Compassion

I've been hearing a lot lately about the necessity of going through the exact same situation that another has gone through before one is capable of ministering in those circumstances. Here's a dissenting view in poetic form:

let's stop telling each other
that we can't relate
let's stop deciding
that MY problem is so unique
that no one else understands
I don't have to experience your pain
to know that it hurts
you don't have to have my failures
to know that I'm lonely

let's talk about
compassion
let's talk about
grace
everyone has his/her own
particular pain
some more than others
but the amount doesn't matter
it's the presence of pain
that should move me
to compassion
not
the magnitude

stop telling me
that I can't relate
and
let me in
expose your wound
to the Sonlight
in me



Grace and peace ya'll