by Elisabeth Mcgrath

Created on: March 15, 2010   Last Updated: July 31, 2010

“A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Components of compassion include kindness, acceptance, tolerance and love of humanity.  Compassionate people create an aura of friendliness, maintaining a hospitable environment where people realize they are valued.

Human needs 

As much as food and water, the most basic elements of human nature require kindness and empathy. The person receiving compassion gains much. The person who offers compassion is not in any way diminished but actually grows. Sharing our emotions, exposing our thoughts and fears to people in distress is not an indication that we are the neighborhood door-mat.

Showing compassion for others does not mean that we stop caring for ourselves. We need to remain physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy in order to be able to support others in compassionate ways. Simple acts of kindness and friendliness cost us nothing and do not deplete our own emotional resources.

Where compassion starts 

Our spirits are the well-spring of humanity’s most heart-felt desires and the home of our deepest fears. Our spirits are located in that place from which we ache for an outstretched hand to touch us. Some people may be so needful of a compassionate exchange that they fear and resist our approaches. In these instances, our compassion reinforces itself to allay resistance to exposure and vulnerability anticipated by a person in despair. 

Our need to show and receive compassion lives in the mystical realm of our spirits. Logic cannot find answers to our problems until our hearts are convicted of love.  Compassion is the driving force critical to the wholeness of our hearts, our growth and the impetus to show empathy for our fellow-man. 

Benefits of compassion 

Mutual respect and reverence for each individual allows for compassion and empathy to create room for us all to be free to be alone without feeling lonely. Compassion caters for companionable silence for mutual reflection, rest or activity.  Compassion can be extended to offer a status of availability and support.

When compassion is not meted out in doses accorded to race, creed, gender or wealth, it has the power to transform our lives whenever we are in need of, or able to provide, emotional and spiritual support. 

Compassion can be defined as the art of listening to each other with our ears, with our minds and with open hearts. Compassion is the potential to find and share peace in a troubled world.

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