“… Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive …” ~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama
“… For God knows it is good to give … So if we can, Let’s do each day a kindly deed, And stretch a hand to those in need, Bird, beast or man …” ~ Robert William Service
The current mandates, unfolding across the globe, of “social distancing” … and “stay at home” or “lockdown” or “shelter in place” orders … are necessary and critical safety and health related measures. Such actions need to be sustained and supported by all of us so as to stem and halt the spread of COVID-19. The long term impact of this new “global, seemingly temporary norm” is an unknown but a potential side effect could be the attrition of certain core human qualities that bring us all together such as compassion or kindness or forgiveness. We will all likely face circumstances where the strength of such qualities will be tested. So …
A balancing act could be to reinforce these qualities so that this attrition is minimized .. or even eliminated.
In that spirit, we offer some simple reminders to deepen our compassion …
Starting with some words of wisdom from His Holiness The Dalai Lama:
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.
Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. … If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.
… followed by a simple but powerful poem on compassion …
Compassion
A beggar in the street I saw,
Who held a hand like withered claw,
As cold as clay;
But as I had no silver groat
To give, I buttoned up my coat
And turned away.
And then I watched a working wife
Who bore the bitter load of life
With lagging limb;
A penny from her purse she took,
And with sweet pity in her look
Gave it to him.
Anon I spied a shabby dame
Who fed six sparrows as they came
In famished flight;
She was so poor and frail and old,
Yet crumbs of her last crust she doled
With pure delight.
Then sudden in my heart was born
For my sleek self a savage scorn,–
Urge to atone;
So when a starving cur I saw
I bandaged up its bleeding paw
And bought a bone.
For God knows it is good to give;
We may not have so long to live,
So if we can,
Let’s do each day a kindly deed,
And stretch a hand to those in need,
Bird, beast or man.
~~ Robert William Service
— —- —
May you remain safe and healthy as you navigate this global crisis.
This poem was found through several poetry/literature related websites/posts: 10 of the Best Poems about Kindness, The Best Poems about Sympathy and Compassion, Reflection on Compassion by Don Lydon.
It is also worth noting that there is another poem titled Compassion by Robert William Service but the accuracy of this duplication could not be verified at the time of publishing. Regardless, we felt it was important to share the above poem in the spirit of spreading compassion. If any reader is able to demystify this duplication, please contact us and/or leave a comment on this post.
Images: (edited and logo added): Featured and 1) Composite of a) Logo Heart and hand.Concept of love helping and charity by Glopphy and b) His Holiness the Dalai Lama, by Minette, CC BY 2.0, 2) Caring businessman. Caring supportive businessman helping starving refugee on his way home from office center by yacobchuk1. #1a) and 2) purchased from depositphotos, for use only on our website/social channels (these images are not permitted to be shared separate from this post).
