Compassion
by Gary Jacobson © 2000
I searched for courage
To bridge this life’s bondage
And saw compassion's meaning shining in your eyes
That most glorious prize
Meeting suffering with the essence of giving
Truly of yourself, with no thought of self having
Sensitive to the plight of others in compassion
Driven by naturally borne passion
Tis purest love divine in action.
I saw in you divine carriage
Shining above and beyond this mortal carnage
Feeling to bolster a brother's beleaguered spirit
Lift him from the foul despot's pit
Let compassion come bearing the thought
Carrying the essence of tenderness with purest love bought
Giving simply, unabashedly, so others might not see
Simply giving of self that others might be.
I've suffered my share
This life's heavy cross to bear
With tender sorrows I've suffered slings and arrows
Felt plundering foes that cruel life harrows
Blown where the cruel wind goes
Inspired by tragedy’s jaunty prose
I've felt the awesome weight
Receiving empathy of mortal man's fate.
It comes alike to both good men and bad
Left joyously glad and painfully sad
Mercy's lament arising from immoral hatreds torment
Presenting an evil plighted predicament
Came a time I wondered if anyone cared
In sweetest compassion goodness shared
I saw good men tried and true
Ignore stained patriotism their brothers imbrue.
Be aware of the suffering of another
Have abiding concern for sister, brother
Do not without care pass by the wayside
In unseeing, soulworn pride
Divine compassion tis not preoccupied with ignoring
Neglecting along the harried way hurrying
Passing a soul daunted
Without lended hand extended.
Compassion tis a chronic condition
Offering of life to mankinds solution
Comforting those who have the way lost
Body and soul tempest tossed...
Compassion bears without being asked
A helping hand attending its more sacred task
Borne at the heart of divine absolution
Commanding loving without commiseration.
Tis compassion more than a mere word?
In meaning grown by disuse absurd
Which glory-seeking men piously use
True good of the word truly abuse?
No, the thought makes reason stare,
There are those who really, truly care
Compassion uttered in rapture tis more than a word
Tis the sweetest voice ever heard.
Compassion forbears self righteousness
Love's purity possessing piety in pristine goodness
Without needed thought of forgiving
Thought for a brother never too painstaking.
I saw true love shining anew in your eye
Deifying words that never will die
Compassion's supreme blessedness in simplicity exudes
Happiness reflecting newly Divine beatitudes
Harmonic sound distilled tinkling from above
With echoed song of the Master's purest love.
COMPASSION QUOTES
“I believe that at every level of society the key to a happier world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
“Compassion is not just being sentimental and feeling with someone, but seeking to change the situation. If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action!”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“Compassion begins at home, and it is not how much we do but how much love we put in that action. Do not think that love has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.”
Mother Teresa
“Each of us has response-ability for our unique piece of Creation, but only from the deeper wisdom and compassion of our Greater Self can we truly care for the world entrusted to us.”
Rabbi Theodore Falcon
“The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.”
Thomas Merton
“Compassion is not sentiment but is making justice and doing works of mercy. Compassion is not a moral commandment but a flow and overflow of the fullest human and divine energies.”
Matthew Fox
“Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.”
Eric Hoffer
“A human being is part of the whole called by us ‘universe’ – a part limited in time and space. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Albert Einstein
“How far you go in life depends on your being compassionate with the young, the aged, the striving and the weak. Because, someday in your life, you will have been all of these things.”
George Washington Carver
“Compassion is the capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin...the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy for you.”
Frederick Beuchner
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