Linking compassion with radicalism sounds odd. But we live in a world where violence is used to settle conflicts. Rampant exploitation has destroyed freedom and justice in many parts of the world. Hunger, poverty, suppression of the weak, gender inequality, child abuse, racial profiling and mindless destruction of natural resources are commonplace….greed; fear and narcissism rule the roost. And what are the values we are committed to in our day to day lives? Do we feel anything when we see children in rags wandering the streets because they have no homes? Do we suffer with our neighbors? Can we empathize with a young girl who has been raped or violated? Are we consistently altruistic? If the answer to these questions is a ‘No,’ we lack compassion. The word ‘compassion’ derives from the Latin ‘patiri’ and the Greek ‘pathein’ meaning “to suffer with” another person, to empathize, become one with another’s experience. Compassion is essential for our survival and sanity.
Artist: Berkeley, age 10.
Linking compassion with radicalism sounds odd. But we live in a world where violence is used to settle conflicts. Rampant exploitation has destroyed freedom and justice in many parts of the world. Hunger, poverty, suppression of the weak, gender inequality, child abuse, racial profiling and mindless destruction of natural resources are commonplace….greed; fear and narcissism rule the roost. And what are the values we are committed to in our day to day lives? Do we feel anything when we see children in rags wandering the streets because they have no homes? Do we suffer with our neighbors? Can we empathize with a young girl who has been raped or violated? Are we consistently altruistic? If the answer to these questions is a ‘No,’ we lack compassion. The word ‘compassion’ derives from the Latin ‘patiri’ and the Greek ‘pathein’ meaning “to suffer with” another person, to empathize, become one with another’s experience. Compassion is essential for our survival and sanity.
Artist: Berkeley, age 10.
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