The one truly shared human experience is suffering. At some point we have all endured a pain, trauma, loss, mistake or failure that has caused us all to suffer. Not all receive love or success, peace or comfort, happiness or joy. And those a fleeting at most. Not all have been jealous or angry, hateful or arrogant, lost or bewildered. Yet it astounds me that when we see those that are suffering we ignore, dismiss, justify, blame, and at it’s worse treat them with disdain for their misfortune. We all talk a big talk about helping people, giving to charity, donating to that jar with the teary eyed dark child on the front, we tell ourselves what can I actually do? There is so much suffering in the world, and yet it is not met with the same degree of love, compassion, or kindness. It seems the world has become sadistic. With social media we trade stories and pictures of extreme suffering but they are not shared to inspire action or a call for change or Justice but as amusement. Well times are starting to shift I hope that this unrest will trigger a push to trying to prevent unnecessary suffering for everyone. Is it guilt or apathy that stays our hands and heads from real action? Is it I’m happy that’s not me or that’s not my problem that makes us turn a blind eye to something we can all relate too. I have suffered no more no less than others but my response to those struggles is to go out of my way to help in anyway I am able to support anyone going through difficult times. We have all cried, we have all felt alone at some point. Yet we continue to ignore and even isolate those suffering the most. The powers that be have their own agendas that do little to nothing to help the vulnerable. So I ask you when you see suffering, injustice, prejudice do not look away do not hide behind your shame do not dismiss it as that’s just the way the world is, remember at that point in your life when you where suffering alone isolated how great it would have been to have someone take your hand nd guide you out of your misery and how grateful you would have been. Well you have the opportunity to do just that fight for others lift 00them up show them that there can be more hope than suffering. You may not think you can do much but one tiny act of kindness and turn a personas life around in ways you could never even imagine. We will never end all suffering but we can at least try to lessen it every chance we get and show those that suffer that they are not alone and that they matter and someone really does care and that can change the world.
© Elizabeth Moore