Is it just the onset of autumn, here in the northern hemisphere? Or does this fragile blue planet seem to be whirling into a hurricane of self-serving hostilities?

            Unpredictable leaders brandish nuclear light-sabers at each other. Tourists who survived hurricane Irma in the Caribbean complain that the Canadian government failed to rescue them from hotel rooms lacking air conditioning. Refugees flee from repression in North Africa, in the Middle East, in Myanmar. Professionals who enjoyed special tax provision protest against losing their privileges. India drowns 40,000 peasant farms. Professors pad their careers with fake diplomas…

            It’s all about me, me, me.

A different perspective

            Almost ten years ago, in 2008, theologian and bestselling author Karen Armstrong proposed something she called a Charter for Compassion. Over 150,000 people visited a tentative Charter website. A multi-faith, multi-national group of religious thinkers and leaders met in Switzerland, to craft the Charter from suggestions that came in from more than 100 countries.

            Armstrong and the Council of Conscience unveiled the Charter for Compassion on November 12, 2009, in Washington, DC.

            Although I would personally like to see the Charter extended to include all forms of life -- including those we may not yet have recognized --  the Charter of Compassion as a whole feels like a worthwhile antidote to today’s heating-up climate of incessant bickering.

The Charter of 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 indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

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Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

            To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

Beth Richardson picked out the line, “And when I listen to a sermon or a homily, the message of unconditional love doesn’t match the promise of eternal punishment for sinners."

            To which Beth added, “AMEN!  Thanks again for another great weekly thought.”

Long-time friend Janie Wallbrown chose the same sentence, and reminisced about her New Testament professor who “quite frequently scrawled on top of my papers: ‘Sin, Jane. You need more sin!’ It always provoked uproarious laughter in me. I was too full of the unconditional love of God in my theology, not balanced much with the reality of sin. My definition of sin is separation from God. Not a laundry list of do's and hundreds of don't’s.”

Dale Perkins thought the current turmoil in churches was a form of reality check: “Thanks to people like Gretta Vosper (in this country) and Robin Meyers (down south in the States), we are being forced or cajoled into doing serious checks on the so-called ‘reality’ contained in the doctrines and dogmas of the Church.  Most of them are so time-warped and consequently irrelevant (or only of ‘historical interest’) that they are incapable of describing a reality that conforms to the reality most of us experience -- certainly for the grandchildren (in our families) and their peers.  That’s why I’m much preferring to talk about faith and radical trust (realizing that doubt will ever by a part of the equation) when attempting to share my Christian faith with others. In fact, actually supposing we can locate ‘reality’ is now an absurd concept. What is one person’s ‘fish’ may be another person’s ‘poison,’ there is no universal reality out there that we can appropriate and fix in time; we are forever held in mystery and wonder.”

Isabel Gibson asked, “I wonder where we'd be if scientific questioning (flawed though it is) were applied to how we live together, as a community and as a polity.”

Steve Roney disagreed about the relative roles of science and religion. I had written, “Scientists test for flaws in reasoning, errors in procedure, to find the exception that invalidates a general rule. A theory or process only becomes accepted wisdom when repeated attempts fail to find a flaw in it.”

            Steve replied, “That is how science is supposed to work, but it is not what happens. New studies and experiments, once published, are rarely replicated. Which, of course, makes most of what we think we know invalid and quite possibly false. The problem is that one must publish or perish, and the chances of publishing a paper that simply replicates an experiment or study someone else has done are very low. Not interesting. To get published, you must give an impression of having found something new.”

            Steve also argued, “If you believe something is absolutely true, why would you exert yourself on attempted arguments or experiments to disprove it?”

Another Steve, Steve Lawson, took a different tack: “I think retirement has increased the level of doing reality checks about life and truth. Looking back from a different perspective on life, it has become more important for me to understand what's real and what is just hopeful fantasy. Preaching has taken on a whole new context, as you say; I try to match the messages of conflicting information or doctrine that seems to bind us all up. How can I talk about unconditional love (which I wholeheartedly agree with) on the one hand and punishment, eternal damnation and all that on the other? There's a balance that I am missing somewhere or maybe some things just aren't true and never were.

            “It's time for me to talk about what I truly believe in (not what I've been told to believe or what others say I should believe) and to put it out there, for response and discussion, and see where it takes us all. Worship planning has been much more interesting and challenging these last 4 years.”

Robert Caughell applied the “reality check” metaphor more widely than I did: “At least every five years, all government programs/policies should be reviewed to see if they are still valid in a changing world. Programs/policies should be either updated or scrapped along, with the people that run them.”

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PSALM PARAPHRASES

The Lectionary uses Psalm 105 repeatedly through the year. So I’m skipping verses 1-6, and paraphrasing only verses 37-45, using the metaphor of young people out on a challenging hike.

37        Roots reached out to trip us; thorn bushes clutched at our clothes.
But we didn't lose anyone. 

38        We rejoiced to reach our destination;
night was near; we began to fear we were lost.

39        Tents from our leader covered us from the chill;
a campfire kept us warm.

40        We barbecued chicken on its coals.

41        A spring spouted from the hillside;
its clear water filled our cups and overflowed down the valley. 

42        Through the darkness, our leader watched over us;
through the night, he patrolled the campsite to ward off our fears.

43        In a new day, we bounced from our tents with bright eyes and deep breaths,
inhaling the glory of the morning. 

44        The woods and meadows were made for us;
we played hide and seek among the tree trunks.

45        Glory to God who gave us such an experience.

For paraphrases of most of the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalms from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

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YOU SCRATCH MY BACK…

·       Ralph Milton’s most recent project, Sing Hallelujah -- the world’s first video hymnal -- consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.ca

·       Isabel Gibson's thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com

·       Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>

·       Alva Wood's satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town are not particularly religious, but they are fun; write alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.

·       Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at twatson@sentex.net

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TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.

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            My webpage is up and running again -- thanks to Wayne Irwin and ChurchWeb Canada. You can now access current columns and about five years of archives at http://quixotic.ca

            I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

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