The Charter for Compassion
Karen Armstrong is a British author who has written many books on comparative religions. A former Catholic sister, she won the prestigious TED Prize for ideas to change the world. Her idea was to formulate a “Charter for Compassion” that could be endorsed by people of all faiths all over the world.
The charter would be based on the Golden Rule. We Christians associate the Golden Rule with Jesus’ “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” found in Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31. But the Golden Rule is also found in the other two Abrahamic religions: Judaism and Islam. In addition it is found in the ancient religions of Egypt, China, India, Greece, Persia, and Rome.
TED gave Armstrong the resources to formulate the charter. She set up a website soliciting ideas. Literally thousands of individuals from 100 different countries offered suggestions. The Charter of Compassion was unveiled on November 12, 2009 in Washington D.C. At its launch it was endorsed by the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and many other notable religious leaders.
The charter’s supporting organization is called Charter for Compassion International (CCI) which has 311 communities in 45 countries worldwide. Each year the ICC names a city as its model city of compassion. From 2012 to 2015 Louisville, Kentucky took that honor. Their signature event was a city-wide volunteer day. In 2015 over 166,000 Individuals in Louisville volunteered on that one particular day. After an Islamic Center was vandalized in Louisville, the city organized a clean-up day. The very next day over 1,000 people came to help clean up what had been vandalized.
Some of you are probably familiar with the Charter. Some of you may even have endorsed the Charter. The Charter has been translated into 30 languages and over 2 million people have endorsed it. Here is a link to their website:
http://www.charterforcompassion.org
And now, I offer three short videos. In this first one (3 1/2 mins.) Karen Armstrong herself explains why and how she came up with the idea for this charter:
The second video is a group of individuals reciting the Charter for Compassion (2 mins.):
The third video is a song entitled “Compassion” by Andrew Witt. My favorite line: Maybe I can’t change the world, “but I can change the world for one.”
I would love to hear your ideas concerning the Charter for Compassion and/or the song.
PS: I will be giving a presentation at the St. Cyril Spiritual Center this Saturday morning, March 25, in Danville, PA (phone: 570-275-3581). The presentation is entitled “Four Traits of a Healthy Spirituality: Wonder, Friendship, Courage, and Hope.” I hope to see a few of you there!
How Do We Grow in Wisdom?
How do we become wise? The quickest answer is: through experience. This experience begins early in life. Several years ago I was at a first birthday party for a little boy named Brian. He was sitting in his highchair smiling as his mother set a small birthday cake in front of him. Then she lit the candle. Before anyone could stop him, Brian had reached out his chubby little hand to try to grab the flickering flame. Ouch! Immediately he began to cry. Experience. It can be painful at times. (more…)
"Beauty Will Save the World"
The Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote in one of his novels, “Beauty will save the world.” Many people have wondered those words mean. Some have said they mean that Beauty helps to give meaning and purpose to life. It is as important as Truth and Goodness for instilling in people a desire to live a worthwhile life.
Today I would like to share some Beauty with you. Not so much in words, but in pictures. Here are three instances where imaginative (and patient!) people created beauty in simple tasks: stacking wood for the winter, walking in the snow in snowshoes, and serving up a cup of coffee. I hope you can take a few minutes just to gaze at this “art” and see what affect this beauty has on you.
First: these stacks of wood were created in Norway:
And finally… royalty…
Now let’s move on to snow. Simon Beck has been decorating the Alps for the past ten years with his mathematical drawings. He creates them by walking or running in snowshoes across freshly fallen snow. Some of his drawings are huge—the size of a football field or even bigger. He often works on frozen lakes so he has a flat surface. It takes him about 5 to 11 hours to do one drawing. He started doing this for fun. Now it’s his main occupation. He’s traveled all over the world creating these beautiful drawings. Recently, he has started doing beach art too. He has written a book, Simon Beck: Snow Art. At the end of this reflection, I have included a short video on Beck’s art. There is another video in YouTube that I couldn’t get to transfer to my blog. It shows him actually “drawing” his pictures. If you’d like to see that 6 min. video, just go to YouTube, enter Simon Beck Snow Art, and look for the video by National Geographic entitled “One Man’s Walk in the Snow.” Meanwhile, here are a few of his beautiful drawings:
No words are necessary:
And finally, here is some art on a smaller scale: in a cup of coffee. Latte anyone?
I hope you enjoyed these imaginative works of art. You might want to reflect on these questions: Where is there beauty in your daily life? Where and how do you bring or create beauty in your life? Our Christian faith has a fine tradition of creating beauty. Just think of all the art work that grew out of our faith–paintings, icons, statues, churches, vestments, poetry, stories, music, dance, and the list goes on and on…And finally, our faith gives us many names for God. And remember, one of those names is Beauty!
The song today is an old hymn entitled “For the Beauty of the Earth.” This version showcases some of our Creator’s works of art… Enjoy the beauty!
Here is the video on Simon Beck’s works of art in snow. (about 3 minutes):
What did you think of the art works? Has beauty ever “saved” you? I welcome your responses!
“Beauty Will Save the World”
The Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote in one of his novels, “Beauty will save the world.” Many people have wondered those words mean. Some have said they mean that Beauty helps to give meaning and purpose to life. It is as important as Truth and Goodness for instilling in people a desire to live a worthwhile life.
Today I would like to share some Beauty with you. Not so much in words, but in pictures. Here are three instances where imaginative (and patient!) people created beauty in simple tasks: stacking wood for the winter, walking in the snow in snowshoes, and serving up a cup of coffee. I hope you can take a few minutes just to gaze at this “art” and see what affect this beauty has on you.
First: these stacks of wood were created in Norway:
And finally… royalty…
Now let’s move on to snow. Simon Beck has been decorating the Alps for the past ten years with his mathematical drawings. He creates them by walking or running in snowshoes across freshly fallen snow. Some of his drawings are huge—the size of a football field or even bigger. He often works on frozen lakes so he has a flat surface. It takes him about 5 to 11 hours to do one drawing. He started doing this for fun. Now it’s his main occupation. He’s traveled all over the world creating these beautiful drawings. Recently, he has started doing beach art too. He has written a book, Simon Beck: Snow Art. At the end of this reflection, I have included a short video on Beck’s art. There is another video in YouTube that I couldn’t get to transfer to my blog. It shows him actually “drawing” his pictures. If you’d like to see that 6 min. video, just go to YouTube, enter Simon Beck Snow Art, and look for the video by National Geographic entitled “One Man’s Walk in the Snow.” Meanwhile, here are a few of his beautiful drawings:
No words are necessary:
And finally, here is some art on a smaller scale: in a cup of coffee. Latte anyone?
I hope you enjoyed these imaginative works of art. You might want to reflect on these questions: Where is there beauty in your daily life? Where and how do you bring or create beauty in your life? Our Christian faith has a fine tradition of creating beauty. Just think of all the art work that grew out of our faith–paintings, icons, statues, churches, vestments, poetry, stories, music, dance, and the list goes on and on…And finally, our faith gives us many names for God. And remember, one of those names is Beauty!
The song today is an old hymn entitled “For the Beauty of the Earth.” This version showcases some of our Creator’s works of art… Enjoy the beauty!
Here is the video on Simon Beck’s works of art in snow. (about 3 minutes):
What did you think of the art works? Has beauty ever “saved” you? I welcome your responses!
What Are You Doing for Lent? A Suggestion
Ash Wednesday is this week. As we begin the Lenten season, we may be wondering: What am I going to do for Lent this year? I have one idea you might want to consider.
It comes from a good friend, Father Rich Jones, pastor of a church in the Pittsburgh diocese. In his Lenten Reflection, Fr. Rich referred to the book, Blessed by Less—Clearing Your Life of Clutter by Living Lightly by Susan V. Vogt. During a particular Lent, Vogt decided to give away one thing on each of the 40 days of Lent. She found the practice so helpful, she kept doing it for the rest of the year.
Voygt’s basic mantra is less is best. When she says less is best, she is not referring only to physical things (like clothes, knickknacks, furniture) but other things as well: “less over-scheduling, less emotional baggage, less gossiping, less complaining, less fear, less grudges.” So, you might want to try this practice. You can start by asking, “What do I have that I can give away to someone in need, or someone who would appreciate having it?” You could begin in your closet. (That’s where I usually start!) How many sweaters, shoes, coats, jackets do you have that you no longer need or wear? Why not take them to Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, or another local thrift store.
Then move on to other things. You’ll probably find stuff in your kitchen cupboards. Here in my house, for example, we recently cleaned out a cupboard where we found glass dishes we never use—nice dishes someone else might like to have. We took them to two local thrift stores—one sponsored by the American Cancer Society and the other sponsored by Women Safe. Check for other things to give away like Christmas items, mugs, lamps, linens, books, tools.
Other “things” to give away or even throw away are “things” like these: complaining, angry thoughts, senseless worrying, gossiping, resentment, jealousy, unkind remarks, fears, and rushing around. If you’re about to complain about something, stop and think of one thing you’re grateful for and say a little thank you prayer to God. If you find yourself worrying, pray something like, “I place all my trust in you, God.” If you’re rushing around, stop, take a deep breath, and pray, “Jesus, slow me down!” Then continue at a more sane pace.
Another “thing” you can give away is your time. You could make that phone call you’ve been meaning to make for quite some time. Or stop in and see a lonely neighbor. Or visit someone in an assisted living center or
hospital. If you are living in an assisted living center, then go down the hall to chat with someone you haven’t spoken with for a while. If you’re a nun, you can call or visit a sister in your health care facility or retirement center. Or maybe you’d like to give away some of your time in another way: offer to baby sit for busy parents, volunteer at your parish, make something for a fund-raiser bake sale, read a book to a child, take a dog for a walk, play with a cat, or even spend a few minutes each day praying for someone. You might even want to let the person know which day you prayed for them. I’m sure you can come up with other ways to give away some of your time this Lent!
Lent is a time to do penance, pray, and give alms. It is also a time to become more aware of God’s love for us—as shown especially through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I like how G. K. Chesterton described God’s love for us. He said God loves us furiously. May the passion you put into your Lenten practices touch the hearts and well-being of others. And may it reflect the furious love God has for all of us!
I wish you all a loving Lent!
Our song today is instrumental music and script put out by “Our Sunday Visitor.” The script offers a number of ways we might want to celebrate Lent this year.
Do you have any thoughts on Lent or any suggestions for us?
