Today, I was introduced to the work of Karen Armstrong. She is embarking on a global mission, to re-imagine compassion as the cornerstone of religious practice. As I type these words, I feel their dryness, which is the opposite of how I experienced the words of Karen Armstrong.
For too long now, politics, greed, and human weakness have dominated religious practice. When I was a child, I had the honor of listening to and experiencing Dale Turner, a minister in Seattle. His words and continence were inspiring, and it was made clear that to do unto others, as you would want them to do unto you, was the foundation of the religion he practiced. As I grew older, I was introduced to other churches and for the majority of my life, because of these experiences, I came to understand that religious practice was dominated by “faith” in cruelty, separation, hatred, dishonor, violence, greed and politics. My early experiences of knowing the radiance of compassion became a faint memory. I no longer could step inside a church, because I learned, my experience was sure to be filled with the lowest of human intentions. So, I stayed away, and I learned to be cynical, whenever the name of God, or religion was spoken. I stayed far away.
But today, I encountered the simple words, of Karen Armstrong, who speaks of compassion, as the forgotten principle of most religions. She is asking for others who feel as she does, to join together to make this once again, the core of religious practice. I hope she is successful, and that the numbers will swell, and purge the illness from the current halls of religious practice. It makes me wonder, how we came to this point, where we let corrupt and divisive ideas replace the simple truth of compassion.
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