What I want to teach you.

If I teach you anything, I hope it is the beauty of compassion. I heard once that hate is not the opposite of love, indifference is. I sometimes wonder if people think that showing compassion would make them seen weak. Some people only want to give advice. Maybe it makes them feel less helpless. But a large portion of the time I have found that advice is not what is needed...in times of great trial and pain, advice does not soothe like mercy. It usually burns like salt. My dad (your grandpa) is the very best example of a merciful listener. He has given me grace by not taking sides, not offering advice, just being a safe place to cry out about the thorns digging in my heart. These times are rare, but when they happen, he gives me a tender look that tells me he cares about my pain, and when I'm finished he tells me he loves me. It soothes like balm. Why is it so hard for us to be in the presence of pain without feeling the need to minimize it? Pain need not be compared... Some is certainly greater than others...when I see a homeless person begging, maybe my fortune seems obnoxious to me and brings me shame. There's no need for this. Maybe a rising wave of compassion leading to a wordless prayer and tears are the real language of the heart of mercy. To be able to say honestly- I am in the presence of suffering that I do not understand, and as a human alongside this one, my heart is broken. Because compassion means I have the capacity to feel deeply pain that I myself am not experiencing, as though it were me in their place, as it so easily could have been.

Just thinking.
Xo