"... the loved ones of God... must endeavour to consort in a friendly spirit with everyone, must have respect and consideration one for another and show loving-kindness and tender regard to all the peoples of the world.." (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 233)
Yesterday, I received sad news from a dear friend of ours whom we met when we lived in the Czech Republic. Her son had recently passed away. It is incomprehensible when one so young dies and his family and friends are left to mourn not only the beauty of the life he had lived but the contributions he had hoped to make to this world in the future. I was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude and thanks for my own boys and the time that we have had together. None of us knows when our life here on this planet will come to a close but we can and should offer everyone our understanding and care. This news had the effect of diminishing the pesky, trivial things that had been on my mind - heading to the hairdresser, driving into an unfamiliar area, losing weight and visiting a friend's farm. It all seemed to pale in contrast to remembering and honouring life. Today is my friend's birthday yet it is bittersweet when one has lost a child who's life played such a large part of her own existence. There are no words to be able to lessen the pain and heartache but when words are the only means of being able to share one's feelings what does one say? When the card of compassion appeared, it mirrored how I was feeling. I felt held and seen by reading the practices, knowing that it is exactly how I should walk through the world today. It gives me context to be able to write to my friend a text that is a pithy attempt at conveying to her that she is not alone and we hold the entire family in our hearts. The quotation above also calls me to not only show compassion toward those whom I know but everyone regardless of whether I feel they deserve it or not. Even those people that for some reason or another display behaviour that triggers my own negative words or actions, I will strive to remember that they too are in need of an attentive listener and gentle words. They too are someone else's loved ones and deserve my love. Issues abound in the discourses of the world that need for us to lend a spirit of compassion to feel empathy for others who are suffering or living with misfortune. These entrenched and ingrained wounds can only heal when we take the time and focused intention to let go of our judgements, conscious and unconscious, to understand our past and learn to live together in love and harmony.
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