Compassion

For the past week or so we have heard a lot about compassion in regard to the latest school shooting, where the Amish children were gunned down. In the face of senseless crime, so many of us jump to show compassion and try to relieve the suffering in some way.
But what about the day to day suffering too. Should we not live to relieve that also ?

I certainly have fallen short on this area. When someone comes into my life with a bit of craziness, I react and push and shove them away. True compassion would perhaps have me take no action but to pray for them or try to ease their suffering and disturbing emotions. To show compassion without judgement. Judgement is not for the mere human, but for God alone.
I once read that if we would all take a moment of silence and imagine a street, with a line down the middle. One one side, you stand, with all your personal history, your understanding, your blessings, your hardships. In other words you whole life, as it has made you. Your opportunities, the love you have felt etc. On the other side, the person you have trouble with, or the drug addict or the homeless person. With him/her all the things that have made them be who they are. Their hardships, their weaknesses, the love or lack of love that has made them who they are. Now, trade places with them. Live through their experiences and let them live through yours. You will see that you too would have made many of the same choices or be in the same place that they are. They on the other side now, would have made better choices and their own outcome be much like yours. We are products of our circumstances. Yes, we all have the ability to change, unless of course their is a brain malfunction or something that is physically messing them up. Our hearts soften when we see people in this light.

I believe, my goal is to look at people this way consistantly and not just when things are all going smoothly.
In my personal life, I want to be ruled by compassion and not indignation or anger.

Here are some quotes on Compassion that I think merit some thought.
In hard times and in easy times, we should let compassion be the steering wheel for all our actions.


"Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation."
Henry Ward Beecher

"You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God is compassion."
Meister Eckhart

"The dew of compassion is a tear."
Lord Byron

"Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will."
William Cowper

"Compassion is not religious business, it is human business; it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability; it is essential for human survival."
Dalai Lama

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
Dalai Lama

"I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance."
Pablo Casals

"Compassion is the basis of all morality."
Arthur Schopenhauer

"The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasized. Anyone can criticize. It takes a true believer to be compassionate. No greater ;burden can be borne by an individual than to know no one cares or understands."
Arthur H. Stainback

"The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it within his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter."
Norman Cousins

"Compassion automatically invites you to relate with people because you no longer regard people as a drain on your energy."
Chogyam Trungpa

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind."
Henry James

"When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable."
Thich Nhat Hanh

"No child is born with a really cold heart, and it is only in proportion as we lose that youthful heart that we lose the inner warmth in ourselves."
Lin Yutang

"Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."
Albert Schweitzer

"To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is Godlike."
Horace Mann

"Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless."
Eric Hoffer