COMPASSION 

Sometimes we see children or people who are different. There used to be a man in Washington DC with no legs at all, just his arms and body. His body sat on a board about 18 inches square. It had casters on the four corners and he propelled himself along the street by putting his hands on the pavement.

Then there are people in wheel chairs.  There are people who limp or walk in a funny way, having problems controlling their legs. There are children with cleft palates, some with big red patches or birthmarks.

There are some children who have problems speaking, some who have problems learning, some who are born with mental handicaps. There are many kinds of children and people who may be different. Then there are differences in skin color. Some people are white, some are black, and many shades in between.

It is often easy for youth to ridicule, tease or make fun of people who are different. But ask yourself, “Did these people who are different want to be that way?” Did the man want to lose his legs, the black girl decide that she wanted to be born black? Would you like to exchange places with some one who is different?

None of us has a choice. We don’t choose our parents, our race, our sex, our country of birth. Or whether we will be born whole and perfect, or maybe with birth defects and mentally handicapped. These things are all beyond our control. We have to take what we get.

So let use be respectful and considerate of all of the children and adults who may be different. They did not choose to be way, that is the deck of cards they were handed by fate. The same is true for all living things. Not one has a choice as to what kind of a creature it will become.

Humans have gained a sort of mastery of life. They have used other kinds of life for their own benefit. Humans hunted animals and now keep and breed them to use for food, for instance sheep, cows, pigs and chickens. Other animals, horses, camels and elephants have been trained to work for us.

Humans happened to be endowed with a physical form that enabled them to develop a larger brain, to invent languages and tools. Then to design writing so that knowledge could be passed on from generation to generation. So right now we seem to be on the top of the evolution process. But let us not be too proud, we are the only animal that ruthlessly attacks its own kind. Unless we develop compassion for each other and learn to get along as nations, we may well end up like the dinosaurs who ruled the earth for 150 million years So please be compassionate of all people and all creatures. Except for the luck of fate, you could be in their place.