Days of Awe: Day 8: Compassion

Compassion: Seeing Others and Ourselves With Mercy

We often see another person's mistake without seeing the fear, grief, exhaustion, loneliness, or history behind it. We see our own shortcomings and may forget that we, too, are unfinished human beings.

Compassion does not mean pretending that everything is acceptable. Mercy and accountability can exist together. We can recognize harm, maintain boundaries, expect better - and still resist reducing a human being to the worst thing they have done.