And the Angel of the Lord

I keep coming back to the angel sculpture whose wings are joyously spread at the entrance to the labyrinth on the plaza in front of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have walked this labyrinth many times. The inscription on the sculpture that draws my eyes reads, "I am not asking to be loved. I want to love." It is, after all, in loving that we are loved. I wish that I had said that, but as many of us know, these words are attributed to St. Francis.

"An organization called Charter for Compassion is taking this approach (i.e., [to]refrain from weaponizing...[our] words and...{to] seek peaceful solutions whenever possible. Gathering together supporters such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, singer Paul Simon and Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of Egypt, it has sought to restore compassion as the center for morality and religion. It calls for a 'return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate.'" (from an article for CNN by Paul Moses titled "Is religion about war--or peace?". Moses is professor of journalism at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.)