You probably think that love
and compassion are easy,
and the soft option when
dealing with the outs and
ins of people and with
those that are in need.

Perhaps a soft and cuddly
teddy bear comes to mind
as we mark compassion
with a gentle smiling sigh.

Well, let me tell my view
about the ins and outs of
being compassionate and
loving in the complexities
of being with other humans
who can be difficult and
may not be kind.

It is neither soft nor cuddly,
but often bloody hard work
and means on many occasions
putting aside all the judgements
that we always make about our
fellow beings and working in
circumstances often downright tough
and sometimes overwhelming,
and maybe threatening to
all we think we are.

I have been there many times.

So, forget the image of soft
and tame, for love and compassion
can be on the gritty end and
leave you tired and sometimes sad,
and often knowing that a
resolution is not complete,
like an unfinished painting
left on a shelf,
and that we have, at best,
only partial solutions to what can
be a complex mess.

Is it worth it?

Some would say it is not,
but I say in the mess of
dealing with lives, there is
the chance of transformation,
of success,
hard-won for sure,
not soft and cuddly,
but with beauty nevertheless.

And how shall I conclude
my provocation,
perhaps with this:
that love and compassion
are our only source of hope
in an often
hopeless world that sees
people as things and things
as more precious than lives.

 

4/8/2023