of God in her head, telling her that Jesus died for those people as well as herself.

“I was just so conflicted that I was not loving my neighbor as myself,” she said.

Remembering to have love and kindness for your neighbors were the central themes of the annual breakfast, held this year at the Salvation Army, 17420 N. Avenue of the Arts.

The Rev. Reddall’s personal story of the “Golden Rule,” was one of several those in attendance heard during the two-hour breakfast.

Speakers included a rabbi (Dr. Sheldon Moss of Temple Beth Shalom), a pastor (Dennis Garcia of Iglesia de Valle), a Muslim (Islamic Speakers Bureau of Arizona president Azra Hussain), a Mormon (James Ellis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and others.

While that gathering sounds like the start of a bad joke, they all came with a serious message of love and mutual understanding.

That’s something Ms. Hussain has been practicing for the last 20 years leading her Islamic Speakers Bureau.

As a Muslim I’m taught I don’t have faith until I walk with my brother when I walk for myself,” Ms. Hussain said. “My neighbor has a lot of rights over me. My neighbors have a right to expect me never to harm them through my words or my actions. My neighbors have the right to expect respect and kindness from me. My neighbors have the right to know if they need, I will be there.”

Ms. Hussain said part of helping though is knowing what your neighbor needs.

“I don’t know what my neighbor needs, how good am I as a neighbor?” she asked. “I have to go out there and make sure I connect with every single person.”

Those in attendance included Dysart Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Quinn Kellis, Arizona Faith Network Director the Rev. Katie Sexton, various Surprise administrators, Mayor Skip Hall and City Council members.

Two members of the Dysart High School Dance Company performed an original routine to Lauren Daigie’s “You Say” partway through the breakfast.

Other speakers included Emmaus Episcopal Community lay vicar Deb Tickell, Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest CEO Connie Phillips and Arizona Interfaith Movement executive director Dr. Rev. Larry Fultz, who delivered one of the funnier lines of the morning.

“The is the best ‘Golden Rule’ city I’ve been to today,” Fultz said around 8:30 a.m., drawing laughs.

The Arizona Faith Network has been driving the Golden City movement in the state for the last decade. Surprise became the seventh designated Golden Rule cities after Apache Junction, Flagstaff, Gilbert, Mesa, Queen Creek and Scottsdale.

The Rev. Reddall said when people work the “Golden Rule” into their lives, they should “aspire to even better.”

“Let’s aspire to be perfect to one another, to be loving to one another and remembering that love is action and not emotion,” Rev. Reddall said. “Love is deeds, not just a feeling.”

All Arizona residents can also live the Golden Rule in their cars. Specialized license plates are available that read “Live the Golden Rule” along the bottom where regular ones read the “Grand Canyon State.”

SURPRISE AREA INTERFAITH BREAKFAST AND GOLDEN RULE COMMUNITY CELEBRATION SPEAKERS

• Rabbi Dr. Sheldon Moss of Temple Beth Shalom
• Surprise Mayor Skip Hall
• Salvation Army Captain Mark Merritt of the Sun Cities West Valley Corps
• Pastor Dennis Garcia of Iglesia de Valle
• Surprise City Court Presiding Judge Louis Frank Dominguez
• Islamic Speakers Bureau of Arizona president Azra Hussain
• Emmaus Episcopal Community lay vicar Deb Tickell
• Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest CEO Connie Phillips
• Episcopal Diocese of Arizona Sixth Bishop the Right Rev. Jennifer Reddall
• James Ellis of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Skip Hall

Editor’s note: Jason Stone can be reached at 623-445-2805, on email at jstone@newszap.com or on Twitter at @thestonecave.