Mistaken, but Still Loved
Reflect “Some of the most faithful people in our society are the men and women who learn from their mistakes and thus grow in virtue. We all make mistakes and plenty of them; so did the saints. We can take …
Advance Preparation
Reflect It’s easier to act compassionately when coming from a spacious place than from one constrained by fear. Thus it’s possible to prepare for a petulant person, or difficult situation. Deep breathing, imaging the face of the compassionate Christ or …
Responding with Compassion
Reflect From time to time, someone says something that hurts my feelings or elicits feelings of anger. I am tempted to say something to put them in their place. Then, without being a doormat, I pause and pray, asking whether …
I’m Fine, Just as I Am.
Reflect It’s harder to show compassion if we disconnect from our own wisdom and experience, perhaps rejecting some part of ourselves we think shameful. The key to loving another is the ability to love all of ourselves, being flawed but …
The Cycle Repeats
Reflect Scientists who study the brain know that the practice of compassion gives us “feel good” chemicals. MRI scanners show that compassionate mindset and action fill the neural networks with happiness and optimism. Thus, the cycle continues and success leads …
Too Distracted to See Clearly?
Reflect Sometimes compassion for those we love best gets lost in an avalanche of daily trivia. We fail to appreciate what others do for us, because they do it so often. We may not see their pain because we’ve grown …
