"Can I see another's woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?"
___ William Blake, "On Another's Sorrow"
How involved do we become when misfortune falls upon those around us? Our level of affection and acquaintance may determine our response, as well as our level of responsibility: this will obviously be higher in our immediate family than with our friends or with strangers.
The three main responses to misfortune are usually clustered around expressions of sympathy, empathy, and compassion. We offer sympathy to those whom we do not know well and with whom we have little intention of becoming involved. Expressions of sympathy offer the minimum response that is socially acceptable when suffering arises, and they do little to assuage the suffering. Well-motivated empathy, on the other hand - distinguished from sympathy in that it regards the sufferer more than the self - can ease pain and bring comfort.
Compassion, alone of these three, embraces the needy and acts to meet the need. Because of its impartiality, it is the most difficult of the three to experience and to maintain. It neither remains on the boundaries of the suffering nor becomes emotionally entangled with it. Rather, it encompasses suffering with a love that is universal, respecting the primal core of life and envisioning its relief with heartfelt action. Compassion takes a good deal of disinterested regard. For that reason, it may be easier to maintain compassion among strangers, those by whom we are not known and with whom there are no intimate ties to emotionally cripple our actions.
"Consider your own responses to the suffering that is about you."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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