PEACEFEST, a community gathering with music, drama and meditation, will bring voices from various faith traditions together at the historic Presbyterian Meeting House in Shepherdstown,100 W. Washington Street (across from the Post Office) on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. to sing and praise “the best idea humanity ever had,” the idea of compassion.

A press release about the event stated: “The principle of compassion, which lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calls us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated. Compassion must be the determination to put ourselves in the shoes of others and consistently refrain from acting or speaking violently or inflicting pain on our fellow creatures.”

Karen Armstrong, a religious historian, unveiled the Charter for Compassion on Nov. 12, 2009. Since then, nearly 90,500 individuals, schools, cities, churches and organizations from around the world have stepped up to sign the charter. This charter is a “cooperative effort to restore not only compassionate thinking, but more importantly, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral, and political life.”

One of the most urgent tasks of our generation is to build a global community where men and women of all races, nations and ideologies can live together in peace. Join in Oct.7 to celebrate the principle of compassion and learn how we can adopt the charter as our own.