Compassion Draws Fayetteville Together, Celebrates Differences

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Former Texas residents, the Revs. Dian and Ed Williams, might be a long way from their hometown of Houston, but they felt immediately drawn to Fayetteville on their fi rst visits.

“We first visited Fayetteville nearly two years ago. We immediately loved the area,” they said. “What really caught our attention were the people and the sense of community the city off ered.”

The two fell in love with the feel of the city immediately. “Fayetteville was open, progressive and green,” they said. “It had the laid-back and small-town atmosphere, butwas also a vibrant and active university town.”

“One of the first people we met was Mayor (Lioneld) Jordan at the Farmers’ Market in the town center,” Ed Williams said. “After meeting him, we knew we wanted to live the rest of our lives here. My wife and I felt the sameway and traveled back to Houston and put our house on the market.”

Six months later, they were Arkansans and heading a team for one of the fastest-growing community movements in the area.

“Our friend volunteered us to head up the team,” Dian Williams said with a laugh. “But we love it. We’ve loved all of it.”

The team turned out to be part of Northwest Arkansas Interfaith Harmony, an international initiative promoting cooperation and tolerance among diff erent faiths.

The local initiative began several years ago, but took hold internationally in 2011, after King Abdullah II ofJordan created World Interfaith Harmony Week, which he proposed to the United Nations in 2010. Unanimously approved, the proposal became a resolution to set aside a week in February to celebrate interfaith harmony, according to the Interfaith Harmony website.

Although the Interfaith Harmony Week has only been a U.N. resolution for three years, NWA Interfaith Harmony has been hosting an Interfaith Harmony Day for the past fi ve years.

“We’re celebrating locally what is being done internationally,” Dian Williams said. “This event is in its sixth year,GO AND DO

INTERFAITH HARMONY DAY

Creating a culture of peace and compassion

When: 1 to 5 p.m. today

Where: St. Paul’s Episcopal

Church, 224 N. East Ave.,

Fayetteville

Information: 892-567-472and we’re inviting all religions, all spiritual traditions to participate in this wonderful, compassionate day of celebration. We’re celebrating through sharing our music, our art. Some people like to do a reading from a poem. We’re celebrating our diff erences.”

“It’s really exciting to see people coming together,” Ed Williams continued. “The more we find out about each other, the more we realize we have in common. All religions are really about love and compassion. You may realize that this person is so different from me, believes completely differently than I do, but we have so many things in common.”

“February is the month of compassion,” Dian Williams said. “And added onto that is the Interfaith Harmony Day. It’s part of why Fayetteville has been named a ‘compassionate city.’”

In March, a local team will apply for oft cial designation as a Compassionate City by the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities, part of Compassionate Action Network International, a global campaign inspired to raise awareness of the benefits of compassionate action. According to charter creator Karen Armstrong, the campaign supports city residents and leaders in planning and realizing initiatives that foster compassionate action through local projects and while taking part in a global compassion movement.

Fayetteville will join 25 other cities honored with the distinction of Compassionate City, a designation brought on by years of hard work and dedication by Fayetteville citizens hoping to promote the good will and friendly atmosphere of the city.

“A group of people in thecity came together and said, ‘We believe Fayetteville is a compassionate city,’” Ed Williams said. “The idea came out of the Fayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Counsel Inclusion Group. The mission of the counsel is to raise awareness and facilitate opportunities for growing Fayetteville as an inclusive and compassionate community. Becoming a designated Compassionate City is one of the ways we can promote this plan.”

The plan has become Compassion Fayetteville, a three-year initiative endorsed by the City of Fayetteville. Recognition as an International Compassionate City means that, according to the CANI website, Fayetteville “commits itself to spreading compassion and encouraging citizens to speak up about how compassion aff ects their lives and how to conceive more opportunity to support programs that instill actions of compassion throughout the area.”

“Though we’re one of the smallest cities on the list, we’re already working to make Fayetteville more and more compassionate,” Dian Williams said. “We’re trying to do more with Conversation Cafes, bringing cultures together. There’s no particular goal, just being compassionatewithout the expectation of anything in return. Put a quarter in the vending machine, leave quarters at the laundry mat. People have even paid for the next person’s lunch at drive-thrus. It’s really that simple. And it’s huge.”

Although the three-year action plan has not fully evolved, team members of Compassion Fayetteville hope to implement programs in local schools, businesses and hospitals to promote compassion, empathy and present antibullying and workplace tolerance messages.

“Eventually we would like to go into universities,” Dian Williams said. “We want to promote compassionate medical care at the free medical clinics and cooperation with local businesses. We are a small city in a very small group of Compassionate Cities. We’re very privileged here and to be part of this small group. There’s an awful lot of good that happens in Fayetteville.

“It’s really all about the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have done to you,” she said. “It’s that simple. That’s Fayetteville.”

COMPASSION WEB WEB

FAYETTEVILLE WATCH WATCH

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INTERNATIONAL

CAMPAIGN FOR COMPASSIONATE CITIES

compassionateaction.org WORLD INTERFAITH HARMONY WEEK

worldinterfaithharmonyweek.

com

Religion, Pages 6 on 02/08/2014