Welcome to the Olympia Forgiveness Project!

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Blog of the Olympia Forgiveness Project. This project will explore the methods and practices of forgiveness that are accessible to all and we will collect stories of forgiveness from people in the Greater Olympia Community who have found a way to let go of their emotional pain and find peace.

We will see how people are discovering the gift, art and science of forgiveness both around the world and in our own backyard.

We offer retreats, workshops or individual consultations around the topics that touch forgiveness. We speak in schools, churches, 12 step gatherings, and offer testimony to our legislators on the needs and benefits of forgiveness.

We will pay special attention to veterans, alcoholics/addicts, Native Americans, the homeless and victims of domestic violence...but we will share and experience the hopes and practices of experiences of all.

Given the turbulance of our times, we believe that individuals, groups and nations are in need of practices of forgiveness and we hope to uncover and share them for the benefit of all.

May you know the peace and blessings of forgiveness today.

Dr. David James

The Olympia Forgiveness Project

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Karen Armstong's Charter for Compassion


Dear Friends,
Please join me on March 22 for “The State of the Charter for Compassion” – a celebration of the tremendous progress we’ve made together, and a vision for the road ahead as we continue to reassert compassion as the cornerstone of a just economy and a peaceful world.  Among the highlights, I will unveil the Charter’s elegant new website as well as a refreshed look and feel.
The “State of the Charter” will immediately follow my lecture, “What is Religion?” hosted by Simon Fraser University’s Center for Dialogue in Vancouver.  You can watch both the lecture and the Charter update live via streaming video, from 7-9 p.m. Pacific time at:

http://www.charterforcompassion.org/ or www.Facebook.com/CharterForCompassion

If you’re unable to join the live broadcast, it also will be archived in both locations for viewing at your convenience.

As a brief preview, I would like to share a few thoughts on how the new website and brand work signals a significant step forward for the Charter.

We’ve come a long way since TED granted my wish to develop the Charter for Compassion.  We articulated a compelling vision of compassion and the Golden Rule as precursors for global peace.  We motivated 85,000 people to begin the journey of reflection and practice.  And we inspired a first generation of deeply committed activists to take up the Charter’s message and lead a multitude of compassion-based initiatives around the world. 

The foundation has been well set.  Now it’s time to expand the Charter’s scale, reach and impact in a major way.  It’s time to amplify its voice, accelerate the pace of change and reassert compassion as an essential and dynamic force for good.  Indeed, it’s time for the Charter’s message to be universally heard and understood:

Compassion is not an option – it’s the key to our survival.

Fortunately, we live in the digital age.  With technology on our side, we can connect millions of impassioned advocates, deliver the message of compassion, demonstrate compassion-in-action and issue a call to help the Charter change the world.

As we re-imagine the Charter’s online presence, we want to bring it to life as a hub for compassion-based content and establish it as a regular destination on one’s journey of compassion – a place to learn, share, connect and be inspired to take action.

Building this platform, however, is merely the start.  We need your help.  You are the vital link between idealism and pragmatic action.  It is your commitment, your stories and your hard work that will animate the Charter and carry its message around the world. 

In a few short days, we’ll have a vibrant new online home.  Then it’s up to us to maximize its potential to make the Charter for Compassion and its digital properties the preeminent voice for compassionate action and global discourse.

I hope you can join me on the 22nd and I look forward to your active participation as we launch this exciting next phase of the Charter for Compassion’s growth and development.
Warm Regards,
Karen Armstrong

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