Putting Words Into Actions

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Compassion is on the hearts and minds of many people in Fayetteville.

“When you witness compassion in action, you are more compelled to do it yourself,” said Christy Pollock, a member of Compassion Fayetteville project’s planning team.

Compassion Fayetteville is a project of the Fayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Council’s Inclusion Group.

The goal of the project is to develop awareness, foster a culture of compassion and earn designation as a Compassionate City by the Compassionate Action Network International.

The group currently recognizes Fayetteville as “actively organizing.”

About 90 Fayetteville residents attended one or more of the three awareness sessions for the project at Fayetteville Public Library in February, March and April.

In those sessions, people paired to share their experiences of when they received - or wish they had received - compassion while in Fayetteville. They were encouraged to practice compassionate listening with each other, which is one special aspect of the project, said Pattie Williams, Compassion Fayetteville co-organizer.

“A lot of times, things like this only focus on action. We wanted to set the stage for listening,” Williams said.

Participants also gathered in small groups to share ideas of opportunities or challenges for compassion in the city. Some also created art expressing their wishes and dreams for compassion in Fayetteville.

Some dreams and wishes center on the city having a true interfaith community, in which all faiths and cultures are represented, and for the citizens to be more aware of the difficulties that exist in transportation for people with disabilities, according to the project’s website.

Work began June 22 as the project’s 16-member planning team met to begin writing a mission statement, vision statement and values. The team is made of the project’s three organizers - Williams, Margot Jackson, Vahida Zamani - and 13 others who attended the awareness sessions.

Pollock said she left the planning meeting feeling hopeful and energized.

“We had so many good ideas floating around, we didn’t have time to settle on one,” Pollock said.

The planning team will meet in small groups to fi nalize the statements before the next meeting July 13. They also will decide how to turn their words into actions and submit their action plan to the public, the city council and other organizations, including the Compassionate Action Network International.

Pollock said the group wants to awaken compassion in the hearts of residents in Fayetteville who then reach out to their family and friends and finally to others they might not know well.

“The baseline really is respect, cooperation and interdependence among citizens of Fayetteville,” Pollock said.

“Be inclusive and respect and value the other person’s point of view.”

Rhonda Adams, who attended all three awareness sessions and last week’s planning meeting, said the project group has turned the word “compassion” into an action that all people can grasp.

“All people can have compassion, whether they have faith or not,” she said. “For me, it just seems like a great thing to be a part of.”

The planning team meets at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, but Williams, Pollock and Adams pointed out the group is not faithbased.

Adams, a Ward 4 alderman on the Fayetteville City Council, said compassion is important for government because it creates a positive work environment for everyone.

“All ideas and input can be more fully heard or considered,” she said.

Adams said her hope is that, once Fayetteville is designated a compassionate city, it will be seen as a city that welcomes all and wants to work with everyone.

“It is very important toknow that people (in government) are compassionate and kind to each other, and ordinances and laws are created by compassionate, kind people who like living together in a great city,” Adams said.

At the suggestion of Mayor Lioneld Jordan, Compassion Fayetteville plans to hold quarterly community meetings to keep the conversation going, Williams said.

Compassion Fayetteville project leaders also want members of the community to sign the Charter for Compassion, a Web document that is the result of Karen Armstrong’s 2008 TED Prize wish. Armstrong is a religious historian and a former nun. The charter was unveiled to the world on Nov. 12, 2009. As of Friday morning, the charter has been signed by 96,873 people and organizations.

In her TED talk, “Let’s Revive The Golden Rule,” Armstrong said, “If we don’t manage to implement the Golden Rule globally, so that we treat all peoples - wherever and whoever they may be - as though they were as important as ourselves, I doubt that we’ll have a viable world to hand on to the next generation.”

Pollock attended the International Summit Conference on Compassionate Organization in Louisville, Ky., earlier this year. While there, she spoke with Armstrong via video conference during a question-and-answer session.

She asked her “How do you anchor compassion in the heart in adultsand children?”

Armstrong replied, “Compassion is something you can teach. It’s not always natural - you can teach it and you can practice it. The more you practice something, the more anchored you are. But also, people will see you practice, and they will be motivated to practice it.”

Pollock said the meeting in Kentucky showed her how many groups already are practicing compassion and sees that happening in Fayetteville.

“It all starts with awareness and signing the charter,” she said.

Religion, Pages 9 on 06/29/2013