Compassion's Gift

When you have compassion on someone, you receive a gift.  It is the gift of gratitude.  If you see someone who is drunk, all disheveled, and dirty, lying on the ground and you judge them as being say, worthless, or weak-willed, or a disgrace to humankind, you walk away totally disengaged with that person, and you get no gift of gratitude.  But if you see the same person and feel some connection with their pain, that would be compassion, "com passio" to suffer with.  You do not judge them, or go into false pride of how much better you are than that person.  Rather, you get the gift of gratitude, that you are not suffering his/her life and pain.  "There but for the grace of God go I."  Or, "Thank you God for the grace to have chosen a spiritual path that keeps me on a daily basis from a life of misery."  Then you might even see if there is some way to respond to the person lying heaped on the ground.  Maybe a simple hello, which recognizes their existence.  Maybe you will be the only one to say hello to that person all day.  Compassion closes the door on judgment and opens the way to gratitude.  We are all God's children.