When Compassion for Others Takes a Sharp Turn: A Lesson in Vulnerability
A Day of Compassion Begins I sit in a row of folding chairs in a neighborhood church gym, which today has been transformed into a blood donation center. My eyes…
Read moreUse Your Hands to Touch a Heart
The laundry room door cracked open. I could see her inside the room, tenderly folding each piece of clothing more gingerly than I fold my own family’s clothes. When she…
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“I’m not sure”—Is That Compassionate?
Embrace Uncertainty for Greater Compassion
“I began to notice how seldom we ‘make place for the other’ in social interaction. . . . Western society is highly opinionated.” – Karen Armstrong Is there a connection…
Read moreWhat Can I Do? For Now, This Is My Something
Can I Ask You Something? We chat outside her front door. It’s a normal Monday afternoon. She smiles and we make small talk until it’s time for me to move…
Read moreWho Will Need Your Human Touch Today?
My husband Jeff was driving in the dark to his early Saturday morning volunteer job (I was still home in bed). He’d only traveled a couple of miles when an…
Read moreWhen the Power Goes Out—Do You See the Contrast?
We’re in the bedroom watching Auburn basketball on TV. The first half is almost over. Auburn is losing. We begin to feel hungry. It’s about 5:30 p.m. It’s Saturday, our…
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