In April of this year, Templeton Foundation Press published Unexpected Grace: Stories of Faith, Science, and Altruism by Bill Kramer, a freelance journalist who lives in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. Kramer gives us the opportunity to observe the events of four compelling studies of compassion in action, which are all contributing to the study of altruism in the twenty-first century.
Kramer has arranged several book readings to be held throughout the fall, which are posted on our Web site.
TFP Editor: How is the field of altruism expanding?
Kramer: For more than a century, funding in psychology and much of science focused on the destructive nature of mankind—everything from mild neurosis to outright psychosis. So the very fact that since the early 1990s researchers have been investigating the moral high ground of humanity is a major first step in this new field of scientific inquiry. These studies ask: Who are the moral exemplars of our era—and what makes them live the kind of life that inspires us? I’m talking about people like Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, all the ordinary Europeans who sheltered Jews from the Nazis, and young people right here in America who do volunteer work and learn the lifelong value of service. Today, there are a growing number of organizations around the country devoted to funding and investigating this kind of research: the John Templeton Foundation, The Fetzer Institute, The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, the Metanexus Institute, the Institute of Noetic Sciences—to name just a few. Each may have its own particular mission, but all of them are proceeding in this general direction. And as we add to knowledge in the field of altruism, so too will the importance and the expression of altruistic impulses expand in our personal lives. It’s like a chain reaction—one that we desperately need in a world plagued by conflict and sorrow.
TFP Editor: Has learning more about this topic inspired you to be more altruistic? In what ways?
Kramer: For me, it has reinforced the belief—fostered by thirty years of meditation—that inner and outer work reflect each other. Qualities like attentive listening, patience, commitment, perseverance, forgiveness, humility, tolerance, discernment, and awe for the nature of unfolding Grace all play out on both the inner path and in the way we approach our external lives. But these qualities are not just ours for the asking. They’re like unused muscles that need to be strengthened by constant practice. And the more we practice, the more we grow into the natural expression of these qualities. Some people have destinies that allow them to touch the lives of millions of people—of nations or religions. But most of us start by influencing our immediate circles of family, friends and co-workers. And if we practice and emanate qualities of love and altruistic striving, there will be a rippling effect outward. It takes effort—and it’s often easier said than done. But that’s how I see my own life playing out—and whether the effect is small or large is really not for me to say.
TFP Editor: Are there any other people engaging in this type of research who you would like to profile?
Kramer: Here’s a fact that I learned while writing this book: investigate love and stories emerge. My goal was to write about researchers studying four different aspects of love: friendship, forgiveness, empathy, and holiness. I was prepared for the science and theology. But I was constantly surprised by the power of the stories I kept hearing. And what I learned along the way is that techniques of storytelling can extend the significance and power of scientific research far beyond the ivory tower to touch the homes and hearts of ordinary people.
Look: many of us will never pick up a scientific journal. Nonetheless, these are our issues. Who among us has never suffered the harshness of a prejudiced point of view? Who has never struggled to forgive—or longed to be forgiven? Who hasn’t had to dig more deeply for an expression of empathy? And who has never questioned how personal faith can impact a society desperately in need of healing? Probably no one. So these are our stories. And the research currently being conducted in any of the institutes that I’ve mentioned will generate more of these stories. So I would certainly relish the opportunity to tell them. But if not me, someone should. Because it’s in the telling and the listening that we can all learn something about the redeeming aspects of faith, love, and altruism.
