Compassion by Dane Allred

We have all met before.

We were in the Bright Space together before we were here.

Since you know everyone who has ever lived, or will live, or who lives now,

What excuse can we have not to have compassion for one another?

We are here to learn all we can about this experience,

And someday we will return and share our feelings, knowledge, and

This universe will know what it means to be rich or poor,

Oppressed or free,

Healthy or ill.

We will have experienced every kind of life there is to live.

But while we are here,

We only have enough love for those like us.

We don’t want to know about the others

Struggling against the evils of the world.

We don’t want to help those who need us

Because they are different than us.

We don’t want to know about the suffering

Going on all around us.

It might spoil our moment of happiness,

Or interrupt our regular routine.

The secret of those who are truly happy,

Is learning to enjoy a new routine involving someone else.

When we get outside ourselves,

And help those who need our help,

Direct those who need direction,

We will find new direction for ourselves,

And help for those problems we face.

Since we have always known each other,

There is no excuse for not reaching out,

For helping where we can,

Listening if that’s what is needed,

For doing those things for others

We wish they would do for us.

What is it that we are so afraid of?

Do we fear that connection we feel when we meet someone new,

Thinking there is something we recognize about that other person,

A familiarity we sense

A strange feeling we have met before.

A love we share

That we have shared before.

How can we not have compassion for

Someone we knew so long ago,

And have met again for the first time

In this life.

Reach out.

Find that friend again.

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