Compassion

Sometimes I wish that we could understand people better.  I wish I had the power to look at someone and be able to tell exactly what they are struggling with, where they've been, and what their divine potential is.  In short, I wish I could see others the way that God sees them.  And sometimes, I wish others could see me that way as well.

Our world is seriously lacking in compassion, and I believe that this is partially because we just don't understand.  We tend to attribute others' shortcomings to some way in which they are lacking.  But what if, instead, we saw how much progress they had made?  What if, instead of just seeing where they are right now, we could understand where they had come from, and where they had the potential to go?

There are a few people in my life who are amazing at this.  I so appreciate when people manage to love me so deeply despite my shortcomings.  I love how they go out of their way to pick up my slack, even when they don't completely understand why I'm letting so many things fall through the cracks.  I love people who remind me how far I've come, and how proud they are of the progress I've made.  The people who I really love, the friends and family that I really feel close to, remind me that right now isn't the end.  And in doing so, they inspire me to be better.

I want to do this more for others.  How great would our world be if we all had the perspective God has?  Or, if in recognizing that we don't know everything, we consistently gave others the benefit of the doubt?  I think this is what we are supposed to do.  I think that this is compassion- understanding and doing our best to love others, especially when we don't really understand.

Because really, we can't ever truly understand.

All we can do is love.