Contented

I'm knitting, again, after a seven year hiatus. I'm making a scarf with a three-strand wool, ribbon and string yarn. It's purple and red and black and very soft.

I sat on my bed last night when the children were all asleep, a time when I'm usually typing away at one thing or another.  I downloaded Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett, a remarkable program from American Public Media that you can listen to for free every week. Krista engages the world's most interesting thinkers and artists about questions of faith or lack thereof, and this week she replayed a 2004 interview with Karen Armstrong, the former convent nun turned prominent theologian and intellectual. There were readings of the poet T.S. Eliot's Ash Wednesday and some amazing history and beautiful music.

I felt content for the first time in weeks.

The airing of the interview is in anticipation of Ms. Armstrong's work on a Charter for Compassion, set to be unveiled on November 12th. The result of her 2008 TED prize wish, she along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu say that:

It is not simply a statement of principle; it is above all a summons to creative, practical and sustained action to meet the political, moral, religious, social and cultural problems of our time. In addition to participating in one of the many launch events, we invite each individual to adopt the charter as their own, to make a lifelong commitment to live with compassion.


In this time of people shooting fellow soldiers en masse, of armies bombing civilians and civilians killing themselves to kill others, of laws enacted banning marriage between those who love one another, all in the name of one God or another, it would probably be MEET AND GOOD to have a Charter for Compassion. Go to the website and check it out.