Tuesday, April 16, 2013

To Suffer With


It's been hard not to have a heavy heart since 2 pm on Monday afternoon. I don't know what it is, I've gotten older and "understand more" or tragedies like the Boston Marathon Bombings occur more regularly these days. Either way, when tragedy strikes it stirs up all different emotions.

I've been on a Brene Brown kick lately. If you haven't read/watched/listened to any of her stuff, it really is worth checking out. (Her website is right here.) I'm currently reading The Gifts of Imperfection. She explains the three foundational pieces of embracing a whole hearted living, one being compassion. As I sat in Starbucks yesterday afternoon, watching the rain pour down (again,) in the midst of checking my twitter feed to get the most recent updates about the bombings more often than I'd like to admit, I was struck by her words.

Brene Brown writes, 

"Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. 
It's a relationship between equals... 
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity." 

My prayer is that we may be a people of compassion, understanding that in moments of deep tragedy, and also in the mundane moments of everyday life, we're just like our neighbor.

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