We were at a bible study group this morning looking at the readings that will be used in some churches on Sunday. One of the readings is from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians and among other things it says, basically, ' you have a responsibility to and for one another'. He suggests for instance, that even when we may have a right to do something, we may have a responsibility not to do it if it will harm or scandalize others. At very least, I think he is suggesting that we think about the implications of what we say or do before we act, out of respect for our brothers and sisters.
This took my mind to something that I have noticed since I have come back to Canada from my life in the monastery. That is, it seems to me that our civic and political life is becoming so confrontational that there is less and less will to compromise or listen or love. So for instance, I am certain I am right, you do not agree with me, therefore you are wrong and I will destroy you. Or, at very least, I will shout you down when you try to speak, I will cast all sorts of doubts on your truthfulness, I will be certain that you don't 'win'. Because if you win then I must lose. That is certainly evident in American politics just now but it may be increasingly true here too.
But it is not just in political life that this happens. I hear more and more often people speaking about entitlement for instance. 'I am entitled to...' and follows a whole list of perks. With that goes the sense that if I don't fight for myself and my rights, no one else will and if I fight for mine I can't fight for yours. In feeling that way, may we not be losing sight of that humanity that Paul speaks of?
If we only think in terms of 'us' and 'them', if our neighbor becomes somehow an enemy, what chance do we have to become full, loving, whole human beings and a society of care? If we look around us at the people we admire I should imagine that they are people who are in fact, the opposite of those of whom I have been speaking. They will be people who are caring, self-less, truth-full people. I should imagine that we admire their courage in doing the loving thing. How will our world be one in which future generations can live in peace if we go on building a society and a polity that cannot live compassionately?
Karen Armstrong and others have have taken up the 'cause' for compassion with the Charter for Compassion. The purpose of the Charter states that it 'is a document that transcends religious, ideological and national differences...The Charter activates the Golden Rule around the world'. The Golden Rule states, in one of its forms ' do not do to others what you would not want done to you'. What a way to begin!
It is worth looking at their website to read it. www.charterforcompassion.org
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