Sharing Compassion (in Today's World)

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening
our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
-Albert Einstein


In this age of division, is it possible that compassion is our key to somehow finding unity once more?  Some of our leaders want us to think that in order to end division, we must "defeat" those who disagree with us.  Others feel that the key to unity is finding common ground even among our division and disagreement, to acknowledge the rights that others have to think and feel as they do, to accept them and their thoughts, and to work together even when we disagree on some points.

Compassion is "feeling with" someone, trying to understand their actions and thoughts and motivations.  It's rather easy to feel compassion for someone who obviously deserves it--the person who's been injured, the friend who has lost their home, the someone who has been abused.  But when we can't easily see the actual sadness, when we don't know the sources of a person's problems, it can be much more difficult.  That person who is against what I'm for more than likely has had some very poor teachers in their life, people who taught them to hate and to resent rather than to love and respect.  And we don't know what led them to actually believe this teacher, to follow their advice.  But it's very possible that even though this person is doing bad things, they're in great pain themselves, and it may be that pain that's leading them to hate, to judge, to harm others.

Since we can never really know what's going on in another's life, it seems that the most effective approach we can take is to make compassion our default response.  That doesn't mean that we should accept and approve of all that other people do, but if we can act around them with compassion, then we can understand that their harmful actions may be the result of great pain in their lives, rather than character flaws or simply being "wrong" or "stupid."

Many people have received poor educations, and it would be unfair of us to judge their words or actions by the same standards that we would expect from someone who's been educated deeply and broadly.  Some people are so afraid of everything that they base their prejudices and biases on their fear, and not on anything concrete or even logical.  And most of them never realize just how much power they give to their own fears.

In a world in which it seems like compassion is dying, just who's going to keep it alive?  Well, I can, and you can.  We're not obligated to do so, of course, but compassion sure seems important enough to me that I want to do all that I can to make sure that it doesn't disappear completely from humanity.  I must foster it, maintain it, share it freely--even with those who don't "seem" to deserve it, and let it be a guiding force in my own life if I'm ever going to have the chance to call myself a "compassionate person."  And on the day that I die, that's a term that I hope more than one person uses to describe who I was when I was here.

Adding to the Positive (in Today's World)

The world needs huge positive energy to fight against
the negative forces. Go to the center of your inner begin
and generate that positive energy for the welfare
of humanity.    -Amit Ray


"The world needs."  Yes, it does.  And where is this positive energy going to come from, if it doesn't come from us?  Who is going to contribute to the world in positive ways if we don't?  Sometimes, though, it seems like an overwhelming task, something immense to ask of us when we're doing all we can just to get by.  How can my tiny bit of positive energy affect the world as a whole?  How can my optimistic words or actions help those people who are suffering greatly right now?

And because it's very easy to feel this way, to think that our thoughts or actions can't be helpful on a grand scale, we give up, and we simply plod through life, beaten down by the sheer overwhelmingness of the awful things that are happening to other people.

But the important thing to remember is that our positive actions don't have to affect the entire world.  They don't have to bring hope to millions of people.  We live in a large world, yes, but we also live in our own little worlds, surrounded by the people who share that world with us.  My world doesn't even consist of the town or city I live in--it consists of me and the people with whom I have contact, one way or another.  My obligation to the world is simply to do the best I can to help to expand positive energy in my world, and then trust that it will ripple out from there.

If I encourage a student today, then she may go home and do something positive for her little brother (whom I shall never meet), or her parents, or another student at school, simply because she feels more positive now.  And then, it's very possible that her positive action for her sister's sake will make her brother feel very good, and that he'll do something positive for someone else.

If I compliment someone who works in a store or a restaurant or in a public service position, then there's always the chance that the person will then "pass it on," complimenting or helping someone else in some way.

We're talking about ripples, about waves that expand from a central point and grow larger as they go, turning still water into moving water, just for a few moments.  We don't have to change the world--we just need to start a ripple, turn on one light switch, light one candle.  You can choose your own metaphor.

The world needs positive energy, especially during these rather dark days when people are reacting more to their fear than to their love, more to their anger than to their compassion.  And it's got to start somewhere, or it will never start at all.

Let it begin with us--you and me.  We can't change the world in one fell swoop, but we can contribute to the positive energy that this world so badly needs.

Feeling Overwhelmed and Helpless (in Today's World)

The more I think about the human suffering in our world and my
desire to offer a healing response, the more I realize how crucial
it is not to allow myself to become paralyzed by feelings of
helplessness and guilt.  More important than ever is to be very
faithful to my vocation to do well the few things I am called
to do and hold on to the joy and peace they bring me.  I must
resist the temptation to let the forces of darkness pull me into
despair and make me one more of their many victims.    -Henri Nouwen


"The more I think about the human suffering."  This is such a difficult concept to come to terms with, especially for those of us who are fortunate enough to not be subjected to things that make us suffer.  It seems that these days, many more people are suffering than ever before.  That may not be true, for when we figure in our immediate access to news that we probably never heard before, plus the sheer number of people on the planet, more suffering and more awareness of suffering seem inevitable.

However, it is also true that things are happening in today's world that we simply haven't witnessed before.  Never in my wildest imagination would I have imagined what has happened in Gaza for the last two years actually happening, with the world watching and doing little to nothing to help out.  Not only have we seen a military killing almost indiscriminately, but we've also seen a situation in which food and medical aid for people who were sick and starving were completely forbidden, and people who tried to get food to starving children have been actually killed for their actions.

And in the United States, families are being torn apart because we have masked, uniformed people roaming the streets and beating and arresting virtually anyone they want, with little to no control.  Foreign-born people who are in the country legally are being arrested and deported, often for no legitimate reason.  Many people in the country wake up every day afraid of what might happen to them if the officers decide to arrest them today, for they often have little legal recourse available to them, even if what the ICE officers is doing is illegal.

As much as I would like to, I cannot solve these problems.  I cannot help these people personally.  And I have to say that it hurts to say that, because I would like to be able to do so.  So what can I do to help me to get along with my life without being overcome by feelings of helplessness and despair?  I think that Henri has hit the nail right where it needs to be hit:  I can continue to do what I'm doing and do it well, helping myself to avoid despair and to bring some peace and hope to the people who are a part of my world.  I'm not a person who has universal effect on anything, but I can keep on keeping on and put more positive energy out into the world.  The hard part is being satisfied with that, of course, but that's simply a question of my own perspective, and my acceptance of some very real limitations.  I can't do everything, and no one expects me to.  I need to do the best I can with what I have, and be satisfied with that.  I may be helpless to stop massacres in the Sudan, but I'm not helpless when it comes to showing kindness to others and helping them in ways that I'm capable of.

(page coming very soon)