The Way I See It - Compassion, Dead or Alive?
The Way I See It - Compassion, Dead or Alive?
Compassion: We get it, and then we don’t get it. Merriam-Webster defines compassion as the “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
Compassion: We get it, and then we don’t get it. Merriam-Webster defines compassion as the “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” I know many compassionate people in our community and I’m sure you do as well. One way, although not necessarily the best way, to measure how compassionate we are is to look at levels of financial and volunteer contributions. Private, annual, charitable contributions by Americans total around $300 billion. Non-military foreign aid by the US government is much smaller, on the order of $26 billion. These are the two biggest contribution categories and amount to about 2% of the US Gross Domestic Product for 2008. But beyond that, about 61 million citizens, or 26% of the US, volunteer 52 hours (median) per person, or 3 billion hours. The citizens of the US are credible contributors on a percentage basis. And because our $14 trillion GDP is 25% of the world's GDP, the monetary contributions of the US far exceeds other countries. The Johns Hopkins study referenced above reinforces the belief that our citizens are, in fact, generous. But financial contributions are not always the most helpful action.
There is more to the story of compassion than just time or money. Webster's definition identifies consciousness as an element of compassion. So, how conscious are we? Many of us tend to focus on our local environment: our work, our friends, our school. These are the routine, daily networks we use to gather information. We also access the media and, on a less frequent basis, our churches, service clubs, government and assistance agencies. We save a lot of time and angst by allowing these sources to tell us when, where, and how to contribute. That way, we can stay focused on our own needs, somebody else will let us know if they see a problem, right? Unfortunately, that's just the opposite of consciousness; it puts us on auto-pilot. Not everyone does that, of course, but I know I do it more than I like.
Then, there are those who avoid even being aware of other people's distress, let alone being sympathetic. Some people simply turn off their awareness and sensitivity. After all, our culture provides lots of opportunities to participate in activities that will drown out the noise of distress. Name an addiction here, for that’s what choosing unconsciousness becomes.
And yet, even a desire to be compassionate is not enough. The desire to alleviate distress is critical, but insufficient; action is required. But how to determine the right action has been a subject of some of our great human debates-and one thing is clear: there are no easy, out-of-the-box answers. So how are we to determine what the 'right' action is? Imperial decrees don’t work, and self-imposed unconsciousness erases compassion. A compassionless world sets us up for predatory thinking and behavior. Behavior most strongly exemplified in the 5000 year long, written, human record from ancient Sumeria to the present day of wars, genocides and ethnic cleansings.
But we can be better than that. What if we could see the distress of others as an opportunity to be truly helpful? Do you remember how it feels to help someone? That’s the benefit of being conscious. We can experience and participate in compassion every day if we choose. We begin by listening with our hearts as well as our minds, and we must act together. So, practice compassion, it’s worth it.
There is more to the story of compassion than just time or money. Webster's definition identifies consciousness as an element of compassion. So, how conscious are we? Many of us tend to focus on our local environment: our work, our friends, our school. These are the routine, daily networks we use to gather information. We also access the media and, on a less frequent basis, our churches, service clubs, government and assistance agencies. We save a lot of time and angst by allowing these sources to tell us when, where, and how to contribute. That way, we can stay focused on our own needs, somebody else will let us know if they see a problem, right? Unfortunately, that's just the opposite of consciousness; it puts us on auto-pilot. Not everyone does that, of course, but I know I do it more than I like.
Then, there are those who avoid even being aware of other people's distress, let alone being sympathetic. Some people simply turn off their awareness and sensitivity. After all, our culture provides lots of opportunities to participate in activities that will drown out the noise of distress. Name an addiction here, for that’s what choosing unconsciousness becomes.
And yet, even a desire to be compassionate is not enough. The desire to alleviate distress is critical, but insufficient; action is required. But how to determine the right action has been a subject of some of our great human debates-and one thing is clear: there are no easy, out-of-the-box answers. So how are we to determine what the 'right' action is? Imperial decrees don’t work, and self-imposed unconsciousness erases compassion. A compassionless world sets us up for predatory thinking and behavior. Behavior most strongly exemplified in the 5000 year long, written, human record from ancient Sumeria to the present day of wars, genocides and ethnic cleansings.
But we can be better than that. What if we could see the distress of others as an opportunity to be truly helpful? Do you remember how it feels to help someone? That’s the benefit of being conscious. We can experience and participate in compassion every day if we choose. We begin by listening with our hearts as well as our minds, and we must act together. So, practice compassion, it’s worth it.
