Quote of the Day

"Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with the suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it...[but] we ignore our greatest gift, which is our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer. Those who can sit with their fellow man, not knowing what to say but knowing they should be there, can bring new life into a dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears of grief, and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken."

                                                        - Henri Nouwen