Two days ago, I was in the grocery store and noticed an elderly man slowly pushing his cart down the aisle. Both of his wrists were bandaged with blue gauze and the paper-thin skin on his bare arms was marked with multiple bruises. He was wearing a plastic identification bracelet and as I watched, a teenaged boy walked up to him and said, “Sir, you look like you just got out of the hospital. Is there something I can do to help you with your grocery shopping?”
Lately, I have wondered that with the many recent disasters and with so many people in need, compassion for others might just be in short supply. After all, how do you choose who to help with your time or your donations? How do you keep from falling into hopelessness when it seems we are faced with horrible murders, floods, fires and hurricanes and we watch the indiscriminate hand of suffering strike every single day? How do we keep our cup of compassion full when we are being asked to give and give again to the many who are in need?
The answer is that compassion, like love, is limitless. It does not decrease as we choose to help others – it multiplies and our reasons for wanting to help become clearer each time we choose to be compassionate in this world. We reach out to others because compassion is a part of our true nature as humans. It is why we are here.
So fill up your cup and share with those in need. You will find, at the end of the day, your cup is no less full than it was when you started. www.villagepartnersinternational.org
– Terry Leigh Deal
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