Unconditional Compassion

It seems easy to be compassionate to people we like or love.
Compassion requires a couple of things, Intention and action. I have noticed that most of us are good at being compassionate in one area. You might see the very same nurse that shows you amazing compassion while treating you, drive with total road rage or complete anger at the slow person in front of them in line at the store.
You might hear the missionary who is so patient and compassionate with those needing help, gossip unmercifully about family members or treat their spouse with great harshness.
Steven gave a children's talk in church about compassion and used the Dalai Lama as an example of one who shows and practices unconditional compassion. It sorta makes me smile thinking about using the Dalai Lama as an example of compassion to a group of Mennonite children. No doubt a first for all of them..
Compassion is not hard to practice on the people we like, or when doing one single job. Perhaps we have a heart for the homeless folks and work serving them, but get home and scream at the children showing them no patience or compassion.
Compassion arises out of a sympathetic feeling.
Imagine for a minute, someone you dislike...in your mind try to change places with that person...be born into their family, have their genetics, have their childhood, their hardships. Then imagine them being raised like you, have your experiences. Suddenly you realize if you were in their shoes, you would react the same as they do, and they would react like you if your places had been reversed. You can feel a bit of sympathy.
We don't have to do big things to be compassionate, it can be a smile, a hello. Perhaps donate time or a bit of money to a cause we feel is important. There seems to be in everyone's life one or two people or situations that push our buttons for one or more reasons. I have two that I can think of right off. I forget to mentally exchange places with them so I can understand where they are coming from.
Both situations involve mentally ill folks and its difficult for me to predict and understand their behaviors, so I cannot prepare myself to deal with them, that leaves me feeling vulnerable and I hate that. All my attempts to be compassionate fly out the window when they say something totally untrue. So I have work to do in practicing unconditional compassion. Its not that we have to take into our life every situation, we just have to have show compassion and sympathy in our reactions.
When the elderly lady is counting out all her change in line when we are in a hurry standing behind her, instead of telling everyone this story and making a joke about the poor woman, imagine being her, maybe its all the money she has. You don't befriend her per say, but you show compassion and not impatience or anger.
The cranky person on the end of the phone when you call someone about a bill, may have had a terrible life, and feels the whole world has spit on them, reach deep, be compassionate and be kind back to them.
I am sitting here thinking about all the conversations I have heard in the past when people were mad about something. Placing compassion into each situation changes the way people feel inside and it defuses more anger.
Mother Teresa said, "We cannot do great things on this earth, we can only do small things with great love." Little acts of compassion can change everything.