Dan Hemesath's Blog

Questions that come mind at this time of my life are: Have I given up too much? Have I gone too far in pulling back on the practice of many of our Catholic traditions?  Have I kept the essentials?  Have I kept the wheat and discarded the chaff?

What are the essentials? What is the wheat?  What is the heart and soul of any valid belief system?

The person who , I think, does a good job in answering these questions, is one of my heroes and role models, Karen Armstong.  She has wrestled with these questions for most of her life, and in the process, has become respected by the leaders of all the great religions, including Islam, Judaism, Christianity,  and Buddhism.

During her life to date, Karen has dealt with health problems, including epilepsy.  For years she found herself in a vocation that provided neither undersanding nor fulfilment, as a nun in the Society of the Holy Child Jesus.

On leaving the convent, she found her voice with her studies and writing.    Her early books tell of her struggle to understand the big questions surrounding religion and life.  She has continued writing, producing a series of books on St. Paul, Mohammed, Buddha, the Crusades, A History of Myth, The English Mystics of the 14th Century, The Bible, and number of other provocative subjects.

Her conclusion in studying the various great religions of the world, is that the one common element of all these religions is compassion. Whenever a religion of movement within a relgion deviates from the central emphasis of compassion, it ceases to serve a positive purpose.

Any of the texts of the bible, or any of the sacred books, that seem to advocate violence or anything other than compassion, must interpreted in an allegoric sense.

To check out  Karen Armstrong go to the “Charter for Compassion” website: http://charterforcompassion.org/   If you can watch the short video by Karen on Feb 28, 2008 without being deeply moved, you are different from me.

Compassion is not feeling sorry for others–rather it is making the effort to understand the point of view of others.  It is  having the empathy to put ourselves in the shoes of another.  It is not being a do-gooder, giving others what we think they need, rather it is giving others respect and the opportunity to find fulfulment just as we would like to find that opportunity.

Many people see compassion as weakness.  On the contrary to be compassionate requires great strength. It requires the faith, not to do good for others, but a faith in others–a faith that sees that we can’t make it on our own, but we can make it with others.

What does this have to do with my original questions of doubts about my ceasing to be a fully practicing Catholic? Just this: One can drop many religious practices. ceremonies, rituals, and beliefs, but to be saved, to be a child of God, whatever or whoever one sees God to be, we need to hang on to compassion for others–our  love and  faith in others, along with compassion and faith in ourselves.  If religious practices help us to to do this, keep and cherish them.  If not, keep compassion. Keep the golden rule.

Related:  You are probably familiar with this little poem, but I think it’s worth reviewing anyway.

Abou Ben Adhem by Leigh Hunt

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace.

And saw within the moonlight of his room,

Making it light and like a lily in bloom

An angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold.

And to the presence in the room he said,

“What writest thou?”  The vision raised its head,

And with a look made of all sweet accord

Answered “The names of those who love the Lord.”

“And is mine one?” said  Abou.  “Nay not so.”

Replied the angel.  Abou spoke more low,

But cheerily still, and said “I pray thee, then,

“Write me as one who loves his fellow men.”

The Angel wrote and vanished.  The next night

It came again with a great awakening light.

And showed the names who love of God had blessed.

And lo Ben Adhems’s name led all the rest.

This entry was posted on June 10, 2010 at 7:47 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.