THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

Watch the video!

Charter for Compassion

Charter for Compassion will be unveiled tomorrow!

CHARTER FOR COMPASSION TRAILER from TED Prize on Vimeo.

A new creed

Today in our EFM class, a member shared her recently re-written creed. It is so beautiful and true that I'd like to make it my own. She said we could share it with others:

Mary Carpenter's Trinitarian Creed

The Love who gathers the cosmos into her bosom
and sends it spewing forth in chaotic rhythms--
This is our Creator.

The one in the garden, recognized by Mary Magdalene as rabouni;
He is the violin strings connecting each of our hearts to one another.
He is singing to us songs of our laughter and weeping tears of our laments.
He is our Redeemer. Through Him we are reclaiming our perfect pitch.

The Whispering of the Wind, continuously breathing each of our names,
is tugging our heart strings to bring forth their sacred melodies.
This is the eternal Holy Spirit.

We are knowing each note.
We are plucking the tune.
We are a Masterpiece; unfinished, yet fully played.

~~Mary Carpenter
November 2009

The Masai Creed

In our EFM class (third year), our leaders gave us copies of Jaroslav Pelikan's address given on December 5, 2003 and entitled "The Will to Believe and the Need for Creed." It is a long article but is well worth the time it takes to read.

In this piece is The Masai Creed which was composed in 1960 by the Maasai people of East Africa in collaboration with missionaries from the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. The creed attempts to express the essentials of the Christian faith within the Maasai culture.

We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created Man and wanted Man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the Earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know Him in the light. God promised in the book of His word, the Bible, that He would save the world and all the nations and tribes.

We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through Him. All who have faith in Him must be sorry for their sins, be baptised in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the Good News to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for Him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.