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Good Morning Sojourners,
This month, Kim Johnson asks us to consider compassion. Her post about seeking and finding compassion surrounding her father's aging and death is personal, unique and yet we can relate to universal challenges she faces. I hope you read her wise words.
Compassion I have received in life has been so great that distilling any of the concept down into one story for a post feels overwhelming. I have received infinite compassion from God, family, friends and even strangers. As an educator I work in a field that depends on and is fueled by it. So, I'm pulling a few glimpses of compassion together today. Maybe they will all connect by the end. Let's see.
Sometimes, words literally find me.
Yesterday, on my way into work a colleague was parking in the lot. The license plate on their car read, KRUNA. I asked what the plate meant. And, I learned that my colleague shortened the word, Karuna, the Sanskrit word for empathetic compassion to fit on a license plate.
All of a sudden I knew a bit more about someone I work with and it made sense that compassion was on their license plate. I was also reminded that SJT was the next day (today) and I had better get going on composing a post.
I have today off of school as a holiday recognizing Yom Kippur. I'm not Jewish but people dear to me are observing today and I keep them close to my heart.
In my journal this morning I noted that the war in Gaza has now gone on for three terrible years. My heart breaks over the continued violence and suffering. I pray for peace. I have wondered what I can do in times such as this.
Wisdom finds me and taps on my shoulder in poetry.
Rilke...
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| https://onbeing.org/poetry/widening-circles/ |
Mary Oliver...
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| https://www.instagram.com/p/CfeRYzZrUHL/?hl=en |
Do these glimpses connect? They do for me as I reflect on them. Our world continues to be in great need of our compassion. I pray that we can give and accept it in ways that lead to strong and healthy community.
This post may change after I publish it. I don't think I'll be able to stop reflecting on the idea of compassion today. I look forward to learning from all of you as well.
This is such an uplifting story. I love that your colleague is driving compassion around and spreading wherever she goes! We definitely need more of it! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I think every new thing we learn about someone helps build a deeper connection with them. The deeper that connection, the more we feel for them when bad news comes their way. As our circle of friends expands, we find we are not alone, and others are going/have gone through things we are experiencing. Embracing joy when it comes along can lighten the burdens, we as well as those around us bear. Bob
ReplyDeleteConnecting with others is where I find compassion in my daily life. As I was writing my post in a downtown bakery, a former priest of my church walked in and we had a wonderful visit catching up. Most of it was about the rough stuff of life. That’s where we can sit with each other and be present. Thanks for the two poems. They speak to me as I still ponder compassion. Great topic!
ReplyDeleteThis speaks to me on such a deep level. And this is to be cherished: Wisdom finds me and taps on my shoulder in poetry. Yes, the poetry just seeps in wisdom, the thinking on different planar levels. Grief is shawled by words of comfort. I can feel the compassion of strangers, too, as I read your words and reflect.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the poems and the window into knowing your colleague better. Compassion surrounds us. We can participate by sharing love and listening. Thanks for your words.
ReplyDeleteLinda, What resonates deeply is Mary Oliver's words: "Still, life has some possibility left." I hear that as a siren song for being compassionate --even in the face of the utterly horrible that we see and read of these days. Somewhere inside these awful people, there must be something good buried deep, deep within. Maybe that is God's work to find. But it seems to me it was Jesus' message to us. Thank you for sharing these thoughts.
ReplyDeleteLinda, your prayer is one that is needed in this world. I pray that we can give and accept it in ways that lead to strong and healthy community. Your thoughts/glimpses connect. The line from Mary Oliver, "Joy is not made to be a crumb", has much to say. Your own quote, "Wisdom finds me and taps on my shoulder in poetry", makes me ponder in silence.
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