At the recent vestry meeting on Sept. 10, 2015, it was agreed that St. James’ would affirm \u201cThe Charter for Compassion\u201d as a parish. Having done so, we are now considered a Partner. There is no cost to affirm the Charter. Our signature is a public commitment to the principles expressed in this historic document. St. James’ is part of a worldwide group of communities, through our support for these principles.<\/p>\n
The Charter reads as follows:<\/p>\n
The principle of compassion\u00a0lies 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.<\/em><\/p>\n It is also necessary\u00a0in 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\u2014even our enemies\u2014is 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.<\/p>\n We therefore call upon all men and women\u00a0to 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\u2014even those regarded as enemies.<\/p>\n We urgently need\u00a0to 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.<\/em><\/p>\n Going forward there will be conversations, information, and activities regarding the Charter, where we can look at additional ways the members and friends of St. James\u2019 may participate and share messages and actions of compassion in our communities.<\/p>\n ~Submitted by Meg Amouroux, Jr. Warden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the recent vestry meeting on Sept. 10, 2015, it was agreed that St. James’ would affirm \u201cThe Charter for Compassion\u201d as a parish. Having done so, we are now considered a Partner. There is no cost to affirm the Charter. Our signature is a public commitment to the principles expressed in this historic document.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-window","ctfw-no-image"],"yoast_head":"\n